My favorites are displayed below, but you should definitely head over to Mari’s site to check out the rest.

These are a few of my favorites. Check out the rest on Joe D’s Flickr Photo Stream.

As I have pointed out numerous times, The Walking Dead is my favorite comic book to date. It’s only competitor is Fear Agent. Time and again Robert Kirkman has pushed the limits of the survival horror genre, and of comic books in general.
The rape of Michone, the horrific retaliation bestowed upon the Governor, the unexpected death of many characters, including Rick’s wife and baby; Robert Kirkman has truly proven that this book is not about zombies, it’s about the survivors.

The most recent issue of the Walking Dead, issue #57, pushed another boundary: the attempted rape of Rick’s child.

In this issue the survivor’s arrive at an onramp to the interstate as they continue their journey towards Washington D.C.
Rick and Abraham decide to take the interstate towards Rick’s former home town in order to raid the police station for supplies. Of course Rick insists upon taking Carl along for the ride so that he can keep an eye on him. Upon nightfall Rick and Abraham decide to make camp.
It is soon thereafter that a group of rednecks attack Rick, Abraham and Carl in their sleep in attempt to rob them.
In a rather shocking series of panels Carl is dragged away from his father and has his pants ripped off. Thankfully Rick is able to come to Carl’s aid before things go further.

This was such a horrible turn in the story that in the letters section, Krikman actually felt the need to offer what could almost be translated as an apology to his readers.

Kirkman explains how this was a very difficult thing for him to write. He also explains that he and Charlie Adlard took no delight in this section of the comic.

Call it an apology, an explanation or simply an excuse, there’s no doubt in my mind that Kirkman’s email has been littered with angry letters of complaint.

Well I’m taking this extended weekend to make a very concerted effort to catch up on the goings on in the comic book world, starting by picking up a neglected stack of issues that have been waiting for me at my local comic shop. The issues have been piling up for around two months now.
And let me tell you, purchasing two months worth of comic books in one shot is somewhat sickening.

Being swamped with life in general, and now a stack of comics, made me start to wonder if I’m alone in this constant game of comic book catch-up.

So, how many comics do you read each month? Do you have any particular methods for keeping up?

Perhaps the problem here is that I read to many comics. Check out my pull list ( below ) and tell me what you think.

• Action Comics
• Action Comics Annual
• All Star Batman and Robin the Boy
• Wonder
• All Star Superman
• Amazing Spider-Man
• Amazing Spider-Man Annual
• Amazing Spider-Man Extra
• Batman
• Batman All RIP crossovers and minis
• Cable
• Captain America
• Detective Comics
• Fear Agent
• Hulk
• Incredible Hulk
• Iron Man
• Iron Man Annual
• JSA Kingdom Come Special Superman
• Justice League of America
• Justice Society of America
• Justice Society of America Annual
• Marvel Zombies 3
• New X-Men
• Punisher War Journal
• Punisher War Hournal Annual
• Secret Invasion
• Superman
• Superman Annual
• Tales of the Fear Agent
• Thor
• Uncanny X-Men
• Uncanny X-Men Annual
• Walking Dead
• Wolverine
• X-Factor
• X-Men

Check out the trailer while you still can at traileraddict. Otherwise you’ll need to wait until this Monday to watch it from the comfort of your home.

Update: Trailer Addict is now hosting the official trailer.

I’m slightly disappointed. There are very few special features. The IMAX scenes look amazing, but they just make the standard HD scenes much more obvious that they aren’t filling up my 16:9 aspect ratio television. The constant shifting between aspect ratios was just a little too distracting for my liking.

It’s still an amazing movie though. If you haven’t seen it for some reason, you should stop being an idiot and watch it.

Also: turns out I’m not dead. I just haven’t had the urge to write for quite a while.

However I am a little worried. With the success of The Dark Knight, Nolan will obviously direct a third installment of the franchise, and the question on everyone’s mind is, who will be Batman’s newest nemesis?
According to hollyscoop.com the Riddler will be making an appearance, as played by Johnny Depp. This matches up with a quote floating around from Gary Oldman:

Maybe we don’t need the Joker. Because we’ll have The Riddler.

The article also mentions that execs are pushing for the Penguin, a character David Goyer (screenwriter) has already expressed distaste for, and had rejected as a possibility (along with Catwoman) as an upcoming villain.

I hope the Goyer sticks to his guns and leaves the Penguin and Catwoman out, and I wish he would reconsider on the Riddler. It was a bold move using the relatively lesser known Scarecrow in the first film, and I would prefer something along those lines in the third. Perhaps the Ventriloquist or Hugo Strange… I wouldn’t even mind seeing Bane. But the Riddler? I just can’t take the guy seriously. He bores me. He’s not threatening. His crimes typically amount to little more than jewelry store knock-offs, and I can barely think of him in movie form without Jim Carrey popping in to my head.
Then again, maybe that’s the point. Take Johnny Depp, cast him as the Riddler and turn the character on it’s head. It just might work, and only time will tell if Nolan’s streak can continue.

The current Arc, I Against I, is shaping up to be yet another great story line.

When last we left Heath Huston and Nicholas in Hatchet Job #5 (issue #21) they were sucked in to a black hole while attempting to escape from the planet Neavsivia. Now they are stranded on an unfamiliar planet where they attempt to survive it’s harsh conditions.

I really love the looks of the civilization that Heath encounters on this new world. It seems to be a mix of an old Western town and a futuristic palace city. I’m not sure why, but I have a thing for alien civilizations that resemble towns from the Wild West… they intrigue me.

Rick Remender continually manages to keep me engaged throughout each and every issue, and by the end leaves me wanting more. I can’t wait to see where this story is heading.
Honestly, if you are not reading Fear Agent, I highly recommend that you pick up the trades. If you’re like me, you’ll be hooked on the monthly issues.

You can preview the first three pages of I Against I at the official Dark Horse Comics website.

Warning: there be spoilers in this review.

Action Comics #865: The Terrible Toyman gives us a glimpse inside the Toyman’s psychotic mind as he captures Jimmy Olsen to tell the “real” story of his origin. The Toyman claims he never killed Cat Grant’s son, and that the crime was instead committed by one of his life-like robots.
Although this is a basic origin retelling and continuity change (cringe!), Geoff Johns was able to keep me entertained and managed to make everything feel OK. He has a wonderful ability to give each character he writes a unique voice, something that is very important for convincing characters, and for convincing story lines.

Unfortunately there is one glaring flaw I could not get my mind around while reading this issue. If one of the Toyman’s robots had actually killed Adam Grant, Superman would not have been fooled by this. We are talking about a man who is able to see through flesh and bone, and to hear pulses. I am unconvinced that anyone, no matter what their level of genius, would be able to create a robot that would fool Superman in to thinking it was an actual human being.

Other than that flaw, this was a well written comic… plus it was hilarious to see the Toyman mistake Olsen for a 16 year old boy!