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Bought/Thought 6/20

I feel sorry for Bart, its clear DC decided most recently they never should of axed wally,and quickly decided to ax Bart.
 
DAMN, yes...Ultra.

I should know better. I go to cut myself in shame now.
 
Damn! Endangered Species, Initiative, Annihilation, World War Hulk...this is crazy!

Thoughts:

Moon Knight #11: Oh God, this is terrible dialogue. "You got a license to wear that thing?" And, as I've mentioned before, I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate that so many comics are telling their stories through constant flashbacks. We get very little action, usually seeing the hero being hurt for some reason; then, they fill up the rest of the book with dialogue which really doesn't advance the story that much. And, as I said, this dialogue is just awful. Moon Knight has been ruined for me. With my expectations so high, it actually seems as bad as Blade. After longing for this Moon Knight to get his own title again, now I'm just wishing they'd end it. 2/10

Captain America #27: I knew after Moon Knight I needed some quality reading. You can never go wrong with Brubaker's Captain America. What makes this comic even better is the comparison you can make with others. The dialogue is vastly superior, and there isn't unneeded machismo, as with Moon Knight. You can compare Bucky with DC's Jason Todd, and be thankful that Marvel hasn't ruined this reintroduced character like DC has with Todd in the pages of Nightwing. This book just sets itself apart from all others. Even being a narrative-driven issue, it usually mixes in a bit of action, and Brubaker blends both together well. Plus, I'm liking Bucky's character so much, I would probably cheer if he did kill Stark, the pompous ass. I've been reading Captain America for almost 30 years now, and this is the best it has ever been. Period! 10/10

Fallen Son - Spider-Man: Not as powerful as the previous issues. Maybe it suffers from the fact that each issue is taking a while to come out, that many of us have moved on from Cap's death, and other big events are heading our way. I loved the art; it's just the sentimental moments just didn't hit me like other issues. Plus, I love Wolverine's and Spidey's interactions; this just seemed forced. I think they could have left Wolverine out of this and just focused on Spidey and Rhino. In fact, I would have liked it better if the ending dialogue would have been between that villian and hero taking about the pain of losing someone, rather than another one of Logan's "I understand your pain" talks. 7/10

Marvel Spotlight - Captain America Remembered: First, a cool interview with Brubaker about the recent events in Captain America, and not just focusing on Cap's death, but the overall picture which includes many of the supporting cast of characters. This is a man who thinks through all aspects of his book, and even when thrown into Civil War, makes the most out of it to fit his current story. After this interview, what even makes it better is another interview with him about the Bucky Civil War special that filled in many gaps. It's cool to read that this issue came about because of the Civil War delays. As Brubaker puts it, "I had wanted to do a Winter Soldier special but there was no way I was going to be able to do one because of my workload." It was probably the best Civil War one-shot. (Especially compared to the supposed return of Captain Marvel. That return seems to have been forgotten.) Of course, there is much more to this book, including a look back at other writers and artists from Cap's past; but, the Brubaker interviews are worth the price of this issue. If you aren't reading Captain America after all of us have praised it constantly, why even bother reading the bought/thought threads? This is possibly the best comic Marvel is currently putting out. 9/10

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe - Mighty Avengers: There are some neat entries in this issue, as with all of the Official Handbooks. But, this is probably the most unneeded Official Handbook Marvel has put out. After all, the Mighty Avengers has only been around for three issues, pretty much all of the entries have already been done in other books, and I'd be more interested if they just did a "Avengers 2007" edition which included some of the new members that we're seeing in Avengers Initiative. If you are going to skip an Official Handbook, this is the one to miss. Marvel just comes across as greedy by putting this out so soon. 6/10

X-Men: Endangered Species #1: Meh! Didn't hate the book, but didn't find it that great, either. I guess these reflective books are becoming more frequent, and it seems like this is something they should have been thinking about long ago. I complain about the comics focusing on the grieving of Captain America is becoming a bit too stretched out; so, this is really stretching out the events from House of M. Although, some would probably say better late than never.

There are points to this book which did bug me. We know the X-Men are attending a funeral, and I was thinking it must be someone important, because they are sitting at the front of the pews. Nope, the didn't know him at all, except for Scott who met him briefly a year ago in the attempts to recruit him for Xaviers. I know it might be nitpicking, but the family and friends of the dead boy would sit at the front, not a group of mutant strangers. Second, for a group that wanted to show up to pay their respects to the dead boy, all they could think about is themselves. Even Xavier now reads everyone's mind without any thought about privacy.

