So, I have a busy weekend up -- have to finish the order form for September's comics, have to setup the subs for August's comics, and have to get my first draft of TILTING at done because I need that one vetted before the deadline.

This means I don't think I'm going to have the review time this week. (I'm going to try, though, because there are a few more things I'd like to say)

But not wanting to totally leave you hanging, here's what I thought of WONDER WOMAN #219 and OMAC PROJECT #4.

Let me fully and absolutely warn you that there ARE SPOILERS here, so, if you haven't read the comics, turn back now


No, really, SPOILERS AHEAD.








WONDER WOMAN #219 & OMAC PROJECT #4: Going to review this as a pair, because WW is clearly OMAC #3.5. I think that was kinda scuzzy, really -- especially with the way the vague way in which they were solicited; and I think it shows a real failure in spiraling editorial lack of control and direction (especially since the lead-in Superbooks were, for the most part, wasted filler), but I appreciate the way Rucka stood up and offered to take that bullet. So I'll just say "Yeah, boy, you durn fucked up", and leave it there.

So, let's get one bit out of the way first: While I'm of the "heroes shouldn't kill" camp, the actual event flowed pretty well out Diana's character, and she's the one dichotomous hero in the DCU that I think this wears OK on. Being the "warrior for peace" is always been the strange role, but it's hard to not justify this killing in the context in which it was given. She tried defusing the situation in every way possible first, and only killed as a defensible situation.

I really liked WW #219, in and of itself -- I thought it was well paced, well choreographed, and well written. To see a real "no quarter" fight happening was very dynamic and exciting. It's been a while since we've seen something that elemental, and so I really liked.

My problems really come from the larger picture of the OMAC PROJECT and the tangled sequences of plot-hammering and coincidences and absurdities that we have to accept to get there.

For example, I suppose that I could (just barely) swallow that Batman built an all-seeing, all-powerful satellite and that somehow, without him knowing about it, that satellite gets taken from him. That's a whole damn lot to swallow, yes, but I guess I can accept it.

Likewise, I might be able to (just barely) swallow that Max Lord (of all people!! What about frickin' BRAINIAC?) was able to slowly and subtly reprogram Superman's mind so that he sees friends as foes, and takes an action (attempted murder) that is fundamentally repugnant to his very nature and character.

But both of the things? At once? From the same source?

Not a chance, mister.

And so my problems loom large in OMAC #4. See, I think if Batman created a shadowy satellite system, the VERY FIRST THING he'd do would be to make the base programming some variation of Asimov's Laws of Robotics. That is to say "No one dies. Ever." would be, you would think, hardcoded into every program and subroutine, right? That's what Batman is ALL ABOUT. So I had a pretty damn hard time accepting that Brother I's free-sentience immediately starts murdering everyone and everything. Not if it was created by Batman.

I also find it to be pretty lousy storytelling to have built up Max Lord as this huge mastermind, killing Blue Beetle, controlling Superman, playing Batman, masterminding all of this stuff, then killing him off in what amounts to his 4th appearance in the role -- I think that reducing the threat in such a way renders everything that he did to be plot hammering of the highest degree. Sure and we're going to find out that someone else was behind it all along, right? And someone behind him, and so on.

I did get a good laugh out of the Variable-Wound Batman Action Figure though -- first they show him in full ICU-mode, then as each week's comics go along he's better and better off, until now when he's barely wounded (at least for Batman!) after going 3 rounds with Superman. What the hell?

I suspect that this has a good chance of "ruining" Wonder Woman in any practical realworld way. Once it gets out she executed Max (and hey, look at next issue's cover, I think we can assume it does), seems to me her "Mission of Peace to Man's World" is effectively over. Who would trust her as an ambassador any longer?

So, as discrete units of entertainment delivery systems, I'll give WONDER WOMAN #219 a VERY GOOD, and I can go with an OK for craft on OMAC PROJECT #4, but in the greater "Where are you going and why are you doing it this way?" sense, this is really AWFUL.

What did you think?

-B Click Here to Read More...

Since Hibbs says in his post that neither of us wrote reviews, and you may not be inclined to do the scrolly, I just wanted to point out that I did do reviews, and you can find them right below his post (two posts previous to this).

He doesn't make my being an attention whore particularly easy, that Hibbs.

Labels: Jeff

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Uh, I guess Jeff wasn't doing reviews this week, and I missed my window of opportunity because our photocopier crapped out before I finsihed ONOMATOPOEIA, so I guess we'll pick up the reveiws next week.

Here's what arrived at Comix Experience this morning...

2000 AD #1445
2000 AD #1446
ALAN MOORES HYPOTHETICAL LIZARD WRAPAROUND CVR #3 (OF 4) (MR
ALBION #2 (OF 6)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #522
ASTRO CITY THE DARK AGE #2 (OF 16)
BATMAN DARK DETECTIVE #6 (OF 6)
BELLE STARR QUEEN OF BANDITS #1
BEOWULF #3
BLACK PANTHER #6
CARTOON NETWORK BLOCK PARTY #11
CASEFILES SAM & TWITCH #18
CAST #1
CATWOMAN #45
CITY OF TOMORROW #4 (OF 6)
COURTNEY CRUMRIN TALES #1
DAREDEVIL VS PUNISHER #2 (OF 6)
DOOM PATROL #14
EL ARSENAL #1 (OF 3)
FANTASTIC FOUR #529
FLASH #224
GIANT SIZE SPIDER-WOMAN #1
GODLAND #1
GRIMJACK KILLER INSTINCT #6 (OF 6)
HEE (A)
HELLBLAZER #210
HELLBOY THE ISLAND #2 (OF 2)
HERCULES #5 (OF 5)
HERO SQUARED #1 (OF 3)
HULK DESTRUCTION #1 (OF 4)
JLA CLASSIFIED #10
JLA CYBERFORCE
JUGHEAD #167
LADY DEATH ABANDON ALL HOPE WRAPAROUND CVR #1 (OF 4)
LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #8
LOSERS #26
MACHINE TEEN #3 (OF 5)
METAL GEAR SOLID #11
NEIL GAIMANS NEVERWHERE #2 (OF 9)
NEW X-MEN #16
NEW X-MEN HELLIONS #3 (OF 4)
NIGHTCRAWLER #8
OFFICIAL HANDBOOK MARVEL UNIVERSE AVENGERS 2005
OMAC PROJECT #4 (OF 6)
OTHERWORLD #5 (OF 12)
OUTSIDERS #26
POISON ELVES VENTURES #2 LYNN #2
PULSE #10
PULSE HOUSE OF M SPECIAL ED #1 (NET)
QUEEN & COUNTRY DECLASSIFIED VOL 3 #2 (OF 3)
RUNAWAYS #6
SILENT DRAGON #1 (OF 6)
SPELLBINDERS #5 (OF 6)
STAR WARS REPUBLIC #77
STICKY #3 (A)
SUPERMAN BATMAN #21
SUPERNATURAL LAW FIRST AMMENDMENT ISSUE
TALES FROM RIVERDALE DIGEST #4
TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE #33
TEEN TITANS GO #21
TICK DAYS OF DRAMA #1
TOMB RAIDER WITCHBLADE MAGDALENA VAMPIRELLA ONE SHOT
ULTIMATE IRON MAN 3RD PRINTING #1 (OF 6)
UNCLE SCROOGE #344
WALT DISNEYS COMICS & STORIES #659
WESTERN TALES OF TERROR #5
WONDER WOMAN #219
X-MEN #173
YEAR ONE BATMAN RAS AL GHUL #2 (OF 2)

