jaydawg
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Greg Rucka is the king of DC. I'd say the whole Question thing is purely Didio.
Bought/Thought 4/4
- Thread starter Marcdachamp
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Greg Rucka is the king of DC. I'd say the whole Question thing is purely Didio.
BrianWilly
Disciple of Whedon
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52 Week 48
What is it with comics and internal dialogue these days? It's like we need at least one per panel. It's an easy narrative tool obviously, but distracting. We got panels of Renee blasting sht apart with big guns and she's thinking, "What exactly would Charlie think about noodles?" We got Nightwing asking some pretty dang important questions to Abbot in midst of explosions around the city and Renee's thinking, "I wonder who I am. I wish I knew who I was." It's a nice trick, but distracting as all hell. It either wasn't glaring before in this series, or I just started to notice it now.
I also wish that this comic would make it a bit clearer when people actually die. I read that second-to-last page over and over trying to decide if Batwoman is actually dead or just unconscious or something, and that's a pretty important thing to make clear. I don't want to have to find out if she's actually dead from newsarama.
So basically, a good issue but with some pointed setbacks. Renee ends up solidifying her position of the Question because she needs to save her woman? Good enough motivation, I suppose, but bit straightforward. I was expecting something more...depthy. By that logic, can't anyone who's ever wanted to save a loved one before answer The Question? That's like, nearly the entire world.
But, good enough.
(7 out of 10)
Runaways #25
You'd think that characters like the Runaways would be some of the single hardest characters for writers to "get right," except that several writers beyond Vaughan the creator has been "getting them right" for a couple of times now. Conversely, you'd think that characters like Spider-Man and the X-Men would be pretty easy to get right, except that we've been bombarded with issues upon issues of stories with them being gotten oh so very wrong for a good while now. Why is that, I wonder?
I don't know how anyone else feels, but I don't feel like Joss writes very differently from Vaughan at all and that the general tone of the series has been thankfully retained. If Alphona had stayed at art and a casual reader read both this issue and the one before it without knowing that the writer had changed, I doubt that he or she would have even noticed.
Oddly though I don't care so much about the plot, possibly due to the fact that there's not really a whole lot of plot to care about. I get all the Kingpin stuff and all that makes sense, but then there's this tomfoolery about big deadly robot angels and an old woman and and some necklace or another and then the Punisher appears. Oh, I'm certain that it will make ridiculous amounts of sense in the next few issues, but for now it's pretty hard to care about.
Joss writes Chase too peppy. The last time we saw Chase he was all full of issues and stuff. His issues had issues. And now he's practically an unholy union of Xander and Wash. He's Wander. Or Xash. But I suppose only one character behaving oddly with a move to a new writer is a relatively good standard, considering.
Incidentally just because I've actually seen this in real life: wow, I wish people wouldn't cover their mouth with their hands when they vomit. Just go ahead and hurl, your hands need not be anywhere near the process or the trajectory. It's not like you'll stop yourself from barfing like that; you're gonna end up spewing chunks anyway, except that now you end up with puke in your hands.
I just wanted to see how many different ways I could say vomit.
(8.8 out of 10)
Justice League of America #7
What in the name of holy flying poop is up with the sequences around that fold-out page? Printing error? General incohesiveness? I still have absolutely no idea whatsoever which page that "...he'll kill you" text box is supposed to follow. Am I missing a page?
Anyway. I've said before that with the JLA reforming, it truly feels like the DCU is truly getting back and truly completing its repair after the destructive events of the Crisis. It feels more like that in this issue than ever before. The pieces are back. The JLA is back. All is "right" again in the DCU, excepting that whole New Gods and Amazons invasion thingy that's gonna happen. I made a mistake during the last issue of assuming that it was the last issue of the arc; in fact, this one is. And in reading this issue along with the rest of the arc, the arc itself becomes so much better. In my review for #6 I gave this entire arc a 7.3...with the addition of this issue, I have to bump up that score.
Seeing the Hall for the first time (Hall of Justice? Justice Hall?) was very cool. Loved the in-joke thrown in about the holographic "dangerous room" designed by Niles Caulder who, as some people may know, is the resident DCU professor in a wheelchair. And the fact that it warps you from Washington DC to its satellite location just walking through it without you even noticing? Extra cool. It's so cool, it might as well be a Morrison idea! Gone are the barf-inducing teleporters of the nineties...say hello to the puke-free "slideways" of the 2000s.
I don't know what I feel about "Red Arrow." On the one hand I feel like it's a suppression of Roy's abilities; he's grown far beyond his abilities to just shoot arrows and constraining him to that feels counterproductive. On the other hand, Meltzer wrote that scene so damn well. God, I love continuity. I love writers who like continuity. Referencing obscure but important info like the fact that Dinah was the one there for Roy and saw him through his withdrawal when others like Ollie and Hal weren't is just...it's so obscure to readers in general, but it's so important to the characters. (It's also perhaps not completely fair to Hal since it's not like Hal abandoned him in the same way that Ollie did -- Hal was the one who brought him to Dinah in the first place -- but I can see where it might seem like abandonment from Roy's perspective.) And on the one hand, the Arsenal costume looked a lot better. On the other hand, thank you Roy for finally putting on a damn mask again after decades of running around with your face in full damn view and you having a child at home to worry about. Did Identity Crisis teach you nothing? Not wearing masks equals HORRIBLE DEADLY RAPE.
(8.7 out of 10)
(8 out of 10 for the entire arc)
The All New Atom #10
Uh. Not impressed. The narrative just feels like a big mess right now, and Ryan acts emo beyond the measure of words to describe. Which wouldn't be so bad except that Gail Simone still manages to describe it all in meticulous, mind-numbing detail. And the other problem is that we sorta just heard all this in the last issue, where it was heavy-handed but not nearly as overkill as it is here. Ryan still has some of the best damn internal dialogue in comics today ("Mrf? Frfl mrf?") but when it overkills, it really overkills.
It really doesn't help that girlfriend Jia is pretty much the least sympathetic damsel in distress we've seen in a good while and Barrows (rightly) draws her as an utterly mewling, unlikeable woman. Ryan is supposed to love her enough to die for her and that's great 'cause I'm not saying people can't be stupid enough to do that for people who aren't worth it, but it might help if...I dunno, we at least got a tiny bit of impression that she actually is maybe a little bit worth it.
(6.5 out of 10)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #2
Uh. Did they just kill Renee? I mean, I wouldn't be particularly surprised, but if they did: that was quick. And mean
.
Better than even the last issue. Great character moments, nice action, and zombies. Xander in particular is really hitting his marks here, pretty much even moreso than Buffy is. His talk with Dawn, his dream-talk with Buffy, his talk with Amy...all incredibly funny and well-written.
Buffy dreaming of kissing Xander is probably just residual horniness and nothing more than a "GASP--hahagotchasuckers" moment. At least, that's what I hope. I know there's an entire army full of people out there who've wanted Xander to finally get together with Buffy after all this time -- Nick Brendon not being the least of them -- and I don't discount that Joss might possibly "go there," at least for a bit to get some things and then come back, but I really hope it doesn't happen. The show spent years and years getting us to the point where Xander and Buffy were finally comfortable around each other just being each other and not with the terrifying love pentagons of terrifying drama. Buffy has her whole big thing about cookie dough, and Xander loves her as a friend. It's a comfortable place. It's a good place to be. Let's not spoil it just for LAWL THEY SEX EACH OTHER NOW IT'S ABOUT TIME.
On the incidental, I absolutely love the fact that when Amy challenges Xander to be the one passionately devoted to her, we get MegaExtremeCloseup of his eyepatch. The one, most blatant reminder and reason that permaybehaps Xander is no longer quite as devoted to or passionate about Buffy as he was before. Maybe it wasn't even intentional but knowing Joss, it probably is.
Who is Mysterious Trenchcoat Man? Red herrings all point to Spike, but no way would it ever be so obvious. Plus, Joss said he's not keen on using Spike.
