Comics are awesome.

[Sparky Prime]

Dom's review can literally be "I like it!" or "This sucked!" and he can be done with it. If Dom feels it wasn't a major thing to mention in a review that, in all likelihood, only people who have seen or intend to see the movie are going to read, he really doesn't need to bother with it. Obviously you've seen the movie, so why complain?

Saying "I liked it" or "This Sucked" isn't a review at all, that's simply just an opinion. A review is an evaluation of something, which requires a more in-depth analysis than that. And I'm complaining because it is worth mentioning regardless of Dom's opinions. It's a significant part in the movie which merits mentioning if your going to seriously review the movie regardless of who the review is intended for.

It's like the beginning of All-Star Superman. It just opens up and briefly goes, "Superman came to Earth and 'is Superman.' You really don't need any more explanation than that because, if you're reading this, you probably already know what happens."

No, it's more like completely skipping the motivation for the character to be a superhero in the first place. Why do they do what they do? It really is something that needs to be mentioned.

[Dominic]

I like to think my reviews are a bit more helpful than "it was awesome" and "it sucked". Contrivance, lack of ideas and such are consistent peeves of mine. Logical progression and presence of ideas are things I like.

Either way, I have no desire to list plot points in detail. To be honest, I rewrote the bit about Hammer a few times to keep it from being a breathless list of details about the characters.

Considering that the upcomgin Thor movie will be tying in with the inevitable "Avengers" movie, mentioning one is like mentioning the other.


And, now, comic reviews:


Siege #4:
As has been pointed out by other reviewers over at CBR, the over-all structure of "The Siege" has been to show the main fight in the core book, with character reactions and interactions happening in the tie-ins. For the most part, this has worked. The last issue falls flat in terms of execution. Besides the resolution being more or less a return to pre-"Civil War" status quo. (remember, the last time things "changed forever"?), some fo the heroes seem almost imortent. Nick Fury makes an explicit "move and I will shoot you" threat that is immediately challenged and not delivered on. This may seem like a small thing, but it does undermine the "ascent of heroes" theme Marvel is aiming for.
Grade: C A weak ending for a strong arc.

Siege Embedded #4:
This series has been a mixed bag since the beginning. When it is not being overly political, and showing how cool reporters are, it did a great job of "looking up" at the events in the main series. This issue takes the "reporter gets involved" idea a bit firther than previous outings, which skirted the edges of "too far" enough on their own. But, Ben Urich leading disaster response in Asgard read almost like a fanfic.
Grade" C/D


Dark Avengers #16:
Ah, not this is what I signed on for. The character arcs wrap up nicely enough here. The rough spots mostly relate to the fourth issue of "The Siege" while the best parts are specific to "Dark Avengers". Osborn's speech at the end works on several levels. Some have read it as a series of hints about future story arcs. But, given how bleak (and contrary to "Heroic Age" Osborn's view is, I find that to be unlikely.
Grade: B


Fallen Sun (one shot):
While the Sentry's power set has explicitly been shown to include "death does not stick", this issue is a good sign that he will be staying dead for a few years at least. A number of heroes get together to mourn over the Reynolds' (presumably empty, for lack of bodies) graves. There are some good character moments, including a jaw dropping display of ego from Tony Stark and some cloyingly self-righteous wangsting from the Thing. And, apparently, everybody just kind of forgives Reynolds for his acts as the Void. (Remember, some of them are the same people who made the decision to banish the far less lethal Hulk to another planet a few years back.)
Grade: C



Dom
-just in time for this week's comics.

[Sparky Prime]

Either way, I have no desire to list plot points in detail. To be honest, I rewrote the bit about Hammer a few times to keep it from being a breathless list of details about the characters.

I'm not saying you need to list them in detail. That was just an important part of the movie you didn't mention, and I believe it needed to be brought up either way.

Considering that the upcomgin Thor movie will be tying in with the inevitable "Avengers" movie, mentioning one is like mentioning the other.

