On 7 June, 2006

There is a great little new and used bookstore kitty-corner from my LCS. I've been a regular there (the bookstore) for, well, years now. I'd been neglecting it of late, due to the distraction that is the comic book store, but I need a little more prose in my life. So back to the bookstore! (Er, also, they've expanded their inventory to include CDs, LPs, and a couple short boxes of miscellaneous comics, from Batman to Witchblade to that copy of Gumby's Summer Fun Special. Heh.) Anywho, I may start writing some "Project Prose" entries that may or may not be comic-book related. (That book of Wonder Woman short stories is, Charlotte Brontë's Shirley is most decidedly not.)

So, right... I best finish these silly blurbs and get to bed. Yesh...

Reading music: Serenity soundtrack

--Warning: Possible spoilers ahead--

Dark Horse

Archenemies #3: I'm sorry to say I never wrote in a letter to the Archenemies team. Should have. Maybe I still will. These guys certainly deserve all the kudos they get and plenty they don't.

Drew and company deliver a fast-paced, fun story, and what could be a candidate for the most violent funeral ever. Secret identities are compromised, major misunderstandings continue, new romance is (possibly) in the air, and Ethan actually displays a level of nobility. Not intelligence so much (That's Vincent's area), but heroism nevertheless. It's a lot of story packed into one little comic. Pity this is only a mini-series.

It's probably too late to shoot off an e-mail, but I might just do so anyway.

Do I Know What I Just Read? Yes
Do I Care? Yes

DC

52 Week 1 & 2: Curiousity got the better of me, and it was a light week, so I went ahead and picked up the first two weeks of 52. They manage to cram a lot of different subplots into these things. Booster Gold's android's issues, the Question and Montoya, that... steel guy and his daughter, The Dibny mystery... Geez. Between that and the frequency of the publication, it's a little daunting.

So it's back to my original plan. Pay attention and pick up issues that involve Blue Beetle, but otherwise, just wait for the trade.

Do I Know What I Just Read? Yes
Do I Care? Kinda...

Wonder Woman #1 is a fast read with slick (but not soulless) art and very, very handy captions introducing key characters. In other words, a heckuvan introduction for a new reader.

This makes two of the big three. Still haven't touched Batman (not sure why), but between Clark and Donna, we're two for two thus far.

Do I Know What I Just Read? Yes
Do I Care? Actually, yeah

Marvel

Civil War: Front Line #1 is a three-parter. The first story, "Embedded," follows journalists Ben Urich and Sally Floyd (both interesting characters) as they work to report on the Civil War for their respective newspapers. Ben is frustrated with his right wing rag (The Daily Bugle), as he feels it's not covering the real meat of the story. Meanwhile, Sally gets an interview and a hot news tip from Spider-Man as she works to stay on the wagon (or not) and cover the liberal side of the big story. It's not a shocker of a story, but it works, and Sally's conversation with Spidey is the highlight of the thing.

The second story, "The Accused," follows the discovery and arrest of the one New Warrior who barely survived the Stamford disaster. It's not pretty.

The third and last part of the comic perplexes me. It attempts to relate the WWII Japanese concentration camps to Marvel's Civil War. This should work. Good people unjustly rounded up for security's sake just because they happen to superficially resemble the bad guys? Sure. Yeah, that fits. There are parallels, it's not a huge stretch. But... Spiderman swinging around and being angsty? I'm just not seeing the real connection. Ah, well...

Do I Know What I Just Read? Yes.
Do I Care? Yeah...

Fantastic Four: First Family #4: And this is the issue where they all lose it, in their own separate ways. Yes, let the squabbles begin.

Really, the cover about says it all. (Woohoo, my first attempt at a cover analysis. Er, does it count if you've already read the story?)

There we have Reed, his back to us, clad in his unstable molecule uniform. All blue, all business, gazing into the void. To his left is Sue, the really only member of the Four in civilian clothing. She stands rather stiffly, holding one arm with the other. She's very stressed, and superheroing is hardly her first concern. Opposite Sue is Johnny, flamed on, almost smiling, heels on the edge of the platform, probably ready to take off. He's the only one actively using his new power, the only one who really enjoys it. Ben, nearest the front, stands hunched, lamenting his condition.

The platform itself is cracked four ways, though not beyond repair. The pieces may be coming together or drifting apart. It's hard to tell. The team stands facing outwards. We know why this really is, but that configuration is also a practically instinctive defensive position. If they can keep that platform together (and, again, we know they do), they'll be well equipped to fight for what they hold dear.

Do I Know What I Just Read? Yes
Do I Care? Yes

Week's most memorable moment(s): Again, Sue rocks the force field in Fantastic Four: First Family #4.

Tentative checklist for 14 June, 2006
Civil War #2
Ex Machina Special #2
Green Lantern Corps #1 (Probably against my better judgement, but we'll see. Maybe somebody will talk me into it...)
Marvel Romance Redux: Love is a Four Letter Word
Marvel Westerns Two Gun Kid
Ms. Marvel #4