Bought/Thought for 9/14/05; SPOILERS within, as always!

[Dread]

A short week overall, with me only getting four books. It should be noted that at this time a year ago, I was buying virtually no DC books, since I'm a Marvel Zombie. Now, out of 4 books this week, two are from DC. If I were Marvel, I'd maybe be concerned with more fans edging over to the competition in recent years, as DC seems to be happy at being No. 2, so long as they can take a bite out of sales. Of course, that's not to say that everything DC does is perfect or even a whole lot different than the stuff we blast Marvel for, as this week's first offering points out. But, let's get on with it! I have a class in an hour!

BOUGHT/THOUGHT for 9/14/05: SPOILERS! (I just tire of putting tags)

ALL-STAR BATMAN & ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER #2 And man, I thought it was X-spinoffs that had long titles. Anyway, DC's excuse for an Ultimate line continues with it's first offering, Batman & Robin, by the wonder-twin duo of Frank Miller & Jim Lee. Overall, I liked this issue more than #1, but that may not be saying much as Miller seems to have discovered an evil he hasn't before. No, it's not violence, or cursing, or depicting Batman as a borderline insane pedophile. It's DECOMPRESSION. Not convinced? Read past issues of some of Miller's stories, whether they're SIN CITY or hell, even his abysmal DK2. More happened in 22 pages there than it did here. I guess someone at DC got the memo that if USM can sell in the Top Ten despite most issues having ABSOLUTELY NOTHING friggin' happening, then so can their "Ultimate Batman". Basically, all that happens is Alfred patches up Vale's wounds, only to have her collapse, as Batman speeds away with Grayson in his Batmobile from murderous, corrupt cops (are there any other kinds of cops in Millerland?) while trying to manipulate Grayson into becoming his partner, or at least not barfing in the car. That's IT. I wonder how many more years of this "writing for the trades" drek will continue before fans finally stop being suckers, all collectively wait for the trades so that the stores lose money and blast the company, and the companies go, "Gee, maybe we should stop being greedy ass *****s and tell our writers to move their arses." Oh, well. Not all of a comic is story, though, as you have art and dialogue in the presentation, and in this, both Miller and Lee are at their A-game. Miller's dialogue and narration is as seedy and gritty as it has ever been, with him pulling no punches with a Batman who's incredibly creepy and may not be all sane. Lee's art is naturally pretty to look at even when he's not drawing much happening. Seems this Batman is more like the original Golden Age Batman; unafriad of killing people, as he smashes up some corrupt cops' cars and blows them up in flames in order to launch his flying car into the sky. Not many can pull off gritty noir and comic camp in the same panels, but they do. And who better than to depict a "more corrupt and rotten than Puragtory" Gotham than Miller? I'd say this issue improved on the first, but it still succumbs to the evils of decompression, and ends up being nothing we haven't seen before. No wonder most of fandom is responding to this series, seemingly, with a collective "sigh", and no wonder every store I go to still has at least 2 dozen copies of #1 left, often both covers. The second issue shamelessly has two covers, too, to milk obsessed fans and poor shop keepers.

JLA #118: Faring better this week from DC is JLA, which continues their fallout-from-IC storyline under Johns & Heinberg, with stellar art as usual from Batista & Farmer. After the seemingly SWIFT defeat of the Secret Society last issue halfway through their arc, I wondered how exactly the story was going to go from here, but I likely shouldn't have underestimated the writers, or Despero. He's still pounding away at J'onn while the rest of the JLA are distracted with the Society and how to best deal with rogues who're targetting their families (Lois, loved by millions, very barely escaped with her life, and of course DC would never have the guts to do to her what they'd do to Sue Dibney, a character loved by...a dozen). J'onn's powers dampened, he seemingly can't get anyone to aid him...'cept Aquaman, a character even WIZARD made fun of for being mostly left by the wayside for INFINITE CRISIS so far. The "talk to fishes" guy gets in a few good moments against Despero, but alas things won't end well for the pair. The assembled JLA (Superman, Hal Jordon, Flash, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Zatanna, and Hawkman) vote, once again, on what to do against the Society; mindwipe or not. Hawkman's notion is that with all this experience, Zatanna can only erase their names from their foe's minds, and not leave them lobotimized like Dr. Light was. Still, the moral implications are high, as Jordon, Superman, and Canary vote no. Hawkman, and a begrudging Arrow & Flash vote the other way, but Zatanna refuses to perform such functions anymore and quits the JLA, finding exile in Paradise Island with yet-another-Supergirl and Wonder Woman (who's now feeling bad for killing Max Lord). The issue ends with Despero charging into the Batcave with a brainwashed J'onn & Aquaman in tow to collect Batman, and things look like they're about to go from bad to worse for both Catwoman and the JLA. Because surely, the JLA is no match for a fish-guy and an overrated martial artist who throws Batarangs. Still, quite a good, rollicking issue that keeps things taunt with a very misleading cover.

GRAVITY #4: The mysterious "MARVEL NEXT" tagger that found itself on last issue's cover is mysteriously absent; maybe Marvel has learned, for about the 12th time, that it's not a line of books that attract readers, it it good, individual books. If a book is either underadvertised or shoddy, no icon on the cover, whether an X or a Marvel Knights, will make it sell more than it deserves to. It's not 1993 anymore, and it's about time Marvel started facing friggin' reality. As for GRAVITY itself, it continues to be a fun, by-the-books tale about an inexperienced rookie hero's first foray into the MU. I might add with 5 issues to tell a tale instead of 6, more happens in one issue of GRAVITY than usually happens in 2 issues of most other books. If I wanted to be pompus, I'd call this the "prenulimate" chapter, but I won't. Basically, still realing from his losses as Gravity, Greg's quit the superhero game for weeks, content with living college life and dating Lauren, who's eager to pull him out of his "midwestern" shell and enjoys romantic strolls and watching old B-movies. However, when Grenwich Guardian literally travels across the city screaming for Gravity's help, Greg reluctantly answers the call. I'd say this issue had Gravity at his MOST naive; he's so quick to trust the Guardian that he's easily manipulated into stealing something from him (hilariously, as the boss of the facility gave his men a lecture about guarding their tech from metahumans), and any reasonable person would smell something fishy from Gaurdian. How did he vanish last issue so cleanly if he was "mortally wounded"? Why is he lecturing Gravity about "watching his back" when HE abandoned Gravity? And what hero asks someone to steal something and knows all-too-much about Black Death? I looked for excuses for why Gravity would be so naive, and could barely find any. It just felt a little awkward. Alas, while out with Gaurdian, he skipped a date with Lauren, who proves not to be NEARLY as patient as many of Peter Parker's girlfriends and promptly dumps him, which is pretty realistic. Greg's naturally devistated, and copes by skipping school and acting out his anger as a hero, pummeling many muggers in a two-page splash montage (as well as Shocker and Whirlwind). His grades slip and he's facing failing all his classes, and his teacher answers his confused status with "welcome to the real world", and that's sort of what GRAVITY is about in a nutshell; a story about how our often overly-ambitious and unrealistic dreams meet brutal reality, and we question whether it was ever worth having them. At the end, though, Gravity is easily led into a trap by Guardian, who turned out to be Black Death after all (something I predicted last issue, but was really a no-brainer that anyone should have saw coming), who now has the very device to beat him with. It seems like a lot of hassle for Black Death to do this to snare one "guppy fish" hero, but maybe there's more than meets the eye here. Or maybe he needs to vent on SOMEONE after being on the verge of defeat from a C-Lister like Rage in issue #1. A stress-free pleasure as always, even if it's pretty straightfoward and predictable.

