Bought/Thought, March 7th, 2012 - SPOILERS

[TheCorpulent1]

Figured I'd kick this off since one thing in particular seemed worth commenting on:

Fear Itself: The Fearless #10: A relatively good issue marred only by its last page. A keychain of hammers? Really? Who looked at that and thought it was a good design? That sort of made the whole thing fall apart for me because I realized I was looking at the Red Skull's daughter controlling the Serpent's wannabe Destroyer and wielding a bunch of wannabe Mjolnirs. Bad copies all around (although Sin is actually kind of cool).

 

[runawayboulder]

In other news, my hunch was right - Kid Vision died today at the age of who gives a f**k.

 

[THANOSRULES]

since he's been in like 5 issues of any comic in 10 years

 

[JewishHobbit]

You know that whole "dropping comics" thing that I'm all talk about? I suck at it. I "dropped" Venom, Defenders, and Avengers Academy but ended up buying them all. What is wrong with me?!

Venom 14 - Glad it's over. Next.

Defenders 4 - This one I actually enjoyed more than the previous 3 issues. I just kept thinking that those first 3 might have just been a bad arc. This issue ended up being fairly interesting with good art. I liked the overall standalone story and I might have been pursuaded to stick around a while longer. We'll see.

Avengers Academy 27 - This book is technically dropped but I was curious about the Runaways story and since I'll be buying all of the AvsX issues why not start two issues early? I'm glad I did, it was a good plot. I stopped reading Runaways when Vaughn left and have been trying to get back issues of late. I've not read much since Whedon took the reigns (and others after him) but I know the jist. I just love these characters and was sad that I missed out on the Daken arc with them. I'll get it eventually. Should have gotten it over the Invincible issues last week come to think of it. Oh well. Runaways aside, Striker shines in this issue. Fun character.

X-Men 26 - Yet another book that was at one time dropped but I picked it back up for this arc. Deadpool, Lady Bullseye, and others join the fight as assassins and bounty hunters come after Raizo. The X-Men put aside their differences to help Raizo and his crew to fight and it ends up being a pretty good story. People criticize Gischler's run but I've honestly enjoyed all the Vampire-centric arcs. From Fall of the Mutants to the Raizo introduction issue to this arc. I just think it's all been interesting. Good stuff.

Uncanny X-Men 8 - I liked this issue. I think Gillen is doing a great job with this new location in the Marvel Universe. Tabula Rasa is stated to be a place with story potential like the Savage Land and it's true. Gillen crafts the place that was created in Uncanny X-Force and makes it interesting. Greg Land's art fits the arc and is actually likable (and that's wierd for me to say) and all in all I think it was just a good Uncanny X-Force companion story. This might have been my favorite arc of Gillen's run so far. The Phalanx solo issue was still better but this one was close.

Avengers: The Children Crusade 9 - And the story that never ends finally ends and I can't say I'm pleased with it. It was just so disjointed in my opinion. My main gripe is that Stature's death sticks, which ticks me off. She was the heart of the team and arguably the most interesting. Vision 2.0 dies and it isn't relayed well. I turned the page and suddenly he was dead. I had to flip back to see how. And despite the words spoken I just didn't feel anything from either of those deaths. I don't feel that the emotion was translated well, whether it be from the writing or the art. It was very plain I think.

Then we have Iron Lad kinda sorta turn bad by killing Vision 2.0 out of grief and jealousy and then flee into the timestream hinting at his traveling the path to becoming Kang. I felt that this was a sudden turn and that it wasn't built to much at all. He was so developed in the first 6 issues of the original ongoing and this just felt out of character for him. I didn't like it.

Then we have the disbanning of the team. Patriot leaves (again) and Hawkeye leaves and then everyone else does as well. When Cap calls them back together to declare them Avengers only four show up and I guess these people are the Young Avengers: Hawkeye, Wiccan, Hulkling, and Speed. That doesn't feel like a very good line up to me. I'd rather Patriot take Hawkeye's place so it's the original team minus Iron Lad. That'd feel better to me but I guess that's all just a matter of opinion.

And did anyone else find it wierd that they kept refering to Scott Long as being gone when he's right there in the scene with them? Vision 2.0 mentioned Cassie being gone with her father and then the statue in the end had Vision 2.0, Cassie, and Scott... presented to the Young Avengers by Scott himself. There was a bit of a time shift there but this was the real Scott Lang. He's not dead. That was just wierd for me.

