Bought/Thought May 29th, 2008

[Max J Power]

Giant Size Astonishing X-Men #1
As much as I like Joss Whedon, I've been waiting for this run to end for quite awhile now. The lateness just made me lose some interest in it and made everything not seem worth the wait, especially the artwork. The finale was one par with the rest of the Unbreakable arc, which (as far as I can remember) was good but not great. Since we all knew the ending three months ago, it was hard to feel any suspense while reading the issue. When I later go back and reread the last two arcs of Astonishing X-Men without the huge delays, I'll probably think better of them, but for now, my biggest thought about the run is that it's over.

Daredevil #107
To no surprise, this issue reminded me of Gotham Central. Which means it's great (not that the rest of Brubaker's run on Daredevil hasn't largely been great). Both Matt's case and personal problems are handled very well, and given the right amount of attention. The issue really doesn't have any problems, although I don't like the second artist (I forget his name) as much as Lark. I don't have anything else to say other than the Brubaker and Rucka team-up has really delivered so far, and I expect it will continue to do so.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Dread: Beta Ray Bill's coming back in Secret Invasion: Thor.

 

[Dread]

Dread: Beta Ray Bill's coming back in Secret Invasion: Thor.

Why there? I didn't want to have to buy any extra SI ****.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Presumably because Bill helps Thor rock some Skrull *****es.

 

[Dread]

Thor doesn't need any help.

At least it will get Thor to fight something that isn't Norse magical beings. Y'know, like he occasionally used to.

 

[Darthphere]

Why there? I didn't want to have to buy any extra SI ****.

Wait, you don't want to read Thor written by Matt Fraction with art by Doug Braithwaite?

 

[Dread]

Wait, you don't want to read Thor written by Matt Fraction with art by Doug Braithwaite?

I didn't want to have to buy an extra series for S.I.

I avoided the last Thor one-shot that Fraction wrote. I like the ongoing but I am hardly a THOR-fanboy quite yet.

It is sadly looking more and more likely that I will get it. Which is annoying because I haven't been taken with SI in general and now I am buying a spare mini for it. JMS is too slow to tie into SI directly, I guess.

Thor needs to do more in his own book. At the very least, he acts godly.

 

[DoomJester]

That Thor one-shot was amazing!

And I bought New Avengers today and kinda wish I hadn't. I'm totally hating the Secret Invasion tie-ins so I can understand your anti tie-in sentiments. Funny thing is I really enjoyed reading most of the Civil War tie-ins. I think Marvel is sticking too much to its promise of not moving SI forward in its tie-ins. Now the tie-ins are largely irrelevant.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I didn't want to have to buy an extra series for S.I.

I avoided the last Thor one-shot that Fraction wrote. I like the ongoing but I am hardly a THOR-fanboy quite yet.

It is sadly looking more and more likely that I will get it. Which is annoying because I haven't been taken with SI in general and now I am buying a spare mini for it. JMS is too slow to tie into SI directly, I guess.

Thor needs to do more in his own book. At the very least, he acts godly.

You can buy more than one Thor comic without being a fanboy, Dread. It's okay, I've given you permission now. I buy multiple Bat-family books, but I wouldn't call myself a Batman fanboy. Sometimes I can't stand the guy. But a good comic is a good comic.

 

[Dread]

I heard the Thor one-shot was basically Part 1 of 2. Anyway, if I ever felt up to it, I could find it on shelf. It didn't sell as well as the ongoing.

Yeah, some of the CW tie-ins were good but I bought a lot of extra books I didn't normally for it and it was a drain on cash and space. You really don't think getting over 60 books for a crossover is much until you lay them across a bed...and realize that was only 2/3rd's.

Still, sometimes I overreact. As soon as I heard of ATOM EVE's 2 part mini I feared INVINCIBLE was going to be pulled apart by spin-off's. That rant's almost funny now.

I mean, CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13 is starting as a SI book but I am not buying it because of THAT; I am buying it because of Leonard Kirk, Black Knight and the premise. The first issue justified that theory.

 

[MaskedManJRK]

I've seen more interesting and deep alien races in Dragon Ball Z, and that is rather pathetic considering this is Joss "The Best Writer on the Planet" Whedon. I've watched a few episodes of BUFFY and ANGEL and I STILL don't see what all the fuss was about.

Watch Firefly. If you do not get it then, watch it again. If you do not get it then, keep watching until you do.

Mine:

BATMAN: Or, "In Which Bruce Wayne's Life is Completely and Utterly F**ked." God, if the possibility of turning Thomas Wayne into a coke-lovin', wife-abusing, murderous supervillian doesn't solidify Morrison as the craziest motherf**ker working in DC, NOTHING will. What's funny is, as a fanboy I should be railing at the guy for even THINKING about trying this, and yet I'm eagerly anticipating what happens next. Either he's doing a very impressive yarn or I'm bats**t crazy. Either one is likely. In fact, both, are likely.