ULTIMATE X-MEN #63: With a cover that brilliantly homages a classic Uncanny X-Men cover, this story continues on Vaughan's "Magnetic North" story. Vaughan naturally pulls triple duty, having countless characters doing stuff, whether they're X-Men, Alex's ad-hoc squad or even Ultimates leading Longshot into his new prison digs, alongside other captured Vaughan-rogues like Mr. Sinister and Lady Deathstrike. He's still getting all his ducks in a row for what promises to be an explosive climax before he's forced to take a backseat to Singer & Co. Or at least I hope it is. If anything hinders Vaughan here, though, it's still his action scenes. They get very predictable. They go like this; team of heroes line up, state their actions before actually DOING anything, and then get dropped one by one, as whatever enemies are intended to be beaten also state their actions before DOING anything and being dropped, all with usually one attack. Why is Storm threatening Northstar with a lightening bolt at all when he's holding Kitty, who'd get zapped, too? It reminded me of turn-based combat in an RPG more than a fluid fight. Still, the issue of the issue was Cyclops still being torn about how he feels about Lorna and Alex, and as he TKO's Sunspot decisively, he seems to "let" Alex defeat him. Logan and Kurt beat Canonnball off panel, but by then, their squad is beaten and Alex is still gunning for the Triskalon, which is being guarded by Jean, Colossus, and Iceman, before they're joined by the Ultimates. Mystique hints to Forge of their plans as Magneto and Polaris seem to be bonding, or at least the former is playing on the emotions of the latter to get her onto his side. Oh, and Angel & Dazzler talk and make out in the sky and really don't do much but appear. I enjoyed the issue despite it's flaws, as at least Vaughan can be accused of cramming too much into each issue, which is better than being too slow. Still, it naturally leaves the finale with some hefty shoes to fill, successfully satisfying the storyline. Millar had issues with his climaxes and Vaughan's been a little better, but often seems better in stuff like RUNAWAYS. Still, another solid issue of Ultimate X-Men from the best writer the title's had since Millar, who is certainly capable of more nuanced writing. Even if it takes a scorecard to keep track of all the figures.

 

[Marcdachamp]

The Pulse- PICK OF THE WEEK! Gaydos is back, GAYDOS IS BACK! :does a jig:. Oh MAN has this book needed Gaydos. After the very "blah" Secret War, and the very cool House of M tie in, Bendis gets back to our main characters. It's like Alias again, but without the swearing. Oh, and Ben Urich and... D-Man? Man, Jan REALLY has crappy fashion sense. It's nice to see this book complementing New Avengers. Reminds me of the good old days between Alias and DD. 9/10

New Thunderbolts- LAST PAGE OF THE WEEK! Ha ha, all kidding aside, I was wondering when we'd see HIM again. Big things coming, you can just tell. A nice relief after the craptitude that was last month's tale. Nicieza even irons out what I was SURE was a glaring continuity error (so very well done, too). Photon's new look is great. Much better than the previous "glowing naked guy" approach. My only complaint is that Killgrave gets taken down like a punk. Granted he IS a punk, but a bigger battle would have been better. Just felt rushed to me. Other than that, solid. 9/10

Allstar Batman- I REFUSE to type the rest of that title. Oh sure, I've spent more time *****ing about typing it, but it's all principal, you know? Anyhoo, that Frank miller writes one crazy Batman. Real crazy. I felt like I missed an issue, because, to be quite frank, his desire to make Grayson Robin seemed rushed and out of place. "Hey, this kid's parents just got gunned down, I'm gonna make him my ward!". BUT, that's not to say I didn't enjoy it. Jim Lee's art is breathtaking, and the whole thing is just quite fun. 8/10

MK Spiderman- An interesting close. This arc ended much better than it started. Yeah, it was nothing that will go down in the annals of Spidey, but I've read worse Spider-tales. 8/10

X-Men- Larocca's art seems better this arc (feels like a downward spiral lately), but Milligan's still off. This issue is much better than the last arc already, but I really can't stand what he's done with this team. If I wanted to read incessant whining I'd post on a f... hey, look at that, I'm ranting. 7/10

Marvel Nemesis- Blah. Like the rest of the story. It has its moments, but it's like reading the story for a fighting game, heh. If they'd actually gotten Jae Lee to do it, I might enjoy it more, but instead they settled for someone close. Cheap bastards. Hopefully the videogame is better. Sadly, it looks like Pak won't work in Venom or Magneto, two of the game's more interesting choices... 6/10

Also picked up:
House of M #1: Joe MAD varient- I'm a MAD ****e, ok? It was too pretty to pass up...

 

[Lackey]

It's DECOMPRESSION.

You say decompressed, Marcdachamp says rushed... hmmm

Because surely, the JLA is no match for a fish-guy and an overrated martial artist who throws Batarangs.

umm... there's also Martian Manhunter, you know, the guy Superman called one of the most powerful beings in the planet in that same issue.

 

[Marcdachamp]

You say decompressed, Marcdachamp says rushed... hmmm





umm... there's also Martian Manhunter, you know, the guy Superman called one of the most powerful beings in the planet in that same issue.

His recruitment of Robin IS rushed. It's like Batman doesn't even think, he simply enlists him.

 

[roach]

wasnt that pretty much how it happened

 

[Marcdachamp]

wasnt that pretty much how it happened

Didn't Dick WANT to be Bruce's partner? I thought he convinced Bruce, not the other way around.

 

[Lackey]

His recruitment of Robin IS rushed. It's like Batman doesn't even think, he simply enlists him.

I agree with you... it's almost like he had it planned before Robin's parents died.


but still, I do like the pacing and I don't feel it's decompressed at all.

 

[Dread]

The problem with Decompression is that the overall flow of the plot per chapter is slow, but individual elements can be rushed. An EASY example of this is some 6-part arc for some comic where the climax felt unbelieveably rushed and quick, despite the writer having half a year to tell and pace the tale. Just because elements are rushed doesn't mean the story itself is.

As for Robin, some could agrue that the entire CONCEPT of "the teenage sidekick" is a horribly outdated concept in modern superheroics, even superheroes that used to have them. Note that in the Golden Age, many heroes were competing with each other, and as one of them had a sidekick, they soon all had sidekicks. Green Arrow had Speedy, Aquaman had Aqualad, Wonder Woman had Wonder Girl, Sandman had Sandy, Capt. America had Bucky, Human Torch had Toro, etc. The sidekick was merely a child-like version of the hero who was meant to allow the audience, who were assumed to be roughly the age of the sidekick, an entry into the superhero's world. Few 11 year olds could identify with Batman on the same level as they may have with Robin or Speedy. Male superheroes with sidekicks also assumed that fatherly role to the sidekick and usually "knew best", and so a partnership adventure was sort of like a "spending time with dad". Recall, this WAS the Golden Age.

