bought/thought 16th august 2006

[hippy fascist]

C'mon people, spoilers please!!!!!

 

[Darthphere]

Oh no, should I pwn him guys, should I?

 

[hippy fascist]

please go right ahead

 

[Sentry2005]

Oh no, should I pwn him guys, should I?

Doo eet

 

[Darthphere]

please go right ahead

No, ill give you a free pass. Just consider this, what is the name of the thread you just created? Think about it.

 

[hippy fascist]

but I can't buy till tomorrow, uk shipping dates. And i need spoilers

and I know dread won't be able to resist the thread...he gives great spoilers

 

[Darthphere]

Then you be patient until someone has actually bought, and thought something

 

[Sentry2005]

but I can't buy till tomorrow, uk shipping dates. And i need spoilers

Well same here, but I don't go and make a thread that isn't as advertised and then ask for spoilers... I wait for someone (if no one else does it, Dread) to start one and then I read it Patience young fascist... patience

 

[Marcdachamp]

Runaways- PICK OF THE WEEK! Man, that ending had me a little scared at first. I'm really interested to see where it goes. Nico Minoru as the new Wanda? Interesting development. I also really liked Molly's conversation with the Leap Frog. It was pretty touching. All in all, a great issue. 9/10

Nextwave- I love this insanity. 9/10

Ultimate FF- And here I thought Land was only good at drawing really hot females. Turns out, he's also awesome at drawing Zombies eating Galactus. Cool stuff. 9/10

Sensational Spiderman- One issue in, and this looks a lot more interesting than Sacasa's first arc. I love the villians that we're seeing. Swarm, Will O' The Wisp, The Scarecrow (yes, Spidey also has a Scarecrow, lol), Chameleon and Molten Man? This should make for an interesting arc. Medina's art has improved a bit, but Clayton Crain would have been a much more suitable choice, in my humble opinion. 8/10

Transformers: Hearts of Steel- I love the designs by Guido Guidi. They still retain a classic feel, but they channel the spirit of the time-period very well. 8/10

Also Bought:

Family Guy and Spiderman Visionaries: Kurt Busiek.

 

[hippy fascist]

patience is for the weak, plus I have adhd so it would go against my nature

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Runaways - Awesome. Nico is back to her ****ish ways. I kinda wish the Leapfrog would have fallen on Molly and killed her somehow but still a great issue nonetheless. Not sure about that Godzilla splash page, that should be fun. 9/10

UFF - PICK OF THE WEEK. Doom and Reed saved the day! Great way to wrap up the arc. Doom admitting to making a mistake was the best part of the book for me And it's pretty safe to say that Doom is taking over Zombietown and we'll see him/them way sooner that when the planets line up. 10/10

 

[Darthphere]

Ha-ha, Bagley is leaving USM, I knew he just stayed on to beat Lee and Kirby.

 

[Doc Destruction]

NEXTWAVE RULES. That is all.

 

[Dread]

A slightly over average week for me (my "average" is about 5 comics these days), but a good solid week for me. Late books continues to be a trend at both sides, however. Naturally the ALL-STAR books continue to be late, and I'm not sure how long JUSTICE will continue to be on time. Meanwhile, Marvel announced that due to latenesses with CIVIL WAR #4, a few of the CW books will be late down the line, including ASM, FF, FRONTLINE, and some others down the line, stretching the event a few more months into 2007. DC's INFINITE CRISIS dragged on about 1-2 months later than solicted, but that was in the last two issues, and they kept most of the tie-in issues on-time, perhaps to the chagrin of some confused readers (I know BLUE BEETLE #1 was wonky before IC #6 came out). On the one hand, as a Marvel Fan, the CW delay is just another instance of Marvel being too optimistic with the time it takes to make issues and so their overzealous 70 chapter crossover event is backfiring because some books are slower than others. But on the other hand, with the obvious Left-Leaning Zeal of much of the series, and the overbaring agruements on both sides that we ALL could quote song and verse by now, maybe a little breather from CW will help it go down easier. Plus, not ALL the CW books will be delayed, just those that spring closely to the core title. CW: XM, YA/RUNAWAYS, WOLVERINE, MS. MARVEL, at least, should be fine.

