Bought/Thought-subs rule-Jan 24, 2007

[iloveclones]

The universe IS about to implode.

I agree with you.

Always a ray of sunshine, Doc!

 

[supermarvelman]

His death was one of the most touching, well written and sad moments in comic history. It wasn't a publicity stunt, just good, solid writing.

To bring him back into the slop that is Civil War for no good reason is like pissing on the Mona Lisa.

And it still in continuity, everybody thinks he's a clone but what if he really is the Mar-Vell from the past, maybe Marvel is actually trying to respect the past and continuity. So although he is back, he's not back from the dead, that would be bull**** thats why I hope he's not a clone. He also knows how and why he dies, he knows its inevitable that he will die and if it doesn't it will probably create a time-paradox that will **** up the Universe/Timestream. Look at Young Avengers, Iron Lad had to become Kang, so as much as Mar-Vell wont want to return to his time he has to.

 

[fifthfiend]

Personally, I have chosen not to accept the whole "MU being 20 years old" thing. I don't care that it doesn't make sense. For me Cap was awakened in the 60s, Frank fought in Vietnam, and they are both in their late 30s, early 40s. I have no problem with the universe imploding at the illogic of it all.

That's not illogical at all.

It just means everyone in the Marvel Universe is a Highlander.

See? Problem solved.

 

[supermarvelman]

no its about 10-15 years old.

 

[Darthphere]

His death was one of the most touching, well written and sad moments in comic history. It wasn't a publicity stunt, just good, solid writing.

To bring him back into the slop that is Civil War for no good reason is like pissing on the Mona Lisa.

Look, they brought back Bucky, its all up for grabs now.

 

[gildea]

To bring him back into the slop that is Civil War for no good reason is like pissing on the Mona Lisa.

No it's absolutely nothing like that.

You really need to read up on the concept of analogy.

 

[Darthphere]

No it's absolutely nothing like that.

You really need to read up on the concept of analogy.

Seriously, its more like changing her smile to have her atcually showing teeth.

 

[supermarvelman]

Look, they brought back Bucky, its all up for grabs now.

Atleast they did it good, So far.

 

[gildea]

Seriously, its more like changing her smile to have her atcually showing teeth.

Yes!

See?

Darth understands!!!!!

 

[Darthphere]

Yes!

See?

Darth understands!!!!!

I understand many things on this Earth.

Atleast they did it good, So far.

Yeah, while the resurrection wasn't really that convincing ( I like it, I know a lot don't) the exceptional follow through has made that point moot. I'm sure if the Captain Marvel series is just awesome, people are not going to care about how crappy his resurrection is or wasn't.

 

[supermarvelman]

There you go thats the spirit.

But technically it's not a resurrection. It's not like Hawkeye really dying and coming back to life, technically this Mar-Vell is not dead yet.

 

[Darthphere]

There you go thats the spirit.

But technically it's not a resurrection. It's not like Hawkeye really dying and coming back to life, technically this Mar-Vell is not dead yet.

As far as I'm concerned, Mar-Vell died. I read the story, I own the comic. I'll go along with what theyre doing now, but he died.

 

[supermarvelman]

So if you go along with what they're doing then, yes he died, but Mar-Vell has not been resurrected, If you know what I mean. It's not like Superman dying and then really being resurrected, it's him before he died, eventhough he is currently dead in the timestream he's in.

 

[wobbly]

So if you go along with what they're doing then, yes he died, but Mar-Vell has not been resurrected, If you know what I mean. It's not like Superman dying and then really being resurrected, it's him before he died, eventhough he is currently dead in the timestream he's in.

Then calling this 'The Return' is a little inappropriate....Maybe it should should be called 'The Visit'

 

[fifthfiend]

Seriously, its more like changing her smile to have her atcually showing teeth.

But what it's really like is someone changing her smile to have someone pissing in her mouth.

 

[supermarvelman]

The "Return" is fine if it was called the "Resurrection" than it wouldn't be. He has returned from the past, he hasnt been resurrected and he visitinh but for a good long time, he wont go back until he absolutley has to. They wiped Sentry's mind, I'm sure if and when he ever has to go back to the past, they will wipe his mind of him ever traveling to the future so it doesn't create a time-paradox.

