Bought/Thought 10/29

[Marcdachamp]

X-Force- PICK OF THE WEEK! This is EVERYTHING an X-Book should be. Great team, great dynamics, perfect character interaction, high stakes, beautiful art... I can rant about this book for days, but this is the best X-Book since year one of Astonishing. 9/10

Amazing Spider-Man- Bachalo rocks. Joe Kelly rocks. Plug the numbers in kids. Sometimes math is fun. 9/10

Ultimate Spider-Man Annual- Bendis always nails these. The first one brought me back to USM, the second was great, and now he's 3 for 3. And where does Marvel find these artists? I just said last week what an amazing stable of artists I got to check out, and this week is no exception. Lafuente knocks this out of the park. I liked the new Mysterio, but it looks like we'll never see a Peter/Kitty reunion. Sigh... 9/10

Ultimate Captain America Annual- Bought this mostly because my LCS owner tends to throw, like, everything Ultimate in my pullbox. After paging through it, I made an impulse buy, and I'm glad I did. I liked how this tied into Ultimates 3, and I'm curious to see what happens with it in Ultimatum. 9/10

Avengers: The Initiative- Getting a little sick of the art change-ups, but Kurth did a pretty good job here. Loved the "Amazing Friends" Skrull. Nice touch. 8/10

Amazing Spider-Man Annual- Commanda? Wow, that was out of left field. Interesting twist, but surprised to see Declun show up. His death was way too cool to just explain away. I hope there's more to it than that. 7/10

Astonishing X-Men- Once I got my bearings, I started really enjoying this. The art was cool, and Ellis did a decent job with the parallel Earths, although I didn't get the first half. How can they be talking about 616? That's the main MU. So, anyway, I really started getting into it, when, halfway through... script? Are you ****ing kidding? $4 and it's half story, half "extras"? Total bull ****. 3/10

 

[arachnid-guy]

X-Force- PICK OF THE WEEK! This is EVERYTHING an X-Book should be. Great team, great dynamics, perfect character interaction, high stakes, beautiful art... I can rant about this book for days, but this is the best X-Book since year one of Astonishing. 9/10

Amazing Spider-Man- Bachalo rocks. Joe Kelly rocks. Plug the numbers in kids. Sometimes math is fun. 9/10

Ultimate Spider-Man Annual- Bendis always nails these. The first one brought me back to USM, the second was great, and now he's 3 for 3. And where does Marvel find these artists? I just said last week what an amazing stable of artists I got to check out, and this week is no exception. Lafuente knocks this out of the park. I liked the new Mysterio, but it looks like we'll never see a Peter/Kitty reunion. Sigh... 9/10

Ultimate Captain America Annual- Bought this mostly because my LCS owner tends to throw, like, everything Ultimate in my pullbox. After paging through it, I made an impulse buy, and I'm glad I did. I liked how this tied into Ultimates 3, and I'm curious to see what happens with it in Ultimatum. 9/10

Avengers: The Initiative- Getting a little sick of the art change-ups, but Kurth did a pretty good job here. Loved the "Amazing Friends" Skrull. Nice touch. 8/10

Amazing Spider-Man Annual- Commanda? Wow, that was out of left field. Interesting twist, but surprised to see Declun show up. His death was way too cool to just explain away. I hope there's more to it than that. 7/10

Astonishing X-Men- Once I got my bearings, I started really enjoying this. The art was cool, and Ellis did a decent job with the parallel Earths, although I didn't get the first half. How can they be talking about 616? That's the main MU. So, anyway, I really started getting into it, when, halfway through... script? Are you ****ing kidding? $4 and it's half story, half "extras"? Total bull ****. 3/10

NO NO NO NO NO NO!

 

[Marcdachamp]

NO NO NO NO NO NO!

...que?

 

[arachnid-guy]

...que?

You said it was an 'interesting twist' in the AMZ Spidey Annual. It was bad writing...that's what it was! I'm sad for Spidey stories.

 

[Themanofbat]

Yeah... the Annual was bleh, in my opinion....

The only point of interest was Spidey interacting with Reed and as mentioned, Commanda... who I think has only appeared in Untold Tales (and maybe a Civil War appearance).

