On 5 April, 2006

Very light week this week. Probably just as well. As it happens, the comics themselves were light, too! Nice change of pace, really.

Reading music: Leahy, Lakefield

Format: Verbose

--Warning: Spoilers ahead--

Dark Horse
ARCHENEMIES #1 is great. On so many levels, not the least of which is the cover, which is not only informative and catchy, but actually leads into the story. It is a cover, splash page, and first panel combined, and I hope to the powers that be I've got my jargon right.

That's just the cover. Really, my favorite thing about this is the villain, Vincent Darko (Underlord) who comes off as the protagonist. Okay, so he's violent and homicidal and dark and terribly intolerant, but seriously, did his roommate drive him to it? (Probably not, but really, who knows?)

Ethan Baxter (Star Fighter), the roommate, embodies the sloppy, party-animal jock/frat boy stereotype. And not in a nice, wholesome, Johnny Storm kind of way, either. Oh yeah. I'm rooting for Darko on this one.

DC
BLUE BEETLE #1: That's number four. The fourth bit of the DC universe I've read and enjoyed. Not enough background to completely understand it, but, the pacing kept the -- dreams? -- from being jarring.

Really, this is one of the most... interesting origin stories I've read to date (Considering the simple "found a mystical scarab, turned into Blue Beetle" premise, that's saying something.), and I'll probably be picking up the next issue.

Marvel
DOC SAMSON #4 was a little convoluted. If they'd label flashbacks and universe-switches more clearly, through effective storytelling or, well, labels (or both, even!), that would help. A lot. The last panel of the first page seems to lead into a flashback but... You know, I'm still not sure what that was. Alternate future that spawns a doppelganger? Alternate universe altogether? Gah.

Not that it matters all that much. The origin of the doppelganger, that is. The story itself was fun, in the goofy way. (Really, the whole mini-series has been more than a little off-beat.) The Living Totem in sunglasses. Tina, trapped in a virtual reality game, wearing Red Sonja-style "armor" and battling dragons. Oh, and Whistle Pig and Jack trapped in a slot machine! Goofy.

Oh, and there is a back-up story in this issue. "The Living Totem in: A Cold Winter Comin'." This is a funny (more so than the main story, actually) little tale about Whistle Pig, his arch-nemesis Cold Winter (a living Kachina doll), and the Weschester Collectors' Society.

Week's most memorable moments:

A negative moment: Tina lamenting her geekdom in DOC SAMSON #4. Honestly, Tina, just because the guys abandoned you for the slot machines and blackjack tables... Have some pride.



And a positive moment: Brenda versus Paco in BLUE BEETLE #1. What's a little Aikido practice between friends?



Tentative checklist for 12 April, 2006:
FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST FAMILY #2
MS. MARVEL #2
SON OF M #5
SUPERMAN #651
X-MEN: THE 198 #4