Bought/Thought for 4/13/11 - SPOILERS!

[Phaedrus45]

A blast from the past. From January 10th, 2007, Dread goes on a rant...not about a comic story, but the ads presented within.

It appears the EMUSIC cardboard insert has been placed in all Marvel's book this month as their usual willy-nilly tag 'em all sort of advertising. It being in the two books I bought doesn't surprise me, as they're bottom feeders in terms of sales charts and you could argue, hey, Marvel needs to recoop some bucks. It just still boggles me a week later that the insert's placement was so indescriminate that it appeared in CW #6, a mini that sells some 250,000+ copies and being almost an automatic #1 seller for December 2006. So, let me get this straight; you want to cram ads into poor selling books, because you need to recoop money, and into high selling books, for exposure. Basically, then, fans are "either way" suckers. One would think some discrimination, vs. a blind cover-all tactic, is possible (because, hey, isn't it a waste of ad space if an ad for IRON FIST #1 appears in the actual IRON FIST #1 comic?). But fortunately for Marvel, many fans react the same way they react to me when I mention it. "Who cares?" The comic fan in recent years has been exposed as an almost desperate creature, willing to endure high ad counts in 4th quarter months, delays that have become the rule and not the exception, prima-donna writers and artists who don't even respect their fans enough not to do side work while some of their own comics are late, and a doubletalking EIC who literally prides himself with being able to manipulate readers in much the same way that "politicans and CEO's" do, fellas usually savvy enough not to admit that, just so long as they get their funnybooks sometime between birth and death. Some people have risked removing the EMUSIC ads, but that risks a totally worthless item, so it's best to ignore it and move on. What seems to be done every time Marvel makes some ill, some error, some misstep, whether big or minor; the community en masse (and by en masse I mean the majority we rarely see online) shrug it off, don't care, don't react, and Marvel learns little. It becomes a vicious cycle. Marvel claims they're merely reacting to fans whenever they screw up, and the fans don't hold Marvel to task because they love it too much, like a parent who'd rather watch their kid drop out of school and become a selfish crack addict then dare risk a teardrop at age 5 by telling him/her, "NO". I wait desperately at times for some fan reaction or outrage to make a dent in Marvel's armor, but there never is one that is well mounted, so Marvel never changes suits. I love Marvel too, but sometimes I grow frustrated waiting for it to grow up and be mature and innovative in many areas again. Still, I can say that 2006 was a far better year than 2005 was, for what it's worth.

Just goes to show, Dread can complain about ANYTHING!

Onto some reviews.

Journey Into Mystery #1...I mean, #622

Of course, Thor will be renumbered back to a first issue, while Journey takes up the old numbering. Gotta love how Marvel and DC does this, all in hopes to gain a few more sales for those people who must have complete runs of a series. (See Incredible Herc and Action Comics.)

In fact, take a close look at Action Comics; because, Gillen borrows HEAVILY from what they've done in that book recently. Instead of Lex Luthor, this book focuses on Loki (younger version, naturally) ... and, the renumbering is just another factor, even with the name change. (Not the first time that's happened to Thor's comic, either. Wasn't it during Heroes Reborn this happened last?) What's good is that Gillen's first issue is better than everything Fraction presented before it; so, I don't think too many of us will complain about Marvel stealing this idea from DC.

I seriously enjoyed this issue. Marvel is good at infusing some humanity in their characters, so the readers can relate to what's going on. That's sorely lacking in the DC books. Gillen finally gives the reader a reason to be happy with Loki's revival, and I'm actually looking forward to the next issue. t:

The Flash #10

This title just feels very late....and, nothing within seems to warrant that, except maybe Johns being pulled in too many directions at DC. I would guess things will return to normal, as Flashpoint is the next big event at DC. Problem? I'm not feeling it. Hot Pursuit is just a future version of Barry; and, honestly, I have lost all connection that I had with the Flash characters. This book used to be one of DC's highlights; but, bringing back Barry, shoving other characters to the background, just makes me not care any more. Whereas I praised Marvel for infusing humanity into their characters, DC's are just coming off as 2 dimensional.

I praise DC for dropping their prices; but, I'd sooner keep paying Marvel's $3.99 price for the quality they are giving over the crap DC is shelling out lately. I know they look at Johns as their savior; but, nothing he's been doing makes me a convert.

Thor: Whoever Wields This Hammer One-Shot

I've let my shop know that I'll take these classic issue reprints any day. It's the too-recent reprints that I avoid. This one bookends a slightly humorous Volstagg story by Gage around issues #83, 84, and 88 of Journey Into Mystery, which presented Thor's origin, his second issue, and the first appearance of Loki. (Sure, we've seen Thor's origin quite a bit lately; but, the other two issues are worth the high price of the book; and, Gage's new material wasn't that bad.)

Ultimate Fantastic Four #1 and House Of M #1

Marvel puts out two more dollar issues, and it's neat to re-read these two comics by Bendis. House Of M made me really want to go back and read Bendis' first event again. I know people still might complain about it; but, it really was ground-breaking. It's also nice to remember certain moments, like how Xavier and Magneto were living amongst the ruins of Genosha back then. As for UF4 #1, I completely forgot Bendis wrote that first issue. This book got so much better after he left; but, it's cool to compare what he wrote then to his recent Ultimate minis that changed the Ultimate Fantastic Four forever. for both. It's nice to go down memory lane.

Walking Dead Survivor's Guide #1

Remember back in the early issues of Walking Dead, where the last pages of the book listed the people who we've met along the way, along with their photo? I missed that, and essentially, we are getting an expanded version of it here. (Kind of like mixing that with Marvel's handbooks.) The problem is that much of the information is just recapping what happened before. We don't get much of anything new, and I just feel like Kirkman is grabbing all the money he can off this series while it's hot.

Unless you are a rabid fan of the comic, skip it. (Low price at $2.99, still; but, this first issue only covers A-C.)

Next Men #5

We start to get some answers; and, of course, a lot more mystery behind what's going on still holds. Either way, I LOVE this book!!! (Yeah, and I'm still surprised I feel that way.) Whenever a new issue comes out, it's at the top of my reading list. (This was actually the first comic I read today. I couldn't wait.) I'm loving the time traveling; and, I get upset when each issues comes to an end.

