Bought/Thought "Cee Dubyah" Edition for Nov.15th 2007

[GNR]

I bet it has something to do with Captain Marvel

Mark mentioned on his board that his mission has something to do with [BLACKOUT]Hank Pym.Pym is supposedly out there doing something with a classic Marvel team.My bet goes to the Champions.[/BLACKOUT]

 

[iloveclones]

I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this, but I'm kind of assuming what a lot of you are, that "DD" is a mole to let loose some prisoners or create some kind of havoc in Area 42. What I'm wondering about is whether it's really DD or not. If it isn't, I assume they want to sneak someone in there with a specific power. But if Reed an Co. are going to go through all this trouble to build an extra-dimensional prison, don't you think they should build a device that will confirm who these people are? At the very least, make them take their masks off and get a good look at their faces.

Anyway, just a minor point.

 

[PWN3R]

I'll review later seeing as how I only read two books. AXM and CW.

AXM was and heart: at the same time. Anyway Civil War, much better than #4, not as good as #1-3. I loved the ending, like many of you said, the one page splashes were getting old, this ending just made you grin and want #6.

I think that Cap decided to send Frank as Daredevil to bust out the prisoners. That would explian the cover to War Journal #2 with Cap having Frank tied up. Think about, Matt is in Paris, Dany is DD, and they never showed or talked about DD's capture. They mentioned Cloak's. So I think its Frank. Which is kinda cool, sending him to a prison in another dimension. Another notch on Frank's belt. McNiven is amazing, a fill in artist would have killed a already struggling series.

 

[hippy fascist]

Call me stupid if you will but is it not possible that it might be cap? It would tie in perfectly with the key that zemo gave him in thunderbolts and he's already pulled a switch on shield in heroes for hire. I think cap's planning on getting himself an army from the negative zone prison. Don't forget, that key will open ANY door in that prison. Just putting it out there

 

[Darthphere]

Trust me, Millar has no idea that even happened.

 

[thor87]

but i think hes got a point, that might be where cap plans to attack, because if he succeds theres no way in hell tony could ever stop him, every single hero in that place would be ready to rip the reg side several new ones and well numbers do help

 

[moffball]

Haven't done this for a while but I figured today would be a good day to start again

Civil War #5

Iron Man #13

New Avengers #25

Astonishing X-Men #18

Yet to come: The Escapists #5

 

[PhotoJones]

I bet youre wrong. Because even if it did, no one would admit. What i dont know, is if the story will pay dividends at the end, what i do know CW #1-5 couldve been written a hell of a lot better, and waiting til #5 to show the Pro-Reg's moral conscious seems to me at least, too little too late.

firstly, i very well could be wrong. and if i am, i'll be the first to admit it.

secondly, i don't think it's too late to show the pro-reg's morality. the story isn't over yet. it's 5 issues in, and if you think it's going to be completely finished with issue 7, you're wrong. i mean, no one saw darth vader as a tragic figure until the last 10 minutes of return of the jedi...

 

[Darthphere]

You mean the scene which is easily recognized as the most disappointing reveal in movie history? "What?! Vader is some old wrinkly bald guy?!"

 

[PhotoJones]

You mean the scene which is easily recognized as the most disappointing reveal in movie history? "What?! Vader is some old wrinkly bald guy?!"

that's the one.

 

[Darthphere]

that's the one.

Woah, you edited. Either way, I dont know what happens, I could be wrong you can be wrong, but if Millar had shown some of the Pro-Reg's sides emotional conflicts from the get go, it wouldve saved a lot of *****ing and whining. Of course, im on the side that doesnt really think theyre acting that far out of line, except for reed.

 

[PhotoJones]

Oh yeah, that doesnt exist anymore.

what doesn't?