Top Cow finally put out HUNTER/KILLER #6. This series, by Waid & Silvestri, first launched around summer 2004 I believe. That means 6 issues in almost two years, which is BATTLE CHASERS-esque in lateness. I have the first issues and despite the slowness of the first 3, actually liked the series, but I saw this today and my apathy combined with saving a few bucks led me to pass it. Maybe I'll get it next week if it's still there. If not...I won't shed a tear. The lateness just has killed all the things I felt were remotely interesting about it. To DC and Marvel, I call this a "cautionary tale".

As always, spoilers are unlimited. That means I'll post spoilers about anything related to these issues or other comics printed elsewhere on the entire planet. So whiners, read at your own risk.

DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT for 8/16/06:

52 WEEK #15: A good issue as usual, but it's funny how much effort WIZARD and some fans put into trying to guess "who dies" in this issue from solicts a few months back, because the cover makes it very obvious. So obvious that some folks felt it was a Red Herring, something that comes up a lot in comics. But nope, Booster sleeps the dirt nap in this issue. This finale to his run in 52 was good reading for me, but the fact that Booster had hardly shown up much in the past few issues sort of made it less shocking or impactful as it could have been, and some people may be miffed that it really WAS that obvious. The hero who was most expected to die, dies. That can make you feel a little unsatisfied. In a way, 52's plot thread with Booster Gold was a little bit of a turn back to his "tainted hero roots" after his genuine heroism from INFINITE CRISIS, and some may have felt disappointed by that, that after everything he accomplished in IC, Booster just went back to square one, being the Pete Rose of the DC stable of heroes. This time, however, Booster's turn down that road was allowed to come to it's full conclusion; the public finds out that he's a "cheater" who is hunting for glory and money as much as he fights against injustice, and his story comes to a violent end. That all said, I've enjoyed the Booster bits, probably because I'm a fair-weather DC fan, and still felt some sympathy towards him as he angrilly took on his more-noble rival, Supernova. Supernova (who isn't Kent or Gold himself) seemed to goad Booster on, and took a bit of a beating before Booster sacrifices himself to save Metropolis from an exploding nuke submarine. Granted, an explosion from that height would still flood Metropolis with debris and radiation, but whatever, it's a comic. At least he was a jerkwad who got to go out in a blaze of glory. I wonder how the media will read it, however. I guess the climax was meant to show Booster overcoming his confidence issues to become a true hero, but it still gave off the effect of Booster going for the "big save" to repair his rep about as much as to want to save everyone, and just this time he happened to die. Skeets' malfunctions with the time-stream continued, though, which may not bode well for the rest of the series. In the B-Plot, which is just as rivetting, Montoya is stuck in a Kahndaq prison, taking beatings and living in hellish conditions and even fears for "Charlie's" life, when good ol' Question pulls a suckerpunch that leads to their freedom. I saw it coming when the panel showed his empty cell, but it still made it cool to read. And I'd buy dumb prison guards falling for it a lot more than soldiers for the Baxtor Building in ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #32. A better issue than the last. Again, at this point you're either along for the ride or you're not. 52 is selling well for DC, but it can't dominate the Top 10 anymore like it did in May. And speaking of lateness, I hear that it's effecting the arrival times of the 5 writers' other comics. But I don't get 'em, so I care not.

CIVIL WAR: X-MEN #2: The lone CW book I got from a light CW week, this effort by Hine & Paquette seems only loosely tied with CW in general and more of an extention of the SENTINAL ONE/198 plotline that just so happened to occur during the CW business. The biggest problem of this plotline, a lot of it written by Hine, is that it has "The 198" mutants being treated like animals by "containment forces" that are obviously anti-mutant bigots, and for the longest time the X-Men just "followed orders" like Nazi doctors because they didn't want to rock the boat or be considered outlaws again. This sort of position seems to smack against what the X-Men are supposed to stand for (besides soap opera and endless sales), and so this series FINALLY has some X-Men, the remaining "original" team, stand up against oppression. Paquette's art is good, he draws the very GUNDAM-esque Sentinals well, but I still feel that "feline Beast" needs an official cat to look like, because some artists range from "panther" (as Paq does) to "housecat" (like Cassaday) to "lion" (like Quitely, who created the redesign), to "Thundercat" like Hairsine, and everything in-between. Imagine of no artist could agree on what hairstyle and mustache J. Jonah Jameson was supposed to have, and you'll see my point. A character needs a defined look for a reason and as Marvel obviously cares enough about that with someone like Wolverine, I don't know why a memo can't be passed about Beast. As another minor quibble, Marvel again can't seem to figure out how many mutants remain after M-Day; THE 198 claimed that 198 was a bit of an "estimate", but other sources claim that 10% out of "a few hundred thousand, a million maybe" remain, which would be far more than 198. But, whatever, I've written posts at length about what a lackluster waste of time DECIMATION really was, and not even many of the X-writers take it seriously (NEW X-MEN last week all but joked about how pointless the Sentinal ONE squad is). Hence, why these mini's need to exist.