I know I'm the only person reading this book on here. It's too bad. t:

Superboy #6

Lemire makes Superboy a little interesting; but, this Reign Of Doomsday has sucked! Doomsday shows up in various comics (like last week's annual), and then disappears to another. It's all dragging out, and I just feel like DC is trying to get readers hooked on other books and not caring that most of the appearances don't have much substance to them.


(Gotta eat some dinner. Hopefully be back later for more reviews.)

 

[WolfCypher]

Incredible Hulks 626
This may be the first Greg Pak issue I didn't like. It seems like the Hulk family is going to disband soon (and the title will go back to Incredible Hulk, singular), as this issue only focused on Bruce and Betty. The latter, in this case, has suddenly gone from being a somewhat conflicted Betty/psychopathic Hulk-girl...to being a psychoctic Betty/psychotic Hulk-girl. All of a sudden, Betty is sporting black hair, acting all sassy, and is purposely rampaging for sh**s and giggles. Even in non-Hulk form, she acts like Red She-Hulk...Tyrannus shows up and Betty willingly teams up with him, seemingly just to piss off Bruce (or maybe she has her own agendas) and the Hulk shows that he still wants to help Betty, and may be caring a torch for her still. Overall, I've never been a fan of sudden and unexplained character changes, so this issue was hard for me to swallow.

 

[roach]

I didnt buy any new comics....another comic site got me interested in Walt Simonson when they did a top ten of the awesomeness he introduced in his Thor comics. Marvel released a massive collection of his Thor run and I went to my local comic shop to see if they had it. They didnt but they had the Walt Simonson Marvel Visionaries Thor collected books 1-5....which I bought since my shop gave me a deal on them.
I've read the first collected book and holy hell this is how you write a series. Surtur forges the Twilight sword on the first page of issue 337 and he finishes around issue 348. The first issue introduces Beta Ray Bill and starts the march toward the major Surtur battle for all the marbles.
Anyone writing series nowadays needs to study this run as the way to write an epic comic run.

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/04/12/walt-simonson-thor/

 

[AgentEnforcer]

A blast from the past. From January 10th, 2007, Dread goes on a rant...not about a comic story, but the ads presented within.



Just goes to show, Dread can complain about ANYTHING!

Onto some reviews.

LOL I just love that he spends so much time ranting and raving and being pessimistic about something he spends probably thousands of dollars a year on and writes about ENDLESSLY. I kinda want Marvel to do a story about Ben Reilly being retconned as the camera man who filmed the Gwen Stacy and Norman Osborn sex tape out of continuity (because Ben was supposed to be in Oregon at the time) so that he will literally write 10 pages spewing anger and still keep buying it. I want it to happen so bad.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Gotta get to bed, but had to write four quick reviews of the other books I read.

Ultimate Spider-Man #157

SOOO glad I read this issue first. Both this and Ultimate Avengers Vs. New Ultimates came out the same week; and, while both have the same ending, this issue sets it all up so much better. Sure, we're all expecting Spider-Man to possibly die; but, if you're like me, you're expecting it to come at the hands of Norman Osborn. NOPE! Norman kills someone in this issue; but, it's not Peter Parker. It's Doc Ock! (I loved this battle between villians; and, I'd like to see it more often. I want a Secret Wars; but, not between heroes. I want to see the villians all going at each other!)

OK...Spoiler warning!

Last page, it's not Norman who takes down Spidey, but The Punisher. Spidey takes a bullet for Cap, which is made even significant by the fact that Cap didn't want Peter to be allowed to continue being a superhero. Now, it's still not positive if this is what's going to kill Peter; but, I wasn't expecting that ending. (I was sure it would be dragged out until the final issue, like with Hickman's killing of Johnny Storm.) Take this for what you will ... namely a big hail-mary by Bendis to get some interest back in Ultimate Spidey and the Ultimate line of books; but, it worked for me.

Ultimate Avengers Vs. New Ultimates #3

I love that we now see the connection this book has with The Death Of Spider-Man. (I thought it would just be some loose connection at first.) And, while this title isn't as good as USM, it fills in the holes you'll want to know about. (Like, Frank Castle wasn't trying to kill Cap, but simply blow off his kneecap.) It's obvious that Nick Fury is being set up, and we get heroes vs. heroes before this misunderstanding is finally realized.

Justice League: Generation Lost #23

One more issue to go, and it can't come a minute too soon. What was once great about the first 10 issues has disappeared; and, this story is ending with a HUGE whimper. Max Lord has been making this Justice League go through all the motions for one main reason: To kill Wonder Woman. (We also learned he used them to help destroy Checkmate, as we know it.) It's 23 issues of stalling...and, in the end, we get more Omacs. Seriously! I am SICK of Omacs!!! Why can't DC just let some of these things die??!!?? It always feels like they are trying to cash in on their old glories, and their answer to get readers is to dredge up old storylines, like Cyborg Superman, the Anti-Monitor and Doomsday. Hell, this Justice League had some personality in those first 10 issues; but, as I mentioned before, personality in their characters has (for some reason) left the DC Universe. Heck, even the weekly/bi-weekly comic is something DC is trying to keep in order to live up to past comics, like 52. (Aren't sales for these getting lower and lower with each new one?)

Infinite Vacation #2

Finally, the second issue comes out. Long delayed, the wait is worth it, at least. I probably enjoy this Spencer book more than all his others; and, that's saying quite a bit. It's definitely the most original...but, I am worried that as the villian is introduced, that some of that originality will start to fade away. So many good moments and lines of dialogue in this issue, and I love all the Marks we've been introduced to. Good stuff! t:

 

[Phaedrus45]

To comment on the big ad in the middle of Marvel's books this week, I'm very excited about how the Marvel Knights brand truly feels like another huge relaunch. Two months ago, Rucka wouldn't even give me a hint about what his next big thing was going to be...just that it would be announced very soon. (I just think of all the great titles he wrote for DC, and Marvel scooping him up is awesome! Sadly, DC has decided to go for bigger names that have disappointed, instead of sticking with those writers who put out consistently good material.)

