Alright so the comic gods have decided to grant me my books today. Despite volcano ash and downed flights coming into Anchorage, Alaska comics have arrived! So hopefully in the near future I can get some features up.

Next, I put up a poll on the side. I know it is difficult to read but I have no clue how to change the color of the font on the stupid thing. So it is what it is. If everyone could take the time to vote it would be a big help. Trying to decide what features should stay and which should go in favor of new stuff.

Lastly, I am thinking of adding a weekly video feature to the blog. Haven't nailed down 100% what it would involve but would love some input on what you Inmates would like to see. So those 5 of you that come here let me know!

Alright keep checking back and we'll talk some fucking comics!

Alright so I wont get my comics today it seems. Yet again comics weren't shipped on time to the great city of Anchorage, Alaska. I am sure the volcano eruption will be blamed but sad excuses are all that is. Don't the shipping people understand I know face withdrawals. Ah the headaches are setting in! Bastards!

So this is obviously like the top 5 Writers list but with artists for the books in which I read for the week of 3/11/09. Not all are always going to be from that shipping week but instead what I have purchased and read that week. So without further ado here we go.

5. Patrick Gleason (Green Lantern Corps) - So Gleason in Green Lantern Corps #34 provided us with one brutal fight scene between Mongul and Arkillo. Leveling cities, rubble falling around them and blood oh yes there was blood. He also gave us great character interactions. He did a great job of conveying Sodam's anger. The green glowing eyes and chest on the opening page would not have been as effective had Gleason not provided such a great figure. I also really enjoyed his Kryb stuff. Very creepy with the crying children left alone. Although we have to go back to the fight between Arkillo and Mongul. The final shot with Mongul triumphant holding Arkillo's tongue is amazing. What a shot. Mongul looks as dominant as ever and clearly comes across as no joke.

4. Jorge Molina w/ Adrian Syuf (Nightcrawler Manifest Destiny One-Shot) - While the one shot itself was anything but revolutionary the art was quite enjoyable. Molina is credited as getting help from Syuf but I am not sure who did what. For the purpose of this I am going to give credit to Molina as he seems to be the main guy according to the credits. Molina did a great job of capturing Nightcawler's swashbuckling spirit. It has been a long time since I have seen a Nightcrawler I liked this much. I would love to see him tackle something a little more high profile to see what else he has to offer.

3. Ron Lim (Skaar Son of Hulk) - I gotta say Lim's art on this title is one of my favorites monthly. Not sure what exactly it is but his art mixed with the wonderful coloring job done on this book make it very stunning to flip through. It definitely brings with it that fantasy feel that I usually am not as big into but for me it really works here on this title.

2. Tony Daniel (Batman: Battle for the Cowl) - I know that Daniels art isn't something you would find in a art house. It is that big blockbuster event kind of art. Clean lines, dramatic poses and things of that sort. That is exactly what kind of book Battle for the Cowl is so it works wonderfully. He definitely seems to be channeling some Jim Lee here but it looks great. His rendering of Black Mask just might be my favorite of the character as he just looks fucking terribly evil.

1. Tony Moore (Ghost Rider) - This is another title that utilizes more of a muted color palette and I enjoy it a great deal. The detail in Moore's art is what really does it for me. Every time I read it I am absolutely enthralled with the environments of the panels. His ability to capture emotion is something else that seems to set him apart from many of his peers. I strongly believe that Moore is at the beginning of a meteoric rise at Marvel and if they don't utilize him correctly over time DC will. Until that time he is a solid fit for Ghost Rider. I wouldn't mind seeing him on Iron Fist for a stint.

Stay tuned weekly as we continue this feature. At the end of the month an artist will be declared artist of the month. For this month Tony Moore is the first nominee. Here's looking forward to next week.

Here are my favorite 5 covers from this week. I have picked them based upon a few factors. Each factor is worth 5 points and the points are totaled to give the cover a rating Some of those factors are:

Style - Is it unique and something new or just classic and clean.
Pop - How much does it pop out to the readers eyes when it's sitting on the shelf.

