The Front Page

So the gang takes on child beauty pageants. That’s just comedy gold right there, and this episode doesn’t disappoint, even though it probably could have been sharper. Still, it’s awesomely funny.

How does this start? Frank runs into a guy at a strip club (not put so delicately) who convinces him to invest in his beauty pageant, because, hey, broads in swim suits am I right? But then the guy gets pinched for hitting on a would be contestant, and Frank finds out the horrible truth: this guy was into child beauty pageants, and that’s what he’s left to hold. In the bar, because that’s where you’d want a child beauty pageant, right?
...

Reviewer: Waylon Wernette
Quick Rating: Buy it
Title: The Trench Part 1
Rating: 12+

Aquaman must make a choice between the surface world and the duties of Atlantis.

Writer: Geoff Johns
Art: Ivan Reis
Colors: Rod Reis
Letters: Nick J Napolitano
Cover: Ivan Reis
Publisher: DC Comics - The New 52
Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 28, 2011
Available: In stores and on tablet comic readers - same day distribution.


Geoff Johns has been hyping up a Aquaman solo series for a while now and it is finally here. John quickly establishes Aquaman as quite the powerhouse by flipping a speeding armored truck and then quickly dispatching the armed robbers before leaping away in two massive jumps (my what legs...). From there Aquaman endures half an issue of jokes and put downs from various citizens of the city of Boston.
...

This week, Community comes at us with an Annie centered episode (although Britta and Chang sink their teeth into a B story, and Jeff has a lot to do in Annie’s plot), where our cute little perfectionist runs into another cute little perfectionist, this one also named Annie, although she’s Korean. Annie at first suppresses her natural jealousy of anyone being smarter/more perfect than she is, but the Evil Annie steals her idea for a Model UN, and it’s game on. As for the B plot, Britta is ashamed to hear an old protest buddy of hers is ...

Reviewer: Adam Chapman adam.chapman@sympatico.ca
Quick Rating: Very Good

Flash stops a crime and sees a familiar face from his past...

Writer: Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato
Art: Francis Manapul
Colors: Brian Buccellato
Letters: Sal Cipriano
Assistant Editor: Darren Shan
Editor: Brian Cunningham
Publisher: DC Comics

For me personally, this title was one my most anticipated titles of DC's New 52, not to mention one of the ones I was most curious about, considering Flashpoint and its potential effects on Barry and his life. This time around, Geoff Johns isn't present on the creative team, as instead Francis Manapul and his colorist Brian Buccellato have stepped up and taken on the writing chores themselves. That seems to be happening a lot with the New 52, with writer/artist teams, but Manapul does a much better job than I would have expected. This is an interesting book, and to be honest, it did take me some time to appreciate it and let go of elements from pre-New 52. It was challenging, but the earnestness of how Barry is both written and illustrated by Manapul really helped to break down those preconceptions and make me enjoy this new version of Barry Allen as the Flash.
...

Many of we geeks have, at least at some point in our existence, lived rather solitary lives. We read our comics alone, we watch our TransFormers episodes in an otherwise empty room, we stay at home on Prom Night and screen Jamie Lee Curtis in Prom Night, and we're not at all imagining something like that happening to those jerks in our Calculus class who we're pretty sure are only passing because they're on the Football team and they're gonna get a free ride to college while we have to work two jobs delivering pizza and selling our own plasma. Or... y'know... we played video games. Anyway, the thing that makes many people “Geeks” is a devotion to a form of entertainment that is kind of niche in its apppeal. This is one of the reasons Geeks took over the internet so quickly after it became popular – suddenly we had a way to network, to find like souls, to search for those who shared our affinity for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic without fear of reprisal.
...

Review By: Waylon Wernette
Quick Rating: Things have definitely changed for Hawkman
Title: Hawkman Rising
Rating: 12+

The all new Hawkman battles an all new alien threat.

Writer: Tony Daniel
Pencils: Philip Tan
Colors: Sunny Gho
Letters: Travis Lanham
Cover: Philip Tan
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 28, 2011
Available: In stores and on tablet comic readers – same day distribution


Goodbye muddled Hawkman of old who was last seen dying multiple times in the span of a few, short years and operating out of St. Roch, Louisiana. Hello new twenty-something Carter Hall who is a cryptologist working out of New York City, and seems to have a symbiotic relationship with his Nth metal harness. The first issue starts off with a troubled Carter Hall trying to get rid of his "curse" once and for all, and of course things go terribly wrong. Meanwhile in the Caribbean Carter's coworkers uncover an alien shipwreck which leads to a brand new villain, Morphicius. This dude wants power, and he just set his sights on Hawkman.
...

