Bought//Thought March 07 2007.

[Kevin]

...that's not real, right?

 

[PhotoJones]

...that's not real, right?

yes, it is. it's from civil war: the inititiative.

 

[Frico]

out of that entire book, THAT is what made the biggest impression on you?

Just thought it was funny, comin out of Jarvis

Quote of the week.

An' yeah CB, like jones said, it's from Civil War: The Initiative

 

[kguillou]

Cap is alive! Civil War Initiative proves it! Did anyone read that conversation between Ms. MArvel and Spiderwoman? Ms. Marvel says he's alive and they're ressurecting him as we speak. CAP LIVES!!

 

[Kevin]

Guess I have to get CW:TI now just for Jarvis.

 

[The Ether]

I liked how Bendis used Thought bubbles on Mighty Avengers. Haven't seen them for a long time plus it works.

 

[KingOfDreams]

double post

 

[KingOfDreams]

Cap is alive! Civil War Initiative proves it! Did anyone read that conversation between Ms. MArvel and Spiderwoman? Ms. Marvel says he's alive and they're ressurecting him as we speak. CAP LIVES!!

If he ends up being dead for how long Iceman was de-powered I won't be happy. I mean, if he has to be dead, leave him dead for awhile. Otherwise any meaning behind it all will be negated.

 

[kguillou]

I know right? They're ALREADY telling us that cap's alive The SAME day he dies, they tell us he's alive. Gotta love Marvel.

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

Well, I managed to get my hands on the last issue of #25 at my store (I actually bought the owner's personal copy--I threatened him with a violent mutant manifestation of my own). Just finished reading it. Wow. Poignant, beautifully-illustrated, well-written stuff. I was so sad after I finished reading it--I guess because this really was something I was totally not expecting.

Also...I'm really disgusted with Mr. Pretty Boy "Director Of Shield" right now and can't wait to see how Steve's passing will torment that mutha@#$%!'s conscience.

 

[PhotoJones]

Well, I managed to get my hands on the last issue of #25 at my store (I actually bought the owner's personal copy--I threatened him with a violent mutant manifestation of my own). Just finished reading it. Wow. Poignant, beautifully-illustrated, well-written stuff. I was so sad after I finished reading it--I guess because this really was something I was totally not expecting.

Also...I'm really disgusted with Mr. Pretty Boy "Director Of Shield" right now and can't wait to see how Steve's passing will torment that mutha@#$%!'s conscience.

didn't you just post this...in the other thread?

 

[Frico]

didn't you just post this...in the other thread?

Yeah, the Cap thread.

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

didn't you just post this...in the other thread?

Yes. The review is applicable to this thread as well.

Plus I'm a lazy bia tonight.

 

[PhotoJones]

Yes. The review is applicable to this thread as well.

Plus I'm a lazy bia tonight.

so i can post "i agree!" in every thread on the hype, and it's okay? it's applicable.

sweet! i'll have 50,000 posts by tomorrow morning!

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

so i can post "i agree!" in every thread on the hype, and it's okay? it's applicable.

sweet! i'll have 50,000 posts by tomorrow morning!

Stop splitting hairs!














t:

 

[PWN3R]

Is The Initiative worth it? It's not like Choosing Sides/five dollar commercial book?

 

[PhotoJones]

Stop splitting hairs!

stop reposting.

 

[King_Mungi]

Is The Initiative worth it? It's not like Choosing Sides/five dollar commercial book?

Not really, the Thunderbolts story was decent, but other than that is was meh! Omega Flight tie-in was decent and answered several questions, but definetly not worth the cost of the book.

 

[PhotoJones]

Is The Initiative worth it? It's not like Choosing Sides/five dollar commercial book?

the only thing that makes it worthwhile is the carol/jessica conversation which sets up new avengers, as well as hints at cap's maybe true real condition/location.

 

[Marcdachamp]

Captain America- PICK OF THE WEEK! Lord... I'm not sure what to think. I love it, but it's just awfully depressing. That ending? WOW. Didn't see that coming in a million years. I avoided spoilers like the plague. Brubaker... please don't screw this up. 10/10

Mighty Avengers- This was fantastic. Really good. Tony still came off like a prick, but Ms. Marvel (I hate that name) was cool, and I'm already enjoying Ares' presence. Great start. 9/10

Civil War: The Initiative- Some interesting set-up, and a revelation, perhaps? Silvestri's art is incredible, as always, but the issue is mostly set-up for other books. 8/10

