Keep in mind that I did not buy Powers because I read it in trade. I'm sure it was up to that book's normal level of quality. But, yup, kind of a weak showing from that lovable Black Francis/Bob Hoskins look-a-like that writes half of Marvel's books and is hated on the internet, yet loved when it comes to sales (Why it almost seems like people use the anonymoty of the internet to make ridiculous claims that they themselves don't even believe to be true. Curious?) Anyway, obvious points and desperate bids for humor and reflection aside onto the books.
Secret Invasion #4 - It really was better than three. Pretty much same formula as the last few. A little chatting, Skrully mind games, ten pages of punching and yelling and then someone shows up at the end to change the tide next issue...maybe? It's probably because issue 1 was so good, but damn all of this rising action. (And on a side note, the thing I've noticed this summer is that seems to be like Crisis on Infinite Earths vs. Secret Wars all over again, even though they didn't come out at the same time. On the one hand you've got mainstays getting killed, worlds collapsing and broad ideas that loosely tie into actual scientific theory like string theory. And on the other you've got a cloud of talking gas, Titania, the Wasp winning over the Lizard, the Wasp dying and the Wasp getting better, and Jehri curls in the sequel. Oh, and the Wasp making out with Magneto. Rant over)
Ultimate Origins #2- Hey, let's re-tell the origin of Cap...again. But this time he's reading about aliens while training. Oh, and Ultimate Project Pegasus. Because that's what we need. You know, because when you want to streamline a line of books the best idea is always including late silver to early bronze age concepts. Oh, Ultimate Jocasta, one day you will be a reality. But anyway, this just seems forced, unnecesary and silly. Pretty much after the whole Canadian government creating mutants in a Dept. H basement in a botched attempt to create super soldiers thing kind of soured me on this series. Oh, and Dr. Cornelius looks pretty good for 103 in Ultimate X-men Vol. 2 I guess. Seriously, am I the only person reading these things anymore.
Final Crisis Requiem - Pretty decent for a tie in. Touching and violent all at once and Mahnke. Glorious Mahnke. Oh, and it had enough of the what are they called...words, to justify the four buck price tag...unlike certain summer event books that shall remain nameless. I'm giving it the thumb up.
Joker's Asylum: Penguin - This is a dramatic improvement over last week's offering...which I would have told you not to buy if I wasn't at a family reunion. But yup, Aaron writes a solid one and Pearson's art is reminiscent of a young Chris Bacchalo. I dig Chris Bacchalo. Just clearing up the confusion. Anyway, solid read and stays way truer to the character than the Joker one from last week.
Young Liars #5 - This comic will sodomize your brain and make your soul cry tears of blood. Seriously, this is possibly the most abhorrent comic book I've read since...last week's issue of The Boys. Now, usually that sort of disturbing and lurid for the sake of it thing is right up my alley. I mean Preacher is one of if not my favorite on going of all time, but the difference with Preacher was that it was grounded with characters that you fell in love with, social commentary , wit and the over top violence and adult situations. Problem is that they seem to be relying solely on shock to get the numbers. But, I am kind of curious to see where this is going. God, I'm a hypocrite.
Captain Britain & MI 13 #3 - I really think Matt covered all of this. Go, buy this. Now. It's awesome.
Guadians of the Galaxy #3 - It's a fun read. And you can get into if you didn't read any of the Annihilation books. I didn't. So, there you go.
Last Defenders #5 - At this point does it even matter. You're either with it or not. I do dig the whole Bizzarro Defenders being the team that was always meant to be and all angle. And I'm always down for some Son of Satan. Mainly because of Ultimate Son of Satan, but I digress. It's a decent mini all things considered.
Captain America White #0 - This is seriously the best thing that Jeph Loeb has done in the past few years. It may be the fond memories of past Sale/ Loeb collaborations (probably is), but this was the superior retelling of the Cap origin story of the week. Good stuff.
Amazing Spider-Man #565 - Apparently all it took to make Spider-Man fun again was to ignore the rest of the Marvel Universe and just let him do his thing. And get rid of JMS. Although a customer brought up an interesting point, was it Loeb or editorial that was mucking up the works for the past few years? I mean the first couple JMS arcs were pretty good. Anyway, this new arc with girl Kraven is alright. Not life changing not god awful. Middle of the road stuff. I'm sure the apathy is leaping off the page right now.
Invincible Iron Man #3 - Oh, that Matt Fraction spins a lovely yarn. Great stuff all over, and he also teaches a class on how you capitalize on the movie. Buy this for serious.
Booster Gold #1,000,000 - It's as continuity heavy and treacly as ever. Seriously, it's a cute book with time travel. I personally like time travel and elseworlds stories so I like the book. And I've always liked Booster, and I always preferred semi-competent Booster so there you go. It's like a slightly more masculine Hellcat meets Sliders with the same number of hugs and less use of the word golly.
