TheCorpulent1
SHAZAM!
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- Jun 20, 2001
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Wow, two threads for last week but it's now the day after comics came out this week and not a peep? Slackers. 
I've gotten through about half my comics on this very, very large week, so I'll keep my reviews short.
Aquaman: Decent second issue. I like that Aquaman's just going about his superhero business for a little while. Definitely a smart idea to avoid plunging right back into Atlantis stuff right away. My main complaint with this issue, however, is there's just not enough substance. I get that Johns wants to poke fun at all the misconceptions and bulls*** people spout about Aquaman, but it's kind of too much here. Like a third of the issue is just Aquaman and Mera telling people Mera's not "Aquawoman." As a result, this issue feels decompressed as hell and largely unsatisfying because nothing really happens. The Trench come ashore and then bam, the end, tune in next month. Ivan Reis' art continues to be drool-worthy, though.
Wolverine and the X-Men: I went into this with higher hopes than I should be letting myself have for any comic at this point and, surprisingly, it still exceeded them. As ridiculous as Wolverine reopening the school sounds, it actually works in part because of that ridiculousness; I was surprised most of all by how wonderfully funny this issue was. The whole misadventure with the representatives from the New York Board of Education that acts as a guided tour through the new school in this issue was hilarious. Toad's sad whining about his lack of a bed was chuckle-worthy. Broo's presence was awesome (even though it exposed Kitty as a total racist) because I was hoping someone would do something with him after Gage's Astonishing X-Men arc. Kid Gladiator and Deathbird were an odd surprise that quickly became a pleasant one. Beast being Beast is always welcome. Bachalo's art ties it all together by bringing both bold, strong visuals and a youthful, sometimes goofy exuberance that perfectly suits the school atmosphere. I guess I didn't realize it before, but my enjoyment of the X-Men is really tied to the school. It sure as hell beats the hyper-militarized nonsense they've been doing with Cyclops these past few years.
Green Lantern: New Guardians: Take everything I said about Aquaman's second issue and reverse it for this series'. The first issue of New Guardians felt a little spare to me, since I already know Kyle's origin and I got the idea that all the corps' rings were flocking to him after the second example they showed. This issue, however, is packed to the brim with plot. Kyle is forced to fight off representatives of four of the six other corps while still completely clueless as to why the rings are flocking to him in the first place. He manages to ditch them with the help of Saint Walker, the only one who takes Kyle at his word that he's completely clueless. They head to Oa for answers and reminisce about how great Ganthet is along the way. Then they get to Oa and find Ganthet emotionally lobotomized! That was a real "oh snap!" plot twist for me, and it restored some faith that I'm reading REBELS' Tony Bedard instead of Green Lantern Corps' Tony Bedard. The issue ends somewhat more predictably, with all of the rings hopping on Kyle's fingers in the midst of the Guardians. Still, great setup for the next issue. This series is hitting all the right notes for me so far, especially in its exploration of Kyle and Ganthet's relationship. Can't wait to see what comes next. (Although I hope Kirkham can keep up or they've got fill-ins ready to go. He already had to split this issue with Tolibao, and it's only #2!)
Avengers Academy: This is a transitional issue in every sense of the word. At the end of it all, Veil, Speedball, and Justice are out and a whole mess of new kids are in while the Academy itself moves to the old West Coast Avengers compound after the Infinite Mansion's destruction. As much as I loved the Infinite Mansion, I'm glad to see the Academy take on a physical location in the world. I'm also excited to see who the new staffers will be and I'm looking forward to the Avengers Academy/Jean Grey School for Higher Learning crossover that's just begging to be done now. I also hope we get some follow-up on Veil and what she's doing in Morally Ambiguous Corporate Lad's company someday.
Avengers Solo: As good as I expected. Great start to a mystery that pulls Hawkeye out of his comfort zone (with a little cameo by Millie the Model, no less), and another great story about Avengers Academy. What's not to love?
