Thoughts on 25 April, 2007

Spoiler warning! Just in case, you know?

I picked up seven titles this week, taking place in a total of four universes. One of which is our very own universe! (It still involves super-heroes, though. Go figure.)

Amazons Attack #1

-Is it me, or are the Amazons here as irrational as those in Y: The Last Man? No attempt at diplomacy at all? No warnings? Just... land and start beheading fathers in front of their sons? Aren't these women supposed to be civilized? Good grief.

-Wonder Woman is not going to like this, is she?

Blue Beetle #14

-The supporting cast member of the week is Jaime's mom:

-Guy Gardner is a pretty cool guy, so long as he's not trying to kill you.

-Yay for flightful harmful penguins! With glowing red eyes!

Fantastic Four #545

-Only a couple pages of Reed and Sue, but they're just enough to make you think the two might actually mend things. They've had a major disagreement, but they are mature adults who can handle it.

-Who's watching the kids? Reed and Sue are honeymooning, the active team is in space, Crystal's occupied with a major Inhuman crisis (see Silent War), and Jen is otherwise occupied with S.H.I.E.L.D. So who does that leave? H.E.R.B.I.E.?

-Life support bracelets! Precursors to the PEG units in Fantastic Four: The End?

-Ororo has had experience with cosmic stuff before. Not sure about T'Challa. They're both a little overconfident in dealing with the Silver Surfer though, I think...

Silent War #4

-So the Inhumans are awful. That's not a good way to treat the mentally ill.

-Maria Hill is also awful, but we already knew that.

-Black Bolt can write after all. He just generally chooses not to.

Snake Woman #10

-Yeah, right, Jessica, like prison would keep you safe. Interesting idea, though.

-There's a month missing. What happened then? (And how is Jessica not in prison, given what her detective friend knows about her?)

-And it turns out that Raj is... Raj is.... Well...

Yeah...

The Faithful characterize Jessica as "afflicted," and Harker is becoming slightly sympathetic. (He wants the cycle of violence to end, after all.) These people are twisted, and do want Jessica to die (though Harker wants everyone else to die first), but they're at least about survival. Jessica is about survival. Well, that and revenge. She has trouble controlling that. And Justin, who really is the only sane (maybe) character left at this point, doesn't seem too bothered by what Jessica is capable of... And Raj is just plain evil.

True Story, Swear To God #5

-Tom Beland's take on Spider-Man is freaking adorable. Also, Iron Man and Cap at a hot dog stand. Hee! Ahh, the fantasies associated with NYC...

-And the scene with Letterman? Nice.

Wonder Woman #8

-I'm still trying to decipher Circe's line of reasoning here, but I expect that there really isn't one. Just evil, evil magic.

-Nemesis suddenly seems competent. Except for not seeing through Diana's super-thin disguise. That's traditional though, right?

On 2 August, 2006

Still catching up...

Reading music: Riverdance: Music from the Show

--Warning: Spoilers ahead--

DC

The All-New Atom #2: Well, okay, I kind of wish this issue had an essay question to answer, like the last one, but the Scientific Method theme makes up for it. It's as though, for Ryan, becoming The Atom is a grand experiment. At least, he wants it to be as he tests ants as a means of transportation and the parameters of the size-changing ability. He observes the powers, tests them, and sketches atomic fire rockets on napkins whilst eating "Chinese" food. The scientific method doesn't quite line up with the process Ryan is going through, I don't think, but maybe it's not really supposed to. After all, Ryan soon dons brightly-colored spandex and dashes off to learn the life-or-death science of superheroics. And that requires a different method altogether.

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

Image

Doll and Creature #4: With macabre political commentary (sort of), and lots of 'splosions, the wonderfully morbidly amusing Doll & Creature concludes. I hope there will be a sequel.

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

Liberty Meadows #37: Comic strips don't get much more juvenile than this without losing the funny, do they?

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

Marvel

Fantastic Four #539 is, of course, a Civil War zone. This one focuses on Ben and his home street. Thinker and Puppet Master team up yet again to lay a complex trap for the opposing superhero strike teams. As the villains work to light a fuse on Yancy Street, they discuss their anger management issues and mutual hatred of the Fantastic Four. Stuff naturally goes sour, pushing Ben over the edge and out of the fight entirely.

Note: Sue, Johnny, and Reed are conspicuously absent here.

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

On 23 August, 2006

Okay, this is just unusual. Not much of interest from Marvel this week. Go figure.

Reading music: Riverdance: Music from the Show

--Warning: Spoilers ahead--

DC

Blue Beetle #6: Blue Beetle and the Posse take the good fight to a metahuman compound that rings of the 198 prison camp over on Earth-616.

But there are two characters I feel like I ought to know. There's the burly tattooed fella on the red motorcycle, and there's the mysterious Dr. Strange type who keeps popping up out of thin air. Who are those guys?

