Comic Books

[delete this account pls]

Because, despite your assertations, it's sucked far too long. Despite the House of M, and an attempt to clean the Mutant World up, the editorial department at Marvel still doesn't seem to have a clue...too many books, too many stories, no overall cohesive plan...

Heh, I saw someone made the point - "No More Mutants" yet it seems there are more muytant books than ever. That being said, haven't been collecting any X-Men stuff since Morrison's run, except for Astonishing, but I'm thinking about adding Uncanny to my pull list because Brubaker is a great writer. Sleeper, Catwoman, and Cap all really kicked ass under his pen, and his first issue of Daredevil was excellent.

[Jaxom 1974]

But that's just it. It isn't the writing. It isn't the art. The problem is the editorial focus and it's only going to get worse this summer with the whole "Civil War" crossover...

[Nephrite]

But that's just it. It isn't the writing. It isn't the art. The problem is the editorial focus and it's only going to get worse this summer with the whole "Civil War" crossover...

But, Brubaker's X-Men are going to be in space dealing with the Shi'Ar, so Civil War can't affect them.

[Jaxom 1974]

But, Brubaker's X-Men are going to be in space dealing with the Shi'Ar, so Civil War can't affect them.

They'll be in it somehow...they always are...and take them out of the mainstream earth story for a while? Well, that means they'' be twice as screwed up when they get back and "everything is different!"

Just cynical about it.

[Xanrn]

Anyway onto the big topic.

Jason Todd... Having read Batman 650 and Batman Annual 25..

I feel Jason has the right to be pissed that the Joker is still among the living, but on a less homicidal note. He has the right to be really pissed that the Joker was not bought to Justice, that a few handful of years after he was killed, the Joker is STILL running around.

I mean come on, if you were murdered, bought back to life a few years later and find your killer hasn't been bought to Justice, would you not be royal pissed.

Also some of the blame for the sheer insane blood bath he has peformed, falls at the feet of Talia Al-Gul, who manipulate the hell out of him.

Also getting thrown in a Lazarus pit who has someone else in it at the time, probably not to good for your mental health...

[Fiddler's Green]

I did it.

I finally did it.

I made, what I hope will be, a full time, clean break from Uncanny X-Men...

Good for you. I tried to make my first break after the whole Onslaught fiasco, stayed away for about three years, picked it up again for about 12-15 issues and quit due to disgust and lack of funding. With the exception of checking out Morriison's New X-Men trades from the library, I haven't read a Marvel mutant title since and am not missing it at all. The entire line has, imo, become a huge joke. When I get a craving for X-Men, I pull out my trades and reprints of Dark Phoenix-era or even depowered Storm-era Claremont. I least there were only 6-8 X-Men to worry about at one time.

[Galactus]

USM 91: Funny issue. Seems like they are actually making the Kitty/Peter thing a "Reverse Black Cat" from the original.... Kitty wants to date *Peter* and not just Spider-Man.

Also; Deadpool, The Ringer, discussions of lame Spidey villains and robot-planes!

New X-men #24: Mostly funeral.... And Stryker appears to be preparing to cross another mutant of his list....

[haLobEnder]

New X-men #24: Mostly funeral.... And Stryker appears to be preparing to cross another mutant of his list....

Oh really? Whose? (As you can tell I haven't been following the title)

Speaking of deaths, what the hell is going on with FF? There are supposed to be two deaths, one of whom is Invisible Girl/Lady/whatever yet we also know she appears in Civil War? Does this make more sense to someone who actually gives two winks about the FF?

[Galactus]

Oh really? Whose? (As you can tell I haven't been following the title)

Let's say it's someone with Omega-level powers...

[Xanrn]

Nothing much happenin in FF that points towards anyones death, that Arc hasn't happened yet.

I can't wait for FF 536 though, THOR...

New X-men 24, more or less all the depowered Students got blown to fuck, when Stryker's Gang RPGed the buss taking them away from Xaviers...

Even Cyclops wants to kill whoever did it (they don't know its Stryker yet)...

Ultimate Spider-man 91, well far to light on the Deadpool Humour, but lucky Cable and Deadpool 26 was out this week aswell. Although the end shot is pure DP...

[Galactus]

I loved that conversation:

Cyke: "Look at the world we've given these kids.... How are they supposed to deal with this?"

