Bought/Thought for December 2, 2010 - SPOILERS!!!

[WOLVERINE25TH]

A few years ago back when I had a ton more time to write the things I wanna write, I was originally planning out a Wolverine series that picks up from the time Wolverine "died" in the 170s and took him on a new direction, which was time away from the X-Men and a return to his roots. He reclaimed Amiko fresh from her stint in Weapon X, tied up some loose ends from his run future writers never addressed, then returned to Madripoor to restore the Princess (since he regards the island as a vacation spot). New supporting cast would be introduced, and maybe some old friends returned.

One thing that sucks was the opening arc of Wolverine: Weapon X with the electric claw wannabes? That was an arc I had planned for my "run." Although they'd be traditionally clawed instead of electric, someone using both the original Weapon X project combined with what gave Deadpool his ability to heal. It was also gonna serve as my universe's introduction to X-23 (which is the only Wolverine-related character I like currently, when she's handled by a good writer).

 

[Shockdingo]

Man oh man oh Maaaaaan do I hear you guys on ol' Logan. It's sad what he's become, and it's so annoying. They've stripped him down so much that it's no wonder he's not the instant best seller he used to be.

The whole thing with "Best There Is" sounded like a stupid gimmick from the start, but the main fatal flaw was one simple fact. For ALL the violence hype (which, doesn't work for me, I'm fine with violent stories, but they have to be STORIES. I'm not plunking down $4 for just a glorified brawl week per week) it WASN'T a MAX TITLE. And the fact that places like CBR can show previews of Punisher etc without the "TOO GRAPHIC lolololol!" obscuring told me this was some (rather odd) hype. Also, why launch a new title now?

Ugh, some people say, when one complains of a character's over exposure, simply don't buy the book. In my case, it's not the fact that the character is appearing often that's a problem, it's rather that in order to keep up with demand, poor stories will be crafted and the book(s) will be outsourced to writers who don't have a proper grasp on the character.

Look at poor ol' Deadpool. I remember the days when he had the "must...boost...sales" picture on the upper left corner of the books and when he was still obscure to the general public. Once he started getting exposure due to the Activision titles as well as the animated Hulk vs appearance, that was fine. He wasn't EVERYWHERE and Cable and Deadpool was still running. After the relaunch they hit a reset on the character, injected a weird new gimmick (since when does Wade say "we?" He's not a symbiote /symbiont enhanced dude) and forgot about the end to 50. C and D 50 was a fantastic moment for the character. He got what he always wanted, some respect from the heroes and recognition that he's not a total moron. But after that, it's like it never happened, and now he's suddenly over his CRIPPLING fear of being seen without his mask. He's now just:
_meme_
_violence_
_crazy_

The previous Mark Waid, Joe Kelly, Gail Simone depth is gone or rather well hidden. And THAT my friends, is why I hate overexposure. It is simply poison.

 

[runawayboulder]

There is an easy fix for Wolverine. Remove him from every book he's currently in, including X-Men. Then give his book a capable writer like Ennis (or keep Aaron). If he gets scaled down, people will come back.

 

[kguillou]

Man i almost wish we could go back to the early 2000's where every marvel character only had ONE book dedicated to them instead of 100's. One Avengers book, one spiderman book, one wolverine book, one thor, one cap etc etc. This oversaturation thing needs to stop.

 

[imdaly]

Man i almost wish we could go back to the early 2000's where every marvel character only had ONE book dedicated to them instead of 100's. One Avengers book, one spiderman book, one wolverine book, one thor, one cap etc etc. This oversaturation thing needs to stop.

When was that??

 

[Tron Bonne]

Action Comics Annual was decent. I always tend to find these retconned connections between various characters a bit silly, so Lex randomly meeting Perry and impressing (a surprisingly boisterous) Darkseid as a downy-faced youth was a bit much for me. But the story was solid and Cornell gave us his standard, excellent Lex who's both arrogant and brilliant in all the right ways, so I was okay with it. The story with Ra's was a little less effective, told entirely through some overly poetic narration. Not sure if it was entirely worth the $5 price tag, but it was good overall.

Pretty much sums up how I felt on the issue. It was fun and all, but I was kind of expecting a little more based on the regular series.

Also, HFH is off to a good start. Really enjoyed the first issue. Is the whole, 'Hero. Are you for hire?' a regular line for the team series?

 

[kguillou]

When was that??

My bad, your right, spidey's always had multiple books. Still, im just trying to say marvel needs to scale back big time.

 

[Themanofbat]

Spidey has one book now...

 

[TimBisley]

And thank god for that.

