Bought/Thought for June 10th, 2009 (SPOILERS within!)

Dread

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A below average week in terms of quantity with only four books, but with three of them being $4, it adds up quicker than it used to. Granted, two are one-shot's which have been $4 for a while now.

I asked the clerk at my LCS if I could reserve my copy of CAPTAIN AMERICA #600 in advance, expecting a mad-house and them to be sold out about an hour after opening, since Marvel has all but ensured this print of the issue will sell out without giving shops any time to increase orders. The conversation went like this:

"You're selling Captain America #600 on Monday, right?"
"Yeah."
"Can I reserve a copy now?"
"No, can't do that. Some newspaper thing is coming out on Monday and it is going to be a big thing."
"So, basically, anyone who wants a copy has to camp out in front of the store when you open, right?"
"Pretty much." Clerk smiles.

This, my friends, is why comics lose customers to the Internet every year.

As always, full spoilers ahead.

Dread's Bought/Thought for 6/10/09:

BOOSTER GOLD #21:
The start of the $3.99 era for this ongoing series, which is still selling within the Top 80, which is good for some lessor, non Batman/Green Lantern/JLA titles. Dan Didio isn't known for a lot of good things, and while he's engaged in some cynically overpriced one-shots or mini's on occasion, DC's first inkling to making some titles $3.99 for no damn reason was to add 10 page back up strips, to offer extra story for the increased price. Marvel's first inkling was to assume their customers are wallets with legs, and not bother. It was only after months of, "hey, good idea!" type reactions to DC's announcement that Marvel has since announced similar plans. Of course, in the Mighty Marvel Way, Marvel claims they always INTENDED to do that, just DC beat them to the PR punch by about a quarter or so. And if you believe that, I have some no-money-down Florida swamp land I'd love to sell you.

BOOSTER GOLD has been a rock solid DC book for about two years now, usually aided by creator Dan Jurgens' involvement, whether on simple pencils or now, with story and art contributions. Adding a BLUE BEETLE back-up strip to replace the ongoing that was canceled a while ago was merely the icing on the cake for me. It's both of the DC books I was getting and happily, merged into one. $3.99 is probably a bargain as far as that is concerned. Back up strips are an old idea, but frankly it is an old idea that has some legs to it. It helps exposure to other characters, and was done a lot in the old days. Marvel would be wise to exploit this tactic now that they are shamelessly ripping it from DC to expose some lessor characters and build them in some of their own $3.99 ongoings that sell great anyway, like NEW AVENGERS.

This issue continues what BOOSTER GOLD does best; continuing from a past story line while being loosely attached to whatever is going on with the DCU, but doing so in a way that a reader of only this title doesn't feel completely lost. Rip Hunter finds himself attacked by a mysterious attacker from time, who I guessed was the Black Beetle from the first few pages, and I was right. How better to celebrate and work with the BLUE BEETLE back up than to bring back his greatest enemy of the future? This happens, however, just as Hunter gets around to noticing FINAL CRISIS, where Batman is seemingly killed by Darkseid. Booster Gold, doing some rare heroism in the current time line, saves some people trapped in an elevator from a fire, and argues with Skeets over the idea of allowing his heroism to go unrewarded for the sake of the "mission". Booster, of course, is mistaken for everyone from Green Lantern to Superman amidst the smoke. Rip summons Booster to their time HQ and gives him his next mission. Since Batman was the only one aware of Booster Gold's true time missions, with him dead, he has to sneak into the Batcave and claim photographic proof that Wayne stored in the past. This leads to a confrontation to Winter Soldier, wait, I mean Dick Grayson, who is now the new Batman. Seriously, DC has tried to shamelessly rip off on whatever Brubaker has done with Captain America twice now, once with Red Hood and now with this, and both times it usually is a flop of a story. I never saw Grayson as just Batman Jr. and preferred his own Nightwing persona. It is just a shame DC didn't see it the same way.

At any rate, Booster quickly explains things to Grayson about how he was reclaiming photos from his first major attempt to undo "solid time" for personal reasons, trying to save Barbara from the Joker and losing every time (the second, of course, was when Booster nearly destroyed reality by saving Ted Kord). Black Beetle immediately attacks them, and then seemingly does some time zap to remove the new Batman and kill Grayson as Robin. Thus ends part one of four.

To be fair, out of any DC franchise, Booster Gold has probably ended up having missions intertwined with Batman more than any other DC character; this story will make it about 7-8 issues out of 24 or so. A cynic could claim it is because Batman is DC's hottest character, but objectively, Booster Gold was on the JLA with Batman so it does make some sense. The story is working rather well and Black Beetle is shaping up to be a decent villain.

While not credited on the cover, Matthew Sturges, BLUE BEETLE's last writer who picked up the slack from the launch team quite well for the final issues, returns to the character alongside Mike Norton, a former Marvel artist who switched to DC after being wasted on MARVEL ADVENTURES type stuff, and I loved seeing his art with Blue Beetle; he's a perfect fit. There are some who criticized the back-up strip idea by claiming that while noble, 10 pages a month isn't enough to keep a reader's interest because the story would move too slowly. Marvel's latest anthology titles, MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS and ASTONISHING TALES being cited as examples. It all depends on the writing, though; I thought Sturges did a fine job with 10 pages and even managed to throw in a brief recap of who Blue Beetle is, not assuming that all BOOSTER GOLD readers were his. See, that is how to do it, and it doesn't have to shatter the universe.

The strip acts as if nothing as changed at El Paso since the end of the ongoing, continuing where Sturges left off. Jaime Reyes is still a hero, albeit having had to "reboot" his scarab after his last adventure. His best buds Brenda and Paco are now dating and things are thus getting a little weird around them. And in between school and hanging out, Jaime has to save his city from exotic threats, such as a giant robot named "THINKO!" (yes, with the exclamation point). As always, the charm of the series is that while it isn't a straight up comedy, the superhero action isn't taken as incredibly serious as many other superhero titles, and thus has a charm unto itself. When Beetle takes over three hours to beat THINKO!, his pals crack wise about it. The kids manage to do some Scooby style detective work afterward, though. They track down the son of the 40's mad scientist who made THINKO!, who is in prison for having built his own berserk robots, the Unimate. He has a daughter who is a teacher, who he insists isn't involved. While trying to figure out the cause of the robot attacks and why the scarab is becoming more bloodthirsty than before, the Unimate attack. Cue cliffhanger.

