For a while now I have been meaning to do a weekly commentary on the comic books I read. It hasn't happened for a variety of reasons, the first being my extreme laziness and the second being that I haven't been reading my comic books in a timely fashion. All that is going to change now, so here it goes:
Wolverine #51: It is unbelievable how bad this crap is. No, wait. Bad isn't the right word. It's boring. Jeph Loeb has managed to craft the single most boring Wolverine story I have ever read, and considering the fact that Wolverine is in practically every book that Marvel publishes, that is saying something. I'd also like to point out that here Wolverine can remember a ton of details from an attack Sabertooth made on the X-Men that he wasn't even there for, but in the last issue he couldn't seem to recall that Sabertooth didn't actually rape and murder Silver Fox because it was an implanted memory. She turned up, alive and well, and with a big ol' chip on her shoulder (only to be killed again, naturally), a fact that took me less than five minutes to confirm. (Check it out.) This is actually worse than the stuff that had me originally stop reading this title. In retrospect, Wolverine's powers of total regeneration don't seem that bad. Simone Bianchi's art is awful pretty though. I will give this book that. It's just not pretty enough for me to want to pick up #52.
52 Week 43: Dude! Was that necessary? Really? It's not that this week wasn't good. It was very good. I had started reading 52 because The Question was going to be a major player in it, but Black Adam's story has really been one of the big reasons why I continued reading it. I had never even heard of Black Adam before Infinite Crisis, yet I have really invested in his character, and his new family, Isis and Osiris. Osiris' death has by far been the most impactful on me of all the many deaths there have been in this series, and that includes The Question, the only character I came into the series with and prior knowledge of or interest in. However, the fact that Osiris died is not what I have a problem with, nor do I have a problem with the manner of his death. The fact that he was betrayed by his best friend, coupled with the fact that he was such an honestly good person, was what made it so heartbreaking. And Sobek's reveal as Famine, the fourth Horseman of Apokalips, was, while extremely shocking, actually something that seems heavily foreshadowed in retrospect. though the writers cleverly masked that foreshadowing by making it seem like Sobek's perpetual hunger was merely part of his schtick as comic relief talking alligator. I have a problem with two pages of Sobek graphically chomping away at a cripple kid. Not cool guys. Not cool at all. Also, really, really gross.
Eternals #7: Storywise, this miniseries has been all over the place, but I thought Gaiman pulled it back together and made the whole thing worthwhile here at the end. I actually look forward to seeing some of these characters turn up in the future, especially Ikaris. It doesn't matter though. The real reason why this miniseries was worthwhile was John Romita Jr.'s art. Amazing stuff. Makkari speeding through the Deviants. Ikaris touching down for a landing. He captures movement so well. I'm not the type of person who normally gushes about art, because I know nothing about it, but it's hard not to notice when it's this good. My major complaint is that I could have done without the Tony Stark appearance. Must his smarmy ass show up everywhere?
Action Comics #846: That's a hell of a lot of Kryptonians. Anybody else getting the feeling that this is going to be awesome? I read this stuff, and I wonder why I never started reading Superman comics before. After all, I'm also reading Superman and Superman Confidential now and think they're pretty great too. Then I remember that I have picked up Superman comics at several points in the past and thought they were boring. Clearly what was lacking was Zod. I just hope Supes doesn't get out of the Phantom Zone by getting a cheesy looking crystal from a chick named Raya. (It's actually pretty interesting to me how closely a lot of these ideas are to the events of Smallville's season 5 finale and season 6 premiere, except with much better execution.) There's also some nice Lois, Clark and Christopher moments in there. I loved Lois telling Christopher that he couldn't meet Batman until he was 16 and Wonder Woman until he was 18. Considering she doesn't know the kid all that well yet, I think it best to hold off both meetings until he's 21. I'm still not hugely impressed with Adam Kubert's art on this series. It just doesn't seem like a good fit for Superman. Maybe if the Kuberts switched. Put Andy on Action and Adam on Batman. I don't know.
Doctor Strange the Oath #5: I had no idea Dr. Strange was this cool? Or did Brian K. Vaughn make him this cool? I mean, I always liked Dr. Strange, but he's completely awesome in this series. All the characters and the relationships between them were so fully realized. This series had everything I could want in a superhero comic book: fun, excitement, some really amazing visuals, friendship, romance, heroics, an interesting and well developed plot, nobody getting eaten or being a fascist or complete idiot, and best of all, no Iron Man. And again, I don't normally gush about art, but Marcos Martin is great. I will definitely be looking for titles with his name on them in the future. I read that BKV said at his NYCC panel that he was supposed to do another Dr. Strange mini, but it's not going to happen because Bendis is using the character now. (He's a member of the new New Avengers.) That sucks. Dr. Strange sits out Civil War only to join the underground resistance movement? Dumb. Dr. Strange hangs out with Night Nurse and Wong and is just an all around arrogant badass? Awesome. Which would you rather read?
