Bought/Thought January 28th *spoilers*

[CaptainCanada]

Part I: Amazons!

Incredible Hercules #125

Hrm, I would call this the first issue/arc conclusion that I didn’t think maxed out on what the concept was capable of. This series sets a high standard, and this is still a very enjoyable issue, but if they were going to do this whole “alternate reality” tangent this arc really needed to be an issue longer than it is. As it stands, the Amazon-dominated world is dealt with entirely too quickly, leaving things a bit rushed (which was what I feared would happen in the last arc, but didn’t; #120 was a flawless wrap-up). The actual Amazonia reality is packed with all kinds of little details that show how much care the writers put into the development of this process, and if it had more room to breathe I think it would have worked a lot better (“Pandoro”, for example, which illuminates the implications for the real-life myth of Pandora (though I suppose that’s actually a reality, since this Greek myth is real here)). The segments set in Amazonia are illustrated by Espin, with Henry doing the real-world pages, which is a good division of labour. And the final few pages are up to the series’ usual standard, the sort of light and still serious character interaction between the main three characters that shows the core sitcom dynamic. Anyway, still a strong arc overall, though with a somewhat weak conclusion. Next up, we get the origin of Hercules, which looks great.

Wonder Woman #28

Ding dong, the DMA is dead! Rock on, Cheetah! Salt the earth!

“The Rise of the Olympian” hits its third part, as the actual Olympians begin to take shape, and Diana and her allies confront the main villain of the piece, Genocide, while the machinations of Dr. Minerva and the Secret Society continue to take shape. So far, we’ve got basically two plots going here, the Olympians and all the Society stuff, and it’s not clear how they will ultimately relate to each other. The Olympian plot continues to work really well, with Zeus, acting out of the best of intentions (he’s even rather sentimental here, which is unusual, though he’s still dressed like he’s a castmember from the original Battlestar Galactica), creates a new male warrior society from the greatest heroes of Ancient Greece (led, at least for now, by Jason) to bring peace to the world by force. Their city’s even dedicated to Athena. Elsewhere, the Genocide plot continues to validate my original diagnosis: everything that’s happening around Genocide works quite well, but Genocide herself doesn’t, really, which renders everything else vaguely out of step with the proceedings. Simone is depicting everyone more or less flawlessly in their reactions to an incredible, never-before-seen threat, but the threat itself just doesn’t meet the parameters. A lot of it has to do with her awful design. Diana continues to be portrayed well, and Donna and Cassie are believably integrated into the cast (even getting nifty armours based on Diana’s famous Ross-designed one; Donna’s, especially, is lovely). Nemesis, well, he’s Nemesis. This continues to be strong, though we’ve still not crossed the threshold into “character-defining story”.

 

[Spider-Jay420]

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS - For those who don't know, this thread will be filled with SPOILERS, so if you don't wanted to be SPOILED, do not continue. The SPOILERS will NOT be blacked out or hidden, so read on at your own risk!!!

You have been warned!!