All in all I don't really mind Vision 2.0's death since the real Vision is back and he was rather redundant. Iron Lad going bad was unfortunate but I can see how good plot could eventually come out of that, though I'd rather it have had a proper emotional build up. My biggest gripe is Cassie's death and Patriot's departure. The team has a solid line up even without Vision but take those two away and it's just missing something.

I'm pitching an idea... Kristoff learns of Cassie's death and dispairs. He uses time travel to save her, being joined by Iron Lad, and they end up saving her life. A war rages between Iron Lad and Kristoff and in the end the Young Avengers save her. Seeing her back motivates Patriot to join up again and we have the group together again. I'd be happy with that.


Best and Worst of the Week

Best: Uncanny X-Men 8 - A good conclusion to a decent story. I think Gillen did a great job here fleshing out one of Remender's ideas and for once Greg Land's art was good. Good issue.

Worst: Venom 14 - Despite all of Avengers' flaws, Venom was just boring and dumb. I didn't enjoy a single moment of it. This six part arc could have easily been condenced to 2 issues, ditching X-23, Strange, and Damian in the process. The rest had a decent place in the story but much of what we saw told could have been left out. It was all a waste of money and I'm glad it's done.

 

[JewishHobbit]

since he's been in like 5 issues of any comic in 10 years

Actually, I'd guess that he was in more comics than anyone else on the team save Cassie. He was in the Collective arc of New Avengers, Captain America Reborn, Slott's Mighty Avengers run, and I want to say a few other hit and miss stories when a "Vision" would be required.

The rest of the team pretty much just stayed with team appearances minus Stature, who was in Initiative and Mighty Avengers.

 

[runawayboulder]

The ending to Children's Crusade was pretty lousy but what else could you expect from a story that starts in 2007 and needs to lead into AvX years later? The one good thing I hope stick is that this is the last we see of Heinberg. F-him and his schedule that Marvel is forced to work around.

 

[THANOSRULES]

i forgot he was in mighty...he wasn't explored much anywhere

 

[CrimsonMist]

Swamp Thing #7: Was flat out awesome. While I was always quick to defend this title as being one of the two best books DC has out, I admit that with issue 6, I was getting more than alittle anxious for the arc to end and the actual Swamp Thing to appear. I wasn't let down this issue. Alec, on the verge of death, is cocooned in leaves by the dying Parliament of Trees. He is told that the Parliament doesn't have enough strength to transform him into the Swamp Thing and that they're disappointed in him for refusing his destiny and for being with Abby Arcane, who they claim is now lost. Alec refuses to believe that Abby will be the avatar of the Rot, that she's too strong to simply be Sethe's champion. Alec argues back that without humans to keep The Green in check, the Green is nothing but the same kind of greedy savage force that the Rot is. So Alec tells the Parliament that he has some left over bio-restorative formula his pack that should boost the Parliament enough to transform them. The Parliament realize the error of their ways in judging Holland, and in an act of forsaking his humanity(they tell him he can never be human again) and doing it only for Abby, Holland is transformed into the Swamp Thing and on his terms, declares war on Sethe and the Rot.

The transformation and the ultimate reveal of Swamp Thing is absolutely both painful and beautiful. Paquette's art really shines here. I'm thankful Paquette was able to deliver the art duties on this issue. It feels right. Back are the beautiful trippy layouts and insane, articulate detail and disturbing grotesque monstrosities. Snyder's writing was great here, too. To say that this book was anything less than epic would be wrong. The stage of war has been set. The next batch of issues should be something to behold.

Animal Man #7. I think I made a mistake reading this book AFTER Swamp Thing. Or maybe not. This was a good issue, not a great one. It takes a back-seat to Swamp Thing this month. The family drama that Lemire excels at it in top shape and I found myself laughing at all the right moments. I can't help but fall in love with Buddy and his family. We get a glimpse at a possible future that shows what happens if Buddy can't protect Maxine. She's older and fighting the Rot along with Swamp Thing and Constantine. There's a shotgun toting old woman there too and I don't know who it is. It's either Ellen, or they spoiled(maybe) a future plot point and it's really Abby Arcane. It was pretty cool and if Constantine being here implies that once Lemire takes over Justice League Dark, we'll see Constantine and some others team up to take on the rot(like back in Moore's run when they took on the great evil in Hell), consider me even more excited for the eventual cross-over between Swamp Thing and Animal Man later this year.