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

Justice League of America #1: I have seen that first page floating around the blogosphere for what seems like months and, well... It's even weirder in print, and it is not comfortable. Maybe discomfort is what they were going for, but... Geez, it's weird.

Of all the stories here, Red Tornado was the most touching. Diana, Clark and Bruce voting on JLA members was entertaining, too. As for the rest, I have no clue. Eh.

Do I Know What I Just Read? Generally speaking, yes.
Do I Care? Not really, no.

Wonder Woman #2: I like that Diana is this woman confused about what her role in life ought to be. Very existential and very human, that. I like that, on top of the "Who am I?" stuff, she's managing the whole big sister/mentor role by watching over the two women replacing her as Wonder Woman, and she's maintaining a new job as a government agent.

I am going to posit that it is taking both Donna and Cassie to replace Diana as Wonder Woman, but that may be as shaky as Diana's secret identity, seeing as it's based primarily on this one comic. (I had no idea there even was a Wonder Girl.) Oh, and Kingdom Come. At any rate, in Kingdom Come, Diana is characterized as having two roles, right? That of a warrior, and that of a teacher/peacemaker... Something like that. (I can't believe I'm writing this. I shall probably be smote by the collective feminist comics blogosphere or something.) At any rate, in Wonder Woman, Donna (in the middle of a battle) calls herself a "kinder, gentler Wonder Woman." That's probably kind of tongue-in-cheek, but however it's meant, Donna still shows she has a sense of humor. Meanwhile, Cassie displays a quick temper and a less-than-forgiving nature. Are the attitudes of Donna and Cassie sort of representative of what Diana has to balance within herself?

Or not. It's a very fun, very pretty book though.

Do I Know What I Just Read? Yes.
Do I Care? Kind of.

IDW Publishing

Supermarket #4 (of 4): The relationship between the two families (the Yakuza and the Swedes) is a bit confusing. A fake rivalry that disguises an alliance?

At any rate, whatever the deal is with the organized criminals, Supermarket #4 is an unexpected but strangely satisfying conclusion to Pella's story, complete with a great car chase and surprisingly little bloodshed.

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

Image

Elephantmen #2: "Shock Crock!" A Howard Stern parody interviews Crocodileman Elijah Delaney. There is goofy banter, and there is the question as to how Elijah lost his tail. And whether he likes scantily-clad human women, of which there are two. That ends rather poorly. But what else do you expect from a Howard Stern parody?

"Behemoth and Leviathon." Okay, this is just odd. An epic battle between Hip Flask (I think) and a... That's not Elijah, is it? It would explain how he lost his tail, but honestly, that reptile looks more like something out of Jurassic Park. At any rate, it's narrated by Job. As in, the Book of Job, or parts of it. Weird contrast.

Do I Know What I Just Read? Pretty much, yeah.
Do I Care? Sort of.

Marvel

Women of Marvel Poster Book: Okay, so I'm guessing there won't be any "Men of Marvel" poster books. There should be, in all fairness, but no. At least there's variety here, anyway, with all manner of reprinted images from various artists, most of whom are not named Greg.

In case you're curious, the following is a listing of all posters and artists, verbatim, from the inside front cover:

She-Hulk by Mike Mayhew
Spider-Woman by Andrea DiVito
Ms. Marvel by Frank Cho
X-23 & Psylocke by Randy Green
Black Cat with Wolverine by Joseph Michael Linsner
Rogue by Rodolfo Migliari
Invisible Woman by Steve McNiven
Wolfsbane by Josh Middleton
Misty Knight & Colleen Wing by Khary Evans
Arana by Mark Brooks
Emma Frost by Greg Horn
Jewel by Mark Bagley
Mary Jane with Spider-Man by Takeshi Miyazawa
The Women of Marvel by Greg Land
Black Cat by Terry Dodson
Dazzler by Michael Ryan
Dagger with Cloak by Josh Middleton
Mystique by Mike Mayhew
Power Princess by Gary Frank
She-Hulk/Jennifer Walters by John Buscema
Psylocke by Josh Middleton
Ms. Marvel (House of M) by Terry Dodson
The Women of Marvel by Mike Mayhew
Ultimate Invisible Girl, Marvel Girl & Vision by Brandon Peterson
Storm by Michael Turner
Blink & Nocturne by Adrian Alphona
Spider-Woman by Joe Sinnott
Black Widow by Greg Land
Spider-Girl by Ron Frenz
Sersi by Rick Berry
Shanna, the She-Devil by Frank Cho
Kitty Pryde by John Cassaday
Rogue by Chris Bachalo
Polaris with Havok by Billy Tan
Phoenix by Greg Land
The Women of Marvel by Bruce Timm

The book might be worth unstapling for Steve McNiven's Sue Storm, though I have no idea where I'd display it, if at all.

