Sometimes, when my wife is away at work, I find myself talking to my cat as though I were a supervillain and she my loyal but simpleminded henchman.
I was just heating up a mug of hot chocolate, and was shouting at her: "We could be on the brink of something extraordinary here! A shot of vanilla syrup in hot chocolate? It's never even been attempted! The audacity of what we are about to do; It will shock the whole world! BY GOD MAN, DO YOU REALIZE WHAT THIS MEANS?!"
It just now dawned on me that I may need to get out more.
#fuckit #timetoreadmorecomics
Friday, March 15, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Wednesdaybusiness 3/13/13
I'm starting to feel like these are getting a little repetitive. I sort of think I could just say "Marvel NOW! is awesome, except that Bendis is writing some really boring stuff," and it would cover almost everything I'm following right now.
But let's do this thing anyway.
-------
Age of Ultron #2 by Brian Michael Bendis and Bryan Hitch
You guys, Age of Ultron is stupid. I'm just gonna' come right out with it. The absolute only reason I'm going to read this book is for this blog, and the only reason I even want to blog about it is that it's being billed as the current "Big Thing". But so far all it has been is pointlessly bleak, excessively violent, and really boring.
Both issues so far have followed the same formula: The first few pages follow somebody killing a bunch of folks, then the rest of the issue is a bunch of superheroes crying and hiding.
In this issue, Captain America stood up. That's literally the dramatic crux of the book.
The best thing about this issue is the variant cover I chose to post above. I like that Black Widow's actually got a normal human body on there. Though it doesn't quite match the interior art, because there she has burn scars all over her face. Because DYSTOPIAN FUTURE!
Bleh.
-------
Avengers Arena #6 by Dennis Hopeless and Kev Walker
Avengers Arena is still managing to remain extremely readable despite the fact that I don't approve of the idea of it at all. The characters are all being done justice (even though some of them are being killed off) and being developed in interesting ways... which makes me hope that at least a handful of them survive to defeat Arcade and escape into a new team book. Kev Walker is also rapidly becoming one of my favorite artists in the business.
The only thing that dawned on me with this issue is that X-23 was kind of an odd choice of a character to include in this book, because... she can't die. I'm assuming that it MUST be some kind of an "out" for the story, because there's really nothing Arcade can do to hurt her. He can pretty easily manipulate her into killing everybody else, but I suspect that - in the end - she's gonna' be the one who saves the day.
-------
Avengers Assemble #13 by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Pete Woods, and Mark Bagley
I really love Kelly Sue DeConnick. She's basically able to capture everything I enjoy about superhero comics, every time.
There's a lot going on in this book. Lizard formulas! Black Widow's dark past! Hawkguy making bad jokes! So let's just go ahead and say that this is a comic where the Black Widow gets turned into a lizard monster and saves her friends from other lizard monsters, and you should be following this comic, and every other comic DeConnick is writing.
We'll all be happier that way.
-------
Fantastic Four #5 by Matt Fraction and Mark Bagley
This is another of those boring reviews where all I can really say is "I like it." This is a good comic. Matt Fraction typically writes good comics, and I typically buy them.
The only thing I didn't quite get in this issue is that, at one point, the Thing's eyes lit up and he got really powerful for a minute. I'm not sure if that's a reference to Fear Itself, or if it's something new brewing that I haven't picked up on. I didn't actually read Fear Itself - just some of the tie-in books - so maybe I just have some catching up to do.
But yeah. It's hard to go wrong with a Fantastic Four comic titled I Killed Julius Caesar!
-------
Fearless Defenders #2 by Cullen Bunn and Will Sliney
Honestly, I like the cover art for this series better than the comics themselves. The solicitations for future issues grab me every time. I especially like this issue's cover because I am a huge nerd for the Toy Biz/Hasbro "Marvel Legends" action figures, and they haven't actually MADE one of Moonstar yet!
I'm not so wild about this comic at the moment. Like, it's... okay. I'm not totally sold on Cullen Bunn's writing yet, so right now I'm just reading this for the characters, who I love. But that can be problematic sometimes. I'd typically rather read a well-written comic in general than a so-so comic with a handful of my favorite superheroes in it.
As for the story itself, it's starting to feel like the first year+ of this series is just going to be them assembling the team. I have some mixed feelings about this: On the one hand, it makes for some occasionally pretty boring stories; but on the other hand, it means Marvel's invested in this book for the foreseeable future, and I really like that. Marvel is being bold, and taking risks on some oddball, character-driven stories without a specific "commercial" draw right now, which is something that big companies are often afraid to do in any entertainment medium. I respect that. So while this isn't anywhere near my favorite comic on the shelves, I think it really sums up what I am loving about the whole Marvel NOW! project.
Though, one quick problem that doesn't have a whole lot to do with this comic specifically, but rather the entire X-Verse: I thought the mutants were getting their powers back now. Or is it just that NEW mutants are appearing? Or is Moonstar an exception because of her ties to Asgard? These aren't rhetorical questions; I'm actually curious how this is all working. I love ass-kicking gun-wielding Dani Moonstar, but I do miss her badass fear superpowers.
-------
Secret Avengers #2 by Nick Spencer and Luke Ross
I feel kind of... weird... about this series so far. The current status of SHIELD is kind of baffling, with Nick Fury "retired", Quake in charge but seemingly never showing up anywhere, Maria Hill still acting like she's in charge, and Nick Fury Junior and Phil Coulson as agents who are acting like - and being treated like - they've been around forever, instead of like 12 minutes.
In this issue, they rescue Taskmaster from AIM Island (which is still one of my favorite developments in the entire history of the Marvel Universe) to recruit him to their top-secret memory-erased black-ops squad. It's fun so far, but I'm still not too cool with superheroes having their memories erased. It's a little too Identity Crisis, and that's a very bad association for me.
Though, confusing as it is, I'm glad to see Agent Coulson in the comics. I love that guy.
-------
Thunderbolts #6 by Daniel Way and Steve Dillon
I'm pretty close to calling it quits on this book. I normally like Daniel Way, but in this series he's just not telling a very interesting story or using his characters in any interesting ways. With a cast of murderous vigilantes, the comic has no right to be as boring as it is.
Also, the book is starting to center entirely too much on a budding relationship between Elektra and The Punisher. This is sort of in-character for Elektra, but does not fit The Punisher at all. I'm sorry, guys, but I really hate the idea of Frank Castle enjoying himself, ever. It just doesn't feel right. And now the newest development is that Deadpool has a thing for Elektra, and him and Frank are gonna' argue about it and stuff? No thank you, sir.
The only reason I've hung on as long as I have is Steve Dillon's art. I love Steve Dillon's art.
-------
Uncanny X-Men #3 by Brian Michael Bendis and Chris Bachalo
Okay. For the past two issues I've just been ragging on this comic for being about people standing around and talking about Cyclops. But in this issue, a fight scene almost breaks out, before one of the characters freezes time. Then they leave to go talk about Cyclops.
The one compliment I can give this book is that I do really like some of the new mutant teenagers they've introduced. If these characters survive long enough to be handed to a better writer, I think some of them could be fantastic additions to the X-Verse. I just want to see them... y'know... DO SOME STUFF!
Also, I said last week that I suspect Bendis is treating Hawkeye like a violent asshole simply because other writers are all finally starting to have some fun with him. This is definitely reinforced in this issue, where the other Avengers all have to talk Hawkguy down from literally shooting Cyclops in the face.
-------
Wolverine #1 by Paul Cornell and Alan Davis
I chose to go with the variant cover for this one as well, because it made me smile.
My reviews have just been in alphabetical order this week, but that also serves the purpose of saving the best for last. I was so damned excited when I found out about this book. Paul Cornell and Alan Davis are both fucking amazing, and the idea of a really good Wolverine book is a pretty exciting prospect to me.
So far this issue is just setting up the plot: Wolverine was buying a cup of coffee when suddenly Scary Shit started happening around him, and now he needs to fix it.
The issue was well-written and tightly-drawn, which I expected. Wolverine is treated like the competent 200-year-old samurai, which I always prefer over the snikt-bub catchphrase-spouting aspect of the character. He takes charge of the situation immediately, takes responsibility for his failures, and tries his best to help everyone around him. These are actual heroic qualities, and it's frankly kind of rad to see them shown in a comic. It's something that, weirdly, doesn't happen enough.
But let's do this thing anyway.