Books / Mags / Stuff
ARCANUM TP
ARGUING COMICS TP4)
AVENGERS WEST COAST VISION QUEST TP
BACK ISSUE #11
BILL & TEDS MOST EXCELLENT ADVENTURES VOL 2 TP
CAPOTE IN KANSAS GN
CINEFANTASTIQUE AUG 05 VOL 37 #54)
COMBAT ZONE TRUE TALES OF GISIN IRAQ VOL 1 TP
COMICS BUYERS GUIDE OCT 2005 #16094)
CRYPTOZOO CREW VOL 1 TP
CUTE MANIFESTO TP
DEAD WEST VOL 1 GN
DOCTOR WHO DRAGONS CLAW4) (O/A)
DRAW #114)
DUNGEON SIEGE BATTLE FOR ARANNA GN4)
EDGAR ALLAN POE FALL O/T HOUSE OF USHER & OTHER TALES TP
ESSENTIAL WOLVERINE VOL 1 TP NEW PRINTING
EXILES VOL 10 AGE OF APOCALYPSE TP
GENSHIKEN VOL 2 GN
GURU GURU PON CHAN VOL 1 GN
HAW GN NEW PTG (A)3)
HELLBENT ART OF FLINT HENRY TP 4)
HOUSE OF M EXCALIBUR PRELUDE TP
JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #434)
JADE SCREEN VOL 3 #34)
KINETIC TP
MARVEL FREE PREVIEWS #24 AUGUST 2005
MIKE HOFFMANS MYTHOS MAGAZINE #1
NAGDILA VOL 1 TALE OF THE GOLDEN AGE GN4)
NIGHTWING YEAR ONE TP
NODAME CANTIABILE VOL 2 GN
OH MY GODDESS VOL 21 TP3& 4)
PREVIEWS VOL XV #8 (NET)
PROMETHEA BOOK 5 HC
REN & STIMPY SHOW SEASON 3 AND A HALFISH DVD SET (NET)4
SATANS 3 RING CIRCUS OF H$$$ TP
SECRET WARS TP NEW PRINTING
SECRETS IN THE SHADOWS ART & LIFE OF GENE COLAN SC4)
SGT ROCK ARCHIVES VOL 3 HC
SPIDER-MAN HUMAN TORCH IM WITH STUPID DIGEST TP
TIM BURTONS NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS MANGA GN4)
TIMES OF BOTCHAN VOL 1 GN (OF10)4)
TSUBASA VOL 6 GN
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN VOL 13 HOBGOBLIN TP
USAGI YOJIMBO VOL 19 FATHERS AND SONS TP4)
WIZARD COMICS MAGAZINE JLA LEGION OF DOOM CVR #1674)
WRITE NOW #104)


What looks good to you?

-B Click Here to Read More...

Man. I originally wrote half these reviews back on Saturday, and the other half yesterday (should be pretty able to tell which is which, as my memory of Friday's books diminished tremendously by Tuesday--I may actually refer to Batman as "you know, what's his dude with the ears" at a few points) when I thought that Hibbs would either post by Tuesday night or not at all. Of course, as these things work, I have no doubt he'll post all of his reviews fifteen minutes after I do. He should; we disagreed a lot this week.

Anyway, we appreciate your patience and hopefully we'll refine this thing a little better as time goes on, but for now:

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #642: I was so relieved this issue didn’t follow the format of the previous issues (Superman flashing back to an unlikely fight with some heavy duty villain, events spiraling out of control, revelation that Superman has done something bad) it took me at least, I dunno, five minutes before the nagging questions set in: What does that cover have to do with anything? Why have those first two parts in there at all, being as they show an utterly different form of mind control from what we see here? Is this anything other than a cynical attempt to sell more books and, in particular, for Greg Rucka to boost sales of Wonder Woman? Considering such questions, I’ll drop this into the Awful ranks.

ASTONISHING X-MEN #11: Hibbs had some very valid complaints, but I liked it a lot. Interestingly, the thing that shouldn’t have worked (mortally wounded X-Men are all peachy keen by page 8 or so) did work for me because of the four-month delay in issues: after Hibbs pointed it out, I was like, “Oh, right. Mortally wounded. Yeah, that’s kinda pat, ennit?” Mainly, I just liked Professor X going all action movie on our asses in a way I found pretty believable. But maybe I’m just fatally infected with “Oooo, pretty pictures!” syndrome in this case. A solid Good.

AUTHORITY REVOLUTION #10 (OF 12): Don’t see the point in bitching about this yet again, but I wanted to point out the odd synchronicity between this and Rucka’s “Sacrifice” arc. There, Max Lord has Superman under his control and uses him to beat the shit out of Batman. Here, Henry Bendix has control over Midnighter and is going to use him to beat the shit out of Apollo. After the Red Hood/Winter Soldier thing, it makes me wonder if Brubaker is either incredibly prescient, or the kind to go jot notes after a big editorial meeting. Either way, I still thought this was relatively Awful.

