Bought/Thought July 10th, 2008

[Phaedrus45]

Just cuz you put syrup on s**t don't make it pancakes.

Come on...your mom's cooking isn't that bad.

 

[Anubis]

Wow. Mom joke. Eh, not bad.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

To me, it lacked everything that made Iron Man and Incredible Hulk so good. I never came away with any caring for any of the characters, it was all so predictable (you knew from Charlize Theron's first worried glance at Hancock that they had a previous history together), and the main villian might be the worst movie villian in comic movie history.

Tomorrow, I'm actually having to take a ferry to Seattle to see Journey To The Center Of The Earth in 3D. My son has been dying to see that film, and no theater near us is showing it in the 3D form. I've heard some really good things about it...but, it looks like a film that wouldn't be that good in 2D.

It looks like The Mummy without mummies to me. I may be typecasting Brendan Frasier just a little bit, though.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Captain America-White #0: Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb are back, and this WAY in advance teaser really has me excited for Winter. They just have that style which is immediately easy to identify, and while the story is only 17 pages long, there is an interview and some art sketches in the second half of the book that makes up for it Good stuff...but, like I said, it's just a teaser to the story that will come this Winter. 8/10

Marvel Adventures Hulk #13: Some of my favorite things about the Marvel Adventures titles is the front covers. This is one of them. Earth's Mightiest Mummies kind of cracks me up, and is kind of nice to see a comedic approach to all those dang-blasted Marvel Zombie covers. This is Hulk versus the Living Pharaoh, and with Peter David writing it, there's a real tongue-in-cheek approach. (Seeing everyone transformed into mummies AND all wrapped up in strips of sheets, like a bad mummy movie, made me laugh. I don't know if it was on purpose; but, I felt Peter David was making fun of the whole Zombie thing.) Sure, these are not books that you will remember in a month's time; but, they're perfect for my kids, who don't want to wait six to eight months for a story to end. 6/10

 

[Phaedrus45]

It looks like The Mummy without mummies to me. I may be typecasting Brendan Frasier just a little bit, though.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Roeper and the other critic on At The Movies said it's like a bunch of movies thrown into one movie...but, they said the 3D effects are really good and that it's just a real fun thrillride of a movie. (That's a lot coming from Roeper, who slams almost any 3D movie.)

 

[Hush]

What Thor one-shot?

It had Blood in the title it came out a bit ago somethinglike reign of blood i could be wrong but I thought you would know about it.

 

[Phaedrus45]

It had Blood in the title it came out a bit ago somethinglike reign of blood i could be wrong but I thought you would know about it.

You are thinking about the three-part Thor-Ages Of Thunder one-shots. Only two have come out so far: "Ages of Thunder" and "Ages of Thunder-Reign Of Blood." Both are excellent! I've enjoyed them even more than the Thor regular series. Something about those old Thor tales really stand out.

 

[Dread]

Nut (my feelings) shell.

I didn't even run out and buy this. That's how un-excited i am for this event at this point. But I did read the Illuminati and I think beyond a doubt that Tony is a skrull and so is Prof X (if any of this has been made obvious in #4 I'm sorry. Buying it today).

I doubt that Marvel would have Iron Man be a Skrull. They're determined to stick with the idea that CIVIL WAR was a conflict between the characters that was not completely created by any villain. Now, of course, with Pym being a Skrull since, well, NA #2 (at least), and with Pym being a large part of CW (he aided Reed and Stark in setting it up, created Clor, and naturally the 50 State Thing is run by him), that is a bit of a contradiction. But it still works. SI isn't saying that the Skrulls CAUSED Stamford or the overreaction and character **** ups that were CW. They simply helped nudge it along for their own ends. They didn't start the fire, but they helped stoke the flames.

how accessible is GOTG for someone who has never read one of Marvel's cosmic books or events?

If you start from #1 it should be fine. DnA make things very accessible. They summarize the past events and all you really need to know. The characterization, lines, and art do the rest. Granted, I hear finding GOTG back issues may be tough, but I say give it a shot.

And again, it is however Dread's fault that he is horribly repetitive in EVERY aspect.

And how YOU are becoming repetitive in this respect. You may complain about me being a broken record, but you're doing the same. You complain about how I rant about Bendis (or Whedon) the same way every review, yet you ***** like clockwork every time I review one of their books.

But, really, much as you don't take me seriously, I don't take this seriously. A year or so ago I would get pissy because I thought this was personal, but I know it isn't; I lurked on the DC forums. You're like this with everyone.

And Doc Destruction, while I appreciate the defense of me, I would disagree with believing that Darthphere should be obligated to post reviews just to be "worthy" of criticizing me. That is unfair. That would be akin to not being able to complain about a writer unless you yourself wrote stories, or a film-maker unless you yourself made films, or a meal unless you yourself were a chef. It is a slippery slope.