Honestly, I thought the back up was brilliantly handled. In 10 pages, Sturges and Norton told a story that normally would be stretched out to 22, at least. While it may take a while for enough pages to rack up for a proper trade collection of BLUE BEETLE's latest adventures, it benefits the monthly reader, which in comics is usually a shock. Usually the industry bends over backwards to give trade waiters the best deal, then acts shocked and insulted when they take it.

In the last page, Dan DiDio tries to do some damage control to the idea that he once wanted to kill Grayson, and insists he'll be Batman forever. If you believe that, you're likely the same person waiting for DAREDEVIL: TARGET #2, or Bryan Singer's 12 issue run on ULTIMATE X-MEN.

A rare case where an extra buck has made a comic better. Two solid books in one. Who'd have thought?

FANTASTIC FOUR #567: An issue of the type that used to infuriate readers of THE ULTIMATES when it was running horribly behind schedule, but with FF running more or less on target (give or take a month or two, which for Hitch and Millar is speedy) it is less so. That doesn't mean it is perfect, though. By and large it is a showpiece issue, an issue where Millar caters to Hitch's art to do a 5 page sequence in a whole issue and thus drag a story out a little more. In some past interviews a few years ago Hitch and Millar would defend this practice by bemoaning audience expectations for compression and using manga as an example. Which, of course, is B.S. in a kilt because manga gives you more than 22 pages of story a month, and it usually sounds like, to paraphrase a Millar line, "middle aged men afraid of format expectations".

Now, as a disclaimer to mostly negative reviews, the Millar/Hitch run on FF isn't horrid. It isn't an abomination. It's not the worst thing ever. It simply is just about average for a Four run; which would be fine, but it takes itself too seriously and believes it is utterly important, and because of the creative team, gets more attention than it deserves. McDuffie's run, while it relied on the Storm/Panther membership for a stunt, was far less pretentious in execution. This issue almost screams of that sort of pretentiousness; that Millar and Hitch believe the audience so enjoy their collective imagination that they will gladly accept an issue that is entirely an illusion sequence, made up of a lot of splash pages or double page spreads. What does he think this is, HULK?

Last issue, Dr. Doom was getting a visit/beat down from his "master", the absurdly named Marquis of Death and his newest Apprentice. Apparently the retcon/revelation is that this is who Doom has learned many of his tricks from (besides Le Fey via time travel from MIGHTY AVENGERS, of course), but the Marquis sees Doom as a failure and wants to obliterate him before doing damage control on his reputation. They supposedly fight, and in a shamelessly extravagant but utterly pointless series of pages, becomes convinced that he battled them for six weeks, managed to defeat them after Reed sacrificed himself, and has now taken over the world and made it a gosh darn perfect place to live. Ben is his friend, and he's knocked Sue up. Doom's so gosh darn happy. It's all a lie, of course. Marquis of Death (who may as well be called, "Overbite of S&M" with a design like that) has fooled Doom with some omnipotent illusion. Doom's set aflame, stripped of his mask, berated for being a loser, and is sent back in time to be eaten by dinosaurs while Latveria is blown up.

Overbite of S&M and Sidekick then decide they'll take out of the Fantastic Four, once and for all. Of course they won't, but again, this run takes itself awfully seriously.

Despite what many claim, part of me refuses to believe even Millar is this simple, or so genuinely hates Doom. He salvaged Ultimate Doom from the hooven monstrosity that Ellis created, after all. Granted, Ultimate's bar of expectations has always been lower than 616, which is probably why it was easier for Bendis and Millar to build reputations there. In reality both are rather pedestrian writers who are skilled at using various trappings to fluff up their work; Bendis has his "dialogue" and Millar usually uses explosions and macho-man postures. Both have delusions of grandeur to their writing; although in the case of Millar, with Hollywood now licking his scrotum, one can maybe understand why. Millar's snarky attitude seems to bleed into everything he writes, a problem Bendis also has, and it becomes a real turn off.

The delicious irony of all this is that in the case of FF, both retailers and Marvel have no longer seen this as essential stuff. After a brief spike, sales fell to "average" FF numbers before a year was up. And Marvel is so eager to just end this run and focus on the upcoming Hickman that Hitch has been yanked from the final issue, with fill in art by Immonen. Yes, Marvel so wants the run to end on time, they are, gasp, using fill in art on a Millar/Hitch project. With that in mind, I highly doubt that Dr. Doom will be allowed to perish in so undignified a manner. Marvel didn't let Grant Morrison kill Magneto, now did they? That said, I could do without some of the holier-than-thou flair of a writer creating a retcon menace out of nowhere, having it "own" the Four's greatest villain, and then lambaste him on how lame he is. All with a name that not even the Umbrella Academy would take seriously - Marquis of Death? What next, Matinee of Malice?

In short, not the worst issue, but a needlessly decompressed and condescending one. It's not the worst FF ever but it sure isn't as great as it thinks it is. To paraphrase another Millar line from the apparently Hollywood worthy KICK-ASS, "It thinks it's HEROES Season One, but instead it's Season-Freaking-Two."

(Millar also hasn't learned that nothing dates a work as quickly as pop culture references. There are none in the issue, thankfully.)

Dr. Doom deserves a lot better, though. He was the inspiration for Darth Vader, after all. Once upon a time he was the premire Marvel villain. Now he makes Hordak look good (and Hordak had to settle for taking on He-Man's kid sister, after all).

Next: WAR OF KINGS: SAVAGE WORLD OF SKAAR #1 & UNCANNY X-MEN FIRST CLASS GIANT-SIZE #1.
 
JSA vs Kobra #1...or, Checkmate #27
Someone get Eric Trautmann onto JSA right the **** now. Guys. Guys, I'm so serious.

