Bought/Thought August 1, 2012

[JewishHobbit]

Light week for me. Before getting to the comics I did buy I thought I'd comment on how pleased I was to see the Young Masters in Avengers Academy during my skims. I really liked that team in the Dark Reign: Young Avengers mini. I didn't read Vengeance with two of them and then here's three more. I thought that was cool. Hopefully they'll keep showing up. I think at this point Melter's the only one who hasn't shown back up.

X-Factor 241 - This was a decent issue with a bunch of previous stories finally coming to fruition. I HATE what they're doing with Guido and I hope that something changes him back to how he was before Layla resurrected him. And I'm still wondering what the point was in placing Lorna and Havok in the book. They aren't adding anything. And now I see that Darwin is coming back to the most crowded book of the century. I' starting to get Project Superpowers flashbacks.

That said, the issue was decent and I'm eager for the next few months as the cast is being cut in half. I might get back to really enjoying the title when that happens. We'll see.

Hawkeye 1 - I was back and forth on this and decided to give it a shot. Aja's art is beautiful as always but that was all that I got out of this issue. All of the "Bro" comments just got annoying. I get what Fraction was aiming for but he WAY overdid it. It just took me out of the story completely. Also, the MAIN draw for me is Kate Bishop. She's the main reason I even picked this up on a whim to try it. She was advertised as being a co-starring character. So why wasn't she in the freaking issue?! If I just wanted Clint I'd have read the other 89 comics he stars in.

Anyhow, yeah, not impressed. If Kate shows up next issue I might give it a shot... then again... I might not. Undecided as of this moment.

Defenders 9 - WHY DO I KEEP BUYING THIS?!!!! I have enjoyed a grand total of about 2 issues of this title and every other one has been less than enjoyable. This issue bored me to tears and yet I keep getting it. I love Iron Fist but I need to just give it up. My thinking while at the shop was that the title is likely ending with issue 12 so why quit now? And so I bought another lackluster issue. If the new solicitations don't announce this book as ending then I need to just drop it. It's not good.

Avengers vs. X-Men 9 - Alright, I give. All my complaints about how this is the worst story I've read other than OMD are retracted. It's still not a great story but the past few issues have ranked it up to higher-end mediocre. If the event does what it looks like it's leading to then I'll rank it as good.

In this issue we see the eternal underdog, Spider-Man, stand up to not one but two Phoenix hosts (Colossus and Illyana) and WIN! He sacrefices himself to save his friends and actually brings home the victory (while draped in a lot of his own blood). Xavier and Storm officially join the Avengers' side of the war. And the Storm/Black Panther marriage is annuled... which is stupid.

We see Emma finally flip with the Phoenix power (though she can see it coming and fears what she will become, so there is a chance of redemption there). We also see that Cyclops, despite having so much of the Phoenix, still has good intentions. He hasn't lost his mind like how Namor, Emma, and Illyana have (and Colossus to a lesser degree). He's been trying to keep the others noble and being the only one left alongside Emma, who kills a man for having killed a mutant in his past, has me expecting something I REALLY hope happens. I'm expecting a redemption story for Cyclops and an end to Emma. I think Emma's going to finally just lose it with all this power and she'll beg Cyclops to stop her. Cyclops, who is still fairly good at this point, will reluctantly stop her and she'll die in the process, breaking his heart. He will then somehow reject the Phoenix and help take it down, uniting the Avengers and the X-Men.

And if Cyclops can somehow redeem himself and Emma be written out of the X-World this event for me will skyrocket. Here's hoping!

Oh, and Aaron and Kubert do a fantastic job! LOVE Kubert's art. He's definately my favorite comicbook artist and has been for years (with Deodato close behind).


Best and Worst of the Week

Best: AvX 9 - This was easy due to the fact that everything else was mediocre or worse and this issue was just really good. I hate the crappiness that led us to this point, as it was REALLY bad, but at least the payoff is turning out to be a really good read. Hopefully it just keeps getting better.

