This week actually turned out bigger than I expected, since I had to get a title I missed last week due to the CRAZY-HUGE stack of books I was getting, and an unexpected DC title shipped. And yet, this was overall a nice, easy, enjoyable week. Aside for 52, no "event" books that shipped I got, just solid superhero comic adventure, and I loved every moment of it. Oh, and there will be a moment of silence for the death of a great book before its time, THE THING.
As usual, the spoilers will NOT be televised. They will be typed.
DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 7/6/06:
52 WEEK #9: The cover seems to scream "classic Kirby" to me, as in a giant, menacing, god-like alien being menacing our three space-weary travellers (Animal-Man, Starfire, and an eyeless Adam Strange). The three manage to escape the clutches of this giant "living hunter", but find out that they somehow witnessed "something unholy" in space and now every alien loony may be after them; can that mean a return of The Main Man in the future? The other title-card of the issue is Luthor debuting his new team of "super-people", of which Steel's niece Nat is now their premire powerhouse. Not only does she refuse to back down to Steel's pleas, she uses her newfound powers to viciously pummel him into the bay (regardless of him essentially becoming a more jacked version of Colossus). Montoya also FINALLY is reunited with the Question, and the new-old, "Gasp, a LESBIAN!" version of Batwoman makes her debut in the final panel. What more can I say? Week after week some puzzle pieces lock into place, but more arise. While not as "tense" as something like 24 or LOST, 52 is retaining a real sense of a "serial" here regardless, and so far is running on time (although the art looked a little different here. Not bad, just different). I found Luthor's statements to sell his "superman" on the concept of the American Dream as both accurate and chilling, as all he seeks are a superpowered henchmen, and his dividing of the Irons family is efficiently done. The cliffhanger is that Intergang is moving from Metropolis to Gotham, which makes some sense as they seem to have less meta-activity than Metropolis right now. So, yeah, 52 is still a good ride, and this is coming from a very casual, fair-weather DC fan.
BLUE BEETLE #4: This came out last week, but I missed it (and probably could have barely afforded it last week). This title continues to provide a straight-foward "young hero and his friends discover his wiggy powers as he faces threats from all sides", not unlike countless manga stories. In fact, if ever DC wanted to try releasing a book in "digest" form like Marvel, I'd nominate this one. Its no RUNAWAYS, but it fits that kind of mold. Its also a rare title where a new fan who knows next to nothing about DC could jump in and still manage to care about the characters, even if the first 2 issues stumbled trying to follow IC and OYL. Giffen keeps the dialogue amusing without it being a total comedy, although this issue comes very close. Basically, La Dama, the crimelord who is also the relative of one of Jamie's pals, sics her magical-elf boyfriend to "test Beetle's meetle", as damn near everyone wants a piece of him. The art is slick as always and I still really like Beetle's design; some call it a retrend of "90's armor", but I don't mind so long as it pleases me. This title continues to seem like "DC does THE GUYVER", which is fine because I liked GUYVER. Now that the crossovers are over with, this book may also be amung DC's most "newbie friendly". The plot naturally leaves more questions than answers every time, but why else to keep buying issues if not to string you along? So long as its done efficiently, that's what comics SHOULD do.
SECRET SIX #2: On the other side of the coin, another issue about DC's hottest team of anti-heroes, as they fight for their lives against a hit being called on them. Walker's art seemed a little better for this issue than the last, but the cover still outdoes anything in the interior panels. Oddly, the woman on the cover, Pistolera (how long'd it take to come up with THAT name) does little more than get tied up and totured by Scandal after her near-assassination of Knockout last issue. Deadshot escapes death thanks to his wife's pistol (much to his chagrin), and Mad Hatter seems to be inducted into the gang (to replace a hospitalized Ragdoll, who is menaced by Dr. Psycho). The big reveal is that Chesire is still alive after being shot in the last mini, and she's had Catman's "kitten" (c'mon, I couldn't resist). Of course, she was only the go-between and their hit was ordered by someone higher on the Society food chain. This is basically a superhero crime caper sort of thing, with the team struggling to stay ahead of their enemies before they get knocked off one by one. So far I think their last mini was more taut, but its still solid entertainment.
