The BIG TIME Bought/Thought Thread for Nov. 10 - SPOILERS!

I can stand that everything has to revert to the original status quo just because a movie's coming out. I know Odin coming back is long overdue but I hate when things go backwards instead of forwards.
 
Odin coming back is one of those things I tried to convince myself would never happen because the uncertainty of the status quo after his death was such a dramatic improvement over the status quo from before. But whatever. Who knows, maybe Fraction'll surprise me and have Odin take up an advisory role to Balder or something.
 
American Vampire #8

I'm really enjoying this Vertigo title, especially as things are picking up with this new storyline. I just wish DC didn't charge $3.99 still..even though readers are paying the same amount, but getting 10 less pages each month. Thankfully, it will drop in price in a couple months...but, I wonder how many readers they've lost due to this higher price. Also, as we meet new characters, along with some of the older ones, this isn't exactly a title that someone can pick up at any time. :yay:

I Am An Avenger #3

Am I the only person who had a difficult time with the first story that takes up half of this comic? I mean, it's a bit distracting having a Spidey team-up tale when the team up is with Nova...and, this week we're suppose to believe that Nova bit the dust. (With all that Nova had been doing before, when did he have a convenient time to pop back to Earth?)

Anyway, that first story was only ok. It really didn't do much for me, and it ended rather quickly. I much more liked the second part of the Firestar and Justice story. I still miss the old New Warriors; and, even though Loki is starting to suffer from "Marvel character overload," I didn't mind.

The next two are hardly worth mentioning. The one-page Hulk was worthy of a chuckle; but, the Stingray two-pager just made me wish we got more of a story. :dry: for the overall; but, I would give Firestar and Justice a smiley face.

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #1

This is just a promotional book for the new cartoon coming to Disney XD. Also, even though the main story takes place in "present day," it's about three months after Captain America gets awakened from the block of ice by the Avengers. The villian is Super Adaptoid, and it's a cute enough story; but, by now, Marvel has done sooo many different versions of the Avengers that I'm a bit tired of it all.

The second story, featuring Hawkeye and Black Panther vs. Lady Whiplash, was more enjoyable. (This story even seems to take place in the 616 Universe, as it mentions how Black Panther spied on the Avengers in the past.) I give this book a mild :yay:.

New Avengers #6

This came out last week, right? I think it did...and, I have to say I'm unimpressed with the ending to this first storyline. It comes as no surprise as to who bites it in the end. (I called it last month.) Maybe the only surprise would be Brother Voodoo's brother coming back to life when all is said and done. (That IS Brother Voodoo's brother, right? Who was a spirit before?? Did Bendis even explain how that came to happen?? And, why nobody really seems that surprised by it???) :dry:

Ultimate Thor #2

I'm enjoying this title. It's told from three perspectives: Long ago in the land of Asgard, Nazi Germany in 1939, and the present day, where Thor is locked up and being investigated for his claims that he's a Norse god. Most of this story's interest comes from the Nazis trying to get the power of the Norse gods, and we learn this issue how the Frost Giants betrayed Asgard and let the Nazi's have access to that realm. The ending, revealing who Baron Zemo is, surprised me; and, the death of Heimdall was a shock to see. :yay::yay:

Captain America: Forever Allies #4

This was a nice mini, featuring Cap-Bucky, as we saw his past exploits with the Young Allies and his current adventure of trying to capture Lady Lotus. In fact, I enjoyed this mini more than I have most of Bucky's current adventures that have been written by Brubaker. :yay::yay:

Red Robin #17

I don't know about this book. I cancelled it a couple months ago; but, I wanted to see where it was going after Batman, Inc. was announced in The Road Home. It still does very little for me. I can see that Lynx is Red Robin's version of Catwoman...of which gets acknowledged in the last few pages by Batman; and, what this issue does well is get new readers up-to-date on what's happened previously and what to expect in the future. (For old readers, though, we don't get much new...except seeing Tim break Lynx out of custody.)

Still not sold, and won't be adding it back to my list. (Doesn't mean I won't still grab the next issue off the shelf, hoping things improve for me.) :dry:

Thunder Agents #1

I took a chance on this book, as the solicitation seemed rather interesting; and, boy, am I glad I did. Sure, I was confused as hell much of the time reading this book; and, we don't really learn a darn thing about any of the team members...but, it sure grabbed me and made me want to pick up the second issue. (Too bad DC is charging $3.99, though. This book could use a larger readership, and the price and unknown element of the book might throw many off.)