I've heard the complaints about Bendis on Moon Knight. I'm still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, especially given his track record with solo characters, especially those from the old Marvel Knights brand..of which, Moon Knight fits into so well. As mentioned, Rucka on Punisher is genius, and THEN adding Waid to Daredevil??!!?? YES! I'm thinking we'll be getting away from all this Shadowland/Reborn crap, and DD will finally be back as we love him.

 

[hippie_hunter]

I'm calling it, within 2 issues, Gillen has turned Uncanny X-Men from almost unreadable to one of the best X-books. Possibly almost on par with Uncanny X-Force.

 

[Dread]

For the record, that EMUSIC cardboard ad would literally stick out in between double page splashes, and if you tried to remove it, you'd destroy the comic. I vaguely recall at the time an issue of RUNAWAYS in 2005 or 2006 I think in which there was 22 pages of story and 24-26 pages of ads. It interrupted narrative flow when it was impossible to read two pages of a comic without an ad. Of course, with over 4 years of hindsight, I am aware that the utter dearth of ad revenue since 2007-2008 has compelled Marvel to increase prices to make up that shortfall with pure sales, which is a short term strategy that likely has reached critical mass. Heck, in Jan. 2007, I was still in college. At this point I might not balk as much an an extra 5-10 pages of ads than we have these days if Marvel could sell more comics at $2.99 again. Flip through a Marvel comic this week, and out of 10 ad pages, usually about 7-9 will simply be house ads for Marvel comics. And that's not counting the front/back covers, which I never count in ad counts - those were usually always ads. In the 70's and 80's, DC comics used to have ads in the upper half of some pages, which was likely more insane.

As for the BIG SHOTS promotion, I might argue the Punisher needs a Thor-style rest; relaunching struggling characters after almost no breaks rarely works. To be fair, Moon Knight's break since SHADOWLAND has been about 4-5 months, not counting appearing in Secret Avengers stuff. Still, those short gaps never do Black Panther any favors. I may try Waid's DD, but I don't feel like reading Bendis turn MK into Two-Face with extra personalities. He's just writing Ultimate Moon Knight, just instead of "mental insanity" sequences which involve alternate personalities like Ronin and a little girl (!), it'll be established super-heroes. Imagine if someone wanted to make Two-Face a hero and not only did he have his two personalities (Dent and Two-Face), but he also had the personalities of Batman, Superman, Nightwing, and Robin in his mind, and had to roll a 6 sided die to decide which. Only it isn't a comedy - this is played grim and straight. That's what I see Bendis' MK run is, and all most writers want to do with MK is stress how hopelessly insane he is, and each run makes him more and more insane and unstable, which is a corner writing detail if exaggerated - as it has been since 2007.

Anyway, onto some reviews. Spoilers ahoy.

DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 4/13/11:

BOOSTER GOLD #43: Given the feast-or-famine of the big two's shipping schedule, this week bordered on famine for some. Seven comics in the column last week; a trio this week. In all honesty, choosing which of these to assign the top spot is akin to picking which essay to include in a college entrance exam when all received a grade of B. While still good, all struggle to reach true greatness of the sort that screams to be heard. A die was almost rolled to determine which would prevail. In the end, DC's BOOSTER GOLD this week won out because it is the end of one era and the return of another in terms of the writing and art team. This issue marks the end of the Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and artist Chris Batista on the series after eleven issues. Next issue begins the start of the series' crossover with DC's latest crossover, FLASHPOINT, and with it comes Booster's creator, writer/artist Dan Jurgens. Jurgens took a break from writing and drawing this series to handle TIMEMASTERS (a story that also featured Booster Gold); he has written and/or drawn most of the issues of this volume of Booster Gold, which is an astonishing thing for a character's creator to still do in today's corporate age.

The cover blurb, "End Game", says it all. The latest story arc has seen Rip Hunter (Booster's time traveling mentor who is actually his own son from the future) manipulate Booster once more into adventure and self discovery with time travel. After Booster resolved to try to finally move on from the death of Ted Kord (Blue Beetle), Hunter decided that it was finally time that Booster, who was once a lowly museum janitor in the 25th century, pay the legal penalty for literally stealing his super hero gadgets from a display to become a hero in "the modern age" (once the 20th, now the 21st century). This caused Booster to be sentenced to five years in 25th century prison - which, thanks to being a time traveler, the audience didn't have to endure. Unfortunately, while there, a poison that a villain had injected Booster with in a prior issue started to manifest within him, and he started to suffer from "time cancer", in which his cells were breaking apart into the time stream. His cell mate was the hopelessly insane Perforated Man, who was a future version of Booster who had succumbed to the illness and was a time traveling lunatic. In this issue, Booster travels even farther into the future, the 30th Century, to find the cure to his time-cancer before he ends up completing the time paradox. This is the century in which the LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES defend Earth as well as the galaxy from all sorts of threats, and the most brilliant of their number - Brainiac-5 - is the only one who may be able to save Booster. However, Booster will have to survive an attack by the monster Validus, overzealous Legion interrogation, potentially painful examination machines, and the fact that some of his "borrowed" gadgets apparently belonged to Brainiac-5 himself! While this story introduces an interesting subplot at the end, it serves as a fairly satisfying wrap up to this run by two old hands at DC, as well as Booster Gold - having written him extensively during their JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL run.

This run by Giffen and DeMatteis has been an interesting one. The appeal was that it would reunite the team that brought the "Bwa-Ha-Ha" style laughs to JLI onto Booster again, but to be honest this reunion has been organized by DC several times before. The initial arc of their run, which ate up roughly half of it, involved Booster reuniting with Kord as well as some of his old JLI allies like Mr. Miracle and Big Barda for an adventure that was almost more of a comedy skit than an actual plot that advanced a story. The duo, while often providing zingy one liners, seemed to forget that they had to ideally be in service of a general story, and the appearance was that they were trying too hard - especially in an era when Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente make such things look easy on INCREDIBLE HERCULES. The latter half of their run, however, tempered the comedy with a more focused story about Booster moving on and trying to continue his evolution into a better hero, all while keeping up appearances as a loser (to maintain the time stream) and being manipulated by Hunter. Booster even reconciled with his sister Michelle and started to wish to take proper care of Rani, a girl he saved from a disaster in the future who has been all but adopted. The end of this run has definitely been better than its start, which is a thing one cannot say about every comic book run. Chris Batista's artwork, alongside Rich Perrota's inks and Hi-Fi's colors, has been very good and capable of making one hardly miss Jurgens' pencils for a while.

