This week in the life of comics 4/22/11

Since today is Earth Day, I wanted to let everyone know that two homeless men planted seeds in front of our store today. They wanted to make this city a more beautiful place and thought that planting flower seeds was the best way to do it. They then drunkenly stumbled down the street, satisfied with their labor. Given that they didn't water the seeds, or plant them more than an inch deep, I'd say their chances of survival are slim. However, at least they tried. At the end of the day, I guess that's all we can ask for. Happy Earth day everyone.

It was an interesting week for comics, but there were two books that stead above the rest for me. They were Super Dinosaur #1 and Avengers #12

Avengers #12

The Hood is mere inches away from finding the last of the infinity gems. If he manages this, the universe as we know it will cease to exist. Luckily, The Avengers have put together a pretty crafty plan in order to get them back, but will they succeed?!

Well duh, of course they succeed. I don't think anyone needs a spoiler warning for that. The final battle between The Hood and The Avengers was satisfying and full of action. I liked the page where they made the distinction about why The Hood is such a horrible human being. So many villains are likable nowadays, that it's good to have some that are just plain evil. The conclusion to the battle was a good twist and the last page provided a good "no way!" moment. I was really into the conclusion.

The art on this book has been a matter of contention at the shop for a while. I'll always love John Romita Jr. for his work on Amazing Spider-Man, but that only carries him so far in my eyes. You can see where shortcuts were taken, especially during the scene where they fight between different realities. I know he can do amazing work, but this isn't it. It's not terrible, but it could have been better, especially given the material. That's all I'm saying.

Super Dinosaur #1

I feel like some of you guys still don't know this, but Super Dinosaur is an all ages book. That means kids can pick it up and not have to worry about anyone being bludgeoned or raped to death. It's a sad thing to admit, but there really aren't a lot of books out there that I can say that about. Which is why this is now my top book to recommend to kids and adults.

The premise is simple, boy finds dinosaur in middle of the earth, dinosaur gets armor upgrades, boy and dinosaur battle bad guys on Earth. There's obviously more to it than that, but that's the short version of it.

When reading this issue, I couldn't help but feel like I was watching Ninja Turtles as a kid again. The heroes are cool looking, the bad guys are ugly, and it's a lot fun to watch them throw down with each other.It's written from a child's perspective, and that helps amp up the "OMG this is awesome" factor. It reminds you why you thought dinosaurs and jet planes were cool as a kid. If I was ten years old, I'd probably be freaking out a lot more about this book.

The art on this book is fantastic. The dinosaurs look great, and the action scenes are actually quite a sight to look at it. The human characters are full of expression and detail as well. It has a great look overall. If these characters don't get made into toys, then I don't know what to think. The designs scream "awesome toys" to me.

Buy this book for your kid, but make sure you read it to them so you can get in on the action as well.

Other Things...

Other books that I thought were cool this week were Uncanny X-Force (duh), Generation Hope, and Invincible Iron Man (I'm alone on this one). The Green Lantern books were okay, but I'm getting tired of everyone switching rings. It takes away from the the unique way each ring selects it's wearer. That's just my nerd side complaining though. Plus John Stewart was stuck with compassion (purple) and they gave him the dumbest costume to go with it. It's terrible, we can argue about if you want. I'll be the guy who's right and you can be the one that's wrong. Fun!

I've also become a big fan of Teon in Generation Hope. Something about this dog boy has warmed my heart.

I would also like to thank the Boston Red Sox for finally getting into the swing of things. My heart palpitations should be going down now. Peter Parker's favorite team, The Mets, aren't faring as well this year. Since Peter is making so much money now, he could probably buy the Mets. I should tweet that at Stephen Wacker.

That's all for me right now! Bye!