Bought/Thought for 9/10/09 *SPOILERS*

[TheCorpulent1]

Incredible Hercules #134: Fan-bloody-tastic. This issue was so much fun I can hardly stand it. Herc does an absolutely horrendous job impersonating Thor and manages to bed the dark elf queen he was supposed to be fighting. Now he's inadvertently gotten married to Queen Alflyse and she's expecting him to aid her in her assault on Earth. The Warriors Three show up at the end and give a pretty plausible reason (Fandral must be taking lessons from Balder) for Thor's upcoming impersonation of Herc in the next Herc-centric issue of the series. The art is great and the sound effects are hilarious as always, too. The customary silly opening page in this issue also gave me a chuckle. I love this series so much.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Adventure Comics #2: Really good. Johns' ideas are hit-or-miss for me, but when he's really determined to build a character up, he's still absolutely incredible at it. Conner's search for his identity via the opposing extremes of Superman and Lex Luthor continues here, and although the lists are used for comedic effect early on, the ultimate result of this story is a really fulfilling continuation of the promise Johns started with Conner back in his Teen Titans run and Infinite Crisis. Conner started out a complete *****ebag, highly egotistical and brash and even portrayed at times as a little bit dumb. Over the past few years, Johns has been evolving him into a true heir to Superman's legacy--noble, altruistic (sometimes in spite of himself), and, more than anything else, just plain good. He's developing that inborn goodness that allows Superman to embody the sort of heroism that even other superheroes aspire to and, what's more, Johns uses one of the worst goddamn plot points in recent memory--Wonder Girl and (Red) Robin's kiss in Teen Titans--to drive that point home, instantly redeeming said plot point in the process.

There's also a lot of good moments with Lex Luthor and Brainiac, who are a naturally charismatic team in any medium, it seems. Johns seems to drop the mad scientist bent Lex has taken since One Year Later almost completely and pretty much writes the shrewd, evil businessman Lex that post-Crisis fans know and love; I say "almost completely" because two things strike me as mad scientisty--Project: Alien Farm and the fact that Lex shivs a guard with a screwdriver to escape prison. But the vast majority is all businessman Lex and I'm eternally grateful for that because I can't stand mad scientist Lex. I'm curious what Project: Alien Farm is. The obvious answer is another Conner clone, but that seems a little too obvious. Far more interesting to me is Lex's realization that Conner's returned. He's always had a soft spot for Conner and may actually feel a bit of fatherly attachment to the kid. If anybody other than me and like a dozen other fans actually remembered Lena Luthor, she'd probably be jealous.

Anyway, this issue of Adventure Comics is Johns at his best. It's the kind of stuff I loved from Johns back in the days before his giddiness for the Silver Age started tarnishing my opinion of his work--the kind of stuff that takes other writers' lemons and makes some of the best metaphorical lemonade I've ever not actually tasted. I prefer it to his current retcon-happy writing style a whole hell of a lot and I hope he keeps it up for the remaining few issues he'll be writing this series.

The Legion backup wasn't as interesting to me as the main Superboy story. Lightning Lad's angry and his brother may or may not have a twin. Yawn.

 

[WompuM]

Titans #17
Holy crap was I surprised by this. This was my favorite comic this week. Titans, as we all know, has had a long history of sucking ass, but this issue came out of left field and blew me away. Beast Boy is somewhat emo, yes, but really comes to his own.
There are a ton of funny, very small details in this book, such as Beast Boy's name card, "Knows a guy who knows Batman." Little kid dressed as Alan Scott? Priceless.
Beast Boy's future looks bright [blackout]rejoinging the teen titans. Honestly, both teams are better off with this transition. I am just stoked to think how much Teen Titans is getting back to it's pre-IC cast, plus great extras like Meghan, Static, and Jaime[/blackout].

Pick up this book. It's gold. Plus, it's funny to see the first page because it is completely mirrored of the subsequent pages.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Green Lantern Corps was absolutely amazing.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Salaak's speech = the OH SNAAAAAAAAP! heard 'round the universe.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Yeah seriously. If that's how he's going to run **** he can stay in power for all I care, he was absolutely BAD ASS during that scene.

 

[MaskedManJRK]

Salaak's speech = the OH SNAAAAAAAAP! heard 'round the universe.

I've never heard of Salaak until this issue, but now he's just about my new favorite Green Lantern.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

He's usually portrayed a well-meaning kiss ass to the Guardians.

Apparently without them around he's a total bad ass making cool speeches left and right.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, he seemed like the classic bureaucrat before this issue. Who knew he had such massive, jangly brass balls on him?

Interesting to know Guy and Kyle are next in line to lead after him, too. Imagine Guy in charge of the whole damned Corps.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Interesting to know Guy and Kyle are next in line to lead after him, too. Imagine Guy in charge of the whole damned Corps.

That would be... interesting.

Speaking of Kyle, glad to see the Jade Black Lantern didn't really phase him too bad (psychologically that is).

