I Am So Proud of My Italian Heritage

Scientist suggests super-sticky Spidey suit

Also, I so want one of these things. Next, these Italians need to apply their magnificent brains to creating some web shooters. Or would I have to come up with that myself, y'know, like Spidey did?

JLA Movie

There are a ton of rumors going around about the upcoming JLA movie that appears to be getting the fast track at Warner Brothers. Blog@Newsarama has a pretty good rundown of all the news, complete with links to relevant articles.

Frankly, I have a pretty strong suspicion that the movie will suck. I got pretty discouraged when I read the words "OMAC" and "Maxwell Lord." I want Solomon Grundy, damn it! Or the Legion of Doom. Who doesn't want to see that awesome, swamp-dwelling Darth Vader head in live action? No one, that's who. And I'm sure we can all agree that movies would be far more fun if they had more talkig Gorillas. Gorilla Grodd needs to make the jump to the big screen. Basically, I want the JLA movie to be fun.

Then there's the casting news that is sure to make my obsessive compulsive, continuity loving head ache. Neither Christian Bale nor Brandon Routh are going to be in the movie. That makes me sad. I am, however, kind of excited by the idea that Tom Welling might be playing Superman in the movie. Smallville sucks, and they haven't done right by the character of Clark Kent in years, but I still think he was perfect casting for the role. Unfortunately, Millar & Gough are being bitchy about it. They own Welling's soul or something.

Then there's the unfortunate rumor going around about Katie Holmes as Wonder Woman? After not wanting her back for The Dark Knight, would Warner Brothers want to give her such a high profile role? God, I hope not.

Ryan Reynolds seems to still be the go to guy for Flash, which, no complaints here.

The best casting rumor so far though is Laurence Fishbourne as Martian Manunter (via CBR). That would be friggin' cool. He's awesome.

I can't even begin to imagine who should play everyone else. Christian Bale is so unbelievably perfect as Batman that I have a hard time even consdering anyone else. I'm still in favor of Joss Whedon's choice for Wonder Woman, Cobey Smulders. Oh, and I don't know if Green Arrow is going to be in the movie, but if they go to the Smallville well for that too, and cast Justin Hartley, I will be pissed. He can play Aquaman though. I thought he was really good in that pilot.

Hells Yeah!

John Romita, Jr. Returns to "Amazing Spider-Man" in 2008!

Finally something to be happy about.

In Praise of Red Sonja's Belly

There was a comment to on my Spider-Man/Red Sonja #1 review asking who the artist was, and I thought I should just do a quick post on it, because I really should have mentioned it in the first place. Pencils were done by Mel Rubi, with color by Brian Buccellato. It was written by Michael Avon Oeming.

This was a big oversight on my part because 1)it's always important to give credit to the creative team, and 2) the art is very good. If I am going to take the time to call out Michael Turner on his general Michael Turner-ness, I should take the time to mention that Rubi did a great job on the interior art. My only defence is that I was distracted by all the awesome.

As my anonymous commenter pointed out, and I quote, "MJ's got belly! She's not stick-thin or inhumanly tuned, she's actually curvy and fleshy and realistic!" I believe that Rubi is the regular artist on Red Sonja, so I would assume that he always makes Red Sonja look like this. It's good to know that she's being drawn to like like someone who could, conceivably, carry a sword.

Anyway, Spider-Man/Red Sonja is not a book you should judge by it's cover. Rubi draws a pretty cool looking Spider-Man too.



Issue #2 isn't coming out until September 19th, and I'm already impatient for it.

And to anyone who came over here from When Fangirls Attack, thanks for reading. It's made me all self conscious though. I am suitably embarrassed of all my typos. Not embarrassed enough to go back and fix them, but embarrassed all the same.

Faith is Batman!

Oh, like you didn't think the same thing. Anway, here's the rest of the preview.

This Movie Is Going To Be So Friggin' Cool

A quote From Entertainment Weekly's preview of Shoot 'Em Up:

''There's a gunfight while everybody's free falling out of an airplane,'' says Davis. ''You can say, That's a little bit too much, Michael. Well, yeah, but do I want to see
a gunfight in midair? Yes!''

I think that pretty much says it all.

I Must Have These

McFarlane Toys is coming out with How the Grinch Stole Christmas figures.

I am a complete sucker for Grinch-related merchandise. I buy the multiple Grinch ornaments that Hallmark releases every year. I even have Grinch and Max stuffed animals. Basically, what I'm saying here is that these figures are the coolest things ever and I need them now, especially this one of the Grinch and Max. Max might be the only thing I love more than the Grinch. He's so adorable.

Seriously?

I found this Livejournal entry via When Fangirls Attack. In it Kate Willaert gives more specifics about the Spider-marriage related discussions that went on at the various Marvel panels (including the X-Men panel - apparently X-fans support MJ too) at Wizard World Chicago, which was only hinted at in the Newsarama and CBR reports. The whole thing is interesting, but this is the meat of it:

I didn't hear any "boo"ing from the crowd at the Mondo Marvel panel, but the MJ marriage once again dominated the Q&A portion of the panel, though you wouldn't guess from the three-sentence summary it gets in Newsarama's report. The CBR report actually mentions a few of the specific questions/answers addressed, but misses what I thought was the money-quote of the hour, which at least Newsarama paraphrases in their aforementioned three-sentence summary. When asked why we need Spidey unmarried in the regular books, when you can read new young-unmarried-Spidey stories in Ultimate Spider-Man, Joe responded that there are all sorts of things you can do with regular Spidey that you can't do with younger, Ultimate Spidey, because younger Spidey can't do things like "have sex, or download porn."

Yes, have sex, and download porn. That is an exact quote...I am not making that up. My roomie crazy_elf_girl turns to me in disbelief and whispers "those are the stories he wants to tell...??"

