Week In Review : All-Star Western #12 + America's Got Powers #3 + Web of Spider-Man #129.1

Hey folks! Another new week, another bunch of new comics for you! This week we got a trio that covers some excellent titles from the Big-3! Enjoy!- Waiting-for-the-weekend Akshay

All-Star Western #12 (DC)

Story : Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray

Art : Moritat

(Reviewed by Anant Sagar)

Ah, Jonah Hex! What new madness have you brought before us.

All-Star western takes place primarily in Gotham City back in the days of the wild wild west. Not the Will Smith movie. With our heroes (of sorts) Hex and Dr. Arkham captured and chained, we wonder what in God’s name is going on. Their “guest-star” this time, a crazy young lady by the name of Tallulah Black, has managed to escape the chains our friends are caught in and ends up saving their backsides all by herself. And boy is she violent! Chops of heads with an axe, throws knives, shoots bad guy brains out - damn this girl is nuts. She’s also tappin' Jonah!! Not much about Jonah Hex in this issue, seems to be very backstory driven about his meeting with Wayne (yes, Batman’s ancestor). But apart from the little bit of action with the crazy chick, this issue kind of bored me.

Art’s ok, story is ok. Re-readability was just not there for me.

SCORE : 5 / 10

Grim and gritty in old Gotham (Series in Review: All-Star Western)

Welcome back to another edition folks, hope you enjoy what's on the menu.

Click for high-res!

Today we have a special series-in-review of one of the most acclaimed ongoing series to come out of DC comics recent reboot – one that in my opinion has not gotten the exposure it deserves, not by a long shot.

I refer of course to the sheer awesomeness that is All-Star Western. Penned by the suitably all-star team of Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti who have been the minds behind the long-running series starring Jonah Hex that came to a stop only recently in light of the reboot of the whole DC line, both being highly respected and much-loved among fans for their consistently good story-telling. Joining them on art duties we have the exceedingly talented Moritat whom some of you will remember from the somewhat short-lived series The Spirit which was part of DC's “First Wave” line-up that tried to bring old classics like it and Doc Savage to new life.

In the past, Hex has always been a loner as a character and except for now and again, has largely stuck to more simply told tales and few team-ups as such. He's had series at DC and Vertigo both, travelled to a dystopic future, fought all manner of magical evils and monsters, been a down and gritty gun-slinger, a brutal bounty hunter but always a tough-as-nails man of his word – someone you don't want to get on the bad side of if it can be helped.

Week-In-Review: All-Star Western #6 / No Place Like Home #1 / The Flash #6

Hey folks! Welcome to another week of new comics and this week we again split our review into two because we just had too many comics to review (it's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it!) and so we bring you three spectacular new comics today:
 

All-Star Western #6

Story: Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti

Art: Moritat (w/ Gabriel Bautista on colours)

(Review by Akshay Dhar)

There is little anyone can say about this series except that it is without a doubt one of the best things to come out of DC's “New 52” relaunch.

Jonah Hex has always been one of the most popular cult characters and under the pen of Gray and Palmiotti, one of the better non capes-n-tights comics on the market consistently. But this relaunch that brought Hex to ye-olde-Gotham back in the day, bringing the rugged outdoorsman and vagabond into the confines of a city really put things in a different direction and allowed a whole new kind of Jonah Hex story, mingling the standard western adventure he is known for with a hint of the just-south-of-normal that was a hallmark of his tales for a long time.

We get a conclusion to the big mystery this time around as Hex and his unintentional partner Dr. Arkham race to learn the fate of the kidnapped children of Gotham and fight a giant demonic bat along the way – just another day in the life of Hex. With a satisfying ending that isn't quite an ending but a nice and neat lead-in to the next issue that gives us a sweet little teaser of what to expect and a whole new guest star/partner for Hex, I would say I'm loving the way this book is being handled and hope it stays around at least for a while.

The back-up story (another comic practice I miss!) stars the mysterious lady known as the Barbary Ghost as she continues on her hunt for vengeance and so far has been well told and the character fairly nicely put forward so this promises to be another welcome addition to monthly reading for those who like these hardy frontier characters in this wild world.

The art is without reproach in both stories and the combination of art and colouring carries a wonderfully faded grittiness to it that really brings out every mood and facet of the excellent layouts and detailing and I look forward to much more of the same in issues ahead!

SCORE : 8.5 / 10