Bought/Thought May 21st, 2008

[CaptainCanada]

Part I:

Captain America #38

Something of a transition issue, carried by quality character interaction. As many had guessed (and as featured in the previews; perhaps not the best choice), the guy in the Skull's basement is the Grand Director, whose origin is recapped here; Sharon is prevented from capping him by Lukin, and Faustus proceeds to inform him of how much America needs its Captain, and how the "pretender", Bucky, killed the GD's Bucky, Jack Monroe; now this is good, intricate plotting here, building off something that happened thirty-some issues ago. Most of the issue sees Bucky and Falcon on the trail of the Skull's minions; the meat is Bucky's realization that he really wants Falcon's approval as Captain America; it livens up an otherwise generic (but well-executed) action scene. Quality art and writing; can't wait for the confrontation between the two Caps.

Fantastic Four #557

Hmm, interesting. Looking over Millar's whole first arc, there's a lot of approve of, but some quibbles with the execution of the threat. CAP is totally perfunctory, and not even Millar in this issue seems to really be all that invested in him. "World's Greatest" serves as a platform to introduce Millar's various long-term plots, and CAP is blatantly only here to give the Fantastic Four someone to fight. His defeat is not particularly creative (Reed smashes the big robot with his ever-bigger robot), though it does play into the whole issue of Alyssa's feelings for Reed (namely, that Alyssa put Reed's name on the list of people CAP can't hurt). Around that, though, there's a lot to like here; following CAP's loss, we get a series of epilogues, all of which work great; the characterization is good, and Sue and Reed's anniversary dinner is a particularly fun mix of sci-fi and romantic comedy. The Johnny plot is the most fun thing in these four issues, so I hope we get more of it in future issues. All this plus the promise of lots of Doctor Doom in the next issue.

The Incredible Hercules #117

We begin our tie-in to "Sacred Invasion" with a one-by-one introduction to the gods who will be accompanying Herc; each one is very effective, and communicates the mix of selfish goals (Ajak, Amatsu) and heroic (Snowbird, arguably Atum) people have for joining up; the writers even cover some fan questions about the team composition (where's Thor? why just five?). Also, various people who wondered about Athena's eye colour were right, insofar as it was deliberate; seriously, though, if that actually means anything, it is quite possibly the most ******ed plot point ever ("They're totally undetectable! Except if their eyes aren't supposed to be green; if that's the case, they're undetectable by morons!"). Given how early it was raised, and that it's Amatsu who raises it, I imagine it's misdirection. Sandoval's art is just wonderful. Pak and Van Lente's writing is terrific; they make gods seem godly and authoritative without being stilted. Can't wait for next issue.

Still to come: Justice Society of America #15, X-Factor #31, X-Men: Divided We Stand #2

 

[Texas]

Question on Incredible Herc 117- did I read the issue correctly that one of the Eternals (Ajak) is part of the God Squad ?

Though he was thought a god by the mortals way back when I didn't quite understand why he was included

 

[JewishHobbit]

Did End League 3 come out today? My shop didn't have it.

 

[Blader5489]

Captain America is a great book, but the decompression is really starting to get on my nerves.

 

[Marcdachamp]

I spent over $20 on Marvel this week, and, the best part is, I enjoyed everything I bought, honestly. Just really great stuff!

Captain America- PICK OF THE WEEK! Brubaker, you rock with the continuity. You really make me want to go read some old-school Cap, in addition to buying some new Cap products (the figure's on order, and I'm eying the track jacket at Hot Topic!). Kudos. 9/10

Thunderbolts- HOLY HELL am I gonna miss Ellis and Deodato. Norman's opening speech was so creepy and awesome. I loved the Sins Past reference. I'm surprised that made it past editorial. I may have to pick up the eventual hardcover, because this is a run I'll really miss. 9/10

Avengers: The Initiative- I will completely fess up right now: I haven't dug the last few issues as much I was into the first few arcs. But the beautiful thing about this book is that Slott can totally make z-list characters shine. In 22 pages, he made me love the new squad. That's saying a lot considering the fact that the only ones I cared for before were Prodigy and Batwing. Also, Taskmaster steals the show. 9/10

Amazing Spider-Man 559-560- One of the best parts about skipping a week at the shop is getting 44 pages of Spider-Man. It makes for a great read. I love the new villains and the additions to the supporting cast. A LOT better than Freak, that's for sure. 8/10

Fantastic 4- While the fight was anti-climactic, the character moments really shine. I love how Millar shows Reed using his intellect to do things like that. It's really great. 8/10