Who is Gross Boyfriend of Amy? Signs used to point to Warren, but now I'm not so sure at all. If it were actually Warren it would make more sense for him to be with Amy during this attack, and it seems like they're saving him for something later, after all of this.
(9.8 out of 10)
What is it with comics and internal dialogue these days? It's like we need at least one per panel. It's an easy narrative tool obviously, but distracting. We got panels of Renee blasting sht apart with big guns and she's thinking, "What exactly would Charlie think about noodles?" We got Nightwing asking some pretty dang important questions to Abbot in midst of explosions around the city and Renee's thinking, "I wonder who I am. I wish I knew who I was." It's a nice trick, but distracting as all hell. It either wasn't glaring before in this series, or I just started to notice it now.
I also wish that this comic would make it a bit clearer when people actually die. I read that second-to-last page over and over trying to decide if Batwoman is actually dead or just unconscious or something, and that's a pretty important thing to make clear. I don't want to have to find out if she's actually dead from newsarama.
So basically, a good issue but with some pointed setbacks. Renee ends up solidifying her position of the Question because she needs to save her woman? Good enough motivation, I suppose, but bit straightforward. I was expecting something more...depthy. By that logic, can't anyone who's ever wanted to save a loved one before answer The Question? That's like, nearly the entire world.
But, good enough.
(7 out of 10)
Runaways #25
You'd think that characters like the Runaways would be some of the single hardest characters for writers to "get right," except that several writers beyond Vaughan the creator has been "getting them right" for a couple of times now. Conversely, you'd think that characters like Spider-Man and the X-Men would be pretty easy to get right, except that we've been bombarded with issues upon issues of stories with them being gotten oh so very wrong for a good while now. Why is that, I wonder?
I don't know how anyone else feels, but I don't feel like Joss writes very differently from Vaughan at all and that the general tone of the series has been thankfully retained. If Alphona had stayed at art and a casual reader read both this issue and the one before it without knowing that the writer had changed, I doubt that he or she would have even noticed.
Oddly though I don't care so much about the plot, possibly due to the fact that there's not really a whole lot of plot to care about. I get all the Kingpin stuff and all that makes sense, but then there's this tomfoolery about big deadly robot angels and an old woman and and some necklace or another and then the Punisher appears. Oh, I'm certain that it will make ridiculous amounts of sense in the next few issues, but for now it's pretty hard to care about.
Joss writes Chase too peppy. The last time we saw Chase he was all full of issues and stuff. His issues had issues. And now he's practically an unholy union of Xander and Wash. He's Wander. Or Xash. But I suppose only one character behaving oddly with a move to a new writer is a relatively good standard, considering.
Incidentally just because I've actually seen this in real life: wow, I wish people wouldn't cover their mouth with their hands when they vomit. Just go ahead and hurl, your hands need not be anywhere near the process or the trajectory. It's not like you'll stop yourself from barfing like that; you're gonna end up spewing chunks anyway, except that now you end up with puke in your hands.
I just wanted to see how many different ways I could say vomit.
(8.8 out of 10)
Justice League of America #7
What in the name of holy flying poop is up with the sequences around that fold-out page? Printing error? General incohesiveness? I still have absolutely no idea whatsoever which page that "...he'll kill you" text box is supposed to follow. Am I missing a page?
Anyway. I've said before that with the JLA reforming, it truly feels like the DCU is truly getting back and truly completing its repair after the destructive events of the Crisis. It feels more like that in this issue than ever before. The pieces are back. The JLA is back. All is "right" again in the DCU, excepting that whole New Gods and Amazons invasion thingy that's gonna happen. I made a mistake during the last issue of assuming that it was the last issue of the arc; in fact, this one is. And in reading this issue along with the rest of the arc, the arc itself becomes so much better. In my review for #6 I gave this entire arc a 7.3...with the addition of this issue, I have to bump up that score.
Seeing the Hall for the first time (Hall of Justice? Justice Hall?) was very cool. Loved the in-joke thrown in about the holographic "dangerous room" designed by Niles Caulder who, as some people may know, is the resident DCU professor in a wheelchair. And the fact that it warps you from Washington DC to its satellite location just walking through it without you even noticing? Extra cool. It's so cool, it might as well be a Morrison idea! Gone are the barf-inducing teleporters of the nineties...say hello to the puke-free "slideways" of the 2000s.
I don't know what I feel about "Red Arrow." On the one hand I feel like it's a suppression of Roy's abilities; he's grown far beyond his abilities to just shoot arrows and constraining him to that feels counterproductive. On the other hand, Meltzer wrote that scene so damn well. God, I love continuity. I love writers who like continuity. Referencing obscure but important info like the fact that Dinah was the one there for Roy and saw him through his withdrawal when others like Ollie and Hal weren't is just...it's so obscure to readers in general, but it's so important to the characters. (It's also perhaps not completely fair to Hal since it's not like Hal abandoned him in the same way that Ollie did -- Hal was the one who brought him to Dinah in the first place -- but I can see where it might seem like abandonment from Roy's perspective.) And on the one hand, the Arsenal costume looked a lot better. On the other hand, thank you Roy for finally putting on a damn mask again after decades of running around with your face in full damn view and you having a child at home to worry about. Did Identity Crisis teach you nothing? Not wearing masks equals HORRIBLE DEADLY RAPE.
(8.7 out of 10)
(8 out of 10 for the entire arc)
The All New Atom #10
Uh. Not impressed. The narrative just feels like a big mess right now, and Ryan acts emo beyond the measure of words to describe. Which wouldn't be so bad except that Gail Simone still manages to describe it all in meticulous, mind-numbing detail. And the other problem is that we sorta just heard all this in the last issue, where it was heavy-handed but not nearly as overkill as it is here. Ryan still has some of the best damn internal dialogue in comics today ("Mrf? Frfl mrf?") but when it overkills, it really overkills.
It really doesn't help that girlfriend Jia is pretty much the least sympathetic damsel in distress we've seen in a good while and Barrows (rightly) draws her as an utterly mewling, unlikeable woman. Ryan is supposed to love her enough to die for her and that's great 'cause I'm not saying people can't be stupid enough to do that for people who aren't worth it, but it might help if...I dunno, we at least got a tiny bit of impression that she actually is maybe a little bit worth it.
(6.5 out of 10)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #2
Uh. Did they just kill Renee? I mean, I wouldn't be particularly surprised, but if they did: that was quick. And mean
.Better than even the last issue. Great character moments, nice action, and zombies. Xander in particular is really hitting his marks here, pretty much even moreso than Buffy is. His talk with Dawn, his dream-talk with Buffy, his talk with Amy...all incredibly funny and well-written.
Buffy dreaming of kissing Xander is probably just residual horniness and nothing more than a "GASP--hahagotchasuckers" moment. At least, that's what I hope. I know there's an entire army full of people out there who've wanted Xander to finally get together with Buffy after all this time -- Nick Brendon not being the least of them -- and I don't discount that Joss might possibly "go there," at least for a bit to get some things and then come back, but I really hope it doesn't happen. The show spent years and years getting us to the point where Xander and Buffy were finally comfortable around each other just being each other and not with the terrifying love pentagons of terrifying drama. Buffy has her whole big thing about cookie dough, and Xander loves her as a friend. It's a comfortable place. It's a good place to be. Let's not spoil it just for LAWL THEY SEX EACH OTHER NOW IT'S ABOUT TIME.
On the incidental, I absolutely love the fact that when Amy challenges Xander to be the one passionately devoted to her, we get MegaExtremeCloseup of his eyepatch. The one, most blatant reminder and reason that permaybehaps Xander is no longer quite as devoted to or passionate about Buffy as he was before. Maybe it wasn't even intentional but knowing Joss, it probably is.
Who is Mysterious Trenchcoat Man? Red herrings all point to Spike, but no way would it ever be so obvious. Plus, Joss said he's not keen on using Spike.
Who is Gross Boyfriend of Amy? Signs used to point to Warren, but now I'm not so sure at all. If it were actually Warren it would make more sense for him to be with Amy during this attack, and it seems like they're saving him for something later, after all of this.