Week's most memorable moment: Pinata (a.k.a. Cinetico), a member of the Posse, describes her powers in Blue Beetle #6. (It's like something out of Nextwave...)



Tentative checklist for 30 August, 2006
(*Indicates a title I've preordered.)
*All New Official Handbook Marvel Universe A To Z #8
*All Star Superman #5
CSI: Dying in the Gutters #1
Civil War Young Avengers & Runaways #2 (Of 4)
Mythos: Hulk
*She-Hulk 2 #11
Snakes On A Plane #1 (Of 2)
*Ultimate Fantastic Four #33

Lordy...

On 19 & 26 July, 2006 -- Part II: Everywhere Else

Catching up. Part I is here

Reading music: Kitty Donohoe, This Road Tonight; Leahy, Lakefield

--Warning: Spoilers ahead--

DC

Blue Beetle #5: Jaime Reyez makes a truly public debut as Blue Beetle. I think it's good publicity. He still doesn't have complete control over the Scarab, but he does manage to save a baby from a bizarre religious demon creature. We learn more about the Posse, and Jaime learns (at long last) he's the only one hearing the voice in his head. ("I'm not crazy. I just hear this voice in my head!") Inasmuch as the main storyline focuses on the Posse and La Dama, the two Brenda pages seem kind of thrown in. They're good bits, just oddly placed. Blue Beetle is consistantly good, and it's probably about time I added it to my standing pulls.

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

Image

Elephantmen #1: "See the Elephant." I'm not a fan of any portrayal of George W. Bush as an utterer of wise words, but it's easy enough to put the inside cover page out of mine and focus on this little vignette of innocence lost. Or gained, or never had, or... something. The Elephantmen, creations of a mad scientist, are born and bred to be soldiers, and like many soldiers who have been to war, they have regrets and trouble integrating into society at large. That's the case with Ebony, at least. He has disturbing bloody flashbacks, and they are triggered by Savannah, a young girl in pink, the very picture of innocence. And maybe she's the key to unlocking some sort of innocence in him. It's a sweet story, actually.

"Just Another Guy Named Joe." A vignette from the perspective of a man who resents the Elephantmen and their place in society. This is a short one, very dark, and somewhat tricky to get a real handle on, at least here. Call it a small window into a big fictional world.

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

Marvel

Black Panther #18: Iron Man and Cap are too royally cheesed off at each other to stick around for the ceremony. It's a shame they miss it, too, because ceremony consists of Ororo and T'Challa making dramatic entrances, then going to the spirit realm to face the judgement of the Panther god, who slobbers all over Ororo, finds her tasty, and says she's cool to join the club. After the ceremony, Spider-Man fights a drunken Man-Ape, and the newlyweds receive an invitation to Latveria from a surprisingly cordial Dr. Doom. So ends Marvel's wedding season. And divorce season? Just around the corner!

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

She-Hulk 2 #9: So J. Jonah Jameson is insane. His son and his new daughter-in-law aren't exactly thinking at full capacity, either. (Why else would they elope? In Vegas? With an Elvis impersonator??? This is more entertaining than the T'Challa-Aurora and Jessica-Luke nuptuals, but it's also more disappointing. Maybe that's the point.) Mallory and Awesome Andy are under the same spell as the newlyweds. Naturally, that leaves Pug tearing his hair out, as he is perhaps the only major character who is compos mentis. And he knows it. Poor Pug...

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

Virgin

Snakewoman #1: The, well, the hissing and such is justa wee bit corny, and Jin (Jessica's roommate) is a tad two-dimensional. In spite of that, though, Snakewoman endeavors to answer a question of trust. Consider the men. Raj, the new neighbor, seems nice enough, but Jessica is wary of him. Maybe her trust is "delicate," but this time she's probably right to trust her judgement. I takes a surprisingly short time for her to find him in bed with her boy-crazy roommate. Then there's the man in plaid, Brinkley, an eccentric regular at the bar where Jessica works. He seems to know Jessica's schedule, tips only her, and writes prophetic poetry for her. And he bothers some people. She trusts him though, knowing that he's harmless. It's the nice-looking gentleman with the golden bracelet who throws her. The Naga within her, maybe, makes her drop her guard. He turns homicidal, and so does she. Later, with blood on her hands, she is confused, frightened, and cold. Her judgement has failed the heck out of her. That's where this first issue leaves off, with a frightened woman not ready to come to grips with a dual nature.

Of course, green and purple seem to be her colors of choice. Go figure.

Do I Know What I Just Read? Yes.
Do I Care? I do want to see where this is going...

