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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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! 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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Own an iPhone? Check. Love comics like Hellboy and Umbrella Academy? Check. Wish you could read them on your iPhone instead of having to lug around a bunch of paper comics? Check. But how? Fortunately, as of this week, you’re in luck because Dark Horse is making that last one possible and has released both Hellboy and Umbrella Academy for the iPhone and iPod Touch, much as they did recently with Star Wars. Can’t believe what you’re reading? Well, believe the following, from the official Dark Horse press release.

HELLBOY and UMBRELLA ACADEMY NOW AVAILABLE ON THE iPHONE

Dark Horse is proud to announce that Mike Mignola’s Hellboy and Gerard Way’s The Umbrella Academy are now available on the iPhone.

At the time of their publication, both Seed of Destruction and Apocalypse Suite were immediately renowned by critics as unique and talented debuts by independent creators.
Soon, industry heavyweights joined the chorus. Hellboy: Seed of Destruction is the beginning of the now legendary series Alan Moore calls, “a passport to a corner of funnybook heaven you may never want to leave.”
Similarly, Grant Morrison calls The Umbrella Academy “one of the great new comic books of this decade,” while Newsarama says the first volume of the series, Apocalypse Suite, is “flawless.”

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There is quite a bit of good stuff coming out this week, most especially is the collected edition of one of my favorite current series. Dark Horse has the collected trade of Umbrella Academy Dallas. This Eisner Award winning book written by My Chemical Romance front-man Gerard Way, and drawn by Casanova’s own Gabriel Ba is a gem of a series.

No matter what you may think of Way’s music, his comic writing is top notch. And if you’ve read Casanova then I shouldn’t have to convince you in regards to Mr. Ba.

From DC, we have the Absolute Promethea edition, its 100 bucks, but the least I can do is turn you on to the real Comics Curmodgeon’s (Alan Moore) ground breaking work with the awesome J.H. Williams III.  We also have the Sleeper Season 2 trade paperback, which if you like Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ Criminal and Incognito series for Marvel’s Icon, this is their first meeting. Trust me, you want this.

From Marvel, we have the constantly awesome Secret Warriors, and the Shang Chi Master of Kung Fu one shot. From Boom! Studios we have Die Hard #1. I just have to check this out, as this continues the adventures of John McClane in comic book form.

Could be forgettable, could not be, but at least you’ve got to give Boom credit for trying new things like this and Philip K. Dick’s Do Android’s Dream of Electric Sheep. As always, we here at The Flickcast care about what you read, so leave us a comment and let us know what you liked/didn’t like from this week’s comics.

For a more complete list of what comes out this week, check out the one at Midtown Comics.