So without further ado here are the top 5:

5. Green Lantern Corps #34 (Cover By Patrick Gleason)

• Style - It's gritty as all hell that is for sure. Love seeing Arkillo is still missing his finger. Very brutal very well done. Nothing to unique though. 3/5
• Pop - It definitely jumps out to you and says hey look at me some shit is going on here that you really should see. It is an action cover that draws the eye. 4/5
• Relevance - The cover features a great fight from the issue. It portrays the viciousness of that battle and does not lead the reader astray from what to expect inside. 5/5
• Iconic Value - While it is a great cover it does not have the lasting ability to be remembered as one of the greats. In the end it is just another fight cover despite its great quality. 0/5
• SPRI Total 12/20

4. Ghost Rider #33 (Cover By Arthur Suydam)

• Style - Nice dark style for the cover. The Caretaker appears very haunting and focused. Classic Suydam work. 4/5
• Pop - It definitely stands out to the reader but it isn't bright and flashy so it wont draw all the eyes. It will be appreciated by those who like Suydam's art though as it is one of his recent best. 3/5
• Relevance - Great static pose with the main character of the issue. Does not tell us a lot of what happens inside but it lets us know that the main character is Caretaker. 3/5
• Iconic Value - It all depends on how the character of the Caretaker evolves and whether or not she becomes a larger part of the Marvel tapestry. As it stands now though it is the most iconic of her. 3/5
• SPRI Total 13/20

3. Astonishing Tales #2 (Cover By Kenneth Rocafort)

• Style - This is a unique style that I really enjoy. It takes the sketchiness of Lenil Yu and makes it a tad cleaner but keeps the grit. The way the characters are posed really makes for a great layout. 4/5
• Pop - It doesn't really pop out all that much. It has the Punisher and Wolverine though which will surely draw readers eyes to it. Interestingly and too its credit instead of having Wolverine (Marvel's cash cow) front and center they use the Punisher. 3/5
• Relevance - This is a hard one to rate based on the fact that it is an anthology. It really is only relevant to one story in the whole thing. This sadly hurts it's overall rating. 3/5
• Iconic Value - It has some iconic value for sure. It is a great static image. It has two great Marvel characters that everyone loves to see together. Will be people remember this always? Probably not. Will people remember it when they see it? Most certainly. 3/5
• SPRI Total 13/20 Despite the tie with Ghost Rider I gave this the nod for the 3rd spot because I prefer it over the other just barely.
  

2. Batman: Battle For The Cowl #1 (Cover By Tony Daniels)

• Style - I really like the cover it is Daniels style but definitely feels as though it is playing off Jim Lee's Hush covers a bit. This time though Nightwing is at the forefront of the Bat troops. Nothing to unique here though very mainstream. 3/5
• Pop - It stands out in that it has a lot of Bat characters that we all love. Nightwing standing in the foreground with everyone behind him really stands out and makes him look like A-List character he is and should be treated as. 5/5
• Relevance - It really isn't a moment from the comic but it sets the tone for what we are bound to see which is a lot of characters from the Batman titles as we get a new status quo. So in that regard it has relevance but nothing that can be literally taken from the interior. 4/5
• Iconic Value - High iconic value here. This is Nightwing as he presumably gets ready to take up the mantle of Batman. This is the beginning of what many assume is Nightwing running the show and these supporting characters falling in behind him. Add the riff on Lee's Hush cover and this is a great iconic Dick Grayson. 5/5
• SPRI Total 17/20

1. Action Comics #875 (Cover By Andrew Robinson)

• Style - This one has some great painted style. Love the colors and the figure placement. Overall this one comes across as very unique compared to the others that I got this week. 5/5
• Pop - I think the blue and red colors used in this cover really give everything a great sense of pop. It grabs you and makes you look it all over. It is another one that grabs you and makes you want to thumb through it. 5/5
• Relevance - It is the beginning of an arc that puts Flamebird and Nightwing as the new protagonists of the title so it does a good job of placing them in the front with the evils they face in the back. Not a literal scene from the title but still quite relevant. 4/5
• Iconic Value - It has a very iconic feel but really doesn't accomplish much but looking very cool. It will be remembered as a cool cover but not one of the coolest of all time I think. 3/5
• SPRI Total 17/20 Again despite a tie with Battle for the Cowl I gave this one the edge because it seemed more unique and different. Something about it I really enjoy and stayed with me as I read my books this week.

