Bought/Thought April 8th - SPOILERS

[JewishHobbit]

Yeah, I like the lips better

 

[Mr. Green]

Everything about the new version is better.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Northlanders saw the completion of "Cross + Hammer" this issue and my GOD it was a fantastic read. Seriously, I think this arc has been one of the best comics I've ever read in my entire life. I loved every second of it, especially since Wood gives you the situation from each character's perspective in a very organic way, which leads to a great final twist. The art is exceptional as well, somehow portraying the events in a way that's serious as a heart attack while still giving a bit of cartoonish exaggeration to the figures. I'm not gonna say anymore for fear of spoiling things, but I would highly recommend everyone who's even slightly interested in great character work or Vikings or medieval drama or chase stories to give this arc a try in trade, at least. I'm pretty sure I actually like Northlanders even more than DMZ at this point.

 

[CaptainCanada]

I was confused by the twist; if l'il Brigid is a hallucination, then why did the Vikings identify two sets of tracks (one of them a kid's, which Ragnar presumed to be a sexual companion) back in the first or second part?

 

[WolfCypher]

Although very late, I finally bought my copy of Dead of Night: Werewolf by Night. This four-parter concluded very nicely. I may even go and buy Dead of Night: Demon Slayer just for kicks.

Haven't been able to buy comics the day they come out. My next wantlist acquisition will be Timestorm 2099.

 

[iloveclones]

I guess I'm alone in the horse-face love.

I also wanted to mention a scene in Ultimate Hulk vs Wolverine # I-forget-because-it-took-three-years-to-come-out Steve and Tony are playing ping-pong, and the subject of registering super-powers comes up. Steve says he thinks it's a good idea, and Tony says , no, it's really not.

After I wrote that, I checked on wiki to see what the issue number actually is, but what I found funny was this:

Publisher...............Marvel Comics
Schedule...............erratic
Format..................mini-series
Publication date.....December 2005 to May 2009
Number of issues...6 (3 so far)
Main character(s)...Wolverine The Hulk

 

[Spider-Jay420]

Is it still 6 parts? I thought I saw somewhere it was shrunk down to 4 parts.

 

[Midnyte_Sun]

Wolverine: Weapon X

Aaron and Garney have setup a great story arc and this issue had it all. I'm glad to see Maverick again and this series will be the only Wolverine or X-related series I'm picking up.

Superman - "For Tomorrow"

I'm not a big DC reader, but this TPB was interesting but overall kind of a dud. I seemed lost as someone as powerful as Superman confessing to a Priest...also since this TPB didn't have any resolution it was frustrating to see it end so abruptly. Also, Jim Lee's pencils needs new inks because it seems exactly the same as it did in the 90s without any sort of improvement.

Marvel Zombies TPB 1 and 2

These were thoroughly entertaining and utterly ridiculous. Things I learned from Marvel Zombies:

Apparently having your brains eaten or damaged means you are still intelligent
Apparently heads can talk without their throats/vocal chord.
Zombies eat their own lips first.
Galactus has organs
Zombies regenerate Teeth?

 

[Dread]

Short week this week, but a good one. Come to think of it, the next week will be short, too. Only three books for me this week, and maybe two next week. I fear an end-of-the-month wallet-buster. There is a part of me that is annoyed at the lopsided printing schedule; half a month is nothing, and then the other two weeks EVERYTHING comes out at once. March 2009 sales figures are just coming in and Marvel is dominating DC in dollar/unit share by a good 20 points in each; granted, it may be a sign of them flooding the market. Many people note how Marvel seems to be putting out more comics now than in the 90's, and while the overall quality is better than they were in the 90's, perhaps prices wouldn't have to be a buck for half of them if Marvel would put out less than, like, 100 books a month.

The lack of ads from anything that isn't in-house, though, is becoming very noticeable. It may be a rock/hard place for Marvel' sales prices.

As always, full spoilers.

Dread's Bought/Thought for 4/8/09:

BOOSTER GOLD #19: Writer/artist/character creator Dan Jurgens, along with Rapmund, basically does an epilogue sort of issue to close off the latest arc and begin the next. There are no villains to fight and no major action pieces. Well, there are a few, but I wouldn't call them major. It is more about Booster dealing with the ramifications of his own time travel tactics to defeat the chronal-energy Rex Hunter last issue, as well as his sister Michelle having to deal with learning from the villain that she had been fated to die, and she was dead for quite a few years. Some may call it a "filler" issue but I didn't mind 22 pages of character moments to process the events of the arc, to go over and react to what happened. Y'know, like this stuff matters? Sometimes allowing a story a moment to breath isn't decompression, especially if you know how to do it well and not for too long, and Jurgens & Rapmund succeed here. It's a quiet issue of BG, but a solid one.