 

[Marcdachamp]

You said it was an 'interesting twist' in the AMZ Spidey Annual. It was bad writing...that's what it was! I'm sad for Spidey stories.

I think it's interesting that

Spoiler

the real Jackpot chickened out and allowed her friend to make a go of it as a drug powered superhero.

It's been done, but I had no idea what to expect from her last appearance in ASM.

This week's actual issue was MUCH better.

 

[arachnid-guy]

I think it's interesting that

Spoiler

the real Jackpot chickened out and allowed her friend to make a go of it as a drug powered superhero.

It's been done, but I had no idea what to expect from her last appearance in ASM.

This week's actual issue was MUCH better.

Come on. You reckon that's even what's gone thru their minds when making this story? Hmmm....

 

[Marcdachamp]

Come on. You reckon that's even what's gone thru their minds when making this story? Hmmm....

Um, it's right there in the issue. Did you finish it? Peter flat out calls Sara on it.

 

[arachnid-guy]

Um, it's right there in the issue. Did you finish it? Peter flat out calls Sara on it.

It's never made explicit though?

 

[CaptainCanada]

Part I: Marvel Mythology

Incredible Hercules #122

This book continues to be a rollercoaster of awesome. It's got drama, it's got incredibly funny comedy, and it's got thorough and enjoyable mixing of the myths of Ancient Greece and the modern mythology of Marvel Comics. The Amazons, under totally-not-Wonder-Woman Artume, who killed her mother and put her head on a spike, are on the warpath, with Atlantis in their sites. Incredible Herc is fantastic in its use of guest stars, with Namor and Namora appearing in this arc (making this the first story since her revival where they interact significantly; she's got a similar temperment, albeit a bit more self-possessed). Herc and Namora make a fun couple; this book has been really good with Herc's guest-star love interests like Black Widow, Snowbird (who got her best writing since the original Alpha Flight series, at least) and now Namora (my favourite little moment: her disappointment that Namor doesn't care who she sleeps with). Amadeus continues to be an incredible fool in this arc, which, given his past characterization, humanizes him a bit (and recalls Athena's point earlier about the difference between intelligence and wisdom; Delphyne (who's awesome, by the way; I hope she sticks around) laughs in his face when he brags about his intellect). Clay Henry's art is a great fit for this series, though I still miss Sandoval.

Secret Invasion: Thor #3

Matt Fraction and Doug Braithwaite's three-issue tie-in comes to an end, as Beta Ray Bill and Thor face off against an evil Skrull "godkiller" who wields Bill's hammer split into twin battleaxes. There isn't a huge amount of story here; it's mainly a straight fight, but it's a very good fight. Bill and Thor both get strong moments, as do Balder and the Warriors Three (Volstagg, mainly). It goes without saying that the Asgardians win, of course, and Thor headsoff to rendezvous with all the other heroes in Central Park in the main series. Bill, meanwhile, heads off into space in search of the Skrulls and the secret of what they did to him and how they were able to use his hammer. Based on this ending, I'm now expecting Bill to show up in War of Kings, given that that will be spinning out the events of Secret Invasion. The issue of Thor's power level remains here; he isn't noticeably stronger here then he was without the Odinpower, and he needs Bill's help to hold up Asgard. Obviously it's hard to write stories about an Odin-level Thor (that's why Odin never had his own series), and he certainly isn't weak here. Braithwaite's art is excellent; he would be a great artist for the regular book.

Thor #11

Speaking of which, the regular book ships; will wonders never cease? Apparently this is JMS' fault in this instance, though Coipel isn't the fastest man alive either. Loki continues to be corrupt Balder in a spectacularly unsubtle way; Balder's approaching Amadeus Cho levels of chumpery in this arc, as there is absolutely no reason why anyone should even be listening to Loki, let alone confiding in her. Now, Loki the manipulator usually requires some suspension of disbelief, since for him to doublecross people they need to have some level of trust from the heroes starting off. It just isn't being written especially well. We get a brief scene with Donald Blake and Jane Foster, progressing that story a bit (it is interesting how JMS seems set on reconciling this old Silver Age strand without impinging too much on later developments of Thor's character setup that did away with the disguise). But the scene that everyone will be talking about is the summoning of Steve Rogers' ghost. It's a very well-written discussion, with a really excellent design from Olivier Coipel that gives Ghost-Steve an ethereal appearance (the blue and the glowing star; wonderful), and it also offers some confirmation that Steve is actually dead, and not secreted away somewhere (although we're pointedly told that is spirit hasn't passed on). However, for JMS to be criticizing making Cap a political symbol is pretty rich, given his own past work. Anyway, another solid issue, although both in pacing and in production it could use a bit of speed.

