chamber-music
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The Avengers hypocrisy made me eye roll as well Dread
Bought/Thought... 9-15-12
- Thread starter JewishHobbit
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Themanofbat
Never Mind the Buttocks...
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Scarlet Spider #9 was indeed a great book... 
JewishHobbit
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Dread said:
Unless Parker repowered him, he lost a lot of that access power at the end of World War Hulks. He's basically Hulk now as far as power levels. So adding Hulk to the mix in addition to Rulk can only help. I got it... I just feel like they should have given him more to do if they were going to gain him like that.
I also wanted to see a mad rush of X-Men going after Cyclops after he killed Xavier.
Dread
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Not to say that Cyclops and some of the X-Men are blameless in this, but since by this stage the Avengers are being portrayed as the obvious and clear heroes, it makes their hypocrisy more stark.
Unless the moral is "everyone's a jerk". And if so, then mission accomplished AVX.
Iceman at least was there. But yes I do imagine killing off Xavier should have been a more dramatic moment. Although long time X-Men could probably count on one hand how many times Xavier was presumed dead.
At any rate, didn't know Rulk had lost power levels.
It still added to the unpleasant hypocritical streak the Avengers have going. They spend no end of time trying to destroy or capture the Hulk for being a menace many times. But the second they need him, BOOM, he's back in with the good guys. Same with Wanda, who Wolverine wanted to personally murder even worse than the Avengers did; soon as she's useful, they don't care about her unstable powers or sanity anymore. The same Avengers who blindly trusted Sentry and shook a finger at the Young Avengers when they wanted to fight crime or Shocker gladly utilized those Young Avengers as canon fodder when Sentry went berserk in the end. The Avengers strategy to minority relations seems to be to do nothing to assist, and then act self righteous when the situation implodes.
Not saying Cyclops is completely blameless, but ideally the heroes in a tale aren't supposed to be just as dirty as their targets. If they are, then it becomes a pointless affair. When Emma Frost claims that had Cap or Wolverine had the power, they'd have wiped out their enemies without a second thought doesn't seem as hollow, which is a problem. Even in this issue Cap sees the X-Men for nothing more than extra bodies to throw on a fire. That's horrible coming from a paragon of virtue who is supposed to stand up for bigotry, yet has never once helped any mutant anywhere. Where was Captain America when mutants were being murdered in daylight by bigots - punching out villains from yesteryear's wars? Sure, that's mostly due to editorial wanting to keep the X-Universe apart for decades, but now that they're blaming that on characters, it seems a bit odd. A few years after splitting the superhero community in CIVIL WAR it is terrific seeing Cap and Iron Man united in oppression once more.
If you ask me, someone needed to look at Cap and Iron Man do one of of those, "what're you doing for the black skins" sort of lines in regards to mutants years ago.
Hell, the Avengers have no problem with Franklin Richards, a mutant so powerful he literally scares Galactus. Because Mr. Fantastic has never done anything morally questionable and his wife is the picture of mental stability.
I hope to be pleasantly surprised and not see AVX end with Cyclops being seen as a remorseless villain, and the Avengers offering token membership to muties as their only recourse. Because if that's how this ends, then that's just a mess. And that is all they've ever done. "No, we care about mutant rights. See, we even let Beast join. And he sheds."
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El Bastardo
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Fun with X-Men -
Uncanny X-Force #31 - in which Remender retains his status as top Marvel writer, and Phil Noto delivers some groovy artwork that, despite never really being akin to Opena or Ribic's work throughout the run, never really varies from their feel. Remender has built a successful, amazing run from a very easy and never-varied approach to his writing, with an ebb and flow that has never faltered.
The pieces here continue to fall into place for the finale, of which we see some glimpse. The opening salvo from the titular heroes is played smart, and it's entirely possible for the Brotherhood to start to fall apart from the inside. Wade's move is based on the future Punisher's final words to him, and ironically puts him in the exact place he railed against after the deed was done back in the early issues of the series - which, furthermore, speaks to Fantomex's character, who Remender continues to define even after the character is gone.
Remender's teased we'll see one more death, I think, before the series ends. The easy guess is Psylocke, but something future Ant-Man said two issues prior could indicate AoA Nightcrawler.
X-Factor #243 - The third in what looks to be a five-part arc of not-connected-but-connected issues. The issue is up to normal standards of the title, which have never really dropped or much increased. Like it or hate it, it's not the quality of writing that has changed, though Kirk's pencils look a little suspect a few times throughout this issue. Regardless, Peter David continues to write this series in the truest sense of the word "serialized" and entirely in the long-term, though that is not to say there's no short-term payoff.