Anyway, New Avengers #49 - I liked this issue. We last left off with Luke Cage making a deal with the devil, I mean Norman Osborn, to find his missing baby, Danielle. Norman has 75 Skrulls locked up in Rikers' Raft and he, Cage, Venom and Bullseye go to interrogate some poor Skrulls to find the baby's location. This Skrull watches in horror, and so does Cage, as Venom EATS a Skrull who will not cooperate. Cage has a look on his face like, 'WTF am I doing here?!' and we see the Skrull break and reveal a meeting place which is the abandoned riverfront warehouse we've seen many times before where they meet and plan.
Norman uses everything at his disposal to... what amounts to a stakeout, and they find Jarvis with baby. Cage and Skrull-Jarvis exchange dialog, Jarvis wants this and that before he gives up Danielle, and Cage cuts him off, 'This ain't a swap meet. Gimme my kid!' Good stuff. I don't really see why the NA couldn't have done the same thing, and why he had to deal with Osborn, but whatever.
The best scene for me was back at Avengers Tower, Cage, Jessica and baby are reunited and Jess tells Osborn she's not a superhero and doesn't want to be one. Which suits Norman as he is only interested in Cage. Cage is standing near Osborn's desk when he pulls the Wrecker's crowbar he's had in his closet since NA#7 and bashes Bullseye and disintergrates Venom, which I thought was a little much, and stares down Norman. Luke does not beat Norman because without him, he would not have rescued his child and jumps out the window of the Tower, crashing down to the street below. Norman has Ms. Hand 'Add him to the list.' I can't wait to see this resolution.
It's a another happy reunion as the New Avengers with the Cage family laugh and play with the baby and all is right in the world. Until Clint 'Ronin' Barton sees the Dark Avengers on TV and is like, 'Screw this, lets go kick their asses!!' Lets all get ready for the double sized battle royale in NA #50. Good issue, fast read, but nicely set up for #50. Can't wait.

Also read Final Crisis #7 - and wow. I, uh... Great art, I know that for sure. but everything else.....uh...Superman and everyone still alive re-create the Miracle Machine to...make a new Earth, I think. Captain Marvel and the Question gather 50 Supermen from across the Multi-verse and they, along with the Green Lanterns stop Darksied's ...evilness. Which of course, could not have been done if not for Batman mortally wounding him ala magic bullet. and Nix Uotan convinces the Monitors to dismantle or leave the Multi-verse alone and, I assume it's him, wakes up in New Earth and everything is OK. Lot's of other stuff happens and as I have a very limited knowledge of the DC universe, it was not all grasped by me. I got the gist of it though. Good wins and evil is stopped. If someone else can fill in the blanks, that would be great!
And as far as Batman, which is what I cared about, Superman still carries his corpse as he confronts Darksied so he's still dead, but....at the very end, we see and old man at what looks like the beginning of time, or Hell. Apparently Darksied is the God of Evil, and with the God of Evil dead, 'Hell' is just a vast desert which is now capable of new life. He is in shadow, but we see what appears to be Bruce Wayne, as he lays his utility belt on the old dead guy and dressed as Batman only from the waist down, drawing a bat on a cave wall as a caveman would do. So he's still alive, but where or when he is, remains to be seen.
Grant Morrison is a great writer, and I'm sure after I re-read this series a few more times it will make more sense to me but man, he is out there!! Wow....

 

[Blader5489]

Also read Final Crisis #7 - and wow. I, uh... Great art, I know that for sure. but everything else.....uh...Superman and everyone still alive re-create the Miracle Machine to...make a new Earth, I think. Captain Marvel and the Question gather 50 Supermen from across the Multi-verse and they, along with the Green Lanterns stop Darksied's ...evilness. Which of course, could not have been done if not for Batman mortally wounding him ala magic bullet. and Nix Uotan convinces the Monitors to dismantle or leave the Multi-verse alone and, I assume it's him, wakes up in New Earth and everything is OK. Lot's of other stuff happens and as I have a very limited knowledge of the DC universe, it was not all grasped by me. I got the gist of it though. Good wins and evil is stopped. If someone else can fill in the blanks, that would be great!

Looks like you understood it well enough. Superman used the Miracle Machine to wish for a "happy ending," which is what happened: the cosmic sinkhole that Darkseid caused was fixed, and the Earth was restored to normal (the only people who were transported to another world were the people in the Checkmate castle). And the Monitors realized they have done more harm they good (after all, they caused the first Crisis, and one of their own became the final villain in FC) so they were swallowed back up by the Void (i.e. God) and were, apparently, reborn on Earth as humans...or at least Nix was.

