Another week, another handful of issues. Nothing unexpected on the shelf except one title, and I am actually glad I bit. As usual, full spoilers ahead.
Dread's BOUGHT/THOUGHT for 1/23/08:
BLUE BEETLE #23: A lot of times, various people, myself included, will note a lot of Marvel's successes financially and note what they do right, and what DC "doesn't get". Well, following the cancellation of a completely excellent new series from Marvel, THE ORDER, this got me to wonder about one area here that DC does "get". They get the idea that "new blood" characters are useful to the universe as a whole, even if they do not sell very well as a solo. BLUE BEETLE has been a terrible seller for the past 18 months if not more. It struggles to get into the Top 120; INVINCIBLE is actually steady competition for it. If this was a Marvel book, it would barely have made it to issue 12. Quite why MTU got to issue #25 years ago is a mystery to me; maybe Marvel felt they owed Kirkman for MARVEL ZOMBIES. But DC sees the value in a new Blue Beetle, one that is critically acclaimed, maybe who gets some people on TEEN TITANS. They know that stories need newer characters sometimes to spice things up. And it is in that light that we go into BLUE BEETLE #23, which continues to tie things together across the entire run so far, and while it does allude to Blue Beetle's tenure with the TEEN TITANS, you don't have to read TT to get BB right now, which is good because I don't. Rogers & Albuguerque are naturally on a roll here and it is one of those great superhero books to read right now. I won't lie and say this is the best, or even my favorite, but it is a damn good read every month and I now look forward to it. The first page got a grin out of me with W.W.T.K.D. - What would Ted Kord do? Very nice. There is a short summary of events before Jamie settles into getting serious with stopping the Reach, now that he knows their long-term plan to take over the Earth. The plan is scary because it is so low-key and patient that it actually has a solid chance of working even with all the superheroes on Earth. Paco & Brenda talk to him about and Jamie also discusses the plan with his family, and maybe I am too used to Marvel, but it can be refreshing seeing a superhero's family support him instead of going, "Omigod, you're a freak, stop doing what you are doing and GOMAKEMONEY&GRANDKIDSALREADY!" or something. It took a while of course but they came around, and it was touching. Character progression is something that MATTERS, not something that should be whitewashed because the editorial board has a wonky idea for a band-aid solution to good writing. So Jamie experiments with his powers, utilizing "The Bleed" from all the way back to the first arc to dazzle the Reach and give their fleet a fight. The conversations between the Negotiator and Dawur the Soldier was pretty good. There is a bit of sci-fi exposition to wade through but it isn't too bad. Jamie gives it his all, but the Reach seems to get the upper hand for a very explosive cliffhanger. While it is great to see BB continue to go, I got a sense of finality to this story, like Rogers is perhaps leading to the end of a story and perhaps even this ongoing. I could be wrong, but I got that sense of upcoming closure. If so, hey, 2+ years is a great run for a new hero these days, or even a revived B-C-Lister. If not, though, then we really are in for a roller coaster here. I also need to note that Blue Beetle has come farther in 23 issues as a hero than USM came in 100. Just worth reminding. I did get amused by that teaser pic of Mongul and all the color-coded GL rings, which looks like it could have been made in 10 minutes by a fan with a "Motivational" template. But, BLUE BEETLE is one of DC's highlights and I hope to see more of it. Golly, how will Jamie get out of THIS ONE?
Oh, and I liked how his scarab is speaking English now. "About time."