On the more comedic side, the present Booster Gold has to deal with having pulled through time "Austin from Ten Minutes ago", or rather himself from about 12 issues ago (give or take). His past self is more in awe of the mission and not as experienced, although he has some fun quips with his future self about being designated a "little brother" of sorts. They have to use Rex Hunter's junkpile of a time machine to go back to the "time fortress" that the knives were used to unlock for Michelle and their own time machines. This initial time travel mix up gets Rip in trouble in the middle of a mission to ensure that Starfire escaped slavery to head to Earth and found the "New" Teen Titans, but everything is straightened out in the end. The theme is that Booster Gold has grown in the nearly two years this book has run on, being more used to his mission and what it entails, even if he sometimes is out of his element or acts like he knows more than he does. There also is a fun bit where he talks with...himself about JL booty calls.

The darker side of the issue is Michelle's torment about being kept out of the loop by Booster and Rip about her own fate and her own death, which Rip averted. She is angry about her choices being kept out of her hands. There is a bit of irony in her being angry that she was kept in the dark as if she was "fragile" and needed to be kept from freaking out, just as she is completely freaking out. You know how it is; man apologizes for keeping something from a woman because he "didn't want her to get upset", and she seeks to prove him wrong by getting about 500 times as upset. Always reminds me of Katy Kaboom from THE ANIMANIACS: "I'm NOT OVERREACTING! I'M A TEEN-AGER!!"

Seeking her own destiny, Michelle blips out somewhere in time, with neither Booster or Rip knowing when or where. A search for her seems inevitable, although the cover for issue #20 implies some Commie fighting action, and this is a title where that can be done without it seeming like an outdated rehash (like all the Russkie stories Colossus keeps having at Marvel). It would be interesting to follow some of Michelle's solo travels for a bit, though, see how she ends up. It would be nice if she stopped freaking out and appreciated the second chance at life, but we may have to go through some stuff to get there. Losing her of course leaves Booster with only Rip as a supporting character, and that gets old; that is likely why Ted Kord was revived for about six issues.

While $4 comics stink, I can't wait for the last BLUE BEETLE team to reunite for 10 page back up strips on this title; more Blue Beetle without having to buy an extra book? It's still cheaper than two ongoings. It's like an added present for me for sticking with and enjoying BOOSTER GOLD since the start. DC's current slate of titles and ideas may not be the best, but BOOSTER GOLD, along with BLUE BEETLE, was often a diamond in the rough, and it is fitting that the two would unite.

Having had a nice issue to get things settled from last arc, I eagerly await the next, and hope Jurgens can stick around as long as possible. The book's never the same without him on story or art.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13 #12: Many fans of this title are afraid that Marvel will cancel it due to low sales. Thankfully, solicts and announcements prove that Marvel is telling the truth when it says this title won't be "canceled". It will likely only be "put on hiatus" with an odd one shot or something to wrap up the plot subplots. Much like GHOST RIDER and IMMORTAL IRON FIST, two books that actually outsell this.

It isn't all bad news for CB&MI13; for some reason, sales on issue #10 in Feb. rose about 11% to over 20.5k copies. This wasn't a crossover tie-in nor did it have a variant cover. The first trade came out, but it's sales were hardly blockbuster. Some retailers claimed that Diamond had shipped a free copy of the title to some of their shops, but it could be possible that all these good reviews and buzz are paying off. Considering comic sales as a whole fell 2% industry wide in 2/2009 (despite Obama Spidey being the #1 seller with another 145k copies sold via two reprints), a random 11% spike in sales for this title is quite a blip. It remains to be seen if the sales will hold steady here or dip again, or even rise. Even at 20.5k a title, this book would sell better than RUNAWAYS is right now (although RUNAWAYS has always supposedly made up monthly losses via digest sales).

