Bought/Thought August 27th, 2008

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, which sucks because Vanguard's a cool name for the dude and the group didn't really need a name.

 

[RockSP]

Well if you want a dude named Vanguard bad enough you could always ask Larsen to revive his character who goes by that name.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Noooo, I want this guy to be named Vanguard!

 

[silversurfur65]

Once again Daredevil kicked all kinds of ass, I can't believe more people aren't reading this book as it has consistently been Marvel's best comic over the last several years IMO ( DD wants info....what better way then to break a guy's fingers lol) !!

 

[JewishHobbit]

What kills me every week is all anyone focuses on are the Bendis rants. I can praise BLUE BEETLE, or AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE, or NOVA, or even to some degree IRON FIST. But no one wants to talk about it. No, all it is is, "How dare you rip into Marvel's Golden Child? Booooo!"

If it makes you feel better, I took up reading a few differant books over the past due to your praise of them. So I'm definately listening in to both sides. I want to say some were Captain America, New Warriors, Iron Fist and Thor, but I could be wrong. Now, I haven't stuck with all those, but the fact remains that I listened well enough to give them a shot (and to shell out money for a decent read for a good long while until funds couldn't allow it) and I still read New Warriors and Iron Fist. I want to say there were more as well.

 

[Blader5489]

What kills me every week is all anyone focuses on are the Bendis rants. I can praise BLUE BEETLE, or AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE, or NOVA, or even to some degree IRON FIST. But no one wants to talk about it. No, all it is is, "How dare you rip into Marvel's Golden Child? Booooo!"

No one is defending Bendis, people are just tired of your constant *****ing.

What kills me is that you continue to feed the beast, spending money on comics you hate just you'll have license to complain about them, while neglecting to pick up good comics that need to be bought by more and more people--like Incredible Hercules or the late Iron Man: Director of Shield. And if Herc gets canceled because of sales, I'll hold you personally responsible.

 

[Manic]

Let's not get into that again. The only reason Dread buys Bendis' books is because he's given enough control over the Marvel Universe for his books to be relevant across the whole line. After all, what's the point in enjoying the books you read if it means you don't know what's happening in the books you can't stand?

 

[Blader5489]

Let's not get into that again. The only reason Dread buys Bendis' books is because he's given enough control over the Marvel Universe for his books to be relevant across the whole line. After all, what's the point in enjoying the books you read if it means you don't know what's happening in the books you can't stand?

And let's not get into that again, because as I've said before, most of Marvel's books aren't even tying into SI. The only relevance SI has thus far is with the Avengers books and some lesser-known titles that need the sales boost.

 

[Manic]

Nonsense. There is absolutely nothing by Marvel that you can read without following Bendis' Avengers books. Immortal Iron Fist, the X-Men line, Skaar, Spider-Girl, Eternals, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Moon Knight. You need to read the Avengers books to get the full story of those books, right?

I mean, just because people like me haven't bought any of the Avengers books or even Secret Invasion's main title but can still follow and enjoy Incredible Herc, that doesn't mean it should be done by everyone.

 

[Blader5489]

Nonsense. There is absolutely nothing by Marvel that you can read without following Bendis' Avengers books. Immortal Iron Fist, the X-Men line, Skaar, Spider-Girl, Eternals, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Moon Knight. You need to read the Avengers books to get the full story of those books, right?

I mean, just because people like me haven't bought any of the Avengers books or even Secret Invasion's main title but can still follow and enjoy Incredible Herc, that doesn't mean it should be done by everyone.

Good one.

 

[fifthfiend]

You're seriously arguing semantics with me? Every single person on the Internet uses bold exaggerations to make a point or react to something, but when Dread does it, suddenly it's the abomination of mankind, right?

I mean, when someone says a story "sucks", is that true?

It's figuratively true, but not literally true, which is why we have two different words to differentiate those states. AND YOU'RE KILLING THEM. DREAD, WHY ARE YOU KILLING WORDS?

 

[Dread]

If it makes you feel better, I took up reading a few differant books over the past due to your praise of them. So I'm definately listening in to both sides. I want to say some were Captain America, New Warriors, Iron Fist and Thor, but I could be wrong. Now, I haven't stuck with all those, but the fact remains that I listened well enough to give them a shot (and to shell out money for a decent read for a good long while until funds couldn't allow it) and I still read New Warriors and Iron Fist. I want to say there were more as well.

Thanks. I mean I'm not personally insulted or anything, it just gets grating. If people would just discuss the books I like rather than complaining about the ones I dislike, maybe we'd focus less on them. But logic and message boards go like oil and water sometimes.

Because after all, *****ing about *****ing is the worst *****ing of all.

No one is defending Bendis, people are just tired of your constant *****ing.

What kills me is that you continue to feed the beast, spending money on comics you hate just you'll have license to complain about them, while neglecting to pick up good comics that need to be bought by more and more people--like Incredible Hercules or the late Iron Man: Director of Shield. And if Herc gets canceled because of sales, I'll hold you personally responsible.

I don't read either, and am not in the mood to buy trades of either to catch up.