While this series' titular hero may have some awareness about the future, the status of this series is unknown. Over the past eleven issues, sales have dropped another 24.5%. While DC has a lower sales threshold that DC Universe ongoing series should meet to starve off cancelation than Marvel, Booster Gold is not far from it right now. March's sales figures saw it do better than in February at just over 16,000 copies, but once a DC book hits about 13,500 or so with unhealthy drops every month, it sees the axe. DC is likely giving this title a chance to see a boost, pun intended, from FLASHPOINT. This does have a chance of success; BLACKEST NIGHT enhanced sales for some time. Even if the next arc is the last, it will have lasted over 50 issues, which is a Herculean run for a comic book volume these days (and even in general). Whether Jurgens will write and draw the title beyond the FLASHPOINT crossover or whether Giffen and DeMatteis will return is unknown. What is known is that regardless of the shift in writers, which this issue jokes about itself, BOOSTER GOLD has been one of DC's most reliable super hero titles.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #658: This issue begins a short story that capitalizes on Spider-Man's entry into the Future Foundation, complete with his new costume. Dan Slott, as usual since November, pens the script while Javier Pulido handles the artwork alongside two colorists in the lead story. The last, and superior, issue focused on Peter and the surviving three members of the former Fantastic Four sharing stories about their departed ally, friend, and family member. This issue gets things back into a "day in the life" grind as Peter tries to get to "home base" with his CSI girlfriend Carlie Cooper, only for a Foundation mission to arise instead. Fortunately for him, as a CSI, Carlie is called off to handle crime scenes nearly as often as Peter has to be Spider-Man; however, she is beginning to grow suspicious about him. This issue has Peter engage in a "typical" Four style adventure day. Make sure the youngest members are behaving before battling cross-dimensional monsters in Paris, saving a "giant" particle in the Microverse from exploding and traveling to the year Three Billion (seriously). Pulido seems to replace the departing Marcos Martin, and his style is very similar - effectively maintaining the look of the previous three issues. One major difficulty remains nearly every artist having a different way of drawing Carlie; beyond her having eye glasses, it seems to always vary - she has noticeable freckles now, for instance, and the shade of her tan/blond hair often shifts in color and length. This is not ideal given this character, unlike Peter Parker or Mary Jane (or even Gwen Stacy, who has been deceased since the 70's), doesn't benefit from being well known and is hoping to have lasting power.

The issue manages to capture Spidey's banter with the Four well, along with having him match brains with Mr. Fantastic and just handle the ride like a pro. The issue tempts some controversy by having Sue perform a Johnny Storm style prank - is this her seeking to fill his void a bit, or simply an attempt to make her not seem like a stern mother figure all the time? Spider-Man's initial meeting with the Foundation this issue awkwardly undoes a subtle detail of Jonathon Hickman's construction of FF with Steve Epting. While all of the Foundation have similar uniforms, the surviving members of the Four all have a trio of linked shapes that set them apart from the crest of Spider-Man. It was a subtle hint that while Reed, Ben, and Sue are telling everyone (and themselves) that they are expanding their ranks for the future, that in a subconscious, emotional way, they are still a family that can never truly replace a lost member. That subtle detail is practically spoon fed to the reader after Spider-Man performs a fashion error that seems bizarre coming from the prior issue's sensitivity to details. A few of Spidey's one-liners also felt forced in places, although that's of a less minor concern. There are some good ideas and moments in this issue, but in this rare issue of BIG TIME, things are not quite bound effectively into a whole. Better luck in a fortnight. In all honesty, if this is the worst that BIG TIME may occasionally stumble to, then this will be a terrific franchise run indeed. It wasn't that the issue was below average or even average; it was that it has done better.

The back-up strip is by Rob Williams (soon to be writer of the next GHOST RIDER relaunch), artist Lee Garbett, colorist Fabio D'Auria and inker Alejandro Sicat. It features a simple Spider-Man and Ghost Rider meeting at bar in which Johnny Blaze (now officially stealing Dan Ketch's jacket) desires to be free of manipulation by Heaven or Hell, only to have a demonic servicer agent demand the return of his motorcycle. It is a well drawn and effective opening chapter to a brief Marvel Team-Up style romp. Marvel likely hopes some promotion within ASM will do as well for GHOST RIDER's relaunch as it did for VENOM. Ironically, it was the Dan Ketch version of the Rider from the 90's that Spider-Man has met more often.

ONSLAUGHT UNLEASHED #3: This is the penultimate issue of this mini series in which Sean McKeever's Young Allies team up with most of the Secret Avengers to battle the return of the titular Onslaught. This was a story that McKeever planned to properly build to in his YOUNG ALLIES series, before it was quickly canceled with issue six. Thus, he has shoved a subplot about Toro's former Columbian super-hit man pal Dragon kidnapping him and seeking Toro's loyalty or death into a tale that barely involves it. The gaps between the end of 2006's ONSLAUGHT UNLEASHED (by Jeph Loeb and Rob Liefield) and this series are filled in properly. The issue tackles the idea of whether a being created from the mind and mental powers of someone else is actually "real", in the sense that a person or even an android might be. Unfortunately, this interesting dynamic is laid out in very blunt dialogue - a case of telling more than showing. In terms of the showing, Filipe Andrade's rough and sketchy artwork might work for an indie horror comic, but for mainstream super hero panels it is hit or miss (hits with Onslaught, misses with angles, anatomy, and proportion). Fortunately, a lot of extended psychic sequence negate the task of drawing background scenery for many pages, which likely helped with the dead line. Ricardo Tercio's color art enhances the pencils as best as possible.

