JewishHobbit
Avenger
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2003
- Messages
- 26,683
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 56
Well, I went into the shop and picked and chose what to get. I was originally going to get but passed on Pandora 3. I didn't really care for the first two issues and made the decision to drop it post-Trinity War. Then I skimmed it and didn't' really enjoy what I saw, so I just dropped it. I might pick it up later, as it's the only issue of Trinity War I've skipped, but I just didn't feel like messing with it this week. Maybe with my next paycheck. In it's place I picked up 2 other comics I wasn't planing on grabbing, but which won me over with a skim. They are:
Batman and Nightwing #23 - I liked this title a lot while Damian was the co-star, but after he died the book went downhill for me. The silent issue was amazing and the next two sucked fairly bad. I didn't even buy the two that followed that but skims didn't win me over. This one, however, caught my eye. First off, I love Nightwing. Secondly, it deals directly with Batman Incorporated #8 and doesn't require the previous 2 (or 4) issues to read it. So I bought it, read it, and loved it. Tomasi's gotten into this groove where he does a run of mediocre-good issues and then writes one that sets your jaw to the floor. This is that issue.
Bruce has set up Internet 3.0 to continually run virtual reality scenarios so that he can prove to himself that he could have saved Damian. He fails over and over again until Nightwing shows up and plugs himself in. Working together, they are able to manage the feat. This gives Bruce a sense of closure, though it isn't a heartfelt one. The best part of the story, however, is when Alfred, who kept asking Bruce to shut the program down, later hooks himself up to it and plays out the scenario in his own way... by not letting Damian go out that night. Like with the silent issue, Tomasi got me to choke up on that scene. It was just a powerful scene that reminds us Alfred is just as much a member of this family as the Robins. Very good.
Avengers 18 - I wasn't going to bother with the Avengers side of Infinity, but Infinity #1 sold me on the idea of at least giving it a skim. The skim revealed enough to make me curious so I bought it. I honestly enjoyed the story (though I agree with Dread's statement about Hickman packing to much in there that character development falls by the wayside). I love Yu's art and that applies here as well. The only downside is that his space fighting scenes get a little too messy at times to where I have to study the panel to figure out what's happening. Still, war is messing, so it still fits.
This was definitely a good issue and it's convinced me to give the next one a shot. If at any point I lose interest in this side of the event I'll drop the book, but for now, I'll stick with it for the duration of the book.
Astonishing X-Men 65 - I think this came out last week but my shop just got it today. This is the conclusion of the Iceman story line and it was probably the best of the series. Seeing Bobby being such a major power player was great. All the emotional beats were there and the characters were all fantastic. The art is still the weakest part of the story, but that's a matter of taste I suppose. For what it is, the artist does a good job. Next issue serves as an aftermath. If it's self-contained, I'll get it. If it leads into what comes next, I'll probably pass. Still, I don't at all regret jumping on to this title for this arc. It was fantastic. Thor felt a bit forced into the story, but hey... there's a movie coming up. What do you expect?
X-Men 4 - This issue tells two stories. The first focuses on Wolverine and Jubilee taking a trip to Jubilee's native Santa Monica, California. It deals with Jubilee coming to terms with the idea of her being an adoptive parent and getting advice from Wolverine, who had always been a father figure to her. I loved this portion of the story. It was a family-feeling tale that the X-Men have been for the most part lacking for over a decade. These scenes were the best of the series so far.
The second story focuses on Storm, Psylocke, Rachel, and Rogue attempting to save a damaged airliner while dealing with some issues regarding last issue. Namely, Rachel has a major problem with Storm nearly giving a kill order on Karima. Storm had reason for it, but she has to remind Rachel that she did not give the order. Also, Rachel has a problem with Storm self-appointing herself the leader of the X-Men. While they argue that, Rogue gets on a powers high using Psylocke's powers and they ultimately save the plane.
This story I didn't care for at all. First off, the conversation about Storm becoming leader of the X-Men reads weird because she ISN'T the leader of the X-Men. Currently, there really isn't one. There's a headmaster (Wolverine) and a rogue revolutionist (Cyclops) but no real leader. Heck, the only one claiming their side as X-Men is Cyclops, as Wolverine only talks about his side being a school for mutants. So Storm dubbing herself leader of the X-Men is just strange. Now, I get that she was probably referring to this specific group of X-Men (as the title is 'X-Men'), but it just read weird. In addition to that, Rachel's handling of the argument felt very juvenile and not at all appealing. Then there's Rogue acting so strange that it didn't even feel like her anymore. She's used Psylocke's powers before (Second Coming comes to mind) so this shouldn't have been some new WOW experience. It just read like Wood was trying to throw some fun in there but failed for me.
