If comics get reviewed in a forest and no one is around to hear - Matt on 6/10

Hey, remember those other guys who used to post here sometimes? They seemed nice. I wonder what ever happened to them. Also, the two people who used to comment. Ah well. Comics!

۞ Okay, I've mentioned how much I'm enjoying Batman R.I.P., right? Like, in a non-ironic, non-negative way? Because I really, really am. So why is nothing even resembling that storyline showing up in this ostensible crossover with Detective #846? I'll admit that I think Hush is a monumentally stupid character, so I'm prejudiced against this from the jump, but this is ... Look, in a vacuum this would be okay. Ish. I guess. But trying to tell me that this has ANYthing to do with the clever, complicated stuff Morrison's doing over in the main book is setting the bar a bit high. Forgettable, and I'm not going to be sticking with this storyline.

۞ Batman Confidential #19 is part three of the storyline, and more of the same: a solidly entertaining flashback story from Fabian Nicieza with exquisite artwork from Kevin Maguire. They've worked together as a creative team before, and they mesh well. Fun stuff.

۞ I know, I know: I swore I was done with Booster Gold. And I hate buying things just because they're part of a crossover -- it makes me feel like a sucker. But I LOVED DC One Million back in the day, so sending this book retroactively into the crossover was reason enough for me to buy it.

The level of disappointment I feel is suitable punishment for letting myself be tricked like this. Hey, DC: it's ISSUE #1,000,000, not the YEAR 1,000,000. It's the year 85,271, as you correctly note on the cover. And if you were going to go to the trouble of matching the cover, why not include the stupid CGI title page that was on all the 1,000,000 issues as well? Seriously half-assed as a One Million tribute, and still meh as a comic on its own. Fool me once, etc.

۞ Secret Invasion #4 is better than Secret Invasion #3. Damning with faint praise? Maybe so, but it's what I've got.

۞ Invincible Iron Man #3 is fantastic. Matt Fraction's script seems carefully designed to be equally applicable to modern Marvel Universe continuity or to Iron Man movie continuity, and it's such a good Iron Man story that I found myself not caring either way. The strongest Iron Man's book has been since ... I dunno, since I was, like, 12. Nice showcase for Larocca's art, too. Much more appropriate than newuniversal.

۞ Okay, okay, a little bit more on Secret Invasion: it feels to me like Bendis is just hitting plot beats, like he just re-read Robert McKee's STORY and is following all the rules on this one. This is the middle issue, so we find out more about the Invasion plans, the heroes begin to regroup, sort of, and ... yeah, it just all completely fails to come alive for me. Oh well. Maybe next issue.

۞ Although I do have to wonder why the whole thing feels so much better in the tie-in books -- Captain Britain and MI-13 #3 is what I want from the MAIN miniseries: a plot with enough energy and momentum to carry itself past its own stupid points; characters who seem different from one another, and invested in the moment; some humor, some wit, some flair; heroic moments that feel genuinely heroic ... this is worth checking out even if you're ignoring SI altogether.

۞ Action Comics #867 does a nice job continuing the Braniac story. It's shaping up to be another nice Geoff Johns-written DCU book and the best Superman's been in a while. But... well, how to put this.... Ah, heck with it, I'll scan in the image, but let's do it in bits and pieces first. This is from the book's splash page. Can you guess what Supergirl is doing?


If you guessed "vomiting," "recovering from a brutal hangover," "smelling something awful," or "appearing in a Warren Ellis comic," you think along the same lines as me. You're also wrong; she's examining a Braniac drone and is meant to be looking frightened.

Here's another bit of the image that irritated me.


Yes, the left side is a bit deceptive as the shadow cast by her arm makes her appear even more unhealthily skinny, but even with out that ... why is Supergirl emaciated? Look at her ribs jutting out -- it makes me want to send her fifty cents a day so she can get away from Sally Struthers.

So let's put together those two images with the rest of it and see what we get...


Yep. It's Paris Hilton: Supergirl. I can't wait for my daughter to be old enough to enjoy this with me.

GET IT TOGETHER, GARY FRANK!

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 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.

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow - Matt gets caught up

Hey, so having a kid is time-consuming! Who saw THAT coming? Not me, obviously. Fortunately, she's a dreadful conversationalist, so I can safely read comics while rocking her and the like. Here are my reviews on last Wednesday's books, followed by a couple of "preview" reviews for books that'll be out tomorrow.

۞ Secret lnvasion #3 is, perhaps predictably, a huge disappointment to me. Issue #1 of this was exciting! It was punchy! Stuff happened and things blew up and there was a big surprise ending and wooooooooo! Since then, it's been a long, wanky fight scene (issue #2), and now this: the Marvel F-list fights bravely in New York! They all talk Bendis-y! Something bad happens to The Vision version 8.3, and I try manfully to remember who he is and where he came from and if I should care! There's one good paranoia scene that's got to be a fakeout (or DOES it?!?!), and then a cliffhanger where a bunch of heroes charge in to save the world and it would be amazingly cool, except that it's, like, the G-list of unrecognizable Marvel dudes.

