Feb. 2008 ends with what I call a "wallet buster", which is a fairly large week for me. It helps a bit that DYNAMO 5 #11 has been delayed until next week, but only slightly. The only book I missed is FEARLESS #4, because my LCS doesn't order it. I will fetch it in Manhattan later in the week.
As always, spoilers are tossed out shamelessly. I am going to add paragraph breaks and see if people still whine about reading my posts.
Dread's BOUGHT/THOUGHT for 2/27/08:
BLUE BEETLE #24: Amazing that this title has reached the 2 year mark, especially considering how poorly it sells. I mean this is a book from DC that struggles to outsell INVINCIBLE, which isn't too hot; Marvel would have axed it more than a year ago. But, DC hasn't and that is great because as always, it is chock load of enjoyable characters, good lines, and action. The cover is naturally an homage to Ted Kord and COUNTDOWN, and the issue has more than a few refernces to that. Rogers wanted to hammer home the point that Jaimie is the heir to the Blue Beetle legacy for more reason than simply being empowered by the alien scarab.
Bounding off the cliffhanger from issue #23 excellently (no recap, just straight to the point; the Reyes family home was just bombed by the Reach as Jaimie was stripped of his scarab) and things hit the ground running. Albuquerque has naturally made the book his own since Hamner left regular interiors and as always he is a fit for Roger's manic action and lingo. The Reyes family, Carlo, Brenda, and Traci 13 band together to survive the Reach's onslaught while calling in pretty much every regular from the book to aid, from La Dama to Peacemaker & the Posse. Jaimie apparently has retained a lot of the knowledge he learned from the scarab and uses it to escape his cell and enact his big plan to destroy the Reach once and for all. In some ways this reminded me of an episode of BATMAN BEYOND where Terry McGuiness lost his hi-tech Batsuit and had to show he could still be capable without it, but this was MUCH better. It always is great to see the Reyes family band together instead of doing the Marvel Comics Family Schtick of moping and crying whenever something superhuman happens (unless said family are also superheroes). The next issue is the conclusion and I can't wait for it. This title's emerged as one of my favorites over the last few months. A shame it doesn't sell better. I liked Jaimie's Kord-esque costume, complete with yellow goggles. This isn't USM, no sir; Blue Beetle's got balls.
CAPTAIN AMERICA #35: The "death of Cap" story chugs along, although naturally the Red Skull's plot was going on far longer than that, with Rogers' death almost a detail to it. The ability of Brubaker to include current bits as well as present a slow methodical pace to Lukin/Skull is part of what makes the story so thrilling. There's a part of me that does wonder when and if it will all end, but the other part is satisfied with each issue's offerings and enough happens per 22 pages that I rarely feel cheated. Guice does the solo pencils to give Epting a break and does well, with Perkins actually returning to help with inks.
Basically, Red Skull's plan is to destabilize the U.S. as well as line his ducks in a row, from getting Washington to no longer trust SHIELD to passing out fake bottled water to incite protestors into riots, all as distractions for his Serpant Squad thingie. Bucky is sent out as Capt. America to try to calm the riot and he is getting the hang of shield-slinging, even if he had to toss out a sleeping-gas bomb to stem some of the tide. Natasha helps him figure out that Kronas is behind everything and that gets him right in the middle of a fight with Sin, Eel, Cobra, and the rest of the mooks. The issue starts off with a great usage of Falcon's "talks to birds" ability as well as notes how Faustus even has politicians in his pocket. The notion that our enemies are cunning enough to be able to manipulate our media and politicians as easily as a fiddler on a fiddle is one of those "disturbing because it is likely" sort of deals. Guice draws the action incredibly well with some "ouch, that really hurt!" sort of kicks from New Cap. And while that Ross costume is hardly terrific, I am getting used to seeing Epting & Guice draw it.
Bucky is still settling into his role as Cap and while there is at least one "What would Steve Do?" bit every issue thus far, it is what is expected with legacy heroes and Cap especially was one of those shining examples that many heroes can only be in awe of what he seemed to accomplish effortlessly. Even if they may not know that it was not always so effortless for Steve either, and it was that will to work at it, improve, never say die, that sort of thing that helped it along. There are those who naturally dislike that Brubaker's basically made his boyhood hero into Cap but I like Bucky now so that is fine with me. Poor Sharon Carter also wakes up to find Zola the Gyno ready to operate, which has to be nearly as horrifying as being written in NEW AVENGERS. Speaking of Avengers, if Brubaker wanted to write a team with New Cap, Iron Man, Falcon, and Black Widow on it, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. In a way that is what goes on here, with them supporting Buck and all being written well. There isn't much more that can still be said; this is the best run the franchise has had and the parties involved don't want to even consider leaving until maybe 2010. Splendid.