Ultimate Spider-Man- The arc begins with a bang. Last page? AWKWARD! Loved it, though. 8/10

Dark Tower- Not as strong as the first issue, but still strong. There's a lot going on, and it's a little difficult for me since I have no background with these characters. 8/10

Transformers Movie Prequel- Good story. Figueroa's art seemed a little off early on, but picked up towards the end. 8/10

Marvel Zombies/Army of Darkness- Not great, but not bad. I expect the action to ramp up next issue. 7/10

Uncanny X-Men- The biggest problem with this arc is that it relies pretty heavily on Shiar history. The action's great, as is the art, but I'm ready for the book to head back to Earth. 7/10

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man- This books pretty much ****ing crazy. Not bad, just crazy. 7/10

Fantastic Four- Didn't read the back-up stories yet, but the first one was pretty good. 7/10

Haven't read Onslaught yet. I'm worried that if I open that beautiful McGuiness cover, I'll remind myself I spent money on this.

 

[GNR]

Cap #25 - I got spoiled early,but this was probably the best read of the week.I just wondered what the heck Fury had planned.

JLA #6 - I've had patience with this book,and it's been good.But this final chapter to the first arc,was kind of underwhelming.One of my main gripes about this series has been the story telling methods of using up one page or more in sequences which could easily be done in less.I know this isn't the only book that does it,but I'm just saying.The fight with Amazo is pretty much just a takedown with Roy narrating it and sitting along the sidelines,while Reddy gets his ass handed to him by Grundy.

After re-reading last issue and this one,I've had a change in heart.I loved this issue.I think it was the fact that I read this right after Cap #25.So once again,JLA #6 is a winner.

 

[BrianWilly]

Heh, my shop sold out of Captain America. Guess I'll have to wait to review that one.

52 Week 44
I'll be honest, my first impression was that I wasn't quite sure just what I thought of this.

On the one hand, wow was this an awesome issue. The storyline is incredibly gripping, the villains were suitably creepy, and the emotions are raw as frak.

On the other hand, you can't really shake the feeling of cliche and "wait, that's it?" about all of this. A guy's family getting killed which sends him over the edge into questionable actions and outright villainy? That's...I mean, that's pretty routine. Did we really need awesome characters like Isis and Osiris to be introduced just for this? It feels so needlessly self-destructive. I had sort of hoped that Black Adam's personal journey through this entirety of 52 wouldn't just turn him into Magneto 2.0, and yet here we are.

There is also that point of DC being so DARK and GLOOMY and DEPRESSING and TRIGGER-HAPPY lately. I concede that there is a point to be made about the...explicitness...of these stories lately, and yet...okay yeah, 52 has been depressing at times, and angsty in others, and doesn't shy away in the least from using gratuitous violence and character deaths to get its points across. And y'know what, I'll still cheerfully take this over Captain America getting verbally pwned by a ****** and then riddled with holes on his way to court (damn, who in the Marvel universe hasn't been shot going in or out of court?). All of the character deaths in 52 lately have been characters dying in heroic battle, fighting in protection of their home or loved ones against great evil. It's not necessarily uplifting, and it hardly makes the deaths very positive, and like I said it's certainly not all that original. But it's not wrong. No one's going to write in DC offices going, "OMG! Isis is such a btch for dying to save her country!"

There's depressing, and then there's depressing. I've never been the type to get very depressed at character death if it is significant or makes sense in the context of the story. It's not something that I would deem a bad decision in itself, so long as it's carried with appropriately. Now, with that said...it's not as if I think DC should make a habit of killing off its characters (more of a habit than it has now, I mean), and there is such a thing as too much, too cliche. There is such a thing as an inappropriate death. Less is more. I really hope this ends up being worth it. Being as how I'm incredibly excited for what happens next, I really hope this ends up being worth it.

(8.1 out of 10)


Mighty Avengers #1
Or, Sir *****e and his *****ebags.

Kerrist, was there a lot of text in this issue. Made it so hard to speed-read it in the store. How was it? Well, I guess we can all unlax a bit since, to my sort-of-surprise, this issue was pretty solid.

We get a one-by-one introduction to the team (in a single issue!) and most members get some nifty moments to shine. The banter between Carol and Tony was, ultimately, pretty good. It was, o ye gods, pretty much the epitome of Talking Heads, but it made a modicum of sense and both characters were pretty good in character. "I'm pretty sure they [Hank and Janet] were what drove me to drink in the first place." Oh Tony. You're such a *****e.

