You Buy/You Think for 5-12-10 *It Spoils*

[Tron Bonne]

I wasn't planning on picking up The Return of Bruce Wayne #1 but did when I saw Chris Sprouse was on art. I knew he was doing some variant covers, but was unaware he was the main artist.

For one, I'll go ahead and get this out of the way; I hate, hate this whole amnesia part of the storyline. I find the fact that Bruce has lost his memory and just happens to become a Batman of some sort in each era to be a little silly and maybe even somewhat gimmicky. Yeah, I get Morrison's whole meta thing with Bruce being the only true Batman in the end or whatever, but I would have preferred him keeping his memory and perhaps even making this a time traveling detective story. However, that's neither here nor there.

We see Batman emerging from the cave seen in the last issue of Final Crisis. Apparently, Bruce has not only lost his memory but his ability to speak correctly, with all of his words slurring into an incompressible mess. Batman is looked at as a God, more on that in a moment, and he and his caveman buddies are ambushed by none other than Vandal Savage (or Chief Savage to his friends). Savage plans to kill Bruce in battle, but thanks to a little help from Kong and his trusty utility belt, he overtakes him easily enough. Of course, in that meta-loveliness, he's dressed as a giant bat and is referred to as the 'Man of Bats' by Kong and the cavecrew. Then, he's teleported away to what seems to be pilgrim-ish time with a sea creature on his back, hoping the next leap will be his last. He can also speak English well enough again, for whatever reason.

Unfortunately, the actual appearance of Savage and battle afterward are over and done pretty quickly. The main points of interest, that seem to be setting up some type of mystery element, is that Bruce apparently arrived in a space ship, which also has a broken Bat-signal in it (hence why the cavemen thought him a God and that his 'sky cart'). Also, we see what is assumed to be the party time searching for Bruce, but Superman says something to the effect that if Bruce makes it back to the 21st Century on his own, everyone is going to die. But is it Superman? He had red eyes, so he's either angry; we're seeing the point of view of the caveman seeing Superman; something is not as it seems; or there's an unknown element that's apparently Earth scattering involved with Bruce's time tripping.

Overall, I would say it wasn't an awful issue but a somewhat weak start. I'm interested what the space ship and death of the 21st century comment means in the long run, but I wasn't particularly grabbed with anything else. Part of that may be that I just don't care much for the idea of a caveman version of Batman. I get what Morrison is doing with it, like much of his run, but like some other things we has returned to continuity, I can take or leave it. This idea leans fairly to the 'leave it' side.

I couldn't also help but feel that the idea just wasn't developed well enough. It's hard to put my finger on, but I think a lot of these elements could have been used better. I dare say it feels like Morrison was going for a Tom Strong-ish feel with this, but didn't quite make it. Of course, with the way Morrison writes, sometimes you have to wait until all is said and done to see what he was going for. I'll probably stick with the miniseries, but can't say I was incredibly impressed with this first issue.

I will say that Sprouse's art is great, though, and I think this really was a great project for him to handle. I've always thought he would be good for a Batman project of some sort based on his Tom Strong work. They also put a nice preview of the upcoming Tom Strong mini in this. It's not like anyone cares about that, since Moore obviously won't be writing it, but it's nice to see.

 

[taskmaster]

The reason it seemed like he couldn't speak was because the cave-men couldn't understand him. And it is the regular Superman, there's a miniseries about that part of the story coming out with Hal, Booster and Supes looking for Bruce. As for the amnesia thing, Bruce will figure it out pretty quick.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Ah, I see. That would explain the speech, but I was thrown off since the caveman seemed to be speaking some wonky English (which I assumed was Morrison's way of showing the language wasn't fully developed) and saw no indication that it was a translation like some comics do.

Also, I'm aware of the Time Masters (or whatever it's called) mini where those three are searching for Bruce. What I was saying is that I think that scene might have been a red herring because of Superman's appearance and statement (though, as I said, the appearance might be because it's meant from the POW of the caveman). Sorry that I was a little unclear with that

I would like to think he'll figure out who and what he is quickly, but I'm betting he won't until the end.

 

[Drz]

Bruce will figure it out pretty quick.

No he has the whole amnesia all the way. The 6th incarnation is the Dark Knight, which is when he's back as Batman, but the private detective has been confirmed to also have the amnesia.

EDIT: Thanks for the review Tron.