BATGIRL #66: This is where I differ from the creative team: I would prefer sixteen pages of Cassandra meeting a boy and taking a chance on romance, and two pages of senseless fight scenes with a pig-faced biker guy and gratuitous OMAC, rather than vice-versa. Eh.

CONAN #18: Wow, really terrific. John Severin was the perfect choice for a grimly humorous one-shot by Busiek called “The Helm.” I can see why matching it with the darkly funny “Conan’s Favorite Joke” by Bruce Timm seemed like a good idea at the time, but I think they’d be much stronger presented separately. The pieces diminish each other. But still, a high Very Good for this issue.

DAREDEVIL #75: Bendis’ characterization of Matt Murdock has always been one of the strengths of this run, and his scenes talking to the members of the group were great, and that Alex Maleev art makes the whole thing go down pretty smooth. But am I the only one who thinks the Ninja demon baby was utterly unnecessary, a glib way to counterbalance the episodic structuring of the format? And what the hell do Ninja demon babies have to do with The Ten Commandments anyway? I’m a little unclear on all ten of the commandments (Bendis may be as well, since I think we only got six or seven) but I don’t think “Thou Shalt Not Conjure Ninja Demon Babies” ended up replacing “Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Ass” recently. Good, sure, but kind of a shame it wasn’t great.

DAY OF VENGEANCE #4: Haven’t read an issue since #1, and I get the impression that, since it’s opening with the origin of Detective Chimp, there may have been a certain loss of narrative steam along the way. Willingham seems pretty okay jamming in the editorially mandated Spectre and Eclipso stuff but really cares more about his magical misfits team, and I guess that’s fine. (It’s no migraine-in-the-making like Rann Thanagar War, that’s for sure) But this feels, as corporately mandated product often does, like a collection of bits and pieces incapable of working smoothly together. Although, since I didn’t bother with #2 or #3, I could be completely off-base in that feeling. OK.

DEFENDERS #1: Kinda knocked me on my ass to realize that Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire are doing their Justice League thing with The Defenders, and both Giffen and DeMatteis have both been involved in memorable work on The Defenders previously (for those of us who remember The Defenders anyway: Giffen’s work on the Scorpio/Zodiac storyline is still probably my favorite Defenders stuff, ever). They’ve done a pretty good job re-inventing themselves over the years, those guys. The work itself was a very high OK, not great: as usual, the trump card is Maguire and his winning way with body language (maybe a little too pat here, actually) and illustration. Still, I liked it.

DETECTIVE COMICS #808: I’m hopelessly lost as far as this storyline and am now officially waiting for the trade. Sad to admit, but there it is.

EX MACHINA #13: Liked all of it but for the crazy vet in the jury room scene which I did not like at all: Ex Machina is a book that frequently reminds me of good episodic television, particularly because blunders like these read like bad episodes of good episodic television. (“Then, on an all-new E.R.: Jury duty goes horribly wrong for John Carter as a Gulf War veteran makes an impossible request! Then, stay up for Carrottop on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno!”) So, OK.

EXILES #67: Is doing a good job keeping my interest from issue to issue (particularly as the sort of old school Marvel guy happy to see Red Ronin again), but I’m hoping a long-range hook (to replace the one they solved) gets put in place soon. A high OK.

GIRLS #3: Very much a drag that scenes of attacking naked chicks hatched from eggs seem more believable than a lot of the behavior on the part of the main characters. The ultra-small town setting also rings false to me, too. Seems like sophomore slump to me. Eh.

GOON #13: Another great issue. Everybody’s buying this, right? Please go buy this. Very Good.

HOUSE OF M #4: Another issue of House of Meh: again, if it’d been issue #2, would have been more or less keen. None of it really makes sense if you think about it for more than a second, though, and the Layla character seems lamely convenient unless Bendis has got a further twist with her, which I believe he does. Eh.

INCREDIBLE HULK #84: My preferred House of M crossover book, although, again, there’s a certain “don’t care” factor to it since so little seems to be at stake. But I like it so much better than David’s initial return arc, I can’t even begin to tell you. A very high OK.

JSA CLASSIFIED #1: Amanda Conner’s work knocks me out. I would be a less-than-diligent fanboy if I didn’t point out that her expressive, vulnerable interpretation of Power Girl (and Johns’ obvious awareness of who he’s scripting for) doesn’t quite gibe with her previous characterization in JSA (where her stoicism keeps her from being quite so open) but I don’t really care. If you do, you won’t agree when I say this was pretty Good.

LOVE & ROCKETS VOL 2 #14: Lately, Gilbert Hernandez continually crafts scenes in which I can never fully believe, and yet they’re of such a consistent worldview I wonder if maybe he just lives in a very different plane of reality than anything I’ve seen—or maybe his overarching goal is to bullshit reality itself into behaving the way he portrays it. Either way, it’s never less than fascinating to me. But this issue, it’s Jaime’s Hopey work that knocked me on my ass: even though my points of shared experience with Maggie and Hopey are few, the feeling of life as it’s lived—particularly mid-life, with its excitements and disappointments made appealingly small by accrued wisdom, and the twinned dread and pleasure at being able to watch life go by (it might be leaving you behind, but you’re certainly getting a much better view as it does)—seemed utterly genuine and moving to me. I thought it was Excellent.

MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN #16: Again, those retro pages were pretty awesome, and the rest of this didn’t rankle as much as the first three issues, but it’s still just a big ol’ waste of time. An indifferent Eh.

PLASTIC MAN #17: The endless teenage carnage was pretty hilarious—every time I was sure it would be over Baker would throw in another three pages. Then the actual story started and I kinda lost interest. Really, really slight for the money but if they were Archie Digest sized, and Archie Digest priced, I’d much prefer kids were reading this. OK.

RED SONJA #1: I don’t know, man. Now that the horse is dead, I don’t really have as much interest as I did by, say, midway through the issue. Really. OK, I guess.

SIMPSONS COMICS #108: Dixon’s script is pretty ballsy, with the characters much edgier than I’ve seen them in some time (although keep in mind I haven’t watched the show in two seasons) but maybe it was still a little too edgy. It was funny, but it wasn’t particularly witty, I think. Or maybe I just got my liberal pink panties in a bunch, I can’t tell. OK.

TEEN TITANS #26: Kinda like reading either of the first two issues of “Sacrifice,” but better because there was a point. Highly OK.