(9.8 out of 10)
BrianWilly
Disciple of Whedon
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Considering that Didio wanted Isis and Osiris to live but the 52 writers said "no," I think they have a pretty significant amount of say in what happens in these characters.
It's pretty obvious that Renee replacing the Question was the plan right from the outset of the story.
PhotoJones
Avenger
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i read it at the store. it basically recaps the entire madman saga for new readers, but it's done in a way that's not boring. and obviously it looks beautiful.
Colossal Spoons
Paper boi
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Since I don't care about The Question, I would have preferred to see her die and Catwoman live. But at the end of the day, I don't care about either of them so...
WOLVERINE25TH
The Best There Is
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I bought, I thought, I posted:
http://www.215ink.com/reviews_040407_dc.php
I'm the one with the most reviews up. And no, not everything I bought made it up. Was just takin' too damn long to wade through so I made some cuts. An' I didn't get Fallen Son, my shop didn't have it an' I didn't have time to wait fer it to arrive from the other store.
http://www.215ink.com/reviews_040407_dc.php
I'm the one with the most reviews up. And no, not everything I bought made it up. Was just takin' too damn long to wade through so I made some cuts. An' I didn't get Fallen Son, my shop didn't have it an' I didn't have time to wait fer it to arrive from the other store.
PhotoJones
Avenger
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what comic book shops are you guys going to that don't "get in" certain books? it seems every week, someone posts that their store didn't have something. i've never had this problem, and before these boards, never heard of this problem...
ImrtlLimpWrist
Civilian
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Immortal Iron Fist - quickly becoming my favorite book altho I thought this issue just okay.
Fallen Son - still bugs me when Logan gets shot/slashed/killed every effin issue of every effin book he is in. The whole gun thing seemed completely not necessary. And how does his and DD's trip to see Cap's body jive with the New Avengers trip?
Justice League of America - Red Arrow, huh? Perhaps Kingdom Come is inevitable. Has there been an explanation why Wally and Martian Manhunter are not in?
Fallen Son - still bugs me when Logan gets shot/slashed/killed every effin issue of every effin book he is in. The whole gun thing seemed completely not necessary. And how does his and DD's trip to see Cap's body jive with the New Avengers trip?
Justice League of America - Red Arrow, huh? Perhaps Kingdom Come is inevitable. Has there been an explanation why Wally and Martian Manhunter are not in?
WOLVERINE25TH
The Best There Is
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Well, sometimes there are shippin' errors, Photo. Hell, one guy on the Comic Collector Live boards didn't even get Hulk an' thought they delayed it a week. It happens. Got thousands of shops an' hundreds of thousands of books. Somethin' bound to screw up somewhere. Plus, my shop orders along with their other store so the distro doesn't always work right.
AndThePickles
Kiss the girl
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Haven't finished reading everything yet, but:
Runaways: Interesting start! Who in the world is this "angel of death" person? I liked the interaction between Nico and Karolina, and sadly enjoyed the way that Whedon writes Molly
My shop put this out late, so from last week:
Silent War- still enjoying this a lot! Really bizarre looking art. I'm curious about the "bad thing" in Black Bolt's head, and that one frame with Layla viewed as crazy and evil looking was super interesting.
I think this was from last week too?
Black Panther: I picked this up because I read Fantastic Four, and I'm really hoping that I won't have to keep buying it.....because I really disliked it
Runaways: Interesting start! Who in the world is this "angel of death" person? I liked the interaction between Nico and Karolina, and sadly enjoyed the way that Whedon writes Molly
My shop put this out late, so from last week:
Silent War- still enjoying this a lot! Really bizarre looking art. I'm curious about the "bad thing" in Black Bolt's head, and that one frame with Layla viewed as crazy and evil looking was super interesting.
I think this was from last week too?
Black Panther: I picked this up because I read Fantastic Four, and I'm really hoping that I won't have to keep buying it.....because I really disliked it
Marcdachamp
Sidekick
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The way I see it, this takes place after. After falling for a fake body at the Raft, Logan goes to the Helicarrier to find the real one and knock Crossbones around.
TheCorpulent1
SHAZAM!
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That does make more sense than the other way around. I hope Bendis addresses the confirmation of Cap's death in NA.
That gun thing was pretty silly. If Wolverine wanted to intimidate Crossbones, did he really need to allow Crossbones to shoot him as an excuse? Just intimidate the bastard. That really felt like it was just thrown in there as a "lolz wolverine is teh kewlezzzt!!!!!11" on Loeb's part.
I was kind of disappointed that Bucky didn't help Wolverine out. Bucky and Wolverine sneaking onto the Helicarrier would've been so much cooler than Wolverine and lame-ass Daredevil. Plus, Wolverine would've probably had to stop Bucky from killing Crossbones, which would've been a nice change for the absurdly overly violent little bastard.
That gun thing was pretty silly. If Wolverine wanted to intimidate Crossbones, did he really need to allow Crossbones to shoot him as an excuse? Just intimidate the bastard. That really felt like it was just thrown in there as a "lolz wolverine is teh kewlezzzt!!!!!11" on Loeb's part.
I was kind of disappointed that Bucky didn't help Wolverine out. Bucky and Wolverine sneaking onto the Helicarrier would've been so much cooler than Wolverine and lame-ass Daredevil. Plus, Wolverine would've probably had to stop Bucky from killing Crossbones, which would've been a nice change for the absurdly overly violent little bastard.
newmexneon
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Just had to comment on how good the ending to Planet Hulk was. Anyone who is even the slightest bit of a Hulk fan, and didn't read this story, you missed out on propably the best Hulk story ever. Hulk was happy and the Illuminati took everything away from him. Hulk is going to do some serious damage when he returns to Earth because he has never been this mad, and you know the old saying.
It's too bad this story got overshadowed by the crap that was Civil War because Planet Hulk was ten times better.
It's too bad this story got overshadowed by the crap that was Civil War because Planet Hulk was ten times better.
CaptainCanada
Shield of the True North
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I seriously doubt the Illuminati had anything to do with the ship exploding (the Illuminati doesn't exist anymore, anyway; it's split into five different groups, four of them being groups of one). They sent him away to protect both himself and Earth, not to kill him.
TheCorpulent1
SHAZAM!
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Hence the Hulk's anger that they couldn't even do that right. He's probably as pissed at them for their own stupidity as he is for the fact that they kicked him off the planet to begin with. Indirectness of responsibility is probably not an argument that holds a lot of water with the Hulk.
Dread
TMNT 1984-2009
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Bit of a late start to the B/T, but here I am. Overall, it was a very good week from both sides of Marvel & DC. The only bummer is that DYNAMO 5 #2 didn't ship this week, probably offset by the reprint of #1 shipping this week. Some shopkeeps said to check back next week, and I sure will.
As always, unlimited spoilers.
DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT for 4/4/07:
52 WEEK #48: Only 5 more weeks to go, at least in theory. This issue has Montoya finally don the full mask & costume of the Question, becoming the new Latina Lesbian Question, PC champion. Darick Robertson does the art and frankly while it was functional, 52 has had much better and more readable artists. Some scenes were too dark and sketchy. After Katherine Kane's abduction by Intergang, Nightwing & Montoya stomp some heads to find her, only for a convient bomb crisis to come up to get Nightwing out of the way so Montoya can do her lone woman crusade. Admittedly, I am a bit tired of the werewolf animal people; reminds me like someone decided to mix together the DC UNIVERSE and WEREWOLF: THE APOCALYPSE tabletop RPG's. It seems that Kathy may not be the actual person Intergang's bible needs killed, but they believe she is, so she is in mortal danger. I suppose it should be very dramatic to see Montoya stomp arse with her gun, but we've seen it before, when she practically carried "Charlie" for most of their battles. And at this point, even as a casual DC fan, I am thinking they've been swapping legacies a bit too much since OYL and they're starting to lose their oomph. Still, the action was nice and it had a spooky B-Movie vibe to it with sacrifices. Unfortunately, the issue proves that even with the majority of DC's stars from it still alive, bad things can happen. A while back Darthphere and I had an agruement involving violent deaths when Aunt May got shot, but I have to concede; when a heroine has to die, almost no one does it gorier these days than DC. Kane was kidnapped, clubbed in the back of the head, drugged, chained, gagged, and then stabbed in the chest while her lover could only watch. True, she gave Mannhiem as good as she got, but unless 52 pulls another last second miracle, it seems Batwoman may be dead. But as 52's writers created her, she is their's to off more than anyone. It's not like the Bat-family is shy of people, especially with 52 wrapping up. Not as bad as Spoiler, but, I guess as Darth noted, May being shot wasn't nearly as brutal as some stuff like this. It also seems to be obviously leading to some big Darkseid event, with the bomb-drills and all. Not sure I will be aboard for that. As a one page subplot, the docs of Oolong Island offer up their defeated Black Adam for worldwide bidding. Wonder how many hits on eBay they'll get. Anyway, so Montoya's first adventure as Question goes poorly and she's lost yet ANOTHER "partner". I am seeing an unsettling trend, and it is slowly getting old. What next, her goldfish dies? I suppose the moral may be how she takes it, as she has a mission now and likely won't just fall back on booze and empty sex again like when Charlie found her, which counts for something, I guess.
