One thing I greatly enjoy is comics. Buying them, reading them, talking about them. S'all good to me. Problem is most people I know don't even touch the things, let alone want to hear me talk about them. So for people too cheap, too disinterested, or just too lame to be down with the comics scene, I'm gonna post on this here blog my thoughts of the comics I bought for the week. Read it if you care, don't if you don't. There's plenty of websites with pictures of cute puppies or videos where people blow up stuff on the Internet to further waste your lives.
CIVIL WAR #3 (Marvel) - For the un-informed, Civil War is Marvel's big summer mega-event. The skinny so far goes like this: The New Warriors, a team of C-List superheroes, were doing a reality show where they fight bad guys on live TV. Most of them were only 18 or 19 and they weren't the names you'd want on your side if Galactus came calling (What's Speedball gonna do? Bounce off of him?). Anyway, they went to bust four C-List bad guys and one of them villains goes and blows up a school and lots of innocent people get killed - on live TV. This leads to the Superhuman Registration Act, wherein all superpowered individuals must register with the government and become paid federal employees. Iron Man is all about it; Captain America is not. Each has a posse. Oh, and last issue Spider-Man publicly revealed that he was Peter Parker. Got all that?
Anyway, this issue, Cap's team, known now as the Secret Avengers, butts heads with Iron Man's Super-Narcs. And that's pretty much it, but don't get me wrong; it kicks ass. If you want to see Steve McNiven's depiction of Iron Man knocking out Captain America's teeth, he's got you covered, and damn is it good. The last page is a big reveal of a character who's been dead for a few years and has apparently come back to side with Iron Man. There's some other stuff in here about Black Panther, the X-Men, and some other ancillary characters, but really, you're either reading this already or you never will. I'd highly recommend you read it. "A"
Eternals #2 (of 6) (Marvel) - Real quick, here's what you need to know. In the 60's Jack Kirby came up with these characters called the Eternals who were immortal superheroes from the dawn of time. No one really ever heard of them or used them in 30 years or so, but now Neil "The Sandman" Gaiman is writing it and it kicks ass. John Romita Jr.'s art doesn't really do it for me in general, but he's a lot better placed on this book than he was on "The Sentry" limited series from last year. In this issue, Ikaras gets tortured, Makkari and Sersi fall in love immediately, and a hostage situation breaks out at a party. I'm not doing it justice here, but since anyone reading this probably doesn't understand a word of what I've just said anyhow, I'll give it a rating and press on. "A"
Justice League of America #0 (DC) - Brad Meltzer, author of "Identity Crisis" two years back, has returned to write the relaunch of JLA. And say what you will about "Identity," (personally, I thought it was good but overrated) Meltzer can write. And it doesn't hurt him that just about every big artist in the employ of DC contributes a page or two to this issue. Basically, the big three, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, reminisce about various points in the career of the JLA, ultimately stopping at the present when they get together to decide who's going to be in the new one. Nothing new happens; it's just a rehash of old stuff, some of which I didn't get because I've only recently started throwing large sums of money into the DC Universe. That said, this issue is absolutely amazing. This is why I read comics, this issue right here. Meltzer nails the voice of all three of his characters and shows us all the critical points in their friendship. So well-written I'm going to read it again when I finish writing this. Hands down the best book I've read all month, and to be fair, this month has been pretty fucking good. "A+"
The Flash #2 (DC) - What the hell is going on in this book? The viewpoint jumps back and forth indistinguishably from character to character, and some of those characters are supposed to be dead or missing. Though this issue is more coherent than the last, it's still not a vast improvement. Yet, I'm pining to know where it's going and I've only just started collecting Flash comics, so they've got me for now. Nice art by Ken Lashley doesn't hurt it either. "B-"
