Another lonely Valentine's Day but at least that frees me up to discuss the week's comics in my usual elongated way. Yay me?
It was a pretty good week overall with some SECRET INVASION revelations and the launch of an A-List creator run on FF. How'd it do?
As always, Worldmind suggests Spoiler Levels at Global.
Dread's BOUGHT/THOUGHT for 2/13/08:
BOOSTER GOLD #0: Titled as a ZERO HOUR tie-in about a decade after Zero Hour ended, I just am curious as to how this will effect the numbering of subsequent issues of BOOSTER GOLD. The DC website claims the next issue will be #7, and last month was #6, but this #0 issue doesn't take place before issue #1. Man, if you were some hapless general fan who wasn't reading this and decided to put the comics in order, you'd be lost. Or maybe I just overthought a lark to oblivion. Acting I guess as an issue #6.5 (or a well tied annual), this takes place after last month's issue 6, when Booster Gold turned his back on Rip Hunter to team up with three generations of Blue Beetles to save his buddy Ted from Max Lord in COUNTDOWN. Considering Johns wrote COUNTDOWN, naturally it meshed well (not perfectly, I mean wasn't his body found? Because if not, why did any DC superhero presume death without a body when Superman proved you CAN revive even WITH a body!?). Now comes the dilemma of what to do afterwards. After filling Ted Kord in on the fact that they literally plucked him from death (and that his world will have to continue to believe him dead if the timeline is to remain alright) and some banter between Jaimie and the Old Beetle (as well as the Future One, who I am wondering may be a rogue in disguise, perhaps knowing the weak link between Booster and Hunter was Ted), they come across Parallax and Extant in the time-stream. And yes, that, "I just got rammed from behind" expression on Hal's face is friggin' priceless and more than avatar worthy. Apparently Extant was Hawk, of Hawk & Dove, which as a DC outsider seems a bit comical to me, but I guess so does Mr. Mind becoming a cosmos-endangering threat (which at the time, I liked, if only because Marvel's competition at the time wasn't as dynamic). That's like The Looter becoming Slaughter The Unbeatable and killing half the universe or something. Anyway, after a short scuffle, their time-ship crashes in the middle of Booster's timeline, the exact time when he is caught throwing his games to support his gambling father (who now menaces him in a Supernova costume). At that point the focus shifts to Micheal as a character and that is when Booster Gold shines, and why I was drawn to him to begin with. Despite the "loser" rep, when written well, he comes off as very relatable BECAUSE of his many imperfections and mistakes. The type of hero Marvel Comics excelled at creating, once upon a time. Figuring that he was able to bend the rules of time once to save his best friend, Booster figures to do it again to save his sister, who I never heard of before, but had a sufficient origin recap. Good to know that Johns & Katz realize that NOT everyone who hopped aboard BG is a 100% "DC ****e" and they go through the trouble to explain things that matter in context. Plus, I imagine her death was years ago (possibly in the 90's) so it bares repeating. After fighting some security droids and OMACS, Blue & Gold say farewell to their Beetle comrades and 'port back to the present, only it turns out they landed smack dab in the middle of THE OMAC PROJECT with OMAC's flooding the planet. Or maybe history HAS changed after all! Either way, this is a book I put some faith into getting from DC and have been rewarded every issue. Jurgens & Rapmund provide legendary art and this has just been a great ride from start to finish. It isn't better than BLUE BEETLE so far, but it is only on it's 6.5th issue (and BLUE BEETLE at that point was still overdosing on his origin quest). As a final note, if someone drank a shot every time the word "crisis" showed up on a DC cover, title, or dialogue balloon, you'd be plastered in no time. I read "CRISIS IN TIME" and I can't imagine anyone takes the words "DC" and "Crisis" seriously anymore. Much as Marvel fans chuckle when they read, for the billionth time, "The Marvel Universe will never be the same!" as a solict or vow. But one title I do take seriously is BOOSTER GOLD.