Young X-Men #4 - Well, *SPOILER ALERT* Cyclops is not a Skrull, because that would have made so much sense in this context, but well, it's just stupid, and obvious. Moreover, this book is just so...underwhelming. And, for god's sake can we all stop saying cuzin'. God, this book makes my brain hurt. And, I mean you have this big twist in at the end of the first issue, that, while totally illogical and out of the blue was at the least bit interesting. Instead, you go for the obvious twist in this issue that negates the initial draw of the book.
Action Comics # ??? - I left this in the store, but it was pretty solid. And yes, Supergirl is terrifying as rendered. I think Matt already hit the majority of the bases. Solid Johns writing and Gary Frank doing a majority of things right. Except for Supergirl, who looks like Kara Zor-Hell. (God, that was a lame joke, but I had to do it.)
Goon #26 - Oh, it's on now. After some meandering here and there between arcs this new one is off and running. There's action, humor and what else do you want? It's got action, humor the same consistent art and everything else that has made this book a critical darling. And as a critic it is my darling.
Lost Boys #3 - This is seriously made for fans of the movie with three dollars to waste on a, frankly, asinine tie in. Seriously, The Widow Johnson? Just, gah. Why do I keep doing this to myself? Oh, well, see you next week. Take it easy internet
Showing posts with label Final Crisis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Final Crisis. Show all posts
Friday, July 11, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Matt hurries through comics for 6/23
So I have, like, eleven billion other things to do, most of which I'm even being paid for, so of course I'm doing this to procrastinate. But I'm going to make it quick, though! In, out, comment, done, bam!
(I also previewed a bunch of this week's Marvel books a few days ago but can't be bothered finding the link. Scroll down a bit.)
Here we go!
۞ What If This Was The Fantastic Four: A Tribute To Mike Wieringo is a review-proof book, really, because what kind of jerk would complain about paying five bucks to donate to the HERO Initiative in honor of a really terrific artist...? Okay, fine. I'll do it: this isn't a great comic. Wieringo was one of my favorite superhero artists, he brought a real sense of fun to his work, and his death really is a tragic loss for the comic book community as well as his family and loved ones ... but this isn't his strongest work by any stretch, and it's in service of a Jeff Parker story that's ... well-intentioned, anyhow. The tributes in the book are genuinely moving, and I'm glad to have bought it for charity purposes, but as a comic book, it's really only so-so.
Annnnnnnnnnnd that's me going to hell, I suppose.
۞ No Hero #0 from Avatar is an interesting book, Warren Ellis hammering his particular vision of superheroes onto a Marshall McLuhan/Timothy Leary type. Could go either way, but ... did Black Summer ever finish? I don't remember an ending, but can't see Ryp and Ellis starting something new with that still uncompleted. Yes? No? No time for questions! Onward!
۞ Oh, look, it's eleven thousand Secret Invasion crossovers! Runaways/Young Avengers is actually really strong; it captures the voices of both teams, and has some strong artwork from Spidey Loves MJ mainstay Takeshi Miyazawa. New Avengers #42 and Mighty Avengers #15 are both Bendis showing us what's REALLY been going in his books, and they're good if you're into that sort of thing.
I'm kind of tired of Bendis feeling compelled to actually show me whole entire scenes again and again, because I know something slightly new now, but whatever. It's not like I have to pay for it again each time or anythin-- wait, I do? Oh, well THAT'S annoying.
۞ My Matt Fraction love continues unabated with his work on Young Avengers Presents #6: Hawkeye. (And, seriously, the last issue of a mid-selling miniseries is suddenly written by Matt Fraction and drawn by ALAN DAVIS?!? What the hell?) The double entendre on "god, he moves so fast" alone is worth the cover price on this one. Great stuff. Make Sheldon try to reorder it for you.
۞ I'm going to be honest about this, even though I hate reviewers who say this sort of lazy crap, but I literally fell asleep during 1985 #2. Just dozed right off. Not a reflection on the book, I don't think -- I really am juggling a whole bunch of stuff right now, and it's tiring -- but ... yeah, I'm not really qualified to say. I don't like the art very much, though, so there's that.
۞ Meanwhile, over in the DC books....
You know, cutting all the DC books that I haven't been liking really makes their output seem much stronger to me. Green Lantern #32 continues to be an excellent (if somewhat unnecessary, maybe) retelling of Hal Jordan's origin -- I'm really liking this run on GL through and through. Pity about Green Lantern Corps, but I think I've already covered that.
۞ And the big one: Final Crisis #2 I loved it. Just loved it. It feels less like a stupid, continuity-heavy crossover "event" and more like one of Grant Morrison's better efforts on JLA. (Also, I didn't read Countdown or any affiliated books once I realized how terrible they were, so I couldn't care less about the continuity hiccups, which might help.) Anyhow, yeah, good, packed issue with a real sense of menace for the heroes and some characteristically great throwaway ideas from Grant Morrison. (Bullet shot through time indeed.) This one seems to be getting better with each page, unlike the whell-spinning Secret Invasion on the other side of the store. I'm optimistic.
Okay, back to real work. Bye.
(I also previewed a bunch of this week's Marvel books a few days ago but can't be bothered finding the link. Scroll down a bit.)
Here we go!