Come the Silver Age, this started to decline with the arrival of some younger, less perfect heroes who brought angst. Stan Lee obviously felt that sidekicks were outdated, as he killed Bucky off-panel pretty quickly in THE AVENGERS #4 and used that death to add a layer of angst to Steve Rogers (even though Rick Jones, ironically, played the occasional sidekick role to both Cap and The Hulk). During this time, many of DC's older teen heroes started departing from their older male "partners" and forming their own team, the Teen Titans, to better allow them to become like other young, angsty heroes stepping into their own, like Spider-Man and the X-Men.

But after the Silver Age ended in the 80's, sidekicks had even less of a role. You hardly saw any NEW heroes have any sidekicks around that era, with some minor exceptions (Moon Knight, perhaps, even though Midknight wasn't officially decreed his sidekick and may have merely been planted there so he could later become a brainwashed cyborg foe with some emotional attachment to MK). True, there were new Robin's, but that was merely carrying on with a status quo.

The question is: If there NEVER had been a Robin, would Miller be anxious to recreate him? Would he really give his gritty, dark, borderline insane version of Batman a compulsion to make a pre-teen boy his partner if it'd NEVER happened before in mythos? Would any writer? I doubt it. Therefore, you have to accept Batman's "directive" to making Grayson his partner merely an homage to that golden yesteryear, not something that by itself makes a whole lot of sense. In ALL-STAR B&R, Miller has tried to make some urgency of the matter; Grayson was about to be executed by corrupt cops, and his parents were just killed in front of him, like what happened to Wayne. But the point was that Grayson seemed to have Wayne's attention at the circus all along before his parents were killed, which brings on that "borderline pedophile" notion, which isn't anything new, since Miller brought that up with Carrie in THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and DK2. Heck, his version of Batman had no qualms with allowing Carrie to get brutally beaten if it meant a crucial distraction. "She's a tough girl, she'll live," he'd grumble, or words to that effect.

 

[King_Mungi]

Because surely, the JLA is no match for a fish-guy and an overrated martial artist who throws Batarangs. Still, quite a good, rollicking issue that keeps things taunt with a very misleading cover.

Ummm...Aquaman is physically one of the strongest heroes in the DCU. He lifted an enite city block under water. Plus his body is incredibly durable, which is able to sustain millions of tons of pressure from the water. Furthermore, with his new hand he has heightened telepathy [if he truely focused can cause you to have a seizure], control of water, healing powers he can use on him or others and he doesn't "dry" out anymore.

God! Aquaman is truely underated and the but of jokes when he shouldn't be. Damn Superfriends.

Here is what I bought/thought.

Action Comics #831
Art: 8/10
Story: 6/10
Well I was expecting much more with the Superman and Black Adam battle, and the Zoom and Bizzaro race. It was very jumpy and Jimmy Olsen looked like he was 12 years old. It was an all right issue; nice to see Black Adam still has morals and such. It was good, but could have been much better.

Aquaman #22
Art: 6.5/10
Story: 8/10
The more I pick up more of this series the more I see Aquaman as a true badass. The way Aquaman beat Eel and the splash picture afterwards was awesome. The battle between them near the end was incredible; this is a truly underrated series. This is why I buy comics in the first place, their fun.

All-Star Batman and Robin #2
Art: 8.5/10
Story: 5/10
Ummm….well this Batman is definitely a new take. I really don’t like this, he is a dick, aggressive, insane, twisted [sounds like normal Bats], a drill instructor, murderer, etc. [oooook, now were going into unfamiliar territory] and most importantly. How could he grow a 5 o’clock shadow in mere minutes when the previous issue he was clean-shaven? Madness I say. Anyways not much happened, other than talking in the Batmobile, which can

Spoiler

fly

. Overall I expected more from this series. I may pick up issue #3 just to see Robin’s costume, since I have seen one picture from Lee and Robin has a new take on his costume. Oh well, we shall see.


Firestorm #17
Art: 7/10
Story: 8/10
Actually the first Firestorm issue I picked up from the new direction and it wasn’t bad. We learned who was in the chamber with him in Villains United #4 (

Spoiler

names Gehenna

and she isn’t bad. Anyways lots of fight scenes, new mysteries arising…a not bad issue.

JLA #118
Art: 8/10
Story: 9/10
WOOOOO, great issue because one character I wanted to see kicked ass.

Spoilers:

Spoiler

-Despero and J'onn are still fighting and he is about to kill him, when Despero gets a rebar right though his shoulder.
-The person who threw it was none other than...dun dun dun... Aquman coming in with a badass comment.
-Aquaman then hits him so hard he goes right through a boat and into the water and once again makes another badass comment "MAKE. HIM. BLEED" getting multiple sharks to rip Despero apart
-They start to fight underwater and Aquaman is even choking him, and is dodging his eye lazers easily. J'onn comments "Remember...Despero is a telepath. If he can't subdue you physically, he will do everything in his power to take over your mind". Once again Aquaman makes another badass comment and says "let him try" and punches Despero so hard he is shot out of the water like a missle.
-Now both J'onn and him try to attack him physically and that's how it ends
-We later learn that they lost the battle and he is using them as chess peices, Aquaman as the king, J'onn as the rook and at the very end he controls another DC hero.....none other than Batman, making him his knight

Still a badass showing for Aquaman.

JSA #77
Art: 7/10
Story: 8/10
A consistent good book and in this issue we have Hal Jordan and Airwave [looks like Black Vulcan] and Donna Troy guest staring. Most of the members of the JSA are healing or other missions and gone missing so the remaining members has to figure out what to do.

Spoiler

Hal, Airwave and Alan Scott meet Donna Troy at New Cronus and she tells them the Titans of Myth fled this universe declaring it’s about to end [kinda ruined the last issue of Return of Donna Troy…or maybe I missed it. She is going to travel to the center of it and confront the problem head on. So that’s why her, Supergirl and Firestorm are going into space during the Crisis.

Rann/Thanagar War #5
Art: 8/10
Story: 8/10
Good issue, don’t need to say much but I knew

Spoiler

Hawkwoman [Shayera]

was going to die.


Weapon X: Days of Future Now #3
Art: 6/10
Story: 4/10
Blah! This story is messed, and it did have showings of members from Alpha Flight and that made me happy. However,

Spoiler

with Wolverine making the new X-Men [Sunfire, Aurora, Juggernaut, Mystique, Archangel, Deadpool, Agent Zero and not sure who the other guy is] to fight Weapon X I expected them not to die in the same issue they were introduced. I’m sure they will appear in the next issue, but the timeline of when effects occur in this series is all messed up. Aurora having a third personality now?…oooook.

 

[Dread]

Ummm...Aquaman is physically one of the strongest heroes in the DCU. He lifted an enite city block under water. Plus his body is incredibly durable, which is able to sustain millions of tons of pressure from the water. Furthermore, with his new hand he has heightened telepathy [if he truely focused can cause you to have a seizure], control of water, healing powers he can use on him or others and he doesn't "dry" out anymore.

God! Aquaman is truely underated and the but of jokes when he shouldn't be. Damn Superfriends.

