Bought/Thought 2/13/08

Blader5489 said:
Quick question: do you get paid to hate Bendis? It seems like you'll go out of your way to bash him no matter what.
Click to expand...

No, my Bendis-Bashing is pro bono.

I did like NA #38 though.
 
Reviews in Brief: Simone is awesome, X-Factor falls apart in a good way, Virgin makes a quality comic, Johns & Katz don't fail me, Chiang is missing, and Winick continues to ride the fine line of my wrath and my approval.


Wonder Woman #17
Have I mentioned that I love Gail Simone's run on Wonder Woman? She's carving a spectacular path around the mythology of Diana's birth. I've probably said this in a previous review, but it's nice to see Diana's origin get expanded like this. It happens to Batman and Superman every other week. It looks like some of Diana's houseguests stayed on the island, so things should probably be a little less crowded in her apartment. We finally found out what Etta Candy is up to: Diana asked her to join the DMA, pretending to investigate her. That way, she'd always have an alibi for her dual identity.
The major downside was the constantly shifting art. I'm not ashamed to admit I like the Dodsons' art. Seeing it suddenly turn into Ron Randall's pencils is jarring as hell.

X-Factor #28
And just like that, the team has fallen apart. Mutant Town is tearing itself apart. Rahne is leaving to join a book I won't bother to read unless Kyle & Yost exit. Terry is with child, and being pressured by Monet into getting an abortion. Rictor is having insecurity issues. And worst of all, Jamie has given up all hope. It looks like PAD is sending this team to a new kind of hell, before re-establishing things down the line.

Oh, and they explained why Jamie didn't have the M-tattoo in the previews.

John Woo's 7 Brothers, Series 2 #5
I'm not sure, but I believe 7 Brothers has just come to an end. The first series lasted for about as many issues. And really, this is the first time an issue of series 2 has ended with an actual conclusion. I'm not sure if there's going to be a #6 coming up, or if they're going to launch a series 3. Either way, I'm sticking onboard. I like this book. It's not the best I've read, but this is one of the quality books coming out of Virgin Comics.

Booster Gold #0
Oh, that's not a confusing issue number. :whatever:
I've yet to be disappointed by this title. I love it. Booster is awesome. The Blue Beetle Corps are awesome. That said, the wackiness of time travel has completely lost me. Something slipped by me when Booster went on about his sister, changing the future, and borrowing the time sphere in the museum before he's supposed to steal it. However, in the end, the timeline became all screwed up, and that's all that matters. Booster screwed with time, and it screwed him back. Question is, how long before Blue Beetle has to die again? :csad:

Green Arrow & Black Canary #5
Don't kill Connor, damnit.
 
I read FF and thatw as cool, ill stick with it and X-Force was kinda cool but it seemed to carry to much baggage with it seeing as i didnt read Messiah Complex.
 
Messiah Complex was action-y goodness, but it's the least subtle use of McGuffinism ever.
 
Dread said:
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
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I nearly fell of my chair laughing at this.

:)
 
Booster Gold #0
One of the best DC books continue to be good. This is billed as the Zero Hour tie-in, but the exact amount of Zero Hour material that this ties into is pretty nil. I mean, it's hilarious, but it's pretty nil. The majority of this is surprisingly focused on Booster's origins, which probably makes for a much better read. I never read the original Zero Hour.

One thing that does annoy me is how comically villainous they made Michael's dad. "Hey, kid, win me some money or I'll make you feel guilty by getting myself hurt!" Are you serious with this? I don't know if this is verbatim from former Booster stories or if they're coming up with this dialogue now, but it doesn't make me sympathize with Booster or feel moved by his tragic origins; it just makes me think he's a complete moron with severe genre blindness. I suppose that could have been the point, but I doubt it.

But beyond that, this series keeps up its good work with fun moments, great character work, and some really rivetting plots.

