On 16 August, 2006

Okay, so I'm a month or so behind. But then, so is Marvel, and they are actually working with deadlines.

I have to live up to some linkage (Thanks, Kalinara), though, meaning it's time to get current and worry about catch-up later. It's usually the other way around, and that never works.

Ohh, I'm also having trouble settling on a new avatar. Sheep? Shulkie? Or should I go back to the porcupine? Or find a suitable Gert Yorkes image to crop and resize? Decisions, decisions...

Reading music: Leahy, Lakefield

--Warning: Spoilers ahead--

Marvel

Nextwave #7: Warren Ellis tackles Marvel Mysticism, conjuring a demon from the Dank Dimension who eagerly accepts payment in United States currency and Suicide Girls. Demonic forces are unleashed, and of course Nextwave has to deal with them, and of course the demons explode beautifully. (It wouldn't be Nextwave without explosions!)

Before the explosions, though, we see: Dirk Anger sinking deeper into his drug-addled depression; see Monica and Elsa speculating about Captain America's sexual orientation; and Aaron Stack literally hooking himself up to a keg.

Memorable dialogue:

Elsa: What's our E.T.A. to Shotcreek?
Monica: Couple of hours. I just wish the Marketing Plan was more specific about this one.
Elsa: Yeah. "Magic deal." What do you think?
Monica: Could mean anything. Tabby said there was a "Magik" in the X-Men.
Elsa: Didn't Tabby also say that Magik was dead?
Monica: Like that matters. X-Men come back more than Jesus.

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

Runaways #18 & 19: Oh, Mr. Vaughan. How could you? Why did it have to be her of all characters? *sigh*

Still, hers is a hero's death, and while the Children of the Pride are diminished in number and spirit, they haven't lost their sense of purpose. They've gained a member in Xavin, too, and not a moment too soon, because there's demonic trouble ahead, and Victor still has to take a crash course in Leapfrog piloting.

The Runaways try to deal with their teammate's death, of course. One confides in the Leapfrog; another in Xavin; a third in Victor. Xavin him/herself is also trying to deal with the probable death of two planets, something that doesn't help matters.

It's a lot of good stuff to take in. As usual.

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

Ultimate Fantastic Four #32: Yes. The light at the end of the dark tunnel is here: the conclusion of the (aptly named) "Frightful" arc and the end of the Millar-Land run. Maybe the new team will bring back some of the magic Ellis and Bendis put into this title.

'Cause in spite of the mystical Atlantean ritual Dr. Doom (in Reed's body) uses to draw the alien out of Johnny Storm's torso, this is decidedly non-magical.

Reed (in Victor's body) deals with the Zombie Four using maggots. (Brilliant!) And Victor eventually takes back his own body in order to play hero, capturing the world-eating alien within himself and leaping into the zombieverse. Boy! Zombies, explosions, and aliens, but... Nah. It's just a little too much. And it's over. Yes.

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

Ultimate Fantastic Four Annual #2: Between this and Nextwave, it is Stuart Immonen week! Lovely! And energetic! And fun! (Let's review. Immonen: Fun. Land: Not so much. Or in the words of my AP English class not so way back when: "Beowulf good, Grendel bad.")

Anyway, Annual #2 goes back to the fun and the magic that got me started reading FF in the first place. It's the return of Dr. Molevic, the terribly disgusting Mole Man, plus an introduction to a few of the other Think Tank members. This little group of geniuses is led by none other than Strange Josie, slightly misandric inventor of the Stealth Corset.

Ultimate Mole Man, though. He has a thing for young scientific genius. Specifically, he has a thing for kidnapping them and dictating to them his life story. His hilarious bio recounts early scientific endeavors and devolving his baby sister into a lungfish.

And on. He has quite the bio. The story fluctuates between Mole Man's narrative, and monster-bashing a la Fantastic Four. The Think Tank crew, meanwhile, becomes another heroic team, riding to the rescue with Lemurian-style death weapons. There's even a moral. (Sort of.)

Thank you Mr. Carey and Mr. Immonen. You both rock.

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

Oni Press

Wasteland #2 focuses on a brewing religious conflict. The wandering protagonists struggle to live off the land, and through it all they worship "Mother Sun" and "Father Moon." (Talk about your symbolic role-reversals. I love it already.) At Abi's request, the village Sun-Singer recounts the legend of A-Ree-Yass-I, an apocalyptic Noah's Arc style tale featuring the aforementioned celestial gods. A flood, an almost empty sky, and a poisoned ocean (among other things) set the people on the path to redemption. That's what the Sunners believe.