Yeah, SUPERFRIENDS did ruin him. I stated Aquaman had some pretty cool moments in JLA #118. Don't overestimate my sarcasm. Just it really shouldn't be a problem for most of the JLA to take down J'onn, Aquaman, and Batman, really. They're outnumbered 2-1 for chrissakes. Even if they're "holding back" because they're pals. But, Batman has "fanboy aura" like Wolverine and if Despero were smart, he'd combine the telepathy of himself, J'onn, and Aquaman to just take over the whole league and instantly win, and if so, why bother taking Batman? But, we'll see where it goes. I did enjoy the issue and Aquaman's moments. But he'll never be "hot". Ever. It's just a fact of life.

 

[King_Mungi]

Yeah, SUPERFRIENDS did ruin him. I stated Aquaman had some pretty cool moments in JLA #118. Don't overestimate my sarcasm. Just it really shouldn't be a problem for most of the JLA to take down J'onn, Aquaman, and Batman, really. They're outnumbered 2-1 for chrissakes. Even if they're "holding back" because they're pals. But, Batman has "fanboy aura" like Wolverine and if Despero were smart, he'd combine the telepathy of himself, J'onn, and Aquaman to just take over the whole league and instantly win, and if so, why bother taking Batman? But, we'll see where it goes. I did enjoy the issue and Aquaman's moments. But he'll never be "hot". Ever. It's just a fact of life.

Yeah I was taking your sarcasm as he is completely useless and all he can do it "Talk to the fish". Concerning the upcoming fight...Bah! I'm not even factoring Batman in this fight. Aquaman and J'onn telepathy will put the JLA at a huge disadvantage. Plus both Aquaman and J'onn are the heavy weights in strength. It will be a good fight.

Your right, Arthir probably won't ever he "hot", and it's a shame since I was one of the people who use to mock him all the time. However, I started to pick up the new Aquaman series [starting off with the one with the cover of him beating up Superman] and then I started to buy the older issues and they are good. He has done so many badass things all the time, it's a shame he doesn't get respect. He's now one of my favorite characters believe it or not.

 

[Lackey]

Yeah, SUPERFRIENDS did ruin him. I stated Aquaman had some pretty cool moments in JLA #118. Don't overestimate my sarcasm. Just it really shouldn't be a problem for most of the JLA to take down J'onn, Aquaman, and Batman, really. They're outnumbered 2-1 for chrissakes. Even if they're "holding back" because they're pals. But, Batman has "fanboy aura" like Wolverine and if Despero were smart, he'd combine the telepathy of himself, J'onn, and Aquaman to just take over the whole league and instantly win, and if so, why bother taking Batman? But, we'll see where it goes. I did enjoy the issue and Aquaman's moments. But he'll never be "hot". Ever. It's just a fact of life.

it sounds like you never read Joe Kelly's "Trial by Fire" arc in JLA... Superman doesn't call MM one of the most powerful beings on the planet for nothing, he practically took down the entire JLA singlehandedly.

As for why those 3 were chosen, other than MM, I believe it's because they weren't with the other JLA members at the time not because they're special to Despero... he plans on taking out the whole JLA, he just happened to start with them.

 

[Brainiac 8]

To be honest I have not been a fan of what they have done in Ultimate X-Men so far, but Vaughn is making one heck of a go at it, I am actually really enjoying this arc. Magneto is a little overused in my book, but he is making the story mucho interesting.



You are right about the uninteresting fight scenes, by the way the cover was I was hoping for a no hold barred drag out fight, but we got two blasts and a pipe across the head. I mean COME ON!!!!

Good stuff other than that though!

 

[Dread]

Yeah I was taking your sarcasm as he is completely useless and all he can do it "Talk to the fish". Concerning the upcoming fight...Bah! I'm not even factoring Batman in this fight. Aquaman and J'onn telepathy will put the JLA at a huge disadvantage. Plus both Aquaman and J'onn are the heavy weights in strength. It will be a good fight.

Your right, Arthir probably won't ever he "hot", and it's a shame since I was one of the people who use to mock him all the time. However, I started to pick up the new Aquaman series [starting off with the one with the cover of him beating up Superman] and then I started to buy the older issues and they are good. He has done so many badass things all the time, it's a shame he doesn't get respect. He's now one of my favorite characters believe it or not.

I'm not really factoring in Batman in that fight, either. But I'm sure he'll be a challenge to some members of the JLA, because of his gadgets, prowess, and the fact that he's like DC's Wolverine; overrated and overpowered AT TIMES. I hope it'll be a decent fight, but considering J'onn has a weakness to Fire that's easily exploited, and Aquaman's no match for Hal or Superman, and the fact that we're talking about 3 on 6 (not counting Despero himself), well, it seems rather lopsided. But the rest of the story has been good and this little thing itself was a little unexpected after the quick defeat of the Secret Society. Unless Despero uses the "psychic option", he's all but asking for defeat. Not rare in villians.

I don't have anything personal against Aquaman or anything, but he'll never outlive the stereotypes and comments. I mean, aside for this storyline, he's had ZERO impact on the whole "Infinite Crisis" storyline so far to the best of my knowledge; no OMAC has attacked him and so forth. I was frankly pleased that Johns & Heinberg at least remembered he existed and had him show up, even if his "cool moments" were for naut.

it sounds like you never read Joe Kelly's "Trial by Fire" arc in JLA... Superman doesn't call MM one of the most powerful beings on the planet for nothing, he practically took down the entire JLA singlehandedly.

As for why those 3 were chosen, other than MM, I believe it's because they weren't with the other JLA members at the time not because they're special to Despero... he plans on taking out the whole JLA, he just happened to start with them.

Nope, never read "Trial by Fire". Never read JLA on a monthly basis until this "fallout from IDENTITY CRISIS" story started, and I doubt I'll be continuing afterwards. My interest in DC is mostly fueled by the cartoons and I've only hopped on for INFINITE CRISIS, because unlike HOUSE OF M, I feel it may actually go somewhere genuinely interesting. Or at least have a lot of slaughter, which can be amusing, too (just ask Mark Millar).

Those're also good reasons for why Despero took those members, too; convience (plus his own personal vendetta against J'onn).

And now for an addition:

DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT CONTINUED...:

FOOLKILLER #1-10: Flashback to 1990-1991. Marvel, and in fact the entire comic book industry, were selling at a rate that they wouldn't be selling at since, or at least a good 14-15 years later. Stuff like MEGAMAN 3, DARKHAWK, and SLEEPWALKER were all fresh and new. CAPTAIN PLANET was still fresh on network TV. And I would have been a wee lad of 8-9 years of age. But that was when this ten issue "maxi" series (what they called mini's that stretched longer than 3-6 issues back then) came out; if I recall, Foolkiller even got his own MARVEL UNIVERSE SERIES I trading card under "Rookies 1990", along with Deathlok, the New Warriors, and the Ketch Ghost-Rider. I'd actually heard about this series from THE APPENDIX TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE website (whose runners now help with the newer generation OFFICIAL HANDBOOKS for Marvel) from a profile of this version of Foolkiller and a recommendation. And as I saw the whole series in a baggie being offered for $10 at last Saturday's BIG APPLE CON, I couldn't resist.

