By my own admission, my reviews suck. I have two:
I really liked that issue.
I really didn't like that issue.
Not much to talk about other than that.
But *****ing? I can do that as well as anyone else.
Negative reviews are all about *****ing. That's why they're so much fun.
But this week I don't really have much to say. I bought $30 worth of comics and enjoyed almost all of them. So the rest of my reviews will be short:
Avengers: The Initiative #11
Eh. That about sums up my feelings. The arc wasn't bad overall, but I disliked a lot of things. Among them:
1) Tarene getting killed off with one blast in a really stupid, sacrificial lamb sort of way. You can feel the utter disregard for her as a character dripping from that scene, given that she died in a way that
only characters the writer perceives as useless third-stringers die. No build-up, no emotion--just a feeling of, "Hey, we needed someone to die for a cheap shock, so we threw this chick who'll never have her own comic in there." Sad.
2) Rhodey being a cyborg. What the ****? Seriously. Rhodey's fall from grace has been pretty terrible to watch. He goes from being Iron Man's right-hand man, to his own man and a strong leader in his own right in his own comic and The Crew, to some government stooge training Sentinels for ONE, to the oblivious idiot in charge of Camp Hammond who can't even see the blatant corruption going on under him, to a goddamn cyborg? Ugh.
3) Another reminder that Slapstick is somehow devoid of all morals and a borderline villain. Never mind the fact that, weird though he may be, he consciously chose to be a hero and help people in his own comic. Not the greatest hero, granted, but not outright insane or vengeful to the degree that Slott's made him in A:TI. Oh, and electricity makes him stronger, so I'm a bit confused on how any charge from the Tactigon would actually turn him into a puddle of goo.
All that aside, though, there were a lot of good moments. Hardball and Komodo were good, the return of the New Warriors was good, Gyrich's realization that he's probably going down for his involvement in KIA's creation was good, and the resolution to the whole thing was good. I really liked the character arc we got with Cloud 9's descent from a normal, happy girl to a living weapon at the hands of the Initiative.
So, overall, the good and the bad kind of canceled each other out. I've lost the enthusiasm I had for this title every month, but it's still got a lot going for it, so I'll keep reading. Caselli's art is a big draw, since he can make even the parts I don't like look jaw-droppingly awesome. I'm looking forward to the new recruits and, hopefully, some internal attempt to clean up the Initiative's hypocritical act. Looking forward to more with Justice and, I guess, "Counter-Force" (dumb name). Dreading the ultimate resolution of Slapstick's taking that headgear, since it seems like the only way for it to end is with him abusing it and venturing further into villain territory. We'll see how it goes.
Captain America #37: Issues like this are basically the reason I read comics. The format of the medium is so well suited to ongoing character interaction and development. We get to see both Hawkeye and the Falcon's reactions to Bucky's appointment as the new Captain America, and both are 1) exactly what you'd expect and 2) great. I hope Brubaker gets to use Hawkeye some more in the future--he's more likeable here than he has been in any of the New Avengers issues I've read. Looking forward to the new Cap and same old Falcon duo, too.
The Flash #239: I'm officially digging Peyer's Flash. Ironically, his run so far has reminded me far more of Waid's classic Flash run than Waid's recent run did. He gets the balance of Wally's light-heartedness, the serious problems he faces, and the familial aspect of the character just right. Not too much of the kids, but they're also not entirely ignored. The return of Jay Garrick in a major supporting role is quite welcome, too. If Peyer could somehow work around Jesse Quick's schedule with the JSA to include her as well, I'd be forever grateful. Even without Jesse, though, I'm enjoying the Flash more than I have since Johns left the title a few years ago. Great work by Peyer. All we need to do now is replace Freddie Williams with a better artist and the Flash's comic could really take off again.
Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #28: Figured I'd start including the subtitle now, since I think it'll become an official subtitle as soon as Fraction's title starts. Speaking of which, you can keep Fraction's title; this is the only sort of Iron Man story I need. I've always loved seeing superhero comics mix a bit of politics in--my love for Brubaker's Captain America, Rucka's Checkmate, and Jurgens' King Thor Saga can attest to that--and the Knaufs are masterfully weaving politics, action, nostalgia, and intrigue together here into some fantastic comics. If this is what Marvel meant when they said that the Marvel universe wouldn't be the same after Civil War, then I wholeheartedly recant any negative comments or scoffing I may have thrown their way at the time. De La Torre's art keeps getting better and better, too. I almost don't even miss Guice, and, given my love for Guice's art, that's high praise.
WWH Aftersmash: Warbound #5: Damn it, Pak, you were doing
so well. This issue was an abject disappointment. The rest of the mini had been fun and engaging, but this issue dashes it all away. All we get is a stupid redux of the Planet Hulk ending--the Warbound think they've won, but then the Leader turns it around, Hiroim dies, and the Oldpower gets transferred to yet another person. This time, unlike the tragic and emotional transfer from Caiera to Hiroim, we get a crappy death for Hiroim and then Kate Waynesboro gets the Oldpower. Which, given that Hiroim was easily the best character of the Warbound, basically sucks. Bleh. If anyone was trade-waiting on this (which I doubt), I'd suggest just reading #1 through 4 and pretending #5 doesn't exist.
X-Factor #30: Good issue. It was nice to see Arcade back, and although I was hoping we'd get a showdown between him and the newly re-energized X-Factor, but the ending we got instead was a nice twist. I'm looking forward to how that pans out. I'm kind of looking forward to X-Factor's crossover with She-Hulk more than the rest of this arc, though. The guest-artist for this issue, Valentine De Landro, was
awesome. Seriously, Marvel needs to knock this fill-in crap off and get him a regular gig
yesterday. Really solid, expressive artwork, and he can do action very well.
DMZ #30: Awesome, as usual. While it's rare to find clearly discernible themes in superhero comics, given that they have so much going on and such an action-oriented pedigree, Wood never fails to make his point clear without beating you over the head with it. This arc's theme deals with the dilemma of the press' vaunted objectivity from multiple angles, as well as furthering the political complexity of the DMZ world as a whole. The one-shots focusing on various characters were a great lead-in to "Blood in the Game," since they basically gave you a series of slice-of-life looks at how things operate in the DMZ under the current order while "Blood in the Game" is all about the potential of ushering in a new order. Wood's doing a great job of making Delgado an interesting, charismatic character in his own right, but he also embodies, I think, a literal version of the perception ascribed to Barack Obama in the current, real-life election. I'm never quite sure if all of the things I see in DMZ are intentional or not, but I love Wood for putting the comic together in such a way that it doesn't matter. It speaks on a lot of different levels beyond just the entertaining story that it is. Truly a great comic--the kind that elevates the medium as a whole.
Wow. Guess I had more to say than I thought.