Journey into Mystery: Back on track after its slight dip in quality due to Fear Itself. This issue we're treated to something I've been aching to see for the longest time: a reminder that Volstagg is, in fact, a family man with a wife he genuinely loves and kids coming out his ears (also, that he's nearly as old as Odin). His triumphant return to them and his story of how the Serpent was vanquished is both funny and a bit tragic due to Volstagg's attempts to conceal the magnitude of what really happened and so retain his children's innocence. There's a wonderful parallel in Volstagg's dialogue about said innocence to Loki and his second childhood, too. Gillen weaves it all together really well, as usual. These JiM issues come off like modern-day parables, which totally suits the nature of the series. Richard Elson draws this issue and, while he's no Breitweiser, he's also no Portacio. I'm thankful for one of those two things; care to guess which?
The Mighty Thor: We finally get a story exploring just who the f*** the Serpent is, but sadly it's too little, too late. All Fraction winds up doing here is showing us more of the same. The Serpent's bad because... he likes fear. The Serpent had a bunch of cronies in the Worthy who... stood around and looked tough back in the day before he shoved them into their hammers and scattered them. Odin finally stopped the Serpent by... chopping up a bunch of people and then talking to the Serpent for a little while. There's nothing to actually show us any insight into the depth of the Serpent's evil or why Odin, who's only too happy to be a dick and rely on intimidation plenty of the time, was so dead-set against him. On top of all that, he f***s up Bor's death, Sleipnir's existence, Odin's sacrifice to the World Tree, and the spelling of Ve's name. This comic is pretty much a disgrace at this point. Fraction's down there with Ellis competing for all-time worst Thor writer, as far as I'm concerned.
Annihilators: Earthfall: Decent issue. I like that there's at least some exploration of character relationships going on, as you would expect of a fight between the Avengers and several major characters who've had dealings with them, both as allies and enemies, before. But the majority of it centers on Quasar and Kree/Skrull War stuff. No mention whatsoever of Beta Ray Bill's being an oathbrother to Thor, a founding Avenger--not even from Valkyrie, who never even says a word to Bill throughout the issue. So that's a personal pet peeve for me. But the rest of the issue is still good. Better than I was expecting based on the mere concept of "Avengers vs. Annihilators." The Universal Church of Truth remains the real enemy, and there is a bit of nice work done comparing the Annihilators' incursion on Earth to the Avengers' dodgy history with interstellar conflicts, from butting in where they weren't wanted in the Kree/Skrull War to ignoring the massive conflagrations of recent years like the Annihilation War and the War of Kings. The cliffhanger is intriguing if only because it's somewhat questionable how the heroes are supposed to deal with a threat in that package, so to speak. The Rocket/Groot backup was decent too, but it didn't feel like it got much done. Rocky and Groot are aware of Mojo's manipulations by the end of this issue, though, so at least we won't have another issue of them just bumbling around without a clue.
Venom: Yep, I'm actually reading Venom now. I know, it's shocking to me too. Equally as shocking is that this issue is really good. It's a bit busy, granted, with the letter from Flash's dad battling for attention against the Queen's dialogue for a little while, but that's not too bad. Captain America shows up for a nice save against the Queen. There's not a lot of time for bonding between the two in this issue, but there is some and Remender uses it well. The issue ends on a cliffhanger that I won't see the resolution to, since I'm not reading ASM, but I'll be glad to put this Spider-Island stuff behind me and get on with Flash's regular story again. Tom Fowler's art is great. I remember disliking his work on Green Arrow, but I guess it must suit this series better because it kicks ass here.
Daredevil: Another great issue. Matt works to protect his client, we get a glimpse of this new villain whose schtick is to apparently want to fight every bona fide badass in the entire Marvel universe, and the pieces of the puzzle of what Matt's really up against start to come together. Just solid work all around from Waid and Martin and everyone else involved. It's a real shame this isn't selling better. It's one of the best comics Marvel's publishing right now. (I can't believe I'm saying that about Daredevil.)
Incorruptible: Max Damage is awesome. Plain and simple. He's been betrayed at every turn, he's having a b**** of a time getting Coalville back on its feet, the few remaining rich, powerful would-be leaders of the world are doing everything in their considerable power to f*** with him, and then... the f***ing Plutonian returns like a ton of bricks right on top of Max's head. Yet he still manages to be awesome:
Plutonian: You're enjoying this?
Max: You aren't?
I love this series.