 

[Tropico]

He was never away to the past to say that he returned from the past.

 

[wobbly]

The "Return" is fine if it was called the "Resurrection" than it wouldn't be. He has returned from the past, he hasnt been resurrected.

Ok, I know I'm being pedantic and I have no wish to get into any arguments over the semantics of the matter as I was just messing about anyway, but if he was never 'here' in the first place then here is not somewhere he can return to...

Now that he is here though he can return to the past...maybe that's what they mean...his eventual return to face his fate in the past....Hell, I don't know....

 

[PWN3R]

I want to make sweet sweet oh so sweet love with BKV. How I wish that he was on a Dr. Strange ongoing.

 

[The Punisher]

Where are Dread's reviews?

 

[deemar325]

He don need no stinkin' reviews.

 

[The Punisher]

Well, I like readin them. Plus, I want to see what he had to say for War Journal #3.

 

[PWN3R]

Invincible and Dr. Strange were pwning on all cylinders. Haven't read Checkmate yet but it looked tasty.

 

[Dread]

Hot damn, lots of pages of replies after only a day. Resurrections tend to do that it seems. I'll dive right into the thick of it after I post my usual reviews. A day late but hopefully not a dollar short. Naturally, we had some gems amidst some generics, and one overhyped Marvel tie in. Yes, the one where some dude returns.

As always, the spoilers are raw.

DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT for 1/24/07:

52 WEEK #38: After the last few weeks of slam bang action, this week was a little bit of a lull, although stuff still happened and it was still a good read. Egg Fu and the mad scientists of Oolong Island unleash their "Horsemen of the Apocalypse", and they're some interesting if not slightly mundane looking tech designs. Steel, Beast Boy, & Co. are reacting to the fallout of Luthor cutting off the everymen and vow to stop him, with Natasha FINALLY coming to her senses but choosing to be either brave or reckless by attempting to be their mole within Lexcorp, which can't end well. The main story, though, is Montoya trying to get Charlie to Parbot before her meds run out and Charlie, or both of them, die. It is harrowing and I do genuinely feel bad for her. She was reduced to an alcoholic lesbian **** over the death of her last partner and she'll be damned to watch another die. Of course, Question has seemingly embraced his incoming death (he did seemingly train her to succeed him after all) and notes that she has to change and grow as a character to answer his question. Unfortunately, the drama of whether Question lives or dies is revealed in a DC spoiler image for WWIII that debuted today, with a THE SOPRANOS style pic of pretty much every character who died last year/this year, and Question is right there with Max Lord and Blue Beetle. Yeah, shocking. Buzzkill. Oh, well, it's not like we haven't seen it coming in 52 anyway. Red Tornado gets the origin, and the cover for the last pic seems to imply that Luthor might finally get some superpowers of his own. I guess they've done the "scheming businessman" and the "ripoff green/purple Iron Man only he's too dumb to include a helmet" thing, so now they're going to outright make him a metahuman, at least for a bit. Technically JLU did this a little before they revealed that Brainiac was actually inside of him, but no biggie I guess. Not as thrashing as the Suicide Squad vs. the Black Marvels or Supernova's reveal and whatnot, but still the usual enjoyable set up issue. Besides, we know Montoya is going to be a stronger heroine after all this strife, and we're just waiting for that moment.

