Two weeks' worth of freaking reviews; includes this week's and last week's. Yeah, I know, seriously.
Countdown to Final Crisis #1
I had a long thing planned, but then realized I've already typed it. Oh, just read
this and
this.
(3.1 out of 10)
(2 out of 10 for the entire series)
The New Avengers #40
Y'know, at this point I'm pretty much rooting for the Skrulls. I don't know if that's what I'm supposed to be feeling, but if so, kudos to Bendis 'cause he's managed to make the alien invaders more sympathetic than "our" team is. If not, then...well, just let me have my fun.
A pretty good issue. Sets up a lot of intrigue and even pays off a lot of what has gone on before, sort of like how a comic book actually
should be. On the downside, Bendis still writes everyone like they're Bendis trying to sound like that person. His scientists and ministers. His alien royalty sounds neither alien nor royal. They sometimes act like it, and sometimes don't; hell, at one point the
queen bows to her
agent.
(7.8 out of 10)
DC Universe #0
I really do feel a mixture of contempt and pity for all of you that bought Countdown and then
kept buying it -- even when you couldn't even fool yourself into thinking that it was remotely good or even average anymore -- 'cause you thought for some reason that it might have some pivotal whatsis to do with Final Crisis. Seriously, what were you thinking? 'Cause here we are, and it doesn't. It's really all DC's fault, but then again, isn't it a little everyone's fault?
An interesting issue. More of a trailer than a story. I dunno if it's actually that good, because it really doesn't cover
that much of the DCU, or set the tone for anything, or seem as epic as the cover makes it out to be. It's...a trailer. It's a good trailer I suppose, but not worth a penny over the fifty cents that it cost. I guess I was just expecting "Countdown to Infinite Crisis" or something, and "Countdown to Infinite Crisis" this ain't.
I do love how everything you'd need to know about the multiverse and of Crises 1 & 2 were all covered in two pages. I've always said that the multiverse is far less confusing than readers and writers make it out to be.
I liked the Green Lantern-related bits. The splash page with all the Corps? Really good use of visuals. I wish Johns would try and focus a bit on the GLC a bit and not just on Hal And His Sidekick
, but it's really not as if I shouldn't have known better to expect that. I wonder who Ganthet and Sayd are referring to, here? If we just think linearly, the one person most capable of spreading hope in the DCU is...Superman. And yet obviously Superman isn't going to become the lynchpin for the...Ganthet Corps. Maybe...Kingdom Come Superman? It's a long shot, and not really thematically compatible, but then again we are talking about the guy who put the Anti-Monitor in charge of the Sinestro Corps...and had it work.
The Wonder Woman bit is, well, either it's gonna be the most clever and innovative thing ever...or someone's been reading too much Da Vinci Code. Seriously, Gail, a phallus icon on their shields? Seriously? At some level, though, you just gotta laugh at the concept of the cast of 300 in a Wonder Woman story. Who's the god besides Apollo, I wonder? Thematically it should be Ares -- any endeavor of this sort must needs requires the god of conflict -- but then it doesn't really feel like him, and the silhouette doesn't match. Plus, y'know, it'd be weird for Ares to actually oppose war now that I think about it. I hope it's not Zeus -- he's been almost nothing but an psychotic antagonist for so long, now! -- but it probably is. Poseidon really wouldn't care about the surface world, and Hephaestus doesn't seem the type to get involved.
Copying and pasting from here on forth: I think people may be jumping the gun a bit on the "Barry's back!" wagon. At least, I don't get the impression that he's back in the way that everyone is thinking, like he's going to jump out of a wormhole like Wally or punch through dimensional walls like Superman-2 or something.
At no point in the issue was he actually shown. Even that end reveal doesn't actually show Barry Allen. It just shows a representation of Barry. Look at how Morrison and Grant describe him as in that interview; as a sort of overarching idea, a metaphysical, encompassing being that shadows the DCU. A kind of God, almost. And then look at how he's portrayed in this issue: he's the DCU. He's giving voice to some encompassing representation of the DCU.
And then think about the theme and plotline of Final Crisis, how everyone was theorizing at first that the classic heroes are going to become the newest gods of the Fifth World. My guess is that Barry is one of the first cases we're going to be seeing of that; the worst evil needs to be balanced by the best good, which in this case translates into evil gods vs good gods. Basically? There's going to be some serious mind****ing soon.