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, he apparently found his balls again after that Sinestro Corps incident and remembered that he's dealt with horrible s*** time and time again since day one as GL. I did a literal one of these----when he grabbed Jade's hand.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Yeah, he apparently found his balls again after that Sinestro Corps incident and remembered that he's dealt with horrible s*** time and time again since day one as GL. I did a literal one of these----when he grabbed Jade's hand.

Kyle's lucky Johns didn't write this encounter.

Oh and I can't believe I forgot. Ouch Guy, really ouch.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Eh, he'll be fine. Impaling's not so bad as long as it's not the torso.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus - "Utopia" concludes with a blizzard of somewhat truncated fight scenes, though there a some very cool moments. The Dark Avengers and the (remaining) Dark X-Men face off against like very X-character ever in pitched combat, and the X-Men more or less mop the field with them (apart from Norman, who beats up Cyclops, though given Cyclops' plan, perhaps that was how he wanted it; and Moonstone, who weirdly doesn't get anything to do. The highlights were the brief showdown between Valkyrie-powered Dani and Ares and Emma and Professor X taking down the Sentry (mainly because it sets up an interesting plot for Emma from now on; stuck in her diamond form lest the Void kill her is an unexpected idea). All in all, a reasonably solid story, though I think it was a mistake to hijack the DA book itself if this was all they were going to do.

Dark Reign: Young Avengers #4 - this is slowly falling back a bit; Brooks is a solid artist (though he's got a fairly pronounced case of facial genericness, which makes the opening Two Kates bit confusing since it's now clear whether it's actually Kate or just someone drawn with her face), but a bit on the slow side. Continues to be a good story; Cornell has managed to make most of these new characters reasonably well-drawn/quirkily interesting (the main exceptions being Big Zero and Egghead, who are pretty 1D). Kinda confused about what was going on between Enchantress and Wiccan there, given that there's no followup (love her origin, though: Loki decides to **** with someone for kicks).

Also, Vision's offer to use the Kate-body with Cassie? Hilarious.

Incredible Hercules #134 - customarily fabulous. While "The Secret Origin of Amadeus Cho" has been a bit slow, "The Replacement Thor" has been a laugh-a-panel adventure (probably because Herc's a lot more jovial than Cho right now, and has some characters to humourously interact with). I'm not quite sure how much of Alflyse's infatuation with Herc is genuine, but it's a lot of fun (kind of hope we see more of her in the future). The teaser for Thor and the Warriors Three at the end promises a strong conclusion (though, really, this arc could easily sustain a few more issues). JMS kind of left all the other writers wanting to use the Asgardian mythos in a bit of a situation given how uninterested he's been in dealing with anything other than Asgard itself; here the Elves' home world seems basically the same as before. Fair enough.

The Marvels Project #2 - eh, solid enough. It's pretty heavy on GA Angel, who's a not-especially-interesting character, but a decent installment with strong art. We get the first inklings of an overarching plot here, somebody killing all the early Timely Z-listers.

Nomad: Girl Without A World #1 - Sean McKeever returns to Marvel after a not-very-successful stint at DC, and the quality of his work immediately improves. Maybe there was something there that didn't agree with him. Picking up on that short-story in Captain America #600, Rikki has set up the nucleus of a life in our world, but is still being thwarted in her desire to meet Cap. This angle is my biggest question-mark with the series, because there's really no apparent good reason why she shouldn't, so other characters (Black Widow here, Patriot in the original) have to act a bit dickish (in Patriot's case, he was very friendly, and it's not clear that he knew/made the connection between her last name and Bucky's; Natasha explicitly does, and is extremely callous; there may be more to this, but otherwise it's just stretching to put off their meeting until #4). Great art from David Baldeon; I've not seen any of his past work, but he's perfectly suited for this sort of story.

 

[Specter313]

Yeah, he seemed like the classic bureaucrat before this issue. Who knew he had such massive, jangly brass balls on him?

You'd think they'd throw off his balance with such a small frame that he has.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

For a supposed crossover from what I've heard the Utopia was for all intents and purposes an X story with the DA just making a guest appearance which is literally what they do in every book besides their own.

 

[CaptainCanada]

For a supposed crossover from what I've heard the Utopia was for all intents and purposes an X story with the DA just making a guest appearance which is literally what they do in every book besides their own.

Pretty much. They had decent roles in the prologue and climactic one-shots, but in the four intervening chapters (including both issues of their own book) they were, apart from Norman, all loitering around waiting for the climax.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

What a waste.

I was expecting war, some insane battles (basically a mini-summer event). Damn it, if I wanted to read the X-Men I'd pick up an X-Book!

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I really enjoyed Nomad. I agree with CC, though: Natasha came off like a really frosty b**** in the issue and the contrivance to keep Rikki from meeting Bucky stuck out like a sore thumb. Still, reconnecting with the good version of her brother was a nice touch--way better than the "she's got a crush!" idea I had when she first mentions that that guy is why she's in Manhattan--and the final page was awesome. I can't wait to see what Rikki's Nomad costume looks like in all its glory.

