Comics IV

[red snow]

I read Amazing Spider-man 698 to see what all the fuss was about and it's a surprisingly good introductory issue for a series that ends in another 2 issues. I haven't read Soldier-man since the One More Day fiasco. In true Marvel style, it looks like everything is back to normal again - except for the big twist. I actually wish I hadn't known what it was as it would have definitely warranted an second read through but it's still fun reading into the subtext first time round too. I really hope this is the status quo for the new "superior Spider-man" and that this isn't reset for the finale. It could provide a solid year's worth of story if handled well (which with Marvel's shipping shcedule should be around 40 issues). The art was pretty good with expressions, etc, although the picture of Mary Jane on the titles page is seriously fucked up. One eye is a quarter of her face higher than the other one and smaller. It could be that the artist cant do winks (as Parker has a similar stroke impression later on) but it's a massive error for a character that is supposed to be a model. Has no-one told the artist that symmetry is a key factor in "beauty"?

I also picked up Indestructible Hulk 1. I'm not sure why (probably good will generated by the avengers movie) and because I'm always being beaten over the head by how great EVERYTHING by Waid is. Give the guy some credit though, he actually manages to cleary explain what the set-up for his comic is going to be and gives an actual little story to go with it. this would have easily been a 6 issue story if Bendis was in charge (with far more text/radio chat between Coulson and Hill). I find Banner's arrogance a bit different from usual but at least he's not all emo (I still can't see why they don't just carbon copy Movie Banner's attitude - I'd happily read a Hulk comic where Banner enjoys being the Hulk) and if he can really do all the shit he claims in issue then it seems fairly odd that he can't solve his Hulk problem. Maybe I'm just suffering from science envy but I scrape by doing cell biology for a living - I don't have the time or capability to come up with alternative energy supplies or FTL drives. It's always dangerous when Marvel or DC point out how clever their superheroes are and I am left thinking about all the good that Reed Richards, Stark and Banner alone could do if they weren't so busy dressing up and punching people. It reminds me of how much I miss wildcats 3.0.

I considered buying Captain america 1 but then I remembered I don't like him and he's in most marvel comics anyway -case in point he was in Spider-man. I sometimes think Marvel is doing a DC pandora/where's wally stunt and the game is to spot Captain america in every issue of every comic they produce. I've yet to spot him in Hulk 1 , which is probably a collector's item as I couldn't find Wolverine or Deadpool either. Maybe if I used that stupid AR app I'd see them?

The worst thing about my comics trip was that it cost me £5.60 for TWO comics. I don't know what that is in your local earth dollars but that's a pint of beer and some snacks or half a cinema ticket or a quarter of a video game or for an extra £1.70 I could get a trade of the new Walking Dead. Basically, the comics aren't worth that much and given the rest of my comics are probably costing this much, I'm afraid Hulk will be a trade only thing and spider-man will be a maybe. I'm also going to have to seriously cut back on my reading list. Damn comics inflation and lack of salary increase.

[Nephrite]

Red Hood and the Outlaws #14 - This one has it all. In the shit department.

The first half of the issue is spent on a moronic fight against Superman who just wants to talk but everybody seems to have taken a big swig of retard-juice. Jason and his angry friends are so irritatingly confrontational that I was hoping that Superman is going to break their arms and possibly shove that bow up Arsenal's butt.

And then chuck them all into the sun.

The second half involves the Joker and his attack on Jason. And it's just dumb.

Basically since the Joker knows that Jason is Red Hood... cause apparently Joker killed Jason's mom so that Batman can adopt him and make him a Robin so that Joker can kill him. Yeah, chew on that for a while.

What else does Joker know as if he has access to Lobdell's scripts? In a previous issue it turns out that the Joker in his infinite knowledge found Starfire's spaceship that's hidden on a small island god knows where and then he just looked at Jason's helmet.

And, in one of the early issues in a flight to Hong Kong Jason met a air stewardess and got her phone number. Then when he took her out on a date he was dragged into outer space on an adventure. And now when they got back, Joker somehow knew all of this cause he had the time and means to kill this girl he couldn't possibly know about while bragging about it on a TV channel where he is wearing the face of a weather forecaster over his own also peeled off face. Also he managed to get the SWAT team to storm into Jason's apartment cause in Gotham SWAT teams respond to ODs.

He is basically omnipotent at this point.

[red snow]

sounds like not everything by Lobdell is craptastic. Maybe he just wants us to side with Superman now that he's writing him?

