Dark Victory
A$AP WAYNE
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Well I'm glad you liked it, but yes it's mine. Say what you want, I don't care, but yes last week I was...lazy, but the rest of the reviews were written by be.
Bought/Thought October 8th, 2008
- Thread starter Bubonic
- Start date
Well I'm glad you liked it, but yes it's mine. Say what you want, I don't care, but yes last week I was...lazy, but the rest of the reviews were written by be.
fifthfiend
M4J3ST1C L3G1SL4C3R4TOR
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I'll go ahead and say it's probably his. It reads less like an IGN review than like a review by someone (consciously or unconsciously) imitating the style of an IGN reviewer. Which I mean, that happens.
EDIT: So it's clear that's not meant as an insult or anything. People pick up the voice of other writers all the time.
Last edited:
Dread
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The second week of October and it is still a below average week in quantity for me; only four books. This has me dreading that this may be one of those months where EVERYTHING comes out in one week and it costs about $45. Lopsided schedules can be annoying.
As always, full spoilers, yada yada yada...
Dread's BOUGHT/THOUGHT for 10/8/08:
THE END LEAGUE #5: This Dark Horse superhero series from Remender is still sometimes an odd duck; some issues have potential and some sort of leave me wondering "why"? It doesn't help that the schedule is bimonthly so that half the time I forgot the prior issue. Canete appears to be the regular artist for the near future and his style has a charm to it once it isn't clashing with another artist's style. Still, UMBRELLA ACADEMY this isn't.
End League stars mostly cypher characters; that is, characters who are "based" around iconic types such as Superman, Batman, Ghost Rider, Green Lantern, etc. This means that some effort usually needs to be taken for people to care about some of these people as characters rather than clones. Wildstorm's THE AMERICAN WAY is a good recent example of how to do this well. END LEAGUE is a bit hit-or-miss. The character who got the most focus was Astonishman, who was killed off two issues ago. Beyond that, the others play mostly to type, although the last two issues have tried to focus on Prairie Ghost (the Ghost Rider cypher) and in this issue, Codename Black (the Batman archetype). His enemy is Smiling Man, who is basically Joker. He lures Black to his city-sized headquarters by holding his heroic allies hostage as well as claiming to have the Hammer of Thor, the item the End League is desperate to get hold of to turn the tide of their existence. He gets in some jokes, most of them intentionally cheesy and bad. Black is the grim straight-man who is determined to out-think or punch his way to victory.
A good chunk of the story in a way plays like an homage to Magneto; a young child struggles to survive while fooling his Nazi masters, including a Red Skull-esque man named, er, Kraut (Remender has a habit of not naming characters on panel, and he annoyingly continues it here) before being saved by, basically, a heroic American hero who throws a mighty shield. In the present day, the Kraut leads a rebellion force of villains against the world's leader, Dead Lexington, to utilize Thor's hammer by tearing out the noble heart of a hero to use it.
End League is one of those works where the premise I think matters more than the characters. The premise here is that the villains not only "won", but the heroes have impossibly lost; an entire world of villains who rule it with an iron fist, splitting up territories. There is only one team of heroes left, and a few of them have died since issue #2 already. In a way it reminds me of WANTED, only not as indulgent in vulgarity and gore. On the other hand, WANTED didn't kill off the one character it focused on, as END LEAGUE has. None of the rest have come to the fore yet, and that is a dilemma. Without that connection, it reads like fan-fiction with potential, which could have benefited from some more time in the editing chamber. There are some interesting ideas and premises here, but it isn't all gelling in a cohesive whole. And after 5 issues, patience sometimes wares thin. That said, I liked this issue more than #4, which is am improvement. Naturally I like the idea of Dead Lexington so disturbing his fellow rogues by essentially selling his soul to a mighty hell-lord for power that they want to overthrow him themselves. The tone is bleak, naturally, but this issue wasn't as bleak as some others. There needed to be more time spent on fleshing the characters out and less on missions or time on villains. Remender almost sacrifices depth for pace.
Remender I am sure is passionate about this book and his characters, as well as he should be. But every issue has so much going on and not enough of it being characterization skeleton fleshing, that he can't transfer that energy to the reader, or at least this reader, that well. Great titles have solid characters and solid premises. Some titles can skirt by with a generic story or premise if the characters are fun enough. But a book that has a solid premise but not-wholly-fleshed characters just feels more hollow than it should. That said, 6 issues is the trade length, so I'll do the official "keep or dump" thing after next issue, which for all I know will ship in December. END LEAGUE isn't trash, and it's probably better than some Big Two superhero books, but isn't living up to it's potential.
BIG HERO 6 #2: The latest team book by Chris Claremont that, for once, doesn't feature any X-Men at all. Granted, that may be only because Claremont is maintaining continuity, in which the most well known members of the team, Silver Samurai and Sunfire, have been written out for the long term. Each issue is $3.99 because it features some Handbook style Bio's and in this issue's case, a reprint of a classic MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS story, but I am curious how well this is panning out. Big Hero 6 is not a big name franchise, nor one fans have been clamoring for; frankly I think more people want another stab at THE LONERS than this. Secondly, Chris Claremont hasn't been able to sustain sales of above 25k or so for quite some time now, and that is with established franchises like EXILES (which is now below pre-reboot levels) and various token X-projects he gets. Thirdly, I am curious why we have an 8 issue Sunfire story when he has nothing to do with the characters in the issue, and there doesn't seem to be any plan to have him return. Without that reprint, could this issue have been, gasp, a Marvel Enterprises poverty inducing price of $3.50? $3.75? Because to me, putting a "past his prime" writer on a no-name franchise with a high price practically screams for a book that debuts in the Top 70 and then tumbles from there into sales oblivion by issue #4, regardless of quality. Basically, an editorial decision that makes me wonder, "What where they thinking!?" and perhaps realize that every executive of any business is seriously out of touch with reality.
