Justice Society of America #3 - This is the best comic on the stands right now as far as I'm concerned. Johns is pulling out all the stops. We get the anticipated reveal of the mastermind who's been destroying the legacies of past JSAers - Vandal Savage. I was thinking it was Per Degaton but Savage fits the MO just as well. The characterization is spot on. New characters like Cyclone are already being given there own distinctive voice and older characters are getting a great shot in the arm. For example, with one panel Sandman catapults up the coolness meter. "Get everyone to the meeting room. I had a nightmare." Johns has said several times that he loves the characters and it really shows in these first three issues.
Rating: :thumbup:
Green Lantern Corps #9 - DC needs to throw more writing work Keith Champagne's way as soon as possible. This is the second time I've seen him fill in for someone else's title and I've loved what he's done both times. In fact, this time I think he's out shone the regular writer Dave Gibbons. Not only does he do a better job writing Guy as the lovable rogue we all know and love, he also introduces an interesting new concept to the GL mythos - the GL Corpse, the Guardians' secret black ops wing of the Green Lantern Corp. Here Champagne concludes his three issue arc. R'amey recovers from last issues claw through the gut thanks to the radiation from the meteorite used to create the Super Dominator and receives new powers as a bonus. Daggle goes toe-to-toe with the Dominator and again proves he's a badbutt in the truest since of the word. Once the trio reunites the Dominator gets taken out pretty quickly thanks in part to R'amey's new space warping powers. I'd love to see Champagne revisit the GL Corpse. Hopefully the "Not the end" line on the last panel means that will actually happen.
Rating: :thumbup:
Batman #663 - Technically, I don't think you can call this a comic book. It's really more of an illustrated short story. While I wasn't crazy about the CG artwork, the story was pretty good. The Joker's former henchmen are being killed off by genetically engineered black and white roses that emit a toxin when they're placed next to each other. The fact that the Joker is the one responsible is never really a mystery. The story is more about why the Joker is doing this and the identity of his final victim. Morrison brings back the interesting take on the Joker's psyche he first used in Arkham Asylum that reconciles the relatively non-lethal Joker from the Silver Age with the deadly psychotic we know today.
Rating: :thumbup:
Martian Manhunter #7 - While reading this comic I find myself thinking, "This could've been so much better." The Martian Manhunter has more untapped potential than probably any other character in the DCU. The concept behind the series is interesting enough. What would happen if J'onn discovered he was no longer the last Martian? Unfortunately, the execution doesn't live up to the concept. There are too many areas where the plot seems to require that everyone involved forget that Martians are telepathic. There's also the problem that the plot seems to be more complex than it needs to be with lots of shadowy figures doing shadowy things in the shadows with little to no explaination about how it relates to J'onn, even this late in the series. On the bright side, issue #7 is definitely better than issue #6. It's hightlighted by the revelation that the Martians J'onn discovered are actually the White Martians he first fought as the Hyperclan. Someone has managed to brainwash them into thinking they were actually green Martians (which actually has interesting ramifications for Miss Martian over in the Teen Titans).
Rating: :mellow:
JLA Classified #34 - This is another "It could've been better" title. The plot, by Dan Slott, is pretty interesting. An average Joe accidentally gets his hands on Dr. Destiny's Materioptikon. He uses it to creat different realities were he can try out different plans to take over the world, deleting the ones that don't work out as he goes along. He's down to just 4 now and this is the second potential world. The interesting twist is that he accidentally triggers a Kryton-like chain reaction that will destroy the Earth in 98 hours. The entire issue is the JLA combining they're resources to evacuate Earth and create a new civilization on Mars. There are a lot of interesting ideas here. My favorite is Superman using Ray Palmer's white dwarf tech to shrink Earth's greatest cities for transport to Mars were they can be re-enlarged. The problem with the issue is that the actual script was written by Dan Jurgens. His dialog just doesn't work for me. The characters don't seem to have there own voice and his dialog doesn't have any real strength to it, even in what should be a pretty emotional situation.
Rating: :)
QUICK HITS
52 Week #42 - If that's the real Helmet of Fate I'll eat a chocolate chip cookie (what can I say, I'm not a betting man). Nice to see Diana make an appearance even if it was pretty brief.
Rating: :)
Astonishing X-Men #20 - Nice issue. I especially liked how Emma created the pleasant tea time fantasy for the X-Men in the escape pod with her. I don't buy that Kitty could survive that fall just because Colossus was holding her but I can let that go.
Rating: :thumbup:
Stormwatch PHD #4 - Christos Gage has jumped onto my "Always give this writer a try" list. Not only did he write the miniseries that made me care about Deadshot, he also wrote the only comic other than Iron Man to actually write Tony Stark like an actual human being (actually now I'd need to add Adam Warren to the list thanks to Iron Man: Hypervelocity). Lots of solid characterization here and the bit about the Doomsday Clock was pretty cool.
Rating: :thumbup:
Manhunter #28 - I've read posts from people on other boards who believe this is the real Ted Kord. They're going to be really disappointed next issue. The Mark Shaw subplot is becoming really interesting though.
Rating: :)
Green Arrow #71 - This whole issue was Batman vs. Brick and Green Arrow vs Red Hood. Even so, it still seemed kind of meh to me.
Rating: :mellow:
Star Wars: Legacy #8 - Isn't it interesting how so many people are putting out quality Star Wars content but George Lucas isn't one of them?
Rating: :thumbup:
I thought the same thing about Astonishing X-men at first, that Kitty should have gone splat against Colossus' chest as easily as she would have against the ground, but I looked it over again, and they do glance off a bunch of things first, that would have slowed their descent to some degree.
Thunderbolts 111 - I thought the first issue of Warren Ellis' run was intriguing, but this just smacked of glorifying a bunch of jerks stomping Jack Flag. Blah. :thumbdown:
Exiles 91 - this book is a shadow of one that used to be one of my favourites, and Claremont's stilted inner monologues aren't doing much to help me enjoy it more. Another mediocre title, but at least it didn't leave a bad taste in my mouth like Thunderbolts. <_<
Nextwave 12 - Nextwave ended with issue 12, one of the funniest, weirdest and just plain enjoyable comics I've read in awhile. The ending is suitably weird, and holds out the promise that we might see more of these characters. I hope so, because my robot brain still needs beer. :D
Ultimate X-men 79 - I don't know where Robert Kirkman went, but I don't think this is being written by the same person writing Invincible. This hasn't been good since Brian K Vaughan left. :(
New X-men 35 - My second favourite X book right now, just after Astonishing, New X-men continues with Hellion and X-23 rushing to the rescue of Mercury. Not a ton of progress, but a solid build-up issue. :)
Trials of Shazam 5 - I'm still not entirely sold on this concept, that the Gods of Magic are separate characters from the actual gods of the same names, seems kinda dumb to me, but the actual story here is pretty solid. Captain Marvel Jr. gets a little closer to his ultimate goal with an interesting application of the shazam lightning. :)
Wolverine Origins 11 - Did anything actually happen in this issue? Wolverine snuck out of where he was being held I guess, and his kid was a big jerk. Meh. <_<
Y the Last Man 54 - Not a bad issue, checking back in with the performers who'd put on a play about the last man from a number of issues ago, but with only 6 issues left, it hardly felt important to the main story. Still a great book though. :)
Nextwave was weird as hell. I loved it. I want this in a TPB. I saw only 2 issues but laughed hard when I read them both.
Quote from: Agent on February 17, 2007, 06:14:24 PM
Justice Society of America #3 - This is the best comic on the stands right now as far as I'm concerned. Johns is pulling out all the stops. We get the anticipated reveal of the mastermind who's been destroying the legacies of past JSAers - Vandal Savage. I was thinking it was Per Degaton but Savage fits the MO just as well. The characterization is spot on. New characters like Cyclone are already being given there own distinctive voice and older characters are getting a great shot in the arm. For example, with one panel Sandman catapults up the coolness meter. "Get everyone to the meeting room. I had a nightmare." Johns has said several times that he loves the characters and it really shows in these first three issues.
Rating: :thumbup:
I love Cyclone, but that costume is HIDEOUS, and needs to go ASAP. Agree that this is the best -TEAM- comic on the stands right now (All new Atom is the best solo, and JLA is a very close second for team).
Favorite moment- "I said I wasn't anything like my dad. Guess I kind of lied."
Also: [spoiler]
Somebody wanna splain how Vandal Savage survived a freakin
nuclear warhead dropped on him at the end of DC 1,000,000!?!? I know he's immortal- but he's not invulnerable.
[/spoiler]
Yay! Someone else enjoys the all new atom too! woopee
They named Maxine "Cyclone"? Meh.
Please tell me she's not wearing the costume from the cover of issue #1!!! (And if she is, at least they didn't name her "Green Cyclone".....)
I haven't picked up #3 yet (won't be picking up my comics for a couple more days, probably), but figured it was likely Savage and was hoping it wasn't. Vandal Savage was too obvious a choice.....
They really need to bring back more of the JSA's Golden Age villains, but the problem is most of them have been killed off! (Of course, Per Degaton would be the perfect way to get around that)
I just hope they don't decide to turn Wildcat's son into a hero, but do keep him around as a supporting character.
I thought the thunderbolts thing was way overdone too.However, Jack Flag was a dang hero here. The most infuriating line "Catching one of Cap's proteges is like catching Osama's son with dynamite."
Only thing I liked about the issue is that Norm's team has uncovered that both Battlestar and Scarlet Spider are still in action.
Let's see what else:
Spectacular Spider-man: Wow. Even in the midst of a civil war, Reed is still friendly towards to Spider-man. And caring enough to take a boy suffered from mutation under observation. Dr Hyde is once again a psychotic son of a slime mold.
Spider-girl 5: Nicely done. A good mix of action, teenage life, and foreboding. The letters page shows something interesting though. At some future point, there's going to be a Moon Knight in Spider-girl.
eXcalibur: This is kinda heavy hitting. Three times Allison dies, only to revive(I'm thinking Aurosynthesis,where sound gives her life, as a secondary mutation,) But then Nocturne suffers a stroke.
"I know they're my team, but I can't remember their names!"
52 #41: This was fantastic. Ralph and Renee getting ready to face their demons, while Mogo decides to socialize and save Kory and Adam. I loved it.
Quote from: bredon7777 on February 18, 2007, 06:27:14 AM
Quote from: Agent on February 17, 2007, 06:14:24 PM
Justice Society of America #3 - This is the best comic on the stands right now as far as I'm concerned. Johns is pulling out all the stops. We get the anticipated reveal of the mastermind who's been destroying the legacies of past JSAers - Vandal Savage. I was thinking it was Per Degaton but Savage fits the MO just as well. The characterization is spot on. New characters like Cyclone are already being given there own distinctive voice and older characters are getting a great shot in the arm. For example, with one panel Sandman catapults up the coolness meter. "Get everyone to the meeting room. I had a nightmare." Johns has said several times that he loves the characters and it really shows in these first three issues.
Rating: :thumbup:
I love Cyclone, but that costume is HIDEOUS, and needs to go ASAP. Agree that this is the best -TEAM- comic on the stands right now (All new Atom is the best solo, and JLA is a very close second for team).
I've got mixed feelings about it. I agree it's a definite eyesore (especially those candy cane stockings) but it does sort of fit what you might expect a geeky, socially awkward teenager with questionable taste like Maxine to come up with.
Quote from: bredon7777 on February 18, 2007, 06:27:14 AMAlso: [spoiler]
Somebody wanna splain how Vandal Savage survived a freakin nuclear warhead dropped on him at the end of DC 1,000,000!?!? I know he's immortal- but he's not invulnerable.
[/spoiler]
Take another look at the JSA Classified #13. Savage is clearly still alive at the end. He even discovers another descendant to get replacement organs from.
Quote from: Sword on February 18, 2007, 12:24:49 PM
Let's see what else:
Spectacular Spider-man: Wow. Even in the midst of a civil war, Reed is still friendly towards to Spider-man. And caring enough to take a boy suffered from mutation under observation. Dr Hyde is once again a psychotic son of a slime mold.
Just a little note. Anything with spidey in his black costume is after civil war. Blame civil war being pushed back for the confusion. :P ...Though, i couldve sworn Reed and the recently broken up fan4 were fighting some inhumans because of the Silent War...@_@
I guess this is the place to talk about Civil War 7...
[spoiler]
I've got to say, I'd been digging the Civil War, even with the delays and too many tie-ins, but I did not particularly like the outcome. This is a spoiler, so here goes: having the side that created monstrosities like Bizarro-Thor, employs sadists and serial killers like Bullseye and Venom to win fights, and puts all super-heroes at the mercy and beck and call of the government not only win, but be demonstrated as the morally superior side? Well, it turned my stomach a little. There were some awesome moments to be sure, like Spider-man showing Mr. Fantastic why he's both amazing and spectacular, Hercules showing what we do to Goliath-killing evil clones around these parts, and Tony Stark finally giving that mega-jerk Maria Hill some well-deserved comeuppance, but the ending just left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm not going to go into some kind of rabid rant about the state of Marvel or modern comics, but this, for me, was a downer.
[/spoiler]
What did others think?
[spoiler]It's funny but did anyone really doubt who won the civil war? I've known since before the first issue actually debuted, it just made the most sense from a publishing point of view and the solicitations just made it more obvious each month. I didn't actually read CW but I from the spoilers I've heard the only unexpected things that happened in the final issue were Namor's appearance and Stark becoming director of SHIELD (which is a great idea btw).
[/spoiler]
I don't really pay much attention to the solicits, and I...
[spoiler]
...wasn't sure of the outcome at all. I had some doubts that Stark was still going to be Iron Man after Civil War, that it would be someone else in the armor for a time. My problem with it is that most of the heroes on the 'winning side' have various levels of stink attached to them in my opinion, from months of acting like jerks. Sure, the anti-reg side had some bad moments too, but really nothing that compares to the use of supervillains and amoral clones in combat.
Also, I just wanted to comment on the 'epilogues,' which showed the formation of the 2 new Avengers teams, the new new Avengers, and the Mighty Avengers, and there's no good reason for Dr. Strange to be on the New New Avengers. They were described as the die-hard anti-reg side, which Dr. Strange wasn't on. He wasn't on either side. It didn't make a lot of sense to me.
[/spoiler]
Quote from: Podmark on February 21, 2007, 04:01:48 PM
[spoiler]It's funny but did anyone really doubt who won the civil war? I've known since before the first issue actually debuted, it just made the most sense from a publishing point of view and the solicitations just made it more obvious each month. I didn't actually read CW but I from the spoilers I've heard the only unexpected things that happened in the final issue were Namor's appearance and Stark becoming director of SHIELD (which is a great idea btw).
[/spoiler]
I agree with you on both points. Especially once:
[spoiler]solicits for Avengers: The Initiative started appearing.
I'm really looking forward to next week issue of Iron Man. the Tony Stark as director of SHIELD is a really interesting idea. I just hope the Knaufs can overcome the retro-active jerkification of Tony that's gone on in Civil War. Based on some of the CW based hatred of the character I've seen on message boards, I'm starting to wonder if the Iron Man title is going to take a hit in sales.
[/spoiler]
Umm.... I was very underwhelmed by this. And I want to how The heroes died that they were standing over. The only highlight is waiting for the guy that does the parodies. He's gonna chew this apart. Phah!!!
Okay, I just read my copy of Civil War 7 and want to comment on the whole event as a whole...
It's very apparent that Joey Q. and his whole bullpen are really starting to retroactively "FIX" all of Marvel's problems by making uber-huge storylines which take months if not years to resolve. Now we have to really step FAR back to see the whole story that is being told here before we really can comment on how 'Civil War' has an impact on the 616 Marvel Universe as a whole.
[spoiler]First, Nick Fury noticed that a huge conspiracy was occuring within the world's governments allowing supervillians to have a revolving door policy even if they commit terrorist level crimes or mass killings of innocent people - much less how such hi-tech weapons/armor was being supplied to criminals who could barely afford living from day to day. Marvel's villians needed to have a major upgrade overall and just killing them off in mass (ala Scourge) was NOT going to work this time around. Thunderbolts proved that villians given a second chance to redeem themselves actually made more interesting storylines.. either they proved themselves as A-List or B-List characters or it was time for them to be erased for good. The misunderstood villian needed to be retired because having them getting their butt kicked over and over was just getting overused and a tool for less creative writers. Other C-Level villians needed a major revamp to change their status and it took killing them to achieve this.. see Jack O' Lantern in Ghost Rider.
'Secret War' was the first part of Quesada's "big plan" for what he has planned in the next few years - Fury working on building a underground hero network to attack this phantom menace without the heroes bringing attention to themselves. The Secret Avengers (i.e. The New Avengers) are obviously being set up to handle this part of the storyline when that time arrives. Tony Stark becoming the head of SHIELD was a plot twist that I saw coming down the road a few months ago. Iron Man needed to be shifted into a new direction and once I saw the preview for Mighty Avengers where his role as leader was gone it would be obvious that Tony had other obligations. They wouldn't kill Tony or fully remove him from the armor with the upcoming movie next year. Captain America's status also needed some development since they already used the death/missing in action/quitting plot devices far too much before this. I have no idea where Capt A is going from this point but it should be interesting reading.
I was happy with Herc stepping forward to handle the whole Clor mess since he needed to prove that he was a major powerhouse after being reduced to a C-Level character in his mini-series. I have a feeling that he will be getting to lead his own team of rookie heroes soon enough. But I was wondering where the whole Thor set-up was going in the Fantastic Four tie-in if he didn't pop up just to smash his unworthy clone and throttle its' creators for dishonoring him with a death of a fellow Avenger. Maybe this will be addressed in the new Thor series this Summer but I wanted to see that moment of shock so bad.
I know that everyone is rolling their eyes with the whole The Initiative spin-off but it fully shows that Quesada is finally going to break the Marvel rule of using New York City as the core of nearly every comic they put on the shelves. Just the one-panel preview of seeing the Texas team of "The Rangers" (Texas Twister, Armadillo, Night Rider, Red Wolf, Firebird, and Shooting Star) was enough to put a grin on my face. Even if they just did 6-issue mini series of these 50 State teams just to see if they would sell enough to warrent a more permanent title in the future.[/spoiler]
- CrimsonQuill
Since we are talking about civil war 7 here, does anybody know who the group of guys were that Stark had for back up after Namor's team showed up? The ones with false Thor and Mar-vel?
Quote from: USAgent on February 22, 2007, 04:18:17 AM
Since we are talking about civil war 7 here, does anybody know who the group of guys were that Stark had for back up after Namor's team showed up? The ones with false Thor and Mar-vel?
Those heroes are the first prototypes of Pym/Richards hero creation which are based on Greek mythology.. they appeared briefly in Civil War 6 training in the background of an Initiative Facility. Apparently Stark had them on stand by in case the prison was breached and he needed reinforcements.
EDIT: According to an article in Newsarama those above Greek inspired heroes are called CHAMPIONS.. They are all former olympic stars or athletes of high calibur who volunteered for enhancement. A full announcement of this team should be this weekend at the New York Comic Con.
- CrimsonQuill
Wait, if Thor was a clone, why did he have robot stuff inside of him? And isn't a clone still a person? So, killing of said clone should be seen as bad?
CIVIL WAR #7: THE MISSING ENDING....
[spoiler]
QuoteOriginally Posted by Tom Brevoort
But in the Civil War planning sheet that got sent to the other editorial offices and to the writers, dated 12/2/05, this is what it said:
CIVIL WAR #7
-- SPECTACULAR fight. One by one, the guys go down until we're left with just Cap and Tony
-- Cap, exhausted, finally puts Tony down in the cleverest way possible. It's over.
-- He looks around at the crowds assembled on the edge of town and he sees something he's never seen before: Fear. Cap inspires hope and yet here he is terrifying the locals. They start to yell at him, voicing everything we've seen in the background throughout the series about how they WANT a register and need to be protected from lunatics in masks doing whatever they want; completely unaccountable vigilantes.
-- Cap realizes he was wrong. He realizes he's been fighting for masks when he should have been fighting for America
-- Cap concedes that the people do want superheroes to go legit. His big problem is liberties being taken away by people he doesn't know and can't trust and so he says to Tony that he and his guys will ACCEPT the registration on one simple condition: That it isn't the government that holds all the secrets. Sure, the person in charge can be accountable to the government, but he wants a super hero to be in charge of this. The person he wants, the person he trusts most, is Tony.
-- Cut to a series of epilogues where we get the new Marvel Universe being constructed here. Tony Stark now heads up HAMMER as well as supervising the new hero teams.
[/spoiler]
I have no idea where the above script went before it reached the hands of the Civil War art team but the result is extremely obvious that it was horribly rushed. I know the quote "One Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words" by heart but the plot above completely is lost in the translation. Marvel better release a script book of this series because it might make up for a lot of the confusion of why so many characters acted out of character.
- CrimsonQuill
To comment on Civil War again, I think the end result is largely good, the super-hero teams in lots of states, Tony Stark as head of shield, etc., and that super-powered beings probably should have some kind of control; my problem is how we got there. The side endorsing registration were jerks. Maria Hill, head of Shield, is the Queen of Jerks (I'd use stronger language to describe her, actually, but this is a family friendly board. God I hate that character), Tony Stark, Reed Richards and Hank Pym basically acted like megalomaniacs, I mean, they pulled similar stunts to Lex Luthor, and most of the other pro-reg heroes acted like jerks too.
What, cloning a god, locking up and beating their friends and having psychopathic villains on the team was a bad thing? Wait, I guess that is a bad thing. This is all Maria's fault. She came at the Captain in a bad way. He responded in kind.
Quote from: Talavar on February 22, 2007, 02:04:24 PM
To comment on Civil War again, I think the end result is largely good, the super-hero teams in lots of states, Tony Stark as head of shield, etc., and that super-powered beings probably should have some kind of control; my problem is how we got there. The side endorsing registration were jerks. Maria Hill, head of Shield, is the Queen of Jerks (I'd use stronger language to describe her, actually, but this is a family friendly board. God I hate that character), Tony Stark, Reed Richards and Hank Pym basically acted like megalomaniacs, I mean, they pulled similar stunts to Lex Luthor, and most of the other pro-reg heroes acted like jerks too.
That's because Millar consistently wrote the pro-reg side out of character. Just compare the Tony Stark in Civil War to the one in the Iron Man title or Christos Gage's Casualties of War one shot.
That's what I'm saying. The pro-reg side was badly written and plotted to be the side that wins, and we're apparently supposed to feel good about their victory. If it had been an ominous, bad things to come win, I could have understood that, but instead it was crazily upbeat.
Some quick-hits of a couple of the week's other releases:
She-hulk 16 - sees She-hulk and Wolverine taking on the Wendigo, and was pretty damn funny. The funniest line in a comic in a while has got to be "first rule of the fastball special: no one talks about the fastball special." :thumbup:
Superman 659 - was good and interesting, a flashback story with Superman encountering a religious woman who believes him to be an angelic visitor. A great look at how Superman can inspire people. :D
Civil War 7-
Anticlimactic much? Dissapointing in every possible way(Well, cept maybe art wise). Which is frustrating, because I know Mark Millar is capable of better than this.
[spoiler]
Cap just freakin gives up? Uh-uh. Don't buy it for a millisecond; not even with the script excerpt provided. Especially not after reading the next comic I'll review below. Now, I've always believed that the pro-registration side was written as a political parallel to the anti-terrorist stuff thats currently happening in the U.S.(Which is why some folks were written so badly out of character) - and now- after nearly a year of preaching to the choir about how WRONG it is, we're supposed to just give up and accept it? Never gonna happen. [/spoiler]
Failure as a comic, failure as a political allegory- quite possibly the worst conclusion to any miniseries ever. :thumbdown:
Amazing spider-man 537-
Now THIS on the other hand is EXACTLY how Cap should and would act, and is impossible to reconcile with his actions in Civil War 7.
[spoiler]
Cap quotes Mark Twain to Spidey before leading him back to the hideout. I'm paraphrasing, but "If you're right and the rest of the nation is wrong then when they tell you to move, it's your job to plant yourself like a tree and say No. YOU move." Cap is right and knows he's right and would NEVER give up.
Oh there's some tiresome b-plot about Kingpin hiring a hit man to kill Spidey and/or MH and Aunt May- given the adoption of the black costume, I assume one of them gets hit somewhere along the way, but its really almost irrrelevant to the central theme of this issue. [/spoiler] :D
52 Week 42-
While well written and plotted, there are two main problems that pretty much ruin the issue.
[spoiler]
Felix Faust is a 4th rate sorceror and never would have been able to gain entrance to the Tower of Fate.
Ralph has never been shown to give a tinker's darn about Neron.
So, while Ralph figuring out that it wasn't actually Fate's Helmet was clever, and I can even buy the idea that he set up "suicide by bad guy" to be with Sue- the idea that he did all this to trap Neron is so far out of left field as to snap my suspension of dibelief clean in half.
Also, there's some sloppy writing- took me a while and some re-reading, but I realized Faust had Sue's wedding ring, not Ralph's. Ralph gave up his wedding ring to get the enchanted link from Atlantis. Which also leads to the question - what ring did Fire(?) place on his grave? [/spoiler] ;)
Brave and the Bold #1-
Well it's Perez, so the art is stellar. And I actually quite liked the dialogue. The problem is that "continuity cop" Waid appears to have made a glaring continuity error, and unless and until that's addressed- I can't really enjoy this book. I'll give it a probationary rating of :)- and if he deals properely with the continuity mess, I'll upgrade.
Oh, and for the curious:
[spoiler]
The book has no exsistence seprate from Destiny himself. The endless are not immune to being trapped, granted, but unless and until some mention is made of trapping and binding Destiny it comes across as a huge continuity mistake.
[/spoiler]
Aquaman #49 - Kurt Busiek concludes his run on Aquaman (fantasy novelist, Tad Williams comes onboard with issue #50) by attempting to revitalize Orin's very old foe, the Fisherman. Unfortunately, I think that task is even too much for Busiek. He gives the Fisherman a magical making what we previously thought was just a helmet a extradimensional parasite that takes people over. The creature was on a mission for its masters but the flood of memories from it's various victims cause it to loose sight of it's mission. Despite the new and admittedly creepy take on the character, he still just doesn't seem very threatening. Part of the problem there is that the art doesnt' do much to make him look dangerous. It's pretty lackluster throughout the issue. On the bright side we do get to see Arthur, Jr. take on an enemy on his own for the first time and try out his new sword skills.
Rating: :(
Superman #659 - Kurt redeems himself for Aquaman #49 with this issue. I can't remember who said it but someone described Batman as being a character that deals with villains and Superman as a character that deals with situations. Busiek seems to have taken that to heart. In his Camelot Falls storyline, which concluded last issue, Arion tells Superman that his actions as a hero are unintentionally hindering humanity's advancement. So much so that it will eventually lead to our extinction. In this issue, while pondering what Arion has said he thinks back to early in his career when he saved a woman named Barbara Johnson. Johnson is an extrememly devout woman and she becomes convinced that Superman is an angel sent by God to help here clean up Suicide Slum. She's also convinced that she's been given the ability to call the angel Superman at will. She's passionately dedicated to getting rid of the crime and corruption that infest Suicide Slum and unfortunately begins putting her self in dangerous situations, confident that Superman will arrive in time. Her new fame as the "Angel of Suicide Slum" means more people begin to show up to join her attempts to start a neighborhood watch. When she leads the people to the hideout of one of the Slum's gangs she's shot because Superman is busy tangling with an energy monster in Antartica and can't get to her in time. She survives her injuries but she's still convinced that Superman is an angel and that her being shot had a higher purpose. Sure enough the outrage over her shooting has galvanized the people of Suicide Slum. At the end, Superman calls up newsfeeds about Barbara Johnson and sees all the good work she's continued to do since their first meeting. This was just a great, straight forward, tug at the heartstrings type of story and Kurt Busiek does a great job. Guest penciller, Peter Vale does a great job. I hope to see more of his work soon.
Rating: :thumbup:
Brave and the Bold #1 - If this is the tone Mark Waid is setting for the series I'm onboard for the long haul. It's just good old-fashioned superhero fun. The murder mystery that brings Batman and Hal Jordan together is very cool. 64 identical corpses with identical wounds are found all over the world and in orbit, were Hal finds one of the bodies. The dialog between Hal and Bruce is great. Their scenes in the casino are especially fun to read. I'm glad to see that they're are portrayed as respecting each other as heroes. While Waid doesn't make them seem like super-chums, he doesn't make them seem like they're about to be at each others throats either. They seem to like each other despite they're differences. Next issue, Hal and Supergirl team up.
Rating: :thumbup:
The Immortal Iron Fist #3 - Ed Brubaker continues to be IMHO Marvel's best writer right now. I love the glimpses of past Iron Fists he's included at the beginning of each issue. I could definitely see a Chronicles of the Iron Fists type mini or ongoing coming out of it. The present day story continues with Danny Rand trying to track down the person who has somehow been sharing his powers. Meanwhile Hydra continues to try and capture Orson Randall, the other Iron Fist, after mistakenly attacking Danny Rand in issue #1. The idea of exploring the history of past Iron Fists seems like someone should've thought of it before now. Brubaker is doing a great job with it and it creates a lot of potential stories. One thing that I wonder about is how will Civil War affect Danny Rand. His established as being anti-registration so I assume he won't register but I'm sure someone on the pro-reg side knows Danny Rand is really Iron Fist. If Rand refuses to register could they go after the Rand corporation? That could really screw things up considering he's got a Hydra front company trying to buy him out.
Rating: :thumbup:
QUICK HITS
52 Week #42 - I knew that wasn't really the Helmet of Fate. Now I don't have to eat a chocolate chip cookie. Um . . . yay?
Rating: :)
Checkmate #11 - Great super spy action as usual from Checkmate. Amanda Waller is wonderfully sneaky in this title. I'm anxious to see what she's holding over Fire's head.
Rating: :thumbup:
Birds of Prey #103 - Really didn't expect that. Surely Barbara's got something else up her sleeve. Spy-Smasher definitely doesn't hold back, though.
Rating: :thumbup:
Wonder Woman #4 - I think this is the best issue of the series so far. Storywise it's not perfect. For example, I don't think Diana would use the JSA as a distraction with out actually telling them they're a distraction. However her own attack on Circe's home sans powers was cool and definitely screamed "I am Wonder Woman no matter what." The story alone would get a :) but throw in the Dodson's art and . . .
Rating: :thumbup:
Trials of Shazam #5 - For some reason my shop keeps getting shorted on this title. This is the second time in a row I've had to wait an extra week to get it. Still it was worth the wait. Especially for that last panel with Billy.
Rating: :thumbup:
Ion: Guardian of the Universe #11 - I didn't realize this series was going to foreshadow so much of DC's upcoming content. Last issue we saw that the Bleed exists in the DCU and Capt. Atom has been exploring it since the events of Battle for Bludhaven.
Rating: :)
Spirit #3 - This was the story I was interested in seeing since I'm not familiar with the Spirit's origin. The monologues for each of the main characters was a great way to explore there motivations, etc.
Rating: :thumbup:
Red Menace #4 - Great premise for this series. Set during the McCarthy era, hero the Eagle has been unmasked and branded a Communist sympathizer by the HUAC. This issue he breaks the terms of his probation to help novice hero, Grey Falcon, raid a big meeting between several mob big wigs. His reward? A free trip to Alcatraz.
Rating: :thumbup:
bredon, a couple of points: Civil War, while ending crappily in my opinion, still wasn't the worst event ending ever. I mean, there have been some real stinkers. I still think House of M was worse, for instance. Also, in regards to Brave and the Bold, are we sure that the book of destiny seen there is Destiny of the Endless' book? And what was the continuity problem? I didn't catch it.
Quote from: Talavar on February 23, 2007, 12:45:33 PM
bredon, a couple of points: Civil War, while ending crappily in my opinion, still wasn't the worst event ending ever. I mean, there have been some real stinkers. I still think House of M was worse, for instance. Also, in regards to Brave and the Bold, are we sure that the book of destiny seen there is Destiny of the Endless' book? And what was the continuity problem? I didn't catch it.
Well I did say that Civil war was "quite possibly" the worst ending ever; I myself haven't read anything worse since um..Milenium from DC.
as for the Brave and the Bold:
[spoiler]
Destiny of the Endless has a book in which everything that ever has happened or will happen is written down. Bats/GL find out about a book that has everything that ever has happened or will happen written down it it which is referred to as "Destiny's book". If its not the same book, that's really sloppy writing.
As for the seeming continuity error: The book does not/cannot exsist away from Destiny himself. While the Endless can be trapped; Waid needs to explain how Destiny was trapped and how the book was able to exsit apart from him (perhaps he was bound into the book?) or its a glaring continuity error.
If he does explain it, I'll upgrade my rating to :thumbup:; the possiblity of such an error really was the only flaw in an otherwise excellent book.
[/spoiler]
Yeah, I know who Destiny of the Endless is. The reason I don't think it's his book is that DC has been stricter about keeping its Vertigo and mainstream titles more distinct of late. The Hell seen in recent DC comics doesn't match up with the Hell from Sandman & Lucifer, for example. It could still be his book, but that's the reason I think it might not be.
Technically, Hell no longer exists in Vertigo, but I see your point.
Still, It's sloppy writing if its not the same book, which would bring down the grade anyway, but eliminate the continuity error.
I think we are dealing with different realitys in the DC Universe. Action comics annual we have Clark Kent with artifacts from Krypton. Fortress has statues of the LSH which are not the current LSH. Justice Society has Starboy from the LSH but is not the same as the current Starboy. Future issues show Dawnstar's arm in process of tracking down Starboy. I think all this is going to sorted out after 52.
The Spirit #3
Good read. Like the golden age cartoon/artwork. The Spirit/Batman run was fun too. Interesting story, tells of how he 'died' and became the Spirit.
52 - Week 42
I'm just starting to not care about Ralph's story anymore. The series started strong, but has become sort of a weekly yawner..
Immortal Iron Fist #3
Very cool - artwork reminds me of Batman - Year One, and the backstory on the Iron Fist legacy is very cool. It makes him more than just a 70's kung-fu dude.
Illuminati
So far good art and interesting character studies in absolute power. DS and Namor have some Defender-esque banter, and Reed, as usual, get ahead of himself.
Conan #37
Cary Nord's got a new inker and colorist, so the work, though good, isn't as Frazetta-like as usual. A fun romp, as Conan boxes for a few rounds.
Civil War #7
Are you kidding me?
[spoiler]
I waited through the delays and Punisher-Cap over and over stuff, just to see Milar do his familiar "oh look, we bashed up the neighbohood - we're the bad guys" shtick? Anti-climactic, Civil War is your name. After reading his Ultimate story, I really was expecting more, and was severely disappointed with this. Great Art, more "meh" than house of .. uM.. Marvel will never be able to do a Secret Wars or AoA again, and they prove it year in and year out.. Don't ding me for spoiling, I just saved you some money - don't waste it. OK, if you want to see Herc get a great splash page in, go for it..
[/spoiler]
that herc page and the namor page will be plastered over the internet by month's end. No need to do it.
Anihhilation: Heralds of Galactus. I liked this. Terrax is back baby. My favorite of the Heralds by far. Paibok is free as well. Quick question, can the Surfer destroy a planet with a single hit?
Black Panther- Clone Thor vs Storm. Herc makes an appearance as this is in the middle of the big brawl. Intertaining. Art left me a little meh.
52- Osirus, that had to hurt.
Heroes For Hire- This is becoming like Nextwave. Funny stuff but the ending looks bad for a certain sea guy.
X-Men Rouges team- I love this guys art. Not sure who the badguy was, but he got punked pretty good. I liked how they worked as a team to stop him.
I liked the Heralds of Galactus one-shot as well, up until Terrax took out that planet. It was just kind of silly - I mean, he can take out a planet, but lose to the Fantastic Four? Seems off to me.
Wolverine 51 - This saw Wolverine and Sabretooth continuing what's being touted as their 'final' fight, which I'll believe when it happens. Great art, but really, does anyone get what the paleolithic wolf people have to do with this? Or care?
