Bought/Thought May 12th, 2009

[CaptainCanada]

I assume it's because he's named "Lockjaw".

 

[Brainiac 8]

WAR OF KINGS: ASCENSION #2: The issue in which Darkhawk realizes his entire origin was a dream. Trust me, it reads a lot better than that, but that is essentially what happens.

For those who follow my review about this series, I have been lamenting about Abnett & Lanning acknowledging Chris Powell's past "revelations" as they go about retconning them, and they do. Essentially how I suggested, spending about a page and a few lines debunking it. See, you can do this sort of thing and do it well without abandoning the past completely. I'll get more into it later. There are other bits about the issue to discuss, too. Mostly that Wellington Alves is rocking on the art; as the last regular artist on NOVA before DiVito was tapped, he's had experience drawing Darkhawk and no end of alien menaces and battles, and continues on his good stuff here. Two inkers are credited, although not on the cover, though, which implies a sort of rush to deadline usually. Alves usually made his on NOVA, though, so I'm not concerned.

Last issue, we found that the "Fraternity of Raptors", a centuries old alien organization that empowers it's agents, called "Raptors", with bio-mechanical body armor that can "reconfigure" into bigger armors when needed and is fed a "datasong" from "The Null Source" tasked with seemingly "influencing the societies of the universe", according to Chris Powell, are bad guys. They go on war-mongering raids, they kidnap and even murder. This revelation was all a ploy from Talon, who used a bit of a song and dance to lure Darkhawk away from his family and cushy PEGASUS job (although he likely would have been fired like Dr. Necker by HAMMER a week later anyway, if not taken down by force by the Thunderbolts or Dark Avengers) only to seemingly erase his consciousness from the armor and revive the dormant Raptor persona, Razor.

The names here aren't terribly inspired for my liking, but then again neither was stuff like "Evilhawk" or "Overhawk", so to each their own I guess. At least Razor and Talon have a theme, apparently that Raptors are named after pointed or sharp objects. Will others be named Blade, Spike, Claw, or Sword?

Talon is naturally glad to see his ally Razor back after about 6100 years and not having to argue with "the anomaly", their endearing term for the human Chris Powell. At this point it may be safe to assume that Talon has suppressed the Skrull general's personality that formed his current host form. The pair go about completing their breach of the Negative Zone castle of one of the minor lords of the defeated Annihilus Wave, a giant bug named Catastrophus. He is quickly decapitated and it is revealed that the object of the Raptor's desire, the Cosmic Control Rod, was being used to stunt the growth of a new Annihilus, thus ensuring Catastrophus a long reign in power. Talon spares Annihilus' life and attempts to forge a future alliance with the warlord by cementing the statement that he owes the Fraternity of Raptors for his life, which is how they roll apparently. They help certain forces in the cosmos to victory in conflicts, and then draw favors with said forces. The two Raptors later form an alliance with Blastaar at Prison 42, giving him the prime object of his desire, the Cosmic Control Rod. That certainly will make things interesting for WAR OF KINGS. Could he be a baddie out of nowhere? The question for next issue will be how loyal Blastaar is to the Raptors now that he has gotten his phyllic power boost; he could simply do the "thanks, now I'll reward you with destruction!" bit like most villains do. The Raptors are later seen in previews of WAR OF KINGS #4 aiding Vulcan against the Inhumans' Sentry robots, so it seems clear which side they are taking in the conflict. Apparently they aid the sides they see as strongest or most aggressive, which usually are the least noble.

Meanwhile, Chris Powell is stuck in the Null Space and in some ways Abnett & Lanning trend familiar territory. By that I mean that some of the sequences with Chris are close to some stuff they've done with Richard Rider/Nova a few times in NOVA. Floating around naked in a dream-state, going over the origin sequence while adding stuff, needing a sort of strong mental anchor to literally explain stuff to them, that sort of thing. That isn't to say that it isn't handled well, it is just something they have done before. In some ways Chris' journey has been like a darker version of Richard's. He was an Earthling who was empowered by alien technology and energy by sheer accident; they fortunately turned out to be a squad of peace-keepers for Xanadar and later the extended universe, who welcomed Richard into their ranks and allowed him to become one of their greatest Nova's. Chris, on the other hand, was empowered by accident to a race that is far less benevolent, that now sees him as a virus to be purged from the system. The amulets basically seek out host bodies for the armor, but then delete the personalities of them and install their own Raptor personalities, which seem ageless. There's no Worldmind or Dey to help Chris, and no fellow members of the Raptors who want to. Razor keeps trying to destroy Chris, but naturally Earthlings are extra stubborn about that sort of thing, it seems.