DETECTIVE COMICS # 831: Some people wonder which is writing the better Batman, Dini or Morrison. Well, for my money, I leapt from BATMAN after Morrison's "Son of the Demon/Batman" arc (in which Batman has a son who seems about as stock, boring, and cliche ridden as Wolverine's from ORIGIN) and with Dini I have been aboard no matter the artists. This issue focuses heavilly on Dini's as well as his fans' favorite creations of his: Harley Quinn. Created for the B:TAS, she quickly hit to stardom and after a few years DC shoehorned her into their universe and even gave her a solo ongoing for a few years. So having him write another story with her feels like homecoming. While DETECTIVE has no arcs, there are subplots that carry over, which is more subtle and I appreciate that vs. a 6 part story of cliffhangers and "follow the bouncing ball" type plotting. Quinn applies to get out of Arkham (a theme familiar in some of Dini's B:TAS episodes, especially "HARLEY'S HOLIDAY"), but it is denied, especially by a vote from none other than Wayne himself. However, she's abducted and coerced into stealing something for the new Scarface, who debuted a few issues back. After having a bit of a ball, she contacts the GCPD, which of course leads to Batman coming to her rescue. Lady Scarface escapes, but Harley reveals a past connection to Wesker and Wayne votes her out of Arkham. It's a neat little story and while this may not have the starpower of BATMAN right now, for my money it's solid Batman for a fan who dearly missed the old animation cartoon, yet enjoys the grittier freedom that the comics allow. Even the magician who was kidnapped a few issues ago makes a cameo. And another pretty cover. Not every run has to be some earth shattering, status quo changing endeavor, especially as these characters cannot ever really age or die, so stories like these can be very entertaining, even if they feel methodical. I mean, isn't every episode of LAW & ORDER or CSI like that? And both have no end of spin-offs and fans. Dini's DETECTIVE is much the same. Nothing as flashy and earth shattering as having Batman joke like it's 1965 and fight Ninja Man-Bats, but just stable, solid Bat-mysteries with a hint of noir. Count me in.
AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #1: Not to be confused with the Bendis-penned one shot, THE INITITATIVE, Dan Slott's new ongoing that has been anticipated for almost a year finally comes out, with art by Caselli (YA/RUNAWAYS). The expectations for this book from both fans and Marvel were high and I believe both were met. My shop had loads of copies (I bought the cover that had Justice and the newer characters). And the story has Slott using all the tools of his arsenal. I know when some people heard "serious" from him, they got concerned, but I never did. Because even in his works where the theme is usually some kind of "good natured/dark humor", like GLA and SPIDER-MAN/HUMAN TORCH, there is plenty of suspence, mood, and sometimes darkness there. Mr. Immortal's plight was in no way funny. The heart shown between the Richard and Parker families and between the two young heroes was not merely for laughs. Just some people, by nature of our dark medium, are quick to sandbox Slott as being a "comedy" guy simply because he can be light and funny at times. Hopefully this title proves how well rounded he is. This issue does have light moments, and some jokes in it. No question. But that is because Slott stories vary in mood, vs. just keeping one throughout. We are first introduced to the drill sarge, The Gauntlet, who was plucked off of combat duty in Iraq (fighting HYDRA) to teach the recruits at their Stamford base by Gyrich, a task he at first scoffs at but is convinced because, apparently, M-Day erasing 90% of mutants left the U.S. at the top of the "super powers" race, so they only want the best for their investments. Nevermind the fact that we rarely saw even mutants outside the U.S. in the same dramatic numbers, and it works. The three main instructors, War Machine, Justice, and Yellowjacket, bring in some new recruits. Cloud 9, the self-doubting, anxious heroine, is easily going to become the fan fave so far. MVP, grandson of the creator of Cap's super-soldier serum, is a athletic prodigy that does seem familier to Patriot. Throw in Arsenal, Hardball, Trauma, and Komodo, and we have ourselves some rookies. Also having speaking lines/appreances are Thor Girl, Rage, Slapstick, Ulra-Girl, Stingray, and Bengal, amung others for the keen eye. It may seem odd that Justice is with The Inititative, but Slott doesn't gloss over his NW history. When MVP's parents bring it up, he counters it. And when Gauntlet uses the NW's name as an example for "failing heroes", Vance takes issue with it. No, he doesn't throw a power-mad temper tantrum that some fans would have expected, but it's there. He's not as gung-ho for trashing the Warriors like the others are, and that perspective is why he is key for the faculty. Plus, much like Pym and Stark, one could say he is a hero who "made a mistake and knows that heroes should be accountable", as he accidentally killed his abusive father, went to trail and served jailtime in the Vault for it. This is his best chance in years for some top billing and who better than Slott. I don't care for Rage's retro look again, though, and he seems to be going through the training simply because with Cap's surrender, it is the only option. But the core focus is on Slott's new creations, which is what you'd expect. Komodo is a girl who gained powers by swiping Dr. Conner's "lizard" formula, an idea I am surprised we haven't seen more often. Trauma (or "emo boy" as Gauntlet calls him) can literally become whatever the person nearest him fears, which is a unique power. Haven't seen much of Hardball and he kind of looks like a generic energy-blaster type. Arsenal is sort of like Witchblade in that she has a weapon on her arm that morphs into whatever she needs to blast someone. They do the tryouts and that is when things get dark. Arsenal wigs out when Trauma turns into a massive spider to demonstrate, and she madly blasts about. MVP dives to save a frozen Cloud 9, and takes a shot in the head, seemingly dying. Yeah, Slott did this once before, with Grasshopper in GLA. But this time it was more serious and it still worked and made the point about how dangerous this gig is. Plus, it was an original character made for that issue, so not as much whining. One young hero has her powers stripped from her (Arsenal) and one is killed (MVP), heckuva way to start issue #1. But what about this "discovery" that the doc doing MVP's autopsy found? And will a base that sets up a training facility for teenage heroes in which they can be traumatized or even slain come under legal fire (I could SO see MVP's parents staging a lawsuit)? The concept of the government using veteran heroes to train new teams of them in an official manner is a good idea and in a way I am glad to see it, even if the cost was CW. Slott is definately the right man for the job of having this series introduce new faces and showcase the wide range of the MU. Despite the flaws of CW, the fresh soil from under the scorched earth is starting to grow some pretty flowers, and this title looks to be one of them. The art, as expected, rocks, and I didn't have any issue with the colors (even if I have seen better). Can't wait for issue #2, as it should be. And hey! It was a complete story while obviously having subplots for the next, instead of simply relying on a cliffhanger. Go Slott Go!