Secret Invasion #4: Say what you will about House Of M...but, Bendis did a much better job of telling his tale with that comic than he's doing with Secret Invasion. It just seems scattered, and there are even times I'm clueless to who some of the characters are. (Like the gal in space.) There are parts to each issue I like...but, there are just as many that just seem underdeveloped. (Nick Fury's return should have been so much more...but, Bendis has too much going on within this issue. Plus, I keep wondering why so many of the Skrulls are fighting while NOT being in disguise in the streets of New York.) Bendis has great ideas...he just doesn't follow-through like he used to. (Really, when you have your hands in so many comics, I think many tend to suffer from lack of full attention.) This is much better than Final Crisis...but, that's not saying much. It all could be soooo much better. 5/10

You're alone here, man. I think SECRET INVASION is moving along better than HOM in every way. It has more action. The plot at least makes some degree of sense. It involves an actual villain. It had better build-up. I wouldn't call it a masterwork, but to me it is an improvement upon HOM. Of course, for an A-List writer, going from "crap" to "mediocre" is not especially endearing, but here we are. Granted, at a grade of 5 out of 10, you share my opinion that SI is average.

 

[Darthphere]

And how YOU are becoming repetitive in this respect. You may complain about me being a broken record, but you're doing the same. You complain about how I rant about Bendis (or Whedon) the same way every review, yet you ***** like clockwork every time I review one of their books.

But, really, much as you don't take me seriously, I don't take this seriously. A year or so ago I would get pissy because I thought this was personal, but I know it isn't; I lurked on the DC forums. You're like this with everyone.

And Doc Destruction, while I appreciate the defense of me, I would disagree with believing that Darthphere should be obligated to post reviews just to be "worthy" of criticizing me. That is unfair. That would be akin to not being able to complain about a writer unless you yourself wrote stories, or a film-maker unless you yourself made films, or a meal unless you yourself were a chef. It is a slippery slope.

Think of this an an intervention. You have a problem, I'm here to help you.

 

[Dread]

Think of this an an intervention. You have a problem, I'm here to help you.

It still is predictable and repetitive. Just as you say I am. It comes off as hypocritical.

There was a time where I read Bendis comics because he "used" to be good. I usually give him credit on his DD run and the first few years of USM. For the past four years, though, especially within the last two...

Now I think I read to remain in the know, and for the spectacle. Like people who listen to Howard Stern to ***** about him. Plus, because all events spill into messloads of books now, it seems smart to at least get those.

 

[fifthfiend]

So, getting away from the most excruciatingly uninteresting topic on this or any message board.

Guardians of the Galaxy 3

So this is a quite good comic, yet through all three issues I've found myself thinking you know, I think I actually hate this comic. And I finally pinpointed why.

We're reading the adventures of a team of people throwing themselves into lifethreatening situations, with a thousand horrifying deaths around every corner, and the very annihilation of the universe at stake should they fail. And during these incredible, fantastic, and thrillingly dangerous events, they cut about a hundred times per issue to the entire team sitting around back at home, healthy and hale and chilled out after another mission in which the universe emphatically has not been destroyed.

What the ****ing **** made that seem like a good idea? Great job guys, way to take your epic space action drama, and strip it of all suspense and consequence.

I mean where it really dug into me was where I was reading through this issue and hadn't seen Gamora in any of their twenty million obnoxious flash-forward recap panels, and I was like wow so now I pretty much know for certain that something is going to happen to Gamora such that she wouldn't be in the stupid flashforward recaps. Way to totally kill any extent to which you might have surprised me, creative team!

It's, ugh. On the annoy the hell out of me scale this is like a thousand times worse than Bendis' stupidest****ingthoughtsintheuniverse-bubbles in Mighty Avengers which itself was previously the pinnacle of being annoying as hell, and it's made even worse by the fact that without them this would be basically one of the best comics I have ever read.

Gah!

 

[Dread]

You have a point there, fifthfiend. Still, I guess for me, I *know* the universe won't end in a certain issue unless it was announced in a Newsarama scoop 2-6 months prior or are expecting a character to die every issue. Maybe I accept it because despite the danger and the violence, the tone of the book is light, or at least lighter than the grim, bleak, "you can't trust anyone and nobody likes superheroes at all" tone of other Earth based Marvel books.

The "video transmission" segments often have fun details, and are kind of like a ploy on sitcoms and reality shows that use them. And over-use them. Still, it is just a detail for me, and the book usually offers more of a ride than that.

 

[fifthfiend]

Nova

Holy **** this is a good-ass comic.

Like I'll be honest I actually missed Annihilation its first run through, busy being pissed off about Civil War and Infinite Crisis and generally having trouble with the idea that there could be such a thing as a good event series being put on the stands. And then I saw it was all out in trade and I took a look through it and I was like damn, I am stupid and everyone who said this was good was completely correct , this is a totally great and unexceptedly excellent comic book event series. And Nova basically continues that excellence in every single issue.