-------
Age of Ultron #2 by Brian Michael Bendis and Bryan Hitch
You guys, Age of Ultron is stupid. I'm just gonna' come right out with it. The absolute only reason I'm going to read this book is for this blog, and the only reason I even want to blog about it is that it's being billed as the current "Big Thing". But so far all it has been is pointlessly bleak, excessively violent, and really boring.
Both issues so far have followed the same formula: The first few pages follow somebody killing a bunch of folks, then the rest of the issue is a bunch of superheroes crying and hiding.
In this issue, Captain America stood up. That's literally the dramatic crux of the book.
The best thing about this issue is the variant cover I chose to post above. I like that Black Widow's actually got a normal human body on there. Though it doesn't quite match the interior art, because there she has burn scars all over her face. Because DYSTOPIAN FUTURE!
Bleh.
 |
| Any time there's an alternate reality, She-Hulk immediately gets a buzzcut. |
-------
Avengers Arena #6 by Dennis Hopeless and Kev Walker
Avengers Arena is still managing to remain extremely readable despite the fact that I don't approve of the idea of it at all. The characters are all being done justice (even though some of them are being killed off) and being developed in interesting ways... which makes me hope that at least a handful of them survive to defeat Arcade and escape into a new team book. Kev Walker is also rapidly becoming one of my favorite artists in the business.
The only thing that dawned on me with this issue is that X-23 was kind of an odd choice of a character to include in this book, because... she can't die. I'm assuming that it MUST be some kind of an "out" for the story, because there's really nothing Arcade can do to hurt her. He can pretty easily manipulate her into killing everybody else, but I suspect that - in the end - she's gonna' be the one who saves the day.
 |
| TRIGGER SCENT |
-------
Avengers Assemble #13 by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Pete Woods, and Mark Bagley
I really love Kelly Sue DeConnick. She's basically able to capture everything I enjoy about superhero comics, every time.
There's a lot going on in this book. Lizard formulas! Black Widow's dark past! Hawkguy making bad jokes! So let's just go ahead and say that this is a comic where the Black Widow gets turned into a lizard monster and saves her friends from other lizard monsters, and you should be following this comic, and every other comic DeConnick is writing.
We'll all be happier that way.
 |
| This one panel made me instantly love Spider-Woman. |
-------
Fantastic Four #5 by Matt Fraction and Mark Bagley
This is another of those boring reviews where all I can really say is "I like it." This is a good comic. Matt Fraction typically writes good comics, and I typically buy them.
The only thing I didn't quite get in this issue is that, at one point, the Thing's eyes lit up and he got really powerful for a minute. I'm not sure if that's a reference to Fear Itself, or if it's something new brewing that I haven't picked up on. I didn't actually read Fear Itself - just some of the tie-in books - so maybe I just have some catching up to do.
But yeah. It's hard to go wrong with a Fantastic Four comic titled I Killed Julius Caesar!
 |
| Glowing eyes? K. |
-------
Fearless Defenders #2 by Cullen Bunn and Will Sliney
Honestly, I like the cover art for this series better than the comics themselves. The solicitations for future issues grab me every time. I especially like this issue's cover because I am a huge nerd for the Toy Biz/Hasbro "Marvel Legends" action figures, and they haven't actually MADE one of Moonstar yet!
I'm not so wild about this comic at the moment. Like, it's... okay. I'm not totally sold on Cullen Bunn's writing yet, so right now I'm just reading this for the characters, who I love. But that can be problematic sometimes. I'd typically rather read a well-written comic in general than a so-so comic with a handful of my favorite superheroes in it.
As for the story itself, it's starting to feel like the first year+ of this series is just going to be them assembling the team. I have some mixed feelings about this: On the one hand, it makes for some occasionally pretty boring stories; but on the other hand, it means Marvel's invested in this book for the foreseeable future, and I really like that. Marvel is being bold, and taking risks on some oddball, character-driven stories without a specific "commercial" draw right now, which is something that big companies are often afraid to do in any entertainment medium. I respect that. So while this isn't anywhere near my favorite comic on the shelves, I think it really sums up what I am loving about the whole Marvel NOW! project.
Though, one quick problem that doesn't have a whole lot to do with this comic specifically, but rather the entire X-Verse: I thought the mutants were getting their powers back now. Or is it just that NEW mutants are appearing? Or is Moonstar an exception because of her ties to Asgard? These aren't rhetorical questions; I'm actually curious how this is all working. I love ass-kicking gun-wielding Dani Moonstar, but I do miss her badass fear superpowers.
 |
| Thrak. |
-------
Secret Avengers #2 by Nick Spencer and Luke Ross
I feel kind of... weird... about this series so far. The current status of SHIELD is kind of baffling, with Nick Fury "retired", Quake in charge but seemingly never showing up anywhere, Maria Hill still acting like she's in charge, and Nick Fury Junior and Phil Coulson as agents who are acting like - and being treated like - they've been around forever, instead of like 12 minutes.
In this issue, they rescue Taskmaster from AIM Island (which is still one of my favorite developments in the entire history of the Marvel Universe) to recruit him to their top-secret memory-erased black-ops squad. It's fun so far, but I'm still not too cool with superheroes having their memories erased. It's a little too Identity Crisis, and that's a very bad association for me.
Though, confusing as it is, I'm glad to see Agent Coulson in the comics. I love that guy.
 |
| Don't fuck with The Son of Coul. |
-------
Thunderbolts #6 by Daniel Way and Steve Dillon
I'm pretty close to calling it quits on this book. I normally like Daniel Way, but in this series he's just not telling a very interesting story or using his characters in any interesting ways. With a cast of murderous vigilantes, the comic has no right to be as boring as it is.
Also, the book is starting to center entirely too much on a budding relationship between Elektra and The Punisher. This is sort of in-character for Elektra, but does not fit The Punisher at all. I'm sorry, guys, but I really hate the idea of Frank Castle enjoying himself, ever. It just doesn't feel right. And now the newest development is that Deadpool has a thing for Elektra, and him and Frank are gonna' argue about it and stuff? No thank you, sir.
The only reason I've hung on as long as I have is Steve Dillon's art. I love Steve Dillon's art.
 |
| No. |
-------
Uncanny X-Men #3 by Brian Michael Bendis and Chris Bachalo
Okay. For the past two issues I've just been ragging on this comic for being about people standing around and talking about Cyclops. But in this issue, a fight scene almost breaks out, before one of the characters freezes time. Then they leave to go talk about Cyclops.
The one compliment I can give this book is that I do really like some of the new mutant teenagers they've introduced. If these characters survive long enough to be handed to a better writer, I think some of them could be fantastic additions to the X-Verse. I just want to see them... y'know... DO SOME STUFF!
Also, I said last week that I suspect Bendis is treating Hawkeye like a violent asshole simply because other writers are all finally starting to have some fun with him. This is definitely reinforced in this issue, where the other Avengers all have to talk Hawkguy down from literally shooting Cyclops in the face.
 |
| Why you gotta' be like that, Bendis? |
-------
Wolverine #1 by Paul Cornell and Alan Davis
I chose to go with the variant cover for this one as well, because it made me smile.
My reviews have just been in alphabetical order this week, but that also serves the purpose of saving the best for last. I was so damned excited when I found out about this book. Paul Cornell and Alan Davis are both fucking amazing, and the idea of a really good Wolverine book is a pretty exciting prospect to me.
So far this issue is just setting up the plot: Wolverine was buying a cup of coffee when suddenly Scary Shit started happening around him, and now he needs to fix it.
The issue was well-written and tightly-drawn, which I expected. Wolverine is treated like the competent 200-year-old samurai, which I always prefer over the snikt-bub catchphrase-spouting aspect of the character. He takes charge of the situation immediately, takes responsibility for his failures, and tries his best to help everyone around him. These are actual heroic qualities, and it's frankly kind of rad to see them shown in a comic. It's something that, weirdly, doesn't happen enough.
 |
| Even nude, Wolverine's got shit UNDER CONTROL. |
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Wednesdaybusiness 3/6/13
I don't know how much rant I've got in me right now. I had a fairly involved argument regarding the corruption and racism inherent to the prison-industrial complex and the "war on drugs" before I had even eaten breakfast today, so I'm a little worn down. But I'll power through this week's comics for you, my lovely readers.
You really are lovely, by the way. Yes, you. I adore the way your eyes sparkle. Mmmmm.
-------
A+X #5 by Kathryn Immonen and David Lafuente / Kieron Gillen and Joe Bennett
A+X #5 was everything that I hoped it would be. Ridiculous, sort of surreal, and full of action. I actually hadn't checked out any issues of A+X before, but if they're all this fun I may go back and read the whole series.