Wolvie: "They'll learn or they'll die, simple as that."

Cyke: "And whoever's responsible for this?"

Wolvie: "They'll just die."

Cyke: "Fine by me."

[Nephrite]

Frankenstein #3 - This has the coolest Bride of Frankenestein ever. Plus, we get introduced to S.H.A.D.E. Which is like SHIELD, minus the budget.

Basically, Frank continues his quest by killing a lot of bunnies and farm animals.

Mahnke just rocks. Nobody draws zombie-squirels like him.

Mister Miracle #4 - Wow, this was trippy. The connection to the overall Sheeda storyline is minimal, but the story more then makes up for it. Shilo goes through hundreds of lives in a metter of 7 days, including dying in that Crisis thing DC is publishing during what has to be the scariest portrayal of Anti-Life/Omega ever.

[Nephrite]

Birds Of Prey #92 - Basically the main change for OYL is that Lady Shiva is a good girl now, and Black Canary decided that what she really needs in life is getting beat up by a bunch of Asians with clubs. How much more martial arts training does she need?

Infinite Crisis Secret Files 2006 - So Alex Luthor's motivation for causing all the trouble is boredom?

Sure dude, being a hero and sacrificing your, well not life, but personal entertainment level just doesn't cut it.

Also, since when can Darkseid see thru Alex's eyes. Is that from the Original Crisis or did Wolfman just pull that from his ass for this special?

On the other hand, I can't help feeling sorry for Superboy-Prime. He really did lose everything and then seeing Earth-1 guys just messing things up would pis me off too.

Funny thing is, it seems that Superboy's punches sort of caused Lois' getting weaker

All in all, Wolfman did a pretty good job. Normally these old-school newer projects come of bizzare and out-dated. Maybe it's the use of thought ballons. Steve Englehart's Dark Detective suffered from that.

Wolfman on the other manages to pul of a great job.

The art was good, but I was disapointed that Dan Jurgens did only the layouts, while 3 or 4 other artists did the finishes.

Nightwing #118 - Dick is back to being a man-whore.

Whatever happened to engagement to Babs? I guess picking up sexy fashion models is better.

And Jesus, Jason stop stealing other people's secret ID's. Come up with your own shit, dude.

Seven Soldiers Bulleteer #4 - We get the origin of Sally Sonic, and a bit of resolve to the whole 7S plotline.

Bulleteer's story makes full circle with her dumping her super-hero persona for a normal life...

... After she beats the crap out of Sally with a car engine.

I'm kind of worried for the 7 soldiers now, that once again there's only six of them.

Maybe I, Spyder comes back from the Dark Side.

Superman #650 - Metropolis went thru a year without Superman. But apparently, other people took care of the city.

Some guy named Supernova, and Supergirl.

Also, one Daily Planet frontpage says: "WHO'S BATWOMAN?"

Oh yeah, Clark is powerless. Which is esspecially bad when Lex Luthor beats the crap out of him.

I can't say I would be happy with Luthor being the businessman again.

It's just dull. It messes with the power fantasy element of Superman, when the hero can't catch and send to prison Gordon freakin' Gecko.

But, all sings point to Luthor losing everything but his hatered for Supes.

That and a bit of Donneresqe KRypton technology that I bet ties into the movie.

The art is truly beautiful.

Teen Titans Annual #1 - The whole issue happens during IC 4.

The major thing that happens?

Connor and Cassie do it.

[Nephrite]

Batman #651 - Part 2 of Face the Face. Batman & Robin handle the Poison Ivy situation, who apparently thinks she killed Batman a year ago.

Oh, and a John Byrne character gets killed.

What I really like about the issue is how people react to Batman's return. There's none of that stupid urban legend nonsense. None of that "fights a war he cannot win" gloom. There's actual sense of hope in it, and Robinson like he always did joggles the multiple POV great.

And the way Batman handles the Ivy situation is just great. Taking a year of really helped this guy.

Nice art by Don Kramer.

Robin #148 - Robin becomes the prime suspect in the Batgirl murder case.

And some 52 hints: apparently Bruce, Dick, and Tim went globetrotting for a year, till Tim left them while they were in Budapest.

Karl Kerschel's art is great, and I'm sad to see him leave the title after only one issue.