So there you have it my favorite covers this week. Stay tuned next week as we do it all over again. Then at the end of the month I will take the top covers from each week and crown a best cover of the month. Then again at the end of the year as we do cover of the year.

DC has announced that Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly will re team on a new DC Batman title called Batman and Robin. Preview art was used for the DC Nation portion of their titles this week. This will come as great news to those who enjoyed All Star Superman (myself) and not so hot news for others (myself) considering that not so warm welcome for Final Crisis and Batman R.I.P. Either way I will be checking this out as the two together knocked ASS (All Star Superman) into the stratosphere. If they can reclaim any of that magic and apply it here this will be an event.

So this is the list of comics I actually ended up getting this week:

Action Comics #875
Batman: Battle for the Cowl #1
Batman: Cacophony #3
Booster Gold #18
Green Arrow/Black Canary #18
Green Lantern Corps #34
Secret Six #7
Superman #685
Superman: World of New Krypton #1
Madman: Atomic Comics #14
Astonishing Tales #2
Captain Britain and MI: 13 #11
Deadpool #8
Ghost Rider #33
Immortal Iron Fist #23
Invincible Iron Man #11
Skaar Son of Hulk #8
Ultimate Wolverine Vs Hulk #3
X-Men Noir #4
X-Men: Nightcrawler One-Shot

I know some of this didn't come out this week and is old but I don't always get everything new the week it comes out. Some things go into my pull box to be picked up at a later date.

You can expect some short reviews either tonight or tomorrow and the rest later in the week.

So while I was at my LCS one of the guys who works there, Will, showed me this glorious piece of merchandise.
It is called Spider-Man's Fury. I kid you not. When he showed it to me all I could say was, "I hope you aren't going to ask me what that thing is!" Sure enough he did and we all laughed our asses off. But for all wondering it is actually a knife. Which brings another question I suppose. Since when did Spidey carry a knife for his fury?

Action Comics #875
Batman: Battle for the Cowl #1
Booster Gold #18
Green Arrow/Black Canary #18
Green Lantern Corps #34
Titans #11
Astonishing Tales #2
Captain Britain and MI: 13 #11
Ghost Rider #33
Guardians of the Galaxy #11
Immortal Iron Fist #23
Invincible Iron Man #11
X-Men Noir #4
X-Men: Nightcrawler One-Shot

Alright so my LCS got comics in today and I have finally picked them up. I will be back later to review what I got today. Catch you then Inmates!

Oh baby it's Wednesday! Can't pick up all my comics today but I am going to get the most important ones. Well most important to me that is.

Let's see today I should be picking up:

Green Lantern #38 - This along with Green Lantern Corps are must pick ups. Geoff Johns is having such an epic run on this title and I am dying to get to Blackest Night thanks to the lead in stories we have been getting.

Justice Society of America #24 - Another Johns title that is a must read. Sadly though counting down to his final issue on the title.

Captain America #47 - Who would have though Bucky could be as cool as Steve?!

Mighty Avengers #22 - Gotta admit that I didn't really dig the first issue of Slott's run. I am more of a New Avengers guy than a classic Avengers guy. Never got into the Avengers title till Bendis got his hands on it.

Ms. Marvel #36 - They are going to kill Carol and replace her with Moonstone...still letting that sink in but Brian Reed has consistently made this an enjoyable read for me so I'm gonna stick with him and it. One complaint though is the current Ms. marvel costume will probably be going away fro awhile since Moonstone has been wearing the classic belly button exposing one with the cape. Oh well.

New Avengers #50 - Anniversary issue but for $5 it better be fucking spectacular. I am really hoping there is not some stupid ass backup reprint issue in there. Those reprint backups for an extra couple bucks is getting old.

Ultimate Spider-Man #131 - Kinda iffy on this whole Ultimatum thing. While contrary to many people at my LCS I actually have been enjoying the end of it all. I am just wondering when it is all said and done if Marvel hasn't given me a perfect out on the Ultimate U so I can save some cash.

Wolverine Origins #33 - I have such a love/hate relationship with this title. Been loving it lately though.

X-Force #12 - Can't wait for this one. It has a lot of things I love about the X-Verse in it that I can't get anywhere else. New X-Men kids, high action constantly, running plot lines with payoffs nearly every issue, and most importantly a lot of continuity is played with here in bringing in the big bads of the title. One of the best X-Titles currently by far.