IMMORTAL IRON FIST #4: In some ways this title is also like a mini 52 in that we have 2 writers and 2 artists on it, which has a nice effect of having the flashbacks look different than "the present" and it probably helps issues ship on schedule, as each artist has fewer pages to do. As usual, Brubaker is on a bit of a slow burn, but things do move along nicely. Orson hints at the past of the Iron Fist's to Rand and teaches him some new basics of his chi as they go underground and come under attack by Hydra. In some ways it reminded me of some scenes from video games when the mentor character guides you through your button combinations. The "mark" of the dragon to punch through the wall and using chi for bullets were some intersting bits. There is a bit of a sense that Rand is looking like Orson's rookie sidekick, but in order for him to learn some new moves, he needs some sort of mentor, and Orson is a better one than some stock K'un L'un guy. Steel Serpant also shows off his skills and his origin is recapped, a blessing as he is a D-List villian. Some people believe Orson is being set up to die soon and I did get that vibe as Steel Serpant promised it, and as he is a creation of Bru/Fraction then they have all the rights in the world. I wouldn't mind so long as it leads to Rand kicking some rear, something he hasn't done a lot of in a while without Luke Cage at his back. Aja's art is incredible and it's decompressed without feeling too slow, or at least this issue was. We also get another peek at the pirate lass IF of ages ago, who will have her own issue at #7. They are trying to set up the "immortal" part by fleshing out that Rand is the inheritor of a dynasty of fighters that mercifully were never explored until now, leaving this series a lot of leeway. Hopefully when things get really pumping, Rand will be a much stronger character for it, and he hasn't had a hope of that in years. Definately a sense of Marvel finally getting this relaunch right after several tries within the past decade.
IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN #7: The cover is brilliant, a nice bit by Cho as well as the self knocking, "the world's most shameless tie in" header. Frankly, that's not this, that's probably GHOST RIDER or MOON KNIGHT about now. Cory Walker reunites with Kirkman for this issue to give Hester a break, and I liked his work here, seemed better than his last issue of MTU. Eric is up to his usual stuff from last issue; stashes away in a lady's bag to catch some shower nudity, and it happens to be the hot-to-trot Ms. Marvel, a heroine Eric doesn't recognize (acknowledging that she was C-List for years until very recently). He naturally peeks in on her and stumbles his way between the panels of MIGHTY AVENGERS #1, with some lines perfectly translated. And it offers a "heroic" scene that I haven't seen too many times before. He goes to loot a store that has been smashed due to the Avengers/Mole Man monsters fight, only to run into Black Fox, that unlucky burglar from Spidey comics who was there for about the same reason. Ant-Man hits him in the NADS and literally lifts his wallet before then having to save a girl who was burried in rubble. The story ends with him running into Damage Control, who have a member who looks like a dead ringer for Dupli-Kate (from INVINCIBLE). There's not much to say that hasn't been said before. This is one of the most unque "legacy heroes" in years, and an utterly brilliant incarnation of Ant-Man. Despite how skeevy the lead is, you can't pull away. You want to see what he does next, how far he goes, and even if he manages to do SOME good in-between being a peeping tom or looking out for number one. Kirkman's dialogue is as usual very funny and Walker's art was good for this one. Enjoyed the Iron Spidey reference as well as Kirkman's merging of continuity with his stories, an art some writers bemoan. Hopefully THE INITIATIVE gives this book a boost from the dire of selling below the Top 100, because it really needs and deserves it. It'll outlive THE THING, but this book needs to sell. Eric's a true anti-hero yet avoids the cliches of being dark, brooding, and gorey. And he is still heroic enough that you won't get too sick of seeing him, as while he does note about wanting to stage his own muggings to save hotter women, he genuinely saves a kid today. And if robbing from thieves was wrong, then Gambit wouldn't have gotten away with it. Quickly becoming one of my fave Marvel titles, a must read.
RUNAWAYS #25: After endless hype about the coming of the Apostle himself, Joss Whedon, his debut issue is finally here. I am glad that Marvel has been hyping RUNAWAYS, although a 6 issue, one-digest run of the book puts Whedon in an odd place. If he doesn't do anything major, some people will complain that it was "filler". If he does do something major, only to dump it into the unlucky hands of whoever takes over for him in October, he'll seem like a hack, such as when Bendis does that (although to be fair, when he offed Ultimate Beast, he at least was writing the book for a year). It's not an enviable situation. Considering that the first few pages go over the RUNAWAYS' origin, it mades RUNAWAYS SAGA seem even more worthless (or a cynical cash grab). But as for the issue itself, besides some glaring hassles, it was quite readable. Naturally, Whedon captures the tone of Vaughan well. The kids are still rebellious, snarky, and so on. I mean, this guy practically reinvented that. Chase is a bit of a problem, as he is acting much too goofy and you'd hardly know his girlfriend died recently. In a way it is a return to how Chase acted before Gert died (and when Whedon was likely planning his scripts), but Chase was obviously not the same afterwards, as even BKV's final issue noted. He was darker, quieter, angrier, and sometimes more somber. Whedon's Chase almost seems like he's forgotten about it. True, you could argue that between BKV's last 2 arcs and YA/RUNAWAYS from Wells, Chase has spent 10 issues "reacting" to Gert's death, but this seems like a 180 from all that. When I feel Wells wrote Chase better than the almighty, infallible Whedon, that is a hassle. The second is, of course, the Kingpin. The concept of the kids travelling to NYC to ask a favor of him by evoking the name of their dead crimeboss parents makes sense and is interesting. Whedon even links it to their last NYC adventure with Pusher-Man (who bragged to the wrong people, and Kingpin had him offed). But Kingpin is supposed to be overseas. We're meant to believe in DD he was freed, shoved onto a plane, only to immediately come back and host his own restaurant and act like he has not a care in the world? Were this Bendis or Millar who made such a glaring error, half the internet with be in flames, so I'm not giving Whedon a pass. Still, despite all that, the rest is good. Victor naturally doesn't like dealing with the Kingpin, and Nico doubts herself. It was good seeing Karolina get some moments without Xavin for once, although Whedon may be putting a wedge between Victor & Nico just as it started. Molly is her usual self, although because it is Whedon, suddenly people won't hate her, and show how shallow they are. Ryan's art is good, I liked it at least as much as Norton's if not a little moreso, and definately superior to Miyazawa. Kingpin looked MASSIVE compared to the little kids. There is the plot of the "stealing a generic magic item" thing, and the appearence of yet another "tank villian" coming into the first arc of a Whedon story, much as Whedon came onto ASTONISHING and immediately threw in Ord, an alien tanker. The difference is, one, the "angel" looks cooler than Ord, and secondly, the Runaways have battled fewer of these villians than the X-Men have, so it seems more original. It was good seeing Xavin is still "in training" and a lot of little details about the team is brought up. Whedon has some con's but the pro's definately outweigh them, although the cliffhanger seems a little confusing. Punisher, really? Is this supposed to tie into his brief and crappy stint as an "angel warrior" when MARVEL KNIGHTS launched at the start (which Ennis negated in about 5 panels). A good start, and despite the shortness of the run, I expect it to be perfectly readable and enjoyable. And it didn't seem as slow as ASTONISHING either, which sometimes moves at a glacial pace. If Ryan can keep the issues out in a timely fashion, RUNAWAYS should still kick rear, at least until October when someone else has to come on. Off to a good start after BKV bid it farewell. Not perfect, but good. It would be nice if some of the aforementioned issues with Chase improved, but they won't. Whedon is an A-Lister and they apparently don't make mistakes, which means they don't improve. I think I can live with it, for now.
As always, unlimited spoilers.
DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT for 4/4/07:
52 WEEK #48: Only 5 more weeks to go, at least in theory. This issue has Montoya finally don the full mask & costume of the Question, becoming the new Latina Lesbian Question, PC champion. Darick Robertson does the art and frankly while it was functional, 52 has had much better and more readable artists. Some scenes were too dark and sketchy. After Katherine Kane's abduction by Intergang, Nightwing & Montoya stomp some heads to find her, only for a convient bomb crisis to come up to get Nightwing out of the way so Montoya can do her lone woman crusade. Admittedly, I am a bit tired of the werewolf animal people; reminds me like someone decided to mix together the DC UNIVERSE and WEREWOLF: THE APOCALYPSE tabletop RPG's. It seems that Kathy may not be the actual person Intergang's bible needs killed, but they believe she is, so she is in mortal danger. I suppose it should be very dramatic to see Montoya stomp arse with her gun, but we've seen it before, when she practically carried "Charlie" for most of their battles. And at this point, even as a casual DC fan, I am thinking they've been swapping legacies a bit too much since OYL and they're starting to lose their oomph. Still, the action was nice and it had a spooky B-Movie vibe to it with sacrifices. Unfortunately, the issue proves that even with the majority of DC's stars from it still alive, bad things can happen. A while back Darthphere and I had an agruement involving violent deaths when Aunt May got shot, but I have to concede; when a heroine has to die, almost no one does it gorier these days than DC. Kane was kidnapped, clubbed in the back of the head, drugged, chained, gagged, and then stabbed in the chest while her lover could only watch. True, she gave Mannhiem as good as she got, but unless 52 pulls another last second miracle, it seems Batwoman may be dead. But as 52's writers created her, she is their's to off more than anyone. It's not like the Bat-family is shy of people, especially with 52 wrapping up. Not as bad as Spoiler, but, I guess as Darth noted, May being shot wasn't nearly as brutal as some stuff like this. It also seems to be obviously leading to some big Darkseid event, with the bomb-drills and all. Not sure I will be aboard for that. As a one page subplot, the docs of Oolong Island offer up their defeated Black Adam for worldwide bidding. Wonder how many hits on eBay they'll get. Anyway, so Montoya's first adventure as Question goes poorly and she's lost yet ANOTHER "partner". I am seeing an unsettling trend, and it is slowly getting old. What next, her goldfish dies? I suppose the moral may be how she takes it, as she has a mission now and likely won't just fall back on booze and empty sex again like when Charlie found her, which counts for something, I guess.
DETECTIVE COMICS # 831: Some people wonder which is writing the better Batman, Dini or Morrison. Well, for my money, I leapt from BATMAN after Morrison's "Son of the Demon/Batman" arc (in which Batman has a son who seems about as stock, boring, and cliche ridden as Wolverine's from ORIGIN) and with Dini I have been aboard no matter the artists. This issue focuses heavilly on Dini's as well as his fans' favorite creations of his: Harley Quinn. Created for the B:TAS, she quickly hit to stardom and after a few years DC shoehorned her into their universe and even gave her a solo ongoing for a few years. So having him write another story with her feels like homecoming. While DETECTIVE has no arcs, there are subplots that carry over, which is more subtle and I appreciate that vs. a 6 part story of cliffhangers and "follow the bouncing ball" type plotting. Quinn applies to get out of Arkham (a theme familiar in some of Dini's B:TAS episodes, especially "HARLEY'S HOLIDAY"), but it is denied, especially by a vote from none other than Wayne himself. However, she's abducted and coerced into stealing something for the new Scarface, who debuted a few issues back. After having a bit of a ball, she contacts the GCPD, which of course leads to Batman coming to her rescue. Lady Scarface escapes, but Harley reveals a past connection to Wesker and Wayne votes her out of Arkham. It's a neat little story and while this may not have the starpower of BATMAN right now, for my money it's solid Batman for a fan who dearly missed the old animation cartoon, yet enjoys the grittier freedom that the comics allow. Even the magician who was kidnapped a few issues ago makes a cameo. And another pretty cover. Not every run has to be some earth shattering, status quo changing endeavor, especially as these characters cannot ever really age or die, so stories like these can be very entertaining, even if they feel methodical. I mean, isn't every episode of LAW & ORDER or CSI like that? And both have no end of spin-offs and fans. Dini's DETECTIVE is much the same. Nothing as flashy and earth shattering as having Batman joke like it's 1965 and fight Ninja Man-Bats, but just stable, solid Bat-mysteries with a hint of noir. Count me in.
AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #1: Not to be confused with the Bendis-penned one shot, THE INITITATIVE, Dan Slott's new ongoing that has been anticipated for almost a year finally comes out, with art by Caselli (YA/RUNAWAYS). The expectations for this book from both fans and Marvel were high and I believe both were met. My shop had loads of copies (I bought the cover that had Justice and the newer characters). And the story has Slott using all the tools of his arsenal. I know when some people heard "serious" from him, they got concerned, but I never did. Because even in his works where the theme is usually some kind of "good natured/dark humor", like GLA and SPIDER-MAN/HUMAN TORCH, there is plenty of suspence, mood, and sometimes darkness there. Mr. Immortal's plight was in no way funny. The heart shown between the Richard and Parker families and between the two young heroes was not merely for laughs. Just some people, by nature of our dark medium, are quick to sandbox Slott as being a "comedy" guy simply because he can be light and funny at times. Hopefully this title proves how well rounded he is. This issue does have light moments, and some jokes in it. No question. But that is because Slott stories vary in mood, vs. just keeping one throughout. We are first introduced to the drill sarge, The Gauntlet, who was plucked off of combat duty in Iraq (fighting HYDRA) to teach the recruits at their Stamford base by Gyrich, a task he at first scoffs at but is convinced because, apparently, M-Day erasing 90% of mutants left the U.S. at the top of the "super powers" race, so they only want the best for their investments. Nevermind the fact that we rarely saw even mutants outside the U.S. in the same dramatic numbers, and it works. The three main instructors, War Machine, Justice, and Yellowjacket, bring in some new recruits. Cloud 9, the self-doubting, anxious heroine, is easily going to become the fan fave so far. MVP, grandson of the creator of Cap's super-soldier serum, is a athletic prodigy that does seem familier to Patriot. Throw in Arsenal, Hardball, Trauma, and Komodo, and we have ourselves some rookies. Also having speaking lines/appreances are Thor Girl, Rage, Slapstick, Ulra-Girl, Stingray, and Bengal, amung others for the keen eye. It may seem odd that Justice is with The Inititative, but Slott doesn't gloss over his NW history. When MVP's parents bring it up, he counters it. And when Gauntlet uses the NW's name as an example for "failing heroes", Vance takes issue with it. No, he doesn't throw a power-mad temper tantrum that some fans would have expected, but it's there. He's not as gung-ho for trashing the Warriors like the others are, and that perspective is why he is key for the faculty. Plus, much like Pym and Stark, one could say he is a hero who "made a mistake and knows that heroes should be accountable", as he accidentally killed his abusive father, went to trail and served jailtime in the Vault for it. This is his best chance in years for some top billing and who better than Slott. I don't care for Rage's retro look again, though, and he seems to be going through the training simply because with Cap's surrender, it is the only option. But the core focus is on Slott's new creations, which is what you'd expect. Komodo is a girl who gained powers by swiping Dr. Conner's "lizard" formula, an idea I am surprised we haven't seen more often. Trauma (or "emo boy" as Gauntlet calls him) can literally become whatever the person nearest him fears, which is a unique power. Haven't seen much of Hardball and he kind of looks like a generic energy-blaster type. Arsenal is sort of like Witchblade in that she has a weapon on her arm that morphs into whatever she needs to blast someone. They do the tryouts and that is when things get dark. Arsenal wigs out when Trauma turns into a massive spider to demonstrate, and she madly blasts about. MVP dives to save a frozen Cloud 9, and takes a shot in the head, seemingly dying. Yeah, Slott did this once before, with Grasshopper in GLA. But this time it was more serious and it still worked and made the point about how dangerous this gig is. Plus, it was an original character made for that issue, so not as much whining. One young hero has her powers stripped from her (Arsenal) and one is killed (MVP), heckuva way to start issue #1. But what about this "discovery" that the doc doing MVP's autopsy found? And will a base that sets up a training facility for teenage heroes in which they can be traumatized or even slain come under legal fire (I could SO see MVP's parents staging a lawsuit)? The concept of the government using veteran heroes to train new teams of them in an official manner is a good idea and in a way I am glad to see it, even if the cost was CW. Slott is definately the right man for the job of having this series introduce new faces and showcase the wide range of the MU. Despite the flaws of CW, the fresh soil from under the scorched earth is starting to grow some pretty flowers, and this title looks to be one of them. The art, as expected, rocks, and I didn't have any issue with the colors (even if I have seen better). Can't wait for issue #2, as it should be. And hey! It was a complete story while obviously having subplots for the next, instead of simply relying on a cliffhanger. Go Slott Go!