Ironically, former Avenger Firestar and Young Ally Gravity are technically the most powerful heroes here - and their affection for each other is also bluntly laid out by Onslaught to make up for all those YOUNG ALLIES issues that went unwritten. To a degree this might remind some of how Steve Gerber quickly resolved the plots of the canceled OMEGA THE UNKNOWN in random issues of his DEFENDERS run. The action is pretty good and some of the debate among the characters is solid - with Moon Knight managing to steal more of the stage than Steve Rogers. The finale is properly set up, although while this has been a readable mini series for saddened YOUNG ALLIES fans so far, better material may come of their meeting with Avengers Academy in GIANT SIZE AVENGERS ACADEMY #1 next month.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I am willfully procrastinating on writing my paper to read comics tonight, so I have some reviews. Huzzah!

Brightest Day's last couple issues: lulz, Swamp Thing. Did anyone actually want him back in the mainstream DC stuff? I always thought his main claims to fame were 1) being written by Alan Moore and 2) pretty much establishing what would later make Vertigo Vertigo (while being written by Alan Moore). Huge anticlimax for this whole series. But hey, Aquaman's made of water now. Maybe he'll keep some of that to replace his hand (again) when he returns to normal.

Fear Itself: Book One was all right. Fraction's Odin is still utterly ridiculous, but it's bearable here because, rather than just being a mindlessly obstinate dick like he was in the first arc of Fraction's Thor, here his obstinacy serves to highlight a very interesting conflict that may actually have been worth bringing Odin back for: Thor has been king now and has tried to move Asgard into a new age. He represents progress and an attempt to bring the same harmonious relationship with humanity that he has experienced via Blake, Masterson, Olsen, et al. to the other Asgardians. Odin represents conservatism and the mind-boggling arrogance we would inherently expect of god's relationship with man. That's actually a really cool idea to explore. Or, rather, it would be if I had any confidence whatsoever that Fraction could competently explore it. Instead, there's the tiniest hint of it in this issue... and then Odin just kicks Thor's ass, gathers up the Asgardians, and leaves. Otherwise, though, the issue was okay. Hopefully Fraction finds some time amongst all the event-sized explosions and villains stealing Thor's schtick to explore the godly progress/conservatism theme in future issues.

Herc is off to a decent start. Certainly not as fun as Incredible Hercules so far, and I blame that at least in part on Neil Edwards' competent but utterly boring art. Herc is a character perfectly suited to the cartoony likes of Clayton Henry and Reilly Brown, but for some reason the editors at Marvel decided to saddle him with Neil I-desperately-wish-I-were-Bryan-Hitch Edwards and his I-desperately-wish-my-style-were-as-realistic-as-Hitch's realistic style for this series. But there's enough of the old iHerc under the gritty, Punisher-esque stuff here to keep me interested. I'm curious about all the Ares references, too--Herc's using Ares' arsenal of weapons and is apparently being summoned by Ares' worshipers for some reason. That's intriguing. I think Edwards is too slow to cover every issue without fail, so we may get some good fill-ins at some point; and I know Pak and Van Lente can't keep up this dour mood for too long (it's just not what Herc was built for), so hopefully we'll get more of the old iHerc humor back later on as well.

Journey Into Mystery damn near washed away all the anger Fraction's built up in me with Thor in just one issue. Gillen clearly just gets Loki. He's fantastic with Loki. Loki--thanks in part to the greater spotlight being the centerpiece of various events and such brought him--had become something of a one-note villain in recent years. JMS reintroduced him in a fun way by having him take Sif's body and parade around as a woman, but after that he basically became what he often becomes: another villainous face in the crowd. Sure, he'd wear a coy, knowing grin while he served up his evil plots, but he was still just serving up the standard evil plots we've all seen a thousand times. Here, Gillen seizes on the opportunity Fraction's terribly executed resurrection of Loki offered and makes him interesting and unpredictable again. The conversation between the current, amnesiac child Loki and the shade of his past self is one of the best I've ever seen in comics, bar none. The child Loki is, for all intents and purposes, a new Loki, freed from the pettiness of the old and, since that pettiness defined him, freed from a lot of the old's personality and thoughts as well. Granted, it's just a concept at this point, but it's a concept so rich with potential that I get excited just thinking of all the directions a writer as good as Gillen could go with it. Doug Braithwaite's art ain't too shabby either (although he always draws Thor to look a bit too much like a scrawny old man to me).

 

[Dread]

So, the general consensus is that JIM was pretty good. It wasn't something I didn't expect from Gillen, who easily had the best run on this volume of THOR overall. JMS' started strongly and then petered out (the story of his writing career, it seems), while Fraction's has been mediocre to poor out of the gate, which is why I ditched it before six issues. However, I passed on it simply because I'm not interested enough in Loki to pay to read about his solo adventures. I might be more interested in seeing someone do a "villain goes good" story, if I wasn't about to watch Juggernaut fall back to the path of villainy for what seems like the 200th time in THUNDERBOLTS (or rather in FEAR ITSELF #2 that THUNDERBOLTS will have to adhere to). Overall I probably prefer Juggy as a villain anyway, but I thought Jeff Parker had a good go at trying to rehabilitate Marko. And Loki has been a villain a lot longer than Juggernaut - his odds of a rehabilitation sticking are less than zero percent. I just don't see the point in a story in which the premise is tailor made to be rendered moot. If Marvel is willing to shove Steve Rogers back as Cap for a movie, then Loki shifting back to being a villain seems natural. And I got enough, "Loki outsmarts everyone" stories from JMS. I just don't care to read about most villains. Taskmaster being a rare exception.

VENGEANCE OF THE MOON KNIGHT is a similar example. I gave it a chance because it's Moon Knight and it was by someone who wasn't related to the previous volume. Gregg Hurwitz didn't give Brubaker a run for his money for being iconic to a franchise, but I thought he did a solid job trying to rehab Moon Knight from the maniac he was under Charlie Huston into something manageable. Well, now Bendis is shifting him back to full-on multiple personality lunatic. Those VOTMK issues are now worthless. It's irritating.