Mentioning one is like mentioning the other? Is that how you consider the comic books as well? Is mentioning ASM just like mentioning New Avengers just because Spider-Man is in both stories with an occasional tie-in between the two stories? No, that isn't how it works. The two are still their own independent stories, they just share a level of interconnection. The movies are no different. Each character's movie is a franchise in it's own right, they just happen to have the ability to interconnect them through the upcoming Avengers movie.

[Dominic]

The Thor movie follows from "Iron Man 2" and is part of the set up for "Avengers". The scene with Thor's hammer is a minor thing after the credits, and would take longer to write or read about than it would to watch, assuming one is going to sit through the credits. (After the first day or so, people who might sit through the credits know if it is worth their time to do so. My review was posted after the movie had been out for a week.) The movies all have a more or less linear connection, so mentioning the fact that "Iron Man 2" is setting up for a series of Avengers movies is more or less the same as saying "there is a scene where they find Thor's hammer at the end".

On the other hand, the "Spiderman" comic are barely connected to "The Avengers", being produced by different editorial teams and such. The connections between various comics are far less binding. (For example, I have been reading Marvel for ~1.5 years now. I have no idea what is happening in the X-books or in the Hulk books, beyond what I read in this thread. And, I do not need to know. If I am going to follow Bendis, I might have to read some Fraction, Gage or Slott. But, the Spider-titles are pretty well self-contained. Even the "Dark Reign" cross-overs in "Spiderman" did not seem to have much impact on "Dark Avengers" or "Siege".


Dom
-got a pile of comics today. (Ain't readin' 'em for a while though.)

[Sparky Prime]

On the other hand, the "Spiderman" comic are barely connected to "The Avengers", being produced by different editorial teams and such. The connections between various comics are far less binding.

How about when Peter and MJ's apartment was burned down along with Aunt May's house in ASM and they all ended up moving into Stark/Avengers Tower? At that point in time, ASM and New Avengers were very closely connected with Spidey living out of their headquarters, especially leading up to and during the "Civil War" storyline.

The movies are no different than the comics with their different directors, writers, producers and so forth. The only thing that connects any of them together so far is those small scenes, not unlike what we see with various tie-ins between the comics. That doesn't make mentioning one title like mentioning another one though. Each title is still it's own independent story, they just take place in the same universe, allowing for interconnection of each story. Just like the comics.

[Onslaught Six]

This argument is dumb.

[Sparky Prime]

This argument is dumb.

Great contribution. Seriously, why even post that? It doesn't help or change anything about it.

Anyway, few comics I wanted to comment on this week...

Superman/Batman #72
This series is either a hit or miss to me, and it usually seems to fall more on the miss side. This issue however starts a new storyline called "Worship", and I have to say I thought it was a pretty interesting read. In terms of Worship, the story is set up by looking at two ways people view Superman inparticular. Some people love him, and some hate him. We see Superman off in space saving a planet from a comet, but of course it contains a bit of Kryptonite, sending him crashing to the planet himself. There the people develop an instant hate of him, despite that he does what he can to repair the damage he caused, something Lex Luthor plans to capitalize on somehow. Meanwhile on Earth, Lois is kidnapped by a group of fanatics who believe she turned down the chance to be a "Holy Vessel" to Superman's child by instead getting married to Clark Kent. Batman really doesn't get much time in this issue, but in Superman's absence, he goes to answer Lois' distress call. So it's interesting to see the different dynamics at work with this story. I look forward to see where they take it.

Brightest Day #2
Still no answers as Johns continues to set things up in this issue. If anything he introduces more questions. Like Aquaman, it seems Firestorm has been changed somehow due to his experience as a Black Lantern, something that fights back when Atom tries to 'fix' him. J'onn finds out Erdel (the man that transported him to Earth) had a daughter and they had transported something else to Earth before him (which I assume to be the creature shown earlier in this issue). And Deadman is told by the White Ring that he needs to fight... as he finds himself in the Anti-Matter universe. Again, some interesting things going on, but I'm really looking forward to getting some answers about the characters who where resurrected in Blackest Night.