I basically picked this up because Kathryn Immonen's name was on the cover alongside a picture of Doop and Iron Fist.
That's all I really needed. But Kieron Gillen also provided a very fun story about Mr. Sinister and Kid Loki trying to invade Latveria. If there's nothing you like in that sentence, you might as well give up on comics.
-------
Cable and X-Force #5 by Dennis Hopeless and Salvador Larroca
I'm just going to come out and say it: Cable and X-Force is stupid and I don't like it.
After winning their war against The Deadly Threat of Fat People, Cable and his fakey X-Force are hiding out in Mexico.
That's it. That's the whole story.
Domino and Colossus got drunk on Tequila and fucked, Dr. Nemesis and Forge built giant robots and fought each other for no reason, Cable drove around on a motorcycle. And NONE of that stuff was as fun as it sounds when I just say it like that.
I should maybe have tapped out after the OMG FAT PEOPLE WILL DESTROY US story last issue, but I think I'm for-realsies bailing on this book. Dennis Hopeless still has me hooked with Avengers Arena despite myself, but I don't think I can really call him... good.
-------
Superior Spider-Man #5 by Dan Slott and Giuseppe Camuncoli
This issue was a good summary of everything that this book is basically about. Otto Octavius is - in a lot of ways - a much better superhero than Peter Parker, and is thus a "Superior" Spider-Man. However, he's also still a villain, and takes his violence a little too far. I said in my review of the last issue that I hoped the Massacre arc wouldn't last very long, and (as is suggested by this issue's cover) it totally didn't. Slott's also starting to insert some new supporting characters into this mix, and I like that.
I still feel compelled to grumble about the first two issues to balance out any praise I give this book, because reasons, but the series HAS been coming along very nicely, and lately I've been quite enjoying it.
-------
All-New X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez
The cover of this issue had me thinking Stuart Immonen had come back to the title, so I was a bit let down to find out he ONLY did the cover. As I said last month, I think David Marquez is very talented, but Immonen was providing my main reason for reading this one every month.
However, one of my main complaints about this series - and really, most comics by Bendis - is that nothing really happens, and this issue managed to counter that by being basically nothing but much-needed action.
There's none of the Avengers versus X-Men fighting that the cover would suggest, and that's a good thing, because I think I speak for everyone everywhere when I say we're a little burnt out on that. But the Avengers HAVE learned that the Teenaged X-Men are living in the present, and Cap's a little pissy at Beast for fucking with the timeline, as he probably ought to be.
The best part of this issue for me, though, was that it was largely focused on the new, kind-of-dopey Angel who appeared in Rick Remender's amazing Uncanny X-Force run (I know I bring that comic up a lot, but seriously, it was really fantastic and you should all buy it right now. I'll still be here when you get back.). Angel and Iceman are the characters that have outwardly changed the least between 1963 and 2013, and it was interesting to see the young Angel realize that he's actually the character that's been fucked around with the MOST in all this time. Bendis even made a nod to the healing powers Angel picked up in Chuck Austen's godawful run on Uncanny X-Men, which most other writers - and most fans - try to pretend never happened.
So yeah. Cynical young rich kid Angel and doofy addle-brained ex-harbinger-of-death Angel team up and fight the hordes of HYDRA, and it was a lot of fun. I don't say this too often, so here it goes: Well done, Mr. Bendis.
-------
Iron Man #7 by Kieron Gillen and Greg Land
I'm finding it a little tricky to review this one, as it's number two of a three-part story. Basically, Tony Stark's being put on trial by a society who worshipped the Phoenix Force... which he killed. Facing charges of straight-up deicide, he manages to find a loophole involving an ancient rite of hand-to-hand gladiatorial combat, which he is so far doing very well at. But the end of the issue reveals his next and final opponent... Motherfuckin' Death's Head Fuck Yeah.
So what I'm basically saying is that I'm glad I got caught up on this series.
-------
Age of Ultron #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Bryan Hitch
Marvel's launching it's next ZOMG HUGE EVENT COMIC and... I guess I didn't take the solicitations as literally as I should have? Like, I didn't actually realize this was literally just going to be the Age of Apocalypse but with Ultron instead of Apocalypse, and the Avengers instead of the X-Men. That's... not that great. I mean, Jeff Parker basically already tackled this idea in one issue of Exiles like four years ago.
So um, all the prerequisites apply. Everybody is covered in dirt, everything's really violent, nobody knows who to trust, the heroes are operating underground and losing faith in themselves. Um. It's... pretty bad.
Also, Hawkguy kills a LOT of people in this comic. Back when Dan Slott first started writing She-Hulk and making her extremely light and fun, I felt like Bendis went out of his way to make her darkity-dark and filled with unbridled rage in his Avengers comics. Now I'm wondering if this is a trend, as Matt Fraction's Hawkeye is a loveable goofball who gets into antics that can only be described as "zany", so now Bendis has him straight up shooting people in the neck and cursing and grimacing and playing by his own rules, MAN.
Also, any comic that features Captain America just sitting in the corner and crying for an entire issue is not my cup of tea. To quote Aziz Ansari: "...mostly because I don't like huge lumps of shit floating in my tea."
-------
Avengers #7 by Jonathan Hickman and Dustin Weaver
So I've been saying for the past few issues that Hickman really needed to get back to the plot on this one, and he finally did. And it's going in a direction that I really, truly, thoroughly didn't expect at all.
He's bringing back the motherfuckin' New Universe, y'all.
I somehow missed the reference to the new Nightmask last issue, but Hickman has been quietly building his character since the very beginning of this series, dropping subtle hints but never revealing just what the heck he was doing. This issue drops all the subtlety when The White Event occurs and a new Star Brand shows up.
Having been a fan of some of the New Universe titles as a youngster, and being a really big fan of the Warren Ellis-penned newuniversal series a few years ago, this is a really exciting development to me.
What Hickman is doing here is writing comics for comics-lovers: He's pulling in nostalgic things from the past while also creating brand new, exciting contexts for them. And I am fucking stoked about it. I wanted to high-five somebody after reading this book, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
All the things I've already said about this comic still stand. I have absurdly high expectations of it, and it's not QUITE living up to them, but it's still one of the funnest concept-comics out there right now.
Machine Man and Betty Ross are searching for the missing Holographic Nikola Tesla, so they can rescue a little girl who is also a conduit to a supercomputer than can tell the future, and SHIELD is still chasing them down for trying to destroy the U.S. Government's new, somewhat corrupt Super-Soldier Program before it could bring about the end of the world.
As I mentioned the last time I talked about this comic, I really love the direction that Matt Fraction, and now Jeff Parker, are taking the character of Betty Ross in. She is positively gleeful about having superpowers, and given her character's harrowing backstory it's very clear why. Even when things are dire and the entire world is on the line, she is still having a ton of fun, and that makes me really happy. Comics nowadays don't often focus on the "Wouldn't it be cool if..." aspects of having superpowers, but they've found a character whose previous history as a perpetual supporting character/victim makes that attitude a perfect fit.
I don't normally just straight-up post a whole page, preferring to suss out one funny or relevant panel, but I thought this moment summed up everything I am loving about this book, and Red She-Hulk as a character. Suffice it to say that these SHIELD agents have a pretty bad time:
You really are lovely, by the way. Yes, you. I adore the way your eyes sparkle. Mmmmm.
-------
A+X #5 by Kathryn Immonen and David Lafuente / Kieron Gillen and Joe Bennett
A+X #5 was everything that I hoped it would be. Ridiculous, sort of surreal, and full of action. I actually hadn't checked out any issues of A+X before, but if they're all this fun I may go back and read the whole series.
I basically picked this up because Kathryn Immonen's name was on the cover alongside a picture of Doop and Iron Fist.
That's all I really needed. But Kieron Gillen also provided a very fun story about Mr. Sinister and Kid Loki trying to invade Latveria. If there's nothing you like in that sentence, you might as well give up on comics.
-------
Cable and X-Force #5 by Dennis Hopeless and Salvador Larroca
I'm just going to come out and say it: Cable and X-Force is stupid and I don't like it.
After winning their war against The Deadly Threat of Fat People, Cable and his fakey X-Force are hiding out in Mexico.
That's it. That's the whole story.
Domino and Colossus got drunk on Tequila and fucked, Dr. Nemesis and Forge built giant robots and fought each other for no reason, Cable drove around on a motorcycle. And NONE of that stuff was as fun as it sounds when I just say it like that.