Civil War: Frontline 11 just got me all worked up about Civil War, and how much of a jerk Tony Stark is now, and Sally Floyd apparently too, the reporter. I mean, she and Ben Urich sit on a story that basically proves Stark is an evil puppet master war profiteer because they believe in what he's doing? Bah! This was worse than the rosy ending to Civil War 7.
Daredevil 94 was basically a recap issue, told from Daredevil's new wife's point of view. Wake me when the next story arc starts.
Dr. Strange - the Oath 5 ended the mini-series in style. If Brian K. Vaughan was willing to write it, this would make a great on-going. Kind of a cop-out on the potion that can cure all disease, but still awesome. I love gnarled-hands Strange laying the kung-fu beats to his opponent.
Runaways 24 is the end of Brian K. Vaughan's work on the title, which disappoints me, but I'll definitely tune in to see what Joss Whedon cooks up with these characters. A great, if understated end to his run. This book also has the second great fastball special joke of the past two weeks.
Frontline #11 - I didn't originally plan on getting this but the cover and the ending of Civil War got me curious. After flipping through it briefly I decided to get it. After reading it the first word that comes to mind is damage control. Um . . . okay that's two words but you know what I mean. The issue is basically divided into two parts. First the reporters, Ben Urich and Sally Floyd, interview Cap in his apartment - I mean cell. The reporters actually comment on how big the cell is but there's never any explanation for why a prison cell would be so swanky. Anyway, the reporters proceed to "interview" Cap which means they ask two questions then talk at the interviewee until their time is up. What I assume was meant to be Cap defending his ideals and the reasons he did what he did comes off as weak and contrite. Especially when Floyd goes off on a tirade with barely a peep from Cap. The whole interview comes off like the writer, Paul Jenkins is trying to shore up Cap's abrupt 180 in CW #7 by pounding into the reader's head that Cap was actually wrong so it was right that he gave up. After a brief interlude, the issue moves on to the reporters' interview of Tony Stark. Again there are 1 or 2 questions then the monologue starts. After 3 readings I think what they're trying to say is that Tony Stark, knowing that if unchecked the conflict created by the SHRA would tear the country apart, sacrificed his own reputation in order to make sure that the transition was relatively peaceful. He used Norman Osborne to orchestrate an attack on the Atlantean delegation knowing the gun he used wouldn't be a real threat. The threat of a new war with Atlantis makes the number of registered heroes shoot up. He used the Civil War as a pretext to get the government to build a state of the art super-villain prison, hence the pardons for the unregistered heroes after the war was over (the flaw here being that Marvel already has a state of the art super villain prison called the Vault). On top of all that he used his knowledge of the Atlantis incident to manipulate the stock market to the tune of $90,000,000 then used the money to start a charitable organization benefiting first responders and registered heroes. That's why I said this issue was Marvel's attempt at damage control. They basically have 2 uncharacteristic and inexplicable 180s to deal with. Everyone remembers Cap's but there's also the fact that Tony Stark was the first to oppose registration but then, after the Stamford incident, did a 180 that would make Cap proud. Jenkins is dancing as fast as he can here but it would have been better to keep the damage from being done in the first place.
Rating: :(
Iron Man #15 - In case someone hasn't noticed from my other posts here, as far as I'm concerned, Tony Stark wasn't in Civil War. Some jerk just got hold of a Tony Stark mask and went nuts. If you want to see the real Tony Stark pick up this comic. As SHIELD's new director he's definitely shaking things up but he's not egotistical or condescending. The Knaufs have created some interesting internal conflict with Dugan disapproving of some of Stark's policies. Stark starting a casual Friday for the support staff was a nice humorous touch. The coolest thing is seeing the tech upgrades SHIELD gets thanks to Stark's presence. The Stark Tactical Assault Repulsors were my favorites. Considering that many of his past adversaries were basically engaged in industrial espionage moving Tony over to dealing with real espionage is a nice fit. It's also cool to see that Sal Kennedy and suprisingly, Maya Hansen, the creator of the Extremis virus, will still be part of the supporting cast. In the two page conversation between Tony and Maya, the Knaufs demonstrate a better understanding of Stark than Millar did in 7 issues of Civil War. Plus there's the mysterious prisoner being held in a secret Chinese prison. Can anyone say Mandarin? If Marvel really wants to mitigate the character assassination perpetrated by Mark Millar they better beg readers to give this title a try.
Rating: :thumbup:
Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #33 - This is the beginning of a 3 part storyline by Dwayne McDuffie :) McDuffie's involvement is cool enough but it also features the New Gods. Despite a minor screw up with Jason's powers (someone forgot to tell McDuffie that Jason can't become intangible) he really has a great handle on the character's personality. The story involves Prof. Stein publishing a paper mathematically describing a hypothetical ether were all atomic processes are anchored. Of course, this "hypothetical" ether is actually the Firestorm matrix. It's also part of the anti-life equation. The gods of Apokolips and New Genesis are now after Prof. Stein in order to get their hands on it. It's great to see Mister Miracle, Orion, and the Female Furies again and the fight scenes really emphasize how powerful Firestorm really is.
Rating: :thumbup:
QUICK HITS
52 Week #43 - Lady Styx's rebirth = Ewwww. Sobek's eating habits = EWWWW!!
Rating: :)
Green Lantern #17 - Seeing the Sinestro Corps ring try to recruit Batman was cool. Is it wrong that I really liked Batman's Sinestro Corps uniform? Ivan Reis draws an awesome John Stewart, too.
Rating: :thumbup:
Justice #10 - John Stewart FTW!
Rating: :thumbup:
Action Comics #846 - Now that's a cliffhanger! Superman trapped in the Phantom Zone and General Zod ready to conquer Earth with an army of Kryptonian criminals. The only down side is how long I have to wait to see what happens next.
Rating: :thumbup:
Doctor Strange: The Oath #5 - Brian K Vaughn gives Dr. Strange an actual personality and a very cool one at that.
Rating: :thumbup:
Series Rating: :thumbup:
Supergirl & the Legion of Super-Heroes #27 - Great issue. The Dominators are definitely returning as a seriousthreat these days. The tribute to Dave Cockrum at the end was pure class.
Rating: :thumbup:
X-Factor #16 - Peter David throws in a major moral dilemma for Jamie Madrox. He handles it very well.
Rating: :thumbup:
Flash #9 - Marc Guggenheim is off to a good start. The previous writers made Bart a bit to stoic. Guggenheim seems to be giving Bart back some of his old humor while still letting him grow up a bit.
Rating: :)
JSA Classified #23 - The story's not bad but the artist, Alex Sanchez, keeps making Dr. Mid-Nite look like he's part owl.
Rating: :)
Batman Confidential #3 - This is turning out to be pretty good. Batman/Bruce Wayne vs. Lex Luthor is a very interesting contest. I still don't like Whilce Portacio's art though.
Rating: :thumbup:
Blue Beetle #12 - After a shaky start, this series seems to be finding it's way. Peacemaker is a good addition to the cast. We're getting closer to finding out what the Blue Beetle scarab is, too.
Rating: :)
JLA Classified #35 - After a really interesting story last issue, this storyarc devolves into a boring "been there, done that" sort of comic. The baddie creates a reality were he's found scientists to give him a ridiculous number of powers (63 to be exact) then proceeds to kill off the JLA one by one. Yawn.
Rating: :thumbdown:
Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus #1 - The Terrax story is okay. It's good to see him return to form as a cosmic terror. The second story is my favorite though. I didn't know what Stardust was supposed to be until a read it. It's a nice introduction to the character.
Rating: :)
Eternals #7 - It never really blew me away but it's a decent reintroduction for the Eternals.
Rating: :mellow:
Series Rating: :)
Connor Hawke: Dragon's Blood #4 - Again, not spectacular but still fun.
Rating: :)
Daredevil #94 - Basically just a "This is your life Daredevil" issue. Meh.
Rating: :mellow:
Freshmen #3 - I've lost interest.
Rating: :(
Overall a very good week. :thumbup:
Sinestro Corps, ehh?
Sounds interesting but they better not be using the Yellow Lantern Corps' symbol...
52- Wow, this has been a real bad day for Adam. But, I get to see the old Adam come back. :thumbup:
JLA- Wow, I really liked smart Grundy. Had a ferociousness to him that was cunning. Nice to see the League work together in fighting Amazo.
Mighty Avengers- Eh, art was good. Tony is still a jerk. I like how they got Ares to join the team.
Onslaught Reborn #3- Dear Jesus! I'm gonna try to not be negative here and go against my normal bashings. I will say something nice about the issue......... Well, there's umm...... you see.......ummm........ that scene where Thor.......ummm........wait! He knocked at Civil War. He made a statement that Thor was not a clone. Everybody hates clones he said. That's good? Damn, this is hard. To some it up, if anybody looks at the 2nd to last page, you'll see everything that is wrong with this issue.
Quote from: thanoson on March 07, 2007, 11:22:21 PM
Mighty Avengers- Eh, art was good. Tony is still a jerk. I like how they got Ares to join the team.
I thought about picking this up (I miss the Avengers) but decided against it because I'm just not a Bendis fan. Your "Tony is still a jerk" comment makes me glad I didn't.
I've been an Iron Man fan for almost 20 years now. It used to be that if he was in a comic, it increased the chances that I'd pick it up. Now I have to check and see if it's the real Tony Stark or the CW Tony Stark. :(
Ive got a run of Iron Man from 70-300 up in my attic. What they are doing to the character makes me itch. It makes me long for the days of him passed out drunk.
Quote from: Agent on March 09, 2007, 09:19:15 AM
Quote from: thanoson on March 07, 2007, 11:22:21 PM
Mighty Avengers- Eh, art was good. Tony is still a jerk. I like how they got Ares to join the team.
I thought about picking this up (I miss the Avengers) but decided against it because I'm just not a Bendis fan. Your "Tony is still a jerk" comment makes me glad I didn't.
I've been an Iron Man fan for almost 20 years now. It used to be that if he was in a comic, it increased the chances that I'd pick it up. Now I have to check and see if it's the real Tony Stark or the CW Tony Stark. :(
From what I've seen this isn't a typical Bendis book. He even uses thought bubbles! I would say check it out, without any bias even if it is Bendis writing it.
Captain America #25 - Obviously this is already being discussed in other threads but I've noticed there doesn't seem to be a lot of comment on what happened within the context of the story. So to recap, in the past 2 or 3 issues Cap, Nick Fury, Agent 13, and the Winter Soldier have been trying to track down the Red Skull. Meanwhile, the Red Skull has re-teamed with old allies Dr. Faustus (who has managed to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D.) and Arnim Zola. Add in the events of this issue and you've got 2 obvious possible scenarios.
Scenario #1 - Cap really is dead. :thumbdown:
Scenario #2 - Cap, Nick, Sharon, and Bucky (or some combination of that group) have faked Cap's death in order to draw out the Red Skull. The Red Skull said in an earlier issue he was going to exploit the chaos caused by the superhero Civil War. Using Civil War to trick him into thinking his greatest adversary is out of the picture would be a nice bit of irony.
Of course it's possible there's a Scenario #3 that hasn't occured to me. So the rating . . .
Scenario #1 Rating: :thumbdown:
Scenario #2 Rating: :)
Scenario #3 Rating: ???
Iron Man: Hypervelocity #3 - What the heck happened? Adam Warren wrote two issues featuring a fun, heroic, and even funny Tony Stark. Now in the third it's like he suddenly derails the story so he can smear the character he's been writing for 2 issue by claiming Tony Stark has stolen tech from villains. Including tech that was tested on unwilling humans. Did Marvel send him a memo telling him to make sure readers don't like the character he's writing. This comic went from a hidden, Civil War free, gem to one I'm not sure I'll keep reading. Hopefully Warren will stop taking part in Marvel's retroactive jerkification of Tony Stark and get back to telling his story. I've got my fingers crossed.
Rating: :(
The Authority #2 - After a somewhat uneventful first issue and a long wait for the second, the Authority begins firing on all cylinders. The best part? The Authority actually shows up in their own comic this time. :P The carrier has crash landed in what the Doctor calls a "low energy universe" aka our universe. Our universe can't support their biology. The cities barely speak to Jack Hawksmoor, the Doctor's magic is a shadow of it's former self, and the Carrier has almost completely shut down. If it shuts down completely the team will be stranded. While exploring our universe, the Doctor theorizes that something about our universe allows information to bleed through from all other universes. He discovers this by finding a copy of The Authority: Relentless graphic novel in a comic shop. Meanwhile, Apollo is shot down while trying to absorb enough solar energy to restart the Carrier's nervous system. The team prepares to rescue him but the Midnighter gets there first and he's about to take on the U.S. military. That can't be good. Hopefully this series will begin to come out more regularly from now on. Now that Grant Morrison has gotten things moving I can't wait to see the next issue.
Rating: :thumbup:
QUICK HITS
52 Week #44 - Looks like the build up for WWIII is starting. Lot's of people predicted Isis's death but personally I was hoping she'd stick around.
Rating: :)
Justice League of America #6 - Pretty good conclusion to Meltzer's first arc. However, is it just me or does he seem to have heroes grab bad guys' legs a lot.
Rating: :)
newuniversal #4 - I've really been enjoying this series. I especially like the fact that the 4 people who have received powers got them for a specific reason.
Rating: :thumbup:
Manhunter #29 - I knew that wasn't really Ted Kord. Anyway, Marc Andreyko really has a good handle on Diana's personality. Her reason for not revealing that she killed Max Lord to protect the world from a mind controlled Superman fits the character perfectly.
Rating: :thumbup:
The All New Atom #9 - Another quality issue from Gail Simone. My only question would be why is Ryan's school bully from his childhood in China named Alvin?
Rating: :thumbup:
Detective Comics #829 - Unfortunately, some people might skip this arc because it's a fill in by Stuart Moore. That would be a mistake. It's a simple premise. Wayne Tower is attacked by terrorists and Bruce Wayne is trapped inside where he can't change to Batman without giving away his secret identity, so it's up to Robin to save the day. Robin's resourcefulness and Batman's ability to influence the situation without actually being suited up is in full display.
Rating: :thumbup:
Midnighter #5 - This comic is my guilty pleasure. It's sick and twisted and I love every page.
Rating: :thumbup:
Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #8 - Captain America may be "dead" but Uncle Sam is alive and well at DC. Not a perfect series but I'd still like to see more of this team.
Rating: :)
Series Rating: :)
Star Wars: Legacy - The Force is strong with this one.
Rating: :thumbup:
Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born #2 - A lot of new characters are introduced at the same time which made this issue a little confusing. Hopefully it'll be cleared up.
Rating: :mellow:
Welcome to Tranquility #4 - Simone has created an interesting world in this series. The investigation into Mr. Articulate's death continues and the Liberty Snots (I love that name) cause trouble.
Rating: :)
Nightwing #130 - Jamal Igle's art looks great but the story is just okay. The Bride and Groom just aren't very interesting villains, IMHO.
Rating: :mellow:
Jonah Hex #17 - Tallulah Black gets revenge on the men who wronged her. Cool issue but it looks like she won't be sticking around which is kind of disappointing.
Rating: :thumbup:
Wolverine 51
Wolverine vs. Sabertooth, round # 937. Decent art, same ol stuff..
Superman/Batman 32
Interesting take on Mind-frelling aliens speaking to their own kind. But are the aliens calling each other aliens..? Decent Art.
52 44
Adam is on his own again. Too bad.. Where is this all going? It frankly escapes me..
(Planet) Hulk 104
I've liked this run - it's a nice break from Civil War, and reminds me of the 70s for some reason. Looks like he's making his way back to Earth, babe. With a burning hate inside..
FF - The End 6 of 6
Always loved Alan Davis' Art, and the story is actually pretty epic and FF-family-centric. It's cool seeing Torchie leading the Avengers.
The Mighty Avengers 1
It's all been said - Tony's a jerk, Shield is a bunch of nazis, and Ares is a neat twist. Decent art, and Tony gets hosed at the end - good stuff..
JLA 6
Nice artwork, decent story. Too bad for RT, but at least he's 'alive'. Glad to see Grundy again, the Amazo thing was interesting. Super-Adaptoid was a ripoff, huh?
Cap 25
OMG! You killed Cap! You ________'s! He's not dead, he's just in the Fury/Qesada bull pen. I'll play along.. How could you kill the paragon of truth, justice, and the American.. Oh wait, they did that to Superman too right? Okay, never mind..
LOSH 27
S'ok. I like the artwork, but the storyline is slowing down for a good 'ol Dominion invasion.
Brave & the Bold1
Perez rocks. GL and bats gamble, fight aliens, etc. Fun stuff.
Onslaught Reborn 3
I really want to like Liefield.. And his art is getting better.. ugh..
FF 543
A fun mag, with realitic repurcussions to Civil War, from the family it tore apart. Reed & Sue go to marriage help while T'Challa and Ororo keep Ben and Johnny from tearing the place apart (while Frank and Val bet on them). Best line: 'Stand still so's I can clobber ya!' There are some Marvel house / FF self-depricating cartoons after the main story which I haven't read yet.
Mighty Avengers bugged me for a couple of reasons. First, those thought balloons bugged the crap out of me. Way over-used, and kinda pointless. Second, why the hell did Stark... [spoiler] turn into a female Ultron? I know since Extremis Tony's been mentally controlling the armor directly, a mind-electronic connection of some kind, but that let's the whole suit and his anatomy get turned into putty? Dumb. Robots having gender, generally dumber. [/spoiler]
Quote from: Talavar on March 11, 2007, 01:50:31 PM
Second, why the hell did Stark... [spoiler] turn into a female Ultron? I know since Extremis Tony's been mentally controlling the armor directly, a mind-electronic connection of some kind, but that let's the whole suit and his anatomy get turned into putty? Dumb. Robots having gender, generally dumber. [/spoiler]
Uhm, Bendis already addressed that issue in two words... [spoiler]Battlestar Galactica. If some old '70s sci-fi show could manage to overhaul the star villians by giving them a human form in the 21st Century then why not an old supervillian too? Plus he was tired of the same old Ultron plus infinity model once again attacking the Avengers for some old drawn out plotline. And with Frank Cho being the artist on the comic... what gender would you think Ultron would be? :rolleyes:
This new Ultron should be more "unexpected" since that is the key word for Marvel this year. And I doubt that Tony will be stuck as Femtron for too long since she probably needs to find a body of her own before too long.[/spoiler]
- CrimsonQuill
Tony being turned into something is possible but dosent make much sense. A female Ultron Posing as Tony maybe?
But yeah, that pannel really threw me off. The thought balloons are kind of intrusive too, I mean I like the idea but they should weed out 2/3rds of them, it reads like bad manga.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 #1 - I've missed Buffy and the Scoobies. It's great to see just how things have changed since all the potential slayers were activated at the end of Season 7. There are 1800 slayers roaming the world now, 500 of which work with Buffy's group divided into 10 squads. There are even two fake Buffy's one of whom is used to explain "Buffy" dating the Immortal. As far as the Scoobies are concerned we only see what's going on with Xander and Dawn in this issue. Xander is acting as Watcher/mission coordinator for the Slayers and Dawn has been transformed into a giant due to time spent dating something called a thricewise. Meanwhile, a general is convinced the slayers are a threat to national security, in no small part due to what happened to Sunnydale. Speaking of which, a team inspecting what was left of the town for the general finds Amy and her "boyfriend." We never see the boyfriend but the general wonders how it could be alive the first time he sees it. Not suprisingly the characterization is great (Xander has a great moment near the beginning of the issue) since Whedon is jumping back into a familiar sandbox here. Georges Jeanty's art is excellent. Dawn doesn't quite look like herself but I can forgive that. I'm looking forward to seeing what Whedon and Co. have planned.
Rating: :thumbup:
Green Lantern Corps #10 - Dave Gibbon's first issue back since Keith Champagne's 3 issue run really suffers from the comparison. Particularly when you compare the two writers' takes on Guy Gardner. Champagne made him a lovable rogue. Kind of like Han Solo with a power ring. Gibbons makes Guy seem like a whiney, brat. There's also this animosity between Guy and some of the other Lanterns that never seems to have any real basis. It just comes out of nowhere. There's a sub plot involving Isakot and his partner whose name I can never remember visiting Mogo that doesn't really go anywhere. On the bright side, the sub plot involving Soranik Natu is actually very interesting. Natu's home planet, Korugar, views GLs as evil thanks to Sinestro (when he was Korugar's GL he took over the planet). Natu is shown providing medical care to Korugar's under-priveleged. I like the idea of Korugar developing it's own subversive (from their point of view) pro-GL underground thanks to Natu's efforts. Newly graduated GL, Princess Iolande is chosen to be Natu's new partner which has the potential to be a cool pairing. Natu's story benefits from being drawn by Patrick Gleason rather than Gibbons. Gibbons style just doesn't fit this type of title. Gleason's art is full of energy and he's great a drawing weird looking aliens. Gibbon's work seems to static for the story being told. As far as his writing, I liked Gibbon's first storyline (the one that introduced Iolande) but his subsequent stories just haven't been that good. Particularly when Guy's involved.
Rating: :(
Superman #660 - This is Superman's book but this issue is actually a Prankster story and a very good one. Once again a writer, in this case Kurt Busiek, re-imagines an older character. What makes this so great is the fact that Busiek doesn't try to make him scary or menacing. By taking this approach he saves the Prankster from being just a poor man's Joker. The Prankster works as a diversion for hire. Criminals hire him to perform one of his pranks, which he views as performances, to distract the authorities and of course Superman while they commit their own crime. In the course of the story we get to see what happens when one of the Prankster's clients disrespects his art. It's great to see a writer embrace the idea that you can make a character interesting, and in this case fun, without going the grim and gritty route.
Rating: :thumbup:
QUICK HITS
52 Week #45 - DO NOT harbor man made incarnations of Death while Black Adam is around. He does't like it. I wonder what the Oolong Island scientists have in store for him?
Rating: :)
Teen Titans #44 - Batgirl fans should be happy.
Rating: :thumbup:
Wonder Woman #5 - A fill-in issue but not bad. I would've liked to see the end of Alan Heinberg's story but I can't blame DC for deciding to get on with it.
Rating: :mellow:
Stormwatch PHD #5 - We find out why Stormwatch Prime is still alive and there's even an explanation for Jackson King's involvement in the Monarchy. The connection between the Wildstorm and DC universes is hinted at, too.
Rating: :)
Mystery in Space #7 - Lots of action in this issue and the Captain Comet and Weird storylines converge.
Rating: :thumbup:
Martian Manhunter #8 - Unfortunately the conclusion to the mini doesn't tie up all it's loose ends. I do like J'onn's new look though.
Rating: :(
Series Rating: :(
Green Arrow #72 - Red Hood and Speedy fight for some reason. To be fair there was something about Red Hood wanting to teach Speedy a lesson but it's not doing too well on my logic-meter (patent pending).
Rating: :(
Grifter/Midnighter #1 - Lots of set up but Chuck Dixon seems to have a pretty good handle on the characters. However, when did Grifter get powers?
Rating: :)
Robin #160 - Robin versus superpowered gangbangers. Pretty fun.
Rating: :thumbup:
Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #50 - So begins fantasy novelist, Tad Williams' run on Aquaman. He starts off putting a lot of plot points in motion. We're introduced to amnesiac "villain" Narwhal. I put villain in quotes because the fact that Narwhal can't remember anything prior to a year ago makes me think he's actually a hero we've seen before being manipulated by Dyss's evil Sea Bishop. Dyss, another new addition, is a hidden city ruled by the Deep Church's Sea Bishop and dedicated to bringing about the return of an evil god called the Awaited. On a lighter note, Williams introduces us to his version of Topo. In the Silver Age Topo was Aquaman's octopus sidekick/pet. Here he's a little squid man (he calls himself a coleoid humanoid) from a city called Neos. Topo provides a bit of comic relief as well as exposition. Williams actually adds a good bit more comedy to the title than Busiek did but thankfully he doesn't go overboard with it and he doesn't create comedy at the expense of the characters. The banter between Topo and Arthur are especially fun to read. Williams also brings back several characters from Aquaman's past, most importantly, Tempest who has been missing and presumed dead since Atlantis was destroyed. One thing I was very happy to see was Williams' continued use of characters reintroduced by his predecessor, Kurt Busiek. The Sea Devils, Vulko's ghost, Mera, Sub Diego and Rodunn all appear to have prominent rolls in the upcoming storyline. Shawn McManus's art is good if a little too cartoony. However, it seemed to improve as the issue went along. I'm not sure if that means he got more comfortable with the characters or I just got used to the art. Anyway, it was an enjoyable first issue and I'm interested to see what else Tad Williams has in mind.
Rating: :thumbup:
QUICK HITS
52 Week #46 - Let this be a lesson to everyone. Don't mess with nerds! Especially the mad scientist variety.
Rating: :thumbup:
Justice Society of America #4 - Cool conclusion to the opening storyline. I especially liked Wildcat and son taking on Vandal Savage.
Rating: :thumbup:
Checkmate #12 - We learn what Amanda Waller was using to blackmail Fire into doing her dirty work and she earns a new advisary in the Black King, Taleb Beni Khalid. It's very interesting that Rucka chose to use a real event - Operation Condor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Condor).
Rating: :thumbup:
Birds of Prey #104 - This was an awesome issue. Gail Simone knows how to write action. The clash between the Birds of Prey and the numerically inaccurate Secret Six was great throughout the issue. Add to that a great surprise ending and you've got a winner. BTW, I hereby nominate Gail Simone to write Hawkgirl.
Rating: :thumbup:
Brave and the Bold #2 - The interaction between Hal Jordan and Supergirl is a lot of fun but there seems to be a huge gap between the way she acts here and the way she acts in her own book.
Rating: :)
Detective Comics #830 - Not bad for a fill-in but I was a little disappointed that Batman eventually did show up to save the day. I would rather see Robin figure out how to handle the situation on his own.
Rating: :)
Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #10 - It was cool to see Bart put his new detective skills to work. The cliffhanger reveal of who sent Zoom after Bart was great, too. Didn't see it coming at all.
Rating: :thumbup:
X-Factor #17 - Peter David introduces readers to the X-Cell although we only see there pint sized leader, Elijah Cross. The issue is setting up the upcoming storyline and I'm very interested to see what happens.
Rating: :thumbup:
Ion: Guardian of the Universe #12 - While seeing Kyle deal with the death of his mother was touching, the ending for this series leaves me cold. Considering all the times Kyle's had to deal with the loss of someone close to him, killing his mother almost seems like piling on. At least it's clear we'll be seeing more of Ion in the Sinestro Corps story.
Rating: :mellow:
Series Rating: :)
Batman Confidential - Still like the story but still dislike the art. However, I don't think respectable businessman Lex Luthor would be this forward about his plans for world domination.
Rating: :)
Spirit #4 - Here's hoping we'll get to see Silk Satin again soon.
Rating: :thumbup:
Red Menace #5 - Gray Eagle to the rescue and the real baddies are ready to strike in LA.
Rating: :)
The Wonder Woman thing has me steaming:
First, the book ends up being made bimonthly with very little notice (I didn't find out until well after issue #2 had been out), then they end up not ending the story and making everyone wait. I've heard the conclusion will either be in a standalone special issue or in the annual, but won't be out until the latter half of the year either way.
Does anyone know if the Dodsons will continue doing the artwork when the new writer takes over? If not, I'm dumping the book.
Quote from: Agent on March 15, 2007, 05:00:06 PM
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 #1 - I've missed Buffy and the Scoobies. It's great to see just how things have changed since all the potential slayers were activated at the end of Season 7. There are 1800 slayers roaming the world now, 500 of which work with Buffy's group divided into 10 squads. There are even two fake Buffy's one of whom is used to explain "Buffy" dating the Immortal. As far as the Scoobies are concerned we only see what's going on with Xander and Dawn in this issue. Xander is acting as Watcher/mission coordinator for the Slayers and Dawn has been transformed into a giant due to time spent dating something called a thricewise. Meanwhile, a general is convinced the slayers are a threat to national security, in no small part due to what happened to Sunnydale. Speaking of which, a team inspecting what was left of the town for the general finds Amy and her "boyfriend." We never see the boyfriend but the general wonders how it could be alive the first time he sees it. Not suprisingly the characterization is great (Xander has a great moment near the beginning of the issue) since Whedon is jumping back into a familiar sandbox here. Georges Jeanty's art is excellent. Dawn doesn't quite look like herself but I can forgive that. I'm looking forward to seeing what Whedon and Co. have planned.
Rating: :thumbup:
I loved it too, though Joss was a teeensy bit rusty ("Great Muppety Odin" is not a phrase that would EVER come out of Buffy's mouth. Xander, sure, but not Buffy :D)-
as for Amy's "boyfriend" [spoiler]
I think it's Warren. Remember, Willow was powerful enough to resurrect Buffy before she absorbed the Magic Box, and Amy was her equal. If she was able to bring him back, but not reskin him, that would explain the generals comment.
But, since Buffy evaucated Sunnydale I dont know who- or how - Amy ate to survive.
Oh, and best quote: "Magic. You have to learn the rules, General. There are no <bleep> rules. That was kind of my point" [/spoiler]
Thunderbolts 112- It took 3 issues, but I finally get it. This book is
The Colbert Report of the registration act. Just like Colbert skewers the right wing by pretending to be one of them- this book is about skewring the rotten core of the registration act by pretending to praise it. As with Colbert, if you're not in on the joke it's horrifying - but if you are, it's hysterical. :thumbup:
Justice Society of America 4- This is the best comic on the stands, so I'm assuming you're all buying it. If not, start. Don't even read the rest of this- go out and get it. A fairly perfect comic book. :thumbup:
Quote from: Agent on March 23, 2007, 01:39:06 PM
[
QUICK HITS
52 Week #46 - Let this be a lesson to everyone. Don't mess with nerds! Especially the mad scientist variety.
Rating: :thumbup:
Brave and the Bold #2 - The interaction between Hal Jordan and Supergirl is a lot of fun but there seems to be a huge gap between the way she acts here and the way she acts in her own book.
Rating: :)
Actually, I found both these books worrying. Now, I've been one of the stronger proponents of the modern age of comics; I dread, absolutley dread, a return to the silly sensibilities of the Silver Age. And again, I've been a champion of the "Comics are no longer for children (barring the obvious ones that are) - and that's a good thing."
But both those comics went too far.
52 -Veronica Cale referred to Black Adam using a certain genital representation I certainly dont expect to see outside a Vertigo book. And it wasnt even the usual "@#$%", nope, the full word. Jarred me right out of the story. There are a dozen differnt epithets she could have used - its clear this one was used for shock value.
Brave and the Bold -[spoiler]
Supergirl needs to disguise herself to fight the Grag brothers, fine. There's a dozen differnt costumes she could have used. But they chose to dress her up as a five or six year old child- after going out of their way to establish that she was only seventeen earlier in the book. I dont know about you, but the last guy I heard about that had pictures of a seventeen year old dressed up as a five or six year old got arrested- and for very good reason. Gave me a skeevy feeling that jarred me right out of the story. [/spoiler]
Now I'm all for shock value. I understand the desire, even the need for it in most cases, whether it be to sell books (Cap 25) or for story purposes (Identity Crisis). But this is the first time I've started to think that those of you who have been saying its been taken too far might have a point. :(
Really? 52? The word they used, that was jarring enough? Not Black Adam murdering a country? Huh.
Quote from: bredon7777 on March 25, 2007, 08:40:31 PM
as for Amy's "boyfriend" [spoiler]
I think it's Warren. Remember, Willow was powerful enough to resurrect Buffy before she absorbed the Magic Box, and Amy was her equal. If she was able to bring him back, but not reskin him, that would explain the generals comment.
[/spoiler]
I had the exact same thought.
Quote from: Talavar on March 26, 2007, 02:32:55 PM
Really? 52? The word they used, that was jarring enough? Not Black Adam murdering a country? Huh.
Actually, an arguably insane Black Adam
not murdering a country, given his history, powers, and recent events would've been far more jarring. The murders made perfect sense, story wise. That particular epithet did not.
If she didn't have a problem with helping to build the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse why would she suddenly draw the line at saucy language?
ahh come on, you though something like that was bad. i must admit i didnt even notice it.
I didn't notice it either. To tell the truth, she's an incidental character. Her existence in 52 brings nothing to the table. I picked up the issue just to see Black Adam kicking the crap out of Mad Scientist devices, and getting the crap kicked out of him.
I had to go back to re-read the issue to even know the word in question, a word that the filter on this board doesn't block, even was. If that's bad language these days, TV, film, books, and most people's vocabulary better watch out. I mean, is that even saucy any more? It's about as bad as saying something sucks.
Justice Society of America #4 - Not happy the storyline ended abruptly, but watching the two Wildcats whip the snot out of Vandal Savage, and the two page spread where Wildcat introduces his son to the team, more than made up for it. The cliffhanger ending? WHOA!
Wonder Woman #5 - Again, I'm steamed that we have to wait months for the end of the opening storyline, but the standalone story was pretty good. I'm glad the Dodsons are only taking a short break from doing the art, though, or I'd be dropping the book.
Wanted to pick up Flash #10 to see how someone in the issue gets killed off; long story short, Guggenheim occasionally posts at another forum I visit and `picked' that victim from the posters at that board (no, I'm not the victim). Unfortunately, the shop was already sold out of the issue. :(
Didn't see anything on the stands that grabbed me.
One thing I'm ticked about? I added Honor Brigade to my subscriptions when it was first solicited in Previews, but I guess they must need a minimum # of people asking for it to order and didn't. :(
Wonder Woman #6 - The first thing that came to mind after reading novelist, Jodi Picoult's first issue was "She's trying to hard." Picoult spends a lot of her first issue (too much of it in my opinion) exploring Wonder Woman's struggles to adapt to her new secret identity. I agree with the idea that this would require an adjustment on her part (AFAIK post CoIE Diana's never had a secret identity before) but I think Diana's been in man's world long enough to have the basics down already. It makes since that she might not have a credit card but Picoult gives the impression (possibly unintentionally) that she doesn't even know what a credit card is. I also disliked the use of Circe as the big bad. She's revealed in a way that suggest she's supposed to be a big shock to the reader but we just saw her in Heinberg's unfinished storyline. Seeing her again here is just anticlimactic. At this point, Picoult writes Diana a little to angst-y for my tastes. Hopefully, she'll get a better handle on the character next issue.
Rating: :(
Blue Beetle #13 - This issue was kind of a pleasant surprise. I figured the Reach, the aliens responsible for creating the Blue Beetle scarab, was hiding something when they were introduced last issue but I didn't expect it to be revealed this soon. The Reach claimed to be a benevolent organization that seeks to help civilizations survive the point in there development when they possess the technology to destroy themselves but not the wisdom to avoid doing so. They seed the galaxy with the scarabs and once a world reaches this point it activates and creates a guardian to protect it until the Reach can arrive and offer help. As the comic's writer put it, they're our Space-Pals. At least they pretend to be. In reality the scarab was supposed to create a super powered pawn for the Reach which is really sort of an intergalactic business conglomerate that conquers worlds in order to use them to make a profit (they even have a "holy writ" full of business plans for their potential conquests). The Earth's scarab is defective due to repeated exposure to magical energy. Not only has it's function been split with Jaime getting the armor and Peacemaker getting the instructions on how to use it, it's left Jaime with his free will intact. Jaime and Co. know this but the Reach has already made contact with the US Government claiming to be peaceful visitors. Rogers has set up an interesting conflict for Jaime and established, along with Keith Giffen, a strong supporting cast. Especially Peacemaker. Rafael Albuquerque's fun and expressive art is great for the series. I particularly like his designs for the Reach's leader and minions. There's a clear connection between them and the Blue Beetle and they look deceptively benign.
