Comics are awesome.

[Dominic]

In fairness, Yee did a huge amount of *free* work for Forward and DiTillio. Giving him a shout out is fine. Even *I* will not jab at that.

[Sparky Prime]

I thought Yee started using that after BW, he started using it before? And they worked that into the show? Yikes. I kind of liked that scene when I thought it was the other way around, but now knowing that...

Wonko The Sane originally comes from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", which is where Ben Yee choose the screen name from. But yeah, Forward and DiTillio used it as a nod to him since, as Dom said, he'd given them a lot of help with their Transformers background information. They actually gave nods to a lot of fans from the a.t.t. site, as you can see in that link O6 posted.

Personally, I think it's great that writers/artists throw in such nods to fans.

[andersonh1]

Personally, I think it's great that writers/artists throw in such nods to fans.

I agree.

[Dominic]

And, for the first time in a few months, I am posting all of the comics for the week....on the day I got them.



GI Joe (Cobra Special) #2:
As much as I was annoyed by the guy at the comic shop I used to buy from whining about "GI Joe" and "Transformers", I have to concede he was right about annoying sub-names. In this case, the sub-name of a special is actually very similar to the sub-name of an ongoing book. Oi. Costa takes an obscure, (possibly toy only), character and drops her into IDW's updated series. Costa is probably going somewhere with this, but it would be nice if there was more indication of that in this one-shot. (I am really not looking to add another series to my pull-list.) I was actually sold on this book by a preview in the back more than anything else. Apparently, there is a "GI Joe" anthology novel due out in March of next year. One of the selections from that is printed as a back-up story in this issue. I will read and post about it in the next week. Of course, given how much the stories in an anthology can vary, I will probably end up buying the book either way.
Grade: B/C

GI Joe (Hearts and Minds) #5:
Yay, more complex naming! Golly gee, this is fun. Truth be told, it was not the complex title of this book that kept me from actually buying it. No, it is the "paint by numbers" writing style of Max Brooks. For 5 months now, Brooks has been "defining" the characters for a new age by (mostly) writing them as being *more* derivative and *less* original than their original iterations from the 1980s. I do not know if this is Brooks' style, or if he is just half-assing the job because he does not consider "GI Joe" to be worth it. Either way, I was really hoping for, but not expecting, more from his take on Blowtorch and Cobra troopers. This book would be easier to tolerate if it was not presented as being well written or artsy.
Grade: D

Avengers Prime #3:
I am not even going to complain about the naming on this one. The fact that Marvel is less prone to that sort of thing makes it more tolerable here. The plot kind of ambles along, with Thor, Rogers and Stark getting back together and preparing to confront Hela. Nothing about this issue makes me thing that the impression the first two iseues gave me is wrong. "Avengers Prime" is largely showing how and why the "Heroic Age" status quo is not the result of a magic reset button. Of course, the end result is the same. Bendis is just kind of moving pieces around the board. This sort of story could have been told in a one-shot, or at least in a mini-series with a quicker turn-around time. (The main "Avengers" books have been plugging along for about 4 months now, which does not help make this series seem any more critical.)
Grade: C


Dom
-might not pick up the next issue of "Sector 7".

[andersonh1]

Justice Society of America #43

As far as I know, this is the last issue for Jesus Marino when it comes to art, which is a shame. I've enjoyed his artwork. Bill Willingham is already gone as writer, with James Robinson wrapping up his "Dark Things" storyline. What this issue essentially boils down to is a long conversation between Alan Scott and Todd Rice as they tour the "Emerald City" created on the dark side of the moon by the Starheart during the just-ended JLA/JSA crossover. All the magical creatures in the universe are coming to settle there since the Starheart is a big old ball of magic that the Guardians captured and sent off into deep space. Do we really want Oz on the dark side of the moon, which will erupt into warfare if Alan Scott gets whacked on the head by some wood? I don't think so.

And that's the only really interesting tidbit to come out of the storyline: the fact that Alan Scott now has "control" over all of the Starheart's energy instead of a small fragment, which requires constant attention and willpower to keep it from taking over his mind again. So when does the poor guy sleep? And will this be forgotten when the new writer/artist take over next issue? Probably.

[Onslaught Six]

Costa takes an obscure, (possibly toy only), character and drops her into IDW's updated series. Costa is probably going somewhere with this, but it would be nice if there was more indication of that in this one-shot.

Who? I don't follow IDW's GI Joe books, mostly because I feel like it can only ever be a rehash of existing stuff.

I mean...I hate to be accused of being a GI Joe Geewunner, but to me, the story of GI Joe ended in the early 90s. Everybody had an arc and everything wrapped up neatly. It doesn't have to continue. I mean, sure, new ideas and iterations of the franchise are welcome--but they're always so close to the original that I wonder what the point is.

I tolerate it slightly more with TF because every revamp we get usually tends to bring at least a new batch of interesting second-string characters--sure, we've got our Prime, Bumblebee, Megatron and Starscream, but we also get guys like Lugnut, Bulkhead, Lockdown, Blackout, or Barricade. I think it's a good balance.

[Dominic]

Costa used Chameleon, an obscure Baroness recolor.

IDW comics are not rehashing old stuff. It stumbles, but is finding its footing. The Dixon stuff is just Dixon filler. The Costa/Gage stuff has its moments thought.

The Devil's Due run, (now semi-officially known as "Disavowed"), does have some really good moments. GI-Wunners dislike it. But, that is largely a point in that run's favor.

[Shockwave]

Now comes the part where you guys stone me: I actually enjoyed the Devil's Due TF GI Joe crossovers.

[Onslaught Six]

No, not the crossovers, Anderson--their main GI Joe book. Which was 'terrible' most of the time.

Costa used Chameleon, an obscure Baroness recolor.

Somehow I figured. It's not even like she was ever meant to be a real character--she was there because Hasbro lost the rights to the Baroness name in '97. This is to the effect of having Bluestreak hang around with a guy named Silverstreak. (Which, by all rights, he might actually be doing.)

[138 Scourge]

Hey Shocky, I kinda liked the Devil's Due crossovers, too. Weren't they the ones with SerpentO.R. and Cobra-La and the like?

Asa for Chameleon, was she even a recolor? The one time I saw a toy of her, she looked just like the Baroness, just with a different filecard. In a way, I think that's kind of awesome.