(8.5 out of 10)


Which is kind of how I'd describe the next book.
Nova Annual #1
I'm going to start working "blue blazes" into my conversations now. Well, maybe "blue fcking blazes," 'cause I dunno, that just sounds more like me. I wonder if Ginger is actually a character from canon, and if she'll ever show up in this title.

Something does confuse me, though; if Richard lost forty years of his memories in his dream, wouldn't Zam have been something like forty-three to forty-six years old in the dreamscape and not a nubile youn...uh, I mean an average rookie-type recruit? Richard even specifically calls him young. Unless Kree are supposed to age slowly or something. I mean, it was just a dream, but it is a big weird for the virus to cook up something as inconsistent as that from his mind.

Oh, well, this issue's bloody awesome and I can't wait to see what comes next.

(8.9 out of 10)


Wonder Woman #17
In a way, a lot of this issue reminds me of the Medousa fight back in the Rucka run, which basically constitutes Diana getting epic medieval on someone's ass, but in a completely dignified, nongratuitous way. Scenes like this are really the exact reasons why one reads Wonder Woman books. You're never going to see Superman use his own blood as war paint under his eyes and then hurl tridents at his foes, for instance.

On the other hand, scenes like this share some weaknesses as well, the foremost being that it throws WW's power levels into the salad mixer. This is a woman who can -- supposedly -- move beyond the speed of sound and shift continents with brute strength. By no means and stretch of the imagination should four ordinary women (and yes, the Amazons are all baseline human in strength level, stop asking that) be anything but a nuisance to her, even with godly weapons and the most advanced martial training in the universe. No amount of weaponry and training is going to protect you from someone who moves faster than the mind can think and can break a skyscraper in half with a single blow. It was a contention in the Medousa fight as well; why didn't she fly? Why didn't she crack the Earth in half and throw it at the monster, who for all appearances doesn't have a single comparable physical power? I love the fact that WW occasionally goes into SPARTAAAA mode, but it also does have the tendency to clash with her superheroic standards.

A large portion of the entire narrative so far has been focused on The Circle, Alkyone in particular, and what a narrative it is. I don't think I've felt more understanding towards a villain in a long time. It's a very brave and intimate exploration of the Amazons and the sort of questions that deserved to be asked of a nation made entirely of women. Oddly enough, the Circle themselves don't ever even meet our protagonist until the very last half of this very last issue, and the title villain Alkyone has barely two pages of interaction with her. It's obviously a thread that's going to be followed up later, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Alkyone show up at some later point of this run, maybe even in a more beneficiary position.

Etta not being out to "get" Diana after all was a nice little twist. Does it count as a twist? I guess it does. And it's good to build up Diana's old supporting cast members; they've tended to rotate from time to time, and it'd be great to see more of the old guard.

And so Simone finishes up her first chapter of her run, as well as what is pretty unanimously agreed as the first good chapter of Wonder Woman for...gods, has it been almost two years now since Pfeifer and Picoult first started their shenanigans? I wouldn't say that it has been perfect, and I wouldn't say that I still don't have worries, but I will say that a lot of my worries have been quelled by now.

(8.8 out of 10)
(9 out of 10 for the entire arc)


New Avengers #38
Sorry, I think Jessica is a stupid btch.

Be honest. If the genders here had been reversed...if it had been Luke who kidnapped their daughter and ran away without consulting or even informing the mother of the child, the internet wouldn't have just cracked in half, it would have bloody well exploded. If Luke had been the one who pulled the hysterical father bit and gave the "just looking out for the baby" spiel, the response would not have been "Well, he sure is a conflicted and dramatic character going through a rough time," the response would have been "HOLY SHT THE MAN'S GONE MAD." Forget about the fact that Avengers Tower is pretty much right behind Dr. Strange's Sanctorum on the list of dangerous places to be. Forget about the fact that the only reason the baby was in any danger was because the pro-regs -- wow, it's been a while since we used that term -- made it so it was in danger in the first place. Forgetting about all that, a decision like this is still made as a joint discussion between both parents. Because that's what a marriage is. I know Marvel has a different definition of a marriage than most of reality does, but still.