DAMAGE CONTROL #2: McDuffie's return to the minor franchise he started at Marvel continues to be one that is full of laughs and a well needed balloon-pop from some of the heavy handed melodrama of the rest of the line. All this while serving as a capable "WWH AFTERSHOCK" title noting how NYC was rebuilt after Hulk trashed it. Espin provides great art and I only wonder why he isn't on something higher profile. Right from the first page, the tone is kept light and fun, reminding some of an age when some comics were.
Apparently, while Stark, SHIELD, and Ms. Marvel have been willing to let some SHRA violaters slide now that the war is over, the CSA run THUNDERBOLTS are still in war-march mode, ready to start a fight at the rescue & rebuild area because DC has a lot of "volenteers" who aren't registered. The meeting with the T-Bolts is hilarious, especially when Bart makes a deal with Penance, and becomes the third writer within 12 months to write IN AN ISSUE how utterly ******ed and laughable the whole "Emoball" thing is. Bart even calls him, "Captain Emo". What Marvel's editors fail to understand is that NO ONE BUT JENKINS takes this seriously, and they actually succeeded in making Speedball DUMBER than he was before. Before CW, some saw him as silly because he was a bouncy C-Lister with a wonky power. But now, they see him as stupid because he is TRYING to be "deep and meaningful" with 90's era emo-ness and spikes. He is more pretentious and thus more stupid. It seems everyone gets this but Jenkins, Joe Q, and maybe Tom B. Now, ruining an A or B lister in the name of "fixing" them isn't too hard, but taking a well-stomped D-Lister like Speedball and botching it has to be a legendary feat of editorial ******ation, and I am glad McDuffie has a field day with it.
Meanwhile, Monstro, Abby, and Foster mingle over rescues and the latter decides on "Goliath" after the other two keep botching his name. Gene makes good use of all the leftover adamantium from WWH and even gets a talkitive robot head for his collection. But really, reviewing the issue is a lot like explaining a joke. You either get this or not. It's only 3 issues and well worth a try. I'm glad I am aboard for the only Aftershock title I plan to bother with. I came up aces on this one.
KICK-ASS #1: A new ICON launch from Millar and Romita Jr., this is almost exactly what I thought it would be. It was promised it would be a "realistic" take on a superhero. Even the cover tagline seems sarcastic before you even open the book, and it is. I expected this to be violent, vulgar, and bleak, and so far it is. It is as if Millar needed to write something to get the stink of FANTASTIC FOUR esque "light-ness" off his fingers. Why Romita Jr. is along for the ride, who knows. Considering what a pedigree he is, that is like Alan Moore writing porn. Oh, wait, nevermind.
The story starts out in a "real world" type world where superheroes are media creations, y'know, like real life. We first meet Dave Lizewski as he is tied to a chair, having his nuts electrocuted by mobster types. Yeah, I SO didn't see that coming, a hero getting beaten down by Millar. Naturally, Dave is a high school schlub who fails in his social life and has a broken home who comes across the idea to be a superhero. Of course this goes horribly wrong as he stumbles into a fight with three gang-bangers of the sort who go, "How d'ya like THEM apples?" after they stab someone, which is the worst attempt by a white guy to write ghetto slang this year, or even decade. Anyone who is in a street gang who said that would be immediately pummeled to death. Naturally Dave, who is nicknamed "Kick-Ass" by the thugs is immediately run over by a car and left for dead. So, who doesn't feel like hanging themselves yet? Because I sure did.
There's positive. Romita's art is great as always. There's Millar's cynical sense of humor which has it's moments, although I didn't appreciate him using Dave as a mouthpiece to accept some of the crap in movie adapations (he basically defends "Gas-Lactus" from FF2 for instance). Dave's costume looks pretty lame, but that is intentional.