INVINCIBLE #38: If USM: CLONE SAGA is my example of everything that makes superhero comics suck, then INVINCIBLE is it's opposite, my example of what we love about superhero comics and why they still work, after 40, 50, 60 years if done well. It's cover boast is hardly an overstatement to me and it comes out too rarely and sells too poorly for my liking. It has everything I love about superhero comics, including plenty of tongue-in-cheek homages and references, a likeable hero with a soap opera life and a thrashing superhero career and legacy, a wide spanning universe with no end of interesting supporting characters, good art, good villians, some levity amidst the angst, and a writer who seems to truly understand superheroes and throws in some twists alongside plenty of feel-good moments to fulfill expectations. I caught up to this series last year via HC and TPB and then hopped right into the monthlies, and it's the best comic I am reading right now. Hell, I look forward to it more than RUNAWAYS and at times even ANNIHILATION. This comic has a lot of setup as Kirkman lines more ducks in a row, setting up things that were last established at times a dozen issues back or more, like the return of the Lizard League and Allen's evolution. Okay, the November Handbook sort of ruined the reveal about Allen and his team elder, but it still was cool to read and I enjoyed it. But easily, it's the last page that is the moneymaker for us longtime readers. Despite the fact that Invincible loves his current girlfriend, and she him, DESPITE all the strains of a civilian dating a superhero...I looked at the last page and though, "It's about damn time" with a smirk on my face. Yes, a smirk. Pleasure. Not a wince as I watch Speedball become Penance or some shocking death happen like what Marvel likes to produce in the reader a lot. For those who want the obvious, after walking in on his GF's friends all but talking her into cheating on the oft-missing Invincible, they all go out on a date, he's feeling a bit anxious about the whole things, flies to Africa to visit Atom Eve, and after a quick friendly hug, they find their lips locking. Reminds me of all those classic Spider-Man love triangles. And as always, the art rocks. The letters page reveals how late this issue is, though (Kirkman is hyping ULTIMATE X-MEN #75), and notes that usually it takes 7-8 weeks to complete an issue of INVINCIBLE, so technically even under the best circumstances, this is an unofficial bimonthly and we should be lucky if we get 6 issues a year. After having to sift through some shockingly mediocre Ultimate X-Men stories from him, it's always good to see Kirkman at his best here. All the trappings of a superhero 'verse, with none of the events, crossovers, or editorical edicts, and as much a love letter to superhero lore as an addition to it. If you love superhero comics, you have to be reading INVINCIBLE. It's a feel good romp, with plenty of real drama too and an a laundry list of likeable characters besides the star.

DR. STRANGE: OATH #4: Maintaining comic book excellence is the Vaughan/Martin, "oh god this should be an ongoing" Strange mini. BKV seems to get it all right and mingles things well. He gives Strange a good supporting cast in Wong and Night Nurse, who has made a surprisingly efficient romantic interest (and it's not as offball as Dead Girl from Milligan). Dr. Strange is powerful without being unbeatable, and BKV remembers to not just ignore the nerve damaged hands like countless writers and constantly uses that quick for suspence in every issue; this time, Dr. Strange hand nervously wobbles as he attempts to use Brigand's enchanted gun to save his friends from a monster who is all but immune to his magic. He then confronts Nicodemus West who is retconned in as a pupil of The Ancient One that we just never heard of before, but in a way it works because BKV uses some realistic logic and is blunt about it, only without sounding as smarmy as some of the works of other retconners. Or maybe it is my own bias, I'll cop to it. After hearing him incriminate himself, Strange lays the smackdown until we get a double climax; not only is Wong seemingly dead, but the elixir that Strange got to save him not only will cure cancer, but every illness on the planet. Stephan wants to use it to save billions, but despite being a "corporate hitman", Dr. West rightly is realistic and notes that without illnesses, the planet would overpopulate and be worse off. It reminds me of things BrianWilly has reminded some posters about Strange, it is that he is a man who would use magic to solve as many ills and injustices as he could if he wanted to and often times does. It's in his character not to accept a status quo but to defy it to the end. Refusing to let his surgeon career die due to mangled hands, he sought out the Ancient One. Rather than allow cancer to claim Wong as it claims countless others, Strange went into other dimensions and fought a deadly monster to get some serum to save him. And Dr. Strange's first thought upon West's revelation is how he can again use something mystical to shatter a status quo, which is that millions have to die to illnesses before their time every year. Sure, he's not Rocky, but his heart's still as big as the moon. This man CERTAINLY is not the type who would ever support the SHRA, and I am glad he hasn't (if anything, one could argue his seculsion was a mistake; if he is willing to make a magic potion to save one friend, surely he could have tried to stop all his superhero peers from killing each other, but whatever). With a DTV and a placement on the NEW AVENGERS, this is going to be a big year for Strange, but despite low sales for this, BKV should be their go-to writer for the Sorceror Supreme. Definately read it in trade if you're not aboard now. Best Dr. Strange in years. If not a decade.