IMMORTAL IRON FIST #4: In some ways this title is also like a mini 52 in that we have 2 writers and 2 artists on it, which has a nice effect of having the flashbacks look different than "the present" and it probably helps issues ship on schedule, as each artist has fewer pages to do. As usual, Brubaker is on a bit of a slow burn, but things do move along nicely. Orson hints at the past of the Iron Fist's to Rand and teaches him some new basics of his chi as they go underground and come under attack by Hydra. In some ways it reminded me of some scenes from video games when the mentor character guides you through your button combinations. The "mark" of the dragon to punch through the wall and using chi for bullets were some intersting bits. There is a bit of a sense that Rand is looking like Orson's rookie sidekick, but in order for him to learn some new moves, he needs some sort of mentor, and Orson is a better one than some stock K'un L'un guy. Steel Serpant also shows off his skills and his origin is recapped, a blessing as he is a D-List villian. Some people believe Orson is being set up to die soon and I did get that vibe as Steel Serpant promised it, and as he is a creation of Bru/Fraction then they have all the rights in the world. I wouldn't mind so long as it leads to Rand kicking some rear, something he hasn't done a lot of in a while without Luke Cage at his back. Aja's art is incredible and it's decompressed without feeling too slow, or at least this issue was. We also get another peek at the pirate lass IF of ages ago, who will have her own issue at #7. They are trying to set up the "immortal" part by fleshing out that Rand is the inheritor of a dynasty of fighters that mercifully were never explored until now, leaving this series a lot of leeway. Hopefully when things get really pumping, Rand will be a much stronger character for it, and he hasn't had a hope of that in years. Definately a sense of Marvel finally getting this relaunch right after several tries within the past decade.
IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN #7: The cover is brilliant, a nice bit by Cho as well as the self knocking, "the world's most shameless tie in" header. Frankly, that's not this, that's probably GHOST RIDER or MOON KNIGHT about now. Cory Walker reunites with Kirkman for this issue to give Hester a break, and I liked his work here, seemed better than his last issue of MTU. Eric is up to his usual stuff from last issue; stashes away in a lady's bag to catch some shower nudity, and it happens to be the hot-to-trot Ms. Marvel, a heroine Eric doesn't recognize (acknowledging that she was C-List for years until very recently). He naturally peeks in on her and stumbles his way between the panels of MIGHTY AVENGERS #1, with some lines perfectly translated. And it offers a "heroic" scene that I haven't seen too many times before. He goes to loot a store that has been smashed due to the Avengers/Mole Man monsters fight, only to run into Black Fox, that unlucky burglar from Spidey comics who was there for about the same reason. Ant-Man hits him in the NADS and literally lifts his wallet before then having to save a girl who was burried in rubble. The story ends with him running into Damage Control, who have a member who looks like a dead ringer for Dupli-Kate (from INVINCIBLE). There's not much to say that hasn't been said before. This is one of the most unque "legacy heroes" in years, and an utterly brilliant incarnation of Ant-Man. Despite how skeevy the lead is, you can't pull away. You want to see what he does next, how far he goes, and even if he manages to do SOME good in-between being a peeping tom or looking out for number one. Kirkman's dialogue is as usual very funny and Walker's art was good for this one. Enjoyed the Iron Spidey reference as well as Kirkman's merging of continuity with his stories, an art some writers bemoan. Hopefully THE INITIATIVE gives this book a boost from the dire of selling below the Top 100, because it really needs and deserves it. It'll outlive THE THING, but this book needs to sell. Eric's a true anti-hero yet avoids the cliches of being dark, brooding, and gorey. And he is still heroic enough that you won't get too sick of seeing him, as while he does note about wanting to stage his own muggings to save hotter women, he genuinely saves a kid today. And if robbing from thieves was wrong, then Gambit wouldn't have gotten away with it. Quickly becoming one of my fave Marvel titles, a must read.
RUNAWAYS #25: After endless hype about the coming of the Apostle himself, Joss Whedon, his debut issue is finally here. I am glad that Marvel has been hyping RUNAWAYS, although a 6 issue, one-digest run of the book puts Whedon in an odd place. If he doesn't do anything major, some people will complain that it was "filler". If he does do something major, only to dump it into the unlucky hands of whoever takes over for him in October, he'll seem like a hack, such as when Bendis does that (although to be fair, when he offed Ultimate Beast, he at least was writing the book for a year). It's not an enviable situation. Considering that the first few pages go over the RUNAWAYS' origin, it mades RUNAWAYS SAGA seem even more worthless (or a cynical cash grab). But as for the issue itself, besides some glaring hassles, it was quite readable. Naturally, Whedon captures the tone of Vaughan well. The kids are still rebellious, snarky, and so on. I mean, this guy practically reinvented that. Chase is a bit of a problem, as he is acting much too goofy and you'd hardly know his girlfriend died recently. In a way it is a return to how Chase acted before Gert died (and when Whedon was likely planning his scripts), but Chase was obviously not the same afterwards, as even BKV's final issue noted. He was darker, quieter, angrier, and sometimes more somber. Whedon's Chase almost seems like he's forgotten about it. True, you could argue that between BKV's last 2 arcs and YA/RUNAWAYS from Wells, Chase has spent 10 issues "reacting" to Gert's death, but this seems like a 180 from all that. When I feel Wells wrote Chase better than the almighty, infallible Whedon, that is a hassle. The second is, of course, the Kingpin. The concept of the kids travelling to NYC to ask a favor of him by evoking the name of their dead crimeboss parents makes sense and is interesting. Whedon even links it to their last NYC adventure with Pusher-Man (who bragged to the wrong people, and Kingpin had him offed). But Kingpin is supposed to be overseas. We're meant to believe in DD he was freed, shoved onto a plane, only to immediately come back and host his own restaurant and act like he has not a care in the world? Were this Bendis or Millar who made such a glaring error, half the internet with be in flames, so I'm not giving Whedon a pass. Still, despite all that, the rest is good. Victor naturally doesn't like dealing with the Kingpin, and Nico doubts herself. It was good seeing Karolina get some moments without Xavin for once, although Whedon may be putting a wedge between Victor & Nico just as it started. Molly is her usual self, although because it is Whedon, suddenly people won't hate her, and show how shallow they are. Ryan's art is good, I liked it at least as much as Norton's if not a little moreso, and definately superior to Miyazawa. Kingpin looked MASSIVE compared to the little kids. There is the plot of the "stealing a generic magic item" thing, and the appearence of yet another "tank villian" coming into the first arc of a Whedon story, much as Whedon came onto ASTONISHING and immediately threw in Ord, an alien tanker. The difference is, one, the "angel" looks cooler than Ord, and secondly, the Runaways have battled fewer of these villians than the X-Men have, so it seems more original. It was good seeing Xavin is still "in training" and a lot of little details about the team is brought up. Whedon has some con's but the pro's definately outweigh them, although the cliffhanger seems a little confusing. Punisher, really? Is this supposed to tie into his brief and crappy stint as an "angel warrior" when MARVEL KNIGHTS launched at the start (which Ennis negated in about 5 panels). A good start, and despite the shortness of the run, I expect it to be perfectly readable and enjoyable. And it didn't seem as slow as ASTONISHING either, which sometimes moves at a glacial pace. If Ryan can keep the issues out in a timely fashion, RUNAWAYS should still kick rear, at least until October when someone else has to come on. Off to a good start after BKV bid it farewell. Not perfect, but good. It would be nice if some of the aforementioned issues with Chase improved, but they won't. Whedon is an A-Lister and they apparently don't make mistakes, which means they don't improve. I think I can live with it, for now.
PWN3R
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If you haven't noticed, the last couple of weeks I've been whining hardcore about my shop. Turns out something was going on, because the owner left last week and this new guy runs it. Its horrible.
