Bought/Thought 4/2 Secret Invasion Edition

[fifthfiend]

yeah double post

Oh man, faux pas.

 

[gildea]

Oh man, faux pas.

I know, frankly I'm not sure I count as a person anymore

 

[Dread]

wait if Pym is a skrull. Does that mean the Pym that got merked by KIA in the initiative is dead?

It raises the possibility. It also makes that A:TI cover for the SI crossover make sense. Part of me doubts Slott would actually kill off a longtime character like Pym, even after he tried to redeem him somewhat...but A:TI is the sort of book where C-Listers DO get axed off now and then. It is more like the kind of storyline that GLA was lampooning. Does that make it bad? No. Slott and Gage (who has been co-writing for a few issues and will probably get solo cred for an issue here and there) write a very good title here with buckets of characters and continuity. I just don't delude myself about what it is.

A lot of points and arguments were made about "buying books you hate" and the nature of *****ing on the internet MB's and I think I'll just get back to typing reviews, which I will post in an hour or two. It was nice having some folks stick up for me, and I understand the other side of the argument. To some it seems I'm Ahab and Bendis is my White Whale. I do try to write my reviews well but when I get passionate about something I try to leave it in, too.

 

[moraldeficiency]

Yes I know I shouldn't bother with it, but I'm bored.

You're right I would be lying that's why i didn't say it. Everyone has done it. The trick is to know when you're doing it, though can't say I always have. You shouldn't make up my argument for me, it's a VERY ill thought out argument if you do.

I'm glad you agree you were being a hypocrite with your statement. Thanks for the helpful hint at life.

Just don't understand the lazy line of discussion people tend to pull saying "it's my right etc etc etc". It's so obvious a statement as to be pointless.

Hopefully in the future you can tell all us what our rights are. Sorry it's such an obvious concept, but you still didn't understand it.

Opinions are by definition subjective. Again you're ascribing a position to me I've not taken. Please don't, it's tiresome.

Right so he's subjective, you're subjective, I'm subjective. So when you say

"He suddenly goes onto auto pilot and types the same bile filled paragraphs each time. When something makes you produce hate filled rants with such regularity it's bloody common sense to suggest dropping the book. It completely effects his critical reasoning too, dread has given reasonably positive reviews to a significant portion of bendis's recent output, but so in the habit of these spite filled paragraphs is he that i'm not sure he can see it."

that's just your take on him and without any actual facts, logic or basis to back it up. While Dread actually bothers to put thoughts into his subjective comments you just write them off without any of the effort and expect people to what, see your point of view and agree?

Again I don't suppose to, just commenting on what is in front of me.

But you're not. You didn't take anything dread said and offer a counterargument or reason for your beliefs. You just stated he was full of bendis hate. You're commenting on your thoughts and that's totally cool, but the condescending, know-it-all attitude you brought without anything to show for it is just a party foul kid. Deal with it.

I didn't say he did. I said what he types is pretty much the same thing.

Based on what? He reviews each issue in depth. Some of the faults for any writer will be similiar but since each issue has different things happening and he's commenting on these new things it cannot be the same. Maybe you could show us just how repetitive dread is with your careful research and thoughts. Oh that's right, you don't do that, you just make blanket statements.

He is on autopilot by the time he's gotten the plot summary out of the way when he's writing a bendis (and at times, millar) review.

Ok, I'll call. Prove you know this and aren't just talking out your @ss.

And what mindset exactly have I boiled him down to? I've only made one comment that can actually be ascribed to him, the rest was on his writing.

Your writing is an indication of your mindset. I thought this obvious. See when you write something you're putting your thoughts and ideas down for others to see, that's what writing is. And the mindset you've grouped him into is irrational hatred based on a writer, which anyone that's read one of his reviews can tell you is blatantly false. If this was true his bendis review would read "bendis does his standard fare and writes everyone out of character." and nothing more. See just a quick comment without anything to show for it, like something you might write.

 

[Themanofbat]

For anyone still interested in BND, Zeb Wells totally knocked it out of the park. The overall premise sucks beyond belief, and I'm still not buying it (just reading it), but I may actually pick up Wells' arc. It's my Spidey. It's not goofy or campy or crappy. He's funny, he's smart and he's 100% less the loser that Slott and Gale want him to be. The characterization is spot on here. Oh, and Bachalo was totally born to draw Spider-Man. A+

Wells wrote some good Spider-Man stories a few years back at the end of the Peter Parker: Spider-Man series, so I'm not surprised with his spot-on Spidey characterization...