But let's talk about quality. Big Hero 6 was a fun team book last issue, and it still is. This issue gets around to introducing the second new member, "Fred". He almost seems like an attempt at a RUNAWAYS character, a guy in a cap and sweat-shirt who apparently has the power to transform into a dragon. Or at least have the image of a dragon show up vaguely in front of him as he performs some physical feat, or scares someone. Go-Go and Honey Lemon try to haze him, and it quickly leads to an in-fight that almost gets out of control; a storyline bit that Claremont probably ran into the ground a decade ago. But Hiro doesn't care because he notices that the daughter of the scientist they are supposed to protect, Marys (not one Mary, apparently two) has hi-tech glasses like him, and they have puppy love chemistry. Stuck in a mission in New York to go after the thieves of some ancient artifacts, they are watched by a mysterious figure. The team goes for cover in a local high school and ends up in an impromptu football match with some local jocks.
The tone is kept light, and Nakayama's art is fitting; if ANY book should look like a manga, why not one starring a Japanese superhero team? This is an old school book, but maybe too old school; it maintains Claremont's habit of burying you in narration that is telling you what the artist is clearly drawing. And no matter how much fun and spunk the issue has, it is a filler issue. Not much gets done; even introduced Fred is really bare bones, as we learn nothing about where his powers come from or his origin. It can come in time, of course, and so far I do like what I see. Even if, according to the Handbook Bio, Ebon Samurai actually is interesting.
My biggest problem is that part of the charm of superhero books that take place in another state or country is...seeing an adventure in said state or country. Kind of like when I open up CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13 and expect to see an adventure in the U.K. Even The X-Men have moved to California to try to spread the glut of superheroes out of NYC. The Initiative is all about that. So why has Claremont started off his FIRST ARC on the book in NYC instead of Japan? He's written stories in Japan. It's not a hard country to stage a superhero adventure in. It seems like a waste and makes the book seem more generic than it has to be.
Plus, future solicts promise a mind-control plot, which, alongside Storm bondage, is a plot point Claremont has also run into the ground. If he is going to continue rehashing himself this much, long-term collaboration with another, hopefully younger writer needs to take place. I know it sucks to tell the former driver of the UXM franchise and creator of many classic characters that he needs glasses and can't drive alone anymore, but it needs to be done for the good of everyone, himself included. He's still got talent and it stinks when you can check off his plot rehashings like a checklist.
There are some who could say that BH6 is a bit generic and doesn't offer a whole lot that is new, and I might be inclined to agree. But the tone is quite fun and it is a spunky rehash of a team book that, considering how hot anime & manga is, could have some potential. For people who like old school superhero teams which aren't bleak or mired in death & rape, this is for you. That said, Claremont's gone from blockbuster to cult star and in many ways his writing style has not evolved with the times. Unlike END LEAGUE, though, Claremont spends time on his characters and is able to add some charm to the scenes they are in. Still, this is a middling issue, and I don't see why with a few rewrites this couldn't have been a Japanese story. Play to a premise's strength, man!
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #6: The first arc of Fraction's first A-List franchise work comes to a close as Iron Man defeats Zeke Stane in an armored duel to the...unconsciousness. I got the variant cover, because it looked cooler. It also homages IM's first appearance, which is nice.
Surprise, Stane didn't blow Iron Man's head off. He's just remotely controlling over armors as he has done quite a few times by now to escape a jam. He used the ploy to get Zeke out in the open until the rest of his suicide bombers could be located and stopped from blowing up more of Stark's businesses (along with everyone near them). They cybernetic explosives take some time to charge, but in the end, Tony is willing to zap his entire systems with an EMP to short out Stane and his agents, before pummeling the kid with some good ol' fashioned fisticuffs. I distinctly recall Stark having armor safe-guards for EMP's in some past fights (at least when he was tussling with Winter Soldier), but it was nice and dramatic, so I'll let it slide. Stane basically says that Stark's to blame for his own tech being exploited by terrorists; Tony considers Zeke insane.
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN I think does a good job of bridging the gap between fans of the comics and fans from the movie; I doubt too many new readers hopped onto the book from the film, but it is a better effort to tie into a movie than happens a lot of time. Some people felt in the end, Zeke was too "generic", just slapping on a suit of armor and trying to out-duel Stark in the end, but I don't mind that kind of stuff. These are superhero comics after all, and THE ORDER spent 10 issues having Zeke pull strings and **** with stuff from the background. Seen in that context, this is really issue #16 of a showdown with Zeke, and so it seems more appropriate. Besides, Zeke isn't dead, and can always return. It also presents Iron Man as someone who you could actually root for, and not Iron *****e, for what seems like the first time in five years.
Sal Lorroca paces the action well and while it isn't the best Iron Man story you'll ever read, it's entertaining for those who like some old fashioned shellhead action in keeping with some of the stuff the movie made popular. Maybe I am a sucker for butt-kick, but I don't mind a 2 issue fight sometimes. Besides, while Zeke was brilliant, he was also crazy and young, and always has room to improve with experience as a rogue. Imagine if another person who hates Iron Man decided to "tutor" the budding threat if you will. Lot of potential here.
Solid art, solid writing. Meat and potatoes superhero action. Doesn't reinvent the wheel, but greases it just fine. Especially if you want to see a story where Iron Man isn't spouting Bendis-isms or stomping on someone's rights.
THE TWELVE #8: Easily the best comic of the week, JMS' saga about a dozen Golden Oldie superheroes starts on the final stretch with a few issues to go. It offers the origin of Black Widow, or at least a more elongated version of it, as well as developments into the murder mystery, Blue Blade's TV career, and the robot Electro. This series by JMS and Chris Weston isn't exactly setting the sales charts aflame (27k as of August), but it has remained consistently within the 27-29k range for the past 3 issues, and that could be considered a success considering the cast hasn't seen an adventure since Hitler was alive.