So this issue was 50/50... which is about normal for this series overall.
Daredevil 30 - You know, I was really looking forward to this issue because I was curious what Waid would do with Daredevil and the Silver Surfer. It had it's moments, sure, but overall I found it to be silly and uninteresting. This was likely my least favorite issue of Waid's run so far (though I admit to having skipped a small chunk in the middle). He's done a lot better work and so has his artist Chris Samnee. I was very disappointed.
Justice League Dark 23 - Trinity War Part 5 of 6! This was definitely an improvement over the past couple of parts. While I'm enjoying it, it definitely suffers from too many characters, too many plots, and not enough linking them together. We have the Trinity of Sin (which are barely necessary, especially Phantom Stranger and the Question), we have Pandora's Box, we have a war of the Justice Leagues, and we have the super villains acting in the background. So all-in-all around 30-40 characters crammed in a plot-heavy issue that's crammed in a 6-part story. I like the guy, but Geoff Johns' eyes were bigger than his stomach here.
For what it was, the story was alright. We get quick references to the Phantom Stranger and Constantine tie-ins (but not Pandora, which tells me her tie-in issues are wholly unnecessary unless they come into play in the conclusion of the story). Mikel Janin's art is as beautiful as it always issue (always the highlight of Justice League Dark) and he handles the major moments well. More hero versus hero action is a turn off for me, but there are interesting moments like Shazam's taking Pandora's Box and Constantine's role. I thought Zantanna's stand was pretty awesome, and the ending left me eager for the conclusion. All-in-all a decent issue, but I'm ready for it to wrap up.
I have a feeling that Trinity War will be one of those stories that reads best in one sitting. The core series has been good so far but the absolute best issue of the whole deal was Phantom Stranger. I'm looking forward to next week to see how it all wraps up.
Best and Worst of the Week
Best: Batman & Nightwing - I considered this book dropped and it still may be, but this issue specifically was just amazing. I'm not sure if I'm ready to keep reading the book as a simple Batman Team-Up title, but I do love Tomasi and Gleason. I figure I'll skim from here and decide.
Worst: Daredevil - Sadly, this was the issue I got the least enjoyment out of this week. I'll probably be yelled at but it actually bordered on bad for me. I hope it isn't going to fall into a rut.
Batman and Nightwing #23 - I liked this title a lot while Damian was the co-star, but after he died the book went downhill for me. The silent issue was amazing and the next two sucked fairly bad. I didn't even buy the two that followed that but skims didn't win me over. This one, however, caught my eye. First off, I love Nightwing. Secondly, it deals directly with Batman Incorporated #8 and doesn't require the previous 2 (or 4) issues to read it. So I bought it, read it, and loved it. Tomasi's gotten into this groove where he does a run of mediocre-good issues and then writes one that sets your jaw to the floor. This is that issue.
Bruce has set up Internet 3.0 to continually run virtual reality scenarios so that he can prove to himself that he could have saved Damian. He fails over and over again until Nightwing shows up and plugs himself in. Working together, they are able to manage the feat. This gives Bruce a sense of closure, though it isn't a heartfelt one. The best part of the story, however, is when Alfred, who kept asking Bruce to shut the program down, later hooks himself up to it and plays out the scenario in his own way... by not letting Damian go out that night. Like with the silent issue, Tomasi got me to choke up on that scene. It was just a powerful scene that reminds us Alfred is just as much a member of this family as the Robins. Very good.
Avengers 18 - I wasn't going to bother with the Avengers side of Infinity, but Infinity #1 sold me on the idea of at least giving it a skim. The skim revealed enough to make me curious so I bought it. I honestly enjoyed the story (though I agree with Dread's statement about Hickman packing to much in there that character development falls by the wayside). I love Yu's art and that applies here as well. The only downside is that his space fighting scenes get a little too messy at times to where I have to study the panel to figure out what's happening. Still, war is messing, so it still fits.
This was definitely a good issue and it's convinced me to give the next one a shot. If at any point I lose interest in this side of the event I'll drop the book, but for now, I'll stick with it for the duration of the book.