And as far as Batman, which is what I cared about, Superman still carries his corpse as he confronts Darksied so he's still dead, but....at the very end, we see and old man at what looks like the beginning of time, or Hell. Apparently Darksied is the God of Evil, and with the God of Evil dead, 'Hell' is just a vast desert which is now capable of new life. He is in shadow, but we see what appears to be Bruce Wayne, as he lays his utility belt on the old dead guy and dressed as Batman only from the waist down, drawing a bat on a cave wall as a caveman would do. So he's still alive, but where or when he is, remains to be seen.
Grant Morrison is a great writer, and I'm sure after I re-read this series a few more times it will make more sense to me but man, he is out there!! Wow....

That wasn't hell. Remember at the beginning of the very first issue, we see Anthro and a bunch of other cavemen, after having gotten fire? That's where #7 ends: in prehistoric times, where Anthro is an old man. How Bruce ended up there is a mystery.

 

[Spider-Jay420]

Thanks Blader. So really, Batman could be rescued if anyone with time travel abilities knew where, I mean, when he is.

Hopefully not too long after 'Battle for the Cowl'.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Part II: Ed Brubaker

Captain America #46

Coming off the somewhat ordinary “Time’s Arrow” three-parter into a second three-parter “Old Friends and Enemies” , Captain America’s pace is definitely picking up; in part, perhaps it’s that Steve Epting is back on art (Luke Ross was great, but Epting really defines the book), but we’ve also got the involvement of Namor, and, just generally, things are picking up really well. With “Professor Pandemic”, the evil Chinese scientist, now in possession of the original Human Torch, Bucky alerts his old Invaders ally, the Torch’s chief frenemy, Namor the Submariner, to join him on a mission to China to retrieve the body and stop the Torch from being weaponized. Brubaker writes a great Namor (his appearance in Winter Soldier: Winter Kills was one of the highlights of the run so far), and it’s nice to see him interacting with his old friends, even as he’s in league with the Cabal; it drives home Namor’s naturally grey situation. Elsewhere, Black Widow digs up some dirt on Pandemic, by pumping a source within MI-6 (though it wasn’t the kind he had in mind); since she’s not an Avenger anymore, she’s now basically an exclusive member of this cast, which is a pretty good place to be, one must say. We get more information on Bucky’s past with Professor Chin/Pandemic, and the revelation is a pretty big one concerning the Winter Soldier’s past actions; these sorts of scenarios provide Bucky with a lot of believable personal angst, while Brubaker never comes across as overdoing it. The Winter Soldier’s history provides a whole new layer to the Captain America formula, which has frequently cross-cut stories from World War II with the present day; now we’ve got World War II, the Cold War, and the present. Brubaker said in interviews a while ago that the Professor was given a supervillain name in part because he was intended to be a new member of the rogues gallery, which is a nice touch. Can’t wait for the next issue; probably my favourite of the week.

Daredevil #115

The “Lady Bullseye” arc concludes, though, in typical Brubaker style, it’s less a conclusion than a temporary break in a much larger story. The Hand have, from the start, been engaged in some sort of elaborate ritual involving Daredevil and his allies; I had previously guessed that they were planning to offer Daredevil the leadership of the Hand, and I was right; Murdock rejects this offer without any particular deliberation, to Lady Bullseye’s simultaneous enjoyment and pleasure (since she’s not really all that interested in working for him). The broader course of the Hand’s intentions is interesting: they’ve been trying to clear all the detritus from Murdock’s life to show that he doesn’t need them, hence, trying to get rid of the wife. In a move that rather surprised me, Matt doesn’t actually decide to let Milla go, instead vowing to prove Lady Bullseye wrong and fight for her, because he simply can’t allow himself to feel relieved at the idea that she’s out of his life. This is a bit of a deferred climax, but it’s strong stuff, and Brubaker ends with a tease for what the Hand’s “Plan B” is. Lady B and Master Izo are both great new additions to the cast, and one can see them sticking around long-term, if Brubaker allows it. As is trailed heavily in Marvel’s recent comics, the Kingpin is shortly to return to the streets of New York, after an absence of a few years, and I can’t wait to see where this story goes next. The Kingpin is Daredevil’s greatest villain, and the idea of Daredevil having to strike some kind of deal with him poses numerous dramatic possibilities.

