New Comics: March 20, 2013
I decided while at the shop to just pass on Nova. I figured I'd read the first arc through before deciding if I was going to drop it or not, but I skimmed the second issue and it did nothing for me (again). Also, I am just not a fan of MCGuiness' art. His Nova looks stupid. So I decided to pass on this, and being that I'm passing on Guardians of the Galaxy and Thanos Rising, I suppose I'm just dodging the whole cosmic movement that Marvel's pushing right now. Sad.
Also being that I'm not reading any of those, nor Avengers, it looks like I might be skipping out on Infinity as well. I don't think New Avengers will be enough to make me pick up a huge event as a tie-in to the ongoing. This is all provided it doesn't tie-in with the X-Men books as well.
New Avengers 4 - This book is still in the testing stages for me, and while I'm liking the overall plot, I'm not really digging Hickman's take on Beast. Beast has always been one of the moral compasses of the Marvel Universe, displayed quite boldly over the past few years of X-Men where he challenged Cyclops' darker path of leadership. Yet, Hickman has him just going along with potentially killing whole planets. It's not an easy decision, obviously, but the fact that he would play along at all grinds on me a bit. I understand the magnitude of the danger that they are in, but I refuse to believe the Beast would follow along with this select group of individuals instead of opening up this danger to more people who might be able to find a way to fix it without worldly genecide.
That said, the story was very good. I like that we're getting Galactus and Terrax. Now, did I read it correctly that these are an other-dimensional Galactus and Terax? Because if I did, I thought Galactus did not have other dimensional counterparts? That goes for the Infinity Gems as well, and there was talk by the big brains of each universe having their own Infinity Gems. Am I remembering these things wrong?
So yeah, decent issue. I'll probably pick up next issue to see how this Galactus thing plays out, but I don't know if I'll be getting this longterm. The art was great, though.
Daredevil 24 - I liked this issue a great deal. It was farily simple but still very good and exciting. The big draw for the book is Foggy's battle with cancer, but the ongoing plot of who is messing with Matt is also intriguing. I also liked Samnee's art. His cover is simple but awesome. I think that defines this whole volume of Daredevil actually. Simple but awesome.
But I still miss the darker stories of Bendis, Brubaker, and Diggle
All New X-Men 9 - Still going strong. Mystique is building up her brotherhood, currently consisting of Sabretooth and herself, and they recruit Lady Mastermind in this issue. I'm curious where that plot's going. The training exercize was fun to watch, and Jean's figuring out that Cyclops had recently met with Mystique was cool. With how freaked out people are becoming over Jean's telepathy, I'm real curious where the story is taking her. People are calling Cyclops or Angel as the one to join Cyclops, but what if it ends up being Jean? She's unveiling all these new abilities and, honestly, the person who is likely best suited to train her in them is the man who knew her best... her husband. Plus, that's where all the plot should be... Cyclops' reaction to Jean, Emma dealing with Jean and Cyclops. Jean dealing with Magneto, the man who theoretically killed her. She would have a lot of great stories in Uncanny. Just saying.
What I don't like is that this issue ended in the same place that the last issue of Uncanny ended. That means that Bendis is going to tell the same story from two different point of views, and I hate when he does that. He hadn't done it in a while until he did it during AvX. I sorta wish he'd just name one of the next issues as the direct continuation of the story and them move forward. There's no need to tell it twice.
And Immonen almost makes me like Cyclops' new design.
Nightwing 18 - I was really wanting a powerful Requiem issue here with how close Dick and Damian were. It was definately a Requiem issue, but it wasn't all that wonderful. It was just decent, and the art didn't impress me at all. There's a "major" moment in the end that reveals Tony Zucco is back alive and in Gotham, but that's not really what I cared about at the moment.
I loved this book when it dealt with the Circus, and continued to like it because the Circus remained a presence. Without that, I don't know how well I'll enjoy the title. I'll stick with it for the time being, but I definately need to make some cuts soon and this might be one of them.
Losing Barrows so he could draw Teen Titans is also a HUGE hit on the book. His pencils were my favorite thing about this title. It makes me half-want to pick up Teen Titans.
Justice League 18 - I thought this was a great issue. I liked the title prior to Throne of Atlantis, but it wasn't an upper tier book. Then Throne of Atlantis came along and blew me away. I was worried that taking plots from Aquaman is what made the title great and that the quality would fall again after the story was finished, but I ejoyed this story just as much as the Throne of Atlantis story.
The League is rummaging through new member candidates, many of whom we saw come to the League's aid during Throne of Atlantis, and they invited their top picks to the satelite. I got excited when I saw Nightwing among them but he quickly rejects the Justice League offer. It sounds like the main three joining are Elemental Girl, Atom (who is female), and Firestorm. I was rooting for Zatanna as well, as it looks like she might be leaving Justice League Dark, but she wasn't mentioned. That said, the ending of the story reveals that one of those who were on the satelite stole information from their database, so that leaves the window open for the return of any of these people.
I figure it was either Zatanna, getting information for Constantine, or Goldrush, since she was mistakingly linked to the robot chick who freaked out. If that chick was a distraction, it might have been Goldrush who took advantage of it. Planned perhaps?
The Shazam backup strip was good as always, though I'm ready for it to end. In my opinion, this should have just been released as an 8 issue mini, introducing the character, or perhaps make it an ongoing. The story has been great, Gary Frank's pencils are good, and we're nearing the end. June's issue, 21 I think, is a full-issue Shazam story, concluding his origin. I'm eager to see it conclude and see what comes next. If they release the story in a trade, I might consider getting it so that it's all in one place.
Batwoman 18 - Last issue was fantastic and got me back into the series. This issue was good as well. It feels great to be past the Medusa storyline. I can really enjoy the book again because I don't have to frown at yet another mention of missing kids. The art is great and the story is really good. I'm liking Bette's new character design and I like how she's being handled as a character. Freeze was great, but what I find really interesting is that it looks like the title's heading toward a D.O.A. vs. Batman battle with Kate in the center.
Fantastic issue, I'm glad I gave it another shot.
Best and Worst of March 20, 2013
Best: Batwoman 18 - This was just an all around good issue. Not quite as good as last issue, but still fantastic. This was actually a really good week, with Nightwing being the only disappointment.
Worst: Nightwing 18 - Just a very disappointing issue for me. It seems like this title only really gets my interest when Barrows is drawing it, and that worries me now that he's gone. I'm hoping that's just a fluke.
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