Actually, it's not even the G-list -- it's a bunch of Bendis's pet characters who we know are awesome because he spent a whole issue of Avengers telling us that Nick Fury (who all the famous characters think is awesome) thinks these no-marks are awesome. THAT, my friends, is character development at its finest.

And Lenil Yu is clearly being rushed, as the cleaner line he was using in issue #1 is back to being the Sienkiewicz-ian scrawl he's perfected since Superman: Birthright. This is starting to feel an awful lot like Bendis's last Might Marvel Miniseries, House of Filler.

۞ A while back, Commenter Sean mentioned that he's been known to develop crushes on writers, and I know exactly where he's coming from. I was totally into Matt Fraction for awhile (Five Fists of Science, Casanova, that Spider-Man annual, Iron Fist), but then we got together and it was totally not all I was hoping it would be (Punisher War Journal). So I avoided him for awhile and he acted all embarrassed around me and it was totally awkward until we got drunk together at this party and made out, and there were no strings attached and that was pretty good except for that one part when Namor showed up (The Order). So now things are kind of okay again and I think I like him but I don't know how he feels about me and I'm afraid to ask because what if it makes things all weird, you know?

Which is a long way to go to say that Invincible Iron Man #2 is just as good as issue #1 was, and that you should be buying it and loving it and treasuring every moment with it, because it's summer and you can never tell what's going to happen to a guy on his summer vacation.

۞ I don't really want to make out with Justice Society of America #16, but I sure am pleased to bump into it. This is apparently the story that Geoff Johns has been setting up with the nigh-incomprehensible last four issues, because this is a sharp little character piece masquerading as a 1980's DC Comic (in the best possible way). Some nice swerves on the typical Galactus story, and a good use of the ridiculously large cast. Maybe I'll reread from issue #9 or whatever and see how it hangs together.

۞ I'm the dissenting voice on Kick-Ass #3, it appears. As I mentioned in my thoughts on Marvel 1985 a week or two back, I find Mark Millar surprisingly good at writing teen drama, so I liked the in-school bits, but the super-hero stuff remains dull to me, no matter how much violence he injects it with. I think this will read better in collection, to be honest.

۞ Trinity #1 is ... okay. It features the Superman-Batman-and-Wonder-Woman-sit-around-a-table scene that is apparently required in all 21st Century DC Comics, but THIS TIME THEY'RE IN THEIR CIVILIAN IDENTIES!!!!! ZOMG!!!!!!!!!!!!1111!!!! That said, at least Kurt Busiek doesn't feel compelled to cover the page with 75 billion different colored captions (like Brad Meltzer), or to weight the proceedings down with trite pseudo-psychological melodrama (like, oh, say, Brad Meltzer). It's not the Busiek of Astro City, nor even the terrific early Thunderbolts issues, but it's a solid superhero comic and a promising start to a weekly series. (Except for the backup, which I found literally unreadable. That might be a problem down the line.)

۞ Ultimate Origins #1 was always going to be a problem for me. I found Bendis's thin reinventions of the Marvel Universe in Ultimate Team-Up and Ultimate Spider-Man to be much less interesting than Millar's ground-up rethinks in Ult. X-Men and Ultimates. (Ult. Spider-Man overcomes this with some excellent craft and lively character drama, but Team-Up was pretty much an unmitigated disaster.)

So Ultimate Origins, being Bendis's unifying theory of the Ultimate Universe, was bound to accent the side of the Ultimate line that I find less interesting, and as such to disappoint me.

Which it does. (And I thought this was Butch Guice's worst art in a while as well.) At least it met expectations.....

۞ I also read The Boys #19, which was just as good as the rest of the issues have been, and as such not worthy of special praise or scorn. The price you pay for consistent work, I suppose.

۞ Which brings us to this week's preview books. It was a pretty thin bunch, a lot of things that I don't find interesting to begin with (Moon Knight) or didn't find particularly interesting once I had read them (Hulk: Raging Thunder, the apocalyptically grim X-Force: Ain't No Dog). But I do want to call special attention to Skaar, Son of Hulk #1, which overcomes a catastrophically stupid title to be a surprisingly good book.

For everyone who was disappointed that World War Hulk failed to be an adequate follow-up to the themes and ideas of Planet Hulk ... this is your book. Something like a really good Conan comic blended together with Marvel's sci-fi stuff, there's a lot of promise here, and it's worth checking out.

(Also, it contains 100% less Jeph Loeb than Marvel's other Hulk book, which guarantees a quality uptick.)