BOUGHT/THOUGHT for Wednesday, May 2nd.

[Not Jake]

52 #52: Great
Within these pages lies the story of how 3 guys and a robot head saved existence. To elaborate would be unfair to you. Just go out and buy the best issue of 52, and savor the excitement, the triumph, the end of an epic. Remember the first time you listened to Sgt. Pepper's, and sat there and were just absorbed by the final track? Find a private little spot for yourself, away from the hustle and bustle of the idiot masses, and experience A Day, or rather, A Year in the Life.


And yeah, I totally thought of that before reading the title of the issue. No foolin'!


The Incredible Hulk #106: Great
Pak is just sooooo good with Amadeus Cho. Seriously. He loves his character, and he just writes such a good super-intelligence. Frank's art is pretty good here--sometimes I think the faces are too sketchy, but that's countered by some brilliant pages, so, it's good stuff. Great work is done with She-Hulk and I didn't read where her whole Iron Man depowering preDICKament happened, but yeah, totally reinforces Iron Man being a dick. Which is awesome! Also, Mr. Fantastic is still plotting against Amadeus, which is what we saw him doing the last time our little Mastermind showed up. I wonder if Sue knew about this, how she would react, so soon after their decision to reconcile.

The best issue of 52, the best issue of Pak's Hulk run. A good day in geek land.

Later: Buffy, Astonishing.

 

[Kevin]

Couldn't wait to start the thread, Huh?

 

[Darthphere]

Not Jake liking stuff is weird.

 

[Not Jake]

Couldn't wait to start the thread, Huh?

No, not after I got my comics, and read them, and then thought about them, and then wanted to talk about them.

My roommate picked up Buffy & Astonishing for me before I got to the comic shop, so, I don't have those on me right now. Hence, later. In the lazy spring twilight!

 

[Not Jake]

Someone hurry up and read the WWH prologue, and tell me if I should swallow or spit

 

[Darthphere]

Both.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Astonishing X-Men #21

Ah, Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's series has arrived at stores once again. This is a really good series, but it's impossible to talk about it without mentioning the scheduling, which is completely sucking the life out of it.

Moving beyond that, Whedon's greatest strength is characterization and a certain amount of imagination regarding his characters' powers; his biggest weakness is in terms of plotting (which is usually pretty generic) and pacing (which isn't helped by the schedule). However, this issue, along with the typical strong characterization, has a pretty good plot. The characters are split into several groups (Wolverine and Hisako on their way to find Shadowcat and Colossus, Shadowcat and Colossus separated and finding their way to a pseudo-Buddhist hospital [which the breakworld doesn't have a word for], Cyclops and Emma on their way to join Brand's troops, and Beast and Agent Brand on their way to the sub-moon base). There's also some interesting developments involving Brand's captured deputy and a traitor within Kruun's palace; seemingly, S.W.O.R.D. is going to stab the X-Men in the back in exchange for saving the planet.

On the character front, Cyclops and Emma have one of those "conversation in the middle of a fight" moments that Whedon uses so often on Buffy and Angel; Shadowcat takes her clothes off to cheer up Colossus; and Brand either takes her clothes off or reveals she has fire/glowing powers in order to survive being buried in a snowstorm alongside Beast (it's hard to tell which).

Cassaday's art is typically good, although the trend of incredibly generic covers continues (the last two issues had really good primary covers and generic variants, but this issue has a generic primary cover and a generic variant).

Green Lantern #19

Geoff Johns lays down his version of the history of the Star Sapphire in this issue; I'm not too familiar with the history of the gem beforehand (or GL history in general), but this conception of what the gem is seems fairly new. The are now said to be many Star Sapphires, essentially a parallel Green Lantern Corps (or third, now that the Sinestro Corps is being built), who seek out Green Lanterns throughout the universe in order to neutralize them; the mission of the Sapphires, as laid down by the Zamorans, is to spread "love" in contrast to the Guardians' dispassionate order. Love, in this case, means freezing everything permanently in crystal.

In the present, Hal and Carol battle Cowgirl-Star Sapphire, while bickering, before the Zamorans arrive. They're apparently motivated by the imminent emergence of the Sinestro Corps, and need to get their own "corps" ready. Between all the backstory and the backup story, not much happens in the present, but this issue is a lot more interesting than the previous one.

Speaking of the backup, Johns and Gibbons deliver the Evil Jungle Book (or Evil Tarzan, slightly adjusted) story of Karu-Sil, a girl from a planet of cannibals who was "raised" by a trio of raptor-like things. A Green Lantern kills her "pack", so that's presumably why she hates the Corps so much (and uses her power ring to generate three raptor-duplicates). As with the last issue, Gibbons' backup art is far superior to Acuna's main story: Acuna's art has appealing energy, but it's washed out and the faces have next to no expression or character.

Omega Flight #2

Another good issue, although Marvel gave away the big ending in the preview for the series, so that was perhaps not a good idea (it's also feels somewhat out of place chronologically, since it was Sasquatch who recruited him but the previous issue's feel just doesn't suggest there was enough time between Sasquatch deciding to form the team and fighting the Wrecking Crew for that to happen).