FINAL CRISIS: Well, it's a nice first issue. I love me some Question, even if it's Renne. "Deiticide" is a brilliant new term for killing a god. Thing is, most of the stuff we know that's being started here--the death of the New Gods, Libra delivering "gifts" to the villians, has already been done for the past few months--not really Morrison's fault. We do know, though, that part of the New Gods stuff will involve Astro and Kionani, the First and Last Boys of Earth, teaming up to do...something. The only other problem I can think of is [BLACKOUT]J'onn's death[/BLACKOUT], which I'm sure will be explained in the next issue and/or in the other minis that are being developed for this.

 

[Blader5489]

X-Force continues to surprise and amaze me. Legacy too.

Both books make the post-HoM fiasco worth it.

 

[fifthfiend]

Quote of the week:

"ANGEL. Hippie name: ANGEL"

Bwahahaha

 

[Manic]

This week: X-Men, X-Men, and more X-Men.

Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men #1
After 4 years, Whedon & Cassaday's 2-year run finally comes to an end. Kitty's ultimate fate isn't much of a surprise, since months upon months of speculation in the Astonishing thread in the X-Men forum led to so many theories, and that one of them was bound to come true.

Anyway, with the main course spoiled, let's check the sides.
Storm gathered practically every major hero on Earth on a space station to figure out how to stop the giant bullet. In the end, everyone did jack-all. It turns out the Breakworlders designed the damn thing to target the most powerful heroes on Earth, and send them into a deep trance. Spider-Man, being among the weakest of the bunch (his fantasy made absolutely no sense, even to him) is the first to wake up and figure out what happened. I have to admit that Whedon writes nice Spider-dialogue, but Spider-Man's snarky way of speaking is similar to how Whedon writes about half of his characters, anyway.
The Wild Sentinel gets a great moment where he sacrifices himself in an attempt to stop the missile. Sure, he dies failing, but it was an excellent way for him to go out.

I do have a few pretty big questions, though:
1. What happens now with Danger? She only helped the X-Men because Emma promised to give her Charles' head on a pike. That never gets resolved.
2. There's a point in the story where Pete takes over Breakworld and forces the dethroned Powerlord to reveal the weakness of his Giant Space Bullet. What the hell was the weakness? Why include this scene if it leads nowhere?
3. So does this mean Beast is working for SWORD? And getting some action?


X-Men Legacy #212
I'm probably in the minority, but I'm really liking this book. If memory serves, it looks like this story is connected to an old, forgotten hanging plot thread from waaaay back. Nice to see it explored. It's also nice to see a Professor X/Gambit team-up, which is an unlikely pairing if there ever was one. It's interesting to see Chuck freely using his powers; I almost didn't catch the moment in the hospital where he forces the doctor to give him those medical records.


Uncanny X-Men #498
It looks like the Goddess is really Mastermind II. Didn't see that coming. I mean, who here even remembered her?
Nightcrawler gets a badass moment.
Omega Red is... still not that interesting to me.


X-Men First Class #12
It's not dark. It's not depressing. In fact, it's pretty damn fun. I love this book. It even had another one of those fun little mini-comics in the back.


Thor #9
You know, it's funny. In previous issues, Lokisha was made to look like some sleek seductress. This time around, she genuinely looks crazy and evil.
Anyway, this issue got a few good laughs from me. Heimdall taking shots at Volstagg's size was great. Everything involving Bill and Kelda was fun, although I'm sure the best bits were left out of this issue. Those of you crying out for a villain should be happy to see Lokisha planting her seeds of deception.


Immortal Iron Fist #15
A filler issue. Pure filler. Well written filler, but filler nonetheless.


She-Hulk #29
So. We learned why Shulkie's no longer a lawyer. In some ways, I can see this being a good reason. In other ways, I feel completely cheated. Dark Art[hur] was a useless villain who was being a dick simply for the sake of being a dick.

Is anyone else tired of these damn Moon Knight pages being inserted in the back of every other book?

 

[Doc Destruction]

X-Force continues to surprise and amaze me. Legacy too.

Both books make the post-HoM fiasco worth it.

For once, I agree with you. X-Force really is quite good. I've been surprised pleasantly every month so far.

Archangel and Bastion? AND MAGUS? Sign me the hell up!

 

[TheCorpulent1]

X-Men Legacy #212
I'm probably in the minority, but I'm really liking this book. If memory serves, it looks like this story is connected to an old, forgotten hanging plot thread from waaaay back. Nice to see it explored. It's also nice to see a Professor X/Gambit team-up, which is an unlikely pairing if there ever was one. It's interesting to see Chuck freely using his powers; I almost didn't catch the moment in the hospital where he forces the doctor to give him those medical records.

Yeah, he totally Jedi mind-tricked the doctor. I'm glad to see he's not placing so many restrictions on himself anymore.