Week's most memorable moment: Mallory Book and Awesome Andy relax in She-Hulk 2 #9

On 1 June, 2006

Reading music: Dusk Till Dawn: The Best of Capercaillie

--Warning: Spoilers ahead--

Image

Doll & Creature #3: Well, this is getting political. The bad guys behind the Hydes are Gops, well-dressed gents sporting ties and attache cases marked WWJD? Their leader is The Gipper (a guy with a Reagan mask bonded to his face.)

So, yeah. Kinda political. But that means it also got good, because what is this comic besides the weirdest social commentary I've ever read? The third issue just elevated it to the next logical level. Oh, and Doll and Creature are now a team, not just two characters who, you know, met up during an incredibly gory fight in the first issue.

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

Marvel

All New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #5: Howard the Duck gets a three-page entry. So does HYDRA, but Howard is arguably more important. That's really all you need to know, isn't it? If not, well, Gravity has an entry, too.

Do I Know What I Just Read? It's a handbook. What's to know?
Do I Care? Yep.

Amazing Spider-Man #532 is pretty much just a talking head issue. Not very exciting. Peter has a talk with Tony Stark and a heart-to-heart with MJ and Aunt May. All of this is about the Superhuman Registration Act, naturally. What side is Spider-Man on? Not sure, but we may find out next issue. I guess none of this was anything particularly shocking or unexpected. Ah well. I'm still on board, because... er... well, I just am. (If you hadn't guessed, I'm not all about the biff and the pow.)

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

Runaways #16: Highlights? Gert's angst, and... what the heck is going on with Karolina Dean? Wow. Oh, and "Pixies, find the leak!"

Do I Know What I Just Read? Yes.
DO I Care? Yes. Just not overly inspired to write about it.

A reunion, some depowerings (good ones, this time), and a declaration of war make Son of M #6 not so much the end of a story as the beginning of a new one. See, the U.S. Government has confiscated the Terrigen Mists, and the Inhumans are cheesed off. Luna will, hopefully, recover from her Terrigen exposure, but it doesn't look like Pietro will. Is he going to take over his dad's role as a mutant supervillain? That could be interesting.

He's certainly insane enough.

Do I Know What I Just Read? Yes.
Do I Care? Not enough to pick up any spin-offs.

The Thing #7: Second to last issue, and Dan Slott has fun with time travel. See this? It makes even more sense now than it did! It's... well, perfect. (It also turns out that Hercules, apart from being slightly less chauvinistic, remains basically unchanged from 130 B.C.)

This book manages to be a very cool balance between super-hero battles and sweet family moments. Definitely worth picking up.

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

Ultimate Fantastic Four #30: So it turns out, due to an alien infection from the N-Zone, Johnny Storm has but days to live. And his last hope is Dr. Doom. Also, the Zombie Four are on the verge of escape.

Yikes. It's nice to see things looking up for Ultimate Ben, anyway, what with Alicia and all. *sigh* I really want to like this book as much as I did when Warren Ellis was writing it, and Greg Land wasn't drawing it.

Do I Know What I Just Read? Yes.
Do I Care? I'm starting not to.

Week's most memorable moments: Thing #7 was full of them, but it really came to this "Heh" moment...



...and this "Awww" moment.



Hrm... Yeah, definitely a tie.

Tentative checklist for 7 June, 2006
Archenemies #3
Civil War: Front Line #1
Fantastic Four: First Family #4
Wonder Woman #1

On 10 May, 2006

When I go to my LCS, usually mid-afternoon on Wednesday of late, there typically aren't many people there. I usually just chat with S. who, as it turns out, is a Marvel kinda guy. T., a DC guy, is cool, too, and knows what I like to read better than I do by now, but S. and I have more to talk about. At least, that's how it seems.

This week, though, I chatted a bit with another customer instead. He was a middle-aged (I think) guy, wearing an ID card from a local hospital (already, a good first impression!), just browsing the comics on the wall as I was. Comfortable guy. So I asked him what I now realize is probably just an idiot newbie question, which I swear I'll never ask again: "So, are you a Marvel, DC, or indie guy?" Or maybe it was "fan," not "guy." Something like that. Whatever. You get the gist. Dumb question however it's phrased. He's a DC, some Marvel. He asked me in turn. "Mostly Marvel." We chatted a bit, mostly about Infinite Crisis, how to understand it I might have to pick up the first Crisis. He pulled Crisis on Multiple Earths 4 off the shelf, flipped through it. Volume 4? Yeesh. He explained that it really wasn't a part of Crisis on Infinite Earths, but... still. (S. is probably right; there are better things for me to spend my money on, meaning things I actually care about.) Anyway... A quick chat about how many layers the DC 'verse has, how much simpler Marvel's is. I came off sounding like a simple-minded idiot but... eh. (I don't want to have to keep track of three competing Captain Americas on a regular basis. That's not wrong, is it?)

