A Few Thoughts on Comics from The Past Few Weeks

Time to get a bit caught up here.

In Punisher #10, supernaturally powered bad guy the Hood offers to revive Frank Castle's dead family if he'll just go away. As they start to revive, Frank rejects this offer...with a flamethrower to the no-longer corpses. That's Frank! While I don't have the issue, 'The Punisher: The List' shows Frank getting dismembered. By the next issue of the regular book, he'll be 'Franken-castle'. I really don't know about this development. I'll give it a try.

Simpsons Comics #159 tells the story of the Burns Backup Plan; in the event of Monty's passing, a computer program set up to respond as he would will run the plant. Homer accidentally activates the fail-safe and it makes online friends with Lisa, using Monty's money to try making Lisa's life better. The story gets points for Smithers counting in 'Milwaukees'. The point is that money can't solve everything. It's fascinating that Chuck Dixon writes this as it's totally not what you would expect from him considering his history with tough guy characters.

Bart Simpson #50 is all Sergio Aragones, both written and drawn by him. Considering the stories of his speed, he probably knocked this off in an airport while waiting for a plane. That's not meant to be an insult; this is the standard quality work I'd expect from Sergio. Man he's funny.

Speaking of Sergio, another Groo miniseries has started, 'The Hogs of Horder'. Outstanding.

Invincible Iron Man #19 leaves Tony Stark a vegetable, on life support after his plan to erase his brain and reclaim his 'hero status' succeeds. Norman Osborn wants to pull the plug on him but only his physician can make that decision, a Doctor Donald Blake! Got wake up Tony in time for 'Siege'!

Mighty Avengers #30 featured Hank Pym meeting with Eternity and finding out the truth about himself: Hank Pym is Earth's Scientist Supreme! The rest of the story, with a 'lost' Inhuman king is interesting, but seems secondary to the rebuilding of Hank Pym.

Captain America Reborn #4 may well feature the return of Steven Rogers! Or not! Evil, evil twist! Love this book! It has great art, features the end of an epic storyline, and just has twists and turns in it to tell. This is fun stuff.

Vincent Price Presents has a special story as a sequel to the film 'The Tingler'. The art is good, much better than the average Bluewater comic and the story is interesting. I would have preferred Vincent Price's character to look more like him but that's a minor detail considering I enjoyed the rest more than I expected to do.

Muppet Peter Pan #2 starts after dinner, with the narrator commenting on Sam's choice of serving turkey. Sam's declarations that turkey is a fine American meal stop suddenly once it's pointed out that turkeys and eagles are both birds. The art here totally captures the character and his moment of 'what did I do?!?'. It's a moment when you can hear the familiar voice of the character in your head as you read. It's great. The book just gets better from there. Outstanding!