Runaways #24: This series is not going to be the same without Vaughn and Alphona. Vaughn has a real gift for creating these characters' voices. As for Alphona, other artists have filled in for him, but it's never quite the same. They went out on a high note though. There were so many great moments, that it's hard to really single anything out, but Molly and Victor's version of the Fastball Special was certainly a highlight. I'm even going defend the appearance of Iron Man at the end, because as the current ultimate authority figure of the Marvel Universe, there's no one better to send our Runaways back on the run. I also appreciated what they did with Xavin in the last couple of issues. I was one of those readers who had a problem with the character and his relationship with Karolina, but what they have shown us in the last two issues is that Xavin's just another confused kid. I thought the panel of Xavin lying on the ground, long hair, skrull chin, Human Torch arm and Thing leg, with Molly, the voice of reader unease, finally giving him/her her acceptance was the perfect way to punctuate what they had to say about this character. And a gender confused superhero? That's progressive. Finally, I loved how the story was brought full circle with Nico threatening to rip one of the teammates heart's out if he ever betrayed them, the fight against the Gibborim, and, of course, Alex on the final page quoting Pat Benetar. Vaughn and Alphona are going to be missed, but at least Whedon is a worthy successor and the preview pages for #25 look awesome.
Civil War Frontline #11: If I ever buy a big event comic crossover again, I want someone to kick me in the head. Repeatedly. It will have the same effect and won't cost me as much money. I thought Civil War #7 was awful, with it's bad political analogies, mischaracterizations, and just generally terrible dialogue. (That letter from Reed to Sue may have been worse than the one from Sue to Reed. I'm pretty sure that, smartest man in the world or not, Reed is still a human and not a robot. And the exchange between Reed and Spidey? Reed: "Amazing!" Spidey: "Spectacular!" Me: Vomit!) This may have made it worse. Joe Quesada and Mark Millar both insist that Tony Stark was sincere in the last pages of that issue, to me, he came off as anything but. If sincerity was what Millar was going for, he did a piss poor job. At best he was smarmy and arrogant. At worst, he was a blatantly evil, misogynistic fascist. (And it totally seemed like he was trying to get in the grieving widow's pants.) I've read a couple of reviews for Frontline and a few of them held it up as an attempt to somewhat redeem Tony. I don't agree. While it certainly supported his sincerity, he's still the bad guy. After a ton of build up, we learn the not at all surprising truth that Tony Stark was the traitor. Apparently, Tony Stark manipulated events to start the Civil War, built a big ass prison for criminals in the Negative Zone, but used the non-registered heroes as his guinea pigs, and instigated a war with Atlantis in order to up the registration's ranks. That's in addition to sicking a bunch of psychopathic criminals on his friends and creating a cyborg clone of Thor who blew a freaking hole in Goliath. Then, Ben Urich and Sally Floyd applaud Tony for making the tough choices, isolating himself from his friends and allies through his unpopular actions, and just generally being a hero because he did it all for the greater good. Essentially, it's complete and utter bullshit. Circumventing democracy and using Machiavellian tactics, even if it is with the best of intentions, does not make him a hero. It makes him a dictator.
Wolverine #51: It is unbelievable how bad this crap is. No, wait. Bad isn't the right word. It's boring. Jeph Loeb has managed to craft the single most boring Wolverine story I have ever read, and considering the fact that Wolverine is in practically every book that Marvel publishes, that is saying something. I'd also like to point out that here Wolverine can remember a ton of details from an attack Sabertooth made on the X-Men that he wasn't even there for, but in the last issue he couldn't seem to recall that Sabertooth didn't actually rape and murder Silver Fox because it was an implanted memory. She turned up, alive and well, and with a big ol' chip on her shoulder (only to be killed again, naturally), a fact that took me less than five minutes to confirm. (Check it out.) This is actually worse than the stuff that had me originally stop reading this title. In retrospect, Wolverine's powers of total regeneration don't seem that bad. Simone Bianchi's art is awful pretty though. I will give this book that. It's just not pretty enough for me to want to pick up #52.
