Bit of a small week, and still my LCS sold out of one of my books, which I am too tired from the work week thus far to hunt for right now. Incidentally, it is DYNAMO 5 #15.
It is also interesting that I wasn't involved in an instance of overzealous Bendis-bashing around here. I must be slipping.
As always, full spoilers ahoy.
Dread's Bought/Thought for 7/30/08:
BLUE BEETLE #29: I am not sure if I happened to get an error issue, or it was a line-wide one. The cover of my issue claims Rogers is writing it, when the interior page and DC's online solict clearly say Matthew Sturges, who is not a "guest writer" but the "new series writer". Considering how many people in the audience these days follow creators on runs more than franchises sometimes, I am curious about how much DC may "regret" a printing error here. I doubt it was deliberate, but it is interesting. Even I looked at the cover and thought, "My god, did Rogers return?" in glee before flipping to page one. At least Albuquerque remains on art, and as always does a fantastic job on the title (and why wouldn't he, since becoming the series' regular artist?).
Granted, there isn't a lot of reason to razz on new writers on this title. BLUE BEETLE is apparently a simple enough franchise that a slew of "guest" writers have done stories so far and provided readable stuff, including a writer on his first professional gig and the infamous one behind AMAZONS ATTACK. It may be because the themes are simple and there is only about 2 years worth of material. The first few pages offer a brief recap of the past issues while getting on with Jaime's new adventure.
Blue Beetle is out on patrol of El Paso when he stumbles across a "title fight", which, as his support crew merrily explains, is when two villains are fighting over the "rights" to use an infamous codename. In this case, it is "Hellhound". I knew of one guy from CATWOMAN with that name but a quick search on Wikipedia indicates that two unlucky losers had this name, and both are dead. But, that sort of legacy never stopped anyone from becoming a Goblin, now did it? So we have a Mexican Wrestler type facing a were-hound, with Beetle stuck in between. Meanwhile, Peacemaker gets a paying gig working with the Vanguard, a team of vigilante "border patrolers", and he quickly finds himself keeping them from busting more heads than expected. When the flock of illegals they sweep up suddenly "shoots" themselves up with some sort of super-steroids, Beetle gets involved. It all ties back to Intergang.
Brenda and Paco's relationship is beginning to grow more awkward after they shared a kiss, with Paco wanting to date formally and Brenda appearing more resistant (yet still aggressive). One of the illegals, Mari, pretty much shows up to create tension, but she is connected to Intergang and I expect her to leave soon, once her "insta-tension" subplot between Brenda and Paco has run it's course.
Blue Beetle is a simple hero and franchise and format, and it is refreshing that a new writer can come in and match the feel of the book very well enough that one can almost be fooled by a cover print gaffe. There is the fear that without Giffen & Rogers, or the Reach subplot, the book will run in circles. It is a worthy fear, but so far in this debut issue, Sturges doesn't warrant any panic. The dilemma of a "simple, stable" franchise like this is that it is too easy to slip into routine and not have any forward agenda, but hopefully Sturges can disprove that theory. So many of DC's books are chasing fads and events to try to nip at Marvel's heels, but this one has always kept things simple and effective, delivering solid fundamentals. Sturges first issue follows on that course.
THOR #10: Coipel returns on art, but needed 4 credited inkers, which usually implies being in a rush, although the art is good as always. There are, as always, a lot of things to like about THOR, which has remained a steady Top 10-15 seller doing a good 85-95k in sales, more than double what Thor sold 4+ years ago. Being able to sustain that level after 9 issues and over a year in return (due to delay) is impressive, especially considering Thor hasn't been an Avenger in a good 5 years at this point, and they're Marvel's bread and butter now.
As always, JMS is on his A-Game in dealing with the complexities of Asgardian pathos while intertwining it with the small town folks of Oklahoma who live around the New Asgard. There are cute moments with a hick offering $5 for a "prime Asgard viewing spot" and diner cook Bill getting two conflicting bits of advice on whether to date, or try to date, an Asgardian beauty. The big "drama" of the issue is that Loki's tale to Balder about being a long lost son of Odin and worthy to become the Prince of Asgard is true, and Thor backs him up. Things are kept subtle, but Loki is clearly planning to install Balder at the throne because he is easier to manipulate than Thor would be. There are some people who go, "Thor should have known better than to ever trust Loki", but that's like asking Batman to simply paralyze the Joker and end his threat forever; it isn't going to happen. The trick is how well it is handled.