Besides an interesting and due flashback to the early 90's in terms of storytelling, Steve Gerber & J.J. Birch tell a story about, basically, a tragic man (Kurt Gerhardt) whose life is hitting the crapper taking on the mantle of the psycho vigilante Foolkiller after coming into contact with the second Foolkiller (Greg Salinger), who's currently locked up in a mental hospital. The story does reveal it's age with their now-primitive use of computer "message boards" and "modems" as being advanced, as well as some various references and so on. On the other hand, one issue deals with the rapid rise of the first Iraq war with Bush Sr, the "Gulf War", which has issues that for now once again have glaring simularities. It would be too easy to describe this story as one that justifies, perhaps, becoming a vigilante to "exterminate fools" with a disintegrator gun. But, hasn't Marvel always condoned this stuff from heroes? At this time, Punisher had two titles and Wolverine was hardly mericful to hapless ninja. However, we see Gerhardt's life twist and turn, and his psyche flex, stretch, and even snap as he engages on his mission, moving from petty "fools" like muggers and drug dealers to high level corrupt politicians, whose ties to the underworld emerge. Even law-abiding folks who are greedy, selfish, etc are deamed "fools" and blasted away. Many of us may have felt some of the same things Gerhardt did when encountering random schmucks in life. The story has an ending, but one that easily left ground open for Gerhardt to return one day, and aside for an appearence by Spider-Man around issue #8, virtually no other hero appeared (aside for a comparison to the Punisher from one of Foolkiller's many victims).

It's not an award winning sort of story, but it still entertained me. I especially liked the refreshing course on the older styles of storytelling; MANY panels per page. We rail about decompressed stories, but perhaps I think the current art styles of the time are as much to blame as the writers. Ever since American comics started imitating Manga in terms of art by around the mid-late 90's, they've all incorporated the notion of the typical page having 5 panels or less, often with 1-2 taking up much, if not all, of the page. With only 22 pages a month, this doesn't leave a lot of a window. But in the older style, each page could have as many as 8-10 panels a page, which allowed for 10 issues of story in 1991 to be the equalavent of maybe 11-12 issues of story in 2005. While in theory adopting manga storytelling techniques isn't bad, one has to recall that Manga is a medium where the storyteller can count on having maybe 80-100 pages a month, or more, to tell a chapter. That's significantly more than 22-35 and thus allows their style to still tell more story per month than adopting it here. When Marvel reprinted some of the Spider-Man 70's Manga in 22 page chunks, one could perhaps see how slowly each arc moved; very little happened in each issue. Just a point I felt I'd like to ponder. I mean, some things work better for, say, TV or movies than in comics, and vice versa. Ergo, would it be too radical to consider that some Manga storytelling techniques work better for Manga than American comics? And this has more to do with "big eyes, small mouth".

The con sold FOOLKILLER as a set and was one of at least 3 seperate tables offering it. If you can find this deal for $10 or so (cover price is $1.75 an issue, isn't that a timewarp), it's not a bad little read. At least if you don't mind being reminded of how old you are.

 

[King_Mungi]

I'm not really factoring in Batman in that fight, either. But I'm sure he'll be a challenge to some members of the JLA, because of his gadgets, prowess, and the fact that he's like DC's Wolverine; overrated and overpowered AT TIMES. I hope it'll be a decent fight, but considering J'onn has a weakness to Fire that's easily exploited, and Aquaman's no match for Hal or Superman, and the fact that we're talking about 3 on 6 (not counting Despero himself), well, it seems rather lopsided. But the rest of the story has been good and this little thing itself was a little unexpected after the quick defeat of the Secret Society. Unless Despero uses the "psychic option", he's all but asking for defeat. Not rare in villians.



I don't have anything personal against Aquaman or anything, but he'll never outlive the stereotypes and comments. I mean, aside for this storyline, he's had ZERO impact on the whole "Infinite Crisis" storyline so far to the best of my knowledge; no OMAC has attacked him and so forth. I was frankly pleased that Johns & Heinberg at least remembered he existed and had him show up, even if his "cool moments" were for naut.

Actually Aquaman is in fact a match for them, due to his telepathy. If he focused on them he could give them a seizure and Superman is not the best person to block any mental attacks seeing he is so easily controlled. All of them excluding Batman are powerful physics that alone will give them the edge. Now will they be able to concentrate and use their full powers in "zombie" mode. I don't know. It will be a good fight and I'm sure Aquaman will suprize everyone.

Next issue, he is going to be attacked by an OMAC. He has had so far little to do with the Crisis, but now that's changing. I'm sure the Spectre will go after him and Tempest soon.

 

[Lady Stormcrow]

Rann/Thanagar War #5
Art: 8/10
Story: 8/10
Good issue, don’t need to say much but I knew Hawkwoman [Shayera] was going to die.

Holy Wonkabar!!
Now I know why I should stop reading spoiler tags.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Didn't Dick WANT to be Bruce's partner? I thought he convinced Bruce, not the other way around.

To me, this is creepy, child stalker type Batman. You go away thinking, "Man, this guy is really screwed up in the head." The line between hero and villian is being walked with a tightrope. And, you do go away from book 2 thinking...entire book takes place in a car ride...and not even a full car ride. Then, tack on the notion that we wait every 2 months for another issue to come out. I was pleased that I didn't resort to their money-grubbing ways, and only bought the Batman cover. These darn companies are getting greedy again, making the fans pay for more.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Am I the only one tired of the word, "decompression?"

 

[Dread]

Actually Aquaman is in fact a match for them, due to his telepathy. If he focused on them he could give them a seizure and Superman is not the best person to block any mental attacks seeing he is so easily controlled. All of them excluding Batman are powerful physics that alone will give them the edge. Now will they be able to concentrate and use their full powers in "zombie" mode. I don't know. It will be a good fight and I'm sure Aquaman will suprize everyone.

Next issue, he is going to be attacked by an OMAC. He has had so far little to do with the Crisis, but now that's changing. I'm sure the Spectre will go after him and Tempest soon.

I suppose telepathy is a bigger deal in DC than Marvel because over there it seems to be a much rarer power. Although no one thought to transfer Aquaman's "talks to fish" ability into full blown telepathy until the 90's.

I remember in DC/MARVEL: ALL ACCESS #3 I think, Jean Grey kept Superman at bay for the entire fight with her telepathy, which conviently allowed the X-Men a better shot against the JLA than they deserved. Always thought it was plausible, if not a little boring. Sometimes I can be crude. But, yeah, Superman's been mind-controlled a few times recently.

As for how they fight in "zombie" mode, it usually depends on the controller and how well they can split their focus to allow all their victims autonomy. Even a vicious controller may not be able to split his focus so well as to put them at 100%, especially against victims who can resist with strong wills or their own telepathy, which all three have (J'onn/Aquaman have both, and Batman has the will alone). There's often been a difference between posessing hapless civilians and posessing superheroes because of that "willpower" stuff. That fact should also make posessing a Green Lantern rather difficult, as willpower is the ore for their abilities.

OKay, so they're involing him in IC. Maybe now WIZARD will stop dissing him about his non-use for that stuff.

Holy Wonkabar!!
Now I know why I should stop reading spoiler tags.

Indeed. They can be a harsh mistress. Rather odd they'd take that course of action, though, considering that JLU's still hot and on the air.

 

[King_Mungi]

I suppose telepathy is a bigger deal in DC than Marvel because over there it seems to be a much rarer power. Although no one thought to transfer Aquaman's "talks to fish" ability into full blown telepathy until the 90's.