Angel and Faith: Another great issue in this series. I love these two as the outcasts of the Buffyverse, and Gage knows these characters' voices really well. It's been a very long time since I've been reminded of how clever and well-versed in mysticism Angel is, but Gage does it here. Faith's revelation that she's "the rational one" to both Angel and the British Slayers was handled equally well. Only thing that gave me pause was Faith's seemingly sudden decision to end Angel's monster-making ways, but then I realized that was probably referencing her idea of using the Mohra blood to force humanity and thus redemption on him rather than her attempting to kill him, and then it made a lot more sense. Isaacs' art is excellent as well. I hope to see her on more stuff when she's done here.
I, Vampire: Another surprisingly good issue. This would've easily been a series I scoffed at and never gave a second glance to on my own, so I'm glad some others spoke so highly of it and convinced me to give it a try. Andrew and Mary's melodrama continues, only we get to see it from Mary's perspective this time. It seems what we're looking at between #1 and #2 is the opening salvo of both Mary and Andrew's respective wars: Mary's horde's slaughter of a whole town of humans, Andrew's retaliatory slaughter of the vampire horde who did the first slaughtering. Gothically tragic romance is sprinkled generously throughout, but it's not as cloying and trite as it usually is--I don't know, maybe it's because a lot of it takes place on a literal mound of dead bodies. The artist does a great job too; at first I thought Sorrentino was a blatant Jae Lee ripoff, but while there are obvious overtones of Lee's style, Sorrentino is competent enough to make it her own. It absolutely suits the tone of the book so far, too. I'm so surprised at how much I'm enjoying this series already that I can hardly imagine how much better it'll get when the superheroes start showing up.
The Walking Dead: Kirkman's tense cliffhanger is once again resolved with a lot of talking in this issue. I don't want to sound like a crass action junkie who can't appreciate a story without blood because TWD is definitely still good; it just struck me a bit this week how often Kirkman has his characters monologue for damn near the whole issue. Rick monologues at Nicholas for a while, then he monologues at Carl for a while, then he monologues at Andrea for a while. Finally, the issue ends with something I'm sure we've all seen coming for a while: Rick and Andrea swapping spit. It's nice and it makes sense. I'm a lot more interested in Glenn and Maggie's issues, though. They're the couple who's survived the longest, it just occurred to me in this issue. How weird, given that Glenn came off kind of asexual at first and Maggie was a total b**** at first.
I've gotten through about half my comics on this very, very large week, so I'll keep my reviews short.
Aquaman: Decent second issue. I like that Aquaman's just going about his superhero business for a little while. Definitely a smart idea to avoid plunging right back into Atlantis stuff right away. My main complaint with this issue, however, is there's just not enough substance. I get that Johns wants to poke fun at all the misconceptions and bulls*** people spout about Aquaman, but it's kind of too much here. Like a third of the issue is just Aquaman and Mera telling people Mera's not "Aquawoman." As a result, this issue feels decompressed as hell and largely unsatisfying because nothing really happens. The Trench come ashore and then bam, the end, tune in next month. Ivan Reis' art continues to be drool-worthy, though.
Wolverine and the X-Men: I went into this with higher hopes than I should be letting myself have for any comic at this point and, surprisingly, it still exceeded them. As ridiculous as Wolverine reopening the school sounds, it actually works in part because of that ridiculousness; I was surprised most of all by how wonderfully funny this issue was. The whole misadventure with the representatives from the New York Board of Education that acts as a guided tour through the new school in this issue was hilarious. Toad's sad whining about his lack of a bed was chuckle-worthy. Broo's presence was awesome (even though it exposed Kitty as a total racist) because I was hoping someone would do something with him after Gage's Astonishing X-Men arc. Kid Gladiator and Deathbird were an odd surprise that quickly became a pleasant one. Beast being Beast is always welcome. Bachalo's art ties it all together by bringing both bold, strong visuals and a youthful, sometimes goofy exuberance that perfectly suits the school atmosphere. I guess I didn't realize it before, but my enjoyment of the X-Men is really tied to the school. It sure as hell beats the hyper-militarized nonsense they've been doing with Cyclops these past few years.
