Bought / Thought May 20th = Spoilers

[Dread]

Judging from the teeth Mr. Marquis of Death is sporting......I feel like he is going to have something to do with the origin of the Zombie Universe. Just saying...

I suppose that would make sense. Millar often links his work together, like many writers do and have done. Just, well, Gerber he ain't.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, I did think that Jeff Parker's Luke Cage sounded a little too stereotypical in AGENTS OF ATLAS this week, but then again I am sometimes used to that from him. He has been written as a cliche many, many times.

Cage seriously needs to get some kind of "work uniform" for the Avengers. He clashes so much with them. Everyone else is in an outfit and he's just in a tee and jeans from K-Mart or something. People laughed at his 70's attire, but at least that was special looking. Now he just seems lazy. I almost feel like Invincible (from MTU #14 I think), that if I had to guess his superhero name point blank, with that outfit I wouldn't be able to come up with better than "Black Man" either. And that's terrible.

Aside from that, yeah, it was a breath of fresh air to see someone handle the New Avengers, especially Spider-Man on them, well. As I have said many times, what kills Bendis isn't always his ideas, but his execution of them. Sadly, execution is really everything. Execution makes good ideas great, and can even make a mediocre or crappy idea worth reading (or fool you into thinking it is better than it is). Sloppy execution, though, kills an idea of all qualities.

I've been saying for a while now that they should just give him a yellow t-shirt. The video games have caught onto this simple idea for restoring some heroic iconography to Cage--he's wearing a yellow shirt and black jeans in both Spider-Man: Web of Shadows and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2--but for some reason, no one working on the comics wants to bother.

Is Agents of ATLAS an on-going? or a mini series?

Flipped through issue #5 at the store... looked decent...

It's an ongoing series that launches from a 2005 mini series.

Yep. Both the mini and the series are great.

 

[Phaedrus45]

I'm a big fan of Resident Evil. I love the video game, loved the movies, and even liked the straight-to-dvd animated movie that recently. So, it pains me to say, DO NOT pick up Wildstorm's new Resident Evil comic. I just read issues 1 & 2, and they are pure crap, nothing like the video games or movies. On a scale of 1/10, it rates about a 2! It's amazing how Wildstorm can sometimes churn out such crap, and this takes the cake. They don't stick with what fans know and love about the franchise; they just make up new, seen-it-all-before crap, and they don't even include any of the famous characters.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Four Eyes #3: Ha! I get why it's called "Four Eyes" now. Great issue, with Enrico finally heading out on his first dragon hunt (actually an egg hunt; Enrico and the other cannon fodder are just there to distract the dragon) and things predictably go awry. The narrative is still compelling, though. Enrico keeps reminiscing about his father and how the gloves he took from his father's belongings make him feel safe. I'm fairly certain this story is going to deal with Enrico's perceptions of his father and the dragons breaking down and being rebuilt, especially with his discovery of the newly hatched dragon at the end and the Russian dude's comment that he was nothing like Enrico's father, even though they ostensibly had the same job. Even if I'm wrong, though, with Joe Kelly writing, it's sure to be an interesting journey. The guy is insanely prolific and, unlike similar workhorses, pretty much everything he writes is actually good. Can't wait for the next issue, whenever the hell it actually manages to come out (every silver lining has a cloud, after all).

 

[Phaedrus45]

Brave & The Bold #23: This is one of those rare DC titles that has gotten better since the first 14 or so issues. I enjoyed the last storyline, and this one-shot story involving Booster Gold and Magog is pretty damn good. In fact, it's the best single issue of the entire series! The art looks good, the two characters interact and act as I'd expect them to, and aside from one blooper, I can't think of a single complaint. (BTW, the blooper involves Magog ensuring a bad guy doesn't blow up a building by keeping hold of his hand that has the detonator. In one panel, Magog's right hand is holding the terrorist's arm, and in the next panel as he's leading a group of children into the other room, the terrorists arm is nowhere to be seen....of course, next panel, he's got the hand again.) 8/10

Green Arrow & Black Canary #20: A slightly better issue than what I've read before. Arrow and Canary go to see a marriage councelor..not much comes from that...but, soon have to fight some bad guys who have made all sound disappear. (Naturally, this totally negates Black Canary's powers.) It was interesting enough to make me actually interested in reading the next issue. 7/10