As for the issue itself, it was good entertainment. Frost is returned to the Mansion by the bigger, badder Sentinal and Cooper seems to be becoming more zealous like her superiors. The X-Force refugees Domino and Shatterstar lead the 198 to an abandoned government bunker that has supplies circa the Cold War era. The X-Men (Cyke, Beast, Iceman & Angel) manage to escape a Sentinal and call Cap about where to find the 198, as he gave them the location of the bunker. Cap's involvement here is minor and seemed to be thrown in to tie into the CW plotline as well as provide a plot device for finding the 198 without spending an issue or two of detective work, or without a psychic. Bishop and his squad come across a dangerous situation; the President, under pressure from civil rights groups (which FINALLY seem to rally to defend mutants; in the real world, these groups cry if you prick the finger of an extremist ethnic terrorist, so the fact that they'd all sit back and let the gov't kill muties by the dozen has never sat well for me) is about to offer the 198 full pardons and allow the the same oppurtunities under the SHRA act as other metahumans (as well as probably the same cost if they refuse). This is a little problematic as some of the 198, like Toad, actually ARE criminals. So Bishop is fully prepared to just wait for the Pres. to sign that into law so they can save themselves a fight. Gen. Lazer, on the other hand, is your typical bigotted, Fascist-esque mutie-hater, who employs the powers of a guy who basically is Puppet Master-As-A-Mutant to control Cyclops and FORCE a fight between the X-Men, the 198 and Bishop's team. One important thing of note is that this book claims that Cyclops has the "potential" to kill Bishop, something that NEVER would have dared be written a decade ago when Bishop was hot ***** and all Cyke did was stand in the background and point, so it did the heart good. The next issue promises a fight, but naturally it is one via manipulation, and hopefully Lazer gets his comuppance at the end of the arc, or this may seem pointless. It's good to see some X-Men not being "nuetral" though, as they want to protect the 198 from being slaughtered by an overzealous ONE squad.

