Cult movie legend Bruce Campbell has been in and out of the limelight about a dozen times since his indie debut in Sam Raimi’s 1981 classic, Evil Dead. Since then, he’s been attached to most of Raimi’s other projects, from Spider-Man to Hercules and Xena. Back in 2007, Campbell decided to branch off a bit and spoof himself in the film My Name is Bruce.

The film was enough of a hit with fans that Bruce says they’re going back for a sequel.

In the film, Campbell plays an exaggerated version of himself, when a local town is tormented by an ancient demon, they figure to call the guy who’s fought them over and over again in movies. The movie carries some of Raimi’s horror/comedy formula, while pumping out some great moments. According to a recent e-mail to Ain’t It Cool News, Campbell is ready for a second go.

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Welcome to another edition of The Pull List Comic Reviews! Superboy’s Adventure comes to an end, Daytripper continues to be trippy and the Rhino gets a happy ending that may actually stick. As always, WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

PULL OF THE WEEK:

Adventure Comics #6
DC Comics – $3.99 US
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Francis Manapul
Score: 9/10

Superboy has been trying to “find himself” and determine if he’s more Superman than Lex Luthor, since his genetic make-up is made from both of them. Unfortunately, it’s Luthor who finds him first and serves notice that for all his intellect and power, Luthor still has that nasty little streak in him.

Honestly, this has been a fun, engaging run by superstar writer Geoff Johns. Equal parts adventure (which works great with the title) and drama, all revolved around Superboy’s own identity crisis, this arc hit all the right buttons without coming across as preachy or whiny; a testament to the writer’s considerable talent of making relevant topics matter in the pages of a comic book.

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Aliens vs Predator: Three World War #1 [of 6]
Dark Horse Comics – $3.50 US
Writer: Randy Stradley
Artist: Rick Leonardi
Score: 8/10

Machiko Noguchi has had her fill of aliens and predators, being the only person to spend any quality time with both species and live to tell about it. But when a rogue predator clan known as the “killers” slaughters a mining colony on Caparis VII and the Colonial Marines show her the startling footage, Noguchi realizes an unavoidable reunion is on the horizon.

While it’s been 15 years since writer Randy Stradley penned the Aliens vs Predator: War mini-series, to central character Noguchi it’s been 10 years since she stood side-by-side with a predator nick-named Broken Tusk against a horde of aliens and survived. In her time with the “hunters,” she came to understand their culture, including knowledge of a clan of predators that forego their sense of honor for the hunt and kill indiscriminately instead.

Believed to have been wiped out, the “killers” are in fact alive, and worse yet, they’ve found a way to not only control the “bugs,” but to use them as weapons as well. Stradley hits the ground running in this opening issue of this mini-series. Reading the aforementioned 1995 mini-series isn’t necessary – although I would recommend checking out the trade paperback as the story’s pretty good – thanks to the pace he sets in.

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Welcome to the first edition of The Pull List Comic Reviews for 2010! This week both Blackest Night and Siege took center stage with numerous titles, but don’t worry as the Caped Crusader and the Wall Crawler make appearances, too. As always, WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

PULL OF THE WEEK:

Blackest Night #6 [of 8]
DC Comics – $3.99 US
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Ivan Reis
Score: 9/10

When we last saw our heroes, well… let’s just say that some of them were no longer heroes. As black rings zoomed towards the Flash and Green Lantern, their friends and allies who had suddenly switched sides surrounded them. Superman. Wonder Woman. Green Arrow. And so on. With the universe slipping precariously into a never-ending pool of black, a new group of Lanterns have risen to the cause, and you won’t believe your eyes when you see who they are.

I’m starting to think that Geoff Johns should have been a major league pitcher as opposed to a writer, just with the sheer number of curve balls he’s thrown at readers throughout this series so far. Clearly outdoing himself, Johns put together a new group of Lanterns consisting of some of the most inspiring choices to date. The story beats keep pumping along, making the rapidly approaching ending all the more bittersweet.

Artist Ivan Reis continues to weave his magic in this series. Classic speedster moments? Check. Glorious double-page spreads? You bet. Jaw-dropping panels for significant moments? Of course! All this, and a slew of costume re-designs for the new Lanterns, just in case you didn’t know that Reis is drawing at a level that’s almost peerless. The art in this issue, and the series overall, can be summed up in one word: unparalleled.

The fifth installment of this mini-series received a Pull of the Week and a spot on the Best of 2009 list, so I wasn’t expecting an encore performance with this latest chapter. Shame on me. Both Johns and Reis raise the bar once again, and let the record show that, if this upward trend continues, I might not survive the series in its entirety. For sheer comic brilliance – and Lex Luthor! – this was easily the Pull of the Week.

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With 2009 coming to a close, the challenge was to pick and rank the 10 best comics from the entire year. I’ve estimated reading approximately 1,500+ issues over that time frame, so obviously it wasn’t the easiest task to complete. Still, after much deliberation, these are my picks for the 10 best comics of 2009.