After he's finished answering the next question (a non-MJ one), I decide to raise my hand, hoping to get him to elaborate on the sex/porn thing. Joe points right at me, but there were two guys in front of me and slightly to the sides, and one of them launches into his question, thinking Joe was point at him...oh well. After that question has finished up, I raise my hand, and Joe calls on me again. My question goes like this:

"One of the things I really like about the way the Spider-man books is set up, is that with Ultimate Spider-man you can read about younger, single Spider-man, and in Amazing Spider-man you can read about the older, mature, married Spider-man, which allows you to be able to tell a greater variety of different stories. So I'm confused, are there really stories you want to do with an older unmarried Spidey, that couldn't be done with Ultimate Spidey-- [Joe tries to start his answer, but I briefly cut him off to finish the rest of my question] --because I don't think "having sex" and "downloading porn" make for real interesting..."

And then I trail off to let Joe start his answer. Which is basically once again asserting that, yes, there are all sorts of stories you can only tell with an older unmarried Spidey, but without being able to cite any more convincing examples.

Y'know, I remember being a young girl, reading reprints from the Lee/Ditko and Lee/Romita eras. More than stuff like Spider-Man's first battle with Doctor Octopus, or anything like that, what I really responded to was when Peter would sneak those porn mags or screw Betty Brant in the Daily Bugle's supply closet. Yeah, those were the good old days.

Kidding aside though, isn't that precisely the kind of question they should be prepared to answer for the fans in all seriousness? Don't they owe the fans that? And I don't mean fans that are upset at how MJ is treated as a character by this editorial regime, or fans that are just opposed to anything that messes with the status quo, though I probably fall into both categories. I mean the fans as potential consumers. Shouldn't they get some assurance that they will be getting a unique product and that it will be worthwhile to buy both comics in the future?

Quesada and company is supposed to be trying to sell us on a concept so that we will want to read their comics, and they are doing a piss poor job of it. Right now, people are so pissed that I'm not sure they will buy whatever Marvel has planned for Spider-Man even if it's the best thing ever, unless, of course, that this is all just an elaborate misdirection. I really don't think that's the case though, and if it is, that's lame. The only thing worse than manufactured controversy for the sake of sales, is false manufactured controversy for the sake of sales.

Anyway, wasn't the whole point of making Spider-Man single again to make him more relateable to nine-year-olds, or some such nonsense? It would be so much easier to be more reasonable about proposed changes to the status quo if the powers that be could actually get there heads out of their asses and provide actual logical and consistent reasoning for wanting the changes to be made. Quesada seems to be getting upset that fans are getting so upset over this issue, but he created the issue in the first place, and if he hasn't been able to speak about it in any rational manner, I don't see why he should expect it from the fans. I feel the same way about when he complains about the personal attacks towards himself and other creators. I personally think that's wrong. It's something I try to avoid, though I am sure I fail on occasion, but I also think that you reap what you sew. When you intentionally bait the fans ire, you are not going to get pleasantries, or even respect, in return. That's just how it goes.

To try to spin this in a positive direction for a second, as a long time fan of Mary Jane, it's gratifying to see so many people vocally supporting the character and the pairing. It's a bit odd, but she may be the most high profile female character in the Marvel Universe right now. It's sad that so much of that attention has come out of negative things, like the statue, all this Spider-marriage controversy, etc., and I'm not really happy that she's probably best known as the character Kristen Dunst portrays in the movies (a character that is so totally not the Mary Jane I know and love), but hey, at least now the word is out there that a lot of people think Mary Jane Watson is awesome.

Whatever happens in "One More Day" and "Brand New Day," at least we have the good times. Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane will still be there, albeit without Sean McKeever, and they can't take away our copies of Spider-Man Fairy Tales #1:

or the Sensational Spider-Man Annual:

And while the marriage might be over, there's always the hope that the new comics will feature significantly more dancing!

Scout Attacks! Spider-Man/Red Sonja #1

So, I wanted to to a post tonight, and it was seriously running the risk of being another whiny "But the Spider-marriage is so wonderful" post. I didn't want to do that. It's coming, I'm sure, because it's all consuming lately. I think I might have to change the name of this blog to Peter & Mary Jane Matter. (I'm just giving Quesada what he wants and I hate myself for it.) I wanted to do something more positive, though. I have an X-Men post that I want to do too, but that's going to require more energy than I generally have, and when I do have that much energy, I have more important things I have to do. Anyway, this is still a Spidey & (sorta) MJ post, but it is one that's made of awesome. This is about the super fun Spider-Man/Red Sonja #1.

Let's start with the cover:

Ah, Michael Turner, your awfulness never fails to entertain. I just want to point out the, uh, pointy-ness of Red Sonja's ears. I almost think that I'm being too hard on his inability to render a realistic human figure when it is so clear that he isn't even trying to draw a human. And in the spirit of being kinder to Michael Turner, why won't somebody write the epic lesbian elf porn that he was so clear born to illustrate? This is actually one of his better covers though, possibly because Sonja's feet are obscured. In the variant cover she is literally standing on the tip of her toes, as if she were a Barbie doll whose feet are permanently molded to high heels. That's a pretty decent Spider-Man he's got going on there though.

The interior's a lot better. First, there's an amusing phone conversation between Spidey and MJ:

First, the nitpicker in me needs to point out that she would never say she is doing MacBeth. She's an actress, and she is in a theater. It's "The Scottish Play." Calling it by it's name is a bigger no-no than wishing someone good luck. Clearly, whatever happens in "One More Day," Mary Jane has brought it on herself by tempting fate like that. But it's Peter's behavior that is more troubling. He likes it when she dresses up like a cat? I'm sure MJ is the fun, adventurous type, but a girls got to draw the line somewhere. If she's dressing up like a cat for him now, next he'll be having her don a blond wig and a miniskirt and directing her to play dead.

Enough about Parker's kinks. Let's get to the wacky, but first, one of the cool things about this issue is that it has more Robbie than possibly JMS's entire run on Amazing Spider-Man. Look:



Two whole panels! And hey, do you think Venom's going to show up at some point?