The Joker thing seems particularly far fetched. Did the issue have a nice sturdy cover though - that's what matters most.

[Sci-2]

Uncanny X-Force....this really petered out.

[red snow]

Uncanny X-Force....this really petered out.

yet to read the post "dark angel" arcs but I guess Remender became more interested in uncanny avengers. He's even admitted to continuing the apocalypse story over there.

[Kalbear]

I did like the first part of the last arc. But then it took too long and then ended too badly. I did like Logan's reaction for dakens death and imagining his family. But it was still so slow and so convoluted. No big surprises or wins. Shame.

[Ouroboros]

I must be the only guy that didn't enjoy Indestructible Hulk. But then I've never been too interested in the character and was just giving NOW and Waid a chance to win me over.

[Nephrite]

Uncanny X-Force....this really petered out.

So there was a nice way of saying that.

[red snow]

I must be the only guy that didn't enjoy Indestructible Hulk. But then I've never been too interested in the character and was just giving NOW and Waid a chance to win me over.

It happens. There're a few characters i find it really hard to like, regardless of who's trying to make me like them.

Have they said what the little flying robot and Hulk armour are for yet? I'm thinking the robot is going to record Hulk's behaviour so that Banner can study himself better. It may even be one of his inventions (as he's probably a robotics expert too now) where he can place his artificial intelligence in it. The armour may actually give virtual Banner some control over the Hulk. I have no idea how intelligent the current Hulk is but maybe they can yap away at each other?

I'm sounding mighty curious for someone who is now waiting for the trade to save cash.

[Nephrite]

It happens. There're a few characters i find it really hard to like, regardless of who's trying to make me like them.

Have they said what the little flying robot and Hulk armour are for yet? I'm thinking the robot is going to record Hulk's behaviour so that Banner can study himself better. It may even be one of his inventions (as he's probably a robotics expert too now) where he can place his artificial intelligence in it. The armour may actually give virtual Banner some control over the Hulk. I have no idea how intelligent the current Hulk is but maybe they can yap away at each other?

The armor is for Banner. Maybe so he doesn't walk around naked after he hulks out.

Waid said something that Hulk's intelligence may vary.

[red snow]

The armor is for Banner. Maybe so he doesn't walk around naked after he hulks out.

Waid said something that Hulk's intelligence may vary.

I guess if the Hulk were to suddenly start turning into Banner during a battle, the armour would be useful. His trusty purple pants have worked for decades though.

[GallowKnight]

The second half involves the Joker and his attack on Jason. And it's just dumb.

Basically since the Joker knows that Jason is Red Hood... cause apparently Joker killed Jason's mom so that Batman can adopt him and make him a Robin so that Joker can kill him. Yeah, chew on that for a while.

What else does Joker know as if he has access to Lobdell's scripts? In a previous issue it turns out that the Joker in his infinite knowledge found Starfire's spaceship that's hidden on a small island god knows where and then he just looked at Jason's helmet.

And, in one of the early issues in a flight to Hong Kong Jason met a air stewardess and got her phone number. Then when he took her out on a date he was dragged into outer space on an adventure. And now when they got back, Joker somehow knew all of this cause he had the time and means to kill this girl he couldn't possibly know about while bragging about it on a TV channel where he is wearing the face of a weather forecaster over his own also peeled off face. Also he managed to get the SWAT team to storm into Jason's apartment cause in Gotham SWAT teams respond to ODs.

He is basically omnipotent at this point.

Criminal chaos god Joker is starting to get really silly at this point. An the stewardess getting shoved into the refrigerator was too obvious.

[Papirolle]

So, I just finished The Boys.

Disappointing really. Not the last issue per se, because that only continued in the same way as what went before. The first half of the series was fun, even though it suffered from being immature. The later half of the series was where it just petered out (to borrow an expression from upthread) into the anticlimax that was the ending. I didn't care what happened to the characters in the end and was just exhausted from having to read Ennis' dialogue.

Didn't Ennis use to write good dialogue, or am I remembering incorrectly? This just went on and on for much too long, and the plot and character motivations (Butcher's especially) were so convoluted by the end that I could barely keep up (or even care).

To think Ennis used to be my favorite comic book writer. I'm afraid to re-read Preacher now, in case I realize that he wasn't better than this even back then.

[Sci-2]

So there was a nice way of saying that.