Worst: Defenders 9 - Nine issues of Defenders for sale! Who wants them! If you're a fan of overpriced comics with subpar writing then step right up, I have nine issues of Defenders for sale!

 

[runawayboulder]

AvX #9 did nothing to change my feelings about the event since issue 8. Yeah, it was nice to see Spidey pull one out of his ass and beat some Phoenix infused baddies but I still consider this entire event a notch above Fear Itself.

As the new (and I'll admit, exciting) creative teams come out for the NOW era, I just want this event to be over with so I can get to that.

 

[moraldeficiency]

Eh, I'll go against the boards and say I'm actually enjoying AvX. It's pretty much exactly what I expected but thanks to not being all Bendis the story and reasoning hasn't been nearly as awful. Issue 9 was actually pretty terrific. Good to see Peter actually do something as an avenger for once and nice to see him written by Aaron again (this is the second time Peter has stood up to and kinda beaten a phoenix infused X-Man, FYI).

Plus no more Black Panther/Storm marriage, which I've always hated.

As far as recent events go for Marvel or DC this has been the best by far for me of the last...hell maybe ten years now.

 

[runawayboulder]

Well Peter's moment this year was a hell of a lot better than last year when he hightailed it out of there after a fight with the Serpent.

 

[moraldeficiency]

Well Peter's moment this year was a hell of a lot better than last year when he hightailed it out of there after a fight with the Serpent.

What I'm saying. Or in other events where he stood around and made comments and such. Civil War was the last event where he actually did stuff and such.

 

[runawayboulder]

He did knock Osborn's lights out in SIEGE but that was relatively minor.

 

[moraldeficiency]

Yeah and that was after norman went off the deep end. And technically norman going down caused an out of control sentry, so really it didn't do much good.

 

[Spider-Gnome]

Avengers vs. X-Men 9 -

In this issue we see the eternal underdog, Spider-Man, stand up to not one but two Phoenix hosts (Colossus and Illyana) and WIN! He sacrefices himself to save his friends and actually brings home the victory (while draped in a lot of his own blood).

Cool to see Spider-Man handled properly for once these days outside a Slott title!

Well Peter's moment this year was a hell of a lot better than last year when he hightailed it out of there after a fight with the Serpent.

Agreed!

He did knock Osborn's lights out in SIEGE but that was relatively minor.

VASTLY disappointed in Spider-Man's (lack of) involvement in that story. A blown opportunity for Spidey to shine in a Marvel event!

 

[Dread]

Yadda yadda spoilers, blah blah.

DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 8/1/12!

ACTION COMICS #12: Legendary writer Grant Morrison continues his run on the New 52 relaunch of DC Comics' most well known title (or second most well known behind DETECTIVE COMICS), and once again steers the Man Of Steel into exciting and interesting waters. Rather than chop the issue into a lead story and a back-up strip, this is one large 29 page story with a very large credited cast of creators. Rages Morales, Cafu, and Brad Walker are all credited with pencils, flanked by four inkers and two colorists. This story sees Superman face Adam Blake, a youth from Smallville born with psychic powers after his Kryptonian space-ship crashed in Kansas who was the "first Superman" who went ignored and misunderstood by the press. Blake considers himself a "Neo Sapien" and he seeks to take Lois Lane's psychic niece Susie with him into deep space to flee an even greater evil - a bizarre cabal from the 5th dimension who have been plaguing Superman throughout Morrison's run. Superman has to overcome the psychic as well as save Lois from mortal wounds. The highlights are strong and consistent artwork despite all the cooks stirring the panels, as well as a lot of terrific small moments throughout the story. A low light is the finale being slightly bogged down in more of Morrison's bizarre Silver Age science fiction tropes, which at times can read like "techno-babble". Morrison has announced his exit from this series after issue #16, and thus this run is going to start to come to a head very soon. Morrison's last major work on Superman was ALL-STAR SUPERMAN alongside Frank Quietly, which won an Eisner and was adapted into an animated DVD film. It will remain to be seen if his 16 issue run on ACTION COMICS will be revered so well.