The book has editorial support, supposedly, even if Marvel is being less than honest about the book's long term path, which for retailers in the wake of a recession can be maddening, but for readers is good because the title continues to be one of Marvel's best team books, a pleasure to read every month with exceptionally written characters and larger-than-life villains from Paul Cornell, with consistent art from Leonard Kirk most issues (he's had one fill in and some page help now and again). This arc has proven to be the best from the creative team on the title so far, which is something since the last two arcs were pretty damned good as well. After having remobilized Britain's super-team division in the wake of the Skrull Invasion, and having defeated the high level demon Plokta (creator of the infamous Mindless Ones), it is turning out that Dracula, self proclaimed Lord of the Vampires, may prove the threat that rocks the team to their core. He has already kidnapped Faiza/Excalibur's father in the hopes of making him a vampire, and has used Spitfire's son, the new Baron Blood, to move her into position to be controlled by Dracula. He even is hoping to sow some dissent and jealousy in Joey "Union Jack" Chapman, himself a long time slayer of vampires, via Spitfire's new relationship with Blade. This story succeeds because it acknowledges all of the last Dracula stories between Blade and even dusts off an old vampire slayer from the 70's era while using that to demonstrate that Dracula IS a high level threat, on par with a Doctor Doom. He's got centuries of military experience and has proven to be among the most powerful and difficult to destroy of all vampires; not even Dr. Strange has managed to kill Dracula forever.

This time, Dracula is working alongside not only an army of vampires, but other mystical beings, some of whom were freed by Peter Wisdom when magic was "closed off" from Britain. One of those is Lilith, a major demonic threat from the 90's MIDNIGHT SONS era that Blade would also be more than aware of. The other is Captain Fate, a minor MAN-THING villain from the 70's-80's; he's basically an immortal/nearly unkillable pirate who usually worked for the demon Thog, who carries a magical Magus Sword, as well as an enchanted pirate ship, the Serpent Crown. That's not to be confused with the other Serpent Crown, which is a magical maguffin connected to the elder god Set. Leonard Kirk redesigns Capt. Fate a bit, and to be honest I don't have any problems with it, as Capt. Fate has always looked a bit generic. Look at his original stories in MAN-THING and he looks like every single grey/black bearded pirate you have ever seen in your entire life. Every single one. Here, Fate has obviously paid two bits for a shave and hair-cut, which at least gives him a sleeker design; he doesn't have a 100 lb coat to slow him down in a sword duel. He still looks a bit generic, but it's a different kind of generic, at least. Lilith of course still looks as creepy as she always did, as if she should be Pinhead's girlfriend from HELLRAISER.

Jackie is being led to their moon-base by her son Baron Blood, who is convincing her to go along with the new vampire order, as if she has a lot of choice. Dracula reveals that he has discovered that vampires can change over time if they have a lot of it, becoming more immune to weaknesses (Dracula reveals he no longer fears Catholic symbols), and that he is many masterstrokes ahead of the British heroes.

Meanwhile, Blade and Black Knight help terminate four more vampires who were acting as spies, and Blade deduces that they are after the head of deceased slayer and fallen comrade Quincy Harker, one of many vampire hunters Blade had allied with and lived longer than. Most memorable for being able to fight vampires despite being in a wheelchair. Apparently his skull is a vital artifact in a spell that limits how many vampires can enter Britain because it requires each one be invited, individually. Not only does Cornell acknowledge past Marvel lore, but past vampire myths in general that play a hand in the larger story, only in new and effective ways. Blade also manages to be experienced and bad-ass without being annoying or over-the-top, and honestly I think it helps that he actually has a supporting cast of non-sacrificial lambs, which in past series he lacked. He may not work as a solo comic star but as part of a team he usually has been more tolerable, and is very effective here. Faiza, meanwhile, is trying to hold herself together despite her father being missing and her mother being in the hospital, and Dane Whitman's Ebony Blade seems to spark Capt. Fate's notice, which to me hints of a sword duel between pirate and knight that may be coming, which'd be awesome. Black Knight is also dressing for the part now, which is good. Kirk draws his armor well. While Captain Britain and MI-13 manage to slice through a squad of sunlight-blocking vampires that burst into Diana's home, Dracula manages to crush the skull with Lilith's magical assistance, leading the way to his invasion fleet to enter, with 1,000 vampires strong within a massive demonic pirate ship. It looks cooler than it sounds, trust me.

