Bought/Thought February 4, 2009 - SPOILERS

[Aristotle]

Amen dude, that would be well worth 2.99. I feel like at this point, Loeb has no intention of telling us who Red Hulk is because he probably doesnt know himself. All i really care about honestly is how did hulk become dumb again and how is Rick all of a sudden A-bomb? Didnt Rick get critically wounded in WWH? Did marvel completely forget that story ever existed?

Well, on one hand, you can't blame them for trying forget about it. It was pretty horrible. I certainly tried to forget it.

 

[bryanss3]

It feels like they want you to think its Doc Samson, but then he shows up, but I think they're gonna make it him which makes no sense at all

 

[kguillou]

I bet a million dollars its gonna involve time travel, maybe he's a doc samson from the future or something.

 

[bryanss3]

lol what they need to do is just kill him and not tell us who it is I don't even care I want to buy hulk and enjoy it not buy 4 issues and every time regret trying to like it. and then they gotta do something a bout that Red Hulk

 

[Sebastos]

Anyone pick up Immortal Iron Fist #22? Looking for a decent review.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Amen dude, that would be well worth 2.99. I feel like at this point, Loeb has no intention of telling us who Red Hulk is because he probably doesnt know himself. All i really care about honestly is how did hulk become dumb again and how is Rick all of a sudden A-bomb? Didnt Rick get critically wounded in WWH? Did marvel completely forget that story ever existed?

I remember hearing somewhere that Red Hulk will be revealed in Hulk #600.

 

[Mr. Green]

who can't love a guy who creates a red version of a hulk and writes an entire story revolving around who it secretly is. and turns Rick Jones into "A-BOMB" and after a big event where hulk is clearly smart. makes him an idiot again. I wish Peter David wrote HULK. I'd like to see smart hulk who had a cool gun/cannon thing fight this *****e red hulk who also has a stupid giant gold gun.

You think that's bad? Try imagining that Hulk is your favorite comic book character.

Yeah.

Before Planet Hulk, literally 99.999999% of Hulk fans were bummed out because Hulk was just kind of mediocre. Then Planet Hulk, the best Hulk story since PAD was on the title in the 80s/90s, came out followed by WWH, which Hulk fans LOVED.

Then Loeb took over. Now in nine issues Hulk has got beaten by Rulk, beat up Rulk, and turned into a Wendigo.

He really didn't do much else. Did I mention it's been NINE ISSUES?

 

[Blader5489]

You think that's bad? Try imagining that Hulk is your favorite comic book character.

Yeah.

Before Planet Hulk, literally 99.999999% of Hulk fans were bummed out because Hulk was just kind of mediocre. Then Planet Hulk, the best Hulk story since PAD was on the title in the 80s/90s, came out followed by WWH, which Hulk fans LOVED.

Then Loeb took over. Now in nine issues Hulk has got beaten by Rulk, beat up Rulk, and turned into a Wendigo.

He really didn't do much else. Did I mention it's been NINE ISSUES?

And it's been 9 issues in 14 months.

 

[Mr. Green]

 

[Red]

I remember hearing somewhere that Red Hulk will be revealed in Hulk #600.

I remember I don't care anymore.

 

[Aristotle]

I remember I don't care anymore.

...and forgot your sense of humor. Pretty sure he was joking about that. Being as Hulk 600 would be released somewhere in the neighborhood of late 2066. (That does, of course, assume a monthly schedule. Which is assuming a lot. Better just make it 2070.)

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Including previous volumes (which Marvel likes to do) and miscounting a bit (which Marvel also likes to do), Hulk #600 is either pretty close or has already passed.

 

[bryanss3]

speaking of Numbering do you think marvel should go to traditional numbering for books like THOR after 600 or will it be too confusing? they did it with ASM it'd be nice to have a few titles up there but I see how it can get confusing.

also was Norman Osborn in 80% of your marvel comics this week?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

The people at Marvel think they are going to the original numbering for Thor with #600. They're wrong, but they think they are.

 

[bryanss3]

it'd be nice to see someone besides Spider-man up there near 600

 

[moraldeficiency]

Iron Man- this has been getting better and better, fraction writes a damn fine down and out stark and he actually has me liking Hill which is a hell of an accomplishment.