The story here was good, but compared to Swamp Thing it kind of paled. That might have something to do with the fact that Swamp Thing #7 was the end of an act while Animal Man #7 is the beginning of a new act so the stage is still be set for what's to come. Another reason is that Steve Pugh, as much as I like his artwork, doesn't really compare to Travel Foreman who is leaving the title. Foreman's artwork was grotesque and disturbing and as a whole, rather unconventional in it's layout presentation. Pugh, by contrast, illustrates the book in conventional manner and it simply felt a little, well...boring. I'll deal with it though. Lemire still takes the cake when it comes to writing.

Fatale #3. God damn. I LOVE this book. If Brubaker decided one day to stop writing superhero comics and decided to dedicate all of his time working with Sean Philips on super badass pulp/crime/noir/horror comics, I would not complain. His Catwoman work is amazing, as is his work on Gotham Central, Incognito, Batman: Gotham Noir, and Criminal are all top-notch. His less overtly superhero stuff is where I feel Brubaker really shines and Fatale is no exception. This book has it all: classic noir, nazis, Lovecraftian monsters. What more can you want? Philips' artwork really absorbs you, totally sucks you in. And Brubaker's writing is just hardboiled goodness. In the little afterwards letter to the reader, Brubaker explained that his aim is for this to last 15 issues long, or as long as he deems it necessary to tell the whole story. I am not complaining. This is some great stuff. More people need to read it.

Secret Avengers #23: Totally forgot about this issue when it came out last month so I bought it this week. I like it. The artwork is pretty damn good and not all shiny and typical of the medium. Remender is a good writer, which I knew from his work on the Punisher before he took it off the deep end. But I like it. The banter between Cap, Flash and Jim Hammond was nice. My ass wasn't kicked by this book, but I found myself absorbed by Eric O'Grady's redemption into a hero. Kind of hope he isn't dead though. That was a bummer. Kind of liked him. The biggest problem, really my only one, is the fact that this is a 4 dollar book. I was quite excited to drop all the 4 dollar books from my pull-list for the time being once PunisherMAX was over(yea, I dropped Action Comics too. I simply don't care about it.) but Secret Avengers is just too good to miss. But I don't know how long I can sustain picking it up. New Deadwardians comes out at the end of this month and that looks fairly interesting and if it is, it's gonna be on my pull-list. Batman becomes a 4 dollar book next month and Ennis's SHADOW series at Dynamite launches next month at 4 bucks as well(2 books that are FAR more interesting to me than Secret Avengers, good as it may be). We'll see, I guess.

 

[Harlekin]

Children's Crusade #9 was a travesty. Choosing to kill Cassie over her father is wrong on quite a few levels, as I've noted in a previous post. And my prediction of it having little impact rang true. I'll bet ya nobody is going to mention Cassie until she comes back (that I do believe will happen eventually, even if it'll take ten years). So that's a big waste, in favour of a character that was dead ten years already and who arguably doesn't contribute more to the Marvel Universe than his daughter. He's already been redeemed and Hank Pym is active again.

But then Heinberg decided to hit and run. Killing Vision 2.0 was bad from all angles. As a story decision and as a scene. You've got Avengers and X-Men standing around as he just straight up murders this teen Vision. Okay, so he can get off the first shot. After that, any of the other characters should be on top of him (Quicksilver? Ms. Marvel? Rogue?) and stopping him. Instead, they just let him do his thing.

Besides that, it's really one of the most redundant kills. Vision 2.0 could've happily co-existed with his older brother. In fact, that could've led to some really great stories and interactions. And saying it would've been confusing is ********. There was no really reason to kill Vision 2.0 other than to get Vision 1.0 back his spot (which, considering he's already in the adult Avengers, he never lost). I get the Young A's motivation for not bringing him back, but it also shows how they ultimately don't regard Vizh as a human being. If androids are like people, they can grieve and move on as well. But, like I said, I can understand it when you think of Vision 2.0 as a person and a mortal one at that.

Crap end either way. I was recently reading some Busiek issues. Wanda is just completely wrecked. They would've been better off finding the real her in a cocoon at the bottom of the Hudson Bay.

 

[RockSP]

The one good thing I hope stick is that this is the last we see of Heinberg. F-him and his schedule that Marvel is forced to work around.

Heh, "forced". Right.

 

[runawayboulder]

Well, more like they "cater" to.

 

[kguillou]

Wow, now I have a question for you guys, I actually made myself wait until Children's Crusade was over (because I knew the wait would be long) to get the whole thing in trade and read it all at once....but it seems the response to the final issue is lukewarm. You guys think i should still get the trade?

