Comics Thread (was My OFFICIAL Apology to Dave)

[salamanca]

The days when Bill was doing his "just like Neal Adams art". Yeah, that was a cool book. The character is hit and miss pending just how crazy they write the series. In some, he is just a Batman copy in others he is filled with insanity and personalities. And forewarning: there is a new series due in a matter of weeks. To answer his question about finding out: "yes, we do but not really or maybe but the answer might be inaccurate.". It might be best to just suggest that some things are best left un known.

[salamanca]

GREEN LANTERN CORPS: we get to watch Bolphunga the unrelenting, Hunger Dog and John Stewart track down the undercover secret Durlan green lantern. As you might guess, it does not take more than 2 pages of looking for these characters to find the untraceable character in question. Also in this issue, Salaak gives some wise support to Soranik and stands by like a chump while she is kidnapped by... Nope not gonna spoil it but it's some one with a group of scary allies wearing yellow. Meanwhile, ALL NEW X-MEN has the team in space with the Guardians of the Galaxy racing to rescue Jean Grey from the Shi'ar. Bendis writing banter for Rocket Racoon is all you need to know. It's all about the witty dialogue this month. And a surprise ending with another space faring guest star at the end of the issue. SECRET AVENGERS almost wraps up the Mockingbird story. Modok signs a contract with SHIELD, the team pulls a rescue, another AIM villian might be a double agent, Mockingbird recognizes Hawkeye then suddenly develops total amnesia during the escape (i suspect it may be plot related deception and not bad writing for a change). Nick Fury and Black Widow show how to outfight a Shang Chi adaptoid. And several people get shot and Black Widow probably dies.

[salamanca]

MOON KNIGHT #1. "Mercenary Marc Spector died in Egypt, under a statue of the ancient diety Khonshu. He returned to life in the shadow of the moon god, and wore his aspect to fight crime for his own redemption. He went completely insane, and disappeared. This is what happened next.". That is the background text on page one. It's out, contains too many poorly placed commas on that description, and looks to be full of sketchy art. I am now logging off to read it. EARTH 2 is also out and looks amazing. And Forever Evil is edging toward completion as yet another epic event where nothing noteworthy happens.

[salamanca]

Ok, before Mark gets the kids geared up for new Moon Knight books, it is written by Warren Ellis so no kids should be let near this book even with parental supervision. (i'm not sure I am allowed to read it) but it's very good. Moon Knight is very detectivey in this and more of what I want in a dark avenger millionaire. And Detective Flint gives us the best explanation ever for why the cops just don't arrest a wanted vigilante. Not the final outcome I would have preferred in this issue but a good story. This one has an antagonist I would have liked to see get some empathy. But I also am loving the backstory explanation of why Moon Knight is what he is.

[Black Jack Rackham]

Nope not at all. I knew Ellis was doing the latest Moon Knight (I have an auto pull for anything he writes so my comic book guy let me know about this months ago). Haven't read it yet but am really REALLY looking forward to it.

[salamanca]

It was a good enough read, I will stay with it a while.

Green Lantern, on the other hand, is depressingly weak. in the hands of a great writer, the current plot would be gripping. In the hands of a writer that understands his cast and their roles, it would be a good read. In the hands of this new guy, it's just a plodding arc where the main hero keeps repeating the need to be proactive and then rolls over the opposition without making any changes that he keeps stressing need to be made.

Uncanny X-men was a good flashback issue with Bendis finally covering what went on between Scott and Kitty just before they moved into the same base. And Scott owning up to the fact that he may have been physically present when his body killed Xavier but not mentally responsible despite his continued admission of guilt for the crime. It was a little emotionally deeper than Bendis has been going and good for having done so.

Also saw a preview blurb about a book called "Thaniel" from one of the smaller companies. It's about a kid that discovers he has some sort of power stemming from death (and the grim reaper may be his dad) so he gets proactive and starts using his power to wipe out bad folks. The blurb describes it as "Boys in the Hood meets Dead Like Me". Which is a mind warping concept.

[Black Jack Rackham]

Speaking of mind warping, and totally off topic. Was speaking to my oldest today about plotting (he wants to create a My Little Pony RPG) and we got to talking about mashups. So I suggested two of his favorites...
My Little Pony

And

Pacific Rim

I'll just let that one sink in a bit...

[salamanca]

We need to talk to him about viewing choices.

Can't you find him some Herculoids episodes to watch or something.

Herculoid Ponies would rock.

AAAArrrrrrgh!!!!! it's contagious!

[smafdi]

You know, i just watched pacific rim and it just sunk in how f-ing awesome it was..... makes me wanna do something with it and 7th sea..... hell, makes me stoked about titanfall that just came out too. hate you guys.... space ghost + ponies, spaceponies?

[salamanca]

despite my starting it, I am now placing a moratorium on adding PONIES to any Alex Toth created material. it's just a horrible idea.