Rating: :thumbup:
Fantastic Four #544 - I'm not a fan of a lot of Marvel's post-Civil War changes but I am a fan of Dwayne McDuffie and the Black Panther so I picked this up. I have to say, I'm a little surprised Marvel didn't announce the fact that this is a follow-up to McDuffie's recent miniseries, Beyond. For those who don't know, in Beyond, Medusa, the Wasp, Henry Pym, Firehawk, Gravity, Venom, the Hood, and someone else whose name I can't remember were abducted by the Stranger. Gravity sacrificed his life to help them all escape. In this issue, the Fantastic Four, with the Black Panther and Storm replacing Reed and Sue, discover Gravity's body has been teleported away. The resulting investigation leads them first to the Watcher's place on the moon then to Epoch. She's using Gravity's body for some unknown purpose but she has to hide her activities from Galactus and his Heralds. Her efforts are unsuccesful and the Silver Surfer arrives while the FF are tussling with her. I like the tone McDuffie strikes with this issue. Reed and Sue's departure is addressed but it's not bogged down with a lot of CW angst. The Panther and Storm make interesting fill ins for them and McDuffie takes the reader right into one of the big cosmic adventures I've always liked to see in an FF comic.
Rating: :thumbup:
QUICK HITS
52 Week #47 - This issue touches base with the storylines that got sidelined by Black Adams rampage. We even see some set up for the new Infinity, Inc. ongoing staring John Henry Irons (writer-Peter Milligan, artist-Max Fiumara).
Rating: :)
Green Lantern #18 - Star Sapphire is back and lookin' for love! :P I liked the main story but the Tales of the Sinestro Corps story was better. It had a reverse-"Mogo Doesn't Socialize" feel to it. I'm sure that wasn't a coincidence.
Rating: :thumbup:
Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #34 - New Gods continue to pop up and complicate Firestorm's life with Metron, Kalibak, and a new version of the Parademons making an appearance. McDuffie's keeping the action coming with one more issue to go.
Rating: :thumbup:
Action Comics #847 - Another fill-in but Dwayne McDuffie (he seems to be everywhere this week) ties it into the Last Son storyline very nicely. Renato Guedes art is fantastic in this issue. This is one of the best Superman covers I've seen in a long time.
Rating: :thumbup:
Batman #664 - This was a great issue although the first page was a little confusing. Morrison ignores the last 4 issues and picks up right after the end of the Son of the Bat storyline. The first page shows Bruce Wayne strolling down a street littered with defeated Man-Bats, chatting with his new love interests on a cell phone. Now how cool is that?
Rating: :thumbup:
Star Wars: Legacy #10 - Ostrander's doing a great job exploring the politics and intrigue of the future Star Wars universe. He even includes a surprise reveal of Cade Skywalker's mom.
Rating: :thumbup:
Daredevil #95 - Ed Brubaker gets back to his and Daredevil's strength as Matt reluctantly agrees to defend Melvin Potter, aka the Gladiator, who has been charged with murdering two of his fellow inmates.
Rating: :thumbup:
JSA Classified #24 - Pretty cool use of Dr. Mid-Nite. Still wish they'd gotten a better artist for the arc though.
Rating: :)
Superman Confidential #4 - I just can't get into this story. I still feel like Cooke's Superman is too whiney when he gets into trouble.
Rating: :(
Connor Hawke: Dragon's Blood #5 - Chuck Dixon delivers wall-to-wall action with Connor fighting a dragon for the whole issue. I liked how he and Eddie took it down by giving the legend a modern twist.
Rating: :thumbup:
Yay Connor Hawke reader! Great story.
52 Week #48 - I think it's safe to say that most readers saw this coming as soon as it was revealed the Question was dying of cancer. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it just means when the inevitable happens it needs to happen with a bang. Unfortunately, Renee Montoya taking on the mantle of the Question didn't have the punch it needed to be successful. I think part of the problem is that her relationship with Kathy Kane never seemed all that strong. It really doesn't feel like Renee would be anymore inclined to risk her life for Kate than she would for anyone who happened to be in trouble. In fact, I think with the amount of effort put into developing her relationship with Charlie, aka the Question, it would have more emotional impact if she had been fighting to save him instead of Kate. Speaking of Charlie, I really think 52's writers missed an opportunity. The best thing about Montoya's storyline has been her interaction with the Question. I don't find anything inherently interesting about Montoya taking over the role. However, Montoya becoming the Questions permanent partner would've been great. I can see it now. She could call herself the Answer and they're comic could be called "Q&A". :P Oh well, bring on WWIII.
Rating: :mellow:
QUICK HITS
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - More Buffy goodness. An interesting revelation about the General and Amy attacks. Next month - WILLOW!!
Rating: :thumbup:
Justice League of America #7 - An epilogue for the Tornado's Path. The team officially forms and gets a spiffy new Hall of Justice-y headquarters and a Satellite headquarters completely with a danger room, called the Kitchen. Bring on the JSA and the Legion of Superheroes!?!?.
Rating: :thumbup:
Atom #10 - The Atom vs Zombies. How can you go wrong with that?
Rating: :thumbup:
Immortal Iron Fist #4 - This series just keeps getting better. That one page with the Iron Fists, Danny Rand and Orson Randall taking on a butt load of Hydra is a thing of beauty.
Rating: :thumbup:
Detective Comics #831 - Fun to see Harlequinn again. Now that she's out of Arkham and presumably off her Joker kick, what with the trying to murder her and all, maybe she'll join the Secret Six.
Rating: :)
Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #28 - Now that's the way to turn the tables on Dominators. They might want to steer clear of Cosmic Boy, though. He might be cranky after the torturing.
Rating: :thumbup:
Iron Man: Hypervelocity #4 - Much better. Warren gets back to telling his story and cutting loose his gift for wacky techno babble. I do wish the art was a little clearer. At times it's a little hard to tell what's supposed to be happening.
Rating: :thumbup:
Midnighter #6 - This was an elseworlds with Midnighter as a samurai warrior. It comes out of nowhere and doesn't seem to connect with the present day Midnighter. It was okay story but I'd rather read about the current version.
Rating: :mellow:
Welcome to Tranquility #5 - Nice misdirect there Gail. :) It looked like we'd discovered who killed Mr. Articulate but it turns out Fury's going ballistic over something else we didn't even know about.
Rating: :thumbup:
Superman #661 - I love Kurt Busiek but he does have his occasional missteps. This is one of them. The story isn't very engaging at all. Even a guest appearance by Wonder Woman doesn't help.
Rating: :(
Omega Flight #1 - Not a bad start. We see very little of the team, though. Only Sasquatch and Talisman show up. In Talisman's case, she just shows up to say she doesn't want to join the team.
Rating: :)
Annihilation Heralds of Galactus #2 - An alright :mellow: comic but a reminder about who the Centurian are would've helped. It also seems like Tenebrous and Aegis should've been harder to kill.
Rating: :mellow:
Jonah Hex #18 - Jonah Hex - "Sorry about killing you ladies' husbands. Totally my fault. So, nohardfeelingsokaybye."
Rating: :thumbup:
Madman #1 - I'm not familiar with the character so I'm sort of catching up. Fortunately, this issue is a run down of Madman's history so far.
Rating: :)
Yeah, 2 beings easily as powerful as Galactus, beaten by his herald? Wow!
Iron Man #16 - I've made it pretty clear I'm not a big fan of Civil War but if someone asked me to name one good thing about it, I'd say it led to Tony Stark as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. It opens so many great story opportunities I'm surprised no one thought of something similar before. Actually, come to think of it, Tony Stark as Secretary of Defense is similar but this leaves the door open for Tony to still go into action as Iron Man. In this issue, the strange upsurge in terrorist activity among seemingly unconnected terrorist groups continues. Now even groups that previously didn't have much in the way of training or weaponry are suddenly using incredibly high tech weapons (case in point, a rail gun bio-engineered to link with the user's brain) and military tactics. Meanwhile, terrorist mastermind Karim Mahwash Najeeb gets more than he bargained for when he mistakenly thinks he can control the Mandarin (there's a great scene where the Mandarin takes down almost all of Najeeb's henchmen while strapped in a strait jacket and chained to the floor). I can't wait until Iron Man and the Mandarin clash. Once again the characterization of Tony Stark is superb. His struggling to handle the key difference between running a corporation and running a military organization, the death of team members, was well handled and Tony's remarks at the funeral of the deceased Team Alpha members were simple but powerful. I'm really excited about what's coming up next. It turns out this was just the type of shakeup (having Stark lead S.H.I.E.L.D. not the stuff that lead up to it) the character needed.
Rating: :thumbup:
Green Lantern Corps #11 - Wow. What a difference a month makes. I enjoyed this issue much more the issue #10. I know part of the reason for that is the fact that Patrick Gleason did the art for the whole issue. This thing was a visual treat throughout. However, the story is much improved, too. You really get the sense that a serious threat is building. It appears Mogo has been infected by viral Sinestro Corps member, Despotellis, and is being used to brainwash GLs that visit him. It has already turned the Green Man and in this issue Kilowog is forced to turn against the Guardians and the Corps, too. In addition, some of Alan Moore's GL Corps stories get revisited including my second favorite (next to "Mogo Doesn't Socialize"), "Tygers" which introduced the Empire of Tears. The Guardians fill Salaak in on the Empire's role in Abin Sur's death and assigns him to watch for signs that their prophecies may be coming true. The only flaw is one I've mentioned before. Gibbons just doesn't get Guy and once again he seems off (Do people even still use the term "goldbricks"?). Maybe Keith Champagne could give him some pointers. Anyway, I hope Gibbons can keep this up for a while.
Rating: :thumbup:
QUICK HITS52 Week #49 - I like the mini Metal Men. Magnus and Morrow's relationship is pretty interesting, too. Now for the chaos.
Rating: :)
Nova #1 - Good first issue. Chen's artwork looks fantastic, too.
Rating: :)
newuniversal #5 - This comic has a great concept but Ellis needs to pick up the pace a bit.
Rating: :mellow:
All-Star Superman #7 - I love the way Morrison re-imagines the Silver Age with this series. Making Bizarro World a huge space-faring planet eater was a great idea. Still, I wish DC would put someone else on art. I mean, are Superman and Zibarro supposed to look like they're wearing big diapers.
Rating: :thumbup:
Teen Titans #45 - A little repetitive in places but the last page makes up for it.
Rating: :)
Trials of Shazam #6 - Really good issue. It's great to finally see Freddy in full costume, well almost full costume.
Rating: :thumbup:
Stormwatch PHD #6 - I love the way Christos Gage turns the tables with this issue. Usually the police are just background cannon fodder for the superhero battles but here John Doran is about to lead an army of police officers on a mission to save Stormwatch PHD from Defile and his henchmen.
Rating: :thumbup:
JLA Classified #37 - I'm not sure were Milligan is going with this but I'm interested.
Rating: :)
Green Arrow #73 - This is an interesting start to the series' last storyline. The wheels start to come off of Ollie's tenure as mayor of Star City and Brick reneges on a deal he made with Ollie.
Rating: :thumbup:
Wonder Woman #7 - This just isn't working. The "I don't know how man's world works" shtick gets old really fast.
Rating: :(
I think I'll pass on WW until Gail Simone's run (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=108610) starts. :thumbup: She gets it.
Quote from: NewsaramaNRAMA: Yeah, but many argue that WW has the same problem Superman or Batman do in that case - that they've become so much larger than life, and mean so many things to so many people...
That said, does Wonder Woman still "work" in today's world? She comes form a matriarchal single-sex theocracy that preaches peace, yet are the planet's fiercest warriors, despite a lack of an ever-present enemy...playing devil's advocate, and not pulling punches here, if someone claiming to be from a world like that showed up in our..."man's" world, she'd end up marginalized, not warmly accepted and certainly not seen as having much of value to offer...
Or would she?
GS: Eh, bleah, that just isn't what this book is going to be at all, to be frank. Look. It's simple, and it's never outdated.
The book is about the best [gosh darned] warrior planet Earth has ever known, and she happens to carry a mystical arsenal around just for the [heck] of it.
If a writer can't make that interesting and fun, they really shouldn't be writing superheroes.
There are layers upon layers of the character, and we'll get to them all. But let's just make it very clear that Diana is the premiere [fanny]-kicker in the DCU, period. Batman and Superman have other things that make them special. Diana is the one who occasionally carries an axe if someone gives her lip.
This is actually in my first issue, but the quote is, "When a giant robot attacks Metropolis, send Superman. An alien attack? Get Green Lantern. When a car is hijacked by an escaped loony, turn on the bat signal, by all means. But if an ARMY shows up on your doorstep, that's when you call in Wonder Woman.
Simple.
i read the gl corps too and its awsome :thumbup:
as much as i'm enjoying TT, am i the only one getting sick of the whole roster getting beat nightwiong and old crew come in and make it look easy stuff. this is the second time in 3 stories
Yeah Teen Titans has gone downhill for me since OYL. Wonder Woman is a complete mess which is an ashame.
I haven't gotten into TT this entire run. By and large the characters seemed pretty unfocused to me. I've found the series mostly took dark in the art department for most of the run.
Wonder Woman has been a disaster since the relaunch. But with Gail Simone being given the book as of issue 12, I have high hopes for it improving dramatically.
Quote from: Renegade on April 14, 2007, 06:23:21 PM
Wonder Woman has been a disaster since the relaunch. But with Gail Simone being given the book as of issue 12, I have high hopes for it improving dramatically.
Well, the first storyarc not even being finished was pretty much a disaster, yeah. And the fill-in issue could have been better. What I don't like is the choice of villain Jodi Picoult made for her arc. But I am glad that the Dodsons are only taking a temporary break (they're supposed to be back around issue 10 or so), and am EXTREMELY happy that Gail Simone will be taking over. My initial plan was to dump the book when the Dodsons leave unless an actual comic writer took over.
(At another board I go to, I suggested Gail Simone as a potential writer back around when issue #3 was out. :) )
Batman #664 - Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert's return to the book. And the cover is by Andy Kubert and some guy named.....Joe Kubert! Pretty cool seeing Andy and his father work together, and I'd love to see that happen on the interior sometime. The story is the start of an arc involving something called `The Black Casebook', which unfortunately isn't brought up until late in the issue, and we won't find out what the deal is with it until the next issue.
One big problem I have is, we're introduced to a new villain - I think. He looks waaaaay too much like Bane. According to the next issue blurb, this storyarc is supposed to tie in with the attack on the Joker.
52: Ok, Adam can handle most of the teams that are put up against him, yet was taken out earlier by the nerds? Hmmm...... Still, he was pretty awesome.
How were the 4 World War comics? I passed on them Wednesday.
Good thing you did. they were horrible.
Quote from: thanoson on April 19, 2007, 02:58:54 PM
52: Ok, Adam can handle most of the teams that are put up against him, yet was taken out earlier by the nerds? Hmmm...... Still, he was pretty awesome.
I thumbed through that one in the comic book store, and was ridiculously surprised to see him taking on a huge team of heroes. Yeah, he could take most of those guys, but the Martian Manhunter was there, and by himself J'onn could give Adam a run for his money.
QUICK HITS
52 Week #50 - Great issue. I love the way Capt. Marvel and the other magic users de-powered Black Adam.
Rating: :thumbup:
World War III #1-4 - Um . . . 52 was good. :P Most of the OYL plot points addressed here either would've been better in their own books where they could've been given more space (Aquaman's transformation into the Dweller in the Depths) or didn't really need anymore explanation (Firestorm taking on Lorraine Reilly, aka Firehawk, as his new partner after Prof. Stein is kidnapped). Plus the war with Black Adam actually had more impact when it was condensed into one issue of 52.
Rating: :(
Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #51 - Pretty good but not great. Unfortunately, an Aquaman comic might not be able to survive without being great. Williams takes a somewhat less humors tone with this second issue and it ends up being hindered by Shawn McManus's style. The monsters in the issue end up looking almost cute when they should be menacing.
Rating: :)
Justice League of America #8 - Part 1 of the JSA/JLA crossover and a very fun read. The Legion of Super-Heroes' involvement is an unexpected treat. I wonder who are the other 4 Legionnaires loose in the 21st century.
Rating: :thumbup:
Manhunter #30 - I'm so happy this series isn't being canceled. It's a perfect example of how, unfortunately, quality doesn't always translate into sales.
Rating: :thumbup:
Birds of Prey #105 - On the other hand, I'm disappointed to hear that Gail Simone is leaving BoP in order to take over Wonder Woman. She produced another great issue here. The tension between Oracle and Spy-Smasher continues to build and round 2 of Birds of Prey VS Secret Six, with new member Harlequin :thumbup: is about to begin.
Rating: :thumbup:
Brave and the Bold #3 - Mark Waid is good at writing the new Bats. Just like his appearance in the first issue, Batman isn't too touchy feely but he's not borderline psychotic either. The interaction between him a Blue Beetle is a lot of fun. Especially when BB interrupts Batman's interrogation.
Rating: :thumbup:
X-Factor #18 - Layla Miller is still one of the coolest kids in comics. :) I've never been a fan of Marrow, but I think Peter David will find a way to make her interesting.
Rating: :thumbup:
Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #11 - The Flash VS the Rogues isn't new but it's still fun. Bringing in one of Bart's villains, is a good move. I definitely wasn't expecting Bart to reveal his secret identity this soon. I hope it's limited to the police interrogators, though. I like the idea of Bart being a Police scientist.
Rating: :thumbup:
Nightwing Annual #2 - Awesome. Marc Andreyko has such a perfect grasp on these characters. Everything they do is completely believable.
Rating: :thumbup:
Robin #161 - Not bad. Always good to see Robin do some detective work.
Rating: :)
Shadowpact #12 - I gave up on this series around issue #4. On a whim, I decided to see what was happening with the series now. It looks like Nightsword will be getting a power boost and Zauriel will be joining the team soon. I might give it another try.
Rating: :)
What happened in the Nightwing Annual? Wasn't this the issue that explained why be and Babs broke off the engagement?
Ah! Gail Simone is leaving Birds of Prey for Wonder Woman? Is this confirmed? Curses!
Quote from: Podmark on April 20, 2007, 04:15:20 PM
What happened in the Nightwing Annual? Wasn't this the issue that explained why be and Babs broke off the engagement?
[spoiler]Basically, Babs insisted that Dick go on sabbatical with Bruce and Tim. The issue was a very well written history of Dick and Barbara's relationship. The actual comic is much better than my description of it.[/spoiler]
Quote from: Talavar on April 22, 2007, 09:07:06 AM
Ah! Gail Simone is leaving Birds of Prey for Wonder Woman? Is this confirmed? Curses!
Yep, it's been confirmed by Gail herself. I hate to see her leave BoP but I can't deny Wonder Woman desperately needs the help.
Apparently, Sean McKeever will be taking over BoP once Gail leaves.
semi off-topic but reading Agent response just made me think.
Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake.
Bruce & Tim.
Bruce Timm?
Coincidence or kismet?
Hmmmm...
I loved Martian Manhunter going up against Black Adam in WWIII -- I just paged through it in the store.. But it gave me mad goosebumps :)
Hey in World War III book 3. Who is the Robin wannabe in the Teen Titans?
Quote from: Glitch Girl on April 23, 2007, 07:48:02 PM
semi off-topic but reading Agent response just made me think.
Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake.
Bruce & Tim.
Bruce Timm?
Coincidence or kismet?
Hmmmm...
You are aware that Tim Drake was created several years before Batman TAS started, right? Tim: 1989 Timm: 1992. So unless someone at DC was a big fan of Tiny Toon Adventures (Which Bruce Timm worked on before Batman TAS), I'm going to say it's not terribly likely.
Umm, you obviously misunderstood what she said.
Look up the word "kismet" in a dictionary.
Quote from: Midnite on April 26, 2007, 02:08:37 PM
Hey in World War III book 3. Who is the Robin wannabe in the Teen Titans?
Talon, Owlman's ward from Earth- 3. Meh.
Of the stack I bought today, this one stood out:
Marvel Zombies Vs Army of Darkness- Multiple Ash Williams! Half- eaten MODOK! Dr. Druid! Zombie child superteam Power Pack! Totally necessary cameo by Nextwave! Quinjet Mile- High Club (or lack thereof)! Giant zombie Black Goliath! WHOO- HOO!
Wonder Woman #8:
I'm impressed... I wasn't really getting into Jodi Piccoult's short arc until this issue. The pace and the action picked up immensely. Circe is no longer an annoying uninvited house guest. She seems to actually have a motivation now, and also has some philosphic debate for Diana. Much as I don't like the idea, Circe seems to be set up as Diana's arch-nemesis. I'd rather have seen it been a revamped, interesting take on Ares... but this Circe is smart and plays dirty.
There is more genuinely clever banter between Diana and Nemesis. He's lost the juvenile attitude and steps up to the plate as a hero this time... and manages to lose none of his masculinity when faced with Diana's superheroine might. It is a great dynamic and I hope he sticks around!
The art is done by the Dodsons once again, and it's some of their best stuff on the title. it's just as packed with detail as Drew Johnson's new work on the title, but with the added bonus of, well, being the Dodsons. Their work is amazing, and there are actually scenes of WW in battle this issue, something they haven't had the chance to draw yet.
The Punisher: Man of Stone (Marvel MAX imprint TPB Vol.7)
notes:
- Mature readers rating for violence and sexual content
- collects Punisher (Max imprint), vol.1, #37-42
- very minor spoilers ahead
This TPB collects the "Man of Stone" storyline, which sees the reunion of Frank Castle with former CIA agent and one-time gal-pal O'Brien. Also making return appearances are Yorkie (Frank's SAS buddy from the "Kitchen Irish" arc), Rawlins (the sneaky rat-bastard double agent from the "Mother Russia" and "Up Is Down, Black Is White" arcs and O'Brien's ex-husband), and General Zakharov (the highly methodical and intelligent Russian general from "Mother Russia").
The bulk of the story takes place in Afghanistan, and neatly ties up all the loose ends from "Mother Russia" and "Up Is Down, Black Is White" and you know that only means one thing: a horrendous body count. We again get to see Frank show his >ahem< "tender side" in his interactions with O'Brien. Garth Ennis does a great job of differentiating between the character of the two main antagonists: General Zakharov and Rawlins (who find themselves as unlikely allies). Zakharov is painted as a coldly calculating, cruel man who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. His actions all stem from his single-mindedness, however, never out of malice. Rawlins, on the other hand, is a sadist who genuinely enjoys inflicting pain. Ennis also introduces some topical political commentary on the UK's involvement in Afghanistan and the two-faced nature of the peacekeeping/rebuilding operations. As for the art, it's a slight step down in consistency from what I've come to expect from Leandro Fernandez, but it does its job.
Still, there isn't really a lot going on here, and the pay-off at the end was slightly underwhelming after some of the over-the-top scenes in the last 3 story-arcs. Also, the big firefight that had Castle and O'Brien going up against Zakharov's men just really stretched things... I'm used to seeing Ennis' Punisher come out on top against impossible odds, but those encounters are still fraught with a sense of danger, or at the very least, the execution is such that I don't mind the wonky battlefield logic... this one seemed like a scene out of Rambo 3.
It's probably the most straightforward storyline in the MAX series so far, and without the usual digressions and running subplots, it reads like something that could have been fit into three or four issues' worth of material instead of the usual six. Nevertheless, Ennis maintains his ear for sharp, funny, and genuine-sounding dialogue, and ultimately that is what saves this TPB from a mediocre rating from yours truly.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
That was one of the TPBs I bought a few days ago, along with Young Avengers Vol.2 and the latest Sandman Mystery Theatre TPB (Dr Death & Night Of The Butcher) ... they were all very entertaining reads.
Punisher: Man Of Stone was great ... not for the plot, but because of the characters. Ennis can seemingly create a million different shades of bad guy, and its always interesting to read (well, aside from Punisher MAX: Kitchen Irish).
Omega Flight #2- Thunderball is vastly becoming my favorite of the Wrecking Crew. The way he treats his "mutt" is awesome. The Wrecking Crew was one of my favorite villain teams, especially when they were hooked up with the Masters of Evil. Good to see them shine a bit.
That issue had the opposite effect for me. While I liked the story in general, (including the return of the jerky US Agent I remember from West Coast Avengers) I didn't care for Thunderball's personality change. He used to be the only member of the team that seemed to have some intelligence. In fact, he was once a physicist. According to Marvel's web site (http://www.marvel.com/universe/Thunderball) he was almost on par with Bruce Banner. The question of why this guy that was obviously much smarter than the rest of the Wrecking Crew chose to stay with them always made for some pretty interesting character moments. He was pretty much the only thing that made the team interesting for me. Having him act like the rest of the team just makes the Wrecking Crew seem like a group of 4 guys that all have the same personality to me.
Quote from: The Hitman on May 02, 2007, 12:09:06 PM
Quote from: Midnite on April 26, 2007, 02:08:37 PM
Hey in World War III book 3. Who is the Robin wannabe in the Teen Titans?
Talon, Owlman's ward from Earth- 3. Meh.
Of the stack I bought today, this one stood out:
Isn't Talon suppose to be a villain?
See, I think he has something against Walter. They are both scientist, correct? Maybe they were rivals in college or something. Thus the animosity. Maybe the others are finally rubbing off on him after so many years of working together. Or he's possessed again.
Wait a minute if Earth-3 is suppose to be another CSA. What about the CSA from the Anti-Matter Universe? I really hate how DC is bring back the multiverse. :thumbdown:
Justice Society of America #5 - I'm kicking myself for not picking up the first part ot this crossover, but I am extremely happy regarding what the result of this crossover may be: the return of the real Legion of Super-Heroes! (or a close enough approximation) I always felt the LSH got the biggest shaft during Crisis On Infinite Earths, and while I have read some of the various Legion series following [/b]Crisis[/b], NONE of them could hold a candle to the original pre-Crisis team.
Highlights of the issue: Dr. Destiny unleashing the greatest fears of Two-Face, the Riddler and the Mad Hatter on the group of heroes invading Arkham Asylum, Dream Girl telling Dr. Destiny his future, the next Legionnaire being revealed:
[spoiler]Wildfire!!![/spoiler]
And Cyclone's all-too brief conversation with the Red Tornado in the Fortress of Solitude.
I just hope DC doesn't mess this up with an ending that gets me riled up, because I'm already pretty much fed up with Marvel.....
Okay, guess this is going to be a first for me since I have not done any reviews on FR before...
New Warriors v4 #1 - I just finished reading the comic a few moments ago and was thrilled to see a few familiar faces right away. It definitly seems to be getting off to the right start by bringing back the old school feeling of the first incarnation of the team (street level superheroes who fight crime no matter what it takes to get the job done) - especially love the team mark they leave behind. Anyway, now to some of the team spoilers:
[spoiler]Right off the start we are introduced to a masked female hero who very easily seems to fit the power profile of Cassie Lang aka Stature. However I keep seeing her popping up in the background of various Initiative titles which brings some doubt to this. Great news for New X-Men fans because Sofia aka Wind Dancer has assumed a normal life despite leaving her rich father and old life behind. Next we discover to our shock that the handsome young man that has been stalking her is named Barry aka Barnell Bohusk - yea, you heard me right - BEAK! It's pretty obvious that he is now War Hawk since it fits what he wanted to be. And of course the founder of the team is the apparently resurrected Night Thrasher (wearing his first costume to boot) since he would have the cash and tech to outfit his new team.[/spoiler]
Of course those sneaking peeks off Wikipedia on clues would have already revealed the above spoilers anyway.
We don't quite get a huge intro to the whole team or how they have gathered together yet.. but it looks like it should be a good read for however many issues Quesada decides sell well.
My review: :thumbup:
Avengers: The Initiative #3 - Now some folks don't seem to like the direction of this title but I'm growing attached to some of these newbie characters. Plus getting to see some C-Level heroes finally getting assigned to their respective state teams is fun reading for me anyway. However I still get the vibe here that SHIELD and the powers that be really are not the good guys we believe them to be.
[spoiler]Especially when you find out that Tony Stark's "Red Team" are wearing versions of the Iron Spidey suits. :blink:[/spoiler]
But the core story is that Komodo finally gets some field action against a few old school spidey villians and Spidey himself - who really gives her an education.
My review: :)
That's all I've read thru today...
- CrimsonQuill
Yeah New Warriors has both surprised and excited me with the characters that have appeared.
I'm 99% sure Wondra is not Stature. For one thing she didn't grow, she shrunk Grey Gargoyle. I'm wondering if she might be Angel.
Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #18 - It's a shame some people won't read this just because Marvel decided people shouldn't like Tony Stark. This title is better than it's been in years. This particular issue is action-packed with the SHIELD Helicarrier infected with a genetically engineered weapon that takes over crew members and makes them do it's biding, including giving away Iron Man and his Alpha Team's location to the Chinese authorities. Tony Stark's method for getting rid of the infection is yet another indicator of how cool the character can be when written by someone who actually knows who they're writing. There's also the added bonus of the Mandarin's plans beginning to take shape and they definitely don't look good for Tony.
Rating: :thumbup:
QUICK HITS
Countdown #47 - I really think DC is shooting themselves in the foot with this Black Adam stuff. Granted technically, Black Adam spent at least a few months minus his powers but from the readers point of view he lost his powers, got them back 4 weeks later, then gave them up again a week after that. The brewing conflict between the Monitors is interesting though and I still want to know what the heck is up with Jimmy.
Rating: :mellow:
Outsiders #48 - Part 4 of the crossover between Checkmate and the Outsiders. Wall to wall action here. The dynamic between the two teams is handle nicely with certain Outsiders still chaffing at the team up but still getting the job done.
Rating: :)
All-New Atom #12 - I love the little blurbs from the Ivy Town Chamber of Commerce scattered throughout the issue. "Newly lowered radiation levels mean its probably okay to reproduce again!" :D Throw in a surprise attack by some of Ray Palmer's lamer villains (Bug-Eyed Bandit, anyone) and Chronos (aka mysterious anagram loving cab driver) showing up to help Ryan locate Ray Palmer and you've got a great issue.
Rating: :thumbup:
Birds of Prey #107 - I really hate to see Gail Simone leave this title. Nobody writes fighting psychos like Gail. :P
Rating: :thumbup:
Detective Comics #833 - I accidentally saw the final page of this issue before I read it so I kind of ruined the surprise ending for myself. Still it was a great issue. Batman and Zatanna team up and Dini manages to address Identitly Crisis without letting it derail the story or making one of the heroes look like the bad guy.
Rating: :thumbup:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #4 - I was kind of disappointed in this issue. The threat was built up so much that having Warren and Amy be defeated so quickly just seemed like a let down.
Rating: :mellow:
Spawn #168 - I started reading Spawn back at issue #166 after reading an interview with the current writer, David Hine (District X, Son of M). It's become a very good horror comic under his watch. The idea that Spawn has taken God and Satan out of the picture is a pretty gutsy idea, although I'm not sure if that's Hine's doing or the previous writer. This particular issue wasn't as good as the previous two but it was still an enjoyable read.
Rating: :)
Nightwing #133 - Jamal Igle's art is really giving this book a boost. He remembers that Nightwing isn't just Bats in a different costume. Dick's background as an acrobat is emphasized in his fighting style and even the way he gets from point A to point B. Storywise, Marv Wolfman has laid the foundation for a conflict between Nightwing and Vigilante and left readers wondering exactly what Liu's history with Dick is all about.
Rating: :)
Omega Flight #3 - Cool issue. I even liked Thunderball's characterization a bit better this time around. I like the fact that Oeming is really making use of Alpha Flight's history by having the Wrecking Crew seek out the Great Beasts for a power boost. Beta Ray Bill finally makes his first appearance in this issue, too.
Rating: :)
BTW, when did Beta Ray Bill get a human form?
Welcome to Tranquility #7 - Not bad but lots of set up. The part about Sheriff Lindo's grandfather, the Black Glider, was cool. He'd make an interesting back up feature.
Rating: :)
Midnighter # 8 - Jack Hawksmoor dares the notoriously antisocial Midnighter to help an ordinary person with an ordinary problem. I didn't like the fact that the woman in this issue didn't seem to think it was strange that a guy dressed head to toe in black leather wanted to help her little girl find her cat but other than that it wasn't bad. I can see how someone might not care for this particular story though. It kind of taxes the readers ability to suspend disbelief.
Rating: :mellow:
Jonah Hex #20 - Gray and Palmiotti have really hit there stride on this title.
Rating: :)
EDIT: Oops. How could I forget Superman.
Superman #663 - Lightray and the Young Gods have a great guest appearance and Superman gives Arion his answer, causing Arion to finally show his true colors. Great issue and Carlos Pacheco does an excellent job on the art.
Rating: :thumbup:
Quote from: Podmark on June 07, 2007, 06:07:27 PM
Yeah New Warriors has both surprised and excited me with the characters that have appeared.
I'm 99% sure Wondra is not Stature. For one thing she didn't grow, she shrunk Grey Gargoyle. I'm wondering if she might be Angel.
True, Angel was also depowered after M-Day and she would probably take on a giant man/wasp like role if her powers come from Pym Particles which could be easily stolen from SHIELD labs.
- CrimsonQuill
Quote from: Agent on June 07, 2007, 06:30:24 PM
Omega Flight #3 - Cool issue. I even liked Thunderball's characterization a bit better this time around. I like the fact that Oeming is really making use of Alpha Flight's history by having the Wrecking Crew seek out the Great Beasts for a power boost. Beta Ray Bill finally makes his first appearance in this issue, too.
Rating: :)
BTW, when did Beta Ray Bill get a human form?
The whole story takes place in the mini-series called
Stormbreaker: The Saga Of Beta Ray Bill where he is sent away from Asguard by Thor so that he can live to tell the tales of their great finale battle. Beta then finds himself on a great adventure to save his people while facing Galactus and his newest herald Stardust. Click below for the details:
[spoiler]He encounters a demon called Asteroth and teams up with Stardust to defeat it. Bill ends up becoming possessed by the demon trying to protect the "Meta-Orb" (the device that the survivors of his alien species are held in status). He summons his full power while struggling for control to kill his demonicly possessed form to save the universe. As he lays dying a glowing robed figure appears before him and is told that his job was not finished yet but his people will be given a new world before he blacks out. He awakens on Earth with a new human body and after an encounter with Spidey fighting a villian named The Boar he discovers that he can change back and forth by striking the ground. They both talk over how things are changing and Spidey bids him luck on his new life.[/spoiler]
- CrimsonQuill
Quote from: Agent on June 07, 2007, 06:30:24 PM
Spawn #168 - I started reading Spawn back at issue #166 after reading an interview with the current writer, David Hine (District X, Son of M). It's become a very good horror comic under his watch. The idea that Spawn has taken God and Satan out of the picture is a pretty gutsy idea, although I'm not sure if that's Hine's doing or the previous writer. This particular issue wasn't as good as the previous two but it was still an enjoyable read.
Rating: :)
I'm pretty sure it was Hine that took out God and Satan, but not positive.
Thanks for the info guys. :)
Countdown 48
Let's think of this for a moment. Jimmy Olsen is the following:
A) A LSH reservist( Elastic Lad)
B) Capable of tapping into the Speedforce(or something like it)
C) The Inheritor of Lightray's Power.(Remember, the light from the crater was coming from Jimmy, not Lightray's body)
Are we going to see more of Olsen's power? I seem to remember him using an energy blast of some kind during the Funeral for a Friend storyline. Maybe the reason he has to die is he's an empath like Peter Petrelli.
Quote from: Sword on June 08, 2007, 07:40:03 AM
Countdown 48
Let's think of this for a moment. Jimmy Olsen is the following:
A) A LSH reservist( Elastic Lad)
B) Capable of tapping into the Speedforce(or something like it)
C) The Inheritor of Lightray's Power.(Remember, the light from the crater was coming from Jimmy, not Lightray's body)
Are we going to see more of Olsen's power? I seem to remember him using an energy blast of some kind during the Funeral for a Friend storyline. Maybe the reason he has to die is he's an empath like Peter Petrelli.
[spoiler]
Nah, as the Earth's are merging with each other, hes getting powers from the Jimmy's in other universes\
[/spoiler]
And speaking of Countdown, everybody who said Black Adam's new word wasn't "Sorry" pay up now. I take payment in cookies, fudge or coffee beans.