52 Week 43: Dude! Was that necessary? Really? It's not that this week wasn't good. It was very good. I had started reading 52 because The Question was going to be a major player in it, but Black Adam's story has really been one of the big reasons why I continued reading it. I had never even heard of Black Adam before Infinite Crisis, yet I have really invested in his character, and his new family, Isis and Osiris. Osiris' death has by far been the most impactful on me of all the many deaths there have been in this series, and that includes The Question, the only character I came into the series with and prior knowledge of or interest in. However, the fact that Osiris died is not what I have a problem with, nor do I have a problem with the manner of his death. The fact that he was betrayed by his best friend, coupled with the fact that he was such an honestly good person, was what made it so heartbreaking. And Sobek's reveal as Famine, the fourth Horseman of Apokalips, was, while extremely shocking, actually something that seems heavily foreshadowed in retrospect. though the writers cleverly masked that foreshadowing by making it seem like Sobek's perpetual hunger was merely part of his schtick as comic relief talking alligator. I have a problem with two pages of Sobek graphically chomping away at a cripple kid. Not cool guys. Not cool at all. Also, really, really gross.
Eternals #7: Storywise, this miniseries has been all over the place, but I thought Gaiman pulled it back together and made the whole thing worthwhile here at the end. I actually look forward to seeing some of these characters turn up in the future, especially Ikaris. It doesn't matter though. The real reason why this miniseries was worthwhile was John Romita Jr.'s art. Amazing stuff. Makkari speeding through the Deviants. Ikaris touching down for a landing. He captures movement so well. I'm not the type of person who normally gushes about art, because I know nothing about it, but it's hard not to notice when it's this good. My major complaint is that I could have done without the Tony Stark appearance. Must his smarmy ass show up everywhere?
Action Comics #846: That's a hell of a lot of Kryptonians. Anybody else getting the feeling that this is going to be awesome? I read this stuff, and I wonder why I never started reading Superman comics before. After all, I'm also reading Superman and Superman Confidential now and think they're pretty great too. Then I remember that I have picked up Superman comics at several points in the past and thought they were boring. Clearly what was lacking was Zod. I just hope Supes doesn't get out of the Phantom Zone by getting a cheesy looking crystal from a chick named Raya. (It's actually pretty interesting to me how closely a lot of these ideas are to the events of Smallville's season 5 finale and season 6 premiere, except with much better execution.) There's also some nice Lois, Clark and Christopher moments in there. I loved Lois telling Christopher that he couldn't meet Batman until he was 16 and Wonder Woman until he was 18. Considering she doesn't know the kid all that well yet, I think it best to hold off both meetings until he's 21. I'm still not hugely impressed with Adam Kubert's art on this series. It just doesn't seem like a good fit for Superman. Maybe if the Kuberts switched. Put Andy on Action and Adam on Batman. I don't know.
Doctor Strange the Oath #5: I had no idea Dr. Strange was this cool? Or did Brian K. Vaughn make him this cool? I mean, I always liked Dr. Strange, but he's completely awesome in this series. All the characters and the relationships between them were so fully realized. This series had everything I could want in a superhero comic book: fun, excitement, some really amazing visuals, friendship, romance, heroics, an interesting and well developed plot, nobody getting eaten or being a fascist or complete idiot, and best of all, no Iron Man. And again, I don't normally gush about art, but Marcos Martin is great. I will definitely be looking for titles with his name on them in the future. I read that BKV said at his NYCC panel that he was supposed to do another Dr. Strange mini, but it's not going to happen because Bendis is using the character now. (He's a member of the new New Avengers.) That sucks. Dr. Strange sits out Civil War only to join the underground resistance movement? Dumb. Dr. Strange hangs out with Night Nurse and Wong and is just an all around arrogant badass? Awesome. Which would you rather read?
Runaways #24: This series is not going to be the same without Vaughn and Alphona. Vaughn has a real gift for creating these characters' voices. As for Alphona, other artists have filled in for him, but it's never quite the same. They went out on a high note though. There were so many great moments, that it's hard to really single anything out, but Molly and Victor's version of the Fastball Special was certainly a highlight. I'm even going defend the appearance of Iron Man at the end, because as the current ultimate authority figure of the Marvel Universe, there's no one better to send our Runaways back on the run. I also appreciated what they did with Xavin in the last couple of issues. I was one of those readers who had a problem with the character and his relationship with Karolina, but what they have shown us in the last two issues is that Xavin's just another confused kid. I thought the panel of Xavin lying on the ground, long hair, skrull chin, Human Torch arm and Thing leg, with Molly, the voice of reader unease, finally giving him/her her acceptance was the perfect way to punctuate what they had to say about this character. And a gender confused superhero? That's progressive. Finally, I loved how the story was brought full circle with Nico threatening to rip one of the teammates heart's out if he ever betrayed them, the fight against the Gibborim, and, of course, Alex on the final page quoting Pat Benetar. Vaughn and Alphona are going to be missed, but at least Whedon is a worthy successor and the preview pages for #25 look awesome.