Green Lantern: New Guardians: Take everything I said about Aquaman's second issue and reverse it for this series'. The first issue of New Guardians felt a little spare to me, since I already know Kyle's origin and I got the idea that all the corps' rings were flocking to him after the second example they showed. This issue, however, is packed to the brim with plot. Kyle is forced to fight off representatives of four of the six other corps while still completely clueless as to why the rings are flocking to him in the first place. He manages to ditch them with the help of Saint Walker, the only one who takes Kyle at his word that he's completely clueless. They head to Oa for answers and reminisce about how great Ganthet is along the way. Then they get to Oa and find Ganthet emotionally lobotomized! That was a real "oh snap!" plot twist for me, and it restored some faith that I'm reading REBELS' Tony Bedard instead of Green Lantern Corps' Tony Bedard. The issue ends somewhat more predictably, with all of the rings hopping on Kyle's fingers in the midst of the Guardians. Still, great setup for the next issue. This series is hitting all the right notes for me so far, especially in its exploration of Kyle and Ganthet's relationship. Can't wait to see what comes next. (Although I hope Kirkham can keep up or they've got fill-ins ready to go. He already had to split this issue with Tolibao, and it's only #2!)
Avengers Academy: This is a transitional issue in every sense of the word. At the end of it all, Veil, Speedball, and Justice are out and a whole mess of new kids are in while the Academy itself moves to the old West Coast Avengers compound after the Infinite Mansion's destruction. As much as I loved the Infinite Mansion, I'm glad to see the Academy take on a physical location in the world. I'm also excited to see who the new staffers will be and I'm looking forward to the Avengers Academy/Jean Grey School for Higher Learning crossover that's just begging to be done now. I also hope we get some follow-up on Veil and what she's doing in Morally Ambiguous Corporate Lad's company someday.
Avengers Solo: As good as I expected. Great start to a mystery that pulls Hawkeye out of his comfort zone (with a little cameo by Millie the Model, no less), and another great story about Avengers Academy. What's not to love?
Journey into Mystery: Back on track after its slight dip in quality due to Fear Itself. This issue we're treated to something I've been aching to see for the longest time: a reminder that Volstagg is, in fact, a family man with a wife he genuinely loves and kids coming out his ears (also, that he's nearly as old as Odin). His triumphant return to them and his story of how the Serpent was vanquished is both funny and a bit tragic due to Volstagg's attempts to conceal the magnitude of what really happened and so retain his children's innocence. There's a wonderful parallel in Volstagg's dialogue about said innocence to Loki and his second childhood, too. Gillen weaves it all together really well, as usual. These JiM issues come off like modern-day parables, which totally suits the nature of the series. Richard Elson draws this issue and, while he's no Breitweiser, he's also no Portacio. I'm thankful for one of those two things; care to guess which?
The Mighty Thor: We finally get a story exploring just who the f*** the Serpent is, but sadly it's too little, too late. All Fraction winds up doing here is showing us more of the same. The Serpent's bad because... he likes fear. The Serpent had a bunch of cronies in the Worthy who... stood around and looked tough back in the day before he shoved them into their hammers and scattered them. Odin finally stopped the Serpent by... chopping up a bunch of people and then talking to the Serpent for a little while. There's nothing to actually show us any insight into the depth of the Serpent's evil or why Odin, who's only too happy to be a dick and rely on intimidation plenty of the time, was so dead-set against him. On top of all that, he f***s up Bor's death, Sleipnir's existence, Odin's sacrifice to the World Tree, and the spelling of Ve's name. This comic is pretty much a disgrace at this point. Fraction's down there with Ellis competing for all-time worst Thor writer, as far as I'm concerned.
Annihilators: Earthfall: Decent issue. I like that there's at least some exploration of character relationships going on, as you would expect of a fight between the Avengers and several major characters who've had dealings with them, both as allies and enemies, before. But the majority of it centers on Quasar and Kree/Skrull War stuff. No mention whatsoever of Beta Ray Bill's being an oathbrother to Thor, a founding Avenger--not even from Valkyrie, who never even says a word to Bill throughout the issue. So that's a personal pet peeve for me. But the rest of the issue is still good. Better than I was expecting based on the mere concept of "Avengers vs. Annihilators." The Universal Church of Truth remains the real enemy, and there is a bit of nice work done comparing the Annihilators' incursion on Earth to the Avengers' dodgy history with interstellar conflicts, from butting in where they weren't wanted in the Kree/Skrull War to ignoring the massive conflagrations of recent years like the Annihilation War and the War of Kings. The cliffhanger is intriguing if only because it's somewhat questionable how the heroes are supposed to deal with a threat in that package, so to speak. The Rocket/Groot backup was decent too, but it didn't feel like it got much done. Rocky and Groot are aware of Mojo's manipulations by the end of this issue, though, so at least we won't have another issue of them just bumbling around without a clue.