Aside from that, It's unfortunate, because I really wanted to like the storyline, but now... Countdown is on my drop list.
The Initiative 3
There is so much that is wrong with this, and yet that is outweighed by the right. Slott nails Spidey's characterization, I liked seeing Ben help train the newbs, and Moonstar headlocking Trauma. Issues however... Boomerang is just skilled in thrown weapons and Shocker's power comes from the suit. Those SPIN darts would only knock Hydro-man's powers out. Unless I'm mistaken
I also want to take this time to add Brubaker to my personal pantheon of favorite comic writers. We've got Cap, Iron Fist and Daredevil all with fantastic, engaging storylines that though they may cross into Civil War territory, can and do well enough without it. Henceforth, anything with Bru's name on it, I'm picking up.
Omega Flight 3
I'm giving it two more issues. Really,I don't need six pages devoted to a guy with Xorn's power trying to out-emo Speedball, begging to be killed by Talisman. Bill as always, steals the show and almost makes me forget the despicable state of affairs. Almost.
Green Lantern Corps #13 - This is hands down my favorite issue of GLC so far. Vath Sarn, Isamot Kol, and Mogo's newly introduced insectoid partner, Bzzd, head to Mogo to bring in fugitive lantern Guy Gardner. Guy has been framed for the murder of two GLs. However, the two dead GLs, as well as a few others including Kilowog, had been brainwashed by a strange yellow substance infesting Mogo's forest. Natu joins the group after Guy convinces the others he's innocent and the brainwashed Kilowog shows up to kill Guy. Gibbons does a great job letting the various character's shine. I'm already anxious to see more of Bzzd. An insect that can take down Kilowog deserves to get more face time in my book. Mogo itself gets a great moment when it moves into the path of an asteroid in order to purge the fungus from its surface before it reaches Mogo's core and can gain control of the planet itself. This is a prologue to the Sinestro Corps story and Gibbons has me anxious to see the GLC's side of things.
Rating: :thumbup:
Nova #3 - Abnett and Lanning have done a great job handling Nova's return to Earth. It's already been established that this is going to be a space based character but they give him a really great reason not to stay on Earth. After an unprovoked attack by the Thunderbolts and a visit from Penance aka Speedball, Nova decides he simply has no desire to live on a world that's changed so much. It's interesting in that the writers have made Nova represent those readers who don't like the changes created by Civil War and have left Marvel, either completely or partially. I also commend Abnett and Lanning for not falling into the trap of making every pro-reg hero a bad guy. He even allows Iron Man and Justice to make good points. So much so that Nova actually needed time to decide whether or not to join the Initiative.
Rating: :thumbup:
QUICK HITS
Countdown #46 - Still digging Jimmy and the Monitor's stories. Mary Marvel is starting to get interesting just cause I'm curious were they're going with this.
Rating: :)
Justice #12 - Great ending to the series. I still say they should just rename it All-Star Justice League and keep it going.
Rating: :thumbup:
Trials of Shazam #7 - Winick gives us some background on Sabine as she and Freddy battle for the strength of Hercules. Overall a good issue and I like the modern day take on Atlas.
Rating: :)
Star Wars: Legacy #13 - Great issue. We get to see more of how the Sith and particularly Darth Maladi operate and we see Emperor Fel in hot Jedi on Jedi action.
Rating: :thumbup:
Green Arrow #75 - An alright conclusion to the solo Green Arrow series.
Rating: :mellow:
Stormwatch PHD #8 - Stormwatch PHD meets Stormwatch Prime. Gage handles the meeting between the two teams well then delivers a great "I did not see that coming" cliffhanger. Someone has shot Jackson King and the members of Prime and PHD are the prime suspects.
Rating: :thumbup:
JLA Classified #39 - Good issue.
Rating: :)
Avenger Classics #1 - I knew how the Avengers first formed but I hadn't read the story before now. It's very interesting to see the differences in how certain characters were portrayed then. Especially Ant Man and the Wasp.
Rating: :thumbup:
Batman Confidential #6 - Not bad. I'm glad Diggle remembered "Honest Businessman" Lex's typical weasling out of responsibility for the G.I. Robots.
Rating: :)
The Boys Vol.1 - The Name of the Game
Garth Ennis - Writer
Darick Robertson - Art
Notes: contains coarse language and scenes of violence, gore, and explicit sexuality
Garth Ennis' "The Boys" has a significant bit of controversy surrounding it. Originally published by DC Comics under its Wildstorm imprint (before the imprint was appropriated by DC editorial as simply one of the alternae earths in their multiverse), the creators eventually reached an agreement with the publisher to move their creator-owned work to Dynamite Entertainment (of Red Sonja and Lone Ranger fame) after DC's bigwigs allegedly took issue with Ennis' less-than-flattering portrayal of superheroes. This has echoes of the Authority fiasco from a few years back that led to Warren Ellis, Mark Millar, and Bryan Hitch pulling up their stakes and setting shop elsewhere. Comic book politics aside, apart from the over-the-top violence and sex, I don't think there was anything conceptually that was way out of line for a Vertigo book. What I don't understand about the whole controversy is that DC should've known what they were in for when they took on Garth Ennis, their moves with regards to the book is equivalent to somebody hiring Sepultura to play at a party and then complaining that the music is way too loud.
This trade paperback collects the first 6 issues of the series, and sees Ennis reunited with frequent collaborator Darick Robertson. The main plot revolves around the story of Hughie, a young Scot whose girlfriend is killed in a chance encounter with a superhero. Depressed and despondent, Hughie is approached by a mysterious figure called the Butcher, who offers him the opportunity to exact some measure of revenge on the superhero community. Ennis portrays the superheroes as belonging to one of two extremes: either as clueless, naive, Pollyana-ish youngsters or decadent, perverse, mysoginistic sadomasochists. Ennis also takes the opportunity to poke fun at superhero conventions such as the goofy code-names and the tight-fitting and revealing outfits. But beyond the good and not-so-good natured ribbing at the expense of the superhero genre, there lies a deeper metaphor that has the "supers" standing in for spoiled, rich, and media-obsessed celebrities and the ridiculous culture and industry that has grown around them. As a piece of social commentary, "The Boys" is a more than a little clumsy, but then again, subtlety has never been Ennis' strong suit. To his credit, though, Ennis really knows how to hammer home his point.
All in all, a nice exercise in comic book excess and superhero parody, although so far, it doesn't really offer anything we haven't seen in one form or another on Ellis' and Millar's runs on The Authority. Obviously, I wouldn't recommend this collection to the easily offended or those who feel that any attempt to point out the inherent ridiculousness in superheroes is an attempt at besmirching the genre but I'd say that anybody with a healthy (and probably slightly twisted) sense of humour and a tolerance for over the top language and violence should at least browse it on the stands to see if anything grabs them.
My rating: 3.5 decapitated heads out of 5
I read a few pages of the series and it dosent look bad but it suffers from a garth ennis convention that really annoys me... the fact that if a character he likes gets punched nothing happens but if a character he likes punches somebody they instantly turn into blood and bone shards, even if they have superman level invulnerability. Then again he's not known for being subtle, even in his bias.
New X-men. I'm really digging the Search for Magick stuff. I was a real big fan of hers. N'astirh is her pet? Sym is still pretty tough and then there's the awesome Belasco. Wish I could make a one armed guy for City of heroes.
I don't like New X-Men, and I dislike the current arc most. This may be in part due to the fact that I neither care about Magic or Belasco, but I doubt it. I just don't think the storyarc is done well.
Quote from: thanoson on June 18, 2007, 09:47:09 PM
New X-men. I'm really digging the Search for Magick stuff. I was a real big fan of hers. N'astirh is her pet? Sym is still pretty tough and then there's the awesome Belasco. Wish I could make a one armed guy for City of heroes.
To understand most of the current New X-Men arc you have to have read the "Inferno" arc in X-Men which had demons trying to take over New York and that N'astirh and S'ym fueded over Belesco's throne after he was banished from limbo. The key thing of that story is that Magik sacrificed her magical dark childe form to end the takeover and ended up returning to the age she was when Peter first saw her vanish. There has been debate that child was an alternate version of Illyanna or her teenage form that was in New Mutants was an alternate version - uhm, To avoid confusion here.. Illyanna vanished as a child and then when the X-Men found her days later she had aged to a teenager while being taught dark magic by Belesco (theory is that time passes faster in limbo).
[spoiler]There has been talk in the Marvel grapevine that Magik has returned because of Scarlet Witch's spell which undid something at the end of Inferno allowing the Illyanna from House Of M to be sucked into limbo and become trapped in the form of Dark Childe.[/spoiler]
- CrimsonQuill
Ultimate Fantastic Four Vol. 7: God War
Story: Mike Carey
Art: Pasqual Ferry
note: this trade paperback collects issues #33-38 of the Ultimate Fantastic Four series
A common criticism leveled at the Ultimate universe is that it is wholly dependent on the retelling of classic Marvel stories for material, and that it doesn't really offer much of anything new in terms of plotlines and character motivations. While I think there is some truth to this assertion, those who dismiss the Ultimate line out of hand can and do miss out on some of the better and more innovative superhero stories being published by Marvel regardless of the continuity setting.
The seventh Ultimate Fantastic Four collection is a sterling example of an Ultimate Marvel story done right. The protagonists seem fresher (for lack of a better term) and their dialogue sounds and flows more naturally, while still remaining true to their original comic book characterizations. The plot itself doesn't seem to be directly rooted in any particular "616" Marvel Universe story, so even the long-time Marvel reader is kept guessing as to the story's outcome. In fact, Mike (Lucifer, Wetworks, X-Men) Carey's story seems to be an homage to Jack Kirby's Fourth World creations from the 1970s, with parallels to the Forever People (Seed Unit Nineteen), Darkseid (Ultimate Thanos), and Kalibak (Ultimate Ronan the Accuser). Carey instills a feeling of otherworldly wonder in the characters that he introduces in this story-arc, and there is a sense that these extradimensional beings are truly alien and far removed from us both in time and space. In terms of space-y, technobabble-addled fun, I think Carey actually out-Ellises Warren Ellis on this one.
Pasqual (Adam Strange, New Avengers) Ferry's art is outstanding in this collection. It's apparent that the art was shot directly from his pencils, with no inking involved, and this gives it a soft, almost dream-like quality that fits with the story. Ferry is adept at conveying facial expressions and emotion, and that really helps ground the book. I didn't really care much for his take on Ultimate Thanos but everything else is stellar artwise.
All in all, a solid superhero tale with a sci-fi bent, and in my opinion, one of the best stories to come out of the Ultimate line since the first Ultimates series.
My rating: 5 out of 5
Annihilation Conquest Prologue - Annihilation Conquest and the Sinestro Corps War are the two stories I've most been looking forward to this summer. The Sinestro Corps Special comes out next week and if it's as good as Annihilation I'm gonna be one happy camper. What I like best about Annihilation Conquest is the fact that the Annihilation wave has had such a sweeping impact on the entire galaxy. We're used to seeing the Kree as villains but now they're really the only hope for keeping the galaxy from falling in complete chaos. With the complete destruction of the Skrull Empire, the Kree are the only superpower left with the military might needed to keep the peace. In order to further enhance that ability, Special Military Advisor to the Kree, Peter Quill, formerly Star-Lord, has set up a meeting with the Space Knights in order to test their A-ware software to enhance the Kree's defensive war-net. Unfortunately, that doesn't quite work out the way he planned. Meanwhile, the new Quasar, Phyla-Vell, struggles to adapt to her new role with the help of Moondragon. She receives a warning from the Quantum Bands themselves telling her to "Find him" in order to save the Kree race. Annihilation's sequel is off to a great start. The Phalanx are a great choice of villains and cutting the Kree Empire off from the rest of the galaxy turns up the intensity for our heroes very nicely.
Rating: :thumbup:
QUICK HITS
Countdown #45 - Forerunner is rather interesting. Now I'm wondering if Capt. Atom is being set up to become a new type of Anti-Monitor.
Rating: :)
Iron Man #19 - I'm really not that interested in World War Hulk so I'm a little disappointed to see the Knaufs' story put on the back burner for two issues. That said, Christos Gage has already demonstrated he knows how to write Tony Stark in the Casualties of War one-shot he wrote and that's still the case here.
Rating: :)
Captain America #27 - The Winter Soldier continues his plan to kill Tony Stark starting with stealing Cap's shield which leads to a confrontation with the Black Widow and the revelation that the two have met before. Ed Brubaker has set up a great cat and mouse and cat game with Winter Soldier going after Tony Stark and the Falcon and Sharon Carter trying to stop him. Things are made more suspenseful this issue as the Black Widow informs Stark that the Winter Soldier is gunning for him.
Rating: :thumbup:
Justice League of America #10 - I was expecting Barry Allen but this is close enough.
Rating: :)
Checkmate #15 - Greg Rucka and Judd Winick have done a great job with this crossover. Shang-Tzu is especially sadistic here. We're definitely seeing why China and the rest of the world would see him as a threat. I liked the way Mr. Terrific took charge at the end, too.
Rating: :thumbup:
Brave and the Bold #4 - I liked the first half of this issue better than the second. It finishes up the Batman and Blue Beetle team up from last issue and sets up the Legion of Super-Heroes appearance. The second half team up between Lobo and Supergirl isn't as interesting but we do learn how a bunch of thieves got they're hands on the book of Destiny.
Rating: :)
Iron Man: Hypervelocity #6 - The final issue of this mini is wall to wall action with lots of table turning going on. It's interesting that the fate of Tony 2.0 is left up in the air.
Rating: :)
Series Rating: :)
Flash #13 - I think I'll avoid the Flash boards for a while. :P
Rating: :)
Spirit #7 - This issue is made up of 3 stories created by 3 different writers and artists. I liked the first two stories but I wasn't crazy about the third.
Rating: :)
Madame Mirage #1 - An okay start. Nothing spectacular though.
Rating: :mellow:
Shadowpact #14 - A lawyer wants to help Blue Devil get out of his contract with the Devil and Zauriel has been ordered to kill Blue Devil because he's unintentionally encouraging others to make similar deals. Zauriel agrees to hold off while Blue Devil works on getting things straightened out but in the meantime Nightsword railroads him into taking Blue Devil's place on the Shadowpact. Good issue with an interesting dilemma set up for our heroes.
Rating: :)
Highwaymen #1 - Pretty good first issue. Monroe and McQueen look like they could be a pretty interesting duo.
Rating: :)
Flash 13 makes me very very sad. And also poor poor Tim.
Quote from: Podmark on June 21, 2007, 02:07:34 PM
Flash 13 makes me very very sad. And also poor poor Tim.
yeah.....me too. what's DC's deal with......
[spoiler].....killing Bart off? I swear DC just likes to cater to the "hardcore fanboys." "Bring back Hal! Bring back Barry!"
I agree that Wally is a better Flash but you didn't have to kill off Bart so it could happen. He was a good character that DC could have used elsewhere and now they just threw him away so some fans would be happy. Oh well, what can you do.....sorry for the rant.[/spoiler]
Please put in a spoiler what happens to Bart?
:spoiler: :spoiler: :spoiler:
[spoiler]He got depowered and beaten to death by The Rogues. Not a nice way to go!
Villains have really been getting nasty to some well-known characters in the DC Universe since Identity Crisis.
[/spoiler]
Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special - Fan-freakin-tastic!! In other words I liked it. This special had tons of moments that I just loved. Kyle's first appearance where Van Sciver and Co. show him virtually brimming with power, Bedovian being called into action, John Stewart taking Bedovian out of action, the two page spread of the freakshow that is the Sinestro Corps, Kyle alone against the Sinestro Corps, the truth about Ion, and of course the reveal about the Sinestro Corps' version of a Guardian. The Tales of the Sinestro Corps backup proved to be a perfect compliment to the rest of the story and provided great insight into Sinestro and his goals. I've always loved villains who don't think they're villains. Having Lyssa Drak speak directly to the reader was a nice touch, too. I can't wait to see the next issues of Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps. The GLs are going to have their hands full.
Rating: :thumbup:
QUICK HITS
Countdown 44 - Good issue. I liked seeing Monarch reappear.
Rating: :)
Immortal Iron Fist #6 - Ed Brubaker is doing a great job exploring the Iron Fists' history. It was always hinted that there was a deeper history to Danny's power. Funny no one thought to delve this deeply into it until now.
Rating: :thumbup:
Blue Beetle #16 - If you complain that comic book companies don't make funny, light-hearted comics anymore and you're not reading Blue Beetle you need to shut the blankity-blank up. "I--am--a dentist!" Bwah-ha-ha!!! :P
Rating: :thumbup:
X-Factor #20 - Nice conclusion to the X-Cell story.
Rating: :)
Supergirl & the Legion of Super-Heroes #31 - This is the official beginning of Tony Bedard's run on the series and he does a very good job. His grasp on the characters looks pretty solid. I miss Barry Kitson's art though.
Rating: :)
Daredevil #98 - I don't think anybody does intense, gritty, drama like Ed Brubaker. I was on the edge of my seat while reading this issue. Excellent read.
Rating: :thumbup:
Teen Titans #48 - I haven't been following Amazons Attack so other than being aware that the Amazons are . . . um, attacking I'm not quite up to speed. Still I think I was able to follow what happened okay. Unfortunately, I didn't care for it. Except for Robin, Beechen really doesn't have a good handle on these characters. Especially Wonder Girl. She's become whiney to the point I can't stand her. Miss Martian has become generic and lost all of the sweet, innocent persona she had when she was first introduced. Everyone else just seems to stand around waiting for the fight to be over. I hope Sean McKeever has a better grasp on them when he takes over.
Rating: :(
Fantastic Four #547 - I'm looking forward to seeing the FF+2 take on the Frightful Four next issue. I liked seeing Reed and Hank Pym in scientist mode. It was interesting to see the tension between anti-reg T'Challa and pro-reg Pym, too. My only complaint would be Storm insisting that Ben pull her hair to prove it's not a weave. That was just silly. :thumbdown:
Rating: :)
Silver Surfer: Requiem #2 - Last issue Reed Richards told the Silver Surfer he was dying. Now the Surfer wants to take one last look at Earth before returning home to Zenn-La to die. He meets up with Spider-Man who attempts to help the Surfer think of one final gift he can give his adopted home before leaving. Their conversation is handled very well and ends up being very engrossing. Esad Ribic's muted style goes well with the subject matter. He did make the eyes on Spider-Man's mask black for some reason. I'm actually a little embarrassed by how much that bugged me.
Rating: :thumbup:
JSA Classified #27 - This concludes the Fight Game storyline. I was disappointed that the idea of gambling on superhero fights wasn't explored more. Plus, I don't like the idea that it was all Darkseid's idea. 1) It suggests Darkseid is slipping plan-wise and 2) it's not like humans wouldn't think of doing that on our own.
Rating: :mellow:
murs47, I love that banner. :thumbup:
Quote from: Agent on June 28, 2007, 05:51:42 PM
murs47, I love that banner. :thumbup:
Thanks would you like a custom one of your own?
Good reviews by the way....they are very fair of the books, I havn't read Teen Titans yet but I was sure it was going to get good reviews, the series has been slumping ever since Titans East arc, but I'm sticking with it to see what McKeever does.
World War Hulk- X-men: Just like I said, Hulk is too raged for a proper psychic to stop. Plus, he knew everything about the new kids. He's done his homework on this one folks.
Yeah, Sinestro Corps was AWESOME! Best DC comic I've read in a while.
WWHulk- I'm not getting it, but I read through WWH X-Men, and that almost changed my mind on the subject.
OK wrap- up for X- Factor, but I hope the next storyline is a little more interesting. Whatever happened to Maddrox searching out his dupes? That really had potential, I thought.
Teen Titans- I'm starting to regret picking up this comic.
Hey Murs, ol' buddy... you wouldn't mind whipping up a Corps War banner using Bedovian, wouldya'? (EDIT: You are the coolest! Thanks!)
Quote from: murs47 on June 28, 2007, 06:37:46 PM
Quote from: Agent on June 28, 2007, 05:51:42 PM
murs47, I love that banner. :thumbup:
Thanks would you like a custom one of your own?
Good reviews by the way....they are very fair of the books, I havn't read Teen Titans yet but I was sure it was going to get good reviews, the series has been slumping ever since Titans East arc, but I'm sticking with it to see what McKeever does.
I'd love a Kilowog banner if you don't mind (Kilowog vs. Arkillo, that's the fight I can't wait to see :D).
And thanks for the kind words. :D
:spoiler: :spoiler: :spoiler:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f9/GL14.jpg
Interesting!
Quote from: Agent on June 28, 2007, 05:50:19 PM
Blue Beetle #16 - If you complain that comic book companies don't make funny, light-hearted comics anymore and you're not reading Blue Beetle you need to shut the blankity-blank up. "I--am--a dentist!" Bwah-ha-ha!!! :P
Rating: :thumbup:
Just got around to reading this issue, and if it wasn't for the Sinestro Corps Special I'd say that dentist moment was the best moment in comics this week. :roll:
Yeah, it's a shame the Blue Beetle series is so underrated.
I also really liked Staci 13 telling off Eclipso. "Batman's file on you? Eclipso. Power: Sucking." :P
'I am a dentist' was truly awesome. The mockery of Eclipso was also a highlight, but the book could be serious at turns too. The new Blue Beetle is a lot of fun.
QUICK HITS
Countdown #42 - Not bad. We get some set up for the Hunt for Ray Palmer and the upcoming tour of some of the mulitverse which I'm interested in seeing.
Rating: :)
Green Lantern #21 - Let's see. The GLs are still getting they're rears handed to them, the shark faced lady (I can't remember her name) is killing rookie GLs right after they get the ring, and as if that's not bad enough, the Sinestro Corps booby trapped the central power battery to send Hal and possibly John and Guy to Qward. Man, the GLs just can win for losing.
Rating: :thumbup:
Justice Society of America #7 - Johns gives us a great introduction to the JSA's newest member, Citizen Steel. He looks to be your classic hero born of tragedy. I also liked Superman's visit with Starman. Eaglesham's art really conveys how much it hurts Supes to see his friend in that state.
Rating: :thumbup:
Superman #664 - I really like the concept behind Squad K. The team makes perfect sense, especially after Supes was controlled by Max Lord. With Arion, Busiek has taken the old "Is Superman a threat?" shtick and made it much deeper and more believable.
Rating: :thumbup:
Nova #4 - Great, intense issue. The threat to Nova gets turned up even higher with Gamora, the deadliest woman in the galaxy, possessed by the Phalanx and used to coordinate their attack. Then there's the suprise ending. ;)
Rating: :thumbup:
Annihilation: Conquest Wraith #1 - Good start. Not suprisingly, the Wraith is a mysterious character and I'm interested in learning more about him. I also like that morphing weapon of his.
Rating: :)
Star Wars: Legacy #14 - Great swerve from Ostrander. Just as Cade finally returns to his Jedi roots, he's captured by the Sith and, according to Jedi Wolf Sazen's vision, in danger of being turned to the Dark Side.
Rating: :thumbup:
Batman Confidential #7 - The Joker's origin is being retold. Personally I prefer the idea that the Joker was always dangerous but his accident and subsequent crazy turned it up to 11 which is used here.
Rating: :)
Stormwatch PHD #9 - The mystery about who shot Jackson King is solved. I lot of effort is put into giving the culprit a reason for doing what she did including establishing that she wasn't trying to kill Jackson but it still seems like an uncharacteristically cruel thing for the character to do.
Rating: :mellow:
Green Arrow Year One #1 - Very good start. Diggle does a good job with the self centered jerkwad version of Ollie. I also liked the nod to Howard Hill. Nice touch.
Rating: :thumbup:
X-Factor #21 - Peter David delivers a great issue. I like that he's given Layla her own enemy in Nicole. Especially now that we know Nicole has some sort of connection to the new villain on the scene. Val Cooper's job offer to Guido was a nice surprise, too.
Rating: :thumbup:
Omega Flight #4 - Oeming took his time actually getting the team together. We don't see Omega Flight fighting together until this issue but the action was nice. I will say it seems odd that a jail cell designed to hold a super powerful mutant could be opened by a little girl waltzing up and pressing a button.
Rating: :)
Spawn #169 - A nice done in one story. I'm not familiar with the Nyx character but the quick and dirty history included in the story was good enough to keep me from being lost. Hine has me really interested in seeing what the shadowy mastermind, Mammon is up to.
Rating: :)
Martha Washington Dies - I was really disappointed by this. It hints at a story but never actually delivers one. I learned later (after having bought the comic) that this was written as an epilogue to an upcoming collection of all the Martha Washington stories. If I'd known that ahead of time I wouldn't have bought it.
Rating: :thumbdown:
JLA Classified #40 - I didn't like this issue. Frank Halloran had been an interesting, conflicted character but here he suddenly decides to stop making sense. Does he really think attacking the JLA and threatening to kill Wonder Woman in front of his ex-girlfriend will make her want to take him back? Maybe I'm missing something. :(
Fantastic Five #1 - I have limited experience with Marvel's M2 stuff, mainly just the short lived A-Next series. That said I really liked the future FF depicted here. Reed still seeing Johnny as the impulsive kid from the F4's early years despite his tenure as leader of the team was an interesting dynamic.
Rating: :thumbup:
Shadowpact #15 - The Shadowpact with new member, Zauriel, takes on Dr. Gotham who launches a suprisingly brutal attack on the entire city.
Rating: :)
Quote from: Agent
Justice Society of America #7 - Johns gives us a great introduction to the JSA's newest member, Citizen Steel. He looks to be your classic hero born of tragedy. I also liked Superman's visit with Starman. Eaglesham's art really conveys how much it hurts Supes to see his friend in that state.
Rating: :thumbup:
I dunno. Citizen Steel doesnt really seem all that well thought out to me:
[spoiler]
"He'll have to bend the metal around him every time he moves. That should reduce his strength by half." Um, no..that should tire him out twice as fast, but his strength level should remain roughly the same. The running gag of the damage he does when he walks got old quickly. I think I'd rather stick with the missing leg than lose my ability to touch, as well. I liked Nate better when he was normal and
still defeated the villan using nothing but his brain.
Plus, am I the only one who wonders how he goes to the bathroom in that costume?
[/spoiler]
The bits with Starman, however, were excellent.
Quote from: Agent
X-Factor #21 - Peter David delivers a great issue. I like that he's given Layla her own enemy in Nicole. Especially now that we know Nicole has some sort of connection to the new villain on the scene. Val Cooper's job offer to Guido was a nice surprise, too.
Rating: :thumbup:
Yes, after the complete anticlimax which was the conclusion to the X-Cell/Quicksilver story line last issue, this was a welcome return to form.
[spoiler]
I think you're overstating a bit. Layla doesn't like Nicole because she "didn't see her coming". They're hardly enemies. However, with M's pregnancy this makes two things in a relativley short period of time that Layla didn't know about. Is she losing her powers? And where do her powers come from since we've confirmed she's not a mutant.
[/spoiler]
Haven't had a chance to read this yet. M is pregnant? Is Jamie the father? Hmm I wonder if that might play into the crossover. I long thought the only way to have a new mutant be born was to have both parents still carrying the x-gene.
Again I haven't read 21 yet, but before that I don't remember anything that really convinced me that Layla wasn't a mutant. I don't totally trust Layla.
Is this the first time in the history of the X-Men that all X-titles are just plain awesome? I seriously look forward to every title each month.
Quote from: Agent on July 14, 2007, 01:25:38 PM
QUICK HITS
Nova #4 - Great, intense issue. The threat to Nova gets turned up even higher with Gamora, the deadliest woman in the galaxy, possessed by the Phalanx and used to coordinate their attack. Then there's the suprise ending. ;)
Rating: :thumbup:
I hate the ending.... hate it....extremely dissapointed with that decision
Quote from: murs47 on July 14, 2007, 10:01:27 PM
Is this the first time in the history of the X-Men that all X-titles are just plain awesome? I seriously look forward to every title each month.
Nope, back when there was only one X-title by Stan'n'Jack, or Roy'n'Neal they were awesome quite often....
But it IS true that Xbooks seem to be in a bit of a renaissance, except the poor Exiles, saddled with Claremont's Psylocke fixation. Funny, because for many a year, Exiles was the only Xbook I could stand to read, now it's the worst one. Not that I read most of them, only Astonishing. But I can tell. .......Somehow. With my Bad Comic Sense...
Also funny that for decades I loathed the Xbooks, and loved the Avengers, and now the Avengers is a perma-suck-fest (doubt me? Check out nu avengers #32, a whole issue devoted to just flying back from Japan. He already DID that issue in Secret War...) and the Xbooks are pretty good....life is strange..
The thing that struck me about the Nova issue was that Worldmind cannot activate the healing and repair systems if the Alpha Host is in such a bad state. It needs a new host in order to bring the Alpha Host back to life. And hopefully, from those two, the Nova Corps can be reborn.
Quote from: UnfluffyBunny on July 15, 2007, 02:58:29 AM
Quote from: Agent on July 14, 2007, 01:25:38 PM
QUICK HITS
Nova #4 - Great, intense issue. The threat to Nova gets turned up even higher with Gamora, the deadliest woman in the galaxy, possessed by the Phalanx and used to coordinate their attack. Then there's the suprise ending. ;)
Rating: :thumbup:
I hate the ending.... hate it....extremely dissapointed with that decision
You don't really think Nova's dead do you?
Sure his body's shredded, but don't the Kree have cloning tech?
Nova won't stay dead, it's only issue 4 of his ongoing. That'd be the craziest stunt anyone ever pulled.
Quote from: Podmark on July 14, 2007, 09:54:32 PM
Haven't had a chance to read this yet. M is pregnant? Is Jamie the father? Hmm I wonder if that might play into the crossover. I long thought the only way to have a new mutant be born was to have both parents still carrying the x-gene.
Again I haven't read 21 yet, but before that I don't remember anything that really convinced me that Layla wasn't a mutant. I don't totally trust Layla.
[spoiler]
Pietro grabbed her and nothing happened. Considering he's knocked out every other (powered) mutant he touched, I'd say that's a pretty solid indicator. He event comments on it, IIRC.
[/spoiler]
Here's what I got the other day:
Wonder Woman #10 - I'm sooo glad I'm not reading Amazon Attacks, if the issues of it have been like this comic. Is Hippolyta a full on villain now, under someone's magical (or mental) control, an imposter, or what? The cliffhanger ending was beyond idiotic. I recommend skipping this if you're not picking up WW regularly or reading the other AA stuff, and I hope the JSA takes back Hippolyta's membership card if she's still around once this is done.
Justice Society of America #7 - Interesting what they've done with the new Citizen Steel. However, I think its stupid they made his skin shiny and the explanation for his metal costume helping dampen his powers is idiotic. Otherwise, its a great issue. Worth reading just for the scene with Superman visiting Starman alone, and I wish I had gotten that variant cover instead of the regular Alex Ross cover.
Fallen Son Iron Man - I am only reading the Fallen Son books due to them being about the aftermath of Cap's death, and they are the ONLY comics I am willing to read with Tony Stark\Iron Man in them at the moment because quite frankly the character is dead to me now. Fairly good comic, and Sam Wilson's eulogy is well done. My only complaint is Tony Stark being allowed anywhere near the funeral, under the circumstances. Note the comic takes place prior to Cap #26, so if you get Cap and the Fallen Son books and haven't read Cap #26 yet, read the FS Iron Man book first.
Honor Brigade #4 - Not going to say anything that would be a spoiler, other than there's a great Chuck Norris jokes parody that I both chuckled and groaned at (just like I do at actual Chuck Norris jokes), and everyone who isn't reading the series should, because Zap and C6 are doing some really great work and I really hope it leads to a maxi or regular series down the road.
Also got the latest issue of Shonen Jump and am not too thrilled that they're dropping Shaman King, meaning I'll have to pick up the manga books that Viz puts out to follow what's going on now.
Something I found out about JSA #10 from another board:
[spoiler]The regular cover for JSA #10 has the Kingdom Come Superman on it.[/spoiler]
Me am confused.
Me thought Honor Brigade was a regular series?
I may be wrong, but I could have sworn Zap said it was a limited series.
QuoteBlue Beetle #16 - If you complain that comic book companies don't make funny, light-hearted comics anymore and you're not reading Blue Beetle you need to shut the blankity-blank up. "I--am--a dentist!" Bwah-ha-ha!!! :P
Rating: :thumbup:
Actually, it's to hear there are people talking good things about the new Blue Beetle. I have an opportunity to get the first couple of issues really cheap at my local comic book store and some solid convincing could do it for me. What kind of humor does the book have? Personally I've never really liked Keith Giffen's humor in his books ("the Heckler" is actually one of the worst comics I ever read in my opinion, which is a shame because I thought it looked good), and I actually liked Giffen and Dematties' SERIOUS elements in JLI/E MORE than the humor (which just CAN'T be right, as I don't think those books were intended to be taken remotely seriously), so I'm not really sure I'd like the book.
QuoteNope, back when there was only one X-title by Stan'n'Jack, or Roy'n'Neal they were awesome quite often....
I just know I'm asking for some serious flak here by saying this, and I do love the contributions Stan Lee and Jack Kirby made to comics, but I don't think thier X-Men wasn't thier best work by any means. I'm not just basing this on the early Claremont stuff, which I actually read first, but by Lee's OWN work from that time. I actually found his stories much less satisfying, with poorer charactizations, some glaring inconistancies powers-wise (during the Sentinel storyline they made such a point of establishing that Jean was just getting the hang of using her TK powers to lift people, and even then it put a strain on her, but her FIRST appearance she could fling Beast around the room with her powers just because he (like each character, INCLUDING Charlies) was crushing on her) and the stories, often done-in-ones, were not very interesting and didn't make a lot of sense at times (WHY was Magneto able to conjure a astral projection of himself?). I was reading Lee's run through the Essential line, just like Spider-Man and Avengers around roughly the same time, and noticed a glaring dip in quality, comparitively. I think the book improved a good deal when Roy Thomas came on board and they told more "arc-like" stories.
And also I strongly disagree about the X-Books being good right now. If I thought they were good I wouldn't have to keep dropping them, which I've done a couple of times in the past two or three years. But that's just my opinion.
On a differant topic, it's gonna be pretty hard for Gamorra (a character I remember somewhat fondly from some of the old Starlin stories) to go after Nova (as shown in solicitations for upcoming issues) if he's dead, though I'm not sure why she wants him dead, considering she was
sleeping with him during Annihiliation. Did something happen during an Annihiliation story I didn't read, or is that something new?
QuoteAlso got the latest issue of Shonen Jump and am not too thrilled that they're dropping Shaman King, meaning I'll have to pick up the manga books that Viz puts out to follow what's going on now.
Shaman King is still going ON? I read the manga finished a while ago. Is North America really still trying to put out the final installments of the story? Weird. I loved that series and was very interested when I found out about the bonus epilogue stories that were printed in the manga, which didn't exist in the anime.
Quote from: Silver Shocker on July 15, 2007, 11:36:20 PM
QuoteAlso got the latest issue of Shonen Jump and am not too thrilled that they're dropping Shaman King, meaning I'll have to pick up the manga books that Viz puts out to follow what's going on now.
Shaman King is still going ON? I read the manga finished a while ago. Is North America really still trying to put out the final installments of the story? Weird. I loved that series and was very interested when I found out about the bonus epilogue stories that were printed in the manga, which didn't exist in the anime.
Well, they're just dropping Shaman King from Shonen Jump - note I am talking about the American version of Shonen Jump put out by Viz, NOT the Japanese version - but will still be publishing it in their manga book format. The chapters already published in SJ have already been published that way, as well. The volume that picks up where they're leaving off in SJ will be volume 13. The final chapter ("Reincarnation") in SJ is 112.
They've had Bobobo-bo B-bobo in the last few issues and its going to be in the next, so I'm not sure if its a regular strip in SJ now or not, but I hope not. It sucks. No idea on what will be replacing Shaman King yet; it looks like the next issue will have extra chapters of Naruto (*yawn* - I'd rather have extra One-Piece) and a preview of Kurohime.