(9.4 out of 10)


Flash: Rebirth #3
Someone on another forum had such an amazing, incredible theory about The Mystery in this book that I am going to be completely beyond disappointed if/when it turns out not to be the case.
d00gZ said:
[blackout]Barry is the Black Flash because his emotional state is ****ed up because Zoom travelled back in time and framed his dad for murdering his mom. Barry has to save his parents to eliminate tragedy from the Flash family.[/blackout]
Johns, I've never asked for much...wait, no, that's an enormous lie. But please. Please let this be so. If you read the earlier issues with this in mind, it's a completely ****ing masterstroke.

If not? Well...meh. Really, meh. Once again, not a lot actually happens in this issue. I'm actually a bit surprised at how much they managed to decompress it all. Really, when you think about it, in all these pages the only thing that actually happens is that Barry is held in observation, and then he runs away.

We'll see, I guess.

(Undecided out of 10)


Green Lantern Corps #37
Oh gods! This book!!

Despite the epic-looking cover, Rearview and Arisia's story is actually the least-important portion of the dozens of plot-threads running through the book in this issue. What happens in the Daxam subplot is cool, sure -- nice to see that Tomasi still isn't sugarcoating any of Yat Sr.'s Sodam-hole tendencies -- but it's the riot on Oa that takes center stage and beats it within an inch of its pathetic life. Guys. You guys. This ****. The Alpha Lanterns. ****. Guy's staple gun. Seriously guys. Patrick Gleason, you glorious motherfrakker.

(9.2 out of 10)


Booster Gold #21...with Blue Beetle
There's something off about the dialogue here. "And this time -- we dare not fail"? Coming from Booster? I'm not sure that Jurgens really gets Booster's voice.

The Beetle backup, though? Oh yes. Very yes. Other than that annoying text-bubble ****up between Brenda and Paco's dialogue showing that DC murdered all their editors and is using their blood to power George Perez. Fair trade-off? Mm...

(7.3 out of 10 for BG)
(8.5 out of 10 for BB)


Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape #1 and 2
...What...what the ****...? Wait I mean...what? What the f**k?

(?? out of ????)


Batman #687
Ah, Judd Winick. We meet again.

Look, it's Dick Grayson as Batman. I had to at least get an issue. But I refuse to have hope. Just because this was a fairly decent issue does not mean that Winick has all of a sudden stopped being the worst writer in the universe. I was fooled with GA/BC, I will not be fooled again. Surely a villain will soon appear in this comic, defeat our hero utterly and completely, and then utilize his/her Run Away powers to inexplicably disappear while talking too much. Perhaps this villain will be Deatstroke. Yes, I believe it will be Deathstroke.

No, I refuse to have hope.

...:(

(7.8 out of 10)


Red Robin #1
I just can't condone this. Sorry. I understand it, but I just...no. The amount of damage that DC has done to the Tim Drake character -- sorry, Tim Wayne :rolleyes: -- over the years cannot be balanced out by whatever Darkest Before The Dawn, Find Your Way Out Of The Dregs, Timmy Gets His Groove Back Blah Blah Blah Blah BLAH whatever story you have planned for this upcoming run. Because you know what? This plot, this exact ****ing plot, has been Tim Drayne's ****ing life for the past ****ing **** **** **** years now. I don't think anyone at DC even understands this, how much damage they've done to him. How much of a cypher they've made this character. If it was just one or two tragedies over the years, yeah I can see the whole "You have to fall to get up again" story working. But it's all they've been doing with him, and he never actually gets all the way back before they kick him back down again!

"Oh no my dad is dead. I must recover from this loss with an exciting new status quo change!"
"Oh no Stephanie is dead. I must recover from this loss with [copy/paste]!"
"Oh no Conner is dead. I must recover from [c/p]!"
"Oh no Bart is dead. I must re"
"Oh no Bruce"
"Oh n"

This is ridiculous, people. Look, I understand that logically there's no real mischaracterization here. With all the **** that Tim has gone through these past years, it only makes sense that he'd be driven to traumatic depths. But as I've said before regarding Kyle Rayner circa SCW: if you make a character's life a living hell and then beat him with barbed wire while he's down there, of course it "makes sense" and is "in-character" for him to succumb to despair and become a mere shadow of his former self. But that doesn't make it a good story. It's sloppy melodrama, and at this point a parody of itself.

I just don't think DC has really taken a look at how they've been treating Robin or, in the vein, how they've been treating all their teenage characters lately. When they look back, do they think "Wow, these were totally awesome directions we've been taking these books, we totally knew what the **** we were doing all along and had a plan to make things good!"? Or do they just not think?

All that, combined with the fact that I trust Chris Yost as a writer about as much as **** no, leads to...

(3.2 out of 10)


Action Comics #878
Y'know how I said that the sooner we get Barrows off the art, the better this book will be? I...almost...take that back. We get some really nice mileage from Olmos here (Thara's expression when Lois wants to know what she's been doing with her son is priceless), but after Barrows' art in the last few issues, it doesn't quite feel like enough. It doesn't help that they're clearly using the same inker, which really highlights the difference in detail between Barrows and Olmos. Ah well. What can you do.

The story is still the story. You'll either like it or not.

(7.8 out of 10)
 
Dr. Doom deserves a lot better, though. He was the inspiration for Darth Vader, after all. Once upon a time he was the premire Marvel villain. Now he makes Hordak look good (and Hordak had to settle for taking on He-Man's kid sister, after all).
.

Come on. Dumping a half dead Doom in the past is the surest way to get your ass kicked by him after you have defeated the Fantastic Four and were built up as the biggest bad ever. Mark my words, by the end of the storyline Doom's armor will shine like never before.
 
Come on. Dumping a half dead Doom in the past is the surest way to get your ass kicked by him after you have defeated the Fantastic Four and were built up as the biggest bad ever. Mark my words, by the end of the storyline Doom's armor will shine like never before.

That's true after future FF pwned galactus and used him as a battery they restored him to his glory when they...oh wait.

Mark my words, doom will be lucky if he gets to pity kill one of his masters (ala future sue) after the FF beat them down.
 
That's true after future FF pwned galactus and used him as a battery they restored him to his glory when they...oh wait.

Mark my words, doom will be lucky if he gets to pity kill one of his masters (ala future sue) after the FF beat them down.