Regardless, we get a definitive Polaris origin in this issue. More at the heart of it, we get some definitive characterization from a few of the characters still remaining about the agency: Monet, Longshot, and, as always, Layla. It'll be interesting to see who remains on the team when everything's said and done.
Avengers vs. X-Men #11 - Well, at least Coipel was onboard to make it pretty to read. And, to be fair, Bendis's dialogue wasn't quite as twitch-inducing as it normally is. As for other perks? Well, the series is almost over. There's one.
Oddly enough, as an actual Cyclops fan, and not minding where the character has been written through in the past several years, I don't mind what's gone on here. I don't mind that he's killed Xavier (ho hum). This is not an absurd place for a crazy-cosmic-whatever to take the character that he has become. It's not the only place it could have gone, and it's probably not the best place it could have gone, but it isn't absurd. And even within the series, it's not as though they butchered him, as he was generally written as some amount of level-headed until the crazy-cosmic-whatever started taking over. It just took too long to get to this place, and Gillen's tie-ins did very little to help with this.
But if (when?) the follow-through falters, that I'll mind.
Uncanny X-Men #18 - I've always stated that Gillen writes his team well, and this fact is front and center in this issue. He handles voice and dialogue for Scott and Emma very well - but, as usual, it's the rest of the stuff where the issue falls apart.
There's a disconnect between this issue and AvX#11, which it ties into. In AvX#11, we get the sense - via both words and art - that Scott and Emma have been taken unawares. In this? Oh no, they knew, and so Gillen chooses to employ the cliche of "calm veneer against a backdrop of chaotic chaos," which he allows to remain flat with only the littlest of air pumped into it for appearance. Considering this is the narrative crux of the issue, it detracts. The bits of fighting in the chaotic chaos outside the aforementioned veneer only match up with the fights in AvX#11 once, I think it was. Maybe twice? It's sloppy, and regardless of where the fault lies, it's a detriment to the issue. If the **** isn't going to be straight, then don't put it in.
If it weren't for the grasp on the characters, the issue would be a total bust. It's just too bad the grasp on everything else is so loose.
Wolverine and the X-Men #16 - This is an odd issue. From a tie-in sense, it would have made more sense for this issue to have come earlier. But, in defense of its placement, Gillen's last two or three issues of Uncanny X-Men haven't made any sense with where AvX was in its timeline, so there should be some consideration of that before condemnation is made. And to further defend it, there is some sense to placing it here - AvX will soon be over, meaning no more tie-ins, meaning Aaron is strategically placing this here to get people remembering Kilgore and his Hellfire shenanigans. It makes sense.
Aaron's prose is just the right kind of twisted for a character who makes a good case for a clinical diagnosis of psychopathy - and there are little tidbits in the issue, both verbally and artistically, that show Aaron did his homework on that. Aaron injects quite a bit of flavor into this character, and the charisma he exudes transcends the print, but we're not necessarily supposed to feel for Kade, so much as understand his motivations and where he's coming from, which we likely cannot do, due to the aforementioned case for psychopathy. It's a looping juxtaposition of inability.
Bachalo's art on this series has been lovely, and probably the cleanest I've seen it since he worked with Grant Morrison on New X-Men, excluding the standalone Punisher MAX Christmas issue he did with Aaron. I had assumed it was Aaron's influence through script, but Aaron admitted on his blog that his scripts became bare-bones and he let Bachalo do his own thing. It's surprising, but appreciated. This issue's black-and-white pages showed a nice depth to them, as well. Bradshaw's a better fit to the book all in all, but that doesn't somehow make Bachalo's work ****.
X-Men #35 - Brian Wood wraps up his second arc on the title, and I'm not sure how to judge it. The art for these two issues sucked - let's get that out of the way. Boschi draws some hideous ****. **** that guy and his lumpy, misshapen faces and the way Domino somehow jumped up four steps on a staircase in a single stride.
Wood's arcs have been high-concept stuff, not far removed from what Ellis did during his Astonishing X-Men run, but definitely without Ellis's penchant for scientific technobabble. But I'm not sure any of that matters, because Wood's five issues have been more about team dynamic and characterization, also managing to turn-in the least annoying Storm I've read in quite some time. From what I hear, it's infinitely better than anything Gischler wrote, not that this surprises me. And he's kept it wholly removed from AvX, which at least interests me to see where it'll go in a post-AvX Marvel U.
It's not superb stuff. But it doesn't suck.