BEYOND! #1: The lastest mini-series from Marvel that will probably be good, will get zero press or fanfare after the "standard first issue push", and then fall into the sales abyss after issue #3, and Marvel will act clueless as to why. In a way, it reminds me of "MTU, before it started skidding". It has a cosmic adventure that rounds up an eclectic band of costumed figures; so random you'd think they were selected via a copy of the Official Handbook and a dartboard. You have your A-listers like Spider-Man, your B-Listers like Wasp, Pym, and Gargan/Venom, and newbies/lower-listers like Firebird, Hood, Gravity, Medusa, and Kraven II (known as "Al" to his friends). Kolins naturally does well with this sort of story (much like he did for the first 10 or so issues of MTU). McDuffie's spent a while away from writing comics and is probably better known for writing for Bruce Timm's DCAU cartoons, specifically STATIC SHOCK and JLU. Naturally this feels simular to some of that work as you have the story's POV being that of a young, novice hero interacting in the world of adult heroes (Gravity is our pointman of the issue). And naturally you have those big names juggled with the bottom feeders, which feels just as random as an episode of JLU that had Batman, Zatanna, and B'wanna Beast (it happened, it was called "The Little Piggy"). The story is actually built up as a retrend of SECRET WARS, in that the Beyonder has randomly lured a bunch of "supers" into space to stage a sort of contest, offering "wishes" to whoever defeats their enemy. Much like a TV show, everyone gets a few one-liners (although Firebird seems rather plain to me), and the exposure helps "newer" characters like Al Kravenoff ("who talks like he's on a sitcom", noting his revamp as a Hollywood wannabe), Gravity, and the Hood. In the tense climax, Venom/Gargan goes bat-crap crazy and actually SUCCEEDS in killing Spider-Man. As tense as the finale was, the real life knowledge of Marvel completely ruins the effect, a problem McDuffie rarely had on JLU. That is, we KNOW that Spider-Man can't die. If he were to die, it wouldn't be in a 6-issue mini series that doesn't even have his name in the title (or the words "The End" or "Death" or "Bendis Presents" in the title either) for chrissakes. And while the continuity of the story is vague at best (it seems to take place before even PRELUDE TO CW started), Pym and Wasp are safe from a permanent demise, as is Medusa. The issue is the others; if Kraven, Gravity, Firebird or Hood bought it, I doubt they'd ever return. Fans have predicted that Venom/Gargan will be axed off to allow Eddie Brock to conviently return to the role in time for the movie next year, and they may be correct. Medusa seemed out for blood against him, and Firebird quite literally harnesses one of the few elements deadly to symbiotes (fire). It seemed a bit weird that Medusa would care so much about Spider-Man, but the looks on everyone's faces is priceless; I guess after so many current writers have made him out to be an unloved schnook, McDuffie remembers that Spider-Man's one of Marvel's most longtime and experienced heroes; plus, one could argue that it was rather vicious even for someone like Hood to watch. I found it a bit touching that Spidey mumbled some last words to MJ, either out of "death shock" or mistaking Medusa's flowing red locks for MJ's. Even if the "death of Spider-Man" is so obviously being undone that its not even funny (maybe someone can "wish" him back from the Beyonder? Hey, it worked a billion times on DBZ), BEYOND! looks to be a good "outside of events" adventure story with a lot of action and quirky characters, sort of like MTU used to be at its best. I doubt it'll sell well, but I like it, and I hope it outperforms my cynical projections. McDuffie naturally writes a great Gravity, and I like how he had the lad's story continue after his own series ended, especially with Laura. Not all superheroes need to be angsty emo-machines.
MARVEL TEAM-UP #22: The 3rd installment of THE FREEDOM RING, in which the title hero spends his panel-time in a coma after being punched by Abomination last issue. The X-Men vs. Abomination fight, which could have been great to watch because the X-Men haven't fought a non-mutant supervillian in about 25 years, is briefly mentioned off panel. What we do get is half an issue of Kirkman wrapping up plot-threads from past MTU issues ("evil alternate reality Stark" becomes "Iron Maniac", complete with new techno-armor, and Titannus is revived) as well as a plot-thread from CAPTAIN AMERICA: DISASSEMBLED (or better known as "the stuff that happened before Brubaker that utterly no one cares about") involving a Diamondback LMD. Iron Maniac makes his escape, Freedom Ring is in a coma and Titannus apparently has amnesia, and the pegs are in motion for an explosive finish. The previes two issues dragged a bit as Kirkman seemed to be stroking his new superhero too much (who has the exact same powers as Magician over in ULTIMATE X-MEN), but this one seems more interested in setting up an explosive finale. The art is still lackluster; Kuhn seems to be able to draw armored maniacs, monsters, and masked superheroes much better than "civilians", whether they be normal folk or SHIELD (and anyone who can tell the difference between the Oriental waiter and the scientist without a labcoat is a better man than I). I also wonder if Kirkman attempting to wrap up all his lingering plot-threads means that MTU is slated for the chopping block? Lord knows it sells terribly, even worse than THE THING did. It could be that Kirkman may simply want to finish his run. I don't know. MTU's skidded since "League of Losers", but its still a great place to go for unashamed, no-nonsense superhero action from Marvel without the "doom and gloom" political mire of an "event". BEYOND! #1 was aces better, though. I'd bet McDuffie could have a field day on MTU should Kirkman ever depart.
THE THING #8: A moment of silence, for a book that died way too soon.
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Okay then. THE THING was yet another victim of "The Mighty Marvel Launch", as in it was given no support after the first issue, relying on rumor and Slott himself to try to drum up notice. Quite why the one new book Marvel launched effectively was the terrible HOWLING COMMANDOES and not this I'll never know. Anyway, this final issue of the Thing essentially wraps up his lingering plotlines in a feel-good romp that has no end of guest appearences, most notably the GLA (or is it GLC now?). Dwyer's no DiVito, but his art is still good enough for what the title desires, and I had no problems with it (hell, I'd trade him for Kuhn on MTU any day of the week). The Thing hooks up with Alicia, seems to have learned his lessons about friends and newfound wealth, pays off his debt to Mr. Sheckerberg, AND manages to have his Bar Mitzah to celebrate 13 years as "The Thing" (gosh, so does that mean in Marvel Time, 1961-2006 is 13 years? Does that mean they'd dare suggest that Spider-Man is 27-28? That's "ancient" for a "young hero"). Afterwards, Thing manages to have the best poker tournament in the Marvel Universe. Also the ONLY poker tournament in the Marvel Universe (I kid!). There are some battles, like teaming with Squirrel Girl to beat Bi-Beast and stopping Impossible Man's hiccups, whose conclusions may seem "hammy" to a modernist fan who has become used to the blood, guts, and emo-agnst of most comics circa 1997. But to those of us who need a break from that stuff, this was a humorous breather, as Slott does best. The GLC actually manage to win the tourny as they "do nothing but play cards all day, so no wonder they're actually good at it", but Thing wins out at the end with an early nighcap with Alicia. Despite being a series finale, the mood is just as upbeat and fun as the past issues have been, maybe even moreso. Slott will return with a mysterious new series late this year, and I wish him godspeed with it, because we need more writers like him having success at Marvel. THE THING will be missed, but not forgotten.