۞ What If This Was The Fantastic Four: A Tribute To Mike Wieringo is a review-proof book, really, because what kind of jerk would complain about paying five bucks to donate to the HERO Initiative in honor of a really terrific artist...? Okay, fine. I'll do it: this isn't a great comic. Wieringo was one of my favorite superhero artists, he brought a real sense of fun to his work, and his death really is a tragic loss for the comic book community as well as his family and loved ones ... but this isn't his strongest work by any stretch, and it's in service of a Jeff Parker story that's ... well-intentioned, anyhow. The tributes in the book are genuinely moving, and I'm glad to have bought it for charity purposes, but as a comic book, it's really only so-so.
Annnnnnnnnnnd that's me going to hell, I suppose.
۞ No Hero #0 from Avatar is an interesting book, Warren Ellis hammering his particular vision of superheroes onto a Marshall McLuhan/Timothy Leary type. Could go either way, but ... did Black Summer ever finish? I don't remember an ending, but can't see Ryp and Ellis starting something new with that still uncompleted. Yes? No? No time for questions! Onward!
۞ Oh, look, it's eleven thousand Secret Invasion crossovers! Runaways/Young Avengers is actually really strong; it captures the voices of both teams, and has some strong artwork from Spidey Loves MJ mainstay Takeshi Miyazawa. New Avengers #42 and Mighty Avengers #15 are both Bendis showing us what's REALLY been going in his books, and they're good if you're into that sort of thing.
I'm kind of tired of Bendis feeling compelled to actually show me whole entire scenes again and again, because I know something slightly new now, but whatever. It's not like I have to pay for it again each time or anythin-- wait, I do? Oh, well THAT'S annoying.
۞ My Matt Fraction love continues unabated with his work on Young Avengers Presents #6: Hawkeye. (And, seriously, the last issue of a mid-selling miniseries is suddenly written by Matt Fraction and drawn by ALAN DAVIS?!? What the hell?) The double entendre on "god, he moves so fast" alone is worth the cover price on this one. Great stuff. Make Sheldon try to reorder it for you.
۞ I'm going to be honest about this, even though I hate reviewers who say this sort of lazy crap, but I literally fell asleep during 1985 #2. Just dozed right off. Not a reflection on the book, I don't think -- I really am juggling a whole bunch of stuff right now, and it's tiring -- but ... yeah, I'm not really qualified to say. I don't like the art very much, though, so there's that.
۞ Meanwhile, over in the DC books....
You know, cutting all the DC books that I haven't been liking really makes their output seem much stronger to me. Green Lantern #32 continues to be an excellent (if somewhat unnecessary, maybe) retelling of Hal Jordan's origin -- I'm really liking this run on GL through and through. Pity about Green Lantern Corps, but I think I've already covered that.
۞ And the big one: Final Crisis #2 I loved it. Just loved it. It feels less like a stupid, continuity-heavy crossover "event" and more like one of Grant Morrison's better efforts on JLA. (Also, I didn't read Countdown or any affiliated books once I realized how terrible they were, so I couldn't care less about the continuity hiccups, which might help.) Anyhow, yeah, good, packed issue with a real sense of menace for the heroes and some characteristically great throwaway ideas from Grant Morrison. (Bullet shot through time indeed.) This one seems to be getting better with each page, unlike the whell-spinning Secret Invasion on the other side of the store. I'm optimistic.
Okay, back to real work. Bye.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
I take no solace in being right all of the time.
Firstly, man, Jeph Loeb is (expletive deleted) up. Just had to throw that out. Which brings me to the title of this week's post. It pertains to the identity of the red Hulk. And now they have finally made it even more obvious so I'm going to call it a win. Barring some left field red herring developments. Now, I, personally find this development to be obvious, banal and a slap in the face of years of characterization. And it may make logical sense given the Bruce Banner is a puss so he has the bottled up aggression angle vis a vis this character being a new age puss...you get the idea. Anyway, just thought I'd get that out there. As for Hulk #4 - The only redeeming parts are the first three pages. Also, I dig how they've chosen to totally get rid of the smarter WWH Hulk in favor of the classic "savage" Hulk. Sarcasm is harder on the internet sometimes. Not like my opinion matters on this one though. Oh, and McGuinness looks a tiny bit off of his game too. Which saddens me to no end. This leads to the next bit of mind scrubbing compliments of Mr. Loeb.
Ultimates 3#4 - This may have been the worst comic I've read in years. It's just silly. And it's got this whole Secret Invasion meets Ultron gimmick thing going on that is just...wow. It's all been leading up to this. Really? They're replacing everyone with robots. . It's just silly and uninspired. And what the hell does Magneto have to do with anything? Glad to see Joe Mad getting work though. Wish it was something less insipid. Like my opinion matters on this either. (begin rant) And does anyone in editorial bother to check up on what characters are where? Pyro in the Savage Land? Mastermind out of prison? And I'm PAYING TO READ THIS. That's right. This is not my job, but I can keep all of this inconsequential BS straight in my head. Is it that hard? Apparently so. (end rant)
Final Crisis #2 - Um, right. I'm so conflicted on this book. I guess my only real qualm with it is that I'm looking for the book to really gel into a cohesive thought. I mean it's not as all encompassing as Infinite Crisis, but it still seems a tad scattered to me. That's my only real qualm with the book. I'm also curious to see how the events within transition into the DCU proper. What with the shocking dearth of tie ins (comparatively). But, two points for Sunny Sumo when all is said and done.