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #80: Excelsior, True Believer! Brian Bendis Back on Ball! Or at least this had that blend of a classic scenario going in unexpected directions that originally made this book so interesting. I’m hoping this will continue to hold up. Very highly OK.

ULTIMATES 2 #7: See, Bendis? That’s how you kill Hawkeye. I didn’t even like this version of the character and I thought that was pretty cool. Good.

WOLVERINE #30: Pretty well out of gas, I’m sorry to say. How many times in this run has Millar pulled the “Don’t you see? Now x is on his way to kill y! And it’s too late to do anything!” card? Three times? Maybe four? And way too much time with The X-Men talking about how scary it is to have Logan around—isn’t this the penultimate issue of the arc? Ancient devil lady died an even lamer death than Hawkeye (Avengers Hawkeye not Ultimates Hawkeye) so we could get whining X-Men? Where’s the stuff that made this book great, like the shark fucking? Last issue better have Wolverine fucking some more sharks or I’ll be deeply disappointed. Eh.

There. Just in time to hit the new comics! See you, hopefully, much earlier next week.

Labels: Jeff

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Jeff here. I took a week off from reviews so I could focus on the CE newsletter this week, but hope to get back to the task this weekend.

Wanted draw your attention to Bri's latest Tilting At Windmills, now posted over at Newsarama. As always, sharp and topical work which I found particularly satisfying after all the time I spent this week trying to figure out what to say about Infinite Crisis #1.

Also, I'm very pleased that Tom Spurgeon used a suggestion of mine for his excellent Five For Fridays at the Comics Reporter, asking readers to list five books loaned or lost and never returned/recovered. (I know I'm not the only person still haunted in the dead of night by loaning a then-complete set of Eightball to a flaky guy in L.A. who never returned them and then went on to briefly become an MTV VJ.) I've got a whole day at the comic store where I'll be able to compile my ultimate list of regrets, but be sure to email Tom your tales of woe as well.

Labels: Jeff

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Like last week, pounding this out at the counter on my AlphaSmart before the truck with the comics arrive. In no particular order:


ALL STAR BATMAN & ROBIN THE BOY WONDER #1: Let’s get the bitching out of the way – that is the worst logo I think I’ve ever seen in my life. Tilted the wrong way, too heavy on the “robin” part, the “All Star” par virtually invisible, that hideous top bar. Ugh. I also think that, to a degree, this represents a huge loss of a chance. “All Star” was, I thought, concieved of as an answer to the “Ultimate” line from Marvel – good solid “entry point” material, suitible for “all ages”. This here I wouldn’t give to anyone who isn’t already a bat-reader, and, especially, anyone who isn’t already a Frank Miller bat-fan. That’s a lot of people, but it’s hardly a “universal” audience.

I thought the first half of the comic sorta… well, stank. Vicki Vale (and her ass) just didn’t grab me, but I thought it found its legs just fine in the back half. There’s bits that I really don’t think worked (I kind of prefer the whole “Red Claw Assassains sawed through my parents origin”, er, wait, that’s Cerebus), but, by the end of the issue I had pretty much thought I had gotten my $3 worth. It just didn’t thrill or shock me. Call it a low low “Good” or, more likely, a high OK.

NAT TURNER #1: Kyle Baker turns in a powerful and affecting story of the birth of Nat Turner. The choice to go nearly-wordless was probably the right one, and curiously, didn’t speed the issue up much at all – this was stil l a dense, solid read, and was absolutely EXCELLENT.

SERENITY #1: I’ve only see a small handfull of episodes of FIREFLY, so I wasn’t sure how much this would grab me. But I really liked the situation and the character and would like to see more. Little bitch sold amazingly well, too – we were sold out in under 3 hours on like 5x any “Buffy” numbers we’ve ever ordered. Dark Horse is sold out, too – hope they’ll do a second printing. GOOD.

BANANA SUNDAYS #1: I really like Coleen Coover’s art, and it really is perfectly served for a charming all ages book like this. Only thing, because I’ve been trained by SMALL FAVORS, I kept expecting wild, frenzied lesbian sex almost every page. Oh well. A low GOOD, despite that.

MUTOPIA X #1: *shrug* I didn’t care much about these characters in DISRICT X… I care a great deal less now that they’re all happy. So, EH.

WEAPON X DAYS OF FUTURE NOW #1: Is that bait and switch? What does “DoFP Wolverine” have to do with the rest of the story? Does anyone care about these “Weapon X” characters? I sure don’t… And what the hell is up with Bart Sears illustrating an Eddie Campbell Batman comic next year? The fuck--? This was pretty AWFUL.

BATMAN #642: A fill in, and basically adequate. OK

NIGHTWING #110: OK, I guess the VILLIANS UNITED crossover is coming along here at the end, but I can’t say I care much for the whole “No, really, he’s a baddie now!” plot line. A solid EH.

JLA #116: What I’m liking about this is that it isn’t letting the crossover itself overwhelm this story too badly (unlike some of the other crossovers) – on the other hand, I still have no idea how they can possibly come out the other side of this with the “big gun” JLA intact. Still, I liked this issue enough to give it a GOOD.

SEVEN SOLDIERS GURADIAN #3: “Imagine science on heat, baying like a hound beneath a red-hot moon!” Oh, god, with expository captions like that, how could you help but love this comic? LOVE LOVE LOVE. Man, that awesome fucking shot of the Guardian ‘chuting down on to the little world islands! If half of the comics on the stands had 1/10th of the mad ideas of this, comics would be the largest entertainment force on the planet. This is seriously wicked fun, and I say EXCELLENT.

WONDER WOMAN #218: What did that cover have to do with anything? Decent enough, but it felt mostly like marking time until the crossover. So much for the blinding being of any weight or significance. OK

FRESHMEN #1: OK, I guess, but all 22 pages were devoted to origin stuff, and there’s not quite enough here to get me rushing back for #2.

ZOMBIE KING #0: Well, if you want zombie cow fucking, here’s the comic for you. A bit less shallow than Shanna, I’m starting to wonder if Cho has any tricks besides “a nice line”. This was OK.

NEW AVENGERS #7: Huh, liked this issue, maybe Bendis has found his groove here. A low GOOD.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #21: Really terrific start to this storyline, helped dramatically by the lovely art. I especially liked that curly-haired Johnny Storm look. No “616” crossover (thank god), and here’s a real case where I think they hurt themselves by being so coy in the solicits. Anyway, nice issue – best thing I’ve read from Millar in quite some time. A solid GOOD.