Ever wonder what A Burpee Ultimate X-Men comic would have been like?! No? Well who cares this is what it would have been like had I written it in 2001 when I was 16 in FanFic form. Oh wait I did write this in 2001 when I was 16!

Ultimate X-Men by Burpee

Feel free to comment and mock!

So finally in time for DVD to become as extinct as Chuck Austen's comic book career X-Men the animated series from FOX has arrived! I mean as much as I appreciate it, will buy it, and am glad to see it finally happen could we have not made this less of a sloppy release?

Here are the episodes included in the volumes:

VOLUME 1

Disc 1
Night of the Sentinels (Part 1)
Night of the Sentinels (Part 2)
Enter Magneto
Deadly Reunions
Captive Hearts
Cold Vengeance
Slave Island
The Unstoppable Juggernaut

Disc 2
The Cure
Come The Apocalypse
Days Of Future Past (Part 1)
Days Of Future Past (Part 2)
The Final Decision
Till Death Do Us Part (Part 1)
Till Death Do Us Part (Part 2)
Whatever It Takes

VOLUME 2

Disc 1
Red Dawn
Repo Man
X-Ternally Yours
Time Fugitives (Part 1)
Time Fugitives (Part 2)
A Rogue's Tale
Beauty & The Beast
Mojo Vision

Disc 2
Reunion (Part 1)
Reunion (Part 2)
Out of the Past (Part 1)
Out of the Past (Part 2)
The Phoenix Saga (Part 1): Sacrifice
The Phoenix Saga (Part 2): The Dark Shroud
The Phoenix Saga (Part 3): Cry of the Banshee
The Phoenix Saga (Part 4): The Starjammers
The Phoenix Saga (Part 5): Child of Light

So while they are at least in order of episode I really wish this could have been done much more like Batman TAS. A little better packaging and more than two discs a volume would have been great. I am sure releasing these things as two disc sets at the suggested retail price of $23.99 is an attempt to draw this out and make more money off fans who have been waiting forever for it. How about some special features? commentary? Non existent my friends! Anything really would have been an awesome addition, to what appears to be a quick cash grab from fans, but it just isn't in the cards or the packaging for that matter. Oh well on April 28th I'll probably be picking these things up so I guess that makes me the idiot who allows things like this to happen. What can I say I'm a whore who wants to take it then complain. Who's with me?!

So this is the inaugural post to Burpee's Comic Book Nuthouse. To those wondering what a Burpee is I have an answer. It is my last name and it is what my friends refer to me as. If you are reading this page you are a friend so feel free to call me Burpee, or whatever else you want cause I don't care.

About me and why you care to be here: My name is Burpee and I am a comic reader first and foremost. I have been reading comics now for 17 years and basically learned to read thanks to Batman and DC comics. I have a collection of comics that is now over the 6,000 mark and I read just about everything coming out of the big two and pick up about 17-24 comics on average a week from my LCS. Unfortunately this also means I read a lot of Crap and yes that is with a capitol C. I consider myself more a Marvel guy whose first love was Batman and the Joker from DC. I started to get on board with DC more in recent years but WOW then I read Final Crisis. WHAT A MESS! (Anyway I digress much like a Morrison issue of Final Crisis) So now I find myself shifting back to being a Marvelite guy yet again.
Comics I currently read are too numerous to bother listing here but on my short list of current faves I would have to go with New Avengers, Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corp, Deadpool, Umbrella Academy, Amazing Spider-Man (I know Brand New Day was supposed to suck and they got rid of MJ boohoo article for another day), Incognito, Thor, plus some other stuff I know I'm forgetting but who cares, right?
Anyway you're here for comics and reviews and oddball comments not my history. Just wanted to build a bridge between us so we can share this padded cell together. You know? So what should you expect from this blog? I intend to build up comics I enjoy and share my opinions with you and slam down comics I just can't take. I also will do some reviews on characters and discuss just general comic industry news. Maybe go a little deeper into the rabbit hole than the superficial news like creative team announcements. Maybe delve into what these things might mean for a title or what they should mean. Mostly though this is gonna be fun. If I start having less fun I'll pull the plug quicker than you can say Grandma just signed over all her money to you. So stick around and frequent if you want to see something different than your standard comic site.

Love,

Burpee