A Jewishy Hobbity Bought/Thought 5-18-11

[JewishHobbit]

So I decided to give going to the comic shop on my lunch break a shot. I only get a 30 minute lunch and it took me 50 minutes to get back. I was worried I'd be in trouble but my night shift custodian, my boss, shrugged and said he didn't mind... the night crew (I'm mid shift) take 45 to 50 minute lunches every day. Who Knew?!

So I got my comics, tons of them, mostly X-Men... and a fine X-Men week it was. Of the 11 comics, 9 were X-Men related... good week for me

I've been debating on it for a while but this is the first week since Big Time began that I skipped on Amazing Spider-Man. I've been more annoyed with it than anything of late and needing to drop things I've been considering it. I'm curious what will come of the Jackal and Hobgoblin storylines but something's got to give and I still can't stand seeing Peter with someone who isn't MJ. Add that to the immature style that Spidey's written in and the boring FF comics for the past 4 issues and I just figured it's time to take a break. I may not drop it yet, but I'm at least puting it off.

On with the reviews... non-X-Men first:

Avengers #13 - This Fear Itself tie-in is by far the worst issue of this title in a very VERY long time. Bendis has gotten a lot better with the "bendisisms" but this issue is chaulk full of them every page. Heck, nearly the whole issue is talking heads, half of which saying pointless things recapping the first issue of Fear Itself. The only new plot is a potential romance brewing between Hawkeye and Spider-Woman and that doesn't really interest me at all.

Bad issue... fortunately though, the only bad issue of the week.

Batman & Robin #23 - This was a pretty good start to the new arc. The Red Hood is one bad dude once again, killing dozens of criminals in prisons and all that while incarcerated himself. It's an interesting concept until someone breaks him out in the end. Batman and Robin are watching with Bruce overseeing. Not much depth to the issue but entertaining anyway and it sets the stage for the next two installments. It was good and I'm eager to see the rest of the arc. I like Jason Todd, despite the criticism he sometimes gets.

Skaar: King of the Savage Land #3 - I thought about skipping the rest of this book as well but in the end I just like Skaar as a character too much. I think he works best when bouncing off of other people and he's doing a pretty good job here bouncing off of Kazar, Devil Dinosaur, and Moonboy. This mini isn't the best thing ever written but it's good enough to keep me happy with it. Sales likely won't warrent another Skaar ongoing but I'm happy with what I have so far. Good issue, entertaining mini. Glad Phaed talked me into trying it out after I dropped Incredible Hulks.

 

[JewishHobbit]

Now for some X-Men related stuff:

Uncanny X-Force #10 - After a disappointing issue 9, this issue is back to the real interesting plot. The Secret of Warren's losing his battle to Archangel is nearly leaked and when Archangel goes to cover it up the rest of the team realizes what's going on. Needing to know what is going on they go to the most knowledgable person with Apocalypse's sciences and that's the Dark Beast. Apparently with Apocalypse's death Archangel's heir of Apocalypse programing is kicking in and he's becoming Pocy's replacement. The X-Men want to stop this but they need something from a Celestrial garden that won't be on Earth for thousands of years or something, but Dark Beast has one in his lab... in the Age of Apocalypse... too be continued.

This was a good start/prelude to the Dark Angel Saga and I'm real excited to see that play out. This is probably the upcoming arc in all of Marvel and DC that I"m excited for the most. Great issue, great comic. I was getting worried after the less than spectacular Deathlok arc and the Magneto issue... but this brings it back to the forefront.

X-23 #10 - Let me tell you, for not being a huge fan of Wolverine... I'm loving his kids. I bought all the back issues of Dark Wolverine and Daken's new ongoing at Half Priced Books for a few bucks and I've grown to love his character and comic, and X-23 has always been cool for me. This issue is a good story dealing with X-23 and Jubilee under the guidance of Wolverine and Gambit (who shines in this title by the way).

And can I say that Sana Takeda's art is gorgeous! I've loved this guys art every time I see it pop up in this title. He draws the best Laura that I've ever seen, and I'm not even a fan of this Manga-ish art. So good job there, and to writer Marjorie Liu as well.