(7.4 out of 10)
Thor #8
Niiice. Loki's such a b****. The sort of story that JMS is telling here -- things like Thor's issues with Odin and the "departed lovers" bit with Don and Jane -- isn't quite something we've never seen before, but it's still coming across so well here that it feels brand new. The art is beautiful and the writing is evocative, switching between the mythological and the mundane with equal skill. This book is still going strong.
(8.7 out of 10)
Blue Beetle #26
Heheh. Pretty much what I expected. Charming and cute, especially Jaime's family, but, y'know, you can't really understand it. Especially when it gets to the part with the Parasite. I just kinda skipped to the end where the translations were and started reading from there, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to do that, but oh well.
(6.9 out of 10)
Hulk vs Hercules
Pretty good. Focusing on Marvel's Greek gods is interesting to me, 'cause even though I've wiki'd a lot about them I've never really delved into their stories before. And I'm glad that Pak is really delving into prehistoric stuff with Gaea and the Demogorge; it's nice to see that Marvel's mythological background is strong enough to support stories like this.
(7.9 out of 10)
Justice League of America #20
Am I the only person who's not really that into Van Sciver's art? At least in this issue. The people looks so plastic and the poses just feel unnatural a lot of the time. Shiny and pretty and, uh, shiny...but also plastic and unnatural.
The writing is a bit of a step up from before, thankfully, now that McDuffie is back and without editorial mandate. But it is very blatantly a fill-in. And then next issue we're back to form with some editorially-mandated whatsis with Libra and the Human Flame, and as much as I'm looking forward to Final Crisis, I can't imagine that going very well. When are we actually going to let McDuffie write the goddamn Justice League? DC puts him on the book and then throws all these obstacles in the way. I know he can be better than this; this issue itself is a testament to that. How much better remains to be seen, of course. I just hope we do get to see it.
(7 out of 10)
Fallen Angel #26
"Little former Guardian...do you intend to impress me with a show of force?"
"No. I intend to ****ing kill you with a show of force."
Oh PAD. Never change.
(8.5 out of 10)
Checkmate #25
At this point I'm so used to seeing Rucka books end before their time that it's no longer quite the seething sea of loss and despair that it used to be. Almost. But not...quite.
Would the end of of Rucka's tenure be easier to bear if he had opportunity to craft a proper resolution? If he had chance to smooth out his numerous rivetting ongoing plots, wrap up his excellent thematic tropes, and give proper send-offs to "his" version of these incredible characterizations? Probably. But then, we haven't exactly had a chance to know for sure, with any of his cancelled series.
Which makes this issue so strange to review. It's so ****ing good as an issue and an arc...but that only serves to remind us how awkward and sudden it is as an ending. It shows us the very best that this series has to offer...which only accentuates how unfair it is that it has to end. It follows through and exemplarizes the last twenty-four superb issues...all the while making it plain that there should have been much, much more. It leaves us wanting for that more which will never come.
Would it be easier to bear, I wonder, if the series was being succeeded by someone competent, if DC was willing to show that they cared enough about this book that they were willing to put a real pioneer on it, someone with an exciting take and inventive admiration of the series ready to start a brand new chapter in the saga...instead of a guy who's name is poison to almost everyone who's ever read his work? Probably. But then, that's really not what's happening here.
(9.1 out of 10)
(10 out of 10 for the run)
Iron Man: The Movie
If you haven't seen it by now, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know: go see it, it's awesome, one of the very best. Stay until after the credits. And if you've already seen it, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know either: it's awesome! One of the very best! Filled with yays and omgs! Stay until after the credits.
Even with very good superhero films, a lot of times you can't help but feel at least a little bit of ambivalence about it because X has been changed or Y isn't quite up to par or Z is depicted badly or whatever. Not with this one. There's no ambivalence. There are no casting doubts. There are no writing doubts. There are no special effects doubts. This is very much the very best Iron Man movie that we could have possibly have received. It's not flawless, of course you'll notice one or two things that don't quite work as well as others, but it's the sort of "not flawless" where faults aren't even faults, but are either quirks instead or utter non-issues in the face of so much ****ing awesome.
(9.6 out of 10)
