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Comments
Avenging Spider-Man #10: Action, science and shipping! And more Carol! What's not to like? Also, I only wound up hating one of the villains from last time, so bonus points there.
Daredevil #16: This is the sort of high-concept stuff that you just can't get anywhere except superhero comics, and it's very fun. The ending...I'm not going to talk about it except to say "holy crap." That plotline was not going where I thought it was going.
IJBM: That DC comics seem to come out several hours after Marvel comics.
On the plus side, I don't have to drive there or pay tax ^_^
So, I'm waddling through my pull list and I want to know what should I be following. So, basically I want recs. What I have is:
And Fatale, Mind the Gap and Saga by Image.
Not following anything from IDW and Dark Horse, though. You can recommend stuff by them, though.
Question: Is Swamp Thing #12 supposed to come out today, or did I get it early again?
Make up your mind, DC.
Animal Man #12: Mostly exposition to make sure everyone is on the same page, but the art is just so gorgeous that I don't mind.
Swamp Thing #12: ...wow. That...that happened a lot faster than I expected. Holy shit.
The New Teen Titans #9: I know I sound like a broken record whenever I mention this series, but I'm continually amazed how much comic is packed into each issue. This issue is probably the least interesting one so far, actually, but there's characterization and action and some ongoing plotlines get advanced, so it's no big deal.
Incidentally, I find it really interesting that Starfire would prefer to just kill supervillains but the rest of the team won't let her.
Animal Man and Swamp Thing's editors on the next story arc:
^ I can't wait to start reading those, they seem to be the most promising New 52 series.
Well they already are pretty damn good.
anyway must i summon alk and malk to get the recs?
Man, I really like the kid in the current Thor arc obsessed with heavy metal that has a shitty home life. CAN'T THINK WHY.
The Invincible Iron Man 522: I first want to say I absolutely love the cover. The characters as chess pieces imagery is a little on the nose, but it works great, especially in the context of what's going on in the issue with Tony working to get out of the Mandarin's power, as well as a revelation to what the Mandarin's plans are that actually significantly change the character without feeling like an asspull. The big downside is that it's a little talking-heady and the subplot with the mysterious new Iron Man feels like it's there to fill in an action quota.
The Defenders 9: This issue features the Defenders in an alternate universe where they team up with an alternate Nick Fury to fight Hydra members who have a Frankenstein Hitler. That should tell you all you need to know.
Daredevil 16: I've been loving this comic and after the great standoff in Latveria we have a bit of a break where DD recuperates with the help of magic and shrinking men and has to deal with his best friend thinking he's finally gone off the deep end. There's little to say other than IT'S STILL REALLY GOOD.
Best of the week:
Avenging Spider-man 10: There's a lot of fun action and a really goofy villain that serves the higher purpose of this book to get you to want to read Captain Marvel, at which it really succeeds. Captain Marvel is incredibly likable and her chemistry with Spider-man works so well it's impossible not to like. The art is fun. I like everything about the comic. I like the villain, I like the art, and I especially like Ms. Carol Danvers.
Swamp Thing 12/Animal Man 12: Lemire and Snyder come together for the inevitable crossover and boy is it fun. There are a couple of odd bits to the art in Swamp Thing but on the whole it's the epic you expected from two such great books.
Action Comics 12: Action Comics has been a frustrating book, especially since it's by my favorite comic writer Grant Morrison. It's not bad enough to drop, but with the exception of #9, the comic hasn't been particularly great. There's some cool Superman action and a good point of interaction with Batman, but I'm not super-excited about the re-introduction of Mytztlplyx, though it might be a realm Morrison does better with.
Angel & Faith 12: The comic is pretty predictable, but enjoyably so. It's impressive how annoying a character like Connor has become a great one, with which the meta-idea is played as he becomes a messianic figure in this comic. The interactions of Angel's failed-samurai attitude in his conjunction with his desire to be a good father to Connor comes to a head when Connor finally calls him out on it (after saying Holtz was a better father of all things) The biggest complaint is the hinting of Angel and Willow fighting their evil selves on the cover never happens nor is it hinted at happening.
Wolverine & The X-men 14: Nothing is really accomplished in this issue, but the character work between Colossus and Shadowcat is pretty great. Then again, Shadowcat makes me forgive a lot of flaws in a comic.