 

[Marcdachamp]

It's never made explicit though?

You didn't read it. I knew it.

Yes, it is. The issue ends with Spider-Man calling out Sara on what she did.

 

[arachnid-guy]

You didn't read it. I knew it.

Yes, it is. The issue ends with Spider-Man calling out Sara on what she did.

Pfft. Well done you

 

[Marcdachamp]

Pfft. Well done you

It's not exactly a Sherlock Holmes deduction. Your sig was the biggest hint. Dude, know what you're judging before you judge it.

 

[arachnid-guy]

It's not exactly a Sherlock Holmes deduction. Your sig was the biggest hint. Dude, know what you're judging before you judge it.

Still doesn't make the story any less of a contrived and pretentious mess.

 

[Themanofbat]

Jeezus... it's not like it's the first time in over 46 years of Spider-Books that we get a bad story... there have been PLENTY over the years.

It was a bad annual... move on... the current first part of this week's ASM looks good.

 

[arachnid-guy]

Jeezus... it's not like it's the first time in over 46 years of Spider-Books that we get a bad story... there have been PLENTY over the years.

It was a bad annual... move on... the current first part of this week's ASM looks good.

It's not JUST a bad annual. More like an overall bad year. Or Brand New Day...to be technical.

And you say 'move on'...try telling that to the rehashed storylines from the 70's repackaged and fed to guillable fans like you.

 

[Franklin Richards]

What was the exchange with Reed?

 

[Jennifer Walters]

What was the exchange with Reed?

They just figured out how to counteract another of Brand New Day's craptastic newbie villains powers. I thought Reed was written particularly well, but felt sorry that he was guesting in such a ****ty annual.

 

[KangConquers]

Part I: Marvel Mythology

Incredible Hercules #122

This book continues to be a rollercoaster of awesome. It's got drama, it's got incredibly funny comedy, and it's got thorough and enjoyable mixing of the myths of Ancient Greece and the modern mythology of Marvel Comics. The Amazons, under totally-not-Wonder-Woman Artume, who killed her mother and put her head on a spike, are on the warpath, with Atlantis in their sites. Incredible Herc is fantastic in its use of guest stars, with Namor and Namora appearing in this arc (making this the first story since her revival where they interact significantly; she's got a similar temperment, albeit a bit more self-possessed). Herc and Namora make a fun couple; this book has been really good with Herc's guest-star love interests like Black Widow, Snowbird (who got her best writing since the original Alpha Flight series, at least) and now Namora (my favourite little moment: her disappointment that Namor doesn't care who she sleeps with). Amadeus continues to be an incredible fool in this arc, which, given his past characterization, humanizes him a bit (and recalls Athena's point earlier about the difference between intelligence and wisdom; Delphyne (who's awesome, by the way; I hope she sticks around) laughs in his face when he brags about his intellect). Clay Henry's art is a great fit for this series, though I still miss Sandoval.

Secret Invasion: Thor #3

Matt Fraction and Doug Braithwaite's three-issue tie-in comes to an end, as Beta Ray Bill and Thor face off against an evil Skrull "godkiller" who wields Bill's hammer split into twin battleaxes. There isn't a huge amount of story here; it's mainly a straight fight, but it's a very good fight. Bill and Thor both get strong moments, as do Balder and the Warriors Three (Volstagg, mainly). It goes without saying that the Asgardians win, of course, and Thor headsoff to rendezvous with all the other heroes in Central Park in the main series. Bill, meanwhile, heads off into space in search of the Skrulls and the secret of what they did to him and how they were able to use his hammer. Based on this ending, I'm now expecting Bill to show up in War of Kings, given that that will be spinning out the events of Secret Invasion. The issue of Thor's power level remains here; he isn't noticeably stronger here then he was without the Odinpower, and he needs Bill's help to hold up Asgard. Obviously it's hard to write stories about an Odin-level Thor (that's why Odin never had his own series), and he certainly isn't weak here. Braithwaite's art is excellent; he would be a great artist for the regular book.