Killaplooza #1: To quote the comic, Killapalooza is a "multi-platinum-selling rock band that uses its celebrity to cover its side gig as a high-paid super-powered contract killing outfit." The humor and character dynamic is very much like a lessened down "The Boys;" and, while the first issue showed promise, I wasn't blown away. It all seemed to borrow from previous comics I've read, and didn't come away as all that original. 6/10

 

[Dread]

I've been saying for a while now that they should just give him a yellow t-shirt. The video games have caught onto this simple idea for restoring some heroic iconography to Cage--he's wearing a yellow shirt and black jeans in both Spider-Man: Web of Shadows and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2--but for some reason, no one working on the comics wants to bother.

That would probably help. Maybe they think there's no way anyone could look tough in yellow. Nope, no one in Marvel comics has ever made a career of wearing yellow yet still taking himself seriously as a terrible menace. Nope, certainly no one short or with claws on that team.

Yes, I am being sarcastic. Maybe they want Wolverine to be the only yellow wearing dude.

To be fair, video game designers often have to cater around the idea that their games may be bought by people who don't read comics, and yet still need to be appealed to. Comic book people, on the other hand, have given up appealing to anyone who doesn't already read comics since about 2002. Neither Marvel or DC can successfully convince anyone who isn't already reading comics to pick them up, regardless of whether a Batman movie earns a billion dollars worldwide or if an Obama cover can make an issue of ASM sell over half a million copies across 5-6 printings. Ideally, it would be nice if there was more of a mixture of both. Appealing to comic fans, with a little "outsider" common sense and objectivity sometimes.

But, yeah, a yellow tee would probably help. I wouldn't mind Cage wearing his SECRET WAR outfit now and again, either; in terms of his "costumes", it was one of his better ones.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

As soon as you mention the word "costume" to Luke Cage fans, a lot of them object to the very thought of him wearing one, as if he's somehow exempt from superhero norms because he's too cool. So, barring an actual costume, I figure nobody can find fault with simply keeping his iconic (as much as Cage can be iconic at all, I suppose) color scheme intact while letting him continue to wear plain clothes. Plenty of real life people wear yellow shirts, after all. I've seen them with my own two eyes.

 

[Dread]

I understand the appeal of Luke Cage may be that he's "street level" to the point where he wouldn't wear one. The problem with him is that, well, for a great deal of his history, he was a walking blaxploitation film. He spoke in "awkward jive" and he dealt with other black or ethnic villains who were more bizarre and borderline racist stereotypes than he was. Things got better when he was paired with Iron Fist, and I guess his "street clothes" allowed him to look different than the costumed martial artist superhero (even if both wore yellow). We give Bendis a lot of flack but to be fair, Luke Cage is one of the handful of characters he actually did improve from where he was. Even if I do miss him saying "Sweet Christmas"; now he just curses in deleted text, and that's a bit boring. Least his catch-phrase had a decent explanation; more realistic than "Blue Blazes" honestly (that his grandmother would wash his mouth out when he cursed as a kid).

Yeah, I could see a yellow t-shirt being more iconic. They could make it a different shade of yellow or gold to separate it from the yellow in Wolverine's costume if they wished. That's merely a coloring choice. He used to have gold chains and brass knuckles in some other series, so it's not like there's no past motive. It just would help if Luke Cage looked more distinctive instead of always looking like "the one who doesn't belong" on a team shot of the New Avengers, even though he's one of their more pivotal members.

 

[BLACKVULCAN]

Man! I just read Hulk #12 .you know the red hulk not the real hulk
that had to be the most whackyed whack book i have read in quite a while.
(it's okay to have spoilers right) not only does RH( red hulk) kills the green hulk, but my boy strangles the silver surfer, lops off Terrax's head, steps on the Pyscho man,decapitates Namor ,Kills Dr. Strange and Mordu( yeah the grandmaster put them all back in their right times alive but come on!)Takes on Galactus and lives and finally RH kills the Grandmaster for reals( well as real as comic book can be). The grandmaster!!!The Freaking Grandmaster!!!! This dude can take on anybody and live. if that aint the biggest bunch of (*&^%$# ever read. this dude is unstoppable and better people than him , has ran across these guys and had their ass handed to them. They have made this dude unstoppable. the most laughable part of this book is the splash page of RH on the surfer's board with Terrax ax. i should have known better but i just pick up crap to read sometimes and thats all this book has been crap.
please someone stop the madness!
just my 2 cents cause the rest i spent on this &^%$#@ comic book.
.... oh i forgot blast tiger shark to dust.
give me a freaking break already on this guy!