Black Widow tells her origin, basically of a woman who wished vengeance for a murdered sister and ended up gaining the power from a demon, which is never told, to become his bounty hunter for wicked souls he wants to claim. Kind of like Ghost Rider, only with better legs. She entrusts her story to Phantom Reporter to convince him she didn't commit the murder, and PR believes her, at least for now. The police suspect Fiery Mask, who may have a secret of his own. However, when Blue Blade takes command of Electro and sees into it's robotic mind, he learns something very disturbing, which he seems to want to share only with Dynamic Man. Electro appeared to fit the suspect of the murder at the gay bar better than anyone else; could his creator still be alive in there, or can the robot move on it's own at times? Mastermind Excello starts to benefit the team from afar, bailing Laughing Mask out of prison and telepathically convincing Rockman that his underground people are coming for him, even though that likely is a lie to get him out of the basement. It would be fun if it wasn't, even if it would render a flashback a bit useless last issue.
Some compare this to WATCHMEN, and part of me is amazed that whenever someone writes a range of superheroes with emotional depth and human imperfections, whether it is envy or homophobia or whatever, people assume it's aping WATCHMEN. Can't a superhero saga be told in a mature fashion? Can't it offer more than plot and action? These characters are blank slates for a skilled hand, and right now JMS is riding high with them. They have real human lives and origins mixed in with the superhero elements, even absurd Golden Age ones, and isn't that what the best comics are all about? The slow pace that is aggravating with THOR is fine here, with a cast of a dozen. Blue Blade's origin is told briefly, and he actually wasn't terribly annoying. There's more character there than met the eye, and I usually couldn't stand Blade.
Weston's art of course is every bit as iconic here as JMS' story. He's detailed without losing some movement, and the style is "realistic" without losing some of the charm of the spandex designs. Not everything is leather and black zippers & pouches.
Normally I would prefer an outright villain rather than another "superhero team betrayed from within" sort of story, but JMS & Weston are pulling it off here, so I can let it go. This is the sort of story that may find itself in trade for quite a while, even if it isn't the strongest seller on the monthly, direct market. There are only 3 issues left, so I expect the spit to hit the fan quite soon. I just hope Rockman gets to slug somebody, because Weston draws him as the biggest guy ever. And I also hope that some of these characters survive and can begin a JSA-esque team at Marvel. Because they could use one.
Not much to say a lot of times, because there are only so many ways to say, "It's another solid issue". This isn't a book that rocks your socks off every issue, but one on a slow build to a hopefully satisfying climax with some interesting characters along the way. A great way to dust off some Golden Ager's, and something people who haven't given it a try should consider when it hits trade or HC. JMS is on form here. It's great when an A-List writer performs to expectations, isn't it?
As always, full spoilers, yada yada yada...
Dread's BOUGHT/THOUGHT for 10/8/08:
THE END LEAGUE #5: This Dark Horse superhero series from Remender is still sometimes an odd duck; some issues have potential and some sort of leave me wondering "why"? It doesn't help that the schedule is bimonthly so that half the time I forgot the prior issue. Canete appears to be the regular artist for the near future and his style has a charm to it once it isn't clashing with another artist's style. Still, UMBRELLA ACADEMY this isn't.
End League stars mostly cypher characters; that is, characters who are "based" around iconic types such as Superman, Batman, Ghost Rider, Green Lantern, etc. This means that some effort usually needs to be taken for people to care about some of these people as characters rather than clones. Wildstorm's THE AMERICAN WAY is a good recent example of how to do this well. END LEAGUE is a bit hit-or-miss. The character who got the most focus was Astonishman, who was killed off two issues ago. Beyond that, the others play mostly to type, although the last two issues have tried to focus on Prairie Ghost (the Ghost Rider cypher) and in this issue, Codename Black (the Batman archetype). His enemy is Smiling Man, who is basically Joker. He lures Black to his city-sized headquarters by holding his heroic allies hostage as well as claiming to have the Hammer of Thor, the item the End League is desperate to get hold of to turn the tide of their existence. He gets in some jokes, most of them intentionally cheesy and bad. Black is the grim straight-man who is determined to out-think or punch his way to victory.
A good chunk of the story in a way plays like an homage to Magneto; a young child struggles to survive while fooling his Nazi masters, including a Red Skull-esque man named, er, Kraut (Remender has a habit of not naming characters on panel, and he annoyingly continues it here) before being saved by, basically, a heroic American hero who throws a mighty shield. In the present day, the Kraut leads a rebellion force of villains against the world's leader, Dead Lexington, to utilize Thor's hammer by tearing out the noble heart of a hero to use it.
End League is one of those works where the premise I think matters more than the characters. The premise here is that the villains not only "won", but the heroes have impossibly lost; an entire world of villains who rule it with an iron fist, splitting up territories. There is only one team of heroes left, and a few of them have died since issue #2 already. In a way it reminds me of WANTED, only not as indulgent in vulgarity and gore. On the other hand, WANTED didn't kill off the one character it focused on, as END LEAGUE has. None of the rest have come to the fore yet, and that is a dilemma. Without that connection, it reads like fan-fiction with potential, which could have benefited from some more time in the editing chamber. There are some interesting ideas and premises here, but it isn't all gelling in a cohesive whole. And after 5 issues, patience sometimes wares thin. That said, I liked this issue more than #4, which is am improvement. Naturally I like the idea of Dead Lexington so disturbing his fellow rogues by essentially selling his soul to a mighty hell-lord for power that they want to overthrow him themselves. The tone is bleak, naturally, but this issue wasn't as bleak as some others. There needed to be more time spent on fleshing the characters out and less on missions or time on villains. Remender almost sacrifices depth for pace.