Quote from: tommyboy on July 15, 2007, 04:16:10 AM
and now the Avengers is a perma-suck-fest (doubt me? Check out nu avengers #32, a whole issue devoted to just flying back from Japan.
Yes, the issue is just one big plane ride, BUT - the issue has great dialogue (in a Bendis book? I know, but its true), sheds light on all the right issues in the perfect way, and creates enough action and suspense without a huge fight scene. Plus, it points to some of the things in Civil War that were just awful and ALMOST justifies them. Theres no way to to say that the Avengers series these days are great, but this issue was good.
Quote from: bredon7777 on July 15, 2007, 09:17:03 PM
Me am confused.
Me thought Honor Brigade was a regular series?
It's a six issue mini-series. We're working on #5 now.
They'll be more Honor Brigade stuff in the very near future.
I just can't juggle a monthly at this point financially or time-wise while working a day job and juggling other comic projects.
I have a Toy Boy special in the works at the moment. Toy Boy: A Boy in Toyland.
Well Zap, as long as you keep putting out comics like these, that are engaging and clean, I'll keep buying, no matter what the schedule. ^_^
Anyroad, I just wanted to let y'all know that I've finished two and three, and I really enjoyed them. You've got me hooked into the mystery of what's going on. I think C6's art (already pretty great) is getting more polished, and...well, it just seems like you're both getting the hang of this. I'm definitely going to have to track down number four!
Ohh, hey, on another note, does anyone know anything about that Captain Jack Cosmo title that is advertised in your book? It looks sorta' cool. I'd like to pick one up if I can figure out where.
QuoteOhh, hey, on another note, does anyone know anything about that Captain Jack Cosmo title that is advertised in your book? It looks sorta' cool. I'd like to pick one up if I can figure out where.
That's a really fun book. All kinds of sci-fi and superhero hi-jinks inside. I think you can get it through Diamond too.
Ok, the Hulk is kicking major expletive this week. Wow is he ticked. But the best thing is it's a smart anger. He's not going into "HULK SMASH!!!!" He's soundly beating everyone and giving them a teaching as well.
I dunno. Although the first one revved me up for some smashing, this one fell a bit flat. The composition of the Avengers facing the hulk was a total non win situation for them. They had 24 hours to clear manhattan. WTF happened to all the trainees in that Inititive of Starks?! Surely they would have had time to prepare a better defense other than the valliant "C'mon ! he's just one guy!" that they used. And don't get me started on Reed and his super flashlight. THAT's what the smartest man in the MU comes up with when faced with an unstoppable force? This, the dude who beat Galactus with his noggin? And what of the stupid Sentry? He has to catch up on his Soaps before he takes the hulk on? Or would that just let the air out of this drama like a popped balloon. I do like the way Ben was characterized. Thats exactly the ol blue eyes I knows and love. Aware that he can't beat the Hulk, he goes in anyway to give his friends some time. And now, the US army is set to blow up manhattan to stop the Hulk. Sure it is. I can't get all worked up over this when all these people have beaten things bigger and stronger than the hulk in the past. Thanos. Galactus. Tyrant, etc. In the end, People will get beat on,but nothing will change.
Tyrant? Nobody on earth has seen, much less beaten him. That is reserved for my true King of villany, Thanos. No, Sentry is waiting to see what happens. Or, the talk with Tony set off another vegetable state. Meh. The Ghost Rider fight was fun. As was the X-men fight. I noticed in X-Men, he seems to be a bit more talkative, actually going to the trouble of telling them how he's gonna beat them. Collossus and Wolvie get the worst of this.
On to New X-men. So, Pixie now has a new weapon. Think that will play into Belasco's fall?
All-Flash #1: Let this be a warning. You kill one hero, and you will pay the price. Inertia found that out, as did the rogues. Welcome Back Wally :thumbup:
Annihilation: Conquest: Wraith/Quasar: Both of these titles are really well done, showing the lengths that the Phalanx can go to achieve domination. They have Ronan, and the have the Super Adaptoid. But between a rage-fueled Quasar, Moondragon, and the mysterious Wraith(Who some believe is ROM, the Spaceknight) things might be starting to look up. :D
Ghost Rider 13: Wow. That was a fun fight. :thumbup:
Modok's 11: This is cool. Anxiously waiting for more. :thumbup:
Initiative 4: Things are starting to make sense. The SPIN dart Tony used on Hulk WWH#1 was a dud, because of what Hardball did. And is that MVP? :thumbup:
The Order 1: It's certainly interesting. These are the "Greek Gods" of the California Initiative, led by Pepper Potts in an Oracle role? The "Hermes" is the one who recognizes a morals clause and Ares is getting royalties from the names. But that villain shot on the last page? I can't name a a single one.
World War Hulk Xmen 2: There's some serious buttkicking going on in this title. No-one's going to be able to really harm Hulk due to his power of plot immunity, but that last panel is just fantastic.
QUICK HITS
Countdown 41 - I'm not sure how I feel about Jimmy Olsen as a superhero yet. I'll have to see more of what there doing with it first. My hunch is that it's temporary though. I did like Jimmy discovering the downside of wearing a costume under your clothes though.
Rating: :)
Checkmate #16 - This is an epilogue to the Checkout crossover. Primarily, we learn how Mr. Terrific and Sasha Bordeaux became an item. I love the reason why Sasha was originally attracted to him. There's also a great reunion between Fire and Ice.
Rating: :thumbup:
All Flash #1 - I really enjoyed Wally's return. I'm looking forward to seeing what's up with his kids. I like they're costumes, too.
Rating: :thumbup:
Action Comics #1 - As I said I'm unsure about Jimmy as superhero but if anyone can pull it off it's Busiek. It was great seeing how Superman got the idea for Jimmy's signal watch. It's good to see Jimmy protrayed as brave and resourceful. Oh, and the Clan MacHinery? A perfect illustration of why I'm a Kurt Busiek fan.
Rating: :thumbup:
Zero Killer #1 - Not surprisingly, Arvid Nelson uses this issue to give the reader an introduction to Zero's world. It's pretty interesting so far.
Rating: :thumbup:
Captain America #28 - Brubaker is juggling 3 different plot lines here and you just know they're going to collide soon. I can't wait until they do. On top of the Falcon, Winter Soldier, and Sin stories he throws in a letter from Cap sent to Tony Stark in case of his death. Cap said that in spite of everything Tony Stark was the only one who could do what needed to be done. Could Cap have already known about the Skrull infiltration?
Rating: :thumbup:
Brave & the Bold #5 - Waid does a good job handling the fight between Batman and the Legion. Actually, Batman doesn't actually fight them, he just evades them. Waid avoids the "invincible Batman" trap but still lets him shine by being intelligent and resourceful.
Rating: :thumbup:
Justice League of America #11 - I love Gene Ha's art. Strangely enough, Gene Ha handling the art for this issue is what made it a disappointment for me. Red Arrow and Vixen are trapped under rubble after rescuing several people. The whole story is them trying to get free. So they have Gene Ha on art for an issue and they just have him draw rubble for 23 pages. Granted there are some nice character moments in the issue, especially for Red Arrow but if you've got Ha for an issue why not give him something he can sink his teeth into. Maybe actually show us how our heroes managed to rescue all those people.
Rating: :mellow:
Annihilation Conquest: Quasar #1 - Good issue and it was nice to see the Super-Adaptoid again.
Rating: :)
Birds of Prey #108 - This was Gail Simone's final issue and of course she reinforces the reasons why I'm sad to see her go. Great issue.
Rating: :thumbup:
Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #54 - Lots of interesting revelations this issue. 1) Arthur, Jr.'s father isn't dead, 2) according to his father Arthur, Jr. died months before the lab was destroyed, and 3) Kordax's son, Krusivax and Vandal Savage are the ones responsible for creating Sub Diego. I guess Tad Williams has started wrapping up the lose ends since the titles been canceled. :(
Rating: :)
Black Canary #2 - DON'T MESS WITH TEACHERS!! :P This mini is turning out to be more entertaining than I expected. Also, Paolo Siqueira's art is superb.
Rating: :thumbup:
Avengers Classic #2 - The Avengers first encounter with the Space Phantom and the Hulk leaves the team. I like that the backups are tied into the actual story. Dwayne McDuffie's Hulk story was very good.
Rating: :)
Highwaymen #2 - Not bad but I don't like it when writers get carried away with the automobile acrobatics. I don't care how you hit a curb, it's not going to make you're car do a 360 degree flip then land back on it's wheels and keep going.
Rating: :)
Seven Brothers TPB (Virgin Comics)
created by: John Woo
written by: Garth Ennis
art by: Jeevan Kang with covers by Yoshitaka Amano
note: contains strong language and portrayals of graphic violence
Okay, where do I start? If you haven't heard of them, Virgin Comics is the publishing company founded by billionaire Richard Branson, self-help guru Deepak Chopra, cross-over Bollywood director Shekhar Kapur, and a number of other business associates, including Chopra's son who's named, I kid you not, Gotham (what's his sister's name? Metropolis?). Also, it's a pretty redundant name for a comic book publisher, since we all know that comics are read mostly by virgins (Ba-zing! Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week!)
Anyway, the company is publishing a number of comics based mostly on modern interpretations of East Indian myths but also have what they call a Director's Cut line of titles that feature creations made by filmmakers like Guy (Snatch; Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) Ritchie (otherwise known as "the bloke who married Madonna"), the aforementioned Kapur, and John (Hard-Boiled, Mission Impossible 2) Woo.
The basic concept of John Woo's Seven Brothers is that it's a modern update on an old Chinese folktale that tells of seven brothers gifted with otherwordly abilities that they use to help the people working on the Great Wall of China fight the abuses of the emperor's men. Of course, we're talking about Garth Ennis writing here, so you know you're in for a fair amount of slurs and cussing, head-exploding punches, gonad-bursting groin kicks, and all manner of four-colour fun and games. It definitely reads like a Garth Ennis book... which I find to be a bit of problem. I'm a Garth Ennis fan, I've followed his work on Judge Dredd, Preacher, Punisher, and The Boys and I've even patronized his video game work (The Punisher, Ghost Rider). While I expect Ennis to follow certain conventions and tendencies based on his previous material, Seven Brothers just reads like "generic Garth Ennis". He hits all the right notes, but it just seems quite rote and mechanical.
I also have to wonder how much creative input John Woo had in all of this. He's listed as the series' "creator" but that doesn't really tell me anything. Nothing really made me sit up and say "wow, that's a definite John Woo moment there" (and yes, that means we don't get a panel with two white doves flying out of nowhere prefacing the arrival of the lead hero). The cynic in me is guessing that Woo's involvement probably didn't extend much further than allowing the publishers to plaster his name on the cover in a blatant cash-grab (anybody remember "Leonard Nimoy's" Primortals from the mid-1990s?).
I didn't particularly care for Jeevan Kang's art either. The name might be familiar to some of you guys out there, he was the artist on the officially licensed Spider-Man: India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man:_India) comic book that came out a few years back (It's basically Spider-Man; a.k.a. Pavitr Prabhakar, set in modern-day Mumbai). While his line work on Spider-Man: India looked solid and clean, his attempts at painted art in Seven Brothers is a muddy, cluttered mess. I think the book would have been more readable if they had used standard colouring methods but even a change in colouring probably wouldn't have helped the clunky storytelling. He commits some flagrant comic book art gaffes: flipping POV perspective 180° on consecutive "talking head" panels for no apparent reason, breaking panel borders arbitrarily, and basically all the sins that Rob Liefeld died on the cross for. The best part of the art are Yoshitaka (Vampire Hunter D, Final Fantasy) Amano's covers but like Ennis' writing, they had stamps all over them (i.e.; it looked like he was mailing it in this time around).
Still, it's a halfway decent read (really, it is) even if it's just for the novelty of seeing a classic Chinese folktale being turned into a detailed storyboard pitch for the next tepid summer blockbuster. It doesn't stand up to multiple reads but is fairly amusing stuff that'll distract you from the stench the next time you visit the crapper (although a match works just as well, and it's way cheaper too).
My rating: 2 and ½ Virgins out of 5 and a hearty "nice try, but no cigar!"
Z, a while back Newsarama had a "Virgin Comics week" with free full page previews of the first issues of all of their new books, and that was one of them. I checked it out and got a real "Usual Suspects" vive to it. You make it sound much more....well, Chinese folk tale. Does that vive I got go away early on in the story?
Quote from: Silver Shocker on July 23, 2007, 02:07:59 AMI checked it out and got a real "Usual Suspects" vive to it. You make it sound much more....well, Chinese folk tale. Does that vive I got go away early on in the story?
I actually had the same feeling... the first two chapters where Rachel Kai assembles the seven brothers together and informs them of their legacy definitely put me in mind of films like "The Usual Suspects" and "Ocean's Eleven" but it goes downhill (and decidedly more fantastical in terms of genre) from there. Ennis does a great job of setting up the story but the climax and ensuing
d'enoument feel underwhelming and a bit rushed. Even the surprise twist (I won't spoil it for you) that occurs about halfway through the mini-series isn't much of a surprise to anyone familiar with the original folktale (which I am), although I imagine it'll elicit at least a "what the hell?" from the casual reader.
Like I said in my review, it's decent, if ultimately disposable, fare, the comic book equivalent of a convenience store burrito (but without the accompanying flatulence). I guess my negative reaction to the book was at least partially magnified by the expectations I had with the names attached to the project... you'd think a book with John Woo and Garth Ennis working on it would be all-out, bálls-to-the-wall, eye-melting action... I was expecting guys in dapper black suits double-wielding guns that shoot out smaller guns, topless dancers making love to a nuclear missile, reckless car chases that wind through playgrounds, midget cannibals, transsexual ninja assassins who crap grenades, exploding cyborg hummingbirds... I mean, we're talking about a director who's had critics call his films "gun porn" and the writer who wrote a story where the morbidly obese "secret" head of the Catholic Church falls on and kills the inbred cretin descendant of Jesus. In retrospect, take away
Seven Brothers' graphic portrayals of violence and decidedly adult language and you come away with a fairly standard superhero team debut story in terms of structure.
Quote from: zuludelta on July 23, 2007, 03:04:24 AM
topless dancers making love to a nuclear missile
Snicker....that is one of the silliest things I've ever heard.
Quotereckless car chases that wind through playgrounds
I hear that. Woo's not the only one to do a unlikley but stylistically exciting car chase scene where anything from an motorcycle engine to an alluminum barrell blows up if shot at though (arn't they, like, a contractual obligation in any action film these days?)
Well, a couple of things I've been waiting a long time for finally happened...
[spoiler]
Wolverine seems to have actually killed Sabretooth, and someone with powers (Spider-man) beat the poop out of Kingpin. I mean, the Kingpin vs. Daredevil, maybe that's a fair fight, but Kingpin vs. someone who can actually dodge bullets and lift a car? I mean, he's just big and strong for a normal guy. I've always hated times that they made him a challenge somehow for Spider-man.
[/spoiler]
I didn't have much in this week:
Batman #666 - A future story with Damien Wayne as Batman in a world where the Anti-Christ is loose and, borrowing from Batman Beyond, Barbara Gordon is the police commissioner. Won't give anything away regarding the plot, but I don't like the fact that Damien is still more than willing to kill.
Captain America #28 - Looks like there's a new Serpent Society in the works, as Cobra, the Eel and a new male Viper with a really ugly costume are working with the Red Skull's daughter Sin. Bucky (there's no sense in calling him the Winter Soldier, if you think about it) invades an A.I.M. base looking for information and an attorney delivers a letter written by Cap in case of his death to Tony Stark. (The contents of the letter aren't revealed in the comic)
Wonder Woman #11 - Continuing the Amazon Attacks storyline, the issue picks up where the previous issue left off with a lame resolution to that issue's cliffhanger. The heroes have to deal with a nuclear missile being launched through the portal to Themyscira, and there's yet another cliffhanger ending.
Hey did anyone notice in Transformers: Megatron Origins #2, in the first few pages. Megatron was pounding on some other bot that looked like the villian leader of the Gobots. That motocycle bot.
Ultimates 2 Vol.2: Grand Theft America TPB
written by: Mark Millar
pencils by: Bryan Hitch
inks by: Paul Neary and Bryan Hitch
colours by: Laura Martin
letters by: Chris Eliopoulos
note: collects issues #7-13 of the Ultimates 2 mini-series
So here we are, after 5 years, to the conclusion of Millar and Hitch's premiere Marvel work as a writer-artist duo. It's almost hard to believe that it took them half a decade to put out 25 issues but it did. It will be difficult to review this portion of their work without referring to the larger over-arching themes of the first Ultimates series and the first half of the second series, so keep that in mind when reading this review. I'll be viewing the work as it relates to the whole Ultimates saga, and how well it succeeds as a bookend to one of Marvel's highest profile projects.
Grand Theft America tackles some weighty themes for a superhero comic much more renowned for its emphasis on "widescreen" action and topical banter, and Millar makes no effort to disguise his commentary on the United States' recent spate of military adventurism in the Middle East. What makes this book more than just another thinly-veiled popular culture examination of real-world politics is the fact that it's a solid, enjoyable superhero read within the context of the Ultimates story, regardless of where you stand on the Iraq Invasion debate.
Millar does an excellent job of fleshing out character motivations, and he finally succeeds in writing Captain America as a sympathetic character, by focusing on the fact that he's an anachronism in the modern world and showing that he's as emotionally vulnerable and fallible as his teammates. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are also given much bigger roles this time around, and I enjoyed seeing how powerful these two could be when they finally let loose with their formidable mutant powers. There's also a surpisingly graphic amount of violence in this book (more than usual, at least), although none of it seems gratuitous. The biggest disappointment I had in terms of character motivations is in the case of Thor: Having him turn out to be the honest-to-goodness Norse god of myth somehow felt less interesting to me, when compared to the times when readers were left guessing as to his true origins.
And what of the villains? As with most superhero books, the story is only as interesting as the antagonists, and Millar delivers here as well. There aren't any one-dimensional "heroes" and "villains" here (apart from Thor and Loki), only people on opposing sides convinced that they're doing what's best for the world. The Liberators are convinced that they're saving the rest of the world and the common American people from an increasingly imperialistic United States government emboldened by SHIELD and its "people of mass destruction". The similarities (and the significant differences) between Colonel Al-Rahman and Captain America are well played by Millar. Still, Millar makes no bones about which side has the moral high ground in the struggle (and I'll leave it to the astute comic book reader to appreciate the delicious irony of the whole thing).
It's no secret that the reason for the delayed shipping schedule for the Ultimates was Hitch taking longer than usual on the art. Hitch's attention to detail is excellent, but I couldn't help but feel that the storytelling wasn't up to par with his previous Ultimates work. The figure-packed panels are almost overwhelming to read through at times, the progression of the action in the fight scenes doesn't seem to flow as smoothly as before. Those minor complaints aside, this is career-defining art, much like Alex Ross' on Kingdom Come or Frank Miller's Sin City.
So, with all that being said, how does it stand up to the rest of the series, and as a modern take on Marvel's Avengers? I think it's perhaps the strongest story-arc since the inaugural one, and it succeeds both as a straight-up superhero story and a pop culture commentary on current events. Highly recommended for any comic book fan, but again, I have to stress that it reads best as part of the whole Ultimates saga, since the character progression (a true rarity in superhero comics) really becomes evident in that context.
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5
I'm actually quite frustrated by the varying rates that Marvel puts out thier tradepaperbacks. The last issue of Ultimates just came out a couple of months ago and yet the trade is out almost immediately after. Meanwhile a trade paperback of the first arc of Mike Carey's X-Men has yet to come out, the TPBs for the various Civil War tie-ins and miniseries have been coming out ridiculously slow (I think the New Avengers and Ms. Marvel TPBs are just about to come out this week or so) and the Annihilation TPBS have also been coming out really slowly too. I don't really understand Marvel's marketing strategys regarding this.
And the Solo series of Deadpool will never see trade format, not even the Joe Kelly run! They should be ashamed >.<
Quote from: Silver Shocker on August 06, 2007, 06:20:26 PM
I'm actually quite frustrated by the varying rates that Marvel puts out thier tradepaperbacks. The last issue of Ultimates just came out a couple of months ago and yet the trade is out almost immediately after.
I think it has to do with trying to make up for the shipping delays with the monthly Ultimates title. It had gotten so that a lot of readers dropped buying the monthly in favour of waiting for the TPB (it's what I ended up doing). They also seem to put out TPBs earlier for titles that skew towards an older readership (the Punisher MAX, for instance), since a good number of people who would be interested in a mature readers title would be more likely to be in a bookstore (where TPBs and graphic novels are sold) than in a comic book shop.
Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. Vol 2 TPB: I Kick Your Face
written by: Warren Ellis
pencils by: Stuart Immonen
inks by: Wade Van Grawbadger
colours by: Dave McCaig with Paul Mounts
letters by: Virtual Calligraphy's Joe Caramagna
note: collects issues #7-12 of the Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. mini-series
It's unfortunate that Nextwave got cancelled. Sure, it's yet another meta-textual superhero parody rife with inside jokes and potshots at popular spandex tropes but a far as superhero parodies go, Nextwave is actually funny most of the time, and doesn't often commit the common mistake in send-ups of mistaking meanness for humour. There's a threadbare plot that's tenuously connected to the first six issues of the series, but as in the first story-arc, the plot merely serves to string together Ellis' outrageous quips and bizarre scenarios. The art by Stuart Immonen is just a joy to behold, his ability to convey emotion and facial expression is a perfect match for Ellis' flair for over-the-top dialogue. Immonen also continues with the "Hong Kong action movie" storytelling feel that he established in the first TPB, going with dynamic figures and panel placement, but never at the cost of clarity.
There's a lot here to like (and laugh at), Ellis pokes fun at Civil War-style hero vs. hero conflict, the tired zombie comics craze, the Mindless Ones (Dr. Strange villains, if you're unfamiliar with them), a Dread Dormammu knock-off with a Suicide Girls obsession, and even makes allusions to MODOK sex and dinosaur abuse by adolescent apes. All that, and Ellis manages to end the series on a perfectly reasonable note, no unresolved plot threads or funny business like that. Highly recommended.
My Rating: 4 out of 5
Quote from: Ajax on August 06, 2007, 08:06:06 PM
And the Solo series of Deadpool will never see trade format, not even the Joe Kelly run! They should be ashamed >.<
Damn right, boy. And don't tell me there isn't a market for em. If they can push an "Essential Dazzler" on us (due out next week, if I'm not mistaken) then they make some blasted Deadpool trade.
Wolverine: The Initiative- Wolvie vs Namor should be a forgone conclusion. Namor for the win. But, Namor vs Venom? Hmm...
Depends on how alien boy can handle sound underwater.
Well, he has an advantage; A nanotech gun that drains water?
The Immortal Iron Fist Vol. 1 TPB: The Last Iron Fist Story
written by: Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction
art by: David Aja (with Travel Foreman, Derek Fridolfs, Russ Heath, John Severin, Sal Buscema, and Tom Palmer)
colours by: Matt Hollingsworth with Dean White and Laura Martin
letters by: Dave Lanphear
note: collects issues #1-6 of the Immortal Iron Fist series
Even before I saw the previews, I knew I couldn't pass on a book written by Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction. Brubaker, of course, was the writer on the critically-acclaimed Gotham Central for DC and Sleeper for their Wildstorm imprint, and he's also done a great job following up on Brian Bendis' seminal run on Marvel's Daredevil. Fraction has a slightly more sparse, but nonetheless impressive record, authoring offbeat small-press books like The Five Fists of Science and the excellent Image Comics tech-noir title Casanova.
In this, the inaugural arc of the new Iron Fist series, Brubaker and Fraction take the titular character back to his roots, examining the heretofore unexplored history of the K'un L'un legacy, and it makes for surprisingly engaging material. I'd always been a little indifferent, even disdainful of the Iron Fist character in his earlier interpretations, as I considered him as nothing more than an attempt to cash in on the martial arts movie craze of the 1970s, a martial arts expert sufficiently "caucasianized" (intentionally or not) to appeal to a wider reader base. There's actually a somewhat controversial tradition-of-sorts in Western fiction wherein a white protagonist immerses himself (either by design or accident) in a foreign culture, and then improbably proceeds to best the indigenous people at their own traditions and practices (Fenimore Cooper's Hawkeye in the Leatherstocking Tales for instance, or even the more recent Last Samurai film starring Tom Cruise), but all that's grist for another mill that I won't write about in-depth here. Suffice to say that I always thought of Iron Fist as a shallow and somewhat exploitative creation, much in the same way I view a good number of the earlier token minority characters in comics.
Anyway, I digress.
The story finds Danny Rand in a bit of a predicament. His company is being aggressively taken over by a rival corporation. If that's not bad enough, he soon discovers that the corporation is a front for the international terrorist organization known as Hydra. To make matters worse, he senses that somebody else has been wielding the Iron Fist power besides himself, weakening him, something that shouldn't be possible (since there can only be one Iron Fist per generation). All this leads Rand to search for answers by looking inward and into the K'un L'un legacy. Like I said earlier, Brubaker and Fraction have managed to make me care about the Iron Fist power's history, all the while crafting a neat little tale of superpowered corporate espionage.
The art by David Aja is reminiscent of Alex Maleev's work on Daredevil, he relies on heavy inks to set the mood and setting perhaps not as expertly, although I think he composes fight scenes better than Maleev. The flashback sequences showing the history of the Iron Fist were drawn by guest pencilers/inkers (including Marvel lifers like Sal Buscema and John Severin), and they provide a nice change of pace and texture to the art.
One of the things that also stood out for me was how "authentic" the story feels. The book utilizes familiar Chinese martial-arts tropes in both the writing and the art, but at the same time, it doesn't seem like it's pandering to stereotypes or devolving to camp. I like campy, "chop-socky" kung-fu action as much as the next guy, but it's great to see somebody doing it seriously and not embarrassing themselves with their efforts.
My Rating: 4 out of 5
well put zulu. iron fist and dd are my top two books right now.
if you havent been reading the single issues of iron fist i imagine you'll really like the next installment. issue 7 was particularily great imo.
Quote from: detourne_me on August 18, 2007, 10:46:31 PM
well put zulu. iron fist and dd are my top two books right now.
if you havent been reading the single issues of iron fist i imagine you'll really like the next installment. issue 7 was particularily great imo.
I've sort of gotten a gist of what the second story-arc is about just from the clues and implications dropped in the first book (it's going to be a martial arts tournament against the other six Immortal Weapons representing the Heavenly Cities, right?). I'll be waiting for the trade, but with internet previews and whatnot, it's pretty much impossible not to get things spoiled (but I don't really mind these things getting spoiled for me, I mean, what are you gonna do, you know?).
The Punisher: Widowmaker (Marvel MAX imprint TPB Vol.8)
Written by: Garth Ennis
Penciled by: Lan Medina
Inks by: Bill Reinhold
notes:
- Mature readers rating for language, explicit violence and sexual content
- collects Punisher (Max imprint), vol.1, #43-49
- several minor spoilers (and one huge one) ahead!
This story-arc revolves around the widows of the mafia capos the Punisher has killed over the course of the series and their attempt to get back at him. As per Ennis' usual, a monkeywrench gets thrown in the works and what should be a straightforward revenge tale develops a layer or two of added characterization.
I enjoyed Ennis' portrayal of the mafia wives. While still hewing to the mafia wife stereotypes popularized by films like Goodfellas and countless A&E documentaries, he manages to create the impression that they are strong, driven, and resourceful in ways that their criminal husbands weren't. As I've said over and over in my Punisher reviews, Punisher stories are only as interesting as the main villain, since the title character is still, despite Ennis' attempts at plumbing his characterization depths, very much a cipher. And these antagonists are definitely given distinct personalities.
Ennis also uses this opportunity to again show the similarities and differences between the Punisher and those who are sometimes called upon to kill for "the greater good" and those who are motivated to kill purely for revenge. It's pretty clear by now that Ennis' take on the Punisher's crusade is that it is much more than a simple vengeance-fueled vendetta against crime. His methods border on sadism and a pathological desire to see others suffer which he seems to rationalize and justify with a genuine desire to punish evildoers. If there's one thing that felt off and contrived in the whole story, it's the murder-suicide scene involving one of the main characters in the final chapter. Not so much the fairly gratuitious nature of the scene, since any Punisher MAX reader should be inured to it by now (I stopped doing double-takes with the outrageous death scenes by the second trade paperback or so) but there's a particular element to it that feels tacked on and forced (you'll know what I'm talking about when you read it).
As for the art, I'm at once awed and disappointed. Lan Medina is a Filipino komiks legend in the same mold as industry pillars like Alfredo Alcala, Tony DeZuñiga, and Nestor Redondo, having earned his stripes in the local comic book industry on titles like Holiday, in contrast to younger guys like Lienil Francis Yu and Whilce Portacio, whose reputations were built on the strength of their American comics work (not making any judgments regarding Yu and Portacio, just glad that the struggling Philippine comics industry continues to produce stellar artists). Anyway, I was slightly disappointed in the art because it doesn't have the level of detail I've come to expect from Medina, although that's probably also due to the heavy and dominant inking by Bill Reinhold. Still, it's probably the best interior art that the book has seen since Lewis Laroca's work on the opening story-arc. (click here (http://www.alanguilan.com/museum/landmedina01fa.jpg), here (http://lambiek.net/artists/m/medina_lan.htm), and here (http://marsravelodarna.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/darna_medina1.jpg) for a look at Medina's Filipino komiks work)
Rating: 4 out of 5
JLA Wedding Special
Although I was keeping in kind that Mcduffie was somewhat treading water already treaded in the JLU itself (which he wrote for), I'm still stoked for his run. Some strong characterizations, a few good lines, and a Batman moment I'm sure got fanboys all over the world getting out of thier chair and saying "YES!" (it sure did it for me), in which Batman answers the question "How could you possibly know that?" with "I'm Batman."
One of the more plausable scenarios in which Batman can get knocked out by a villain, some nice pacing and a rather cute spoof of the begining of Meltzer's run made this JLA the most fun I've gotten out of the series since John's and Heinberg's short arc.
Overall I give it 7/10. I wasn't a huge fan of the art, so it lost some points.
Hmm.....McDuffie writing JLA? That actually makes me want to pick it up...I won't, but it tempts me.
Anyroad, I picked up my only two current continuity DCU books today (I get JLU, but that doesn't really count, and it always annoys me because they never bring the maturity to it that it deserves. Instead of walking the line like they did in the actual show, they just jump feet first into the shallow end.) So, I got The Atom and Aquaman. I started picking up the new Atom based on all the really fantastic stuff I've been reading about it, and for the most part it hasn't disappointed me. Aquaman.....well...it continues to be a mixed bag. I'll talk about the great melancholy that grips me anytime I pick up this book, but not right now.
The All New Atom #15:
This book has been crazy fun, it really is quite a great read most days, especially in this issue where the Atom is literally jerked by his collar out of the continuity mess that's going on. I kind of like the fact that the search for Ray Palmer is important in all of this, but at the same time, I am not following the rest of DC, so I would rather have stories that I can enjoy alone. The threat in this one is two giant monsters tearing through Ivy Town. The Atom uses his brains to defeat them, which is sorta' cool, but I feel like the whole thing was just a bit too much of a throw away plot, and we didn't really ever have the 'why' of it all answered by anything other than a throw away explanation. I enjoy the power-up the Atom has gotten through the addition of the Bangstick, and I think it was something that the original Atom could have used.
Now, all of that aside, this issue was worth it to see the giant disembodied "Head" flying between the monsters, shower curtain-cape and all, crying "Have heroism or death!" Oh my gosh, heaven help me but I can't get enough of the big floating head. If I didn't know that the end result would be me locked away in an asylum, I would seriously start quoting him in every day society. Over all, this comic has brought back the one liner, and I always get a chuckle reading it.
"Have good trip or death! Have safety or submission!"
Zulu: wow, I cant believe how fast they released widowmaker in trade. I totally agree about the ending though. While I would of been so-so with the notion of seeing this character run around and play 'female punisher' what she ended up doing didint quite sit right. I dunno, I like playing devils advocate and I can easily justify the motives but I'm saying there was something off in the execution of it. Still despite the 200 layers of mysogenistic tragedy she was a cool character and I hope to keep seing tough male and female supporting cast in the series.
Quote from: lugaru on September 20, 2007, 03:37:29 AM
Zulu: wow, I cant believe how fast they released widowmaker in trade.
That's the one thing I like about Marvel's TPB publishing policy, they don't penalize readers for their choice of reading format. I might not be reading Punisher MAX for too long, though. Ennis is leaving the title soon (no firm announcement on his last issue) to work on other assignments, which is just as well, since I think Ennis has probably told all the Punisher stories he has in him for a while (and he is starting to repeat himself, I find) and he does have a quasi-final issue in the
Last Punisher Story one-shot he did with Richard Corben. I've never really cared for the Punisher as a character until I read Ennis' take on him, and I think I was reading the book more for Ennis' writing than for the main character anyway.
The Punisher: From First To Last (Marvel MAX imprint Prestige Hardcover collection)
Written by: Garth Ennis
Penciled by: John Severin (The Tyger), Lewis Larosa (The Cell), and Richard Corben (The End)
notes:
- Mature readers rating for language, explicit violence
- collects the following Punisher (Max imprint) one shots: The Tyger, The Cell, Punisher: The End
- minor spoilers ahead
I don't think it's hyperbole to say that Garth Ennis' run on the Punisher will be regarded as the defining work on the character, pretty much on par with Claremont's nearly 200-issue run on Uncanny X-Men, Miller's take on Daredevil, and Peter David's stretch on Incredible Hulk. He took what was basically a tired, overexposed, one-dimensional and not all that interesting character and turned him into a relevant property for Marvel, popular enough to spawn a major studio motion picture and a critically-acclaimed (if controversial) video game. Before Ennis took the reins of the character in 2001, the Punisher was pretty much reduced to a joke, ridiculously revamped and cast as a supernatural avenging angel armed with mystic uzis and all sorts of nonsense.
From First To Last collects three one-shots into a nice oversized package (although it will look a little out-of-place to those of you obsessed with having your comics, graphic novels, and TPBs all the same height and width). The story in each one-shot takes place at a turning point in the Punisher's life.
In The Tyger, a ten-year old Frank Castle gets his first glimpse of the cruelty and evil all men are capable of doing. It also provides some neat insight as to why the Punisher has always had a special burning hatred for those who harm women and children (well, apart from the obvious connection with his murdered family, of course) and particularly, rapists. This also reinforces Ennis' assertion that Frank Castle's Punisher persona wasn't simply a byproduct of his family's death at the hands of the mob, but rather was a result of a lifetime of accumulated experiences (Ennis' expounds on the impact of the Vietnam War on Castle's psyche in a separate mini-series which has also been collected in TPB form, the excellent Punisher: Born). A well-written period piece set mostly in the New York of Castle's youth, with excellent, detailed art by Mad Magazine co-founder and EC Comics and Marvel Comics legend John Severin (probably best known for his work on EC's Two-Fisted Tales and Marvel's Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos).
One interesting thing to note about the Punisher's heretofore history is that he's never been able to get back at those personally involved in the deaths of his family. The Cell is the story that shows Castle finally catching up with those responsible. Set in Ryker's Island Prison, the story revolves around Castle intentionally getting caught and jailed so that he can get close to his family's killers. It's a straight-up revenge tale, and while satisfying, I also feel that it's the weakest of the three stories, since the reader pretty much knows what's going to happen, and the main draw of the story is to see how Castle extracts his pound of flesh (and I have to say, when he finally gets to them, it's not nearly as creatively cruel as some of the methods he's used on other criminals in the on-going Punisher series). Lewis Larosa's art is thoroughly detailed, an excellent feat when it could have been all sorts of muddy due to the drab setting.