Ultimate X-Men #16 - Hey, look, speaking of that Brian Wood guy? I must have organized it this way on purpose.
It's the same here. It isn't superb, but it doesn't suck. The art is much better. Wood moves slower on this title than he does on the other, with more attention paid to a single character - Kitty - and more sight-seeing, but less focus on the end-goal of an arc. There's a journey going on, but it's very slow-moving.
What he's done is pick up from Nick Spencer's early promise when he first launched the title, which he dropped to spiral outward into the rest of the mutant world and then follow a mystery, which is also what he ended his run on. Wood has yet to pick up on that, which is a slight drawback, and there's no sign as to if he will or when that could happen. On the other hand, that the title works regardless of that speaks enough to his writing merits.
Uncanny X-Force #31 - in which Remender retains his status as top Marvel writer, and Phil Noto delivers some groovy artwork that, despite never really being akin to Opena or Ribic's work throughout the run, never really varies from their feel. Remender has built a successful, amazing run from a very easy and never-varied approach to his writing, with an ebb and flow that has never faltered.
The pieces here continue to fall into place for the finale, of which we see some glimpse. The opening salvo from the titular heroes is played smart, and it's entirely possible for the Brotherhood to start to fall apart from the inside. Wade's move is based on the future Punisher's final words to him, and ironically puts him in the exact place he railed against after the deed was done back in the early issues of the series - which, furthermore, speaks to Fantomex's character, who Remender continues to define even after the character is gone.
Remender's teased we'll see one more death, I think, before the series ends. The easy guess is Psylocke, but something future Ant-Man said two issues prior could indicate AoA Nightcrawler.
X-Factor #243 - The third in what looks to be a five-part arc of not-connected-but-connected issues. The issue is up to normal standards of the title, which have never really dropped or much increased. Like it or hate it, it's not the quality of writing that has changed, though Kirk's pencils look a little suspect a few times throughout this issue. Regardless, Peter David continues to write this series in the truest sense of the word "serialized" and entirely in the long-term, though that is not to say there's no short-term payoff.
Regardless, we get a definitive Polaris origin in this issue. More at the heart of it, we get some definitive characterization from a few of the characters still remaining about the agency: Monet, Longshot, and, as always, Layla. It'll be interesting to see who remains on the team when everything's said and done.
Avengers vs. X-Men #11 - Well, at least Coipel was onboard to make it pretty to read. And, to be fair, Bendis's dialogue wasn't quite as twitch-inducing as it normally is. As for other perks? Well, the series is almost over. There's one.
Oddly enough, as an actual Cyclops fan, and not minding where the character has been written through in the past several years, I don't mind what's gone on here. I don't mind that he's killed Xavier (ho hum). This is not an absurd place for a crazy-cosmic-whatever to take the character that he has become. It's not the only place it could have gone, and it's probably not the best place it could have gone, but it isn't absurd. And even within the series, it's not as though they butchered him, as he was generally written as some amount of level-headed until the crazy-cosmic-whatever started taking over. It just took too long to get to this place, and Gillen's tie-ins did very little to help with this.
But if (when?) the follow-through falters, that I'll mind.
Uncanny X-Men #18 - I've always stated that Gillen writes his team well, and this fact is front and center in this issue. He handles voice and dialogue for Scott and Emma very well - but, as usual, it's the rest of the stuff where the issue falls apart.
There's a disconnect between this issue and AvX#11, which it ties into. In AvX#11, we get the sense - via both words and art - that Scott and Emma have been taken unawares. In this? Oh no, they knew, and so Gillen chooses to employ the cliche of "calm veneer against a backdrop of chaotic chaos," which he allows to remain flat with only the littlest of air pumped into it for appearance. Considering this is the narrative crux of the issue, it detracts. The bits of fighting in the chaotic chaos outside the aforementioned veneer only match up with the fights in AvX#11 once, I think it was. Maybe twice? It's sloppy, and regardless of where the fault lies, it's a detriment to the issue. If the **** isn't going to be straight, then don't put it in.
If it weren't for the grasp on the characters, the issue would be a total bust. It's just too bad the grasp on everything else is so loose.
Wolverine and the X-Men #16 - This is an odd issue. From a tie-in sense, it would have made more sense for this issue to have come earlier. But, in defense of its placement, Gillen's last two or three issues of Uncanny X-Men haven't made any sense with where AvX was in its timeline, so there should be some consideration of that before condemnation is made. And to further defend it, there is some sense to placing it here - AvX will soon be over, meaning no more tie-ins, meaning Aaron is strategically placing this here to get people remembering Kilgore and his Hellfire shenanigans. It makes sense.