Venom: Yep, I'm actually reading Venom now. I know, it's shocking to me too. Equally as shocking is that this issue is really good. It's a bit busy, granted, with the letter from Flash's dad battling for attention against the Queen's dialogue for a little while, but that's not too bad. Captain America shows up for a nice save against the Queen. There's not a lot of time for bonding between the two in this issue, but there is some and Remender uses it well. The issue ends on a cliffhanger that I won't see the resolution to, since I'm not reading ASM, but I'll be glad to put this Spider-Island stuff behind me and get on with Flash's regular story again. Tom Fowler's art is great. I remember disliking his work on Green Arrow, but I guess it must suit this series better because it kicks ass here.
Daredevil: Another great issue. Matt works to protect his client, we get a glimpse of this new villain whose schtick is to apparently want to fight every bona fide badass in the entire Marvel universe, and the pieces of the puzzle of what Matt's really up against start to come together. Just solid work all around from Waid and Martin and everyone else involved. It's a real shame this isn't selling better. It's one of the best comics Marvel's publishing right now. (I can't believe I'm saying that about Daredevil.)
Incorruptible: Max Damage is awesome. Plain and simple. He's been betrayed at every turn, he's having a b**** of a time getting Coalville back on its feet, the few remaining rich, powerful would-be leaders of the world are doing everything in their considerable power to f*** with him, and then... the f***ing Plutonian returns like a ton of bricks right on top of Max's head. Yet he still manages to be awesome:
Plutonian: You're enjoying this?
Max: You aren't?
I love this series.Angel and Faith: Another great issue in this series. I love these two as the outcasts of the Buffyverse, and Gage knows these characters' voices really well. It's been a very long time since I've been reminded of how clever and well-versed in mysticism Angel is, but Gage does it here. Faith's revelation that she's "the rational one" to both Angel and the British Slayers was handled equally well. Only thing that gave me pause was Faith's seemingly sudden decision to end Angel's monster-making ways, but then I realized that was probably referencing her idea of using the Mohra blood to force humanity and thus redemption on him rather than her attempting to kill him, and then it made a lot more sense. Isaacs' art is excellent as well. I hope to see her on more stuff when she's done here.
I, Vampire: Another surprisingly good issue. This would've easily been a series I scoffed at and never gave a second glance to on my own, so I'm glad some others spoke so highly of it and convinced me to give it a try. Andrew and Mary's melodrama continues, only we get to see it from Mary's perspective this time. It seems what we're looking at between #1 and #2 is the opening salvo of both Mary and Andrew's respective wars: Mary's horde's slaughter of a whole town of humans, Andrew's retaliatory slaughter of the vampire horde who did the first slaughtering. Gothically tragic romance is sprinkled generously throughout, but it's not as cloying and trite as it usually is--I don't know, maybe it's because a lot of it takes place on a literal mound of dead bodies. The artist does a great job too; at first I thought Sorrentino was a blatant Jae Lee ripoff, but while there are obvious overtones of Lee's style, Sorrentino is competent enough to make it her own. It absolutely suits the tone of the book so far, too. I'm so surprised at how much I'm enjoying this series already that I can hardly imagine how much better it'll get when the superheroes start showing up.
The Walking Dead: Kirkman's tense cliffhanger is once again resolved with a lot of talking in this issue. I don't want to sound like a crass action junkie who can't appreciate a story without blood because TWD is definitely still good; it just struck me a bit this week how often Kirkman has his characters monologue for damn near the whole issue. Rick monologues at Nicholas for a while, then he monologues at Carl for a while, then he monologues at Andrea for a while. Finally, the issue ends with something I'm sure we've all seen coming for a while: Rick and Andrea swapping spit. It's nice and it makes sense. I'm a lot more interested in Glenn and Maggie's issues, though. They're the couple who's survived the longest, it just occurred to me in this issue. How weird, given that Glenn came off kind of asexual at first and Maggie was a total b**** at first.