The Mighty Thor 17: The great thing about Fraction is his range and how well he gets these characters. He's gone from Iron Man's high-tech thriller to Thor's heavy metal thunder battles. It's a great comic with tons of action and even some heart. This issue even resolves my issue that Thor often feels too much like a reactor in comics rather than an agent who acts. This is resolved by Thor taking responsibility for a mess he made and having genuine reactions and guilt over it.
X-treme X-men 1: Clearly we've all been thinking there haven't been enough X-men books on the stands. That said, this one is actually worth picking up, even though it focuses on Dazzler of all people. While the bits with Dazzler are slow. The action bits (which feature Dazzler defeating monsters by rocking out) and the high concepts make this book worth getting.
Hawkeye 1: "What's this? Malk has bought a comic starring Hawkeye? Perhaps I shall look outside to be certain the sky has not started raining blood. A-haw-haw." Well, I trust Matt Fraction asshole so shut up. In any case I was worried this book would be along the same lines as Geoff Johns' Aquaman where the book was basically going 'Shut up! Aquaman's awesome!' Instead, Fraction's answer is 'Well yeah, Hawkeye does kind of suck' and builds a charm out of that, with Hawkeye being something of a working class schlub. It's a nice application of the street-level Marvel to a character that's never gotten it and applying low-class concerns gives the character a real appeal.
Not bad for a book made just to appeal to all the new readers Marvel thinks it has.
All-Star Western 11: Really, we all just read it for cowboy action and if you like comics and cowboys you should be reading it. The stuff with the crime bible is interesting. I want to see more of these villains. The action is also a lot of fun, though I dislike the awkward shoehorning in of the Court of Owls persisting.
Flash 11: Many people oppose the new Flash series on the principal of Barry Allen coming back and it's interesting how that spectre has loomed over this book. This particular issue plays with a bit of the nostalgia. The thing about the book is that while it's fun if you want soft-science superhero battles it delivers but I'm getting no real direction other than 'oh here's another old Flash villain' and the book really needs more of an indentity and direction, even if the direction is just 'one-shot adventures'. In fact, I think if that ended up being the direction instead of the half-hearted arc they've been doing it would have turned out better.
Justice League Dark 11: I hope Lemire stays on this book, because the dark fantasy Indiana Jones feeling is really great. I'm somewhat doubtful about the return of Tim Hunter, and their attempts to make him not look like Harry Potter are kind of laughable. That said, it's a solid mystical adventure book.
The Amazing Spider-man 690: The a-plot of Spider-man hunting down Morbius is pretty standard stuff with pretty standard character development.
The stuff with the Lizard in Curt Connors' body?
AMAZING.
I love the basic interactions he has with human stuff and honestly my biggest regret is it doesn't seem like we'll get more of that.
Future Foundation 20: Yanno, Hickman, as great as your filler is. I'd like you to write something else. Granted, after that ending it's hard but some one-shots won't kill you.
I'll just pretend you're saving your a-material for when you take over Avengers.
I quite liked X-Treme X-Men, I mean putting aside that it's ANOTHER X-Men book, it's looking to be mostly detached from the others, much like X-Factor, Deadpool, New Mutants and (to an extent) X-Force are and it was a really fun read.
New to this whole comic thing, but whatever, maybe that'll be okay.
Hawkeye 1: I'll admit I didn't think much of him from the film, but I heard great things about this comic. I was not disappointed. It's amazing how much story Fraction packed into just 20 or so pages. And it may just be because I'm a dog person, but that really got to me. I'm definitely going to read more, and buy the TPB when it comes out. Speaking of which,
Daredevil by Mark Waid, Vol 1: I've always had a soft spot for DD thanks to my dad, even liking the film for what it was. I picked this up because I heard Waid did an excellent job writing DD to be less grim-dark than his previous incarnation and more like the my dad's DD (he did). I like how Murdock can actually win sometimes and is a wisecracker (not Spider-Man levels, but few are). Rivera and Martin also deserve credit for portraying how Murdock actually "sees". This is another series I'll definitely be sticking with.
Demon Knights, Vol 1: It seems like most of the New 52 series I'll be reading (this, Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Action Comics, Batman) will be from "The Dark" (aka Vertigo 2: Electric Boogaloo), and I definitely understood that name from this TPB. It struck me as a very gritty ASOIAF-esque medieval fantasy starring a bloodthirsty demon (who hilariously enough I had only previously seen on Brave and the Bold, so this made for some good whiplash). I enjoy the "team" setup they've got so far, which features a nice range of characters (including strong female ones, surprise surprise). This isn't exactly what I'd usually expect from superhero comics, but I suppose Etrigan is an interesting Shazam-esque "hero". Will probably read more for some dark fantasy, as knights fighting dinosaurs is always good.
hahaha. awesome.