 

[fifthfiend]

4-12-10

 

[Tron Bonne]

I thought it was appropriate with the time tripping nature of the first review

 

[fifthfiend]

Beautiful save

 

[taskmaster]

No he has the whole amnesia all the way. The 6th incarnation is the Dark Knight, which is when he's back as Batman, but the private detective has been confirmed to also have the amnesia.

EDIT: Thanks for the review Tron.

That's kind of strange, how will he be able to lay out all of the clues that Dick, Damian and Alfred found in Batman and Robin? Well, this is just the first issue, Morrison usually manages to make sense when all is said and done.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Siege #4

Just one review for today, as I'm doing things with the kids a bit later. This issue is a pretty big disappointment. Bendis is SOOO good at coming up with the initial idea and beginnings for these storylines; but, the end just kind of peters out. I had huge hopes for this one, though; because, the first three issues were just damn good. Even the tie-ins have been pretty good. My problem is:

*Loki's change of heart is just too sudden, and makes very little sense. Is it all a ruse??? (In my heart, I feel that might be true.)

*The Void looks nothing like The Void I've seen in the past, and to be honest, his lack of substance made the character very unappealing. Again, Bendis comes up with a great idea, with The Sentry going nuts..and, then the payoff makes the reader hugely disappointed.

*All the "everything goes back to the way it was before" ending also was done too quickly. Superhuman Registration being disbanded (throwing the baby out with the bathwater) is too much too soon. It all just feels like Marvel is saying, "We are officially done with all those old storylines, and now we're heading into a completely new direction for all you new readers."

My review on the facial scale = . Overall, though, I'd still give this event a .

 

[kguillou]

Registration is done now? How? Doesn't the general public still want registered heroes?

 

[bored]

It's publicly announced at the end that SHRA is "thrown out". Sort of a gross abuse of executive power, but I think that's more Bendis not understanding how government works than a political statement.

 

[kguillou]

I guess that sorta makes sense, i mean Norman abused his power for sure, but i still don't think that would've necessarily led to the abolition of registration altogether. I mean wasn't the whole point that people were afraid of having these superpowered individuals running free with no accountability? Seems like too easy of an out to me.

 

[Spider-Jay420]

I wouldn't say SEIGE was a disappointing ending, but the final fight ended much too soon for me. As far as Loki, He's not really "evil", just mischevious and a pain in the ass. Once he realized how much damage had been done and how many of his Asgardian brothers were killed, I bought that he would change his tune, and beg for Odin's help/forgiveness. I mean, he just likes to cause trouble. He's not a genocidal maniac.

The previous 3 issues were much better, but Bendis did OK with the conclusion. Not Amazing, but good.

The whole after effects just seemed a little too,...I don't know. I don't wanna say cheesy, but just, "Yay!! Everything is how it should be. Let's party on the roof on Avengers Tower and have some free beer, and get ready to assemble our NEW teams! COOL! YAY!!"

You can all skip the SEIGE:Epilogue: Fallen Sun. Waste of time. Just heroes reminiscing at Bob's headstone about what an amazing hero Bob was and how he inspired them all. I want my $3.99 back.

New Avengers Finale was OK, but did't really feel like anything happened. The team catches up to Count Nefaria's digs, where he is gonna augment Parker's abilities and give him god-like powers at Whitney's request, and it'll cost the Hood EVERY dime he has. Carol trades blows with the Count, while the team captures Masque and a powerless Hood, and everyone's favorite Avenger, WOLVERINE shoes up to slice and dice Nefaria so Carol can knock him out. YAY WOLVERINE!! Anyway, the bad guys are webbed up and left with Maria Hill in the Asgard wreckage and Steve Rogers tells them they are free men and women. No more SHRA. We get an inspirational speech from Cage and visually look back at the New Avengers greatest hits and a wonderfully hopeful, positive, rainbows and puppies ending.

My only fear with the Heroic Age is the cheesiness factor. I like the idea of heroes being heroes and winning in the end, but this ending and SEIGE's just seemed kinda....cheesy. I'm not sold on it yet...