Uncanny X-Men #476 (Marvel) - I really hope Ed Brubaker, the new UXM author as of last issue, becomes the next Brian Bendis. He's already writing this book, Captain America, and whatever miniseries Marvel throws at him. Keep giving him books because this guy is the second best writer Marvel has (sorry, no man can top Brian K. Vaughn). I care about Warpath because of Brubaker and Warpath has consistently sucked for 20 years. In this issue, the team of X-Men that doesn't hate Professor X for lying about the Krakoa mission (leftover plotlines from Brubaker's X-Men: Deadly Genesis series) go off into a volcano and find an old Shi'ar base to steal a rocket ship. And that's it really, nothing fancy. Just a good solid team book, something that this title has not been since... God, I can't even remember. I really don't care about the whole third Summers brother plot line, but since it hasn't reared up in full yet, the book is still a lot of fun. Darwin is still a pretty useless new character though. Leaps and bounds over what this book had been for years under Chris Claremont. "B+"
52: Week 11 (DC) - Quickly now, 52 is DC's answer to Fox's 24. It comes out every week, which is pretty absurd by comic standards, and focuses on a missing year in DC continuity since the editors jumped every other title up a year following last year's "Infinite Crisis." This week, Elongated Man goes crazy and beats up kids as he tracks down a cult worshipping the dead Superboy, Batwoman is introduced and she's a hot lesbian, and apparently Sue Dibny is coming back to life. That was quick. Hard to keep a title like this with so many characters fresh, so it feels like it's starting to drag a bit, but I'm still gonna buy it everyweek. Needs more Booster Gold though. "B"
Runaways #19 (Marvel) - The end of the Parental Guidance arc. Brian K. Vaughn writes this title and he's my personal favorite author. AND he kills of Gert, my least favorite runaway, while seemingly bringing Karolina back full time and adding a shape-shifting Super Skrull to the team. Works for me, but bring back Excelsior man! Also, Victor calls Chase a Leeroy Jenkins when he runs into battle without listening in a very geeky Internet fueled in-joke. Bonus points. I doubt anyone reading this understands what I just said. Regardless, "A-"
X-Men: Civil War #1 (Marvel) - The X-Men miniseries tying into Civil War (that should be obvious). This is really just a continuation of X-Men: The 198, which was the miniseries tying into last year's "House of M." And 198 sucked. This is marginally better, but I still have no idea why Bishop would support the Registration Act considering he comes from a future where all mutants were branded as such and brutally oppressed. I really don't want to read this title, but I will keep buying, just like I did with The 198, because I'll be mad if I do miss something good. Hasn't happened yet. "C+"
X-Factor #9 (Marvel) - As much as I loved X-Factor when it came out, I think it's losing it's steam. Forced to contend with useless Layla Miller as a cast member and now forced to stray from it's ongoing plotlines to deal with Civil War. At least Quicksilver is around now, all crazy and hepped up on Terrigen Mists, after last year's "Son of M" series. I'm not sure if the next issue has to do with Civil War or not, but I hope it doesn't. The title's supposed to be about a mutant detective agency, and that's not what this issue is. This one is a near-fight with the X-Men that only serves to establish that Quicksilver, a man who should be a wanted criminal, is now in Madrox and company's care. Peter David can write them better than this, though I did like the scene where Madrox helps the inept New Warrior escape from the police. "B-"
Ultimate X-Men #72 (Marvel) - Part one of "Magical," but really part seven of Robert Kirkman's introductory arc on the title. The X-Men fight the Ultimate Friends of Humanity in a nice little throwback fight, which is perfectly acceptable and very well drawn by Tom Raney. I don't know where Kirkman is going with this Magician character, especially with the twist ending that makes him not what he seems to be. Seems like a standard, here's a good guy you've never heard of but wait he's actually a bad guy! Grant Morrison did it much better in New X-Men with Xorneto, but Kirkman is a great writer and I'll wait to see where he's going with this. I also want to know why he brought back Brian K. Vaughn's very forgettable Syndicate character. We'll see. "B"
And that's everything I spent my money on today. I doubt anyone has actually read it, but I had fun writing it. I'm gonna do comics reviews every Wednesday/Thursday, so if you're interested in such things, ch-check it out. And for anyone who wants to blow some money on some good trade paperbacks, pick up any one of these and you'll have done your mind a whole lot of justice:
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Vol. 1)
DMZ: On the Ground (Vol. 1)
Fables: Legends In Exile (vol. 1)