I remember in DC/MARVEL: ALL ACCESS #3 I think, Jean Grey kept Superman at bay for the entire fight with her telepathy, which conviently allowed the X-Men a better shot against the JLA than they deserved. Always thought it was plausible, if not a little boring. Sometimes I can be crude. But, yeah, Superman's been mind-controlled a few times recently.

As for how they fight in "zombie" mode, it usually depends on the controller and how well they can split their focus to allow all their victims autonomy. Even a vicious controller may not be able to split his focus so well as to put them at 100%, especially against victims who can resist with strong wills or their own telepathy, which all three have (J'onn/Aquaman have both, and Batman has the will alone). There's often been a difference between posessing hapless civilians and posessing superheroes because of that "willpower" stuff. That fact should also make posessing a Green Lantern rather difficult, as willpower is the ore for their abilities.



OKay, so they're involing him in IC. Maybe now WIZARD will stop dissing him about his non-use for that stuff.

Yeah it is rare and can even stop the most powerful oppoents. Also we all have ancestory from the ocean so it should have been mentioned a long time ago that he could use telepathy on humans to a higher degree.

Never picked that up, not a huge fan of crossovers due to they usually get the powers wrong. Indeed he has by Max Lord, and Poison Ivy to name the latest two.

Indeed that's why I mentioned if they could focus or not. Should be interesting to see.

I don't read Wizard. What have they been saying?

 

[Manwithoutpeer]

Green Arrow #54 - All in all this was a pretty good comic IMO. The art is very mediocre but...he is being replaced next issue by Ron Garney !! Winnick's characterization of Ollie is dead on IMO, and I absolutely love seeing GA and Black Lightning together(especially after what happened to BL's niece). The only problem with this issue was the battle between the 2 Dr Lights. It was waaaaaay to drawn out and I'm sorry but I am sick to death of Dr Light in the 1st place. The cover is misleading because Mirror Master only appears briefly but he is a great villian and next issue should be very interesting.
**6/10

 

[roach]

Just read Batman and Robin 2...holy *****....the whole time reading this I am like what is going on. Until I realized that perhaps Miller was doing the one thing that should be done but is never seen when looking for a sidekick....he is mentally conditioning him. Just like a drill instructor Batman is trying to break him down and then build him up into a sidekick.Batman doesnt really know how to deal with people.... Miller writing Batman is awesome.....His Gotham is one of the lower rings of hell and his Batman just happens to be one of the bigger demons.

 

[SpideyInATree]

SIAT's funkalicious comics week!

NIGHTWING # 112 -- Deathstroke vs. Nightwing!!!! No, not really. But Dick goes after him. Turns out Deathstroke has an assignment for Dick, and that's to train his daughter, Rose. For some reason Dick is wearing a new costume, it's red with a half mask. Kind of looks cool but no explanation about it what so ever. Dick and Rose break Sophia out of the foster home and take her to the Huntress but she kicks them out, and wants nothing to do with Dick's personal problems. At the end Dick tells Rose to keep quiet about Sophia and his personal life. Though Rose quickly betrays that by telling DADDY everything. Deathstroke says there is no personal life for Dick Grayson while training his daughter. Pretty decent. A lot better than the first few issues after Year One. Rose has a thing for Dick. Boy...the ladies do love Dick. 7.5/10

DAREDEVIL VS. PUNISHER # 4 OF 6 -- Hammerhead and Jackal are in jail. And that's just where the Jackal wants to be. He runs instructions through the jail to the outside world. DD and Punisher catch on quick. While DD warns the people involved with carrying the messages, Frank is killing them. DD tracks down Frank, but Punisher has a little trap set, unfortunately DD is ready for it with his heightened senses. Punisher accidentally shoots a bystander and leaves himself open for DD to take his ass DOWN!! There is that back story with the teenage kid and his family getting pushed around by thugs. The kid takes out two of the thugs with his gun. The cops are looking for him...but so is the mob. Decent stuff. The Daredevil and Punisher fight was freakin' awesome though. And they mentioned that Jackal had been dead, but don't explain any further. 8/10

TOXIN # 6 OF 6 -- Conclusion, baby. Razorfist kills Pat's dad as if Pat didn't need anymore crap in his life. Pat's wife sees him at the funeral and spits in his face for leaving them. Pat runs away and meets with Spidey about Razorfist. He wants Spidey there in case he goes too far and tries to kill Razorfist. Toxin goes after him and instead of killing Razorfist he rips off his razors, leaving him helpless pretty much. Spidey gives Pat props for standing up to Razorfist. Epilogue is Pat revealing he's Toxin to his wife...she promised not to scream...she broke the promise. This was a decent miniseries and I like the character of Pat/Toxin. Hopefully he keeps appearing in the Spidey books from time to time in the future. 7.5/10

MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN # 18 -- Conclusion to Wild Blue Yonder. The FF find the pod Thing knocked to another freakin' state, Louisana of all places, and Reed studies it further. Meanwhile Spidey is taking care of that blonde woman and The Owl. Absorbing Man crashes the party. He evades Spidey and goes after the escaping Owl. During the fight the blonde woman apparently drowns and dies. Ethan researches Skrulls and can't cope that he's one. Owl tries to find assassins to aid him with Absorbing Man but he opts to get SHIELD. Spidey shows up baiting Absorbing Man with The Owl and luring Absorbing Man into a warehouse where there are volitale chemicals which Absorbing Man...well, absorbs, and it blows him up. Spidey reports back to SHIELD with Owl in custody. That's when the report of Ethan comes over that he's wanting in the Baxter Building. Spidey gets the Avengers but Ethan is beating the crap out of them. Aunt May is watching and, for some reason, can tell Ethan is a good person and shows up to the fight. She talks him down as he slowly transforms into full Skrull form. Spidey tells Ethan he has a gift and can heal people. During Epilogue Reed informs Spidey that the info he got off the ship said it didn't program him with the power to heal. So how did he get the power to heal? This was a much better issue. In fact, this one and the one before it have been pretty good. Too bad the other four issues don't stack up with these. Hudlin isn't bad at all and Billy Tan was really getting into it...but he's done now. 7.5/10

ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN # 2 -- Damn, talk about freakin' NUTS! Pretty much the whole issue is Batman avoiding the police while he and Dick Grayson....BOND! And by bond I mean Bruce trying to scare the crap out of him and try to like mentally break him. Batman even slaps Dick at one point. I can see why people may not be into this but I got the point of it all. Batman's internal monologue was good. The whole time he's being maniacal and callous toward Dick he's damning himself for doing it to the kid, WHO JUST WATCHED HIS PARENTS SHOT! Batman tells Dick NEVER to trust the police, except one man...whom I'm thinking he's talking about Gordon I bet. But this was a lot better than the first issue. And the batmobile can apparently fly? That was really what struck me dumbfounded with this issue, that and the dramatic Vicki Vale fainting into "beast mode" Alfred's arms. Decent, but still waiting for this to start going somewhere besides Batman SLOWLY recruiting Dick Grayson as Robin. 7.5/10

