Welcome this week’s ComicRankings’ new release review breakdown. Before we get started, the guys at Panels of Awesome have, as I mentioned previously, started implementing scores (again) for inclusion here; actually they’re using an interesting IGN-like 100 point system which gives 40 points each to story & art, with the remaining 20 points coming from other intangibles (as they like to call them at ESPN). Either way, POA is cool people, so go check them out.

Other than that, honestly not a lot to talk about this week if you want to jump directly to the list…

LONE RANGER & TONTO #1 (85.0, 6 reviews)
Don MacPherson of Eye On Comics wasn’t sure what this was exactly: “You know what? I have no idea if this is Dynamite’s second Lone Ranger title, a newly titled relaunch to replace the other book or a one-shot. I wasn’t able to find any information in this comic itself or on the publisher’s website.”

It’s a one-shot as it turns out, and although most showed it the same love they regularly show the series, a few took the time to point out some differences. Like Comixtreme: “The artwork is really the only major flaw of this issue. While the presence of John Cassaday’s art direction is definitely there with the bigger, more cinematic panels, Marcelo Pinto’s pencils are pretty bad.”

And Justin at 13 Minutes, who noted: “Typically, Matthews’ scripts are spot on in terms of dialogue. I’m wondering if he handled the plotting and Abrams is to blame for the actual dialogue which is wooden…”

SERENITY: BETTER DAYS #1 (79.2, 9 reviews)
Nearly everyone pointed out that Joss Whedon fans were bound to pick this book up regardless of any negative reviews, while also pointing out that those unfamiliar with it would be fairly lost here. Review-proof or not, that didn’t stop Serenity from being the 2nd most reviewed book of the week and getting plenty of love. Like this, from Sequential Tart: “Reading the first issue of Better Days felt like a family reunion, and gorram if it doesn’t feel good to be home.”

Rack Raids, on the hand, wasn’t impressed: “It’s at best a decent placater, leaving hope that the franchise is still alive and that better days are coming down the pipe.”

BOOSTER GOLD #7 (82.5, 6 reviews)
To end things on a positive, here’s a book pretty much everybody loves. The guys from Paradox had this to say about issue #7: “The banter between Booster and Blue Beetle is thoroughly entertaining, and it’s written with an obvious love for the characters by John and Katz. The art is excellent, and most of the set pieces are thrilling.” That kind of praise is just par for the course for this series (at least while Geoff Johns & Dan Jurgens stay on)…

As always, email me or post your feedback in the comments, especially if you’re looking to have your reviews added to CR’s database.

New Release Reviews – March 12, 2008

Click on any title to view all scores and review excerpts for that book. Click column headers to change sort order. Score indicates a book’s current average review score, # indicates number of reviews for that book currently in the CR database. Titles with more than 4 reviews are bolded.

Please note that the scores shown below are as of this writing — you can click here for the automatically updated list