DESOLATION JONES #2: Didn’t like it as much as #1, but still a solid GOOD.

OK, the truck is here, quickly then, PICK OF THE WEEK: NAT TURNER #1

BOOK / TP OF THE WEEK: Y THE LAST MAN v5

What did YOU think?

-B Click Here to Read More...

Big week. I'm tired after sorting through it and putting it out....

2000 AD #1443
2000 AD #1444
ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #642
ARCHIE & FRIENDS #93
ARCHIE DIGEST #218
ARSINOE #3
ASTONISHING X-MEN #11
ATHEIST #2
AUTHORITY REVOLUTION #10 (OF 12)
BATGIRL #66
BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHTS #67
BATMAN JEKYLL AND HYDE #4 (OF6)
BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #135
BILLY THE KIDS OLD TIME ODDITIES #4 (OF 4)
BIRDS OF PREY #84
BLOWJOB #14
BRIAN PULIDOS MEDIEVAL LADY DEATH WRAPAROUND #5
CABLE DEADPOOL #17
CONAN #18
DAREDEVIL #75
DAY OF VENGEANCE #4 (OF 6)
DEFENDERS #1 (OF 5)
DETECTIVE COMICS #808
DILDO #9
DONALD DUCK AND FRIENDS #330
EX MACHINA #13
EXILES #67
FORGOTTEN REALMS DARK ELF HOMELAND CVR A #2 (OF 3)
GATESVILLE COMPANY #1
GIRLS #3
GLA #4 (OF 4)
GOON #13
GROUNDED #1 (OF 6)
HOUSE OF M #4 (OF 8)
HUMAN RACE #5 (OF 7)
INCREDIBLE HULK #84
JSA CLASSIFIED #1
JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE #233
LOVE & ROCKETS VOL 2 #14
LUCIFER #64
LULLABY WISDOM SEEKER #4 (OF 4)
MANHUNTER #12
MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR #2
MARVEL KNIGHTS 4 #20
MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN #16
MARVEL MILESTONES DR STRANGE SILVER SURFER SUB-MARINER HULK
MICKEY MOUSE AND FRIENDS #279
MINESHAFT #15
MUTATION #1
NORTHWEST PASSAGE #1
ORORO BEFORE THE STORM #2 (OF4)
PLASTIC MAN #17
POWERPUFF GIRLS #64
RED SONJA #1
RISING STARS VOICES OF THE DEAD #2 (OF 6)
ROBIN #140
SECRETS OF THE HOUSE OF M #1
SILENCERS VOL 2 #1
SIMPSONS COMICS #108
SOULFIRE DYING OF THE LIGHT #0
SPIDER-MAN HOUSE OF M #2 (OF 5)
SPUNKY KNIGHT XXX #2
SUPERNATURAL LAW FIRST AMMENDMENT ISSUE
TALES DESIGNED TO THRIZZLE #1
TEEN TITANS #26
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #80
ULTIMATES 2 #7
VERONICA #163
WILDGUARD FOOLS GOLD #2 (OF 2)
WITCHBLADE #87
WOLVERINE #30
X-MEN KITTY PRYDE SHADOW & FLAME #2 (OF 5)


Books / Mags / Stuff
100 BULLETS VOL 8 THE HARD WAY TP
ALTER EGO #50
ANIMATION MAGAZINE AUG 2005 #151
BIG FUN COMICS #3
BONE VOL 2 GREAT COW RACE COLOR ED SC
CAPTAIN AMERICA VOL 1 WINTER SOLDIER HC
DAVE NESTLER SKETCHBOOK VOL 2BAD GIRLS RIDE AGAIN TP
DEADLY ARE THE NAKED ART OF JIM SMITH SC
DOCTOR SPECTRUM FULL SPECTRUMTP
DOCTOR WHO THE TIDES OF TIME GN
ESSENTIAL SPIDER-MAN VOL 2 TPNEW PRINTING
FLASH THE SECRET OF BARRY ALLEN TP
GUNPOWDER GIRL & OUTLAW SQUAWGN
HEARTBREAKERS MEET BOILERPLATE GN
INVINCIBLE VOL 1 ULTIMATE COLL HC
JUXTAPOZ SEP OCT 2005 VOL 13 #10
LUCIFERS GARDEN OF VERSES VOL2 DARLIN NIKI HC
MAD CLASSICS #1
MICKEY MOUSE MEETS BLOTMAN
MYTHOLOGY ALEX ROSS ART OF DC2006 WALL CALENDAR
PANDA MEAT SOURCE BOOK 1 HC
SERGEANTSTEIN GN
SQUA TRONT #11 (O/A)
STAR WARS CLONE WARS VOL 6 ONTHE FIELDS OF BATTLE TP
STRYKEFORCE TP
TEEN TITANS GO VOL 3 BRING ITON TP
THE PULSE VOL 2 SECRET WAR TP
TOMARTS ACTION FIGURE DIGEST #136
WIZARD MICHAEL TURNER MILLENNIUM LTD ED DLX HC

What looks good to you?

-B Click Here to Read More...

Got the call today that a new Judge has ben assigned to the case. There's some sort of meeting with him on Monday with both (?) sets of counsel.

The "hope" is he'll sign the order on the spot on Monday, but I think we all know the odds of things going that quickly are probably low. But still, it could happen!

-B Click Here to Read More...

So, you all know about the Class Action suit against Marvel, right? And how we have a settlement that both parties agreed to? Well, or we did until the dumb-ass Judge in the case decided that, despite have both sides agreeing, despite having notified the Class, and having a opt-out rate of something like 0.5%, despite, might I add, adjusting the plan to deal with the Judge’s specific demands, Judge Ramos decided that he wanted the whole process started over again from scratch, turning the “opt out” (which automagically includes everyone) to “opt in” (which would likely mean some people would misunderstand and not be included). Clearly, the man went insane.

So, as I’m sure you also know, we appealed the Judge, and the Appellate Court overturned his crazy ass, and ordered him to sign the settlement within 30 days. Hurray, Justice!

But guess what happened? I got the call today that Judge Ramos has recused himself from the case, and so won’t be signing. Um, doubleyou-tea-eff?!?!?

