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.

Welcome to another edition of The Pull List Comic Reviews! This week Jonah Hex takes top billing, a couple more Blackest Night mini-series debuts and a slew of over-sized annuals and one-shots invade your pull list. As always, WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

PULL OF THE WEEK:

Jonah Hex #50
DC Comics – $3.99 US
Writers: Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Darwyn Cooke
Score: 9.5

The landmark 50th issue of Jonah Hex hits the stands, featuring a done-in-one tale of the scarred bounty hunter’s latest task: to locate and dispose of 50 various bad guys. The cost of victory, however, may prove to be too much to bear…

Jonah Hex is no stranger to violence. We’ve been exposed to his brand of “justice” for decades now, so it’s very easy to forget that, under all of that hatred, this killing machine does have a heart. Thankfully, writing team Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti weave a story that is sure to please the loyal Hex fans with plenty of merciless vengeance, while injecting a tragedy that goes to great lengths to humanize the central character.

Darwyn Cooke handles the art chores on this commemorative issue, further cementing how incredible a read this was. Gorgeous pencils accompany the artist’s usual cinematic flair, with numerous examples of how to kill a man mixed in with a few touching moments, and a final page that speaks volumes without the aid of dialogue. With the holidays around the corner, I’d gladly accept this final page in all of its original glory as a nifty Christmas gift.

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.

John Carle was right, this week will likely break my wallet. Its an Arvid Nelson fest with the end of Rex Mundi this week and the post-apocalyptic Zero Killer. It may, however, not be the end for Nelson’s Holy Grail epic as Johnny Depp has long been developing the movie.

From DC we have Batman and Robin #3, The Flash: Rebirth #4, Detective Comics #854,  Green Lantern # 45 and Kevin Smith’s new Batman The Widening Gyre. From Marvel, we have part 5 of the very good Utopia arc, with Dark Avengers # 8 that shows Matt Fraction is capable of writing an event in fewer than nine parts.  Also we have Secret Warriors #7.

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, Midtown Comics has a great listing of everything.

Happy reading!