Manic is rebutting your opinion fair enough. I don't need to. I'd love to live in your comic world where the things that Bendis does on his Avenger titles are irrelevant to the rest of the MU, but sadly I live in this one, where they are supposed to be.

It's figuratively true, but not literally true, which is why we have two different words to differentiate those states. AND YOU'RE KILLING THEM. DREAD, WHY ARE YOU KILLING WORDS?

It just seems like you are reaching for a nit-pick, figuratively speaking. I'm sure I could wait around until you made some sort of word error and pounce on you like a scavenger to a festering carcass (figuratively speaking), but that just seems petty.

I mean, hey, I'd love to talk about NOVA or AVENGERS INITIATIVE or whatever, but, no, gang, let's ***** about *****ing and complain about exaggerations. Sheesh. Because that is what I like coming to SHH for; getting a pop quiz on Creative Writing 101.

 

[gildea]

Manic is rebutting your opinion fair enough. I don't need to. I'd love to live in your comic world where the things that Bendis does on his Avenger titles are irrelevant to the rest of the MU, but sadly I live in this one, where they are supposed to be.

I think manic is being somewhat ironic.

Regardless after SI i'm dropping the avengers titles because i'm sick of thie "gotta catch em all" mentality i've found myself in.

 

[Blader5489]

I don't read either, and am not in the mood to buy trades of either to catch up.

Manic is rebutting your opinion fair enough. I don't need to. I'd love to live in your comic world where the things that Bendis does on his Avenger titles are irrelevant to the rest of the MU, but sadly I live in this one, where they are supposed to be.

Actually, Manic is agreeing with me.

 

[Red]

Play a new tune blader.

 

[Doc Destruction]

No one is defending Bendis, people are just tired of your constant *****ing.

False. People defend that no-talent prick all the time.

 

[Blader5489]

Play a new tune blader.

Hmm...I don't know that one, but if you hum a few bars, I could try.

False. People defend that no-talent prick all the time.

Hey, did you ever end up going to one of those conventions so you could criticize him face-to-face?

 

[imdaly]

It's figuratively true, but not literally true, which is why we have two different words to differentiate those states. AND YOU'RE KILLING THEM. DREAD, WHY ARE YOU KILLING WORDS?

 

[fifthfiend]

I'd hit it.

 

[fifthfiend]

It just seems like you are reaching for a nit-pick, figuratively speaking. I'm sure I could wait around until you made some sort of word error and pounce on you like a scavenger to a festering carcass (figuratively speaking), but that just seems petty.

I mean, hey, I'd love to talk about NOVA or AVENGERS INITIATIVE or whatever, but, no, gang, let's ***** about *****ing and complain about exaggerations. Sheesh. Because that is what I like coming to SHH for; getting a pop quiz on Creative Writing 101.

Seriously dude, I was just ********ting at you.

EDIT: Also if I were really reaching for nits to pick I would never have passed up

potty mouthed middle ages housewife.

But I did, cause that's the kind of class act I am.

 

[BrianWilly]

People just need to realize that the correct response to most *****ey jibes in the internet is "Yeah, I totally give a ****, honest," and not "OH GOD I'M SO ********* WHY IS IT THAT YOU [continue with mile-long epic description of the butt-hurting in minute detail]."

Now just watch as someone responds to this jibe with the latter.

 

[BrianWilly]

Oh and some (not all) reviews.

Final Crisis: Rogue's Revenge #2
Excellent. There is very little here not to like, and the Rogues' are as well-written as you'd expect them to be. The story is moving a bit slower than I would have thought -- the main thrust of this issue is "Rogues reclaim some old stuff" -- but so much happens anyway that you're never bored.

Oh and there's no way that Libra's eye-color-changing isn't intentional this time around. I mean it's bloody bright red.

(9 out of 10)


DCU: Last Will and Testament
...What? Wait, seriously, what?

We're all aware that this makes not even a tiny bit of sense in continuity, right? There's no way that everyone involved with this story doesn't know it. It's like they don't even care anymore. If DC wanted to pad Meltzer's ego that much, why didn't they just release this as a Geo-Force standalone and not try to tie it into the Crisis considering that tying it into the Crisis makes no sense and feels completely forced? I would have been perfectly happy with this as a Geo-Force story. I like Geo-Force and those parts weren't bad...well, no, some parts of those parts were bad*...and actually does cap off the longrunning Geo-Force storyline that Meltzer had set up way back in his JLA run. But throw in a bunch of completely inorganic OOOH FINAL NIGHT moments and it just takes me utterly out of the whatever story there is. It's sad because there's a lot of good things here but then there's also so much that's just...forced. There's no other way to say it.

*The bad, unsurprisingly, is Deathstroke. Meltzer tries to justify that hilariously-bad Identity Crisis fight by retroactively sticking as much OVER9000 as he can into Deathstroke here, and like a lot of things it just comes off completely unnatural. I'm sorry, but all the OVER9000s in the world can not make Deathstroke a match for someone of Geo-Force's power level, much less easily overpowering Geo-Force. It's just abjectly ridiculous. Add to this the fact that Deathstroke is as much a monologuing villain pastiche here as he's been everyone else in the DCU for the past decade or so, and you just end up with yet another reason for me to hate the character and think that he's the most annoying, overrated thing on the face of the planet.