Captain Britain may be the titular hero, but he is usually just one hero out of a team of very cool ones, and that is usually effective; if WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN was as willing to share spotlight, maybe it wouldn't be so mediocre. This may be a sequel to Cornell's WISDOM mini from a few years ago, but Pete Wisdom isn't a hog, either. Every character gets a bit of focus as the stories wind along, which is how to do good team books. Next issue solicts imply a lot of guest stars from other UK heroes, which should be interesting. Finally, unlike a lot of team books set in other lands, this one really gets the feeling between lingo and settings of being a British superhero team, rather than a bunch of tourists who happen to be kicking butt in England now and then (like a lot of Claremont's stories). It is a shame that retailers and readers don't read this in as high numbers as the last two stabs at "Excalibur", as this third time has proven the charm.

Hopefully, the sales bump wasn't a blip and we could look forward to another year's worth of stories.

Although if INCREDIBLE HERCULES is "iHerc" to be trendy, is this "cBrit"?

 

[Dread]

Last, but not least...

WAR OF KINGS: ASCENSION #1: Or, basically, WAR OF KINGS: DARKHAWK #3. The latest mini from WAR OF KINGS, and honestly the only other one besides the "core" mini that I know of. Granted, it also will have two ongoing titles that tie in, NOVA and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, and all four will be written by Abnett & Lanning. Marvel space is their baby now, and WAR OF KINGS will succeed or fail under their dual pens. They even co-wrote the last issue of C.B. Cebulski's two issue lead up to this mini. It's another $4 per issue mini, and to be fair, while WOK: DH tried to justify it by offering color reprints of the first two issues of the original DARKHAWK series from 1991, this series just asks you to pay more because it's a mini and because ads are way down. Seriously, grab any comic from, oh, summer 2008 and you can really see the difference.

(Although to be fair, WAR OF KINGS: DARKHAWK #2 actually had 23 pages of story as opposed to 22.)

Darkhawk is the newest edition to the "Marvel Cosmic" cast of characters right now and he has seemed to be the least organic. Sure, he popped back into contunity again after the end of THE LONERS a few years ago in NOVA, and former NOVA regular artist Wellington Alves is on hand to draw the interiors (he drew NOVA #8-10 and #13-21, including those Darkhawk guest issues). But explaining why Darkhawk MUST be a part of what is basically a smack-down between the Shi'ar and the Kree/Inhumans/Starjammers/Nova Corps has been a well kept mystery that this series is apparently trying to answer and justify. After all, while Darkhawk is a "fan favorite character" (which means that he doesn't have enough fans to justify his own solo ongoing series since 1995), his inclusion has to make organic sense to the story. My other personal concern has basically amounted to a fear of retcons. Abnett & Lanning have all but stated that this series will have major ones for Darkhawk, which is a problem for me because his origin was fairly well stated in his last ongoing in the 90's. There are some retcons that are well handled and organic, such as Brubaker's Bucky one, or the Immortal Iron Fist stuff with Fraction. But by and large, they usually just are used to whitewash over what isn't convenient, and that's sloppy. It insults, not rewards, the long term reader or the knowledgeable fan. The type of fan who would give enough of a crap about Darkhawk to pay $4 to read about him, basically. In 2/2209, WOK: DH #1 sold about 25.5k, which was just a smidge higher than NOVA #22 (500 copies basically), which isn't bad considering it is a buck higher in price.

It was a 90's cluster****, but wasn't everything back then? The tale went that alien criminal Dargin Bokk gathered six scientists from across the universe, including one Earthman, to device a new type of biological weapon. The Earthling, ironically considering this series claims that Chris isn't "bonded to his armor well because it wasn't made for humans", was actually the robotics expert who helped come up with the armor/robot body's designs. One of the other alien scientists found Null Space, the alternate dimension where the armors were stored, and another alien the body/mind swapping technique, so you could basically engage foes without risking your real body, which was in stasis. The scientists rebelled and the lab was blown up, with one amulet winding up on Earth for Powell to find (along with two scientists, via a Vulcan Mind Swap kind of move with two random humans), and Bokk would eventually gain a suit as Evilhawk. Chris found out the "truth" about how his powers worked, even battled on the Null Space ship that housed his body when he was Darkhawk, and was both separated from and re-merged with Darkhawk. He even gained a second bodysuit, which he used towards the end of his series, and in THE LONERS when Phil Urich stole his original.