And I'm aware that -- in some peoples' opinions, at least -- Jessica Jones is "meant" to be a dumb character making stupid decisions for the reader to hate on so, really, it's like Bendis it totally doing it right or something. Nuh uh. That sht didn't fly with Sally Floyd, and it don't fly here. You can't try to make a sympathetic character and then claim that you're not supposed to be sympathetic to her. You don't get to have it both ways.

Oh yeah and there's Skrulls or something.

(6.2 out of 10)


Green Arrow and Black Canary #5
ANAL CONTINUITY WITH A CONTINUITY ****E.

Winick says: As a child, Connor was harrassed and bullied for his ethnicity, and reacted violently due to "impulse control and rage issues."
Actual continuity says: Connor was harassed and bullied as a child, but only because he had a fat allowance and was a bit preppie. Any racial overtones were absent (though obviously not out of the question). And he kicked their asses because he was good at fighting, not because he had anger problems.

Winick says: Connor's mother sent him to the ashram to help him channel his anger.
Actual continuity says: It was Connor's idea to go to the ashram, and only because he wanted to learn the ways of a warrior/archer. His mom, the hippie, just thought that it was cool. She had no idea that Oliver had ever been to the same place.

Winick says: Connor went to the ashram as an adolescent, not from birth.
Actual continuity says: This is true! Connor went when he was thirteen and left with Ollie five years later. This is something that Winick thankfully hits the bullseye on, as opposed to pretty much every other writer who seems to be under the impression that he was left at the temple doorstep as a baby or something.

Man, I do appreciate what Winick is doing. I get where he's coming from and it does make sense. And the setup of those scenes makes me think that he definitely read the same exact past issues that I did...which, in way, makes his arbitrary retcons all the more irritating. That's really all that there is to it: retcons are irritating. They're irritating when the writer in question does them out of ignorance, and they're just as irritating when the writer in question does them in full awareness.

The punchline, of course, is that I'm 300% certain that they're only irritating to me, and that anyone who hasn't meticulously studied Connor's chronology -- which would be every other person here, I imagine -- simply thought that this was a decent backstory with a lot of dramatic impetus. And it is. Taken on its own, taken in this issue and the context of this series, those retcons made for very good scenes. It made for a very good issue.

I guess it just goes back to the age-old retcon question: how much is too much? How far back is far back enough? How many years do we get to hang onto the "validity" of a scene or a characterization before it becomes fair game for whichever writer to start twisting it around or negating it outright? In ten or fifteen years, are we going to have some random writer completely redo this very thing we're reading right now, GA&BC#5, to fit whatever new and "dramatic" flashbacking revelation is appropriate for that particular story arc? I mean, if every story has an expiration date, then what's the expiration date for stories we're reading today? When should I go ahead and say, "alright I'm done enjoying this particular tale from the past; go ahead and revoke it now"?

That feels wrong to me, the idea that at any moment, any past story could just be undone or altered. It has always felt wrong, and I imagine that it always will.

Which is not, for better or for worse, to say that this was a bad issue because of it. Not necessarily.

(8 out of 10)


X-Factor #28
Monet needs to rule the universe already. That is all.

(8.4 out of 10)


Tiny Titans #1
Yup, I got this. And yeah, it's reeeeally cute. If you think you'll like this, you probably will. If you think you won't like this...you probably won't. Know that it mocks the hell out of Wonder Girl's current costume, though, which is pretty worth it.

(7.4 out of 10)
 
Dread said:
(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!?)
Click to expand...
In the OMAC Project, Max ordered Beetle's body to be incinerated. Sasha Bordeaux sent Ted's goggles to Batman, which is the only reason anyone ever found out he was dead. In the last issue, Future Beetle did...pretty much the same thing, sending Brother Eye's files to Batman.

