Peach the Destroyer: Issue 035

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Good morning, brave Destroyers everywhere!


Okay, this week's comic is just a little bit of self-indulgence. I originally had the last line delivered by Mittens, but I decided that, if any character gets to quote Ghostbusters, it's going to be my cat. Yes, nepotism still works even when it's a cat.


Now, on to our spoilertastic comic reviews!

Green Arrow #4

• Know what? Four issues in, Ollie's perpetual 5 o'clock shadow's starting to bother me. Give this man his facial hair, darnit!
• Just as Jamie predicted last month, the "Green Arrow goes to Japan!" arc seems to have been another casualty of J.T. Krull leaving this book
• "So, when do I find out what this was all about?" "You don't." Finally, a supervillain who understands not to lay all your cards out on the table!
• This was a solid "bridge" issue, with new characters and scenarios getting set up. I liked seeing Ollie trying to actually be the corporate bigwig he's supposed to be and the hints of our new mastermind, Midas, seem interesting. Less interesting (to me, anyway) is the idea of Q Core going after the gaming market as a form of virtually beta-testing new Green Arrow tech. It just felt tacked on and seemed like a way to say "hey, remember Jax? Yeah, he's doing this now!" Of course, since it felt so tacked on, it'll probably be integral to the plot…

Swamp Thing #4

• Kids in horror stories are either annoying or terrifying. William, our harbinger-of-death child villain, is the latter
• Remember how I cursed the overly-expository issue #2? There is more exposition here, but I think it's handled better. Maybe it's because the ads seem to have been concentrated in that section to help break it up, but it felt a lot more natural (no pun intended)
• There was also this page at the end of the exposition dump…whoever's in charge of the layouts really earns their pay in the acid trip-y sections of this book

Action Comics #4

• Okay, I seem to be in a minority as far as comic book reviewers in that I'm digging Action Comics (maybe it's because I watched all 10 seasons of Smallville, who knows), but I have to get my nerd rage on about one thing: "Terminauts?" Really?! That's the name we're going to give the "I AM MADE OF TOASTERS!" killer robots?
• Umm…Brainiac's apparently been watching the Lost in Space movie one too many times (seriously…if absolutely anyone can explain the giant spiders, please do so)
• This issue begins the back-up stories starring John Henry Irons' Steel and, considering I never really followed him, this story had me rooting for him 100% in just over a page. Plus, he has a sledgehammer. You have to respect someone willing to pull superheroics with a sledgehammer.

Blood Red Dragon #2

• I'll be honest…this book is just pure fun. Dragon & Company fight a freaking invasion this time around!

Stormwatch #4

• I…guess this issue ends the current "wackiness from the moon" arc? It's hard to say. Surely we're not 100% done with it, but the book's headed in the tried-and-true "we must put [character X] on trial for [reason Y (no pun intended there)]" plot…which I would like to see.

Voltron #1

• That's right, people. Voltron's back. And this time…it's personal
• This book was just...violently over-decompressed (which may be surprising to hear from me considering what most critics are saying about Geoff Johns' run on Justice League compared to my monthly praise). I could bet good money that this and whatever the heck happens in issue 2 could easily have been condensed into one issue if someone had been willing to give the script another round of edits.

Avenging Spider-Man #2

• Okay, so get this: you've got J. Jonah Jameson, mayor of New York City, staring down the new monster villain ruler of the underground, and what does he tell the guy? "You got something to say to J. Jonah Jameson, you do it in ENGLISH!" Jameson for president in 2012. I'd vote for him.
• Oh, and then Jameson challenges the monster villain ruler for the throne. Seriously, this book should've just been called Jocular J. Jonah Jameson.
• Eww, Red Hulk bleeds orange? Gross.

Galaxy Man #1-3

We're ending on something a little different this week: the comic created by Kyle Puttkammer, owner of my (semi) local comic book shop, Galactic Quest.Galaxy Man has all the great fingerprints of a character created by comic book fans for comic book fans young and old alike. There's a character drawn to look like Jack Kirby. An alien mistakes Stanley's name for "Stan-Lee." And that's not counting the obligatory Twilight Zone reference or not-so-subtle nods to comic book cliches. I also enjoyed things like Galaxy Man's naivete (he never realizes his sidekick is his own daughter) and that Galaxy Man's origin is told through his daughter's perspective (which adds another layer of innocence to the tale). Plus, there's a granny who's a pro wrestling fan! Seriously, if that's not comedy gold, I don't know what is! This book is an absolute joy to read and a real local gem. If you're feeling up to it, you can buy the comic off their official site (note: I am in no way officially affiliated with Galactic Quest, Galaxy Man, or anyone involved).