Bought/Thought 11/19

[TheCorpulent1]

Maybe he was Banner's son but raised by Logan.

 

[Darthphere]

Ironically, the reviewers on Comic Book Club (used to be The Stack) think The Walking Dead got much better when it returned to being about Rick and Carl on the road, alone against the world. I was actually quite happy when the cast was expanding and they were trying to come up with practical solutions about how to live in this new world they'd found themselves in. Now that the book's returned to the tried-and-true formula of survivors wandering through the wilderness trying to reach safety, I'm losing interest a little bit. The new characters Kirkman's introduced are kind of cool, especially that big dude who's a f***ing savage but also a really nice, decent guy, but marching toward Washington in an effort to shut the zombie plague down at its source? Eh... feels a little too Sci-Fi-movie-of-the-weekish to me.

As for MTU, I loved it but I was disappointed that Kirkman gave Freedom Ring so much attention in it. Marvel Team-Up's about taking Marvel characters and pairing them up with other Marvel characters, not creating new characters and centering a whole arc on them. That's what mini-series are for.

Right on about Walking Dead, I still like it but talk about a step backwards.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

What do you think of the new guys? That scientist guy is definitely squirrely.

 

[Darthphere]

Eh, he's fun now, but he has the potential of getting annoying sooner than later.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah. I'm just glad Glenn's still alive. Yay for Glenn.

 

[Darthphere]

Glenn reminds me of you.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Glenn's way too nice to be me.

 

[Darthphere]

Please Corp, you're a ****ing teddy bear.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Fine, Glenn's too bald and skinny to be me.

 

[SouLeSS]

Robin was good, like some predicted, The General was the one in the Red Robin costume. Tim's becomming more and more of a hardass as this book's gone along, especially these past few issues, though it doesn't really seem like it's going to end anytime soon.

Maybe this Anarky issue or two will change that, but when the end page has [blackout]the warehouse he just walked into blow up[/blackout] it kind of kills the 'excitement' when you know 4 issues later the series is going to be over, so you know he'll be alright.

Booster gold from last week was good, though I feel myself wanting to drop it since the creative switch. Just seems like it's going to be Booster getting into time shenanigans that cause more shenanigans for him to get into, with no real direction. I liked the evil time masters when the book first started, but Starro as the main baddy is just meh. I mean, he's a giant starfish. Pretty lame.

X-Factor finally got a much needed art change, and it really makes the book about a 10x better read (for me at least). Oh, and Maddrox continues to be a complete and total badass. AND, for the first time in what seems like...well since I started picking this book up, Guido actually did something other than walked around like a lummox.

Titans sucks, dropping it because it's just not a fun book and seems way to forced. Oh no Jericho is stuck inside of Match let's help him OH WAIT NOW MATCH IS ATTACKING BUT JERICHOS TRYING TO STOP HIM cue Cyborg with a giant gun straight from the 90's, and Jerichos all LOL IM EVIL NOW I POSSESED ONE OF YOU! *yawn*

Kingdom Come: Magog. I like Tomasi's work. A lot. Hell, I picked up his Black Adam story, as well as just about anything else he's written that I didn't have. I think he's a very gifted writer, but this book just didn't do anything for me. Someday I can see him turning into one of the "big names" in comics, say a few years from now if DC gives him a higher calibur book than The Lameass Outsiders, but I digress. Maybe I just don't care about the character or his back story/origin, but something was just off. Maybe there were just way to many thought boxes to go through, who knows. It was still decent, but overall has no real urgency or need to of been read for the story.

Meh.

 

[SUPER MARVELMAN]

Maybe he was Banner's son but raised by Logan.

That probably it.

 

[iloveclones]

Booster gold from last week was good, though I feel myself wanting to drop it since the creative switch. Just seems like it's going to be Booster getting into time shenanigans that cause more shenanigans for him to get into, with no real direction. I liked the evil time masters when the book first started, but Starro as the main baddy is just meh. I mean, he's a giant starfish. Pretty lame.

