Wow, this one comes as a surprise. People that know me no doubt realize that I didn’t hold Turner’s work in very high regard (I often referred to him as this era’s Rob Liefeld), but this news comes as a complete shock:

CBR – Michael Turner Passes Away at 37

We here at Comic Book Resources are very sad to report that artist Michael Turner has died after a long battle with cancer. He was 37. Aspen Comics’ Vince Hernandez told CBR News Saturday morning that Turner passed away Friday night at 10:42 Pacific Time at Santa Monica Hospital in Calfiornia. The news spread quickly at Wizard World Chicago, during what would have otherwise been a riotous night at the hotel bar, the mood suddenly turned somber with remembrances of Turner from friends and acquaintances. A minute of silence will be observed during Wizard World Chicago Saturday afternoon.

Rest in peace, Mr. Turner.

Lots of books this week! Reviews added as I finish reading. First up:

New Avengers #42 / Mighty Avengers #15
I’m basically treating these as one book, since they’re both really just filling in the backstory of the Secret Invasion. NA deals with Spider-Woman, and MA with Hank Pym.

Like I’ve said before: I really like these SI fill-in issues. I know some people are sceptical and think Bendis is just making shit up as he goes along, but even if that’s the case, all these events tie together very very well, and are making for an interesting story.

NA is good, and pinpoints when Spider-Woman is replaced (in a panel that should be very familiar to red-blooded, women-loving fans), though it is hazy on exactly what happened to Jessica Drew afterwards. I’m particularly interested in seeing how the Skrulls handled House of M.

MA is less interesting than NA, but I suspect that’s because Hank Pym isn’t very interesting in and of himself. Basically, we see how he was replaced, though the when of it is less clear than Spider-Woman’s, as well as how Skrull Pym shares human Pym’s obvious inferiority complex. (C’mon, GIANT MAN? Dude’s overcompensating!)

Anyway, they’re both interesting, though not really necessary to the overall Secret Invasion storyline. I prefer NA to the MA, but, again, that’s ‘cos Pym isn’t really all that interesting. Both stories show you the very strange process that the Skrulls undergo in order to become undetectable versions of their targets, though neither shows what becomes of the victim.

I wonder if we’ll find a Skrull prison at some point in SI, or if everyone who has been replaced is (comic book) dead?

Secret Invasion: Runaways / Young Avengers #1
The two teams get thrust into one book where they don’t actually meet up, save for Xavin and Hulkling. It’s pretty much the story from Secret Invasion, where we saw the YA get their asses handed to them by the Skrull invaders, with a little bit tacked on about the Runaways.

It’s pretty good, but needs to diverge from the main book a little more to be worthwhile. I wish I’d been following Whedon’s Runaways run a little closer.

Final Crisis #2
I still don’t know what’s going on. Half the book reads like a Morrison-esque version of [i]Kingdom Come[/i], while the rest seems like a regular comic book. There’s no explanation of who anybody is, and I actually forgot about an entire subplot from the first book.

In short: more of Morrison’s stream-of-consciousness writing, with an uncertain future to come.

Iron Fist #16
God, I was dreading this issue all month, and now that it’s arrived, I see it’s still Fraction and Aja, and it’s glorious. It’s actually quite great, and confirms for me that Fraction wasn’t the script monkey for Brubaker. (Protip: check Brubaker out in Times Square when Danny’s talking to Luke!)

It’s great, it’s grand, it’s glorious, and has a few laugh-out-loud dialogue bits for me. (“Yay, nunchuks! Yay, math!”)

Next month is the beginning of the new team (Duane Swierczynski, whom I’ve never heard of, is writing), and I dread it, especially after the awesome set up that Fraction gives us and Danny. By all that’s good and holy, I hope they don’t screw it up.

Mythos: Captain America
This books is great. I’m quite impressed with Paul Jenkins. He takes a simple retelling of Cap’s origins and (unlike the original version) paints a picture of the 98 pound weakling Steve Rogers that’s believable not only as a frail child of the depression, but also as the seed of the heroic and morally upright Captain America.

