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This was a bad week for grabbing comics off the rack. Most of what I picked up this week I wasn’t very happy with. Here’s a run down of the winners and losers I grabbed off the shelf…

Green Arrow #72 (DC Comics)

As I was walking through the comic book store this week, the lack of new books on the shelves was kind of surprising. DC released next to nothing this week, so I decided to give Green Arrow a shot (mainly because the Red Hood was on the cover and I have, for some reason, becomeenamored with the character). In the issue, Jason Todd (The Red Hood, and a formerly dead Robin) has kidnapped Green Arrow’s HIV infected sidekick, Speedy. Red has done this, apparently, to teach her a lesson about how sometimes you have to cross the line and kill bad guys (a theme that seems to be running through LOTS of comics these days).

Very little of any importance happens in this issue, and as a new reader coming onto the title, I was extremely underwhelmed. Green Arrow is the major of Star City, and at the end of the book ascandalous revelation comes to public light that will certainly have ramifications in future issues, but I have no reason to come back to this comic. The story was neither engaging or satisfying, and I feel like someone owes me my $2.99 back.

Transformers: Movie Prequel #1 (IDW Publishing)

This comic has proven that my worst fears about this upcoming movie are all coming true. If you’re a Transformers fan and thinking of trying out the comics,IDW has a plethora of fantastic Transformers books for you to read – stay away from this one…this is NOT the Transformers you grew up with…it’s not even remotely the Transformers you grew up with, and it will leave you, as a Transformers fan, feeling like you’ve been violated. (Is thatfanboy rage coming out of me? Why yes, I think it is….)

The creative team has done the best they could with the material that they’ve been given. The story in this issue shows us why Bubblebee is a mute in the film, although he is never named…in fact, there is a lot that goes unnamed in this book. The terms Autobot and Decepticon are never used, and save for one vague mention of Arcee and “Lord Megatron” we really don’t know who the other robots are either. Plus, the designs of the Transformers are such a mess, that it’s hard to tell which robot is doing what.

If this is any indication of what we can expect in the feature film, there are going to be some VERY disappointed TransFans come July 4th.

Wonder Woman #5

This fill-in issue is a done-in-one that serves to show us how Wonder Woman has inspired battered women. That’s the entire issue. Being new to Wonder Woman as well (I picked up the the first issue of the new series and wasn’t impressed…I thought I’d give this new creative team a shot…but it turns out they’re just a one time fill in) this issue gave me the basic set up for the Wonder Woman series. Diana Prince is Wonder Woman, but is also hunting down Wonder Woman by working for the department of Meta-Human Affairs.

The vast majority of this issue is battered women telling their stories of how Wonder Woman inspired them. Diana is sent to investigate the connection between Wonder Woman and a chain of battered women’s shelters, and through this, stops a woman from being beaten by a former “rogue”. She basically chokes him and throws him into his yard, where the cops are waiting.

The issue was another 22 pages of not a whole lot going on…much like the Green Arrow book I mentioned earlier. I was not terribly impressed with this issue, and this is strike 2 against my reading an ongoing Wonder Woman series. The next issue is the first of the new creative team of JodiPicoult and Drew Johnson. I may check it out…but it better pick up, or I’m done.

Captain America #25 (Marvel Comics)

I didn’t get a chance to pick this up last week, so I’m just now getting my hands on the comic. All I can say is…wow.

This is a great comic.

By now, you probably already know that Captain America “dies” in this issue. Frankly, even after reading it, it seems like this could be explained away, and Cap isn’t necessarily dead, but this is a fantastic start to a story that has me completely hooked. I didn’t care for the media saturation of Cap’s “death” last week, but I am anxious to see where this story goes.

One thing that I can commend this book on that none of the other books I read this week did, was that it let me get caught up on what was going on in the comic without getting in the way of the story. Where most of the other books that I read this week were simply filler titles that I felt like my money was wasted on, this issue of Captain America had the dramatic tension and excellent writing that iscomparable to the best dramas on television or film.

This is a great book, and you should go pick it up.