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #12: The last regular issue of this series, although an annual is "four weeks away" according to DC. Thus ends, apparently, this uneven JLI run by Dan Jurgens and Aaron Lopresti (who drew most of this run, which is something rare these days). As the cover shows, the remaining JLI members head to Russia to pay their respects to the deceased Rocket Red only to come under attack by the brother of Lightweaver, one of the gang of superhuman anarchists the team had just defeated who had died in battle. He gets in a few zaps of vengeance before being talked to his senses by Batman and the others, who decide not to disband the team after all. While sales for this book were not in cancellation range, this was quickly being lost in the shuffle so it may be wise that DC Comics is letting it bow out with some dignity - presuming it won't be coming back in October with a new title and a new #1, that is. This issue perhaps symbolizes the best and worst of the run in a nutshell. While it isn't offensive and offers great art and plenty of action, it seems to have too many characters that it neglects and doesn't really reach anywhere great either. In particular, I feel sidelining Fire, Ice, and Vixen - three heroines who have been featured in TV animation - was a mistake and made the book far too sausage friendly. Having characters of canceled or fading books like Bat-Wing and OMAC show up felt more obligatory than inspiring. Above all, while the "real" JUSTICE LEAGUE are at least fighting known villains like Darkseid and Cheetah, this bunch are living up to their D-List criticisms by fighting unmemorable original creations seemingly dusted off from Jurgen's sketchbook from the 1990's. While it didn't have to be a comedy, the tone of the book was often more grim than expected. In the end, this wasn't a terrible or insulting book that got bad buzz, but it wasn't a particularly good book either. With so many comics on the market, being mediocre is akin to being invisible. While better than the finale of BOOSTER GOLD, I am still vastly underwhelmed. If the book is to be relaunched, I'd like to see another writer get a try.

AVENGERS ACADEMY #34: After a two issue break, regular series artist Tom Grummett returns to unit with series writer Christos Gage's first arc on this long running title in months which isn't part of the AVENGERS VS. X-MEN crossover. While this issue picks up right after the last, in many ways it feels like the first issue in a long time which seriously deals with a long running subplot within the book itself and not via an outside editorial stunt or a team up with the RUNAWAYS. In the wake of AVX, the Avengers Academy itself has been closed down for the sake of keeping its students safe by not labeling them as "Avengers" - thus, targets. This means the teenage heroes have to take care of themselves for a while, and go about their business as best they can; for some that means chilling at the beach, for others, a magical check-up or seeking employment in Hollywood. Exploiting this is Jeremy Briggs, a teenage metahuman billionaire who seeks to undo the "hero/villain paradigm" and solve the world's problems with less dramatic and more efficient tactics. To this end Briggs has recruited fellow young peers to his side, including a few kids from the Academy (like Veil) and some other spare characters from DARK REIGN: YOUNG AVENGERS, circa 2010. On the upside, Briggs follows through on his promises to the more tragically afflicted characters like Hazmat and Mettle; on the downside he loses a lot of his reputation for finesse by organizing a very super-villain style master plan. Briggs lacks the flashy costume and cheesy laughter of Norman Osborn at his most insane, but he isn't as low key as Lex Luthor was in his prime. Still, Gage is wise to pick up on the idea of younger characters seeking to make their own path in life, which means running into peers with less altruistic motives. This issue has a lot of great dialogue and quite a few memorable moments among its characters, and sets a scale for suspense very high without needing a crossover banner - as it should be. Grummett's artwork is flanked by Cory Hamscher on inks and Chris Sotomayor on colors, and is strong for the most part. However, Grummett also tends to re-use facial designs in a similar manner to Mark Bagley, another classic artist. This arc feels very much like the start of a climax for the series as a whole, which increases the anticipation for this story in a way that this title hasn't done in months. It is a well received return to form for one of Marvel's best superhero team books.

AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #9: Surprisingly one of the better issues of this hackneyed crossover mess of a story which features Spider-Man making a stand. The same five Marvel "architects" continue to helm the story itself alongside their editors, but this week the bottle spins to Jason Aaron for the script itself. Adam Kubert continues on pencils with John Dell on inks and two colorists in tow. The story is still running with a "power corrupts" theme with the angle of five X-Men being corrupted by the Phoenix Force divided among them, despite the fact that the Avengers provoked most of their extreme actions. At any rate, while Namor was defeated last issue, that merely meant that the force would become divided among the remaining four X-Men (Cyclops, Emma Frost, Colossus, and Magik), making each far more powerful than before. They have continued to capture Avengers when they can and toss them into prisons while they seek to use their powers to save the world - although at this point Frost and Magik have left Utopia and seem to be overwhelmed by their powers. While Frost struggles with her corruption, the angle of Magik being corrupted was an old story back in 1988, much less 2012. All the Avengers can do is attempt to stage raids while retreating back to the fall-back spot of K'un L'un, where Spider-Man and Iron Fist seek to train Hope to solve the Phoenix crisis. Ironically, that is exactly what Cyclops was doing until the Avengers sought to butt in - perhaps mere assistance would have been a better strategy? While the entire issue collapses under the weight of the illogical story points, the major highlight is Aaron's focus on Spider-Man. While he is a big enough hero to not always need it, Spidey seems to rarely have big moments in Marvel's annual events and when he does, they are often terrible. CIVIL WAR saw Spidey unmask to the public and join an oppressive faction for most of the story. FEAR ITSELF saw Spider-Man flee in terror from a villain more lame than a DIABLO III mini-boss. While Aaron often has a strange imagination, he gets the heart of the web-slinger much as he did in ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN & WOLVERINE. Furthermore, the last stand of the wall-crawler is set up competently from the first page. On the downside, Kubert's panel layouts are occasionally confusing, and the six year marriage between Storm and Black Panther ends on an embarrassingly lame note. In the end, this issue could be labeled "closer to decent" than many other issues of this mess-terpiece and called a win.

DAREDEVIL #16: Fresh off winning an Eisner for both his own work and his work on this franchise title, Mark Waid continues along his current story line with new regular artist Chris Samnee. Waid is naturally in good company as Samnee is an Eisner winner himserlf, as this run on DAREDEVIL continues to feature artwork by the best artists in the industry. This is a rare issue of DAREDEVIL in which the titular character himself does little but lie on a slab and narrate on occasion until the last seven pages, yet the quirky story works entirely well regardless. Picking up from last week's cliffhanger, Daredevil has managed to escape Dr. Doom's Latveria by signaling his allies in the Avengers, although he has been infected with a "nano-virus" which has robbed him of both his powers and senses. This issue essentially has Hank Pym/Ant-Man/Giant-Man perform "FANTASTIC VOYAGE" style brain surgery in which he literally fights shrunken robotic bugs within Matt Murdock's brain. With fellow eggheads Dr. Strange and Tony Stark on hand, neurosurgery was never more adventurous.

While the thrill of seeing Pym battle vicious artificial insects within someone's brain is more than enough to be worth three dollars, Waid makes sure to make it a character piece as well. For the issue, both Pym and Murdock are linked together by the mind, and wind up becoming closer than one could have predicted. Not only does this issue wrap up the subplot revolving around Latveria and the Omega Drive, but it also settles a subplot revolving around Foggy Nelson finding something ominous within Murdock's work desk which causes quite a stir. This subplot is perhaps the only demerit of the issue, since the cover of the issue alone betrays that some rough waters are ahead for the old chums - making it a false cliffhanger. While the issue does go over some bits of Daredevil's origin again, it is executed in a new and different way.

Samnee's exceptional art is matched with Javier Rodriguez's color work. As with many issues, the story may not have worked without the art to showcase it, but that's no demerit within this run. Overall this is a bit of a quirky story, mixing in an odd juxtaposition between two characters and subplots which manages to work as a very engaging whole. The next issue will feature guest art by Mike Allred, spectacular artist and Daredevil fan, which stands to be quite a coup for Marvel Comics and Daredevil fans. Waid's willingness to take chances and capitalize on the best artists in the biz causes this comic to embody the spirit of it's star, the man without fear.