Needless to say, Endangered Species starts out with a whimper. No action, just a lot of self-indulgent contemplation on behalf of various members of the X-Men. 5/10
 
More Thoughts:

Annihilation Conquest Prologue: Now, THAT'S how you start an event. With just one issue, Annihilation just blew World War Hulk out of the water! X-Men Endangered Species was made to look totally insignificant!! In fact, this sequel out-performed the original Annihilation Prequel in so many ways. The art is better, the stars are even more diversified, and if I had a limited budget and could only buy one event, this would be it. Wow! Not only do we have a prologue that totally sucks in the reader, but we get some long forgotten characters who either come back in this issue or will come along in the future: The Spaceknight, Rocket Racoon, and Bug .... the only thing that would be more cool is if Marvel spent some of its dough and got the Rom and Micronauts line back where it belongs: With Marvel! Wow! WOW, WOW, WOW!!! Easily 10/10 .... or, maybe as they say in Spinal Tap, this one goes to 11!

I'm actually going to take a break from reading my next comic. After reading an issue so good, you know you can't possibly enjoy the next one as much. Best to savor the joy it brings.
 
More Thoughts:

Annihilation Conquest Prologue: Now, THAT'S how you start an event. With just one issue, Annihilation just blew World War Hulk out of the water! X-Men Endangered Species was made to look totally insignificant!! In fact, this sequel out-performed the original Annihilation Prequel in so many ways. The art is better, the stars are even more diversified, and if I had a limited budget and could only buy one event, this would be it. Wow! Not only do we have a prologue that totally sucks in the reader, but we get some long forgotten characters who either come back in this issue or will come along in the future: The Spaceknight, Rocket Racoon, and Bug .... the only thing that would be more cool is if Marvel spent some of its dough and got the Rom and Micronauts line back where it belongs: With Marvel! Wow! WOW, WOW, WOW!!! Easily 10/10 .... or, maybe as they say in Spinal Tap, this one goes to 11!

I'm actually going to take a break from reading my next comic. After reading an issue so good, you know you can't possibly enjoy the next one as much. Best to savor the joy it brings.

So, why didn't you like it?
 
But there were lesbians in the book...

I know...but, the most they did was kind of nuzzle noses together. (Of course, if Ennis was doing this book, I'm afraid of what would happen to Rocket Racoon!)
 
The "Not Wanting To Ruin My MARVELous Annihilation Afterglow" Thoughts:

Figure I'd review some non-Marvel comics.

First Born - First Look: I'm not a reader of Witchblade or Darkness, even though I do own a few copies that I've gotten over the years. As usual, the 99 cent price does not indicate value, as all you get with this small issue is a 3-page recap of events leading up to the birth of Sara's baby, 6 pages of a prologue to First Look, and 3 pages of sketches. Basically, it's a third of a comic for a third of a regular comic's price.

What's good about this "first look" in particular is that it brought me up to speed with the 3-page recap of what's gone on before. I actually feel that if I was to check out this story, I wouldn't be totally lost. The art looks pretty decent, although I wonder if the story is going to be as predictable as it seems. (Pretty bad if I already figure out what's going to happen, and I never read this book.) Anyway, I might give it a try. Just don't figure you are getting a bargain with the low cost. 7/10

The Tick's 20th Anniversary Special Edition #1: I love The Tick. I started reading this comic when issue #3 came out, and I went out and got the reprints of his past appearances. This issue is priceless. The cover which displays a "Marvel Zombie" style cover is great. All the little snip-its by various writers (about 1-2 pages in length) are cute and sometimes will make you chuckle. I would have prefered a full length story from the original writer; but, I'll be happy with what I got. If you're a fan of The Tick, you'll love revisiting him. If you're not, go back and find the original stories to find out what you're missing. 8/10

Madame Mirage #1: Nothing is better than expecting zip out of a comic and coming away completely surprised. Even though the reader learns next to nothing about the main character, Madame Mirage, it doesn't matter. Paul Dini does a great job telling his story, and the characters presented are all very interesting. (Especially the surfer-styled villian, Dude.) This book looks good and it reads even better. Go to your comic shop, and grab it before you cannot find it any more. 9/10
 
Last review for this week.

Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four #3

Damn I wish this book was ongoing.

Parker "gets" Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four which makes this crossover a real treat. The interaction between them is flawless, never missing a beat. Best of all, its nice to see a smart, intelligent and capable Spidey. If Slott and Parker took over Amazing I would be simply overjoyed.

There was plenty of good moments in this issue but the highlight was Spidey playing Doom like a fiddle.

Reed's exploration of the ruined planet revealed that the aliens don't do anything nefarious such as extermination their hosts or anything like that at their end of their "bonding". They simply depart, leaving behind a culture that's stagnated and has to pick up the meager pieces. A wonderfully executed idea.

I'm sad this this is ending in one issue but its been a real treat.
 
Finally read Savage Tales #1 and this week's Savage Tales #2. I really enjoyed all four stories in each book. The first one, centering on Red Sonja, is only a two part story. The other three are longer. I definitely recommend it. The art is good and the stories very interesting. 8/10
 

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