To give credit, while some people mock the practice of offering reprints into some title's to justify the $4 price tag, in a way it was wise to reprint DARKHAWK #1-2 circa 1991 in the last mini series of his, since it would have refreshed some of that origin for readers less familiar with Darkhawk. A wise move since DH is definitely a D-List character. While the part about finding the amulet in the abandoned fun-house while trying to save his brothers from Bazin's thugs is still accurate, what isn't is a lot of the revelations that came after. Apparently, the entire business with Bokk and the alien scientists and mobsters was apparently a dream, a way of Powell's mind to try to cope with the complex Datasong that it couldn't understand. In some ways Powell is also a bit like the Sentry; his empowerment drove him insane, and he even got his own "dark personality" that ran amok when he lost control (Evilhawk acting as Darkhawk's version of The Void apparently). The explanation is at least reasonable; the armor was never built for humans to inhabit, thus it makes sense that it would have wiggy side effects. It even plays with the long abandoned subplot of never seeing Darkhawk's "face" under the helmet of the battle-suit. While it was horrendous enough to scare some adversaries, Abnett & Lanning make it seem more psychological for Powell, as if a sign of the truth.

Now, of course, this is an obvious retcon. It's a sweeping one that literally pulls into question a good chunk of Darkhawk's original 90's series, which ran for fifty issues. Virtually any story where he was either interacting with someone from the amulet's origin or essentially anyone who wasn't an established hero or villain outside of the Null origin could be dismissed as a hallucination. That was maybe a third of those fifty issues, at least. That's par for the course for retroactive continuity, of course, sweeping years of material under a rug to replace it with new stuff. While I wanted this series to include or navigate a way around that 90's history, rather than just ignore it like some writers do with retcons, I was never a big fan of the 90's revelations. The stuff with Bokk, the scientists, and so on was very complicated, like many things were in the 90's. Bums with alien personalities, stuff like Overhawk, and so on were all very complicated and many writers ignored a lot of that stuff later on. The major way to judge the effectiveness of a retcon is if it leaves the affected subject better or worse than before. Claiming Thor was in fact a god transforming into a mortal, rather than the other way around, was a retcon for it's time, but one that made THOR much better as a character. While the origin that Abnett & Lanning are recreating for Darkhawk isn't as simple as a bug bite, it is a lot less choppy and awkward than some of the 90's stuff, and I think leaves Powell in a better place because it cements that things were not as easy for him as they were for other heroes. The armor literally gave him anger issues that alienated him from friends and family, and have now even effected bits of his sanity. Chris has no mentors to turn to for aid, because the Raptors just see him as a nasty staff infection basically. And rather than being empowered by space G.I. JOE, he has instead found himself accidentally empowered by COBRA. Bits of the Bokk origin had that sort of theme, but this newer story makes it work a lot better. Although I must say, that Datasong must be some intense stuff to process if that cluster**** with Bokk was considered an EASIER story to wrap a mind around.

In essence this series is a bit of a cautionary tale for a hero to be careful what they ask for. Darkhawk secretly wished for an "upgrade" to get to Nova's new level, to go from D-List has-been to a new cosmic demigod, without quite realizing that such journeys always involve having to be broken down and surviving by luck or pluck. Nova's journey was more physical, while Chris may have a bit of a metaphysical path ahead of him, which is all the more challenging as he has anger management issues, to the point where he is mumbling therapy exercises in the midst of it. He's going to have to overcome the Null Source, including their beastly guardians of that realm, and an alien consciousness that is older than most of modern civilization on Earth to get his body and armor back.

Still, despite having his moments of insanity it seems, Chris/Darkhawk has been a hero before. He had to battle some nasty customers early on in his career, such as Hobgoblin and Tombstone. He's been a New Warrior and an Avenger, and even Zarrako the Tomorrow Man was wary of his power (and that's a guy who duels Thor on his weekends). He even pummeled the crap out of Venom at the peak of his popularity. He's overcome a lot and just usually doesn't realize it. Just rather than a physical altercation, Chris has a mental one, not his strong suit.