I should maybe have tapped out after the OMG FAT PEOPLE WILL DESTROY US story last issue, but I think I'm for-realsies bailing on this book. Dennis Hopeless still has me hooked with Avengers Arena despite myself, but I don't think I can really call him... good.
-------
Superior Spider-Man #5 by Dan Slott and Giuseppe Camuncoli
This issue was a good summary of everything that this book is basically about. Otto Octavius is - in a lot of ways - a much better superhero than Peter Parker, and is thus a "Superior" Spider-Man. However, he's also still a villain, and takes his violence a little too far. I said in my review of the last issue that I hoped the Massacre arc wouldn't last very long, and (as is suggested by this issue's cover) it totally didn't. Slott's also starting to insert some new supporting characters into this mix, and I like that.
I still feel compelled to grumble about the first two issues to balance out any praise I give this book, because reasons, but the series HAS been coming along very nicely, and lately I've been quite enjoying it.
-------
All-New X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez
The cover of this issue had me thinking Stuart Immonen had come back to the title, so I was a bit let down to find out he ONLY did the cover. As I said last month, I think David Marquez is very talented, but Immonen was providing my main reason for reading this one every month.
However, one of my main complaints about this series - and really, most comics by Bendis - is that nothing really happens, and this issue managed to counter that by being basically nothing but much-needed action.
There's none of the Avengers versus X-Men fighting that the cover would suggest, and that's a good thing, because I think I speak for everyone everywhere when I say we're a little burnt out on that. But the Avengers HAVE learned that the Teenaged X-Men are living in the present, and Cap's a little pissy at Beast for fucking with the timeline, as he probably ought to be.
The best part of this issue for me, though, was that it was largely focused on the new, kind-of-dopey Angel who appeared in Rick Remender's amazing Uncanny X-Force run (I know I bring that comic up a lot, but seriously, it was really fantastic and you should all buy it right now. I'll still be here when you get back.). Angel and Iceman are the characters that have outwardly changed the least between 1963 and 2013, and it was interesting to see the young Angel realize that he's actually the character that's been fucked around with the MOST in all this time. Bendis even made a nod to the healing powers Angel picked up in Chuck Austen's godawful run on Uncanny X-Men, which most other writers - and most fans - try to pretend never happened.
So yeah. Cynical young rich kid Angel and doofy addle-brained ex-harbinger-of-death Angel team up and fight the hordes of HYDRA, and it was a lot of fun. I don't say this too often, so here it goes: Well done, Mr. Bendis.
-------
Iron Man #7 by Kieron Gillen and Greg Land
I'm finding it a little tricky to review this one, as it's number two of a three-part story. Basically, Tony Stark's being put on trial by a society who worshipped the Phoenix Force... which he killed. Facing charges of straight-up deicide, he manages to find a loophole involving an ancient rite of hand-to-hand gladiatorial combat, which he is so far doing very well at. But the end of the issue reveals his next and final opponent... Motherfuckin' Death's Head Fuck Yeah.
So what I'm basically saying is that I'm glad I got caught up on this series.
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Age of Ultron #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Bryan Hitch
Marvel's launching it's next ZOMG HUGE EVENT COMIC and... I guess I didn't take the solicitations as literally as I should have? Like, I didn't actually realize this was literally just going to be the Age of Apocalypse but with Ultron instead of Apocalypse, and the Avengers instead of the X-Men. That's... not that great. I mean, Jeff Parker basically already tackled this idea in one issue of Exiles like four years ago.
So um, all the prerequisites apply. Everybody is covered in dirt, everything's really violent, nobody knows who to trust, the heroes are operating underground and losing faith in themselves. Um. It's... pretty bad.
Also, Hawkguy kills a LOT of people in this comic. Back when Dan Slott first started writing She-Hulk and making her extremely light and fun, I felt like Bendis went out of his way to make her darkity-dark and filled with unbridled rage in his Avengers comics. Now I'm wondering if this is a trend, as Matt Fraction's Hawkeye is a loveable goofball who gets into antics that can only be described as "zany", so now Bendis has him straight up shooting people in the neck and cursing and grimacing and playing by his own rules, MAN.
Also, any comic that features Captain America just sitting in the corner and crying for an entire issue is not my cup of tea. To quote Aziz Ansari: "...mostly because I don't like huge lumps of shit floating in my tea."
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Avengers #7 by Jonathan Hickman and Dustin Weaver
So I've been saying for the past few issues that Hickman really needed to get back to the plot on this one, and he finally did. And it's going in a direction that I really, truly, thoroughly didn't expect at all.
He's bringing back the motherfuckin' New Universe, y'all.
I somehow missed the reference to the new Nightmask last issue, but Hickman has been quietly building his character since the very beginning of this series, dropping subtle hints but never revealing just what the heck he was doing. This issue drops all the subtlety when The White Event occurs and a new Star Brand shows up.
Having been a fan of some of the New Universe titles as a youngster, and being a really big fan of the Warren Ellis-penned newuniversal series a few years ago, this is a really exciting development to me.
What Hickman is doing here is writing comics for comics-lovers: He's pulling in nostalgic things from the past while also creating brand new, exciting contexts for them. And I am fucking stoked about it. I wanted to high-five somebody after reading this book, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
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Red She-Hulk #63 by Jeff Parker and Carlo Pagulayan
All the things I've already said about this comic still stand. I have absurdly high expectations of it, and it's not QUITE living up to them, but it's still one of the funnest concept-comics out there right now.
Machine Man and Betty Ross are searching for the missing Holographic Nikola Tesla, so they can rescue a little girl who is also a conduit to a supercomputer than can tell the future, and SHIELD is still chasing them down for trying to destroy the U.S. Government's new, somewhat corrupt Super-Soldier Program before it could bring about the end of the world.
As I mentioned the last time I talked about this comic, I really love the direction that Matt Fraction, and now Jeff Parker, are taking the character of Betty Ross in. She is positively gleeful about having superpowers, and given her character's harrowing backstory it's very clear why. Even when things are dire and the entire world is on the line, she is still having a ton of fun, and that makes me really happy. Comics nowadays don't often focus on the "Wouldn't it be cool if..." aspects of having superpowers, but they've found a character whose previous history as a perpetual supporting character/victim makes that attitude a perfect fit.
I don't normally just straight-up post a whole page, preferring to suss out one funny or relevant panel, but I thought this moment summed up everything I am loving about this book, and Red She-Hulk as a character. Suffice it to say that these SHIELD agents have a pretty bad time:
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Wednesdaybusiness 2/27/13
Yeah so I'm a little drunk. Also I haven't slept properly in days? But I figured why let that stop me from talking shit on the internet, AMIRITE? There were a lot of comics today that I was pretty stoked about, so expect a little bit of gushing. And probably not so many words, because focusing my eyes is... hard.
Also, I didn't fuck around with any DC books this week, because I couldn't handle that sort of grumpyfeels. But friends are starting to recommend some DC books to me that they think won't send me to The Bad Place. If you can think of any current DC shit that you're enjoying, let me know in comments, otherwise I'll have to start reviewing old stuff just to prove I'm not one of those obnoxious Marvel fanboys who just hates DC on principle, because that is SO not the case.
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Avengers Arena #5 by Dennis Hopeless and Kev Walker
This book remains strangely readable, even though I don't know who half these kids are and I think they got the character of Arcade completely wrong and the story is an obvious cash-in on the popularity of The Hunger Games. I'm quite enjoying it, and would definitely recommend it... but really I have no idea why.
Take that however you want to take it, I guess.
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FF #4 by Matt Fraction and Mike Allred
You guys, I fucking love this comic.
I'm not entirely sure why, but Marvel dropped a few Valentine's Day issues this week. DC dropped their Valentine's Day special the week before Valentine's Day. Neither released any the week OF Valentine's Day. Publishing is weird, y'all.
Anyways, the main story arc has been relegated to about four pages in this issue, to make room for an extremely fun story about She-Hulk going on a date with ex-lover Wyatt Wingfoot... while the Future Foundation's resident Moloid Kids try and fail to spoil said date, due to their love for "The Jen".
The only problem I really see with this book is that it would make very little sense to somebody who didn't basically follow the entirety of Hickman's FF run. And you also need to possess a bit of knowledge about She-Hulk's romantic life as well, I guess. However, if you like comics and HAVEN'T read Hickman's FF run, you're missing out anyway, so you'd better get on that, for real.
And Mike Allred is killing it on the art as well. I've always been a fan of his work, and he is really on top of his game here.
