Bought/Thought Jan 16th

[hippie_hunter]

Justice League of America #17
I hope the disappearance of villains in this book is part of some greater mystery McDuffie will slowly reveal down the line, and not something related to Countdown and the next Crisis that I'm just completely clueless about. I have a feeling it's the latter, though.

It's part of Salvation Run which has been a rather important part within Checkmate and Catwoman.

 

[Manic]

It's part of Salvation Run which has been a rather important part within Checkmate and Catwoman.

This is exactly why I normally keep away from crossovers. The X-Men comics are damned lucky I'm following Messiah Complex. I like my superhero books to tell me fun and/or compelling stories without having to buy other books. That's why I stopped reading Countdown.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Crossovers are the bread and butter of shared universes, though.

 

[PWN3R]

Messiah Complex has been enjoyable though.

 

[Manic]

Crossovers are the bread and butter of shared universes, though.

Allow me to rephrase.

I like when teams come together. I like when heroes from different comics meet, interact, and become involved in one another's stories. What I don't like, however, are stories where I need to start picking up comics I don't normally pick up.

For example, after Infinite Crisis, I wasn't buying JLA at first. I was, however, buying JSA. It felt like JSA was in the middle of one storyline, when it suddenly shifted gears with the Legion of Superheroes and the JLA showing up. As soon as it finished the Legion crossover, JSA picked up as if that story never happened. There were a couple of months there, where I had no clue what was going on.

Messiah Complex gets my forgiveness because it was hyped up so much, and the end of each issue even tells me which book to pick up next. Also, I'm a shameless X-Men fanboy.

Right now, JLA feels like it's everywhere. We started off with an Injustice League story, where the ending has Lex admitting that his team was only a temporary means to an end. I'm getting ready for Lex's next big plot, when I'm suddenly hit with an issue about superheroes popping in from an alternate universe. I'm awaiting that, but I'm then hit with a story where all of the supervillains are getting kidnapped. And betcha by golly wow, next month's JLA will have nothing to do with any of that.

 

[BrianWilly]

Well, it actually will, but it's a fair point. JLA has been jumping all over the damn place recently without a single clear direction.

We need a good old-fashioned end of the world story to get the League in its groove again.

 

[Sebastos]

Immortal Iron Fist #12-I loved this issue. Just when I thought I figured out who Prince of Orphans was, Brubaker and Fraction make it someone I least expected. Which is totally awesome. Taking someone like John Aman and bringing back into the Iron Fist mythos is badass. Let alone his fight with Davos was badass.

This book continues to surprise. I can't wait to see John Aman's and Orson's history in "The Green Mist of Death" special.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Well, it actually will, but it's a fair point. JLA has been jumping all over the damn place recently without a single clear direction.

We need a good old-fashioned end of the world story to get the League in its groove again.

Much as I hate to advocate formulaic storytelling, Morrison really did nail the perfect formula for a JLA story: the world's greatest heroes fighting the biggest threats imaginable. If McDuffie wants to go back to that, I'll gladly start reading JLA again. If he's just gonna keep giving us random crap about Vixen's stupid new powers or the JLA acting like amateurs against paltry threats, I'm staying away.

 

[PhotoJones]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with formuliac storytelling, so long as the formula is a strong one.

 

[Doc Destruction]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with formuliac storytelling, so long as the formula is a strong one.

This might be the MOST I have EVER agreed with you.

 

[PhotoJones]

Our agreement club is strong.