Since I have no other choice, I've decided to get my books through Midtown's online pull list. If anyone does this or any other service, if you have any advice or tips it be much aprreciated.
Anyway, I was so looking forward to Iron Fist this week, but oh noes, both IF and JLA was shorted by my shop. I hope that place dies a slow painful death.
Since I have no other choice, I've decided to get my books through Midtown's online pull list. If anyone does this or any other service, if you have any advice or tips it be much aprreciated.
Anyway, I was so looking forward to Iron Fist this week, but oh noes, both IF and JLA was shorted by my shop. I hope that place dies a slow painful death.
Dread
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Last but far from least in this rock solid week:
OMEGA FLIGHT #1: I think this also will be a strong debut, as this was my LCS' last copy. In a way we have had not only a lot of previews, but two prologues in CHOOSING SIDES and THE INITIATIVE, which showcased the circumstances of U.S. Agent joining the team on behalf of SHIELD & Iron Man (as well as his desire for revenge against Purple Man), and in the Collective being bullied into becoming the new Guardian by Sasquatch. So in that case the issue gets some leeway with only having Sasquatch and Talisman show up (who looks like a man on the cover, but is a woman). Arachne only shows up in file pics and Beta Ray Bill at all. In a way it is becoming an unsettling trend when a team book debuts or launches, shows the entire roster on the cover, and yet the story treats it as some spectacular suspense yarn in showing who is selected and going about the process of building the team over a few issues, i.e. a story that leads to the cover that the audience already knows. It's not Oeming's fault, simply a trend. However, a bit happens, and one gets the sense that he wants to slowly build up the characters, as many of them are hardly popular. This issue focuses on Walter and got my attention. He comes off as reluctant hero who rises to the task because he has to, as the survivor of a Canadian mythology (ALPHA FLIGHT were immortalized in coins and statues). While the U.S. is sending over American heroes for the team becuase Canada is an ally that supplies 30% of their oil, the Canadians want to lead it. Talisman's origin is recapped and she refuses, for now. Again, will it be a surprise when she joins? It's the damned trend. I can't think of anyone who goes, "please take 4-7 issues to assemble the team we've known was coming for a year" anymore (Meltzer's JLA got flack for doing that). But Oeming does well enough despite the trend that I didn't care as much. He showcases a Canada in crisis from an influx of supervillians fleeing the states, and the Wrecking Crew get top billing. They are free to go on a rampage without teams of heroes to jolly-stomp them. They do become violent murderers, though, something I don't recall them ever doing before. They usually either robbed banks or hired our their services to smarter masterminds, not slaughter a bar full of people. It is good to "amp" some villians, although sometimes I wonder if blind murder is really the way. I mean anyone can kill. Also to my surprise, but for the better, was that Sasquatch predictably shows up to fight them, and they don't get pwn'd. Sasquatch is stronger and fights with dramatic fury, but the 4 on 1 advantage is too much and they actually defeat him. In a way they have returned to being the vicious thugs who beat even Hercules into a coma, I suppose, so I can accept them becoming mass murderers for now. Despite some of the flaws of the "trend" of relaunching teams, Oeming gets the job done well with good storytelling and a sense of history and power levels, and Kolins as usual scores on art. It may be premature, but chock up Omega Flight with Moon Knight, Iron Fist, and Ant-Man as franchises that Marvel has competantly relaunched with solid ideas and story. More good fruit growing from the ashes of CW. It is weird that sometimes even flawed events can spark some good titles. Now why can't these sorts of titles come without those events?
Despite some above quibbles, this week was honestly a solid week, with 52 pretty much being the worst of the lot, and even that wasn't so bad. More weeks should be like this.
OMEGA FLIGHT #1: I think this also will be a strong debut, as this was my LCS' last copy. In a way we have had not only a lot of previews, but two prologues in CHOOSING SIDES and THE INITIATIVE, which showcased the circumstances of U.S. Agent joining the team on behalf of SHIELD & Iron Man (as well as his desire for revenge against Purple Man), and in the Collective being bullied into becoming the new Guardian by Sasquatch. So in that case the issue gets some leeway with only having Sasquatch and Talisman show up (who looks like a man on the cover, but is a woman). Arachne only shows up in file pics and Beta Ray Bill at all. In a way it is becoming an unsettling trend when a team book debuts or launches, shows the entire roster on the cover, and yet the story treats it as some spectacular suspense yarn in showing who is selected and going about the process of building the team over a few issues, i.e. a story that leads to the cover that the audience already knows. It's not Oeming's fault, simply a trend. However, a bit happens, and one gets the sense that he wants to slowly build up the characters, as many of them are hardly popular. This issue focuses on Walter and got my attention. He comes off as reluctant hero who rises to the task because he has to, as the survivor of a Canadian mythology (ALPHA FLIGHT were immortalized in coins and statues). While the U.S. is sending over American heroes for the team becuase Canada is an ally that supplies 30% of their oil, the Canadians want to lead it. Talisman's origin is recapped and she refuses, for now. Again, will it be a surprise when she joins? It's the damned trend. I can't think of anyone who goes, "please take 4-7 issues to assemble the team we've known was coming for a year" anymore (Meltzer's JLA got flack for doing that). But Oeming does well enough despite the trend that I didn't care as much. He showcases a Canada in crisis from an influx of supervillians fleeing the states, and the Wrecking Crew get top billing. They are free to go on a rampage without teams of heroes to jolly-stomp them. They do become violent murderers, though, something I don't recall them ever doing before. They usually either robbed banks or hired our their services to smarter masterminds, not slaughter a bar full of people. It is good to "amp" some villians, although sometimes I wonder if blind murder is really the way. I mean anyone can kill. Also to my surprise, but for the better, was that Sasquatch predictably shows up to fight them, and they don't get pwn'd. Sasquatch is stronger and fights with dramatic fury, but the 4 on 1 advantage is too much and they actually defeat him. In a way they have returned to being the vicious thugs who beat even Hercules into a coma, I suppose, so I can accept them becoming mass murderers for now. Despite some of the flaws of the "trend" of relaunching teams, Oeming gets the job done well with good storytelling and a sense of history and power levels, and Kolins as usual scores on art. It may be premature, but chock up Omega Flight with Moon Knight, Iron Fist, and Ant-Man as franchises that Marvel has competantly relaunched with solid ideas and story. More good fruit growing from the ashes of CW. It is weird that sometimes even flawed events can spark some good titles. Now why can't these sorts of titles come without those events?
Despite some above quibbles, this week was honestly a solid week, with 52 pretty much being the worst of the lot, and even that wasn't so bad. More weeks should be like this.
Dread
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That's a shame, really. LCS' are usually convient it, but whatever you have to do to get your books, do it, especially if inept management is killing your loyalty. F 'em.
Darthphere
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I'm telling you man, I'm shocked when people at my comic book store who dont read DC call it the "nicer universe".
Max J Power
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Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness #2
It's Ash fighting the Marvel Zombies. And in this one he teams up with the Punisher. Kick ass.
Ultimate X-Men #80
This came out last week but I didn't get it untl yesterday. It sets up a couple of big storyline possiblities, and I anticipate seeing what emerges.
It's Ash fighting the Marvel Zombies. And in this one he teams up with the Punisher. Kick ass.
Ultimate X-Men #80
This came out last week but I didn't get it untl yesterday. It sets up a couple of big storyline possiblities, and I anticipate seeing what emerges.
Darthphere
Kneel before 'Drox!
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Midtown is reliable, but they'll get you on the shipping.
Dread
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They do that because in some ways DC isn't always in angst with hero infighting as recently as Marvel has, least after IC ended. But, yeah, when it comes to heroine deaths, they're merciless. I can't think of a Marvel heroine in a long time whose death was as vile as Spoiler's was. Then you had IDENTITY CRISIS and all that. Maybe because Marvel vents their aggression more often, they don't go through that.
DC also invented the "woman in refridgerator" moment.
Guess the bright capes tend to make the casual fan overlook that.
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