Poser Points #3 (Feb5)

I had a chaotic day at work and needed an extra dose of escapism, thus I tore through my pull list throughout the day.  Here are some more reviews!

Marauders #7 (Marvel)
By: Gerry Duggan, Stefano Caselli, Edgar Delgado

I can't exactly put my finger on why, but I think this is my favorite of all of the "Dawn of X" spin-off books.  This continues the tit-for-tat battle between Frost vs Shaw for domination of the Hellfire Club.  We meet (I think, its been a shit ton of new X-books) Callisto for the first time in this run, where she is met in the home of Frost by Emma and Jumbo Carnation.  Frost offers Callisto an inside track, Callisto thinks this is an invite to Krakoa, but Frost's intention is to make her the White Bishop to create the rise of femme dominance in the leadership of the HC.  After Callisto decides to take the offer on a trial basis, she is sent on her first mission where we discover that Frost's crew is under surveillance and we see a secondary conflict develop with the nation of Madripoor. We also see who else Callisto may be working with.

What should you do? 1. Buy the singles!  I think this has been the best solo story thus far (with Fallen Angels close behind). 2. I think you may want to read X-Men + Fantastic four since we see the Marauders take a role in that book, but I'm not sure if it will play in with the Hellfire Drama.

Ant-Man #1 (Marvel)
​By: Zeb Wells, Dylan Burnett, Mike Spicer

Long story short, I've known who Ant-Man is from reading early runs of the Avengers, but I've never read a solo Ant-Man book.  This was fun, watching the Ant and Stinger in their role of Hero/Sidekick and Parent/Child throughout the book.  This book cracks me up in the same way Hawkeye Freefall is.  Just like Clint Barton is just trying to prove himself, Ant Man just seems like a dude struggling from check to check (as evidenced by his new "apartment" in an anthill.  He gets a job to track down some bees, which are linked to a nazi?  Yes!  Once one battle is complete, we discover a new series of etymological foes which should be the driving force of the duration of the first arc.

What should you do? Definitely pick this up, and if your shop is out, pray for a second printing.  It is setting up for something fun, and I want to see what sort of payoff book 2 brings.

Batman #88 (DC)
By: James Tynion IV, Guillem March, Tomeu Morey

City of Bane was wrapping entering the final arc as I was re-entering the comics world and that story was a bit overwhelming, but I figured I could hop right in with Tynion's turn at the helm after King's historic run.  Three books in, this shit has gotten crazy fast!

The book opens with Catwoman discovering Joker's grave and corpse (WHAT!?!?!?!) Lucius can help turn any car into a "pocket Batmobile," and we start to see at what level of the food chain Catwoman is in her "plan" which we learn about in previous books.  The several-page run of battle between Deathstroke and his henchmen and Batman is amazing and it's only crazier from there with what's going on at Joker's grave, the fate of the Penguin and who shows up to save the day.

What should you do? Yeah, Tynion IV's run has been heartpoundingly amazing, and should convert any skeptic or non Bat-fan into someone who places it on their pull! 

Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity (DC Black Label)
​By: Kami Garcia, Mico Suayan, Jason Badower, Annette Kwok

This review will be a continuation of my tweet-storm about books 1 and 2.  I love most of these black label books (still hated Superman Life Story 3).  But the storyline is compelling (someone is turning corpses into works of art to send a message, and HQ is investigating it) and THE ART is amazing.  That's been the real draw of these black label books for me, seeing art in an extended format, and the art in this book has been on point, in terms of the alternating use of black/white, play in with classic art elements, and pops of color, it just hits for me.

What should you do: Buy all three, but keep em' from your kids....this shit is dark!

Conclusion

I flew through everything on my pull this week (except Strikeforce, I have to get caught up on 2 books).  So the other series I'm diving into this week is the first 5 of Knights Temporal (AfterShock Love!!!!) and Jason recommended the first trade of Jimmy's Bastards.  My son also walked away with the first GhostSpider trade, which he'll love as we read it each night at bedtime!!