DEFENDERS #9: Matt Fraction, Jamie McKelvie and Mike Norton unite once again for more cross dimensional craziness with this book. Issues are often hit-or-miss, much like an artist who relies on mind altering drugs for inspiration. Fortunately, this issue is a hit for me as the titular team (and Black Cat) wind up being sent to a crazy 1960's style reality where Nick Fury drinks at a club with his HYDRA enemies between battles and Adolf Hitler has been risen from the grave like the Frankenstein monster, bolts and all. The Defenders blend in as best they can, but reach out to Fury for answers about the Concordance Engine. Unfortunately, before much is accomplished, they're besieged by HYDRA and SHIELD agents and then seemingly zapped back home, roughly at insect size. The Concordance Engine is a typical Maguffin plot device, both sought after and the cause of any random wacky crap that Fraction wants to happen. It is very bizarre, but the Defenders have always been a team that battled the bizarre - from tap dancing mobsters to a DR. SUESS inspired dimension. It is hard not to laugh at "Agent Pussycat Of HYDRA", Franken-Fuhrer, and "DON'T YIELD, BACK SHIELD!" The artwork seems more crisp here than last issue and it seems that the cross-dimensional Fury may be with the team. Hey, if the Marvel Universe can withstand having alternate versions of Nightcrawler, the founding X-Men, Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man floating around continuity, then Fury will fit in fine. While I have no clue where Fraction is going nor how any of this fits in with Black Panther - earlier issues killed him off - this issue did at least keep me sufficiently entertained. That said, sales on this are waning and it usually isn't worth the $3.99 cover price, so I would not fret if this book ended with a 12th issue.

 

[THANOSRULES]

I got Hypernaturals this week issues 1 and 2 and I got to say..it sucks. Just very blah all around. Poor characters, overly confusing powers, overly confusing world, just didnt grab my attention. The art was only OK. Won't be supporting this book any more..especially at 3.99. And so it doesn't do much for my current feeling that DnA are a bit overrated. I can't see this book working out.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I've only read the first issue of Hypernaturals so far, but it was fun. It seemed to capture a bit of what made Guardians of the Galaxy fun, albeit in a more structured setup. But now it looks like the generational aspect of the Hypernaturals might give way to a more ragtag group of retirees and newbs, which should make for a more interesting team structure. I'm looking forward to #2, although I've gotta wait a bit longer to get it delivered from an online store because none of the shops in my area ordered it.

Hawkeye #1 was so-so. I love the art, I like the family aspect that Fraction seems to be setting up with Arrow and later Kate, I like the idea of the series following Hawkeye when he's not doing Avengery stuff. On the other hand, the dialogue is f***ing awful (bro) and Hawkeye comes off like a total idiot and, worse, a complete amateur. Still, since DC decided to actively turn its back on any and all superhero legacy families except Batman's--despite the fact that they're excellent late '90s/early '00s comics were built largely on the backs of those families--I'll stick with the series with the hope that Kate and Arrow bring that fun family aspect to this book.

 

[El Bastardo]

I got Hypernaturals this week issues 1 and 2 and I got to say..it sucks. Just very blah all around. Poor characters, overly confusing powers, overly confusing world, just didnt grab my attention. The art was only OK. Won't be supporting this book any more..especially at 3.99. And so it doesn't do much for my current feeling that DnA are a bit overrated. I can't see this book working out.

Brad Walker's artwork is better than "OK." Page construction, panelwork - the only thing he doesn't have going for him is he isn't perceived as a "superstart artist."

What was confusing about the issue? It's a futuristic society in which its superheroes are revered as soldiers, in one sense, and celebrities, in the other. That seemed very clear to me. There was some techobabble, but I don't see the point of getting bogged down in it when it isn't necessary to understand the issue.

I've seen some criticisms of the first two pages of the first issue, and I can see why that might be off-putting to some, considering the accepted rule of current-society writing is that no kind of writing whatsoever will ever begin with exposition IT'S EVIL - but what the first two pages do very well is capture immediately the feel I wrote of above, not to mention the general zeitgeist of the mass media global village.