Heck, and this is a bit backwards, but X-23 and Daken's titles are what got me to buy Wolverine for the first time since Old Man Logan (and I wasn't buying it much prior to that either). I've missed the first arc but the second arc of Wolverine was fantastic and I'm eager for the third half.

Despite the oversaturation of Wolverine, his offspring are having some great comics being written right now.

X-Factor 219 - One of my least favorite X-titles, but it's good enough to keep me entertained. I've not looked far ahead in the solicits but I'm hoping this plot is finished, as I'm more curious about the Wolfesbane's baby plot and the Guido/Layla plot. I'm eager to see those dudes start playing out.

Generation Hope - This was a fun issue. The title is growing on me but sales aren't great. I'm thinking they did improve fairly dramatically this past month but I could be wrong. Anyhow, the new seventh light, an unborn baby, is terrified of being born and takes over the minds of everyone in range. The kids try to read the baby and all the smarter kids fail, but it's the simple minded Teon who gets through and the baby succumbs to being born. Its powers go dormant to return when it's of age.

And despite how much I hated the character in the first arc, Kenji is really starting to grow on me as a character. Oh, and interesting power development for Laurie as well.

 

[JewishHobbit]

And lastly... my more X-Men-centric issues:

Astonishing X-Men 38 - I've not been buying this book due to just bad mojo from past writers and delays, but I really like this team of Beast, Colossus, Kitty, Storm, Lockheed, and Brand. Being Gage's first issue, and the fact that he says you don't need to know what's going on in Way's issues, I decided to give it a shot.

I'll start off by saying this art sucks. I'm not a fan AT ALL!!! But the issue itself was pretty good. I liked the Kitty/Lockheed reuinion and I like that Beast didn't just show up all buddy buddy X-Man again, but made it clear that he isn't an X-Men but needs their help. Brand is missing and likely abducted by the Brood and they go to rescue her. I don't recall it mentioned elsewhere, but we learn here that the Brood Homeworld was destroyed in the Annihilation Wave, and really, any reference to Annihilation is gold to me

So a good start from Gage, though hindered by the art (what is it with S.W.O.R.D. centric books with bad art?!). It seems the next issue is another Way penned issue so I'll likely skip that and wait for the next Gage one. Loving this team

X-Men: Prelude to Schism #2 - Whereas last issue focused on Xavier while talking to Scott about the unknown threat that's on its way, this one focuses on Magneto and we get his opinion of Cyclops and his own past. This issue was very much better and less boring than issue 1 but not yet great. I'm more interested in what's coming than these personal stories (which I usually love).

Sadly, I'm starting to get the feeling that Cyclops might actually die in Schism. I'm growing worried.

Namor: The First Mutant Annual 1 - The final part of "Escape from the Negative Zone" previous in the Uncanny X-Men annual and the Super Soldier annual. This story has been surprisingly good and this issue is no exception. Scott, Steve, and Blastaar take on a berzerker Namor with Dr. Nemesis on his way to help and Hope injured. The story really is fairly simple but very entertaining. I wasn't planning on buying these at all until on a whim I bought the first two parts. Now after this final issue I'm glad I gave them a shot. Combining X-Men with Avengers with Cosmic was an interesting idea here. I'm glad it worked out so well.

X-Men Giant Size #1 - This overpriced start of the next arc in the X-Men ongoing turned out to be a really good issue. The new threat, The Evolutionaries, are some hardcore threats. They apparently show up every couple thousands of years to ensure that evolution continues properly. They showed up in the gorilla days when man was first born and they eradicated all of the ape-like race to ensure homosapians thrive. Now they show up to make sure that homosuperior thrive in similar fashion as before, by killing all the homosapians. And while they've not yet acted on it, they certainly have the ability as shown by killing all the apes and by destroying all the Neo (fighting the X-Men upon their arrival) from around the world in a second by just saying it.

