Bought/Thought 10/17/07

[Darthphere]

What does that have to with their fantastic storytelling, characterization, pacing, plot and dialogue?

Corp: "Everything."

 

[Anubis]

Which is what I was about to say. You've read plenty of books with crap art (though in this case i'd say you're wrong) and have enjoyed the actual story. Ultra and Girls were great. So, get off your ass and go read em!

 

[PhotoJones]

Girls was one of the best reads I've ever read.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Bad art's a pretty effective way of keeping me off a comic. Besides, I've got way too many other things I've been meaning to read to waste time tolerating crappy art for a potentially good story. Maybe in a few years I'll pick up the trades if I've caught up on everything else.

 

[PhotoJones]

Your prejudice makes you miss out on great things.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

But still leaves me lots of other great things to read, so I'm cool.

 

[PhotoJones]

Like what? Avengers: Infinity? Pfft.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

You liked it.

 

[PhotoJones]

And? I'd much rather take a Luna Brothers book over some second rate Avengers mini, no matter how good it was.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

That's where you and I differ.

 

[PhotoJones]

That's because you don't know how great the Luna Brothers are.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

You're right, I know how great they're not.

 

[PhotoJones]

Baseless opinions are the bread and butter of idiots.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I know, yet you continue to hold yours about the Luna brothers' being good. It saddens me.

 

[PhotoJones]

It's not a baseless opinion. I've read their books. And they are magnificent.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I've flipped through their books and concluded that their art sucks on a totally baseful basis.

 

[PhotoJones]

You'll notice I've not said anything about their art.

 

[Phaedrus45]

More Thoughts:

After the windstorm yesterday, I can finally get back on here and post some more reviews.

The Boys #11: I loved this book when it was at DC. It had a mad sort of energy. But, for some reason since its move Dynamite, the title has been seriously suffering. I find myself bored, and I think it's because Ennis' drive on the title is to try and provide shock value with absolutely zero character development. This issue, it's the pizza on the last page; yet, the actual story just plods along. 4/10

The Umbrella Academy #2: The hype for this title was well worth it. As Grant Morrison is quoted on the cover, "An ultraviolet psychedelic sherbet bomb of wit and ideas. The superheroes of the 21st century are here at last..." In this second issue, The Monocle is dead, and his children come together to pay their respects to the man who raised them. Within the pages, we get glimpses of the past and future, and all the characters within are just as important as the story. The oddness of this story is further enhanced by little touches, like the back cover of this issue giving excerpts from Number 7's book on each of the seven heroes. This title really shows the reader the opposite of what Ennis' The Boys tries to achieve: Originality in all aspects of the word with great characters who the reader actually becomes interested in. It's rare I reread a comic immediately after finishing it; this title I did. 10/10

Superman Confidential #7: There are various reason to be peeved at Superman Confidential: One, the story by Palmiotti is standard Superman fare that many have come to expect from DC over the years. Two, the events within have been done many times in the past (for example, Superman taken control of, Metropolis being transformed, and the roles being reversed where Lex Luthor must come to the rescue). Third, and most glaring of all, everything about Palmiotti's story pales in comparison to the Kryptonite story that was in issues 1-5 and which DC, as per their usual course nowadays, never finished....just a promise that it will eventually end sometime in the future. It's hard to focus on a new story and really enjoy it when you know DC's started something they can't finish again. And, worst of all, those unfinished stories are what gets you interested in the title. The first four issues of Wonder Woman, the Supeman Phantom Zone story, and this Superman Confidential Kryptonite story are all vastly superior to the lame stories that follow them. 5/10

Catwoman #72: A very emotional issue of Catwoman, especially if you are a parent. Catwoman has decided her baby will never be safe as long as she's with her; and a month after she's given her up, she begs Zatanna to remove all the memories that come with knowing you had a child you've lost forever. 72 issues in, Catwoman is as good as it's ever been. Unlike other Batman related titles, this one hasn't ever suffered from bad writing. It's not too cartoonish, like with Robin and Nightwing. It, also, has a great supporting cast, one of the best in all the DC comics. And, it probably had the best One Year Later event, with Selina's pregnancy. 9/10

Countdown #28: The tale continues to sludge along. It would seem that Jimmy is a bit back on track, as his quest for who's killing the New Gods has been restarted (of course, coinciding with the release of DC's new title, Death Of The New Gods...further showing Countdown is more of a promotional device than a full-fledged story), Piper and Trickster's quest might now finally be realized as they try and discover where all the supervillians are being taken, Karate Kid's quest takes him to another false lead while putting into another direction (kind of like Beast's search in the X-Men books for the cure for M-Day), Mary Marvel keeps wigging out, and the quest of Ray Palmer pops that crew into another world as they continue to come up empty. As I keep saying, there really isn't much reason to read the middle part of this series...it's just the characters following one false lead after another until they get to the last then issues. 6/10