 

[runawayboulder]

Wow, now I have a question for you guys, I actually made myself wait until Children's Crusade was over (because I knew the wait would be long) to get the whole thing in trade and read it all at once....but it seems the response to the final issue is lukewarm. You guys think i should still get the trade?

It will probably translate better in trade because the actual issues came out one every two months (there were a few delays making some issues once every three months). Honestly, the story had some great moments. Most of the issues came out when Fear Itself was coming out and it was way better than Fear.

The issues I had with the story overall was the bad characterization for some of the characters. The Avengers acted like a hit squad acting highly unreasonable towards the kids. Wolverine was in full mindless stab first ask questions later mode, while in his solo book and WATXM, he is all about protecting younger heroes after being tricked into slaughtering children he didn't know he had. The X-Men show up led by their more *****ier than usual leader Cyclops, looking like the Schism never happened. Wonder Man was there totally coherent as opposed to the raving nutjob that's convinced he's still dead in the recent Avenger Annuals.

The story was originally conceived to take place prior to Civil War and ended needing to fit into current Marvel events, namely the upcoming AvX. It ended up looking like a big clusterf**k.

Bottom line - the crap planning and shipping of this book killed it. Heinberg is totally over-rated. I hope this signals the end of him with Marvel. He's a screenwriter by trade that Marvel fell in love with because he's Hollywood, just like they did with Kevin Smith, who has quite a few unfinished comic projects himself.

As for the dissolving of the Young Avengers, I won't miss them all that much. Wiccan being a gay teenager was a bit unnecessary to me since he's one of the long lost children of Wanda and the Vision. Isn't that enough back story for him as it is? Does he need to be gay too? How about throwing in a rare bone marrow disease as well? For a character that is rarely around, it's overkill. Vision Jr was worthless now that the regular Vision is back and most fans weren't going to accept him as much as the original anyway. Cassie is expendable just like her dad was in Disassembled. There's no real need for the rest of the team to exist while Avengers Academy is out there. Speed, Patriot and Kate Bishop could just resurface there.

 

[kguillou]

^ Hmmm, interesting. I mean, when this started 2 years ago I was real excited because I loved the original mini-series and I was hoping that this would be a nice self-contained story to read (with some awesome art to boot). But the people's responses I'm hearing, I'm not as enthusiastic (do know how HARD it was for me to wait two years for this thing to wrap up? I've been dying to read it all along).

 

[RockSP]

As for the dissolving of the Young Avengers, I won't miss them all that much. Wiccan being a gay teenager was a bit unnecessary to me since he's one of the long lost children of Wanda and the Vision. Isn't that enough back story for him as it is? Does he need to be gay too? How about throwing in a rare bone marrow disease as well? For a character that is rarely around, it's overkill.

Wow.

I don't get it...what does who his parents are have to do with his sexual orientation?

I've been buying the issues but not reading them so I can read them all at once. According to what you say I guess he and Speed do end up being the children of Wanda and Vis. Is it every explained how they are so old?

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

Gay people exist. Get over it.

The biggest disservice done to the YAs was the wait for their "creator" to be able to continue their saga. They missed years of potential stories that could and should have been handled by more competent and reliable writers. Like Zeb Wells, who did the Runaways X-over. And now they're gone, likely because with Avengers Academy they're believed to be redundant.

Think Joss Wheadon had it right. Supervise the overall story, but get people to handle the actual writing. And, when the time permits, write a few yourself.

 

[runawayboulder]

Wow.

I don't get it...what does who his parents are have to do with his sexual orientation?

I've been buying the issues but not reading them so I can read them all at once. According to what you say I guess he and Speed do end up being the children of Wanda and Vis. Is it every explained how they are so old?

Because the children of the Vision and Scarlet Witch already have a storied history. The past 20 years of storytelling with Wanda and Viz have revolved around these 2 kids, from their 4 issue mini back in the old WCA days, to thru their WCA days, and leading into Disassembled. There's plenty of different stories you could do examining their lives other than resorting to making one of them a token gay teenage to bolster sales on a comic. I find it a bit shameless to be honest and since Heinberg is openly gay (and he created Wiccan) making it even more so.

Like I said in my first post - it's overkill.

 

[RockSP]

Because the children of the Vision and Scarlet Witch already have a storied history. The past 20 years of storytelling with Wanda and Viz have revolved around these 2 kids, from their 4 issue mini back in the old WCA days, to thru their WCA days, and leading into Disassembled. There's plenty of different stories you could do examining their lives other than resorting to making one of them a token gay teenage to bolster sales on a comic. I find it a bit shameless to be honest and since Heinberg is openly gay (and he created Wiccan) making it even more so.