I've read some complaints this issue was all set up, but I didn't mind, not when that alone is fun to read. If you don't already know, this story is a follow-up to the awesomely cracktastic Marvel Team-Up #79, where a museum exhibit causes a bunch of wacky creatures to pop up in New York and people to get possessed. Naturally, Mary Jane gets possessed by Red Sonja, while some random guard gets possessed by Kulan Gath, the bad guy. Well, all that happens again, except this time the whole city gets transformed, even Spideys cell phone:

Frankly, I think Parker made out pretty good here. Even a small sack of gold has got to be worth more than any cell phone he could afford. Where does Spidey carry his cell phone anyway?

Another cool thing about this issue has got to be the continuity with the earlier story. Kulan Gath is determined not to let Spider-Man and Red Sonja team up and spoil his plans again.

Turning Mary Jane into Red Sonja and pitting her against Spider-Man makes so much more sense than just keeping her away from the sword and thereby leaving Red Sonja out of the equation altogether. Kulan Gath is a genius! You can't argue villain logic though, especially when the final outcome is as awesome as this:

MJ's not even really possessed. She's just pissed. I'm not getting the impression that Peter told her that she's turned into Red Sonja before. Oh, and let's not forget the cat costume thing. As a matter of fact, I think it would be awesome if this was the real lead up to "One More Day." Not that MJ's pissed at Peter about it, but that after turning back into herself, MJ decides that she rather likes carrying around a sword. Imagine how much cooler your average Mary Jane plot point would be with a sword. Sure it was awesome when she beat the crap out of the Chameleon with a baseball bat, but it would have been awesomer if she had chopped off some limbs. And the next time she has a stalker, she could just impale him. Unfortunately, Spider-Man just can't be married to someone who goes around chopping off people's limbs. Mary Jane has to choose, Peter or the sword. Mary Jane chooses the sword, and all Joe Quesada's problems are solved.

Anyway, the series can only get wackier from here. I can't wait.

Did She Just Say Heart of Steel? Because That Would Explain Alot.

I think I'm kind of partial to the mullet though.

Scout Attacks! Random Comments About Various Comics

So I lied. I am going to do little reviews. Well, not really. These are just things that occurred to me while reading. I would hardly call them reviews.

The Amazing Spider-Man #542: Well, that was ridiculously out of character, and there's still another issue left in this arc. I am so bored. More and more I am getting the idea that Spider-Man has been intentionally written into the ground since issue #500 (that hand in the newly released cover is so Future Spidey) in order to justify whatever stunt they are going to pull at the end of "One More Day."

Batman #666: I actually really liked this issue. It raised a lot of questions that I think are going to be important for the rest of Morrison's run. I've been loving this evil Batman storyline though, even though I don't understand it. It's just a shame Barbara will have such an unfortunate haircut in the future.

Batman #667: And Then There Were None recast with The International Club of Heroes. I've always though that Agatha Christie needed more people in silly costumes. Extra points for the abundance of ethnic stereotypes.

Black Canary #3: This story still might not actually be about Black Canary, but damn if no one kicks more ass than her. That was some hurt she put on Ollie.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #5 "The Chain": Wow. Just wow. This might have been the strongest issue yet.

The New Avengers Illuminati #4: I love Namor. Has he always been this cool? Also, Tony Stark is totally a Skrull. Either that or he is now so arrogant that he doesn't even consider himself a member of the human race anymore. Wait. That's actually believable too.

The New Avengers #33: I'd just like to point out that Madame Mask is on the cover of two New Avengers covers (this and Illuminati) in a single month. I think that's funny. Also, Spidey shouldn't be on this team anymore, and Hawkeye appears not to be a Skrull. My threat to personally storm Marvel offices and beat the crap out of anyone there if Luke Cage of Jessica Jones is a Skrull still stands.

Sensational Spider-Man #39: Woah! It's Anna Watson. Man, did she pick a bad time to visit from Florida. Also, Peter, Aunt May is older than Yoda. If she wants to go, just let her go.

Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four #4: I love you Jeff Parker. I love that Spidey gets a monument erected in his honor, even if he doesn't know about it. and how perfect is it that the book ends on Peter telling a bad joke and the Impossible Man being coughed up by a cat, like a hairball.

Wonder Woman #11: So they bring in Jodi Piccoult, publicize the hell out of her run, then stick her with a stupid crossover which was obviously at odds with the direction she wanted to take the character in and she doesn't even finish the story arc? That makes no sense. Worse than that, the start of this issue reads like the new writer just randomly decided to do a complete 180 on the events of the last issue. DC has so fucked this title up. But hey, at least we get some nostalgia by having Diana straddle a big rocket. That's something, I guess. It would be nice to see Wonder Woman actually win at something though, just for a change.

Scout Attacks! Supergirl #20

So, I've decided to change the way I do things and just review a couple of comics that I really have something to say about. I've just gotten so far behind and have realized that I have no real desire to catch up. I'm going to start this new era of Scout Attacks! with Supergirl #20.

I have never had much interest in Supergirl, so it's a surprise even to me that I picked this up, let a lone was actually excited about its release. Admittedly, that excitement was pretty much based entirely based on my love for Renato Guedes' art and the pact that the character sketches that had been released a while back looked absolutely gorgeous. However, after reading numerous interviews with writer Tony Bedard, I became really interested in reading his take on the character. It's not secret that Kara's been getting a lot of bad press, and frankly, everything I had seen or heard about the title was a really big turn off. Between Bedard and Guedes, I was getting the idea that Supergirl might be on the road to becoming the kind of superheroine I would like to read about. Then Amazons Attack #4 came out and I got really pessimistic again.

This issue directly ties in to the events of Amazons Attack #4, and that's really a huge drawback. It's not a good event. Furthermore, Supergirl's actions in that issue - she and Wonder Girl hijacked Air Force One and tried to forceably take the President to meet with Hippolyta to end the war - seemed irredeemably and criminally stupid. I really did not believe that any writer would be able to pull the character out of that in any believable way. The fact that Bedard not only manages to do that, but is able to present the story in such a way that it is not completely necessary to have read Amazons Attack #4, is a huge credit to him as a writer. Also, he manages to do it while having Kara fight a huge freaking cyclops. That's just cool.