 

[JewishHobbit]

Isn't there just a "Spider-Man" comic as well?

 

[hippie_hunter]

Man oh man oh Maaaaaan do I hear you guys on ol' Logan. It's sad what he's become, and it's so annoying. They've stripped him down so much that it's no wonder he's not the instant best seller he used to be.

The whole thing with "Best There Is" sounded like a stupid gimmick from the start, but the main fatal flaw was one simple fact. For ALL the violence hype (which, doesn't work for me, I'm fine with violent stories, but they have to be STORIES. I'm not plunking down $4 for just a glorified brawl week per week) it WASN'T a MAX TITLE. And the fact that places like CBR can show previews of Punisher etc without the "TOO GRAPHIC lolololol!" obscuring told me this was some (rather odd) hype. Also, why launch a new title now?

Ugh, some people say, when one complains of a character's over exposure, simply don't buy the book. In my case, it's not the fact that the character is appearing often that's a problem, it's rather that in order to keep up with demand, poor stories will be crafted and the book(s) will be outsourced to writers who don't have a proper grasp on the character.

Look at poor ol' Deadpool. I remember the days when he had the "must...boost...sales" picture on the upper left corner of the books and when he was still obscure to the general public. Once he started getting exposure due to the Activision titles as well as the animated Hulk vs appearance, that was fine. He wasn't EVERYWHERE and Cable and Deadpool was still running. After the relaunch they hit a reset on the character, injected a weird new gimmick (since when does Wade say "we?" He's not a symbiote /symbiont enhanced dude) and forgot about the end to 50. C and D 50 was a fantastic moment for the character. He got what he always wanted, some respect from the heroes and recognition that he's not a total moron. But after that, it's like it never happened, and now he's suddenly over his CRIPPLING fear of being seen without his mask. He's now just:
_meme_
_violence_
_crazy_

The previous Mark Waid, Joe Kelly, Gail Simone depth is gone or rather well hidden. And THAT my friends, is why I hate overexposure. It is simply poison.

It's not overexposure that has completely undone the progression Deadpool has made as a character and it's not overexposure that has turned him into a gimmick.

It all comes down to what Daniel Way has done with the character. He pretty much decided that Deadpool's excellent supporting cast just isn't worth it, thrown away all of Deadpool's progression as a character, and introduced his second internal personality (hence the "we") with no explaination (my best guess would be in the last issue of Cable & Deadpool when his mind came into contact with Dr. Doom's symbiote weapon and he attacked himself to rid of it, would that give me a No Prize ).

 

[hippie_hunter]

Isn't there just a "Spider-Man" comic as well?

That's part of Marvel's All Ages line, the same line that publishes "Super Heroes," the Super Hero Squad, and other kids books. Counting that as a real Spider-Man book is like counting Batman: The Brave and the Bold as a Batman book.

As for actual 616 Spider-Man books, they don't sell at all anymore. Web of Spider-Man and Peter Parker just got cancelled. So right now, there is just one 616 Spider-Man ongoing.

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

I always thought the other voice box was the result of his being merged with the other Deadpool at the end of Cable & Deadpool when it began. It seemed like a good set up for that.

 

[Shockdingo]

@hippie_hunter: dude good goood point. I was so in the dark about where Weasel, let alone BOB was during the first couple of issues. :/ Well, let's hope there's still a future for him, but I'm not sure what to expect once the movie really gets some steam going.

 

[Iron Man]

Hmm, I was reading some reviews of this week's comics and found something that I found quite interesting. Here's Newsarama's review of Wolverine: The Best There Is #1...

When you see the words “Wolverine” and “parental advisory” coupling the cover of a comic book, it would be wise to take caution. Not because of the possibly graphic material within (if you are weak to that) but because this is between an invitation and sort of an admission that what’s inside could be south of the brow. Wolverine is the best at what he does, as he’s repeated so many times. And this thing that Wolverine does is typically depicted as jabbing things until they resemble a used sponge and murmuring some cowboy songs to himself. Typically that doesn’t make for great story telling, for those who care about it at that point. Wolverine has balls, unarguably, but perhaps, just perhaps, despite all temptations to fill his book with red like an elevator from The Shining, Charlie Huston may just bother to include brains and heart.