Mighty Avengers #15 - The weakest of the Avengers tie ins this week in my opinion. I don't know there's nothing really wrong with the art or the characterization it's just that it took so long to get to the meat of the story, and frankly, the method of removal of Pym is pretty obvious from the get go. The one thing I will say is that the bit on the last page does raise an interesting question. Wholly, better than last issue.
New Avengers # 42 - It was alright. I'm a sucker for Jimmy Cheung so that helped. Okay, so this issue pretty much connects all of the dots since the beginning of New Avengers until House of M. It's neat stuff, but some of the dots should connect themselves given the prior information doled out in other recent issues of NA. There's nothing wrong with this book, and I guess some of the revelations are huge if you're not that great at ratiocination, I don't know. I am however really excited for next issue...because I'm curious about how they explain that one.
Avengers: Initiative # 14 - I was always a big "They Live" fan. That is probably going to influence my opinion of this book seeing as the main element in at least part of the SI tie in arc is centered around a pair of magic goggles that well...you've either seen the movie or not. And I also dug the Pym flashback moments so all in all I thought it was entertaining. Anyway, this is totally on par with the rest of the Initiative run so go get it. Now I've just got to wait for Mondo vs. Paydirt. Unless they're the same guy..?
Runaways/ Young Avengers: SI #1 - Better than the Cvil War crossover one in my book. Seems a little less forced given the established Skrull presence on both teams. And I dig the manga style so there you have it in a nutshell. As far as unnecessary tie ins go this one doesn't seem totally abhorrent.
Young Avengers Presents # 6 - Just as hug filled as the rest of this series, but less cloying given the input of Matt Fraction. Best of the run in my opinion. And with the incomparable Alan Davis on the pencils it's all the better. That's really all there is to it. An entirely entertaining confection. I hope they don't kill off Kate Bishop in SI...or make Clint Barton a skrull in SI. That'd be a pretty big dick move now that I think about it. Anyway, tangents aside, if you have to get one of the YA mini books it should be this one.
Fantastic Four # 558 - I'm sticking with it after the underwhelming, in my opinion, World's Greatest arc and I think that I may have made the right decision. I don't know this new arc seems to have some of the dimension hoping fun of Millar's tenure on Ultimate FF. And given the reveals towards the end of the issue well, my interest has been piqued. All in all I'd say it's a solid improvement. Part of my does think that the Invisible Woman in question is actually the nanny i.e. an older reality hopping Sue Storm.
Thunderbolts #121 - I'm kind of sad to see Ellis and Deodato leave the book. And the issue in question is overall a success with keeping the characterization, mean spiritedness and the violence all on the level I've come to expect. And yes, the resolution is a tad Deus Ex-Machina, but it's fitting in the pre established realm of character's and their proclivities. Also, it's comics I mean the Deus Ex-Machina is a pretty well respected trope. All in all thumbs up. Oh, and points for a young Edward Norton making an appearance in two Marvel properties in one month. (You'll know it when you see it.)
Immortal Iron Fist # 16 - Nooooooooooo!!!!! God, I hope the new team doesn't mess this one up. Pretty much, this one is a nice bookend for the run (one of the finest in recent years) and sets things up for what could be a rebirth of the classic Power Man and Iron Fist of yore, but with less dated writing...jive fool. Anyway, it's a great send off to Fraction and Aja, but god I'm going to miss them. Just as long as this doesn't degenerate to Cable quality when the regime change goes into effect next issue I'll be good.
Captain America # 39 - I don't think I have anything else to say about this book. I think it may actually be the most consistently high quality book in years. This issue is no different. Intrigue is mounting, tension keeps rolling and yeah. It's all good over here. My only question is how they're going to top this "Death of Cap" epic. I mean damn.
X-Men Legacy #213 - This is, currently, the best X-book on the shelves and it doesn't really lose any steam this month. Although, part of me has some qualms with the ending of the issue...at least Carrey is trying some new ideas that fit perfectly into the pre established X-Mythos. So, thumbs up and go buy it. Actually the only real fault I could find with the book is, as previously mentioned, you have to be up on your X-Men lore to really get the full effect. But I am, so it doesn't really matter.
Uncanny X-Men #499 - Is not the worst X-men book on the shelves these days (Young X-Men), but it's close. Anyway, this issue wraps up the SF/Russia arcs and sets it up for the big 500. And with Matt Fraction jumping on the book I only have high hopes for it getting up to the level of Legacy. Anyway, the issue itself just feels inconsequential. There's nothing terribly wrong with the art or characterization it's just not very interesting is all. Yeah, that about sums it up.
Ultimate Spider-Man #123 - Since the clone saga this book has been back on it's grind as the kids say. This issue is no different. Decent framing devices, a good glimpse at Ultimate Venom for newcomers and if I'm not mistaken it may incorporate some moments from the Ultimate Spider-Man video game from a few years ago. Overall, it's as solid as ever.
