andersonh1 wrote:
Then there's a weird chapter with Stargirl, Jakeem Thunder and Solomon Grundy. And a big Joker grin on the Statue of Liberty. Probably some crossover I know nothing about.
Maybe the "Last Laugh" thing? The Joker was going to die, so he Jokerized a bunch of other villains and let 'em loose. Yeah, it was about as dumb as it sounds, but the part of the crossover that went through Simonson's "Orion" book was pretty solid.
Yeah, I looked it up and that's what it was.
Shockwave wrote:This is why I don't read the big two anymore. Because even if you read just one title, something from one of the other gajillion titles that they've decided to cross over shows up inexplicably leaving one thinking "what the fuck?" which really means that you can't ever just read one of their titles you have to read them all. Gah.
/rant.
Well, the story stands up on its own. It's just apparent that there's a greater context that isn't quite explained within the issue.
Yeah, I think that if a book's being well-written, a major crossover intruding doesn't have to be that bad. I didn't read the main "Secret Invasion" story, and loved the Punisher, Hercules, and Captain Britain crossovers into that story.
Fraction's Punisher War Journal was a great example of this, Fraction used Frank's internal monologue to explain what was happening in the crossover thing, usually in a derisive tone. So even if I wasn't reading "World War Hulk", I wasn't at a loss when suddenly the Punisher's fighting alien barbarians. And oh, man, that issue was awesome.
Dominic wrote: too many people likely would have enjoyed it as....well a house-elf gang-bang.
Went to the comic shop last night. Serenity: The Shephard's Tale, Emily Strange #3 and 4 (apparently I missed 1 and 2), Lady Gaga #2, Justice League America #s 50, 51 and 52 (I'm a sucker for alternate reality characters) and the Superman 100 page spectacular (with Bizarro on the front). Oh and Sector 7 #3.
andersonh1 wrote:I love that sig pic. You just know Superman can do lethal loogies! What comic is that from?
That's from Superman #666 by Kurt Busiek and the great Walter Simonson. It's a fun story in which Superman gets fed up and just trashes everything. Of course you know things wind up not quite as they seemed, but it's the getting there that's the fun part.
Gomess wrote:Scourge and I have suddenly switched to COMIC BOOK SIG MODE. We can feel it in the air!
Tonight, oh lord!
Dominic wrote: too many people likely would have enjoyed it as....well a house-elf gang-bang.
Speaking of Superman, my comics haul for this week included some Supes stuff.
Superman 100 page Spectacular: This seemed to be episodic in switching from one story to the next. One had supes checking in on a fight between Metallo, Mazinga, a green aquahulk thing and a gian pink Picachu on crack while intermittantly answering his emails. I'm not making this up. The next story was about Supes and Bizarro switched bodies. It was funny watching Bizarro try to be Clark Kent. And Lois and Jimmy STILL didn't get that it wasn't him. Then came a story where President Lex Luthor discovered that Superman is Clark Kent. The last one was about Lois proving that Luthor knew of the destruction that happened before it was going to. In the end Clark ran the expose since Lois had made a deal with Luthor previously where he could kill a story she was working on.
Serenity: The Shephard's Tale. Anyone who's ever watched Firefly has probably wondered about the preacher's past. The series is repleat with moments that imply that there's more to the character than meets the eye and that his past wasn't always as pious as it now is. This tells the whole story and is done in a way that traces everything about his past, showing his progression into the various stages of his life and how he inevitably wound up on Serenity. It was also done in a way that paid proper tribute to the character without contradicting or overriding anything that came before.
Brightest Day #18
I don't want to spoil anything here, but it's surprising how things turn around in this issue. It seems that even when the heroes complete the mission the White Lantern gave them and have their life returned that the White Lantern may not be done with them and has consequences if they refuse to continue following its plan. Although I kinda wonder if perhaps the White Lantern is being corrupted now since Deathstorm was shown delivering it, albeit not who it is delivered to. And it would appear the bones from all of the Hawks past lives have re-powered the Star Sapphire Central Battery, despite Carol saying they didn't need a power source for it in Green Lantern.
