Comics are awesome.

[Onslaught Six]

This can only lead to chaos. I expect a team-up between Jason Todd and Grayson at some point.

[Dominic]

Anything other than "Bruce Wayne is Batman with a youngster other than his bastard son as Robin and Dick Grayson as Nightwing" will not last more than a year or so, maybe 2.

Yeah, Marvel is definitely regressing. But, unlike DC, they are being honest about it.


Dom

[138 Scourge]

So I was thinking about this with the "Batman Inc." thing happening.

Batman: Jason Todd comes back. Shortly afterward, Batman's apparently killed, even leaving behind a body. His former sidekick (Grayson) takes over the costumed identity. It turns out he's been unstuck in time, works his way back to the present where we'll have two Batmans for awhile.

Captain America: Bucky comes back. Shortly afterward, Cap's apparently killed, even leaving behind a body. His former sidekick (Bucky) takes over the costumed identity. It turns out he's been unstuck in time, works his way back to the present where we had two Captain Americas for awhile.

The timelines don't quite match up, Jason Todd came back before Bucky did (I think, anyway) but then Cap's "death" happened wwwaayyy before Batman's. and then all this other stuff's been going on at different paces. I really don't think either writer/company ripped off the other's stories or anything like that, sometimes these kind of parallel ideas do happen. Besides, each of these stories have similar plots but vastly different executions. It's just funny that the same plot elements, "event" stories, and ways of resolving said event fell into place in the same order for each franchise.

Funny to me, anyway, I don't know.

[Dominic]

I would be willing to bet that the Bat/Cap thing was intentional. "Final Crisis" was a deliberately bad riff on bad comics... Now, ask yourself, what does "Cap got shot in the head and his brains got splattered across time" sound like? A bad comic perhaps?

Dom
-avoiding Brubaker now....

[Dominic]

And, we have hit the turning point.

This week, I read most of the comics that I picked up, and have read more comics than I picked up. In other words, I am largely current on comics as of this week.


Avengers #2 - #4:
So far, this is reading like "Bendis writes super people", It is not a bad story unto itself. But, there have been so many dystopian future stories involving Marvel characters, (including a few on the current Avengers roster), and there are so many alternate time-lines and universes, (even discounting those hinted at in this story arc), that it is hard to really care about the dreadful tomorrows that will never happen unless there is more going on than is happening in this story. That fact that both "Avengers" books are running a text story that illustrates just how skewed Marvel time is does not make this story any more credible. There is a chance that this first arc is intended to be a "Crisis" type story, and elements of the text story in the back support this theory. But, Marvel tends to avoid hard reboots, even when they pretend otherwise.
Grade: C


New Avengers #2 -#4:
This story is a bit more straight-forward, even with the Bendis style retconning. There is a big reveal, and appropriate change in the status quo promised for issue 5. Bendis' talent for dialogue and character dynamics definitely shines through more in this series than the main "Avengers" title. But, if there is a high concept, I am not seeing it.
Grade: B/C


Avengers Prime #1 and #2:
This series looks to be set immediately, (24 hours or so), after "The Siege", and will likely paper over some of the loose ends from before "Dark Reign". Rogers and Stark have a heated discussion in the first few pages, and Thor expresses annoyance at them both. They are likely to reconcile by the end of the series, leaving them on the friendly terms seen in "Avengers". Ironman is shown wearing his armour, (consistent with what he wore during "The Siege"). Stark refers to this armour as "mk3.8", and it resembles the armour he wore during the early 80s (think "Demon in a Bottle" or "Secret Wars"). Stark explicity says the armour is 10 years old, which is consistent with the idea that the Avengers have only been around for about 15 years, as is strongly implied in the text story from "Avengers" and "New Avengers". (2.5 real time years = 1 616 Marvel year.)
Grade: B


Amazing Spiderman #641:
No, I am not going to sit here and do the math implied above and apply it to Spiderman. But, I will say that if the time-scale above is at all consistent, Spiderman is at least in his late 20s, which kind of defeats the stated purposes of "One More Day" and "Brand New Day". This issue wraps up "One Moment In Time", (aka "OMIT"), and Marvel's attempt to paper over the problems causes by "One More Day". The whole thing reads like any number of "this is how Crisis happened after Crisis and what parts of Crisis count and what others have been over-written" stories published by DC. At this point, Marvel has had enough soft reboots that their context is more convoluted than ever before. (And, the whole point of a reboot is to streamline context.) Marvel really need to either have a solid reboot, or stop pretending. The company as a whole is starting to look like the Hawkman comics at their worst.
Grade: C


Batman #703:
And...Nicieza spots for Morrison. This issue is billed as a prelude to "the Return of Bruce Wayne". I get the feeling it is intended to ease readers who either stick to the main "Batman" book and/or those who avoid Morrison into the next Bat-event. Nicieza does a workman's job of this. There is nothing essential to "The Return of Bruce Wayne". But, it clearly signals the next change in direction for the Bat-books.
Grade: B/C


Batman and Robin #14:
I could have sworn this was supposed to tie-in with "The Return of Bruce Wayne". Either I am wrong, or there is a connection I am just not seeing. Or, maybe DC lied. Who the hell cares? Morrison and whoever the hell is spotting for Frank "I am a lazy arse" Quietely this issue seem to be wrapping up the story started in issue 1. Bah.
Grade: C/D


Dark Avengers (The Siege):
This is effectively the hardcover edition of "Dark Avengers" volume 3. Aside from the normal cover gallery and such, I am pretty sure there is nothing new here. I liked "Dark Avengers" enough to want good compilations of the series, hence me buying this. The content is worth reading as either single or compiled issues though.
Grade: A



GI Joe (Hearts and Minds) #4:
For all the hype this book gets, and the praise Brooks gets, it has gone a solid 4 issues without really wowing me. It reads like a series of paint by the numbers character studies. At most, Brooks grits up a character a bit or gives them a bit of contrary characterization. This issue is themed, with the split being between Doc and Doctor Mindbender. I am slightly tempted by the next issue, which is split between Blowtorch and Cobra recruits. Blowtorch is, as far as I know, the most underused of the pre-86 characters. (I have no real informaton on this, but am willing to bet that Hasbro was shy about having a good guy with a flame-thrower take center stage.) It will be interesting to see how Brooks handles this.
Grade: C/D


Dom
-now to catch up on "Transformers".