I haven't implemented any kind of rating system on this blog, but fuck it: I give this book 5 of 5 stars. Jyeah!
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Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Steve McNiven
You know that stupid bullshit thing that Bendis does that I hate? That thing where he retcons a character's origin and fucks around with basic facts about their past and personality, just so he can tell the story he wants to tell? Like the way he removed all that stuff with the High Evolutionary from Spider-Woman's past, or the way he wiped out anything noble about The Sentry and turned him into an insecure mess with fakey comicbook schizophrenia, or the way he decided that The Hood was actually powered by Dormammu, or the way he randomly gave the Scarlet Witch godlike powers she didn't have before, or the way he turned Namor, Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, Black Bolt, Doctor Strange, and Professor X all into a bunch of short-sighted narcissistic assholes? Yeah, I hate it when he fucking does that.
So this book is a retelling of Star-Lord's origin story that completely ignores or completely changes roughly 90% of what happened in his ACTUAL origin story. And now Star-Lord's been a noble hero like, since birth, instead of being kind of an arrogant prick, which is his only defining character trait!
This is all leading up to a new GotG ongoing, I guess, which is leading up to the GotG movie.
I once heard this bit of sage wisdom from a fella who works at my local comic shop: "Bendis is only good when he's playing with his own toys." And it's completely true. A lot of his independent work is top-notch, and Alias is genuinely one of my favorite Marvel comics of all time, but Christ I hate it when he writes mainstream superhero books.
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Hawkeye #8 by Matt Fraction and David Aja
This morning, the homie Dale of Pine Cone Comics Club said on his Facebook page simply "New Hawkguy Day!" That's all that needs to be said, really.
This continues to be an excellent comic, and I love it to itty bitty bits. There are plenty of critical analyses of this book all over the interweb, but I find that the best way to recommend it to people is to just show them a panel or two. They usually end up hooked.
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Journey Into Mystery #649 by Kathryn Immonen and Valerio Schiti
Another comic that I love love love. Kathryn Immonen has this beautiful blend of silly and surreal to her writing, and a real talent for brief, hyper-kinetic action scenes. This comic is also one of the best onomatopoeia delivery-systems available.
There was a brief and not-terribly-necessary cameo wherein The Superior Spider-Man tries to put the moves on the newly-berserkerfied Lady Sif. They made an editor's note on the page, indicating why exactly Spidey was acting so strangely; something they probably ought to have done in last week's issue of Avengers, where he simply came across as a bully for no good reason.
This was balanced out by a glorious montage of a few of my favorite Marvel characters (Photon! Hellcat!) fighting off various 1950s Marvel and Proto-Marvel monsters, which has become a recurring theme of this story (and was an important piece of Journey Into Mystery back in those days as well).
This comic is pure fun, and this issue in particular had one gag that I genuinely laughed out loud at. Don't let the #649 scare you off this book: The current story has only been running since #646, and you should absolutely read it.
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Punisher: War Zone #5 (of 5) by Greg Rucka and Carmine Di Giandomenico
This is a series that I really didn't want to see end. I feel like Greg Rucka is one of the best - and most underemployed - writers in the business. Like, how can this dude have won four Eisner Awards, one Harvey Award, and a GLAAD Media Award, and still only get tossed a miniseries here and there by both Marvel and DC?
Anyway, this miniseries was a genuinely fascinating look at the Punisher and how he fits into the Marvel Universe as a whole. It's actually not so much a Punisher story as it is an Avengers story: Spider-Man (pre-brainswitch) convinces his fellow Avengers that it's finally time to go after Frank Castle and find some way to detain him (because if you put him in jail he just kills everybody in the jail). Wolverine is actively against it, and essentially defects to the Punisher's side. Black Widow has a grudging respect for the Punisher, though doesn't shy away from her duties as an Avenger. Iron Man thinks it's beneath him, essentially brushing off the street-level side of the Marvel U as unworthy of the Avengers' time. Thor brings Frank a six-pack of beer and tries to chat with him, warrior-to-warrior. And Captain America is morally conflicted, because all the best stories are about Captain America being morally conflicted.
I think the best character-moment of this series was between Spider-Man and the Punisher, when Spidey says "You're not the only person to have lost people you love; You're just the guy who turned it into an excuse to commit murder!" It doesn't quite put Frank in his place like Spidey wants it to - and it shouldn't - but it does do a very good job of explaining why Peter Parker would find what Frank Castle does so damned offensive.
This being the final issue of the miniseries, I don't really want to spoil the ending. Granted, the big ending of this miniseries has already been undone a couple months ago, and Frank is starring in the new Thunderbolts series now, but still. Suffice it to say that all of the Avengers attack Frank at once, and he gives them a solid fight, and it's a really fun and powerful read. Go get it.
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Thunderbolts #5 by Daniel Way and Steve Dillon
And that leads us to the new book that the Punisher is in, Thunderbolts. I'm gonna' be real here: I still have no fucking idea what's happening in this book. It is really taking its sweet-ass time to get around to the plot.
Also, at one point, Elektra and the Punisher have hot makeouts after a killing spree, and that is not how the Punisher operates in my version of things. This shit's not supposed to be fun for him.
Steve Dillon's art is still perfect for what this book is trying to do, though. I just wish the book would hurry up and do something.
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Uncanny X-Force #2 by Sam Humphries and Ron Garney
So far, this comic has not won me over, even with the presence of FuckYeahMohawkStorm. The characters have mostly just been complaining for two issues, except for Puck, who has been turned into an obnoxious pervert.
The previous Uncanny X-Force series was fucking brilliant, so this new book has a lot to live up to, and so far it's not doing so well. It's still early, though.
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Uncanny X-Men #2 by Brian Michael Bendis and Chris Bachalo
Everybody stood around talking. The end.
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Uncanny Avengers #4 by Rick Remender and John Cassaday
While Uncanny X-Men has no action, Uncanny Avengers is ALL action. The Red Skull stole Charles Xavier's brain and is trying to use it to mind-control all of NYC into a violent anti-mutant mob. Captain America has put Havok in charge of a small group of Avengers and X-Men, and they are fighting the Red Skull. That's it.
And I don't mean to make this comic sound boring, because it isn't at all. It's terrific. However, there really isn't a whole lot I can say about it without resorting to "And then so-and-so punched this guy and it was all like BAM and he was all like 'UGH' and then everyone EXPLODED!"
There is also a disarmingly sweet, tender moment between Wolverine and Thor at the end of this issue. It was wonderful and unexpected, which is something I've come to love about Rick Remender's comics.
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Young Avengers #2 by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie
So far, this is a very fun comic. Like a lot of the other Marvel NOW! books, it's spending a lot of time establishing its characters, and trying to slowly build up a team dynamic. Unlike a lot of the other Marvel NOW! books, it's not being FUCKING BORING about it.
This is an ultra-stylized book, and it cribs a little bit from other ultra-stylized books from the past - this issue cribbed pretty excessively from the Morrison/Hazlewood Animal Man run - but it never gets overpowering or distracts from the story. And so far the story is pretty solid: We've already got a small Skrull invasion, a demon from another dimension, and some Asgardian Frost Giants, just in two issues. The characters are tightly-written and very distinct, and their interactions are fun and clever.
In a kind of rare case, this is a book where I love the characters, love the writer, and love the artist. That may give me some unrealistic expectations for this series, but I'll try to keep it in check as we move ahead.
Also, I didn't fuck around with any DC books this week, because I couldn't handle that sort of grumpyfeels. But friends are starting to recommend some DC books to me that they think won't send me to The Bad Place. If you can think of any current DC shit that you're enjoying, let me know in comments, otherwise I'll have to start reviewing old stuff just to prove I'm not one of those obnoxious Marvel fanboys who just hates DC on principle, because that is SO not the case.
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Avengers Arena #5 by Dennis Hopeless and Kev Walker
This book remains strangely readable, even though I don't know who half these kids are and I think they got the character of Arcade completely wrong and the story is an obvious cash-in on the popularity of The Hunger Games. I'm quite enjoying it, and would definitely recommend it... but really I have no idea why.
Take that however you want to take it, I guess.
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FF #4 by Matt Fraction and Mike Allred
You guys, I fucking love this comic.
I'm not entirely sure why, but Marvel dropped a few Valentine's Day issues this week. DC dropped their Valentine's Day special the week before Valentine's Day. Neither released any the week OF Valentine's Day. Publishing is weird, y'all.