Now that my main criticism and concern for the series has been dealt with, and with less fuss than many other writers usually make about having to work with continuity, that means there's little else to complain about. Not quite on the level of NOVA or GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY yet, but "DnA" are definitely trying to reform Darkhawk for a winning run, and that is commendable. I eagerly look forward to the rest of the series, and to see where Darkhawk goes from here, and what he contributes to the war.

Although Havok still needs to be the one who takes Vulcan down.

Haha, almost every time I read through a new cosmic story and the War of Kings story, it all comes to this for me also. I always finish reading and go, "Good book, I'm loving the story, although Havok better be the one to take down Vulcan."

Good review. I was surprised at how well they retconned the story, and it was still enjoyable and made sense. I hope their work to make Darkhawk relevent again works out as well as Nova. Is there anything these guys can't do?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I assume it's because he's named "Lockjaw".

That's a dumb reason.

 

[Themanofbat]

I looked at Pet Avengers in the shop... wanted to buy to spite Dread... then decided to wait for the trade.

 

[Themanofbat]

I like Niels...

 

[Dread]

Haha, almost every time I read through a new cosmic story and the War of Kings story, it all comes to this for me also. I always finish reading and go, "Good book, I'm loving the story, although Havok better be the one to take down Vulcan."

Good review. I was surprised at how well they retconned the story, and it was still enjoyable and made sense. I hope their work to make Darkhawk relevent again works out as well as Nova. Is there anything these guys can't do?

To be fair, ANNIHILATION CONQUEST had it's hiccups. That was quite a while ago, and "DnA" I say have definitely improved on their game since. They certainly seem to have a lock on their characters, and are adept at drawing aces when they need to.

Havok needs to take down Vulcan for the emotional punch to a subplot that has cycled down from the X-Men books for about two years now. That said, WAR OF KINGS has a few other spinning plates to it that part of me wonders if Vulcan may go down before issue #6 to insert another surprise bad guy? Blastaar is technically the "king" of the Negative Zone, and he's just gotten a major league power boost. Maybe the Starjammers think all is well after Vulcan's regime is toasted, only for Blastaar to launch a surprise attack? If so, then Chris Powell would feel responsible and have something to prove. He was the one convinced to help Talon. He helped him raid that castle. It was "his" armor that ultimately succeeded in that task. I can imagine Chris will want to answer for the "crimes" that the Raptors have done. By answer I mean he'll want to kick some ass and be the one noble one they have, especially as he's one of the last left.

WAR OF KINGS is looking good, and Abnett & Lanning are really surprising me, in a good way, by plucking characters many have forgotten about and boosting them. They didn't need to rescue Jack Flag and make him part of the GOTG, but they did and it was appreciated. They obviously like Darkhawk, that is why he popped up in NOVA, and they're doing right by him. See? Rewriting an origin doesn't have to mean ignoring the last entirely.

I looked at Pet Avengers in the shop... wanted to buy to spite Dread... then decided to wait for the trade.

Trade waiting beats spite. Economics really is everything.

 

[THANOSRULES]

he probably doesnt talk becuase he's like there black bolt

Dread,

On DnA they have done a pretty good job with Nova..but I think Giffen had him down a bit better. I see some degradation of Rich back into a "blue blazes" kinda guy. Giffen had him in a real salty and soldierish mode, and this doesnt seem totally intact. Where the F is his cool scar anyways. Im still pissed that its gone.

I still think of GIffen as the driving force behind the whole return of marvel cosmic to coolness. I am pissed marvel let him walk after that work.

 

[Dread]

he probably doesnt talk becuase he's like there black bolt

Dread,

On DnA they have done a pretty good job with Nova..but I think Giffen had him down a bit better. I see some degradation of Rich back into a "blue blazes" kinda guy. Giffen had him in a real salty and soldierish mode, and this doesnt seem totally intact. Where the F is his cool scar anyways. Im still pissed that its gone.

I still think of GIffen as the driving force behind the whole return of marvel cosmic to coolness. I am pissed marvel let him walk after that work.

You have a point. I see Abnett & Lanning merging the soldier stuff with the "Blue Blazes" stuff, though. There's room for both.

I do agree that it was a shame to lose Giffen's input on "Marvel Space" after STAR-LORD. But, that exclusive with DC can't last forever, right? Not at the rate that creators are fleeing DC in abject frustration.