The third and final story in the hardcover collection is Punisher: The End, illustrated by Heavy Metal and underground comix vet Richard Corben. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic, near future setting, a world that has finally gone to hell in a hail of nuclear warheads. The Punisher, of course, has improbably survived (barely) and has now taken it upon himself to find those who "made puppets of presidents and started wars for profit." Ennis makes a powerful political statement in this story but doesn't go overboard into soapboxing, this is still a Punisher story at its core. Castle's final acts of violence, essentially dooming the remaining human population of the planet, provides a chilling insight into the character: a man who has lost all sense of compassion and hope for the future, living only because of a burning, single-minded desire to punish those he considers guilty of inflicting harm upon others. A dark, almost depressing, but ultimately powerful character portrait.
Very highly recommended for fans of the character and Ennis' writing. Even if you're not normally a fan of either, give it a read anyway, it's real good comics.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Fury (Marvel MAX imprint TPB)
Written by: Garth Ennis
Penciled by: Darick Robertson
notes:
- Mature readers rating for language, explicit violence and sexual content
- collects the Fury (Max imprint) limited series, issues #1-6
- minor spoilers ahead
This mini-series sees Ennis once again collaborating with Punisher: Born and The Boys penciler Darick Robertson. The plot, in broad strokes, is a dark-humoured look at Nick Fury in something of a midlife crisis (or at least, as much as an un-aging superspy holdover from the Second World War can be said to have a "mid-life"), while also working in a few jabs at US foreign policy.
Fury is at a crossroads in his career. SHIELD has become a bureaucrat's paradise, one, apparently, that has no need for Cold War cloak and dagger types like Fury. All his friends are either dead, or are happily retired and domesticated, and his only family; an awkward, attention-starved high school loser entrusted to his care by a dying soldier, is someone he'd much rather feed alive to tigers. So what does a Cold Warrior do when there are no more Cold Wars to fight?
It turns out that Fury is not alone in his plight, as his opposite number in the terrorist organization HYDRA is itching for some old-school war-mongering himself. Along with the expected fireworks, Ennis manages to insert some contemporary socio-political commentary (as he occasionally does), and uses Fury to advance the argument as to why an independent, international, third-party military arbitrator like the UN's SHIELD is a better alternative to having individual nations enforce their own ideas of "international law." I imagine this might very well influence a reader's enjoyment of the story depending on where they stand on the debate concerning nations violating other countries' sovereignty in the name of pre-emptive defense. Ennis also tries to create some sense of conflict within Fury, a man who is dedicated to promulgating international peace but at the same time is attracted to the raw, visceral excitement and challenges provided by a life of combat, although I found I wasn't all that interested in Fury's internal dialogue (he's just not a very sympathetic character, I think).
Robertson's art is what it is, ultimately capable, clear, energetic, and expressive but it's never really struck a chord in me either. The individual issue covers are by Bill Siencewicz, by the way, and they're almost worth the price of the TPB by themselves (although Jim Steranko, in my mind, would have been the perfect cover artist for this mini-series).
Rating: 3.75 out of 5
Being a huge Ennis fan, I was really disappointed with Fury... it felt like he was going through the motions. It's weird considering how Darick Robertson and Ennis are kicking so much butt together on The Boys, which is similarly OTT.
Quote from: Jakew on October 02, 2007, 05:03:48 PM
Being a huge Ennis fan, I was really disappointed with Fury... it felt like he was going through the motions. It's weird considering how Darick Robertson and Ennis are kicking so much butt together on The Boys, which is similarly OTT.
Funny you should post that. I'm the same way but I feel like it's with
The Boys that he's retreading material he's already covered. I like his work as much as the next guy but he does have a habit of recycling concepts from other titles he's worked on. I think I actually reviewed the first
The Boys TPB in this thread, you might want to look for it. Of course, the book that gets the "generic Ennis writing" stamp from me is his work on Virgin Press'
Seven Brothers (which I think I also covered in this thread), he even re-uses a plot device that he used in the story for the
Ghost Rider video game (the bit about heroes inscribing a mystical glyph across the planet's surface).
Yeah, same here with not being able to get into the boys. It just feels like a not so great version of "the pro" and other prior bits of his work.
DC Previews for Oct 3 (http://www.newsarama.com/dcnew/Oct07/previews/3rd.html)
I'm digging the Jokester. :thumbup:
Quote from: BentonGrey on September 19, 2007, 10:23:52 PM
Hmm.....McDuffie writing JLA? That actually makes me want to pick it up...I won't, but it tempts me.
I'd say it depends on your tastes. If you like to see groundbreaking, status quo-shaking, trend-setting, turn-the-world-on-its-ear, everything-you-thought-you-knew-is-wrong kinda stuff, you won't find it in McDuffie's run (or at least this arc, the next one is apparently about the characters from DC's old Tangent and Amalgam lines :blink: + :thumbup: ). He's VERY much writing the JLU stuff all over again, more than I even expected him to do. He's even pushing the JLU-exclusive elements in the book. Such as some small subtle John Stewart/Hawkgirl shipping (ironic, since Meltzer played her up with Roy) and a mentioning of the Javelin (unless I'm wrong and the Javelins existed in the comics already) and little things like that. Still, it's the kind of thing people who miss good old-fashioned good guy vs bad guy slugfests, and "fun" storylines that don't take a year and a half or more to tell. Me, I think it's quite enjoyable. It's sure better than Meltzer's run (which I dropped after the first arc).
Quote from: zuludelta on September 20, 2007, 03:36:51 PM
That's the one thing I like about Marvel's TPB publishing policy, they don't penalize readers for their choice of reading format.
I'm going to have to massively disagree with you there. I think both Marvel and DC completely do exactly that. FOr one thing, I know for a fact that the TPBs don't keep the recap pages for the issues, even if they mention stuff that happened before the issues collected. They don't always keep the backup stories, even if they're related to the main story (anyone want to bet all the "Endangered Species" backups will be taken out of the X-Men trades?) and they don't always keep the covers as full pages preceding the stories. I remember the cover gallery for the Avengers: Kang Dynasty really frustrated me because it was done in a way that made it very difficult to tell which cover went for which issue. I just started reading a Morrison New X-Men trade and some of the covers are done a similar way, with a single page showing multiple covers, after the issue that that cover was for.
One the other hand, I looked through the TPB for the Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways TPB when it first came out dispite having bought the mini originally, because solicits promised bonus material. The TPB contained handbook entries for every member of both teams, none of which were in the original issues. I would have loved those but am not willing to buy the trade just to have them along with the book. Actually a couple of the Civil War TBPs had handbook entries for characters who appeared in the book, and some had concept sketchs and cover sketches. I personally think everything that was in one version should be in the other, with the exception of letters pages, ads and other things that wouldn't be practical in the TBP. I also hate it when they take the opening credits out, especially when the art team changes from issue to issue, and I don't like them taking the footnotes out of the older material.
Quote from: Silver Shocker on October 04, 2007, 12:56:58 PM
Quote from: zuludelta on September 20, 2007, 03:36:51 PM
That's the one thing I like about Marvel's TPB publishing policy, they don't penalize readers for their choice of reading format.
I'm going to have to massively disagree with you there. I think both Marvel and DC completely do exactly that.
I should have clarified my comment further... I only meant that Marvel has a quicker turnaround in releasing TPB collections of their on-goings, mini-series, and classic titles and I wasn't trying to compare DC and Marvel in terms of TPB quality and content. On books like Immortal Iron Fist and Punisher (MAX), the TPB that collects a particular 6-issue arc is usually out within 3 to 4 months of the last issue of said arc being published (compared to DC, who seem to have an inconsistent TPB publishing schedule and apparently haven't totally bought into the business idea of using the single-issues as loss-leaders for TPB sales for their less popular titles) and Marvel has done a good job of mining their archives for fairly decent and reasonably-priced Essentials (covering everything from popular titles like X-Men, Spider-Man, Hulk, etc. to less popular fare like Killraven, Howard The Duck, Godzilla, and Tomb of Dracula) while much of the collected classic DC reprints (at least the ones I've seen available in my local comic book shop) still skew too heavily towards Superman, Batman, and the Justice League (and it's almost impossible to find the Jonah Hex TPBs they put out a couple of years ago).
Fair enough. I thought what you meant specifically in the most recent years. But I also thought you may have been referring to the fact that certain books come out fast enough that "waiting for the trade" as they call it, isn't such a frustrating or time consuming task. But as I said earlier in the thread (you yourself responded to it) Marvel makes you wait forever and a day for CERTAIN books (well, not Marvel alone, but I'm more a Marvel reader than anything else).
I do agree with you about their variety of Essential lines, though none of those more obscure and eclectic choices interest me. But it always bothered me that there are no New Mutants Essentials, as I would have bought them and read them years ago along with Uncanny if they'd simply put them out. In addition, they've really been taking thier sweet time with Amazing Spider-Man and Uncanny X-Men, as well as Avengers, I have to wonder if they're doing that because all of those have 5 or more volumes out already. They're putting out X-Men vol. 8 this year, and it's been at least a year since I read Vol. 7 two summers ago (I'm pretty sure I waited to get that one on sale during a holiday, so I didn't buy it immediately)
Quote from: Silver Shocker on October 04, 2007, 04:33:25 PM
Fair enough. I thought what you meant specifically in the most recent years. But I also thought you may have been referring to the fact that certain books come out fast enough that "waiting for the trade" as they call it, isn't such a frustrating or time consuming task. But as I said earlier in the thread (you yourself responded to it) Marvel makes you wait forever and a day for CERTAIN books (well, not Marvel alone, but I'm more a Marvel reader than anything else).
I just wish there was a cut-and-dried policy about which current books get eventually collected into TPBs (from either company, although Marvel seems to be more consistent in their practices). I'm almost exclusively a TPB buyer and reader, but if there's a comic book out there that I like, I'd be willing to buy the single issues if it's certain that they'll never be collected in trade in a timely manner (like within a couple of years).
Quote from: Silver Shocker on October 04, 2007, 04:33:25 PM
I do agree with you about their variety of Essential lines, though none of those more obscure and eclectic choices interest me. But it always bothered me that there are no New Mutants Essentials, as I would have bought them and read them years ago along with Uncanny if they'd simply put them out.
I wish they'd make New Mutants Essentials as well. Never really liked the characters themselves, but I'm a huge fan of Bret Blevins' art, and the black-and-white format is actually something I'd prefer in this case.
Let's talk about this week, which seems to be a menu of awesome.
Black Adam 3 Despite everything that has happened, I'm finding Adam to still be a good character on a quest. But even if he does find Isis' amulet, I doubt that Faust is going to grant his wish.
Booster Gold 3 Any comic that involves time travel, the long distant Kent family, a drinking contest with Jonah Hex and an accidental collision with Barry and Bart Allen in hyperspace is gold in my book.
Captain Carrot and the Final Ark Understandably, I don't know much about the Zoo Crew, but this was a fantastic look at that world. Lots of great moments.
Fantastic Four 550 There must be some kind of pantheon of comic book gods that have inducted Dwayne Mcduffie into their ranks. It's a true to the spirit style story of saving the universe, that features Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Gravity and Uata the Watcher alongside the current cast of six. Downloading the essence of Eternity itself into Storm while Gravity performs surgery on the body to stave off rogue universal antibodies from destroying reality as we know it.
Green Arrow-Black Canary 1 Ha! It wasn't Ollie after all! Fortunately, that's the last we'll see of Everyman. Unfortunately, it had to tie back into Amazons Attack.
New Avengers 35 The good: A superunified B and C list villain group. The bad, symbiotes everywhere. The really good: Only one page is devoted to the symbiote attack. The really bad: Most likely, the next issue will be all about how the villains use the symbiote attack.
New Warriors 5 A lot is happening here, but I for one enjoy it. I like the Newer Warriors, and Sofia. Since this is six issues at least, the ultimatum on the final page probably won't stick.
Nova 7 Reading this book gives me the second biggest Oh Yeah! moment after Fantastic Four. Rider's the first one to have fought through the Transmode virus and flies through a neutron star to wormhole out of occupied kree space. And that little inner monologue of "Why aren't you screaming?" is awesome
Punisher War Journal 12 So let's recap for a moment. Frank Castle has come back to NYC in the middle of Hulk's War, dual-wielding chainsaws. He has a supergenius sidekick inventing new tech for him("It's a gun, Frank. A gun that shoots swords" and "Venomech synthiote smart armor") and he just gutted, dismembered and lobotomized Mung the Monster. This is so awesome.
Superman 668 Also a good story, and finally some closure on that hint about the third kryptonian.
New Avengers 35: I agree wit sword, it was great to only have one page worth of the Symbiotes attacking (I'm dreading and storyline involving the symbiots). I loved to see all the obscure villains getting togeather to start up a new supervillain (program?) I kinda thought "masters of evil" but the Red Hood seems to have some good villany ideas. I can't believe he took out Tigra so easily. Hopefully we'll see these "B" villains get sum evil justice they always wanted in these next issues.
One thing I hate about this book is the art work, its horrendously bad. The artist must not like drawing faces becase 99% of the faces are all shadowed out, the artwork is just all "scratchy" looking and every page is just so loaded with shadows everywhere its hard to look at it.
Captain Carrot and the Final Ark was pretty good, and I hope this somehow leads to more Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew minis, but I doubt it will. Highly recommend it.
Wonder Woman #13 deals with some of the aftermath of Amazon Attacks, but isn't anything special.
I just realized something else about the Nova book: Drax and Gamora were pulled through the wormhole with Nova. They are all now millions or billions of lightyears away from kree space and thus separated from the phalanx hive mind. How much longer will the connection last before these two shake off the transmode as well?
see i have to disagree, if you put the symbiote attack on the cover bloody show it. i dont mind creating a new group of villain its interesting though over done but come on. the whole single page thing was a load of crap. you want to do a story about the b and c list villains show them on the cover, its like picking up a spider-man book and most of the pages being shown to cable
also to ever designed this book go back to graphics school the layout was so bloody confusing i had to re-read a few pages just to see who was actually speaking
I actually liked the Avengers this week. It's good to see the c-team get a few every once in awhile. I agree, the cover is a bit misleading, but, how many people were set against the overuse of symbiotes anyways? I remember the groans when it was announced. The expression on Jigsaw's face when ghe was filming that scene was awesome.
I didn't like New Avengers this week but for a different reason: that it's got to be yet another female character who's the victim of a home invasion and assault in a vaguely-sexualized manner.
Quote from: Sword on October 13, 2007, 02:24:52 PM
Let's talk about this week, which seems to be a menu of awesome.
It's sure a menu of variety. You buy more books at a time than I ever have at one time in my years of buying comics. That's not a bad thing, really. I only buy what I like enough to spend money on and want to read every month.
QuoteBooster Gold 3 Any comic that involves time travel, the long distant Kent family, a drinking contest with Jonah Hex and an accidental collision with Barry and Bart Allen in hyperspace is gold in my book.
I'm lovin' the "All-New" Booster Gold (as DC's website constantly calls it). The first issue impressed me. The newest issue REALLY impressed me. And that's saying something because I'm naturally geared to dislike any story set in a western corner of a pridominently non-western fictional universe. Gold and Skeets were at thier best, I really enjoyed the Smallville-inspired alternate Superman timeline snippit, and the art (which has been hit/miss for me) really shined here. I can't wait for the next two issues, with Barry and Wally, and a re-visiting of "The Killing Joke". How can that NOT be good? Johns, you've done it again!
QuoteGreen Arrow-Black Canary 1 Ha! It wasn't Ollie after all! Fortunately, that's the last we'll see of Everyman. Unfortunately, it had to tie back into Amazons Attack.
Thank the maker. I loves me the Ollie. I figured that wouldn't stick.
QuoteNew Warriors 5 A lot is happening here, but I for one enjoy it. I like the Newer Warriors, and Sofia. Since this is six issues at least, the ultimatum on the final page probably won't stick.
It's a good book. It's Madina's best work yet in my opinion, and I think the costume designs are sharp, though I don't know most of the characters (having not read the entireity of Morrison's New X-Men) my favourite member of the team is Phaser, who reminds me a great deal of my own Silver Shocker avatar.
QuoteNova 7 Reading this book gives me the second biggest Oh Yeah! moment after Fantastic Four. Rider's the first one to have fought through the Transmode virus and flies through a neutron star to wormhole out of occupied kree space. And that little inner monologue of "Why aren't you screaming?" is awesome
I agree, the monologue was great. The art in the book has gotten really good, and I was really chompin' at the bit waiting to see how Richard Rider was gonna get out of this one.
QuotePunisher War Journal 12 So let's recap for a moment. Frank Castle has come back to NYC in the middle of Hulk's War, dual-wielding chainsaws. He has a supergenius sidekick inventing new tech for him("It's a gun, Frank. A gun that shoots swords" and "Venomech synthiote smart armor") and he just gutted, dismembered and lobotomized Mung the Monster. This is so awesome.
I've heard mixed reviews about this issue, but what little of PWJ I've read gave me the impression it's awesome. I'd like to try it out sometime in the future.
JLA 14- Wow, Supes gets owned. Awesome.
Marvel Zombies 2. 40 years later and the entire universe has been eaten. Only took them 40 years.
Despite my unease with the central premise, Death of the New Gods was very, very good. I trust Starlin to actually do this justice, and even if the story sucks, the art is stunning, both in its own right, and as a Kirby tribute in many many ways. I wouldn't say that I love the New Gods, but I'm fond of them, they've been in my life longer than lots of real people, and I'm not at all keen to see them go. But if they have to go, then let it be like this.
JLA 14 was good. I prefer Meltzers run, but this is Good Comics, and could be Great Comics. The gratuitous 2-page T+A heroes for hire style tentacle violation tribute spread of Diana, Vixen and Canary I could have lived without. It was blatant, offensive and a waste of 2 pages, in my opinion. Other than that, I liked the issue.
Marvel Zombies was OK. I'm really getting the law of diminishing returns kicking in more and more, despite some genuinely interesting twists. I suppose I just see the series in the same way I see The Sentry, as a mildly amusing, well executed, one-joke, one-idea miniseries that can only get worse the more its mercilessly stretched thin by a "Bullpen" who seem really short of ideas.
Cap 31 was good, but I am starting to wish things would move along a bit now. Six issues on from Caps death and it feels to me like we are drifting. I know Brubaker has a plot, and a story, and its probably carefully paced. But I need a big reveal. A big pointer to where its all going.
Yeah, I can only imagine what's going through Dr. Light's mind as the 3 of them are helpless.
Indeed. I'm really enjoying McDuffie's JLA. My only really big qualms are the pace and the difficulty McD's clearly having juggling all the differant characters. As shown in pt 1, the Injustice Gang has dozens of members, but in the newest chapters only about 4 or 5 are ever shown at a time. The pace of this issue was a bit dissapointing, the issue was maybe 10, 15 minutes long. And the splash page was unfortunate (the Hall of Doom splash was cool, but you gotta figure there'd be more story if they didn't do TWO DOUBLE EDGE SPLASHES WITH NO WORDS!) Regardless, I really enjoyed the issue. It was for the most part, a Supes/Black Lightning team up, and thanks to some nice character moments between the two, I now officially don't mind Black Lightning. McDuffie writes a great Luthor (no suprise there, Luthor was at his best in JLU) and Benes, IMO, draws a truly awesome Luthor and Supes. His Joker sucked bigtime though. And I agree, Supes totally went down like a sucka. But it wouldn't be very exciting if it was easy, would it? And if Supes and Black Lightning could take down the whole team, who needs the JLA? I'm just wondering how they're going to finish this story line in a single issue, especially when we still don't have any real clue what Luthor's plan is. The way this issue was paced, you'd think you'd need about 3 or four more parts. At least.
After reading Booster Gold #1
Quote
Beware the Red Lanterns???
Now DC is bring in Red Lanterns??!?! Are they going for all the colours? :huh:
You guys think four is enough? Green, Yellow, Pink, and Red?
I just hope they don't go for one more colour, your thoughts people?
Blue and black?
Justice Society of America #3
five stars!
Finally a perfect characterization for a parallel earth Superman
Annihilation Conquest- I like the idea of the Phalanx. However, is this the same Phalanx that the X-men fought years ago? And, the big bad guy at the end is...... Wow, that was unexpected. Not going to ruin it as I don't use the spoiler tags well, but it's someone already involved in another story arc.
And why didn't anyone tell me Rocket Raccoon was back? Along with a micronaught AND Captain Universe? Would have been cool if the bad guy was Baron Karza.
Astonishing X-men 23:
[spoiler]Wow, I'm not sure I've ever enjoyed an X-book as much as I have this current arc (granted, I don't read all that much of them). I've never liked Cyclops, but I love him in astonishing. The gun incident earlier on, his plan that's come together this issue, it's all just downright badassery that ~I~ think is everything his character should be. Cyke is FINALLY interesting to me. In any other book, if he'd been horribly killed I wouldn't have even blinked twice, but last issue when he was adrift in space I found myself genuinely worried.[/spoiler]
Overall: This book rocks my socks.
All new Atom 14
This is simultaneously cool and disturbing. Ryan Choi was( emphasis on was) dating Giganta and trying to make her go straight. Who the two new villains are is a mystery to me and the reason the issue is disturbing along with Ryan's comment to WOnder WOman about knowing Giganta. But it's a Gail Simone book, so it continues to be awesome.
Annihilation: Starlord 4
The Power of Bill Mantlo compels you! Compels you to read this book, which is seven hundred shades of awesome. The team continues to rock and the fact the even possessed Kree recognize Starlord and shoot to stun works wonders. Of course putting Bug and Rocket Raccoon together is a recipe for greatness.
Annihilation: Conquest 1
Holy... Warlock's working for him? Ultron is the source and controller of the phalanx? Wraith,Superskrull and Ronin working together? And that cover image of Quasar, Moondragon, Wraith, Starlord, and all the others Is fantastic. As I've said before, anything tied to Annihilation is pure awesome and this continuation of the series is no excpetion.
Fantastic Four 551
Fact: If the rulers of Atlantis, Wakanda and Latveria from thirty years in the future come back in time to warn me off, I'd sure as seven hells listen to them.
Great Issue, Bizarre Twist.
Messiah CompleX
It's an interesting story, but I hope it picks up soon.
anyone else disappointed with the whole red rain issue. its my fav elseworld and i know it was only a one off but it just seemed lacking
Anybody checking out that DC Villains project? Something about all the villains they could find being put on a planet. Sounds pretty cool.
Captain America 32 - first of all, Iron Man is featured predominantly on the cover for no good reason; he is in the comic as Tony Stark, but not as IM. Black Widow and Falcon mount an assault to rescue the captured Sharon Carter (who is brainwashed and working with Dr. Faust) and Winter Soldier (who Faustus unsuccessfully tried to brainwash last issue)
Captain Carrot and the Final Ark 2 - really disappointed that this is only a 3-issue mini. The original Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew series was one of my favorite comics, and I'd love to see more done with them in the future. This mini is supposed to wrap things up, but I hope it sells well enough to justify more minis down the road. (I can't see it coming back as a regular series in this day and age) The heroes battle Frogzilla and its finally revealed what the deal was with Alley-Kat-Abra murdering Little Cheese and framing CC for it.
Wonder Woman 14 - all you need to know is that Gail Simone is now writing it and things kick off with part 1 of a four parter involving a secret Hippolyta has been keeping from Diana, Grodd (who isn't actually in the comic) sending a group of elite Gorilla Commandos after Wonder Woman, and the Society trying to take control of the now pretty much empty Themyscira. If you haven't been reading Wonder Woman, I advise you to pick this up ASAP!
Jungle Girl #s 0-3
Published by: Dynamite Entertainment
Plot and Cover by: Frank Cho
Script by: Doug Murray
Interior Art by: Adriano Batista
Obviously inspired by the Golden Age "jungle girl" serials and pulp stories, Frank Cho's Jana the Jungle Girl is a light-hearted, fun read. Anyone who's suffering from "event burnout" from the Big Two or anybody's who's tired of choosing between "adolescent power fantasy superheroics" or "dour, self-obsessed, semi-autobiographical indie comics" week in and week out would do well to pick up this comic (although Jungle Girl sports her own "big two" as well... thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week, try the veal!). The story isn't meant to be anything deep... if you find your enjoyment of the book to be lessened because of questions like "Why does Jungle Girl speak English if she's been living in a prehistoric jungle all this time?" or "Why does she have a perfectly fitted leather-and-fur bikini?", I suggest you slowly put the book down and un-knot your tie, grab a beer or three, listen to some AC/DC, and loosen up a little.
Although fan favourite writer Doug (The 'Nam) Murray is handling the scripting chores (and he does a good job of helping usher the flimsy plot along), the real star of the book is artist Adriano Batista. He obviously takes after Frank Cho (who supplies the book's "plots" and covers), and does a great job of highlighting and exaggerating the female form without making it look grotesquely disproportioned (I'm looking at you Mike Turner!). His Jungle Girl, while equipped with the standard T&A endowments, is also a well-muscled creation that suggests more than just typical cheescake art. There are more than a couple of storytelling hiccups in his panel-to-panel work, but nothing that breaks any individual issue.
Anyway, not an essential read by any means, but if you've got some spare comics-spending money and feel like reading a comic book with solid art and a fun, if disposable, story that won't require a degree in comic-ology to appreciate, give it a try.
My Rating: 3 out of 5
Marvel Legacy: The 1960s-1990s Handbook
Published by: Marvel Comics
Written by: Various writers, head writer Jeff Christiansen
Interior Art by: Various artists, including Jack Kirby, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, and others
Marvel Legacy: The 1960s-1990s Handbook collects notable entries from the various Marvel Handbooks released over the years into a compact trade paperback. Given how little space there is to cover such a wide breadth of time in Marvel's publishing history, glaring omissions are inevitable. In many cases, obscure, goofy, one-off characters are given precedence over more popular characters who are covered better and with more depth elsewhere. What this Handbook attempts to do is give the reader a sampling of the "creative flavour" predominant in each decade of Marvel's existence as the preeminent superhero comic book publisher. To give you an idea of what you'll find in the TPB, here's a random listing of the character profiles, by decade:
1960s - Fantastic Four, Painter of 1000 Perils, Silver Surfer, Patsy Walker, Infant Terrible
1970s - Black Brother (ha ha ha), Hellcow, Wolverine, Manphibian, Hypno-Hustler, Mahkizmo
1980s - Hercules of the 24th Century, Crystar, Dakota North, Nightmask, Captain Hero
1990s - BlackWulf, Century, Ghost Rider 2099, Exodus, Lynn Michaels, Slapstick, Stunner, X-Treme
While a number of the profiles are written in a serious vein, many others (especially those for the more obscure characters) are written with tongue firmly in-cheek with pretty funny results. The classic art used for some of the older characters is a big plus (it's amazing how much Kirby influenced the Marvel "house style" back then). This book isn't for everybody, but it's reasonably-priced piece of nostalgia for the old-school Marvel fan and it's great for anybody interested in tracing the history of character design throughout the years.
My Rating: 4 out of 5
G.I.Joe: The Data Desk Handbook (A-M)
Published by: Devil's Due Publishing
Written by: Sam Wells, Mike O'Sullivan
Interior Pencils by: Robert Atkins, Mike Bear, Nelson Blake II, Jeremy Freeman, Mike Getty, Jeremy Haun, Tim Seeley
This is the first part of a two-part handbook mini-series on the current G.I.Joe comics being published by Devil's Due. Styled after the original G.I.Joe: Order of Battle published by Marvel two decades ago, this good-sized comic book gives relatively comprehensive one-page profiles of classic toy-based characters such as Duke, Cobra Commander, Clutch, Destro, and Beach Head along with more recent additions to Joe lore such as Barrel Roll, Mistress Armada, and Kamakura.
The write-ups do an adequate job of summarizing each character's history, but come off as fairly dry and uninteresting to anyone who hasn't actually read any of the recent DDP G.I.Joe comics. Granted, they're supposed to read like military profiles, but I really couldn't get a sense of each character's personality. There are also a good number of grammatical and spelling errors in the text (including one of my biggest pet peeves, the mis-use of it's in place of its), but something like that is bound to happen when one of the writers (Mike O'Sullivan) is also the book's editor.
The book fares a bit better on the art side of things, although I have to admit that the fairly uniform style employed by the artists isn't really my cup of tea when it comes to a military-themed book like G.I.Joe (I grew up reading G.I.Joe as illustrated by Ron Wagner, who tended to draw in a more classic style reminiscent of guys like Gene Colan and Val Mayerik).
I don't know if I would recommend this book to anybody unless they're already fans of Devil's Due Publishing's take on G.I.Joe. Maybe my opinion of the mini will change once the second volume covering the N-Z characters (I'm interested to see how they'll handle the circuitous histories of Larry Hama's favourite ninjas, Snake-Eyes and Storm-Shadow) comes out, but I'm not really counting on it.
My Rating: 2 out of 5
Omega Flight: Alpha To Omega TPB
Published by: Marvel Comics
Written by: Mike Avon Oeming
Interior Art by: Scott Kolins
*note: collects issues 1-5 of the Omega Flight mini-series
Any premature celebrating by Alpha Flight fans after the announcement that fan-favourite scribe Mike Oeming was working on an Omega Flight book was probably cut short when it was later announced that Omega Flight would not be an on-going series, but a five-issue mini due to concerns that the book would not sell through. Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The series starts off some time after the unceremonious death of the original Alpha Flight team at the hands of The Collective (inhabiting the body of a certain Michael Pointer) in the pages of New Avengers, with sole survivor Walter Langkowski, a.k.a. Sasquatch, being tasked by the Canadian government to form a new superhero team to defend Canada from American supervillains crossing the border to escape Tony Stark's Registration Act. An interesting premise, to be sure, but what follows is a largely by-the-numbers affair. In short order, Langkowski is joined by former Alpha Flight member Talisman, horse-faced alien Thor analogue Beta-Ray Bill, American liaisons Arachne (the former Spider-Woman Julia Carpenter), USAgent (who surprisingly became my favourite character in the mini as I kept reading), and, of all people, a repentant Michael Pointer (now wearing the Guardian suit worn by the original leader of Alpha Flight). Maybe it's just me, but I find it odd that a federally-funded Canadian superhero team would have more Americans in it than Canadians.
I feel really ambivalent about Kolin's art in this book, partially because I've seen what great work he can do when he's paired with a competent inker or if he's inking himself. Here, however, he tries a new technique and dispenses with inks altogether and the art is shot straight from the pencils. The result is a muddy mess that is almost unreadable at certain points (although the colourist is probably to blame as much as Kolins). His tendency to resort to two-page splash spreads further adds to the confusion. I do like his subtle re-designs of the Wrecking Crew (the book's main baddies for most of the series), but other than that, I have to say that this is the weakest I've seen his art since his early days at Malibu Comics, although an off-form Scott Kolins is still an above average artist in many respects.
My Rating: 2.75 out of 5
Detective comics 840
Awesome issue, it`s the epilogue of the rather disappointing Ressurection of Ras story.
This one is a must read, it`s Paul Dini at his best! This is how Batman should be written.
There`s also an interesting silver age-ish villain called The Globe, but the real highlight is Batman`s dialogue with Ras during their battle and the ending. I couldn`t recommend this more!
Onslaught Reborn # Whatever. Thank god that is over. Nothing to say here that hasn't been said before. The hero of the book? Not gonna spoil it but it's super lame. Probably someone with goggles.
Wolverine- Not sure who is drawing the new book, but he is awful. Almost Liefeld awful. Chausnic I think. He's doing Blade too. Seriously, There where times I thought Liefeld was using an alias.
Avengers Secret Invasion. Looks good on paper. Some people think skrulls exist on various teams. Gonna say this now, Jarvis is a Skrull. He has access to most things Avengers and can keep tabs on all of them. He's also least likely to be suspected. Not sure I like how they portray the inner dialog of Ares. He seems very creepy. Like borderline sociapath/rapist/serial killer. Not digging that at all. Also, others I think may be skrulls. Black Widow. Eh, why not?
Messiah Complex 11. Hoowee! Wolverine knows something about Bishop. Like something isn't kosher. In 10, they kept making it a point that Logan was in the scene when Bishop was telling his lies. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Logan can smell if you're lying. Lucas is going to have some splainin to do. And, ouch to a former member of the x-men. That shot at the end is going to leave a mark.
Quote from: thanoson on January 09, 2008, 07:34:59 PMoggles.
Wolverine- Not sure who is drawing the new book, but he is awful. Almost Liefeld awful. Chausnic I think. He's doing Blade too. Seriously, There where times I thought Liefeld was using an alias.
The artist in question is Howard Chaykin. The guy's practically a legend in comics illustration and comics writing (mostly non-superhero material), here are some samples of his older work:
(http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/9976/hcsh13hj3.th.jpg) (http://img293.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hcsh13hj3.jpg) (http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/2559/starwarschaykinof2.th.jpg) (http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=starwarschaykinof2.jpg) (http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/3170/hcshuu6.th.jpg) (http://img122.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hcshuu6.jpg) (http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/9384/hcgidnht9.th.jpg) (http://img293.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hcgidnht9.jpg) (http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/7179/hcaf115zb1.th.jpg) (http://img293.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hcaf115zb1.jpg) (http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/6641/americanflagg2mk9.th.jpg) (http://img262.imageshack.us/my.php?image=americanflagg2mk9.jpg)
Along with Frank Miller, P. Craig Russell, Alan Moore, The Brothers Hernandez, and others, Chaykin spearheaded the late 1970s/early 1980s movement towards mainstream American comics that dealt with more mature themes (and consonant with that approach, Chaykin pretty much steered clear of superheroes for the most part and worked mostly on sci-fi and crime comics). I will admit, though, that his latest work on Wolverine, Blade, and Hawkwoman are the worst of his illustrious career... I don't know if he's trying to prove a point with the style he's been using with the superhero books, but it's a shame that younger comic book readers come away from it thinking that he's a hack.
Midnighter: Killing Machine TPB (collects issues #1-6 of the Midnighter series)
Published by: Wildstorm Productions (a DC Comics imprint)
Written by: Garth Ennis
Penciled by: Chris Sprouse (issues #1-3, 5); Joe Phillips (pencil assist in issue #3); Peter Snejbjerg (issue #4); and Glenn Fabry (pencils in the stand-alone story "Flowers For The Sun")
I was avoiding Ennis' Midnighter run primarily because I wasn't that much of a fan of his The Authority work (the Kev minis), and also because I wasn't sure if he could shift gears on this title and do anything distinct from his work on The Boys and the The Punisher, both of which have elements common to Midnighter's premise (the darkly humourous look at superheroing, over-the-top sex and violence). Another reason I was a little unsure of how the work would turn out is tied in with how any writer might potentially handle the protagonist himself. As most of you already know, Midnighter is an openly homosexual superhero, Wildstorm's gay Batman (or Wolverine, if you like your analogues in Marvel terms), as it were. From my (albeit limited) experience, most writers have a hard time writing stories featuring homosexual characters without falling into the trap of turning it into a soapbox for their own views on issues of sexual orientation and its associated politics (like a lot of Judd Winnick's superhero work) or alternatively, turning it into a parade of over-the-top but ultimately shallow homosexual stereotypes (2003's Rawhide Kid: Slap Leather, some of Frank Miller's work, parts of Mark Millar's run on The Authority, among others).
It turns out my apprehension was mostly unfounded.
The basic premise of the 6-issue story is that Midnighter, the world's greatest fighter and ultimate killing machine, is coerced into traveling back in time to kill Hitler and prevent the Holocaust. Of course, not everything is as it seems, and Midnighter finds himself beset by problems (both physical and philosophical) from all sides soon enough. The premise allows Ennis to ply a more science-fiction lined route and he neatly avoids repeating his superhero antics on The Boys or the noir of The Punisher. As to my second concern, Ennis does a good job of bringing up the aspect of Midnighter's homosexuality, but he does so in a way that makes it an incidental feature of the protagonist (the way heterosexuality is an incidental feature of most other superheroes), and it doesn't at all hijack the dialogue or the plot in any way.