Anyways, the main story arc has been relegated to about four pages in this issue, to make room for an extremely fun story about She-Hulk going on a date with ex-lover Wyatt Wingfoot... while the Future Foundation's resident Moloid Kids try and fail to spoil said date, due to their love for "The Jen".
The only problem I really see with this book is that it would make very little sense to somebody who didn't basically follow the entirety of Hickman's FF run. And you also need to possess a bit of knowledge about She-Hulk's romantic life as well, I guess. However, if you like comics and HAVEN'T read Hickman's FF run, you're missing out anyway, so you'd better get on that, for real.
And Mike Allred is killing it on the art as well. I've always been a fan of his work, and he is really on top of his game here.
I haven't implemented any kind of rating system on this blog, but fuck it: I give this book 5 of 5 stars. Jyeah!
-------
Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Steve McNiven
You know that stupid bullshit thing that Bendis does that I hate? That thing where he retcons a character's origin and fucks around with basic facts about their past and personality, just so he can tell the story he wants to tell? Like the way he removed all that stuff with the High Evolutionary from Spider-Woman's past, or the way he wiped out anything noble about The Sentry and turned him into an insecure mess with fakey comicbook schizophrenia, or the way he decided that The Hood was actually powered by Dormammu, or the way he randomly gave the Scarlet Witch godlike powers she didn't have before, or the way he turned Namor, Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, Black Bolt, Doctor Strange, and Professor X all into a bunch of short-sighted narcissistic assholes? Yeah, I hate it when he fucking does that.
So this book is a retelling of Star-Lord's origin story that completely ignores or completely changes roughly 90% of what happened in his ACTUAL origin story. And now Star-Lord's been a noble hero like, since birth, instead of being kind of an arrogant prick, which is his only defining character trait!
This is all leading up to a new GotG ongoing, I guess, which is leading up to the GotG movie.
I once heard this bit of sage wisdom from a fella who works at my local comic shop: "Bendis is only good when he's playing with his own toys." And it's completely true. A lot of his independent work is top-notch, and Alias is genuinely one of my favorite Marvel comics of all time, but Christ I hate it when he writes mainstream superhero books.
-------
Hawkeye #8 by Matt Fraction and David Aja
This morning, the homie Dale of Pine Cone Comics Club said on his Facebook page simply "New Hawkguy Day!" That's all that needs to be said, really.
This continues to be an excellent comic, and I love it to itty bitty bits. There are plenty of critical analyses of this book all over the interweb, but I find that the best way to recommend it to people is to just show them a panel or two. They usually end up hooked.
 |
| This is how Hawkguy's Valentine's Day went down. |
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Journey Into Mystery #649 by Kathryn Immonen and Valerio Schiti
Another comic that I love love love. Kathryn Immonen has this beautiful blend of silly and surreal to her writing, and a real talent for brief, hyper-kinetic action scenes. This comic is also one of the best onomatopoeia delivery-systems available.
There was a brief and not-terribly-necessary cameo wherein The Superior Spider-Man tries to put the moves on the newly-berserkerfied Lady Sif. They made an editor's note on the page, indicating why exactly Spidey was acting so strangely; something they probably ought to have done in last week's issue of Avengers, where he simply came across as a bully for no good reason.
This was balanced out by a glorious montage of a few of my favorite Marvel characters (Photon! Hellcat!) fighting off various 1950s Marvel and Proto-Marvel monsters, which has become a recurring theme of this story (and was an important piece of Journey Into Mystery back in those days as well).
This comic is pure fun, and this issue in particular had one gag that I genuinely laughed out loud at. Don't let the #649 scare you off this book: The current story has only been running since #646, and you should absolutely read it.
-------
Punisher: War Zone #5 (of 5) by Greg Rucka and Carmine Di Giandomenico
This is a series that I really didn't want to see end. I feel like Greg Rucka is one of the best - and most underemployed - writers in the business. Like, how can this dude have won four Eisner Awards, one Harvey Award, and a GLAAD Media Award, and still only get tossed a miniseries here and there by both Marvel and DC?
Anyway, this miniseries was a genuinely fascinating look at the Punisher and how he fits into the Marvel Universe as a whole. It's actually not so much a Punisher story as it is an Avengers story: Spider-Man (pre-brainswitch) convinces his fellow Avengers that it's finally time to go after Frank Castle and find some way to detain him (because if you put him in jail he just kills everybody in the jail). Wolverine is actively against it, and essentially defects to the Punisher's side. Black Widow has a grudging respect for the Punisher, though doesn't shy away from her duties as an Avenger. Iron Man thinks it's beneath him, essentially brushing off the street-level side of the Marvel U as unworthy of the Avengers' time. Thor brings Frank a six-pack of beer and tries to chat with him, warrior-to-warrior. And Captain America is morally conflicted, because all the best stories are about Captain America being morally conflicted.
I think the best character-moment of this series was between Spider-Man and the Punisher, when Spidey says "You're not the only person to have lost people you love; You're just the guy who turned it into an excuse to commit murder!" It doesn't quite put Frank in his place like Spidey wants it to - and it shouldn't - but it does do a very good job of explaining why Peter Parker would find what Frank Castle does so damned offensive.
This being the final issue of the miniseries, I don't really want to spoil the ending. Granted, the big ending of this miniseries has already been undone a couple months ago, and Frank is starring in the new Thunderbolts series now, but still. Suffice it to say that all of the Avengers attack Frank at once, and he gives them a solid fight, and it's a really fun and powerful read. Go get it.
 |
| Iron Man: Not Better Than The Punisher |
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Thunderbolts #5 by Daniel Way and Steve Dillon
And that leads us to the new book that the Punisher is in, Thunderbolts. I'm gonna' be real here: I still have no fucking idea what's happening in this book. It is really taking its sweet-ass time to get around to the plot.
Also, at one point, Elektra and the Punisher have hot makeouts after a killing spree, and that is not how the Punisher operates in my version of things. This shit's not supposed to be fun for him.
Steve Dillon's art is still perfect for what this book is trying to do, though. I just wish the book would hurry up and do something.
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Uncanny X-Force #2 by Sam Humphries and Ron Garney
So far, this comic has not won me over, even with the presence of FuckYeahMohawkStorm. The characters have mostly just been complaining for two issues, except for Puck, who has been turned into an obnoxious pervert.
The previous Uncanny X-Force series was fucking brilliant, so this new book has a lot to live up to, and so far it's not doing so well. It's still early, though.
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Uncanny X-Men #2 by Brian Michael Bendis and Chris Bachalo
Everybody stood around talking. The end.
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Uncanny Avengers #4 by Rick Remender and John Cassaday
While Uncanny X-Men has no action, Uncanny Avengers is ALL action. The Red Skull stole Charles Xavier's brain and is trying to use it to mind-control all of NYC into a violent anti-mutant mob. Captain America has put Havok in charge of a small group of Avengers and X-Men, and they are fighting the Red Skull. That's it.
And I don't mean to make this comic sound boring, because it isn't at all. It's terrific. However, there really isn't a whole lot I can say about it without resorting to "And then so-and-so punched this guy and it was all like BAM and he was all like 'UGH' and then everyone EXPLODED!"
There is also a disarmingly sweet, tender moment between Wolverine and Thor at the end of this issue. It was wonderful and unexpected, which is something I've come to love about Rick Remender's comics.
-------
Young Avengers #2 by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie
So far, this is a very fun comic. Like a lot of the other Marvel NOW! books, it's spending a lot of time establishing its characters, and trying to slowly build up a team dynamic. Unlike a lot of the other Marvel NOW! books, it's not being FUCKING BORING about it.
This is an ultra-stylized book, and it cribs a little bit from other ultra-stylized books from the past - this issue cribbed pretty excessively from the Morrison/Hazlewood Animal Man run - but it never gets overpowering or distracts from the story. And so far the story is pretty solid: We've already got a small Skrull invasion, a demon from another dimension, and some Asgardian Frost Giants, just in two issues. The characters are tightly-written and very distinct, and their interactions are fun and clever.
In a kind of rare case, this is a book where I love the characters, love the writer, and love the artist. That may give me some unrealistic expectations for this series, but I'll try to keep it in check as we move ahead.
 |
| Not important to the plot, but I thought it was pretty funny. |
Monday, February 25, 2013
One of THOSE Days...
I think my answer to everything today is just Ashley Judd Star Trek Card.
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| Ashley Judd Star Trek Card. |
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Wednesdaybusiness 2/20/13
Laaaaate.