I don't think Galactus really needs that much restoration, he was only a plot device (as he should be).
Millar restored Ultimate Doom's rep, so I believe he's wearing him down for a reason. He handles his bad guys with respect (he's the only one in the last decade or so, who can write Luthor, and not make him a goddamn idiot)

We'll just have to see who's right I guess.
 
I don't think Galactus really needs that much restoration, he was only a plot device (as he should be).
Millar restored Ultimate Doom's rep, so I believe he's wearing him down for a reason. He handles his bad guys with respect (he's the only one in the last decade or so, who can write Luthor, and not make him a goddamn idiot)

We'll just have to see who's right I guess.

As you will, when you take the eater of worlds and make him a battery, in order to give cred to your new creations, and you've a history of this shenanigans I'm a bit skeptical.

Morrison did pretty well with Luthor in All Star Supes.

You're gonna owe me a beer in a few months. I'm currently on a boddington's kick.
 
Dread, that was one hell of a deconstruction of Mark Millar and his run on Fantastic Four. You totally nailed it. One thing that I've been thinking about, though...

Dr. Doom deserves a lot better, though. He was the inspiration for Darth Vader, after all. Once upon a time he was the premire Marvel villain. Now he makes Hordak look good (and Hordak had to settle for taking on He-Man's kid sister, after all).

Don't you think Doom's utter relegation to punching bag and joke is becoming too obvious to be anything other than deliberate now? He's been owned left and right over so many titles, it's almost becoming conspicuous. Look at Dark Reign. Every other member of The Cabal has made some kind of big move, while Dr. Doom has been alternatively playing the dupe and the damsel-in-distress. I'm starting to suspect Marvel are deliberately lowering our expectations for Doom, to surprise us down the line.

Can any of you guys remember that Spider-Man villain introduced a few years back, Fusion? He was built up and shoved down throats like Marquis of Death as some uber-villain. In his second appearance, we even saw him draft in Doctor Octopus as his lackey, smacking him around, reducing him to a quivering wreck, and constantly telling him how pathetic he was. Until it was revealed that Doc Ock was merely playing possum until he got what he wanted from Fusion, and then proceeded to utterly wipe the floor with him, give him such a total beatdown that Fusion has never been seen again. Then the story suddenly turned on its head, with Fusion (the apparent focal point) being ushered out stage left, and Doc Ock coming to the forefront. And, for a brief period, it actually restored Doctor Octopus' squandered credibility.

Could Marvel be trying the same trick with Dr. Doom, only in a more convoluted, long-form manner? Just when we think Dr. Doom is a total joke, is he going to be the one to oust Norman Osborn, cripple The Cabal, and suddenly emerge as THE Big Bad of Dark Reign? Not saying it's a GOOD idea, but it may be a possibility...
 
Dormammu is gonna be the big bad in dark reign, I mean the guy rules the dark dimension and is one of the few beings I don't mind being doom's master.
 
Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #1: Great issue. I had a few minor problems with the dialogue here and there, but for the most part it seems poised to be a great Beta Ray Bill spin on the classic "hero wants to do good so bad he gets twisted toward evil" yarn. I was enjoying it until Bill declared to Stardust that Galactus would starve no matter what, and then I loved it. :) Kano's art was good as well.

Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #2: Super-fun. I loved it muchly. I was surprised that Zabu joined up with the team. If any comic deserved to be called a "romp," this one would be it. I'm looking forward to the next issue.

War of Kings: Savage World of Sakaar: I liked this issue but it felt a little pointless. Unless Sakaar factors into the climax of War of Kings, anyway, which I doubt it will. Still, it was a decent face-off between Gorgon and Starbolt, each representing their respective side in the war. They bond as warriors while Skaar does his best to murder them for posing a threat to Sakaar. Ultimately, it's all for naught because Lockjaw picks them up and Starbolt immediately holds Luna hostage so Lockjaw will send him back to the Shi'ar Empire. The respective soldiers tell their leaders about Sakaar and the Oldpower, both express interest, and probably nothing will come of it. Still, nice to see more separate cosmic stuff being included in the big cosmic crossovers.
 
Amazing Spider-Man #597 - American Son continues to be a good story and it was great to see Spidey beat the crap out of Daken. here's hoping it stays strong. 8/10

Batman #687 - this i enjoyed more than Morrison's B&R and they honestly couldve skipped Battle for the Cowl and gone straight to this- Dick's thoughts of replacing Bruce. and the art is beautiful! i normally don't like Bendis's Batman but he nailed it this time. but something to the DC editors- stop hyping up something like "Batman's new costume", and all your gonna do is tech up his gloves and belt.9/10

Uncanny X-Men #511 - i will say it was the most entertaining issue of this meh arc. speaking of this individual book i enjoyed it very much even if it didnt really explain Maddie's agenda and a bunch of other things that the story needed. but if youre just looking for a single issue where they X-Men kick ass, i recommend this one. 8/10

i also picked up X-Men Forever, but i haven't reread my X-Men 1-3 yet.
 
Come on. Dumping a half dead Doom in the past is the surest way to get your ass kicked by him after you have defeated the Fantastic Four and were built up as the biggest bad ever. Mark my words, by the end of the storyline Doom's armor will shine like never before.

Possible, but right now I'm trying not to overestimate Mark Millar. Even at his best, sometimes his climaxes to stories are hit-or-miss. I was still a teenager when he was launching ULTIMATE X-MEN and thus was more inclined to like his 3 year launch run on it, and despite that, I was usually frustrated when he would be awesome at the build-up and then pooch the climax. Millar's problem is that he usually clogs a story with so many "shock and awe" moments before the climax that when the climax comes, he has nothing left.

One would have thought it would have been a no-brainer to include Alicia in these stories; instead only Hickman remembered that she and Ben reunited in THE THING a full three years ago.

To be fair, as flawed as his FF run is, it is better than KICK-ASS, IMO. I gave up on KICK-ASS after about five issues.

Dread, that was one hell of a deconstruction of Mark Millar and his run on Fantastic Four. You totally nailed it. One thing that I've been thinking about, though...