Trinity #4 - Why am I still reading this? I think that says it all.
Black Panther # 37 - I forgot that I hadn't been getting this one pulled for a couple months. And hey, much like some of the books on here it's consistent. Interpret that for yourselves.
Green Lantern #32 - Go buy it. I mean seriously, this is one of the best books in the DC super hero line.
Marvel 1985 #2 - It's a good read. Solid art, and a good pacing overall. Millar does know how to write the kids and write them he does. It's some decent rising action. I don't know it's issue two of six. That's about it for me. You can highlight the space after my FF review when everything is over to see if I called that one too. Or not. Is anybody out there? Oh, well. Take it easy internet.
Ultimates 3#4 - This may have been the worst comic I've read in years. It's just silly. And it's got this whole Secret Invasion meets Ultron gimmick thing going on that is just...wow. It's all been leading up to this. Really? They're replacing everyone with robots. . It's just silly and uninspired. And what the hell does Magneto have to do with anything? Glad to see Joe Mad getting work though. Wish it was something less insipid. Like my opinion matters on this either. (begin rant) And does anyone in editorial bother to check up on what characters are where? Pyro in the Savage Land? Mastermind out of prison? And I'm PAYING TO READ THIS. That's right. This is not my job, but I can keep all of this inconsequential BS straight in my head. Is it that hard? Apparently so. (end rant)
Final Crisis #2 - Um, right. I'm so conflicted on this book. I guess my only real qualm with it is that I'm looking for the book to really gel into a cohesive thought. I mean it's not as all encompassing as Infinite Crisis, but it still seems a tad scattered to me. That's my only real qualm with the book. I'm also curious to see how the events within transition into the DCU proper. What with the shocking dearth of tie ins (comparatively). But, two points for Sunny Sumo when all is said and done.
Mighty Avengers #15 - The weakest of the Avengers tie ins this week in my opinion. I don't know there's nothing really wrong with the art or the characterization it's just that it took so long to get to the meat of the story, and frankly, the method of removal of Pym is pretty obvious from the get go. The one thing I will say is that the bit on the last page does raise an interesting question. Wholly, better than last issue.
New Avengers # 42 - It was alright. I'm a sucker for Jimmy Cheung so that helped. Okay, so this issue pretty much connects all of the dots since the beginning of New Avengers until House of M. It's neat stuff, but some of the dots should connect themselves given the prior information doled out in other recent issues of NA. There's nothing wrong with this book, and I guess some of the revelations are huge if you're not that great at ratiocination, I don't know. I am however really excited for next issue...because I'm curious about how they explain that one.
Avengers: Initiative # 14 - I was always a big "They Live" fan. That is probably going to influence my opinion of this book seeing as the main element in at least part of the SI tie in arc is centered around a pair of magic goggles that well...you've either seen the movie or not. And I also dug the Pym flashback moments so all in all I thought it was entertaining. Anyway, this is totally on par with the rest of the Initiative run so go get it. Now I've just got to wait for Mondo vs. Paydirt. Unless they're the same guy..?
Runaways/ Young Avengers: SI #1 - Better than the Cvil War crossover one in my book. Seems a little less forced given the established Skrull presence on both teams. And I dig the manga style so there you have it in a nutshell. As far as unnecessary tie ins go this one doesn't seem totally abhorrent.
Young Avengers Presents # 6 - Just as hug filled as the rest of this series, but less cloying given the input of Matt Fraction. Best of the run in my opinion. And with the incomparable Alan Davis on the pencils it's all the better. That's really all there is to it. An entirely entertaining confection. I hope they don't kill off Kate Bishop in SI...or make Clint Barton a skrull in SI. That'd be a pretty big dick move now that I think about it. Anyway, tangents aside, if you have to get one of the YA mini books it should be this one.
Fantastic Four # 558 - I'm sticking with it after the underwhelming, in my opinion, World's Greatest arc and I think that I may have made the right decision. I don't know this new arc seems to have some of the dimension hoping fun of Millar's tenure on Ultimate FF. And given the reveals towards the end of the issue well, my interest has been piqued. All in all I'd say it's a solid improvement. Part of my does think that the Invisible Woman in question is actually the nanny i.e. an older reality hopping Sue Storm.
Thunderbolts #121 - I'm kind of sad to see Ellis and Deodato leave the book. And the issue in question is overall a success with keeping the characterization, mean spiritedness and the violence all on the level I've come to expect. And yes, the resolution is a tad Deus Ex-Machina, but it's fitting in the pre established realm of character's and their proclivities. Also, it's comics I mean the Deus Ex-Machina is a pretty well respected trope. All in all thumbs up. Oh, and points for a young Edward Norton making an appearance in two Marvel properties in one month. (You'll know it when you see it.)