 

[gildea]

I'm glad you agree you were being a hypocrite with your statement. Thanks for the helpful hint at life.

It was a helpful hint, try following it.

Hopefully in the future you can tell all us what our rights are. Sorry it's such an obvious concept, but you still didn't understand it.

Oh dear and this is why I hate these "right" discussions. It's the silly tone of moral superiority taken whilst some makes some completely wrong claim about the other person trying to repress them.
At no point do I try to tell anyone what their rights are, I merely suggest that there life may be improved by dropping a book they don't like. If I do please provide a DIRECT QUOTE (like you challenge me to do further down) and I'll most likely apologise or explain what I was trying (and obviously failing) to say.

Right so he's subjective, you're subjective, I'm subjective. So when you say

*cut for length*

that's just your take on him

No, it's my take on his writing style regarding bendis, there is a difference. My opinion on dread filtered through the internet as it is is that he seems a great bloke.

But you're not. You didn't take anything dread said and offer a counterargument or reason for your beliefs. You just stated he was full of bendis hate. You're commenting on your thoughts and that's totally cool, but the condescending, know-it-all attitude you brought without anything to show for it is just a party foul kid. Deal with it.

Well this is covered in your challenge down below.

Based on what? He reviews each issue in depth. . Maybe you could show us just how repetitive dread is with your careful research and thoughts. Oh that's right, you don't do that, you just make blanket statements.
Ok, I'll call. Prove you know this and aren't just talking out your @ss.

Right from kick off dread I apologise for doing this:

Asuming the inner workings of marvel regarding bendis "evidence":

few can go over Bendis' dome without being thrown to DC.

bought thought thread 03/12/08

And no one else wants to dare tell Bendis that Wanda is more than an emotionally insane ****e

bought thought thread 02/28/08

if any story I wrote sold over 80k and met approval from fan and company before it was even printed

bought/thought thread 02/13/08

The strange thing about these quotes only one of them comes from an actual review of a bendis written issue.

Making assumptions about the man himself

Bendis still won't grow beyond his faults,

bought/thought thread 01/09/08

Bendis has rehashed to do "his way" as if it was never done before

bought/thought thread 03/05/08

I'd feel invincible, as Bendis likely does about his writing.

bought/thought thread 02/13/08


I could get more by journeying to the days when dread was reading USM but I don't have all night, but 3 seemed reasonable and also highlights how dread frequently comments on bendis when not even reviewing his stuff.

Dread btw If this post bothers you PM or say in this thread and I'll remove it, I do genuinely respect the vast majority of your writing.

Your writing is an indication of your mindset. I thought this obvious. See when you write something you're putting your thoughts and ideas down for others to see, that's what writing is. And the mindset you've grouped him into is irrational hatred based on a writer, which anyone that's read one of his reviews can tell you is blatantly false. If this was true his bendis review would read "bendis does his standard fare and writes everyone out of character." and nothing more. See just a quick comment without anything to show for it, like something you might write.

I think hating anyone over a comic books is irrational, but i've only tried to say that his writing is hate filled not dread himself. Writing is an indication but it is not a complete reflection. I'm sure dread writes some of his bendis stuff for comedy valuebut in doing so I think he misjudges the book.

I'd like to think most days dread doesn't give bendis a second thought.

Lastly one quote from dread about bendis affects his writing:

I'll admit to jumping to conclusions last issue out of Bendis-hate;

12/12/07

 

[Dread]

Dread btw If this post bothers you PM or say in this thread and I'll remove it, I do genuinely respect the vast majority of your writing.

S'alright. You've said a few times you don't have an issue with my reviews, just this element of them.

I am more amazed at your researching my reviews. If I ever made a blog, as some people have asked, I would have to copy & paste as many as I can into a log, and I usually lack the drive or the time. So I'm more impressed that you cared enough to sift.

I also wish it could be two decent looking girls fighting over me, rather than two fellow comic fans on a MB. Such is life.

 

[gildea]

S'alright. You've said a few times you don't have an issue with my reviews, just this element of them.

Cheers sir.