GHOST RIDER #2: The second issue in and Way has brought Johnny Blaze back from Hell (where Ennis left him), but alas, that has freed "The Devil" too, who seems intent on committing random acts of mass murder and goading Ghost Rider about it. Once again, the biggest problem is that Way seems to be using the ACTUAL "Devil" as the threat here, even though endless GR comics claimed that Marvel has no "Devil" and in fact the monniker of "Satan" or "Lucifer" are just aliases that other demons claim, including Mephisto who is the biggest of them all. So in that way it feels like a retcon by Way going, "no, no, there really is a Devil in Marvel and I'm using him!" The art by Texeira is probably the best part of the series, as the issue was enjoyable but nothing ground-breaking. Johnny finds himself back on Earth and mulling his fate, as well as running afoul of a female trucker who conviently happens to describe her entire life's story to a total friggin' stranger (the flaw of many movies). While he is on the motal plane, apparently Satan isn't at full power yet and instead is taking on the forms of dead people from Hell while attempting to commit random acts of mass murder, in this case killing a van full of people. A little low-grade for Satan, but whatever. GR throws him a beating but is unable to save the hostages, and at the end bumps into Dr. Strange, who demands to know his name; which makes sense because more than one have claimed to be Ghost Rider in the past. Speaking of which, apparently the Blaze-incarnation of the Rider has gained the appearence and chain-powers that defined the Ketch version, but Way didn't invent that progression, so it's fine (Devin Grayson and Warren Ennis paved the way for that). As an intro arc, it works by filling you in on the origin and getting GR back on Earth while playing with some of his past stuff, like his status as a famous daredevil and Dr. Strange knowing him. Nothing groundbreaking, but good GR fun. He's surely had a lot worse.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #32: Mark Millar's last issue of his year-long run on the book (which he co-wrote and launched with Bendis for their first arc), and I am going to miss him terribly on it. Ult. FF wasn't like some of his other work, not as cynical, crude, or Extremist Liberal, focusing on imaginative science and action along with character development, and it really kicked this book up a few notches after Ellis' decent but plodding (and flawed) run. Land's art is a little static and made the book run late at times, but it still came out about once a month or so. This one issue not only wraps up the FRIGHTFUL arc, but abolishes Ellis' tainted version of "Van Damme" and brings about an Ultimate Doom that kicks all levels of arse...in one mere issue (or two if you count the last). And at arcs that ran some 3 issues each, a lot got to happen. Doom swapped bodies with Reed in a Faustian bid to humilate him when he asked for a cure for Johnny, but in the end Doom makes a miscalculation and instead unleashes the N-Zone critter from Johnny into this mortal plane, further cementing the bit that Doom's mistake DID lead to creating the Four, he just is too stubborn to admit it. And NO ONE seems to write arrogant powerhouses like Millar does, as Doom outshines even Namor in that department. He doesn't explain how Doom undid the "spikey, goat-legged" form (although he still spits a flame-******ing foam from his mouth), but you're left to assume that it doesn't matter, as between science and mystical tomes from Atlantis, Doom could pretty much do anything he really wanted. Despite the fact that they have the title graces, the Frightful Four (the Zombie Four) seem to take a back seat here to Doom. Reed DEMOLISHES them in Victor's form, and then Victor travels into their dimension as a way of attoning some glory after screwing up with Johnny. He even swaps bodies back with Reed, showing that even as a jerkwad, he does have some honor to him. Him claiming that an entire planet full of zombies would be a mere "challenge" was all sorts of awesome. The book ends a far better one that it was when Millar came on and I seriously don't want him to leave, especially since Carey shows a hint of his stuff with ANNUAL #2 and he's not as good. Millar managed a great blend of action, suspence, drama, and imagination on this book and save for ANNUAL #1, was a terrific run.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #2: Mike Carey, who will be the lead writer on UFF for the forseeable future with #33, shows off more of his chops for the team here. He's written them before, in a two issue arc between Ellis and Millar's runs that introduced Ultimate Mad Thinker, as well as the Ultimate X4 two-parter that teamed up the FF with the X-Men for some awkward reason and gave Thinker a sendoff. Some people are hard on him, and while he clearly isn't as good as Millar was on this title, he's fine for satisfying F4 action romps, which play to the strengths of a dynamic artist. His first 2 parter with Jae Lee wasn't so keen because that's not his strength, but with someone as energetic as Ferry or Immonen here, it reads fine. This issue is basically a rematch with the Mole Man, as the cover suggests. Moley kidnaps some more "think tank" whizkids from another facility to offer them the chance to help him build his underworld into a Paradise, much like he offered the Four (who refused). This issue also went over his origin, and I felt Carey protrayed Moley as a delightfully eccentric villian, although he takes some "imaginative science" bits and goes too far into outright Silver Age ridiculousness, like "turning your sister into a lungfish". In a way his style is closer to Ellis', but he's not as decompressed, which is a godsend. The Four beat Mole Man, but the kids decide to stick with his underworld to escape the army, who only want to use their intellects to make weapons, which I felt was accurate. The first thing we always do with technology and science is, "how can ____ kill someone?", and that's not just the U.S., that's the entire world (which Carey seems to suggest by showing the Soviets were just as interested in that as the current Gen. Ross). I enjoyed this more than the last annual, and while I doubt Carey can match Millar's run, he at least may keep the book entertaining. He wants to infuse more "space" stuff into the title, which is fine because that's their element. Nothing groundbreaking, but an entertaining adventure story, and really, that's not so bad. Not everything needs to be.