The X-Men title started great for a few issues and then have been spiraling down again. This issue leading into issue 12 just might pick it back up again. And as usual, Medina's art is fantastic! Yost did a great job here and I'm eager to see what happens next.


Man... it is about time the world of X-Men picks up. Almost all of their titles rank from good to great and even the least of them are still entertaining. I hope this just keeps going and they reach another heyday!


Best and Worst of the Week

Best - X-Men Giant Size: It was just a good solid package of an issue. The price kills me but at least I got a good lengthy story out of it. Good comic

Worst - Avengers: This one was not only the worst of the week but the worst of my recent past. I feel like I was jipped into paying $4 for one of those free Saga issues or something. I hated it.

 

[JewishHobbit]

Hey Phaed... I googled Echo #30 to see when it comes out and it said it was supposed to come out this week. My shop didn't have it. Did yours? I'm eager to read the series conclusion.

 

[Roose Bolton]

Gates of Gotham #1 Was very good, this issue goes way back to gothams early day's and really gave me a "Return of Bruce Wayne" vibe.Scott Synders plot seem's really intriguing, and Kyle Higgins doe's a really good job handing the various Characters from Dick Grayson to Commisioner Gordon, and I loved seeing Cass again. The art work likewise is just sensational, Trevor McCarthy is a name to watch.

Ultimate avengers vs New Ultimates # 3 was mediocre, Millar does a good job adressing the actual Spiderman scenes were very well done, and Ultimate cap actually came off as a decent guy for once. I totally saw Gregory being a bad guy coming, and A lot of the scenes with Fury came off as overly expository. Got to hand it to Yu and Sergovia, they really do know how to make good looking comics. I hoping the story starts to pick up soon though.
Batman #710 Wow, this issue really surprised me, easily the best thing Tony Daniel has ever written. Two-Face is back and in a huge way, going on a destructive rampage trying to get his coin back. What I loved most about this issue is that Two-face came off as an actual human being and not some gimmick.Maybe it's just my love of the long Halloween/Dark Victoy but I enjoyed the hell out of this issue

 

[JewishHobbit]

Both Batman #710 and Gates of Gotham caught my eye but I was already spending shy of $40 and I was dropping ASM as is so I couldn't pick them up. With how disappointed I've been in Batman Inc. I was debating on trying out Batman to try and get a better story. Sadly, I just don't have the funds at the moment.

 

[El Bastardo]

I spent $73. I think this is a new high for a single week of comics. Ugh.

 

[moraldeficiency]

Avengers #13 - This Fear Itself tie-in is by far the worst issue of this title in a very VERY long time. Bendis has gotten a lot better with the "bendisisms" but this issue is chaulk full of them every page. Heck, nearly the whole issue is talking heads, half of which saying pointless things recapping the first issue of Fear Itself. The only new plot is a potential romance brewing between Hawkeye and Spider-Woman and that doesn't really interest me at all.

Bad issue... fortunately though, the only bad issue of the week.

I am so sick of hawkeye screwing every superpowered chick in the MU. You know if a super villain was actually serious about being a villain just give hawkeye an STD and you eliminate about every female avenger.

In a way I know it makes sense cause he's one of the few avengers that he can mess with other than cage and he's already set him up with jessica jones but it's getting old fast.

 

[Assassin]

not a big marvel fan but didn't his wife just come back from the dead?

WeekNGeek

 

[The Morningstar]

Bendis, you strike yet again! Seriously, that book was LAUGHABLY bad.

 

[runawayboulder]

not a big marvel fan but didn't his wife just come back from the dead?

WeekNGeek

Yeah about 3 yrs ago. Jim McCann did some great stuff with Clint and Bobbie. He even threw in Dominic Fortune as a 3rd wheel love interest. Bendis is doing what he does best......ignoring it because he has absolutely nothing to write about. Walk away dude, let somebody else play in the sandbox for a while......

 

[roach]

Rocketeer 1...pretty awesome read to an interesting character. I hope they do more with him in the future.