 

[PhotoJones]

Woah, you edited. Either way, I dont know what happens, I could be wrong you can be wrong, but if Millar had shown some of the Pro-Reg's sides emotional conflicts from the get go, it wouldve saved a lot of *****ing and whining. Of course, im on the side that doesnt really think theyre acting that far out of line, except for reed.

i did.

but that was my point. all the whining is a little premature.

and that scene doesn't exist anymore?!

 

[Darthphere]

i did.

but that was my point. all the whining is a little premature.

and that scene doesn't exist anymore?!

Well in the special editions, Lucas replaced the old fart Anakin with Hayden Christensen in jedi spirit form.

 

[PhotoJones]

Well in the special editions, Lucas replaced the old fart Anakin with Hayden Christensen in jedi spirit form.

no ****?

that's...dumb.

 

[Darthphere]

Yeah, *****ing aside, he recently released the original unedited versions of the movies, get em while theyre hot.

 

[PhotoJones]

Yeah, *****ing aside, he recently released the original unedited versions of the movies, get em while theyre hot.

what's that make, now? like, 5 different versions of the same movies on dvd?

 

[Darthphere]

Pretty much, yeah.

 

[PhotoJones]

i hate lucas.




i'll take his money, though.

 

[Dread]

This is the first time I've posted my Bought/Thought in parts rather than just wait 'till I had enough time to post one long one. Anyone like this way better? Or you prefer one big, long, single helpin'?

DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT for 11/15/06: Part III (which means I get to fight Thunderlips and Clubber Lang)

More CIVIL WAR #5: I went on a long review last page, but I figured I'd add that even though, yes, it is nice that Millar has remembered that Reed is a human being and has emotions, one panel of the 5th issue is a bit too little, too late. Reed still comes off, at best, as a short-sighted whiner in CW, and at worst, as an enabling Nazi doctor who's lost sight of his morals. He now bemoans "why, oh why did it have to be this way, with all the angst and losing my wife", but Reed did nothing to prevent making it so. Millar & Co. still can't avoid the fallacy that Reed Richards has been acting WAY out of character. For the last 20 years he's become a very humanistic guy who'd put his family first before all else, yes, even the gov't. He also should be someone who, even though a scientist, has a solid grasp of history and while cooperative with the government, wasn't a lacky. Now, in the aim of "restoring his good rep", he's surrendered all of his morals, much like the X-Men did by allowing SENTINAL SQUAD ONE to basically turn their mansion into a mutie concentration camp. Mr. Fantastic is the one who co-created "Clor". He has done absolutely nothing to "fight it from the inside" as he has claimed is required whenever someone questioned him. All he did was follow orders. While Iron Man at least has some past manipulative moments that you could point to and go, "this is just taking that to an Nth degree", Mr. Fantastic is not as easy to justify. WIZARD tried, but the best they could do is digging up issues from Lee & Kirby's first 80 issues; while a landmark, that's almost like claiming Batman should still be icing mobsters by digging out the Golden Age stuff where he'd kill them randomly if he could. It was like some issues of ASM where Spider-Man'd go, "gosh, all of this is so nasty, I wish there was some other way" while simeltanously doing nothing but following orders like a good little minion. The only difference is that Spidey has finally chosen his family & convictions, and Mr. Fantastic has all but abandoned both for the sake of "reputation". One would think that Reed would immediately quit to try to find Sue so he could protect her from being killed in cape-killer battles, but you'd be wrong.

And CW does have some simularities to KINGDOM COME, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it a rip-off...yet. There are many differences.