1. Jonah Hex #50
DC Comics
Writers: Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Darwyn Cooke
Originally reviewed on December 3, 2009

Perfection. Defined as the highest degree of proficiency, skill or excellence, perfection is near impossible to achieve, especially when every comic ever printed is subjective in nature. You know, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and all that jazz. Still, when I thought about all the comics I’ve read this past year, this issue of Jonah Hex kept coming back to me. While not perfect (frankly, what is?), it’s pretty close.

A wonderful done-in-one tale following our “hero” as he diligently goes about his day job, in this specific case while hunting down 50 various bad guys who had it coming to them. A fine story on it’s own. Now add a dash of romance – or the bounty hunter’s version of it – to the mix, sprinkle in a little personal vengeance, and top it off with a jolting reminder of how cruel life can be, and you’re left with a portrait of a man who makes no excuses for who he is or what he does, life expectations be damned.

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300, one of the biggest hits of 2007, directed by Zack Snyder and based off the comic book mini-series by Frank Miller (The Spirit, Sin City the movie and comic series), is now supposedly getting a prequel. For the prequel, the story is set in time to see the battle of Marathon – which took place ten years before the events of 300.

During the battle, Xerxes’ father, Darius I, battled the Athenians. I believe this is passingly mentioned in a mocking tone in 300, when Leonidas denies acquiescing to Xerxes’ messengers, before kicking them down a giant hole in the middle of town.

Miller, who will again be writing and drawing the comic series before it’s taken to the big screen, has said to the LA Times, “It’s the Battle of Marathon through my lens” and that he’s just about ready to begin. Of course, the interesting thing about 300, and some might say the frightening thing about this new story; is the level of fact and stylization Miller had put into his original story.

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The Brazilian “Wonder Twins” of comic art, Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba, give us their first Vertigo book in the form of Daytripper #1 this week. These guys have worked with top talents in the industry like Joss Whedon (Dark Horse’s Sugar Shock), Matt Fraction (Casanova), and Gerard Way (Umbrella Academy).

Here we have their first solo work in the tradition of Vertigo focusing on the small psychological things of daily life like “how does a down on his luck obituary writer get out of the shadow of his famous father?” Apparently the ending to the first issue is a twist for the fantastic, and not at all expected. I’d expect nothing less from these extremely creative guys. Anytime these guys come out with something new, I can’t snatch it from the stacks fast enough.

The rest of the week is fairly light.  The other book I’ll be getting is Invincible Iron Man, in which we finally come to figure out how Thor and Captain America “reboot” Tony Stark. I think I’ve exclaimed enough how much I love this book, and to say the least Fraction and Larocca have not slowed down at all.

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Welcome to another edition of The Pull List Comic Reviews! This week, the Blackest Night event takes center stage, Bendis and Oeming make a triumphant comeback and Archie gets married (again). As always, WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

PULL OF THE WEEK:

Blackest Night #5 [of 8]
DC Comics – $3.99 US
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Ivan Reis
Score: 9.0

The mastermind behind the dead rising stands revealed as the Blackest Night prophecy inches towards becoming true, but will the unified heroes of the world have enough to stop it? Not if a late dinner guest bearing gifts has anything to say about it.

Geoff Johns welcomes you all to hell. How could he not? In the thirty plus years that I’ve been reading comics, I can’t remember a time when things looked so grim in a story thanks to this issue. The big guns of the Justice League arrive in time to assist the Flashes – Barry Allen and Wally West – in confronting Nekron as the Black Lanterns’ power battery reaches full charge. Fast forward to the end of the issue and only two heroes remain standing while the rest are chomping at the bit, dying to feast on some good, old fashioned heart muscle. And this is only the fifth issue in an eight-issue series?!? Wow.

Johns, along with artist Ivan Reis, are obviously toying with us and giggling madly along the way. The re-emergence of “Bruce Wayne” – his name was in quotations in the issue as well – signaled that the next phase was about to begin, but what he did to heroes like Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, etc I don’t think anyone saw coming, characters and readers alike. The sixth issue cannot get here fast enough, if you ask me.

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When it comes to the Terminator mythology, I often wonder if the War Against the Machines is best left unexplored. I mean, let’s be honest — it’s the glimpses of grilled rats and a desperate humanity that made it so frightening. Once Terminator: Salvation and Fox’s The Sarah Connor Chronicles spent a lot of time in the Can’t-Really-Be-Changed future, it became rather boring.

However, I think if you’re going to explore that bleak future, a Dark Horse series is the place to do it.  As you may have heard already, Zack Whedon has been given the enviable task of penning a new series that will explore the life and times of Kyle Reese. Before Reese was sent to 1984 to save Sarah Connor and inadvertently fathered John, he was just your average soldier. Whedon’s six issue series aims to bring him to life, and describe just what it’s like to live under the robotic regime.