ASTONISHING X-MEN #24: The final page reads, "WE'RE NOT DONE YET!" in bold letters, like some sort of chipper vow after the cliffhanger. I saw it another way, as a sign of annoyance and frustration. This story began in May 2004. It is now Jan. 2008 and after 24 issues, and fluxes in editorial strategies, the Whedon/Cassaday run is NOT FINISHED. Whedon once called it a "two year story" and it will very well be four before it is finished. Maybe it wouldn't be so gualing if the pacing was fast and breakneck, but it often isn't. Sure, this issue is, and so was the last, but other issues just plodded on and on with bits that had been funny once but had ceased to be. In 2003-2004 when Whedon pitched and plotted this story, Marvel was still in "6 issues or bust" mode with every story. By the end of 2005, this had come to an end with more reason intruding, but Whedon didn't see fit to re-examine his tale, maybe adjust, edit, tuck back an issue or two in the name of sanity, as by then the lateness was more than apparent. He didn't care, and for those of you who worship him, that is very, very telling. He sped things up for his BUFFY comics, and for his RUNAWAYS series (although I may add that it has taken nearly a year for him and Ryan to ship 6 issues), but he essentially stayed the course for AXM, and that is a shame. It is a shame because AXM as it is isn't a bad story. It has some good dialogue, at times great fight scenes or character moments, some "holy ****" sequences, and usually crisp art from Cassaday. That said, this is hardly Eisner material, and if in the next 5-20 years this is ever "rediscovered" as some lost classic, it will be because X-Men stories within that 5-20 year span have worsened, not because this body of work itself is that extraordinary. If this was a movie, it would be great, but as a comic arc, it is a slow paced, slow shipping, overrated piece of entertaining mediocrity. The sort of work that says a lot but means very little. This final arc, stretching on to what will be 7 parts, has a lot of good details, moments, etc. But it has been 6 chapters of the X-Men on another planet full of generic aliens. Yes, the Breakworlders are generic. They are the most generic new aliens I have seen in years. Compare them to the Reach, who at least have some quirks. These are just Z'Nox in the 21st Century. The only way they could be more stock would be if they had silver space-suits and flying saucers. They're even GREEN. That **** got old by the 80's.
So, what happens here? Kruun is wrapped up by Colossus after getting his ass blasted by Scott last issue. Scott dons the upper half of his costume again, showing the only bad part was the stupid skull-cap. Cassaday continues to draw Piotr as at least 6'' shorter than he should be, if not more. The X-Men plan with Brand & her S.W.O.R.D. agents to use Kruun as leverage as one squad tried to disarm his missile and Colossus is ready being the Worldbreaker...well, not exactly, but close enough. One detail that is embellished is that despite some of the fantastic technology the Breakworlders have, a lot of the finer mechanics of it are simple, from their unstable energy source to the missile at the end. Now, actually, THIS works. The Breakworlders under Kruun are impatient, war-mongering thugs (just like every alien race that has ever been created, ever, it seems). He'd have slaughtered any scientists who made the required "learning curves" types of mistakes. So that would mean their tech would have large gaps, and they would have to improvise. Kitty hates the plan because she has to be separated from Colossus, even though they have had X-Men missions where they had to be separate for extended periods before without whining, but I guess sex changes things. The X-Men have to fight a lot of Kruun's soldiers, and Brand takes a random shot for Beast, so we can all go, "Awww, the stern **** had a heart". Lovely. Hey, where's Maria Hill while we're at it? To be serious, though, she and Beast had some interplay throughout the series that was usually entertaining to read, and so on. Frost also gets Danger (in true Whedon-on-AXM fashion, a generic "Machine who gained sentience and became evil" type of being, but during DANGER, he used a lot of flowery words to claim it was more, when it wasn't) to work with them by promising Xavier, a deal that one wonders whether Scott would accept at this point, considering all the nasty secrets about Xavier that have been uncovered (while anything nasty Magneto does is whitewashed by Xorn). Wolverine says some notable macho man lines (I'm not being sarcastic, they're usually very readable and good). Even Lockheed shows up. Among the major revelations are that Aghanne planned the destruction of Breakworld from start to finish, and Kruun's missile is in fact just a very large bullet, likely in the crude plan to split the Earth in two that way. Oh, and Ord shows up for another fight, but he simply doesn't work. Whedon seems to enjoy the concept of a villain who is supposed to be scary one moment and comical the next, but that doesn't wash often. We are meant to fear Ord, but this is the same Ord who got PWNED by Lockheed, and Colossus, and Wolverine, and who can easily kill two soldiers but can't even twist Scott's neck off by jerking it around? Yes, it is. That works for a story that isn't taken seriously, like Fraction's P:WJ, but not something like this. And then the annual is promised, but not a date as to when, for chapter 25. Did this run really need 25 issues instead of 24? No. It is a pretty, sometimes funny, sometimes exciting generic action blockbuster that has been stretched thin and pretends to be more than it is. Imagine of INDEPENDANCE DAY was nominated for an Oscar for BEST SCREENPLAY, and you have AXM. It isn't a bad run, but it has been inflated beyond repair, it was amazingly slow for long stretches and naturally because of the creative team it will sell 300% better than plenty of better stories. All while Whedon & Ryan slowly strangle RUNAWAYS to a crawl in terms of shipping. Whedon's got talent as a writer, and can learn from mistakes. But lord, he needs an artist who can draw faster than 1 page a week. And that cliffhanger? Will Kitty die or somehow be removed from the stage? That has been presumed for a good 3-4 months now, and if that is indeed where Whedon goes, it will have no oomph or shock, just be an overblown overrated finish to an overblown, overrated popcorn story. Cyclops looks pissed on the cover, and I can't blame him. Nearly 4 years, and it ISN'T "DONE YET"!? For ****'s sake, does anyone think this is WATCHMEN!? Or even PLANETARY? And then Warren Ellis is next!? AXM may be known as the slowest book of the century when all is said and done.