Really great cover (and I love the use of the maple leaf within the "O" in Omega Flight). The art is good too, although the colouring on Julia and Rachel's hair is kind of iffy; looking at Ms. Marvel, she's clearly "blonde" while Julia and Rachel not, but it doesn't look nearly as red as it normally does. Speaking of Rachel, she gets some good lines about her mom's changing codename.

The Wrecking Crew are the nominal main plot (ie, what Omega Flight thinks the plot is), with some as-yet-undefined mystical stuff happening in the background that seems to involve Snowbird; this is likely how Beta Ray Bill will become involved, since he's not on the team as of yet (although his human host appears in one of Talisman's visions). The Crew are putting in one of their better showings recently; they're treated as an actual threat, rather than some nobodies who can be tossed around by the Runaways.

Getting four of the six team-members in the same room this issue highlights the character dynamics, which are all pretty good: there's "uber-patriot vs. 'traitor'" (USAgent and Arachne), "Indian mystic vs. no-nonsense macho guy" (Talisman and USAgent), "former member of Alpha Flight vs. Guy-Who-Was-Used-To-Kill-Alpha-Flight" (Talisman and Guardian); Talisman and Arachne seem to get along okay.

 

[Marcdachamp]

Astonishing X-Men- PICK OF THE WEEK! The opening two page spread alone makes this perfect. Cassaday continues to impress. Honestly, I don't care how long I have to wait between issues, I wish this team would stick around for years to come. Whedon's dialogue pops like no one else. The scenes between Agent Brand and the Beast were terrific. Great, great stuff. 9/10

Runaways- Whedon's killing me with these small runs. He gets this group of characters very well. You can tell he really respects what Vaughan did before and is really doing his best to honor that. Molly vs. The Punisher? AWESOME. 9/10

Marvel Zombies/Army of Darkness- Bwahahahaha! When this mini started, I was hesitant. After all, Kirkman pretty much used every major Marvel character in his first mini, right? Man, Layman has proved me wrong. From Howard the Duck to Nextwave, this book freaking rocks. 9/10

Avengers: The Initiative- This book actually makes me glad the Pro side won. It's the kind of thing we never could've seen Pre-Civil War, but can't help but enjoy now. Caselli's art is very dynamic. He's a great storyteller. I'm loving Slott's characterization. I hope this book continues to stay strong. 8/10

Transformers: The Movie Prequel- The mini wraps up, and, while this issue wasn't as fun as the rest, it certainly does its job: I can't wait for the movie. 8/10

World War Hulk: Prelude- I liked this. It's a lot of talking, but it does a great job of setting things up. I loved seeing the different perspectives on Hulk's first encounters with the Illuminati members. Throw in an awesome Chris Giarusso comic and a reprint of Amadeus Cho's first appearence, and you've got a great one-shot. 8/10

Transformers: Escalation- Man, Devestation sounds like it'll live up to its title. Things have really heated up. Nice to see Prime's still kicking. 8/10

Sensational Spider-Man Annual- This is what strong writers can do with the Spider-Marriage. Nice little piece on these characters. 8/10

Dark Tower- Still liking this, but I find myself always having to read the recap. I really should've trade-waited, because I find it hard to keep track of everything. I'll rectify that mistake with the next mini. 7/10

 

[Darthphere]

Marc, honest question here, you gave AXM, Runaways and MZ and Army of Darkness the same score, but you chose AXM over Runaways and MZ/AOD, how did you come about choosing AXM as the pick of the week? Coin flip?

 

[Marcdachamp]

Marc, honest question here, you gave AXM and Runaways the same score, but you chose AXM over Runaways, how did you come about choosing AXM as the pick of the week? Coin flip?

Personal choice. I thought they were both fantastic, nearly perfect (I rarely give anything a 10), but I liked AXM better. Not by much, but I enjoyed it more.

 

[Darthphere]

Alright.

 

[PhotoJones]

Avengers: The Initiative #2 - Things are shaping up nicely for this book. Very nicely. Obviously, I like what everyone else likes about Slott's writing: great characterization and dialogue. What I also like is the pacing. There is no decompresion here. I'm also digging Casselli's pencils a lot. His facial expressions are top notch.

The biggest hype this issue got was Hank Pym's "death". One little preview page and some of you (Dread) go into a tizzy about character deaths. It was obvious that the image was taken out of context and meant to throw the reader off. Instead, as I and many others predicted, Hank Pym saves the day. And it's not just your standard day saving, either. No, Pym ****ing rocks it. Major congrats to Dan Slott for finally taking Hank out of the gutter and not only making him useful again, but making him a hero again as well. I have to admit, Pym (and to a lesser extent, War Machine and Justice) was the main reason I picked this book up to begin with. I really hope Slott decides to keep him around. If I could have my way this would really be a "Yellowjacket and Friends" book, but ah well. I'm just happy that someone at Marvel remembered that Hank's not only a founding Avenger, but also one of the smartest guys in the Marvel Universe, not to mention one of it's oldest characters.