Like I said in my first post - it's overkill.

You really haven't explained anything though. I mean their history before Young Avengers is being babies and toddlers. Their sexual orientation isn't something that would be explored at that point. I don't see how making one of them gay takes away from the character.

 

[runawayboulder]

You really haven't explained anything though. I mean their history before Young Avengers is being babies and toddlers. Their sexual orientation isn't something that would be explored at that point. I don't see how making one of them gay takes away from the character.

It doesn't take away from the character, it compounds on it when it doesn't need it. I've been a fan of Wanda and Vision that's followed them for a long time. I've read many of the stories that had the twins lives as the backdrop, stuff like, are they real/are they not so on and so forth. Now that they're running around playing Avengers and Wanda and Viz are back from the exile Bendis put them in, it would be nice to see some payoff and a writer explore their relationship. Wiccan being a gay teenage will either get lost in the mix or will complicate an already over-complicated story.

An angle like that helps certain characters, like Northstar for example. He was a C-list hero that nobody gave a s**t about until he was written as gay. Now he's got some well needed depth and a larger fanbase. I didn't care for Northstar until he came out. I thought, hey this is new and interesting to read and I was pretty excited that he joined the X-Men in Eve of Destruction, I was bummed he didn't stick around. I've liked him ever since. You ask me, Wiccan doesn't need that angle to be a good character.

I'll put it to you another way: Think about the history between Cable and Cyclops.

Way before Cable first appeared he was constantly in Uncanny and X-Factor as baby Nathan Christopher Charles Summers. He was the centerpiece of Inferno, one of the biggest crossovers I've ever seen Marvel produce. He was a major supporting character in X-Factor just as a baby. Then Apocalypse poisoned him and Scott sent him in the future as his only option to save him.

Fast forward 5 or so years and it's finally been revealed that Cable is baby Nathan. All the speculation and rumors have finally come to fruition and there's a ton of roads that writers can go down, Cable/Scott/Jean/Maddie Pryor/Stryfe - their all officially connected now. Now ask yourself this....wouldn't it be a little silly if at the end of Cable #8, Cable's like, "Oh pop, by the way, is it just me or does Logan have a sweet ass"?

 

[RockSP]

Yeah we're just gonna have to agree to disagree. I don't see how it complicates anything. He's gay...the end. It doesn't have to be (and shouldn't be) the focus of every story involving the character.

I've been buying the issues but not reading them so I can read them all at once. According to what you say I guess he and Speed do end up being the children of Wanda and Vis. Is it every explained how they are so old?

...anyone?

 

[runawayboulder]

Yeah we're just gonna have to agree to disagree. I don't see how it complicates anything. He's gay...the end. It doesn't have to be (and shouldn't be) the focus of every story involving the character.



...anyone?

I remember it being explained back in the 2006 Young Avengers series when they hooked up the Vision's memory banks. They found out the history of Wanda and her children and discovered that they were most likely conjured up again when Wanda lost it during Disassembled. It's never been explored in depth. They're still a production of her powers and imagination but they are still as real as real can be.

 

[THANOSRULES]

since they were born in the 80s its about right!

 

[RockSP]

since they were born in the 80s its about right!

Comic book time they were born just a few years ago. Wanda isn't an old lady in the "present", after all.

 

[RockSP]

The Manhattan Projects #1: Somebody on another board called this "the best comic of 2012". I wouldn't go that far (especially since I haven't read every comic that has come out this year so far, heh) but it is definitely off to a good start. In this world Oppenheimer is recruited into the Manhattan Projects, which is really about crazy "Moore meets Morrison" superscience rather than developing the atomic bomb (which they do just as a cover). Also, Oppenheimer has a psycho twin brother. And Einstein is kept in a locked room at the Projects (at least the general in charge thinks it's locked, heh). Hickman is crafting a cool crazy story here.

Batwing #7: Even though I've enjoyed this first arc, it is really time for it to end. The fact that nobody from The Kingdom seems likely to survive kinda sucks.

Valen the Outcast #4: I don't think I've read anyone else on here talking about this book since it's been out. Hopefully sales are decent enough that it will continue. Fun, "sword and sorcery" adventure!

 

[KingMob]

The Manhattan Projects was pretty great. I loved the overall design/look.