Bought/Thought - 8-29-12

[JewishHobbit]

Huh, no bought/thought yet. Well, got my comics today, might as well start one.o
I only intended on picking up 3 of these as I was still undecided on if I am continuing Justice League or not. My wife did me a favor and picked them up though since I was warn out from work and JL was in my file, so I got it. So here we go:

Justice League 12 - I so want to love this book. I like the cast, the creative team, and the future of the title sounds interesting, but each issue just sorta makes me shrug. I keep thinking, "I'm getting this because Trinity War sounds interesting" but I can only continue with that mindset for so long. Add that to the fact that Marvel's killing me with price overload and double-shipping I just can't aford to keep waiting for this to pick it up. Now we learned that there's another Johns JL title coming and it'll probably be closely related to this title so I feel obligated to check that one out too.

So here I am now and I'm thinking, "since I have this next issue maybe it'll encourage me to keep going." Honestly, no. The characters were good, everything was fine, but it was just blah for me. Maybe it's the arc but I just don't care too much. I WANT it to get better but I think I'm about done with the waiting. I might give the next issue or two a try to see if the next arc sounds promising, but then this might be where it stops. I honestly think my frustrations at Marvel is what's making me want to keep this book more than the book itself. I want to support the competition. That really isn't enough though. There are other books, cheaper books, that I think I'd rather support.

Green Lantern Annual 1 - It's funny. I jump all over Marvel for their pricing but when DC comes out with a $5 comic I don't mind as much. The reason is that most of their titles are $3 regularly so when a special comes out overpriced it doesn't feel like I've already been raped and will now be raped even more.

The issue itself was pretty decent but not quite as good as previous issue of the title. It does its job in setting up the next big story, Rise of the Third Army. I found it interesting that more of the Guardians' race were hidden away with the "first lantern" and had been for a billion years... also that the Guardians were so willing to kill them all to get what they want. What dukeebags. I like Black Hand so his being fairly important to the event has my interest peaked. Hal's demise was expected due to last issue and the new lantern coming so no biggie there.

Overall it was a decent issue. I'm excited to see what's coming though. I'm only buying the GL title and fortunately it seems that you only need to read the books you want and not all of the GL titles. I'm glad because the last thing I want is another crossover event.

Wolverine & the X-Men 15 - This was a nice, quiet issue amidst the chaos of AvX. The Avengers hang out at the Jean Grey Academy while they work with Wolverine's X-Men to figure out how to finish all of this. While this is happening we get some nice moments between Iceman and Kitty, Gladiator and Kid Gladiator, Husk and Toad, and others. I like seeing Xavier hanging around the school and it's nice just seeing people being people. It felt like a good old fashioned issue of X-Men.

Angel officially graduates from the school, which did little for me since he was sorta one of the originals. I know he isn't THAT Angel anymore but it's hard to separate the two. Broo is all kinds of awesome sauce in this issue. And I loved that it had Beast admiring a photograph of the original X-Men before they leave for the final conflict. Just a really good breather issue before it all goes down for the last time.

The only downside was that I wasn't a big fan of the art. It wasn't bad by any means but I was hoping for Bradshaw. This was just sorta plain. Oh well, they can't all be winners.

Uncanny X-Force 30 - I don't know... I just wasn't feeling this issue. I like Evan, I like members of this new Brotherhood, but I just didn't care about this issue. I think the art was a big part of it but I also think Remender just wasn't hitting his dialogue like he usually does. I'm wondering if he's too stretched at the moment, writing this alongside other new books and such. I don't know... it just didn't feel handled as well as it usually is.

The ending was very interesting though with Evan learning that his parents weren't real. He was denying all the truths that Shadowking, Sabretooth, and Daken were showing him but I have a feeling that one will sting. So while this issue did little for me it shows promise of a really good future for this arc. Also, dead Fantomex hanging on the Brotherhood's rec room wall is just all kinds of creepy.


Best and Worst of the Week

Best: Wolverine & the X-Men - Easily. Old school feel, breather issue is always a win for me. The characters were all handled well and it was good seeing Xavier with his students. I just really hope he doesn't bite the big one to save Cyclops and the others. We'll see though.