CAPTAIN MARVEL #3: In current Mighty Marvel fashion, books without the "yearly event headline" on the cover sometimes have more to do with said event than ACTUAL tie-in's. I mean, did this issue have more to do about SECRET INVASION than this week's NEW AVENGERS? It sure did, to those who read it. It also continues the Marvel trend of any title with the word "Captain" in it being good, as Reed & Weeks continue with the excellent execution of Jenkins' botched idea. This series is about the revival of an iconic hero and a world that both questions and worships it, as well as some ramifications and mysteries. Among the biggest are the exact circumstances of Marvel's return; it is assumed it was some Negative Zone mishap, but naturally there is more, especially as Mar-Vell's "cosmic awareness" ability is on the fritz. Which makes things interesting because I always saw "cosmic awareness" as a plot-hole that allowed the hero to figure out whatever the story demanded, to best to tuck it back a bit. Nathan of the NATIONAL PULSE continues to investigate the mysterious Church of Hala that has cropped up worshipping Mar-Vell, and now are involved in a food drive across the nation & world that gets the media's attention. They get the attention of Tony Stark, especially when a fleet of Kree soldiers out to "terminate" Mar-Vell turn out to be Skrulls after all. He sics Agent Sante off of Mar-Vell detail to investigate the group, and it turns out some if not all of them may be Skrulls, too (she finds one Skrull corpse in their robes). When Mar-Vell recalls some incident he'd forgotten during his capture in the midst of the Kree-Skrull Conflict, he freaks out and demands a meeting with Ms. Marvel at Camp Hammond, wanting to know if she is genuine (a scene that works unless you also read her own title, where Stark believes she herself is a Skrull, also written by Reed). Turns out the Cobalt Man that attacked them is also a Skrull, and he claims Mar-Vell is hardly genuine, either. This brings a lot of things into question, actually. Is this the real Mar-Vell, who was brainwashed into aiding the Skrulls at some point? Is Reed about to retcon the original Mar-Vell's death as being a Skrull? Don't laugh, Mackie used an "actress with genetic modifications" to erase May Parker's death less than a decade ago. Or is Mar-Vell simply a Skrull who is in so deep he doesn't know he is one (not unlike Virtue, who operated as a solo hero for a while before learning he was a Skrull, back in Millar's run of MKSM)? All of these options at the very least are very interesting and making that final page a great cliffhanger, especially for the 3rd part of a 5 chapter story. A shame WIZARD may have ruined it for some online. Naturally, Weeks' art is great, Reed writes the action and story well and the covers all rock. This mini has been far, far better than it had any right to be after CW: THE RETURN. This is a must-read for me, not only because of the upcoming event, but for the quality of the tale itself.
FANTASTIC FOUR #554: Yes, this is "the" issue, which has the ULTIMATES team of Millar & Hitch coming aboard for a 12-18 issue run on the book. Considering the CW/Initiative buzz has worn off and FF was tredding about 40k per issue during the end of the "likely-to-be-forgotten-unfairly" McDuffie run, now is the perfect time for an A-List creator run on the book, least in terms of sales. Expect them to double or triple (which would be beyond the 100k mark) for at least this month and maybe afterward. Naturally, the cover gets a bold new design to note that things are a-changin'. I suppose the quick thing to say is this issue is actually GOOD. I was wary of the Millar & Hitch run for a few reasons, and not all of them being Hitch's "one page per month" pace of his prior engagement. Millar is a writer who is all about tearing down, big shocks, big moments, and that sort of thing. As CW showed, whether said shocks, moments, or surprises are accurately built up and coincide with actual characterization isn't his priority, so long as he can have Mr. Fantastic drilling a nail into a cyborg clone's brain or something. His ULTIMATES 2 lost track in outright political hatred towards anything Republican/Bush and took endlessly long to tell it's overblown action story. Much like Bendis, he retains the power to boost interest in countless Marvel characters just by a cameo...or forever ruin or kill them at a whim when he chooses (ask Hornet). But in-between all that, he wrote a year of ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR, which compared to some of his other works, goes underrated. It was that spirit in mind that I gave this issue a try, and I am glad I did. I was also impressed with his interview, where he gave some good opinions about the cast at large and vowed to amp up a prior created character (Alyssa Moy), rather than just create someone of his own who is 95% similar, as some writers do. Hitch's art is somewhat less