I am more amazed at your researching my reviews. If I ever made a blog, as some people have asked, I would have to copy & paste as many as I can into a log, and I usually lack the drive or the time. So I'm more impressed that you cared enough to sift.

Thanks.
Frankly i should be studying for an exam at the moment but it's far more interesting to read some reviews of comics past.

I also wish it could be two decent looking girls fighting over me, rather than two fellow comic fans on a MB. Such is life.

Ha! Oddly enough the majority of posters on this site think i'm a girl.

 

[Egotastic]

Ha! Oddly enough the majority of posters on this site think i'm a girl.

Ouch. That makes your creepy obsession with Dread all the more...creepy.

 

[Dread]

Ha! Oddly enough the majority of posters on this site think i'm a girl.

Uh-huh. Probably because Dea is considered a girl's name.

Now I feel like The Chosen One confronting Betty in KUNG-POW.

Ouch. That makes your creepy obsession with Dread all the more...creepy.

It really does, kind of.

 

[Dread]

With SI #1 taken care of, how about talking about some of the OTHER books that shipped this week?

Dread's BOUGHT/THOUGHT for 4/3/08 Part II:

DETECTIVE COMICS #843: Dini is back on the story and so am I in the buying. Ngyuyen's back on art and it works well for the tale. It is more of the same from Dini's run; another solid Bat-mystery, although this one picks up from more of his prior subplots, yet does so in a way that doesn't feel as rigid or stiff as a "part 4 of 12" esque "arc", and the run feels more natural for it. As the cover depicts, it stars the new Ventriloquist, Peyton Rily.

The plot begins with Batman saving a security guard from an act of sabutage set up in a new casino opening up near Penguin's Iceberg Lounge. It is being set up by an ex-mobster and at first Batman suspects it to be Penguin himself, trying to bump off competition. When that lead goes dead, he attends the casino opening gala as Wayne to do some investigating as well as getting himself seen to maintain his own "deception". It also helps that Zatanna, the heart on Dini's sleeve, makes another appearence, being hired to perform at the casino (via a charity donation). The plot about Scarface wanting to rub out the mobster takes a bit of an appropriate backseat to Wayne and Zatanna chatting and with the latter even discussing a possible relationship. This seems like Dini's inner fanboy talking, as he absolutely adores Zatanna, a fact which was obvious since way back in his B:TAS days. But frankly, that isn't such a bad thing here; Batman hasn't had a regular lover in quite a while, aside for the endless flirting with Catwoman or whatnot. Considering it was this run that got Batman to stop "punishing Zatanna for her mistake" while on the JLA, it does seem as a sort of evolution. The issue ends on a cliffhanger, although not the best one I've seen (since it didn't even look like Wayne got shot in the splash). But that's not the point of Dini's DETECTIVE. It is simply Batman stories done well, with some flowing evolution of some of the genre expectations done by one of the guys who boosted superhero animation forever with his B:TAS work.

Dini Detective issues are the Batman comics to get, IMO.

KICK-ASS #2: The debut issue was the best selling ICON launch in the line's history, with a reprint sitting in shops now. Although I could argue whether it was due to the fact of the promotion, or the A-List creative team, or both? Not to say KICK-ASS is bad, it isn't. The first issue had a bit of Millar's token cynicism and that put me off a bit, but this second issue is an improvement and so far I am glad I gave it a chance. I hardly think it is as brilliant as some others on the back cover think, but it's cool stuff.

Naturally, most of the issue details Dave's recovery from the vicious injuries he suffered at the end of #1, which take 4-6 months to mend and even afterwards he has "metal plates in his head" and takes "14 medications" for pain. Romita Jr. is spot on with the recovery issues as Dave has visions due to the drugs and mental state, and as the script shown in the back seems to tell, Millar doesn't give Romita Jr. a lot of direct instructions; Romita is trusted with a lot of leeway to do what he feels works best, and it shows. The bit that doesn't quite work is Dave feeling shame for landing his working-class father into debt with his medical bills, and then casually going back out to the crime-fighting game the minute the crutches are off. I know it is meant to show off Dave's passion and drive at his kooky hobby, but it had the impression to me that Dave really doesn't care. Much like someone adicted to drugs or alcohol causes a financial strain on their families again and again and usually doesn't care. It isn't a sympathetic quality.