As much as I enjoyed Bedard's take on the character, what really made this issue worthwhile was Renato Guedes' art. I know I've mentioned my dislike for photorealism before, but he uses it to beautiful effect, without ever being distracting. (I don't look at his work and think of it as some famous actor playing the character. His characters look like themselves first and foremost.) Also, unlike the previous versions of Supergirl that I have seen, this version looks powerful and real. She's still beautiful and a little sexy, but there's a bit of awkwardness too. It's her strength that stands out - strength of character as well as physical strength - like in this image:

It would have been nice if the issue had a Guedes cover too, but that cover is a fairly good representation of the content. Kara screwed up and has to make it better. It's really a bit of a redemption story. This isn't a perfect issue, but it's a good superhero story with both action and character development. It's really a shame that this creative team is only doing three issues, and that they had to be event tie-ins (especially considering how uninteresting the events are), but if Kara continues to be a strong and heroic yet vulnerable character, who is a bit confused but is trying to do the right thing, even if it turns out all wrong, I might continue reading even without Guedes' art.

Scout Attacks!: Still Catching Up Part 3

I dropped the week number. It's meaning less at this point. I'm not even sure when these comics came out.

All Flash: This was little more that a super powered revenge story, which was a little off putting. It's not that it wasn't justified, it just was weird. Anyway, I picked this up because I thought it would give me an indication of whether I want to read the new (or return to old, or whatever) series. It didn't really give me an indication of what to expect, except that something weird is going to happen with Batman's costume and Wally's going to have his super powered kids trailing along. I don't really like kids. Some of the art in this issue was really good. Some of it wasn't at all.

Amazons Attack #4: There's so much wrong with this whole event. I don't even know how to review it. It's like a train wreck. Major events of this issue are Supergirl and Wonder Girl doing the stupidest thing ever and Batman and Superman being patronizing and awful. Seriously. When Superman was making his little speech to the Amazons towards the end, even though he was right, all I could think was that they should just beat the crap out of him. What an asshole. I'm beginning to think all these people are skrulls.

Birds of Prey #108: Gail Simone's last issue. Fortunately, it's a good one. It was so awesome seeing Babs, in her Batgirl shirt, beat up Spy Smasher. And then to have Spy Smasher confronted by all the superheroes who came out in support of Babs, rounded up by Black Canary, of course. This was just a total "Fuck Yeah!" issue. We also got Misfit's origin at the end, which was very touching. I love that kid.

Black Canary #2: We get another fun flashback at the start of this issue, this time from Green Arrow's perspective. Also in this issue, Sin starts at the special school for dangerous kids that Dinah's ex found, and Ollie gets a bit needy and insecure about the fact that Dinah's ex has shown up and she still hasn't accepted his proposal. Of course, the school thing is just a set-up so that the League of Assassins can kidnap Sin. I must say that Sin actually is kind of adorable, mostly when she is kicking people in the face, which she does to all the assassins and two cops. Unfortunately, Merlyn shows up disguised as Ollie, who Sin trusts, and she goes with him. That's why, when I was a little girl being hunted by the League of Assassins, I had a code word. I wasn't supposed to go with anyone who didn't know it. Dinah really needs to work on her parenting skills. Anyway, this was another solidly entertaining issue. The only problem is that it's not really about Black Canary.

The Brave and the Bold #5: I read somewhere that Mark Waid has suggested that the reason this book isn't selling as well as it should is because people keep describing it as "fun," and that has come to translate to inconsequential. That's certainly believable, though I don't really understand why people don't want to have fun. "Fun" is why I initially decided to pick this title up. Just in case though, I'm not going to call this book "fun" anymore. This book isn't fun, it's awesome. You will not in any other book see Batman engage in a mid-air fight with Karate Kid. It's way better than that other Batman and Karate Kid fight. There's also a story here, with that book they are trying to track down and the Luck Lords showing up at the end, all of which keeps this series from being inconsequential, if that's the sort of thing you care about. I just don't happen to care about that stuff.

Justice League of America #11: Meltzer produces an adequately tight and tense story here, even if trapped in an enclosed place stories are a bit cliche. The art is amazing and Ha does an incredible job of heightening the mood here. All that makes this a pretty good issue for anyone who is picking up the book for the first time. What made it really frustrating for me was that the set up to get to this story was horribly contrived. It felt a little like Meltzer was just trying to trump up Roy's character, but I guess he was trying to trump up Vixen as well, except Vixen doesn't really do much but whine and reveal that she kept a very important secret from the rest of the team. Roy's narration says a lot of good things about her, but that's just talk, so it's pretty meaningless. Also, everyone in the Justice League and the Justice Society are freaking morons for not realizing that cheetahs can't run as fast as the Flash.

Spike: Shadow Puppets #2: This continues to be a light and entertaining story that relies solely on the premise that anything + puppets = funny. That's not really a flaw. The puppet horse head in the bed kind of proves that. We get to see some returning characters from Spike: Asylum, which is cool, and we get introduced to an entertaining new character. There are also tons of great little moments. However, the real strength here, as it was with Spike: Asylum, was how good a handle Lynch has on Spike and Lorne. He doesn't fall into any of the traps that other writers have, like relying too heavily on British slang. It's just really good.

Captain America #28: This is another one of those comics that's hard to review. The quality is so consistent, that it's hard to say something different about every issue. This title is very good. Everyone should be reading it. I will say a couple of things though. The Serpent Squad's S.H.E.I.L.D. disguises aren't going to do much good if they put them on over their regular costumes. That goes double for the guy with the cobra head. Also, I find it hard to believe that, in a world where psychics are fairly common and there existence is widely known, there would be some kind of law against using them to question suspects. That's got to be some kind of civil rights violation. Now, I'm not saying that it's necessarily wrong to bring down Cap's killer by any means necessary, but as Tony Stark is now a government official instead of a superhero, it's pretty sketchy, almost, I don't know, Fascist.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

From Newsarama's interview with new Amazing Spider-Man writer Zeb Wells:

What I’m most excited about is bringing back the feeling that Spider-Man (and Peter Parker) can make mistakes. When a hero’s been around as long as Spidey there’s a tendency to make him too perfect, too confident. Our Spidey often makes the wrong decision in trying to do the right thing. I think the classic Spidey stories always revolve around these situations, and it’s an important facet to bring back. Oh, yeah... and web shooters!