Supreme Power - Hyperion #5 - Hyperion returns to our Earth, and rejoins the government. Status quo restored. Pretty disappointing considering how edgy this Supreme Power stuff is supposed to be.

Why not see how the world would change with a rogue Superman on the loose. Instead a vague Hyperion is back, and everybody just forgets about the last year.

Squadron Supreme #1 - Like I said: status quo.

It's bad enough this title is no longer under MAX imprint which means no more swearing, and more importantly Zarda's boobs, but it seems like the title is gonna be more straight superheroy action with a Supreme Power version of JLA. Isn't this what this title was supposed to avoid? Gary Frank, the penciler talked how he doesn't want the character's wear those stupid spandex costumes, yet look at them now.

They all wear it. Sure, there's a greater deal of detail in the art, but the same thing can be said for a great deal of comic books these days.

But, you know not all of them wear spandex. Zarda decided that a cocktail dress is the appropriate uniform for military operations.

Supergirl & the Legion of Super-Heroes #16 - It's 1001 years later. As far as changes go, Legion went thru most of theirs in the previous issues. They're now a government sponsored group. They're also rebuilding their HQ, and dealing with ordinary people's response to their new status.

And there's Supergirl, right? For one thing, she's not annoying like in her usual appearances. That would mean, she hasn't started a fight with the Legion. SO, it just makes Waid even cooler, IMO, when he can write that annoying brat and make her sympathetic.

But Supergirl does make a big "WTF?" statement at the end of the issue.

Nextwave #3 - Not as funny as the previous issues. The Dirk Anger page was great, but Elsa Bloodstone is getting old. Fast.

At this point, I guess Warren Ellis can write this kind of angry british characters and that kind of short-hand dialogue in his sleep.

"Move. Colonial scum. Kick your nuts. Beer. Now. Cigarette. Explodo."

Ultimate Fantastic Four #28 - Second part of President Thor.

The whole planet is filled with super-heroes except Ben Grimm thanks to the Skrulls. That's about it, till the final few pages where we get the twist.

Land's artwork is starting to get on my nerves.

[Ser Paladin]

Well, it's not fair to make Nephrite do all the heavy lifting around here.

I read the two Squadron Supreme books, and disagree with Nephrite's negative review. A rogue Superman would have been interesting. But a good Superman leading a team of borderline bad guys is much more interesting. Blur is the only genuinely good guy in the Supremiverse, and there is a very good chance that he ends up locked in a prison cell for a couple years. And Emil, the Lex Luthor double, being on the team (in the Batman roster spot, no less) and having 2 years to plan for Hyperion's downfall, should be a good plot point.

The original plan for Thunderbolts (and we may have discussed this on this board at one point) was for it to have taken place in the Avengers. Captain America waas going to have to rebuild the team after everyone quits. After a year of recruiting, he looks across the table and realizes that he just made the Masters of Evil into his Avengers team. Having Hyperion in a similar situation, surrounded by potentially bad guys, is genius, IMO.

On to other books.

New Avengers was a good installment. My only minor girpe is that Bendis is his own biggest fan, spotlighting Luke Cage and calling in a Secret War character to help out. But seeing Cap yell at Sentry to get his manic depressive self out of bed and into his super suit was a great scene. And being someone who owns the Korvac Saga issues from back in the day, even I was surprised that he was (or seems to be) the bad guy. Even halfway through the issue I was looking at him going "Is that Firelord?"

She Hulk was fair, but an interesting take on a Super Hero whose power is to make people fall in love. Eros/ Starfox is on trial for date rape, as one of his conquests is a married mother of three. Good Stuff and a decent setup for next issue. Instead of the Dr. Psycho, Scarecrow, and Psycho Pirates of the DC universe who use negative emotions, here is a "hero" who is just as guilty of manipulating people's emotions for his own gain. Just because he uses love instead of fear or despair doesn't make it any more right. Right?

JSA Classified seems a bit formulaic, but it's the first issue of the arc, so maybe it gets better.

[Jaxom 1974]

New Avengers was a good installment. My only minor girpe is that Bendis is his own biggest fan, spotlighting Luke Cage and calling in a Secret War character to help out. But seeing Cap yell at Sentry to get his manic depressive self out of bed and into his super suit was a great scene. And being someone who owns the Korvac Saga issues from back in the day, even I was surprised that he was (or seems to be) the bad guy. Even halfway through the issue I was looking at him going "Is that Firelord?"