Aaron's prose is just the right kind of twisted for a character who makes a good case for a clinical diagnosis of psychopathy - and there are little tidbits in the issue, both verbally and artistically, that show Aaron did his homework on that. Aaron injects quite a bit of flavor into this character, and the charisma he exudes transcends the print, but we're not necessarily supposed to feel for Kade, so much as understand his motivations and where he's coming from, which we likely cannot do, due to the aforementioned case for psychopathy. It's a looping juxtaposition of inability.
Bachalo's art on this series has been lovely, and probably the cleanest I've seen it since he worked with Grant Morrison on New X-Men, excluding the standalone Punisher MAX Christmas issue he did with Aaron. I had assumed it was Aaron's influence through script, but Aaron admitted on his blog that his scripts became bare-bones and he let Bachalo do his own thing. It's surprising, but appreciated. This issue's black-and-white pages showed a nice depth to them, as well. Bradshaw's a better fit to the book all in all, but that doesn't somehow make Bachalo's work ****.
X-Men #35 - Brian Wood wraps up his second arc on the title, and I'm not sure how to judge it. The art for these two issues sucked - let's get that out of the way. Boschi draws some hideous ****. **** that guy and his lumpy, misshapen faces and the way Domino somehow jumped up four steps on a staircase in a single stride.
Wood's arcs have been high-concept stuff, not far removed from what Ellis did during his Astonishing X-Men run, but definitely without Ellis's penchant for scientific technobabble. But I'm not sure any of that matters, because Wood's five issues have been more about team dynamic and characterization, also managing to turn-in the least annoying Storm I've read in quite some time. From what I hear, it's infinitely better than anything Gischler wrote, not that this surprises me. And he's kept it wholly removed from AvX, which at least interests me to see where it'll go in a post-AvX Marvel U.
It's not superb stuff. But it doesn't suck.
Ultimate X-Men #16 - Hey, look, speaking of that Brian Wood guy? I must have organized it this way on purpose.
It's the same here. It isn't superb, but it doesn't suck. The art is much better. Wood moves slower on this title than he does on the other, with more attention paid to a single character - Kitty - and more sight-seeing, but less focus on the end-goal of an arc. There's a journey going on, but it's very slow-moving.
What he's done is pick up from Nick Spencer's early promise when he first launched the title, which he dropped to spiral outward into the rest of the mutant world and then follow a mystery, which is also what he ended his run on. Wood has yet to pick up on that, which is a slight drawback, and there's no sign as to if he will or when that could happen. On the other hand, that the title works regardless of that speaks enough to his writing merits.
CConn
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Batman #0: Good, but not quite great. While I loved where the book picked up story-wise, which makes it a nice companion to Detective #0, I was thoroughly disappointed with how little story is actually told in the issue.
Whereas Hurwitz wrote a throughly enjoyable, and thoughly standalone story in Detective, that was choked full of its own themes and subplots and character progression, that could easily be "Chapter Two" in a modern redo of Batman's origin, Snyder takes Batman #0, and turns it into nothing more than a cheap preview of a presumed upcoming storyline next year.
While that type of storytelling is hardly unexpected in the comics of today, for that type of tripe to follow the classic and invigorated storytelling of Hurwitz's issue, made it a definite letdown. It's sad to say, but Snyder is reminding me more and more of a Brian Michael Bendis than any other, more legitimate, writer. That said, the art in the issue was phenomenal. Capullo is as great as always, and I LOVE seeing Andy Clark back for anything Batman. He should be on one with the Batbooks without question.
X-Factor #243: Was okay. Personally, I'm not really feeling this arc. When I heard "game changing" I assumed David was going to build up multiple plot lines and character arcs into some grand crescendo of storytelling. Maybe he will do that, but so far, he's merely focused on singular-character stories wrapping up age-old plot lines that really don't seem THAT important to the overall well-being of X-Factor. Despite that, they have all been well written, with very solid art from Kirk, so they still make for a pretty enjoyable experience. And I have to say, Polaris' story was probably the best - and most resonating - what we've seen so far.
Scarlet Spider #9: Is quite possibly the most underrated book on the stands. Early on in the series, I thought it was pretty good, with an very strong premise and tone, but plotting-wise it seemed just short of being truly engaging. With this past Roxxon arc, those plotting opportunities are overcome greatly, and finally the book's story feels as thorough and enjoyable as everything else in the book has been.
