Wednesday, February 21, 2007
(Not So) Recent Comics I Have Read
52 #33: Nightwing, seriously; stop hitting on Batwoman. Not gonna work. Trust me on this.
52 #34: Okay, how many people cut in two can we have in one series? I liked the idea of torturing Clark Kent to find out who Superman is, but how are they injecting him with anything? Are his powers really that far gone?
52 #35: Lex Luthor is EEEEEEEEEVILLLLLLL!!!! And destroys multi-billion dollar projects for extremely flimsy reasons!!!! Artwork looked like a flashback to a random Marvel title circa 1981. And I don't mean that as a compliment.
52 #36: Oh please, dear God, let this godawful space saga END!!!
52 #37: Oh. It was him. Wow. Yawn.
52 #38: MUCH better art. And I like the Last Days of the Question. And the Island of Evil Misfit Dorks (can't imagine why).
New Avengers #26: Because no one. Ever. Dies. Nothing fixes a lame random superheroic death like a lame random resurrection to suck out what little dramatic energy it might have had.
Batman #661: Now that I see it more in action, the I.G.O.R. is pretty damned ludicrous.
Batman #662: The Grotesk story arc went on at least one issue too long and this was it. Felt rushed. And it felt like it was cut together from old Denny O'Neil issues.
Civil War #6: Basically one long set-up for the Giant Battle That Changes Everything. Plus, Captain America is now the Batman. Or Ultimate Cap.
Detective Comics #827: The new Scarface is even creepier than the old one, particularly with the whole puppet necrophilia thing. I wish I could like Kramer and Faucher's art, but I can't.
Eternals #2: Yes, out of order. Deal with it. "You know I don't do nuclear. Religious reasons." Excellent line.
Eternals #6: The Eternals are cosmic. And cool. Earth-bound demi-gods millions of years old. I usually don't like Cosmic, but I do like this. Don't tell me how it ends.
Ultimate Fantastic Four #37: Again, don't like Cosmic, but Ultimate Thanos is shaping up nicely. Not liking the Pasqual Ferry art, though.
Frontline #7, 8, 9 & 10: Hadn't been reading this, but thought I'd give it a try. It does fill in some of the background details nicely, and I like that it is primarily told from the standpoint of non-heroes. A Congressman tells you his life story and how you are an ungrateful dirty hippy and now you dis Captain America to his face? Hwha? Having Speedball live seems to undercut the dramatic effect of Stamford. Penance. Penance? Oh Dear Lord. It's just too--gah! Words fail me.
Green Arrow #70: The team-up with Batman continues. Lord, but I hate Red Hood, but I don't have to look at him much here. The Quentin Tarentino-esque scene of thugs discussing the proper nomenclature for American Indians was a nice little touch.
Iron Man #14: Still dislike this art. And Cap ambushed Tony? Why? Wasn't the whole point of this to have Iron Man appealing to Cap's sense of honor?
Justice League #5: Traya has now gone beyond cute and is well into annoying plot device territory. "&%#$ you, swamp thing," was a nice little dig/homage. And now at least the three most powerful persons on Planet Earth are out of the damn Bat-cave!
Justice Society #2: I still think I'm going to like this. Good art. And you can never go wrong with Nazis, especially Hawkman smashing Nazis with a flail and mace combo.
Powers #22: Bendis is still sticking with what made the series great and I'm still digging it. "Her belly button winked at you." Another entry in the great quote of the post contest.
The Return #1: They. Never. Stay. Dead. Jim Starlin's masterpiece is shat upon for now apparent reason. Gah. Constant revivification = lazy writing 99.9% of the time. The backup with Sentry, however, was good.
Superman/Batman #31: When Aliens Attack! Next on FOX! Lame third- or fourth-rate Silver Age characters? Hmmm.
Ultimate Powers #3: I'm curious to find out how Ultimate Reed's little doo-dad caused an entire planet to covered in giant Lovecraftian boogers. Power Princess is less, uhm, insane than we're used to.
Ultimate Vision #2: Getting better. Ultimate AIM is well-represented, and less ludicrous without the beekeeper costumes. I wonder if we'll see Ultimate MODOK?
Uncle Sam & the Freedom Fighters #6: Miss America is much cooler than I had imagined she could be. Father Time's motivations are getting murkier: is he supposed to be a supervillain of Dick Cheney (but I repeat myself) or is he really just anti-metahuman? "Invisible Hood isn't cool at all...sounds like an ultra-thin condom." Black Condor = NDN Jedi. Sigh.
Union Jack #4: Nice wrap-up. The art is still fairly decent and the dialogue was less creaky. Taking the Dreadnought down with the flag was corny, but hey, this is supposed to be the UK's Captain America, after all. And you can't go wrong with "punching out the snotty bureaucrat" as a good ending.
X-Men #194: I can't stand the artwork and I'm completely lost. It's almost like Claremont never left.