OK, first of all, Spidey doesn't make mistakes anymore? Uh...I think he's made some pretty friggin' huge mistakes lately. Kingpin didn't call him a chump for nothing. Mostly though, there will be web shooters.

Don't get me wrong, I think organic web shooters make sense. I got over my fannish objections to their inclusion in the movie a long time ago, probably before the first movie even came out, but giving Spider-Man organic web shooters in the comics after so long did not make sense. I mean, using magic to fundamentally change a character - how dumb is that?

I'll give Marvel credit for one thing though. A while back, Quesada and Breveroot made a comment at a con that the Spider-marriage was an example of the carriage pulling the horse. It wasn't done for story related reasons. It was done so that all versions of Spider-Man would be the same. I thought this was pretty hypocritical coming from the guys who oversaw the web shooter change, so going back to mechanical web shooters means they aren't total fucking hypocrites. Well, I guess they sorta still are since Quesada has been bitching about Mary Jane forever. However, they are correcting themselves, so that's got to count for something. Good for you guys!

The Amazing Spider-Reboot

So there were a lot of announcements made at San Diego Comic con International, and many that I want to comment on, but, as always, the uncertain state of the Spider-Man comics is my top priority. And the Spider-Man announcements were big and plentiful, but far more interesting was the stuff that was all but confirmed. Here are some comments from Newsarama's roundtable discussion with the new "thrice monthly" Amazing Spider-Man writers:

Bob Gale: "(Also - Joe assured me we would not be bringing Gwen Stacey back to life. That would have been a deal-breaker for me.)"

Dan Slott: "But now it's time for some pure, New York City, can't pay the rent, can't get a date, crackin' wise, kickin' butt Spider-Man. And taking that Spidey to new and surprising places."

I'm just going to go out on a limb and say that if Slott is talking about Spidey not being able to get a date and Gale was worried that Marvel intended to bring back Gwen Stacy, we've got our confirmation of a mystical reboot, which conveniently only wipes out Spider-Man's marriage, Aunt May's probable death, and possibly the whole secret identity reveal. Is it too much to ask that it wipes out all the Civil War crap. Why not just turn the whole Marvel Universe back to 1986? That would be awesome. We could have Jean Grey back.

*sigh*

At least they aren't bringing back Gwen Stacy. I was really afraid they were going to do that, and the fact that Bob Gale had to be assured they weren't going to do that makes me think that my fears weren't unfounded. I bet it was under serious consideration. Please note that if they want to bring Harry Osborne back, I'm okay with that. Why yes, I am a total hypocrite, but 1) Harry's death was hardly the groundbreaking and character defining event that Gwen Stacy's death was; and 2) I'm still bitter that everyone but Harry got a resurrection in House of M: Spider-Man.

I'll admit that I am really happy about a lot of the things the writers are talking about, like an increased focus on supporting characters, the creation of new characters, and new villains. I just don't really get why they need to completely undo years of continuity in order to get that. They didn't even try to do any of that without rebooting the character. That pisses me off, because I've been saying that they needed to do that for years, and without once ever thinking that the Spider-family dynamic needed to change. As any regular reader well knows, I love Peter and MJ's marriage.

Anyway, I am pretty lukewarm about the writers that have been announced. I don't know Bob Gale's work. Dan Slott's Free Comic Book Day issue was good, but didn't rock my world. I don't think I've liked anything by Guggenheim that I have read (and the fact that he continually reinforces the idea that Wolverine is nigh unkillable in that series will always piss me off about him), but he apparently quit a career in law to write comics, so at least he has good common sense. Finally, the only thing I have read by Wells is Civil War: Young Avengers/Runaways. It was okay, but I think I will enjoy anything with those characters. My no shot in hell picks were Jeff Parker and Matt Fraction. I wanted Parker because I now believe he should write everything (at least he's doing Spider-Man Family), and Fraction because the Sensational Spider-Man Annual was the best Spidey comic in years. Of course, the Sensational Spider-Man Annual was all about how great the Peter and Mary Jane marriage is, so that alone probably ruled him out.

The artists are way cooler. Jimenez was something we already suspected because of the Free Comic Book Day issue, but it's nice to have that confirmed. Bachalo and Larroca had preview art leaked prior to the announcement, so that was already out there. As far as I know, McNiven was a surprise though. His preview art looks amazing. Look at this:

I'm really happy about the artists. And at the end of the day, whatever misgivings I have about a reboot, if the stories are good, the art is good, and I feel like I am getting my money's worth, I will keep reading. It is Spidey after all.

I still have a lot of fears though. I don't know what to make of Jackpot, other than Jimenez's version is a lot prettier than Larroca's. (It's the hair. I love the hair.) I have no doubt that Mary Jane will continue to be the primary love interest in Peter Parker's life, even if we get a lot of him dating other people for a while. Unfortunately, I don't really like the idea of Peter being with a superhero, at least not in the long term. He belongs with a civilian. He's just that type of character. If they plan on making Mary Jane a superhero permanently, I'm not going to be happy. She was already a really cool character. She didn't need superpowers. Also, I think the story would have been a lot more fun if it was done with a married Peter and MJ. I am still hoping it's all some goofy Silver Age Lois Lane kind of riff (Basically, there are two ways I would buy Mary Jane suddenly getting powers and becoming a superhero: 1) to completely freak out, try to avoid it, but finally embrace what she knows, that with great power comes great responsibility; or 2) to just make a goofy costume and treat the whole thing like a lark. Look at that costume. She totally went for option 2.), but Larroca's preview art seems to indicate more broodiness than crack:

Also, if they are going to do a reboot that wipes out the marriage and the secret identity reveal, I would really like them to do some stories where Mary Jane knows that Peter is Spider-Man, but he doesn't know she knows. I doubt this will happen, since they will probably wipe out MJ's knowledge of his secret identity too. (Writers seem to be far more inclined to clueless females needing to be told as opposed to figuring things out for themselves lately, which sucks.) According to Parallel Lives, which was supposed to be official canon, Mary Jane had known since the night Ben Parker was killed, but since that was a retcon, we never got to see what that really meant for her character. There was one really great issue of The Untold Tales of Spider-Man, but that was it. There's good stuff to be mined there. Unfortunately, there's not many single Spidey stuff I can think of that I haven't seen before.

