And this lack of closure and progress, coupled with the fact that any one scene that any writer writes at any given point could at any second be rendered invalid or inconsequential, is arguably the single biggest problem about Western serialized comics. We're all aware of this; it's no big secret.
Thor #4
So far it's still working for me. I can see this "JMS becomes the Judd Winick of social poverty!" nonsense getting really old,
really quickly, but the actual writing and story of this series is just so effective.
It's such a silly thing, and I don't know why it didn't occur to me earlier, but with this issue I seriously just realized how big of a weakness this whole Donald Blake deal could be. The Marvel family only needs to utter a word, Wonder Woman can apparently transform at will, and even the Green Lanterns can call their rings by thought. If Donald Blake doesn't have his clunky stick which is awkward and ill-fitting and
highly conspicuous to carry around, he is very seriously not Thor. He's just some random hobbled doctor who may or may not possess an ounce of combat-training depending on whether he has Thor's experience in this form or not. The Thor of my memory is the Jurgens Thor who obviously didn't have this problem, and I'm beginning to wonder just how frequently this must have been exploited by his enemies, especially considering how powerful Thor's enemies would have to be.
(8.3 out of 10)
Black Adam #4
It's not
quite "more of the same," because that would suggest it was being stale or static. It is, however, "more of the same" in that it yet again features Black Adam being more badass beyond the measure of words to describe and about as much bloody violence per square panel as any Garth Ennis comic...but without the pretentiousness.
And, really, it's so much more fun seeing Black Adam pull a man through the mesosphere than it is seeing, oh I dunno, Superboy-Prime do it 'cause the irritation factor is so much less.
(8.8 out of 10)
New Avengers #36
Hnn. Not nearly the most horrible issue of New Avengers you'll find, but it is still rather weak and jilting. I was yawning my way through the Luke/Jessica conversation as well as the Logan/Jessica one. Just...what is the point? What are we even doing?
I do have to give marginal props to the fact that this issue may very well mark the
very first time that Bendis actually has heroes doing something heroic...like, y'know, not fighting each other in the middle of the streets. It does read somewhat forced, and there's a hint of Bendis once again merely trying to appease people too late on issues that should have been addressed far sooner (Spider-Woman flying and Hawkeye's resurrection, for instance). But then again, Bendis was one of the several writers at Marvel who, right from the outset, had
no ambiguity whatsoever about the moral content of the SHRA; he depicted it as flat-out wrong, no questions asked, the end thankyouverymuch. It feels a bit more natural for him, in this New Avengers book of all things, to be directly declaring that "dismantling the SHRA is A Heroic Thing" than it might feel in another circumstance from another writer.
(5.9 out of 10)
Salvation Run #1
Dear DCU,
Here's a clue:
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. It is, at the
least, as practical a solution as what you're doing here what with sending people to another planet without any manner of process at all, due or otherwise. Still, my social ire is somewhat alleviated by the fact that all this is being done by a clandestine operation with obviously no ties to any official governming body whatsoever. But then again, this is
Rick Flag of all people spouting this nonsense, trying to make this whole thing sound as if it were actual acceptable behavior on any level. No, dude. No.
And then I remember Willingham is writing this, and I nod understandingly.
Oh, and of course Darkseid would be behind everything
. Thanks, Countdown! Man.
For all that I whine, the writing here is quite good. Willy has a good handle on the Rogues and their personalities and it
is rather fitting that the single most organized villain group out there
would be the ones to effectively organize the villains on this planet. Not the Society (who knows if it's even still around), not the cartoony Injustice League that McGuffie has cooked up, but the Rogues. It's big props, and these bastards do deserve it.
(6.6 out of 10)
X-Factor #25: Messiah Complex Chapter 3
Hmm. I may have to start waiting for the trade on this whole Messiah Complex thingy.
There's nothing
wrong here, it's just moving quite slowly. Which is understandable because there's so much material here with so many characters...but
because there's so much material, I keep fearing that each new issue is going to make me regret that I'm still following this so closely. I have a feeling that this is going to be a great read, or at least a decent read, when it's all put together. But I don't want to have to be wrong.
But Layla's still awesome, for anyone still keeping track. And Cyclops is getting a really good treatment in this series as well; it's just his year, I guess.
(8 out of 10)