ULTIMATE X-MEN # 63 -- Decent ish. Nick Fury was putting Longshot into his cell, introducing him to the other mutants on his floor, like Lady Deathstrike and Essex. Magneto and Polaris have a "moment" together. And the X-Men attempt to stop Alex, Sunspot, Cannonball, and Jean Paul. Unfortunately those guys OWN the X-Men. Though Alex says, "He put on a show for his teacher, but he's giving me a pass here. He wants me to rescue Lorna". So, apparently Scott purposely let himself get beat up by his brother? Northstar and Havok go on as Forge and Mystique apparently follow them. Jean, Iceman, and Colossus are waiting close by for the other X-Men team but that's when the Ultimates show up saying they'll take it from here. Things are picking up. Good stuff here. Vaughn hit on a lot of things in this issue and moves the story along well. 8/10

THE PULSE # 11 -- Well, they say Jessica Jones was supposed to have her baby, but she DOESN'T...she just goes into labor. Sheesh. Two main focuses here. One on Ben Urich investigating this robbery that was foiled by Daredevil, but it was far from Hells Kitchen. Soon it's discovered to be a former Avenger named D-Man, Demolition Man. He dresses in an old Daredevil costume with a Wolverine "hat" as Kat Farrell put it. The other part was Jessica Jones having lunch with Sue Richards about the worries of having a child with superheroes as parents. Blah, blah, blah. While some of it was slightly interesting it drug on TOOOO LONG! Ben Urich investigates further and finds out the store did get robbed and it looks as if this D-Man may have been the thief. Then Luke is with Ms. Marvel and his wife looking at costumes he could wear. Pretty funny actually, and that's when Jessica goes into labor. Sigh. I love The Pulse but this issue just didn't hit me well. The best parts was Ben Urich and the D-Man storyline. Other than that it was an utter borefest. Though The Thing was pretty funny in the beginning. Brownie points there. 7.5/10

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

It's that time of the week again! This week, I'm including not only Wednesday's comics, but the ones I bought Saturday and for my website. So, here they are!

BOUGHT:
Adventures of Captain America 4
Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix 1, 5
Adventures of the X-Men 1
All-Star Batman & Robin 2
Alpha Flight 53
Amazing Spider-Man Adventures in Reading
Avengers 186, 201, 213, 222, 223, 226, 231, 233-235, 237, 239, 240, 242
Avengers vol 3 #8
Avengers Annual 12, 19, 20
Avengers Terminatrix Objective 2, 3
Avengers Timeslip 1
Battlestar Galactica 3
Blade 1
Captain America vol. 1 #231, 233, 234, 238, 244, 246, 250, 259, 281, 286, 292, 332, 334, 359, 360,
Captain America The Medusa Effect 1
Conan 49
Daredevil vol 1. #231, 246, 248, 250, 252, 256, 276
Daredevil Annual 8
Daredevil The Man Without Fear 1
Daredevil Punisher 4
Darkness 12, 13, 23
Deadly Foes of Spider-Man 3
Deadpool vol. 1 #1-3
Defenders vol. 1 #106, 110-114, 117, 125, 129, 139
Doctor Strange vol. 1 #60, 62, 74
Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme Annual 2
Falcon 1
Fantastic Four 275. 382, 399
Fantastic Four Atlantis Rising 1, 2
FF: Franklin Richards Son of a Genius
Generation X 1
Gladiator/Supreme
Gravity 4
Incredible Hulk 264, 291, 395
Infinity Gauntlet 1
Infinity War 1
Ka-Zar The Savage 1
Man From Atlantis 2, 4
Man-Thing vol. 2 #1
Marvel Adventures 3
Marvel Knights 4 #22
Marvel Knights Spider-Man 18
Marvel Nemesis Imperfects 5
Marvel Premier 41, 43, 47, 48
Marvel Spotlight 17
Marvel Super Action 17, 35, 37
Marvel Tales 18, 55, 70-73, 97, 171
Marvel Tales Flip Book 3
Marvel Two-In-One Annual 5
Marvel Universe 1
Marvel Valentine Special 1
Marvel's Greatest Comics 66
Mega Morphs 3
Mutopia X 3
New Thunderbolts 12
NFL Superpro 2, 3, 5, 7
Nova vol. 1 #5, 7, 24
Official Handbook of the MU 3, 4
Omega The Unknown 3-6, 10
Powerman Iron Fist 121
Power Pack 6
Pulse 11
Punisher War Journal 7
Punisher/Batman
Real Ghostbusters 2-9, 11, 12, 25, 30-35, 37, 39, 58, 62, 69, 78
Secret Defenders 12
Secret Wars II 7, 8
Sensational She-Hulk 15
She-Hulk Ceremony 2
Sgt. Fury 131
Silver Surfer vol. 1 #75
Silver Surfer/Rune
Spectacular Spider-Man 32, 37, 41, 49, 54, 59, 82, 131-134, 137, 177, 188
Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 2
Spider-Man Mutant Agenda 3
Spider-Man Web of Doom 3
Spider-Man Unlimited 11
Spidey Super Stories 33
Spider-Woman 14
Squadron Supreme 4, 8, 12
Star Trek 15, 17
Tales to Astonish 6
Thor Blood Oath 1
Toxin 6
Ultimate Marvel 4
Ultimate X-Men 63
Uncanny X-Men 262, 280
Weapon X: D.O.F.N. 3
Web of Spider-Man 30
What If? vol. 1 #40
Wolverine vol. 1 #18
Wolverine In Global Jeopardy 1
X-Factor 26
X-Men 175
X-Men Classic 80
X-Men Classics 3
X-Men Early Years 12
X-Men/WildC.A.T.S Golden Age 3-D
X-Men Heroes for Hope
X-Men Unlimited 3

THOUGHT:
Adventures of Captain America 4 - An interesting trip down memory lane. This mini series depicts an early WWII battle between Cap & the Skull in which Skull succeeds in mentally cripling Cap using his own girlfriend against him! A definite romp and a must for anyone who loves the classic style comics.

Adventures of the X-Men 1 - A cheesy little adventure of Wolvie vs. the Hulk with X-Factor being manipulated by the Leader. Basically, if you remember the old X-Men Spaghettios cans that's what the artwork inside this book looks like. A fun one for the kiddies.

All-Star Batman & Robin 2 - What the high holy hell was that?! Batman is so incredibly out of character in this issue it's nuts! What the hell is Miller smoking? And on top of that, NOTHING happens. Bats traumatizes Dick further, rags on some cops, and flies away. If this is what Ultimate DC has to offer, I hope it's not gonna last that long.

Alpha Flight 53 - A good issue where we learn that Vindicator (or was it Guardian? Wish those two would stop exchanging names) actually had no hand in creating Wolverine. Meanwile, Wolvie has to help Box rescue the rest of Alpha Flight before they all get offed by an old foe.

Amazing Spider-Man Adventures in Reading - A prehistoric looking baddie transports Spidey and some teens through different books in this public service book. One interesting note to point out is that the Martians in their War of the Worlds encounter closely resembled the ones from the movie...at least in general shape. Kinda makes ya wonder if there was some inspiration drawn from here by Spielberg or what.

Avengers 213 - The courtmarshal of Yellowjacket! A pretty good issue showing just how far this former hero has fallen and the desperate measures he'd take to remain an Avenger, including almost killing his teammates and hitting Jan. Definitely the lowst point of the career of Hank Pym.