Thor #9
You know, it's funny. In previous issues, Lokisha was made to look like some sleek seductress. This time around, she genuinely looks crazy and evil.
Anyway, this issue got a few good laughs from me. Heimdall taking shots at Volstagg's size was great. Everything involving Bill and Kelda was fun, although I'm sure the best bits were left out of this issue. Those of you crying out for a villain should be happy to see Lokisha planting her seeds of deception.

I think Loki looked more freaky this issue because you really notice that he has no ****ing eyebrows. That's just a creepy look all around.

I loved the bits with Volstagg and Heimdall. I mentioned in the Thor thread that the Asgardians tolerate Loki because they're a community and, for better or worse, he's a member of that community. The scene with Volstagg and Heimdall really drove home that community feeling. Playful ribbing among the gods is always a welcome break from all the posturing and talk of honor we normally get.

Is anyone else tired of these damn Moon Knight pages being inserted in the back of every other book?

Yes. I don't care about Moon Knight and I never will.

 

[moraldeficiency]

A few thoughts:

AXM couldn't have been more predictable, but now I want Whedon to write Spider-Man (but only after this SOS nonsense is over). I'm glad to see Hank getting some play.

Loki looked rather odd, but still came out a badass so I'm pretty happy. Corp, I think they keep loki around to keep an eye on her more than anything else. Having her run around without anyone keeping her in check could not be a worse move on their part.

I skimmed NA in the store and I just cannot stand a bendis written 616 Peter Parker. Then I contrast that with the rather excellent USM that I did by and I just don't get it. Maybe bendis only feels the need to treat is own creations (USM, Jessica Jones) or the characters he's brought back to the forefront (Cage, Daredevil) with actual indepth characterization. Seeing Ka-Zar was cool, but he was hip talking Ka-Zar and that just came off weird. USM was pretty great, btw.

Unless I hear something great about RIP I don't think I can get it. I feel like I'll just be comparing it to Capt and feel let down.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Well, I'm sure that's why Thor keeps Loki around, but the rest of Asgard is essentially bound to not touch Loki because Thor is giving him a second chance. Their lord has decreed that Loki is allowed to live on New Asgard in peace.

If it's any consolation, I don't think Batman will actually die in RIP. It seems more like Bruce Wayne will stop being so angsty and thus won't be able to continue being Batman. Which is, of course, essentially the plot of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, but I can't fault Morrison for copying that, if indeed he does. It's still the best Batman movie ever made.

 

[SouLeSS]

Is anyone else tired of these damn Moon Knight pages being inserted in the back of every other book?

I was more annoyed by the Eternals one, but yeah they're pretty annoying.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

But the Eternals are awesome.

 

[hippie_hunter]

The Moon Knight thing is way more annoying than the Eternals one. At least I didn't see an Eternals preview on EVERY FREAKING SINGLE BOOK I GET!!!!

That and they at least deserve a preview IMO. Why the hell does Moon Knight deserve one?

 

[moraldeficiency]

The Moon Knight thing is way more annoying than the Eternals one. At least I didn't see an Eternals preview on EVERY FREAKING SINGLE BOOK I GET!!!!

That and they at least deserve a preview IMO. Why the hell does Moon Knight deserve one?

You know what really pisses me off about that? It's several pages that I know I've been paying for thanks to price hikes and it's the same two things every time, I'd rather save the 25 cents or at least get some variety here. The eternals thing was cool when I first saw it, but now after seeing the same thing about 20 times I don't really have interest in the book at all. Doubly so for Moonknight.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

The Moon Knight thing is way more annoying than the Eternals one. At least I didn't see an Eternals preview on EVERY FREAKING SINGLE BOOK I GET!!!!

That and they at least deserve a preview IMO. Why the hell does Moon Knight deserve one?

Yeah, advertising a new series that way is one thing, but advertising, what, Moon Knight #18 or 19? Come on. If people gave a ****, they'd already be reading the Moon Knight series, wouldn't they? I doubt Werewolf by Night is gonna be the deciding factor for anyone to start picking up Moon Knight.

 

[Themanofbat]

I doubt Werewolf by Night is gonna be the deciding factor for anyone to start picking up Moon Knight.

You never know... there's real history between those two characters...

 

[Marcdachamp]

X-Men Legacy 212 - I think consistanty, this book is the best X-Book out at the moment. Maybe it's because I like the flashbacks to times when I enoyed the X-Books more, but I'm loving every moment of it. Eaton's art is great and I like the rotating flashback artists, they've all been top notch (Romita Jr, Land, Deodato, etc.). I LOVE the nod toward continuity and the fulfilling of long forgotten storylines. The characters are random but spot on. I'm curious how they all tie-together and how they're involved. And I'm wondering if the Xavier Metaphor is hinting at an upcoming issue dealing with Onslaught? I'm hoping so, as I was a huge fan of that storyline. Of all the books this week, I think this one was my favorate.

Are you picking up the trades? Marvel did a really nice job on organizing everything, so far. I'm impressed by the attention to detail.

Sidenote: How awesome was Cassaday's Spider-Man? The first 4 pages are glorious. The first spread is great, but I really love the panel with Nightcrawler, too.