[andersonh1]

Brightest Day #9
This issue focuses largely on the Martian Manhunter, with some mileage for the Aquaman and new Aqualad subplots. The focus on just a few of the main characters helps the issue feel more substantial than some past issues. And it seems that no one's superpowers work properly in the white lantern-created forest outside Star City. The Martian Manhunter's abilities go crazy, leading to an encounter with Green Arrow, who helps him get out. All of that is fine, but the scenes with the second Martian in a store, surrounded by the dead lying in pools of blood is just too much. Is the graphic violence really necessary?

The best scene of the book occurs on the final few pages, where Mera's sister and her soldiers attack Black Manta, who takes on four or five of them and is seemingly more than a match for the soldiers, despite being outnumbered. "You're fish. Fish leave the water and die." I've never cared one way or the other about Black Manta as a character, but I enjoyed seeing him cut loose here. And no surprise, the new Aqualad-to-be is his son.

Green Lantern #57
The cliffhanger from the last issue is brushed aside quickly, as both Hal and Larfleeze head for Las Vegas to find Carol Ferris. Putting the ultra-greedy Larfleeze in Las Vegas results in some funny scenes. It's strangely satisfying to see Carol Ferris still wielding the Star Sapphire power ring, making her an equal with Hal. They all fight the Predator in an effort to take him back to the Zamarons' home planet to power their central battery. It's all fairly boilerplate super hero storytelling, with an interesting ending. The Zamaron queen dies, and names Carol as her replacement. Larfleeze: "I want to be queen." Ha.

I want the storyline to progress faster. All the individual issues and chapters are enjoyable, but I'd like some plot resolution here. Still, Green Lantern continues to do new things with the character and explore the various emotional entities, so there's a real sense of taking the Green Lantern concept somewhere it hasn't been before. And that's a good thing.

[Sparky Prime]

I want the storyline to progress faster. All the individual issues and chapters are enjoyable, but I'd like some plot resolution here. Still, Green Lantern continues to do new things with the character and explore the various emotional entities, so there's a real sense of taking the Green Lantern concept somewhere it hasn't been before. And that's a good thing.

Yeah, I have to say it'd be nice if this was a bit faster paced, but that's mostly because I'm enjoying it so much I have a hard time waiting to see what happens next. I really like that each of the emotional entities are being dealt with one at a time in each issue. I think it works as a good way to build up the suspense towards the plot of whoever is capturing them, and allows to get to know the Entities somewhat on their own as Johns further develops these new concepts/characters. I also liked that it was mentioned in this issue that the Central Power Batteries gather the energy of those emotions with out needing a power source inside it. I really like where this is going. Great to see these new concepts being explored in Green Lantern.

[138 Scourge]

Was gonna say something comparing John's Green Lantern and Claremont's X-Men, then realized that whatever.

You kids let me know if anything ever gets resolved in GL.

[Dominic]

This week's tally: 3 comics purchased, (counting two cover variants of TF #11), and 5 read, plus a compilation. Currently behind on: "Drift" #1.

Avengers (The Sentry):
Thisvolumen reprints a story from the early part of Bendis' post "Disassembled" run of the book. There are a few moments that hint at bad things to come ("Secret Invasion" and "Civil War", As the title implies, the main focus of this volume is the Sentry, but there are some set piece moments involving the (then current) team. There is also a compilation of sourcebook entries focusing on villains featured in the first "Breakout" arc of the Bendis run. Bendis's talent for dialogue is prominently displayed, but I cannot think of any reason to go nuts trying to find this volume.
Grade: B/C

Age of Heroes-Superheroes:
This sort of source book is usually released closer to the beginning of a change in direction at Marvel. But, given the sheer amount of comics released at the beginning of "The Heroic Age", most with similar titles, (to say nothing of cover variants and rebranded compilations), it makes sense that Marvel would hold off on releasing this issue. There are no real suprises. A large number of obscure characters are given in-context profiles in the voice of a largely reliable narrator. Pick it up to fill out a light haul, (as was the case for me this week), or for the sake of being a completist.
Grade: C




NEFX update:
Nothing this week. The website is still talking about last years guests and offering no registration options.....less than 2 calendar months before the show is (maybe) happening. I am probably going to take a walk down to the theatre district that night and poke around. (It is easy enough to get to, and I might as well grab some dinner after work that night....) http://www.nefanx...com/experience/pages.php?cID=3.. I am morbidly anticipating November 12th. At this point, there is little reason to anticipate much of a convention though. I normally do not make special plans to plunder a dealer room. But, if turnout is low enough, dealers are likely to try to sell enough stock to recover the cost of the weekend, (tables and registration), which coudl mean serious mark downs on items they do not want to pack up and take home with them.


Dom
-back to studying.

[Onslaught Six]

That Heroic Age profile book brings up a question that's been on my mind lately.

Would this kind of thing go into the insane details of Spidey's backstory now? "Peter Parker and Mary Jane used to be married but now they never were." Or would it simply gloss over that, and present Peter as if he'd never been married in the first place?