I spent Wednesday the 20th immersed in Dwayne McDuffie's work. Then things got weird for a few days, and now I'm back. So here are my reviews for last week's comics.
There are a few books that I wanted to review - Captain Marvel, Thor: God of Thunder, Daredevil, X-Factor, and Captain America - where I still need to catch up on some back issues to know what the fuck's going on. But all of them seem quite good from what I've read so far. Expect to read my Opinions™ on those titles soon enough.
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Nova #1 by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness
I'm gonna' start out with this week's biggest surprise.
Typically, if I see the names Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness on comics, I stay away. Jeph Loeb is the dude who wrote one of the most baffling X-Men comics of all time, wherein we learn that while humans evolved from apes, mutants evolved from wolves, and there will always be a large blonde wolf-person and a short brunette wolf-person, and there always has been, and that's why Wolverine has to chop off Sabretooth's head (At least that's what I took away from it. Don't bother correcting me because I don't care.). Ed McGuinness is the dude who draws Superman and Batman as though they are identical twins, and seems to think that all men have 2-foot-long arms and all women have eyes the size of grapefruits.
However, they've been promoting this new version of Nova since the beginning of Marvel NOW! as though it's going to be a flagship title, so I decided to check it out. And it was pretty good.
We haven't actually seen any superheroics yet, but we've gotten a new young character established... and established in such a way that he won't necessarily interfere with anything that's happened with the previous Nova character, which is a very good thing. We also get the return of Rocket Raccoon and Gamora, who I assume we'll be seeing a lot of in the year or so building up to the Guardians of the Galaxy movie.
The only thing that's a bit baffling is that this is very clearly the origin story of a new character... but we've already seen this character show up months ago, at the very beginning of the whole Avengers versus X-Men thing. I'm not quite sure what sort of "present" we're in here. But it doesn't particularly matter, I guess.
All in all, I'd say pick up this book. Get introduced to Sam Alexander, Marvel's newest in a long and wonderful line of brooding, troubled teenage superheroes.
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Alpha: Big Time #1 by Joshua Fialkov and Nuno Plati
This comic was sort of the opposite of Nova for me. It's introducing an angsty teenage superhero into the Marvel Universe, but it didn't succeed in making me give a damn about him.
Alpha's a young jerk with superpowers, but not enough of a jerk to be interesting like The Hood. He's an inexperienced teenager with massive power, but is not too powerful or too inexperienced, which keeps him from being as fun as Invincible. And his whole schtick is that he can only use one superpower at a time, which is something that Ultra Boy has been rocking since 1962.
It feels weird to say it, but I honestly think that Nova - who is a legacy character through and through - felt far more original than this totally new character.
I don't really expect this guy to maintain his own title for very long. My best wish for Alpha is that he fades quietly into obscurity for about 10-20 years, then suddenly has a triumphant return at the hands of a really talented writer who makes him into something cool and interesting.
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Savage Wolverine #2 by Frank Cho
I didn't quite know how to feel about the first issue of this series, as I couldn't quite tell if it was trying to be retro on purpose. This second issue delivered the point home a bit better, and it is definitely pretty fun.
I genuinely have NO IDEA how or where this comic is fitting into the Marvel Universe Continuity... and I think it's great. The first issue had Wolverine literally just fall out of the sky and plop into The Savage Land, where he is now running around with Shanna the She-Devil and fighting dinosaurs. That's, like, the whole plot. It's just pulpy adventure: It's like The Phantom with adamantium claws.
The dialogue is a little obnoxious with its quippiness, though I think that's intentional, and part of the charm. And I love the overwrought, melodramatic narration; it's straight out of the 1930s and makes me smile, even though I know it's all just smirky camp.
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Indestructible Hulk #4 by Mark Waid and Leinil Yu
I'm just gonna' go ahead and say that Indestructible Hulk is an awesome series, and you should buy it. I'm not even going to summarize it for you. Just buy it.
The only thing about this issue that I'm going to tell you is that at one point a bunch of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents shove Bruce Banner into a torpedo tube and launch him at a sea-monster. Seriously, go buy it.
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Superior Spider-Man #4 by Dan Slott and Giuseppe Camuncoli
Well, as I predicted last month, as soon as Mary Jane was removed from the story it got a lot more fun. I'm not quite sure why the book's already switched to a new artist so early in its life, but Camuncoli holds his own in the current semi-cartoonish Spidey status quo. He draws Spider-Man a little bulkier than I'd like, but it's not even close to Ed McGuinness bulky, so I can't really complain.
This issue advances the idea of Otto Octavius learning how to live Peter Parker's crummy life by having him find out - at a very inopportune time - that Parker never completed his Doctorate. Not only is he no longer an Octopus, he's no longer a Doctor either. So he goes back to college, and it is lovely.
The issue builds up the return of Massacre, a villain I'm not too fond of. His only "super power" is that he's brain-damaged, and incapable of feeling remorse, which... isn't totally okay with me. And beyond the ablist nature of the character, I also would much rather see Otto Spidey take on more classic Marvel villains. Thankfully, the Green Goblin shows up at the end of this issue, which is usually a welcome sight in a Spider-Man book, and especially in this one. I'm just hoping Massacre bums around murdering folks for one or two issues and then shuffles back off to the weird 1990s time-warp he popped out of.
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Morbius: The Living Vampire #2 by Joseph Keatinge and Richard Elson
I didn't pick up this book when it first came out, because I kept hearing people saying how stupid it was and how it wasn't at all true to the character. But this week I got caught up on it and... I like it. I don't fucking get comic fans sometimes.
Dr. Michael Morbius is trying to lay low for a while in a bad neighborhood until some ugly business blows over and he can make his way back to his lab. He's living on the street, making friends with scrappy homeless people and occasionally ripping somebody's throat open. I dunno'... It's fun.
Wevs.
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Dark Avengers #187 by Jeff Parker and Neil Edwards
At this point, this book is so deep into the plot that it wouldn't make any sense at all to a new reader. That being said, I really look forward to this book every month, and think Jeff Parker is fucking excellent. I'd advise everybody to go back to the beginning of this series and start reading it, because it's been a good, solid, fun comic the whole way through.
Also, U.S. Agent is back! Most people probably don't care, but I do!
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Avengers #6 by Jonathan Hickman and Adam Kubert
As I mentioned two weeks ago, this book sort of started out as an Avengers story, and then morphed into a series of one-shots introducing new members of the team and going over their origin stories. This one's about the new Captain Universe, which feels completely unnecessary given the fact that Captain Universe can literally be somebody totally different tomorrow. The transient nature of the character is what makes hir interesting, so I hope they don't plan to tie hir down to this one host-body for too long.
I really liked where this story was headed, but I feel like it's kind of ground to a halt, and I really want it to pick back up. Right now everyone's just sort of wandering around telling eachother their backstories while Tony Stark tinkers away on the plot in his little lab.
One thing that was interesting about this issue: There was a brief scene of Spider-Man being an absolute bully towards Cannonball and Sunspot, and I was surprised and offended until I remembered that Spidey is walking around with the mind of Doctor Octopus. I think somebody picking this book up in trade five years from now might be very put off by that scene if it's lacking the context of the Marvel NOW! promotional blitz.
-------
Justice League of America #1 by Geoff Johns and David Finch
You guys... I don't think I'm ever going to stop laughing at this cover. The Justice League of New Hampshire, you guys! Seriously, you guys... seriously. This is a thing that was published and sold in stores. It is... the best thing.
As for the comic itself... I hated it.
I am really trying to find a DC comic that I can say positive things about on this blog, but everything is 17 issues deep, and things have already gotten surprisingly convoluted in that 17 months, and any time I think I see a jumping-on point the comic ends up being terrible.
So this story is about tall, skinny Amanda Waller (who is sort of like my favorite DC villain, except they traded "interesting character" for "generic sexy person who doesn't really ever do anything but pose sexily") putting together a sort-of-but-not-really Suicide Squad, with Steve Trevor as a sort-of-but-not-really Rick Flag Junior, to fight the other Justice League. Oh, but not the other Justice League like Justice League Dark or Justice League International... the other Justice League of America. I guess. I was skimming. Also, Martian Manhunter is like a scary semi-villainous guy now? I didn't know that.
Anyway, whenever I see the Nü52 version of Amanda Waller, all I can see if a red wave of ragevision for a little while, so I missed most of the story, which had an awful lot of words. The art was busy and had a lot of cross-hatching, and all the men were gritting their teeth and all the women showed me their butts.