So no Space Ghost, Johnny Quest, Herculoids or other great american cartoons of the 60's and 70's.

feel free to disparage the early 80's stuff all you want.

[salamanca]

ALL NEW X-MEN continues the weary trial of Jean Grey and once again a ragtag group hands the Imperial Guard their lunches. (ever notice the Shi'ar empire formed on strict genetic purity and hierarchical structure has no native members in their superhero team?). It may be that Gladiator in his quest to blame Jean may have just triggered Phoenix. This book is overloaded with characters due to crossover. It's easier to follow an 80's issue of the Legion. GREEN Lantern Corps is equally full of too many bodies and as a result each mini-story is grinding forward at glacial speed. At this rate, writers will retire with the resolution months away. SECRET AVENGERS got a new creative team and tossed everything out the window EXCEPT hiring MODOK. Outside of establishing the writer and artist are fans of the Hawkeye book, this thing just fell deep in the toilet. The art is bad, the dialogue and pacing are worse and the premise is abominable. None of it works well. Speaking of HAWKEYE, we have a filler flashback issue focusing on Clint having a dream while watching cartoons with his neighbors (originally took place a year ago in issue 6). So it's about animals with superpowers representing holidays and the regular dog they let hang out with them. It's very subconscious and trite. MIGHTY AVENGERS saved my day with a good issue resolving the cursed White Tiger in a mere issue, introducing a new threat to Blue Marvel and some great banter. (highlight may be Blue Marvel commenting that this is his third encounter in a secret Volcano base THIS WEEK).

[smafdi]

Sounds like i'm skipping hawkeye for now, at least until it gets good again. sad days indeed

[salamanca]

That will be next issue when we are back to the Kate in LA storyline. As tight as everything is in this, I expect a twist that ties her story to Clint's and makes her random choice to go west the key to victory.

[salamanca]

Uncanny X-Men: Shield tracks down the guy they cut loose and threatens to do horrible things our government doesn't do to innocent people unless he tells them where Cyclops is. Then we find out where Mystique is getting the mutant growth hormone. and then Cyclops avoids a heart to heart with Eva to track down a "new mutant" in Chicago which turns out to be a trap full of...Sentinels. yeah, more sentinels in yet another issue. This time they manage to block all the powers they know about and Magik has to do some actual Magic to save the day. And Cyclops blows stuff up which (surprise) riles the locals. Then he stupidly "declares war on SHIELD" who are obviously dupes for someone else because even SHIELD does not have a budget for THAT MANY SENTINELS.

X-Men: The "no boys allowed team" finally get around to kicking the crap out of Arkea. Putting an end to this story arc. Apparently the Marvel universe is much more timid than I thought as the ladies show up and toss a few threats forcing the recently amped up "sisterhood of evil mutants" to simply decide to run away and fight another day on their own instead of as a group. They ALL literally jump ship and leave Arkea twisting in the wind. I was waiting for a big fight issue. Instead I get posturing and threats. That could have happened via facebook. In the back up part of the book, Team Jubilee beat up invading Sentinels (again with giant mutant hunting robots) by havine Quentin Quire psychically attack the robot. Which in a comic book means we get a panel of him squinting and holding his forehead while declaring how hard it is to mentally attack this thing. Then it is beaten off panel. Yay X-men....

[salamanca]

Roberto Aguirre-Sarcasa has been named Chief Creative Officer of Archie Comics. That is the guy who decides everything about what those books will contain for storylines. Why is this important?. He is the guy that writes "Afterlife with Archie". They gave the entire creative control system to the guy that turned the "safe and friendly" comic into a horror series.

[salamanca]

Well I appear to have missed the finale of the Trial of Jean Grey as it was in last week's Guardians of the Galaxy... Doubt anything significant happened. ALL NEW X-MEN 25 however is extra big and full of guest artists and hacked one page panels depicting what might have happened in alternate timelines because Hank McCoy time travelled the original team. It would have been better done without showing those things and concentrating on Hank in his bedroom and the shadowy bald visitor who seems to read his thoughts. (it's very much a christmas carol). Last page was totally worth it. AVENGERS AI still have no idea what is going on after 11 issues but it's still a fight with that angry computer virus that thinks for itself and now controls the future (or more likely a simulated future). Worth the read to see Galactus used as a barge. MIGHTY AVENGERS plays out the reveal of Ronin (and if you know your Marvel naming, they drop a clue on page 1 in case you missed the spoiler online months ago) but that's the set up for next month. The main story is Blue Marvel and his rebellious younger son who opened a portal to drag out the long lost big brother. In this case the dimensional rift makes him a literal giant. Most of it is flashback stories about Marvel and his son fighting wierdstuuf with SCIENCE and Fists and guns. And I want to read that book!. If you have not followed this series go grab the last couple issues. (#7-9). And we have a new series... IRON FIST: THE IMMORTAL WEAPON by Kaare Andrews. This book is well written and drawn by a gentleman that gets what Jim Steranko was doing back on the old Shield comics. It's beautiful, the flashbacks use the old pixelated coloring, sound effects become panels, and it's got great kung fu style. (all while Danny appears to be dealing with his midlife crisis and a ninja attack). I am buying this book until Andrews leaves it.