American Dream- Fun stuff. I'm glad Defalco isn't limiting himself by only using characters that showed up before the "cut-off" issues (which now seem to be ignored). It makes the MC2 issues feel more fun and relevant. Anyway, while I'm enjoying the focus on Carter, I keep finding myself wanting to see the Avengers play a bigger role. 8/10

Mighty Avengers- Interesting. Not fantastic, but interesting. Apparently my guess was off. Poor Lindy. Damn, she really has to go through an insane amount. 7/10

Spider-Girl- That cover is just too damn silly. The whole "Brand New May" thing... interesting, to say the least. We'll see where it goes. I actually really enjoyed the moments with Humanity First, but the mutants were pretty lame. 7/10

X-Factor- Kinda glad this is over with. It was fun, but I'm ready to move on. 7/10

 

[CaptainCanada]

Question on Incredible Herc 117- did I read the issue correctly that one of the Eternals (Ajak) is part of the God Squad ?

Though he was thought a god by the mortals way back when I didn't quite understand why he was included

He's still on friendly terms with the Gods of the South, and they approached him because he has experience dealing with "super-people" like Herc and Snowbird, whereas they don't.

 

[Blader5489]

Mighty Avengers- Interesting. Not fantastic, but interesting. Apparently my guess was off. Poor Lindy. Damn, she really has to go through an insane amount. 7/10

Yeah, the Void essentially becoming the hero was an interesting twist.

 

[fifthfiend]

Yeah, the Void essentially becoming the hero was an interesting twist.

You just successfully convinced me to read an issue of Mighty Avengers.

You total ****er.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Question on Incredible Herc 117- did I read the issue correctly that one of the Eternals (Ajak) is part of the God Squad ?

Though he was thought a god by the mortals way back when I didn't quite understand why he was included

The Eternals are essentially a pantheon of gods. They may not have a group of people that worship them, but some rival the gods in power, and they've been around for millennia.

 

[Dread]

The middle of May and this is an all-Marvel week, at least in terms of single issues. I managed to read two TPB's I bought during lunch at work one day, which I'll probably talk about somewhere.

As always, spoilers are unleaded.

Dread's Bought/Thought for 5/21/08:

AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #13: The first issue where Gage can claim solo writing credits, as presumably Slott is busy on his month of ASM. Gage has been a solid co-writer for Slott. Reading some of his past work, especially his UNION JACK: LONDON BURNING trade this week, he always has been one who has enjoyed continuity and giving some B and C listers a chance to shine; thus, a solid tag team partner for Slott for this series. I suppose some could call this a "filler" issue; most of the major characters from the launch are elsewhere now, and Uy is filling in for Caselli again. However, this issue merely showcases why this is a solid series and franchise. It allows a wide range of characters, both new and old, to shine and become likable.

With the last class "graduating" last issue, a new set of recruits come in. Three are Spider-related C-Listers; Prodigy from SLINGERS & FRONTLINE fame, Annex, and Batwing. There is a black girl named "Gorilla Girl" who literally transforms into a gorilla; it is almost a shocking stereotype yet Gage doesn't play it like that so it isn't offensive. There is Sunstreak, a reformed villainess. And finally, there is the star of the issue, Emery Schab, a fat kid who is completely invulnerable. He self-styled codename is Boulder but Taskmaster dubs him "Butterball" and like most cruel nicknames, it sticks. He is easily the "runt" of the new class because despite his power, he has no strength or combat skill, and no way to really improve his body figure. War Machine and Yellowjacket are hesitant to waste "such a power", but Taskmaster sees it as fruitless.

All of the characters have their moments. Prodigy gives a public announcement about alcoholism and supporting the Initiative, basically to ensure his parole, and he has quite a few good digs at "the establishment". By the end of the issue I came off really liking him. But Batwing and Sunstreak have their moments, too. Even Annex works as a stuck-up cyborg know-it-all.

Butterball naturally appeals to many readers as the fanboy with a lot of geek knowledge, but whose social skills need a lot of work. The squad immediately goes AWOL to drink and chill by the beach, but Butterball seemingly bails when Sunstreak seems about to "objectify" him because he is the only person she can pork without burning. Much to the team's surprise, he takes responsibility for them when the Initiative catches him. Unfortunately, a group of rogues out to assassinate Taskmaster show up in the area, and a brawl ensues. Proven to be incapable of combat, Butterball is sent home, but has become grateful for the experience.

(I must say, King Cobra sure got out of jail fast after New Cap beat the **** out of him in CA a few months back. Maybe he and Mr. Hyde have the same lawyer).