Now now, don’t cry. There is violence, and blood, and even near encounters with Logan’s genitals, something had to earn the capitalized and partially underlined “NOT FOR KIDS” on the cover. But what I appreciate is while it is there, Huston is neither trying to romanticize it nor completely excuse it. Wolverine is violent, certainly, but violence is a last resort (or at least the resort of too many beers and too many chumps) and even Wolverine seems to display a lot of reservation and embarrassment over what he’s “best at.” Where I’m going with this is, even after years and years of over exposure is Huston actually finds something for Wolverine to do that doesn’t come off as entirely routine. You may just see Huston have Logan perform tasks you’ve never really considered, like dancing and using his claws for fashion. The real excuse for violence and action now becomes that Wolverine is only trouble when you force him to be, and sadly for him, trouble literally won’t seem to leave him alone, no matter how much he wants to just have a decent night on the town.

I’ll be frank for another moment here, for different intentions. I’ve never been a big fan of Juan Jose Ryp’s work. His material with Black Summer and RoboCop left a really sinister taste in my mouth; his style becoming almost engulfed in graphic material instead of using violence in an aesthetically pleasing way. But I will admit, in this Ryp seems to be making progress towards nailing it. What was once overcrowded calamity in his line work is now becoming fine detail, and the spotted method of shading has perfectly rough touch, underground in nature, reminding me of Crumb of all people. It’s still on and off throughout, starting on a high note with Logan dueling a beautifully gruesome monster, while other times faces and people seem plastic or off, like Ryp was using real dolls for models.

There’s a great sequence where The Best There Is uses a drape of blood to show what it feels like to Wolverine when he’s overcome with rage. It’s a great tone-setter, and sort of shows that eloquence can be paired with violence if done right and removed from smug pretence. Wolverine doesn’t have to, or even want to kill, he just happens to be the best at it.

And here is IGN's...

There are many reasons to hate a comic book. Maybe the writing is poor, maybe the art doesn't fit the tone of the text. Maybe the writer takes a character that you love and drags them through the dirt a little. Although, on a week- to-week basis most books fall into the average mold, with some being bad, some being good, and rarely one comes along that knocks your socks off.

But even rarer than the "Best of the Year" quality comics are those that are so bad that there is not a single redeeming quality about them. Wolverine: The Best There Is is one of those books.

Here is a list of the book's major problems: The cover's "Parental Advisory! Not For Kids!" label, the variant covers' lack of purpose in relation to the comic, the fact that the alternate covers are of a quality more worthy of your money than the text within, the fact that they put a covered up nude character and swear with their curse words bleeped out despite the knowledge that this book is not part of their MAX line (despite the parental warning), the "clever" dialogue, the extraneous dialogue, the expositional dialogue, the "edgy" dialogue, the confusing dialogue, dialogue that attempts to capture the voice of a character but comes off sounding offensively clichéd, the overuse of the word "dog," narration that is hard to follow and less pertinent to the story than it would lead you to believe, sacrificing D-level characters for the sake of bloodletting action, action scenes interrupted by bloody "SNIKT" banners, blood dripping from the panels, all the characters acting like frat boys and sorority girls, non-descript villains with devious plans which aren't elaborated upon, Wolverine doesn't look like Wolverine, Wolverine doesn't act like Wolverine, Wolverine doesn't speak like Wolverine, the overall "mature" nature of the book, and the $3.99 price tag attached to this tripe because it features a popular character.

If you managed to actually force yourself to read all the way through that list (congrats, by the way) you may be asking yourself how a comic so deficient could be created by such competent talent and released by the largest comic book publisher in the world. Many criticisms were left off the list, to avoid the risk of sounding too rant-y. But make no mistake - the book has significant issues. Having read nearly every book that DC and Marvel have published over the course of the past three years, I am hard pressed to find a single issue of any other book that I loathed as much as this.

Looking at that list again, it becomes evident that 99% of the problems stem from the writing. Charlie Huston is a decent writer. His work on Moon Knight was dark and entertaining, and his most recent run on Deathlok was brutal, but still enjoyable. This issue however takes one of the easiest characters to write and gives a bizarre version of Wolverine that features none of the edge or charisma which is a staple of his being. While I want to commend Huston for not using the "I'm the best at what I do…" speech in a book with the title The Best There Is, there is absolutely nothing here that deserved to go to print.

If 99% of the problem was the writing, then the other 1% was the art. Juan Jose Ryp is best known for lending art to comics created by Frank Miller and Alan Moore, unfortunately none of that storytelling that both those writers are so well known for rubbed off on his art. The characters all feature shortcomings of some sort, whether that is being too good looking, too ugly, completely vapid, or appear to be stereotypes, leading to a book where looking at the characters becomes a chore. Most egregiously, Wolverine looks like he stepped off the set of Twilight. Even though Hugh Jackman portrays the character in films, the comic book character shouldn't look like a male model.