Immortal Iron Fist # 16 - Nooooooooooo!!!!! God, I hope the new team doesn't mess this one up. Pretty much, this one is a nice bookend for the run (one of the finest in recent years) and sets things up for what could be a rebirth of the classic Power Man and Iron Fist of yore, but with less dated writing...jive fool. Anyway, it's a great send off to Fraction and Aja, but god I'm going to miss them. Just as long as this doesn't degenerate to Cable quality when the regime change goes into effect next issue I'll be good.
Captain America # 39 - I don't think I have anything else to say about this book. I think it may actually be the most consistently high quality book in years. This issue is no different. Intrigue is mounting, tension keeps rolling and yeah. It's all good over here. My only question is how they're going to top this "Death of Cap" epic. I mean damn.
X-Men Legacy #213 - This is, currently, the best X-book on the shelves and it doesn't really lose any steam this month. Although, part of me has some qualms with the ending of the issue...at least Carrey is trying some new ideas that fit perfectly into the pre established X-Mythos. So, thumbs up and go buy it. Actually the only real fault I could find with the book is, as previously mentioned, you have to be up on your X-Men lore to really get the full effect. But I am, so it doesn't really matter.
Uncanny X-Men #499 - Is not the worst X-men book on the shelves these days (Young X-Men), but it's close. Anyway, this issue wraps up the SF/Russia arcs and sets it up for the big 500. And with Matt Fraction jumping on the book I only have high hopes for it getting up to the level of Legacy. Anyway, the issue itself just feels inconsequential. There's nothing terribly wrong with the art or characterization it's just not very interesting is all. Yeah, that about sums it up.
Ultimate Spider-Man #123 - Since the clone saga this book has been back on it's grind as the kids say. This issue is no different. Decent framing devices, a good glimpse at Ultimate Venom for newcomers and if I'm not mistaken it may incorporate some moments from the Ultimate Spider-Man video game from a few years ago. Overall, it's as solid as ever.
Trinity #4 - Why am I still reading this? I think that says it all.
Black Panther # 37 - I forgot that I hadn't been getting this one pulled for a couple months. And hey, much like some of the books on here it's consistent. Interpret that for yourselves.
Green Lantern #32 - Go buy it. I mean seriously, this is one of the best books in the DC super hero line.
Marvel 1985 #2 - It's a good read. Solid art, and a good pacing overall. Millar does know how to write the kids and write them he does. It's some decent rising action. I don't know it's issue two of six. That's about it for me. You can highlight the space after my FF review when everything is over to see if I called that one too. Or not. Is anybody out there? Oh, well. Take it easy internet.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo
So, you know what I'll be doing later...or not. And I got deadlines on some contests so I'm going to make this quick for now. Firstly, the old business, every person that I have talked to about Ultimate Origins (Spoiler that appears in the ads) agrees that: the Canadian government creating mutants in a basement in Dept. H as an answer to super soldiers is just silly. You really have to say it out loud though to get the silliness of it all. Or write it out. Now, onto the new business in no particular order this weeks books. Oh, and for those wanting the quick fix things were greatly less crappy this week.
Booster Gold #10 - Decent wrap up. Questions answered logically. Competent artwork. So close to being a haiku review, but anyway that about sums it up. I dig this book and it's awe inspiring adequacy. And I would wholly recommend it to any fan of the DC universe at large, people with fond boyhood memories of Dan Jurgens or anyone who loves the totally un-ironic naming of Skeets.
Lost Boys: Reign of Frogs - Hmmm...How do I put this? This book is really only for hardcore fans of the movie, Cory Feldman and the late 80's. The art is straight ass. The story is fairly ludicrous. And the dialog is...thankfully anachronistic...I mean they don't say radical that often so small favors and all that. But, my inner masochist is curious about the ending so I'm going to finish it up. God knows I've continued worse runs for the sake of completion.
Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust - Thoroughly better than Civil War: Choosing Sides. Seriously, you get gregarious Beast, a mercifully short Capt. Marvel bit (I just think this whole resurrection psych out bit is a travesty), Marvel Boy actually does something (although when the hell is this happening in the time line? Because he takes the cube during Civil War I think, which Bendis obviously didn't read I can't keep this stuff straight anymore) Anyway, typical Marvel issues of space time notwithstanding it was a decent little anthology I thought.
Locke & Key #5 - Go buy this book already. It's that good. This issue was probably my least favorite yet, but that's only because it's setting up that climax. Good stuff.
Goon # 25 - Read above comments. Except that it wasn't my least favorite issue. Pretty much if you're already on the train stay on, and if you're not on get on. It'll improve your cred.
Young Liars #4 - This book is spilling over with vitriol. The characters are repellent. But somewhere in this anarchic hug free zone I'm digging it, cautiously. It's probably because of the uneven quality of some of the books at Vertigo in the past couple of years *cough* American Virgin *cough* that has made me reticent in praising it, or recommending it and the like. I guess it's that I'm beginning to wonder if this book is just going to rely entirely on attitude or if this story is going to amount to anything terribly interesting. So, they've got me on style waiting on substance.
Amazing Spider-Man #562 - Fun. Makes me wonder if it's the BND or the regime change that has made this book enjoyable again. It's probably a little of both. And I also think that it's a bit surprising that it took so much silliness to make Spier-Man fun again.