Return of Bruce Wayne was an interesting start but, like Tron Bonne, I would have rather not seen an amnesiac Bruce Wayne. A time travel mystery would've been better, but we'll see what Morrison has planned. Also, there doesn't seem to be any reason or how when Bruce left the Cavemen era into the Pilgrim era. He's just there? Weird. I hope there will be more meat to these issues, because if we are just gonna see little time period mini adventures until the last issue, this is gonna suck. Again, interesting start, but let's hope more is revealed next issue.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Siege f***ing ruled. I'm just gonna go ahead and make it clear that I loved every single page of the issue. For someone who spent the past few years s***ting all over everything the Avengers stand for, this conclusion set everything up for a return to the classic Avengers perfectly. It's a relatively standard superheroes persevere and overcome colossal evil story because that's symbolically what the Heroic Age represents--traditional superheroics, good triumphing over evil, etc. The stuff we all started reading superhero comics for in the first place.

I absolutely love the fact that Thor and Heimdall set Avengers Tower as the endpoint on Midgard for the Rainbow Bridge. I mean, it would've been nice if it were Avengers Mansion instead, but the underlying message of the Asgardians embracing the Avengers that way was still cool.

Loki's change of heart works fine because Loki doesn't have a change of heart. He loves Asgard. Always has, always will. The fact that the Sentry brought it down hurts him every bit as much as it does Thor or any other Asgardian. He's fought against Asgard, true, but only as a means of gaining control of Asgard because he thought he could rule it better or because he was pissed at Odin or Thor or whatever. He's a petty god who lashes out in anger as often as he plans with cold, careful calculation, but he's never wanted to see Asgard utterly laid to ruin. The idea that he would betray his own plans and attempt to give the heroes a fighting chance after the Void spirals out of control and literally tears his whole world apart is perfectly natural and sensible for him.

Besides, I'm pretty sure the events of the Siege: Loki one-shot means Loki can't die anyway. I mean, even more than the usual "can't die-ness" of gods and characters in comic books in general.

Also, even though Thor kills Bob in the end, I'm glad Bendis went out of his way to show Thor--the guy who was easily the most wronged by this vile, tragic bastard in Siege--telling Bob that he'd go to trial and serve time for his sins rather than just killing him outright. That to me is far more heroic than just murdering him for revenge, which feels like the kind of thing we would've been treated to under the guise of heroism before. That particular note was one of my favorites that Bendis hit on his "parade of heroism," which is what I'm calling the second half of this issue (since it pretty much is just going through the Marvel universe and showing us each individual change to its status quo for the Heroic Age).

Oh, and of course it didn't hurt at all that Thor got to be monumentally badass in this issue.

 

[daderade]

Man I am so glad that it seems Marvel is FINALLY going to push Thor. He is and always has been, thier "Superman", in many ways, far better....in my opinion JMS got this ball rolling and deserves a standing slow clap.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Return of Bruce Wayne was an interesting start but, like Tron Bonne, I would have rather not seen an amnesiac Bruce Wayne. A time travel mystery would've been better, but we'll see what Morrison has planned. Also, there doesn't seem to be any reason or how when Bruce left the Cavemen era into the Pilgrim era. He's just there? Weird. I hope there will be more meat to these issues, because if we are just gonna see little time period mini adventures until the last issue, this is gonna suck. Again, interesting start, but let's hope more is revealed next issue.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot all about that. I think Bruce is in a kind of Quantum Leap situation. If you notice when he sees that giant batskin there's this glow and bits and pieces of his memory flashed by. When he used that as his CaveBat suit and dispatched Savage, he leaped not long after that. My guess is that he has to fully become the Batman of that time for the next time jump to happen shortly afterward and possibly to get his full memory back.

Man I am so glad that it seems Marvel is FINALLY going to push Thor. He is and always has been, thier "Superman", in many ways, far better....in my opinion JMS got this ball rolling and deserves a standing slow clap.

Key word; slllloooowwwwwwwwww

slow

 

[Shockdingo]

Also, even though Thor kills Bob in the end, I'm glad Bendis went out of his way to show Thor--the guy who was easily the most wronged by this vile, tragic bastard in Siege--telling Bob that he'd go to trial and serve time for his sins rather than just killing him outright. That to me is far more heroic than just murdering him for revenge, which feels like the kind of thing we would've been treated to under the guise of heroism before. That particular note was one of my favorites that Bendis hit on his "parade of heroism," which is what I'm calling the second half of this issue (since it pretty much is just going through the Marvel universe and showing us each individual change to its status quo for the Heroic Age).

Oh, and of course it didn't hurt at all that Thor got to be monumentally badass in this issue.