The Best There Is may emerge as the worst representation of the character in his 36 year history, and if it does then that is inexcusable. To make matters worse, this is an on-going series, not a limited miniseries or one-shot which would go away and be a footnote in the history of the character. Instead this horrendous take on Wolverine will more than likely succeed due to the fact that it has Wolverine on the cover and a parental advisory label. For those doubting how bad the depiction of this character is, just thumb through to the halfway point, where Logan non-sensically starts to dance because, "I love this song. I have to dance to this song."

For those who only read the final paragraph of a review, know that this is one of the worst comic books to hit the stands in an awful long while. For those fans who thought that X-Men Origins: Wolverine had a bad take on the character, The Best There Is is much more problematic. Wolverine: The Best There Is seems like it was created by a sex-starved teenager who longs for nothing more than alcohol, dancing and beating somebody up.

Stay as far away from this book as possible.

Now I haven't read the book so I don't know which is more accurate, but wow - such vastly different views on a single issue. One says it puts a great new spin on Wolverine, while the other accuses it of being one of the worst comics ever produced. Usually there's sort of a general consensus when it comes to online reviews, but definitely not here...

 

[Phaedrus45]

Hmm, I was reading some reviews of this week's comics and found something that I found quite interesting. Here's Newsarama's review of Wolverine: The Best There Is #1...



And here is IGN's...



Now I haven't read the book so I don't know which is more accurate, but wow - such vastly different views on a single issue. One says it puts a great new spin on Wolverine, while the other accuses it of being one of the worst comics ever produced. Usually there's sort of a general consensus when it comes to online reviews, but definitely not here...

When you have two vastly different reviews, it might be best to figure it lies somewhere down the middle. Of course, I don't think a single reader has been anywhere positive in their reviews in this thread; but, I also wouldn't call it one of the worst comics in the past three years. (I, too, have read the vast majority of all of the DC and Marvel comics in the past three years, and I have read much, much worse than this.)

 

[imdaly]

Spidey has one book now...

Welll...if you ignore the TWO Avengers teams he's on...and all the mini-series'...and Ultimate Spider-Man....and the Adventures line....

 

[squeekness]

Hmm, I was reading some reviews of this week's comics and found something that I found quite interesting. Here's Newsarama's review of Wolverine: The Best There Is #1...



And here is IGN's...



Now I haven't read the book so I don't know which is more accurate, but wow - such vastly different views on a single issue. One says it puts a great new spin on Wolverine, while the other accuses it of being one of the worst comics ever produced. Usually there's sort of a general consensus when it comes to online reviews, but definitely not here...

The last one pretty much said what I was feeling about this book. So I'd go with that.

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

Just from the title alone that was on the bottom of my read pile. When I get to it I'll make some time to put a review here if it's gonna run into Dread territory.

SHE-HULKS is a fun book, but I have mixed feelings about it. I feel for all the trouble they throw at Lyra adjusting to the 21st century, she's still coming off as adjusting a little TOO well. She was raised in a warrior society for crissakes, and can't even play a simple game of DODGE BALL? Because she's not used to her new body? Also with the Mary Sue Spintech taking away her only real weakness (besides social awkwardness), and turning her into another teenaged hero kind of takes away from the uniqueness of her identity. Overall, I like the book, I'm enjoying it, it's fun, but I don't think it's doing the Lyra character any favors. Especially when compared to her decent intro to 616.

ACTION COMICS ANNUAL was alright, nothing spectacular. I hate retcons as much as the next guy. Surely if Lex knew about Apokolips ALL this time he would've made more efforts to try and either conquer it or steal its technology to kill Superman. But, as it is, it was an okay read.

ANT-MAN & WASP is a hell of a lot of fun and an enjoyable read. If I had any confidence in this staying fresh and not being mucked up down the line I'd say I'd like to see these two permanently paired up. But, it's better to live in the moment and enjoy what we've gotten.

 

[Tron Bonne]

SHE-HULKS is a fun book, but I have mixed feelings about it. I feel for all the trouble they throw at Lyra adjusting to the 21st century, she's still coming off as adjusting a little TOO well. She was raised in a warrior society for crissakes, and can't even play a simple game of DODGE BALL? Because she's not used to her new body? Also with the Mary Sue Spintech taking away her only real weakness (besides social awkwardness), and turning her into another teenaged hero kind of takes away from the uniqueness of her identity. Overall, I like the book, I'm enjoying it, it's fun, but I don't think it's doing the Lyra character any favors. Especially when compared to her decent intro to 616.

