They brought arms...to an arms control conference

Hello all. My sincerest apologies for being absent for a couple of weeks. I was at the Grand Canyon lat week and well, I was distracted. In an attempt to keep things fresh, I've decided to change things up when it comes to reviews starting next week. From now on, I will be choosing my favorite books of the week and reviewing those only. 

American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest #2 ****1/2
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Sean Murphy
Cover Artist: Sean Murphy
Publisher: Vertigo

Sometimes a spin-off story comes out of a book and you're left questioning whether that was a good idea. In this particular case, it was an amazing idea. Not only has Snyder kept the original series fantastic, this spin-off is absolutely brilliant stuff as well. The story is great. A search for a cure, sounds simple right? Believe me, it's anything but simple. And the art is gorgeous, really gorgeous. Murphy does an amazing job of enhancing Snyder's story.


FF #6 ***1/2
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Greg Tocchini
Cover Artists: Mark Bagley
Publisher: Marvel

This issue was kind of weird. First of all, not one member of the Future Foundation makes an appearance. That's right, not a one. This issue takes us on a journey across time and space. We get to learn about what happened to Blackbolt at the end of War of Kings and a bit about some ancient civilizations deep in space. Overall, I thought it was an interesting issue, but a tad confusing considering it didn't really have much to do with the current arc.

New Mutants **1/2
Writers: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Artists: Leandro Fernandez and Andres Mossa
Cover Artist: Marko Djurdejevic
Publisher: Marvel
This entire issue is pretty much all about making Dani look great, boring. Like any true X-Man fan, I was pretty excited about his return. I'm still pretty excited. But this issue, which also happens to be his rescue, was a little too uneventful for me. Which is weird, considering how much action goes on.

X-Men: Schism #1 ****1/2
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Carlos Pacheco
Cover Artist: Carlos Pacheco, Frank Cho, and Nick Bradshaw
Publisher: Marvel

This issue was fan-freaking-tastic! While I was growing up the X-Men always had one constant enemy, the Sentinel. Magneto, Apocalypse, Mystique, and all those other mutant villains would come and go as they pleased. But Sentinels were always the ever present symbol of humanity's hatred towards the mutants. This issue brings them back in an outstanding fashion. This issue has a couple of twists and turns that will leave you thinking "what the hell just happened."

Gladstone's School for World Conquerers #3 ****1/2
Writer: Mark Andrew Smith
Artists: Armand Villavert Jr. and Carlos Carrasco
Cover Artists: Armand Villavert Jr. and Carlos Carrasco
Publisher: Image

This book is totally awesome. The writing is humorous and smart and witty. And the art is unique, eclectic, and very cool. This issue was just as great as the others. Kid Nefarious is positively hilarious. The two brothers that go to visit their mom in prison were heartbreaking. If you're looking to start a fairly unknown but great book, this is it.

My DC review can be found here!