Now, of course, Abnett & Lanning are asserting that the amulets and the "armors" (no body swapping stuff) comes from a species called The Raptors, who are thousands of years old and pre-date even the Xanadarian Nova Corps. That's quite a lot different from the science experiments of an alien mobster, basically. That isn't to say that both origins can't fit in with each other; they could just say that Bokk and his scientist team didn't INVENT the Darkhawk stuff; they may have simply reactivated or imitated the old Raptor stuff. That sort of thing wouldn't take long to smooth over; a few lines of dialogue, in one panel of art. But I have to SEE that to really buy the retcon, otherwise it would just be a Bendis style "forget the past because it doesn't fit with my script" thing and I would have to criticize it further. Basically, if Abnett & Lanning really want to amp Darkhawk up a league here, they can't just leave this to No-Prize winners and some future Handbook Bio writer; they need to actually spend a panel smooth it out themselves. It isn't a major deal, but an essential one for me.

Aside from those concerns, the mini starts out rather well. It reveals that Talon's amulet was picked up by a Skrull survivor from the fleet that fled Earth when Normon Osborn kicked their butts and got wasted by the Inhumans. The Skrull isn't even a nameless one; it's the same Skrull general from SECRET INVASION: WAR OF KINGS one shot that was a prelude to the event. His stitches are a dead giveaway, and the name is the same. Kudos to Abnett & Lanning for that little bit, actually having given the Skrull lines before this very issue. Then it cuts to Talon and Darkhawk in the Negative Zone, where they are cutting a path through some leftover bug hordes from Annihilus, or rather from one of his lessor generals named Catastrophus (which is brilliant that Abnett & Lanning caught on to the theme of some of the names). Chris is still suffering from his anger management issues and reacts a lot like an irate teenager would, which is an issue since he's a guy who is probably about 20 by now, at least. Talon tries to give him information, but the "info-dumps" do little to appease Chris, who feels out of his depth. At one point he breaks down and regrets his decision to leave his family, only wanting an "upgrade" like he felt Richard Rider got as Nova from ANNIHILATION. Not bad that Rich is inspiring hero-envy in others. Damn right!

While I still may have "hostile" concerns over whether Abnett & Lanning can fuse their retcon with Darkhawk's previously revealed origin (I mean it was in a glowing foil cover issue from the 90's, after all), this issue has at least convinced me that the Raptors are different than the Nova Corps. Talon claims that the Raptors pre-date the Xanadarian Corps by many years (plus, to be fair, the Nova Corps served as Xanadar's personal super-army, much as the Imperial Guard serve the Shi'ar army mostly, for much time before spreading out to defend cooperating planets in the universe), and that while the Nova Corps may be "peace-keepers", the Raptors are more "architects of fate" or a "catalyst". As Chris learns by the end of the issue, this involves stealth raids, assassinations, and kidnappings. Basically, Nova Corps would be knights, while Raptors would be ninja. One has a prime directive and one doesn't. The Weapon X to the Exiles, basically. Talon also tries to teach Chris how to "reconfigure" himself to a more powerful suit of armor, but he cannot do so beyond reflex yet, which is of course a bit typical for these kinds of stories. They set out to steal Annihilus' Cosmic Control Rod from Catastrophus to prevent too much of a shift in power between the Shi'ar/Kree war, but the mission goes wrong until Chris goes a bit ape-**** and reconfigures, turning into a mix between War Machine and Archangel. He learns of the dark path of the Raptors and assume they are "the bad guys", but by then Talon has seemingly put Chris' consciousness down for the count, and now "Razor" stands in as Darkhawk. Apparently the amulets/Raptors have gestalt personalities, and they merely possess whatever hapless being takes on the amulet/armor. I just wonder if they will find a third Raptor named Tokka.

Talon also mentions the "Datasong of the Null Source", which I assume acts a bit like Worldmind does for the Nova Corps, and that's a positive as Null Space has been essential for Darkhawk's powers forever. It gives me some hint that the origins will be merged properly. I have faith in Abnett & Lanning overall, but being a cynic who has often been burned even by favorite writers occasionally, I do sometimes worry until I see the end result. The only problem with this whole thing is that it is hard to portray the Raptors as being basically the Sith compared to the Nova Corps' Jedis when right now in NOVA, Worldmind has gone insane/power-mad, and is leading the fleet into a slaughter. If the Jedi's right now are being led by a corrupt figurehead, how would the Sith be any worse? Still, that's only a minor quibble and what's happening in NOVA doesn't really matter much to ASCENSION right now. Regardless, for me it does work out better than what I know of the Green Lanterns, which are basically that the entire universe of DC allowes a bunch of blue midgets of a distinct planet Oa to enforce laws with flying green demigods regardless of planet or species; Marvel space, as pointed out to me in another topic, is far more fragmented, territorial, and feudal, which also makes it a bit more interesting, especially post-ANNIHILATION when this sort of thing is handled well. I mean, here on Earth, the "peacekeepers" from the so called United Nations are hardly accepted everywhere (and the U.S. usually does the heavy lifting anyway, for good or ill).