Worst: Justice League - As much as I wanted to like this, I really didn't care. It wasn't good, it wasn't bad, it was just there. I want to last to Trinity War but I doubt I will. At $4 an issue and needing to cut titles this will likely be the last issue I buy.

 

[runawayboulder]

I thought WATXM and Uncanny X-Force were terrific issues. Especially WATXM. Jason Aaron should have full control over the X-Men line. He proved with this issue he can handle writing almost every single member in one story. He could restore the X-Men to their former greatness on his own if it wasn't for the current direction of the line. This was like an X-Men book from the Claremont/Byrne era.

 

[JewishHobbit]

I thought WATXM and Uncanny X-Force were terrific issues. Especially WATXM. Jason Aaron should have full control over the X-Men line. He proved with this issue he can handle writing almost every single member in one story. He could restore the X-Men to their former greatness on his own if it wasn't for the current direction of the line. This was like an X-Men book from the Claremont/Byrne era.

No kidding. I was trying to figure out what scenes stood out for me as to what made the issue great and nothing really came to mind. It was just the accumulation of little things that ultimately made it a great and fulfilling read. All the characters were handled well. Nothing big happened. It felt like a school. It felt like a family. And for the first time I saw a "mock" (for lack of better terms) of the original 6 and it didn't bother me in the slightest. I'd buy the heck out of a book with Xavier, Beast, Iceman, "Angel", Rachel, and Wolverine. Heh, I guess I already do. It's called Wolverine & the X-Men

But yeah... Aaron should have taken the reigns of the X-Men's future, not Bendis. I like Bendis but he won't do as well as Aaron's been I guarentee.

 

[runawayboulder]

But yeah... Aaron should have taken the reigns of the X-Men's future, not Bendis. I like Bendis but he won't do as well as Aaron's been I guarentee.

There's hope for you yet JH.

Another reason to have Aaron run the show is how well he and Remender are coordinating things on their respective X-titles. I read UXF first and WATXM second and they were like 2 peas in a pod. So many things between the two books are in sync. Characters are crossing over left and right and it just feels so smooth when it happens.

Since Remender's Uncanny Avengers is most likely gonna be the #1 Avengers book, it would make perfect sense for Aaron to run X-Men. These guys work so well together, it would make the Marvel totally accomplish what the NOW era is trying to do. The way it's shaping up now is looking like one big clusterf**k. It's like they are over-complicating things.

 

[Dread]

A mercifully short week to finish August, even if it is an oddly priced one. Four books, three of which are over $2.99 in price and none of them being a Marvel comic. Onward with the spoilers!

DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 8/29/12:

BATMAN BEYOND UNLIMITED #7: DC Comics' printed collection of their "BEYOND" universe of digital comics remains one of the most consistently entertaining anthologies the company publishes. The series has 3-4 different strips in each issue, offering 35-40 pages of content for $3.99; a solid value for those who don't read these digital-first series. Derek Fridolfs and Dustin Nguyen write and/or draw two of the strips in this issue. The first is the serial Justice League Unlimited strip in which the team of heroes do battle with the demonic serpent which was summoned by the Kobra cult which has laid waste to Apokolips and New Genesis in space. The second is the origin of Aquagirl, the second of the future era JLU to receive an origin (the first being Warhawk). drawn by James Brouwer. Adam Beechen continues his yeoman run on Batman Beyond with his own serial strip, with art by the extremely talented Norm Breyfogle with colors by Andrew Elder. Beechen's long term storyline continues to progress, which is an amazing feat since his strip often has ten pages a month to work with. Terry McGinnis' ex girlfriend's brother is gathering an army of rival "Jokerz" gang members as if he is Cyrus from "THE WARRIORS" as Maxine becomes further entrenched in a criminal hacking network and old man Wayne suffers a major ailment. The weakest link in the serial strip chain remains the Superman Beyond strip by J.T. Krul and artist John Livesay; their work isn't bad at all, but it often clashes with the other strips and isn't as consistent as the others. Fortunately this month's strip is better than usual since it is mostly an action sequence. As always, this anthology series disguised as a Batman Beyond digital reprint comic is always a thrilling read to fans of the Kids' WB cartoon series as well as Beechen's previous BEYOND work.