THE ETERNALS #6: Late, but better than never, and only in the wacky world of comics could a 6 issue mini retroactively become 7 issues because of a crossover event. It's so obvious that because Gaiman chose to date this story as taking place in the middle of CW and the SHRA, Marvel convinced him to stretch it another issue so they could involve the Eternals into the story. In one way, this could be a misstep; their story was obviously going to be a sort of "waiting for the Dreamin Celestial" to make his judgement, psuedo religious one, and shoehorning in another issue just to get their take on CIVIL WAR, which unlike this story, will be long forgotten in 5 years, dates it and feels like something tacked on. Imagine if MACBETH ended with a blatent tie-in to HAMLET or something to lure you into that one (if I got the order mixed up, bare with me). On the other hand, to play Devil's Advocate, I could imagine Marvel's editors sitting in a room and going, "Well, Gaiman has done a great job of relaunching the Eternals as a hot new class again like the Inhumans and the Atlantians, he wants them to be major figures, and he's even set the story loosely during the SHRA; thus, we may as well give it another issue, really cement their place to launch them into other vehicles." In a way it sacrifices some of the integrity of the current story to give the franchise itself a good shot at moving beyond; change the battle strategy to win the longer war. After all, despite CW, this has been a solid, Top 20-40 seller despite starring a franchise that hasn't seen a successful solo in 30 years, which says a lot. If not for CW, it'd be a Top 15 book, easy. And to be fair, it doesn't compromise the story much; it gets to the points that Gaiman wants. The DC is awakened despite Ikaris' efforts and leaves to make his judgement, the characters are effectively revived and ready to return to the world, and they've already made contact with a major event in the U.S. and meeting the Avengers again. Surely if this is Iron Man in the post-Stamford, middle of CW world with the Eternals here, he'd be doing what he is doing. It is a bit cheesy that out of all characters, the Celestial is interested in flipping Iron Man, but whatever, cosmic types always have good ways to explain plot convience. John Romita Jr.'s art is gorgeous, some of the best in his career. And you really get a sense of awe-inspiring wonder without being overwhelmed by jargon. So, color this a blatent CW extention that is done well. So far. If the last issue sucks, it will all be for nothing, but this is Gaiman here. I have decent expectations, editor mandate or not. It's not totally illogical, like Speedball becoming a self-mutilating freak with a 90's cliche costume (the Three 90's Cliches were there; spikes, armor, and shoulderpads). So color it a success, and I look forward to the last issue. It is a shame that the CW references will always "date" it vs. going for a more timeless quality, but this has been coming since the references in the first issue, so Gaiman likely made that choice himself.

MOON KNIGHT #7: The problem with infrequent ongoing titles is that their rarity makes it hard to maintain anticipation within the same high levels as regular titles, and it makes tie-in's difficult. This is the obligatory CW tie in that every Earth based Marvel Comic inevitably gets this year like a hazing ritual, only it's coming out maybe a month or two later than planned last year. Marc Spectre is reacting to stuff that maybe happened around CW #'s1-3 and here we are expecting #7 in a month. The bloody event will be all but over by the time we see MK react to Cap's offer. Oh, and that is the plot. Shoehorned into Huston's building up of a new serial killer to face Moon Knight's wrath, Spider-Man meets the newer, deadlier Moon Knight (the last time they met up, it was to fight Constrictor and Ringmaster in MTU, circa 2004), Marc reacts as expected to CW (he disapproves, but feels he is too far below the radar to go unnoticed, which is naive at best because if even DIGITEK is reduced to suicide in jail, surely an ex WCA is going to get picked up), and then Cap meets up with him to ask him if he'll join the Secret Avengers. Obviously, Marc says no, otherwise we'd have seen him by now (especially as Iron Fist was unmasked as DD months ago). And some of the newspapers clash oddly with some of the more recent ones shown in CW books; MK's book claims that crime rates are rising in reaction to the SHRA and the clampdown, but in many books, they say the crime rate is DOWN in combination to Iron Man-esque raids, some Secret Avengers crackdowns, and the villians laying even lower than the anti-SHRA heroes. True, newspapers conflict on stories all the time (just try reading a story about Iraq in THE NY TIMES and THE NY POST and tell me they sound the same), but it felt awkward. Still, a solid gritty effort, more good work from the slow-but-fitting Finch, and as usual Huston scores mucho points with his depiction of Marc speaking to Khonshu. It's just the book is like ASTONISHING X-MEN, an unofficial bimonthly, and unlike ASTONISHING, is attempting a topical tie-in. Under better circumstances it'd work, but not if it can't come out in under 5 weeks. There's been a change in artist, as noted by Newsarama (whose stuff looks good), and hopefully that produces timelier issues. Still, MOON KNIGHT is included in a list of B and C listers that Marvel did well with relaunching and reviving in 2006, even if it is a rare book.