 

[MightyAvenge]

Avengers The Initiative #21

Ramos's art is getting better, I actually think his style fits pretty well in ATI. We get to see some Cadets graduate and find out which teams they'll be part of, Ultra Girl gets legally stripped of her Ms. Marvel Uniform, Thor Girl and Trauma battle Ragnorak, and the New Warriors show up on the last page. I personally think this was a great issue, including the art, the fight secnes and charcters looke great.

 

[bryanss3]

^^^^ I agree that was a great issue.I was really pissed about the Ultra girl thing. I think she should have took the costume and ran. but now we know how Norman got it to give to Moonstone.

 

[MightyAvenge]

Maybe Ultra-Girl will now go back to the New Warriors, especially since they showed up at the end of this issue.

 

[Blader5489]

Thanks Blader. So really, Batman could be rescued if anyone with time travel abilities knew where, I mean, when he is.

Hopefully not too long after 'Battle for the Cowl'.

Sorry, I got it wrong. Here's what I think happened with Bruce:

[blackout]Anthro, the caveman from #1, was apparently sent to Earth-51 in this issue. If that's true, then that means Bruce is in that universe too.[/blackout]

 

[Spider-Jay420]

That's cool too. Both outcomes make equal sense to me.

 

[Marcdachamp]

New Avengers- PICK OF THE WEEK!

Spoiler

Bendis could have taken the easy road and made Cage a Dark Avenger, but I think that would have really hurt the character. The rationale just wouldn't fit. Cage is a man of principle. Using a snake like Osborn then dropping him fits much more.

Loved the return of the crowbar and "We take it back," too. 9/10

Amazing Extra- This issue just serves to reinforce what a great job Marvel has done with roping in artists on this title. Bachalo does an awesome job with Anti-Venom, and it was nice to see Rivera return. Two good stories, too. I thought the last Extra was awesome, but this was great too. 9/10

Runaways- Talk about padding this story. If this were 3 or 4 issues, this arc would have been great. I liked the concept, I liked the art and I loved the ending. Very touching with a great twist. I'm starting to wish we were getting, ahem, Moore of this. 9/10

Daredevil- In the first Pokemon, there's a point where a member of Team Rocket asks you to join. Pokemon was my first RPG, and the amount of choices the game gave me wasn't something I was used to. In my naivete, I assumed that I might have been able to actually join the Rockets and even considered it. In a way Brubaker brought those feelings back with this issue. I wondered if Matt would accept the dark side. Anyway, I really have enjoyed this arc and I love how it's brought so many elements of Matt's life into the mix. This was easily one of Bru's best arcs. 9/10

Captain America- Marvel has done a commendable job with keeping artists on this title that match the style Epting established. However, this issue proves just how much stronger Epting is. His art is fantastic and really sets the tone quite well. I like how Bucky's past as the Winter Soldier is being addressed. I really hope Wolverine shows up in the title at some point. I thought Loeb did a great job of having the two interact in Fallen Son, but I think an issue or two of the pair discussing their similar treatment and loss of time could work well. 9/10

Avengers: The Initiative- This issue was a real test for me. There are a lot of books I'm looking forward to, and I'm picking up 4 Avengers books right now. Dropping some weight isn't out of the question. Well, if this issue is any indication, I should look elsewhere (*cough*Mighty*cough*). Gage does a great job balancing out his cast, but this issue DEFINITELY left me wanting more from the Shadow Initiative. Throw in a nice ending

Spoiler

(although I think I missed the Scarlet Spiders joining the New Warriors somewhere...)