I like they they don't actually like each other so much. I like that Carol may have been more attached to Cap than she thought and is a bit hesitant about Tony's direction here. And I like that Tony obviously sees this and is intentionally giving her more props than he might actually think she deserves in order to placate her. It's interesting. It gives the impression that Bendis actually put some genuine thought into this, as opposed to...many other things he does.

And y'know, yes Bendis is writing Stark as a *****ey fascist, but he's writing him consistently as a *****ey fascist. Everything he does, you can see a hint of the control-freak ready to pounce. Every line of dialogue out of Stark's lips, you can't help but wonder if it's genuine or if it's got Ulterior Motive in bright red neon stamped all over. There's a bit of an primal, undeniable thrill in that. It is, ironically, the same sort of primal thrill one might get from reading about, say, Dr. Doom or Lex Luthor or other manipulative villains of that caliber. Yes, villains. Reading about Tony Stark right now is like reading about a villain. And y'know what? I don't mind that. I don't mind that so long as they're consistent about it and honest about it. What I mind is for them to dress up his manipulativeness and control-freakiness as some sort of heroism or admirable trait. That, I object to.

Not sure what I think of the thought-balloons...I might get used to them, given some time, but right now they're kinda jarring. While I wouldn't say this issue was phenomenal or exceeded my expections like crazy or changed my mind completely regarding Bendis' hacktitude or something, it is definitely a solid start.

(8.2 out of 10)


Justice League of America #6
Essentially, a big ol' action issue with a whole lot of prose. And boy do we get a lot of action. And prose. The League in action was awesome. Vixen's use of her powers was awesome. Tornado in action? Incredibly awesome.

Now that we've come to the end, however, I do have to question the structure of this whole arc. I mean, for all that I rag on Bendis' compressed storytelling, how can I really claim this as much different? It took six issues to fully assemble a team. The Big Three spend issues upon issues talking about how they feel and picking the roster for a team and then...eventually doesn't end up using much of that roster. Vixen flies around for a while and ends up here for a big cheap finish. The big threats of Solomon Grundy and Amazo were interesting, but c'mon...they're Solomon Grundy and Amazo. It took such a labyrinthine structure to get us here to this point, for the JLA to fight Solomon Grundy and Amazo? And...I'm still not quite sure how Hawkgirl ended up with us. I practically forgot she was still here until halfway through the issue.

Where Meltzer does shine is in the heart of the characters, of course. Okay, I'm not crazy about his Big Three dynamic, as it repeats too many of the past's "mistakes"...

Superman: "I'm a boy scout!"
Wonder Woman: "I'm a warrior!"
Batman: "I'm a dick!"

Yes, they are all those things, but they are so much more, and that's really the point. While it'll take me a while to warm up to that, I really do like his take on the Canary/Arrow/Lantern team. Meltzer's dialogue between the trio is almost worth the price of admission alone. And Red Tornado? Reddy's personality is palpable here. His story, unsurprisingly enough, is the one here with the most structure and most cohesiveness.

In conclusion, I am looking forward to more from Meltzer on this. I am, however, also hoping to see some improvements.

(8 out of 10)
(7.3 out of 10 for the whole arc)


Manhunter #29
It's interesting how people were constantly btching their mouths off about the "Diana Prince" identity, saying how dishonest it is for the spirit of truth to be hung up about a secret identity, and imo how Diana's acting in this series -- or at least this issue -- is far more harmfully dishonest. At least it feels that way to me.

So Wonder Woman's basically willing to lie outright both to her lawyer and in court because she doesn't want people to lose faith in Superman's inspiration. She thinks Superman stands for something great for the people to look up to and it would be far too much of a sacrifice to destroy that. What? So much for not underestimating the power of truth, I guess! So much for the power of truth being able to overcome all!

Doesn't she trust the public to make up its own mind for itself and not be mollycoddled from the big harsh facts? Superheroes get mind-controlled all the time! Didn't the entire JLA big mind-controlled big time in the past and it made big headlines? People seem to handle that just fine. A supervillain controlled Superman, and now the supervillain is defeated. Superman himself didn't do anything wrong.

Okay, on the other hand, I do understand that it's not as if she doesn't have a point -- in fact, she seems to be making Clark's point instead of her own -- but shouldn't she perhaps have thought about all this "superheroes must be inspirational" stuff before she snapped a man's neck? And now it's down to crunch time, and she's chickening out of revealing the truth to people because she thinks it'll destroy their false illusions about their idols? But...isn't destroying false illusions a good thing? Who is she to decide for us whether or not we get to hear the truth?? In fact, who is she to decide for Superman whether or not they get to hear the truth about him?