We see him at his sick mother’s bedside, drawing her pictures to raise her spirits, and expressing a desire to simply forget his life and its hardships. Her reply is simple, and really sums his adult self up: “Always be proud of who you are and where you came from. Never forget the people who helped you get to where you’re going.” From there, the book continues through the administration of the super-soldier serum up to him being rediscovered in present times, and the whole thing caps off in a moment that (painfully) illustrates the depth of the man’s commitment to his country, his comrades, and shows just how much of a man out of his own time he feels. The whole thing is fantastically sentimental and emotional.

On top of that, the art is gorgeous. Paola Rivera paints the book in a realistic and almost Rockwellian style that well fits the era.

Apparently Mythos is a series of one-shots in this style, but I don’t recall having seen any of them before. Based on this book, I think I’ll look them up.

Captain America #39
What can I say that I don’t say every month? It’s, again, a great pulpy, spygames, noirish yarn that ends like an old serial with a big tease leaving me wanting more. more! MORE!

The Red Skull-backed “Third Wing” political movement is picking up support with the American public, and all it needs is a boost to get it going like a steam train. So, how about an endorsement from a newly-resurrected Captain America? Meanwhile, Sharon’s predicament is not forgotten, and Cap (Bucky) is on the trail of the Third Wing.

We know the whole arc is going to culminate with a big rumble between the Caps, and we’ll quite probably see an eventual hard-fought and well-earned acceptance of Bucky by the American people, but I’m really eager to see it get there and the “next episode” stuff is totally making me crazy with anticipation!

I’ve been waiting forever, it seems like, and the day is finally here! Well, not THE day, as that’s in September, but this is definitely A day! The Spore creature creator has been released to much joy in my heart!

So far, I’ve made about twelve creatures, and could probably spend the next three weeks doing just this. That’s trouble.

Some of my favourites so far:

The rest can be found on my Sporepedia page!

I’m in Calgary right now, doing some work. This is horrible for a few reasons:
1) I can’t play with the Spore creature creator because this laptop is crap.
2) I can’t play Age of Conan, so I’m going to be totally outlevelled.
3) I can’t buy new comics today.

On the plus side, it’s actually quite nice here, and I’m getting sleep without Munchie jumping on my face every morning, and I have been able to do a little work on commissions since I have Photoshop on this computer.

Maybe I’ll upload a work in progress later…

Moon Knight #19
The issue ties up the arc with Black Spectre and the crazy weaponry he stole from SHIELD/Stark. (Or from the guy that stole from them, more accurately.) Basically, he wants to make the crowd at a “Real Heroes of the Initiative” (IT people and secretaries) parade into his slaves. Spector does the hero thing and the whole issue ends with Spector (not Spectre) watching SHIELD dismantle his home.

What’s going on here? He’s standing just up the street watching them move his stuff. Is he under arrest? There’s no guards around? Why don’t SHIELD know who he is? And what’s really up with he and Khonshu?

The next issue is a completely new team doing a story with Werewolf By Night in it, so I don’t know if these questions will be addressed there, or if they’ll be dropped completely.

Angel #9 (I think)
The last in a series of issues made up of a short stories. This one focuses on the electric girl, some crazy dude, and Gunn, whom we now know was vamped in the final battle at the end of the TV series.

It’s all still fillerish, but provides some background to the main storyline, explaining where people were and what they were doing when L.A. became HELL.A. The problem here is that I don’t really care about the electric chick, even though she was mega hot in the show, and I don’t even know who the End Is Nigh crazy dude is, so it’s essentially a full-length comic and price for maybe 6 pages of Gunn’s story, which wasn’t all that illuminating when you get right down to it.

Eternals #1
Kicking off from the somewhat disappointing Gaiman mini-series, this new Eternals series focuses on the internal power struggle with the good and bad Eternals, and whether they can come together in time to fend off “the Horde”, which seem to be flying space bugs. It’s a serviceable enough beginning, but, hello, did nobody realize they just did TWO Annihilation series?

Well, whatever the case, the Daniel Acuna does the art, so I think it’s gorgeous and is a heck of a step up from Romita Jr. (sorry, true believers!), and the story was decent. In the end, however, it does seem like it’ll read better as a trade, but don’t they all these days?