, more Prodigy, great art by Ramos and a nice nod to Dark Avengers and I'm pretty pumped for next issue. 8/10

Ultimate Spider-Man- Immonen. God DAMN. Honestly, Bendis could NOT have picked a better replacement for Bags. This guy may draw the finest two-page spreads I have ever seen. Seriously. 8/10

X-Force- Very... unexpected. This was a different issue from anything we've received from the title. Nice to have Crain on framing sequences, and I'm a sucker for having different artists doing flashback sequences. 7/10

Fantastic 4- I am LOVING where this title is going under Millar and Hitch, but... look, that was the fastest romance I've seen in a book since Black Panther. I was hoping for more Masters of Doom, but it just didn't sit right that barely anyone raises any objection to the idea of this marriage. I was hoping Johnny would step in. Look, I know the Thing isn't this huge looker, but when your friend proposes to someone that early in a relationship, you grab a beer and ask him if he's making the right choice. 6/10

 

[Ikaris-Eternal]

Nova 21 - great issue. the ending changes the status quo for now, and it seems something sinister has brewed with worldmind and the corps - perhaps it is due to worldmind's new home/host, perhaps not.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Wonder Woman #28

Ding dong, the DMA is dead! Rock on, Cheetah! Salt the earth!

“The Rise of the Olympian” hits its third part, as the actual Olympians begin to take shape, and Diana and her allies confront the main villain of the piece, Genocide, while the machinations of Dr. Minerva and the Secret Society continue to take shape. So far, we’ve got basically two plots going here, the Olympians and all the Society stuff, and it’s not clear how they will ultimately relate to each other. The Olympian plot continues to work really well, with Zeus, acting out of the best of intentions (he’s even rather sentimental here, which is unusual, though he’s still dressed like he’s a castmember from the original Battlestar Galactica), creates a new male warrior society from the greatest heroes of Ancient Greece (led, at least for now, by Jason) to bring peace to the world by force. Their city’s even dedicated to Athena. Elsewhere, the Genocide plot continues to validate my original diagnosis: everything that’s happening around Genocide works quite well, but Genocide herself doesn’t, really, which renders everything else vaguely out of step with the proceedings. Simone is depicting everyone more or less flawlessly in their reactions to an incredible, never-before-seen threat, but the threat itself just doesn’t meet the parameters. A lot of it has to do with her awful design. Diana continues to be portrayed well, and Donna and Cassie are believably integrated into the cast (even getting nifty armours based on Diana’s famous Ross-designed one; Donna’s, especially, is lovely). Nemesis, well, he’s Nemesis. This continues to be strong, though we’ve still not crossed the threshold into “character-defining story”.

I have one big complaint with this issue, and it's not really about the issue, than it is about this small event that DC is running: Faces Of Evil. This event is billed as DC taking the villians of the DCU and focusing on them. Yet, as this Wonder Woman issue is suppose to be focused on Cheetah, we only see Cheetah in four frames of art...not even getting a full page. Cheetah is just part of the story of Rise Of The Olympian, and all DC did was stick a special cover on what is essentially a regular issue.

Of course, I have other complaints about the issue; but, do love what Gail Simone is doing with this title. I just wish they'd drop the whole romance thing going on. It borders on ridiculous every time they devote a little time to it.

 

[Phaedrus45]

I don't see anyone else reading Trinity. This title has gotten sooo bad, it doesn't surprise me that nobody else is reading it. I'm just a completist, and since I'm on issue #35, I figure I better finish it. But, seriously, it has gotten so completely boring...I have to force myself to finish an issue each week it comes out.

Faces Of Evil: Kobra was pretty decent. I've liked every issue of the one-shot Faces Of Evil books that have come out this month. They have sparked my interest in what's upcoming in 2009 with each of the villians portrayed.

 

[moraldeficiency]

trinity just died a while ago. Issue 1 was great and it was all downhill from there. The only character in the book I remotely care about is enigma, but not enough to buy or even skim through it in the store.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I still like Trinity. I could stand to see the eponymous trio come back sooner rather than later, but the whole series is about how they're literally essential to the DC universe, and you can't really show that without showing the reader how much the world would suck without them.