DAMAGE CONTROL #1: The start of a 3 issue mini that is part of the "Aftershock" series of mini's that continue to mooch off WWH as we wait for SECRET INVASION. I figured, this is McDuffie returning to the funny franchise he created back in his original Marvel days, how could I go wrong? And I was right. The cover actually makes it seem more serious than it is, but that is alright. McDuffie even acknowledges the past bits done with the franchise, like implicating them in Stanford during the CW WOLVERINE issues. The title strikes the right tone for a work like this: "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ALL THE FUN IN THE WORLD", and I imagine Dan Slott having a similar sentiment. My snappy answer would be, "Identity Crisis, and the attempts to imitate the buzz and success", but what do I know? Anne Hoag is back as head of DAMAGE CONTROL and they are faced with the task of rebuilding NYC after Hulk & the Warbound nearly destroyed it. Included are tidbits like NYC being considered a "perpetual disaster area" that got it's own federal "superfund" for tasks like that, Tom Foster revealing himself as the new "Black" Goliath and joining the squad (guess he isn't as angry as he was during WWH these days), and reuniting the old DamCon cast. John, Robin, Bart and the gang are reunited, and Monstro & Visionary from ANT-MAN show up. McDuffie may not always score points for innovation, but he always seems to know his continuity, and that means a bit to me. The book is just fun, and while the cliffhanger involves the Thunderbolts starting another brawl over registration, I took that as a lighter version of NOVA's bit with them. I mean the Thunderbolts are all but a joke now, especially "Penance". It also seems that Marvel may officially want Rage's mask to be white instead of black, as it is white here too (I thought it was a coloring error in NEW WARRIORS #8). I can't say I mind. I can't say I recall a lot of the details of DamCon, being it was so long ago, but this was an amusing introduction that manages to act as a worthy AFTERSHOCK story but at the same time isn't a hand-wringing grim-otron type of story. Plus, it is only 3 parts, and any story that isn't padded out is appreciated. Espin's art is good and fits the tone from serious to comical well, too. Just a solid all-around comic. Even if you never read DAMAGE CONTROL, I say give it a try, especially if you stuck around for WWH. You don't want to be part of whatever happened to all the fun in the world. Even though the "footnote" gag fell a tad flat, because some writers actually have used them, like Slott, lately.
THE ORDER #7: The simple pleasure I got from reading this, not only a brand new franchise spring boarding from CW, but arguably the best written & drawn team book Marvel publishes, now has a bit of grim reality behind it. It's sales never caught on, and it has been canceled; issue 10 in April will be the last, and it is essentially a "dead book walking". Such a shame. Compare it to BLUE BEETLE; that was a new ongoing spring boarded off an equally large event (Infinite Crisis), it also had average promotion, and it's sales also hit the skids by around issue 6. But DC has more faith in the bigger picture, in needing to have patience with new blood characters, so it has lasted nearly two years and counting despite selling below the Top 100 (and even 110) for the last 18 months, sans the SINESTRO CORPS tie-in. But Marvel isn't about patience or what is good for the company years down the line; they only see in what is hot NOW, or in 6 months. That tunnel vision has likely kept them atop as DC has tried harder to compete in the new century, but it can cost them some franchises that are high in quality. This being one of them. Of course it wouldn't be completely fair to blame Marvel alone; retailers who put little faith in new franchises and readers who never try anything new (yes, myself included sometimes) are to blame as well. Seeing all the people ***** about BND and still buy it anyway just adds to that. Why can't Fanboys be suckers for the good **** besides CAPTAIN AMERICA, huh? Oh, well. It's like screaming at a wall at this point.