Heh, you actually covered just about everything wrong with the book so there wasn't much for me to say. As Kal said, this started off as one of the possibly best arcs in a IMO stellar run by Remender. But after a certain point too much was happening.

Sabretooth running away like a mischievous pixie was shit icing on crap cake.

Oh, I liked Indestructible Hulk by the way. Nothing too exciting yet, but I liked this direction they took Banner in.

By the way, did anyone stick around for the end of Irredeemable? I think I'll just read the wikipedia entry.

[Nephrite]

By the way, did anyone stick around for the end of Irredeemable? I think I'll just read the wikipedia entry.

I did. It was pretty good. The origin was pretty bloody dark. And the last few pages were sweet.

Incorruptible, I also liked, even if Waid forgot to explain one plot point.

[Fiddler's Green]

So, I just finished The Boys.

Disappointing really. Not the last issue per se, because that only continued in the same way as what went before. The first half of the series was fun, even though it suffered from being immature. The later half of the series was where it just petered out (to borrow an expression from upthread) into the anticlimax that was the ending. I didn't care what happened to the characters in the end and was just exhausted from having to read Ennis' dialogue.

Didn't Ennis use to write good dialogue, or am I remembering incorrectly? This just went on and on for much too long, and the plot and character motivations (Butcher's especially) were so convoluted by the end that I could barely keep up (or even care).

To think Ennis used to be my favorite comic book writer. I'm afraid to re-read Preacher now, in case I realize that he wasn't better than this even back then.

The end of Preacher (the last 3rd or so, after the Salvation arc) suffered from similar issues, IMO, but it never got nearly as convoluted or unreadable as the Boys became. Unfortunate, because the first 3-4 arcs were fantastic.

[Nephrite]

Criminal chaos god Joker is starting to get really silly at this point. An the stewardess getting shoved into the refrigerator was too obvious.

I forgot to mention that the thing that pissed me off the most was the whole you're/your mistake.

DC editors are just idiots.

[Sci-2]

Don't think anyone posted this yet:

Marvel Next Big Thing: Bendis Reveals AGE OF ULTRON – Live!

On the line: Writer Brian Michael Bendis and executive editor Tom Brevoort. Age of Ultron is a 10-issue limited series, shipping between March and June. Bryan Hitch will be drawing the first five issues, and the second five will be drawn by Brandon Peterson and Carlos Pacheco. “There will be a very cool reason for the artistic shift,” Marvel marketing’s Arune Singh says.

“Age of Ultron is about Ultron finally fulfilling his destiny, accelerating his intelligence and taking the Earth,” Bendis says. “The Marvel Universe has been taken by Ultron. There has been a shocking amount of devastation and casualty.”

Bendis clarifies that though the story started in Avengers, the story involved the entire Marvel Universe. “It stars the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Moon Knight, Black Widow, it goes all over the place,” the writer says.

Bendis continues, saying they wanted to give readers a “unique” Bryan Hitch experience by waiting to solicit the book until his section was done, thus allowing the issues to ship rapidly. “We came up with a schedule that allows us to tell the whole story in a smaller batch at a time, and get to the stuff at the end, which is really kind of shocking and big for us and the Marvel Universe.” Bendis says there are only six people who know the ending, and he’s not even telling some of his closest friends. “That’s how big of a secret it is.”

“There’s a break in this story that’s pretty seismic,” Bendis says, leading to the artist change. “Overall, a unique event experience,” Bendis continues, saying the story is about what happens when one of the biggest villains in the Marvel Universe succeeds in doing what he always wanted to do.

Brevoort adds that they have about 150 pages of “beautiful, top-of-his-game Bryan Hitch artwork” turned in. “We have a substantial amount of this series in the can already,” Brevoort says.

[red snow]

This should be an alternate cover for Uncanny X-men issue 1

[Sci-2]

I suspect a ton of mutants are going to die in AoU anyway, so whatever Hope + Scarlett Witch did isn't going to matter that much.

I'm also curious what happens with Legion and Franklin Richards.

So, I just finished The Boys.

After the reveal in the White House, I just stopped caring. Actually, I was already trying hard to care during the whole WWII back story, which was just Ennis pointing out again how superheroes aren't real heroes like soldiers in WWII are...which should be obvious b/c superheroes don't exist.

Really, the deconstruction of the superhero has reached such a level of absolutely inane stupidity I don't even know...Though Ellis had the dumber version, with that guy pretending the spine he rips out of some other dude is his new penis...