Things end much better for Dave this time around, as he defends a man getting pummeled by Pueto Rican thugs (hey, Millar is the one who spotlighted their ethnicity). He gets thrashed again, but this time manages to fight the three of them off and save their victim, and the issue ends with the lanky vigilante about to be uploaded onto YouTube, which is presumably where his "fame" will come from. The first issue noted that Dave starts a phenomina, and naturally the Internet has been making hapless stars of people via videos for years now (i.e. The Star Wars Kid, the Numa Numa Kid, or even one of my faves, the Angry Video Game Nerd). Using that twist for superheroes is a bit clever.

Unfortunately, it is hard for the issue to feel upbeat when we note that Dave ends up tied to a chair with thugs electrocuting his nuts off (as seen in issue #1). Millar naturally is all about writing stuff that is cynical and dark, and sometimes that manages to key into how real people are and act in society, and other times it just makes his work bleak. So far the theme is that Dave/Kick-Ass is a well meaning if not kooky vigilante whose noble acts only lead to debt for his family and brutal injuries for him, and that any success he gets in the short term will likely end in misery. Hey, I'm as pessimistic as they come, but sometimes I don't like READING it. Still, there's enough leeway here that Millar may pull off a triumphant ending, especially as he and Romita seem to like the franchise and the sales are good. Right now it seems like an odd mix of SUPERHERO MOVIE and SIN CITY. I'll stay aboard and despite some issues, I do geniunely want to see how the hero fares at the end of the tale, and getting reader involvement into a tale is the main key. Romita Jr., as always, provides some great art. I wouldn't be so quick to call it "the best in his career" as some on the back cover say (his recent ETERNALS stuff was damn awesome), but it still is good stuff.

LOGAN #2: It seems my shop only had the varient B & W issues left, but in a way that seemed to make Risso's art seem more dynamic, in that way that some ESSENTIALS volumes show that some artists' work can still be effective without colors.

My main criticism of the last issue, and I guess the series really, is that it is simply a generic Wolverine story. This is exactly the same kind of story countless other writers & artists have done. It is the prototypical solo Wolverine story; it even has Japan in it for chrissakes. If you wrote down the name of every solo Wolverine story, either from his ongoing, a mini, a one-shot or MCP's on slips of paper, put them in a hat, and asked someone to draw one at random, you'd get a story pretty much exactly like this, beat for beat. And that is somewhat frustrating given that this is Vaughan, who we all know is capable of much more. It is like Alan Moore writing a standard popcorn actioner. He's entitled to, but it seems like a waste of talent.

But what it good about LOGAN? Firstly, naturally, Risso's art is terrific, and I appreciated it more without the colors this month, actually. Secondly, that Vaughan is not stretching this basic storyline longer than he needs to; 3 issues is fine for this sort of storyline, allowing all the scenes to breathe without dragging them on too much. And thirdly, and this is probably the biggest positive point, is that BKV and Risso are executing things very well. There is no pretention about what this is, and they aren't remaking the wheel. They say execution is everything, and I suppose it is better to see a generic story excecuted well then a mind-bogglingly-original story executed terribly. Logan's past and present collide as he returns to Hioshima, Japan, on the site of supposedly the "woman who made him a man" back during WWII, and comes across Lt. Warren, who was a mutant who apparently had the power to ignore pain and not die; the nuclear blast of the A-bomb has rendered him a flaming radiation ghost thing, and Wolverine is there to settle the score.

Again, really nothing we haven't read Wolverine doing a billion times before. At least it doesn't have ninjas. Still, it is done well, and from what I hear from people complaining about WOLVERINE ORIGINS, probably the story they wish Logan was in more often. Not something against angels or conspiracies or whatnot, just Wolverine out there being the best at what he does, and all that. It is irksome that out of Vaughan's Marvel works, this and Ultimate X-Men will be considered his sales successes (and not RUNAWAYS, which always hovered around the bottom 80-85 of the Top 100, or DR. STRANGE: OATH, which was only the best Dr. Strange story of the decade). But it is to be appreciated for what it is.

Still, I don't see why this had to be a seperate MK mini and not a 3 issue run on his solo, other than to get 4 Wolverine books on the shelf in a month. But you could say that of any mini about a major franchise character that already has an ongoing (or two). It may be generic, but it is probably one of the best Logan stories out this quarter, and is worth a read.