I spent Wednesday the 20th immersed in Dwayne McDuffie's work. Then things got weird for a few days, and now I'm back. So here are my reviews for last week's comics.
There are a few books that I wanted to review - Captain Marvel, Thor: God of Thunder, Daredevil, X-Factor, and Captain America - where I still need to catch up on some back issues to know what the fuck's going on. But all of them seem quite good from what I've read so far. Expect to read my Opinions™ on those titles soon enough.
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Nova #1 by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness
I'm gonna' start out with this week's biggest surprise.
Typically, if I see the names Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness on comics, I stay away. Jeph Loeb is the dude who wrote one of the most baffling X-Men comics of all time, wherein we learn that while humans evolved from apes, mutants evolved from wolves, and there will always be a large blonde wolf-person and a short brunette wolf-person, and there always has been, and that's why Wolverine has to chop off Sabretooth's head (At least that's what I took away from it. Don't bother correcting me because I don't care.). Ed McGuinness is the dude who draws Superman and Batman as though they are identical twins, and seems to think that all men have 2-foot-long arms and all women have eyes the size of grapefruits.
However, they've been promoting this new version of Nova since the beginning of Marvel NOW! as though it's going to be a flagship title, so I decided to check it out. And it was pretty good.
We haven't actually seen any superheroics yet, but we've gotten a new young character established... and established in such a way that he won't necessarily interfere with anything that's happened with the previous Nova character, which is a very good thing. We also get the return of Rocket Raccoon and Gamora, who I assume we'll be seeing a lot of in the year or so building up to the Guardians of the Galaxy movie.
The only thing that's a bit baffling is that this is very clearly the origin story of a new character... but we've already seen this character show up months ago, at the very beginning of the whole Avengers versus X-Men thing. I'm not quite sure what sort of "present" we're in here. But it doesn't particularly matter, I guess.
All in all, I'd say pick up this book. Get introduced to Sam Alexander, Marvel's newest in a long and wonderful line of brooding, troubled teenage superheroes.
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Alpha: Big Time #1 by Joshua Fialkov and Nuno Plati
This comic was sort of the opposite of Nova for me. It's introducing an angsty teenage superhero into the Marvel Universe, but it didn't succeed in making me give a damn about him.
Alpha's a young jerk with superpowers, but not enough of a jerk to be interesting like The Hood. He's an inexperienced teenager with massive power, but is not too powerful or too inexperienced, which keeps him from being as fun as Invincible. And his whole schtick is that he can only use one superpower at a time, which is something that Ultra Boy has been rocking since 1962.
It feels weird to say it, but I honestly think that Nova - who is a legacy character through and through - felt far more original than this totally new character.
I don't really expect this guy to maintain his own title for very long. My best wish for Alpha is that he fades quietly into obscurity for about 10-20 years, then suddenly has a triumphant return at the hands of a really talented writer who makes him into something cool and interesting.
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Savage Wolverine #2 by Frank Cho
I didn't quite know how to feel about the first issue of this series, as I couldn't quite tell if it was trying to be retro on purpose. This second issue delivered the point home a bit better, and it is definitely pretty fun.
I genuinely have NO IDEA how or where this comic is fitting into the Marvel Universe Continuity... and I think it's great. The first issue had Wolverine literally just fall out of the sky and plop into The Savage Land, where he is now running around with Shanna the She-Devil and fighting dinosaurs. That's, like, the whole plot. It's just pulpy adventure: It's like The Phantom with adamantium claws.
The dialogue is a little obnoxious with its quippiness, though I think that's intentional, and part of the charm. And I love the overwrought, melodramatic narration; it's straight out of the 1930s and makes me smile, even though I know it's all just smirky camp.
 |
| It's like Wolverine's dialogue is being written by Spaceman Spiff. |
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Indestructible Hulk #4 by Mark Waid and Leinil Yu
I'm just gonna' go ahead and say that Indestructible Hulk is an awesome series, and you should buy it. I'm not even going to summarize it for you. Just buy it.
The only thing about this issue that I'm going to tell you is that at one point a bunch of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents shove Bruce Banner into a torpedo tube and launch him at a sea-monster. Seriously, go buy it.
-------
Superior Spider-Man #4 by Dan Slott and Giuseppe Camuncoli
Well, as I predicted last month, as soon as Mary Jane was removed from the story it got a lot more fun. I'm not quite sure why the book's already switched to a new artist so early in its life, but Camuncoli holds his own in the current semi-cartoonish Spidey status quo. He draws Spider-Man a little bulkier than I'd like, but it's not even close to Ed McGuinness bulky, so I can't really complain.
 |
| Nope. |
The issue builds up the return of Massacre, a villain I'm not too fond of. His only "super power" is that he's brain-damaged, and incapable of feeling remorse, which... isn't totally okay with me. And beyond the ablist nature of the character, I also would much rather see Otto Spidey take on more classic Marvel villains. Thankfully, the Green Goblin shows up at the end of this issue, which is usually a welcome sight in a Spider-Man book, and especially in this one. I'm just hoping Massacre bums around murdering folks for one or two issues and then shuffles back off to the weird 1990s time-warp he popped out of.
-------
Morbius: The Living Vampire #2 by Joseph Keatinge and Richard Elson
I didn't pick up this book when it first came out, because I kept hearing people saying how stupid it was and how it wasn't at all true to the character. But this week I got caught up on it and... I like it. I don't fucking get comic fans sometimes.
Dr. Michael Morbius is trying to lay low for a while in a bad neighborhood until some ugly business blows over and he can make his way back to his lab. He's living on the street, making friends with scrappy homeless people and occasionally ripping somebody's throat open. I dunno'... It's fun.
Wevs.
-------
Dark Avengers #187 by Jeff Parker and Neil Edwards
At this point, this book is so deep into the plot that it wouldn't make any sense at all to a new reader. That being said, I really look forward to this book every month, and think Jeff Parker is fucking excellent. I'd advise everybody to go back to the beginning of this series and start reading it, because it's been a good, solid, fun comic the whole way through.
Also, U.S. Agent is back! Most people probably don't care, but I do!
 |
| Yay! |
Avengers #6 by Jonathan Hickman and Adam Kubert
As I mentioned two weeks ago, this book sort of started out as an Avengers story, and then morphed into a series of one-shots introducing new members of the team and going over their origin stories. This one's about the new Captain Universe, which feels completely unnecessary given the fact that Captain Universe can literally be somebody totally different tomorrow. The transient nature of the character is what makes hir interesting, so I hope they don't plan to tie hir down to this one host-body for too long.
I really liked where this story was headed, but I feel like it's kind of ground to a halt, and I really want it to pick back up. Right now everyone's just sort of wandering around telling eachother their backstories while Tony Stark tinkers away on the plot in his little lab.
One thing that was interesting about this issue: There was a brief scene of Spider-Man being an absolute bully towards Cannonball and Sunspot, and I was surprised and offended until I remembered that Spidey is walking around with the mind of Doctor Octopus. I think somebody picking this book up in trade five years from now might be very put off by that scene if it's lacking the context of the Marvel NOW! promotional blitz.
-------
Justice League of America #1 by Geoff Johns and David Finch
You guys... I don't think I'm ever going to stop laughing at this cover. The Justice League of New Hampshire, you guys! Seriously, you guys... seriously. This is a thing that was published and sold in stores. It is... the best thing.
As for the comic itself... I hated it.
I am really trying to find a DC comic that I can say positive things about on this blog, but everything is 17 issues deep, and things have already gotten surprisingly convoluted in that 17 months, and any time I think I see a jumping-on point the comic ends up being terrible.
So this story is about tall, skinny Amanda Waller (who is sort of like my favorite DC villain, except they traded "interesting character" for "generic sexy person who doesn't really ever do anything but pose sexily") putting together a sort-of-but-not-really Suicide Squad, with Steve Trevor as a sort-of-but-not-really Rick Flag Junior, to fight the other Justice League. Oh, but not the other Justice League like Justice League Dark or Justice League International... the other Justice League of America. I guess. I was skimming. Also, Martian Manhunter is like a scary semi-villainous guy now? I didn't know that.
Anyway, whenever I see the Nü52 version of Amanda Waller, all I can see if a red wave of ragevision for a little while, so I missed most of the story, which had an awful lot of words. The art was busy and had a lot of cross-hatching, and all the men were gritting their teeth and all the women showed me their butts.
 |
| THIS IS WHAT AMANDA WALLER LOOKS LIKE YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES GOD DAMN IT |
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