 

[iloveclones]

Journey Into Mystery damn near washed away all the anger Fraction's built up in me with Thor in just one issue. Gillen clearly just gets Loki. He's fantastic with Loki. Loki--thanks in part to the greater spotlight being the centerpiece of various events and such brought him--had become something of a one-note villain in recent years. JMS reintroduced him in a fun way by having him take Sif's body and parade around as a woman, but after that he basically became what he often becomes: another villainous face in the crowd. Sure, he'd wear a coy, knowing grin while he served up his evil plots, but he was still just serving up the standard evil plots we've all seen a thousand times. Here, Gillen seizes on the opportunity Fraction's terribly executed resurrection of Loki offered and makes him interesting and unpredictable again. The conversation between the current, amnesiac child Loki and the shade of his past self is one of the best I've ever seen in comics, bar none. The child Loki is, for all intents and purposes, a new Loki, freed from the pettiness of the old and, since that pettiness defined him, freed from a lot of the old's personality and thoughts as well. Granted, it's just a concept at this point, but it's a concept so rich with potential that I get excited just thinking of all the directions a writer as good as Gillen could go with it. Doug Braithwaite's art ain't too shabby either (although he always draws Thor to look a bit too much like a scrawny old man to me).

Just read this yesterday and loved it. I have to admit, although I love Thor being back among us, the Asgard-centric stories are really where the best stories have been in the past few years. Loki has never been more interesting than presented here ( on a side note, I'm typing this on my phone, and it keeps autocorrecting Loki to Kiki..??!!)

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Haha, "Kiki, the god of mischief" carries some vastly different connotations to my ear...

As for Loki's rehabilitation, I sincerely doubt it will be that. I think, by the end of everything, we'll see a modernized take on Loki, less reliant on the ancient Asgardian magic and more willing to play at mankind's own game. We already saw a bit of that with him and the smartphone in JiM. I'm also excited to see what his development will be like this time. He is, for all intents and purposes, an innocent child, yet he carries the baggage of people's perceptions of the old Loki at every turn. He's already starting to resent being called a liar constantly, and while it was certainly true of the old Loki and will likely be true of this one eventually, it's not fair right now.

 

[runawayboulder]

I'm calling it, within 2 issues, Gillen has turned Uncanny X-Men from almost unreadable to one of the best X-books. Possibly almost on par with Uncanny X-Force.

I felling you on that. Although it came out last week UXM #534.1 was a fantastic issue, one of the best point 1 issues next to the Venom-centric ASM one. Gillen's focus on Magento was perfect and long overdue. Gillen has a knack for coming in and mopping up after Fraction. Case in point........

Journey Into Mystery #622 (aka the only Thor book I care about) - A book that was great from cover to cover. It answered my question of where Loki was during the events of Fear Itself #1. I even enjoyed the credits page with the open door in space - nice touch. I loved the view of the world through the eyes of Loki (the Boy Wonder ), how people always assume he's lying and being called a troll in an internet forum for claiming he's Asgardian. The introduction of Ikol the bird, which seems to be the Loki we all are used to, was cool. Those Asgardians sure do love their birds chattering in their ears don't they? I like how it was worked into FI #1 with Odin and I like it with Loki Jr here in JiM. It's going to be interesting to see the manipulation worked into Fear Itself. I would still like to see the focus shifted to other Asgardians outside of Loki down the road.

Punisher MAX #12 - Is anybody else falling in love with this book again? After it's lengthy delay last year it took a couple of issues to get back into the saddle but Frank part 1 was incredible. While he lies helpless in a prison hospital after the Bullseye arc, Frank flashbacks to his final days in a hospital in Vietnam. The story shifts back and forth nicely between the prisoners wussing out, Frank wanting to die in his prison bed and his encounter with some loon in the hospital in Da Nang that gets right inside Frank's head more than Bullseye ever did. This is going to be a terrific arc. I'm going to re-read Born to prep for the rest of this story.

New Avengers #11 - I really don't care for this book right now. The first half of volume 2 was on point. Bendis has lost me with this 50's Avengers crap and Mockingbird at death's door nonsense. If she actually dies again I'll be pissed to no end after the stuff Jim McCann has done with her recently but I'm just not seeing that as a possibility. Bottom line, I'm being bored to tears right now. So if things don't pick up, I'm going to be down to 2 Avenger titles.

I'm still getting caught up on reading, ASM, UXF, last weeks Herc and H4H.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

The troll thing made me snicker. Kind of brought down a bit by the fact that Thor's follow-up comment was wrong, though. Loki's a giant, not a half-giant. Both his parents were giants.

Ikol's cool too. I took it as a symbolic inversion of Odin's ravens. Huginn and Muninn bring Odin external knowledge, making him wiser; Ikol is going to bring Loki knowledge of his past self, slowly eroding the innocence he's reclaimed.

 

[JewishHobbit]

Time for JewishHobbit's weekly "Reviews so late no one cares anymore" post!

Let the posting commense!

This was a pretty big week for me. Besides my weekly comics I also picked up the first print of Fear Itself #1 since my wife grabbed the variant last week (which I'll likely send off to Half Priced Books next time I go). It was a pretty decent week fortunately, only a couple sinkers in the group.

Batgirl #20 - Not quite as good as it has been. I think I find that this ongoing speedster story isn't as interesting as the random issues of fun. This issue, being focused ont he speedster plot, thus, suffered. I loved the Robin issue and then the Valentine's Day issue, both a couple issues ago, and would rather read more of those, but this was still good. The main thing I find interesting about this though is that apparently this speedster group, the Reapers, are working fairly deeply into Gotham and that the detective that Stephanie's been crushing all all series used to be a part of it. We'll see how that plays out. All in all though, the issue was fine, but not one of the title's best.

Batman & Robin #22 - I really enjoyed the first two issues of Tomasi and Gleason's run and this conclusion to that story has made me realize how much I still love this book. Where Batman Inc. has been somewhat of a let down so far, this book has been fantastic (save the 3 issues by Cornell between Morrison and Tomasi). I thought the White Knight and his plot was very interesting and I'm excited to see what Winick brings next arc with the return of the Red Hood!

Secret Warriors #26 - For those of you who have criticized this title for the first issue revelation of Hydra running SHIELD the whole time... this issue might turn you around. I'm not certain if I buy the conlusion to this and Nick's initial reaction to Hydra's sceme, but hey, it's in print and I can see that the book's been building to this the whole time so that's cool. I was glad to see who Kraken ended up being and once again we learn why Nick Fury is the baddest mofo in the Marvel Universe.