MOON KNIGHT #17: A title I have lost most interest in despite a new writer in Benson (working off Huston's plots) and the reliable Texeira on art, and this issue continues it. Hopefully there are only 2 issues left to the arc, and after that I will be gone. MK simply reads like Dark Hero 101 most times and this storyline is almost trying to make up for lost time, having Moon Knight collide with Iron Man and SHIELD over his violent vigilante ways. No book handled CW and the aftermath as awkwardly to me as Moon Knight, which tried to maintain a status quo and then is now hobbling into the Initiative stuff. There were better ways to handle this. Huston's last arc couldn't be bothered to do it properly because he was doing his Midnight storyline, and now Benson has been trying to shoehorn stuff in about a year late. It doesn't work. It reads like too little, too late in that regard, making up for lost time.

Benson's not as decompressed as Huston, but only slightly. One of Specter's enemies is framing him for murders, and given MK's rep, it isn't a terribly hard thing to do to make the authorities and the media think Moonie is a psycho. I mean, he IS a psycho, just one who goes for mutilations 95% of the time. Plus, being framed for murders he didn't commit, even if they are against scumbags. Marlene comes back for anothe argument and I really do wonder why the hell she keeps coming back; she makes a big deal about how wacko Marc is, but keeps expecting a different result to the same approach; just WHO is insane here? Marc also doesn't like his new partner gunning down a thug last issue, even if Khonshu approves. I wonder is Khonshu will "shift" his support to the new kid? Alas, I do not care enough to stay on after this arc is resolved unless Benson REALLY pulls something out. While the new blood has helped GHOST RIDER, it hasn't helped MOON KNIGHT much. Only my sense of wanting closure keeps me on past this issue (parting mid-arc is only worthy of true crap like PHEONIX: WARSONG, which this isn't).

I mean, I get Marc's schtick at being a dark hero who is literally bonkers (even if Khonshu is real, which it is), but it just isn't enough anymore.

PUNISHER: WAR JOURNAL #18: Like MOON KNIGHT, this book has an insane, dark anti-hero who mutilates criminals. Unlike MK, it has more of a sense of humor and balance, and works 100% better. It isn't lost in a "6 issue or bust" slog to the stories as MK is. Some stories are that long but most have been shorter, with many one shot tales that interconnect later. Like DETECTIVE, that is the way to handle serials.

Technically, a Punisher, or two, or even three, show up this issue, but not THE Punisher. It starts with a poor criminal schlub being tortured as his two corrupt cop brothers are led into an ambush. We find out his captor is Jigsaw, Frank Castle's worst enemy who can somehow shift between being scarred and not scarred. We have Lenny, the cop-wannabe that Jigsaw's shrink brainwashed, and the shrink herself, all wearing Punisher costumes and gunning people down out of revenge (as this family was partly responsible for Jigsaw's "incident" with Castle that changed his life, and to lure out their prey. It is a set up issue, but an effective one. Chaykin's figures are stiff and sometimes hard to distinguish; not one of his stronger issues (and I don't usually care for him to boot).

This is set up, but it is effective, and reads quickly. Not Fraction's best on the book, but I expect better of the climax, naturally. I liked the idea that Jigsaw isn't ever killed by Castle because he is torturing the guy. That works better than it being "because he is Castle's only real arch enemy".

THE TWELVE #4: I think I like this more than THOR, and I am not ashamed to admit it. THOR is good, but the slow pacing that sucks a lot of life out of that title is not an issue here, with 11 characters to handle (I don't count Elektro as a character). With a cast so large, JMS' pacing here works very well, allowing you to not skip over the interactions and reactions of the characters to their state.