Finally, what's the deal with Dan Slott's "can't get a date" comment? Did he actually read the Lee/Ditko and Lee/Romita eras? Is he talking about before the spider bite? Betty Brant and Liz Allen. Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson. Dude had girls fighting over him. It was keeping the dates that was the problem.

Hey, do you think they will get rid of the organic web shooters? I could get down with that too.

Scout Attacks! week 20: Still Catching Up Part 2

I think I'm almost caught up now, but I noticed that I still haven't talked about how awesome X-Men First Class #1 was, and #2 is coming out on Wednesday. Uhg! I'm going to do and X-edition of Scout Attacks. It's the only solution.

Fables #63: It's hard to review this book just because it is so consistently good. That doesn't really leave a lot to say. I will say that I felt like this arc was going to be the best storyline ever, and I'm just not feeling that, but it's still really great. Also, Prince Charming has developed into really effectual character and I never expected that at all. I did think that the sequence where Beast is buying out all those sniper, or whatever, training schools was kind of scary, just because of the implication that all of that is being done and it is not tipping off any non-Fable authorities. Maybe it will though. Who knows where Willingham is going to go with all this.

Green Arrow Year One #1: I really enjoyed this. I like the art a lot, and the writing does a good job of giving hints of the genuinely good guy that lurks under the douchebag exterior. The fact that Ollie idolized Robin Hood as a boy says a lot on its own, but even his drunken speech, when he says that "If any of us really gave a rat's ass about the poor little druggies, we'd be down in the ghetto handing out needles right now -- instead of swanning around here in our thousand-dollar monkey suits!" he shows that he does know the right thing to do. (It's also kind of funny when you think about what happened to Speedy.) I really appreciated the Howard Hill reference too. Kudos to them for using a real reference, instead of deciding it was too out of date. Anyway, this isn't the greatest thing ever, but it's really very good.

Superman #664: I really loved this issue. There are just so many little moments to enjoy, like the interaction between Lois and Jimmy, the Prankster, or an entire splash page devoted to Superman getting hit with a giant pie! The bigger reasons why this issue was so great is that the story in general. It has really gone from being something that I wasn't really sure what to make of to being genuinely intriguing. And I love how Superman has to deal with the fact that, while everyone loves him, there is always this underlying fear of his power. He does get mind controlled often, and it is good to see that he has found ways to deal with that. They send in every flying member of the JLA and the JSA to stop him too, which leaves Batman out, but even he was on the case. And there's Squad K too, which actually just makes a lot of sense. It just illustrates how catastrophic a bad Superman could be. Another great character moment was how Superman was so frustrated about losing Arion that he went and took down the Prankster just so he could feel like he accomplished something. That's such a normal, relatable impulse. It's clear that everything is building to something, and I can't wait. I'm annoyed that the story is being interrupted for a Countdown tie-in issue. So disappointing. Anyway, this was a really great issue and I think that Busiek is doing a wonderful job of telling a meaningful story while also keeping things exciting and fun. Pacheco's art is great too. Did I mention that the Prankster hits Superman with a giant pie? Because he does and it is awesome.

Superman Confidential #5: Another great Superman comic. I actually thought this was the weakest issue of the series so far, the reveal that the Kryptonite's sentience had taken over Anthony Gallo's body and was not going to explain everything to Superman seemed a little too easy to me. It's still so good, and such an original story though. Also, I'm willing to give Cooke the benefit of the doubt that he's going somewhere with this, and with Lex Luthor showing up at the end like that, I am excited to see what happens in the conclusion. I don't think I need to repeat my feelings about Tim Sale's art either. It's gorgeous. I'm going to be sorry when this is over.

Supernatural Origins #3: Things are starting to tie into the show a bit more now as Harvelle's Bar is introduced and we see when John first met Ellen. Jo gets a mention too, and my only problem with that is that I can't really believe that she is supposed to be as old as Dean, or even Sam. We're also starting to see these characters become more like the versions of themselves we know from the show.

Deadpool GLI Summer Fun Spectacular: HAHAHAHAHA! That's my review. I will also add that Tippy-Toe's interjection was awesome. You can't not love this: "Yeah, that's right. Squirrel Girl totally pwns Doc Doom? Know why? 'Cause of somethin' that happened in a story by Steve - freakin' - Ditko! That's so in continuity. So just deal with it, fanboy." You cannot argue with that. It was pretty amazing that Marvel poke fun at emo-Speedball like that though. They literally point out why there was no need for him to go all creepy self-cutter, because it wasn't his fault. P-Cat, the Penitent Puss is simultaneously hilarious, depressing and horrifying. Ah, Squirrel Girl, you made a noble effort and we love you for it.

The New Avengers #32: The problem with this issue isn't that it wasn't entertaining, it was, despite the fact that it was just the team talking on a plane. It wasn't that it was explaining why we, the readers, should care that Elektra was a Skrull. It was that it was necessary to explain to the readers the significance of Elektra being a Skrull. As I've said before, I like the concept behind what Bendis is going for here, but this reveal just wasn't good enough. It wasn't shocking. It didn't sell the implications that are talked about in this issue. It was only Elektra. If it was revealed that key leading members in Shield were Skrulls, that would have sold it. Maybe. I'm not even sure. I just think this needed to be a lot bigger to have real significance. Aanother problem with this issue was that the plane is going down, and for no apparent reason, Dr. Strange can't use any magic to help. That was dumb.