Thor #11

Speaking of which, the regular book ships; will wonders never cease? Apparently this is JMS' fault in this instance, though Coipel isn't the fastest man alive either. Loki continues to be corrupt Balder in a spectacularly unsubtle way; Balder's approaching Amadeus Cho levels of chumpery in this arc, as there is absolutely no reason why anyone should even be listening to Loki, let alone confiding in her. Now, Loki the manipulator usually requires some suspension of disbelief, since for him to doublecross people they need to have some level of trust from the heroes starting off. It just isn't being written especially well. We get a brief scene with Donald Blake and Jane Foster, progressing that story a bit (it is interesting how JMS seems set on reconciling this old Silver Age strand without impinging too much on later developments of Thor's character setup that did away with the disguise). But the scene that everyone will be talking about is the summoning of Steve Rogers' ghost. It's a very well-written discussion, with a really excellent design from Olivier Coipel that gives Ghost-Steve an ethereal appearance (the blue and the glowing star; wonderful), and it also offers some confirmation that Steve is actually dead, and not secreted away somewhere (although we're pointedly told that is spirit hasn't passed on). However, for JMS to be criticizing making Cap a political symbol is pretty rich, given his own past work. Anyway, another solid issue, although both in pacing and in production it could use a bit of speed.

I'm going to have to disagree on your Thor assertion. I thought it was one of the best books I've read in a long time. I loved the juxtaposition of the death in Asgard with the death of Captain America, it pushed the book forward, and the Cap interaction was haunting. This was at the very least my book of the week.

 

[Marcdachamp]

It's not JUST a bad annual. More like an overall bad year. Or Brand New Day...to be technical.

And you say 'move on'...try telling that to the rehashed storylines from the 70's repackaged and fed to guillable fans like you.

Here's a thought: Why don't you read the comics, or at the very LEAST find out about the comics, you're judging?

 

[arachnid-guy]

Here's a thought: Why don't you read the comics, or at the very LEAST find out about the comics, you're judging?

Seeing as I did find out, your point is moot.

Here's a thought: Why don't you realise a bad agenda's a bad agenda from the get-go and Marvel are d!cking themselves over. It's like watching a car crash in slow motion.

 

[Darthphere]

It's not JUST a bad annual. More like an overall bad year. Or Brand New Day...to be technical.

And you say 'move on'...try telling that to the rehashed storylines from the 70's repackaged and fed to guillable fans like you.

You realize TMOB was probably reading comics in the 70's right?

Leave being a *****ebag to me please, I'm much better at it.

 

[Darthphere]

Seeing as I did find out, your point is moot.

Here's a thought: Why don't you realise a bad agenda's a bad agenda from the get-go and Marvel are d!cking themselves over. It's like watching a car crash in slow motion.

Yes, a car crash involving two money trucks.

 

[Blader5489]

It's not JUST a bad annual. More like an overall bad year. Or Brand New Day...to be technical.

And you say 'move on'...try telling that to the rehashed storylines from the 70's repackaged and fed to guillable fans like you.

You really need to get on with your life.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Thor was great. It comes out so infrequently that I keep forgetting how great it is between issues. Cap's appearance was handled extremely well. I don't really care about the irony involved in JMS' past politicization of characters compared to what's going on here; the fact of the matter is, if you set your biases aside, he's completely right. If there were a hero beloved by both sides of the political spectrum and he died, each side would be claiming him as their own. The average American might be able to just accept Cap as a national hero and mourn his death without bringing politics into it, but pundits wouldn't because politicizing things is their job and they're jerks that way.