I do miss the scar, though.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I like Nova as he is now. He was a bit too soldiery in Annihilation. I get that it was necessary for the story, but I feel like him slipping back into a few campy routines is progress, to be honest. He just went through one of the most horrible experiences of his life and moved to a very dark place in order to survive it. Once the Annihilation War was over, I think he deliberately put himself in a more goofy mood with the "blue blazes" camp as a means of trying to put the war behind him.

 

[Dread]

Like I said, I thought Abnett & Lanning were and are handling both aspects of Nova. They wrote his 4 issue mini during the original ANNIHILATION after all. Nova can be a guy who says "Blue Blazes" at times but who knows how to get hardcore when he wants to. Giffen knew how to really give a "punch" with some climaxes to fight scenes, but we'll see how Abnett & Lanning do with WAR OF KINGS, which has been heads above CONQUEST at this point.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, Conquest was just badly paced, I think. War of Kings feels much more focused.

 

[Dread]

CONQUEST also relied on less charismatic characters as the leads, although I don't think Abnett & Lanning knew it at the time. Phyla Vell and Adam Warlock are fine characters as part of a team ensemble, but as leads in a major event, they were a little flat and went through a lot of motions similar to FINAL FANTASY characters. Which is awesome if you are an overly melodramatic 13 year old girl (or an emo 15 year old boy), but for anyone else...

BTW, while the games are good, FANTASY characters are usually a bit emo.

WAR OF KINGS benefits not only from better pacing, but better characters at the helm. The leads in this so far are better able to handle it. Plus, you could argue, it is actually hard to determine who the "leads" are, since the focus is usually so split. Vulcan is the big enemy thus far, but what else? Is it Havok? He's gotten big moments with the Starjammers, but so have other characters. Crystal and Gladiator do a lot of narrating, but are they the leads? And in a way that is good, relying on many characters rather than two, while everyone else stands in the background. There are a LOT of good characters doing good stuff here.

I see WAR OF KINGS as benefiting from a good year's experience with "DnA", and relying on more charismatic characters.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Kind of a shame that Conquest didn't work out. And yet it was still a better Ultron story than "chick Ultron" in Mighty Avengers.

 

[Dread]

Kind of a shame that Conquest didn't work out. And yet it was still a better Ultron story than "chick Ultron" in Mighty Avengers.

Don't get me wrong; just because I had problems with CONQUEST doesn't mean I think it was a terrible story. I don't. Frankly it worked out a lot better than SECRET INVASION did. And it did a lot to rehab Ultron from Bendis' MIGHTY AVENGERS launch. He had turned the Avengers' greatest villain into a Cho cheesecake cover. Abnett & Lanning in CONQUEST not only returned him to greatness, but got him involved with a techno-organic alien race, which made TOTAL sense, and upped him to intergalactic level bad guy.

It's a shame he couldn't keep Moondragon dead for long, but it happens.

There is a part of me that thinks a "return of Great Ultron" story could be better now than CONQUEST was. I really liked that development and look for him. Space makes everyone better. Why the hell do you think I almost want Colossus there so badly?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Annihilus and Ultron should forge an alliance for the next big Annihilation War.

 

[Dread]

Annihilus and Ultron should forge an alliance for the next big Annihilation War.

That'd be friggin' awesome. They so could, too.

 

[BrianWilly]

Action Comics #877
Time for a story, gang. Y'know what I did recently? I went and [re]read every single issue of the Last Son storyline, in addition to every other comic that Chris Kent appeared in. And y'know what it [re]taught me? Taught me that people are incredible whiners.

Y'see, at the time the story actually came out I was only vaguely following the Superbooks. And I'll admit, some maddeningly iffy characterization on the parts of some characters soured me on some earlier issues of the unholy Johns/Donner union. From some lines -- ("Clark you suck, I can't believe how much you suck." -Perry, and "Nah, never wanted kids, never will." -Lois) it was clear that neither of them read Rucka's Adventures of Superman, which always pisses me off. So yeah when people were whining ad naseum on end about the addition of the new Super-Brat, I paid only the vaguest of attentions and mostly just let it all slide by me. Yeah yeah, no one can stand kids/legacy/any change whatsoever to the status quo, whatever, by that point it was no longer news or interesting to me. I mean, fresher atrocities like Amazons Attack and Countdown were going on, after all. And the absolute inexcusable lateness of the project further alienated me. lolpun