Remender I am sure is passionate about this book and his characters, as well as he should be. But every issue has so much going on and not enough of it being characterization skeleton fleshing, that he can't transfer that energy to the reader, or at least this reader, that well. Great titles have solid characters and solid premises. Some titles can skirt by with a generic story or premise if the characters are fun enough. But a book that has a solid premise but not-wholly-fleshed characters just feels more hollow than it should. That said, 6 issues is the trade length, so I'll do the official "keep or dump" thing after next issue, which for all I know will ship in December. END LEAGUE isn't trash, and it's probably better than some Big Two superhero books, but isn't living up to it's potential.
BIG HERO 6 #2: The latest team book by Chris Claremont that, for once, doesn't feature any X-Men at all. Granted, that may be only because Claremont is maintaining continuity, in which the most well known members of the team, Silver Samurai and Sunfire, have been written out for the long term. Each issue is $3.99 because it features some Handbook style Bio's and in this issue's case, a reprint of a classic MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS story, but I am curious how well this is panning out. Big Hero 6 is not a big name franchise, nor one fans have been clamoring for; frankly I think more people want another stab at THE LONERS than this. Secondly, Chris Claremont hasn't been able to sustain sales of above 25k or so for quite some time now, and that is with established franchises like EXILES (which is now below pre-reboot levels) and various token X-projects he gets. Thirdly, I am curious why we have an 8 issue Sunfire story when he has nothing to do with the characters in the issue, and there doesn't seem to be any plan to have him return. Without that reprint, could this issue have been, gasp, a Marvel Enterprises poverty inducing price of $3.50? $3.75? Because to me, putting a "past his prime" writer on a no-name franchise with a high price practically screams for a book that debuts in the Top 70 and then tumbles from there into sales oblivion by issue #4, regardless of quality. Basically, an editorial decision that makes me wonder, "What where they thinking!?" and perhaps realize that every executive of any business is seriously out of touch with reality.
But let's talk about quality. Big Hero 6 was a fun team book last issue, and it still is. This issue gets around to introducing the second new member, "Fred". He almost seems like an attempt at a RUNAWAYS character, a guy in a cap and sweat-shirt who apparently has the power to transform into a dragon. Or at least have the image of a dragon show up vaguely in front of him as he performs some physical feat, or scares someone. Go-Go and Honey Lemon try to haze him, and it quickly leads to an in-fight that almost gets out of control; a storyline bit that Claremont probably ran into the ground a decade ago. But Hiro doesn't care because he notices that the daughter of the scientist they are supposed to protect, Marys (not one Mary, apparently two) has hi-tech glasses like him, and they have puppy love chemistry. Stuck in a mission in New York to go after the thieves of some ancient artifacts, they are watched by a mysterious figure. The team goes for cover in a local high school and ends up in an impromptu football match with some local jocks.
The tone is kept light, and Nakayama's art is fitting; if ANY book should look like a manga, why not one starring a Japanese superhero team? This is an old school book, but maybe too old school; it maintains Claremont's habit of burying you in narration that is telling you what the artist is clearly drawing. And no matter how much fun and spunk the issue has, it is a filler issue. Not much gets done; even introduced Fred is really bare bones, as we learn nothing about where his powers come from or his origin. It can come in time, of course, and so far I do like what I see. Even if, according to the Handbook Bio, Ebon Samurai actually is interesting.
My biggest problem is that part of the charm of superhero books that take place in another state or country is...seeing an adventure in said state or country. Kind of like when I open up CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13 and expect to see an adventure in the U.K. Even The X-Men have moved to California to try to spread the glut of superheroes out of NYC. The Initiative is all about that. So why has Claremont started off his FIRST ARC on the book in NYC instead of Japan? He's written stories in Japan. It's not a hard country to stage a superhero adventure in. It seems like a waste and makes the book seem more generic than it has to be.
Plus, future solicts promise a mind-control plot, which, alongside Storm bondage, is a plot point Claremont has also run into the ground. If he is going to continue rehashing himself this much, long-term collaboration with another, hopefully younger writer needs to take place. I know it sucks to tell the former driver of the UXM franchise and creator of many classic characters that he needs glasses and can't drive alone anymore, but it needs to be done for the good of everyone, himself included. He's still got talent and it stinks when you can check off his plot rehashings like a checklist.
There are some who could say that BH6 is a bit generic and doesn't offer a whole lot that is new, and I might be inclined to agree. But the tone is quite fun and it is a spunky rehash of a team book that, considering how hot anime & manga is, could have some potential. For people who like old school superhero teams which aren't bleak or mired in death & rape, this is for you. That said, Claremont's gone from blockbuster to cult star and in many ways his writing style has not evolved with the times. Unlike END LEAGUE, though, Claremont spends time on his characters and is able to add some charm to the scenes they are in. Still, this is a middling issue, and I don't see why with a few rewrites this couldn't have been a Japanese story. Play to a premise's strength, man!
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #6: The first arc of Fraction's first A-List franchise work comes to a close as Iron Man defeats Zeke Stane in an armored duel to the...unconsciousness. I got the variant cover, because it looked cooler. It also homages IM's first appearance, which is nice.
Surprise, Stane didn't blow Iron Man's head off. He's just remotely controlling over armors as he has done quite a few times by now to escape a jam. He used the ploy to get Zeke out in the open until the rest of his suicide bombers could be located and stopped from blowing up more of Stark's businesses (along with everyone near them). They cybernetic explosives take some time to charge, but in the end, Tony is willing to zap his entire systems with an EMP to short out Stane and his agents, before pummeling the kid with some good ol' fashioned fisticuffs. I distinctly recall Stark having armor safe-guards for EMP's in some past fights (at least when he was tussling with Winter Soldier), but it was nice and dramatic, so I'll let it slide. Stane basically says that Stark's to blame for his own tech being exploited by terrorists; Tony considers Zeke insane.