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL ANNUAL #1: The death blow of JLI as helmed by Dan Jurgens and Aaron Lopresti in order to launch JLA (not to be confused with JUSTICE LEAGUE) in its ashes later on. The moment I saw the writers' names on the cover - Geoff Johns and Dan DiDio - I knew I was reading an editorial pamphlet, not a story. Sort of like when Spider-Man readers saw a story with JMS and Joe Quesda credited with the story, although nowhere near as drastic. Jason Fabok does the art with Jeromy Cox (best known for AVENGERS ACADEMY) on colors. The gist is that JLI #12 ended with the team deciding to remain together as well as take in the brother of one of their enemies because darn it, the cause matters even if the U.N. won't officially sanction it. The gist of this annual is that the JLI are torn apart so that Johns' new team can take over. While DiDio did co-write OMAC and Johns, to be fair, did launch the last BOOSTER GOLD series alongside Jurgens, it still reads like yanking out a plant root and stem to make way for new seed. In that case it is a final death blow to a series which had a lot of potential but got caught in the bog of bleak and "edgy" mid 1990's style superhero action. The brother of Lightwave (?) is gone and the mangled female members Vixen, Fire, and Ice have officially been ditched to the dust bin without a mention. The remaining members mop up a hostage crisis in Central Africa to both do good and build p.r. at the U.N. again while Booster Gold seeks to add new members inside the headquarters Batman made for them. Batwing and Guy call it quits which leaves the team more vulnerable to OMAC, who becomes an official brainwashed slave of Brother Eye that he seeks to destroy the team and refer to himself as "eye" instead of "I" in a dialogue text quirk which gets annoying after a page. The new team members are Blue Beetle (a title I ditched) and some guy called "The Olympian" who seems to exist to be Lady Godiva's ex and spout imitation Thor dialogue. While Booster winds up defeating OMAC, he winds up vanishing from the time-stream because he couldn't stop Superman from making out with Wonder Woman. Yes, SERIOUSLY. It is an issue where it seems every superhero who isn't Batwing or from the U.S. gets beaten down, killed off or exiled to some other galaxy. The art is pretty good and the action is paced well, but it seems to be a both fitting and cruel exercise to see this incarnation of JLI end the same way everything in the Johns/DiDio/Lee era of DC Comics ends everything - with betrayal, using non-white characters as canon fodder and tearing apart anything which even vaguely hinted at something lighter hearted. While I have long thought that JLI was a wasted opportunity, this annual seems akin to kicking someone when they're down just to make way for something of privilege to replace it. The irony is this had about as many pages as BATMAN BEYOND UNLIMITED #7, yet wasn't anywhere near as entertaining or rewarding to me.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES MICRO-SERIES #7: By this stage in the game, this series is TALES OF THE TMNT in all but name. It is the spin-off of IDW's core TMNT ongoing series which tells one-shot stories by different creative teams which still count towards collective continuity. Mirage Studios, the original publisher behind the Ninja Turtles, published the core TMNT series as well as TOTT alongside each other for stretches of time in the 80's and 90's as well as sporadically during the 21st century. As with most things Turtles, IDW seeks to pay homage to the rich history of the characters in both comic and adapted media forms, all while forming it into a cohesive whole. The first four issues of this series were paid loose homage to the first four solo Ninja Turtle one-shots from Mirage in the 80's, but has since gone on its own path with subsequent issues focused on Splinter and Casey Jones. This issue focuses on another key character from the franchise as well as one who is arguably the most well known member of the cast to the public who isn't a mutant, alien, or ninja - April O'Neil. Tasked with writing the issue is Barbara Randall Kesel, former writer and editor for various comic book companies including Marvel, DC Comics, and Image Comics who may be best known for some BATGIRL and HAWK & DOVE stories. The artist for the issue is Marley Zarcone with colorist Heather Breckel, and they maintain the high standard of art for individual issues of this series.