detailed than his ULTIMATES work, which either means 616 is expected to have less pouches and zippers than Ultimate costumes, or he actually wants to try to ship more than 4 issues this year (that is the number of issues I have called this run shipping in 2008, and I won't mind being proven wrong). The family returns from a chaotic trip from the Wild West era and it is essentially a "day in the life" intro for most of it, showing the family with some downtime between saving the world or the universe (which they did once or twice during McDuffie's run). Johnny is off trying to be a spunky rock star, after gigs as a stuntman and actor have fallen through. Sue is running a charity group with Wasp and She-Hulk, and Jen in particular looks lovely under Hitch's pencil. Reed & Thing are doing a promo meeting for a local school, with Reed naturally boring the kids to death while Ben gets to the heart of the matter. Alyssa Moy shows up with a new project she wants Reed's help on, and of course he accepts. The only major quibble I have is a scene where Ben gets a date with a teacher from that school. It bothered me because Millar is now the THIRD FF writer, after McDuffie and JMS, who has done NOTHING with the vital subplot of THE THING from 2 years ago, which had Thing and Alicia Masters GET BACK TOGETHER! They had been separated for years in real time and Slott got them back together again, and then....nothing from any other writer. Like I said, this is not Millar's fault alone; neither JMS or McDuffie bothered to acknowledge it, so at best you could say Ben and Alicia had dates off panel without Ben bothering to mention it once. But now this shoots that out of the water, unless you want to say Ben would two-time Alicia after getting back with her, which I refuse to believe he would do. No, I believe this is a case of Millar not doing enough research and Tom B. the editor once again not bothering to dare tell an A-Lister where they are wrong (and not telling JMS or McDuffie to include it, either). Yeah, maybe this isn't as huge a deal as Mr. Fantastic backing the SHRA, but it is still something that has irked me for over a year now. Why bother doing something in one book if subsequent writers ignore or omit it? Stuff like that creates indie & Vertigo snobs. I did like the scene at the school where all the teachers think Mr. Fantastic is "hot", and Millar seems to go with that; he's ridiculously smart and confident and can stretch hundreds of feet. Sure, the Four held a press conference about Reed & Sue going off on vacation to aid their marriage, but if not even the President (any President) can be believed at a press conference, I doubt superheroes will be. Aside for that, though, this issue was damn good and a pleasure to read. The final page introduces Moy creating another world for Earth's people to go after Earth's time ends, but aside from that it is the Four by the books, but with some innovative ideas and tweaks. Of course, we have another 11-17 issues where things can go to pot, but so far this was a better beginning than I expected. Millar obviously has a passion for the Four, and that shows well. If you haven't given this a try, I suggest you do, at least for now. It does feel weird seeing the 616 Four in psuedo-Ultimate costumes, but that's Hitch for you. Give it a go.
GHOST RIDER #20: Jason Aaron starts his run on GR, which if the sales continue to tumble will be the last this volume sees. In the last page he pretty much gives his justifications. Namely, while he probably doesn't care for Way's "angelic retcon" either (which SERIOUSLY mucks up GR's continuity in ways worse than it already was, making him on the verge of being as screwed up as Pre-Johns Hawkman), he isn't about to make two wrongs trying to undo it and instead is going to use it to work into his stories and who Blaze is as a character. Now, if only other writers had that philosophy, we wouldn't have such conveluted continuity hassles in comics. As a first issue, I'll honestly say he's not dramatically better than Way and matches his tone, but there are some improvements. Namely, this is the first time I head Blaze even mention his old team the Champions. Johnny is trying to figure out how to get into Heaven to get revenge on the angel behind his turmoil, which leads him to scaring a priest and nearly tearing apart a "mannish" nurse, who turns out to be leader of a whole team of Zadkiel-worshopping nurses with lots of guns. The roads of the town have ghoulies that attack random people and Blaze has taken a lad who has "seen and feared angels" with him for leads. I suppose the mention of the Champions reminds me of the problems of GR; he has had no supporting cast for ages. Without stable supporting characters, even the strongest characters get stale. Boschi's art is fine and at the very least Aaron is in a "do no harm" frame of mind. I just wish Way had done likewise. I'll likely see this title to the end, if sales don't pick up.
MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS #6: Yes, like THE TWELVE #1, it is meant to look beat up. While no official announcement has been made by Marvel, this is a dead book walking if you consider it has sold below the Top 100 since issue #3. It has to remain until the 12th to finish the stories but I doubt it will last after that. Captain America is on the cover but the one-shot tale about him by Venditti & Haun really isn't about Steve, but after "4F" named John Riley, who has to contend with being a military reject in an era of over-patriotism during WWII. It isn't a bad story but really says nothing about Cap we don't already know. The Vanguard story (by Guggenheim, Wilkens & Tsai) continues on with Stacy Dolan being arrested for the murder she was investigating (which she seemingly has been perfectly framed for, unless she DID do it and simply no longer recalls so) when she is attacked by Dominic Fortune during her transfer, but manages to escape both him and the police. Apparently, VANGUARD is a secret team which seems fine unless you consider one is Yelena Belova, who was turned into a Super-Adaptoid and killed at least 2 years ago. Granted, it isn't a bad story, but this format is not helping it (hence why the last MCP was bi-weekly). The SAVAGE LAND story from Gage & Chin continues on with Ka-Zar trying to unite Brainchild & his mutates with Stegron the Dino-Man against the Roxxon forces trying to plunder his land. That was an intentional quip as Kazar's brother, Parnival Plunder, is now working with Roxxon to help their forces fight on. The only continuity niggle is the same Killer Shrike who Moon Knight laid out in the hospital in his own solo is now battling for Roxxon here (unless this is a new guy, or this takes place before or after MK). Chin draws a very sexy Shanna without going Cho-overboard (it is worth mentioning that Shanna's creator, Steve Gerber, died this week), and with Parnival's help, not even Ka-Zar's alliance can turn the tide to his favor. Chin's art is a little stiff but I have seen worse; this is MCP, we don't expect perfection here. Finally, WEAPON OMEGA by Koslowski & DiVito continues with the best chapter in a few months, with U.S. Agent talking to Iron Man, who has him on Omega Flight seemingly to keep tabs on Pointer, and Walker is acting as a double-agent for Spider-Woman and her unregistered boyfriend, the Shroud. It was great seeing Shroud again after CW #7 and his relationship with Julia Carpenter continued. Hey, I've seen writers dismiss such plot points on a whim. Pointer, meanwhile, is still a mess in body and mind and not even Racheal can speak to him. Again, the pace of the story is doing it no favors; 8 pages every 2 weeks was doable, but every 4 is not. Really no way to jump aboard, but I'm on 'til the end.
NEW AVENGERS #38: While it has a SECRET INVASION headline on the cover, it doesn't have nearly as much to do with the upcoming event as CAPTAIN MARVEL #3 did. This is mostly about the fallout of the last annual/special where the New Avengers defeated Hood's gang again, but lost Dr. Strange's support and Jessica Jones' stance on the team. She fled to Stark Tower and registered for safety, a fact that infuriated Luke Cage. Most of the story is his angry confrontation with her, and Bendis avoids some of the cliches of his own style to provide a very readable scene. Yes, we know where it is headed (it is obvious that Cage and Jones will split from the cover), but it goes rather well. In a way, both made mistakes; Jones should have stayed in Canada, and Cage really has no other safe alternative for Jessica and the baby. Cage is freaking out over the upcoming Skrull threat, but Jones is focused on the NOW, which I suppose most mothers should be. Ms. Marvel's teammates start to confront her about constantly allowing the NA's to escape and she gets her point across well to Black Widow. And naturally Danny Rand gets in the most lines he's had in about 6 issues COMBINED within this one, if only to act as the team's bankroll to get them another base-of-operations. I suppose if Bendis tried to use Rand like an actual character alongside Brubaker & Fraction's ongoing, he'd fail, so maybe this is for the best. It isn't a perfect issue, but it is an issue that plays to Bendis' strengths; a one-shot story that is about delving into one specific character. Sadly, he rarely employs these strengths with his 616 work, and frankly he doesn't have to. If any story I wrote sold over 80k and met approval from fan and company before it was even printed, I wouldn't exactly push myself every month, either, and I'd feel invincible, as Bendis likely does about his writing. We hate Bendis for this quality, but nearly any writer so heavily coddled by the industry would turn out little different. But for now, all is well, because this issue actually is pretty good. Even if Cage's schtick is getting predictable. He was predictable pre-Bendis, and at least this is a better brand of predictable. I imagine Cage was speaking for the fans, calling the MA "sell-outs". Although 2 years after CW, it may be time for Bendis to stop writing CW stories.