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN I think does a good job of bridging the gap between fans of the comics and fans from the movie; I doubt too many new readers hopped onto the book from the film, but it is a better effort to tie into a movie than happens a lot of time. Some people felt in the end, Zeke was too "generic", just slapping on a suit of armor and trying to out-duel Stark in the end, but I don't mind that kind of stuff. These are superhero comics after all, and THE ORDER spent 10 issues having Zeke pull strings and **** with stuff from the background. Seen in that context, this is really issue #16 of a showdown with Zeke, and so it seems more appropriate. Besides, Zeke isn't dead, and can always return. It also presents Iron Man as someone who you could actually root for, and not Iron *****e, for what seems like the first time in five years.
Sal Lorroca paces the action well and while it isn't the best Iron Man story you'll ever read, it's entertaining for those who like some old fashioned shellhead action in keeping with some of the stuff the movie made popular. Maybe I am a sucker for butt-kick, but I don't mind a 2 issue fight sometimes. Besides, while Zeke was brilliant, he was also crazy and young, and always has room to improve with experience as a rogue. Imagine if another person who hates Iron Man decided to "tutor" the budding threat if you will. Lot of potential here.
Solid art, solid writing. Meat and potatoes superhero action. Doesn't reinvent the wheel, but greases it just fine. Especially if you want to see a story where Iron Man isn't spouting Bendis-isms or stomping on someone's rights.
THE TWELVE #8: Easily the best comic of the week, JMS' saga about a dozen Golden Oldie superheroes starts on the final stretch with a few issues to go. It offers the origin of Black Widow, or at least a more elongated version of it, as well as developments into the murder mystery, Blue Blade's TV career, and the robot Electro. This series by JMS and Chris Weston isn't exactly setting the sales charts aflame (27k as of August), but it has remained consistently within the 27-29k range for the past 3 issues, and that could be considered a success considering the cast hasn't seen an adventure since Hitler was alive.
Black Widow tells her origin, basically of a woman who wished vengeance for a murdered sister and ended up gaining the power from a demon, which is never told, to become his bounty hunter for wicked souls he wants to claim. Kind of like Ghost Rider, only with better legs. She entrusts her story to Phantom Reporter to convince him she didn't commit the murder, and PR believes her, at least for now. The police suspect Fiery Mask, who may have a secret of his own. However, when Blue Blade takes command of Electro and sees into it's robotic mind, he learns something very disturbing, which he seems to want to share only with Dynamic Man. Electro appeared to fit the suspect of the murder at the gay bar better than anyone else; could his creator still be alive in there, or can the robot move on it's own at times? Mastermind Excello starts to benefit the team from afar, bailing Laughing Mask out of prison and telepathically convincing Rockman that his underground people are coming for him, even though that likely is a lie to get him out of the basement. It would be fun if it wasn't, even if it would render a flashback a bit useless last issue.
Some compare this to WATCHMEN, and part of me is amazed that whenever someone writes a range of superheroes with emotional depth and human imperfections, whether it is envy or homophobia or whatever, people assume it's aping WATCHMEN. Can't a superhero saga be told in a mature fashion? Can't it offer more than plot and action? These characters are blank slates for a skilled hand, and right now JMS is riding high with them. They have real human lives and origins mixed in with the superhero elements, even absurd Golden Age ones, and isn't that what the best comics are all about? The slow pace that is aggravating with THOR is fine here, with a cast of a dozen. Blue Blade's origin is told briefly, and he actually wasn't terribly annoying. There's more character there than met the eye, and I usually couldn't stand Blade.
Weston's art of course is every bit as iconic here as JMS' story. He's detailed without losing some movement, and the style is "realistic" without losing some of the charm of the spandex designs. Not everything is leather and black zippers & pouches.
Normally I would prefer an outright villain rather than another "superhero team betrayed from within" sort of story, but JMS & Weston are pulling it off here, so I can let it go. This is the sort of story that may find itself in trade for quite a while, even if it isn't the strongest seller on the monthly, direct market. There are only 3 issues left, so I expect the spit to hit the fan quite soon. I just hope Rockman gets to slug somebody, because Weston draws him as the biggest guy ever. And I also hope that some of these characters survive and can begin a JSA-esque team at Marvel. Because they could use one.
Not much to say a lot of times, because there are only so many ways to say, "It's another solid issue". This isn't a book that rocks your socks off every issue, but one on a slow build to a hopefully satisfying climax with some interesting characters along the way. A great way to dust off some Golden Ager's, and something people who haven't given it a try should consider when it hits trade or HC. JMS is on form here. It's great when an A-List writer performs to expectations, isn't it?
imdaly
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Dread
TMNT 1984-2009
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<rimshot!>
Yeah, usually when I use that word in a post I often type in something like "no pun intended" half the time, but today was a lazy day.
Spade
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Invincible Iron Man #6: I enjoyed it quite a lot. This has a lot of the weight of an Iron Man story, while incorporating elements that I liked about the film. I've been very tepid about how the idea of a "son of Stane" would work out, but as it turns out it's a decent idea. I was a little 'meh' about Zeke resorting to somewhat childish retorts at one point, but he's a young fanatic so it's believable enough. The only thing that was definitely weak was the first bit where we find out whether Tony was decap'd or not- really, was there anyone who didn't guess that [BLACKOUT]it was a remote-controlled suit[/BLACKOUT]? Other than those minor complaints, though, fantastic issue; Larocca's art is great to look at and Fraction has a great grasp on all of the futurist concepts to this older Tony.
CaptainCanada
Shield of the True North
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Part II: Space!