As the cover notes, the Laughing Mask gets a bit of focus, taking out some store robbers this issue and then having to deal with police protocol over his guns (as a former D.A., he is not against it), but Rockman's origin gets a large sequence here, detailing his past in Abyssia, his missing family and his desire to go home. It was done very well, and I know I sound like a broken record here, but it would really, really work if Mole Man was involved in Rockman's storyline. Even if it is something as simple as, "Abyssia fell without Rockman, his family hid elsewhere, and Mole Man took over the territory as part of his conquest". I think it would be cool and add an extra notch to a classic rogue who really needs one. Considering he is the FF's first enemy and JMS wrote FF for a while, it isn't exactly impossible for JMS to come up with that. Merely improbable (catch the ref). The other characters throw a going away party for Mastermind Excello, as he is off to somewhere private where his senses aren't bombarded by 21st century technology. The police are investigating a murder Widow committed for her demonic master, and Phantom Reporter pretty much calls the jerkwad Dynamic Man a Nazi. It was a pretty good scene to me, since he is a bit like their ideal of "perfection", right down to being blond haired and blue eyed (and self-righteous, even bigoted). Blue Blade is off to launch a Hollywood career, even if he still has a 40's mentality about how it works, and even if we didn't already know that he dies, I'd have him pegged for casuality #1 by this stage anyway.

Weston's art is terrific as always, with the only quibble being that he always draws Widow's nipples in her costume and it gets distracting, almost like it is fetish art. His style is "realistic" without being photorealistic so it stands out even more. The Reporter's article on the last page was moving stuff and this title is off on a good run here. Sure, it is only a mini, but many new launches of ongoings haven't made it past #12 anyway, so right now it feels like an ongoing. Marvel can always use more Golden Agers around, and I hope some of these characters survive this story and go off to that end. It isn't selling terribly well, but it is a mature superhero storyline that isn't to be missed. Who says you can't use old school characters? After all the heat JMS took for his ASM run, it is great that he is knocking balls out of the part with his non-webhead works since.

YOUNG AVENGERS PRESENTS #3: The WICCAN & SPEED issue, because twins can never be alone for an adventure. I still contend that "Speed" is a horribly simplistic codename (what next, a strong man named Strength or a regenerator named Regenerate), but that can't be helped as Heinberg came up with it. This issue naturally plays with the dynamic between the two brothers, who are about as opposite as twins get (mimicing the dynamic between their mother, Wanda, and their uncle, Pietro). It also delves into their origins a bit, but unfortunately is done in by the editorial fact that the Wanda/Twins storyline CAN'T be resolved until, presumably, a second volume of the YA title starts (whether or not with Heinberg involved in any capacity), or it is decided that Bendis is no longer the master of her destiny.

Urusov, last hailed from the LONERS epilogue story in the 2007 Christmas Special does the art here and by and large this works; I found this work to be stronger than her last. She would be a lock to take over on RUNAWAYS, though. Aguirre-Sacasa writes a story that is strong on past continuity. Billy keeps having the same nightmare, involving Wanda, the Avengers, and Mephisto, and teams with his brother Thomas to investigate her whereabouts, while Hulkling takes his place at home to fool his mother. Now, it is a detail, but I really want to know where Hulking lives. His parents are dead or occupied and he isn't part of the Initiative. Does he live with Billy, maybe hiding under the closet when his mother snoops? Does Kate Bishop pay his rent for him? It is worth knowing.

Speed and Wiccan banter as they go from place to place, first Genosha (where Billy, appropriately, pays his respects; to mutants or anyone with a heart, it would be the equalivant of a Mutant 9/11) and then Wundagore and finally Wanda & Vision's old house, where they unto Master Pandemonium, who talks in third person like The Hulk, Karl Moline, and Bo Jackson. Thankfully, Urusov has altered his outfit so he doesn't look like a Mexican Wrestler anymore. The villain notes how Billy is using the same kind of magic as his mother (y'know, the very magic Bendis said didn't exist in DISASSEMBLED. What? It is a fair point) and that they were forged from powers connected to Mephisto. Normally, I would say that Mephisto perhaps leading them to be believed dead when they were alive for years just to drive Wanda insane is far too petty for a master of Hell...but that was before he started doing annulments for web-slingers. Mephisto is all about trying to corrupt noble souls and whatnot (tried with Silver Surfer for ages). But, like I said, this storyline with the twins and the Maximoffs literally can't be resolved until the editorial climate makes a decision, and that is a shame, because otherwise this one-shot could have had more oomph, been excellent instead of just good if allowed to go to the full conclusion.

Still, much better than the Hulkling issue, which is starting to look like the worst of the 5 issues, which isn't shabby considering it wasn't that bad. The next thing for the YA after this is...an event themed crossover with the Runaways again. Yeah, the storyline won't be resolved there, either. But, an issue here I enjoyed. Urusov needs to land a regular gig on some young hero book that counts, pronto.