 

[JewishHobbit]

I've not read any of those Hawkeye or Mockingbird comics but didn't they break off the marriage in the very first mini? I thought Mockingbird was about to end it before being abducted and then went through with it after she returned or something?

 

[iloveclones]

I really liked everything I've read this week: Amazing, Avengers Academy, Ultimate Spidey and Death of...

But my happiest moment came when I saw this:

Finally, a reference to the 'Burgh without a smokestack or vats of molten steel in the background. AND, it's of special significance to me, since my lab's area of focus is Wound Healing, and one of the therapies we're investigating is the use of Adipose (fat) stem cells. Thank you Mr. Gage!

 

[moraldeficiency]

Finally, a reference to the 'Burgh without a smokestack or vats of molten steel in the background. AND, it's of special significance to me, since my lab's area of focus is Wound Healing, and one of the therapies we're investigating is the use of Adipose (fat) stem cells. Thank you Mr. Gage!

Oh man, you totally know my current girlfriend.

 

[iloveclones]

Please tell me it's because she's part of the 'Burgh diaspora, and not because of the adipose....

 

[moraldeficiency]

She teaches there. Not that group though.

 

[iloveclones]

Where does she teach?

 

[moraldeficiency]

U. of Pitt

 

[Phaedrus45]

Hey Phaed... I googled Echo #30 to see when it comes out and it said it was supposed to come out this week. My shop didn't have it. Did yours? I'm eager to read the series conclusion.

On Previews, it wasn't solicited as coming out this week; so, it's probably delayed until next week.

I thought Giant-Size X-Men was pretty darn good, too. But, there is a part of me very miffed that Marvel charged me $4.99 for only 32 pages of material. Giant-Sized my butt!!!

 

[Dread]

But, there is a part of me very miffed that Marvel charged me $4.99 for only 32 pages of material. Giant-Sized my butt!!!

That's nothing. Almost line wide, most of Marvel's $2.99 comics have shed two pages and are only selling 20. The move is subtle enough given how most comics are written that it is hard to notice unless you count or someone tells you. Lord knows I never notice it with BOOSTER GOLD or BATMAN BEYOND, and DC was very up front about that in their "Holding The Line At $2.99" announcement back in October 2010.

This is no rumor. Tom Brevoort mentioned it on CBR last week: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=32330

CBR's Kiel Phegley: And I should make note here that several people have seen that it appears as though Marvel's $2.99 titles have been dropping to 20 pages an issue. After the comments many folks (including yourself, if I recall correctly) made about dropping work for freelancers when DC went to 20 pages at $2.99, what makes Marvel's move to 20 pages different in terms of how much the artists are able to make each month compared to what DC was criticized for?

Tom Brevoort: Our page counts tend to fluctuate wildly from month to month and even issue to issue. Nobody ever seems to notice, for example, that we occasionally go up to 23, 24, even 25 pages in "New Avengers." And sometimes we go the other way. In the case of "FF," it was part of a strategy to make sure that artist Steve Epting could complete the launch issues on our more aggressive schedule. In a case like that, we do our utmost to ensure that Steve always has work on his drawing table -- be that the next issue of "FF," an upcoming "FF" cover, or a short story or a long-term project that can be picked away at when and if they’ve got any downtime. With both "FF" #587 and "FF" #1 being larger than normal issues, we needed to make back the time somewhere, and this is how we went about accomplishing that.

In his defense, Marvel is starting to double ship a LOT of books, so that many of them will ship twice a month (or twice within 4-5 weeks) at least once or twice a year. In that regard, a shift is probably needed, since most artists can barely draw 22 pages on time anymore. That said, the way Marvel did it was underhanded and dishonest, and the fact that Brevoort's first reaction upon being confronted about it is to whine about when NEW AVENGERS, a $3.99 book, accidentally has extra issues and he isn't a beloved hero for it. THIS is why fans are cynical, bitter, and never believe anything a Marvel editor or VP says. I love Marvel, but I have never seen a company try so much to make business harder for themselves as Marvel has sometimes.

