THE CAT'S MEOW: What's Good On the Shelf This Week 

INVINCIBLE #36 (Teen/Young Adult)

Robert Kirkman (w); Ryan Ottley (p/i); Bill Crabtree (c); Rus Wooton (l); cover by Ottley & Crabtree

Publisher: Image
Format: ongoing monthly series
Concept: Follow the adventures of young superhero Mark Grayson.  

In this issue: The Re-animen strike! After months of careful planning and preparation D.A. Sinclair unleashes his undead automatons on Upstate University . Luckily, a young man named Mark Grayson just happens to be attending classes there. He'll be able to do something to stop them;­ he's Invincible ! (from imagecomics.com)

Review: Mark and William are worried about their friend Rick, who's been missing for some time, so William comes up with a plan to find him—a plan that works, but not in the way they were expecting. One thing I love about Kirkman's writing is the humor he injects throughout the story, from Robot's “pickle loaf sandwich” line to Mark and William's dialogue as they attempt to carry out his plan. And the art team really shines here. Not that the art isn't always great—it is—but the two double splash pages featuring Mark flying above the city and the Guardians of the Globe in battle are simply SPECTACULAR.

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KRYPTO THE SUPERDOG #3 (of 6): “Bad Moon Rising”/”Trouble By the Waddle” (All Ages)

Jesse Leon McCann (w); Min S. Ku (p); Jeff Albrecht (i); Dave Tanguay (c/l); cover by Scott Jeralds

Publisher: DC
Format: six-issue miniseries
Concept: Flying in from his hit TV cartoon, Krypto the Superdog arrives with a fun-filled six-issue miniseries!

In this issue: A harvest moon foretells trouble for Krypto and Streaky! (from dccomics.com)

Review: There's a big harvest moon out tonight, and it's having a hypnotic effect on all the cats in Metropolis—including Streaky! (Although, Krypto and Kevin joke that everything makes Streaky sleepy.) Turns out Mechanikat and Snooky-Wookums are behind the dastardly scheme. How can Krypto foil their plans and confront a hypnotized Streaky? Look for Superman's creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, to be name-checked. Speaking of Superman, the Man of Steel himself makes a guest appearance in the backup story, which also features the Penguin's wingmen Artie, Griff and Waddles. Seems that Ace the Bathound has been assigned to make sure that Penguin boards a plane and leaves the country while Batman (his PARTNER, not his master) is busy elsewhere. Waddles accidentally gets sucked out of said plane and lands—wouldn't you know it—lands inside Superman's Fortress of Solitude. How he comes up with a plan to stop the two dogs and create a mind gorilla (at which point Ace makes a PLANET OF THE APES reference) is up to you to find out, faithful reader!

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MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS #7: “Like a Juggernaut!” (All Ages)

Tony Bedard (w); Shannon Gallant (p); Cory Hamscer (i); Adriano Lucas (c); Dave Sharpe (l); cover by Chen, Florea and Guru eFX

Publisher: Marvel
Format: ongoing monthly series
Concept: Super-soldier from World War II. Weather Goddess. Super-strong alter ego of scientist Bruce Banner. Spider-powered web-slinger. Giant-sized crimefighter. Brilliant armored inventor. Feral mutant brawler. Together, they are the world's mightiest heroes, battling foes that no single super hero could withstand!

In this issue: Treasure hunter Cain Marko steals a cursed ruby and gets more than he bargained for when he is magically transformed into the indestructible Juggernaut! The mighty Avengers rush to help earthquake victims, only to be confronted by this powerful new foe. Now it's up to Storm and Wolverine to save countless innocents from a man who cannot be beaten and cannot be stopped! (from marvel.com)

Review: I'm approaching this title having never read an AVENGERS book before. Sure, I know who they are and I've read some of the characters' individual books (Captain America, Hulk, Spider-Man, Wolverine, etc), but I've never read the TEAM books. How this series compares to the regular series, I cannot say. I can say that I find these stories to be well-done and entertaining. I'm familiar with Juggernaut from his appearances in the X-MEN comics and shows, but not so familiar with Cain Marko and how he became Juggernaut in the first place, so it was a surprise to see Marko come across as a rather likeable guy at first. But Wolverine senses that something's not right, and we soon see what Marko's really up to. And then the transformation occurs. I like how Juggernaut is this big, strong, unstoppable force, yet he can't bring himself to harm children. It just goes to show that even the bad guys can show some humanity.

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TRADES/GRAPHIC NOVELS:  

AVENGERS AND POWER PACK ASSEMBLE TP (digest) collects the AVENGERS AND POWER PACK ASSEMBLE miniseries.

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To be included in next week's column:

PERHAPANAUTS: SECOND CHANCES #2

RUNAWAYS vol. 2 #22

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #102

USAGI YOJIMBO vol. 3 #98

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I'd like to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Try not to eat too much! (Easier said than done, I know.)

By thy side,

John “Figaro” Norris

Nov 20, 2006

Any questions or comments, contact me at comicsintheclassroom @ gmail.com