Naturally I don't expect Razor to fill in for Chris Powell forever, because there's always something special about us humans in space stories, ain't there? Plus, it would be a bit boring for more than an issue. Despite my long term concerns, this was a satisfying and action packed issue, with some good dialogue by "DnA" with solid art & colors by Alves and Hanna. Lord knows bugs and Raptor armor isn't the easiest stuff to draw, but they make it look easy. Darkhawk's not my favorite character by any means, but out of a few of those 1991 launches, he probably stuck with me the most because he looked like a Silverhawk, and SILVERHAWKS was a classic 80's cartoon with some cool metallic painted toys for the time. It's a dumb reason to still occasionally read and care about a C-List Marvel hero, but it's mine. It may not be the easiest task for Darkhawk to become part of WOK's and for "DnA" to adjust his origin, but it is possible and I really hope they pull it off. This isn't my favorite book of the WAR OF KINGS Quartet right now, but it's off to a decent start and I have high hopes and expectations for it. It'd make Tom DeFalco & Danny Fingeroth proud.

 

[Dread]

((Double post))

 

[THANOSRULES]

Dread,

I can sort of understand your comments on the Darkhawk origin "issue"..I mean the normal conversation flow would be "thats not how I understood my powers to work" line at some point from Darkhawk when confronted with Talon's version...at least a mention!

Yet I have complete faith in DnA to get to this at some point.

Is Tolibao still drawing Ascension? I really loved his art..might be one of my new favorites.

I thought I was the only one to remember SILVERHAWKS..no one seems to remember that they came on right before Thundercats, ( i thought they were like part of a power hour) and I prefered the HAWKS. Wasn't the bad guy in SIlverhawks like exactly the same as Mum-ra from Thundercats?

 

[Mr. Green]

Is it still 6 parts? I thought I saw somewhere it was shrunk down to 4 parts.

It's in six parts.

 

[iloveclones]

((Double post))

Shortest Dread post ever. The therapy is finally taking hold.

 

[Sugarculted]

Cable #13 and Deadpool 9 was the best DP in a while. They are ****ing him now, as someone said above, and I feel all this other weak **** (i.e.- Suicide Kings and his stupid appearance in Marvel Zombies 4-#1 this week) is going to do more harm than good in the future for the character

Really, and Way isn't doing enough harm than good already?

Haven't bought anything as of yet this week, but quite tempted to get the new Exiles and Darkhawk comic if everyone's giving them a fair review

 

[bryanss3]

Shortest Dread post ever. The therapy is finally taking hold.

hahahahahahaha is it sad how funny I find that?


Did anyone get Locke & Key: Head Games #4?

The series is great I haven't got the new issue yet but I expect it to be on par with everything else in this series. if you've never heard of it it you should pick up the first trade its really good. I picked it up cause I heard it was good and went in thinking this will probably be ok, and it turned out to be my favorite comic right now.

 

[Ikaris-Eternal]

Dread,

I liked Silverhawks as well

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I was confused by the twist; if l'il Brigid is a hallucination, then why did the Vikings identify two sets of tracks (one of them a kid's, which Ragnar presumed to be a sexual companion) back in the first or second part?

I didn't remember that part. Oh well, guess I'll just have to reread the whole arc.

 

[Dread]

Dread,

I can sort of understand your comments on the Darkhawk origin "issue"..I mean the normal conversation flow would be "thats not how I understood my powers to work" line at some point from Darkhawk when confronted with Talon's version...at least a mention!

Yet I have complete faith in DnA to get to this at some point.

Is Tolibao still drawing Ascension? I really loved his art..might be one of my new favorites.

