A somewhat-above-average week to kick off March in terms of quantity, but better than average in terms of quality. The only niggles were Vaughan dipping into another big franchise for sales and a little price-gouging by DC, albeit on a fun product.
As always, spoilers are underway.
And yes, I did flip through UXM where Piotr lets it slip that "Katya" is dead, confirming the rumor that has spread for, oh, the last 2-4 months. Thus, AXM ANNUAL is now completely worthless from a content perspective unless you like Cassaday art, which I do, or truly care what happens to the most generic alien species in 10 years, the Breakworlders, which I don't. And it also seems he will be in THE LAST DEFENDERS and UXM at the same time, becoming yet another X-Man who teleports across books, alongside Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, and even Emma Frost at times. Eh, that's life when you approach B-List.
Onto what I actually did buy and read. By the time I buy next week's comics, I will be a year and a few days older.
Dread's BOUGHT/THOUGHT for 3/5/08:
INVINCIBLE PRESENTS: ATOM EVE #2: When this spin-off was solicted my first reaction was disturbance that the simple INVINCIBLE title was branching out into spin-off's, a feat that has stretched thin nearly every comic book franchise you can think of into market oblivion. Having finished this and then the interviews in the back, I will admit I probably overreacted (something I think I inherited from one of my parents) and that at the moment there seems to be no rush to suck the well dry. Heck, Kirkman's tried to make INVINCIBLE and some other books, such as CAPES, BRIT, WOLF-MAN, and ones he doesn't even write or edit such as NOBLE CAUSES, DYNAMO 5 and SAVAGE DRAGON tie together, so in a way this feels natural.
This 2-parter took about 2 years to be published between script re-writes and finding the right artist, but in the end I think it is better that it was released NOW and not in 2005, because of where INVINCIBLE is right now. In that book, Mark is finally going to collide with the truly dark and ugly side of government, and as Eve's story unfolds, her whole life has actually been part of that. In this issue, Ericson & Rodgers, the spooks from the Pentagon, send out their genetic experiment kids out to capture Atom Eve, and one of them lashes out about how they've suffered by being compared to her, "the perfect experiment". Naturally Eve knows little about this other than what her "father" the Doc said. It results in a bloody finale where the Doc is murdered and Eve's full potential is unlocked. The fact that she wears no mask as an older heroine is given more significance, although after all this I wonder why the heck Eve would have kept some ties with the fed via working with the Global Guardians for as long as she did. I know, a lot of it was getting close to Mark, but still, damn, she goes through a ringer here.
I do appreciate this look into a key INVINCIBLE character and it will play out well in the long run once Mark discovers Cecil's Reanimen project. I can easily see her joining him, or at least supporting him and understanding. It may even bring them closer. Benito Cereno naturally was able to capture enough of Kirkman's voice that it flows well and I liked Nate Bellegarde's art, least for this. The Cory Walker covers were boss, too. Cereno has a Rex Splode story he hopes see publishing, and who knows. Allen the Alien is also a no-brainer. I am hesitant about expanding things but INVINCIBLE is nearing the half-century mark and these are only mini's. For what it is, a great treat for Invincible fans to get to know Eve better. Plus, in the interview, Kirkman and Cereno play, "6 Degrees of Phil Hester", which was cute. A nice addition to any INVINCIBLE fan.
DYNAMO 5 #11: A little late, but when Asrar was tapped to draw NOVA ANNUAL, I figured that would happen, even if that wasn't the reason. At any rate, the story continues on from the cliffhanger of last issue (Slingshot's father being held at gunpoint). The heroine is being ordered to free a stooge from prison lest her father (not biologically, but in relationship terms) be killed. The rest of her team wants to back her up, something Maddie is absolutely opposed to. The team, especially Scatterbrain, refuse to tow her line and back up their half-sib. In early issues it was hinted that Maddie was intentionally cold to get the team to unify, at the very least to rebel against her, but I wonder if sometimes the act isn't one and it goes too far. Visionary's mother is still none too pleased about her son being on the team and whatnot, when the aquarium is invaded by a team of villains, with the newest one on the roster of Bonechill, Voltage, Brains & Brawn being Widowmaker, a femme fatale who brags about having been the one who murdered Capt. Dynamo. The kids prevail against all forces, freeing Slingshot's father and starving off being killed by mysterious men, but the freed crook gets away (although he was about to turn on his masters at trial, who are the same mysterious figures now plaguing the Five) and the team has a VERY nasty reception waiting for them at home. Mrs. Chang turns turncoat, willing to sell out the rest of the team for her son's life, which I am sure will backfire because villains almost never honor promises (part of what makes them villains).
At this point as the title nears the year mark, it is almost review-proof. Asrar's art is great and Faerber's created a great new team of characters and offers great superhero action with plenty of twists and turns. The letters pages usually reveal at least one "fed up fan coming back to comics after years for D5" and it is easy to see why. There is also a preview for GEMINI in the back and I may get it. Anyway, D5 has become one of those titles I look forward to especially every month, and can't imagine my pull list without it. And yes, that cover looks "suggestive".
JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE NEW FRONTIER SPECIAL: Ah, the realities of the market. DC has a DTV of the same name out and so pushed this out to capitalize. Yeah, it has more Cooke stories regarding that tale but the end purpose is to score some quick bucks while the iron is hot and to give an excuse to make another ABSOLUTE edition of DC:NF that will probably cost $5 more. For that purpose, charging $5 for this special seems a bit excessive, and the odd thing about prices these days is how there is no middle ground; if it needs to be more than $2.99, it has to be $3.99, and not $3.25, $3.50 or even $3.89. And if that isn't enough, $4.99, and so on. Marvel does this too but I am just commenting on it here. When a comic book costs as much as a pack of collectible card games, kids will chose the cards every time. But methinks both companies have abandoned the fight for new readers and are sucking the old. While the story the DTV was based on was called DC: THE NEW FRONTIER, the special has the title from the cartoon, even if the average buyer will not venture into a comic store and pluck down $5 for this. Only the comic fans will.
Anyway, the first page intro from Rip Hunter is cute and offers up the right tone. The first story is all Cooke & Co. and details how the Superman/Batman brawl was faked in the 50's, and how Wonder Woman actually kept the pair from killing each other for real (as well as how Batman got that "$70,000 sliver of meteorite" to use against Kal). It is the highlight of the special for me. Dave Bullock draws the Robin/Kid Flash story and it is fun but nothing terribly exceptional, and I thought the WW/Black Canary story was pointless. It also has some pre-production art from the DTV and that is alright. But that first story is what drew me in. Some people feel that DC:TNF is overrated and while it may be sometimes, I still enjoyed the hell out of it and the DTV was a labor of love, albeit a flawed one due to the short running time. This was also a fun special, but it would have been just as fun at $4.50 or something.
LOGAN #1: Or, Vaughan wanting to write something for Marvel that people will actually READ. It seems his highest selling comics have been ULTIMATE X-MEN and BUFFY, while his RUNAWAYS run needed digests to save it and the casual buyer foolishly ignored his DOCTOR STRANGE: OATH series (which was a better pitch for a Strange ongoing than any appearences in NA from Bendis). Sure, there is a story here and it is told well enough, but this first third of it is hardly anything I haven't read from a Wolverine story before.
You've probably read it, too. Logan remembers something from his past, in this case the 40's during WWII. He comes across a woman who he sleeps with who will ultimately die. He comes across allies and/or enemies that will be deathly important in this story and then have a 50% chance of never being seen again, mostly because Logan will murder them, or they'll otherwise die. It involves a lot of exposition about Logan talking about himself and the drawbacks of immortality and then being a bad-ass and stunning people. I can't even begin to rattle off all the stories from various ongoings, or mini's, or one-shots that all had this same exact plot line. To put it mildly, what BKV has written here so far is ANYTHING but original, at least for this character. There is the off chance that within the next 2 issues Vaughan will think of something, ANYTHING that hasn't been done before in a Wolverine story, but I really doubt it, even from a talent like his.
That said, what Vaughan does do is tell that basic story well enough, with good art from Eduardo Risso. He can draw the costume stuff to the WWII stuff to the Japanese landscape and it all looks good. Sure, Vaughan mentions how THIS is somehow different because Logan now has his memories back, but even that angle has been done to death right now (see: WOLVERINE ORIGINS). In many ways this is a fine enough story, hitting all the beats of a good Logan story that has the unfortunate reality of being but one of about 200 stories like this that have been done before. But, I guess with two solo titles that involve the Angel of Death and Way's ******ed origin storylines, maybe people need a basic Logan adventure, that offers no surprises but is by-the-book Wolverine formula, not unlike FIREBREAK was (although I'd argue it had a unqiue quirk to it). If you're too busy to go find some trades of 90's Wolverine stories and pick one at random, this offers much the same thing from the character. I see no reason why this is MK and why I need to pay $3.99 for it. It has nothing that a normal 616 comic couldn't have, and it reaks of price-gouging because this is Vaughan on Wolverine. But it doesn't deserve to outsell THE OATH, but it will. At least Vaughan is still quite readable even when he sells out and goes by the basics on a franchise, and that I guess is a talent unto itself. Still, damn, RUNAWAYS is drownin' here!