Astonishing X-Men 65 - I think this came out last week but my shop just got it today. This is the conclusion of the Iceman story line and it was probably the best of the series. Seeing Bobby being such a major power player was great. All the emotional beats were there and the characters were all fantastic. The art is still the weakest part of the story, but that's a matter of taste I suppose. For what it is, the artist does a good job. Next issue serves as an aftermath. If it's self-contained, I'll get it. If it leads into what comes next, I'll probably pass. Still, I don't at all regret jumping on to this title for this arc. It was fantastic. Thor felt a bit forced into the story, but hey... there's a movie coming up. What do you expect?
X-Men 4 - This issue tells two stories. The first focuses on Wolverine and Jubilee taking a trip to Jubilee's native Santa Monica, California. It deals with Jubilee coming to terms with the idea of her being an adoptive parent and getting advice from Wolverine, who had always been a father figure to her. I loved this portion of the story. It was a family-feeling tale that the X-Men have been for the most part lacking for over a decade. These scenes were the best of the series so far.
The second story focuses on Storm, Psylocke, Rachel, and Rogue attempting to save a damaged airliner while dealing with some issues regarding last issue. Namely, Rachel has a major problem with Storm nearly giving a kill order on Karima. Storm had reason for it, but she has to remind Rachel that she did not give the order. Also, Rachel has a problem with Storm self-appointing herself the leader of the X-Men. While they argue that, Rogue gets on a powers high using Psylocke's powers and they ultimately save the plane.
This story I didn't care for at all. First off, the conversation about Storm becoming leader of the X-Men reads weird because she ISN'T the leader of the X-Men. Currently, there really isn't one. There's a headmaster (Wolverine) and a rogue revolutionist (Cyclops) but no real leader. Heck, the only one claiming their side as X-Men is Cyclops, as Wolverine only talks about his side being a school for mutants. So Storm dubbing herself leader of the X-Men is just strange. Now, I get that she was probably referring to this specific group of X-Men (as the title is 'X-Men'), but it just read weird. In addition to that, Rachel's handling of the argument felt very juvenile and not at all appealing. Then there's Rogue acting so strange that it didn't even feel like her anymore. She's used Psylocke's powers before (Second Coming comes to mind) so this shouldn't have been some new WOW experience. It just read like Wood was trying to throw some fun in there but failed for me.
So this issue was 50/50... which is about normal for this series overall.
Daredevil 30 - You know, I was really looking forward to this issue because I was curious what Waid would do with Daredevil and the Silver Surfer. It had it's moments, sure, but overall I found it to be silly and uninteresting. This was likely my least favorite issue of Waid's run so far (though I admit to having skipped a small chunk in the middle). He's done a lot better work and so has his artist Chris Samnee. I was very disappointed.
Justice League Dark 23 - Trinity War Part 5 of 6! This was definitely an improvement over the past couple of parts. While I'm enjoying it, it definitely suffers from too many characters, too many plots, and not enough linking them together. We have the Trinity of Sin (which are barely necessary, especially Phantom Stranger and the Question), we have Pandora's Box, we have a war of the Justice Leagues, and we have the super villains acting in the background. So all-in-all around 30-40 characters crammed in a plot-heavy issue that's crammed in a 6-part story. I like the guy, but Geoff Johns' eyes were bigger than his stomach here.
For what it was, the story was alright. We get quick references to the Phantom Stranger and Constantine tie-ins (but not Pandora, which tells me her tie-in issues are wholly unnecessary unless they come into play in the conclusion of the story). Mikel Janin's art is as beautiful as it always issue (always the highlight of Justice League Dark) and he handles the major moments well. More hero versus hero action is a turn off for me, but there are interesting moments like Shazam's taking Pandora's Box and Constantine's role. I thought Zantanna's stand was pretty awesome, and the ending left me eager for the conclusion. All-in-all a decent issue, but I'm ready for it to wrap up.
I have a feeling that Trinity War will be one of those stories that reads best in one sitting. The core series has been good so far but the absolute best issue of the whole deal was Phantom Stranger. I'm looking forward to next week to see how it all wraps up.
Best and Worst of the Week
Best: Batman & Nightwing - I considered this book dropped and it still may be, but this issue specifically was just amazing. I'm not sure if I'm ready to keep reading the book as a simple Batman Team-Up title, but I do love Tomasi and Gleason. I figure I'll skim from here and decide.
Worst: Daredevil - Sadly, this was the issue I got the least enjoyment out of this week. I'll probably be yelled at but it actually bordered on bad for me. I hope it isn't going to fall into a rut.
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