Civil War Frontline #11: If I ever buy a big event comic crossover again, I want someone to kick me in the head. Repeatedly. It will have the same effect and won't cost me as much money. I thought Civil War #7 was awful, with it's bad political analogies, mischaracterizations, and just generally terrible dialogue. (That letter from Reed to Sue may have been worse than the one from Sue to Reed. I'm pretty sure that, smartest man in the world or not, Reed is still a human and not a robot. And the exchange between Reed and Spidey? Reed: "Amazing!" Spidey: "Spectacular!" Me: Vomit!) This may have made it worse. Joe Quesada and Mark Millar both insist that Tony Stark was sincere in the last pages of that issue, to me, he came off as anything but. If sincerity was what Millar was going for, he did a piss poor job. At best he was smarmy and arrogant. At worst, he was a blatantly evil, misogynistic fascist. (And it totally seemed like he was trying to get in the grieving widow's pants.) I've read a couple of reviews for Frontline and a few of them held it up as an attempt to somewhat redeem Tony. I don't agree. While it certainly supported his sincerity, he's still the bad guy. After a ton of build up, we learn the not at all surprising truth that Tony Stark was the traitor. Apparently, Tony Stark manipulated events to start the Civil War, built a big ass prison for criminals in the Negative Zone, but used the non-registered heroes as his guinea pigs, and instigated a war with Atlantis in order to up the registration's ranks. That's in addition to sicking a bunch of psychopathic criminals on his friends and creating a cyborg clone of Thor who blew a freaking hole in Goliath. Then, Ben Urich and Sally Floyd applaud Tony for making the tough choices, isolating himself from his friends and allies through his unpopular actions, and just generally being a hero because he did it all for the greater good. Essentially, it's complete and utter bullshit. Circumventing democracy and using Machiavellian tactics, even if it is with the best of intentions, does not make him a hero. It makes him a dictator.
Don't even get me started on Sally Floyd and her tirade at Captain America that he's out of touch with the American people because he doesn't know what MySpace is or who won the last American Idol. Do even the most shallow and ill-informed people really think that NASCAR is relevant to society as a whole, and if they do, are those really the people we want to be conforming our entire society to? People who make arguments that people are ill-qualified to make a political, moral or societal judgments because they aren't up to date on the latest pop culture phenomena should be beaten with sticks. And that's coming from someone who maintains a blog dedicated to popular culture proudly entitled "These Things Matter." Ben Urich is no better. A character I used to like and respect, who is supposedly a legitimate journalist, is willing to just sweep all of this under the rug. The worst part of all of this is that the Registration Act isn't actually solving anything. Bad guys are still going to attack. Cities are still going to get destroyed in the ensuing battle. Nothing is actually going to change because if any of Tony Stark, Reed Richards and Hank Pym's 100 ideas actually prove effective, there won't be any more stories to tell. It's idiotic and contrived. This is the worst kind of story telling and Millar and Quesada, and the other yahoos at Marvel actually think they have put something into the world that makes a statement about our society, and there may be people out there who believe that, but i can't believe that any of those people actually have any real understanding at all about the post-9/11 political climate. (Honestly, reading all of this has had me mentally defending the Bush administration and the Patriot Act as not being as bad as the policies the Pro-Reg side is enacting. I really don't like having to do that.) All they have accomplished is turning several key superheroes into irredeemable fascists and made every single person who read this piece of crap a little poorer of mind and a lot poorer of wallet.
Between this and Spider-Man: Reign #3, I've actually been thinking about giving up Marvel comics. It's not that Civil War was deeply offensive (like Reign was). It was just really bad, and if this is what is setting up the new status quo for the MU, I don't really know that I want to stick around for that. It's like all the changes they're making to Spidey. Everything's going to be so interconnected now too, that it's going to make it harder to be sellective in my reading. I'm already dropping my last X-Men title as soon as Astonishing ends. I haven't decided yet about New Avengers, but that will largely depend on whether I'm going to continue to read any Spider-Man books after "One Day More." It's hard to imagine me ever giving up Amazing Spider-Man, but right now it's looking likely that that will happen. I'm with Runaways for the long haul, even beyond Whedon's issues if they get a good writer and artist on it; I'll definitely read Young Avengers if that ever comes back; unless they kill off Steve Rodgers, I'll probably stick with Captain America as long as Brubacker does (though it seems like all this Civil War stuff is going to derail the really interesting stuff he was developing prior to all this); but they are going to have to tell some seriously good stories to keep me interested. This just isn't why I read superhero comics. I'll tell you one thing for sure though. I'm not looking forward to the Iron Man movie at all anymore. I'm totally sick of that guy.
Well, my rant is over. How about something more cheerful. I am seriously psyched about the announcement that there is going to be a new Spider-Man cartoon. I'm just bummed that I have to wait until 2008. Also, I hope it doesn't look like the Fantastic Four cartoon that's on the Cartoon Network.or that Iron Man animated movie. Hand drawn animation please.
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