I don't mind the new team that much, but I have an oddball suggestion with two disclaimers: one, I'm not much of a DC guy anymore, so what do I know, and two, I know this guy's luster has really been tarnished, but I think a good fit for BG would be...

...Judd Winnick. Exiles is really where he made a lot of fans, and these are really the same kind of stories. Let him play in DC's Sandbox, and see if he can work the same magic. I mean, Booster's ranked in the 80's and has dropped below 30K. What could it hurt?

 

[iloveclones]

Oh, and with an outfit like that, odds are that Booster's gay anyway. So that should appeal to JW also.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I'd stop reading Booster Gold if Winick started writing. He's used up all his chances between Outsiders, Green Arrow, and Trials of Shazam.

 

[SouLeSS]

I liked Trials. Granted, it reads a lot better as 1 collective story instead of an issue here, wait 9 weeks, another issue, wait 2 weeks, another...terrible scheduling on that one.

 

[Dread]

No Winnick on BOOSTER GOLD. I mean, yes, he kicked ass on EXILES, but that was over five years ago. There seriously needs to be a 5 year limit on kissing ass for past work; there isn't in the biz and that is why former legends turned hacks haven't retired ages ago. I hear Jurgens is coming back on BG, and that sounds solid. But I could be wrong.

 

[Manic]

No Winnick on BOOSTER GOLD. I mean, yes, he kicked ass on EXILES, but that was over five years ago. There seriously needs to be a 5 year limit on kissing ass for past work; there isn't in the biz and that is why former legends turned hacks haven't retired ages ago. I hear Jurgens is coming back on BG, and that sounds solid. But I could be wrong.

*coughMillercough*

 

[iloveclones]

No Winnick on BOOSTER GOLD. I mean, yes, he kicked ass on EXILES, but that was over five years ago. There seriously needs to be a 5 year limit on kissing ass for past work; there isn't in the biz and that is why former legends turned hacks haven't retired ages ago. I hear Jurgens is coming back on BG, and that sounds solid. But I could be wrong.

Nah, I still kiss me a little Byrne ass, and he hasn't done anything for a lot longer than 5 years.

 

[fifthfiend]

I think Dread's limit is less for people who haven't done much for five years and more for people who have actively produced **** for five years.

 

[iloveclones]

I haven't really read any Winnick since he left Marvel (although I hear he's raised suck to a whole new level.)

 

[Dread]

*coughMillercough*

True.

Nah, I still kiss me a little Byrne ass, and he hasn't done anything for a lot longer than 5 years.

I don't.

I think Dread's limit is less for people who haven't done much for five years and more for people who have actively produced **** for five years.

Also true.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Avengers/Invaders #6

Yeah, this is starting to bore me. There are a bunch of weird tangents going on here, and still not a whole lot of progress on the central plot. Krueger and Ross's Justice series was a real classic, but so far this isn't hitting anywhere close to that. In part, I suspect the problem is the decision to tell this story within the mainstream continuity, which both saddles them with characters (and probably a status quo) that the two of them aren't all that interested in (the Sentry, most notably, which is a perennial problem; the Human Torch literally makes him cry fire this issue to get him out of the way), and strands the story in a place in time where it's clearly not going to matter that much (this is pre-SI, so it was really out of date at the point when it came out, even). It's competently done, but it's not an event, which is what it really should have been.

Fantastic Four #561

Millar and Hitch's second arc finishes up; it's too bad the inking delays have knocked off the schedule, since it'll forever botch the writer/artist's attempts to free themselves from the reputation for lateness. Anyway, the ending is what you'd guess: Old Sue dies. With Millar, it's almost surprising that he goes for the quiet way, and doubtless some will criticize him for that, but those same people would criticize him for killing Real Sue, so he can't win. Anyway, I don't think the conclusion was quite as strong as the beginning, but it's well-done. The solution to the future population is simple and works, and, as Millar said he intended, leaves open a location for future stories (though I also forsee Nu-Earth being ignored a lot in places where it might come up; but then, them's the breaks). Hitch's art is really good; in the first few issues, I thought it was a bit below standard, but now it's working great.