But, god, the last time I read something this bleak, it was FOOLKILLER #1, which I happly abandoned thereafter. The question is whether I will give KICK-ASS more of a shot merely because of the A-List creative team? I mean, that's shallow, but, that's life. Which, in Millar's eyes, is a cesspool of cynical violence where no one has any morals and those that do are always doomed to eternal torture and misery. There's a chance this could be different, but I seriously doubt it. The fact that Millar sees this as uncontested brilliance is the sort of self-congratulation that gets irritating. Please, I could have written **** like this in high school if I had a good artist friend.
The vibe from KICK-ASS? This is Millar & Romita's version of ULTIMATE ADVENTURES, only rated R. And more bleak. Part of me is interested in seeing if Millar really will be as predictable as I fear, but that logic has kept me on a few irritating works. Whether I get issue #2 or not will depend on a whim whatever given week. It is a shame to read this alongside his FF debut.
NEW WARRIORS #9: Man, feels like forever since this book comes out sometimes, right? Paco Medina is back on interiors after the 2 issue Malin run and some of the kids have decided on newer costumes, namely Jubes and Jono, and I actually like 'em. Sophia settles on a costume and is using some leftover tentacles from Doc Ock, which is an interesting twist. Basically, most of the issue is Jono and Jubes arguing about Night-Thrasher's lack of involvement or answers during a battle they had with a group called The Alpha Clan, who they defeated via some pluck and a last minute save by Thrash. It boils down to Juno feeling in Thrash's debt because he saved Jono from suicide, and Jubilee feeling that a leader has to lead, which is basically what she has been doing. She has every right to feel that way and I basically see the New Warriors as being HER team; Thrash just gives them the toys. Wondra's new costume removes the skull cap and has more black than yellow, which I naturally like.
The media notes that the New Warriors are suddenly becoming pop culture among youths and part of me thinks it seems too soon; less than 2 years ago in real time, the New Warriors were literally being hunted in the streets, and now kids are wearing their tag's on their bellies? I guess teenagers have always liked stuff that adults didn't approve up, but it seems sudden. Sykes & Givens naturally talk about cop politics and the ugliness of it all as well as confirming that Stark really is secretly funding the NW's, at least so far. Night-Thrasher also discusses with Kaz his latest tactic in keeping the team hanging along. Frankly I think it is well past due for Thrash to be honest, especially since Jubilee is more than experienced enough to demand better. The book still is building some things up and with the low sales, I fear #12 will be the last. Still, some confrontation is probably upcoming. I still like Grevioux's direction here even if his X-characters aren't what I expected. The market got oversaturated with teen teams and NW's may be paying the sales price. I'll stick with it as long as it lasts, though. It got me to actually kind of like Jubliee, which counts for something.
THOR #6: I am not even sure if the first arc really is finished, because that is how decompressed it is. This title is lucky that it seems to be scoring 100k+ sales due to the strength of the creative team and the franchise, because if it had to rely on momentum, I think it'd have crashed. More happens in plenty of Bottom 50 books than in this Top 10 one. Still, that isn't to say it is bad or unsatisfying, which is what can make it so glaring. This isn't decompression akin to Bendis or Huston, where a character can spend 2-3 issues within one room or conversation. But this isn't THE ORDER either.
The issue is basically a "small moments" issue where we see how the Asgardians, mainly the Warrior's Three, intermingle with the residents of Oklahoma with which they are living with. They have lived on Asgard for so long that the idea of mingling with "mortals" is appealing. The locals are naturally entranced by them and swapping "Norse god stories" with each other at the local diner. The cutest moment is naturally "Bill Jr." and his meeting with a goddess. Thor reveals that he is not only hesitant to revive "evil" Asgardian beings, but also Odin because he fears that Odin will simply return them "to old ways" and not allow them to live a new destiny of their choosing. In the end, Blake convinces him to free all of them at once, a feat that seems to exhaust the god of thunder. I guess that gets the "freeing them" arc over with, if not the "finding them" bit. Loki is still a woman and still plotting, and that is fine. It seems that Blake and Thor can talk to each other, but only one can exist at once, and to locals it seems as if they're talking to oneself. As to how Blake exists, in issue #1 his reason was, "Yeah, I was a creation of Odin to teach you humility, but what power does Odin have to say I don't exist when Odin himself is gone?" So, thus, back from Limbo. THOR's a solid book, but it may remind some of NEW X-MEN before Kyle and Yost, a book that has a lot of potential and needs a kick up the keester somewhat. I suppose it is nice to see Thor and the Asgardians intermingling with midwestern folks, but the pace is still a bit slow at times. The issue succeeds on the strength of the moments and the art, which tells the story in many ways. Coipel is getting a much needed break and while I expect the fill in run to be pretty, I hope it is timely.