Green Lantern #35
"Secret Origins" hits its seventh (!) and final part, and this story was officially too long. Johns has spent this time doing two things: revisiting Hal Jordan's origin story once again, mixing in familiar story points with anecdotes he has related in past stories on this title; and retconning in more information regarding the upcoming "Blackest Night" event, as Hal and Sinestro encounter Atrocitus and the other members of the Five Inversions (I've previously addressed my ambivalence about the decision to flesh out exactly who these guys were). Last issue basically concluded the main plot, and ended with the Guardians snatching up both GLs back to Oa to interrogate them about the violation of the territorial edict. Hal, of course, refuses to just do whatever the Guardians say on the strength of them being super-old, and the Guardians (who speak in unison/finish each other's sentences) are appalled to discover that Ganthet has taken a name and an individual identity (they can't tell which one of them it is, amusingly). This is a fairly standard Star Trek-style story about how unique and awesome humans are (Johns has a real antipathy towards non-human authority figures; doubtless his hypothetical run on *shudder* Wonder Woman would be heavy on raging against the heavens). The story ends with various teasers for coming stories (that have already happened), such as the yellow impurity, Hector Hammond and William Hand, and Hal and Carol's relationship. This arc would actually be a pretty good template for a GL film, even if it was too long coming out. Lovely art from Ivan Reis.
Secret Invasion: Inhumans #3
This very strong Secret Invasion tie-in hits its penultimate issue, with the Queen-consort of the Inhumans and her family heading into space to rescue their king, Black Bolt, from a clutch of evil Skrulls looking to harvest his voice as a superweapon (there are two main Skrull characters: a hunched little mad scientist and a hot chick with the powers of Jean Grey and Emma Frost (and a combo costume)). Since Black Bolt could be literally anywhere in the universe, Medusa decides to barter with the Kree for assistance: Ronan the Accuser is game, so long as Medusa pimps out Crystal to him as his new bride; Medusa agrees, to Crystal's understandable extreme annoyance (Medusa is really committed to this job). Joe Pokaski actually gets around to explaining the timeline for what has happened with Black Bolt over the last few years, since Silent War; the good news for Black Bolt fans is that he didn't actually lose to th Hulk; that was a Skrull. He was abducted just after Silent War on his way to an Illuminati meeting (there continues to be a rather awkward handling of how Maximus came to be in charge now that the mind-control element has been removed). It's fairly well done. Plus, Pokaski manages to wokr in a sequence where Medus and Crystal disguise themselves as jungle girls and end up fight; ah, comics. Tom Raney's art is excellent stuff; it is aided by some truly wonderful colouring. Pokaski is doing his first comics work, and based on this I hope to see plenty of future Marvel projects from him.
Green Lantern #35
"Secret Origins" hits its seventh (!) and final part, and this story was officially too long. Johns has spent this time doing two things: revisiting Hal Jordan's origin story once again, mixing in familiar story points with anecdotes he has related in past stories on this title; and retconning in more information regarding the upcoming "Blackest Night" event, as Hal and Sinestro encounter Atrocitus and the other members of the Five Inversions (I've previously addressed my ambivalence about the decision to flesh out exactly who these guys were). Last issue basically concluded the main plot, and ended with the Guardians snatching up both GLs back to Oa to interrogate them about the violation of the territorial edict. Hal, of course, refuses to just do whatever the Guardians say on the strength of them being super-old, and the Guardians (who speak in unison/finish each other's sentences) are appalled to discover that Ganthet has taken a name and an individual identity (they can't tell which one of them it is, amusingly). This is a fairly standard Star Trek-style story about how unique and awesome humans are (Johns has a real antipathy towards non-human authority figures; doubtless his hypothetical run on *shudder* Wonder Woman would be heavy on raging against the heavens). The story ends with various teasers for coming stories (that have already happened), such as the yellow impurity, Hector Hammond and William Hand, and Hal and Carol's relationship. This arc would actually be a pretty good template for a GL film, even if it was too long coming out. Lovely art from Ivan Reis.
Secret Invasion: Inhumans #3
This very strong Secret Invasion tie-in hits its penultimate issue, with the Queen-consort of the Inhumans and her family heading into space to rescue their king, Black Bolt, from a clutch of evil Skrulls looking to harvest his voice as a superweapon (there are two main Skrull characters: a hunched little mad scientist and a hot chick with the powers of Jean Grey and Emma Frost (and a combo costume)). Since Black Bolt could be literally anywhere in the universe, Medusa decides to barter with the Kree for assistance: Ronan the Accuser is game, so long as Medusa pimps out Crystal to him as his new bride; Medusa agrees, to Crystal's understandable extreme annoyance (Medusa is really committed to this job). Joe Pokaski actually gets around to explaining the timeline for what has happened with Black Bolt over the last few years, since Silent War; the good news for Black Bolt fans is that he didn't actually lose to th Hulk; that was a Skrull. He was abducted just after Silent War on his way to an Illuminati meeting (there continues to be a rather awkward handling of how Maximus came to be in charge now that the mind-control element has been removed). It's fairly well done. Plus, Pokaski manages to wokr in a sequence where Medus and Crystal disguise themselves as jungle girls and end up fight; ah, comics. Tom Raney's art is excellent stuff; it is aided by some truly wonderful colouring. Pokaski is doing his first comics work, and based on this I hope to see plenty of future Marvel projects from him.
hippie_hunter
The King is Back!
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DiDio may be a poor Executive Editor, but the Superman and Green Lantern lines are incredibly freaking good right now thanks to Johns. The only people who complain about whats going on in those books are people who have a hard on against the Silver Age.
For anyone who is a fan of the Silver Age or anyone who doesn't give a damn about whether or not the aping of the Silver Age is obviously going on, these are very damn good reads.
Brainiac 8
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This comment is pure win.
Regardless of what Corp says (
) the current story running in Action Comics is fantastic, and one of the best uses for Brainiac in years.Plus Green Lantern and Booster Gold are absolutely fantastic.
Green Arrow/Black Canary and Trinity can suck on a rock though.
Phaedrus45
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Since this is the bought/thought thread, I figured it's my best place to brag about what a great deal I got.
About a month ago, I met a lady in my LCS. She was hoping that the shop would buy her husband's comic collection, as he recently had a stroke and lost all interest in them. (As she explained to me, he couldn't even turn a page any longer.) The shop, of course, wasn't at all interested; but, seeing as the lady was in her 50's, I thought there might be some treasures to be found, and let her know that I would look through the collection and pick out what I needed.