There are some quibbles. Taskmaster digs into Gauntlet for being a "FULL METAL JACKET" rip off, yet he goes down that same route with trying to "brake down" Emery, right down to making his squad-mates want to pummel him with soaps & towels in bed. Sure, it is played for laughs mostly as a parody, but it did seem awkward at times. Uy does the art chores well enough, although he still struggles with Taskmaster's face. The thing that was starting between Butterball and Sunstreak reminded me too much of Hardball & Komodo, as in "freaky girl finds redemption in guy she originally mocked", but thankfully it doesn't run that course (even if it seemed obvious that Sunstreak was just using Emery because of convenience).

I am glad to see something happen with Batwing; quite a few characters invented in UNTOLD TALES had potential and it was a shame we haven't seen many of them, save for Scorcher (the one Bendis apparently liked). Gage shows he can man the A:TI ship when Slott has to go below deck. Unlike other books that rely on the same faces over and over, this book manages to balance a large inter-changing cast so if one character bores you, before long they will be replaced by a better one. But very few characters are boring, and a lot of them are given a chance to shine without being miswritten or slaughtered.

'Cept for Slapstick. That dude CRAZY.

Butterball, at the very least, could make a good member of Damage Control. If only IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN wasn't canceled...

CAPTAIN AMERICA #38: The core storyline chugs along, and like with many "reveals", this one is one that most fans with passing Cap knowledge called, and Brubaker makes no attempt to throw them. Instead he simply goes with the obvious choice but establishes it as natural, organic, RIGHT, and it works ten times as better as the most surprising "shocker". It is a lesson that is the key to Brubaker's success on this franchise and a skill too few A-List writers seem to have these days. It also appears that Perkin's return to the series is more stable than we thought.

The "other Steve" is of course the Grand Director, the 1950's Cap who seemingly copied the super-soldier serum to become like his hero, but without the vita-rays treatment, was driven insane by it (as was his partner, Jack Monroe). Dr. Faustus brainwashed him into becoming a fascist and seemingly kill himself, but naturally the good bad doctor squirreled him away to use him in this new plot. Who better to "replace" Cap than the man who successfully did it for years? Especially when he is in Red Skull's pocket, just like his "Third Wing" presidential candidate, capitlizing on voter unrest and the need for "change". Sound familiar? Brubaker's tapped some of the pulse of the current times, only uses it for quality, not to be trite with mentions of YouTube.

Buck & Falcon, meanwhile, track down Arnim Zola's lab. They beat down some thugs, but the big bad escapes. It has become a reoccuring theme of the series and at some point there will have to be resolution, because as good as it is, it is kind of predictable. Even Crossbones has been "taken down" about three times. Still, the action is good enough and it was cool seeing New Cap inspired by Falcon, who was the original Cap's partner and ally.

There isn't a lot to say about CA that hasn't been said before. It is doing it's own thing, skipping SECRET INVASION, but that is for the better. Obviously it is unwise to mess with a steady Top 20 seller, that is also critically acclaimed, especially when Brubaker is deep into his 4+ year storyline. The art is always good and the characters act well. The twist at the end, siccing Grand Director at Bucky for the murder of Nomad, a murder Lukin made Winter Soldier commit, is pure evil genius. It will be another way of Bucky facing his sins, but that's classic reformed-hero conflict. While I never want this run to end, eventually a storyline, even a far reaching one, needs closure. Brubaker has spent ages with these villains, and hopefully he knows how to give a proper send-off before they wear out their welcome.

Also Bought: FANTASTIC FOUR #557, GHOST RIDER #23 & MIGHTY AVENGERS #14

 

[Darthphere]

Jesus.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Brave and the Bold #13: Wow, Batman was really likeable in this issue. Like, a lot. Jay can bring out the best in anyone, I guess.

 

[Docker2.0]

Dread you gotta learn how to cut your reviews shorter. It's like reading chapters in a book but I love to read them.

 

[Manic]

X-Men: Divided We Stand #2 of 2
The first story in this little collection is Beast's. Hank visits the rubble that was once Xavier's mansion, and closes up shop. He picks up the remnants of sentinels to make sure no one builds anything from them. He shreds the files with confidential medical information about certain dead mutants. He even picks up everybody's brain in a jar, Martha Johansson, who it seems everybody else completely forgot about when the X-Men disbanded. It's a touching story about Beast basically saying goodbye, and I was digging it. Also, it turns out Eaton doesn't draw a bad cat-Beast.