So I went to check out, with my three Marvels and two indies. He followed shortly thereafter, a copy of Infinite Crisis #7 proudly in hand. I sort of showed him what I had, but with that She-Hulk cover in there... Okay, yeah, awkward.

At that, I paid, and went on my embarrassed little way, back to the mind-numbing boredom of student work, and the anticipation of reading my modest little haul.

FYI. On an unrelated note, David of Yet Another Comics Blog is generously holding Free Comic Book Month 2, and there is still time to enter.

Reading music: Liz Carroll and John Doyle: In Play

--Warning: Spoilers ahead--

Image

Lions, Tigers and Bears Vol 2. #1 : Oh, gosh, that's adorable. Living stuffed animals and good little children versus the evil beasties. I think this might be something worth passing on to my younger cousins. Might even be worth finishing out, since it's a mini-series, not an ongoing. Hard not to enjoy this. So mind-numbingly cute...

Do I Know What I Just Read? Yes
Do I Care? Sort of, yeah.

Marvel

Fantastic Four: First Family #3: Okay. Sue displays force-field powers early on (and is therefore not totally useless), in a way that actually fits with the established origin. Plus, it's awesome. There's enough hostage-bait Sue in the early Kirby/Lee days. We don't need any more of that in this day and age.

Not sure what to make of Reed's adversary, especially since he shows up (sort of) in the middle of a big fight with that giant iguana monster. (It was a most excellent battle.)

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

She-Hulk 2 #7: Let it be first noted that Dan Slott has found a way to make the Hank Pym joke without coming across as crass. Hardly the highlight of the issue, but still worth noting.

But really, on to the comic. Starfox is creepy. Everybody knows this. He is, apparently, endowed with enough power to turn a straight man gay. Not (in the immortal words of Jerry Seinfeld) that there's anything wrong with that, at least not the sexual orientation aspect. But the turning? There is something awfully wrong about that. I don't care who the victim was. But Eros of Titan gets what's coming to him, as does She-Hulk's gamma charger in a related event, and the whole scene is more satisfying than it really has any right to be. (Needless to say, Starfox may not be wooing anybody for a while, in the event that he ever does again.)

Meanwhile, on the romantic entanglement front, Jen is still deeply in love with John Jameson to the point of submission, which scares the Wasp; and Mallory is all over Awesome Andy like Wanda on Vision, which scares me. The whole thing also disturbs Pug and creeps out Stu Cicero, whose metacommentary is starting to make me wonder if Stu isn't the Marvel incarnation of Dan Slott.

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


Edit/Note: This issue has generated a bit of controversy. Not a huge surprise, given the subject matter, but it's also not something I really want to get into, at least not here, in this blog. So...

LET'S MOVE ON, SHALL WE?

You know, I'm really not sure what to make of X-Men: The 198 #5. The ending is ambiguous at best. Okay, let's recap. A big fight, a showdown with Absolon, Johnny Dee working behind the scenes against Absolon and his crew, the apparent death and possible rebirth (or evolution or something) of Absolon.

Do I Know What I Just Read? Not really, no.
Do I Care? Er... No.

SLG Publishing

The Cemetarians #1: I love a good horror (or horrorish) story, but this one just didn't click for me somehow. An evil mermaid in the sewers as a mastermind behind an evil pyramid scheme involving a fake eternal youth elixer made from manitees? Not really my cup of tea, I guess. Hrm. The running manitee gag was fun, though.

Do I Know What I Just Read? I'm not sure. I think so.
Do I Care? Wish I could say I did. But no.

Week's most memorable moment(s): Sue's unexpected yet lifesaving force field in Fantastic Four: First Family #3.



Tentative checklist for 17 May, 2006

Haunt of Horror: Edgar Allan Poe #1
Marvel Legacy: The 1970s #2
Ms. Marvel #3
Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #3

On 26 April, 2006

Note to self: Add Amazing Spiderman to my pull list for the duration of Civil War, because apparently I want to read it. It was sold out at my LCS this week. Before 3 in the afternoon on Wednesday. Que sera, sera, I guess.

Style: More uninspired prose.

Reading music: Serenity soundtrack

--Warning: Spoilers ahead--

DC

Blue Beetle #2: I read this twice in order to get the flashbacks straight, but that's okay. The story is worth it, from Jaime's confrontations with the mysterious Posse, to his utter confusion about his kickass costume, to the cliffhanger at the end. The "one year later" line was a little forced, maybe, but it still fit. I have no idea what Blue Beetle went through (or is going through) in the Infinite Crisis war (or whatever it is), but that kind of doesn't matter. Looking forward to the next issue.

Catwoman #54: Holly gets blood on her hands (literally) and is mighty depressed about it. And everybody knows about her act of violence. Well, everybody who sees it on television, anyway. Ouch.