The first trip out, she brought me into her garage, where on the floor was stacked about 300 comics high, about 40 stacks of comics. These weren't great, but I could see some decent comics on top of a few stacks. (They guy obviously had been buying collections or something, as many comics were numerous duplicates, like 100 copies of Action Comics #500 and Ghost Rider #1...vol. 2, of course.) In the end, I came away with about 400 comics, many from the 60's, like some old World's Finest, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen. Also, he had in some boxes, a good collection of Batman comics, coming from the 70's and 80's. I paid a couple hundred, and was quite happy. Of course, as there were also some boxes in the back I couldn't get to, she let me know she'd pull them out at a later time, and call me when she had that done.
Three days ago, she calls, and last night I went over, not expecting to find much more. I was surprised when she had me come into her house, this time, and in a backroom was the Mother Load! This time, I got filled up with old 60's, 70's and 80's Detective Comics, Action Comics, All-Star Squadron, Uncanny X-Men, Iron Man, Avengers, Amazing Spider-Man, Superman, Supergirl, G.I. Joe, Batman, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Captain America, Fantastic Four, Marvel Tales, Marvel Triple Action, World's Finest, and Wonder Woman. I walked away with three large boxes full, and paid $400.00 for them. (I could have gotten them for less, but I couldn't totally rip this lady off. I wanted something that I thought would be fair, where we both come off feeling quite happy.)
Anyway, I still have another trip to make. She had four more boxes yet to bring down to this room, and there were about another long box of comics I wanted to get from her that I saw, which included a lot of old Green Lantern stuff.
About a month ago, I met a lady in my LCS. She was hoping that the shop would buy her husband's comic collection, as he recently had a stroke and lost all interest in them. (As she explained to me, he couldn't even turn a page any longer.) The shop, of course, wasn't at all interested; but, seeing as the lady was in her 50's, I thought there might be some treasures to be found, and let her know that I would look through the collection and pick out what I needed.
The first trip out, she brought me into her garage, where on the floor was stacked about 300 comics high, about 40 stacks of comics. These weren't great, but I could see some decent comics on top of a few stacks. (They guy obviously had been buying collections or something, as many comics were numerous duplicates, like 100 copies of Action Comics #500 and Ghost Rider #1...vol. 2, of course.) In the end, I came away with about 400 comics, many from the 60's, like some old World's Finest, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen. Also, he had in some boxes, a good collection of Batman comics, coming from the 70's and 80's. I paid a couple hundred, and was quite happy. Of course, as there were also some boxes in the back I couldn't get to, she let me know she'd pull them out at a later time, and call me when she had that done.
Three days ago, she calls, and last night I went over, not expecting to find much more. I was surprised when she had me come into her house, this time, and in a backroom was the Mother Load! This time, I got filled up with old 60's, 70's and 80's Detective Comics, Action Comics, All-Star Squadron, Uncanny X-Men, Iron Man, Avengers, Amazing Spider-Man, Superman, Supergirl, G.I. Joe, Batman, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Captain America, Fantastic Four, Marvel Tales, Marvel Triple Action, World's Finest, and Wonder Woman. I walked away with three large boxes full, and paid $400.00 for them. (I could have gotten them for less, but I couldn't totally rip this lady off. I wanted something that I thought would be fair, where we both come off feeling quite happy.)
Anyway, I still have another trip to make. She had four more boxes yet to bring down to this room, and there were about another long box of comics I wanted to get from her that I saw, which included a lot of old Green Lantern stuff.
Phaedrus45
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This comment is pure win.
Regardless of what Corp says (
Plus Green Lantern and Booster Gold are absolutely fantastic.
Green Arrow/Black Canary and Trinity can suck on a rock though.
Yes, Action Comics might be having one of it's best runs, and this Braniac storyline has been fantastic! I do hate, though, that Superman is going back to the old format this month, where all three Superman titles (Action, Superman, and Supergirl) will have connected storylines, bringing back those old triangles I really didn't miss.
I'm getting tired of the "52" events DC is having, though. With Trinity, we get a long, dragged out storyline with a ton of filler. I'm still sticking with it, though.
RockSP
MYTH SMITH ∞!!!
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Bought
Secret Six #2
Green Lantern #35
Green Lantern Corps #29
Iron Man #6
The Twelve #8
X-Men: Original Sin #1
The Family Dynamic #2
Secret Invasion: Inhumans #3
100 Bullets #96
Thought
Green Lantern - More and more retcons. On top of the whole "no guardian ever had a name" thing, now Johns seems to imply female guardians were always around...and there were always only 12 guardians.
Secret Six - Simone must have some pull at the DC office. Not only does Catman hold his own against the Batgod but he actually lands more blows
X-Men: Original Sin - Picked this up just for the heck of it. Only reason I knew Wolverine had a son beforehand is because of various ads. Maybe they'll let him take his pop's place in half the books Wolvie appears in...
Secret Six #2
Green Lantern #35
Green Lantern Corps #29
Iron Man #6
The Twelve #8
X-Men: Original Sin #1
The Family Dynamic #2
Secret Invasion: Inhumans #3
100 Bullets #96
Thought
Green Lantern - More and more retcons. On top of the whole "no guardian ever had a name" thing, now Johns seems to imply female guardians were always around...and there were always only 12 guardians.
Secret Six - Simone must have some pull at the DC office. Not only does Catman hold his own against the Batgod but he actually lands more blows
X-Men: Original Sin - Picked this up just for the heck of it. Only reason I knew Wolverine had a son beforehand is because of various ads. Maybe they'll let him take his pop's place in half the books Wolvie appears in...
TheCorpulent1
SHAZAM!
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He needs a better haircut if they're gonna do that.
Anyway, just chalk it up to Infinite Crisis and spit in the eye of anyone who continues to claim that wasn't a universe-wide reboot. A subtle one, sure, since most of the changes are fairly minor, but a reboot nonetheless.