GHOST RIDER #5: Texeira's art really rocks, and this issue retells the origin of Ghost Rider for fans who may be new, although I doubt many of the readers really are. Once again, the biggest "elephant in the room" of this story is the glaring retcon of making it be "The Devil", and not Mephisto, as has been started in, oh, the past 25+ years of Ghost Rider, be the demon who is tied to his origin. You can't undo over a generation's worth of books like that. It just smacks of someone who scimmed half a wikipedia bio to get the origin "down" and did the rest. And it's a shame because without this glaring, iceberg-sized flaw, the book is entirely readable and enjoyable. Ghost Rider is led back to his old circus ground by Lucifer and...argh, see, you can't go 5 seconds without that crap. This reads like it's trying to be Ultimate Ghost Rider, but smacking it in front of 616 as if the Mephisto stuff never happened. Anyway, more emotional turmoil from Satan, more Ghost Rider hack 'n slashing, another hellfire explosion, another "I'll drag you back to Hell for the mind-****ing" from Blaze, and the finding of a mysterious Bible. I like the art and I can even live with the writing, but the massive retcon and the sense of meandering are starting to ware on me. Still, I gave BLUE BEETLE a good 9 issues (and counting), so GR may get some more.

MOON KNIGHT #6: With the last, oh, 4 issues running later than originally solicted, MK finally staggers, bloody and bruised, to the end of it's first relaunch arc, just as Husten would like it. His story isn't perfect but he, frankly, manages to do what Way hasn't on GHOST RIDER; merged the old stuff with new stuff and made it all work out. New MK fan? His origin was retold a few times and you now know all you need to know. Old MK fan? His past history is maintained and it still works, only now you have what could be the equalivent to Frank Miller (back when he was good) on DAREDEVIL. Husten is almost born to write this sort of gritty, violent, bat-crap crazy vigilante like no one else. The biggest flaw? The one everyone narrowed in on; Taskmaster became a wuss. Husten apparently misread his trait as "doesn't stick around for a pointless brawl if he can escape" as "too cowardly to fight a match that wasn't stacked in his favor". Untrue. This is a guy who has outfought half the Avengers, even Iron Man twice. At first I was interested in the "David vs. Goliath" style of this match-up, but instead Husten took the lame way out and just made Taskie a jobber. I suppose someone could argue that Moon Knight's "unearthly" grit aura just so happened to terrorfy Taskmaster like no one else (especially when he takes a few arrows to the chest and barely even pauses), and that arguement would have some water. I don't buy it, but one could make it. However, the crux of the matter is that Moon Knight crashes the Committe's pad, gets his vengence, and has another talk with "Khoshu", and it turns out the God of the Moon was behind some of the manipulations that Specter thought the Committe were behind, just to get his sorry butt back in the cape bloodying his knuckles again. Huston's approach to trying to make Moon Knight the un-Batman (and Daredevil) is to make him someone who is both manipulated by a god and insane, and who apparently is a vigilante not so much as to make the world a better place, but because he enjoys beating the piss out of bad, scary people, and the god enjoys empowering him to do so. It's the best Moon Knight in ages, really, and I'm sticking with it. Even if you've never given Moon Knight a try before, if you like gritty, urban vigilante action like SIN CITY, some Batman stuff and even DC's underrated BLOODHOUND, pick this up on trade and buy #7. And yeah, Finch's always going to be late, something his stints on Ultimate X-Men and New Avengers showed, but he's not nearly as slow as Cassaday or Hitch, if that means anything these days.

NEW AVENGERS #25: Nice to see Jimmy Cheung on NA, as his vibrant style really works for it. Civil War has been a godsend to NA as it has given him a reason to abandon trying to write a 4-6 issue team arc and write one-shot character issues, which are his forte. This one features Iron Man has he basically is held hostage by a disgruntled employee who disagrees with his stance on the SHRA, and nearly blows Stark Tower to the Negative Zone (or where ever) before Agent Maria Hill does what all Bendis-written heroines in a skin tight outfit do; succeed, without any difficulty, and make wisecracks while they do it. Yes, every one. Name me ONE heroine Bendis has ever written who ever read like something she was doing was an actual challenge, and she wasn't just a wisecracking perfection machine. I mean, it's a good way to play Hill, I just see it in, literally, every costumed heroine Bendis writes to the point that they all seem interchangeable. I defy you to say Hill acted any differently than, say, Ultimate Sable or something. And there's something about the fact that a random schmoe named "Lenny" did all this that just feels...anti-climatic. Hell, considering Cheung's "same face -ism", I almost thought Iron Man's foe was Arno Stark or something, which would have been muddled but probably more poetic and superior (especially since he could've died at the end). But maybe after MTU, one alternate reality Iron Man is enough per year. Aside from that, it's another strong, solid solo issue of NA, and I'll miss this terribly when Bendis eventually goes back to attempting team arcs, because he'll just fail miserably. I've forgotten THE COLLECTIVE already. The concept of Hill being head of SHIELD so the gig could fall out of Stark's hands is interesting, even if Bendis uses teenage pop-culture to explain it. He'd write Uatu and Galactus chatting about ONE TREE HILL one of these days...