The dream thing in Hawkgirl #51 seems a little overdone, but I do like the horror mystery aspect of this book. Not to mention the setting. It's hard to go wrong with Louisiana. I'll give both Catwoman and Hawkgirl another issue or two.

Image

Doll & Creature #2 is really cool and very gruesome. It includes a very nice slugfest between Creature and a whole mess of Hydes; more insights into Creature's origin; and the grim aftermath of the fight with drug-crazed zombie people. Doll, ironically (due to her relative lack of interest in the dominant goth culture of her world), is turning out to be a fairly tragic character. Interesting social and religious commentary in this issue as well, and they don't hit you over the head with it.

Marvel

All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: A to Z #4 includes a two-page entry on Elf With a Gun, which I had never heard of. But it amused me greatly. Also, Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway.

Fantastic Four #537 shows us how Dr. Doom escaped from Hell (sort of), and how he cannot, in fact, lift Thor's hammer. Not a huge shocker. He didn't escape from Hell because it froze over, after all. (Also note that Ben Grimm can't lift Thor's hammer, either. Nice gag there.)

Four #29: The Four go on a mission to retrieve living pieces of a sentient satellite that have, for some reason, fallen in the Savage Land. According to Reed, they are the remains of the Godseye (?) satellite which was destroyed by the Incredible Hulk. How much of this story is actually true, I'm not sure, as I haven't been reading the whole Planet Hulk story. At any rate, it's a simple mission with no huge complications and a quick resolution.

The real story here is the growing tension between Sue (who thinks it's strange that the satellite pieces landed in Savage land of all places, and doesn't quite believe the cover story) and Reed. Nicely frame marital dispute, all told.

New Avengers Annual #1: Stuff comes in threes. Bad stuff like celebrity deaths and the leaves of certain poisonous plants; and good stuff, like... well, like weddings.

Luke Cage and Jessica Jones' wedding is the first, and probably the least, of the trio Marvel has planned for this Spring/Summer. (The big one, of course, is that of Black Panther and Storm; the best one will no doubt be Jennifer Walters and John Jameson, if there is indeed a wedding.) Anyway, the annual was mostly a big fight between the New Avengers and an AIM/Hydra-created Adaptoid creature. This was sandwiched between Luke's proposal to Jessica, and their ceremony. This ceremony took all of five pages, one of which was dominated by Jessica's long-winded marriage vows. The whole thing was kind of disappointing, to be honest. Oh well. The best nuptuals are yet to come.

Runaways #15: Molly has a Doop plushie! Heh. Anyway, the reemergence of The Pride continues, Victor is having nightmares, Nico is tired of cutting herself and has resorted to violent teeth-brushing for Staff of One summoning, and a Runaway is kidnapped.

Thing #6 included a major guest appearance by Spiderman, commentary on Spiderman's new costume, a nice little battle with Sandman and Trapster, a party, and a lovely little resolution with the Yancy Street Gang. Sort of. If you aren't reading this, why?

Ultimate Fantastic Four #29: This felt like an oddly hasty resolution to the President Thor story but, well, mystery solved, and the Ultimate Universe is back to being as normal as it ever was. The zombies are still looming, as is Doom.

Actually, the major development of the issue is the introduction of a certain blind sculptress, which hopefully means an Ultimate Puppetmaster will turn up at some point (if he hasn't already, in the Ultimates or something.) Yep. Alicia Masters is the highlight of this issue.

Week's most memorable moment(s): Thing #6 was actually full of memorable moments, but this one stood out for two reasons: (1.) Hercules being Hercules and (2.) The Damage Control logo on Herc's overalls. (Product placement parody? I want to think so.)



Actually, a close second was Thing's conversation with Spider-Man about the Iron Spidey costume. But if you want to read it, you'll just have to buy the comic. It's well worth it.

Tentative checklist for 3 May, 2006
Archenemies #2
Civil War #1
Doc Samson #5
Marvel Romance Redux: I Should Have Been A Blonde

On 8 March, 2006

I have to admit, Wednesday was mildly disappointing. Comic shop "missed the boat" on I (HEART) MARVEL: MASKED INTENTIONS, and they didn't have ALL-STAR SUPERMAN #2 in stock. But they may have the latter next week, at least. And I can't stay disappointed, not when Mother Nature is teasing mid-Michigan with hints of spring. There's no way this early March thaw can last -- we have a smattering of winter to come, I'm sure -- but you take what you can get.

But, on to this week's reading:

--Warning: Possible Spoilers--

Marvel

"There are no accidents." I'm not sure if FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST FAMILY #1 (of 6) is meant to tie in with recent Fantastic Four events (i.e., a retcon of sorts), but it seems to be canon. Whatever it is, it's mighty confusing, what with Reed's mental landscape and all. Hopefully things will start to make more sense as the story progresses. (I did like seeing Susan taking on a maternal role right off the bat.)