More Slott goodness comes at the very end of the book with a surpise visit from another Hank; this one being Hank McCoy. The Initiative called in a specialist from the Xavier Institute to help Trauma control his powers and Beast was happy to oblige. He also brought someone with him, but it seems it's a secret that will be revealed next issue. All we know is that it's a she, and she's been depowered as a result of M-Day. Jubilee, anyone?

 

[King_Mungi]

I thought it was Moonstone actually.

 

[Darthphere]

****ing Jubilee.

 

[PhotoJones]

I thought it was Moonstone actually.

It probably is. I think you can see a shadow of a long braid. Still, a fan can dream.

****ing Jubilee.

**** you, Jubes is my girl.

 

[Darthphere]

Pedophile.

 

[King_Mungi]

Is it really wrong for a person to love so much?

 

[PhotoJones]

Pedophile.

She's gotta be at least my age in Marvel time by now.

 

[Darthphere]

She's gotta be at least my age in Marvel time by now.

You would think that. Franklin Richards says otherwise.

 

[Roughneck]

I thought her man was Moonstar?

 

[PhotoJones]

Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness #3 - At first, I wasn't into this series. The first issue left me a bit wanting, and I just wasn't feeling the tone. Last month's issue was easier for me to swallow, and now by issue #3, I think I've gotten the hang of things. Marvel Zombies (the first mini) was more of a twisted, dark comedy. The humor was very subtle, but it was there nonetheless. John Layman (who's work I've never read before this) takes a different approach. The humor is more obvious and sophmoric. It's not that it doesn't work, or that it's not funny, because it is. It's just that unfortunately, it's taken me 3 issues to warm up to it. I think I'm going to go back and read the first 2 again tonight. When I think about, it's a comic book about Ash Williams, so of course it's going to be crass and funny.

For those who were wondering how Ash seemingly made it through being eaten by Howard the Duck, it was actually the Marvel Zombies Universe version of Ash that was chomped. He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The "death" was obviously a cheap cliffhanger, but Layman manages to at least make some use out of it by having the Scarlet Witch piece together Ash's story of Deadites, with the proof that's obviously from an alternate reality, and believing him enough to join he and Dazzler on the quest for the Necronomicon. That quest leads them to Latveria which has also been taken over by the zombies.

The best part about this mini is the cameos. Layman, like Kirkman obviously has a fondness for the Marvel Universe, and also a pretty good working knowledge of it. This issue alone, we get cameos from Hulkling, She-Hulk, Hercules, Goliath (Bill Foster), Dr. Druid (in a very cool role), Eros, Power Pack and wait for it...Nextwave. Yep, a non-zombified Nextwave. The book just shot up in cool points when I got to those pages.

Neves' artwork continues to fit the tone of the story. People have been saying that it's "too stiff", but I don't see it. I like his stuff, and I'm glad he's not trying to ape Sean Philips. He's really making the book his, and his renditions of the Zombie Heroes are fun to look at.

I'm just hoping the book finishes strong. There's nothing worse than a crappy ending.

 

[Muze]

Avengers: The Initiative #2 -
The biggest hype this issue got was Hank Pym's "death". One little preview page and some of you (Dread) go into a tizzy about character deaths. It was obvious that the image was taken out of context and meant to throw the reader off. Instead, as I and many others predicted, Hank Pym saves the day. And it's not just your standard day saving, either. No, Pym ****ing rocks it. Major congrats to Dan Slott for finally taking Hank out of the gutter and not only making him useful again, but making him a hero again as well. I have to admit, Pym (and to a lesser extent, War Machine and Justice) was the main reason I picked this book up to begin with. I really hope Slott decides to keep him around. If I could have my way this would really be a "Yellowjacket and Friends" book, but ah well. I'm just happy that someone at Marvel remembered that Hank's not only a founding Avenger, but also one of the smartest guys in the Marvel Universe, not to mention one of it's oldest characters.

not to mention someone a nazi villain would look up to.

 

[PhotoJones]

The Exterminators #17 - This just isn;t the same without Tony Moore. It's not bad, per se. But reading each passing issue, I have it in the back of my mind that it could be SO much better with Moore doing the art again. He's supposed to come back soon, but soon is not soon enough. And I don't mean to take away from what the fill in guys are doing. Ty Templeton's art in this issue was great. It's like if Robert Kirkman left Invincible, but the book continued. It might still be good, but you know something's missing.

This issue kicks off a new storyline, and it's really not a bad issue, much better than last month's. Stretch and Saloth attend an Exterminator's Convention, and Stretch runs into an ols partner who's now made it big by going the "Hooters" route. Saloth gets a mystery letter containing the meeting place for information on Draxx, and at the end of the issue, someone sets Stretch up, and he's taken by some crooked Res cops who think he robbed the casino. Like I said, not bad. But it could be better...

 

[Marcdachamp]

not to mention someone a nazi villain would look up to.

He seems like he'll be a very interesting character in the months to come.

 

[PhotoJones]

not to mention someone a nazi villain would look up to.

He seems like he'll be a very interesting character in the months to come.

I'm still wondering if he's a new creation, or an old character. I don't think I've seen him before, but on the other hand, that's a pretty odd character to create out of thin air; an ex-Nazi working with the Initiative? He's gotta be an old character Slott's dusting off...