Of course, this wouldn't be a Garth Ennis book if it didn't have the potential to offend somebody out there and get them to calling their congressman and complaining about it. The ridiculously over-the-top violence is a trademark of Ennis' by now but it's probably his oddly humanizing take on Hitler and the National Socialists that is sure to raise some hackles (and then some). Now don't get me wrong... Hitler and the Nazis are still very much the villains in this story, but Ennis doesn't depend on the usual tactic of portraying them as monsters made of pure, unadulterated evil. Instead, he depicts a number of the Nazis as individuals caught up in a larger conflict not really under their control and pretty much beyond their understanding (such as the pre-teen Hitler Youth squad Midnighter encounters in issue #4). Ennis doesn't absolve the Nazis of any of their crimes against humanity, of course, but he does suggest that the solution to preventing something like the Holocaust is much more complicated than just killing one man (Hitler) or stopping a group of individuals (the Nazis).
As for the art, Chris Sprouse's work is eminently readable and easy-to-follow, if slightly underwhelming. The action is clear, and he has a talent for portraying facial expressions and conveying emotion. Solid work overall, although Snejbjerg's fill-in issue (#4) looks more dynamic in comparison.
There's also a bonus story entitled "Flowers For The Sun," an Elseworlds-styled story featuring Midnighter and Apollo in feudal Japan. It's a decent short that would fit in well in Métal Hurlant or the old EC comics. Good stuff, with sequential art by Glenn Fabry (of Preacher cover and 2000AD fame).
A solid read overall, worth at least a borrow from the library.
My Rating: 4 out of 5
So, anybody catch the new Initiative? Umm.... wow! Not trying to spoil, but it's a bad day for Yellowjacket. Player of the comic for me was Taskmaster. He is awesome. Witty banter? Check. Can beat most super powered heroes? check.
New Avengers Annual- Not quite as good as the Masters of Evil storming the mansion, but good enough. The Red Hood I believe is working with Loki. There, I said it. Eh, I have nothing to base that on. Just making a guess.
JLA- So, how powerful is Vixen? She could theoretically be the most powerful of the lot.
The Chemist #1
Published by: Image Comics
Written by: Jay Boose
Art by: Jay Boose
My brother lent me this issue, the debut comic book work of Pixar animator Jay Boose. I tried looking for later issues (issue #1 is dated July 2007) but it seems like he's yet to put out the second issue (understandable, considering how busy animators can be and the fact that he's doing everything, from writing, illustrating, and lettering). It's a shame really, judging by the quality of the storytelling, Boose could teach many of today's "hot" artists a thing or two about managing the flow of a story with the use of sequential panel art.
The story, as far as I can tell, is of the crime/heist thriller genre. The "chemist" in this story, is Vance Larroche, a French-Canadian drug dealer and pharmaceutical expert who makes his living by making and selling prescription drugs to the mob, who in turn sell the meds to an American public who can't afford to get their medicine from pharmacies. The idea that the high price of prescription medication in the States provides a fertile breeding ground for a medical black market run by organized crime isn't exactly novel, but it's the first time I've seen it tackled in a comic book, and Boose deserves kudos for using the somewhat unconventional topic in his book. The protagonist soon finds himself caught in a double-cross (fairly standard with crime thrillers) which is complicated by the involvement of a novice dealer working for the mob (who is obviously being set up as Vance's future romantic interest).
The writing is solid. there's a certain lack of flair and polish to the dialogue, but I'd rather have a straightforward presentation rather than a forced attempt to sound intelligent or snappy.
The art, on the other hand, is just great. Boose's background as an animator really shines through, as evidenced by his consistent and on-model depictions of the main characters. His faces are expressive, and the action leads the eye and just flows naturally... no fancy gimmicks or splashy (but distracting) techniques, just solid framing and storytelling all the way through. There's certainly a European feel to his art, reminiscent of XIII's William Vance (the name of the protagonist might even be a nod to the Belgian artist).
Here are some sample pages (http://forum.superpouvoir.com/showthread.php?t=7536) to demonstrate what I mean.
It's a shame that the series seems to be on indefinite hiatus, but I'll definitely be the first in line if issue #2 (or a graphic novel) ever sees the light of day.
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Quote from: thanoson on February 01, 2008, 11:41:20 PM
So, anybody catch the new Initiative? Umm.... wow! Not trying to spoil, but it's a bad day for Yellowjacket. Player of the comic for me was Taskmaster. He is awesome. Witty banter? Check. Can beat most super powered heroes? check.
New Avengers Annual- Not quite as good as the Masters of Evil storming the mansion, but good enough. The Red Hood I believe is working with Loki. There, I said it. Eh, I have nothing to base that on. Just making a guess.
JLA- So, how powerful is Vixen? She could theoretically be the most powerful of the lot.
I dunno about the hood working with Loki. She's (Yes, I meant she) currently working with Doom to trick Thor into releasing the more evil gods/asgardians.
The Punisher #50-#54
Published by: Marvel Comics (MAX imprint)
Written by: Garth Ennis
Penciled by: Howard Chaykin (#50), Goran Parlov (#51-#54)
Note: Major Spoilers ahead!
I normally trade-wait the excellent Punisher MAX series (because the stories are designed to work in 6 chapter segments anyway) but as luck would have it, somebody lent me their copies of the floppies (which is just as well, it seems like the TPB schedule is a little late).
Issues 50-54 cover the "Long, Cold, Dark" storyline. There's a very radical (but not totally unexpected) reveal in this story. Frank Castle has an infant daughter that he doesn't know about. Apparently, he managed to knock up O'Brien back when they did the horizontal tango in the "Up Is Down, Black Is White" story a year and a half back. For a guy who's all about being prepared and protected, Castle sure dropped the ball on that one :lol:
The storyline's baddy is Barracuda, who survived his seeming demise in the jaws of a shark (the details of his survival, and how he eventually got back to the States to extract his vengeance on the Punisher is shown in detail in the Barracuda mini-series that came out last year). He finds out about Castle's daughter, and decides that the best way to hurt a man seemingly impervious to physical hardship is to get at him through to his only remaining family (O'Brien died in Afghanistan, but she managed to get her sister to take care of the baby in the States).
When Castle finds out that he has a daughter and that Barracuda has her hostage, he goes on a cross-country manhunt to get her back. You get the standard Ennis treatment here, lots of firefights, inventive and painful-looking fight scenes, and the standard gruff Castle narration. Chaykin draws the double-sized issue #50, and while it's better than his recent work on Wolverine and Hawkwoman, it's still a far cry from his American Flagg! work. Goran Parlov returns to illustrate the rest of the storyline's issues (he also penciled the Barracuda mini-series), and he's quickly becoming one of my favourite comic book artists. He draws with a lot of energy and emotion, and there's a definite sense of weight and movement to his characters... in a way, he reminds me of a cross between Bret Blevins and Joe Kubert.
This storyline is also Ennis' penultimate for the series. I would so love it if he could end the series on his own terms (his last issue is scheduled to be #60). If you ask me, the direction of the last couple of story-arcs (this one, particularly) seems like we're heading towards Castle's demise... don't ask me why, it's just a gut feeling and I would actually like that. What else can any writer do with the character that Ennis hasn't already done? He's plumbed the depths of the character and rescued the property from being a one-note joke, might as well give him the right to end this particular incarnation of the Punisher for good and let a new writer develop and flesh out their own version of the psychotically single-minded gun-toting vigilante.
My Rating: 3.75 out of 5
Casanova Book One: Luxuria
Published by: Image Comics
Written by: Matt Fraction
Art by: Gabriel Ba
Note: This TPB collects issue #s 1-7 of the Casanova series
It seems like as I get older, I find myself complaining more and more about how there's a lack of innovation in the North American comics scene. It seems like today's superhero comics are simply content to retread ground covered before, but dressed up as "relevant," "post-modern," "mature" or "edgy" but derivative nonetheless. At the other end of the spandex spectrum, the revivalist movement to make superhero comics "fun again" simply puts out fare whose main appeal is nostalgia, with little to no substance behind it. The alternative press/indie scene is similarly mired in creative complacency, it seems like every other "indie" book is a glorified illustrated diary.
There's nothing wrong with publishers putting out the same-old same-old, of course, and there are all manner of surprises out there if one is willing to put the time and effort into digging through solicitations and online reviews. But there are days when it seems like everything on the racks looks and reads the same.
And then I discovered Matt Fraction and Gabriel Ba's Casanova.
Matt Fraction has been getting a lot of good press lately for his work on Marvel's Immortal Iron Fist and Punisher War Journal, but he's actually been working in comics for quite some time now, his first Image Comics book being the vastly underrated Five Fists Of Science. I can best describe Casanova as a tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek science fiction book. I know that doesn't sound too exciting, but you'll have to take my word for it when I say that you've probably never read a comic book like Fraction's Casanova before. There's a certain rhythm and pacing to his dialogue, each page is just so saturated with information, character development, and story progression, but I never felt overwhelmed by it all. He covers more ground in 3 pages than most current writers do in a full 22 pages, but I never got the feeling that he was force-feeding me exposition. I know it sounds like I'm all over Fraction's nuts when I say this but Casanova is the first comic book I read that reads like it was written in the 21st century (Joe Casey's Intimates came close, but the execution fell well short of that comic's ambition). Casanova is the New Comics.
Gabriel Ba's art is a revelation as well. I realize that his style is something of an acquired taste for many readers, but for me, the energy and dynamism of his sequential art overshadows any complaints I might have with his minimalist rendering technique (think Mike Mignola-meets-Eric Canete). I've actually been inspired by his work to revise my own approach to comic book drawing.
Of course, Casanova isn't perfect... the throwaway over-arching plot has enough twists in it so as to be impenetrable at times and the transition from issue-to-issue is occasionally clumsy, but this is one instance where the parts are more than their overall sum. I can't recommend this TPB enough to long-time comic book readers who've grown tired of the cyclical nature of superhero stories and the increasingly repetitive methods used to relate them.
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Star Trek Alien Spotlight: Romulans
Published by IDW
Written and Drawn by John Byrne
If you see this on the stands and happen to notice the photo cover, you'll know right away what this issue is about; it ties into the ST TOS episode "Balance Of Terror", which is one of my favorite episodes. I happen to be a John Byrne fan, but I am also a Star Trek fan, so I was going into this with a critical eye. I knew this was coming for months, because I'm a member of Byrne Robotics, and JB posted some preview pages in the Star Trek section over there.
Regardless of your feelings about Byrne - he's alienated (pardon the pun) a lot of fans with his attitude and ego - if you're a fan of Star Trek, and "Balance of Terror" is one of your favorite episodes, I definitely recommend picking up this comic, which is a prequel strictly from the Romulans' side (the ENTERPRISE does appear in a few panels, but this is way before the confrontation between the two ships) and gives you a bit of background on Mark Lenard's character.
(Its rumored there will be a TPB coming from IDW collecting all the Alien Spotlight one shots, if you want to wait and read them all)
Byrne is also doing an Assignment: Earth mini for IDW, and the big news is that Gary Seven will look like Robert Lansing. However, he can't use Teri Garr's likeness.
Justice Society of America #13
Story by Geoff Johns and Alex Ross
Written by Geoff Johns
Pencilled by Fernando Pasarin
Inked by Richard Friend
The JSA has gotten bigger as of last issue, but only three of the new members (well, two new and one returning) are in this issue. The Kingdom Come tie-in story, which has been pretty good so far, continues. The KC Superman finally meets "our" Superman, and the identity of the villain who has been killing false gods has been revealed, and its a doozy...
Gog is back, and a possible theory about part of his origin is posited by the KC Superman.
Worth picking up just to see Hercules almost break his fist on the KC Superman's chin and KC Superman's reaction when he goes to Metropolis to find "our" Superman and hears and sees Lois with his super-senses.
Batman #617
Written by Grant Morrison
Pencilled by Tony Daniel
Inked by Sandu Florea
All I am going to say is, I can't wait for the current storyline to end.
Regarding the upcoming "Batman R.I.P." storyarc that's supposed to begin in 676, I think the current storyline is a set-up for it and that Batman will fake his death and quit fighting crime temporarily.
I also picked up Wonder Woman #17 and Captain America #35, but don't feel like posting long reviews. Cap #35 is good, but has a cliffhanger ending I don't think I'm going to like the resolution of, and Wonder Woman #17 is the end of the Society on Themiscyra\renegade Amazons who wanted Diana dead arc. The resolution is decent, but they really didn't answer whether or not Hippolyta is dead or alive. If you've ever wanted to see Diana fight other Amazons, I definitely recommend it.
Did anyone read the Justice League: New Frontier Special? I found it to be fairly enjoyable and it was easily accessible to new readers and people who aren't continuity heavy. Features 3 fun little stories and some background info on the new film. I'd recommend it, but then again, I don't read many DC books. :P
The Chemist #2
Published by: Image Comics
Written by: Jay Boose
Art by: Jay Boose
The second issue of Pixar animator Jay Boose's comic book finally came out, almost six months after the inaugural issue. Still, I can't really rag on Boose for the book's tardiness, he does everything on the book and has to juggle those responsibilities with his day job.
The story picks up immediately after the events of the first issue, with black-market pharmacist Vance Larroche and novice drug dealer Alex on the run from a mysterious cadre of heavily-armed pursuers (are they the mob? government agents working for the FDA? the DEA? the FBI?). Much like the prior issue, the art and storytelling is fantastic, Boose's background as an animator really shines through. Unfortunately, my criticism of the writing in the first issue still stands here... there's nothing about it that grabs the attention of the reader (although the voice Boose gives to Alex is disarmingly cute in a Goldie-Hawn-in-Bird-On-A-Wire kind of way) and most of it is purely functional, serving to usher the plot along and keep things going in the intervals between the action scenes.
Great art, an intriguing plot, and dialogue that doesn't induce eye-rolling and cringing... a solid read on all fronts. Here's to hoping we don't have to wait another six months for the next issue.
My Rating: 3 out of 5
Girls (TPBs #1-#4)
Published by: Image Comics
Written by: Joshua Luna
Art by: Jonathan Luna
note: the four trade paperbacks reviewed here collect all 24 issues of the Girls maxi-series published by Image Comics.
Oh boy... where to start with this thing. I'm having a hard time describing my reaction after reading this comic book series in its entirety. There was a feeling of pleasurable satisfaction of course, similar to the one you get after reading a particularly enjoyable book or watching a good film. But beneath that glowing feeling was also an acrid aftertaste stemming from how the experience of reading the Luna brothers' Girls has again pointed out the ridiculously insular and static state of comics in North America (not because Girls exemplifies the rampant creative incest, but because it stands in such stark contrast from many of the comics on the racks).
Girls is still something of an oddity in the North American comic book marketplace, an "independent," non-superhero comic book that has "Big Two" production values. I've been a little burnt out on comics lately... it seems like the choice, for the most part, has generally come down to reading the same tired adolescent power fantasies featured in superhero comics or the navel-gazing, self-important, and usually poorly-drawn and poorly-edited "indie" comics, with very little variety in-between.
At its core, Girls is a classic horror/science-fiction story that sets out to re-contextualize certain social issues (much like Romero's Living Dead films). Protagonist Ethan Daniels lives an unremarkable life in a small town in the Midwest, but all that changes when he stumbles upon a seemingly mute, naked woman outside a cornfield. Things really take a bizarre turn when the woman starts laying eggs, a giant sperm cell appears in the cornfield, and an impenetrable forcefield envelops the town.
Over the course of 24 issues, the Luna brothers tackle the tricky topics of sex and relationships, the stigma attached to being a single adult male in today's society, women's body image and self-esteem issues, failed marriages, religion, family, homosexuality, and basically the on-going power struggle between the sexes (I have a feeling Joshua Luna was heavily influenced by Woody Allen's films).
The metaphors in the book are very thinly disguised though, there's nothing subtle in here, unless your idea of subtlety is being smacked upside the head repeatedly with a particular theme. There's also a lot of amateur psychology and issue-simplification in the writing, and I imagine it won't exactly win any awards with feminists (not because there's anything that can be construed as misogynistic in the book mind you... but a lot of it reads like a typical twentysomething's rant about the pitfalls of dating and relationships), but the Lunas should be lauded for trying to do something that's unique in the current comics landscape.
Jonathan Luna's art is very crisp and clean, and he has a talent for keeping things visually interesting despite the fact a lot of the comic simply consists of people in various conversations. Any closet artist with a pencil and a Burne Hogarth textbook can draw page after page of obscenely muscular freaks in their underwear slugging it out in space, but it takes some skill to keep 4 pages of a couple arguing about breaking up visually engaging.
Very highly recommended.
My Rating: 4 out of 5
Logan #1
Published by: Marvel Comics (Marvel Knights imprint)
Written by: Brian K. Vaughan
Art by: Eduardo Risso
It's been years since I've been interested in a Wolverine comic book: the whole "bone claws" reveal during the late 1990s pretty much ruined the character for me, as I felt it undid a lot of the work Chris Claremont, Larry Hama, and Barry Windsor-Smith put in to define the character. In my mind, Wolverine's artificially implanted claws defined the struggle between his humanity and his more animalistic, berserker nature. By revealing (or rather "retconning") that there were bone claws all along underneath the adamantium, it made Logan look absolutely ridiculous in retrospect, spending all those years whining and crying about how the claws made him more killing machine than man. And don't even get me started on the limply executed Origin mini-series from 2001 and the outstanding-in-its-mediocrity Wolverine: Origins on-going series. But that's all in the past, and I'm always willing to give a potentially good comic book story a chance, no matter if it features a character that I think has been editorially and creatively mishandled for the past decade.
When you think about it, a MAX imprint Wolverine comic book seems like a no-brainer (EDIT: just double-checked, it's a Marvel Knights book, which is a step more mature than "mainstream" Marvel but is not a mature readers line like the MAX imprint). The extra leeway for graphic sex and violence and strong language afforded by Marvel's "mature readers" line seems custom made for The House of Ideas' premier rough-and-tumble hero. That it took so long for one to be published seems like an editorial oversight, but no matter, Marvel might have made up for all those missed opportunities by putting a stellar creative team on this three-issue mini-series. Marvel put two Vertigo comics veterans on this project: Lauded scribe Brian K. Vaughan, fresh from his critically-acclaimed Vertigo book Y: The Last Man (more familiar to the non-comic book fan as one of the screenwriters for TV show Lost, I imagine) handles the writing chores and Argentinian illustrator Eduardo Risso, perhaps best known for his excellent art on Vertigo's 100 Bullets.
On the surface, this starts out like many other Wolverine tales. We're thrown into a World War II flashback episode set in Japan (I swear, half of all the Wolverine stories I've read have involved a flashback... they can almost change the character's code-name to "Highlander" at this point), accompanied by Logan's oh-so-helpful first-person narration (another Wolverine comic book staple). While Vaughan and Risso handle the somewhat by-the-numbers proceedings extremely well, nothing really grabs the reader (we only see Logan explicitly use his claws in combat once despite an extended 4-page fight sequence), especially nothing that would seem like it would merit publishing the book under the MAX imprint (and thus limiting its potential reader demographic), which struck me as a good thing creatively in a roundabout way. At this point, at least, it seems that Vaughan isn't simply using the MAX imprint as an excuse to ratchet up the gore and cheesecake factor, and might be reserving the extra latitude to tackle some weightier "mature" themes.
But much like a Lost episode, a good portion of the issue's impact lies in the cliffhanger ending, and let me tell you, this issue's got a doozy of a cliffhanger ending, and I'll definitely be back for the second issue just to see how it plays out (although I already have a vague idea of how it'll all unfold). Without the impact factor of the final page though, much of the rest of the comic book is Act I-type set-up material... I can't really fault the creative team for that (the decision to space it out is probably as much an editorial decision as a creative one), but I can imagine this reading much better in the eventual trade than as a stand-alone issue.
Highly recommended (especially for lapsed Wolverine fans who've grown tired of the character).
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Zulu, you and I both gave the Logan issue the same rating. You know what this means, right? You're a skrull. :o
Ok, is it me or is the Ultimate universe very busy? I mean, Thanos attacks, magneto, Apacolypse? And everybody is in everyone else' book. BTW, Thor got punked by Thanos.
X-men Legacy- That conversation between Magneto and Charles after Chargills attack was kinda funny.
I picked up a new TPB today.
Sandman Mystery Theatre: The Hourman & The Python.
I totally missed this Vertigo series but I'm glad DC is (slowly) collecting it in trade paperback form. Extremely well-written pulp mystery stuff. I originally picked up the series because the character was the subject of an Eisner-award winning story arc in James Robinson's "Starman", my favourite superhero comic of all time.
This particular TPB deals with The Sandman's first encounter with a hero with actual super powers, Hourman, and his first "superhero" team-up. It's a novel premise, since The Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is just a normal guy who knows judo, has a sleeping-gas gun and superior detective skills.
The second story has The Sandman hunting down a serial strangler. dubbed "The Python", which is what The Sandman usually does ... inspired by his dreams/nightmares (referencing Neil Gaiman's own Sandman series), Dodds tracks really odd, unique killers through Depression-era America.
All Star Superman #10
Its hardly a dangerous fringe opinion.
I've never made a secret of loving Glasgow's Finest ™ - Morrison and Quitely.
But please excuse me while I gush....
This is the best comic I've read in absolutely ages!
A few months back I was complaining to my girlfriend that all the good comics seemed to have dried up. More specifically, the core of my complaint was that Grant Morrison had sort of dried up. Seven Soldiers had its moments, sure, but his Batman run had been pretty lacklustre. All Star Superman was nice, and I liked every issue, maybe even loved issue 6, but it felt a bit lacking nd maybe carried by Quitely's artwork too much?
Anyway, this one puts all these fears to bed. Its dense, and it packs in the concepts along with the simple touching scenes and the out-there references. It follows in the tradition of the creator's first collaboration, Flex Mentallo, in making a rather shocking revleation about our own world that seems kind of believable from the point of view of the fictional reality you've just immersed yourself in. So I love this comic as an obsessive scholar of all things superheroic and Morrisonian.
Superman's compassion continues to shine through, in the scene with Regan, the attempted suicide, very simple but touching. More obscurely, we have the panel where he releases the swarm of microscopic Kryptonians from his hand, with a calm benevolent look on his face. Morrison stated in an interview that one of his favourite Superman stories ever had him exposed to Red Kryptonite, and developed a tiny Superman who he could fire from his palm. In the story, Supes get jealous of his new miniature rival. This panel in All-Star has to be a homage, but its an emotionally mature Superman saving lives without worrying about his ego. The miniature Kryptonians have in fact just failed to save his life, but he looks at peace.
This really brings home whats brilliant about this series. In a world of anti-heroes and morally grey figures, we're being presented with an out-and-out GOOD role model hero. Despite the sophistication of some of the ideas, I'd happily give these comics to a six year old to read.
Morrison showed more than a few signs of this with his take on Supes back in the Justice League, and I think gets the character as much as any writer ever has done.
My faith is restored. Faith in Morrison, faith in comics. :)
Alan Moore's "Whatever happened to the Man of Tomorrow" has just become the second best Superman story ever told...
It's funny ... I lurve All Star Superman, the majority of Seven Soldiers and a ton of Morrion's other work. But his Batman AND (dum, dum, dum) Justice League of America is so boring and bland to me.
I get the feeling he doesn't work well within the constraints of DC continuinity, but when he can go jimmies out, its genius.
This reminded me to pick up #10 and it was well worth it.
I also got the threads of "Whatever happened..." and the classic Superman-Red, Superman-Blue tales running through it. I don't know that I think it outshines Moore's story (of course, it isn't done yet), but it is definitely playing at that level. Just excellent.
If DC could put out this level of work all the time, I would spend $100 a month on comics. And, I'd have no unread comics instead of stacks of them that I can't quite motivate to read.
Quote from: Jakew on March 31, 2008, 05:39:11 AM
I get the feeling he doesn't work well within the constraints of DC continuinity, but when he can go jimmies out, its genius.
I don't think it's so much a weakness in Morrison's writing as it is an indictment of how strict adherence to continuity hampers creativity. Unfortunately, these days, most of the best-selling on-going books published by Marvel and DC come with a "don't change the status quo/make any major changes unless we tell you to" clause for writers, because any major changes can and do interfere with long-range editorial goals and licensing plans. I thought Grant Morrison's earlier work on
X-Men was the most interesting take on Marvel's merry mutants since Claremont's prime, but it was too bad that it ran counter to editorial's own plans for the title so there was a lot of creative haggling involved (and it shows in the later story-arcs), and that era of the
X-Men is now just generally regarded as an interesting and unconventional, but not a particularly well-received period.
I agree, Morrison's New X-Men was great (although I don't think he handled the Xorn / Magneto storyline particularly well) .... the only other writer who's really picked up the threads and characterisations from Morrison's run on the title has been Joss Whedon in Astonishing X-Men.
Quote from: Jakew on March 31, 2008, 05:39:11 AM
It's funny ... I lurve All Star Superman, the majority of Seven Soldiers and a ton of Morrion's other work. But his Batman AND (dum, dum, dum) Justice League of America is so boring and bland to me.
I get the feeling he doesn't work well within the constraints of DC continuinity, but when he can go jimmies out, its genius.
Yeah, I'd disagree with you on the JLA there, Jake.
I thought Justice League was some of his better stuff, and that Grant is a master of the ancient British art of "rummaging" first pioneered by Moore, ie taking old characters and breathing new life into them.
e.g. The "Crisis Times Five" storyline pulled in Johnny Thunder, Mr Mxyzptlk, WildCat and the JSA, Aquaman's Mxyzptlk knock-off enemy Qwsp, Triumph and the Detroit League and gave them all ten times more pizzazz and dignity than they'd had for years.
I dont think that adherence to continuity or a company editorial policy need always hamper you, in many cases it can provide a challenege and a structure to build on.
Pete Milligan... now, HE's the classic "doesnt work well in established continuity" writer.
He can write the most amazing stuff with his own creations, but tends to fall a wee bit flat when he has to tow the company line.
And Stumpy, I'd also happily spend $100 a month on comics like this :)
I liked Morrison's JLA as well. I read his World War 3 storyline last summer and really liked it. A couple of years back I read Preist's run on Justice League Task Force from way back when, so I was able to appreciate the throwback to that in Morrison's Triumph storyline.
I've actually really liked his Batman run. It's basically been the first time I've been able to enjoy Batman's own title, being a Johnny-come-lately into comics, I think the Loeb run was just starting up around the time I started buying comics, and everything turned to crap after that.
I've actually been quite happy to read the various Superman titles by Busiek, Johns and Morrison. This speaks well of them to me, because I generally avoid the Big Licensing Flagship Titles (Batman, Superman, Spider-man, Wolverine etc) because they are plagued by being tied down to a consistency beyond mere continuity. Theirs is a commercial consistency that means few, if any, meaningful changes can be made.
But really, an unchanging central protagonist is no bar to great storytelling, and never has been. Eisner's The Spirit springs to mind as a prime example, but there are many others.
Morrison's All Star Superman has been very much in the mold of a love-letter to comics in general, and Superman comics in particular. Being mentioned alongside Moore's 'Whatever happened to..' story is very apposite, as between them, they capture and continue the imaginative, fun spirit of the Superman books. No, they aren't 'realistic', or 'believable' or 'street-level'. But they have a sense of wonder, of awe, of the enjoyment of ideas at play that appeal to me very much. Every few issues Morrison and Quitely really hit it out of the proverbial park, (and the in-between issues are still generally head-and-shoulders above the majority of comics), and I think this issue is one of the best to date.
When it feels like he's trying and not just churning it out, Morrison still earns a seat at comic's top table.
Issues like All Star Superman#10 are why I still read the darn things.
Love Morrison, especially his JLA (The scene where Wonder Woman leads the population of Earth in to space with the captions "They said he'd saved them often enough. They said it was their turn. They wouldn't take no for an answer" still moves me to tears nearly a decade after it was written).
Hate, Hate, HATE Quietly's artowrk. His people are lumpy! :(
Yeah, I don't like Quitely's work either for pretty much the same reason.
I like Quitely's work ... insane detail, a real sense of movement and kineticism, and the guy knows how to stage action sequences. However, I agree that he has a distinctive Cupid-looking facial style.
This week's mixed bag:
The Twelve #4
The gimmick of this series is simple - 12 characters who were actually published by Marvel/Timely back in the 40s are unearthed after being in suspended animation since 1945 to awake in our world, and culture shock ensues. This premise seemed kind of old hat, we've been re-interpreting old characters since Watchmen over 20 years ago, but I bought it anyway for the Chris Weston art, and was pleasantly surprised by the first two issues.
Since then, the series has kind of dragged along. What happened this month? Ummm... Laughing Mask is seen in action, the police take his guns down the station for ID-ing, The main character whose name I forget continues to fail to get together with the one female member of the Twelve... We discover that The Witness is a Jew? Ok... and?
Weston is on fine form. Laughing Mask is a spectacularly ordinary and slightly ugly man of the kind you dont normally see in comics. But the story just feels like its failing to develop.
Metal Men #7
I really want to like this series. I love the Metal Men and Doc Magnus in their hokey pop-culture glory, and Writer/Artists Duncan Rouleau has a really individual touch that's made this series fun. Top that off with concepts and ideas from the Big G himself (Grant Morrison) and this should be an ultra-hard alloy of incredible colour, tightness and pizzazz.
It is, and yet it isnt. I couldn't honestly summarise what happens in this issue despite having read it a few days ago, and having my brain cells intact. I felt kind of tired when I picked it up, its visually dense, uses multiple tracks of dialog at once often and the overall effect is that its a bit too much hard work for what you get out of it. All the most successful sequences seem to be between Helen, Magnus and David, ie the human characters.
Im going to buy the last issue. Not because I want to know what happens next, in fact I dont know why at all. Probably an emotional barb placed in my head during Invisibles #23 or something...
Kick arse #2
Mark Millar and John Romita's self published tale of a wannabe superhero in the real world.
Once again, this sounds like its doing what Watchmen did 20 years ago - superheroes in the real world. Except the real world has changed, this is superheroes in the reality TV world. The artwork is lovely, I really like how Romita has turned out. Good simple storytelling, very visceral. This is both Millar and Romita doing what they do best, and setting out to achieve their aims.
Infinity Inc #8
Another spin off from 52 (like Metal Men), and written by the incomparable Pete Milligan.
If you want to read about emotionally troubled teenagers, look no further than this man, he is one of the under-rated greats out there!
I've persevered with this series, the first five issues had a totally unsuitable muddy art style on them, but the last three have seen a shift under two separate artists to a clean line style that really suits the book. The art is in fact beautiful in an understated non-flashy kind of way. Milligans often been lucky with artists in his career - he started off with McCarthy and Ewins, he got Allred for X-Statix, it was kind of painful to see him struggle with an unsuitable one here.
Nothing intensely new from the man here. A group of mutants Luthor experiment hero rejects helping others of their kind to come to terms with their powers? Check! (Sort of, X-Statix) A red haired young man who physically manifests in two places at once, and has his wilder side running around as a person? Check! (Remember Shade anyone?)
But it really feeels like its starting to gel together. Last issue hooked me with the opening page - a young man sits at a bank of TV screens with dialog like "Lots of anal retention in the Financial District" and "Im picking up some daddy-daughter issues in the West End". I wont tell you what was actually going on, suffice to say it was some classic characteristic Milligan madness.
If you dont mind your superheroes a bit wierd, clever or post-modern, go buy this book!
I just picked up the Punisher MAX: Long Cold Dark TPB by Garth Ennis.
I'm not a huge fan of Howard Chaykin's art on the first half of this, but it's actually quite a creepy read towards the end. The violence is pretty disturbing, even for Punisher MAX.
I think Punisher MAX is probably my favourite Ennis work ever, even more so than Preacher.
Ok, I read DC Universe #0
Batman mention Joker came back from the dead. When did this happen? Last thing I remember was Joker stuck on a planet with the rest of the super villians.
Huh, good point, I never even thought of that. He also recently was in JLA as part of an incarnation of the Injustice League. Regardless, his death happened early on in Morrison's Batman run.
Uh, no, it really didn't. The Joker got badly injured in Morrison's run, but didn't die.
[spoiler]
I thought the Joker died in Salvation Run, but I gave up on that ages ago
[/spoiler]
Quote from: Midnite on May 02, 2008, 06:05:28 PM
Batman mention Joker came back from the dead. When did this happen? Last thing I remember was Joker stuck on a planet with the rest of the super villians.
He was shot in the face by impostor Batman during the
Batman and son story arc. As a result he has a permanent smile on his face because of the surgery. But this is apparently ignored in
Salvation Run, DC currently has a lot of continuity problems.
Quote from: bat1987 on May 05, 2008, 10:21:15 AM
Quote from: Midnite on May 02, 2008, 06:05:28 PM
Batman mention Joker came back from the dead. When did this happen? Last thing I remember was Joker stuck on a planet with the rest of the super villians.
He was shot in the face by impostor Batman during the Batman and son story arc. As a result he has a permanent smile on his face because of the surgery. But this is apparently ignored in Salvation Run, DC currently has a lot of continuity problems.
Actually, he was shot right before the Batman and Son story arc, if I remember right. I picked up the Batman series with the start of that particular story arc, and the Joker was either shot prior to that or in another comic, and I'm pretty sure that the Batman and Son arc only ran through the Batman title. Now, the Joker did pop up in an issue of Batman a bit after that arc....
He was shot in Batman 655. I have that one in Batman and Son TPB.
After that he resurfaced in Batman 663, which was done as a prose issue where he was revealed to be having a permanent smile attached to his face.
i'm surprised your not all going nuts over the return teaser in universe 0
[spoiler]barry allen[/spoiler]
Logan #2
Published by: Marvel Comics (Marvel Knights imprint)
Written by: Brian K. Vaughan
Art by: Eduardo Risso
The second installment of the Marvel Knights three-parter (the book isn't a MAX title as I erroneously stated earlier in this thread). The story picks up where the first issue left off, with the fugitive Logan being taken in by a mysterious Japanese woman in the city of Hiroshima, right around the time of the city's atomic bombing by the US military.
The "second act" is generally the make or break portion of any screenplay or scripted comic book narrative, and I have to admit that I feel a little underserved here. It doesn't help that Vaughan seemingly telegraphs a significant plot point (the identity of the flame creature featured in the cross-cutting present-day scenes... how much are you guys willing to bet that it's not the American soldier, but the ghost of Logan's Japanese lover?). And while I suppose faux-Japanese stereotypes are de rigueur in any Wolverine story (or most Marvel Comics stories set in Japan, for that matter), would it have killed Vaughan to not have introduced another sexy Japanese female who just so conveniently happens to be a skilled swordswoman and martial artist?
Additionally, I appreciate Vaughan's attempt to humanize the protagonist by having him apologize to his erstwhile lover for his lousy technique in bed, but it does come off as clumsy and perhaps a little forced. I imagine there's really no elegant way to say "I'm horrible at sex," but working in one of Logan's pet phrases ("I'm the best at what I do") into his apology just turns what should be an insightful moment with the character into high camp. I dare you to read his apology and not groan in embarrassment for the writer.
My specific gripes about the writing aside, Vaughan's dialogue is pretty solid for the most part. First-person narration is very tricky to pull off effectively, but Vaughan manages to give Logan the gruff and somewhat world-weary personality we've come to associate with the character while still giving his words a certain flair.
Eduardo Risso's art (and Dean White's colouring) continues to be the main draw for me. Risso seems to be drawing on the stylistic influences of Goseki Kojima and Barry Windsor-Smith here, while still maintaining the solid draftsmanship and storytelling he's known for.
I can't shake the feeling that this would have been better as a 48-page or 64-page one-shot, though. There doesn't seem to be enough substance to the story to hang 3 issues worth of effort on to it, and Vaughan's veiled expository recap (disguised as narration/dialogue) at the beginning of the issue only serves to take the reader out of the story immersion.
This would be a decent mini-series even if the story plays out as I think it will, but I'm still hoping that Vaughan has something new and different up his sleeve to reward the lapsed Wolverine readers who've stuck by this tale hoping that it can help restore some of the appeal of one of Marvel's most overexposed and mis-used characters.