Whedon is joined by some top-notch artists. The new “Terminator” series will be drawn by Andy MacDonald, who you’ll recognize from NYC Mech, Punisher War Journal. If you’ve read NYC Mech, you should be pretty excited as he’s really the man for Skynet’s rubble. But if you prefer to judge a comic book by its cover, you’ll undoubtedly be pulling these, as the covers will be done by Y: The Last Man’s Massimo Carnevale

The first issue will be on shelves by March 2010. Even though my interest in the Terminator franchise has really cooled, I’d be interested in picking this up.  2 hours of raging against the machines and scrounging for food is a bit much, but 6 issues strung over a period of months? That’s a dystopia I can invest in.

Welcome to another edition of The Pull List Comic Reviews! An incredibly solid week as we’ve got three Blackest Night tie-ins, some speedster action and a particularly “horrible” tale, but only one issue each week tops the “list.” Be sure to let us know what you thought of these issues, we’re always interested to hear from you, the readers. As always, WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

PULL OF THE WEEK:

Dark Reign: The List – Amazing Spider-Man One-Shot – Marvel Comics – $3.99 US
Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Adam Kubert
Score: 9.5

Norman Osborn made a list and he’s checking it more than twice as certain thorns in his side have gotten his full attention. Everyone from the X-Men to the Avengers have had to deal with him, and by now you’ve heard of how the Punisher went to pieces over his clash with the H.A.M.M.E.R. Director, so how will Spider-Man do? Hint: Spidey doesn’t win this one.

I’ll start with Dan Slott’s writing in this issue, and simply state that he crushed it. There’s no other way to say it, really. Sure, an argument could be made that Spidey should have done something by now, especially considering his history with Stormin’ Norman. Put that aside, if you ever wanted to see Peter Parker triumph at anything – he’s had a ridiculously long losing streak since “Brand New Day” – then this is the issue for you.

It’s been a few months since artist Adam Kubert penciled some pages, but with that amount of lead-time you knew this issue would be stunning. He failed to disappoint. Crammed with gorgeous visuals, the entire one-shot was a treat, even when the action had decidedly died down for the last act. One look at the very first page is all you need to know in regards to how good the art is.

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Before you get too excited let me say that this post is not about a new Buffy TV series or about the movie that others are making without Joss Whedon’s participation. No, this particular bit of news concerns yet another way in which the characters we all know and love from Buffy can live on in another form. In this case, it is via a series of motion comic webisodes based on Whedon’s highly successful series of Buffy Season Eight comics from Dark Horse.

Based on casting notices highlighted by Sci-Fi Wire, we know that the series will be based on the comics and feature the characters Twilight, the Big Bad of Season Eight, and evil British socialite Slayer Lady Genevieve Savidge, who wants to take Buffy’s place atop the Slayer food chain. The webisodes are also looking for actors to voice some other more familiar Buffy TV series characters as well including Faith, Kennedy and Robin Wood. Plus, they’re looking for a bunch of other new characters including a James Bond type.

Over at the Sci-Fi Wire site, they’ve got the full breakdown of exactly what the producers of this project are looking for. So, if you’re interested in getting involved and pursuing those voice acting aspirations, better get your headshots and tapes ready. Or, if you just want to watch, these webisodes go live sometime early next year.

Welcome to another edition of The Pull List Comic Reviews! We’ve got a lot off good issues to get through, so let’s get to it. As always, WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

PULL OF THE WEEK:

S.W.O.R.D. #1 – Marvel Comics – $3.99 US
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artists: Steven Sanders, Jamie McKelvie
Score: 9.0

Spinning out of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s seminal Astonishing X-Men run, S.W.O.R.D. is the new title focusing on the organization entrusted to ensure that alien invasions are kept to a minimum. The Sentient World Observation and Response Department’s co-commander, Abigail Brand, has enough on her plate as it is, but having Henry Peter Gyrich – yes, THAT guy – as your co-commander simply can’t be a good thing.

After making a name for himself with the critically acclaimed Phonogram series, Marvel thought that writer Kieron Gillen would be able to handle the launch of a new, ongoing series that has a lot of ties to it, and boy were they right. The juggling parallels between what Agent Brand must endure and the various plot threads that Gillen must keep going wasn’t lost on me; in fact, I’d say it only added to the story’s flow. Imagine Men In Black done up right.

So new that he could be considered a rookie, artist Steven Sanders is anything but. Sharp, clean pencils fill this issue from cover to cover, and while his interpretation of how Beast looks takes a little getting used to, ultimately it’s nit picking on an otherwise near-perfect comic. His rendition of Gyrich, especially, should be noted, as the character has never looked more dick-ish.

About as entertaining as an issue can be, this first issue manages to draw you in with quirky moments – Beast’s lovesick commentary, Lockheed’s binge drinking – and stunning revelations – hello, Kitty! – made this an incredibly easy selection for our Pull of the Week.

OTHER PULLS:

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