Crazy, unethical, asshat of a Judge.

Apparently this will only mean a “short” delay as we get a new Judge assigned, and, supposedly, it is all formalities from here on out – 2-3 days to a new Judge, a week or so for him to read everything and sign it, then 30 days until we all receive our rightful settlement monies, but, man, can you fucking believe that shit?

* * *

Lessee, it’s 12:30, and the books should be here within 90 minutes, so let’s see what reviews we can do by then, while I’m helping customers in the middle.

NOT going to San Diego, btw – I hadn’t had a lick of FUN at the con the last2-3 I attended, and I’d rather not be away from Ben in order to do Comics Death March on the 4 football fields worth of “pop culture”

Fuck that Hollywood shit, y’know?

Anyway, comics. I’m going to skip Alphabetical, and just type things out as I feel like:

HOUSE OF M #3: I almost feel sorry for Bendis and the Marvel Marketing department, because, really, how could ANYthing stand up to “crack the internet in half”. But only a little sorry.

Here’s the thing: regardless of what the story turns out how, what’s been PUBLISHED so far is “just” a WHAT IF…? story. There’s nothing between the covers that suggests any permanence or meaning. Look, this is a storyline that shows Uncle Ben (poster child for “dead is dead”) *and* Gwen Stacey happily alive and kicking, so what’s the big deal with Hawkeye, at all? Not much, really.

In fact, I’ll go so far to say even LESS is compelling about this because it makes Clint’s death, the capping denouement to the “Disassembled” storyline, a death that was cheap and stupid and awkward to begin with, have even less meaning. Clearly, Bendis (& co.) *must* have known this was coming, in that timeframe, which reduces it to even more of a sensationalistic stunt without any base value.

“Don’t cheat the audience” is the Prime Rule in storytelling, and Hawkeye is a big-ass cheat from top to bottom.

As Lester observed in the store (and most likely in his reviews a few inches down), this issue could have been a sensational first issue – there’s a mystery, there’s action, there’s natural conflict. But because it was preceded by 2 issues of soft plushy padded padding, and because of the apparent WHAT IF…? nature of this story, the audience is mellllllting away.

We ordered 150 of issue #1. Sold 100. 66% sell through means I lost money.

We ordered 125 copies of #2. Sold 84 copies so far. Slightly better at 67%, but still a solid money loser.

We ordered 100 copies of #3, and our first week sales are only 63 copies. With any luck I’ll get to 85 sold by week #4, though I’m not much holding my breath, but at least that would edge that issue up closer to profitability.

Since #3 didn’t have any cracking in it, I suspect #4 will drop to 75 copies or lower, a massive failure for THE big “Summer tentpole event”. I’m going to be chasing those numbers down down dowwwwwn, and hopefully when the dust settles, I won’t have lost my shirt too badly.

In last week’s BOOK OF THE WEEK, Don Rosa’s LIFE AND TIMES OF SCROOGE McDUCK, there are several text pieces when Rosa describes his editor THROWING OUT at least 2 fully laid out and written segments of the book, because they weren’t strong enough.

Would that Marvel editors had the personal will and responsibility to the characters they caretake, and the customers who trust them, to do the same.

Seriously, what do American comics editors DO? Traffic Manage? Is that it?

Mm, and “first appearance of Layla Miller” or whatever? Who? What? Maybe that chick who was getting mugged in the alley? Maybe? Hardly an auspicious debut to a “major new character”, really.

Bottom line: The art was spiff, the writing was strong enough, and, on it’s own merits, this was prolly a low “Good” or a high “OK”, but as 3/7ths of a major event, with promised major ramifications, this was AWFUL.

IRON MAN: HOUSE OF M #1: was pretty EH, but does anyone actually like Pat Lee’s art, or is he coasting on once being “hot” because the TRANSFORMER license was hot once? I don’t know, but I can’t stand his art.

FANTASTIC FOUR HOUSE OF M #1: Doesn’t actually have the FF in it, so there’s a big strike against it. Meh, I can’t see anything coming out of this branch of the story at all, so AWFUL.

HULK #83: I swear this is why PAD stopped working at Marvel in the first place? That’s how I recall it, anyway. And, is it just me, or did this blow the plot of the Scorpion in AMAZING FANTASY? And was that “Machine Teen” in there as well? Meh to dictated crossovers. I liked the thoughts behind the aboriginal plot bits though, so I can go with OK.

UNCANNY X-MEN #462: Made less sense than something senseless indeed, but damn if this wasn’t pretty as all fuck, and, possibly, my favorite art job of Alan Davis of any of his UNCANNY run. So for that, and only that, since this was incomprehensible nonsense, I’ll go with OK.

SUPERMAN #219: Speaking of incomprehensible nonsense… If that had anything to do with OMAC, it was pretty impossible to tell from these 22 pages (Besides, wasn’t he at his desk? Or supposed to be in space looking for the satellites? What happened to that?), 22 pages of “let’s act out of character, and pretend that no one notices”. I’m also getting super-fucking-sick of this “Superman as badass” shit – Superman DOESN’T KILL, period, so any story predicated on “He does, this time” is pure CRAP.

DC SPECIAL RETURN OF DONNA TROY #2: Uh, what? I have no idea what’s going on, or how she “returned” or why I should give a rat’s ass.

Huh, and here come the comics, that’s all I have time for this week. See you in 7 or under with more…

What did YOU think? Click Here to Read More...

Here's this week's list. Pretty good week of books, it looks like.

I'll have reviews up... tomorrow. No, really. I'm planning to write them on my AlphaSmart at the store in the morning since, this being San Diego week, I don't have my normal spate of phone calls or whatever to make.

It'll be late, but it'll be there, yes. So check back later.

(I haven't read Lester's comments, either, to make sure I don't lose my will to write. Hooray!)

