Doctor Who #16 (2011-2012)

  The final issue of this series ends with the Doctor saving the day and then giving one of his signature speeches on peace and togetherness. It's a classic ending but the pacing is all wrong.

  Each story is set up like a modern Who tale, which is an hour long. But see, with each issue needing a good cliffhanger, the write way to pace these issues should be like the classic Who series which was rife with dramatic cliffhangers. Another reason why I think IDW lost the rights to Doctor Who.

  A  very good series that could have done so much more.

    

   Worth Consuming

  Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Uncanny Origins #14

 Here it is, the final issue of Uncanny Origins. The subject of this closing chapter is the martial artist Iron Fist. The hero might seem an odd choice to star in the last issue but at the time of this issue's publishing, Marvel had just come out with a new Heroes for Hire series in which Iron Fist was the star. Unfortunately, like Uncanny Origins, that series didn't last very long either with only 20 issues produced. 

   The Iron Fist featured in this issue is the 70s version of Danny Rand. Filled with anger over the murder of his father and later tragic death of his mother, young Danny sought vengeance when he was taken in by the kung-fu mastering monks of K'un-Lun. While I don't mind this version of Iron Fist, I must say that I prefer the more zen-like Danny Rand whose been occupying the Marvel Universe for the past 15 years. 

   This was a good issue with a flawless story and that's all because it's written by 70's comic master Len Wein who returns to character he co-created. The art by M.C. Wyman was quite good too and I liked his work on this series a lot more than Marc Campos whose style was very 90s and by that, I mean that the proportions were all wrong. But I would have liked to have Dave Hoover, this series first artist, back to do an animated style take on the kung-fu hero.

   Regardless of any of my nitpicking, this issue did something that is a mark of great comic book crafting in general- it got me interested in collecting and reading the 90s Heroes for Hire series as well as possibly delving into the original 70s series that later fused Iron Fist with Luke Cage, Powerman in one of the collect buddy cop comics of all-time. 
   
   Sweet Holy Christmas!

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Pulse #14

   In this, the final issue of the Pulse, Jessica Jones reflects on how she first met Luke Cage.

   The series that could ends with a very sweet story. While for the first time in about 5 issues, there's actually some action between superhero and supervillain. But sweet doesn't sell comics and that's part of why this book is highly underrated. But man, did Bendis sure try!

   At the end of this issue, one of the editors gives a small afterword explaining why the Pulse was to be no more. They claimed that because of upcoming storylines involving Cage and Jones in the pages of New Avengers, the publisher thought it was wasn't important to carry on this popular series. 

    Folks, that's code for this book isn't selling; no matter how popular the characters in this series might be. There's not a publisher on earth that's going to cancel a popular title. Well, unless they get the brilliant idea to reboot their entire line-up (I'm talking to you, DC) or don't want an upcoming film to be popular with audiences (Now I'm talking to you Disney/ Marvel.)

    The Pulse was a great little series. I've found many of these issues in the bargain bin and I highly recommend it. You could probably get the entire series for less than $30. You just have to dig these little gems out of the dollar boxes.

    Worth Consuming and worth the search.

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Fables Volume 22: Farewell (AKA Fables #150)

 

  Not only does this volume round out the trade paperback collections of Bill Willingham's Fables, this book as doubles as the final issue of the award-winning Vertigo series, #150. 

   At 160 pages, this very well may be the longest single issue in comic book history. For this last go round, Vertigo pulled out all the stops, including a tri-fold cover that features almost every character to have ever appeared in this series, a lengthy afterword by Willingham, and a slew of guest artists, including Neal Adams, Joelle Jones, and Gene Ha. Regular series artists Mark Buckingham and Steve Leialoha, who join Willingham to help this series go out on a very positive note. 

   Does that mean everyone has a happy ending? Not at all- this is Fables we are talking about. But the series did end in such a way that I don't need it to continue. 

   Right now, there is a miniseries called 'Fables: The Wolf Among Us' which is based on a video game of the same name. It takes place before Bigby married Snow White, so the events in that series shouldn't affect this series ending. But once that's over, I hope Vertigo breaks all of the rules of comic book publishing and let this series end with style and grace. (That doesn't mean I would be opposed to a live-action series on AMC someday...)

    A fantastic ending to a fantastic series that I began reading almost from the very beginning some 13-years ago. My best friend Todd got me hooked on this series right as the first trade came out collecting issues 1-6. With the ending of Fables, I'm a little saddened, as my friend Todd is no long with us. But I'm glad I got to finish this journey through the world of Fables that he didn't.

  Very Much Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

The Spirit #32

With the US Army threatening to send the mysterious new island in Central City's harbor back to the murky depths, the Spirit races to save Commissioner Dolan's nephew before it's too late. Meanwhile, Leprechaun detective Cormac is leading an army of hobos from Central City against an army of the undead. If their reanimated leader gets his hand on a stolen Irish artifact called the Celtic Stone before dawn, not only Central City but the entire world will be enslaved by a powerful Zombie King.

   Funny, exciting, and a little scary was this the final chapter of the story titled after the stolen rock, the Celtic Stone, and it was perfect. Former Eisner disciple Mike Ploog returned to the world of the Spirit to send this epic series out in style and he did just that! The plot was great- the art even better. I loved it!

    I just hate that this is the final issue of a fantastic Spirit series that highlighted some fantastic artists and writers.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Legends of the DC Universe #41

   The final issue of Legends of the DC Universe threatens to tear apart the very fabric of the DCU. With only the most annoying character in the history of DC Comics to aid him, Snapper Carr, the Atom must literally race against time! His mission is to prevent the workings of Chronos from stopping time itself after the villain set up a battery to drain a time machine called the Time Pool of temporal energy. Left running, the battery is causing velociraptors, knights, tanks, and sink holes from all of history to converge on the Atom's home of Ivy Town.   

   Will the tiny hero be able to save the day before time runs out? 

   The final issue of this dynamic series ended with lots of time-bending action. I enjoyed seeing tanks and dinosaurs destroying a small town, but I would've liked to have seen more of it. More variety too. I kinda wanted to see some of the old Justice Society heroes or even villains from that era, but then I remembered that at this point in DC history, they would've been on Earth-2. So, I guess they couldn't have made an appearance after all. 

   I also found myself doing something I didn't expect- liking Snapper Carr. When he was first introduced in the pages of Justice League of America, he was nothing more than a glorified sidekick with the job of either writing down the latest adventures of some of the heroes or get himself into trouble. He was clearly around to appeal to the younger generation in hopes that those young readers might relate to the character. But why they didn't use Robin or Jimmy Olsen for that role is beyond me. Still, writer Rich Faber did a really excellent job in making this Snapper a more of a  down-to-earth character who lacks confidence and doesn't over congratulate himself with those annoying snaps of his. 

   Legends of the DC Universe was a fun series and I'm a little sad to see it go. The New 52 tried to revive this idea slightly with its 'DC Universe Presents' series, but it just wasn't the same. On the bright side, there's still an 80-page Giant that I've yet to find and add to my collection so I got that to look forward to. But with DC being on a kick to bring back some old favorites as a result of its Convergence storyline, I don't see why the publisher couldn't revamp this dynamic anthology series once again.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.