[smafdi]

Quick edit for you: I was looking for that iron fist comic and it's not The Immortal Weapon, it's The Living Weapon, at least that's the copy that i found, and so far so good, i like the first issue, now to keep up with it as it goes, assuming we don't run into the hawkeye problem -_-

[salamanca]

Good catch, Steve. And a key element in the storyline as the main character keeps pointing it out and mumbling something about how he chose death.

[smafdi]

Yea, i'm real excited to see where this one goes. I like iron fist, at least in concept, this is going to be the first ever comic of his that i've read. (not counting the cameo in maximum carnage)

[salamanca]

SINESTRO got his own book. And he is in self exile with a dead ring waiting for these sabertooth cats to kill and eat him. (seriously, in the ring ran on angst, he would be unstoppable). Then Lyssa Drak shows up more crazy than ever. (the crazier she gets, the cooler she is too). Lyssa drags him back to work saving members of his race that were off world when it blew up. And then he goes to put Arkillo in his place again. Outside of that, the metaplot involves another new race of beings bent on wiping out all the corps. (been there done that).

[salamanca]

3 X-books this week. The all girl team is a new arc that involves Baby Shogo's father coming to take him back. Mind you, he is some crazy super-soldier so he announces his arrival by sniper fire and poison in the drinking fountain. And Storm gets all emo about team status and apparent rules about mandates to form x-teams on the campus. (never knew there were rules about who is allowed to be an X-team and if there are, they need to limit numbers). AMAZING X-MEN is a welcome home Kurt party with the team in costume at the local bar. I'm gonna blame the bad fill in artist for that. And Mystique shows up and Azazel escapes so Kurt's life really bites right now. UNCANNY X-MEN focuses on Maria Hill pursuing Scott, and the team realizing they are getting ambushed by someone that knows how to use Cerebro. It was fun, the art was good and they use their powers to do awful stuff in people's brains.

[salamanca]

forgot the update last week.

Red Lanterns has me about finished with it. The plot is compelling for what it is but it just doesn't advance even a little bit. So we wiped out most of the reds at the beginning of the series and now we are making new ones. And the writers have Supergirl among the mix because Supergirl HAS to be edgy. And we are racing to a big fight the next two issues with Atrocitus vs. Guy and... we all know Guy comes out on top because they are not going to kill Guy. At least the new lantern has a cool concept that (provided they return her reason) will make her the Spectre pastiche I have been pushing since they introduced the concept of rage lanterns as a series.

Larfleeze... 9 issues in and I'm only buying it because I liked the creator's stuff so much back in the day I feel like I still owe them extra money for those issues. It's lousy even with the return of Gnort. that's right, Gnort.

Dead Boy Detectives is an acquired taste. If you loved their appearance back in the Key to hell arc of Sandman, you probably will like the book. If you missed it, this book is not for you. It's weird boy ghosts investigating weird stuff they keep falling into (this month ,literally)

I probably would have looked at Original Sin, the Marvel event that kills the Watcher but it sold out.

[salamanca]

Almost forgot, SATURDAY IS FREE COMIC BOOK DAY!. Stop by your local shop and get yourself a free book to read. Better yet, drag a kid along and start a new fan.

[smafdi]

So because I missed out on free comic book day due to work i figured i'd stop by and pick up a comic today anyways. Cue Amazing Spider-Man #1 hmmmm so I do some research to figure out what lead up to amazing spiderman to go from issue 600+ (i think it ended around 700) to a new #1. And HOLY CRAP superior spider-man? why have i not heard about this before? Not to really spoil anything for those who haven't read, but basically it's a different take on parker, and i'm saddened that i missed this when it was coming out.

So with that revelation brings us to amazing #1 which i haven't read yet, but i figured it'd be a decent starting place for a new spider-fan so i bought it for my little girl who absolutely loves spider-man. Let's hope it's as good as i'm hoping.

On a second note the immortal iron fist #2 is out. still good, still want to know wtf is going on.

[salamanca]

Short recap:.Doc Ock is dying and spawns a legitimately epic global plan to take over the world before he checks out. Part of that, naturally involves ruining Spidey. Part of the twist in that revolved around Ock putting his mind in Pete's brain where he took over. There is a good arc where Pete's mins is still inside his head fighting to regain control and readers assumed that would happen when...yoink!. OCK WINS. The superior arc is Ock using the remants of PeteMs memories to infiltrate Spidey's life and Avengers membership as well as applying mastermind methods to crimefighting (mostly as revenge against the bad guys whoe were never nice to him). It's rather mature for your little one so preview everything.