Week’s End – November 29th 2009

Week’s End is here, and with it a note that I’m taking another Month off from Month’s End, rather I’m just going to say the comic of the month and the most anticipated comic of next month. Month’s End is sort of tricky because often it feels like I’m recycling old Week’s End posts so I want to boil it down to just 2 key parts of the end of the Month and see how that works out.
Now with that said let’s move onto the comics.
Comic of the Week: Image United #1
I’ve stated in the past that some comics aren’t going to get the win just for a higher score. Image United is a good example of that as this week’s issue really blew me away with some gorgeous art and a lot of great character moments but at the same time the plot was very thin.
Though the thing plot was made up for as the characters where all written incredibly well and the artwork was absolutely gorgeous. A stunning view to the eyes and having each character drawn by their creator was such a brilliant idea.
While this issue was really something that Image fans will probably appreciate more then anyone else I still loved the hell out of it and for me it was the best comic this week.
Moments of the Week: Black Lantern Batman, DIE and Omega Spawn
Seeing Batman as a Black Lantern was absolutely awesome this week. It’s a damn shame he wasn’t a major player in the story because I really did love this moment and it was just so awesome seeing him. DC Direct, take note of this and make this figure with Blackest Night series 3.
Of course the awesome final 2 page spread that just left us all excited for more. Sure, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow are all sure to be back to normal pretty soon but I’m certain that Ice will stay dead or maybe even Donna Troy.
What really makes this moment work is the build up. We see all the heroes assembled to fight this great menace, you’ve got the heavy hitters like Superman and Wonder Woman, Nekron doesn’t stand a chance. Then we get thrown over a loop and they good guys are now the bad guys, with very few major heroes left to combat this threat. Awesome way to end the issue.
While this moment was spoiled a month ahead of time as well as with that awesome Jim Lee cover I still loved it. I’m dying to know why Al went bad and even more so I’m dying to see Jim and him go head to head. This moment just appealed to the Spawn fan in me in so many ways, I can’t wait for more next month.
Cover of the Week: Image United #1 Jim Lee variant
Santa, if you’re out there, this baby is at the top of my Christmas list. Seriously this cover is just so awesome in so many ways. For one Lee does a great job of putting in all the characters without making it feel cramped in any way.
Of course what really makes it work is how wicked Omega Spawn is, that evil laugh you can tell he’s chuckling as Ripclaw desperately tries to wound him but fails. It all just looks so great and seeing Lee draw all these characters again was so much fun, I love this cover.
Artists of the Week: Rob Liefeld, Erik Larsen, Jim Valentino, Marc Silvestri, Whilce Portacio and Todd McFarlane.
Making a rare exception here by giving 6 artists the spot rather then 1. But I give top billing to Rob Liefeld, yes that Rob Liefeld the same Liefeld who’s art usually brings me sorrow and anger but really impressed me with some incredible lay out work and solid work on his characters.
Though everyone impressed me. From Erik Larsen, to Todd McFarlane. Marc Silvestri even with his 2 pages of extra character art from outside the opening scene. It was all gorgeous looking stuff from all the artists and I loved every page of it.
Character of the Week: Nekron
Much as I loved the character work in Image United #1, I have to give it to Johns for revealing Nekron to be a serious badass who turns out to be a more major threat to the DCU then anyone figured. I wasn’t sure how this  villain would come across but Johns did a great job making him a total badass and making me want to see more of him.
Comic of the Month: Invincible #68
This month had plenty of good and great reads but I have to give it to Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley for really impressing me this month with a great way to start  back up with Invincible. Some jaw dropping moments and beautiful art made this one an easy choice.
Movie of the Month: Turtles Forever
I rarely get to go to the theater, but when I do I often review whatever movie I just saw. Now this one will probably be a rarity at the end of the month but it’s still something I want to try and what better movie to kick this off then a movie that really does feel like the end of an era.
If you missed my Turtles Forever review, to sum it up, it had some issues but deep down I still loved it and it really appealed to the TMNT fan in me. I really hope we get a DVD of this one real soon as it is a really great movie that no TMNT fan should miss.
Most Anticipated Comic for December: Angelus #1
While this series hasn’t been at the forefront of my radar, I still added it to the pull list as it’s Ron Marz and Stjepan Sejic the great team behind Witchblade. Though lately Witchblade hasn’t been quite as enjoyable as when I started reading, so I’m really excited to see them with this mini-series in hopes that they can recapture some of that magic while focusing on Dani and making her a more interesting character.