Randy Review July 4 Week

This week, a whopping 9 books. I"m maintaining way too high of an average here nowadays.
However, I am now able to safely drop one of these titles.

I can't get this damn thing to take my image uploads anymore. WTF?? Starting to get a little ticc'ed.

Chris and I had a brief phone meeting. We agreed on one book. One. And I think I bought all the same books (plus some) that he did, minus Detective.

Reviews upcoming.
And, to say the least, I was not pleased by the week.

From Worst, to Best:

#9
Ares
Conclusion
Wow. What a downer. Rather, what a letdown. This went out with a fizzle, and not a bang. It was a very chaotic last verse here. Unclear fight scenes, mangled dialogue. Hell, at one point I couldn't tell the Greeks from the Japanese. The ending- pretty much as expected, but was really hoping something cool would happen. Didn't. Weak, by-the-book tale from good to bad to good again. Sigh. I waited how long for this? Bad.
Rating: 0/5. Series Rating: 1/5.

#8:
Jonah Hex #9
Gettin' Un-Haunted
Wow, not only did it have the artist that I don't care for, the story was all over the place too, and not in a very smooth way. Thanks for the "what the hell is this Indian shaman all about" portion of the story that is never followed through with. First few pages- what was that about? Same or different girl from later? Or just a "girl representation" for overall? Man, this one was a stinker. Please, please stop using DeZuniga on this book. Always brings it down for me. May be good other places, but in comparison to others working on the book, this is not good. However, every book has a lapse, I feel that this is the Jonah version.
Rating: 1/5

#7:
Supergirl #7
Candor Part 2
Aaaaand.....I can now drop this series. Its still pretty, but man, where in the hell is this story going? Its soo...umm..what is it I"m looking for....chaotic. Didn't I use that phrase earlier? I got people who I have no clue who they are, I got Kara going all hallucinatory, I got Powergirl clueless as usual, and I gots fights where I don't know why there are fights. Get all that? I sure don't. This is just not a good book. Pretty. But I"m not buying this one for pretty.
Rating: 1/5

#6:
Uncanny X-men #475
Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire
I was hesitant to give this a try. It is a 12 part series. Of mutants. BUT, written by the usually successful Ed Brubaker. OK, I"ll take a gander. It was a last minute grab. And, it was...ok. Now, quite honestly, I think it will take him awhile to clear up the mess that this book has been forever. So he is starting with a real negative. Now, it is the Shi'ar, and I remember some time ago the REAL Avengers dabbling with the Shi'ar somewhere- they even had one of the rejects hanging with them for awhile. (I may be wrong, but I"m at work and at a lack for resources.) So, I can go with the Shi'ar thing. I"m real unsure on this cast of characters though. I know of um, two. So, I still don't know how this is all going to turn out. It was a reasonable start though, and the story flowed for me. It was sensible. And um, it was pretty too. Always helps. And I really like the Wraparound cover. I will give this another issue or two.
Rating: 2/5

#5:
Battler Britton
Bloody Good Show, Part 1
Overall, this wasn't a bad book. I get to see Nazi's getting mowed down. I get WWII in North Africa. So that's good. I get cool looking airplanes, though I would like to actually see more of the planes. I love the covers that are upcoming, so I am a lock for this series. It would have to be awful inside for me to not buy these, and it wasn't. There were just a lot of characters and names and I couldn't really make heads or tails of Yanks and Brits. I had a real hard time with that. So I would be asking "why did he hit him" or "why is he spouting off?" Of course, when I read the "British-English", I knew that one wasn't a Yank at least.
Rating: 2/5

#4:
Grimm Fairy Tales
Snow White
As always, this is beautiful art. I find it very crisp and clear and neat. Maybe I just like that better. I dunno. This is a great story too- I love the end of this book. The end of this one has been the most fun since I started reading these. I laughed my ass off. Then it unfortunately got put back on, and it seemed to gain some padding. However, these are not the versions to read to your 5 year old. Maybe 9-10 though. This one...little graphic. Not gory, just um, graphic. But man was it fun reading.
Rating: 3/5

#3:
Secret Six
Six Degrees of Separation Part 2
The First Cut is the Deepest
So, there were some really interesting pieces here, and some not so. I really really enjoyed Deadshot. This was his book. All his. Good man. Best lines. But, I didn't care for his family "scene" at the beginning. Just didn't flow right. Ragdoll in the hospital? His fight really didn't seem to be that bad. Why is he in a hospital? Scandal was interesting in her um, questioning of Pistolera. Nice little touch there. And who in the hell CAN"T love the Hatter. Holy Crap, is he a ton o' fun in this. He is superbly written here. But, the partial-antagonist's return, although I liked it, just seemed rushed and clumsy. It just doesn't work for me in this manner. I liked it coming back, but I don't know, maybe I needed something...not necessarily grander, but...bolder? Flambuoyant maybe? This just seemed awfully meek. And, not an ending that is leaving me hanging either. The rest of the books (initial mini, one shot, ish 1 here) had some great and cliffhanging endings for me.
Rating: 3/5.

#2:
Devi (or Shekhar Kapur's Devi) #1
Bhairavi
My LCBS had one last copy of this, so I took a gander on it. And I liked it. Alot. Not only was it pretty, but it was extremely well written. I find that I am very interested in the topic. I find most mythology fascinating, and the Hindu mythology tucked away and not well expressed, so I was most interested in seeing how this went. Was an excellent good vs. evil fight to take up the first 2/3 of the book, and the interesting topic of "why can't I just kill him?". At least its brought up and not avoided like other books do.I had a hard time with the shift in the middle though. Jumped to real time, and didnt' quite follow it. Didn't know, and still dont' know, who that characeter is. The last page helped alot at least. A fine setup. Its very reminiscent of something else I read not too long ago though...I just can't place it.Anyway, I love the thought behind this. I'm very pleased that they are trying this line of storys to be told. I think its great material and I am onboard for most of it. Probably not Snake Woman, but maybe the first ish.
Rating: 4/5

#1:
Atom #1
My Life In Miniature Part 1
Indivisible
What is it with all the books this week jumping around in time. Atom starts out 100 days from now, then on page 2 is Ten Days ago. Can't I just have a Start-Finish of like one day, one hour or something along those lines anymore. Or maybe a Next Day? Sheesh. Do I really need a splash page of some JLA members (will they all be JLA members???) caught 100 days from now, then go ten days back for like, NO REASON??? GAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!Did I mention though that I liked this book? It was a long read. Lots of words. That's good though, because this one needed it. Little too much background on Ryan Choi, but no harm, no foul. I like the cast of characters already, and we haven't seen that much of them yet. As long as that cast of characters were around the poker table that is. Enjoyed the exploration as Atom for the first time. Panic set in as it should have, was nice little touch of realism and emotion.I still dont' get who the bad guys are though. Were these guys a usual foe of Palmers, or someone new being introduced? I like their broken English. Interesting touch.Its well written. Its Gail, so nothing less is expected.I'll try a couple more issues and see if it continues.
Rating: 4/5

That's it for this shortened week. Talk at ya all later. Maybe one day I can upload pretty images.