Elijah Wood as Hank Henshaw needs to be a thing
After New Ways to Die Spider-man is pretty inconsistent with the quality, because right then they were still working the 3 issues a month with rotating authors plan. Check out American Son and The Gauntlet and Grim Hunt arcs foremost. Granted The Gauntlet and Grim Hunt arcs benefit from having read Can Nothing Stop the Juggernaut and Kraven's Last Hunt, but those are Spider-man classics and always worth reading.
I'll try to remember that, but it'll likely be awhile before I get to those, since I'm focusing on catching up.
Amazing Spider-Man #648: My first impression was that the art seemed kinda off, but aside from that, it was quite good. There was a lot of status quo I'm not familiar with, but it was relatively easy to adjust. I liked the balance it struck between Spider-Man stuff and Peter stuff, while keeping the two related. Also, this is a really long issue, so definitely got my money's worth.
Amazing Spider-Man #649: Whoa. The Hobgoblin stuff certainly took an unexpected turn there. The stuff with Aunt May is really sweet, especially the silver age flashback. Also, Captain America trolling J. Jonah Jameson is hilarious.
Amazing Spider-Man #650: Best. Secret identity coverup. Ever. Anyway, I like how the new Hobgoblin is kinda the anti-Peter. The one downside to this issue is that it's where the Black Cat fanservice gets really gratutitous. Anyway, I like the new costume, with the caveat that it had better only be for the rest of the story arc.
Amazing Spider-Man #651: Action time! That was a pretty creative fight, mostly involving sciencey stuff. I liked the blank speech bubbles. The epilogue gives a nice payoff to the ongoing side-story, and makes me really want to go ahead and read the next story arc.
Amazing Spider-Man #652: Liking the premise for this arc. Spider-Man having to help JJJ always makes for a good story. And the setup for the next issue is pretty kickass. The backup is good too, and follows up nicely on Captain America's awesome trolling, which I assumed was a one-off joke. Also, Carol Danvers in the next issue preview? Hell yes.
Amazing Spider-Man #653: Okay, what's with all the silver age flashbacks? Is this just Marvel's way of bragging that they don't keep rebooting their timeline like DC does? Anyway, other than that, awesome action, awesome secret identity stuff, awesome Carol Danvers, and awesome followups to earlier stories. The backup, meanwhile...gets really silly, really fast, and not in a good way. At least it ends though.
And yeah the Tron knockoff stealth suit is gone until a bit later. But one thing I liked from Slott's run is that Peter has taken s page from Iron Man's handbook and started to build specialized suits for different situations. Just an extension of the web fluid and gadgetry hijinks he has always done really.
The one where he's getting the key to the city, then Power Man shows up. It started off pretty good, then turned into this weird National Treasure ripoff crossed with like two panels of H.P. Lovecraft out of nowhere.
Amazing Spider-Man #654: "The only logical conclusion: Spider-Man hires you to build his weaponry and tech!" was hilarious. Anyway, aside from that, holy crap, that was one hell of an ending...which was immediately cancelled out tone-wise by the backup. Don't get me wrong, the backup story was really cool, but following that ending, it just didn't work.
Amazing Spider-Man #654.1: I'm liking this Flash as Venom thing. That said, I'm not sure how good of a .1 issue this was; I thought the point of the .1 titles was to be jumping-on points for new readers, and I'm not sure this one does as well as the Daredevil one I read in that regard, since it isn't from Peter's perspective.
Amazing Spider-Man #655: ...Damn. That was really depressing.
Amazing Spider-Man #656: That was also really depressing, and then really awesome right at the end.
That's ten issues. 36 35 left to catch up (I've already read the one Daredevil crossover). I should probably stop reading now.
Yeah. The simplicity of the artwork helped a lot too. I wouldn't have expected a comic that colorful to also be that depressing.
I loved the hell out of No One Dies. It's a really good story and a great piece of character work
Yeah, it's probably one of the best stories I've read since I started reading comics. But...damn, it was really depressing up until the end.
You should brace yourself because it gets tougher in the next issue.
Speaking of, you should try and check Hickman's Fantastic Four. It's absolutely amazing.
I will...at some point. After I catch up on ASM and Ms. Marvel.