Don't you think Doom's utter relegation to punching bag and joke is becoming too obvious to be anything other than deliberate now? He's been owned left and right over so many titles, it's almost becoming conspicuous. Look at Dark Reign. Every other member of The Cabal has made some kind of big move, while Dr. Doom has been alternatively playing the dupe and the damsel-in-distress. I'm starting to suspect Marvel are deliberately lowering our expectations for Doom, to surprise us down the line.

Can any of you guys remember that Spider-Man villain introduced a few years back, Fusion? He was built up and shoved down throats like Marquis of Death as some uber-villain. In his second appearance, we even saw him draft in Doctor Octopus as his lackey, smacking him around, reducing him to a quivering wreck, and constantly telling him how pathetic he was. Until it was revealed that Doc Ock was merely playing possum until he got what he wanted from Fusion, and then proceeded to utterly wipe the floor with him, give him such a total beatdown that Fusion has never been seen again. Then the story suddenly turned on its head, with Fusion (the apparent focal point) being ushered out stage left, and Doc Ock coming to the forefront. And, for a brief period, it actually restored Doctor Octopus' squandered credibility.

Could Marvel be trying the same trick with Dr. Doom, only in a more convoluted, long-form manner? Just when we think Dr. Doom is a total joke, is he going to be the one to oust Norman Osborn, cripple The Cabal, and suddenly emerge as THE Big Bad of Dark Reign? Not saying it's a GOOD idea, but it may be a possibility...

I believe you just described the Bendis School Of Writing; pen a few stories that are jaw droppingly terrible or illogical, then out of the blue figure a way to tie things together in a story that is just about a hair above mediocre, and be hailed as a genius.

My only concern is that Bendis will likely be involved in the "event" that leads to PATRIOT ACT, and he writes Doom very poorly. Millar at least gets Doom's lines right. He has him talk like Dr. Doom usually should (although whether or not Doom should still want to knock up Sue or be Ben's buddy is another story; he often disrespected "the monster", especially since Ben once crushed his hands).

Dormammu is gonna be the big bad in dark reign, I mean the guy rules the dark dimension and is one of the few beings I don't mind being doom's master.

Considering Dormammu is more involved with Bendis' pet villain the Hood, that is likely. I don't read that stuff in NEW AVENGERS anymore, but I do read solicits now and again. ;)

Marquis, as in, lord (Marquess, in the English tradition). Lord of Death.

And Monsieur Mallah translated from French to English is simply "Mister Mallah". They're still stupid names. Again, "Marquis of Death" sounds like the name of a villain from UMBRELLA ACADEMY, who usually try to seem big but can be laughed at. Least to me. His design doesn't help; it's of the sort that tries too hard to be scary/serious and is therefore unintentionally hilarious.

I prefer "Overbite of S&M". :o
 
To be fair, as flawed as his FF run is, it is better than KICK-ASS, IMO. I gave up on KICK-ASS after about five issues.

Working on the dream, Dread, working on the dream:up:
 
I don't feel like doing reviews as I've already put my comics away... but a few stray thoughts.

WoK: Skaar - A bit pointless but still a good story. I think this story is good for fleshing out Starbolt, which is something the Guard needs. We've seen these people for years and years and still they're all 2-demensional. This book made me like Starbolt. And it reminded me that I like Skaar, so I went and bought the Planet Skaar prologue and the newest issue of his series. Now I just need to get the first 6 issues so I know what was going on leading up to the Silver Surfer arc.


Uncanny X-Men - Bleh. I've not been a fan of this run for a very long time... in fact, I liked only the very first issue, 200, and haven't much cared since. There's a few scenes here and there but overall I'm bored. In fact, I'll just flat out say I don't like this run at all. I'm fairly certain I enjoyed Chuck Austen's run better than this stuff. Oh, and the issue was playing up Jean's return and I felt it could really save the series, but with her not coming back, it was just bleh. I'm ready for some new writing and art teams.

Highlight though... Dazzler getting a moment. I'm not a huge fan but I liked how she handled Psylocke and the reference to the two of them joining the X-Men near the same time was good. It's the first moment Dazzler's had since the Eve of Destruction storyline years ago. If they'd just lose the pop-star angle then she could be an interesting character.
 
Green Lantern Corps continues to be DC's best ongoing. Goddamn, that was good stuff.

BrianWilly said:
Other than that annoying text-bubble ****up between Brenda and Paco's dialogue showing that DC murdered all their editors and is using their blood to power George Perez.

:funny:
 
Bought: ASM #597, Agents of Atlas #'s 1 to 6... (based on everybody's good word)

Thought: ASM #597... great issue, nice build-ups, terrific one page Doc Ock scene, classic ending (even though I think I know how it'll go down).

I'll read AoA later in one long sitting...

:yay:
 
Working on the dream, Dread, working on the dream:up:

What? Dropping a book I don't care for after five issues is rather quick. Granted, it took about a year for five issues to come out. :p

Part Two: One Shots with Elongated Titles A-Go-Go!

WAR OF KINGS: SAVAGE WORLD OF SKAAR #1:
The latest installment in the WAR OF KINGS event line and one of the few cogs in it that has no involvement by Abnett & Lanning. Chris Yost wrote the prelude mini KINGBREAKER, and C.B. Cebulski wrote the first issue of WAR OF KINGS: DARKHAWK before "DnA" co-wrote the second issue, and there's some digital comic material written by old NEW WARRIORS writer (and current DYNAMO 5 writer) Jay Faerber that will be printed at some point, but by and large the event is in the "DnA" wheelhouse, as they write the core mini (WOK), the side mini (ASCENSION), and two ongoing title tie-in's (NOVA and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY). I was originally hesitant to bother with this one shot for several reasons. Firstly, every $4 comic purchase needs to be thought out now; one-shots have been $4 by obligation even if having no extra page count for maybe almost a year now. Secondly, I don't read SKAAR at all; barbarian stories just aren't my bag. I enjoyed PLANET HULK more because it was something that worked and was interesting (and well executed) for the Hulk more than because it was a barbarian story. I wasn't as interested in the spin-off. Thirdly, as a random one-shot thrown in and not promoted much in the last leg of the WAR OF KINGS event, I figured it would be mostly pointless.