[andersonh1]

Brightest Day #2
Still no answers as Johns continues to set things up in this issue. If anything he introduces more questions. Like Aquaman, it seems Firestorm has been changed somehow due to his experience as a Black Lantern, something that fights back when Atom tries to 'fix' him. J'onn finds out Erdel (the man that transported him to Earth) had a daughter and they had transported something else to Earth before him (which I assume to be the creature shown earlier in this issue).

I wonder if the creature is the other Martian that we saw in the Martian Manhunter prestige series "American Dreams"? Johns is enough of a continuity buff to be aware of that series, but I don't know how many readers would be familiar with it.

And Deadman is told by the White Ring that he needs to fight... as he finds himself in the Anti-Matter universe. Again, some interesting things going on, but I'm really looking forward to getting some answers about the characters who where resurrected in Blackest Night.

So am I, and we haven't gotten very many yet. Still, there are twenty-something issues to go, so there's plenty of story still to come.

[138 Scourge]

So I got some comics.
Last Stand of the Wreckers #5: B-but I don't want it to be over! Also, good lord, that looked painful. Most of it. And hey! Look at Impactor! I'm trying not to be spoilery here, so that's about all I can say. Great stuff.

Avengers #1: The store I buy my comics from said "First fifty people to buy this get a free JRJR print!" But really, it's just an ad thing with the pictures of all the Avengers from the "I Am An Avenger" thing. Whatever. Anyway, this issue has Steve Rogers getting this team together quickly, which I like. Who needs to linger over an origin? Screw that, get into the action. The action in question involves Kang coming back and saying "It's your kids, Avengers! Somethings gotta be done about your kids!" The kids in question? These guys. The whole "Alternate future" thing is bandied about so much these days, I'm glad that when Bendis needed one here, he went with one that was already there. Also, after everything that went on lately, Wonder Man's decided that there shouldn't be any Avengers, and he might do something about it. Decent story, fantastic art, I'm in for next issue.

[Dominic]

This was a great week for comics. Well, it would have been if I had any time to read the damned things. Between taking care of Lilly and visiting friends at the hospital, (new parents), I only managed to read the final issue of LSoTW, which I will not even bother to review in this thread.

How about when Peter and MJ's apartment was burned down along with Aunt May's house in ASM and they all ended up moving into Stark/Avengers Tower? At that point in time, ASM and New Avengers were very closely connected with Spidey living out of their headquarters, especially leading up to and during the "Civil War" storyline.

Ah, the cluster-f*uck. Remember when Marvel published comics in the 90s? Remember when...

Joking aside, that was a messy arc. The important stuff all happened, or was at least re-depicted in "Civil War". The Spiderman books were extraneous, even to themselves.

The movies are no different than the comics with their different directors, writers, producers and so forth. The only thing that connects any of them together so far is those small scenes, not unlike what we see with various tie-ins between the comics. That doesn't make mentioning one title like mentioning another one though. Each title is still it's own independent story, they just take place in the same universe, allowing for interconnection of each story. Just like the comics.

With movies, the cross-overs are more likely to be linear, meaning you only have to sit through one movie at a time. With comics, one can be "forced" into buying multiple titles just to stay caught up on one. In some cases, it is arguably best to read *part* of an issue, read another comic, and then come back to the original. (I notice this trick is a favorite of Bendis. He does it well enough so as not to offend me too much, but.....)

Because the movies are linear, with cross-overs almost being a series, Thor's hammer showing up for a few seconds after the credits is more or less the same as the viewer knowing there is an "Avengers" thing in the works.



Dom
-just realized there is still a pile of FCBD stuff to sort through.