Trinity #2 - I am bowled over by this books competence. That is all.
Titans #3 - Why am I reading this? Eh, I kind of like the art. I grew up in the J. Scott Campbell years. That's all there is to it. It looses a bit of it's charm when you read the words though.
Captain Britain and MI 13 #2 - So...how is it that this tie in is better than the main book? I mean things happen every issue. Characters sound different from each other. They develop. Um, there's no Daisy Johnson (they should just call her Chick-tor...once I get the copyright of course). My only real problem with Daisy is that she just sounds like if Ultimate Spidey and Deena Pilgrim had some sort of snarky baby together or something. Tangents aside, Capt. Britain may be the best thing coming out of SI.
Salvation Run #7 - This book really should have come out on time. Kind of takes the punch out of it now that it's all been said and done...for like a month or two. Although, in fairness, it's not like the ending wasn't a forgone conclusion. Just like the events in another oft delayed book that reemerged recently. It was fun while it lasted though.
Skaar Son of Hulk # 1 - Decent read. Shame it's done in four minutes. Hence the super short review.
Green Arrow/ Black Canary #9 - The only thing redeeming about this book is the artwork o Cliff Chiang. Without said Chiang, I just lose interest. I don't know that's a tad harsh...but pretty close to accurate. I guess the main problem with this book is the tone. It was fine during the first arc because it was a wacky escape from Paradise Island. But a global search for a brain dead Connor Hawke seems like an odd place for all of the attempts at the Bwa- Ha-Ha.
That's about it really. Still got a couple more books to read so I'll probably be back on at some point to finish things up. Take it easy internet.
Booster Gold #10 - Decent wrap up. Questions answered logically. Competent artwork. So close to being a haiku review, but anyway that about sums it up. I dig this book and it's awe inspiring adequacy. And I would wholly recommend it to any fan of the DC universe at large, people with fond boyhood memories of Dan Jurgens or anyone who loves the totally un-ironic naming of Skeets.
Lost Boys: Reign of Frogs - Hmmm...How do I put this? This book is really only for hardcore fans of the movie, Cory Feldman and the late 80's. The art is straight ass. The story is fairly ludicrous. And the dialog is...thankfully anachronistic...I mean they don't say radical that often so small favors and all that. But, my inner masochist is curious about the ending so I'm going to finish it up. God knows I've continued worse runs for the sake of completion.
Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust - Thoroughly better than Civil War: Choosing Sides. Seriously, you get gregarious Beast, a mercifully short Capt. Marvel bit (I just think this whole resurrection psych out bit is a travesty), Marvel Boy actually does something (although when the hell is this happening in the time line? Because he takes the cube during Civil War I think, which Bendis obviously didn't read I can't keep this stuff straight anymore) Anyway, typical Marvel issues of space time notwithstanding it was a decent little anthology I thought.
Locke & Key #5 - Go buy this book already. It's that good. This issue was probably my least favorite yet, but that's only because it's setting up that climax. Good stuff.
Goon # 25 - Read above comments. Except that it wasn't my least favorite issue. Pretty much if you're already on the train stay on, and if you're not on get on. It'll improve your cred.
Young Liars #4 - This book is spilling over with vitriol. The characters are repellent. But somewhere in this anarchic hug free zone I'm digging it, cautiously. It's probably because of the uneven quality of some of the books at Vertigo in the past couple of years *cough* American Virgin *cough* that has made me reticent in praising it, or recommending it and the like. I guess it's that I'm beginning to wonder if this book is just going to rely entirely on attitude or if this story is going to amount to anything terribly interesting. So, they've got me on style waiting on substance.
Amazing Spider-Man #562 - Fun. Makes me wonder if it's the BND or the regime change that has made this book enjoyable again. It's probably a little of both. And I also think that it's a bit surprising that it took so much silliness to make Spier-Man fun again.
Trinity #2 - I am bowled over by this books competence. That is all.
Titans #3 - Why am I reading this? Eh, I kind of like the art. I grew up in the J. Scott Campbell years. That's all there is to it. It looses a bit of it's charm when you read the words though.
Captain Britain and MI 13 #2 - So...how is it that this tie in is better than the main book? I mean things happen every issue. Characters sound different from each other. They develop. Um, there's no Daisy Johnson (they should just call her Chick-tor...once I get the copyright of course). My only real problem with Daisy is that she just sounds like if Ultimate Spidey and Deena Pilgrim had some sort of snarky baby together or something. Tangents aside, Capt. Britain may be the best thing coming out of SI.
Salvation Run #7 - This book really should have come out on time. Kind of takes the punch out of it now that it's all been said and done...for like a month or two. Although, in fairness, it's not like the ending wasn't a forgone conclusion. Just like the events in another oft delayed book that reemerged recently. It was fun while it lasted though.
Skaar Son of Hulk # 1 - Decent read. Shame it's done in four minutes. Hence the super short review.