Just Some Stuff

I'm still catching up. I've been trying to work on some stuff for another project. Hopefully, I will get another batch of reviews before I start reading The Deathly Hollows, but I don't know how long my willpower can hold out. Also, Say Anything was on, and that's never conducive to work. Anyway, just a few things I wanted to mention.

KryptonSite has a first look at Smallville's Supergirl, Laura Vandervoort. I'd say she looks pretty much exactly as I expected her to look. She's a pretty girl, but mostly she looks like every other skinny blond girl in Hollywood, or Vancouver, whichever. Is it wrong that I wish she were wearing more clothing? I should just be happy that she's wearing incredibly short shorts instead of an incredibly short skirt.

Also, Wolverine has a director, and it's not Brett Ratner. I'm kind of optimistic now. I haven't seen Tsotsi, but pulling directors out of the indie worlds has worked really well for comic book films in the past though. Now if we can just make sure it doesn't include three scenes of him crying, we'll be OK.

I did, however, think that it was weird that the Variety article on the announcement (via The Beat), states:

Using several resources that include the Marvel Comics lore, along with the more recent Weapon X graphic novels by Barry Windsor-Smith and work by Frank Miller, "Wolverine" mixes action with an origin story about how Logan emerged from a barbaric experiment as an indestructible mutant with retractable razor-sharp claws.

Did I miss something? I do not remember any Frank Miller Wolverine comics. Nothing about Wolverine is mentioned on Miller's Wikipedia page either. It looks like the article was changed too, since it is quoted at The Beat as reading "Using several resources that include the Marvel Comics lore, along with more recent Weapon X graphic novels by Frank Miller." So, am I just unable to find these comics, or , after Sin City and 300, are they just saying that everything is written by Frank Miller these days? I think I'd be interested in reading a Wolverine comic by Frank Miller. Logan's already just ridiculous enough for it to not make too big a difference.

Finally, there's the news about Seth Rogen writing and possibly staring in a Green Hornet movie. I don't know how I feel about that. They better cast someone who totally kicks ass as Kato though, because I don't really have a lot of faith that Rogen can pull off the action.

Is Spider-Man Supposed To Look Like the Red Skull?

It's not just me right? I'm digging the concepts behind these covers, but the execution is kind of ugly.

Anyway, here's the description that went along with the cover:

SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN #41
Written by J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Pencils & 50/50 Cover by JOE QUESADA
50/50 Cover by MARKO DJURDJEVIC
“ONE MORE DAY” Part 3
The most-talked about – and controversial – comic event of the year continues, brought to you by J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada! Brace yourself, Spidey fans, after this, nothing will be the same for Peter Parker!
The stakes have never been higher. At his darkest hours – and he's had plenty – Peter has always had one shoulder to lean on, one person who'd remind him who he is, who he was, and who he can be. Now he's about to lose that person. What would he do...what would you do, if you only had "One More Day?"
48 PGS./Rated A …$3.99

I really think it's Aunt May who is going to die. I suppose that the lesser of two (three if you count Black Cat) evils, since a) she's roughly 900 years old, and b) there's not nearly as much of a point to having her around not that she knows everything. I was digging the family dynamic with Peter, MJ and Aunt May though. Also, like Mary Jane, Aunt May has already died once, so it's hard to believe it's going to stick this time. As a matter of fact, I don't believe any of this is going to stick because Ii really think there is going to be a magical reboot at the end of "One More Day." Then, in a few years, they will have another big event to reverse the reboot and pretend it never happened, just like every other time they have tried to reboot the character in a ridiculous attempt to end the marriage that no one cares about but Joe Quesada.

If Aunt May does die, and it does stick, I'll mostly be upset about the fact that it was ultimately pointless that they brought her back. I love Aunt May like I love all members of Spidey's supporting cast, but I was fine with her being gone. I thought her death was really well done the first time. I know this is an unpopular opinion, but as much of a mess as the Clone Saga was on the whole, there were some very good individual stories told in that time, and this was one of them. Also, it wrapped up a plot thread that had been going on for years where it was hinted that Aunt May did know that Peter was Spider-Man. I thought this was far better than the way JMS handled the revelation. (Don't even get me started on the fact that I don't think it has been acknowledged at all since the unmasking that Robbie probably knew Peter was Spider-Man. Cutting Peter off from the Daily Bugle was such a huge mistake.) Anyway, hasn't enough changed in Peter's life lately that nothing was going to be the same whether someone dies or not?

As for the other Marvel solicits for October, I think they are trying to make me hate zombies. Conscious effort is the only possible explanation. And the New Avengers cover with Wolverine as Venom? I think it's a brilliant idea to just go ahead and combine Marvel's most overrated and overexposed hero with it's most overrated and overexposed villain. Bendis is a genius.

The Spider-Man/Red Sonja solicit looks promising, if only because it seems to confirm that Mary Jane will be turning into Red Sonja just like she did in the original Marvel Team-Up story. How can Joe Quesada hate a character who periodically turns into Red Sonja?

Also, it looks like X-Men: First Class is going to continue to be awesome, and, while I wasn't even sure if I was going to pick up the second issue, I am so in World War Hulk for the long haul. A Hulk/Sentry smackdown is going to be awesome!

Scout Attacks! week 19: Still Catching Up

Eventually, I will be all caught up on these reviews. Unfortunately, I have no idea when that will be.

Action Comics #851: I'm still just really excited that I got to read a 3-D comic book. I think that's so cool. It really worked well too. It was a bit of a strain to look at, but I think that was an intentional attempt to try and create the same effect that being in the PZ was having on Superman. It's worth noting that I enjoyed Adam Kubert's art much more here than I have on any other issue, so maybe 3-D just agrees with him. I enjoyed the story too, even if it did seem a bit like filler. My heart really went out to Mon-El, and I am enjoying everything with Zod and Christopher. Way to step up, kid. Did Ursa mean that she killed all the other female Kryptonians when she said that she was the last by her choice? That's a bit extreme, even for crazy, killer types. Finally, I really did not see that development with Luthor at the end coming at all, and I can't wait to see the team up in the next Annual.

