This week's comic book post is 100% free of that guy who you know I don't like but whose name I won't mention because then this post wouldn't be 100% free of him.
52 Week 46: Mad scientists are fun, and whoever came up with the excellent idea of putting them all on an island should be given a raise or something. I have to assume that the writers are going somewhere with Veronica at this point, since Black Adam completely over looked her and she just wandered off. Considering the population of the island, the DCU could probably use a cool, femal mad scientist. It was also pretty sweet the way Morrow spent the whole issue bidding on-line and then took out Black Adam by himself, with a remote control. I feel bad for Black Adam though. I'm still rooting for him to kill 'em all. Also, Lex obviously just established reasonable doubt right before his arrest, which I think explains how he was found not guilty at the beginning of the "Up, Up and Away" Superman arc.
Birds of Prey #104: This was seriously fun. I think I'm going to have to get the Villains United and Secret Six trades. I'm really loving Barda too. The Huntress and Catman interaction was great too. I'm looking forward to more of that. When the first issue in an arc includes licking and meatball throwing, you just know things are going to be wild. The last page was apparently pretty major, but since I am new to the DCU, I have no clue about any of that. Someone's not dead any more, which is nice for her fans, and bad for people who hate it when comics bring people back to life. I just like good stories and characters. I wish I knew who the guy on the motorcycle was too. As much as I love this title, somethimes I get confused because I don't know the characters, but things tend to clear up pretty quickly, so I'm not bothered by it.
Detective Comics #830: I had completely forgotten that this was going to be the continuation of the story in #829 and not a Dini story. That probably says something right there. It was entertaining enough, but I would really like it if writers, and not just comic book writers but all writers, would just stop wrapping up their lame politically topical stories with trite lessons on how we should all just get along. Anyway, Batman saves the day, the Mad Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight falls to his death and cliched lessons that were taught better by Sesame Street ensue. Cool cover though. Next issue, we get Dini back, and he's bringing Harley Quinn with him. I knew he wouldn't have been able to do the entire run without her.
X-Men First Class #7: Man I love this book. Even this issue, which was probably my least favorite of them all, just put a huge smile on my face. I think this may have been the first issue that directly references events from the early comics, which is cool. Another nice touch was how every time anyone mentioned The Brotherhood of Mutants, Bobby would interject "Evil" at just the right point. As for the plot, it centers around Angel and Scarlet Witch and their ill fated romance, or rather ill conceived, since they are very obviously wrong for eachother. Anyone could tell you that a rich boy, like Warren, and an orphaned gypsy with a domineering brother, like Wanda, just aren't going to work out long term. Their both really pretty though, so their pairing makes perfect sense in that teenage sort of way. It's cute, but of course Pietro does not approve and a certain amount of chaos ensues and a playground gets destroyed. It's all OK in the end though, because Bobby saves the day by with snow and ice slides for everyone to play with. More comics should end like that.
Amazing Spider-Man #539: This is the book I've been waiting a long time for, as there's been so much hype for the return of the black costume being more than just a gimmick even though he's been wearing the black costume in all his other titles and nothing has changed in how Spider-Man is being written. Let me just say from the start that it is just a gimmick, and there are a few key points that make that so completely clear. There's just no way I can buy Peter simply hiding his black costume at the top of a building, and even if I could, I certainly cannot buy it being held there by his webbing for so long. That stuff only lasts for a couple of hours before it dissolves. Did Peter make special long-lasting web fluid just to stick the costume up there? It's just too huge a contrivance. As contrivances go though, it's pretty damn effective. I may not be able to buy the set up that allowed for Peter to put the black costume back on, but I certainly believe the motivation for it. That's the important thing though, and it's what is going to make this storyline work. Reading this issue, I was reminded of why I do really like Straczynski writing Spider-Man. While some of his stories have been downright terrible, and many are just forgettable, he just really gets this character. I think the only time I had a huge problem with his characterization was during the whole debate over whether to unmask or not, and that was mostly just because Gwen Stacy did not come up once. This is much more of the Peter I was expecting to see after Aunt May got shot. (Now we just have to get all the other writers to stop writing him as if nothing has happened.) I think Garney's art was especially good in this issue too. I love the cover, and I'm not even really a big fan of the black costume. (I'm a traditionalist.) The one thing I don't get is how they could name this whole event after an AC/DC song. Is that really a good way to get taken seriously? I wouldn't think so, but I figured I'd give it a try too.
That's all for this week. I don't have any happy news to finish up with this week, but I bought Justice League Unlimited season 2 and Batman Beyond season 3 on DVD today and finally got to see 300 today, so I'm pretty happy.
2 comments:
I agree 100% on the Spider-man thing. I thought the same thing about the webbing not lasting when I read it. I was a little disappointed that they would take such an easy route in an otherwise well done story, but I was able to get over it because the rest was believable.
I haven't read the other spidy books for the exact reason you mention. The character as not changed. I picked up the first issue that came out with him in his black costume and didn't even finish reading it. I don't understand why Joe Q can't just come out and say they wanted him in the black costume to coincide with the movie and came up with a story to do so, instead of saying it's the natural progression of the character.
Yeah, I would have a lot more respect for Joe Quesada if he would just come out and admit that it's a movie tie-in, but that they are trying to deal with it in the most believable way possible. But this is the same guy that said the Iron Spidey costume wasn't a gimmick. (He also seems to think that Peter Parker being a fugitive now is no different than Spider-Man being a fugitive back in the 60s. The man clearly can't see the forest for the trees.) Personally, I am not a fan of Quesada's brand of hucksterism, as it seems that more often than not it's just lies and excuses. He's certainly no Stan Lee.
The simplest way to solve the Spider-Man characterization problem would have just been to tell Peter David, Bendis, and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa to write him according to what JMS was doing. And it sucks, because I want to read the other Spidey books. Peter David is using Betty Brant and Flash Thompson, which makes me so happy because Spidey's supporting cast is amazing and should be used. Sensational Spider-Man has has some really good stuff with MJ, and that always makes me happy. But if the way they are writing Spidey is just going to confuse and irritate me, I don't see the point in wasting my money.
Post a Comment