The next story is about Magik aka Illyana Rasputin, who has been stuck in Limbo for years with only a 5th of her human soul in tact. She wants it all back, but she's not willing to do what it takes because of a supposed horrible cost. It turns out she's not really stuck in Limbo, but was merely afraid to leave because she's stuck looking like the Darkchylde demon. She eventually decides to teleport back to Earth, figuring Peter and Kitty will still love her, no matter what she looks like. She teleports to the Xavier Institute and... oh. It's in ruins. Okay, screw her loved ones. Magik is gonna carve a path of suffering to get her soul back.

The next story belongs to Havok, who is stuck in a prison cell in space. Vulcan, who somehow has been getting precise video footage sent to him from unseen surveillance on Earth, shows Alex images of the destroyed school, Bishop's recent betrayal, and Xavier's "death." Vulcan does this to taunt Alex, but accidentally gives him hope. Alex figures that even with the mutant race reaching destruction, a mutant baby was born. That means it ain't over til it's over, and Alex won't give up until he stops his insane long lost brother. Also a good story.

Next is Forge obsessing about how getting his head cracked open by Bishop has left gaps in his memory, and how he doesn't know how to build a time machine anymore. It's an overall boring story, and artist Chris Burnham seems to think Forge has an overactive thyroid.

Finally, we get Surge (Nori Ashida) and Dani Moonstar. Nori is having trouble dealing with her friends dying, constantly fighting, and how the X-Men rarely come out 100% successful even after a victory. She just doesn't get it, and she doesn't know how to deal. Dani, bringing out the tough love, tells Nori that she went through the same thing when she was a teenager, and that she has to dust herself off and deal with it. I didn't really agree with the art in this story, as it looked like Dani (a Cheyenne) looked more Asian than Nori (Japanese), and their heads were all weird shapes.

And then there's Maude. No, wait...

Robin #174
Spoiler is back! And it's the real Steph Brown! It turns out Leslie faked her death, which I'm not particularly surprised about. The retconning here is a little lazy, but I'm more than willing to let it all slide if it means (a) we get to have Spoiler back, (b) Tim can stop leading on his girlfriend Zo, and (c) Leslie Thompkins is no longer a hateful b****.

X-Factor #31
As this story comes to a close, it hits me that this was just a "things fall apart" filler storyline before X-Factor's new status quo is established. So... nothing of note here.
Oh, and Siryn falls on her face while trying to use her screaming powers to fly while inhaling smoke from a burning building. *sigh* I just know PAD is going to write a story where Terry miscarries the baby.

Justice Society of America #15
The sheer number of characters in this book provided one hell of a fight where I simply didn't notice or care who was trying to hold "Gog" down from panel to panel. Obsidian, who has done jack-diddly for 14 issues straight, gets a shining moment where he incapacitates "Gog" for a while. Oh, and it turns out "Gog" isn't the real Gog, but some dude who worships him. At the end of the issue, the real Gog (who is gigantic) eats his impostor/worshiper, and declares he comes in peace. Still waiting for this whole story to go somewhere. Also, I hold by my theory that some of the JSA will switch sides or die.

Fantastic 4 #557
As it's been mentioned before, the fight with C.A.P. is just "obligatory fight scene" nonsense. The real meat is in the characterization, where we get some shining moments from Reed, Sue, and Johnny continues his sexual relationship with Little Ms. Bank Robber. I can't wait to see where the rest of this run is going.

 

[Marcdachamp]

Yeah, the Void essentially becoming the hero was an interesting twist.

I'm not sure I'd go that far. It's more

Spoiler

The Skrulls

portraying him as a hero.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Incredible Hercules #117: This series keeps getting better and better. Everything in this issue--from Herc's temper tantrum over essentially getting suckered into leading the God Squad, to the real reason why he's so upset about it, to Cho's fanboyish comments once the God Squad is assembled--was pitch-perfect. We get some plausible answers for the questions everyone was wondering, and I loved how Herc, despite being great friends with Thor, immediately tosses his doubts out the window and gets all indignant when it's suggested that Thor could lead the Squad better than he can. I don't know how I feel about Athena being a Skrull, but I'll wait and see how it plays out. Sandoval's art is kicking all kinds of ass, too.

Avengers: The Initiative #13: Great issue. First one I fully enjoyed from start to finish since before "KIA," in fact--probably due to the fact that no one died and Slapstick was entirely absent. If Slott ever gets too wrapped up in Spider-Man, I would be very happy seeing Gage continue the series solo. He seems to be the new Bendis in that he can write about a thousand titles every month without breaking a sweat. Uy's art was the only drawback, but it honestly didn't really bother me as much this time. His rendition of Butterball was actually pretty good. Still wish Taskmaster would get his purple costume back, though.