Come on, the woman has the wisdom of Athena. And this doesn't resemble wisdom in the least. What's more annoying is that this looks like it's going to be the thing that sets off Amazons Attack. Because of Wonder Woman's dishonesty. Yay.

Morever, for a superhero series nearly completely dedicated to talking about law and lawyers, I'm beginning to question just how much of the practical process of law Andreyko understands. Superman shows up on the judge's doorstep and gives evidence that completely turns the case upside down, and the judge says "I'm sorry, I wish I could do something but I can't, the jury is already deliberating"? She's the judge!! She could declare a mistrial at any point in the game, much less regarding evidence of this magnitude. "Oh, it turns out that the suspect didn't do it after all...but hey, the jury is deliberating already, let's just let them finish." Am I...missing something here?

Oh, incidentally, Ted Kord is [blackout]still dead. The guy impersonating him was Everyman, from 52[/blackout].

(6.5 out of 10)


The All-New Atom #9
Reasonably solid issue. What struck me as a bit weird is that at the end of the issue, I got the impression that we were supposed to see Jia as very shifty and questionable all this time while Ryan played the part of the naive ex-boyfriend who was too trustworthy for his own good...and yet, I didn't get that impression at all. When Ryan said at the end that in his heart he knew the truth about her, I was just...buh?

But still, giant floating alien heads are still awesome.

(8 out of 10)

 

[Doc Destruction]

JLA was great, got the AH! cover because Black Canary never looked that good.

The Amazo fight was just pure brutality. Watching the JLA silently go to work on him was some scary stuff. Looking forward to the next arc now that the team is pretty well put together.

52 was depressing. Black Adam is going to be one frightening mo fo, fo sho.

X-Men was great stuff, but I agree...time to get the team earth side.

 

[Darthphere]

Captain America #25- I wont go into a summarizing of the book because frankly, everyone knows what happens. I have to admit before I go on that when I heard the news, I was pissed, really pissed and utterly disgusted. After the initial shock was over, I was able to think rationally and put my faith in brubaker as a solid writer. So i bought the book, read it and thought:

Brubaker hits this one out of the park. The story is depressing. Of course it is, no one wants to see their favorite character die. But the writing, art and everything about this comic is excellent. Its violent, its bloody, and it pulls on the heart strings. A comic that invokes so much thought and emotion that I had to take a break after reading it. Its a hard pill to swallow frankly. Cap is dead. Of course he'll be back, but it still changes nothing.

I know all of you are going into your fanboy rage, dropping all your Marvel titles in a wave of irrational thought and grief. Cursing Brubaker, Quesada, Brevoort. Saying its all about hype, and making a big splash. None of that matters to me. All I know at the end of the day, I got a great comic, and a fitting end to the story arc Brubaker has been building since day one. I really hope you guys can see past all the hype and media coverage and actually read this comic, borrow it from a friend, download it, I don't care. The fact is, a lot of you are discussing this and getting angry and going on rants about a comic, you havent read. Seeing is believing, and I believe in what brubaker is doing. I look forward to what he has in store next and Steve Rogers inevitable resurrection.

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

Captain America #25- I wont go into a summarizing of the book because frankly, everyone knows what happens. I have to admit before I go on that when I heard the news, I was pissed, really pissed and utterly disgusted. After the initial shock was over, I was able to think rationally and put my faith in brubaker as a solid writer. So i bought the book, read it and thought:

Brubaker hits this one out of the park. The story is depressing. Of course it is, no one wants to see their favorite character die. But the writing, art and everything about this comic is excellent. Its violent, its bloody, and it pulls on the heart strings. A comic that invokes so much thought and emotion that I had to take a break after reading it. Its a hard pill to swallow frankly. Cap is dead. Of course he'll be back, but it still changes nothing.

I know all of you are going into your fanboy rage, dropping all your Marvel titles in a wave of irrational thought and grief. Cursing Brubaker, Quesada, Brevoort. Saying its all about hype, and making a big splash. None of that matters to me. All I know at the end of the day, I got a great comic, and a fitting end to the story arc Brubaker has been building since day one. I really hope you guys can see past all the hype and media coverage and actually read this comic, borrow it from a friend, download it, I don't care. The fact is, a lot of you are discussing this and getting angry and going on rants about a comic, you havent read. Seeing is believing, and I believe in what brubaker is doing. I look forward to what he has in store next and Steve Rogers inevitable resurrection.

Great post. I was wondering what you thought about it. Thanks for the review.