-B

100 BULLETS #62
ACTION COMICS #829
ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THEBOY WONDER #1
ANGEL THE CURSE #2 (OF 5)
ARMOR X #4
BANANA SUNDAYS #1 (OF 4)
BATMAN #642
BATMAN STRIKES #11
BETTY & VERONICA DIGEST #158
BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL #103
BODY BAGS FATHERS DAY #1 (OF 2)
BREACH #7
BRONTES INFERNAL ANGRIA #1 (OF 3)
BRUNNERS CARNAL DELIGHTS ALICE CVR #1 (A)
CANVAS ONE SHOT
CHOLLY & FLYTRAP #4 (OF 4)
CITY OF HEROES #3
COEXISTING ONE SHOT
DESOLATION JONES #2
DORK TOWER #31
DR BLINK SUPERHERO SHRINK #2
FABLES #39
FRESHMEN PEREZ CVR #1
GRAVITY #2 (OF 5)
GREEN ARROW #52
GUNCANDY #1 (OF 2)
HAWKMAN #42
HERCULES #4 (OF 5)
HERO CAMP #3 (OF 4)
INVINCIBLE #24
JLA #116
JUGHEADS DOUBLE DIGEST #114
LACKLUSTER WORLD #3
LIVING WITH ZOMBIES #3
MAD MAGAZINE #456
MAJESTIC #7
MAN WITH THE SCREAMING BRAIN #3 (OF 4)
MARVEL NEMESIS IMPERFECTS #3 (OF 6)
MICHAEL CHABON PRESENTS ADV O/T ESCAPIST #7
MIDDLEMAN #1 (OF 4)
MNEMOVORE #4 (OF 6)
MUTOPIA X #1 (OF 5)
NAT TURNER #1
NEW AVENGERS #7
NEW THUNDERBOLTS #10
NEW WARRIORS #2 (OF 6)
NIGHTMARES AND FAIRY TALES #13
NIGHTWING #110
NYX #6
PUNISHER #23
RANN THANAGAR WAR #3 (OF 6)
SCOOBY DOO #98
SERENITY CASSADAY CVR #1 (OF 3)
SERENITY HITCH CVR #1 (OF 3)
SERENITY J G JONES CVR #1 (OF3)
SEVEN SOLDIERS GUARDIAN #3 (OF 4)
SHADOWHAWK #3
SMALL GODS SPECIAL #1
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #151
SPIDER-MAN BREAKOUT #4 (OF 5)
STAR WARS TALES #24
STRANGE DETECTIVE TALES DEAD LOVE #1 (OF 3)
SUPER MANGA BLAST #53
TOXIN #4 (OF 6)
TRAILER PARK TERROR COLOR SPECIAL TUCCI CVR #3
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #21
ULTIMATE X-MEN #61
WALKING DEAD #20
WANNABE #1
WEAPON X DAYS OF FUTURE NOW #1 (OF 5)
WONDER WOMAN #218
X-MEN THE END HEROES AND MARTYRS #5 (OF 6)
ZOMBIE KING #0


Books/ Mags/ Stuff
APPLESEED VOL 1
BERSERK VOL 8 TP 3 &4)
CINEMA PANOPTICUM HC
COMICS JOURNAL #269
DAMPYR #4 NOCTURNE IN RED
ESSENTIAL AVENGERS VOL 1 TP NEW PRINTING
ESSENTIAL KILLRAVEN VOL 1 TP
ESSENTIAL THOR VOL 1 TP NEW PRINTING
FROM EROICA WITH LOVE VOL 4
HELLBOY 2006 WALL CALENDAR
HOGANS ALLEY #13
JUSTICE LEAGUE COMPANION VOL 1 SC
MARVEL KNIGHTS 4 VOL 3 DIVINETIME TP
MAX HAMM FAIRY TALE DETECTIVEVOL 1 TP
NIGHTMARES & FAIRY TALES VOL 2 BEAUTIFUL BEASTS TP
PIN-UP ART OF BILL WENZEL
PLOT SECRET STORY OF PROTOCOLS OF THE ELDERS OF ZION
QUIMBY THE MOUSE WOODEN TOY (RES)
RICA TTE KANJI GN
RIDE VOL 1 TP
SILENT DANCE GN
SMOKE #2 (OF 3)
STEVE DITKO READER VOL 3 TP
SUPERMAN BATMAN VOL 3 ABSOLUTE POWER HC
TOO MUCH COFFEE MAN HOW TO BEHAPPY TP
TOYFARE MARVEL HOUSE OF M CVR #97
ULTIMATE X-MEN VOL 11 MOST DANGEROUS GAME TP
UNIVERSE OF LIBERATORE HC
W.I.T.C.H. VOL 2 GN
X-MEN GOLGOTHA TP
Y THE LAST MAN VOL 5 RING OF TRUTH TP

What looks good to you?!?!

-B Click Here to Read More...

Seemed like kind of an underwhelming week for comix, but maybe I’m the underwhelming one because I didn’t read very many of them at all: some of them sold out before I hit the store on Friday (Hello, Iron Man: House of M!), some of them I didn’t have much interest in reading (Hello, Iron Man: House of M! But also The Return of Donna Troy), and some of them are books I normally love that are in mid-arc and I’m waiting for the trade (Howdy, Finder #37!) because I’m too damn lazy to dig through all the longboxes and put together all the issues.

Hmmm, yes, on second thought, I appear to be the underachieving one in this equation. Nonetheless, here’s what I think about:

AQUAMAN #32: The art on this stays remarkably crisp, issue in and issue out, but the stories, well…only the really demented stuff stuck this time: a subplot about Black Manta recruited as a leader of dispossessed aquatic African-Americans? Assuming it’ll join with Aquaman’s son’s “I love you because you’re colored like me, Aquagirl!” subplot, we’ve got the makings for Do The Right Thing, except underwater and with Aquaman and Black Manta. (Best pun I could come up with was Mo’ Wetter Blues but it didn’t quite work.) Yeah, can’t wait. Eh.

BATMAN DARK DETECTIVE #5 (OF 6): Much more time spent with The Joker this issue, and all the Scarecrow stuff now feels even more like filler. While the scenes with The Joker are far from perfect—his thoughts on his relationship with Batman don’t strike me as crazy so much as sloppy—it’s much closer to the kind of Joker story I want to read, and the art had some beautiful bits (that eyelid lowering in glee, then snapping open with rage). If you’re a Batman/Joker nut, it’ll probably be in the high OK range for you, too.

BATMAN LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #193: The art moves comfortably between the ridiculous (I loved that panel where Batman is literally shown lurking in a bush, business card extended) and the sublime (the striking amounts of detail spent on the backgrounds, particularly that cut-away splash page) which threatens to undercut a reasonably straightforward story about Batman’s early attempt to recruit a band of operatives, Shadow style. However, with all the time spent on the origin of Mr. Freeze and the hows of the agents’ arrangement, none of the operatives have any real personality yet: without that art, things might seem a lot more uninteresting than they are. If the writers can give us a real sense of the operatives (since chances are good things will go poorly for them), it’ll go a long way to keeping me engaged with this. Good.