The downside, of course, is that THOR is in a rut. The title character has barely been appearing in many of his stories. All of them are in the Norse niche and the "culture clash" between Thor and the locals is mostly played for laughs or vignettes. Thor does "good work" when not sitting on the throne looking bored, but we never see it. Is there no crime in Oklahoma? Not one super-villain about the area? Not even the occasional quick-spreading fire? Thor is simply locked in his own Norse soap-opera fighting Norse threats and while that is all well and good, especially how JMS writes it, a rut is a rut is a rut. Thor needs guest appearances in SECRET INVASION or a mini series to actually INTERACT with other MU figures or DO something beyond sit in his kingdom and say "aye", and that is a little annoying. Plus, any writers that spends an entire issue around one conversation would be accused of decompression, and JMS fit the bill right here. I hate to say it, but some issues THOR is the poster child for decompression.
There was so much energy to this release, and the first few issues. "Omigod, how will the MU react to Thor, or Thor to them?" And beyond one smack-down with Iron Man, JMS is leaving that to other books and other writers, and that seems like a missed opportunity. Other runs got stuck because readers figured out how isolated Thor was and left in droves. It would be folly to risk that again. I mean, even if Asgard is considered neutral territory, wouldn't it get an Initiative team? Wouldn't there have been some crime? Hell, I'd even take a rematch against Mongoose now. Maybe even borrowing Thor Girl for an issue or so. I just feel there is world of possibilities that JMS is missing so he can do Thor vs. Loki, Round 1 Billion. It is like how Marvel threw away every good idea in Morrison's X-Men run for, what, the chance to have the upteenth rematch against Magneto? Nothing stings worse than potential you think is being wasted, or on the verge of being so.
Unfortunately, the downside of success is that it allows the notion to exist of "not fixing what ain't broke", which makes ruts possible. The deal with DC means JMS won't be on THOR forever (the average creator launch is 12-18 issues these days) and hopefully he leaves Thor in a good place to succeed without him.
It is annoying, I guess, to read an issue that you acknowledge is good, but having settled into that, you can sometimes only see the missed opportunities. I mean, how many generic Thor covers have we seen? 10? They make the first 50 covers to USM look distinct. When I imagine Thor, I imagine thunder booming, a war cry to action, a vibrant, dynamic, storied hero....and instead I get
DAYS OF OUR ASGARDIANS. People who love the mythology sometimes forget that Thor was a super hero too, and trading one for the other does neither any service. I see JMS settling for a B average when A+'s are within grasp.
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS #14: As usual, a fun little adventure based on Parker's very loose continuity with the 60's era original X-Men, with Roger Cruz providing dynamic, good humored art. Realistically speaking, there is no way Machine Man could have met the original 5 X-Men as he debuted in 1977. But this series has always played fast and loose with continuity. But in a way it is tolerated because while a lot of series do that to push some edgy, shocking new direction, XM:FC just does it to tell a simple, light hearted story on it's own terms.
In a rare multi-part arc, Angel has left the team to live it up in an underground society where he has a girlfriend and no one fears his wings, so the X-Men have been stuck with only four members. Dr. Abel Stack meets up with Xavier and suggests his robot "son", a prototype android for the military, meet the X-Men for the experience. They run into some Lava Men and hyjinks ensue. This is simple, Silver Age style storytelling with modern patterns of dialogue and and action pacing, and it is fun to see the X-Men sometimes not be too "edgy" to do this. X-23 starts to go a little haywire, especially when the Lava Men tear off his face and force the robot to confront that it really isn't a man. The X-Men manage to seal off the Lava Men and save X-23's robot brain, so he can be rebuilt. Fun, simple story as always that doesn't act like more than it is.
Coover provides a silent strip chronicling the rest of the Mansion missing Warren, and it works quite well to continue the subplot without beating the dead horse. The cover to the next issue has Angel on it, so the subplot may not be lasting much longer.
Simple fluff, but it is good to get a break from the pithy self-importance of other comics sometimes.
) When did he pick up this trinket?