This. @$^&^^ THIS. I rather enjoyed that Thor got respect (finally! Yeaaaaaaashhhhnnnnnguuuh!) I'm having high hopes for this newer and brighter age of heroes. I'm excited at the potential greatness of all of this. Here's hoping it delivers! t:

 

[kguillou]

Dark Avengers 16: The final issue and it was a big...meh. Again, what is it with Bendis and not being able to deliver a decent finale to things? Nothing really happened in this issue. Thor had a nice moment with Phobos, where he sort of passed the torch on. The rest was a bunch of meh. Mostly characters talking with each other and the issue ends with Norman being...well crazy old norman, it ended with him locked up in a cell somewhere talking to himself. Not bad stuff but not what i was expecting for a finale issue either.

I gotta say on the whole I'm very disappointed with Dark avengers. I feel like Bendis did nothing with this book and it had so much potential to rock hard. This should have been a continuation of Warren Ellis' amazing Thunderbolts run but instead it was all meh. Bendis had an awesome cast of crazies to work with and he didnt really do anything with them during the 16 issue run.

The best part about this book was Deodato's incredible artwork. This guy is freakin phenominal and delivers some truly breathtaking pages. BUT without a strong script behind it, its pretty much All Star Batman and Robin, pretty pictures with no substance. Its a shame really. The first issue was awesome but the rest was well......meh.

 

[MightyAvenge]

New Mutants - Second coming has been great, but this is so much a review as a comment/question. Bastion wants to take out all the X-Men's teleporter's, which he does. Illyana is wisked to hell, pixie is sent with others to go after her and Ariel and Nightcrawler are both K.I.A.. But then I think about Cloak, where the hell is he?

 

[MyPokerShirt]

WOW.

I can say without a doubt that siege 4 was the worst comic book I have ever read. I never post reviews, barely ever post on these boards, but if I get time this week I'm going to tear seven shades of **** out of that thing. It's horrible. The dialogue was AWFUL. It ended too soon. Thor acted as a giant deus ex machina. Oh wow, look Thor IS more powwerful than someone we were told not so long ago cannot die. Noone cares that Bob was ill and it wasn't his fault. Noone cared about Bob. FFS they all seemed more upset foor Loki. Loki. The God of evil. Rather than the Golden Guardian (or whatever they were calling him). Seriously. AWFUL. AWFUL. AWFUL. Hated every page of it. Bendis even made Spider-Man swear. I usually love Bendis but this... URGH.

DO NOT READ SIEGE 4


AWFUL

 

[Tron Bonne]

Hmmm, interesting. We have someone who wasn't fond of Bendis loving this issue to death, and someone who usually liked Bendis denouncing it tooth and claw. Interesting, indeed

 

[JewishHobbit]

Man, freakin' huge week. I have two more issues to read and then I'll get my reviews up. It may be tonight, it may be in the morning. We'll see. Some good stuff with all the Siege, but I'm also getting very annoyed with the layouts of several issues ruining other things in other issues no matter how you read them. The Hulk issues lately have done this and it's getting on my nerves. This is a really bad way to do comics.

 

[BrianWilly]

Titans: Villains For Hire Special #1

I just don't understand it. It's not like editors and writers just flat-out don't know what an acclaimed, well-received story looks like. Why not do those instead? It's not like they don't possess extensive first-hand experience and knowledge in regards to what people want to read about. Now, I understand that a company is not always able to accurately gauge that complex landscape of readership likes and dislikes when obviously not everyone is going to agree on a single thing anyway. But how is it possible that they can make decisions after decisions that are just so completely freaking disconnected from what any reader whatsoever might remotely want to see, and then gawk helplessly as Marvel and manga slaughters them in the market?

You know, Ryan Choi isn't even really one of my most favorite characters. If I never read another issue of anything with him in it for the rest of my life, I would barely notice it. I'm guessing none of you give even a tiny amount of **** about him. But I'm sure there is that one character about whom you would flip out if he or she were unceremoniously gutted for grimdark shock value to sell a horrible book. And when it happens -- when, not if -- we'll all be the worse for it, because no character deserves that.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Okay, I just have to know now; what exactly happened to Choi? I knew he died from Ass, but what kind of shock value thing did they do

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Already happened to me. His name was Hornet and Mark Millar killed him off to make "Enemy of the State" seem important.