Scout Attacks! week 16: Skrull Edition

Before I begin, I just want to announce that Skrulls are going to be my new thing. I'm going to blame everything on Skrulls from now on, or at least until I get tired of it. If it's anything like Superboy Prime's time punch, that could take a while.

Fables #60: James Jean's cover is gorgeous. His covers are always gorgeous, but this cover is particularly so. I wasn't as impressed with the rest of the issue. It was typically good. An average issue of Fables is still better than most other comics. It just felt a like filler. I realize that certain things, like Flycatcher's transformation, the exposition about Lancelot, and everything with Hansel were important to moving the story forward, but they all seemed like relatively minor developments to build and entire issue around. I'm assuming that this was a matter of pacing though. I expect awesomeness in the next issue.

Green Arrow #75: I don't even know what to say about this issue. It wasn't good. There were several groan-worthy moments. I cannot even fathom why Batman would have developed something that could not only dissolve a wall into a water-like substance, but happens to smell like milk and honey. It is quite possibly one of the dumbest things I have read in a comic book in quite some time, which, given the state of Marvel right now, is saying something. Then there's the fact that the whole thing is basically just a missive on how wonderful Oliver Queen is. My least favorite part of the issue though is when Slade is about to kill Dinah and Ollie pleads with him to kill him instead. This is dumb in so many ways. The first being that Slade obviously intends to kill both of them and Ollie is an idiot for thinking that Slade would just kill him and leave Dinah alone. The second is that the whole scene is obviously meant to show how much he loves Dinah and can't live without her, but the point is completely blown by the fact that he's a superhero, one with no powers I might add, and lays his life down for other people all the time. I am knew to these characters, but it seems to me that the best way to show Ollie's devotion to Dinah would be to show him being a decent guy over a period of time. Grand life and death gestures just don't cut it for people who deal in life and death all the time. It's emotionally hollow. I'm not inherently against the pairing since I'm not all that familiar with the characters, but these issues have done nothing to sell me on it either. There are a lot of things that can be dictated by editorial mandate and rushed into being story-wise. Good romance is not one of those things. Also, as someone who is primarily interested in Black Canary, I am concerned about the upcoming joint Black Canary/Green Arrow series being scripted by Winick. Has the entire series been all wonder and praise to the glory of Oliver Queen while he's been writing it, or has it just been part of the rushed romance and showing that he's changed and is worthy of Dinah? If it's the former, I have no interest in reading a series where Dinah is going to spend all her time gushing about how awesome Ollie is. Anyway, at the end of the issue, Ollie proposes, even though they have only been back together for approximately 2 nanoseconds, and we are left on a cliffhanger for her answer. Given the DC solicits for September, it's the opposite of what I would advise. I'm still totally going to buy all the special wedding issues though. This one especially looks super cute:

Supernatural Origins #2: Things start to get exciting, dark and really morally questionable in this issue. It's clear that this series will be about showing how John Winchester went from normal, loving and good husband and father to the man we saw on the television show. Some mysterious new characters are introduced also, and I am interested to see if they are what they claim to be. One in particular has the potential to be a mentor figure who teaches John how to hunt, but something about him doesn't seem quite right. This is getting pretty good. I also really like the art. It's more along the lines of a B.P.R.D. as opposed to the average licensed property and it really adds to the tone, as well as making it feel more like it was meant to be comic book rather than just something based on a television show.

Avengers Classic #1: Not being up on my Avengers history, I'm really happy about getting to start from the beginning, and I always love reprints of 60s stuff. Lee and Kirby were...well, they were Lee and Kirby. 'Nuff said. But I really like the new stuff too. First of all, the Art Adams cover is gorgeous. Then there's Dwayne McDuffie's story which is seriously fun. I love how the Wasp plays on the team's sexism to get to become the first Avengers (secret) chairman. It fits so well with the way the female characters were written back then, while subtly subverting it. The whole story is very funny. Finally, there's "The real Origin of the Avengers!" by Stan Lee, which follows the "Stan as ultimate huckster" thing that we have seen in a lot of his stories where he meets his characters. It's still amusing. "I'll finally be able to buy a saddle!" is definitely the line of the week.

New Avengers #31: It's pretty pointless to discuss anything but the big reveal at the end, like the fact that the art in this issue is just weird and the story doesn't really flow well from panel to panel in certain places, so I'm just going to get to it. First of all, if the writer has to go around to every major comics website explaining what the huge reveal in the comic means, the reveal doesn't work. Simple as that. I'm not sure why the reveal didn't work. I think part of it was that it was Elektra, as opposed to someone more major or in a position of power in Shield or something. Elektra being a Skrull just doesn't seem to be all that important to the greater Marvel Universe. Also, when New Avengers began, the conspiracy plot was really at the forefront and was by far the most interesting thing about the book, but it got dropped in order to deal with Civil War, thereby causing it to lose its momentum. And then there's the question of why Wolverine couldn't smell the difference in Elektra, but I assume that's an issue that will be dealt with at some point. (I strongly suspect that they are going to reveal that Elektra has been a Skrull since her first death anyway.) That said, I think the concept is pretty cool. While there is absolutely a chance for Marvel to take this way too far and reboot everything, making everything that's happened in the last few years pointless, the stories that can grow out of it in the future have a great deal of potential. Unlike Civil War, which was socially relevant in a heavy handed and insulting way, the idea that anyone can be a Skrull is pretty creepy and socially relevant like really great science fiction or horror. It's like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. OK, so it's not terribly original, but to my knowledge it has never been done in superhero comics. I'm really looking forward to seeing where they go with this, but I'm preparing myself for disappointment. Other than that, this issue wasn't very good. Really, this arc was only interesting during the flashbacks in the earlier issues. I liked the banter between Spider-Man and Ronin/Hawkeye, but I'm still pissed off that Spidey's characterization is completely different in every book. Also, if either Jessica Jones or Luke Cage are Skrulls, which is very possible with that creepy baby moment, I will personally storm Marvel's offices. I love them, and just...no. They can't be Skrulls. That is final.

I'm starting to think I made a mistake in not picking up World War Hulk #1. I don't really have any interest in the Hulk, but I love John Romita Jr. and I have a strong desire to see Iron Man get his ass kicked.