Um, I think that she was just trying to keep a low profile. If she got to involved and too aggressive in a game like that she'd blow her cover (as she did shortly after in the locker room). That was my take on it. That, or she just didn't really understand the game, and everyone else took advantage of that.

Also, what was her only weakness? I thought her weakness was she got weaker as she got angrier, and I think that's still part of the character?

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

That was it, and they used spintech so now she can get angry and stay strong.

And I could understand her not getting the game, but unless they changed how it's played since I was a kid, usually you're with other kids and watching them get beaned out woulda registered somewhere. I don't mind things like that, but keep it logical at least.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Batman Confidential #51

I'm not sure if DC considers getting Guggenheim a big "get," but I've never been exactly ga-ga over his work. I probably most remember him for that awful Blade series. But, I decided to give him a shot, even though I was planning on dropping this series. (Sometimes it's hard to get into a book that is "untold tales" of a certain character. You just know nothing groundbreaking will exactly happen in it.)

I should have just dropped it. Continuing for the double-sized fiftieth issue, this second part of the five-part story flips back and forth between a Batman and Bruce Wayne adventure...and, neither of those really advance much by the time you get to the end of the issue. I'm not even sure how the two are suppose to be connected. (But, knowing Guggenheim, I know he loves flashback storytelling.)

Usually I like to complete a storyline; but, I'm not sure if I am even compelled to do that with this.

Batman: Orphans #1

Now, this "untold tale" is much, much better! (And, it's not even that old of an untold tale.) Orphans is a young group supposedly founded by Batman, although we haven't gotten any proof that the person in the Bat-suit is actually Bruce Wayne. (I'm thinking not.) We're introduced to them by way of a new member, who joins after one Robin gets killed. A new Robin takes the dead one's place after the members of the Orphans compete in a "winner takes all" type of match; and, we get to see them go out on their first mission as a team. All the while, we get some cut-scenes of )the real?) Batman, Tim (the real Robin), and Dick working the "dead Robin" case.

I did have to read this issue a couple times, simply because with all the new characters introduced, it became a tad confusing at times...especially since the artist tends to make his male characters look very feminine. (For quite a while, I thought the new Robin was a woman and that she was having a lesbian affair with another one of the Orphans. I just thought, "Now, THIS is an interesting twist!")

Good issue, and I can't wait to read the conclusion later this month. I'm hoping these "Orphans" stick around!

Secret Six #28

This series has been suffering of late, especially with so many new characters being introduced to the book. And, while I love the Simone took them to the world of Travis Morgan (and, picking up where the previous Warlord series ended), it was simply a hard story to get into. Thankfully, this last part is the best portion, largely in part to a central focus being made on Black Alice. (I'd love to see Simone do a solo series or mini about that character.) Also, by issue's end, the Secret Six seem to be heading into a new direction, under the leadership of Amanda Waller...and, the group will get back to just having six members.

Jonah Hex #62

Last issue was one of my favorites, as readers got introduced to Jonah's wife. (Although, I hated that the writers didn't explain how that happened, instead just refering back to a very old issue from the 70's, I think.) Sadly, this issue does not pick up where the last left off...and, maybe that's the problem with this book. There is not any real focus from month to month, as it all just dances around to various tales from Jonah's past. This title really needs to entice the reader to come back each month..to have a flow to the stories. Many might never have read a Jonah Hex story before coming to this series, and to just introduce a wife in issue 61...and, then drop her in the next...kind of peeves me off.

That said, this issue isn't bad. I enjoyed it; but, will quickly forget it after it goes in its bag and gets filed away. A mild .

 

[Tron Bonne]

Okay, so wait a minute, this new Wolverine: Best There Is thing that we've talking about is a new ongoing? Didn't they just cancel two Wolverine series because they didn't sell well enough...?

That was it, and they used spintech so now she can get angry and stay strong.

And I could understand her not getting the game, but unless they changed how it's played since I was a kid, usually you're with other kids and watching them get beaned out woulda registered somewhere. I don't mind things like that, but keep it logical at least.

Oh, they took that away? It said it in her bio in the first issue, so I assumed it was still like that.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Wolverine: Origins was really a 50 issue maxi-series and they cancelled Wolverine: Weapon X due to the fact that Marvel's messing around with the Wolverine books hurt sales horrifically.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Wolverine: Origins was really a 50 issue maxi-series and they cancelled Wolverine: Weapon X due to the fact that Marvel's messing around with the Wolverine books hurt sales horrifically.

A 50 issue maxi series? Oh, get out of here, that thing was an ongoing. A 20-25 issue maxi-series, maybe, but 50..stretching it pretty hardcore.