 

[moraldeficiency]

I guess, there are more subtle ways to show that stuff then to have everyone helpless without them and create big ass statues. I would have thought since they saved the world a bunch of times without them there just wouldn't be a world. It's always a bad sign when the back up story is typically better than the actual story.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Well, it's not literally like, "Hey, if this exact same event had happened without the trinity, here's how it would've gone!" Reality was shifted to create a new world where the trinity never existed. Other heroes have stepped in to fill the void and done so admirably, but the balance is off--it's more oppressive without the trinity's apparently stabilizing influence. The fact that the differences are so minor is one of the things I like most about it. There are plenty of other heroes out there, after all, so I'm sure any number of them could get the world through crises and keep it safe. But maybe they'd make more sacrifices or only save X number of people instead of all of them or whatever. A world without the trinity is not a world without heroes, but it is a world without the best the heroes have to offer.

 

[moraldeficiency]

Very clever corp, you almost make that sound interesting enough to pick up again, then I remember what it was like: the constant stating of how these guys are a trinity, the random spanish chick too irritating to live, all the other heroes acting like they can't wipe their asses without the big three leading them on.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Well, yeah, if you didn't like it earlier, I doubt you'd like it again. I wasn't trying to recommend you pick it up again. Just saying, that's how I see the current plot. It works for me, given that it's one of the few DCU-wide stories that remind me of the good old days before Infinite Crisis.

 

[Phaedrus45]

The problem is the alternate world that they've created has been going on for far too long, and a casual reader would just be too confused to even care. Plus, for about six to eight issues, we've been hearing about the Trinity Gods, which even further has made the story being dragged out beyond reason. (In comparision, the alternate world currently being told in Superman Tangent is much, much better.) I don't know, but this alternate world is just as bad as what Claremont has been doing with New Exiles.

Oh, plus with events in Final Crisis, it makes the story even more outdated and worthless. With the death of Batman, we have no trinity any longer,right?

 

[moraldeficiency]

No, I loved it when it started. Thought the first issue was fantastic, it was the nosedive that happened after that which gradually convinced me that I'd rather hit my balls with a ballpeen hammer than continue which got me off the book. Too much repetition of the same idea and too little relevant action combined with extra characters I couldn't care less about (Enigma and the Riddler being the very best parts of the issues that I read). Maybe it's gotten better, I don't know.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

The problem is the alternate world that they've created has been going on for far too long, and a casual reader would just be too confused to even care. Plus, for about six to eight issues, we've been hearing about the Trinity Gods, which even further has made the story being dragged out beyond reason. (In comparision, the alternate world currently being told in Superman Tangent is much, much better.) I don't know, but this alternate world is just as bad as what Claremont has been doing with New Exiles.

Oh, plus with events in Final Crisis, it makes the story even more outdated and worthless. With the death of Batman, we have no trinity any longer,right?

It's a yearlong series. I guess I just braced myself for bits that are drawn out too long from the start. 52, even though it wound up being good overall, could've stood to cut some stories down a bit, too.

 

[Aristotle]

I don't see anyone else reading Trinity. This title has gotten sooo bad, it doesn't surprise me that nobody else is reading it. I'm just a completist, and since I'm on issue #35, I figure I better finish it. But, seriously, it has gotten so completely boring...I have to force myself to finish an issue each week it comes out.

I love this. If the same story was being told, but with more recognizable supervillains and a title other than Trinity, people would be buying it in spades.

 

[Aristotle]

I still like Trinity. I could stand to see the eponymous trio come back sooner rather than later, but the whole series is about how they're literally essential to the DC universe, and you can't really show that without showing the reader how much the world would suck without them.

You expect a readership that's too dense to get Final Crisis to be able to enjoy something that slightly high-concept?