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #51: I practically forgot this came out and passed it once on the shelf before remembering. As my last Ultimate ongoing I guess that shows how easily I could dump the whole thing at a whim. Right now Carey is getting his ducks in a row by having Thanos show up for his cosmic cube, now that Reed has built it for him. The Tesseract are unable to keep NYC from Thanos after ripping it from Earth and the Four battle his army, with ends with Thing teleported elsewhere and Reed defeated by Thanos. Kirkham shows up drawing Ferry's designs and he seems too stiff to pull them off with as much gusto, and Carey is on the verge of drowing in sci-fi jibberish again. Thanos' line as he left his ship was almost bafflingly bad. After seeing a great go at Thanos from design to writing in ANNIHILATION, this almost pales. It isn't bad and I have faith in Carey but I could easily drop this book and never touch Ultimate again. It is like FIRST CLASS for me, something I read as a diversion to the rest of Marvel. It is fine but this issue wasn't too epic. Reed has a more relatable origin, though, with the abusive father.
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS #9: Another fun issue from Parker & Cruz that almost breaks your heart when it's moral is that Wanda Maximoff is a fun character with a lot of potential as heroine, because it only reminds you of what Bendis has done to her over the past 4 years. Really, what a god damned waste. At least Spider-Man has hope of someone undoing things, what hope does Wanda have? Heinberg couldn't write an issue solo of YA if his life depended on it. And no one else wants to dare tell Bendis that Wanda is more than an emotionally insane ****e who has amnesia and sleeps with anything that finds her in the hills of Romania somewhere. But none of that matters in this cute little epic.
Black Widow, in her brief 60's costume that looked like she was shopping in the Black Canary department and then decided to add some Zorro elements, runs across Jean and Wanda as they ice-state. Trying to recruit Wanda for SHIELD, she tricks her into tagging along for an adventure that includes HYDRA. Naturally Jean and the X-Men are not about to let that stand, so they track her and go to the rescue. HYDRA's beaten, a sub is recovered and Wanda decides to stick it out on her own. There is another Coover drawn strip that is 10 times funnier as the Mini Marvels bits in the back. As usual, XM:FC is good simple fun and reminds one of the days when the X-Men were superheroes who didn't disband at the first sign of hardship every week. The only downside is, again, recalling where these characters have ended up in 616. Jean never improved beyond "token female" and resurrections, and Wanda's been utterly wasted.
YOUNG AVENGERS PRESENTS #2: Reed & Tolibao come aboard to tell the issue of Teddy Altman/Hulkling meeting his biological father, Capt. Marvel, now that he has seemingly be resurrected. Reed wanted to do this in CAPTAIN MARVEL but didn't have the room; thankfully he gets 22 pages here to tell the tale, one that the fans demanded. It is a rare bit of fan-pleasing, and it is appreciated.
Tolibao's art is good for the most part, although Wiccan's leggings are still too feminine now. Hulkling is at a loss as to how to properly introduce himself, so he stumbles into Mar-Vell and blurts things out, which doesn't go well. The team fights some cyborgs and discusses things and the issue ends with Hulking & Mar-Vell having a brief heart to heart. Mar-Vell is unsure of how to react to his son and tries to do his best, but his hectic schedule and the fact that he has to eventually go back in time to die means bonding will be limited. Hulkling is saddened that he has basically lost all the adults in his life, and it seems like a cruel tease that his father is reintroduced so briefly.
This issue also is seemingly the last time the two met, noting something omnious about CAPTAIN MARVEL. It was the issue the fans wanted and to that extent it succeeded. It wasn't the best story ever but it was basically about two people trying to relate to an impossible situation. Mar-Vell appreciated that Hulkling CHOSE to become a warrior, rather than being forced into it via Kree culture like he was, which is cool. It left Teddy with more questions than answers, but sometimes in real life, you don't get the closure you seek, and have to move on. I probably liked the Patriot issue more (it seemed odd how defensive he was of Mar-Vell this issue, though), but it was still enjoyable and worth the read if you are a YA fan.