The issue makes hay of April's role in the origins of the Turtles (and Splinter) as well as her role as essentially the "most normal" member of their little collective. As a summary, O'Neil was an intern for STOCKGEN, the company run by Baxtor Stockman to run genetic experiments for their financial backer, General Krang. The four turtles and the rat that would become Splinter were experimental animals April bonded with (and named) who were exposed to mutagen during an assault by the Foot Clan, which April barely escaped. She has since naturally become one of the gang and allows them to live in her abandoned antique shop. This issue gives her some much needed focus as her subconscious attempts to process her bizarre new life while the compassionate and science oriented side of her goes with the flow. Back in the third issue of the micro-series, Donatello thwarted an attempt by STOCKGEN to develop a "Turtle tracker" to locate them. Seeking to steal a prototype to be studied and blocked once and for all, April goes undercover at STOCKGEN to accomplish the mission herself. To that end she encounters more than one of Krang's genetic monstrosities and has to rely on her wits to survive.

As with all issues of this series, the strength and beauty of the issue is in the execution. Kesel finds a great voice for O'Neil as well as takes an opportunity to introduce yet another character from the original cartoon series into this series in a new way. Without giving it away, it is a character with the same name as a musician from GUNS N' ROSES. The artwork by Zarcone and Breckel is very strong; so much so that if this micro-series is indeed a "try out" book for future issues of the core TMNT series, then it is hoped these two provide issues for that quite soon. Andy Kuhn drew the second issue of this micro-series and is now drawing the core series, after all. Above all, the issue succeeds in telling an April O'Neil adventure without any martial arts and still making it a thrilling and smartly narrated caper. As always, the TMNT Micro-Series remains a worthwhile companion series for Ninja Turtle fans who are being treated to the best re-imagining of the franchise since the 2003 era cartoon thanks to IDW. Any fans seeking "Turtle Power" who haven't caught on to this era of IDW should seek out back issues and trade collections, post haste. It is often among the best thing released every month and stands as a textbook example of how to relaunch a 25 year old franchise for fans new and old with excellence.

WINTER SOLDIER #9: It can seem a little bittersweet to read another brilliant issue of this series written by Ed Brubaker since he will be leaving in a mere six issues from here. At any rate, this series continues to be heads and tails better than CAPTAIN AMERICA has become as it benefits from Brubaker's fill vigor and flair for black ops style action capers. This series has revolved around James "Bucky" Barnes unraveling new and old plots which stem from his tenure as the brainwashed Soviet assassin Winter Soldier; his partner and lover is Black Widow, whose experiences often mirror his own. In fact the biggest difference is Natasha rebelled against her handlers mostly on her own volition, while Barnes needed intervention from the Cosmic Cube to begin that process. In this arc, another ex-Soviet warrior named Leo Novokov has come out of hiding to organize revenge against Barnes by kidnapping Natasha and brainwashing her into becoming an assassin again. Barnes and SHIELD agent Jasper Sitwell do their best to track Natasha and Leo down, and just when it seems that they have succeeded, out comes a new twist. Brubaker is so good at writing antagonists that are endlessly a step ahead that it does border on being predictable, although it is often better than the alternative. Art is provided by Michael Lark with Bettie Breitweiser on colors and two inkers in tow, and as always it suits the tone and pace of Brubaker's script excellently. It will be quite an event to lose Brubaker's influence on this series as well as on Marvel in general after almost a decade. While his run on CAPTAIN AMERICA is looking to end on a whimper, expectations for this series continue to rise.

 

[chamber-music]

I liked the Daken/Sabertooth double act in X-Force they make a good team.

 

[runawayboulder]

Dog Logan is about to make his return as well, between the 3 of them Logan better watch his ash.

I agree with Dread, Winter Soldier was a solid issue. Brubaker continues to do a terrific job with Bucky and Natasha. This arc has been better than the previous one and that arc was good itself. I thought the story was over when Bucky brought Widow back to her senses but that was a solid plot twist I never saw coming at the end. I'm looking forward to next month.