Comics are Awesome II

[Onslaught Six]

Ant Man and The Atom are about as similar as Dr. Manhattan and The Atom.

[andersonh1]

Ant Man and The Atom are about as similar as Dr. Manhattan and The Atom.

That may well be. I don't know the character, so I was commenting on his size reduction abilities more than anything. Remember, I'm just learning my way around Marvel. Apart from popular media I'm not all that familiar with their universe, though a year of reading Daredevil and picking up some trades in the library helps.

[Sparky Prime]

Ant Man and The Atom are about as similar as Dr. Manhattan and The Atom.

Considering Dr. Manhattan was based on Captain Atom rather than The Atom...

andersonh1 is right though, Ant Man basically is Marvel's version of the Atom. Both are scientists whose main gimmick is that they shrink. Sure, there are plenty of differences as well, but it doesn't change the similarities.

[Onslaught Six]

The Atom didn't beat his wife and then become Giant Man.

[Sparky Prime]

And...? Being similar characters does not mean they are going to be characterized exactly the same.

Red Lanterns #12
Atrocitus battles Abysmus, but weakens as his ring is nearly out of power. Eventually he signals for help which alerts Rankorr who distracts Abysmus long enough for Atrocitus to rip a "Blood Seed" from his chest and feeds the body to Dex Starr. With the Blood Seed, they are able to restore the Red Central Battery and save the Red Lantern Corps from destruction. Disappointing end to this story arc... It seemed like they were setting up Abysmus as some big threat only for him to be taken out so easily. And they really didn't give us any answers here. Who was Abysmus working for? How was he able to poison the Central Battery in the first place? And he just happened to have a seed inside him to restore it as well?

Green Lantern: New Guardians #11
The New Guardians mount an attack on Larfleeze while Invictus begins replacing planets in the Vega system with the planet's he reshaped from the universe he'd been trapped in. Things don't seem to be going in Larfleeze's favor and starts demanding Sayd protect her master, when she finally snaps and puts Larfleeze in his place. Kyle realizes she was the one that sent the other rings to Kyle way back in issue 1. Before she can explain however, Invictus arrives... Interesting to see Sayd really hasn't been under Larfleeze's command here but seems to have been waiting for the right moment to turn on him. Looking forward to finding out why Sayd did that and what her next move will be given recent actions the rest of the Guardians have taken.

Green Lantern #11
The tables have turned between Hal and Sinestro as the Indigo Tribe was able to change Hal's ring so that he can use it against Sinestro and places Sinestro under Hal's custody. But they quickly realize they have bigger problems with Black Hand missing, and unknown to them the Guardians are trying to track down Sinestro. Sinestro meanwhile takes Hal to get the Book of Black to learn more about the coming Third Army, but the result takes them to Black Hand himself after revealing a bit more of future events. Once again, really like the set up going on in this comic. It'll be great to see how things play out.

[Dominic]

Spider-Men #4:
Bendis spends most of this issue playing to his strengths. He acknowledges, but sidesteps a few awkward character moments but makes use of others. Pichelli's art continues to impress. The next issue is likely to play out as a standard wrap-up, albeit a well executed wrap-up.
Grade: B

Mega-Man #16:
Some stuff happens. Maybe I was giving this arc too much anticipatory credit, but I am not seeing the pay-off. Some good questions were raised in the first chapter. But, there is little serious consideration given to any of them by the end of this issue. Maybe it is Flynn. Maybe it is Archie. I dunno and I honestly do not care. I have given this book about a year to impress me...and it has not. I am dropping this book. The only really good or unique thing to be said for it is that it can be passed along to kids.
Grade: C

Ultimate Marvel books: "Divided We Fall" (cross=over)
Marvel's "Ultimate" books, including "All-New Spider-Man" are in the midst of a cross-over. The high concept is that an attack on Washington DC leads the US to splinter. The "Ultimates" and "Ultimate X-Men" are heavily embroiled in this while Bendis gives the event a couple of quick nods and largely sticks to his original game plan.

I am interested largely to see if the "big changes" stick compared to how quickly thing would be cleaned up in a 616 book. "All-New Spider-Man" #13 confirms that Uncle Aaron is dead and gives Miles new motivation to keep his double-life secret. There are some possible consistency/time-line issues concerning a guest appearance by Steve Rogers and making this issue fit with the rest of "Divided We Fall". But, I get the feeling that Bendis may well not care about that.