In the shop I changed my mind, however. The fact that it was a short week, with only three books on my list helped greatly. It also helped that it was written by Christos Gage, a writer who hasn't gotten the biggest pub at Marvel yet, but has been consistently good. Starting in a CIVIL WAR one-shot, he's proven to me to be a writer who has a wide scope of Marvel history and continuity, past and present, and can make it work in a story in usually more serious ways than former collaborator Dan Slott. He was tasked to make a Hulk vs. the X-Men work for three issues and managed to pull it off during WORLD WAR HULK. I'm rather enjoying his solo run on AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE, which will soon begin an arc that elaborates on what has done in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, with Blastaar taking over 42. At the very least, Gage is proving that he can handle all sorts of stories for Marvel; Avengers stories, Hulk stories, and now space stories. Therefore, I figured even if "pointless", it would be an enjoyable one-shot story, and I was correct.

The title is long but not misleading; the story is more about the world that Skaar lives on than Skaar himself. The recap page gives you about all you need to know about Skaar; he's the son of the Hulk between him and his dead alien wife, who somehow managed to grow to adult size without a womb on a fractured, monster-filled world that Hulk mangled in a rage before leaving for Earth with his Warbond. He's since gone on to have Conan rip off adventures. That's about all I knew about Skaar before, that is all you are told in the recap, and that's all you need to know about him for the issue.

That is because the POV is from two outsiders to the bizarre world, Gorgan from the Inhumans leading a Kree fleet, and Starbolt from the Imperial Guard, leading a Kree ship. Apparently Starbolt is investigating the strange energy-spiking vortex that leads to Sakaar for possible use for Vulcan. Gorgan is craving vengeance against Starbolt for trying to fry Crystal alive in WAR OF KINGS #1 (a great bit of remembered continuity to fuel a story; see, it's not the end of the world to do such things), and really is looking for an excuse for a fight more than exploring resources for Black Bolt. They both get swept into a vortex and land on the hellish world, and immediately monsters kill both their crews of red shirt's and the enemies are forced to unite to survive. It's a bit of a generic alien story of rivals-turned-allies that has been done in movies and prior comics before. Gage executes it well in which it goes along an expected course but is still very readable. It is a new thing for Gorgan, and I doubt Starbolt has ever had this much dialogue. Usually the Imperial Guard serve as "fellows who fight behind Gladiator". Starbolt apparently needs heat to survive as well as to maintain his power levels. For the record, immediately after trying to fry Crystal in WAR OF KINGS #1, he took a hammer to the jaw from Ronan, immediately before Ronan was then dog-piled by three other Guardsmen and put in the hospital. Gorgan was busy being blasted in the leg, which broke it for a while. So, again, a good bit of Gage working with continuity to make two minor characters interesting.

Starbolt agrees to be the Kree's POW after getting off the planet if he agrees to cooperate with Gorgan to survive, an act that surprises Skaar, who wants both empires to piss off his world. Skaar then decides to kill them both himself, and naturally both of them are unable to stop him and need to be saved by Lockjaw. At the end, of course, Starbolt turns on Gorgan, trying to take Luna hostage and being undone by an equally quick rescue by Lockjaw and Gorgan. Both Vulcan and Medusa vow to use Skaar for their uses before the other side will. I sort of doubt it.

I imagine the point may be to spark interest in SKAAR because it's not especially especially well and some of the WAR OF KINGS stuff outsells it. Considering that Skaar is in space it does technically work as a random chapter of the latest space war. I haven't been convinced to grab the SKAAR trades, but as a one-shot onto itself it was a nice little story of two side characters who have good reason to not like each other forced into an adventure against each other and alongside each other. The art by Reilly and Nolan is pretty good, too. I've read far worse "side chapters" or far more pointless stories of events from Marvel for more "Terran" based stuff like SECRET INVASION. An impulse purchase I didn't regret.

UNCANNY X-MEN: FIRST CLASS: GIANT SIZE #1: That almost seems like a gag title, doesn't it? All it needs is an X-TREME thrown in somewhere. Aside for that, though, this was probably the most enjoyable issue I read this week, and has further convinced me to remain aboard the property with UNCANNY X-MEN: FIRST CLASS , due in July.

As a bit of a summary, Jeff Parker and Roger Cruz (with some fill in artists for a few issues here and there) have been working on X-MEN: FIRST CLASS for about over two years, from an 8 issue mini to an ongoing that lasted 16 issues, and finally ending with a 4 issue "Finals" mini, with a few specials and one-shots in between. Apparently, though, Jeff Parker is going onto bigger and better things at Marvel, with them launching and promoting AGENTS OF ATLAS and so on. And for me that's fine; Parker's a great writer, full of humor and history yet managing to strike serious tones when he wants to, just without making stuff overly bleak or pretentious. Apparently, though, Marvel wants to continue with the FIRST CLASS franchise (aside for the spin off WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS, which is basically WOLVERINE & SHADOWCAT TEAM UP) without him. Writer Scott Gray, best known for his FIN FANG FOUR stuff, is taking over, and this issue is to bridge that gap, with Jeff Parker bidding a final farewell and Gray being introduced.

It is very much an annual by committee and while everyone is credited on the first page, the individual chapters haven't been credited to which, which is a little awkward. There are three writers, seven pencilers, seven inkers, and about that many colorists. Apparently, Jeff Parker himself gets out his pencils and inks as well. It does make it a problem to connect which art talents to which chapter unless you KNOW their style. For instance, Sean "Cheeks" Galloway, the character designer to HELLBOY ANIMATED and SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN, is obviously the guy who drew the Nightcrawler circus chapter. Aside for that, the rest of the artists aren't familiar to me. Cruz's colorist is obviously working on the "present" chapters, though.