The SON OF M #4 (of 6) is becoming more and more interesting. Not unpredictable, but interesting. The Terrigen Mists are a bad thing for those who are genetically unprepared for them. Pietro has clearly not reformed, and if he was on his father's bad side before, well... he still is, only more so. Not to mention the cheesed off Inhumans. (Also, no wonder Lockjaw wanted to live with Ben Grimm. Poor pooch.)

Okay. I will accept NEXTWAVE as canon. Grudgingly. Trouble is, I do not want to let go of the FIN FANG FOUR... Foom. You know, the human-sized, well-spoken, extremely irritable dragon chef working for Reed Richards in the Baxter Building? That is the real Fin Fang Foom as far as I'm concerned. So how to account for the lizard that attempted to put Boom Boom in his pants? Well, in this blog, he shall henceforth be referred to as "Fin Fang Clone." Problem solved.

Hilarious stuff, though. Warren Ellis is a twisted, twisted man. And I think I may pick up the monthlies after all, instead of waiting for the trades. The fan pages kind of make it worth it. That, and I can maybe hook my brother on comic books with them. I set him up with the first two issues, and Avengers: The Ultimate Guide for reference. (He didn't know who the Avengers even were, which of course had to be remedied.) But that's another story for another time.

XMEN: THE 198 #3 (of 5) is getting good. The government tagging the mutants wasn't a huge shocker (though the tags themselves were.) And there's a new Puppet Master in the house, and he's much creepier than the FF villain.

Some weeks ago, I found GUARDIANS #1 in the dollar bin and was well pleased with it, though Marvel apparently wasn't. Cancelled series. Pity. Well, last week, I found issues #2 and 3 in the dollar bin, and couldn't resist. Then I Googled the series like I should have done in the first place, hence the linkage here. Seems they did in fact finish off the arc, and I've a bit of back-issue hunting to do after all!

DC

For a while now ("a while" is relative), or at least since I entered the comic blog community, I've felt kind of left out about half the time. Not a huge shock. I mostly read Marvel, and the odd independent or three. But mainstream DC is something I'm not very familiar with. (Again, the degree of familiarity is relative.) So... Time to delve, right?

Yes, it's definitely time to delve. But the true delving will have to happen next week, with the assistance of T. at Clems, who's a DC guy. These dollar bin picks just left me cold (GREEN ARROW #26) and confused (JLA #96). And it's not the comics' fault...

A big corporation wants to evict poor people from their homes so they (the corporation) can build a huge mall/office complex. Cocky Robin Hood dude sympathizes with the little guy (because he's a Robin Hood dude, and sympathizing with the poor is a major prerequisite for Robin Hoodness.) So this benevolent archer lends a hand, helping the peoples' lawyers secure enough funding to fight the corporate bigwigs. Just to make things interesting, there's a big green monster tearing around the corporation's construction site. And, no, it's not the Hulk. This is the (a?) DC Universe, after all. It's just a random big green monster thrown into the mix on page 18. GREEN ARROW #26. My introduction to Oliver Queen. Moving on...

Note to self: Avoid starting any story in the middle, especially if you are unfamiliar with the setting of said story. Knowing who Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are did not help me when it came to JLA #96, which was a mistake on a variety levels. There were vampires, though. Speaking of monsters and vampires, let's move on to...

Image

DOLL AND CREATURE #1 is probably the sort of thing I had in mind when I picked up IN THE BLOOD #1 last week.* Adventurous horror! Fun! Murderous gray-skinned drug-crazed monsters out for blood! Just the right amount of gore, even. (That is to say, there was enough to get the point across, but not enough to overwhelm the stomach.) Nice.

*Update: Two weeks ago, actually. My bad.

Caliber

MAZE AGENCY #1 was another dollar bin pick from last week, and it caught my eye due to title recognition (from a relatively recent review at Polite Dissent.)

Pure murder mystery. No major CSI-style forensics, just good ol' fashioned sleuthing. I generally take a passive role when reading (or watching) mysteries, and MAZE AGENCY was really no exception. Though I did figure out one thing before the end. Nice change of pace, at any rate.

Notes and Rankings (Best to Worst)
*All read Wednesday and Thursday evenings, in my bedroom whilst listening to the Serenity soundtrack. This soundtrack is fine background for stuff like GUARDIANS, FF, and even MAZE AGENCY, but not so much for NEXTWAVE.

1. NEXTWAVE #2
2. DOLL AND CREATURE #1
3. GUARDIANS #2 and 3
4. SON OF M #4
5. X-MEN: THE 198 #3
6. FF: FIRST FAMILY #1
7. MAZE AGENCY #1 (Caliber)
8. GREEN ARROW #26
9. JLA #96

Panel of the Week: A priceless bit of dialogue in NEXTWAVE #2, complete with Fin Fang Clone lurking in the background.

