Reading music: Liz Carroll and John Doyle: In Play
--Warning: Spoilers ahead--
DC
DC
Ex Machina Special #2: The Machine vs. Animal slugfest concludes with a bloody confrontation in a Manhattan animal shelter. The insane Pherson has murdered a police officer and fed him to the pound puppies. He is also holding two workers hostage in order to draw out a somewhat worse-for-wear Mitchell and kill him with said hounds. Needless to say, the whole thing ends messily, and then we're back to the "present," where a conflicted mayor shares his views on the death penalty with a hard-hitting radio host.
This really became more of a "former superhero looks back on his past with regret" story than a Man versus Nature tale. That's okay, too. It's still a good read.
Do I Know What I Just Read? Yes.
Do I Care? Sure.
IDW
Supermarket #3: Streetwise, Pella is not. She's wanted by the rival gangs her parents represented, and she has only Beta, a Yakuza and a friend, to help her. Well, him and her parents' considerable funds. (How'd she get those funds back, anyway? I'm kind of confused about that; I thought she was locked out of their accounts or something.) She's still obsessed with money. She "look[s] down and wonder[s] what's the current market value of the square foot of pavement [she stands] on" in the richest sector of the city. She ponders wealth to no end, but has no clue about how to go incognito, to stay alive. She is, in fact, learning the real cost of survival. It's a sharp learning curve, Pella comes to see, as Beta kills one of his own to protect her.
The issue ends on a nice West Side Story note, which is actually not at odds with the overall tone of the book. We'll see how it leads into the conclusion, and how much Pella actually grows as a character next month (or whenever the fourth and last issue comes out.) At least, I hope that's what we'll see.
Do I Know What I Just Read? Yes
Do I Care? Yes
Marvel
Civil War #2: Now, I can't help but wonder whether Tony Stark has staged the Doombot attack on the Big Apple. I mean, Reed Richards and Hank Pym are right there as part of the team that takes it out off-panel, and ever since Stark set up the battle between Titanium Man and Spider-Man, I just don't trust the guy. The ends don't justify these means, Tony! Oi. Sure, Dr. Doom is back in action somewhere, but it still seems like the odds of a set up are damn good.
Meanwhile... Reed's predicting the Apocalypse if Superhuman activities aren't brought under control (and upsetting Sue due to his seeming lack of interest in Johnny's welfare). Tony has doubts. A secret identity is revealed. (For that spoiler, check out some of the mainstream news organizations.) Lots of things are going on, but the main thing is Captain America's new underground safehouse network for illegal vigilantes. The camps are neatly established, and the plot is moving right along in tidy steps.
Also, and I know I don't comment much on artwork, but still... I really dig Steve McNiven now.
Do I Know What I Just Read? Yes.
Do I Care? Yes.
Four #30: Click here for a special review.
Marvel Romance Redux: Love is a Four Letter Word: "Hot Alien Love." Just what it sounds like. A female "Homeworld Security" agent falls in love (?) with a Lustarian and escapes Earth to join him on his homeworld. Make of that what you will.
"Buffy Willow: Agent of A.D.D." Another secret agent. This one has a bad case of (you guessed it) A.D.D. The narration is funny, so this one has some redeeming value.
"Mice and Money." Two disgusting people with a rodent fetish get together. Their world is filled with people who enjoy rodents. Mostly as cuisine, but still. Rodents. It's like a twisted version of Pokemon wherein the losing Rattatas and Pikachus end up in the oven.
"Love Me, Love My Clones!" A technophile falls for an android after breaking it off with half a dozen ever-lovin' clones.
"They Said I Was... Insane!" And they'd be right.
Do I Know What I Just Read? ???
Do I Care? ???
Marvel Westerns Two Gun Kid: Matthew Hawk goes werewolf hunting in the present and the past, the premise being that a lycanthrope's curse has followed the gunslinger from 1876 to 2006. And it has touched the current quarry. At least, that's what the Two-Gun Kid believes.Westerns really aren't my cup of tea (unless they're sci-fi westerns, in which case they are très cool), but this is a Dan Slott story. That's probably the reason I was able to get through it at all.
Haven't read the back-up stories yet. I will eventually, but to be honest, the dialect is a bit of a turn-off. Maybe it's just my northern ears. Or maybe the wannabe "Texas cowboy" President's ruined it for me. Probably a combination of factors, but what can you do, right?
Do I Know What I Just Read? Yes, what I read of it.
Do I Care? Eh.
Ms. Marvel #4: Is total gibberish just shorthand for someone losing his or her mind, if the reader isn't looking through the crazy-person's eyes? Because, really, do people suffering from psychosis actually say stuff like "I cannot cartel any primrose?" Aside from bad poets on drugs? Just curious...
Anywho, Carol's just sort of starting to recover from her latest ordeal, but she has to deal with her overbearing publicist (who is sort of scary), and an evil other-dimensional sorcerer. That would be where Dr. Strange comes in. The sorcerer, Sir Warren Traveler, possesses the Eye of Watoomb; seems to be after the Wand that goes with the Eye; is somehow connected to Carol via the House of M event (They did actually refer to it as an "event."); and is more than a match for Dr. Strange. In other words, he's scary.
But still not as scary as Sarah Day.
Do I Know What I Just Read? Yes.
Do I Care? Kinda sorta.
Week's most memorable moment(s): The sweetest Infinite Possibility is the last page and a half or so of Four #30, but this I.P. is a great deal more entertaining...
Tentative checklist for 21 June, 2006
All-Star Superman #4
Giant-Size Hulk #1
Haunt of Horror: Edgar Allen Poe #2
Manhunter #23
The Thing #8 (Last issue. Sigh.)
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