This might be a minor gripe for you, but at the moment, I think that there is more out there that view it as a major gripe. In a couple years I forsee a new writer coming in and treating Luke Cage's Avenger's tenure with the same joking contempt that Bendis uses in his Demolition Man jokes...

[Ser Paladin]

In a couple years I forsee a new writer coming in and treating Luke Cage's Avenger's tenure with the same joking contempt that Bendis uses in his Demolition Man jokes...

I don't want to come off the wrong way here, because I continue to think that the female Captain Marvel and the Black Panther were great Avengers. The Captain Marvel, Black Knight, Dr Druid era of Avengers is one of my favorites. But Rage and Triathlon were two of the biggest Avenger jokes I've ever read, and Luke Cage is on his way to that status. D-Man was only avenger for a week anyway, but Rage and Luke Cage might as well be the same character.

Having Iron Man and Cap standing back saying "He's so good and he doesn't even realize it" is borderline absurd. And haivng him overcome the Purple Man in issue two, when not even Cap or Reed Richards could in a Doc Doom graphic novel from the early 80s. Also absurd. Luke Cage has the strongest will on earth? No way.

[Jaxom 1974]

Don't get me started on the Purple Man...if ever a character was meant to stay dead and not return (with no obvious reason on how he did it to my knowledge) it's the Purple Man...see what Alpha Flight hath wrought? Damn you John Byrne!

[Lann the Clever]

Batman - Year 100 #1 - This was pretty good. The story deals with a Batman in the year 2039, living in a bleak orvellian America.

It's not exactly clear how does this Bat-Man presents danger for the goverment, but they don't like him.

The whole issue is basically a set-up showed thru a chase sequence between the feds and Bat-Man.

Pope art is great.

I just wanted to add my two cents about this series, as well as talk about #2.

Story

Pope starts things in media res with GBatman running from the feds after the murder of a member of the Federal Police Corps (FPC). At the same time James Gordon, the grandson of the original, is attempting to work on the murder while being thwarted by the feds. Batman is injured and calls in help from a variety of sources: a police medical examiner to help stich him up; her daughter, whose knowledge with computers calls to mind Oracle; and a new, nameless, Robin who acts more like Alfred, repairing Batman's vehicles and running errands for him.

We have no idea who this Bat-Man is, and keep in mind this is very much the Bat-Man and not Batman. Batman exists only as an urban legend even in 2039. There are a few brief clips dating from 1939 (the Detective Comics cover), one from 1968 (I think a reference to the Adam West Batman), 1986 (clearly drawing on DKR), and one from 2016. Batman plays up his mythic status by remaining unseen and unheard and in the few times he is visible he plays up the theatrics. He uses dramatic exits and fake teeth to terrifying effect.

The mystery over the death of the FPC member and who all these characters are drive this story forward and leave you wanting more.

Art

Pope has a very unique style. His Gotham is as dirty and rundown as any, but it seems to have more character to it. His overall style recalls the art of Aeon Flux, but not as off-putting.

The costume is clearly based on the original, with the mask and ears low and broad, short gloves, and simple chest symbol. It is a great way of paying respect to the original, which few ever do, while making it completely updated for a modern tale.

What is really unique is Pope's Batman. Gone are the tropes of the superhero costume. Instead of clinging to the body and showcasing all the muscle, this costume is baggy and loose, hanging as real fabric might. Batman's boots now have laces all up the front and his belt looks like a real belt, with items occupying the amount of space they really would. We also see all the cables and hooks that allow Batman to disappear and swing around the city.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever enjoyed Batman.

[Xanrn]

Purple Man's powers didn't work, because he still had the drugs in his system.

I wish the fuckin artists would draw Robin like he was the 16/17 years he is.

Fuck sake he is different sizes in Detective Comics, Batman and Robin... He looks about 13 in Robin, barely comes up to Batmans chest, yet in Batman he comes up Batmans shoulder if not more.

Teen Titan's Annual was pretty cool, especially Connor's barn space, hmm where have I seen that before... Alot of people seem to think Connor is DOOMED, to die in IC6/7. The "I love you." and then "Always"