 

[Dread]

It has become quite a running joke that Rulk is Jeph Loeb's "Larry Stu" (the male version of Mary Sue) and/or an example of how to write a bad fan-fiction character. It's not only appalling that Marvel editorial lets it by, but that it is among Marvel's top sellers. It outsells THOR now.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

It's outsold Thor for a while, hasn't it? I thought Thor generally was in the top 10 while Rulk was almost always in the top 5. Clearly, the mass comic reading audience isn't interested in quality or, worse yet, Rulk actually is their idea of quality.

 

[BLACKVULCAN]

Man i will take Thor over this (*&^ anyday. i dont know what it is. the only thing i can think of why it sells is that "ohh! ohh! i want to see who he is. This dude has done stuff in 12 issues,that other characters haven't did in 70 years.
i am pissed at myself for adding to that statistic. i really really hate this book and could care less who he is now.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I think it sells for the same reason Michael Bay movies gross more than virtually any other films in theaters. At the end of the day, the majority of the audience, regardless of the medium, just wants to turn their brains off and see some cool 'splosions. I'm as much an advocate for the "comics as art" ideal as anyone, but it's no secret that popcorn comics like Hulk outsell the best the medium has to offer by leaps and bounds. The medium is irrelevant; you get enough people reading/viewing/interacting/experiencing it, and the biggest hits will inevitably be the mindless spectacles.

 

[Dread]

Yeah, HULK offers mindless action without logic and pretty splash panels. Still, while it is one of Marvel's best sellers, it's sales have slipped in the last few months, so there is some sign that retailers & readers are tiring a little of the formula. The reasons why abound during sales conversations. Some blame it as a comic offering little content per month with the overuse of double-page splashes. Others attribute it to "blue ****s" since the mystery of Rulk is no closer to being solved after a year, which often tests reader's patience. So if there is an upshot, it is that HULK's high sales are not quite stable yet.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Least his catch-phrase had a decent explanation; more realistic than "Blue Blazes" honestly (that his grandmother would wash his mouth out when he cursed as a kid).

"Blue Blazes" (or "What in blue blazes?") is a real expression. My dad says it.

Agents of Atlas #5

My "ehh" reaction to this series continues, I have to say. The annoyingly disconnected flashback stories have stopped, which is a big plus, allowing Parker to focus on the segments set in the present day, which have always been more interesting. But this series still doesn't pop the same way that his Exiles has, and it's had 150% more space in which to do so (and that's not counting the previous miniseries). The centrepiece of the issue (really, the whole shooting match) is a fight between the Agents and the New Avengers that has been staged by the former in order to justify losing their shipment of weapons. Randomly, the Agents are almost talked out of it, before M-11's recognition of Wolverine starts it up. Sort of a weird moment there. There are some decent fight bits, particularly the suggestive scenes of Spidey webbing up Venus, though Venus herself is on the road to deus ex machina status. Mind control's her power, of course, but it's basically a one-hit TKO if the person isn't wearing ear-plugs (the Avengers' reactions to it are good for a laugh).

Captain America #50

Back-to-back anniversary issues means there's plenty of pontificating to go around; this issue is a quiet character piece (of a certain sort of Cap staple: flashing back to various themed episodes during the war years), the next #600 will apparently, in between commemorating Steve's death, set up whatever big stuff is going down next. Obscure 80s Cap foes the Watchdogs are dredged up to provide the obligatory framing action sequence, while the theme of the flashbacks is Bucky's various birthdays over the years, which I quite enjoyed. The semi-slapstick 18th birthday in occupied Poland is the highlight of this sequence. And there's a borderline-corny surprise party thrown by the New Avengers and Black Widow at the end; this is easily the lightest issue of the series in, well, maybe ever. Though Natasha shouldn't be so glib about Bucky being 84; she can't be less than 75 herself.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Am I the only person still reading Four Eyes?

 

[Dread]

"Blue Blazes" (or "What in blue blazes?") is a real expression. My dad says it.