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #36: With USM hitting the conveluted skids of a writer out of ideas, and Ult. XM being the worst thing Kirkman writes, I hesitantly suggest that UFF is once again the best Ultimate ongoing (I refuse to count ULTIMATES 2, which exists in 13 issue volumes and ships less often than Hailey's Comet, an ongoing), if only by the process of elimination. Ferry's art is lovely as usual. And while Carey's GOD WAR is lost in a lot of confusing gobbledegook, he at least is trying to get the Fantastic Four out of generic superheroics and out to be explorers. Sort of like what Millar did with his NAMOR arc, only crappier. And with more exploration. He's ambitious, but the story is suffering from it a little. Anyway, the Four and Dreamcatcher continue on their way, with Thing & Dreamcatcher creating a riot freeing some folks about to be executed, while Reed & Sue try to revive their big fighter, who can "fight on all planes of reality". And Thanos is revived, and apparently he posesses people and burns out their bodies in the process. Despite all the hassles, methinks that if the story read exactly the same, but instead of Carey, they put "Morrison", people would be bending over backwards to call it "naunced". Silly Carey. Only Europeans are allowed to be confusing and overrated. Like I said, I honestly don't loathe the story like I do the other two Ultimate books, but Carey's trying too hard to be too complicated here. Still, an ambitious failure is sometimes better than a story that doesn't try enough. And a good finale could still save it.

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS #3: A pointless series in a line that is already stretched thin, but a fun series that makes you not care; I can easily see this becoming a digest and selling to some of the same crowd who laps up stuff like SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE and EMMA FROST or whatever. Y'know, all 27 of them. Anyway, this is good simple fun with stories about the original X-Men, only with more modern approaches to writing and drawing them (they were a bit crude in the early 60's). In this issue Xavier tests out a prototype Cerebro that looks like it does in the movies (instead of a big radio like it did back then), and things go haywire when the students are stuck inside Xavier's mind, fighting his psyche. If done poorly, it could've been horribly pretentious, but it's played lighter and thus more fun, if not a little more generic. Not as good as last issue with the Lizard, but good to see Cyclops get some narration on Page 1. I enjoy fun books like this because they break the mold of dark emo angst. And no, NEXTWAVE wasn't fun like this to me. Plus, it's a mini, so by the time I get bored of it, it'll end. It's a surprising mini as it seems to have no dominant storyline and instead tells "one and done" stories like DETECTIVE COMICS. Considering issue #1 sold at a dismal #50 on the Top 100, I predict this book being barely in the Top 85 by the time it finishes, but I'll still be aboard.

 

[Kotagg]

i hate lucas.




i'll take his money, though.

Hehe..I'm sure he feels the same way about you.

 

[PhotoJones]

Hehe..I'm sure he feels the same way about you.

lucas can have my money. he'd die of shock.