Reviewer: Waylon Wernette
Quick Rating: Simple and Fun
Rating: 9+ for the following: Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence

Official Site

Platform: Apple's iPhone, iPad, iPad 2
Developer: Imangi Studios, LLC
Publisher: Imangi Studios, LLC
Genre: Get-as-far-as-you-can Runner
# of Players: 1
U.S. Release Date: September 16, 2011
MSRP: Free on the Apple App Store. Additional coin packs available ranging from $.99-$19.99


Ah another get-as-far-as-you-can-runner game. Didn't you just review one of these? Yes, now be quiet. Imangi Studio's Temple Run is a new game available for free on the Apple App Store. The premise is the same as other games in this genre. See how far you can get while avoiding obstacles and collecting as many coins as you can. The market is flooded with this style of game, and the reason is that most of the games are addicting as hell. Temple Run is no exception thanks to the new game play elements it brings to the table to help set it apart.

...

DARK HORSE COMICS

ABE SAPIEN DEVIL DOES NOT JEST #1 JOHNSON CVR $3.50
ANGEL & FAITH #2 REBEKAH ISSACS VAR CVR $2.99
ANGEL & FAITH #2 STEVE MORRIS CVR $2.99
BERSERK TP VOL 35 $14.99
FINDER LIBRARY TP VOL 02 $24.99


DC COMICS

ACTION COMICS #1 2ND PTG $3.99
ALL NEW BATMAN BRAVE AND THE BOLD TP $12.99
ALL STAR WESTERN #1 $3.99
AMERICAN VAMPIRE #19 (MR) $2.99
AQUAMAN #1 $2.99
BATGIRL #1 2ND PTG $2.99
BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #1 $2.99
BATMAN THE WIDENING GYRE TP $17.99
BLACKHAWKS #1 $2.99 ...

Fables #109 (DC Comics/Vertigo)
By Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Joao Ruas

In part two of “Inherit the Wind,” now that it seems the first part will come true, Ambrose reveals to his parents the prediction Ozma made about Bigby and Snow White’s cubs many months ago. The cubs are now being tested by the late North Wind’s minions, but it turns out the winds don’t really have any more idea how to choose a king than the cubs do what makes a king. As the trials begin, in the “Pan Ozian Empire,” our ragtag bunch of heroes continues their quest to destroy the Nome King. I absolutely love how much Oz lore Bill Willingham has brought into this title, and I particularly like the fact that he didn’t settle for the most well-known characters, but instead has crafted a story starring the likes of Jack Pumpkinhead, the Sawhorse, the Glass Cat, and Bufkin (world’s greatest flying monkey). I also like the way Mark Buckingham depicts these characters. Jack is understandably reminiscent of the Merv Pumpkinhead character from Sandman (although Jack, of course, came first by many decades), but that’s hardly a complaint. The newest direction for Fables is not only intriguing, but it’s also wonderfully entertaining, which is the perfect combination.
...

The Red Wing #3 (Image Comics)
By Jonathan Hickman, Nick Pitarra, Rachelle Rosenberg

The war across time is heating up, as a missing Red wing pilot finds himself facing a totally unexpected enemy, and the main base finds itself under attack. As much as I love Jonathan Hickman’s writing and as much as I like the basic premise of this series, I think this is the issue where the out-of-this-world scientific stuff is starting to lap me. Hickman takes the model of time travel he presented in issue one (which, to be frank, I still don’t entirely understand) and changed it up with a twist that probably makes perfect sense to a physicist, but has sadly left me behind. This wouldn’t be such a bad thing – I really don’t think it’s necessary to understand all of the physics behind a story to understand the results – but this is a case where how time travel works seems to be fairly integral to comprehending the plot. The fact that I can’t wrap my brain around it is making it more difficult to enjoy the book. Maybe it’s just me, maybe everybody else is having no trouble playing along here, but I’m just not getting it. Nick Pitarra and Rachelle Rosenberg are having more success with this book – it’s very good visually and looks unlike any other science fiction property I’ve ever encountered. Hopefully, the finale of this miniseries will help bring things into focus, because issue three just lost me.
...

Darkwing Duck #16 (Boom! Studios/kaboom!)
By Ian Brill, James Silvani, Sabrina Alberghetti

The St. Canard mayoral race is hotter than ever, as Darkwing Duck and Launchpad McQuack run a stringent contest not only against each other, but also against a third candidate. It gets worse, however, when all three of them are captured by yet another newcomer on the St. Canard supervillain scene – Suff-Rage! Not only does Ian Brill give us a groanworthy new supervillain to explore, but this issue also wraps up the mayoral storyline in hysterical fashion. The battle with the villain is actually kind of intense – as intense as Darkwing typically gets, at least – but the last few pages give us some of the best jokes this title has yet produced. The newspaper gags are particularly sharp, and James Silvani works in some nice visual gags in the crowd scene that Disney fans will enjoy. As satisfying as the end of this story is, the last few pages are really exciting. Sadly, Boom! Studios’s time with the Disney license is almost up, but they’re going out with a Darkwing Duck/DuckTales crossover, and the finale of this book lays the groundwork for that nicely, not only bringing in the DuckTales heroes, but also the return of one of the greatest Disney villains of all time. In bittersweet excitement, I await the finale of this great comic book.
...