It wasn't his call. He's the sister store to the main store, which I've never been too, and the main store wants comics sold. He hated the idea and was obviously in a bad mood over it.
So looking over the DC's that came out this week, sold out was: Birds of Prey, Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, Catwoman, Nightwing, Red Hood & the Outlaws, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman.
The only ones still in stock when I got there as of 5pm was Batman, DC Universe Presents (and I got the last issue of it), Green Lantern Corps, and Legion of Super-heroes.
So being that 9 of the 12 titles were sold out between 11 and 5 on the first day... there's going to be a LOT of ticked off customers. The only happy customers will be those who have them in their files.
Anyhow, rant over... on to reviews.
DC Universe Presents #1 - So this title is supposed to rotate characters to showcase some of DC's amazing people. This first arc is focused on Deadman and I honestly liked this issue. It was a little slow in that it was an origin issue but it does it's job as an introductory tale. The ending, however, definately has me curious about the next issue and I'm glad I picked this one up. It was a good issue and Deadman remains an interesting character post-reboot
Batman - This was a decent issue but I can tell the plot will likely get better as it goes. I didn't much care for the art but I'll get used to it. The cliffhanger ending does nothing for me because it's obviously one of those endings that isn't as it seems. I did like the opening fight though. Snyder's a good writer from what I hear so I'm trusting this title to pick up because as of now, betwen Detective and Batman & Robin, this issue is the bottom of the Bat barrel.
Avengers: The Children's Crusade #7 - And as much as I'm enjoying this comic it really is the book that never ends. I thought this was the penultimate issue but no, there's still two more issues after this one.
So we have the X-Men and the Avengers fighting and not acting heroish at all. We have X-Factor acting decently. They're all taken out quickly and Wanda runs back home to Doom with the Young Avengers in tow. In the end it seems that Doom had a part in Wanda's craziness, though it wasn't intentional, and in the end he's managed to get ahold of that power (seemingly making Wanda normal ol' Wanda again) but we'll have to wait until next issue to see if Doom honors his word and helps the world's mutants with the powers or not.
The art is good as always and I think this issue will do well in the grander read but as a stand alone issue it was just kinda going through the motions. I'm enjoying this book but its pace is starting to grate on my nerves. I'm ready for the plot to finish so all these characters can just move forward.
Avengers #17 - This was a pretty good issue, though the cover has nothing to do with the interior. The main star of this issue is Protector with Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, and Spider-Woman playing back up. The New Avengers show up to help in a big battle with Sin and the nazi-mechs. Protector uses his knack for technology to destroy the mechs and then pulls Iron Man's armory of armors out of the mess of Avengers Tower to take on Sin. It was a pretty good showing for him, which is good since he's one of the least used Avengers on the team.
I liked the issue. The talking heads seem to come to an end here as it's the last Fear Itself tie-in and I'm glad. While Bendis really made them work after the first Avengers tie-in, it's gotten a bit tiresome and I'm ready to move on from them.
And can I just say I'm loving that for such a small roll, Iron Fist got a great panel of knocking the absolute crap out of sin? Go Danny!
Uncanny X-Men 543 - This tie-in started horrendously but got better as the book moved forward. This issue took some steps back again for me. I really don't like Colossus's new mentality and how everything played out there. I liked that he was able to stop Juggernaut but I didn't like how it was a non-conclusion, being that he was teleported away for the final battle in Fear Itself #7. I felt the Emma scene was kinda random. I also hated how Cyclops dealt with Sadie. It was just a pretty crappy ending in my opinion.
Next issue is the series finally (which ticks me off to no end) and hopefully it's better than this arc was.
X-Men: Schism #4 (of 5) - First off, nice to see Alan Davis on pencils
Other than that this issue was pretty good but not great. I actually like the idea of the fight between Cyclops and Wolverine being about putting kids in the line of war. People criticize Wolverine for his stance on this being that he fought beside them in X-Force and how much he kills but Wolverine does a good job here explaining himself. He didn't mention X-Force but you have to remember that Laura and Josh were pulled into the team without his concent and he was never happy about it. He wasn't that big of a fan of Warpath being added either. And in this issue he states firmly that he did the whole X-Force thing so that others, namely these kids, wouldn't have to. Now that Cyclops is asking them to fight and probably die for their kind Wolverine is ticked off.
All of that I was fine with and actually totally understood. Suddenly Cyclops makes a random jab about Jean, Wolverine gives a rebuttle, and all you know what breaks loose between them. WHAT? There's been absolutely no build up to that at all?! Yes, there's been a rivalry between them for years over Jean but build up to it if it was going to be the straw that broke the camel's back. It just reads as a jab from Cyclops at a very inappropriate time. That killed the whole issue for me.
I mean, the issue was good, but that will always stick out in my mind as a crap page for as long as I collect comics.
Generation Hope #11 - As has been the case this issue plays in the background of the mini showing the kids's point of view. We see that Cyclops and the students are the only ones on Utopia with the giant Sentinel is attacking. Wolverine makes it there but for a while Cyclops was prepared to fight the war with the kids. This shows their opinions on the matter. Laurie and Kenji are against Idie being involved, Hope is pushing for it, and Idie chooses to stay. They're joined by Prodigy, Rockslide, Anole, Dust, and Pixie rounding out the student cast for Schism (which is nice since Prodigy and Pixie weren't in the main mini). They're prepared for the coming war.
The issue was alright, not as good as last issue, but alright. My main thing is that it's starting to annoy me that Laurie remains naked. I'm looking at her butcrack and am like, "Why isn't she covering that thing up?" It's kinda annoying me and it takes me out of the story a little.
Best and Worst of the Week:
Best: DC Unvierse Presents #1 - This wasn't mind blowing but in a week of mostly mediocre it definately shined bright. It was a good origin issue and I did like the ending quite a bit. It's the only comic this week that made me eager for the next issue, so it's definately deserving of this spot.
Worst: Uncanny X-Men #543 - Crappy tie-in arc that was better in the middle than either of it's bookend issues. This issue itself made me dislike Colossus for the first time and its lack of a proper ending annoyed me. I'm glad Fear Itself is over (for this title) and that this Schism crap will be done soon. I still don't like the idea of what's to come after that but it's gotta be better than this.
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