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

BOUGHT:
52 #28
ANITA BLAKE #2
ASTONISHING X-MEN #18
BATMAN LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #212
BIRDS OF PREY #100
CABLE & DEADPOOL #34
CATWOMAN #61
CIVIL WAR #5
DAREDEVIL FATHER #6
FABLES SPECIAL EDITION #1
GEN 13 #2
GHOST RIDER #5
INVINCIBLE #36
IRON MAN #13
MARVEL 1602 FANTASTIK FOUR #3
MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS #7
MOON KNIGHT #6
MS MARVEL #9
NEW AVENGERS #25
SUPERGIRL #11
THUNDERBOLTS #108
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #36
UNION JACK #3
WHAT IF SPIDER-MAN THE OTHER
WHITE TIGER #1
WISDOM #1
X-MEN FIRST CLASS #3
XENA #4
ZOMBIE #2

THOUGHT:
52 #28 - Another good chapter that shows Batwoman's not just another gimmick. Gonna love to see how this plays out.

ANITA BLAKE #2 - We learn more about Vampires and Anita, but the story still hasn't moved forward all that much. Still dunno what to make of this. I like the art, but it's just not catching me. But hey, werewolf-like rats...gotta be worth something next issue, right?

ASTONISHING X-MEN #18 - So the secret of the Hellfire Club is revealed, and the X-Men are back in reality. Some good Wolvie action in this one, much like how Wolvie used to be. Whedon's comics may take forever to come out, but at least he's consistent with characters and story.

BATMAN LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #212 - A nice little one-shot where the nice guy gets the girl, all 'cause of Bats. I liked it. You need a stroy like this every so often.

BIRDS OF PREY #100 - Black Canary tells Sin about her past as they pack up for their new life, and the team searches for new members while they continue with their missions. Was a good story, showed their ingenuity in situations. Had some comedic moments with the flop of the membership drive, and of course the art is still decent. As good a place to start as any with the book. However, still no OYL fill ins. Hmmm...

CABLE & DEADPOOL #34 - Cable kicks ass and takes names in this issue, as well as shows the world why you can't **** with a guy from the future. Brilliant stuff. I'm really loving this series, they always manage to kick it up a notch each issue. Plus, DP is hillarious.

CATWOMAN #61 - The movie freak arc draws to a close with the threat of a nuclear explosion. Not too bad. Gonna hafta see if the two Catwomen thing will continue, and just what the deal is with Cats' baby. Yeah, Cats' is definitely part of my regular pull list now.

CIVIL WAR #5 - Tieing into the last Spidey (albeit poorly), we get a lotta fights, some side changing, and the Punisher! More happens in the tie-ins than the regular, but overall still going decent. Spidey gets his ass kicked by D-list villains of his, which sucked royally, only to set-up his rescuer.

DAREDEVIL FATHER #6 - Did hell freeze over? Quesada's last late mini finally ends, and all I have to do is go...that's it? That was the whole point to the story? What about the new heroes? Yeah, basically, this sucked, hurt even worse by lateness. Hey, Q, maybe you should consider FINISHING minis before you release them. Ya know, that way if they're late, we'll never know nor suffer their lateness!

GEN 13 #2 - The kids bust out at the cost of their own. Not really feeling this one. Is this supposed to be an updated origin, a retelling, or what? I feel like I just walked in on the middle of it. If Wildstorm was gonna restart, they shoulda went the full nines and restarted.

GHOST RIDER #5 - So the secret to beating the devil is in Johnny's past, and he's too stupid and blind to see it. Greaaaaaaaaaaat. Somehow I recall GR having a bit more on the ball than he does now. Maybe next issue will reveal why he seems to be such a bonehead these days. Of course, I wasn't much of a GR reader so for all I know this is how he's always been.

INVINCIBLE #36 - Lost in the subplot of the missing friend, Invicible and his other pal set a trap to find him that works a little TOO well. Yeah, I seriously need to get the collected editions. Too many things goin on that I don't have a grasp on. Very soon. Very, very soon. Just need to do my Xmas shopping then spend my excess.

IRON MAN #13 - Finally, the main protagonist in this thing joins us in the present with his tie-in. From the way it was set-up, it looks like it's giving us a more sympathetic view into Stark's reasoning behind CW. Let's see if the arc will deliver that kind of payoff.