All Star Superman #8: While I wouldn't say this issue wasn't as good as the rest of the series, it loses points for just being really depressing. There's some amusing stuff with the Bizarro-JLA (I especially likes "Bizarro-Batman am no shot dead by him parents!") but everything was dragged down by the Zibarro's plight. His desperation to get off Bizarro world was so strong, and things like him asking Superman to look at his writing were so pathetic, it was almost uncomfortable to read, especially when Superman's later comments about said work seemed somewhat condescending. I think it would have been more palatable if I understood what Morrison expected the reader to take away from the encounter between Superman and Zibarro (Morrison's Superman, always so sincere in this series, really just seems like he's placating Zibarro in order to get back to Earth, and Zibarro may or may not be intentionally sabotaging his attempts), but it's all very ambiguous, making it an odd fit with the rest of the series as a whole.

Black Canary #1: This mini-series has a lot going against it, like the fact that it's built around whether or not Dinah will accept Ollie's proposal of marriage when we already know that she will, but despite that, it manages to be pretty entertaining. It helps that it is peppered with a lot of amusing little touches. I especially liked the Elvis impersonator assassins, which are second only to monkey assassins in awesomeness, and Merlin's extensive Green Arrow collection. The whole flashback to Dinah and Ollie's first meeting was great. It's so easy to see why Dinah would feel the way she did about him. Bedard also writes Dinah well, and you can't say that Siqueira doesn't make her look good. A few things did bug me though. It seems like Sin's first meeting with Ollie would be fairly important given so much of Dinah's response is supposedly weighted by her wanting to make sure she does what is best for Sin. (Where was Sin during the Ollie/Dinah 40 hour sex marathon from Green Arrow a few months back anyway? Did Dinah just leave her in the motel?) Also, after all we know about Sin from Birds of Prey, it seems odd to see her crying after an altercation with some other kids. I thought not crying was sort of her thing. This issue was by no means great, but it was fun and I'm looking forward to reading more.

Spike: Shadow Puppets #1: I picked this up because Brian Lynch was writing it. Of bought the first issue of almost every Angel or Spike mini-series that IDW has put out, and have thought them all to be fairly awful, written by people who didn't seem to get the characters at all or were just plain bad, except for Spike Asylum. Lynch did a really good job on that series, so I wanted to pick this up despite the fact that I think the concept is dumb. Don't get me wrong. "Smile Time" may just be my favorite episode of Angel's entire run. I just don't think revisiting the concept, this time with Spike, is a particularly good idea. Of course, then I get to the final page, with Spike being overwhelmed by and onslaught of puppet ninjas, and I am completely sold.

Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America: Iron Man: I didn't pick up any of the other issues in this series, but I had to get this one if only for Cassaday's art. Fortunately, it did not disappoint. I would even go so far as to say that, while Loeb did not do a bad job on the writing, the words almost detracted from the sheer beauty of the images here. There was just no way they could have matched the impact. I thought The Falcon's eulogy, which made up the bulk of the narrative, especially did not have the impact it should have. It didn't matter though, because the art was so gorgeous it bolstered the whole thing. I'm not ashamed to say that, in the end, I was a bit choked up. Also, I didn't want to punch Tony Stark in the face once. I think I'm making progress.

Loners #4: This month John Hughes cover homage is to Pretty In Pink, and I am just now wondering if the fact that it features three female characters, instead of a female character and two male characters like the original movie poster, is supposed to be a clue, as this issue all but says that Julie Power is a lesbian. I'm curious to see whether it is ever going to be explicitly stated or it will be left ambiguous. Considering the crux of the issue is Julie coming to terms with who she is and not wanting to pretend to be something she's not anymore, it seems like her coming out is inevitable, but in the world of comic books, one never knows when that sort of thing would be deemed acceptable or not. As the book is rated T+, the same rating as Young Avengers, it seems like there shouldn't be a problem. (Personally, I do not see why it wouldn't be acceptable even in an All Ages title, but I doubt the people at Marvel feel the same.) Anyway, this was another really entertaining character study, and I am really enjoying the way the relationships between the characters are evolving. Cebulski is capturing the John Hughes movie vibe quite well. I would love to see this series become an ongoing, but I seriously doubt that will happen. Hopefully, we will at least get some more mini-series with these characters.

The New Avengers/The Transformers #1: I don't know what I was thinking when I picked up this book. I think I was still on a high for seeing the movie the day before, and a bit excited by the idea of Optimus Prime and Captain America interacting. This really sucked though, and not in the cheesy bad, but fun way. I realize that the story needed to be set up, but the writer really should have found a way to get to the robot and superhero action a lot quicker. Is anyone really picking this title up for the story anyway? As it was, most of the issue consisted of the New Avengers (Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine and Luke Cage) bickering with eachother, while we barely even get to see the Transformers until the end. That's just not going to cut it. A series like this needs to deliver on at least one solid, giant robot fight per issue to even begin to be worthwhile.

This Is Going to Be So Awesome!

October 2007 DC Solicits from Newsarama:

WONDER WOMAN #13
Written by Gail Simone
Art and cover by Terry Dodson & Rachel Dodson
An electrifying new era begins for the world’s greatest superheroine! Gail Simone (BIRDS OF PREY, SECRET SIX) joins the phenomenal art team of Terry and Rachel Dodson for what promises to be one of the most exciting Wonder Woman stories ever!
What exactly is the Circle, and what deadly secret do they hold about Diana’s birth? What familiar face from Wonder Woman’s past returns with a mission to spy on Special Agent Diana Prince? Why is the Department of Metahuman Affairs on a collision course with the wounded remnants of the Society of Super-Villains? All this plus monkey assassins in a story that spans the globe and shakes Diana to her core!
On sale October 10 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

You got that? Monkey Assassins, as in multiple. There is no way this isn't going to be the greatest thing ever. Also, the Dodsons are still on the title. Monkeys, Gail Simone and Dodson art - it's like Christmas and my birthday rolled into one. Also, October has Wonder Woman and Power Girl teaming up in Brave and the Bold and the Bizarro Batman on the cover of Action Comics looks like he's going to be a hoot. October is going to rock!