Green Arrow/ Black Canary #9 - The only thing redeeming about this book is the artwork o Cliff Chiang. Without said Chiang, I just lose interest. I don't know that's a tad harsh...but pretty close to accurate. I guess the main problem with this book is the tone. It was fine during the first arc because it was a wacky escape from Paradise Island. But a global search for a brain dead Connor Hawke seems like an odd place for all of the attempts at the Bwa- Ha-Ha.
That's about it really. Still got a couple more books to read so I'll probably be back on at some point to finish things up. Take it easy internet.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Bendis and Morrison ALWAYS come first
I'm off to a good start this week: five whole books wrapped and ready to go. AND I had stacks of work to do at my real job, so I'm awesome.
New Avengers #41 was pretty good. I don't have the book in front of me, but I feel as if there was a note in the first issue of Secret Invasion that explained why Ka-Zar and Shanna weren't around, but I may be making that up. Still, for those who don't read interviews, this issue wraps up some dangling plot threads that showed up in issue #1 or 2, giving New Avengers a cohesion and sense of continuity. That's just nice.
Final Crisis #1 is kind of a slow start. As with so many of these event books, you have to take on faith that the next issue will show that the first issue was good because, on its own, it's kind of weak and scattered. Plus, the Dr. Light/Giganta thing felt forced and out of place. But still, there was plenty to like and it did feel self-contained (unlike Infinite Crisis, which felt like a summary of other books that happened to be going on at the same time) and JG Jones is just an awesome artist. As a bonus, it did feel like Countdown (a 51 issue series that told five issues worth of story) had a point. Not a big point, or even a good one, but a point nonetheless.
All-Star Superman #11 is a very good issue that fails to live up to the last issue (if you haven't read All-Star Superman #10, we can't be friends because it is the greatest single issue of 2008, no question), but that's okay. It's still very good. Good writing, plotting, art. A solid package. When the Absolute Edition comes out (and it will come, no doubt), that's going to be a volume to have.
Batman #677 was the third Grant Morrison book released this week. If only WildC.A.T.S. #2 had also been released... But I digress. I'm excited about this book because, for a year or more, it felt like he was spinning his wheels: weak plots, blown deadlines, art that was barely good enough to be called dreadful, and no apparent direction. This is him pulling it together. He doesn't save or even justify the earlier issues, but he is finally telling a story he cares about and has a sense of purpose again. Some of the ideas that get name-checked are intriguing, but I am guessing (hoping?) these are lies planted by the Black Glove.
King-Size Hulk #1, on the other hand, is the exact opposite of the other books on this list. It's a decent story, lots of big action, just like the Hulk series, but there's no point to it all. The art is great: Art Adams doing more than two pages of interiors is probably worth $5, plus you get Frank Cho and Herb Trimpe to boot. But the story is filler, just mindless backstory that was unnecessary in the main title, so why tell it? I do hope another issue of Hulk gets released, though, because Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness at their most Jeph-Loeb-and-Ed-McGuiness-iest is just good times for everyone.
New Avengers #41 was pretty good. I don't have the book in front of me, but I feel as if there was a note in the first issue of Secret Invasion that explained why Ka-Zar and Shanna weren't around, but I may be making that up. Still, for those who don't read interviews, this issue wraps up some dangling plot threads that showed up in issue #1 or 2, giving New Avengers a cohesion and sense of continuity. That's just nice.
Final Crisis #1 is kind of a slow start. As with so many of these event books, you have to take on faith that the next issue will show that the first issue was good because, on its own, it's kind of weak and scattered. Plus, the Dr. Light/Giganta thing felt forced and out of place. But still, there was plenty to like and it did feel self-contained (unlike Infinite Crisis, which felt like a summary of other books that happened to be going on at the same time) and JG Jones is just an awesome artist. As a bonus, it did feel like Countdown (a 51 issue series that told five issues worth of story) had a point. Not a big point, or even a good one, but a point nonetheless.
All-Star Superman #11 is a very good issue that fails to live up to the last issue (if you haven't read All-Star Superman #10, we can't be friends because it is the greatest single issue of 2008, no question), but that's okay. It's still very good. Good writing, plotting, art. A solid package. When the Absolute Edition comes out (and it will come, no doubt), that's going to be a volume to have.
Batman #677 was the third Grant Morrison book released this week. If only WildC.A.T.S. #2 had also been released... But I digress. I'm excited about this book because, for a year or more, it felt like he was spinning his wheels: weak plots, blown deadlines, art that was barely good enough to be called dreadful, and no apparent direction. This is him pulling it together. He doesn't save or even justify the earlier issues, but he is finally telling a story he cares about and has a sense of purpose again. Some of the ideas that get name-checked are intriguing, but I am guessing (hoping?) these are lies planted by the Black Glove.
King-Size Hulk #1, on the other hand, is the exact opposite of the other books on this list. It's a decent story, lots of big action, just like the Hulk series, but there's no point to it all. The art is great: Art Adams doing more than two pages of interiors is probably worth $5, plus you get Frank Cho and Herb Trimpe to boot. But the story is filler, just mindless backstory that was unnecessary in the main title, so why tell it? I do hope another issue of Hulk gets released, though, because Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness at their most Jeph-Loeb-and-Ed-McGuiness-iest is just good times for everyone.
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