RUNAWAYS #19: As usual, I save the best for last when this book comes out, and as usual it doesn't disappoint. Norton comes on for a 3 issue stint for Alphona, and while Alphona is creditted as the series' co-creator, I honestly like Norton's art a lot more. He manages to draw teenagers, machines, and big monsters all well while having it all tie together; sometimes Alphona wasn't his best when drawing monsters or other superheroes (he drew the skinniest Iron Man in recent memory). I liked Norton's art in GRAVITY so I'm glad to see him here. At least we'll get good fill-in art before Alphona returns. There is a mild continuity quibble, but that's not Vaughan's fault; this issue doesn't tie in well with YA/RUNAWAYS at all. Chase has outright run away from the team to strike out on his own master plan, and it's not at all involved with CW. That's fine to me as I was getting CW overload, and I guess Marvel doesn't want to confuse the digest audience, whose sales are what is keeping this book afloat (RUNAWAYS sells at the Bottom of the Top 100 and would have been canned by now if not for good digest sales). It's not that big a deal but can be a bit awkward if you think about it too much. The CW mini must take place at some time later when Chase inevitably returns, but that may not be a sure thing for all we know. Oh, well. The team is left reacting to the death of Gert in their own ways, from Nico turning to the arms of Victor (as she usually does, turning to empty lust when confused emotionally, like a lot of teenage girls that fans NEVER dated, otherwise they wouldn't be lambasting Nico as a "****e" while countless male heroes do the same for less honest reasons), to Molly talking to the Leapfrog's computer, to Karolina explaining Earth notions of mourning to Xavin. Speaking of Xavin, people gave Zeb Wells hell when he wasn't in "female" form 24/7 in that book, but lookie here, he takes on male form quite a lot in this book, too, which is all BKV. Xavin's real form IS male, he simply takes on female form to please his love, Karolina and to display emotion to her. The detective from Volume One returns and hands an old antique shop owner a mystical item that turns him into a rather generic "I EXIST TO GET BEATEN"-esque monster to pull the team out of their doldrums to fight evil. Meanwhile, Chase tracks down Lotus of the New Pride to put her to work for his new plan, which going by the title and flashbacks may or may not be an attempt to "raise" Gert from the dead. As death has been starved off on Marvel's Earth many times by other heroes, Chase certainly has a right to try. I can definately see more of his "dark side" that he mentioned before coming out, as when he was all but scary in this short interlude (I actually thought the girl was getting stabbed until the last panel). The cover is also striking as usual, RUNAWAYS has always had a series of some great covers. I don't mind RUNAWAYS being seperate from CW because the mini gives fans more "closeness" if they want it, and the title is BKV's baby and they don't always interact well with others. The RUNAWAYS/X-MEN one shot was a little silly, for instance, even at 10 pages. The title is good enough for BKV to remain unmolested so he can go about his merry business, much like Whedon at ASTONISHING does, and that's fine. In fact, that's part of why I enjoy it, besides the fact that it's one of Marvel's best titles that deserves to sell better. Sadly, it's not, despite a FREE COMIC BOOK DAY promotion and a CW title. Grrr.

 

[Dread]

and I know dread won't be able to resist the thread...he gives great spoilers

Nope, I can't. B/T threads for me are like females tied to train-tracks to superheroes. Good bait.

Colossal Spoons continues to beg for Molly's death. That may be a while. C'mon, is she really any worse than Jubilee was?

Ha-ha, Bagley is leaving USM, I knew he just stayed on to beat Lee and Kirby.

Where'd you see this? First I am hearing of it.

I didn't want Bagley to leave USM. If anything I would have wanted a new writer even more. Bendis is just too damned predictable at times. But, I hope Mark Brooks takes his place. That'd be my pick.

 

[Darthphere]

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=80788

 

[GNR]

Ultimate Fantastic Four #32-This is it,the end of one of the greatest runs in the Ultimate U.Millar and Land have given us a back to basics F4 comic book without any Civil War or any drama.This is Stan and Jack's F4 done in the new millenium.I'm going to miss this team very much,it's a sad day indeed,but kudos to all involved with this book.

This issue goes out with a bang.Every page keeps you guessing,especially with what the hell Doom was up to.Great action and humor as always,this was the balls.