FIRST CLASS has always been in a bit of a limbo position in terms of Marvel continuity, and this annual is no exception. On the one hand, some FIRST CLASS stories have tried to work very well with the continuity of Marvel in the 60's, such as an early team-up with Black Widow in her oddball Black Canary caped outfit, or a battle with the Lizard in the first mini. There even were updates to small X-Men details that had become outdated, such as the Beatnik coffee joint the kids used to go to, revisioned as a sort of mid 90's internet joint called COFFEE @ GO-GO. As the founding X-Men's time in comic lore was cut short by about 3-4 years of reprints after 1970, there arguably was a place for "hidden" adventures of the founding class, even if many have been done before; John Bryne's HIDDEN YEARS comes to mind. The difference, though, is FIRST CLASS was more fun, even if more gimmicky, relying more on team-up's than on stories about the X-Men proper. On the other hand, though, much of the continuity of FIRST CLASS is off or imperfect, enough that one wonders if it is secretly a MARVEL ADVENTURES type thing. It is the kind of line that will give a continuity perfectionist fits. There were team-up's with Man-Thing and Machine Man, for instance. The costume schemes were usually off for some of the eras. Even in FINALS #4, Jeff Parker apparently forgot that by the time the X-Men investigated Karoka, Beast had already left for solo adventures and the Avengers, and Havok and Polaris were official members of the team. Perhaps a few issues of stories introducing Alex and Lorna to the regular cast would have worked out better than a few team-up's when it was still an ongoing. But, the road not taken.

Even in this one-shot, which is basically working with the "new" X-Men that were introduced by Len Wein, Dave Cockrum, and ultimately would be fodder for Claremont's years on the X-Men from 1975-1991, there are continuity hiccups that are impossible to ignore to anyone who read that material. The first being that if this is right after Karoka as implied, then Thunderbird should be with them; he trained with the X-Men for "weeks" after Karoka and only perished in his second mission against Count Nefaria; hell, he was around before Moira McTaggart was introduced, and she is key to this one shot. The second one, of course, is that while the tone is still light, it is jarring to see mid 70's era Wolverine with what appears to be a bizarre, BATMAN: BRAVE AND THE BOLD-esque sense of humor. Wolverine was almost the epitome of humorlessness back then; he only smiled when he was slicing a N'Gari demon to bits, flirting, or imagining what life would be like if Cyclops were dead and he could "have a clear track with Jeanie" (who will be Phoenix by July in this series). If you are someone who, as some critics charge, is addicted to "continuity porn", then FIRST CLASS will drive you absolutely mad, and this one shot is no exception. On the other hand, if you are someone who is willing to tone down the fanboy continuity outrage meter down a notch now and then, then FIRST CLASS has always been a fun alternative to the dark, bleak, misery cluster**** that X-Men books have usually become, and this special and upcoming relaunch are no exception.

It is very weird to see the "new" X-Men acting like, aside for Banshee and Wolverine, people in their late teen's/early 20's by goofing off in the Danger Room with pumpkins. On the other hand, much of it is hilarious. There is one bit where Colossus is messing up the lawn of the X-Mansion with a plow, because he's basically ten minutes off of farm life and thinks that's how to get food; it was pretty funny. In the midst of this is Scott, the POV character. He is lamenting losing all of his old mates to lead this new team that seems to be dysfunctional and uncoordinated. Plus, without Jean or Xavier at the moment, Cerebro can't get a proper scan for threats. Eager for a diversion from his anxiety, Cyclops nags Cerebro into finding a "mutant spore" sighting. He wants to make proper contact, but the rest of the X-Men quickly get into a fight with it and basically zap it to pieces. On the verge of giving up on his new makes, Moira has him listen to some audio tapes she made interviewing the new team-members to get some perspective on where they all come from. This of course leads to separate story chapters for Storm, Banshee, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Wolverine. They range from "mundane but readable" to "hilarious". Wolverine's at the end is very strange, but comedy gold, as he imagines himself living through superhero/secret agent cliches. Storm's story of her early days as a thief in Cairo is fine but it has been done to death. Nightcrawler's about life in the circus and having to hide the fact that he is really a mutant (while thwarting a robbery swashbuckler style) is fine, although his feet look a bit weird (is he wearing boots to hide his toes?).

Banshee's story is told in the style of an Irish poem, which is good but has some awkward bits. He ends up rescuing a girl from some demons in Ireland, and the girl ends up being a fairy banshee, promising to lead him to the afterlife when his time comes in gratitude. It came off as bitter-sweet as, of course, Banshee was sacrificed to Vulcan in DEADLY GENESIS, circa 2005. Colossus' story is about him ending up revealing his mutant powers to his three Russian friends back in the motherland, and it's pretty good even if it seems that even back then, "moping" is Piotr's default demeanor. In the end, Scott and his new team resolve things, and the ending with the Danger Room is hilarious. There is a final two page bit with "rejected international mutants" that almost seems like a MAD MAGAZINE article, and aside for a predictable French bit, it's also funny.

On the whole, though, I enjoyed it because the tone of the work was lighter hearted than I am used to from the X-Men. Starting from this line-up, the tone of the book gradually got more serious, with the 90's being the apex. Even now, the line takes itself absurdly seriously at all times, no matter how ridiculous a situation they are in. The characters are almost monthly tortured to the point where moping, angst and anxiety are default moods, and that's about as predictable as talking gorillas, just twice as pretentious. Gray and Parker at least manage here to pull that back a bit; while some of the chapters are serious in theme, the work isn't bogged down by it. It has a light hearted energy to it that you rarely see from the X-Men and especially not from any of the characters here. On a nostalgic note, I first got into the X-Men from the cartoon series, and when I started reading trades in comic shop ailes, the Claremont/Cockrum/Bryne run was among the first I read (back in the 90's, trades were rare so trades of that era were usually all I could find), and that included this line up. I have a soft spot for it, Cyclops leading the team of bold new members with Jean and ultimately Kitty coming aboard. In the context of the FIRST CLASS FINALS mini, it works well with the minor detail of Scott noting that unlike his allies, he really has little career options outside the X-Men as few non-retail jobs will allow you to wear red shades nine to five. Kurt and Sean's accents are deliberately written out to reflect how they sound, which can get annoying and borderline condescending to some (imagine if British comics wrote American accents as how they sometimes sound, spelling out "How y'all doin'?" or "Aye kum from Nu Joysey!" accents), but, again, the tone works for it because you're not supposed to take all of it seriously. It was just a fun issue to be had, with characters who haven't been so in a very long time.