Terra #2

Terra herself is still a pretty generic character (distinctive personality trait: terse refusal to do anything other than be a superhero), but the story is fun. Amanda Conner's art is probably the single-biggest selling point for the series, and it's her ususal fun stuff (with a lot of T&A, but it's drawn by a woman, so it's okay); Power Girl guests, so you get another preview of what the upcoming Power Girl series will probably feel like. And I do like all the villains that Palmiotti and Gray come up with; they do a good job giving Terra a ready-made corner of the universe.

Uncanny X-Men #504

I've been extremely ambivalent about this series since Matt Fraction showed up; the first arc didn't meet the standards of either man's previous work, though it wasn't as bad as many said; the biggest problems were a ridiculously in-your-face "hip" atmosphere and the corrosively bad art of Greg Land (and also, no really bad take on Pixie). Both of those seem to have left the building; Terry Dodson's on art, and does a great job (I particularly loved the design for flapper Emma); and everybody seems more in character, and there's less pointing out of how cool everything is. Like they did in Immortal Iron Fist with Amazing Man, they also reach back into the Golden Age and revive the ultra-obscure Dr. Nemesis, recruited to help fight M-Day (nice to see some advancement of that plot).

X-Men: Worlds Apart #2

Storm's spotlight miniseries by Chris Yost hits issue 2, pitting Storm against the Shadow King for what must be the millionth time, although they vary things up by making his plot a judgement of her current Wakandan status quo and by suggesting Storm won't be having any telepathic assistance in this particular fight. Yost is well-known for having extensive knowledge of Marvel continuity, and he takes the opportunity to revive a bunch of Christopher Priest-introduced stuff that Reggie Hudlin discarded with his usual care and attention: most notably, T'Challa's two female bodyguards/wives-in-training. He also picks up on Nehzno, the minor New X-Men castmember from Wakanda. Fans of Storm will doubtless like this; it's nothing special so far, but the art is great, and it's competently done. Given that big changes appear on the horizon for BP's status quo, it will be interesting to see if this series will have anything to do with it.

 

[Manic]

Fantastic Four #561

Millar and Hitch's second arc finishes up; it's too bad the inking delays have knocked off the schedule, since it'll forever botch the writer/artist's attempts to free themselves from the reputation for lateness. Anyway, the ending is what you'd guess: Old Sue dies. With Millar, it's almost surprising that he goes for the quiet way, and doubtless some will criticize him for that, but those same people would criticize him for killing Real Sue, so he can't win. Anyway, I don't think the conclusion was quite as strong as the beginning, but it's well-done. The solution to the future population is simple and works, and, as Millar said he intended, leaves open a location for future stories (though I also forsee Nu-Earth being ignored a lot in places where it might come up; but then, them's the breaks). Hitch's art is really good; in the first few issues, I thought it was a bit below standard, but now it's working great.

You have your posts set to WYSIWYG, don't you?

Anyway, I have to actually commend Millar for writing a relatively quiet Fantastic Four story. I'm so used to him trying to make everything bigger than life, that this was a pleasant change-up. The fact that he didn't kill the real Sue shows a lot of restraint on his part.

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

I'll spare everyone the 184 comics I picked up at the Nationals this past weekend.