Green Arrow and Black Canary
Another fun romp. This book’s one of my favourites. GA and BC found Plastic Man frozen last issue, and thaw him out. Meanwhile, Speedy and the Brit are watching a farmhouse. Thankfully, action ensues, and we get a big fight scene, and some fun interaction between GA, BC and Plastic Man as they wait to hear from Speedy.

It doesn’t sound like much, and it really isn’t, plot-wise, but it’s a nice introduction to a few new characters, a fight, and the arrival of another of GA and BC’s friends, and the promise of a great issue next month!

New Universal: Shockfront
This one is pretty great. We’re introduced to a couple new powered individuals, and get some insight into how this universe differs from both our own, and the 616. Cool stuff, really. It’s a non-heroed universe, but some familiar names pop up, and we get another peek at the Watchman-like history of the world.

It’s all building up to something (I hope) and, thankfully, for once I have no idea what the long game is just yet. Go Ellis.

Secret Invasion #3
This is awesome. Honestly. Fucking awesome. Fuckawesome.

1) Bendis teases retconning all of Civil War (which I don’t believe is true).
2) Massive superhero combat with the Skrulls’ plan unfolding to devastating effect.
3) Who’s awesome? Nick mother-fucking Fury, that’s who.

This is (so far) the best Big Event that I’ve read in ages. There’s enough plot development between this and the Avengers books that the action actually feels meaningful, and not just like it’s pasted together for the purpose of having an event to sell books.

Good job, Bendis. Don’t fuck it up now.

JSA #16
Great, as usual. JSA is probably my favourite DC book right now. This one picks up where the last left off, but takes a turn I didn’t see coming. Gog walks among us, and actually I hope the whole thing’s on the up and up. I think, for once, it might be more interesting to see miracles instead of huge brawls, with maybe a messianic sacrifice to end things off.

It’s definitely more interesting than what’s been going on in JLA recently. Perhaps it’ll tie into Final Crisis’ evil Gods?

Midnighter #20
Okay, so apparently Midnighter’s a fan of Sin City, and has a real mean time with the guy that impersonated him for the last few issues. He’s looking to find the people that hired him to come after Midnighter’s family.

The problem with this all is that Midnighter really just ends up looking like a dick. By the time the book ends, I’m not getting that “gritty and violent hero” vibe so much as a “this dude’s basically evil, and looking out for his family”, which is fine, except that’s not traditionally how Midnighter’s come across.

On top of that, this is the last book of his series, so the that’s the last impression of him I’m going to get, which will colour my opinion of the series. Otherwise, the book’s perfectly serviceable, even if Apollo looks kinda screwy.

Buffy Season Eight #15
Fantabulous wrap-up to the “Wolves at the Gate” storyline. It has everything, really, huge fight scenes, daring do, magic spells, Dracula with a sword, and giant robots.

Drew Goddard does well with Joss’ people, and I forget that this isn’t an actual episode from the TV show and get all emotional about halfway in. Nice, nice work.

Also: lesbians.

The Dark Tower: Long Road Home #4
More of the same, really. I enjoy them, but they also feel so short that I think they’d probably be best read in trades. This series is actually worse in that way than the last, as almost half of the action takes place within Merlyn’s Grapefruit and Roland’s mind. You get a few pages of brain scenes, some of Roland’s ka-tet out in the real world, and then the whole thing’s over for the month.

Is it good? Yeah, I think so. The art’s still great, and the story is fantastical and original, but, really, we’ve spent two issues on the side of the road now.

Avengers/Invaders #2
Last issue focused on the Invaders stumbling into 2008 and then meeting up with the Mighty Avengers. This issue shows their inevitable hero vs. hero misunderstanding battle and then teases the New Avengers getting involved.

It’s pretty good, really, except that it kind of gives the New Avengers an almost villainous vibe through their dialogue. On top of that, this is a twelve-issue series that’s apparently taking place after Civil War, but before Secret Invasion, so we’re going to have a year’s worth of books which are already being told out of continuity and can only get worse as time goes on.

Does that matter? Not really, but it may become hard to keep track of.

Anyhow, this book is pretty good, and there’s the potential for some interesting stuff, especially between Bucky and the new Captain America.