Don't forget, GLs could never kill with their rings before, either.
Anyway, just chalk it up to Infinite Crisis and spit in the eye of anyone who continues to claim that wasn't a universe-wide reboot. A subtle one, sure, since most of the changes are fairly minor, but a reboot nonetheless.
fifthfiend
M4J3ST1C L3G1SL4C3R4TOR
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Female Guardians were something Kyle did, and you know we can't go around giving Kyle credit for things.
TheCorpulent1
SHAZAM!
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Who's this Kyle guy?
fifthfiend
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Deadpool
Pretty decent. Not as good as the last one.
I'm looking forward to seeing Deadpool versus Norman, that should be fun.
Action Comics
Bwahahaha! Go on DC Comics, get the **** out of town!
Pretty decent. Not as good as the last one.
I'm looking forward to seeing Deadpool versus Norman, that should be fun.
Action Comics
Bwahahaha! Go on DC Comics, get the **** out of town!
hippie_hunter
The King is Back!
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Green Lantern (v4) #35
I'm glad that the Secret Origin's arc in Green Lantern is over. It was good but dragged on for way too long for something that should have been 4 issues instead of 8.
Infinite Crisis created the need for an origin story for characters Superman and Wonder Woman, not Hal Jordan. I'd have rather seen Johns continue developing the Controllers' orange corps and Ganthet's blue lanterns than a redo of Hal's origin.
I'm glad that the Secret Origin's arc in Green Lantern is over. It was good but dragged on for way too long for something that should have been 4 issues instead of 8.
Infinite Crisis created the need for an origin story for characters Superman and Wonder Woman, not Hal Jordan. I'd have rather seen Johns continue developing the Controllers' orange corps and Ganthet's blue lanterns than a redo of Hal's origin.
Phaedrus45
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To me, both Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps has been feeling like a title that's just in a sort of limbo until the big Black Event that's been dangled in front of us readers for a year. It's like Countdown, Trinity, and 52...a bunch of filler until we get to the fun stuff at the end.
BrianWilly
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I'm not sure that those Guardians were female, just bald. Making some Guardians female seems like an explicit contradiction with the whole "WE ARE ALL THE SAME" theme that Johns was anvilling onto our heads.
Of course, that may just be my own psychological denial of Johns' gratuitous retcons.
What absolutely is a typical Johns retcon, however, is the notion that the yellow weakness was some unexplained secret that the Guardians used to control their Corpsmen. Uh, no, the yellow weakness was officially and overtly explained, by the Guardians themselves, as a way to keep the GLs in line. Hal is absolutely correct in this issue, it was used to control the GLs...but it was not some dark and corrupt secret, it was just normal regulation, and everyone knew about it!
But, no, of course Johns needed to depict Hal as something other than a cardboar...uh, I mean, as fiery upstart individualist who questions all the rules constantly, so he had to make the Guardians more sinister than they ever were.
...Except that this pretty overtly contradicts Hal's original silver age characterization (and most of his current characterization, for that matter). See "Hard-Traveling Heroes" for an obvious subversion of the "Break the rules rebel" image that Johns is trying hard to paint here.
Of course, that may just be my own psychological denial of Johns' gratuitous retcons.
What absolutely is a typical Johns retcon, however, is the notion that the yellow weakness was some unexplained secret that the Guardians used to control their Corpsmen. Uh, no, the yellow weakness was officially and overtly explained, by the Guardians themselves, as a way to keep the GLs in line. Hal is absolutely correct in this issue, it was used to control the GLs...but it was not some dark and corrupt secret, it was just normal regulation, and everyone knew about it!
But, no, of course Johns needed to depict Hal as something other than a cardboar...uh, I mean, as fiery upstart individualist who questions all the rules constantly, so he had to make the Guardians more sinister than they ever were.
...Except that this pretty overtly contradicts Hal's original silver age characterization (and most of his current characterization, for that matter). See "Hard-Traveling Heroes" for an obvious subversion of the "Break the rules rebel" image that Johns is trying hard to paint here.
moraldeficiency
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In that case, I apologize.
moraldeficiency
Maxwell's Demon
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A couple quick thoughts:
Secret Six: Stays strong. God it's good to see batman get slapped around a bit, the burrito thing was damn funny. I'm liking Bane as an actual character. I wish deadshot was doing more.
Iron Man #6: Love the old school cover. This was a good ending, I hope tony has to deal with the reprecussions of destroying most of his buisness. Stane came out pretty good, the dad line by tony was a good touch. Next issue looks good, the last time Fraction wrote Spider-Man was the Spec Annual, so I know the team-up will be treated well, if vaguely.
Secret Six: Stays strong. God it's good to see batman get slapped around a bit, the burrito thing was damn funny. I'm liking Bane as an actual character. I wish deadshot was doing more.
Iron Man #6: Love the old school cover. This was a good ending, I hope tony has to deal with the reprecussions of destroying most of his buisness. Stane came out pretty good, the dad line by tony was a good touch. Next issue looks good, the last time Fraction wrote Spider-Man was the Spec Annual, so I know the team-up will be treated well, if vaguely.
Darthphere
Kneel before 'Drox!
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So you're completely against originality then.
"I know it's the same old **** but LALALALALALALALALALA, I can't hear you!"
This is a ridiculous argument on your part, and it really shows why DC is suffering so badly. Green Lantern is the same old crap in a shiny new wrapper, and I was with you on Johns Action Comics, until he decided to rehash a storyline that has been done at least 12 times and 2 times this year alone.
hippie_hunter
The King is Back!
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No, I'm all for originality. As long as it's good. Same for rehashes. I really don't care what direction a writer takes a comic as long as it keeps the core of the character intact and is good and entertaining.
Sure Johns is all for Silver Age rehashing. But he presents them in rather entertaining ways for me to thoroughly enjoy Green Lantern and Action Comics and why I really have no fears about the return of Barry Allen.
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