(6.4 out of 10)


Trinity #12 and 13
RYAN CHOI OUT OF NOWHERE~! up:

This book continues the steam that it's been picking up for the last four or five issues, and only looks like it's going to get better. I haven't said this about many DC books lately but I'll say it now: if you're not picking this up, you're missing out big time. I suppose that Superman's personality getting bogged with Bruce and Diana's is somewhat of a bad thing in terms of the ongoing plot, but it's pretty damn badass as far as reading the story goes. The thing he says about how not killing his enemies makes him stronger because he has to face them over and over again as they get cleverer and better themselves, as opposed to just leaving some corpses in his wake and then thinking he's the best thing ever...pure badass gold.

One complaint though is that neither Bruce or Diana themselves have had all that much to do for a long time now. Another slight flaw in this story, if I had to nitpick, is that the whole big shock at the state of the world after the CSA has been removed is...well, not really a shock. At least it shouldn't be, for either the characters or the readers. How many times has it been now since the JLA has tried to oust the CSA? How many times has it been hammered through their heads and ours that this is not a particularly good idea, at least the way that they've been doing it? If they want to improve this world they need to be thinking outside the box and looking for another way, not the same out banging their heads against a brick wall that they've been doing every time they've been faced with this world.

Oh and Hawkman is awesome here, as is Enigma.

(8.5 out of 10 for 12)
(9.2 out of 10 for 13)


Justice Society of America #18
Bluh...not crazy about Hawkman's characterization here. Right after Niceaza has been writing a freaking awesome Hawkman over in Trinity, we get this Punisher-wannabe who's all "hurr hurr kill hurr." It brings back oily memories of Johns' equally-embarrassing Wonder Woman all-kill-all-the-time characterization back in Infinite Crisis. I feel like it's all or nothing with Johns approach to lethal force; you're either so old-school that it's too trite, or you're so completely off the wagon about it that you seem like some kind of uncontrollable killing machine. It's the same over and over again; Wonder Woman, Laira the Red Lantern, and now Hawkman. There's no subtlety, no in-between. It's particularly gratuitous here when Jay and Superman-22 give completely reasonable, completely rational arguments in support of their stance, and all Carter can respond with is "GODDAMNIT IT'S WAR GRRR I WANNA CHOP PEOPLE IN HALF."

The rest of the issue is decent enough, but this just sticks out in my mind.

(6.8 out of 10)


Teen Titans: Year One #5 and 6
...That's it? That's the ending? That's freaking depressing. I don't understand what the hell.

(7.2 out of 10 for #5)
(4.9 out of 10 for #6)
(7.6 out of 10 for the series)


Fallen Angel #29
Peter David at his absolute best. Seriously I'm having a ball reading about about Lee, Mariah, and Jude's adventures across the world, so much so that if someone were to ask me for an issue I would recommend to anyone to show them the best that this series has to offer, I would show them this issue. Looking forward to more.

(9.7 out of 10)

 

[fifthfiend]

People just need to realize that the correct response to most *****ey jibes in the internet is "Yeah, I totally give a ****, honest," and not "OH GOD I'M SO ********* WHY IS IT THAT YOU [continue with mile-long epic description of the butt-hurting in minute detail]."

Now just watch as someone responds to this jibe with the latter.

WHY ARE YOU SO BIASED AGAINST BUTTS BW? I AM OUTRAGED BY YOUR CALLOUS DISREGARD FOR THE SUFFERING WHICH SO MANY INNOCENT BUTTS ARE FORCED TO ENDURE.

 

[Dread]

Actually, Manic is agreeing with me.

Seriously dude, I was just ********ting at you.

EDIT: Also if I were really reaching for nits to pick I would never have passed up



But I did, cause that's the kind of class act I am.

That's a typo. Not the same as what you were nit-picking about. Nit-Picking typo's is probably pettier than nit-picking semantics.

People just need to realize that the correct response to most *****ey jibes in the internet is "Yeah, I totally give a ****, honest," and not "OH GOD I'M SO ********* WHY IS IT THAT YOU [continue with mile-long epic description of the butt-hurting in minute detail]."

Now just watch as someone responds to this jibe with the latter.

Anal-Rape seems to come up a lot with you.

BrianWilly's lesson of the day: Match *****iness with equal to greater *****iness. Hmm.

 

[Manic]

*sigh*

What I was basically saying was that I understand why Dread reads Bendis' horrible books and why he thinks it's important, but I would never put myself through that because I don't think knowing what's going on with the core of the Marvel Universe is worth rolling my eyes while reading something I detest.

So I get it, but I don't think it's worth it. At least for me. And I wouldn't recommend anyone else do it. But Dread can keep on keeping on, because I tend to skip over his New/Might Avengers reviews, anyway. Not because I'm tired of his Bendis bashing, but because I just don't give a damn what's happening in those books.