Grade: ------ (I am not going to bother grading the event, but "All-New Spider-Man" is an excellent read.)


Dom
-planning a pair of complimentary reviews for next week.

[andersonh1]

Picked up AvX 1,2 and 4 today (the shop was out of issue 3). Haven't had a chance to read anything other than the first issue, which is largely just a pretext for good guys to fight each other. How is the rest of the series? Worth picking up? And what in the world has happened to John Romita Jrs art? I can tell it's him, but it looks like the inker overdid it. It's not the art from the guy that I remember enjoying in the past.

[Dominic]

Over-all, no.

It is a bunch of stuff whut happunz and has more than a few clearly telegraphed "reset points".

I might pick up the last issue to see how my predictions have played out. And, a few of the cross-overs (such as this week's issue of "New Avengers") are good reads. But, the event as a whole is not worth bothering with.


Dom
-been thinking Morrisonian thoughts.

[andersonh1]

Over-all, no.

It is a bunch of stuff whut happunz and has more than a few clearly telegraphed "reset points".

I might pick up the last issue to see how my predictions have played out. And, a few of the cross-overs (such as this week's issue of "New Avengers") are good reads. But, the event as a whole is not worth bothering with.

I don't know, I've enjoyed the three issues I picked up. Not the strongest storytelling ever, but certainly fun to read.

[Dominic]

Because this is such a light week, I am reviewing two compilations, and doing something a bit different. Since we have two comics threads, one for new and one for old comics, and the two compilations are complimentary analogues of each other, and both are involved in cross-overs, this review will be the first obligatory cross-over between threads at TFViews!

Yes, you read that right. Some of this review is in the current comics thread. The other is in the retro-comics thread. Click the text of the review to switch between the two threads.

Despite being launched as part of DC's post-"Flash Point" era, new 52 "OMAC" is a decidedly retro title. The art and story pacing feel like something out of the silver Age. Giffen and the rest of the art team duplicate Kirby's style almost flawlessly. Unfortunately, the writing captures the most tedious and whiny elements of Lee's Silver Age work. And, the intended catch-phrase, ("I am OMAC!"), ends up being more tedious and predictable than whimsical or stylistic. It also does not help that each issue feels like a pre/re-hash of the issue following/preceding, consisting largely of "OMAC fights a big monster and some stuff happens".

The new 52 "OMAC" series ignores specific events. But, there are certain characters and plot points that are most likely intended to be call-backs to previous DC history. Mokkari and Simian put in appearances. A number of mutated animals (including a tiger named Tuftan) make an appearance along with a facility that bears striking resemblance to the Command-D Bunker in Bludhaven's ruins. Max Lord and Brother Eye have some kind of history, but nobody seems to recall Lord's antics with Checkmate (including the fact that he killed the Beetle and brain-washed Superman). How much of this is going to apply to other DC books and how much should be taken to mean that "the big fight" assumed to have happened 5 years earlier is roughly "Final Crisis" will probably be revealed in other DC books.

While New 52 "OMAC" is less sophisticated than "The OMAC Project", it can at least claim to be a complete story. The same cannot be said of "The OMAC Project".

Grade: C





Spawn #220 and #221:
I did not have much money for comics this week. But, I did have my discount card, which I could cash in for $5 off of any purchase. Two current issues of "Spawn" clock in at $8usd, which worked out to $3 after using my card. (I remember when $3 was a bit much for one comic. Even 10 years ago, it was on the high side. Now, I am nostalgic for $3 an issue....)

In any case, these issues kick off a new era for the series, with a new host adjusting to wearing (or being worn by) a symbiote suit. McFarlane makes good, if convoluted, of the 20+ year history of "Spawn", and is kind enough to include foot-noted references to previous issues. In a back-page letter to the readers, McFarlane looks back on the beginnings of Image Comics. Say what one might about him, the man has grown up in the last 20 years while still keeping the energy and drive of his youth. And, he makes no bones about the fact that he does not want to be writing the same thing for 20 years, hence the changes in "Spawn" over the last two decades. Kudos to him.

Grade: B



Dom
-zero issues next month....