PUNISHER: WAR JOURNAL #3: This issue reminded me of some early issues of BLUE BEETLE; it shoehorns itself a bit awkwardly into the company wide event, and probably will be stronger once the tie-in's end and the book is allowed to fly from the nest alone. The "Cap beats down Punisher" scene is embellished and many liberties are taken, which seems odd if you read this scene in CW #6. Fraction also shows a questionable flashback of a younger Castle at boot camp during 'Nam refusing to spar with Capt. America because he couldn't DARE punch at that symbol of America. Firstly, Ennis has written no end of stories depicting Castle as a bloody savage since before mobsters killed his family so in that context it doesn't work, secondly, if you say Cap was unthawed during Vietnam, you shatter Marvel's "sliding scale" continuity and now Steve has to be in his 50's. To give Fraction the benefit of the doubt, Castle hints that he believes Cap is like "James Bond" in that they get different guys to fill the boots over time, and in that case the Vietnam camp could easily be one of the other men who filled in for Cap after the 40's. But didn't Brubaker sort of obliterate the references to these Cap's? Basically, the story works if you just read it and try not to tie it into too many other things. On the plus side, Rampage continues to get some good scenes, and Punisher's battle against the ever-jobbing Rhino managed to be thrilling despite the fact that everyone from Nova to your Granny could beat Rhino these days. And does Frank have the best luck upon stumbling upon weapons or what? Still, bazookas and Satan's Claws beet uziis anyday. Still, Fraction has a clear agenda for Punisher here, and I think it's a refreshing take from Ennis' stuff and past versions. Punisher's killed enough mobsters, let's see him be Scourge and get some F-Listers for some rep. The only problem is that the more villians you kill, the less chance you have to revive their status, but since Marvel obviously believes as a company that villians are outdated and only superheroes can be wicked (or "misguided"), this fits right in. Still a good series, just bits of this issue felt awkward for me. I believe once the tie-in's are over the book will fly high.

 

[Dread]

Ask, and ye shall recieve, The Punisher!

BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 1/24/07 PART II:

THE RETURN: I look at the cover and I think, THE GREAT WHITE HYPE, because that is what this issue is. The symbol on the cover noted that the character who returned was Capt. Marvel for months, we just didn't know the particulars. After seeing Jenkins totally drop the ball on Speedball, I was hesitant seeing his credit there. But, much like FF: A DEATH IN THE FAMILY, the solicts claim something that isn't delivered. They promised some explosive, earth shattering event and instead it felt so mundane, and essentially is just a preview for the new CAPT. MARVEL series. Yes, The Mar-Vell is back, only so far it's not a clone, a robot, or a shapeshifter; it's basically "Austin from 10 minutes ago". Via the Comics Baloney Principle, meddling in the Negative Zone to built that prison, despite the fact that Mr. Fantastic has only been meddling there for 40 damned years, unleashes a Mar-Vell from the past. Of course, if you think about how Marvel Time works, there really is no defined past or future. Every time traveller comes from an alternate reality, and even the ACT of time travel creates a divergent timestream/reality. But, basically, Capt. Mar-Vell is plucked from the past, but his pals can't tell him that in his own future (their present), he's been dead from cancer for years. He learns it naturally and knows that eventually he'll have to go back, and knows he's on the clock. But doesn't just really muck things up? And I thought Iron Lad was confusing! But what gets me is how mundane this is treated. Look at ASTONISHING #4-12 , where Whedon revives Colossus after a far shorter time in the grave (4-5 years, vs. a good 20 for Mar-Vell) and it just feels so EPIC, from the art to the pacing to the character's reactions. It's treated as something AMAZING again, and you forget that CURE basically just had the X-Men fight an alien because it was done very well. This, by contrast, looks so pedestrian. "Oh, good, Capt. Marvel was accidently brought from the past. Let's make him a warden in our concentration camp and walk backwards slowly." Lame! I expected some explosive falling man from space or something flashy, melodramatic, like ANNIHILATION, y'know, done well. And that was my mistake. Why is Capt. Marvel a warden for the N-Zone prison that basically locks up fellow superheroes, including some he'd probably known of, FOREVER, WITHOUT ANY TRIAL, for not signing a piece of paper? Few heroes are really justified for that, and for him, coming from an oppressive Kree empire, it seems craptacular. Was this done just to shoehorn an extra body into CW #7? It doesn't make sense if you examine Mar-Vell's character, or if you wonder about time paradoxes, or expected something dramatic and not just an ad in comic form. There is a back-up story with Jenkins' Sentry, that is even more awkward. I concede; even in these pages, Jenkins writes a more interesting Sentry than Bendis does; here he comes off as more than a schizo, but a complicated character. The downside is that another villian bites the dust, jobber Absorbing Man. That is two villians this guy has iced and no one says boo. Lord knows if Spider-Man actually killed Norman Osborn, he'd be at Rykers forever. And then there is something more awkward, because CIVIL WAR and post-Stamford changed how we see battles. One scene clearly depicts a gas station, with an SUV gassing up. It is in front of the pumps and doesn't look abandoned. Certainly the gas station has at least one worker. Sentry & Creel crash into it, causing a massive explosion. There is NO REALISTIC WAY that the driver and/or said worker were uninjured if not killed because of that! I mean, after Stamford we have been told over and over again how dangerous hero work is, even when heroes have had training. Every missed bullet, every fallen brick, kills civilians instantly now. Hell, Jenkins all but made a game of how many extra citizens he could have Speedball accidentally kill in FRONTLINE. But what happens here? Nothing. It's treated like old school. There are no civilians in the way, even when you'd expect there to be one. The same Marvel that makes a killer out of the Hulk because "you can't smash buildings and no one dies" now has Sentry blow up a gas station with a car gassing up in the middle of a fight and NOTHING comes of it! This seemingly takes place before Sentry registered, so we should have seen something come of it by now. There may be hope. But I doubt it. Sentry is a TEXTBOOK example of the sort of reckless hero the act is supposed to oppose. He is a demigod who is potentially as strong as Thor who is mentally ill and has unleashed city-shaking rampages as the Void. He's murdered villians before during battles, first Carnage and now Absorbing Man. And now he blows up a gas station that by all of Marvel's precious "realism" should have had at least two civilians burned alive. But because the story required it of the New Warriors, or other heroes, they get the scorn, and the ramifications, and even their sneezes killed children. It just feels lumpy. Of course, it felt lumpy when Bendis disassembled the Avengers because of Scarlet Witch going nuts and then they let in an equally crazy Sentry, but whatever. I'm used to it now. Anyway, this was a disappointment.

ALL NEW OHBOTMU UPDATE #1: Another handbook, more pleasure. Many characters need updates. Still miffed that there is no entry for Darkhawk yet, but there is still time. And the sheer amount of crap that has been piled onto Osborn post resurrection is just mind boggling. But as usual, it always entertains and educates. And a profile of the researcher is priceless. Keep 'em comin', boys!