Anyway, the rest of the issue was good. While I'm also having a hard time believing Balder would be so easy to manipulate, I have to admit, Loki does make a compelling case. The gods have gone from having a whole dimension where their powers were at their height to a relatively small floating rock in the middle of a world they're not allowed to interact with in any meaningful way. Whatever Loki's done in the past is irrelevant; that's simply the truth of their situation. Taking that into consideration, I can see how Balder might consider Loki's words in spite of himself. He's always been the most introspective and intelligent of the gods, but rather than allowing him to see through Loki's clear attempt to turn him against Thor, it forces him to admit that there is some truth to what Loki's saying. So, fantastic issue but still not worth a two-month wait. They need to speed production of this series up because, frankly, for a series that moves so slowly, adding long gaps into the slow pace could be the kiss of death for today's short-attention-span-having readers.

SI: Thor wasn't as good as the main series. In fact, I was kind of disappointed with it overall. Bill comes back with no explanation, loses his awesome Omega Flight costume in favor of his tired old wannabe-Thor costume, and the Skrulls essentially piss all over the enchantments on his hammer and, by extension, Thor's. Also, Thor's been dumber than a bag of hammers in this mini. First he decides the birth of one human baby is somehow worth risking the lives of his entire race by not assisting them against a massive alien invasion, then when he finally shows up to the party, he pretty much gets his ass kicked and then just floats there and lets himself get blown up. He's got a hammer, too. Why didn't he, like, deflect Stormbreaker with it instead of just letting it smack him straight in the face? And when Asgard fell, why didn't Thor just levitate it with a wave of Mjolnir again, like he did initially?

Regardless, Thor came off as really stupid and Bill's off to parts unknown to wither away into obscurity again. He may show up in War of Kings or some future cosmic crossover, but I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see him again for a long time. I don't know why he couldn't have just stayed in Asgard and become part of the supporting cast, but whatever. Braithwaite's art is basically the only thing I enjoyed consistently in this mini. The rest was okay but nothing special. I think I prefer Fraction writing the previous Ragnarok cycles, when he has complete freedom to play with the Asgardians' characterizations however he wants.

Nova had a solid issue this week. One thing bothered me and I'll get it out of the way quickly: Quasar shouldn't be killing people. I know, I level this complaint against a lot of characters lately because it seems everyone's willing to kill for s***s and giggles now, but if there's one character who absolutely shouldn't be killing anyone, let alone vaporizing an entire roomful of people, it's Quasar. Remember why he was barred from really excelling in SHIELD again? What was it... oh yeah, he lacked a killer instinct. Kind of an important aspect of the character that he's not overly violent, but you'd never guess that from his casual annihilation of a dozen Skrulls in this issue.

That said, the rest of the issue was good. I'm glad the Worldmind is back, although I never doubted he would be. I seem to be reading him with Bill Nighy's voice lately, which suits him, I think. His face even sort of looks like Nighy's shriveled old face under that helmet. Anyway, Darkhawk doesn't do much other than alternate between total desperation and mindboggling surprise, but it's nice that he's there. He does make that one key comment about how Nova's totally different from the slacker he was on the New Warriors. Other than that... I don't know, I'm finding this arc a little underwhelming other than Quasar's return. But DnA have managed to keep the book going strong for about two years now, so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Avengers: The Initiative revealed that Tarene was a Skrull. That's a shame, but I've sort of gotten used to Slott and Gage introducing great characters only to f*** them over later. Symptom of working on a big important book at the center of the Marvel universe, I suppose. Given the Skrulls' apparent ease at f***ing up Thor's supporting characters, though, I'm starting to feel extremely glad Thor himself was dead when they were doing their infiltrating. They probably would've come after Thor and, given his SI: Thor characterization, he probably would've just stood there drooling like a ****** while they beat him halfway to death (with far less effort than it should take, I might add) and replaced him. But I'm just bitter. Without Tarene and with the focus shifted to a bunch of characters I don't really care about, I may end up dropping this. We'll see where it goes from here. Oh, and Gravity killing people is kind of f***ed up too, but he doesn't really have the history of nonlethality behind him that Quasar did, so I guess I can live with that. The art was good, even though it was a fill-in. Kurth sometimes draws sort of awkward poses, but he can tell a story ably and he's not Steve Uy, so I can't complain.

Bought a bunch of other stuff but haven't read it and probably won't for a while, since I also bought the Coraline graphic novel adaptation by P. Craig Russell, which will be getting my full attention for the next day or two.