Deadpool- good as always, basically a set up for what should be an insanely good crossover. I cannot believe Way has kept this consistantly entertaining.

Secret Six- good but this one fell short. Simone had a cool moment set up but then it fizzled. I wanted a big throw down and the issue fell flat because there wasn't one. Not a big fan of that back up stuff either.

Black Panther- Hey guess what? This still sucks, in fact it might be worse than ever. The only good point is the art, but the dialogue was just so Hudlin esque, and most of the issue was an entirely too long unnecessary flashback. No reveal on who the chick is, and I'd say we've got a red hulk situation here.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Iron Man #10

This is really a great time to be an IM fan. After years of mediocre stories and bad ideas, we've been hit by the Knauf's fantastic run on DoS and Fraction's Invincible back-to-back.

I have to say I was a bit shocked to see him with doing the nasty with Maria just after he kissed Pepper in the previous issue. I suppose its been a while since the playboy angle's been played up so it caught me a little off-guard. It should lead to some interesting fall out in any case.

If there's one problem I have its that Fraction hasn't really explained the mechanics behind this whole mind-wiping business. We're three issues in and I'm still a bit confused.

Its War Machine vs. Iron Man next month and I'm freaking stoked.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Superman and the Legion of Three Worlds #3
I'm glad this issue finally came out because it was spectacular. The visuals are incredibly dense, which is sort of a given with Perez penciling, but they're still perfectly clear, so they make it feel like you're getting much more story for your money than the page count would indicate. I've said at length how little I like the Silver Age, but the Legion may be one of my few exceptions to that. I preferred Waid's Threeboot Legion for the more sophisticated underlying themes he injected into the series, but if I'm being honest, those themes basically left with Waid. The stories following Waid's departure, while good, were just not quite on the level of Waid's stories. Even the youth movement idea sort of fell by the wayside in favor of more standard superheroics, and the format became more like an Ultimate Legion, where familiar characters from previous incarnations were introduced into Threeboot canon in different and sometimes awkward ways. Still good, don't get me wrong--I liked Bedard's run--but just not distinguished enough from the Silver Age Legion, which was making a comeback by then, to make me really care. I could see the writing on the wall: the Threeboot Legion was obviously going to be retconned away in favor of the Silver Age Legion.

Here, we see the beginnings of that. The Threeboot and post-Zero Hour Legions are both retconned to coming from different Earths in the Multiverse, which means if they survive this mini, they'll go back to those Earths and we'll probably never see or hear from them again. But, like I said before, the Threeboot Legion has been so homogenized with the Silver Age versions that I won't really miss them. I never knew much about the post-Zero Hour Legion, but I'll actually miss them more, since they actually introduced a lot of cool new characters into the Legion, like Gates and XS. Hopefully some of those new characters stick around.

Of course, the big deal in this issue is that Bart is back. It was pretty predictable, but I'm glad it came through. It was a shame that they rushed him into being the Flash and then killed him off so unceremoniously. And, hey, he's in the Kid Flash costume again, so maybe that means Wally won't get downgraded all the way back to Kid Flash in Rebirth. I'm still not a fan of those ridiculous Flash rings, but I get the symbolism with the rings being important to the Legion and the GL Corps and everyone else in this series. So Bart gets his own ring to distinguish himself.

All in all, a pretty great issue. Bart returning is the highlight, but the rest of the issue was frenetic and fun, and I'm not too into any of these characters, so Johns killing them off by the bucket doesn't really bother me. Except the Karate Kid. I swear, "Karate Kid" must be the most dangerous superhero name to take because none of them survive very long. I guess someone at DC just really hates the Karate Kid. Oh well, good issue.

Agents of Atlas #1
Great start to this series. The conflict for Jimmy that was set up at the end of the AoA mini-series a few years back--being a 100% good, upstanding man forced to take over a criminal organization--is brought to fruition here nicely. The new status quo works pretty well with the Dark Reign backdrop, too, since the rivalry between Norman and Jimmy marks the first time I've actually found Norman Osborn interesting since he died.