You know what I think I like best about this Galactus arc, is its portrayal of Galactus himself. I mean it's maybe the rarest thing in comics to actually see Galactus from the ground up portrayed as the force of nature he is supposed to be, this unstoppable cosmic thing that tears your world apart and makes you flee to the stars and there's not **** you or anybody can do about it and well, there you are. I've gotten so used to seeing him written as The Universe's Mightiest Jobber that it kind of threw me to see the hero show up and be like, there is in fact no possible way for me to win, and my best option is in fact to ameliorate this catastrophe by the minor amount that I can.

With Iron Fist maybe (maybe! I reserve judgment but nevertheless acknowledge the possibility) getting sucky soon, it's nice to know there will continue to be a comic that I can say man, this comic is just straightforwardly good in pretty much every respect.

 

[Dread]

Yeah, NOVA is great. Although, has Galactus really jobbed in the comics recently? In ANNIHILATION he was taken down by beings of equal power, and helped save the universe. He sat out CONQUEST. But, I do agree, it added suspense seeing Galactus from Rich's POV.

 

[fifthfiend]

I don't really so much mean recently as generally over the course of his entire existence.

 

[fifthfiend]

Captain Britain #3

The ending panel actually felt sort of anticlimactic considering how much it had been built up through the last two comics.

Everything else in the comic was pretty great, but it felt like it was all barrelling towards this huge moment and then it gets to the huge moment and it's Captain Britain... standing there, in kind of an awkward half-shrug looking thing. I don't know what he should look like there, but whatever it is, man, he sure doesn't.

You know who I'm really liking in this, is the Black Knight. I mean for a character I knew nothing about prior to this series he's surprisingly winning. He's got a whole "Okay so I'm not special enough to be Captain America or Captain Britain or run around holding a proper magic sword like Excalibur and I'm going to go insane probably but hey, who said heroing was easy?" kind of thing going on that I dig.

New Excalibur 8

So I didn't actually read this, but I did happen to catch the cover and man,

it's like they said let's sit down and work really, really hard and come up with a cover that communicates how utterly anybody who used to like this comic does not want to read it now.

I like how they even manage to draw Morph with an expression that says "Hey guys! Don't forget that I'm not actually Morph, but the mind-controlled Proteus wearing Morph like a shape-shifting skin suit."

 

[Ikaris-Eternal]

Young X-Men 4 - well, to no one's surprise, "Cyclops" isn't who he claimed to be.

Nova 15 - awesome. gotta hope worldmind comes back - the next arc will probably have rider "earning" it back

 

[gildea]

Now I think I read to remain in the know, and for the spectacle. Like people who listen to Howard Stern to ***** about him. Plus, because all events spill into messloads of books now, it seems smart to at least get those.

Thing is though the vast majority of your recent bendis reviews have actually been positive (on the whole) about whatever comic you've been reading but with the added snarkiness relating to past events.

It just seems to me for the most part you're actually enjoying the comic but don't want to give up on the snarkiness for the reviews.

 

[Darthphere]

It still is predictable and repetitive. Just as you say I am. It comes off as hypocritical.

There was a time where I read Bendis comics because he "used" to be good. I usually give him credit on his DD run and the first few years of USM. For the past four years, though, especially within the last two...

Now I think I read to remain in the know, and for the spectacle. Like people who listen to Howard Stern to ***** about him. Plus, because all events spill into messloads of books now, it seems smart to at least get those.

All excuses.

 

[iloveclones]

Oh wow, seriously?

Mary-Sue harder, Spider-team.

How in God's name is that a Mary-Sue? This should be good.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Young X-Men 4 - well, to no one's surprise, "Cyclops" isn't who he claimed to be.

Who was he? Skrull?

 

[Darthphere]

Internet Jesus.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Hall-e-lujah!

 

[yenaled]

@m3n.

 

[fifthfiend]

How in God's name is that a Mary-Sue? This should be good.

Shouldn't you be off somewhere wearing your Spider-mask and spanking one out, or whatever it is you BND fans do?

Invincible Iron Man 3

So Ezekiel's somehow a whole lot less interesting now that he's burned his hair off. It just seems to chip away at the line between "legacy but an actual character in his own right" and "Hey kids it's ___________ Stane, just like ___________ Stane from the *****in' Iron Man movie you just saw!!!!" Putting him into that whatever it is, Not-Iron-Man suit at the end is kinda lame too, you already went to this much trouble to set him up as the new-model techno-biologically empowered villain, so why backtrack on that by having him protect his frail human skin with Iron-Spandex?

Also the Pepper/Tony whatever that's about continues to be pretty much totally lame and unnecessary.

I did really enjoy the old-timey lookin' art on that one flashback page.

Eternals

I dunno, Gaiman it ain't. I figure this'll get more interesting when it actually starts getting somewhere but that doesn't happen here.

I really enjoyed the gratuitous shot at Dirty ****ing Hippies; I actually had to stop and check the cover to make sure Willingham didn't have a writing credit on this. Nothing spices up writing by grinding the plot to a halt so you can put a 50-year-old stereotype in its place!