 

[SonOfCthulhu]

Countdown #4

After two enjoyable issues I'm back to asking "Why am I buying this?" again. Mary Marvel turns evil because Darkseid tempts her with power. Then she goes after her "friends" from the last few issues and trashes them to collect Jimmy Olsen for Darkseid. Does any of what I just typed make sense to anyone who's a long-time fan of her character? No? I know how you feel. The most ironically funny thing about the whole issue was this:

You know your story sucks when even the characters in it can't wait till it's over. This issue should have made a short trip directly into the crapbox. Boo DC, Booooo!

 

[RockSP]

The most ironically funny thing about the whole issue was this:

You know your story sucks when even the characters in it can't wait till it's over.

Heh. Yeah I was thinking the same thing...

 

[DoomJester]

I just can't get over what happened to Mary Marvel's character. The Black Adam/Eclipso evil stage was already questionable enough but this takes the cake, not only because a month and a half later they reused the same story line, it has Mary Marvel suddenly accepting the same stuff she rejected earlier... it makes no sense... I feel like they were doing their own thing and Grant Morrison knocked on their door or sent them an e-mail and said, "didn't you read the Final Crisis scripts? She's supposed to be evil." And so we are stuck with this. Makes no sense. The only thing that gives me comfort is previous issue with the dog with the knife. At least they know how to make fun of themselves.

 

[moraldeficiency]

So that's the great disaster, dogs with knives? I heard it was but I assumed it was some symbolic point I was missing.

 

[sandwraith]

My fave for the week was probably 'Tec, I actually went back to read the Kiribati Murder issue just to see who Peyton was. I'm starting to suspect that all of Dini's issues aren't as standalone as we've been led to believe.

Nguyen needs to draw more covers like this.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Nguyen's art was a godsend to Detective Comics. Kramer's art wasn't bad, but Nguyen's style suits Dini's stories so much better.

 

[RockSP]

Proof #5
Secret Invasion #1
Ultimate Iron Man #4
The Boys #Seventeen
Countdown 4
The Twelve #4
Young Avengers Presents #3:Vulcan & Speed
Young X-men #1
Cable #2
Kick-Ass #2
New Dynamix #2
Punisher War Journal #18
Trials of Shazam #12
Project Superpowers#2

Young X-men - Gave it a try but the characters aren't that interesting (so far) and the art is just okay. Might check out a couple more issues.

New Dynamix - I hope J.J. Kirby gets a steady gig somewhere after this mini is over. Nice artist. Wasn't a lot of action this issue but I didn't mind. I haven't seen Union since The Monarchy series years ago (but then I don't read every Wildstorm book), so I'm interested to see what the deal is with him.

The Twelve - Looks like Laughing Mask may be getting into some trouble for his past "dealings" with criminals, or maybe I'm reading to much into the dialogue on the last page. No clue where JMS is going with Elektro--which is a good thing.

Secret Invasion - It was okay. Hopefully S.W.O.R.D. will be survive. They haven't been used (to my knowledge) outside of Astonishing X-Men and to just kill off the whole organization is pretty stupid...especially since Marvel is finally doing outer space books again.

 

[Egotastic]

Nguyen's art was a godsend to Detective Comics. Kramer's art wasn't bad, but Nguyen's style suits Dini's stories so much better.

Agreed. I hope he's in it for the long run.

 

[sandwraith]

Bat artist of the year: J.H Williams. Period.

 

[Egotastic]

Bat artist of the year: J.H Williams. Period.

That's the truth. I was pissed when he dropped out of doing 'Tec back when Dini first started.

 

[sandwraith]

Didn't he do a stint on Batman with Morrison. His art really shined there. And the colors, God, I could almost feel the leather on Batman's cape.

DC, kidnap his family, bribe him, give him what he wants, just do sometime to keep the man on Batman.

 

[Egotastic]

I don't read Morrison's Batman, but I think I remember him doing a few issues.

 

[sandwraith]

Williams' art was the biggest selling point for me. The story was pretty whodunnit but pretty well done.

Anyways, Young X-Men #1. Brief intros, good characters (except Ink and wolfboy) and okay art. Hoping things pick up by the next issue.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Is Cyclops super-morally ambiguous again?