Who do you think her mysterious benefactor is? I'm gonna guess it's either Nick Fury, since he's everyone's mysterious benefactor at some point, or Bucky himself, testing the new girl out.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

See, now I'm wary of Nomad because I don't know the idea of a female alternate universe based Bucky sounds a little X-Menish to me. Is it actually good?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, it was a good start to a mini-series. Her roots are a little wonky (and we get a picture of her and Cap in Liefeld-Vision™ on the first page to remind us of that ), but she's a good character. She fits in perfectly with the Captain America family of Bucky, Falcon, Patriot, etc. She's inspired by Cap's example and strives to fulfill her own potential and help others, just like all the rest Cap's influenced. She's basically filling the void Tim Drake left for me when he turned all emo--she's a self-reliant, strong-willed, intelligent hero who just so happens to be a teenager who's wise beyond her years.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Hmm, I'll probably give it a look see then.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Aw, balls, speaking of giving a look-see, I forgot to pick up Gotham City Sirens #3 again. I heard the Riddler was good in it.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Oh yeah, I read it. It was pretty neat.

 

[BrianWilly]

Great week.


Green Lantern Corps #40
:heart: Salaak. :heart:

Y'know what, though? My theory is that Salaak totally just made all those succession rules up right there on the spot, 'cause he wasn't about to let the Alphas run things. That would make what he did right there about ten times more awesome than the pure awesome that it already is.

Not that there's a single page in this book that wasn't filled with some kind of awesome. I didn't know whether to laugh with glee or not at most of the scenes, they were so morbidly great. Black Lantern Bzzd completely demolishing some mofos!

Oh and I totally called it...compassion totally means "I'm gonna kill you now, 'kay?" Well, I called it after being completely wrong about it before, but still. And I loved how Gleason depicts Jade's black constructs. Just...creepy and melty and hairlike. Gleason is the kind of penciler who lives and dies by his inkers and colorists, but I still think the guy is one of the most underrated guys around.

(9.5 out of 10)


Blackest Night: Batman #2
Another great bout of violent awesome. Tim is both badass and enjoyable here! That's like impossible at the moment and yet somehow it's happening. Also loved the scenes with Gordon and Babs.

(8.7 out of 10)


War of Kings #7 Who Will Rule?
Absolutely fantastic capoff to the event. I adore how Crystal and Gladiator -- I guess that'd be Majestor Kallark now -- have been written throughout this series. I'd never have pegged DnA as being capable of plotting high-grade political machinations on the scale of Jurgens or even -- gasp -- Rucka, and yet here we are. Looking forward to what comes next, though my wallet may not be. Well, I might wait and see on the Inhumans series. I think they've been great in this event and played a fantastic role, but that's not quite the same as saying that I'd care enough to follow them on their own solo ****.

(8.9 out of 10)


Superman: World of New Krypton #7
The Kryptonians are...uh, moving Callisto? The moon? To be their moon? I keep thinking there should be some kind of ordinance or forms they have to fill out if they want to, I dunno, move the ****ing solar system around willy-nilly. But I guess there's not really an authority for this kind of thing.

I'm really getting to like this storyline. Kal-El is now the commander of the Kryptonian military, which is just going to lead to shenanigans. Although, I was sad about how he totally and verbally pimpslapped Tyr-Van. It was a pretty epic display of superdickery, no matter how deserved. Rucka writes Clark as a genius, and Robinson writes him as a dick. Combine the two and you get this, I suppose.

Pete Wood's art is tragically always going to remind me of Amazon's Attack. I'm sorry, it's like racial memory or Pavlov's Bell or...something, I know there's a smarter word for it. I'm not going to be able to look at these pages and not be reminded of Hippolyta the psychotic childkilling supervillainess. But...I have to say he's doing a completely incredible job with the visuals here. Action kinda hard to follow at times, but that splash page of the Thanagarians? Very sweet. I dunno whose idea it was to combine all facets of all incarnations of Krypton -- pre-Crisis, Byrne, and maybe some other ones I'm not aware of -- into one cohesive world, but give 'em a raise.

(7.8 out of 10)


Adventure Comics #2
Well I didn't quite expect an issue composed almost entirely of dialogue, but most of these scenes were worth it...man, it was a long time coming, and we get a whole issue to just savor them. And the artwork! Sweet baby Buffys on a wagon, I could just stare at the artwork all day and keep on getting artboners. Cassie is just so pretty. What do you mean she's jailbait? And also female?

I'm not too fond of Conner and Lex's mutual obsession, but I guess it's a bit more palatable now that we know it's going to be resolved one way or another by the end of this arc. Who knows if I'll stick around afterwards.

(8 out of 10)


The Incredible Hercules #134
"Live long and prosper." Oh gods this is completely frakking great. It really helps that I just watched Wrath of Khan, like, two weeks ago.

Is "drow" even a real mythological term, though? Methinks Hercules has been perusing some tabletop games, along with the Sci-Fi channel.

(9.2 out of 10)


Booster Gold #24
Kyle Rayner gets to **** Zatanna and be kinda badass? Why are we changing this timeline again?

In other news, Jaime kinda went crazy. I'd say more, like how I'm actually really enjoying the Blue Beetle second feature, but it's so short that there's really not a lot more to say. Jaime went crazy. Um...that's about it. Oh and the Black Beetle isn't Hector. Stay tuned?

(8 out of 10)