I highly recommend this issue, though! It's what I wanted from that first issue of Superboy. It's new and fresh...even if the concept might not be. Heck, I might even consider it my Pick Of The Week. (That could be ASM...but, really, I was expecting Dan Slott to be brilliant on his first issue...this one came out of nowhere.) :woot:
 
Dread said:
To be honest, "BIG TIME" is probably the most tempted I've been to hop onto ASM, even more so than when BND began and Slott's initial run officially debuted. That said, the economics of it would mean that is another $4 ongoing title. These days, the $4 ongoing titles I buy are CAPTAIN AMERICA, SECRET AVENGERS and THOR; the rest are mini's (or $3 ongoing titles like AVENGERS ACADEMY or THUNDERBOLTS). That means either I dig deep for the extra $4 every two weeks or, ideally, I drop one of the three. And to be honest, I've been partisan about SECRET AVENGERS and THOR for a few months now; I'm more liable to drop THOR, since Fraction's always been THIS CLOSE to losing me on INVINCIBLE IRON MAN for ages now (and that's a $3 book), so I know if he doesn't start out awesome, he rarely improves.
Click to expand...

I hear you, Dread. The economy sucks. Not telling you what to buy. Just letting you know this issue of Amazing was better than it's been in a while.
 
Eh, I didn't think it was up to the hype. The dialogue got on my nerves and it was very pushy about how smart Peter is.

And of course the annoying MJ scene.
 
We should try to subliminally convince Dread to buy THUNDER Agents instead. :)
 
Is it a continuation of the old comic or a new version? I've never read it but I had a friend who told me he loved it back when it came out in the 80's I think.
 
It's one of those DC properties that gets revamped now and then, it seems. It's super-old, dating back to the '60s. This is just the most recent incarnation of it. I don't actually know anything about the THUNDER Agents themselves; I'm reading the current mini as a new thing all on its own, and so far it seems intriguing. If you ever read Greg Rucka's Checkmate, it reminds me of that.
 
I haven't but have always been interested in Checkmate. One of these days I'll give it a try. That and Gotham Central I think it was called.
 
Yeah, my DC reading has been hit and miss through the years. After Infinite Crisis finished I was burnt out and dropped it all. I later got back in with the Green Lantern titles and have been working my way into DC. I got into Specter and Crispus was in Gotham Central so I bought the last few issues detailing his death. Those were fantastic and now I want the rest of the series.

Checkmate just always looked interesting, especially their tie-in stuff with Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis.

I'm also interested in Shadowpact.
 
Shadowpact was okay. Kind of all over the place. I eventually got bored of it for some reason or other.
 
This past week, in a sense, was a rather huge week. My comic shop had their annual sale this weekend, and had a "Regulars Only!" preview night on Friday, so I cleaned up on a decent amount of trades, and a few back issues.

But the Wednesday titles I bought:

BPRD: Hell on Earth #4 - What a great series this is. This arc has really been my first full exposure to the BPRD world of Hellboy, and I intend to go back and check it out from the beginning. The characters are absolutely great, the emotional resonance is top-notch, and the monsters, and how they are presented, are rather terrifying. Can't wait for the conclusion and the beginning of the next arc entitled GODS that starts in January.

The Return of Bruce Wayne #6: Full of meh. Actually, it was kind of exciting to read, but it didn't leave me screaming "BRRRIIIILLLIIIAAAAAANNT!!" like everyone in the Batman Comics thread. If anything, it made me realize that Morrison's run probably could have been condensed into half the amount of issues it took to tell the entire story, and that ALOT of the **** he introduced was introduced rather poorly, in such a way that many of these "badass" Batman elements were introduced without much attention and were easily glossed over. There wasn't much importance given to certain things(those three Batman instantly come to mind), and now that the story is over, I still don't care. Doctor Hurt was a worthless, one-note villain, and what I've also realized is that I REALLY hate the concept of Morrison's Bat-God, the guy who knows everything ever, before the people who think of the things are even born kinda B.S. And in that sense, I don't get the people who call Johns' Hal Jordon a Mary Sue character, yet wank off to Morrison's BatGod, which is essentially the same kind of thing. And despite DC ruining the publishing schedule, the reading in correct order left no impressionable effect on me. I'll be skipping BATMAN INC. for sure. I'll be giving BATMAN: DARK KNIGHT a shot with it's first issue and I'll definitely be buying up BATWOMAN and DETECTIVE COMICS.

Victorian Undead II: Sherlock Holmes vs Dracula #1: I missed out on the first Victorian Undead series, which looks really good. I was let down kinda by the one-shot in which Holmes fights Mr. Hyde. But this one I couldn't resist. I'm a Dracula geek and couldn't help myself. Plus, Sherlock Holmes being in it fighting Dracula? Sold! Atleast for the first issue. But I read it and really enjoyed it. One thing that peeved me was how they portray Dracula. He's a clean shaven, long white flowing haired, handsome Prince, as opposed to the mustached, unattractive rapist-like boogyman. But we'll see how that plays out. Another thing I'm intrigued by is how they're telling the story. It seems this story isn't following the narrative of Dracula at all, as Arthur Holme wood is aware of Dracula and in fact introduces him to the Queen. It seems that the creators here are simply doing their own thing: Keep the basics of Dracula moving to England and then go from there. Overall, a really fun read and I'll stick with it.