MARVEL 1602 FANTASTIK FOUR #3 - This book is interesting, to say the least. I think they shoulda left 1602 alone, but at least they're not failing to entertain.

MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS #7 - THE best Avengers title currently. Not only do characters act like themselves, but Wolvie has some of the best interpretations that's been missing for a loooooong time. Anyways, we get an alternate origin for the Juggernaut and the Avengers have to kick his ass. One hell of a book.

MOON KNIGHT #6 - Taskmaster came off pretty weak in this issue, and I miss the new get-up he got back in Agent X. So we find out what Konshu wants with MK and now he's back in action. I'm really not impressed with this series. The story moves too slow and the panel layout is crap. The art, however, is excellent.

MS MARVEL #9 - Ms. Marvel vs. Rogue vs...Ms. Marvel!? Apparently the stunt from issue 3 caused some kinda rift between worlds, and now we got two Ms. Marvels running around. This one looks interesting, folks.

NEW AVENGERS #25 - Another Iron Man-centric tale to make him seem more sympathetic to us. We get someone looking for payback for Stark's war, and more allusions to his taking over shield. Overall, was a better story than last issue. Bendis should keep to doing single issue stories, his talent actually SHOWS then.

SUPERGIRL #11 - This book gets weirder and weirder. To stop some super pirates, SG joins the Outsiders undercover on their mission. The pirates turn out to be fish people, and the story goes back and forth between the briefing and the present. Yeah, not too thrilled with the story. Great art, though.

THUNDERBOLTS #108 - The big confrontation, and the ultimate betrayals. All the **** comes crashing down as the team heads towards their disassembled event. The new creative team on this book better not screw this title like they did with that fight club crap.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #36 - Ugh, crap. Pure crap. The story is not interesting and the art is lame. I miss the old team, this USED to be my favorite Ultimate title.

UNION JACK #3 - Another good issue as the team fights itself, then regroups to chase down the foes. Very much the British version of Captain America, and I like it.

WHAT IF SPIDER-MAN THE OTHER - So how do you make a bad crossover worse? Do a What If about a bad crossover. So, what happens in this? A whole lot of NOTHING. NOTHING. Spidey ***** slaps the spider god and stays in the cocoon, Venom decides to take him back and turn him into Poison, Poison wants MJ but is denied big time, so he goes and brings Gwen Stacy back to life as another symbiote for companionship. There, saved you 3 bucks.

WHITE TIGER #1 - Picking up where we left off in DD, we see the starts of the new heroine. So far, she's kicking ass...except at the end there, but gotta build suspense for these rookies. I like it so far, see how it goes.

WISDOM #1 - This...was just weird. Killer fairies? I think I prefer Wisdom over in Excalibur to this. But, what can you expect from the guy who writes Dr. Who?

X-MEN FIRST CLASS #3 - Another good issue where the kids get trapped in Xavier's mind. This book has a subtle innocence like the old 80s Marvel toons, which for the most part I liked.

XENA #4 - So the arc comes to a close. This issue was a bit better than the rest, and Bruce's guy sounded a lot more like Bruce than Ash has, which is also a plus. I'll stick with it for a few more issues to see if it develops any as it goes.

ZOMBIE #2 - A bit better than the last, but still the typical zombie plot with an added twist of a character's true intentions. Really don't think this is worth the cover price, though.

 

[Kool-Aid]

It's the best Moon Knight in ages, really, and I'm sticking with it. Even if you've never given Moon Knight a try before, if you like gritty, urban vigilante action like SIN CITY, some Batman stuff and even DC's underrated BLOODHOUND, pick this up on trade and buy #7.

Yeah, plus you get to see Moon Kinght ripping peoples faces off.


Side note: I think this issue is the first time we get to see Taskmasters real face..

 

[Not Jake]

Name me ONE heroine Bendis has ever written who ever read like something she was doing was an actual challenge, and she wasn't just a wisecracking perfection machine.

Angela Del Toro, aka the White Tiger. That was easy, do you have any more?