My Rating: 3 out of 5
Quote from: the_ultimate_evil on May 05, 2008, 11:53:59 AM
i'm surprised your not all going nuts over the return teaser in universe 0
Man, don't know how I missed this. Without anymore spoilers, what pages would I find this on?
Thanks.
The whole book is narrated by him. Look at the text coloring then look at the last page.
Foolkiller #5
Published by: Marvel Comics (MAX imprint)
Written by: Gregg Hurwitz
Art by: Lan Medina
Final issue of the mature-readers vigilante/crime mini-series. The story never really went anywhere (although the signs were there in the first issue that this would be a pretty mediocre book, plot-wise). The biggest problem with this story is that there are no interesting characters, much less any characters worth investing in emotionally for the duration of the mini. The protagonist, the villains, and the supporting characters are all cardboard cut-out stereotypes straight out of a very bad B-movie. Recently deceased Foolkiller-creator Steve Gerber must be turning in his grave. This abortus of a character has nothing at all in common thematically with Gerber's creation and I'd be perfectly happy if we were never to see this version of Foolkiller, stupid jester tattoos, pimp cane (with hidden sword) and all.
Forgettable story, forgettable characters... a horribly executed attempt to ape Garth Ennis' Punisher material (Hurwitz himself and editor Axel Alonso admitted that the original plan was for Hurwitz to write a Punisher story under the MAX imprint, but it would conflict with Ennis' plans for the character so they decided to get "the next best thing").
Only reason I stuck by this book was for the Lan Medina art, but his art here isn't as strong as his previous work for Marvel and his Filipino komiks material. As seems to be the trend with Marvel and DC these days, the pages were shot straight from the pencils (no inks), and the end-result is somewhat a little too "soft" and murky. Medina is a superb visual storyteller and draftsman, so it's a shame that his work has to suffer here due to a printing decision.
My Rating: 1.5 out of 5
Thought this would be a slow week but I nabbed 4 new issue 1's :)
the usuals first:
The Amazing Spider-Man:
I cant help but feel this is all a filler, needlessly padding pages till it's time for spidey to get back into the swing of his old life (no pun intended)
the "villain" was cheezy, the action just wasnt there, and the new work angle just bugged me, overall, still not impressed with "brand new day"
The Amazing Spider-Girl:
starting off the new story arc "brand new may" Spider-Girl is currently outshining it's "father" comic in my oppinion, the action levels are still kind of low, but better than Spider-Man at this point, and the plot twists are coming thick and fast, recently this has gone from one of my "extra" reads to one of my favourite, and the recent involvement of another arachnid powered heroine is a nice bonus.
Captain Britain and MI13:
The Skrull Invasion is in full flight over the skys of england, as Captain Britain, Black Knight, Pete Wisdom, Spitfire and John Lennon (yes thats right!) join forces to serve queen and country, and there's a few moments where you realise just how far the team will go to do just that.
As Brian professes his need to represent like Steve Rogers did, he puts everything on the line to show why he's the captain, just how much will he sacrafice? is this the end for Brian?
needless to say, i'll be picking this one up again, I just HAVE to see what happens!
Guardians of the Galaxy
Carrying on where Annihilation left off, the team debriefs on their first mission while they flashback to the reasons why they're together.
I dont feel the team has a whole lot of chemistry beyond the ties formed in annihilation, it's very much rocket raccoon and groot, with starlord as an afterthought, and mantis as an even later afterthought, drax and gamora, and quasar with warlock.
the only other real interaction was a very brief conversation between drax and phyla over moondragons death in annihilation.
while I see potential for the title, it's obvious it's not going to be a long lived one, even before mantis's plot twist revelation.
tho i'm curious to see who exactly is floating around space frozen in ice... holding that red white and blue shield...
New Universal: Shockfront:
Not really a new series, it's more like a direct carry on from the last, but with a "4 months later" kinda thing going on.
we get our first powered nutjob / potential villain, and 11 random frames of a new powered which is then left unexplained.
a little sporadic, but I like the characters, I just felt the issue was "incomplete"
if this issues job was to lay the basic info out for what's already happened and what possibly could, then i'd say it worked, despite them completely ignoring the 4th powered character introduced in the first series.
really, this was more of a #0 than a #1.
Genext:
This was my star pick of the week, it's pretty much a children of the X-Men kinda thing, I'm not normally into X-titles but this one has piqued my interest.
so far the only lineage that has been revealed is the new colossus is the grandson of the original, "Olivier Raven" is the son of Rogue and Gambit, and "Becka Munroe" is the daughter of Storm and an un-named male, concieved in the savage land after Storms capture of Brainchild.
the 2 remaining members, "Rico" and "No-Name" have yet to have their parents revealed.
a frame of a white haired Beast overlooking the danger room where X-23 is training the 5 shows there may be another 7 members somewhere about the academy.
their powers havent been fully covered yet, Colossus retains the identical powers of his grandfather, "olivier" has Rogue's absorbtion powers, tho he can control them, aswell as a permanent case of telepathy, which apparently he hates.
"Becka" is much the same, retaining storms weather control powers, but also has a feral side, which includes glowing amber eyes, black markings appearing on her body, growing fangs and heightened strength.
"rico" isnt explained very well, his powers are invisibility, it seems he's keeping his identity as far as his parents a secret, as an attempt to have a "normal life"
and "no-name" is erm.. well.. apparently she's smart, but nothings been said or shown about her powers, so yeah.. not alot to say.
either way, i'll be putting this on my pull list, if it follows the footsteps of young avengers, i'll be very happy :)
Quote from: Placebo on May 17, 2008, 08:54:05 AM
tho i'm curious to see who exactly is floating around space frozen in ice... holding that red white and blue shield...
Given solicitations for later issues, I'm pretty sure that's Vance Astro of the original GotG. Not to be confused with Vance Astrovik aka Justice (two different time lines)
The Other Side #1 - #5
Published by: DC Comics (Vertigo imprint)
Written by: Jason Aaron
Art by: Cameron Stewart
The Other Side was initially published in 2005, to much critical acclaim (it was nominated for an Eisner Award for best mini-series). I've been looking for the TPB for the past few months now, but I couldn't find it any of my local shops, so I just ended up getting the set.
The premise of the book is it looks at the lives of two soldiers from the opposing sides of the Vietnam War, young American draftee Bill Everette, and young North Vietnamese volunteer Vo Dai. If Everette's side of the story seems reminiscent of the film Full Metal Jacket, it's for a good reason: Aaron freely used Gustav Hasford's novel "The Short Timers" (which was the basis for Stanley Kubrick's film) as inspiration and reference. Incidentally, Aaron is the late Hasford's younger cousin.
It would have been easy for Aaron to simply present the story in The Other Side as a "zero-sum" tale that tries to appease the two conflicting historical perspectives on the conflict, showing that acts of heroism and gut-wrenching atrocities were committed by both the Americans and the Vietnamese, but Aaron does more than that. He looks at the motivations behind the North Vietnamese peasants' support of the NLF/Viet Cong (it was borne out of a sense of self-defense against American militarism than support for Communism), while also taking a refreshing "magical realism" approach to the story-telling.
Cameron Stewart's art has a rough, sketchy aesthetic to it, and it meshes well with the gritty, emotional story.
All in all, one of the best comic books I've read in a long time. Very highly recommended.
My Rating: 5 out of 5
Is anyone reading DC/Wildstorm Dreamwars?
Quote from: Midnite on May 25, 2008, 07:18:55 PM
Is anyone reading DC/Wildstorm Dreamwars?
I've pretty much abandoned Wildstorm Comics ever since DC decided to just turn it into "DC lite."
Quote from: the_ultimate_evil on May 05, 2008, 11:53:59 AM
i'm surprised your not all going nuts over the return teaser in universe 0
[spoiler]barry allen[/spoiler]
I'm not really going nuts over the return, more over the manner in which it was delivered.
The black narration bubbles turning red over the course of the issues, and the voice kind of waking up and becoming more human and less cosmic... "He always used to tell me to call him Clark", "And... I know Hal Jordan?", they were a great use of comic storytelling. One of those things that couldnt have worked in any other medium.
And the final page worked for me, not because of the impact on continuity or who's returning from the dead or whatever, but for the final revelation of the story's title: "Let There Be Lightning"
Way cool!
I just had to drop by and say hi before tomorrow, as I fear my head may explode. All Star Superman, Final Crisis and Batman on the same day. I'll review them if I survive, if not, been nice knowing you all :)
I'm indifferent about Barry's return at this point. All I can say is that I hope they do him justice in this new Crisis.
I'll say off the bat that I'm a younger, more recent DC reader so I'm mucho biased, but I'm not that keen on Barry returning because I'm worried it'll put the kibosh on Wally's time in the spotlight. And this is after Wally's temporary hiatus in Infinite Crisis to boot, not to mention the guy only just recently showed up in JLA again (albeit a IMO fantastic spotlight issue). Consider how poor Kyle Raynor was shoved into a corner once Hal Jordan became GL again and you can see where I'm coming from.
Since the comics didn't come out in US but did in Canada I'll review/summerize some non-Xbooks for anyone who's interested.
Young Avenger Presents #5
[spoiler]Summery: Patriot, Kate Bishop and Wiccan are called over to see Cassie who's in an emotional state because she almost killed her stepfather during a battle against the Growing Man. Because she gets along very badly with her stepfather, particularly because he's no fan of her father the late Ant-Man 2, she feels guilty even though it was an accident. Patriot gives her a pep talk based on something Bucky told him and she ends up reconciling with her family and asks them to meet her teammates. [/spoiler]
I found this issue to probably be the weakest issue of the whole set so far, which is ironic because Stature is probably my favourite member of the team. The writer, who is the guy who does NW, does a rather clumsy job here. One particulary dumb narration has Stature being surprised that a villain called the Growing Man can grow. This seems especially farfetched when one considers that Stature has been portraid in the past as something of a superhero fangirl with a pretty good knowledge of the who's who of the Marvel U. In addition to that, there's a bit about her not being able to control ants that completely ignores the fact that both Hank Pym and Scott Lang used thier helmets to control ants, something Cassie didn't have access to. The art was ok, but a little sketchy. The biggest problem art wise is that Stature is shown wearing the wrong costume.
I'd give this issue maybe a 4 or 5. I'm hoping Matt Fraction and Alan Davis do a better job next issue when ol' Clint Barton meets Kate Bishop.
Teen Titans #59
[spoiler]Summery: The new Clock King wants to sell the powered Titans to a club called the Dark Side Club, which specializes in superpowered cage matches. He's captured Miss Martian and Kid Devil but the boss will only pay for a full set so he goes after the rest along with his Terror Titans. Robin solves a puzzle left behind by the CK that leads him to his lair, where they get into a fight with the Terror Titans. The Titans pretty much get thier butts handed to them, particularly Robin, who finds out that due to some time-related abilities the Clock King can dodge and counter every move Robin throws at him with complete ease. Robin gets brutally beaten and it looks like the Titans are going to get captured. [/spoiler]
Sean McKeever's run's been kinda hit or miss with me, mainly because he apes a lot of the ideas and stories Johns already did in the his story before him, but regardless I loved this issue. The Terror Titans, as cheesy and lame as they may be, came off as a serious threat, and though I've never heard of the Dark Side Club, the banner on the issue's cover (which seems to imply some kinda tie-in) and numourous Apoklypse referances have me intriqued. Blue Beetle was great in this issue; I loved his bit about calling CK "Rolex Chronoberg", and the Clock King went from lame (a lot like the Batman TAS version of the villain) to hardcore. The art was also really great, though my one complaint was the artist seemed to take every possible opportunity to do a cheesecake shot with Miss Martian. It didn't really bug me that much but kinda stood out a bit.
This was easily the best book I read this week and I give it a solid 8 out of 10. I'm actually kinda stoked for the next issue.
New Warriors #12: All you need to know is they still havn't beat D-list villain Machinesmith, Nighthrasher is a heartless jerk, and this book really sucks right now.
The whole "Dark Side" thing originated from Grant Morrison's "Seven Soliders of Victory: Mr Miracle" run :spoiler:
... basically the New Gods are reincarnated on Earth. I guess it's officially in continuity now.
I'm surprised there hasn't been a lot of freaking out
[spoiler]
about J'onn! They killed the Martian Manhunter!
Or DID they?
[/spoiler]
Quote from: bredon7777 on May 29, 2008, 08:27:13 PM
I'm surprised there hasn't been a lot of freaking out
[spoiler]
about J'onn! They killed the Martian Manhunter!
Or DID they?
[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
It`s one of the things I hate about the crisis events, they kill off characters just for the shock.[/spoiler]
I think the relative "silence" of the fan community with regards to all the "shocking" events of Final Crisis is due to event burnout (and the rising cost of fuel)... people just aren't buying these comics in the same numbers as they did the previous "event" titles. I was talking to the guy who runs my LCS and he says he's selling much much fewer copies of Final Crisis #1 than he did with Infinite Crisis #1 and Countdown #1 (he's selling about a quarter of IC's numbers and about half of Countdown's). I wouldn't be surprised if he's seeing the same decrease with Marvel's "Secret Invasion" books compared to Civil War and World War Hulk.
The Immortal Iron Fist: The Seven Capital Cities of Heaven TPB
Published by: Marvel Comics
Written by: Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction
Art by: David Aja/various fill-in artists/Howard Chaykin (Iron Fist Annual #1)
note: collects Immortal Iron Fist #'s 8-14 and Immortal Iron Fist Annual #1
This TPB collects the second-part of Brubaker/Fraction's re-introductory Iron Fist storyline. Danny Rand has returned to the mystical city of K'un L'un to participate in a martial arts tournament pitting the "Immortal Weapons" of the various Heavenly Cities against each other for the cities' right to exist on the earthly plane for an extended period of time. The Hydra/Heroes for Hire sub-plot also continues in the background, and both threads eventually intertwine in the arc's finale.
There's a lot to like here. The martial arts tournament, pseudo-Asian mysticism, and the frequent flashbacks to the pre-war Iron Fist gives the story a very "pulp" feel, which is very refreshing in these days of "me too" superheroics. Particularly interesting are the Immortal Weapons that Brubaker/Fraction introduced in passing in the previous story-arc. The hilarious Fat Cobra ("Bring me my wenches of waiting!") and the creepy lace-and-leather clad Bride of Nine Spiders ("Je je je je je") look like they have the potential to become fan favourites. Dog Brother #1 also looks like he might have "sleeper hit" potential (makes me wonder if the character's name was a nod to the Dog Brothers Martial Arts school (http://www.dogbrothers.com/)).
Of course, the biggest and most pleasant surprise (for me, at least), was the revelation that one of the Immortal Weapons, the Prince of Orphans is actually John Aman (a.k.a. "The Green Mist" and "The Amazing Man"). Aman was one of the earliest superheroes, published in the 1930s by Centaur Publishing, and he's been a public domain character for quite some time now (I think "orphan," in his case, is Brubaker/Fraction's way of referring to him as a public domain character). Neat little "easter egg" for fans of Golden Age comics or those who are into the history of comics.
As for the bad... the art really suffers here. David Aja's stuff looks great for the most part and I don't have any problems with the different artists being used for the flashback sequences (I think it adds a great visual dimension) but the use of fill-in artists in the later issues of the arc really hurts the look... I'm particularly not fond of Kano and Javier Pulido's stuff... they've done better work before and elsewhere... their stuff on display here definitely looks rushed and horrifyingly amateurish. And that rushed quality is heightened when compared side-by-side with Aja's superior work.
I would have given this a 5 out of 5, but the fill-in art just detracts so much from my enjoyment.
My Rating: 4 out of 5
Logan #3
Published by: Marvel Comics (Marvel Knights imprint)
Written by: Brian K. Vaughan
Art by: Eduardo Risso
Well, my worst fears regarding this mini-series have been realized. Instead of what could have been an insightful, atypical Wolverine story, we're treated to yet another run-of-the-mill tale of Marvel's premier mutant.
So much potential given the book's premise, ruined with by-the-numbers plotting and some horrendous dialogue... a writer of Vaughan's caliber should know better than to use horribly stilted double entendres (I groaned out loud when I read the "I want you to come with me" line in the bathtub scene).
Even Risso's typically good art couldn't save this stinker. My advice to people who haven't read this mini is to just stick to the first issue. Having the story end on that note is way better than the actual 2 issues that followed it.
I want my money back.
My Rating: 1.5 out of 5
I survived, so lets do the review, in the order in which I read them...
All Star Superman #11
We're back to a "hm, nice. OK" issue of arse after the last one. Solaris is back, and sort of floats around in the sky ranting like a dalek whilst Superman and some of his robots beat him up. Not really that inspiring or surprising. The red sun ploy, and Superman's suit, were nice. Lex's niece and her own little side-takeover the world paln is all cool. The whole thing is, of course, beautifully rendered, but it just left me wanting more rather than wanting to pore over this one in great detail.
Final Crisis #1
OK, this one will knock my socks off, I thought...
Its not bad. 32 pages instead of the usual 23, but about 9 pages are kind of wasted with meticuolously rendered image sof cavemen hitting each other and discovering fire thanks to Metron. I know, I know... Cavemen are cool because Jack Kirby wrote about them, but it failed to float my boat. We then get a kind of slow wind up to events as they will play out - the cop discovering Darkseid and the missing children he seeks, Green Lanterns John and Hal investigating a deicide, and a monitor falling into the mortal world as they experience being part of the story for the first time.
Oh, and my favourite bit, the interaction between Mirror Master and Doctor Light, acting like a couple of degenerate buddies as they discuss drugs and dating :)
J'onn's demise had far less impact on me than it would if he wasnt wearing that stupid new costume. Honestly, the guy has been walking the Earth in his underpants and chest harness for forty years, and you know what? It looked cool! Suddenly developing Martian inhibitions and covering himself up right to his chin is not cool, and not fitting for an unselfconscious shapeshifter form another world. Stab him again, Fashion Police!
So, its full of nice touches, and very full of promise for what comes next, but a kind of slow ignition rather than a massive blastoff. Compare this with JLA Classified #1 which launched Seven Soldiers, and youll see what I mean.
The art is good, but suffers in many places from awkward-photswipe-itis, eg the picture of John Stewart in flight.
Batman RIP part 2
I was starting to panic a little. Two down and my head hadn't blown off yet at all, perhaps Batman, with my lowest expectations could save the day?
For starters, I absolutely love the Club Of Villains. Especially since I've realised that they nearly all get a mention in the Club of Heroes two-parter that JH Williams drew. "A disfigured deep sea diver called King Kraken", "Charlie Caligula", "the assassin Scorpiana", "El Sombrero" who kind of makes an appearance, in that Mayhew is disguised as him. And "Pierrot la Lune", a French mime villain. Genius! These are the counterparts to the International Batmen!
This leaves the violent hunchback Le Bossu and the Ned Kelly lookalike, an obvious counterpart to the Aussie Ranger dude with the jetpack and plasma gun in the Club of Heroes.
Most of the comic is taken up with a conversation between Bruce and his new girlfriend Jezebel Jet, who basically is trying to talk him out of being Batman. eventually, Bruce succumbs to a post-hypnotic trigger from way back, and Alfred get assaulted by le Bossu, looking like an angry little hobbit with his wooden club, as the Club of Villains close in. She raises the interesting idea that Bruce is behind the Black Glove in a kind of split persoanlity way, a theory thats been floated around Millarworld.
Talk about slow build ups, this has waited nearly two years to kick off. May I remind everyone at this point that Talia, Damien and Merlyn are on their way, having realised that Batman may be in trouble?
Lovely artwork too, and its standing up well next to JG Jones and Quitely even.
Yep, this was a particularly good issue of Batman, and saved the day.
Quote from: bat1987 on May 30, 2008, 04:35:36 AM
Quote from: bredon7777 on May 29, 2008, 08:27:13 PM
I'm surprised there hasn't been a lot of freaking out
[spoiler]
about J'onn! They killed the Martian Manhunter!
Or DID they?
[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
It`s one of the things I hate about the crisis events, they kill off characters just for the shock.[/spoiler]
Hey! Maybe they killed off the goofball who has been running around in that awful suit from the JLA movie, and the REAL MM will show up by the end of the series.
Well, we can dream...
I thought FC #1 was waaaay too slow. As far as MM being dead let me just say this: Bucky and Barry Allen.
Quote from: yell0w_lantern on May 31, 2008, 09:36:15 AM
As far as MM being dead let me just say this: Bucky and Barry Allen.
And unfortunately Jason Todd!
Quote from: DrMike2000 on May 31, 2008, 08:09:27 AM
May I remind everyone at this point that Talia, Damien and Merlyn are on their way, having realised that Batman may be in trouble?
Does Merlyn know Bruce Wayne is Batman? If so, when did he find out?
Quote from: Midnite on June 01, 2008, 08:02:31 AM
Quote from: DrMike2000 on May 31, 2008, 08:09:27 AM
May I remind everyone at this point that Talia, Damien and Merlyn are on their way, having realised that Batman may be in trouble?
Does Merlyn know Bruce Wayne is Batman? If so, when did he find out?
Well he knows that Batman is Damian`s father (as seen in Batman 675), so he probably knows that Bruce is Batman.
I am McLovin' (sorry, couldn't resist) Morrison's Batman right now. I do agree that the art is quite nice (I've been a Tony Daniel fan since his Teen Titans run while back), but the thing I really like is how much of this run is connected in that it all gets brought up later on. I read many of the issues recently by buying them during a sale, which is actually how I started reading this run, so a lot of the run is fresh in my mind. Didn't realized the Club of Villains were all mentioned in that storyline, good find! The thing I really like about Morrison (not that I should be surprised, this being Grant Morrison, mind you) is how deep and psychologial everything is. There's plenty of subtext that the younger readers and the laymen probably won't understand (heck, I'm not sure I follow it all) and I find it makes for a much more interesting Batman story. I'm not sure how I feel about some of the implications in the story such as Bats having this identity crisis thing, but I'm willing to ride it out and see where it goes.
As for FC,[spoiler] I looked through it in the shop and didn't realize J'onn was supposed to be dead. That makes me a bit unhappy, I like J'onn a lot and I've missed him being in the JLA for a long time, I also hate this post IC costume. But anybody notice this is the second Crisis in a row where he's been captured by the villains? Or is it third, I never read the original one. [/spoiler]
Secret Invasion: Black Panther is awesome. Not gonna spoil anything but will give a brief rundown. A fleet of Skrulls head towards Wakanda in search of Vibranium. They're greeted by the heads of thier infiltrators on stakes. Wakanda is waiting for them. It's a pretty awesome fight.
Secret Invasion: Mrs. Marvel. Umm.... did Carol gain back her power level as Binary? Cause she's Uber powerful here. Good fast paced issue.
this thread still exists?! :o :blink:
Anyway, Carol had her binary powers restored twice in the recent years, but it's always been temporary. I'm just glad they finally decided to show her as a strong girl because she's been an emotional rollercoaster that's been batted around for a few years now. It got old. :P
HULK #4
Red Hulk fight Green Hulk.
dm don't know why or how banner escape puny prison to turn green
dm confused, but art pretty
big bald head man get hit hard by red hulk, dm laugh.
hulk bite red hulk gun, dm laugh more
Wolverine: Old Man Logan. Anybody else reading this? I missed the 1st episode but the 2nd one was pretty good. It's basically the Dark Knight Returns with Logan. 50 years in the future, after the great fight where the heroes lost and were killed. Logan was beaten so bad he was forced to watch as Thor, Captain America and Iron Man were killed in the 1st hour. He was broken and vowed never to pop the claws again. He was living in my town, Sacramento, with his family. That is, until the Hulk Gang shows up. Old Hakeye shows up and wants Logan to drive with him for a bit. It's kinda a cool storyline and wondered what everyone else thought.
I've just been reading a revival of a British pulp series called Dan Dare. I never read the original series, but from what I've read so far (the first 3 issues) this revival is great sci-fi fun and drama. We've got a daring, confidant, and unflagging hero, a galactic threat, and insurmountable odds. Everything you need for a great run.
I've been catching up on the last few issues of Dark Horse's The Goon.
I also picked up some FEAR Agent TPBs, and the Thunderbolts: Caged Angels hardcover (by Warren Ellis and Christos Gage, collects Thunderbolts #116-121, "Thunderbolts: Breaking Point" and "Thunderbolts: International Incident").
Warren Ellis has really made some Marvel characters I had zero interest in (American Eagle, Steel Spider, Green Goblin, Doc Samson, etc) ... interesting with his Thunderbolts run.
Punisher #60
Written by: Garth Ennis
Art by: Goran ParlovWhat can I say... It's Ennis' last issue on the critically-acclaimed series. It was a great ride, but I knew it would end. I never thought I'd say this about a Punisher comic book, but this one had me with a lump in my throat. Ennis has crafted a sentimental yet intelligent end to his run on the book, and I'm afraid that he's going to be an impossible act to follow.
Here's a quote from the end of the comic (taken from a character's memoirs regarding his brother, killed during the Vietnam War), it's a touching ode to the dead of the Vietnam conflict, while at the same time a subtle commentary on those serving in the conflict in the Middle East:
QuoteIt's at twilight, or in the early morning that I remember Stevie best. The times he loved. The scent of transmutation on the breeze. I watch the sky perform its ordinary miracle, and breathe the air so ripe with chance and say my magic words. Just two, over and over.
Valley Forge, Valley Forge
Valley Forge, are you receiving, over?
I say again, do you read, over?
Valley Forge, we lost you, how do you read, over?
Valley Forge--
This is America.
Can you hear us now?
Our lost one hundred-ninety-two.
Our cold, dead sixty thousand.
On your firebases, your hills, in paddy
fields and rainforests, sprinting through
the streets of ruined Hue;
Dozing on the decks of Hueys, tapping
magazines to settle bullets, lighting Marlboros
off precious Zippos, smiling, scared;
Captured in the whirr of Nikons, Leicas,
in muddy footage where the colors seem
to swell and run.
By our words, could we conjure you?
Could we conjure you up, and raise you from
that rich red soil, and bring you back?
To lovers. Sons and daughters. Kin.
To friends grown old without you, puzzled by
the youths beside them in the pictures.
To the porches and stoops
where you belong.
Or will you always be that endless line of
figures clad in green; receding single file
between the sun-drenched trees, swallowed
by gloom and glare in equal measure.
The steady lope of men weighed down by
packs. Ammunition for the sixties X-ed
across the gunners' backs in bandoliers.
Canteens clumsy at your hips.
Humping the boonies forever.
Valley Forge, Valley Forge.
Standing by to receive you.
Over.
Superman- I liked this issue a lot. Krypto is just as tough as Supes. It was a cool fight against Atlas.
Deadpool #2- Wow, I haven't got a chuckle out of a book in a long time. His 4th wall question to a certain "Rob" was awesome.
Quote from: thanoson on September 24, 2008, 08:22:17 PMDeadpool #2- Wow, I haven't got a chuckle out of a book in a long time. His 4th wall question to a certain "Rob" was awesome.
For those of us who do not read "Deadpool" what was this 4th wall question?
Thanks!!
-MJB
"That's why it's good to have lots of spare pouches. The more pouches, the better... right, Rob?"
he says it while training some skrones...clones + skrulls= skrones. COINED. Yeah. I totally coined that.
I'd usually write this in the X-thread with my other sumviews, but I thought the issue was a bit better. Still not "haha-hilarious" or anything. This has been a good week for Way compared to what came prior. *shudder*
Quote from: MJB on September 25, 2008, 12:24:06 AM
Quote from: thanoson on September 24, 2008, 08:22:17 PMDeadpool #2- Wow, I haven't got a chuckle out of a book in a long time. His 4th wall question to a certain "Rob" was awesome.
For those of us who do not read "Deadpool" what was this 4th wall question?
Thanks!!
-MJB
Deadpool is leading a training class for a group of new super-skrulls that are made from Wade's DNA mix.. so he is teaching them how to have hand-to-hand combat without having hands. So he has them slice off their hands and then says..
(I'll hide the joke behind a spoiler)
[spoiler]"Hey, losing body parts is part of the job... Get used to it. Best thing to do is pick up what you can and hope you can get it re-attached before the flies show up. That's why is good to have alot of spare pouches. The more pouches the better. Right, Rob?"[/spoiler]
Edit: Awww.. Ninja posted by Prev.. :ph34r:
Batman #680
Spewed forth (I refuse to call this crap `writing') by Grant Morrison
Pencilled by Tony Daniel
Inked by Sandu Florea
Part of the Batman R.I.P. storyline. If you haven't been reading Batman R.I.P., consider yourself lucky. If you have been reading it, this issue is the one that will most likely make you want Morrison's head on a pike, like myself, if you don't already. Fortunately, this crap is over with next issue, and better have one heck of a twist ending. The Joker is in this issue, and that's one the problems, as the way he's portrayed is beyond awful, and the cliffhanger ending is a very bad `WTF?' type deal.
Whenever Morrison leaves or is kicked off the book, he should NEVER be let anywhere near Batman ever again.
(Go read my latest post in the Batman R.I.P. thread - and I left it out of a spoiler box on purpose to let people know just how bad this garbage is)
Captain America #42
Written by Ed Brubaker
Pencils by Steve Epting with Luke Ross
Inked by Rick Magyar, Steve Epting and Fabio Laguna
Part 6 of The Man Who Bought America storyarc (which is Act 3 of The Death of Captain America). Bucky America and Sharon Carter both kick some butt this issue (not together, mind you, but acting seperately). If you've been sick of the Red Skull\General Lukin deal, this is the issue that will make you happy. Bru's writing has been top notch since I started reading this series (back in the teens or very early 20s), and this issue delivers. The ONLY thing I have a problem with is Bucky being romantically involved with the Black Widow; it just doesn't work for me. Falcon is in the issue but doesn't do much, and despite being on the cover Dr. Faustus is not in it. (He more or less betrayed the Red Skull, shaved off his beard for a disguise and left an issue or two back)
The cliffhanger ending is a hoot. (Make sure you're not eating or drinking when you turn to the last page. Seriously)
(Only other book that came in this week was Shonen Jump, and I don't feel like posting reviews of the books I got in last time, but I will say this: If you're not reading Wonder Woman or Justice Society of America, you should be - ESPECIALLY if you were a fan of Kingdom Come as far as the JSA series goes)
I got the Punisher MAX: Valley Forge, Valley Forge TPB and The Boys: Good For The Soul TPB
Punisher MAX is easily the best thing I've ever read from Garth Ennis.
The Boys really just makes me laugh due to its over-the-top violence and crudeness, but the third TPB is actually really interesting due to Ennis' obvious loathing of the commercial sector of the military industrial complex. I also think the Frenchman is my favourite "Boy", for some reason.
Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns:
First off, this has nothing to do with Final Crisis. Just forget that it's in the title. It mentions that it takes place between issues #1 and #2. I don't see how that's relevant to the story, or to Final Crisis' story.
Caution: Spoiler Intensive.
The story starts out on Ysmault with Atrocitus explaining the internal effects of becoming a Red Lantern. Followed by the recital of the Red Lantern oath. A very cool opening scene reminiscent of the opening sequence in the Sinestro Corps event.
To sum the rest up, Sinestro is sentenced to death and Guardians want him to be executed on Korugar. A squad of GL's are made to escort him there. On the way, they're ambushed by members of the Sinestro Corps. To make matters worse, both corps are ambushed by the Red Lanterns. A gory battle ensues...many GL and SC members are killed. Laira, former GL,and now a Red Lantern, attempts to kill Hal.
His power ring drains to 0%. He stares at his power ring and suddenly a blue symbol begins to burn itself onto it. A voice is heard by Hal and his power ring energizes to 200%. The owner of the voice reveals himself as Saint Walker, single member of the Blue Lanterns. He explains to Hal that Sinestro must be saved so the universe can survive The Blackest Night. End.
This one-shot was not as good as the opening Sinestro Corps one-shot. But, I was still amazed. Geoff John's has really turned Green Lantern around, making it the best DC has to offer. My initial thoughts on different corps was that it was overkill. But no, Johns fleshes out the Red Lanterns just as well as the Sinestro and GL corps. The rest of this arc will continued in Green Lantern and I cannot wait for the next issue. :)
Standard Prev-O-Meter: 5 out of 5
Quote from: Jakew on October 14, 2008, 09:13:05 PM
I got the Punisher MAX: Valley Forge, Valley Forge TPB and The Boys: Good For The Soul TPB
Punisher MAX is easily the best thing I've ever read from Garth Ennis.
I've been hearing great things about Punisher MAX. I've never been a big Punisher fan myself so I kind of just brushed off the praise it was receiving. But, I was never a Cpt. America or Iron Fist fan until Brubaker and Fraction got their hands on them. Now I love those two titles. I'm gonna have to give it a try. I'll let you know what I think when I get around to reading it.
Would you say it's on par with Ennis' Preacher, or better?
Hmmm, tricky comparison.
Ennis did a Marvel Knights Punisher run that was more similar in tone to Preacher ... the same mix of violence, seriousness and absurdity. He's doing a Punisher:Warzone one-shot like this, out soon.
Punisher MAX is Ennis writing wayyyyy more seriously about different kinds of crime, the Vietnam war, the US military industrial complex, etc. The humour is pitch black.
Anyway, to answer your question, I liked his run on Punisher MAX a little more than Preacher. The entire run is one long storyline with characters popping in and out, so if you want to pick it up, I recommend start with: Born (Frank in Vietnam), In The Beginning (the official beginning of the huge story), or From First To Last (three different one-shots ... The Tyger is the best work Ennis has ever done). Then read all the books in order.
A question about Secret Invasion. WHy exactly did Spider Woman/Queen of Skrulls turn the body of Skrullektra over to Tony Stark? If your whole scheme is to plant yourselves into all super teams and suprise your foe, why would you let them know? I mean, wouldn't it be much more effective if the invasion came and bam!! Teamates suddenly turned into skrulls? And I would think that SS Black Bolt would be in on this, so why would he freak out so bad when they were gonna find out how they fooled us?
Quote from: thanoson on November 26, 2008, 02:46:13 PM
A question about Secret Invasion. WHy exactly did Spider Woman/Queen of Skrulls turn the body of Skrullektra over to Tony Stark? If your whole scheme is to plant yourselves into all super teams and suprise your foe, why would you let them know? I mean, wouldn't it be much more effective if the invasion came and bam!! Teamates suddenly turned into skrulls? And I would think that SS Black Bolt would be in on this, so why would he freak out so bad when they were gonna find out how they fooled us?
plot holes thy name is bendis
Quote from: thanoson on November 26, 2008, 02:46:13 PM
A question about Secret Invasion. WHy exactly did Spider Woman/Queen of Skrulls turn the body of Skrullektra over to Tony Stark? If your whole scheme is to plant yourselves into all super teams and suprise your foe, why would you let them know? I mean, wouldn't it be much more effective if the invasion came and bam!! Teamates suddenly turned into skrulls? And I would think that SS Black Bolt would be in on this, so why would he freak out so bad when they were gonna find out how they fooled us?
A potential explanation is that they did it purposely so that people would start to doubt each other (which was the shtick of this event).
Quote from: Jakew on October 30, 2008, 08:10:39 PM
The Tyger is the best work Ennis has ever done.
Yes. A million times, yes.
I picked this up a week or two back and finally got around to reading it. The Tyger is a must read, Punisher fan or not. It looks like my wallet's gonna start hating me even more 'cause I'm gonna start picking up the series (TPB form).
QuoteYes. A million times, yes.
I picked this up a week or two back and finally got around to reading it. The Tyger is a must read, Punisher fan or not.
Agreed :thumbup: You'll like the MAX run.
ASM #580
Another GREAT spidey story from Roger Stern. This is a really nice done-in-one that builds from past continuity (like 20 years ago) sets up a potential sympathetic enemy, has great snappy banter, and a classic feel good peter and may battle of the wits.
but my favourite panel has to be when Spidey gets some help from a turbaned taxi driver and Spider-man's thought bubble says "Nice to run into someone who doesn't act like I'm public enemy number 1"