Mutants galore and the New Frontier

A decent though unspectacular week of comics for yours truly. I picked up an unusual amount of X-Men books (Cable #1, X-Force #2, Logan #1, Uncanny X-Men #496) along with The Twelve #3 and the Secret Invasion Saga one-shot. While Uncanny X-Men did feature Wolverine, Colossus, and Nightcrawler in a bar fight (in Russia!), the winner of that bunch would have to be X-Force #2 in which Wolverine, X-23, and pals sought to rescue a captured teammate from the mutant-hating Purifiers. A book I wasn't sure would be a winner that I'm really enjoying in its initial issues. Cable #1 was alright though unexciting, but I can't get over Bishop's enormous new cybernetic arm on the last page:

Art by Ariel Olivetti

Did he get a limb transplant from a cybernetic gorilla? "Armed and dangerous" indeed.


Art by Darwyn Cooke, colors by Dave Stewart

I'd have to say the best book I read this week is the only DC item that made it home -- the highly-anticipated Justice League: The New Frontier Special. Sure, it was motivated by a new DVD release based on Darwyn Cooke's acclaimed 2003-2004 maxi-series (now a beautiful graphic novel). That doesn't matter in the least.


Art by David Bullock, colors by Dave Stewart

The extended-length issue features three strong stories, all of which pick up on beats from the original series or flesh out additional stories with DC characters set in the 1950s. The first is a classic Batman vs. Superman story (yes, Bats had time to prepare), the second a sort of Teen Titans-meets-American Graffiti vehicle starring Robin and Kid Flash, and the third has Wonder Woman and Black Canary taking on male chauvinism and busting some heads.


Art by J. Bone, colors by Dave Stewart

Whether dripping with nostalgia or loaded with humor, the stories in this issue are all exciting and often charming. The classic art style echoes the original New Frontier series, and the trio of artists all do a bang-up job. I don't think anybody draws a better Wonder Woman than Darwyn Cooke, and Dave Stewart's colors are awesome throughout the book. The back of the issue includes a good bit of art design and discussion of the Justice League: New Frontier movie, which follows the style of its namesake comic quite nicely. Whether for the stories or the art, this issue is highly recommended, and well worth the $4.99 cover price.

There have certainly been better weeks of comics lately, but that New Frontier special makes up for it. I hope there's more where that came from.

------------------------------------------------------

Director Zack Snyder has released the first images of the Watchmen characters. Rorschach is going to be amazing. [via The Beat]