This was a good issue and I'm glad to see that the book is winding down. Only two more issues left in this series before everything wraps up. I'm really hoping to see more of the actual Secret Warriors show up because they were my main draw from the very beginning. Mostly, I just want Stonewall back. I like him a lot.

Amazing Spider-Man #658 - I don't know what it is but I've been let down two issues in a row. Maybe 655-656 just impressed me so much that I expect better but I've not liked these two FF issues at all and am a little sad that the next one's continuing the FF plot. I also feel that this issue doesn't gel with FF #1. The mention of Spidey forgetting his FF costume last time fixed the issue with hiim showing up in the wrong costume, but something about it still doesn't gel with me. I'm not sure what it is, but something. In fact, the only things I liked about this issue were Peter talking nerd with Reed and then Sue and the mime. And I wouldn't even say I was extatic about those... I just smiled a little.

It wasn't a bad issue, but for the second month in a row, not worth the $4 price tag and I'd even wager to say not worth the $3 price tag most comics get. Slott started well with the Hobgoblin arc, dropped a bit with the Scorpion arc, exploded with the Massacre arc, and has fallen off the map since... in my opinion. I'm hoping this picks up soon because I'm feeling like Slott's lost his thunder very quickly. Hopefully it's just this FF story but we'll see.

Awesome cover though

New Avengers #11 - This issue, and this arc as a whole thus far, is very underwhelming. I don't mind the current plot though there isn't much to it. Having to do with that I think the Victoria Hand plot starting this issue could be the most interesting aspect of that. Getting rid of the 1959 plot and condensing what we've seen of the current plot into maybe 2 issues would really help.

I think what's killing me about this arc though is the 1959 plot. As I've stated before, I HATE Chaykin's art and it's killing this comic... to the death!!! I mean, seriously, is anyone looking at this stuff? I'd take Liefield on his worst day over this crap. I mean, just look at Captain America on that last page!!! Not only is he cross-eyed but one eye is looking up and the other down... and Chaykin decided that was GOOD?! And the editors or whoever felt that it was the best he could do and turned it in for everyone to see? UGH!

I'm eager for this arc to end only to see the end of Chaykin on pencils, even if it is just half the issue.

Uncanny X-Men 535 - It's amazing what a new writer and two issues can do. Fraction's Uncanny was my least favorite comic I read each month and already with two issues Gillen has turned it around and made it somewhat interesting again. This issue begins the repercussion arc following Whedon's Breatkworld storyline. Colossus and Kitty get good facetime, equal alongside Magneto, Cyclops, and Abigail Brand. Dodson does a great job at pencils (enough to make me dread Land coming back next arc). I also liked that Gillen borrowed from the SWORD ongoing/mini that came out not long ago, including a scene with the interesting evil but nice cyborg alien guy that Abigail gets advice from.

For the first time since... hmm... I'm not even sure... I'm actually excited for the future of Uncanny X-Men.

To Dread... if you want to see Colossus given good face and plot time you might want to keep your ear out for Gillen's run, or at least this first arc. It's looking promising for Peter so far

Uncanny X-Force #7 - Concluding the Deathlok arc, this issue was decent. Not the best story, certainly not as good as the first arc, but it was still decent. I'm glad it was only 3 issues though, as any longer and I doubt I'd have liked it more. This issue puts a lot of focus on Fantomex and Deadpool and Remender gets them both dead on. I thought the final kill was appropriate and that last page REALLY has me curious where the story goes next. Well, seemingly unconnected, the plot goes to the Shadow King next... and that sounds fantastic to me

X-Men Legacy #247 - This is possibly the best issue of the Age of X storyline so far but the solicits for July already ruined the ending of the event (taking place in the next New Mutants issue)... but despite that... I'm really enjoying this plot. It's about time Xavier gets something good to do.

And I'll tell you this... one thing this story is making me sad about is Chamber. I really miss his old look with the fire mouth. I want that Chamber back now and I want him to be a regular somewhere. He's one of my favorite characters and hasn't been used like that since Weapon X ended. He was in New Warriors but that wasn't really Chamber, at least, it didn't feel like the old Jono. I miss the OLD Jono

Daken Dark Wolverine #8 - Let me tell you, I'm really loving Marco Checchetto's art. The plot moves forward and is likable... but what I LOVED about this issue was the great level of respect and time that Gambit gets. It was like reading him in his hayday! He was fantastic in this issue, probably the best he's been in years... or at least the most "Gambit-like" as when we all loved him. I loved his fight against Daken. I'm glad that X-23 crossed over with this title or I may have missed out on it. I'm eager to get the back issues and continue on with this title.


Best and Worst of the Week:

Best: Batman & Robin #22 - I just REALLY liked this issue. It read great, it looked great, it introduced an interesting new villain with a simple yet interesting origin... it was just plain good in my opinion. Easily the best book I read this week!

Worst: Amazing Spider-Man #658 - This really was a throw up between this and New Avengers but ultimately in the end I think I enjoyed that better than this. The worst that has going for it is the Chaykin arc, but this title didn't have much that I enjoyed plot-wise, or art-wise. This is twice in a row that Amazing Spider-Man has fallen into my worst of the week spot and that's not looking good. At $8 a month this book better start getting better soon or it'll teeter into the dropped category. Especially with an event starting that will likely sap me of some extra cash each month.

 

[WolfCypher]

I'm actually skipping ASM until the "real" story arcs begin again, I'm just not interested in this Future Foundation or White Fantastic Three + Spidey.

Going back to the comic store to pick up Ultimate Spider-Man. Missed it last time, and Bagley's return I cannot miss.

 

[Dread]

I'm still enjoying ASM, although I will concede that so far, the FF issues have probably been my "least favorite" of BIG TIME so far. Part of it is that I believe out of the Four, Slott is best with writing Ben and Johnny, and one of those is dead right now, and the other grieving and thus not quite himself. I am looking forward to the Academy issues next month, and at the very least Slott is trying to capture those far out sort of space missions the Four tend to have.

 

[The Morningstar]

PunisherMAX 12- Aaron's run rivals Garth Ennis' in my eyes.