MOON KNIGHT #16: Hmm. I'm still on MOON KNIGHT but it really doesn't "jazz" me like some other books, and at times feels like "Grim Hero 101", only it benefits from Marc being outright loco for Khonshu, who provides some much-needed dark humor. Texeira seemed to be rushing a but to me as sometimes the characters blend together too much and Benson at least is less decompressed than Huston was on scripts, although Slott he isn't. Khonshu continues to goad Marc into being a more brutal avatar when he continues to straddle that fine line between vigilante and barbarian, and the media is putting more pressure on why he is a Registered Hero. Granted, we've known this for 2 issues and no movement on this plot point comes. MK's status quo during CW was awkward at best and this seems like an attempt at catch-up, but it needs to be more fast-paced. Meanwhile, Carson Knowles, an ex-MK villain, is out on parole, but can't make ends meet and has to bribe a corrupt parole officer, so he snaps and decides to murder him, then kill his "friend" Killer Shrike in the hospital and frame Marc for the murder. He also appears to be talking to someone else and one wonders if Khonshu is now seeing Knowles as a better avatar, or plans to pit Marc against him. Granted, the "Khonshu organizes some dark crap to get Marc to go bad-ass" was done in the first arc and that would be cyclical. Knowles is even getting closer to Marlene, Marc's ex and now "friend with benefits", as Frenchie all but wants to cut Marc out of his life to spare him and his new boyfriend pain. Knowles at least is a better rogue than Midnight was (he was annoying) but in some ways this is a clear example of a middle-of-the-road book for me.
By the end of this arc I may be done, if it isn't canceled by then. The goal was to get MK back in the A-League and this title has failed. The only thing that seperetes him from Batman & Daredevil is his insanity/religion, and while that is more than the 90's, it ain't much.
PUNISHER: WAR JOURNAL #17: Another P:WJ story where the Punisher himself doesn't appear until the end when he has to save someone by shooting a crook. It is also another good P:WJ story, and the title has been on a roll since the "Cap-Punisher" arc ended. Fraction devotes a whole issue to Stuart Clarke, who has been Castle's supporting character and equalivent of "Q" since the start of the series. It goes over his history as Rampage and fighting heroes in LA and so on, and then ties it into a modern story where he is being pitted between his two old contacts, Sunset Bain (a.k.a. Madam Menace) and Parnell Jacobs. Apparently, Taskmaster decided not to kill Bain after she betrayed him back in his 2002 mini, which fits as he rarely kills for emotional reasons. It also involves black market Stark armor bits and the value they have. It seems obvious that both Bain and Jacobs are pining for Clarke's services against the other, and as a nerd, Stuart picks the pretty lady. Of course, Bain only used him to get a complete armor package to sell and brakes his nose in the francas. Unfortunately, she couldn't have counted on the guy having The Punisher as a pal. Another D-List rogue bites the dust and this time I actually doubt she will be missed, and I thought the one-shot tale of Clarke was damn good. Even Chaykin's art, which I usually don't care for, wasn't so bad this time. Clarke needed a tale like this to flesh out his past, present, and future, and Fraction was the best man for the job. Thumb's up, and he's made this book a very unexpected, and good, surprise.
THE TWELVE #3: People complain about JMS' pace on THOR, and in some ways THE TWELVE also has a similar one. JMS is in no rush on things here. But in a way THE TWELVE is far more justified as it does have a dozen characters to have to round out, even if not all of them survive the tale. While Fiery Mask is on the cover and has his origin told, Mister E, Black Widow, and Laughing Mask also get a lot of key scenes, E especially. Mister E, or Victor Jay, changed his Jewish name so he could function in country-club society, a fact that his remaining family (an elderly son and a dying wife) torment him about. The fact that Victor is bald and hardly a muscle man sort of hits home his "average"-ness compared to some of the others (even Phantom Reporter, who has more looks and wit) and that helps hit home the aftermath of Victor's choices for me. Richard Jones is offered a position at the Bugle and the speach his recruiter gives about his perspective was very good, some of JMS at his best. The Fiery Mask's origin is full of 40's cheese like giant scientist zombies and all that, and basically he is a pryomaniac who is immune to all fire and carries a big mace, which is fine by me. Black Widow's demonic enslavement is shown in full detail and I still wonder if her "master" will be a named demon like Mephisto or Marduk Kurios or someone else.
Weston's art naturally is great at making these characters look "real" while still doing the fantastic elements right, like demons and fire-shields and whatnot (even if sometimes his flying scenes need work). JMS has a large cast and in that case if the pace was faster, some characters would be lost in the shuffle. As it is, some are, but not for lack of trying. The cover is also bad-ass. This has become a great new series dusting off some old wonders and I look forward to where it goes and how it ends. We may have a Marvel equalivent to the JSA someday yet.
As a freebie was SECRET INVASION SAGA, which recaps the Skrull stuff from the present stories to the 60's-80's to get everything in perspective. Because it deals in such things, Bendis doesn't write it. Yu's cover is alright although Thing is the only one who doesn't look "Skrully". Normally Marvel charges $3 for these things that are basically text recaps and reprinted pages, so it is commendable that they see the big picture, realize this is an advert for the event and made it free to get it into as many hands as possible. A good move. Haven't read it yet, but I plan to. I doubt Bendis will succeed where other writers may have failed with Skrull stories, as just about every story Bendis has rehashed to do "his way" as if it was never done before has always failed amazingly, but that is a niggle for another time. Saga being free = good move.