Millar's had alot of memorable runs while at Marvel,some not so good,some completely amazing.When it's all said and done,this will go down as one of his best and most memorable runs period.Whether you love or hate the Ultimate U,his and Land's UF4 will be essential Fantastic Four reading.No Civil War threatening to break up the group,no divorce issues,nothing.Simply the F4 as dysfunctional family adventurers with out of this world ideas and action.Jack would be proud.

Iron Man #11-This is probably one of Marvel's most overlooked monthlies.Ever since the Knaufs took over,they've made this a great international action epic with great action and crisp dialogue.In this one,all _hit hits the fan at the summit and we finally see that _ucker with the laptop get what he deserves.But even after that,stuff does not look good.The Knaufs have proven their credibility as comic writers.

 

[Dread]

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=80788

Bummer. Like they said, few artists can match 18 issues a year. Or 12 issues. Or 5. What? 21st century artists are slower than molassus. Give me Buschema any day, yeah, you can't see the wrinkles on J.J.'s nose for he was never late on SENSATIONAL, was he? I'd rather a timely comic than something Photoshopped and color-editted to death. Fans these days are too perfectionist, IMO.

 

[Dread]

Ultimate Fantastic Four #32-This is it,the end of one of the greatest runs in the Ultimate U.Millar and Land have given us a back to basics F4 comic book without any Civil War or any drama.This is Stan and Jack's F4 done in the new millenium.I'm going to miss this team very much,it's a sad day indeed,but kudos to all involved with this book.

This issue goes out with a bang.Every page keeps you guessing,especially with what the hell Doom was up to.Great action and humor as always,this was the balls.

Millar's had alot of memorable runs while at Marvel,some not so good,some completely amazing.When it's all said and done,this will go down as one of his best and most memorable runs period.Whether you love or hate the Ultimate U,his and Land's UF4 will be essential Fantastic Four reading.No Civil War threatening to break up the group,no divorce issues,nothing.Simply the F4 as dysfunctional family adventurers with out of this world ideas and action.Jack would be proud.

I agree. His UFF run has seemed to go largely underrated compared to other stuff, but it didn't have the problems of a lot of his other works and so I enjoyed it a lot more.

 

[MyPokerShirt]

Top Cow finally put out HUNTER/KILLER #6. This series, by Waid & Silvestri, first launched around summer 2004 I believe. That means 6 issues in almost two years, which is BATTLE CHASERS-esque in lateness. I have the first issues and despite the slowness of the first 3, actually liked the series, but I saw this today and my apathy combined with saving a few bucks led me to pass it. Maybe I'll get it next week if it's still there. If not...I won't shed a tear. The lateness just has killed all the things I felt were remotely interesting about it. To DC and Marvel, I call this a "cautionary tale".

*camps outside comic shop waiting for long lost issue*

 

[GNR]

I agree. His UFF run has seemed to go largely underrated compared to other stuff, but it didn't have the problems of a lot of his other works and so I enjoyed it a lot more.

Definitely.

Another thing,usually alot of people tend to shy away from anything Ultimate U when it comes to looking for definitive runs of favorite characters.I hope this isn't the case with Millar's UF4.This is the Fantastic Four at it's purest and most imaginitive.

I agree with Dread,Millar's been great on this title.He's shown us a real far out side to his writing which I wish to see more of.

 

[Kool-Aid]

Anybody buy Phonogram?

 

[Hush]

I Bought the first Volume to The Preacher today. Yes I realize im quite late to pick this up but it is possibly one of the greatest writings I have ever read. I also read ION seeing as I have been reading it and I just have to say WOW what a great series totally amazing.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Colossal Spoons continues to beg for Molly's death. That may be a while. C'mon, is she really any worse than Jubilee was?

I detest her as well


Civil War X-Men - Way better than the last issue, and we get a showdown next issue. On thing though: CYCLOPS' OPTIC BLAST IS NOT FIRE!!!! He calls for a tag team move with bobby called "Fire and Ice" and he "burns" Bishop at the end. Gog, I hate that writers still confuse concussive with heat. 7/10

 

[Colossal Spoons]

*camps outside comic shop waiting for long lost issue*

Yup, I guess I gotta go back and get it tomorrow. The tardiness of this book is really testing my interest level.