Avengers 239 - It's Assistant Editor's Month, and the Mighty Avengers team-up with...David Letterman? That's right, and old foe's out for revenge and attacks a bunch of second string Avengers as they help Wonder Man further his career. As far as AEMs go, this one wasn't all that funny. Now, maybe if they made Dave an honorary Avenger for clocking the bad guy...

Blade 1 - Blade's partners are dead, but his attempt at a normal life are thwarted just in time for Dracula to resurface. Way different than the movie Blade (which I prefer), but pretty good. In this issue, Blade gets the compass he has in the Spidey cartoon; although in the comic it's set to find witches and not vamps.

Daredevil Punisher 4 - Things heat up as Jackal reveals his true plans and Punny gets reckless. Can't wait to see how this' all gonna wrap up. And hopefully we'll get an explanation as to why Jackal ain't street pizza anymore.

Darkness 23 - Not bad. I'm sure I'd get it more if I was familiar with any of the characters featured. As it is I'm a volume behind. One thing that gets me though is the cover. Got a babe in a skank suit as usual, and yet not only does it seem odd for someone representing a religion to be dressing like that, but her suit inside the actual story was a lot more modest and functional. And they say Marvel has a problem with continuity...

Fantastic Four 275 - The infamous nudie issue! Shulkie gets caught sun bathing by a sleezy magazine publisher. Despite her best efforts to get the pictures back legally as Jennifer Walters and put the fear of God into him as Shulkie, he claims public domain and the pictures get published. Good thing the morons printing it color corrected the photos to look like a regular person, huh? A good, enjoyable issue. I was especially glad to get this one having read about it in a Wizard a couple years ago. Love when I do that.

FF: Franklin Richards Son of a Genius - This was a cute book. The artwork and character design reminded me a bit of Calvin and Hobbes, which was only a plus. Nice, light, fun little tales and H.E.R.B.I.E. looking cuter than ever. Seriously, guys, if they ever made a plush version of this H.E.R.B.I.E. your girlfriends would want one bad.

Generation X 1 - This issue was the typical first issue of a series, setting the stages and characters and introducing their arch villain. But, most of all, it showed...BACHALO CAN DRAW! Yes! Chris Bachalo, the crappiest of the crappy artists responsible for the AoA 10th Anniversary crap mini-series could actually draw GOOD characters! If he had kept this style up, I may've been more inclined to pick up Gen X regularly. But, as it stands, his "style" degraded around issue 8 of the series. Bachalo, WTF happened to you?!

Gravity 4 - Another good issue with a twist at the end! I kinda had a feeling something was up, but this took that feeling and ran all the way home with it! Can't wait for #5.

Marvel Knights 4 #22 - A Thing story this time around as we return to his old hood to deal with a Golem! You know, I wish we could get a definitive look for Jessica Jones. Every time I see her in a different comic she doesn't look like her other appearances!

Marvel Knights Spider-Man 18 - We conclude the Skrull crap, giving us a Shrek-ish ending. Meh. Substandard arc at best. I hope The Other picks this title up from the state of utter trash it's currently in.

Marvel Nemesis Imperfects 5 - And it all comes to a head. The baddies are all set, the good guys are transformed, and it's up to a small faction to save the world from the threat of the Imperfects. This has been pretty interesting and can't wait to see how it wraps up nor ties into the game. Although, won't be getting the game for quite a while...

Marvel Universe 1 - An all new tale of the classic Invaders as this anthology series was kicked off. Not too bad a story and decent art, was basically a set-up issue for #2. Unfortunately, like most 90s comics, this one didn't make it to the double digits.

Marvel Valentine Special 1 - Five tales of love as only Marvel can bring them. Spidey plays cupid with a pair and then has to UNDO all his help! Daredevil needs to deal with an abused girl and her boyfriend. Absorbing Man gives Titania a V-Day treat. Of course, Aphrodite has to get her licks in. And let's not forget Cyclops & Phoenix's little trip down memory lane of their romps in the future as Redd & Slim*.

Mega Morphs 3 - Interesting. Dr. Doom's the mastermind and now he's pissed off Doc Ock. Still dunno if I'm diggin the Power Rangers vibe. And what the hell is Ghost Rider doing there?!

New Thunderbolts 12 - Purple Man defeated! The real enemy revealed! Atlas in Photon's debt! This issue was worth it for the cover alone. However, I state once more; no one named Purple Man should be causing this much trouble. No way in hell!

Pulse 11 - This issue was another one where nothing major happened. And Wolverine looks like a doof on the cover. Plus, the return of D-Man?! Wonder where Bendis is going with this.

Punisher War Journal 7 - Read this in the TPB "The African Saga." Nice Wolverine vs. Punisher tale if you like watching those two tango.

Punisher/Batman - Punny's in Gotham to take out Jigsaw, and Bats is none too happy. Plus you know the Joker's gotta get his laughs in. For a pre-Marvel Knights Punisher tale, you'd never know it. Frank was nice and ruthless and Bats kicked some serious ass. Although, that damn Romita Jr. art. Ugh. Almost a perfect comic.

Real Ghostbusters - Read through most of these. Basically, the stories are a bit more simple and some even more childish than their NOW Comics counterparts. Slimer is more annoying than ever. Basically, while NOW felt like you were watching RGB, the Marvel UK's feel like you're watching Slimer! & RGB. You can find out more about these soon on the NYGB Comicguide.

Spider-Man Unlimited 11 - Not bad. I liked the first story a lot, it was funny. The second one was kinda blah. Another "Oh no, I gotta help but have no time to change into Spidey hope no one sees me" story.

Thor Blood Oath 1 - Not bad, a nice classic Thor tale. Good art, interesting story, let's see where this puppy goes!

Toxin 6 - An interesting character. Hopefully future appearances do him justice and they finally figure out EXACTLY what Toxin's gonna look like. Wouldn't mind another mini with the dude.

Weapon X: D.O.F.N. 3 - We get a little more of the backstory and a new X-Men! And then everyone dies. Depressing, ain't it?

What If? vol. 1 #40 - What if Dr. Strange had not become master of the mystic arts? Mordo becomes sorcerer supreme and of course the world goes to hell as it does in most What If? books. This was an interesting tale although Strange still eventually becomes the sorcerer supreme. Guess some things just can't be changed.

Wolverine vol. 1 #18 - Read this one in the Essential trades. Definitely some good Wolvie tales in his early days.

Wolverine In Global Jeopardy 1 - Wolverine, Ka-Zar, Shanna and Namor team up to find out why animals are disappearing around the globe. A nice little adventure to promote preserving the wilderness. Weak, of course, but what can you expect from one of these books?

X-Men Early Years 12 - Reprinting X-Men #12, the origin of Professor X and Juggernaut!

*See The Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix mini--Romancin' Ralph!

 

[Phaedrus45]

Didn't see anyone mention Breach #9 this week, and I know I'm not the only person reading this book. Anyway, after reading this title since issue #1 came out and wondering if I was going to continue, this issue makes me want to keep going on. The book is not fast paced. It's telling a story and you can't just pick up issue #9 and figure out what's going on. But, for those of you who have been reading it, that second to last page is just too much! The entire book is one that builds and builds, and you don't know where they are going with this side-story, but the payoff is excellent. I'm definitely staying on with this. 10/10