Again, the book's greatest attribute is its tone; it feels like a DC book to me, almost. Like Red Robin or REBELS or some of the other really amazing, but entirely stand-alone second/third-tier books DC has put out in years past. Books like these are exactly what the comic industry needs, because they remind us wth every issue that there's always new stories to tell, and new characters to flesh out, and comics don't always have to involve the publishers' big guns.
Whereas Hurwitz wrote a throughly enjoyable, and thoughly standalone story in Detective, that was choked full of its own themes and subplots and character progression, that could easily be "Chapter Two" in a modern redo of Batman's origin, Snyder takes Batman #0, and turns it into nothing more than a cheap preview of a presumed upcoming storyline next year.
While that type of storytelling is hardly unexpected in the comics of today, for that type of tripe to follow the classic and invigorated storytelling of Hurwitz's issue, made it a definite letdown. It's sad to say, but Snyder is reminding me more and more of a Brian Michael Bendis than any other, more legitimate, writer. That said, the art in the issue was phenomenal. Capullo is as great as always, and I LOVE seeing Andy Clark back for anything Batman. He should be on one with the Batbooks without question.
X-Factor #243: Was okay. Personally, I'm not really feeling this arc. When I heard "game changing" I assumed David was going to build up multiple plot lines and character arcs into some grand crescendo of storytelling. Maybe he will do that, but so far, he's merely focused on singular-character stories wrapping up age-old plot lines that really don't seem THAT important to the overall well-being of X-Factor. Despite that, they have all been well written, with very solid art from Kirk, so they still make for a pretty enjoyable experience. And I have to say, Polaris' story was probably the best - and most resonating - what we've seen so far.
Scarlet Spider #9: Is quite possibly the most underrated book on the stands. Early on in the series, I thought it was pretty good, with an very strong premise and tone, but plotting-wise it seemed just short of being truly engaging. With this past Roxxon arc, those plotting opportunities are overcome greatly, and finally the book's story feels as thorough and enjoyable as everything else in the book has been.
Again, the book's greatest attribute is its tone; it feels like a DC book to me, almost. Like Red Robin or REBELS or some of the other really amazing, but entirely stand-alone second/third-tier books DC has put out in years past. Books like these are exactly what the comic industry needs, because they remind us wth every issue that there's always new stories to tell, and new characters to flesh out, and comics don't always have to involve the publishers' big guns.
Dread
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Great that someone else seems to appreciate SCARLET SPIDER. It was a title many of us may have been wary of or dismissed when it was first announced but has really surprised us all in positive ways. Once again Chris Yost proves naysayers wrong with quality. It is usually one of my favorite ongoing titles. And while MINIMUM CARNAGE is coming, that's a brief crossover again to DAREDEVIL, AVENGING SPIDER-MAN and PUNISHER crossing over with "The Omega Drive" and not the line wide event, so it has a chance to be decent. It certainly shouldn't be worse than "Circle Of Four" (which wasn't bad, just wasn't great, and was at least an issue too long).
runawayboulder
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I didn't think Circle of Four was all that bad. Maybe it was an issue too long but I enjoyed it for the most part.
Dread
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I never said it was bad. I simply said it wasn't great, and was an issue too long. The awkwardness of it being a crossover with several titles which were canceled before it began was just icing. And Jeff Parker's HULK is rolling the dice one last time with RED SHE-HULK taking over.
Cullen Bunn is following up on it in VENOM lately, with the dilemma being that "Circle Of Four" was justified in being a mystical demonic affair since it guest-starred Ghost Rider and was essentially a Ghost Rider story which happened to involve Rulk, Venom, and X-23 via bad luck. The latest VENOM arc just has Hellstorm getting involved with Venom and it doesn't work as well. Still, that's not bad either...just not great.
More to the point. With Remender leaving VENOM after almost 2 years I do wonder if/when Yost will leave SCARLET SPIDER. I certainly hope it isn't for a while because he's really got a grasp of things and is building his own little arc and cast in Houston.
RockSP
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Spider-Jay420
Welcome Back Peter Parker
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Just for the simple reason that whatever the new writer did with Cage, it would always be compared to what Bendis did with him, and how Bendis did it better. Plus, Luke has been front and center and the face of the New Avengers for a long time now. As a new writer with a new direction,, he would want a new cast, with Luke taking a walk. Don't misunderstand, I'm a fan of Luke Cage. It just might be a great time for Luke to take a break. That's all.
And I had no idea about Jeff Parker and the Thunderbolts. I don't read that.
And I had no idea about Jeff Parker and the Thunderbolts. I don't read that.
RockSP
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His take on Cage is better than Bendis', IMO.
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