Uncanny X-Force 7- Best X title on the shelves, by a very big margin. Actually, one of the best titles on the shelves. Period. Deadpool is the star of this issue. Remener writes him how he is supposed to be written, in line with Joe Kelly's characterisation. It's a sad indictment on Marvel Editorial that David Lapham and Rick Remender understand the character better than Daniel Way, the guy writing the main Deadpool book. Fire this guy, ASAP.

Honestly, people who think this book is just shallow violence don't know what they are talking about. It's probably the most intelligent and mature mainstream book i've read in years. And Rick Remender clearly knows how to write team books, unlike his inexplicably more popular peers like Brubaker, Fraction and Bendis.

 

[StarkvsRogers]

Fear Itself: Book One was all right. Fraction's Odin is still utterly ridiculous, but it's bearable here because, rather than just being a mindlessly obstinate dick like he was in the first arc of Fraction's Thor, here his obstinacy serves to highlight a very interesting conflict that may actually have been worth bringing Odin back for: Thor has been king now and has tried to move Asgard into a new age. He represents progress and an attempt to bring the same harmonious relationship with humanity that he has experienced via Blake, Masterson, Olsen, et al. to the other Asgardians. Odin represents conservatism and the mind-boggling arrogance we would inherently expect of god's relationship with man. That's actually a really cool idea to explore. Or, rather, it would be if I had any confidence whatsoever that Fraction could competently explore it. Instead, there's the tiniest hint of it in this issue... and then Odin just kicks Thor's ass, gathers up the Asgardians, and leaves. Otherwise, though, the issue was okay. Hopefully Fraction finds some time amongst all the event-sized explosions and villains stealing Thor's schtick to explore the godly progress/conservatism theme in future issues.


Herc is off to a decent start. Certainly not as fun as Incredible Hercules so far, and I blame that at least in part on Neil Edwards' competent but utterly boring art. Herc is a character perfectly suited to the cartoony likes of Clayton Henry and Reilly Brown, but for some reason the editors at Marvel decided to saddle him with Neil I-desperately-wish-I-were-Bryan-Hitch Edwards and his I-desperately-wish-my-style-were-as-realistic-as-Hitch's realistic style for this series. But there's enough of the old iHerc under the gritty, Punisher-esque stuff here to keep me interested. I'm curious about all the Ares references, too--Herc's using Ares' arsenal of weapons and is apparently being summoned by Ares' worshipers for some reason. That's intriguing. I think Edwards is too slow to cover every issue without fail, so we may get some good fill-ins at some point; and I know Pak and Van Lente can't keep up this dour mood for too long (it's just not what Herc was built for), so hopefully we'll get more of the old iHerc humor back later on as well.

Fear: That's a good point. He could have taken it a whole different way. Instead of dividing the Asgardians loyalty in anyway, they just ignored that and went straight for the Son v Dad thing.

Herc: I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought Herc was trying to go all Punisher on us. I didn't really love the art myself. I'll definitely keep up with the series though.

 

[Red]

Uncanny X-Force #7 - Concluding the Deathlok arc, this issue was decent. Not the best story, certainly not as good as the first arc, but it was still decent. I'm glad it was only 3 issues though, as any longer and I doubt I'd have liked it more. This issue puts a lot of focus on Fantomex and Deadpool and Remender gets them both dead on. I thought the final kill was appropriate and that last page REALLY has me curious where the story goes next. Well, seemingly unconnected, the plot goes to the Shadow King next... and that sounds fantastic to me

I still love this book, it's worth buying for the characterisation of Deadpool alone. But this arc really confussed me, what did the ending with [BLACKOUT]Apocalypse[/BLACKOUT] mean?

 

[runawayboulder]

PunisherMAX 12- Aaron's run rivals Garth Ennis' in my eyes.

Uncanny X-Force 7- Best X title on the shelves, by a very big margin. Actually, one of the best titles on the shelves. Period. Deadpool is the star of this issue. Remener writes him how he is supposed to be written, in line with Joe Kelly's characterisation. It's a sad indictment on Marvel Editorial that David Lapham and Rick Remender understand the character better than Daniel Way, the guy writing the main Deadpool book. Fire this guy, ASAP.

Honestly, people who think this book is just shallow violence don't know what they are talking about. It's probably the most intelligent and mature mainstream book i've read in years. And Rick Remender clearly knows how to write team books, unlike his inexplicably more popular peers like Brubaker, Fraction and Bendis.

Yes, UXF is quite awesome. It is definitely the surprise title of late 2010/2011. Fantomex is awesome and shined bright in this arc. Deadpool was great in this issue. Remender has brought back some dimension to him just as Lapham has done in MAX.

I still love this book, it's worth buying for the characterisation of Deadpool alone. But this arc really confussed me, what did the ending with [BLACKOUT]Apocalypse[/BLACKOUT] mean?

Spoiler

It was another clone like the child. It remains to be seen if this was Clan Akkaba's plan B or if was something the father did on his own. It was a nice twist ending since after UXF #6 when the Deathlok Steve Rogers revealed that the Deathlok cyborgs were destroyed by Apocalypse. Warren was like, "hey we just killed that dude....?".

 

[The Morningstar]

Yes, UXF is quite awesome. It is definitely the surprise title of late 2010/2011. Fantomex is awesome and shined bright in this arc. Deadpool was great in this issue. Remender has brought back some dimension to him just as Lapham has done in MAX.

Spoiler

It was another clone like the child. It remains to be seen if this was Clan Akkaba's plan B or if was something the father did on his own. It was a nice twist ending since after UXF #6 when the Deathlok Steve Rogers revealed that the Deathlok cyborgs were destroyed by Apocalypse. Warren was like, "hey we just killed that dude....?".

Spoiler

Was it another clone? I was thinking maybe Fantomex didn't actually kill the kid and used his misdirection powers and somehow got him back to The World?

 

[JewishHobbit]

Ooh, wouldn't that be a trip of an upcoming story!

And honestly, I don't think we're supposed to really know what's going on with that scene. I can definately see it going that way though.

 

[The Morningstar]

Yea i agree it's pretty ambiguous. Really thought provoking stuff going on in that book. Remender is killing it.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Glad to hear Uncanny X-Men is good under Gillen. I'm gonna have to start reading that sometime. He's writing the Fear Itself tie-in, right? I think I might pick that up and then transition over to Gillen's issues of Uncanny X-Men.