I thought I was the only one to remember SILVERHAWKS..no one seems to remember that they came on right before Thundercats, ( i thought they were like part of a power hour) and I prefered the HAWKS. Wasn't the bad guy in SIlverhawks like exactly the same as Mum-ra from Thundercats?

No, Wellington Alves, who drew about 12 issues worth of NOVA after Sean Chen left the book after issue #7, is drawing ASCENSION. His art for me is superior to Tolibao's, but it's not bad either. I just am more used to Alves, especially with Darkhawk (since he drew those guest issues of NOVA that brought Powell back into use after THE LONERS ended in 2007).

I agree, you would think Chris would have a "Yeahbuhwhat?" sort of reaction at a new origin story for his amulet since he already got one in the 90's, but hence why I have been critical. If Cebulski/Abnett/Lanning are planning to merge the retcon perfectly with his established origin, they've given few hints to that conclusion yet. I'm sure it won't be complete suck, though.

As for SILVERHAWKS, yes, their main villain was Mon*Star and he was basically "Space Mum-Ra", an alien mobster who called on some space demon/god thing to transform into a monster (as his name alludes to very awkwardly). The SILVERHAWKS were made by the same production team and animators who did THUNDERCATS, which both aired side by side in 1986; they wanted SILVERHAWKS to basically be similar to Thundercats, only set in space and around a different animal (the hawk as opposed to felines, naturally). THUNDERCATS of course lasted from 1985-1990 (not including syndication); SILVERHAWKS didn't last as long. That was back in the days when 65 episodes was considering a first season for a cartoon, not maybe the sum total of 5-6 seasons like today. Of course, in the mid 80's, competition from video games for cartoon/toy cash from kids and their parents was minimal, and computers were still luxuries.

The only downside was Bluegrass, the cowboy/guitar twangin' Silverhawk; he was quite annoying from what I remember, even managing to outdo the token kid member of the team (kids in many team shows are often annoying).

Shortest Dread post ever. The therapy is finally taking hold.

Truth is stranger than fiction.

hahahahahahaha is it sad how funny I find that?

Not really. I am aware of being verbose, especially in review threads.

Dread,

I liked Silverhawks as well

I see. Yeah, childhood memories are hard things to shake. I don't remember liking SILVERHAWKS quite as much as I liked, say, INSPECTOR GADGET or TRANSFORMERS (or of course Ninja Turtles, which would have just been starting in 1987, after SILVERHAWKS was gone), but it did leave an impression. Their designs were sleek and memorable.

 

[AgentEnforcer]

Was anyone else dissappointed by the fact that the latest issue of Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk was entirely an origin of She-Hulk with ZERO Wolverine and Hulk fighting? Well... if anyone cares:

Spoiler

She Hulk in Ultimate is actually Betty Ross, who set up Ultimate Jen Walters to take the fall for dealing the Hulk/Super soldier serum. Oh crazy Ultimate twists.

It was nice to see events from the first two issues revisited from different perspectives, but to be honest, and I know many will disagree saying that you couldn't do 6 straight issues of Wolverine fighting the Hulk, but I didn't see this series turing out to be a She Hulk origin, nor do I like it, and the next issue is previewed as "SHE HULK VS. HULK" Negating the title of the book.

 

[Dread]

You mean the same ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS. HULK issue that was, and it bares remembering, THREE YEARS LATE that couldn't even be bothered to have a 2-3 word apology for the faithful readers who are still bothering to ask shops for it, and heck, even buy the reprints of the last two issues that last were new back when John Kerry was running his campaign and telling us about his three Purple Hearts?

The Top 10 comics for March 2009 are in, and UWvH was in that Top 10. Retailers and mainstream fans have rewarded Marvel for callousness and unprofessionalism, as well as all those Hollywood writers who see comic writing as little more than a paid hobby or a "plan B" when whatever show or studio they write for tanks. Every time there is a late comic, every time Marvel bends over backwards for any Hollywood hack who thinks of it as nothing but B-List work to put off (as opposed to their day jobs writing for TV/Movies), and every time Marvel assumes their fans and retailers are gullible, clueless suckers...thank those who made the three-year-late UWvH a financial hit. Thank them good.

It really says something that on the first page Marvel couldn't even print those few words:

WE'RE VERY SORRY.

That would take having a bit less contempt than Marvel has for the same customers they believe deserve to pay an extra 33% per issue for high quality comics like ASTONISHING X-MEN GHOST STORIES.