So, I like the monthly comics a lot. I like the little magazine format, you get a quick read that's easy to have about, you shell out a few bucks for it, good stuff. But I'm damned if I can keep up with 'em anymore. It came up when I had to skip a few weeks due to some money troubles, and it just kept up. I'm so far behind now, I might be in front of myself. But even my attempt to catch up today at my local comic shop didn't work. Couldn't find any past issues of Prince of Power or Hercules: Twilight of a God. Missed the first issue of Incognito: Bad Influences. No sign at all of Avengers vs Pet Avengers...it was sad, is what it was. So I think it's official, now. I'm a tradewaiter.
But in happier news, I got some trades. The one I've read so far: Five Fists of Science, by Matt Fraction and Steven Sanders. Okay, this story concerns Mark Twain and Nikolai Tesla's team-up to cause world peace by selling each nation giant robots, and their battle against the Lovecraftian demons summoned by JP Morgan, Thomas Edison, and Andrew Carnegie. So it's clearly the sort of story that's gonna appeal to a certain type. And I do enjoy this sort of pseudo-historical romp. Besides, Mark Twain is not only a great author, but an awesome character in his own right, and his pairing with Tesla here just works perfectly in an Odd Couple sort of way. Also, Sander's art is damn nice. I've been looking for this for awhile, and even tried to buy a copy from Mr. Sanders at a convention last year. He said his copy was "Not for sale at any price", and it was out of print at the time. I dunno if I just found a later printing or just lucked out, but score. Also, this copy, when you look at the cover, it's got a few things written on it in silver ink. First, in a word balloon coming from Tesla's mouth, the word "Cullen!". Then, at the bottom of it, "I screwed this up -Fraction!". So inadvertantly purchased signed copy go! Admittedly, it's not like it's a big rarity around here, Fraction used to live in Kansas City until a year or so ago, and he did many, many appearances at the comic store I bought this from, but still, such a weird signed copy is kind of fun.
Dominic wrote: too many people likely would have enjoyed it as....well a house-elf gang-bang.
Transformers Prime:
A few months ago, IDW released the compilation of this series several months before releasing the individual issues, as a promo for the TV series. This month, IDW released the 4 individual issues on a weekly basis. The plot is pretty straight-forward, showing Cliffjumper and Arcee's trip from Cybertron to Earth. (The series really goes out of its way to make Cliffjumper likable, presumably to add weight to his death in the TV series.) The comics are not bad. But, they explicitly continue into the series, which I have heard mixed reviews of. (And, to be brutally honest, the critical reviews seem to be better thought out than the positive reviews.) Chris Mowry does a good job on lettering Arcee's dialogue, (making sure that the word balloons are connected to the motorcycle, rather than the holographic driver.) I would probably buy a regular series of this quality as filler. But, I will not miss having it on my pull-list.
Grade: C
Blockbusters of the Marvel Universe:
This is a listing of event stories from various points in Marvel's history, presented in the same format as their current handbooks. Events are lists alphabetically, rather than chronologically. Objectively, this makes sense, if only because it avoids the "order of publication v/s order of context" can of worms. Some stories are included for being legitimately important. Others are included for being recent or having been reprinted recently. And, still others are included for esoteric reasons, (such as respect for a creator). Of course, none of this explains why some really bad (and largely forgotten) stories from the nineties (including Marvel UK) are featured so prominently.
Grade: B I do not recall seeing this sort of sourcebook book in the past. But, it is a solid effort by Marvel.
Avengers #9 and New Avengers #8:
In January, shipping schedules are often futzed up in the aftermath of the very intrusive holidays, occassionally resulting in books shipping together that normally would not. (If nothing else, having two "Avengers" books by the same writer in the same week is kind of redundant.) Given how the two series compliment each other, it makes sense to review them together. As is usually the case, "Avengers" is Bendis focusing on the capes and tights side of things and "New Avengers" is Bendis focusing on the secret-identity side. Either book can seem a bit unbalanced when read alone. But, few people only read one book and one book only.
Grade (for both): B/C
Dom
-of course, "Infestation" is the most interesting thing this week.
What comic is that from?