BOUGHT:
AGE OF SENTRY #3
AVENGERS INVADERS #6
BATGIRL #5
BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #13
BRAVE AND THE BOLD #19
DEADPOOL #4
FANTASTIC FOUR #561
FOOLKILLER WHITE ANGELS #5
IRON MAN #35
INVINCIBLE #55
JSA SPECIAL MAGOG #1
MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS #30
MOON KNIGHT #24
PUNISHER #64
RAAN THANAGAR HOLY WAR #7
RED SONJA #39
ROBIN #180
SPIRIT #23
SPIRIT SPECIAL #1
SUPERGIRL #35
SUPERMAN SUPERGIRL MAELSTROM #2
TANGENT #9
TERRA #2
TRINITY #25
UNCANNY X-MEN #504
X-FACTOR #37
X-MEN LEGACY #218
X-MEN WORLDS APART #2
YOUNG X-MEN #8

THOUGHT:
AGE OF SENTRY #3 - Loving how they recapture the feel of the old 60s books, right down to advertising Millie's wardrobe choices. Although, if it wasn't for the recent reprint of her book in the Milestones series, me and others of my generation would likely not have known that.

BATGIRL #5 - Enjoying this so far. Although it'd be interesting to know how everyone and their mothers know where the BOPs are hanging out now since in their series they did all they could to PREVENT that knowledge. A little more inconsistency in the story to go with the all-new, all-different BG I've been hearing about?

BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #13 - Speaking of different BGs, she's just about got her new Outsiders assembled and Nightwing ain't too thrilled about it. I hafta say, this book's been pretty interesting since it started. Hope it can keep up the steam with all the changing dynamics.

FANTASTIC FOUR #561 - This run has been a tremendous turd. Sorry, but not only don't they capture the feel of the FF, but this did TWO stories that have only recently been DONE already. I can't wait for the next creative team to bring the FUN back to this book.

IRON MAN #35 - War Machine kicks some ass and paves the way for his new series. Hopefully, Pak does a better job with it than he's done with Skaar, the BORING son of Hulk. As always, I'll give it a story arc to catch my interest or else, bye bye.

MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS #30 - This issue was pretty funny, funniest it's been in a long time. I'm loving Tigra's into and hope they keep that fun going with the rest of the issue's she's in.

PUNISHER #64 - The mystery villain revealed! So far, this run isn't Ennis', so I'm not sure what to make of it. It feels different which works against the whole ability to judge fairly. But, best guess would have me say it's pretty good so far. We'll see how it progresses.

ROBIN #180 - Red Robin revealed, as things are getting uglier! I'm enjoying these last few issues of Robin. Dunno if I like it enough to get the full run, but I'm enjoying these at least.

SPIRIT #23 - Seriously, weren't Ellen and Spirit an item in Cooke's run? I seem to recall that. Otherwise, another fun issue in the Spirit fashion.

SPIRIT SPECIAL #1 - I've heard the name, rarely seen any of Eisner's work. Gotta say, he really was ahead of his time. For stories out of the 40s, the art was incredibly dynamic. Also, how it read was very similar to how the current book is running, which helps give the new series that timeless feel for sure.

SUPERGIRL #35
SUPERMAN SUPERGIRL MAELSTROM #2 - The first issue showed promise, this one was kinda pointless.

TRINITY #25 - This book is starting to get conveluted and confusing again. A danger when you're dealing with such a large cast AND magic.

X-FACTOR #37 - A new artist! YES! Now I can start to enjoy this book again, which I thoroughly did with this issue. The Multiple Man mystery is coming along nicely, and it looks like his world's about to go to all kindsa hell.

X-MEN LEGACY #218 - Not a bad story, but I'm still not impressed with Dakken and I'm still dropping Origins once it's over. Biggest mistake next to Wolvie and the atomic bomb.

X-MEN WORLDS APART #2 - Pretty much a fight issue with not much story progression. Gotta love that decompressed storytelling. In the old days, coulda had issue 1 and 2 in the same issue. That's all I see when I read stories like this now.

YOUNG X-MEN #8 - This series has been pretty meh thus far, but from Guggenheim I'm not surprised. Mr. Wolverine can survive a point blank atomic explosion. A couple more issues, then I axe it from my pull-list.

 

[CaptainCanada]

You have your posts set to WYSIWYG, don't you?

I don't follow.