That said, I've yet to read issue two.

But hey, if it just didn't catch you, there's nothing wrong with that. I don't see how or why that would make a writer, artist, writing team, art team, or any variation thereof overrated.

I've only read the first issue of Hypernaturals so far, but it was fun. It seemed to capture a bit of what made Guardians of the Galaxy fun, albeit in a more structured setup. But now it looks like the generational aspect of the Hypernaturals might give way to a more ragtag group of retirees and newbs, which should make for a more interesting team structure. I'm looking forward to #2, although I've gotta wait a bit longer to get it delivered from an online store because none of the shops in my area ordered it.

Agreed.

I can't wait to read the second issue, either.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Daredevil #16: Oh Waid, why you so good to me?

 

[sandwraith]

Brad Walker's artwork is better than "OK." Page construction, panelwork - the only thing he doesn't have going for him is he isn't perceived as a "superstart artist."

What was confusing about the issue? It's a futuristic society in which its superheroes are revered as soldiers, in one sense, and celebrities, in the other. That seemed very clear to me. There was some techobabble, but I don't see the point of getting bogged down in it when it isn't necessary to understand the issue.

I've seen some criticisms of the first two pages of the first issue, and I can see why that might be off-putting to some, considering the accepted rule of current-society writing is that no kind of writing whatsoever will ever begin with exposition IT'S EVIL - but what the first two pages do very well is capture immediately the feel I wrote of above, not to mention the general zeitgeist of the mass media global village.

That said, I've yet to read issue two.

But hey, if it just didn't catch you, there's nothing wrong with that. I don't see how or why that would make a writer, artist, writing team, art team, or any variation thereof overrated.



Agreed.

I can't wait to read the second issue, either.

I enjoyed both issues. Great dynamic between Thinkwell and the new rookie whose name escapes me. I like how they are quick to already embroil the team with such scandal like Bewilder's choice in younger men. Halfshell is a bit of a ***** though but every team needs one.

I've got a good feeling about this book. Its not Nova but it sure does fill the void. As to whether DnA are "overrated", I think like any creative team they have their hits and misses. Their runs on Nova and GOTG are definite hits in my mind, as were their events like War of Kings and The Thanos Imperative. Annihilation Conquest not so much. Neither was their lackluster run of Heroes for Hire.

I think the cosmic scale suits their writing style best. Just look at Legion Lost and Dan's Warhammer books. I'll wait till about 5 issues before giving it a final verdict.

 

[THANOSRULES]

Brad Walker's artwork is better than "OK." Page construction, panelwork - the only thing he doesn't have going for him is he isn't perceived as a "superstart artist."

What was confusing about the issue? It's a futuristic society in which its superheroes are revered as soldiers, in one sense, and celebrities, in the other. That seemed very clear to me. There was some techobabble, but I don't see the point of getting bogged down in it when it isn't necessary to understand the issue.

I've seen some criticisms of the first two pages of the first issue, and I can see why that might be off-putting to some, considering the accepted rule of current-society writing is that no kind of writing whatsoever will ever begin with exposition IT'S EVIL - but what the first two pages do very well is capture immediately the feel I wrote of above, not to mention the general zeitgeist of the mass media global village.

That said, I've yet to read issue two.

But hey, if it just didn't catch you, there's nothing wrong with that. I don't see how or why that would make a writer, artist, writing team, art team, or any variation thereof overrated.



Agreed.

I can't wait to read the second issue, either.

The art was such that I would not buy the book simply for the art..and i really didnt care for the plot.

I was not overly confused, but i can still acknowledge it was IMO "a confusing tone"..clearly some of this in issue 1 was by design, but it's an extremely intricate world that we are thrust into, complete with there own kree esque jargon and culture, and i dont think it's been set up well enough.I mean i understood everything, i just think it didnt really connect in my head as being great or interesting...that and i was not a big fan of the characters, especially the designs which look like some bad cliches from the 90s (which I'm not always against)..the clone 45 guy being an exception.