On 15 February, 2006

--Warning: Possible spoilers--

This week in Marvel U (our Earth time), SHE-HULK 2 #5. marked the introduction proper of Two-Gun Kid to current Marvel continuity; said introduction was wrought with both peril and humour, though laughter came easier earlier in the series. Juan Bobillo's depiction of events wasn't quite as jarring this go-round, but he will be on hiatus for at least issues 6 and 7, a revelation shared on this issue's fan page and welcomed by those tired of seeing a waifish Jen Walters.

Molly Hayes stubbornly reclaimed the moniker "Princess Powerful, and took the spotlight in Runaways #13. Everyone's favorite little Bruiser teamed up with a totally different set of runaways in order to defeat a mystical Fagan.

Meanwhile, on a more serious side of town, Sally Floyd's saga continued in Generation M #4. The troubled reporter and columnist continued to encounter death at every turn, from the suicide of a former mutant to deaths of yet more former mutants at the hand of the Ghoul, who continued to make his presence felt. On the bright side, Beak made it quite clear that he was very happy to have become human.

In flashback this week, Spider-Woman: Origin #3 continued the strangely disjointed story of Jessica Drew, a tale peppered with large chunks of missing time. Nick Fury, a gruff yet oddly kind (You don't expect a guy named Fury to be particularly nice, but ol' Nick sure can be.) came into Jessica's life as almost a father figure, or maybe an uncle, showing her the truth of Hydra, and his own respect for her.

The Feast of St. Valentine continued with I (Heart) Marvel: Marvel Ai #1. Pre-Crazy Wanda Maximoff shared with her gushing friends (Natasha Romanova and Janet van Dyne?) a story of her romantic outing with an intact Vision. Her tale was cute, but saccharine enough to floor a diabetic. Meanwhile, Medusa of the Inhumans poetically lamented Black Bolt's perpetual (but necessary) silence. After her bittersweet musings, comic relief came in the form of a cat fight between Electra and Black Widow, who dueled over Daredevil's unrequited love. Pictures and punctuation, but no dialogue, was exchanged during the highly visual display.

And finally, in a totally different universe, (Earth-1610, according to Wikipedia, if you're keeping track), Ultimate Fantastic Four #27 had the Four attempting to go back in time and prevent the origin accident, curing an extremely depressed Ben Grimm of his monstrous condition. Of course, in the world of comic books, manipulating the time stream tends to be an extremely bad idea. And this go-round, it turned Earth-1610's USA into a nation of super-people, with Thor at the helm and Reed Richards as second in command.

Notes and rankings (best to worst)

1. She-Hulk 2 #5 [First read hastily during a quick work break, Wednesday]
2. Runaways #13 [Cloistered in bedroom, Wednesday evening, no music]
3. I (Heart) Marvel: Marvel Ai -- Medusa/Blackbolt vignette [In cube before work Thursday, over a cheese quesidilla, no music.]
4. Spider-Woman: Origin #3 (of 5) [Most in cube after work Thursday, the rest cloistered in bedroom, same evening. No music.]
5. Son of M #4 (of 5) [Cloistered in bedroom, Wednesday evening, no music]
6. I (Heart) Marvel: Marvel Ai -- Electra/Black Widow/Daredevil vignette [In cube before work Thursday, over quesidilla, no music.]
7. Ultimate Fantastic Four #27 [Cloistered in bedroom Thursday evening. No music.]
8. I (Heart) Marvel: Marvel Ai -- Scarlet Witch/Vision vignette [Thursday morning, French class, during respite between a test and the introduction of new vocabulary. Mildly self-conscious.]

Panel of the week: Jessica Drew takes out Taskmaster and dozens of AIM soldiers in SPIDER-WOMAN: ORIGIN #3.



Dollar bin

FIREBIRDS: Image Comics. Published November, 2004; created by Jay Faerber and Andres Ponte; colored by Nestor Pereyra; lettered and designed by Ed Dukeshire.

When I saw this in the dollar bin, I knew I had to pick it up. The elder Firebird, Rebecca, has been used in this ongoing fanfiction series (one of the best fanfics I've ever read), and it was nice to get a kosher introduction to her.

It's a great story on its own. Emily finds out her mother is the super-hero known as Firebird, and that she's has powers just like her mother. And they're starting to manifest. Rebecca takes Emily out of boarding school in order to teach Emily how to fly and control her pyrokinesis, among other things. And in turn, Emily gets to teach Rebecca how to be a mother. Nothing like a hands-on learning experience! It's a story that manages to be sweet without getting trapped in resin, fossilized and turned into jewelry.