Captain America #38: Good issue, although it didn't really feel that eventful. Brubaker's definitely taking his time unfolding this story. Still, although it moves slowly, it doesn't really feel like any space is wasted--every page is still gold. I'm glad Brubaker portrayed Zola as an unabashed racist. It always feels awkward to me if a Nazi character can encounter any known Jew or black person or whatever and not make a comment. I like the Falcon and Bucky together; it was interesting to see Bucky's thoughts on Sam. I hope we get an issue from Sam's perspective at some point to contrast. The art is excellent, although I didn't check the name this time. I think it was Perkins, judging from the style, but I'm not entirely certain.

The Flash #240: Peyer, oddly enough, has captured the very tone of Waid's old Flash run that Waid himself was unable to capture. Everything isn't so much centered on his kids, thankfully, although they're certainly not forgotten. I liked Jai's dismay over "the secret," and something interesting is certainly going on with Iris. I hope it's not something stupid, like just changing her into her Kingdom Come version; I dropped JSA for that ****. But the real scene-stealer of this issue was obviously Gorilla Grodd, who was hilarious and awesome throughout. Can't wait to see how this mix of villains and personal problems for Wally plays out. I even kind of liked Freddie Williams' art this time, although I still wish someone better would take over. Williams was okay with Waid, but Peyer's good Flash stories require good art.

American Dream #2: The Avengers enter the series in this issue, which works well because Dream's their leader. DeFalco writes in the classic, soap opera style of Marvel's older comics, making Dream a very conflicted but no less effective hero, and I like it. It's simple, clean fun, which you can always count on the MC2-verse for. The flashback to Dream's past was great too, since I never did learn what exactly made her become a superhero. Turns out it's a pretty uplifting story, as befits the successor to Captain America. Nauck's art is hugely refreshing, given that we've only seen Frenz's interpretation of these characters for a long time, and Frenz's art has grown really stale to me. Nauck's got his usual problem with slightly wonky, super-wide faces in some panels, but overall he's good and he delivers some strong, dynamic action scenes later in the issue.

X-Factor #31: Add me to the list of people who were kind of bored with this arc. It's very, very clear that this is just filler before all of the big, sweeping X-line changes starting with Uncanny #500. We've still got another issue between now and then, but the solicitation for that sounds interesting, since it deals with Val and ONE and all that stuff. The one undeniably awesome part of this issue is Pablo Raimondi, who'll unfortunately be leaving after the next issue. That sucks, especially since I just realized while reading this issue what a drastic visual change it'll be going from Raimondi to Stroman.

 

[Hans]

Captain America #38: Good issue, although it didn't really feel that eventful. Brubaker's definitely taking his time unfolding this story. Still, although it moves slowly, it doesn't really feel like any space is wasted--every page is still gold. I'm glad Brubaker portrayed Zola as an unabashed racist. It always feels awkward to me if a Nazi character can encounter any known Jew or black person or whatever and not make a comment. I like the Falcon and Bucky together; it was interesting to see Bucky's thoughts on Sam. I hope we get an issue from Sam's perspective at some point to contrast. The art is excellent, although I didn't check the name this time. I think it was Perkins, judging from the style, but I'm not entirely certain.

Epting penciled the entire issue and he and Perkins inked it. I thought it was pretty clearly Epting art, but that's just me. I tend to pay a lot of attention to the artistic detail when I read a comic book.

 

[Darthphere]

Good for you.

 

[Darthphere]

I need someone to read Bruce Jones first issue of Checkmate and tell me how much it sucked.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Read the last few posts of the Checkmate thread on the DC board. It's 1 to 2 in favor of the issue sucking right now.

 

[Doc Destruction]

It was fair, but a lot of build up. I give it one arc to wow me, or pfft.

 

[Darthphere]

Read the last few posts of the Checkmate thread on the DC board. It's 1 to 2 in favor of the issue sucking right now.

One of those people in favor was leaguer, we can't take any of his opinions seriously.

 

[Marcdachamp]

Epting penciled the entire issue and he and Perkins inked it. I thought it was pretty clearly Epting art, but that's just me. I tend to pay a lot of attention to the artistic detail when I read a comic book.

I find it often hard to distinguish on Cap. Marvel typically makes sure that it all looks close, it seems. Guice was the biggest change, and even that wasn't a huge leap, in my opinion.

 

[Hans]

Guice is great on any book. I wonder why he doesn't have an ongoing gig.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Probably too slow to meet a monthly deadline. I think he inks a lot of stuff, though, doesn't he?