New X-Men #33: Better. Better artwork (MUCH). Better story. Better characterizations, particularly of Beast. I don't even recognize most of the characters, but this story makes me want to get to know them.
52 #34: Okay, how many people cut in two can we have in one series? I liked the idea of torturing Clark Kent to find out who Superman is, but how are they injecting him with anything? Are his powers really that far gone?
52 #35: Lex Luthor is EEEEEEEEEVILLLLLLL!!!! And destroys multi-billion dollar projects for extremely flimsy reasons!!!! Artwork looked like a flashback to a random Marvel title circa 1981. And I don't mean that as a compliment.
52 #36: Oh please, dear God, let this godawful space saga END!!!
52 #37: Oh. It was him. Wow. Yawn.
52 #38: MUCH better art. And I like the Last Days of the Question. And the Island of Evil Misfit Dorks (can't imagine why).
New Avengers #26: Because no one. Ever. Dies. Nothing fixes a lame random superheroic death like a lame random resurrection to suck out what little dramatic energy it might have had.
Batman #661: Now that I see it more in action, the I.G.O.R. is pretty damned ludicrous.
Batman #662: The Grotesk story arc went on at least one issue too long and this was it. Felt rushed. And it felt like it was cut together from old Denny O'Neil issues.
Civil War #6: Basically one long set-up for the Giant Battle That Changes Everything. Plus, Captain America is now the Batman. Or Ultimate Cap.
Detective Comics #827: The new Scarface is even creepier than the old one, particularly with the whole puppet necrophilia thing. I wish I could like Kramer and Faucher's art, but I can't.
Eternals #2: Yes, out of order. Deal with it. "You know I don't do nuclear. Religious reasons." Excellent line.
Eternals #6: The Eternals are cosmic. And cool. Earth-bound demi-gods millions of years old. I usually don't like Cosmic, but I do like this. Don't tell me how it ends.
Ultimate Fantastic Four #37: Again, don't like Cosmic, but Ultimate Thanos is shaping up nicely. Not liking the Pasqual Ferry art, though.
Frontline #7, 8, 9 & 10: Hadn't been reading this, but thought I'd give it a try. It does fill in some of the background details nicely, and I like that it is primarily told from the standpoint of non-heroes. A Congressman tells you his life story and how you are an ungrateful dirty hippy and now you dis Captain America to his face? Hwha? Having Speedball live seems to undercut the dramatic effect of Stamford. Penance. Penance? Oh Dear Lord. It's just too--gah! Words fail me.
Green Arrow #70: The team-up with Batman continues. Lord, but I hate Red Hood, but I don't have to look at him much here. The Quentin Tarentino-esque scene of thugs discussing the proper nomenclature for American Indians was a nice little touch.
Iron Man #14: Still dislike this art. And Cap ambushed Tony? Why? Wasn't the whole point of this to have Iron Man appealing to Cap's sense of honor?
Justice League #5: Traya has now gone beyond cute and is well into annoying plot device territory. "&%#$ you, swamp thing," was a nice little dig/homage. And now at least the three most powerful persons on Planet Earth are out of the damn Bat-cave!
Justice Society #2: I still think I'm going to like this. Good art. And you can never go wrong with Nazis, especially Hawkman smashing Nazis with a flail and mace combo.
Powers #22: Bendis is still sticking with what made the series great and I'm still digging it. "Her belly button winked at you." Another entry in the great quote of the post contest.
The Return #1: They. Never. Stay. Dead. Jim Starlin's masterpiece is shat upon for now apparent reason. Gah. Constant revivification = lazy writing 99.9% of the time. The backup with Sentry, however, was good.
Superman/Batman #31: When Aliens Attack! Next on FOX! Lame third- or fourth-rate Silver Age characters? Hmmm.
Ultimate Powers #3: I'm curious to find out how Ultimate Reed's little doo-dad caused an entire planet to covered in giant Lovecraftian boogers. Power Princess is less, uhm, insane than we're used to.
Ultimate Vision #2: Getting better. Ultimate AIM is well-represented, and less ludicrous without the beekeeper costumes. I wonder if we'll see Ultimate MODOK?
Uncle Sam & the Freedom Fighters #6: Miss America is much cooler than I had imagined she could be. Father Time's motivations are getting murkier: is he supposed to be a supervillain of Dick Cheney (but I repeat myself) or is he really just anti-metahuman? "Invisible Hood isn't cool at all...sounds like an ultra-thin condom." Black Condor = NDN Jedi. Sigh.
Union Jack #4: Nice wrap-up. The art is still fairly decent and the dialogue was less creaky. Taking the Dreadnought down with the flag was corny, but hey, this is supposed to be the UK's Captain America, after all. And you can't go wrong with "punching out the snotty bureaucrat" as a good ending.
X-Men #194: I can't stand the artwork and I'm completely lost. It's almost like Claremont never left.
New X-Men #33: Better. Better artwork (MUCH). Better story. Better characterizations, particularly of Beast. I don't even recognize most of the characters, but this story makes me want to get to know them.