When a mom and pop grocery store has a dishonest sign that borders on fraud about omitting key information to a consumer, they often have a reporter hounding them on sweeps month and can get a hefty fine. For comics as well as pro sports, such "bait and switch" tactics are common practice and the only price is some executive has to issue some lame excuse or whine about it.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Brevoort is a ****ing dick.

 

[iloveclones]

U. of Pitt

huh, small world!

 

[runawayboulder]

Brevoort is a ****ing dick.

^True Story^

 

[Phaedrus45]

Invincible Iron Man #504

Wow. So many of Marvel's comics are really improving, and Invincible Iron Man is no exception. The last storyarc with Doc Ock was a nice departure from what we've seen before (looong storylines that bored readers into dropping this book), and this first issue of the Fear Itself tie-in gets right into the action. There are some great scenes with Tony's fight with the New Improved Grey Gargoyle...and, we even get some personal development, as Tony has Pepper hire Bethany Cabe.

Ultimate Avengers Vs. New Ultimates #4

We get a big break in the action, as Nick Fury gets taken into custody...and, by issue's end, we discover the real culprit behind everything that Fury's been accused of doing. Of course, I don't believe for a second that Fury's really dead in the end...you can tell one of the soldiers is probably Steve Rogers...but, a decent issue. (I'm guessing the tie-in with Death Of Spider-Man is over, even though they're still promoting the book that way. It feels like last month's two Ultimate titles just squeezed the Punisher shooting Spidey to try and get more interest in this book, and hopefully raise sales.)

Ultimate Spider-Man #158

Two more issues to go, and things are picking up. The Secret Six go to Peter's house...only to discover Iceman and Human Torch. (Torch didn't turn on his cell phone and get the message to stay away.) In the end, a seriously hurt Spidey shows up to help his buddies...and, you can see he's in no shape to do much good. Will they kill him off??? It feels like that's what Bendis is going to do, just to get some hype back on this book.

A decent issue.

X-Men Giant-Size #1

I went into this book disgusted, as I previously mentioned in this thread. You can just feel this issue and scoff at the idea Marvel DARES to put the word, "Giant-Size," on the cover. (I remember Giant-Size X-Men #1, Marvel...this is no Giant-Size.) That said...you KNOW this issue is pretty darn good when I finish it, and I'm pretty impressed with what I've read. I wanted to hate it, especially since Marvel put that bad taste in my mouth before opening to the first page. But, it's good....damn good. Sure, people who dislike retcons might be disgusted that Marvel is doing it...AGAIN...with the X-Men; but, the book reads well, and the art looks fantastic! (I might have given this might top mark; but, the price with only 32 pages of material still peeves me to no end.)

Booster Gold #44

I have dropped this book for over a year; but, I'm back with the return of Jurgens and the tie-in with Flashpoint. (I got tired of the time-travel storylines over and over again.) Gotta say, I'm happy with what I read. New readers can quickly catch up on what's happened before, as a good number of pages are devoted to rehashing the past. (As an old reader, I might be a bit disgusted that my-already-slim-20-pages is wasted with how many pages went into this trip down memory lane...but, thankfully, that will be over with now.) This is a good start, and who knows...I might stick around after Flashpoint is over.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #7

I loved this title when it first came out; and, I'm a huge Spencer fan....BUT, my patience is growning thin. Half the time I'm a bit confused, and the other half of the time, I wish an actual storyline would progress. This book drags out like Fraction has been known to do with Invincible Iron Man. (It's very similiar to Spencer's Morning Glories, popping all around and having far too many characters.) This is one of the better issues, and it does fill me in on the past. We just need more than what we're getting.

A mild .

Supergirl #64

This storyline started out GREAT! One of the best issues of the entire 64 issues of this sereies was that first one, #61....but, that's probably because it was written by Spencer. He kicked things off, and then James Peaty took over. It's still a decent story; but, greatly pales in comparison to what Spencer was able to do. This final issue just made me feel like a usual conclusion to a normal Supergirl/Superboy/Superman story. Too bad.

Another mild .