Doc Savage #8: I'm loving this title, ever since the new team came on. The writing is top-notch, the characters are all great to read. The artwork kicks ass. This issue found Doc infiltrating the land beyond the river of fire to find out whose behind the bombings of the post-apocalyptic-like city he's found himself in, which is run by the Two Who Are One. Some sweet action of Doc acquiring a tank and then trying to escape from said tank when it's lifted into the air. Awesome stuff.

American Vampire #8: I LOVE this series. The little revelation at the end was great, though I feel if i read this arc again all at once, it'll be even more of a shock. Scott Snyder has become easily one of my favorite comics writers, and American Vampire, next to Locke & Key, is my favorite Horror comic at the moment. The next arc, starting in January, is a 2 part story with a different artist. As much as I like Rafael Albequerque, it would be awesome if they brought in some guest artists every so often. I'd LOVE to see Gene Colon do an issue or two on this series. It would be awesome to see. That Captain America issue he did a few years ago where Cap and Bucky take on a village of Vampires was great to look at. And Tomb of Dracula, naturally, makes this a match made in heaven. I hope it happens.

and the trades I bought were:
Sgt. Rock: Between Hell & Hard Place - haven't read it yet.

Daredevil: Ultimate Bendis/Maleev Collection Vol. 1 and 2 - I had bought Underboss sometime ago and loved it. I had the intention last year of buying the Omnibus last year when my comic shop had this sale, but someone got it before I had the chance to. This year, they had the 2 paperbacks and I bought them. I read the first bunch of issues in Vol. 1, the story drawn by David Mack. So good.

Astonishing X-Men Vol. 1: Gifted - Not really being much of an X-Men fan, I thought this was great. The writing was top-notch and Cassaday's art work rules. I intend to check out the rest of Whedon's run. Good stuff.

A God Somewhere - I love Arcudi's work on BPRD and Peter Snejbjerg's art is gorgeous and powerful as always. Haven't had the chance to read this yet, but I look forward to it immensely.

anyways, CORP, got a question: Is THUNDER Agents really that good? I'm thinking about checking it out, as towards the beginning of next year, my pull list is gonna be really small and I'm looking for good stuff to fill it up with a bit. How would you describe the first issue? Is it serious or is it fun? I'd like to read something abit lighter in tone, and being as how old THUNDER Agents stories were really fun, i'm hoping they kept the same tone.
 
Well, I hesitate to say it's "that good" to any extent because it's only got one issue out so far. But that issue had the beginnings of a pretty promising story. There is definitely some levity to it, especially via this one character (you'll know who if you read it by the fact that you're chuckling after his dialogue, as opposed to everyone else's), but the overall atmosphere is very "shady government agency." That's why I likened it to Checkmate. It has a nice political flavor to it without losing sight of what makes superhero comics fun. It tells its story in an oblique way, revealing bits and pieces of the plot that become clearer and more connected by the time you get to the end.
 
TheCorpulent1 said:
Well, I hesitate to say it's "that good" to any extent because it's only got one issue out so far. But that issue had the beginnings of a pretty promising story. There is definitely some levity to it, especially via this one character (you'll know who if you read it by the fact that you're chuckling after his dialogue, as opposed to everyone else's), but the overall atmosphere is very "shady government agency." That's why I likened it to Checkmate. It has a nice political flavor to it without losing sight of what makes superhero comics fun. It tells its story in an oblique way, revealing bits and pieces of the plot that become clearer and more connected by the time you get to the end.
Click to expand...

Hmm. Sounds intriguing. I'll give it a look. Thanks!:yay:
 
TheCorpulent1 said:
It's one of those DC properties that gets revamped now and then, it seems. It's super-old, dating back to the '60s. This is just the most recent incarnation of it. I don't actually know anything about the THUNDER Agents themselves; I'm reading the current mini as a new thing all on its own, and so far it seems intriguing. If you ever read Greg Rucka's Checkmate, it reminds me of that.
Click to expand...

That's funny, because when I was writing my review, I almost mentioned that my enjoyment of it reminded me of when Rucka was writing Checkmate back in the day. But, then I thought people who read both might think me a bit nuts to make that comparison. I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw a bit of a connection between the two.
 
It's more of a tonal connection than an overt one. They strike the same political/superhero mix, I think. Different kinds of politics and different kinds of superheroes, but the mix results in a similar tone in both.
 
THUNDER AGENTS didn't sit too well with me. I really hate stories that start in flashback, flash forward, flash sideways, then flash upwards while flashing back in a flashback. Not a great way to start and introduce people to your universe. I was more like WTF was that all about than COOL! I'll pick up another issue or two, but if it stays $3.99 I'm out now.
 
Nonlinear stories have never bothered me. It's not like they string you along with the flashes to other times like Lost or anything. You get a pretty solid idea of what's going on by the end of the issue.
 
I don't. Good run, great ending, and it only overstayed its welcome a little bit (right in the middle, oddly enough).
 
"Number One, set a course for that cave with the source of all... light... or goodness... or evil... or something... Engage!"
 
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