Getting on with things, this is the usual issue for THE ORDER. A story that begins and ends in one issue, but connects to the larger subplots introduced in the previous issue(s). After surrounding the coast of CA with a motionless tidal wave, Namor surrenders to Anthem. Namor gets the "intro interview" this issue and that is in fact where most of the action takes place. Sure, Veda, Calamity, and Heavy are handling the evacuations and looters, but the real action is just with two men talking in a small room. Now, I suppose someone might say, "Why do you love it when Fraction does it, but whine when Bendis does it?" The answer is because Fraction is better at it. His lines sound like two adults speaking, not two teenagers. He doesn't repeat lines 3 times every panel. And the conversation has a point. Namor is there to play a political game, and while this is meant as a bit of an epilogue (I imagine) from his recent mini, you don't really need to have read it to get this issue. Namor is surrendering to the Order because he wants to embarass Tony Stark and he sees himself acting as a martyr will better serve his people than leading them nomadically across the ocean floor in search of a home, and the water-wall is meant as protection. I can't hope to capture the discussion between Henry and Namor in a review and I won't try. It spans most of Namor's history and reframes it to his current situation, and Namor is as arrogant as you'd expect, although more capable of discussion than rages of anger than Bendis writes him in THE ILLUMINATI (where he seems to scream and smash something every 5 pages). With a steady head and a subtle use of his powers, Henry manages to outwit Namor, although Namor does get most of what he wants; he is in FF custody and he embarassed Stark by claiming "the new kid" saved CA. But Henry saved everyone from drowning, which is always good. Next issue seems to be the rescue of their three missing teammates (Muholland may be playing tie-up games being kidnapped by the Black Dahlias, and Milo & Becky are stuck in the desert ducking the M.A.N. from S.H.A.D.O.W.), and that should be a heck of a ride. It really, really, REALLY sucks that THE ORDER is cancelled, and those who trade-waited missed out. But, at least it outlived THE THING, and at least we have another 3 great issues to come. If the trades sell well, it could return, but I am not holding my breath. Shame, though, so soak up the greatness while you can. It still is one of the best things to come out of The Initiative, just a shame it won't last longer. That cover's boss, too.
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #50: UFF, the lowest selling Ultimate title, reaches the 50 issue marker as Carey continues with his Cosmic Cube subplot, now boiling over back to the main focus of the arc. This means a return of the sci-fi babble, but it isn't so bad here so that isn't a problem. What is a bit of a hurdle is Kirkham's art. Don't get me wrong, he isn't terrible, but many of these wonky alternate dimensional being designs worked when Ferry was drawing them, and Kirkham's no Ferry. The Cube has activated itself while the Four were rescuing Sue in Russia, and entrapped most of Manhattan in a cube. The Four enter and find the Tessract back, trying to destroy it before Thanos gets his hands on it. Reed seeks to keep it on their side, but things aren't helped when the aliens tear the chunk off the city off-world! This is the last Ultimate title that I feel is worth my time and I see it like a Marvel Adventures sort of title, a series I buy for the fun adventure that isn't apart of the rest of 616. Unlike with USM and Ult. XM, I like Carey's general direction and sense of characters, and have faith in it.
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS #8: More Silver Age fun, with Nguyen filling in for Cruz, and it reminded me that Cruz's fun art is a big part of what makes it work, because Nguyen's art just didn't seem as appealing on the title. Fresh from punting the alien from last issue back into space, the X-Men investigate strange readings in a swamp and after a meeting with Dr. Conners (although doesn't he only have one arm when he's cured of Lizard most times?), they go out to investigate, run into the Nexus of Realities and run into Man-Thing, who never looked creepier. It is a simple sort of story, but unlike ASTONISHING X-MEN, isn't padded out beyond it's natural length and doesn't pretend to be more than it is. I appreciate it and enjoy it on that level. Hopefully Cruz or at least a more appropriate artist returns by next issue. I did like the allusions to Dark Phoenix or Thor's cameo during the last mini, and all that.
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