I wish Scott Gray the best of luck, and I'm officially aboard his UNCANNY X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, continuity gaps or not.
 
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Dread, they ain't holdin' Cap fer ya? Cold. They said they'd put one in my bag, just hope they do.
 
Dread, they ain't holdin' Cap fer ya? Cold. They said they'd put one in my bag, just hope they do.

The clerk yesterday was not very sympathetic. I don't have an official "bag" there but I am a regular.

For those not in the know, WOLVERINE25TH and I usually go to the same LCS.
 
Um, pony-tail guy?

I'll see if I can reserve it at another, slightly closer to home shop. Because I really do not feel like camping out at 10 a.m. for a comic book.

This is ridiculous, people. Look, I understand that logically there's no real mischaracterization here. With all the **** that Tim has gone through these past years, it only makes sense that he'd be driven to traumatic depths. But as I've said before regarding Kyle Rayner circa SCW: if you make a character's life a living hell and then beat him with barbed wire while he's down there, of course it "makes sense" and is "in-character" for him to succumb to despair and become a mere shadow of his former self. But that doesn't make it a good story. It's sloppy melodrama, and at this point a parody of itself.

I just don't think DC has really taken a look at how they've been treating Robin or, in the vein, how they've been treating all their teenage characters lately. When they look back, do they think "Wow, these were totally awesome directions we've been taking these books, we totally knew what the **** we were doing all along and had a plan to make things good!"? Or do they just not think?

I get you on this point. Sometimes I wonder if this is one of the things that has plagued Colossus for years. He's always moping, but various writers, Claremont and even Whedon to name two, always give him reasons to mope. That's all he gets and thus all he reacts to. And it leads to a vicious cycle of him being ignored, seen as stale, obliged to background, underwhelming fodder.

Originally, Colossus worked as the member of the X-Men who was probably the most "naive good" if that makes sense. He wasn't the one who saw in gray, but black or white. Things like wasting Proteus to save reality weighed heavily on him. He outright rejected jailbait for years. Occasionally he would mope about his lost brother, or missing home or his sister.

Then, he moped because Illyana was corrupted. Then he moped that his parents were murdered by Soviets in Russia. Then Illyana died and he moped/went crazy and joined the Acolytes. Then he died and he came back, moping about being dead (yes, I know it was more complicated than that, and was executed well, but that was basically what it was). Now Kitty is dead, and of course that gives him much more to mope about. Illyana's back, but who knows how corrupt or not she is. She's like Madonna; every time she comes back, she looks more demonic.

It has come to the point where "moping" is his default personality trait, and while it makes logical sense, I think it has trapped Colossus in a box for ages. These things have consequences. Big media interpretations ignore him. Future writers dismiss him. And if not fixed, leads to the sort of apathy that convinced Marvel to ice him to end a modest AIDS metaphor subplot after a decade's time at the start of the Quesada/Jemas era.

I'd love to see Colossus do something else, but you can't do that if you are always killing everyone and everything he cares about. It does reach the verge of parody. I made drafts for fan fiction and not even I can begin to approach Colossus as a character without either dealing with or around his constant endless moping about [INSERT LATEST TRAGEDY HERE]. Now, I imagine Tim "Wayne" has gotten it worse, but I was trying to relate to your frustration. Writing that someone would be miserable and desperate after torturing them or destroying their life isn't a grand revelation; unless the execution is brilliant, it is merely a logical conclusion with layers of pretension atop it, posing as brilliance. Endless Misery Stories can be just as predictable as stories about talking animals, just the latter doesn't think of itself as perennial Eisner material no matter what.
 
Pony tail guy with tatts? Then that'd be Brian. He's usually pretty cool, dunno why he'd skunk ya. Abdulla'd do ya right, though. Or even Robin if he didn't go off to run his own store.
 
What? Dropping a book I don't care for after five issues is rather quick. Granted, it took about a year for five issues to come out. :p

I was paying you a compliment. I was glad to see you cut it:yay:
 
A below average week in terms of quantity with only four books, but with three of them being $4, it adds up quicker than it used to. Granted, two are one-shot's which have been $4 for a while now.

I asked the clerk at my LCS if I could reserve my copy of CAPTAIN AMERICA #600 in advance, expecting a mad-house and them to be sold out about an hour after opening, since Marvel has all but ensured this print of the issue will sell out without giving shops any time to increase orders. The conversation went like this:

"You're selling Captain America #600 on Monday, right?"
"Yeah."
"Can I reserve a copy now?"
"No, can't do that. Some newspaper thing is coming out on Monday and it is going to be a big thing."
"So, basically, anyone who wants a copy has to camp out in front of the store when you open, right?"
"Pretty much." Clerk smiles.

This, my friends, is why comics lose customers to the Internet every year.

As always, full spoilers ahead.
I don't have to worry about my shop doing that. Back in Captain America #25, my dealer not only held my copy for me knowing that I get the book regularly, but he also gave me the other cover as well when he got his hands on some more without me even asking :yay:
 
Pony tail guy with tatts? Then that'd be Brian. He's usually pretty cool, dunno why he'd skunk ya. Abdulla'd do ya right, though. Or even Robin if he didn't go off to run his own store.

Yeah, I'll try to get it somehow.

I was paying you a compliment. I was glad to see you cut it:yay:

Thanks.

I mean I gave KICK-ASS a chance, and it had it's moments, but it was the same vile/vulgar/bleak/pompous stuff from Millar that I've outgrown; I ate it up more when I was 19 or 20, but I'm not 19 anymore. The fact that it was practically a quarterly series helped me avoid it for a while, but when issue #6 came out, despite it looking like it was going somewhere on a flip, I just could no longer condone blowing $3 for something I didn't like without some light at the end of the tunnel. At least with FANTASTIC FOUR, I know there is the Hickman run coming, so it's just the last gasp. KICK-ASS, though, is asking for punishment. Haven't missed it. I could probably make a few bucks selling the first prints on eBay. :p

I don't have to worry about my shop doing that. Back in Captain America #25, my dealer not only held my copy for me knowing that I get the book regularly, but he also gave me the other cover as well when he got his hands on some more without me even asking :yay:

That's cool.
 

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