But the Sunners are heathens in the eyes of Newbegin's ruling church. And the church is not to be trifled with. Even if the villagers can survive their trek through the desert, will they survive their destination?

It'll be worth finding out.

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

Week's most memorable moment: I am a sucker for badass Sue moments, like this one from Ultimate Fantastic Four Annual #2.

Tentative checklist for 23 August, 2006
(*Indicates a title I've preordered.)

Blue Beetle #6
Elephantmen #2
Women Of Marvel Poster Book (???)

On 12 July, 2006

How long have I been putting this off? Wow. I blame the heat.

Reading music: Dusk Till Dawn: The Best of Capercaillie

--Warning: Spoilers ahead--

DC

DCU: Brave New World: Bought this for The All New Atom. Sure, that's kind of backwards, reading the comic before the preview, but it's not like The Atom is about linear chronology anyway. It was worth it to get some clue about those dogs (though now I'm wondering how Duster escaped his Secret Service guys).

Nothing else here really caught my fancy, but that's okay. Never really expected it to.

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

Marvel

Beyond! #1: The presence of Gravity sold me on this one, I think. That and Scott Kolins, who is growing on me inasmuch as I can identify (and enjoy) his art without much effort. Fun story, too, though it can't decide whether it wants to be goofy superhero fun or dark cosmic angst. I might wait for the trade instead of buying the rest of the floppies. Yes, a trade would look nice, on the bookshelf right next to the first Secret Wars...

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

Civil War: Director's Cut: It's not like I really needed this, but seeing the script, some sketches, and the variant covers is kind of neat.

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

Civil War: Front Line #3: "Embedded" -- Sally interviews a group sof anti-registration vigilantes, and later witnesses a fight between two others, one pro- and one anti-reg. Meanwhile, Ben argues the validity of statistics with Reed Richards. He questions not the calculations but rather asks (in a nutshell) "Can't numbers lie?" Since Reed's rationale for the Superhuman Registration Act (I think I'll just start calling it SHRA) appears to be based largely on numerical projections, Ben's interview is solid.

"The Accused" -- Yes! Robbie Baldwin has retained Jennifer Walters as his defense attorney. Considering Jen has a relatively extensive history of defending people the public has deemed guilty (among them Morbius the Living Vampire, the Juggernaut and, of course, the Hulk) the case is a perfect fit. Anyway, Jen gets Robbie (who is having an extremely difficult time in prison) an offer he shouldn't refuse.

"Sleeper Cell" -- Whales don't run in schools. They run in pods. People need to learn their collective nouns. Silly fictional news crews, not doing their research. Anyway, yes, there is a disaster at a fish store, and there's something bizarre about the owner. (Is he Atlantean? What does this have to do with Civil War?) And it has something to do with a pod of beached whales.

Coda -- A poem by World War I soldier Wilfred Owen is set to art that parallels Army medics and firefighters battling on their respective fronts. This is the best coda so far -- understated and not particularly preachy -- but the Captain America imagery is out of place. This should be about the soldiers and the first responders, not the vigilantes. It doesn't matter that Cap is a soldier, too. He's in costume, not uniform, and that makes all the difference.

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

Ms. Marvel #5: Carol teams up with Dr. Strange to defeat Warren Traveler (whose name is all too appropriate.) She has no idea what she's doing, and I'm not entirely sure either (what with the alternate reality jumping and all), but maybe that's the way it's supposed to be. Big end to a big fight, and then set-up for Civil War.

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

Ultimate Fantastic Four #31: Mind-switching (classic!), evil Zombie Four and... er, yeah. I went back and read the first three trades of Ultimate FF some weeks ago, and, well, I don't think the series has the same charisma that it did. Sure, zombies and Doom and world-eating N-Zone aliens are all well and good (so to speak), but it seems like the plot has sacrificed substance for style. Hopefully that will change soon...

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

Oni Press

Wasteland #1: Can't resist a good post-holocaust story, or even a potentially good one. Wasteland has it all. A civilization struggling to survive, a mysterious wanderer, people with special abilities, deadly humans gone savage, and modified English with words like "Newbegin" and "wulves." Okay, so maybe it's a bit formulaic, but it's a most excellent formula that works here.

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

Week's most memorable moment: Ben Urich and Reed Richards experience an anti-gravity environment in Civil War: Front Line #3



Tentative checklist for 19 July, 2006
(*Indicates a title I've preordered.)
*Civil War #3
Daily Bugle Civil War Newspaper
Manhunter #24
*Runaways #18
*She-Hulk 2 #9