There's not a ton of meat to this issue, since it's mostly set-up. It was pretty satisfying to see the Sentry totally get owned by Venus, though. Other than that, it ended on a pretty great cliffhanger, as well--Temugin is now gonna be a rival to Jimmy for the seat of Atlas' power. Makes sense given the hereditary rulership of Atlas by descendents of Genghis Khan.

Then there's the backup story with Wolverine, presumably included to guarantee a few more sales from the Wolverine fanboys. It's a throw-away piece, of course, detailing the first time Wolverine and the Agents met. This is back when Wolverine was working for shadowy government agencies in the '50s, so no adamantium and no claws (that he knows about), but not as much berserker rage, either. So Wolverine is portrayed here as a slick, cunning secret agent, which is much better than Wolverine's usual, tired man/beast duality to me. The story's solid as a flashback tale, but it feels pretty tacked-on. The ending is a little silly, too. Apparently, Cuba's leadership is under the influence of bugs. Eh.

But the present-day stuff in the issue was great and promises more greatness in the future, so I can forgive the silly ending of the backup.

I also got Iron Man this week and plan to start reading the series. I skipped it initially because Director of SHIELD was still around and I was already enjoying that, plus I don't like Salvador Larroca's ugly new art style. But Tony on the run with his whole world turned upside down sounded fun to me, so I got past the art and picked it up starting with this week's issue. My shop's out of the two previous parts of this arc, but I think I'll be fine just starting from here. I haven't read it yet, but I'll post my thoughts when I do.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Is Thor the first Marvel title to reach 600?

 

[mjdiddy1]

Invincible IM has continued to be a great read and I anticipated Pepper becoming 'The Iron Maiden' but I was hoping for a Pepper/Tony/Maria sandwich--they were hiding in a bunker together....there are porn movies that start like that. But that's what makes IM a good read. It's harkening back to before Tony was an a$$ and bringing him back to his playboy and adventurous ways.

 

[Keyser Soze]

I also got Iron Man this week and plan to start reading the series. I skipped it initially because Director of SHIELD was still around and I was already enjoying that, plus I don't like Salvador Larroca's ugly new art style.

It's funny you should say that. I read a review over on Comics Bulletin that said Invincible Iron Man would surely be widely considered the best monthly title in mainstream comics if it wasn't for the sub-par art seriously letting the side down. While I don't quite think it's quite THAT good, I do certainly think Invincible Iron Man struggles with art that doesn't live up to the strong writing.

 

[javi1024]

Amazing Spider-Man was really good! I admit the reveal did catch me by surprise- [blackout]my money was Harry or Vin was Menace. Hell even Bill Hollister or Crowne[/blackout]. But Vin definitely has my interest and whatever he's a part of. Great issue.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

It's funny you should say that. I read a review over on Comics Bulletin that said Invincible Iron Man would surely be widely considered the best monthly title in mainstream comics if it wasn't for the sub-par art seriously letting the side down. While I don't quite think it's quite THAT good, I do certainly think Invincible Iron Man struggles with art that doesn't live up to the strong writing.

It's just gross. His faces seem to be striving for realism but look like caricatures more often than not, and on top of that, all Larroca basically does is draw outlines for his colorist to do all the hard work on.

 

[bryanss3]

It's funny you should say that. I read a review over on Comics Bulletin that said Invincible Iron Man would surely be widely considered the best monthly title in mainstream comics if it wasn't for the sub-par art seriously letting the side down. While I don't quite think it's quite THAT good, I do certainly think Invincible Iron Man struggles with art that doesn't live up to the strong writing.

agreed on the art Tony has the head of a chubby 70's porn star in some pages. Norman has a fat head too

 

[Keyser Soze]

It's just gross. His faces seem to be striving for realism but look like caricatures more often than not, and on top of that, all Larroca basically does is draw outlines for his colorist to do all the hard work on.

Larroca does draw good Iron Man armor. But in an arc like World's Most Wanted, where the armored battles are taking a backseat to human drama, his weaknesses are really being exposed. His faces have that awkward photo-referencing vibe, and the panel transitions are all over the place.

He just doesn't seem like the kinda guy who should be on a major book like Iron Man. His art style is the kinda thing you expect to find on those rush-job TV series cash-in books that IDW publishes.