The reason I mention all that is because, after having read it in one going? ****, y'all, Last Son was damn good. I mean it's certainly no epic and doesn't really change how I think of Johns or Donner, but it also wasn't just "sorta good" or "okay"; it was a rock-solid story. Maybe it's just my latent pedophilia, but I was very invested in the story of how Lois and Clark would change the destiny of a child, especially on account of how it reflects and affects the characters of Lois and Clark themselves. With almost no other comic book characters could you do this sort of story. These two have grown to this point through years of progress that can't be measured or replicated. It is to DC's utmost credit -- and don't get used me saying that -- that they not only okayed this story but are today continuing it.

So, yeah, I find the idea that almost no one can stand Chris Kent -- a decent character by all means -- to be profoundly disheartening. I'm not saying this to be b****y, though I am of course a b****; really, I'm just putting it out there. Some days, with some books and topics, I just seem to have to fight an uphill battle against the grain.

It's people like Rucka that keep me coming back. Though, actually there's really nothing spectacular or of-note regarding this issue individually per se, it's all about the combination of things. Things like Dr. Light's guest-spot wherein she's kinda awesome. And a tiny almost-cameo showing that Crazy General Lane is keeping tabs on Icon as well as other possible Kryptonians.

On the downside: Barrows' art, which I never liked in the first place, seems to be getting worser. I thought it wouldn't matter, but damn, it's actually really matter. Sooner some other artist replaces him on this book, the better.

(7.8 out of 10)


Green Lantern Corps #36
It is great.

(8.7 out of 10)


Booster Gold #20
It is decent. Kinda wordy.

(7.3 out of 10)


Captain Britain and MI13 #13
It is awesome. Best line ever/evar: "We're going to try to turn the mass panic into mobs with stakes."

(9 out of 10)


War of Kings: Ascension
It is good.

(8 out of 10)






...okay, okay, I will say that the whole "Y'know those adventures you had? All a dream invented by your craziness. You crazy, son." explanation really doesn't sit well with me at all. Did we really need a retcon like that to pull off this new mythology? I'm not a Darkhawk fan but, damn, if I was, I'd all "What? Damn." about this.

So, (7.8 out of 10)

 

[Dread]

...okay, okay, I will say that the whole "Y'know those adventures you had? All a dream invented by your craziness. You crazy, son." explanation really doesn't sit well with me at all. Did we really need a retcon like that to pull off this new mythology? I'm not a Darkhawk fan but, damn, if I was, I'd all "What? Damn." about this.

I do see your point. I imagine a better way of reconciling the old origin without the answer that Abnett & Lanning chose would have been, "Dargin Bokk and his scientists didn't invent the Amulet or Null Space or even the entire bonding process. They just stumbled upon what was left of our Raptor society and experimented to fit Bokk's needs." That would have worked. But I think "DnA" wanted to eliminate that origin whole hog and go for something that fits their vision of Marvel Space that isn't as choppy as experiments with alien mobsters, bums with alien minds inside them, and so on. I am a bit of a Darkhawk fan myself, but I'm not opposed to abandoning the old origin so long as something better is coming along, and so long as that origin was acknowledged.

The "your mind was going crazy adjusting to the Datasong" does throw out a lot of 90's material, but so do many retcons I guess. WOLVERINE: ORIGINS alone I would say has added a lot more clutter to Wolverine's back-story. It does seem a little Sentry-ish with Evilhawk being the Void, basically. But I read it as them trying to make Darkhawk out to be a darker version of Nova in a way. Rather than be empowered by heroes, Chris was empowered by villains. Rather than be supported, he went crazy. Just when he thought he was finally getting more of said support, it was just Talon tricking him and trying to purge him from the suit like a virus. As a fan of Darkhawk, that Bokk origin always was a little choppy. It wasn't exactly radioactive spider-bite material. I'm satisfied enough by the cover story that I am eagerly anticipating moving forward from it, and seeing what is in store for Chris Powell. Abnett & Lanning I think have more of a feel for space stuff than DeFalco or Fingeroth, the scope and introducing wide ideas without a lot of 90's style complications.

I understand your point. I'm just offering my own perspective.

ALL of Darkhawk's adventures aren't gone, just the ones that dealt with his amulet's origins. That's still a lot of material, but not all of it. Battles in "real time" with non-Hawk opponents are fair game. He still was a New Warrior, Avenger, and Loner.