Dread said:
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.
Click to expand...
See, this kind of came off ridiculous to me, because why in the world wasn't Carol saying and doing and considering these things back during the war? Arguments like that were the exact things that the anti-regs have been saying since day one, and all that Carol or anyone else has said in response was "Don't you go around using your silly logic where the law is concerned, criminal scum!" Only now, when it's convenient to the plot and the character, does she seem to have these so-called second thoughts. Where was this lenient, laissez-faire attitude back when she was still carting off prisoners to the Negative Zone by the dozens?
 
Argh! Nova Annual continues to elude me! Sunday! I'll get it Sunday!
 
X-Factor #28
With this issue taking place after the events of MC, like most other X-books, it serves mostly as an epilogue. We see where each character is at mentally and emotionally. Rahne has decided she is leaving the team for reasons unknown to the others and unless you missed all the previews flying around we know exactly where she is headed. Madrox, angered at the fact that after all this time mutants and humans can’t seem to find a way to coexist, decides to take matters into his own hands and goes to take down the Purifiers. With Layla gone everyone seems to be a bit lost. Besides the well known fact that comic book characters never really stay dead that long do we think there will be a return of Layla? After all she did tell Jamie that they would get married one day and there was mention of him trying to find a way to get her back. I guess we shall see. Now apparently there is a baby Madrox on the way. My question now is since one mutant baby was born now is it possible that this baby may/will be one as well…..
 
Yes, that must be it. It couldn't possibly be that Bendis can't write for crap.
 
BrianWilly said:
New Avengers #38
Sorry, I think Jessica is a stupid btch.

Be honest. If the genders here had been reversed...if it had been Luke who kidnapped their daughter and ran away without consulting or even informing the mother of the child, the internet wouldn't have just cracked in half, it would have bloody well exploded. If Luke had been the one who pulled the hysterical father bit and gave the "just looking out for the baby" spiel, the response would not have been "Well, he sure is a conflicted and dramatic character going through a rough time," the response would have been "HOLY SHT THE MAN'S GONE MAD." Forget about the fact that Avengers Tower is pretty much right behind Dr. Strange's Sanctorum on the list of dangerous places to be. Forget about the fact that the only reason the baby was in any danger was because the pro-regs -- wow, it's been a while since we used that term -- made it so it was in danger in the first place. Forgetting about all that, a decision like this is still made as a joint discussion between both parents. Because that's what a marriage is. I know Marvel has a different definition of a marriage than most of reality does, but still.

And I'm aware that -- in some peoples' opinions, at least -- Jessica Jones is "meant" to be a dumb character making stupid decisions for the reader to hate on so, really, it's like Bendis it totally doing it right or something. Nuh uh. That sht didn't fly with Sally Floyd, and it don't fly here. You can't try to make a sympathetic character and then claim that you're not supposed to be sympathetic to her. You don't get to have it both ways.

Oh yeah and there's Skrulls or something.

(6.2 out of 10)
Click to expand...

I disagree with everything you just typed out.
 
I kinda agree, Jessica Jones is probably the only character on NA that Bendis writes well (he's always pretty good if he creates the character, it's like he actually cares what their personality is like) and the issue made a bit of sense. It would have made more if the most-powerful-hippie-on-earth hadn't just gotten his wife killed (then remade or whatever) and the headquarters destroyed like a few days ago, but otherwise it seemed pretty believable.

My main problem with the issue is the tie in that had nothing to do with the event. That and I cringe to my bowels at the explination coming regarding Pete's new status, cause I've yet to read anything in NA that makes him anything other than an @ss clown.
 
Jessica Jones is Marvels biggest *****e.
 
Pfft, I can name at least five bigger *****e's.
 
re FF.

I'm wondering how anyone can say hitch's art is less detailed. Sure the costumes are less 'pouchy' thats not really a detail issue, every panel (apart from one) has a full background.

The only real difference is only one and 2/3s of a double page spread.
 
galactus isn't a *****e, he always get the first round in whenever he goes to the pub....
 
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