The 99 #1: An issue I felt obligated to buy. After all, the people who produce this comic was nice enough to offer to double-sized prequels for free at our LCS. And, the story itself wasn't too bad, and for a free comic, pretty well written. For those who weren't fortunate to pick up the free issues, the story is as follows: "99 gems of power lie scattered across the earth. These 'Noor Stones' are storehouses for the knowledge of the great city of Baghdad and its illustrious civilisation, now lost to time and history. Legend tells of how these gems once empowered a select few with superhuman abilities." At the beginning of issue 1, Dr. Ramzi has already gathered three of the holders of the 99 Noor Stones (all seen in the two prequels), and his plane lands in New York City for a refuel. While there, Dana, the second who was found with a Stone, feels the presence of another within the airport, a young boy who can see the immediate future. This issue suffers from the retelling of past events, where characters act as if they are engaging in natural conversation while relaying who they are, what their powers are, and how they were saved with those who know everything already...but, it picks back up. Plus, we get a page glimpse of the supergroup that will be emerging from these pages. Also, it's kind of nice to see another culture represented in comics from the point of view of a writer who would know about it. 8/10

Cory Doctorow's Futuristic Tales Of The Here And Now #1: Ok, let me see if I can explain this first issue one-shot, called "Anda's Game." Anda is a 12 year old, dumpy sort of girl from England who joins an online gaming group of females, called the Fahrenheit. While on there, she meets an American girl, named Lucy. Lucy comes to Anda and says that they have a chance to earn some real money instead of fake gold by completing some missions for a mysterious clan. After killing hundreds of characters in this online gaming world, a guy named Raymond talks to Anda, explaining that he's a labor organizer and that there are factories where he lives in Tijuana. In these factories, young kids are making shirts for less than a dollar a day, these shirts are traded for gold, and the gold is sold on ebay. The bosses use bots, but the game has countermeasures against them; so, they hire children to click the mouse, which is cheaper than hiring programmers to circumvent the rules. The problem is if the worker's character gets killed, they don't get paid. This is more of a moral lesson than an action story...and, while it is done well enough, it didn't connect with me or make me feel what it wanted. Sometimes, a comic blatantly trying to preach to you falls flat, and that's all this issue did. 4/10

 

[PhotoJones]

The Umbrella Academy #2: The hype for this title was well worth it. As Grant Morrison is quoted on the cover, "An ultraviolet psychedelic sherbet bomb of wit and ideas. The superheroes of the 21st century are here at last..." In this second issue, The Monocle is dead, and his children come together to pay their respects to the man who raised them. Within the pages, we get glimpses of the past and future, and all the characters within are just as important as the story. The oddness of this story is further enhanced by little touches, like the back cover of this issue giving excerpts from Number 7's book on each of the seven heroes. This title really shows the reader the opposite of what Ennis' The Boys tries to achieve: Originality in all aspects of the word with great characters who the reader actually becomes interested in. It's rare I reread a comic immediately after finishing it; this title I did. 10/10

 

[Dread]

Only on certain things. You do still read the Unverse books, after all.

How did you come up with "Unverse"? What is it supposed to mean? I know you think it is clever, but every time I see it, I assume you spelled something wrong before I remember.

In my defense, Carey's Ultimate Fantastic Four actually is pretty good. No Millar, mind you, but far better than Ellis sure was. And I am glad Brooks went to this book than USM, so I can see his art. That said, Brooks would make for a decent artist on AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE the next time Caselli needs a break if Steve Uy isn't available.

 

[PhotoJones]

I'm sure you think your bad puns and "quirky" taste in comics is clever, too, right?

Anyway, it was a misspelling that turned out to a pretty appropriate description of what I was referring to at the time, which of course, was the Ultimate Universe.

 

[Dread]

I'm sure you think your bad puns and "quirky" taste in comics is clever, too, right?

Anyway, it was a misspelling that turned out to a pretty appropriate description of what I was referring to at the time, which of course, was the Ultimate Universe.

Sure I do. But I haven't invented a word or term that I paraded around topics like it was a fad.

The closest I've come to that is "Hulk Math" for the Pak revelation. And I'm sure that sucks, too.

Anyway, thanks for the origin. I just think "Unverse" looks silly. But to each their own.

 

[PhotoJones]

I seem to not be the only one who finds the pun to be a good one.

 

[Dread]

I seem to not be the only one who finds the pun to be a good one.

Probably because you're not the only person who dislikes the Ultimate universe, although a majority of them hated it from the start and never gave it a chance. But after the first 1-3 years, it became less about bold new ideas and more about maintaining franchises, and so forth.

That said, considering the carryover talent from Ultimate to 616, and what said talent and the "Ultimate" ideas have since created, I can understand some of that hatred.

 

[PhotoJones]

The Unverse started as a cool idea. I liked USM and even UXM during the first few months to a year. Now the entire line is utterly useless, not to mention, a talent black hole.