 

[yenaled]

Action Comics #877
Time for a story, gang. Y'know what I did recently? I went and [re]read every single issue of the Last Son storyline, in addition to every other comic that Chris Kent appeared in. And y'know what it [re]taught me? Taught me that people are incredible whiners.

Y'see, at the time the story actually came out I was only vaguely following the Superbooks. And I'll admit, some maddeningly iffy characterization on the parts of some characters soured me on some earlier issues of the unholy Johns/Donner union. From some lines -- ("Clark you suck, I can't believe how much you suck." -Perry, and "Nah, never wanted kids, never will." -Lois) it was clear that neither of them read Rucka's Adventures of Superman, which always pisses me off. So yeah when people were whining ad naseum on end about the addition of the new Super-Brat, I paid only the vaguest of attentions and mostly just let it all slide by me. Yeah yeah, no one can stand kids/legacy/any change whatsoever to the status quo, whatever, by that point it was no longer news or interesting to me. I mean, fresher atrocities like Amazons Attack and Countdown were going on, after all. And the absolute inexcusable lateness of the project further alienated me. lolpun

The reason I mention all that is because, after having read it in one going? ****, y'all, Last Son was damn good. I mean it's certainly no epic and doesn't really change how I think of Johns or Donner, but it also wasn't just "sorta good" or "okay"; it was a rock-solid story. Maybe it's just my latent pedophilia, but I was very invested in the story of how Lois and Clark would change the destiny of a child, especially on account of how it reflects and affects the characters of Lois and Clark themselves. With almost no other comic book characters could you do this sort of story. These two have grown to this point through years of progress that can't be measured or replicated. It is to DC's utmost credit -- and don't get used me saying that -- that they not only okayed this story but are today continuing it.

So, yeah, I find the idea that almost no one can stand Chris Kent -- a decent character by all means -- to be profoundly disheartening. I'm not saying this to be b****y, though I am of course a b****; really, I'm just putting it out there. Some days, with some books and topics, I just seem to have to fight an uphill battle against the grain.

It's people like Rucka that keep me coming back. Though, actually there's really nothing spectacular or of-note regarding this issue individually per se, it's all about the combination of things. Things like Dr. Light's guest-spot wherein she's kinda awesome. And a tiny almost-cameo showing that Crazy General Lane is keeping tabs on Icon as well as other possible Kryptonians.

On the downside: Barrows' art, which I never liked in the first place, seems to be getting worser. I thought it wouldn't matter, but damn, it's actually really matter. Sooner some other artist replaces him on this book, the better.

(7.8 out of 10)

I'm honestly really enjoying what they are doing in the Super-books right now.

Can't understand the hate tbh.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

It just doesn't interest me. I kind of just want to see Superman be Superman really well. Contorting the mythos every which way to accommodate new stuff like Chris and old stuff like all the Silver Age throwbacks holds absolutely no allure for me, and if I'm not even vaguely interested in a direction, I'm not going to invest in it, no matter how good it may be.

 

[IFryKids]

That'd be friggin' awesome. They so could, too.

I'm honestly surprised we haven't seen Annihilus show up again yet. How long does it take for alien bugs to grow up anyways?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

We learned in War of Kings: Ascension #2 that Catastrophus, the guy who was appointed to lead the Negative Zone's bug-people in Annihilus' place until Annihilus returned, was artificially stunting Annihilus' development with the Cosmic Control Rod. The Raptors took the Rod and handed it over to Blastaar, the supposed king of the entire Negative Zone right now, for unknown reasons, so presumably Annihilus' growth will accelerate now.

 

[Dread]

Thanks for answering that one, Corp.

 

[Darthphere]

It just doesn't interest me. I kind of just want to see Superman be Superman really well. Contorting the mythos every which way to accommodate new stuff like Chris and old stuff like all the Silver Age throwbacks holds absolutely no allure for me, and if I'm not even vaguely interested in a direction, I'm not going to invest in it, no matter how good it may be.

Yeah, I gandered at some of the recent Superman issues and man, I really don't like the direction. There's good writing here but the whole thing is fubar. Also, why is the art so bad on these Superman books lately, even Pete Woods is kind of crappy.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I like Pete Woods' art, but it'd be like ten times better if he learned to use a ruler.