As good as the comics I got were...ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS. HULK and the fans who support that charade, not any of you on the forums but those nameless mainstream masses who are why the book was a Top 10 selling hit...that irritates me. I mean even supporting a Bendis book is better; his books usually are on time, every time. The guy can write like 6 comics sometimes and aside for POWERS they all come out at a steady rate.

 

[kguillou]

I just wish to god that they would actually show wolverine freakin fighting the HULK!! this fight's been hyped to death and yet we've seen nothing. Its been 4 issues and the fight hasnt happened yet. Is it so much to ask to just have a senseless fight?

 

[Dread]

I just wish to god that they would actually show wolverine freakin fighting the HULK!! this fight's been hyped to death and yet we've seen nothing. Its been 4 issues and the fight hasnt happened yet. Is it so much to ask to just have a senseless fight?

Wait...a Marvel non-cosmic mini series that aggressively hypes some event, runs late, and then hasn't delivered it in any coherent or satisfying fashion?

That...that never happens!

Must I put a smiley to show my sarcasm?

 

[THANOSRULES]

SILVERHAWKS and BIONIC SIX were like my "most underrated cartoons" of that time.

BIONIC SIX..I loved that show...too bad the TOy line was a total dud..although If I remember the figures were quality die cast metal.

I also remember "blackstarr" which was like Tarzan in space, from the same production crew that did the Tarzan cartoon of the time, and a Zorro one if I remember.

EDIT: I forgot about the MIGHTY ORBOTS..that is one of those cartoons that I really remembered well, and then I found out it was only on for 1 season..seemed like it was longer.

 

[iloveclones]

You mean the same ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS. HULK issue that was, and it bares remembering, THREE YEARS LATE that couldn't even be bothered to have a 2-3 word apology for the faithful readers who are still bothering to ask shops for it, and heck, even buy the reprints of the last two issues that last were new back when John Kerry was running his campaign and telling us about his three Purple Hearts?

The Top 10 comics for March 2009 are in, and UWvH was in that Top 10. Retailers and mainstream fans have rewarded Marvel for callousness and unprofessionalism, as well as all those Hollywood writers who see comic writing as little more than a paid hobby or a "plan B" when whatever show or studio they write for tanks. Every time there is a late comic, every time Marvel bends over backwards for any Hollywood hack who thinks of it as nothing but B-List work to put off (as opposed to their day jobs writing for TV/Movies), and every time Marvel assumes their fans and retailers are gullible, clueless suckers...thank those who made the three-year-late UWvH a financial hit. Thank them good.

It really says something that on the first page Marvel couldn't even print those few words:

WE'RE VERY SORRY.

That would take having a bit less contempt than Marvel has for the same customers they believe deserve to pay an extra 33% per issue for high quality comics like ASTONISHING X-MEN GHOST STORIES.

As good as the comics I got were...ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS. HULK and the fans who support that charade, not any of you on the forums but those nameless mainstream masses who are why the book was a Top 10 selling hit...that irritates me. I mean even supporting a Bendis book is better; his books usually are on time, every time. The guy can write like 6 comics sometimes and aside for POWERS they all come out at a steady rate.

Although I join you in mockng Marvel over this, I don't think it needs to go quite that far.

I appreciate that you went to the extent of excluding me and hypers from the nameless mainstream masses, but I'm a big boy. It's my dinero, and I willingly spent it (let's be honest, I could download and read it if i wanted to, but I feel like if my need to read it is so high that I'm willing to DL, than I should be buying it)

If this were a ongoing like Amazing or DD, I would have a different viewpoint, but it's a mini. They almost seem timeless, even when they have events, like this one, tie-ing them into the "current" events. Now, instead of feeling like I'm reading a live story, it feels like a flashback story, no biggie.

I have no problem with them waiting for a certain writer/artist (even though it always ends up being the writer) to be available to finish a story. I certainly prefer that to having someone else finish it. Now, i wish they could take option C) and get more of a commitment/finished product from them before #1 is published, but wish in one hand....

I do worry that they take the wrong message from it being in th top 10, but they look at the same sales numbers that I see from time to time. They see the hit that titles like Ultimates took when they had delays (see, it's different for an ongoing) They can't possibly believe that they still have the lightning in the bottle that they had with Young Avengers.

But what's missing in this whole discussion is how much Yu likes drawing Betty. I mean, if he could have drawn an entire page of just her breasts, I'm sure he would have.