Fair enough. Granted, "Great Scott!" is a real expression and it would be jarring if anyone used it. "The team has a commanding lead in this series and overcame a deficit" is a common sportscaster cliche, but if someone watching a game with you suddenly started talking like that, people would get out the pepper spray. Still, I like "Blue Blazes", just stating that to me it's in that sort of catch phrase comic commentary like "Sweet Christmas", "By Lenin's Ghost!" (Colossus) and, of course, the classics like "Flame-On!" or "It's Clobbering Time!" (or even, "My spider-sense is tingling").

You also are the only person I know around here who considers AGENTS OF ATLAS a "meh" title. I thought the flashback adventures are fun unto themselves as well as gell well with the stories; they tie in at least as well as most of the flashback pages in IMMORTAL IRON FIST did under Fraction and Brubaker. While Venus does admittedly have an easy "one hit TKO" ability, it is balanced by the fact that unless she has the chance to sing, she's basically helpless. You can wear ear-dampeners, or grab her throat, or something. Temujin and Osborn proved that. And, to be fair, Superman has been completely unbeatable aside for Kryptonite or Magic for only about 71 years. She usually has to stand in the background of a fight and needs an opening to sing. While I do understand your criticism of her, I merely counter that she is hardly the first or last character on a team book who works like that. Lord knows "telepath" is usually the word for "god" on X-Men books.

 

[yenaled]

Am I the only person still reading Four Eyes?

Well I'm picking it up - have it on Pull.

Haven't been to the store in 2 weeks though.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Okay, as long as not everyone is ignoring it.

 

[Phaedrus45]

There was such a long wait inbetween issues 1 and 2, that I was waiting for issue #3 and possible #4 before I read them. I feel like I need to go back and reread issue 1 at this point. (Is is a four issue series? I seem to remember thinking it was.)

 

[yenaled]

As far as I know it's an ongoing.

Anyone been reading the Great Unknown? I'm a fan of Duncan Rouleau (adored his recent Metal Men mini) - didn't realise this was out until I went to the shop today and saw #2. Going to have to hunt down #1.

Anyway so far I've read Dance #1, GLC #36 and REBELS #4.

I love how REBELS is just rolling around in DCU sci-fi really enjoying itself finally seeing contemporary takes on Legion space races is really cool for me (in a very geeky way of course).

I really enjoyed Dance #1. I think the Super Young Team are really endearing and Most Excellent Super-Bat's dialogue boxes are Twitters. Love it. Think it also helps that Joe Casey is such a strong writer it seems like he is having a lot of fun with the characters.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I saw #2 of The Great Unknown at my shop, but I never saw #1. I was about to buy it, but I figured I'd just wait for the trade instead. Hunting down first issues of obscure Image titles is a b****.

 

[yenaled]

Well I got #1 off ebay for a reasonable price.

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

15 books that I need to buy came out this week. However, I put 8 on hold, and bought 8. I'll pick up the other 8 next week. So, here's half of what I bought this week.

Amazing Spider-Man Family #6
ASM issue # 594
Wolverine Weapon X #2
Captain AMerica Issue # 50
Hulk issue #12
Fantastic Four #566
Dr. Doom and the masters of Evil #4 (had this one on hold for a couple of weeks)
Punisher # 5

Here's the other half I had to put on hold due to money. As I said, I'll be picking the rest up next week.

MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS 70TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL # 1
X-MEN FOREVER ALPHA # 1
WOLVERINE NOIR # 2
UNCANNY X-MEN # 510
THUNDERBOLTS # 132
TIMESTORM 2009/2099 # 2
DARK REIGN: FANTASTIC FOUR # 3
AGENTS OF ATLAS # 5

 

[hippie_hunter]

I think it sells for the same reason Michael Bay movies gross more than virtually any other films in theaters. At the end of the day, the majority of the audience, regardless of the medium, just wants to turn their brains off and see some cool 'splosions. I'm as much an advocate for the "comics as art" ideal as anyone, but it's no secret that popcorn comics like Hulk outsell the best the medium has to offer by leaps and bounds. The medium is irrelevant; you get enough people reading/viewing/interacting/experiencing it, and the biggest hits will inevitably be the mindless spectacles.

That's the way I saw it with the first arc. But everything after that was just horrible. Especially the most recent one.