Weekly Reading Pile: Week of 6/30/10

Action Comics #890- Now this here, this is good comics. When they first announced this book the writer was supposed to be Guggenheim, who honestly does absolutely nothing for me. Then they announced the change over to Paul Cornell, who totally won me over with his Captain Britain series at Marvel. Dracula has a base on the Moon and a giant cannon that fires vampires at Earth? Sold. So Cornell turning Action Comics into a series about Lex Luthor on a quest to hunt down the power rings from Blackest Night? Drawn by Pete Woods? Guest-starring the likes of Mr. Mind, Deathstroke, and Gorilla Grodd. Yes please, may I have another? A+

The Royal Historian of Oz #1- First off, it’s a buck so you can’t really fail with this package. It’s a fun story about a writer (but not a very good writer) who wants to be recognized as the official historian of the Oz fiction but can’t seem to catch a break. His son’s faith in him is wavering and he’s basically been given a cease and desist order from the Official Oz Society. Then one day he finds a pair of magic slippers, and he starts stealing artifacts and creatures from Oz. An interesting story with some great art, well worth giving a try especially for the price. B+

Flash #3- I’ve been hearing some readers complaining about the pace, and while I agree it’s still in the slow build stage I think Johns is still offering a fun and intriguing story. The Capt Boomerang plot is actually pretty interesting to me, and it’s about time they brought him back and made him a good threat. Plus Manapul’s art just gets better and better with each issue, so I think it’s worth it for that alone. A-

Atomic Robo #4-Ok, it’s really really hard to do something just as fun as the last issue. That being said I still thought this was a great issue and Undead Edison being Robo’s archenemy is friggin’ awesome. A-

Deadpool Team-Up #892- Picked this issue up for the Lapham script and the Shawn Crystal art was a nice draw as well. Some good fun and hey, it’s only $2.99, so that’s a rarity in today’s Marvel market. B+

Deadpool Wade Wilson’s War #2- I can’t actually figure out if this is new continuity, alternate continuity, or just bad continuity. Marvel Knights as a publishing imprint hurts my brain, considering it usually doesn’t technically count unless someone in editing randomly says it does. Story took kind of a lackluster turn after the first issue, but maybe as a trade it will read better. C+