Take It Or Leave It – August 22, 2012

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Chris
This week I went with books that might not be on the average readers radar. There were some complaints here and there but over all it was a pretty good week for comics. And I’m pretty happy with the money I spent.

	The Amazing Spider-Man #692 There’s a lot of mixed opinions out there about this issue. I think people expect a certain thing from these kind of milestone issues and when it’s not exactly what they want they complain. For the cost of $5.99, which is a little steep, you get a full Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos story plus two extra stories by Dean Haspiel and Joshua Hale Fialkov and Nuno Plati. Slott’s part is the first part to the next ASM story arc featuring Spidey’s first official superhero sidekick. It’s a solid issue and sets up what this new character is all about. The two extra stories fall in two different time periods one back during the famous issue #50 (No More Spider-Man) and the other sometime recent while Spidey is working for Horizon. Both stories show off what the wall-crawler means to people in the Marvel Universe and in our own world. Oh and make sure to read the letters page for two very good letters. Verdict: 100% Take It
	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #13 It’s no secret that I love the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I’ve made it known that I grew up with them, had their toys, watch the cartoons, saw the movies. I even got to meet them in Disney World. So last year when I saw that a new comic series was starting I did something I’ve never actually done before, read a TMNT comic. And boy has it been a strange trip. By issue 13 we’ve got an interesting new origin for our heroes in the half shell, and been reintroduced to some classic allies and villains with new twists. If you’re new to this series, and I mean this particular comic run you may want to jump back and start at the beginning. This issue is definitely not new reader friendly, but at the same time if you have a basic understanding of the turtles you might be able to at least get the gist of what’s going on. It’s the aftermath of the first BIG fight, and starts out light hearted but quickly turns serious and doesn’t let up even after the end. Don’t go into this book expecting the old cartoon from the ‘80s, but due expect to be thoroughly entertained Verdict: Take It
	Super Dinosaur #13 I’ve heard some good things about Super Dinosaur, never read it though. I saw it on the shelf this week and figured why not give it a shot. I’m a fan of the other books Robert Kirkman does so there’s a good chance I’ll like this too. The only problem is I’m not sure if I do like it. Since I haven’t read the book before I’m completely lost, which is definitely my own fault for starting with issue 13 but any new reader at this point won’t know what’s going on. A nice recap paragraph would have done great for this book. My other concern is the artwork, it seems inconsistent and since this is my first exposure to Jason Howard I’m not sure if this is part of his style or not. Some panels have all kinds of detailed characters while others look like something you’d seen in one of those terrible cartoon network shows like Adventure Time, just two black dots for eyes and a black line for a mouth. For all of the problems it has what appears to be an interesting premise and is probably worth picking up in trades or digital copies, I don’t think this is something I want to fill up my comic boxes though. Verdict: Leave It or Trades
	Super Crooks #4 (of 4) Super Crooks is one of those books with a really great premise behind it. What happens if the superheroes actually beat all the super villain’s so they’re not really a threat anymore. They become a threat for someone else obviously. These guys are your usually comic book bad guys though, you actually want to like them. It’s the same way you want to like this book, but it just doesn’t quite happen. Luckily this is the last issue, though I’m sure there will be a Super Crooks 2 down the road. Mark Millar is really hit or miss, I loved Old Man Logan and Nemesis, Kickass 2 was boring and I’m still trying to decide how I felt about Superior. Super Crooks on the other hand was just missing something. I like the idea, I like the characters, I didn’t like the execution though. And like any Millar book it’s got that forced shock factor with vulgar language galore whether it’s needed or not. Verdict: Wait for a Trade
	America’s Got Powers #3 I really like America’s Got Powers, I also really hate it’s release schedule. If memory serves issue 2 came out back at the end of May, it’s now nearing the end of August and we’re just getting issue 3. I could barely remember what’s going on, and this is already kind of a confusing book. If issue 4 takes this long, it may just be worth waiting the rest out for trades. But as it is, this book is actually really good. It’s got action, some comedy, and a whole lot of mystery because who knows what the hell is going on. If you missed the first 2 issues try and find them or grab digital copies you won’t be sorry. Verdict: Take It

Chris talks a bunch on PodQuest each week. He's also been known to write about stuff from time to time. You can Email Chris or follow Chris on Twitter @Just_Cobb or Facebook

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