BLOOD OF THE DEMON #5: I’m hardly surprised when Byrne churns out formulaic superhero stuff, but I am surprised when it’s this inept: Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman battle Etrigan and Morgana LeFay (don’t have the book with me, so I apologize if that’s not the right spelling there) and yet Morgana conveniently disappears for seven or eight pages while everyone tussles with The Demon. I liked the panel where Batman, looking up at a ton of falling debris about to crush him, says only “Hmm...” (apparently this is my week for liking panels with Batman in them) but the rest of this seemed pretty dashed-off and Awful.

DAREDEVIL VS PUNISHER #1: I liked how apeshit and deranged Lapham’s Punisher is, and the art was really quite nice—like a lost issue from the Miller/Janson run on Daredevil—but the “exact double of long-dead lost love” thing made me cringe. I know asking for nuance in a Punisher story is like asking for a cold glass of milk at a vegan street fair, but still…Good, more or less.

EXILES #66: Nothing particularly substantial here but it’s all the little touches (Curt Connors and team wearing those science patrol outfits from Ultraman and fighting kaiju) I like. And the possibility that the team, in trying to save fallen comrades, will end up setting off a chain of multiverse SNAFUs they’ll then have to fix, works as a good “same-but-different” idea for me. Could end up not working as the arc progresses, but the issues itself is between OK and Good, depending on how you feel about the book generally.

GOTHAM CENTRAL #33: A very solid issue with some disturbingly interesting thinking about Robin (“What if he’s got whole camps of Robins?”), some great tough guy dialogue (loved that crack about concrete poisoning) and the art was extra keen, with Batman looking right out of Year One. My favorite issue in a while. Very Good.

HOUSE OF M #3: Would have made a terrific first issue—Wolverine wakes up leading a completely different life from the one he barely remembers, he doesn’t know how or why everything’s changed, he can’t find Professor X. It’d be really riveting stuff if we, the readers, didn’t feel like we already knew the score, but with two issues of set-up under our belt, how can we not? Media fuckin’ res, Marvel. There’s a reason it’s been around for thousands of years as a storytelling device, dammit! OK, I guess, but it could have very easily been much better.

INCREDIBLE HULK #83: I shouldn’t have been affected by the relationship between Banner and the tribe leader since there wasn’t much presented—but I was affected, and felt much more involved in the story as a result. In fact, I may have liked this the most of any of the “House of M” stuff so far (including the mini itself), if only because David’s references to both the Holocaust and the Australian government’s aboriginal relocation program makes the story feel like it’s about something. My biggest bitch about the House of M so far is that it has yet to say anything interesting about cultures in conflict—the whole thematic underpinning of Marvel’s mutant stories—and only functions as one big What If? where people get to play “Where are they now?” with their favorite characters. So to see a bit more thought put into the idea here was refreshing. On the down side, I found the “Hulk smash” stuff dull, but I still would call this a Good read.

JANES WORLD #20: Pleasantly and engagingly cartooned, yet still overpriced and this is the second issue where Braddock opens with an explanation of stuff that happened the previous issue because readers weren’t clear on something. There’s a world and a worldview I want to read about here, but Braddock either has a long way to come or she has already fallen into a lot of leisurely habits that may keep her work from ever feeling truly satisfying. Frustratingly Eh.

JSA #75: The character stuff was strong, but the fight scenes were all incredibly baffling to me: at the core of it, I guess I still don’t understand why The Spectre and Eclipso had to attack Black Adam’s country in the first place. Because Black Adam is magical? Because the people in his country practice magic? And why would The Spectre then give that crusade up if Al let himself be judged? For that matter, The Spectre has always meted out punishment with a sense of poetic justice: where’s the poetic justice in a country being physically trampled by a giant albino in a big green diaper? OK for the character stuff and a few other touches, but still troubling.

MATADOR #3: Stuff happening? Good. Stuff not making any sense? Bad. Lovely looking Eh.

OCEAN #6: Impossible to review fairly: imagine getting out of your seat four-fifths of the way through, I dunno, Peter Hyam’s Outland, and returning to the last fifteen minutes six months later—any payoff, emotional or otherwise, is undercut by your mind laboring to recall what everyone was doing when you stopped watching last. To Ellis’s great credit, I remembered all of the characters, and their relationships to each other, quite clearly, but those little jujubee bullet thingies? The gravity control stuff? The establishment of the guns as recoil-free to allow Kane to do kick-ass gun stuff in zero g? Even if I assume all of that was well-established (and there was some reason why the crew couldn’t just toggle the gravity back and forth repeatedly until the attackers were battered unconscious) previously, I think I still would have felt a little underwhelmed. Sure, gun fights and super-splodey—fine. But to spend so many issues with an alien race of living guns being built up in your mind and then just seeing a flash of them as shit explodes—well, that really never did the trick for me in the movies, either. Like Orbiter, I kinda felt like this ended just when I wanted it to really start, and I can’t really work up more than an OK as a result. Perhaps the trade will show I’m once again muttering through my butt cleft…

SHANNA THE SHE DEVIL #6 (OF 7): Boy, I hope Hibbs reviews this. Super-low Eh.

SON OF VULCAN #2 (OF 6): I don’t know if it’s the coloring or the layouts or what, but I tried two or three times to get past the first four pages. When I finally did so, as with the first issue, I liked what I read—I very much like the milieu, as Vulcan’s superhero trappings feel both specific and iconic. But I hope I’m the only person having trouble with those first four pages, because I don’t think customers at a comics rack will give a new title that many passes. Good.

SUPERMAN #219: I hate issue-long dream/delusion sequences where the main character acts wildly out of character and you can’t really say shit about it because anyone who did like it would go, “But it’s a dream!” Suffice it to say a Superman that breaks open Brainiac’s ship without making sure there’s anyone else on board (you know, with all those super-senses Lois goes on and on about in the first few pages of the issue) is a Superasshat. Also, I don’t know who they had Superman injure/kill but, based on the previous issue of The Omac Project, if it’s not Batman I kinda don’t see the point. Check, please! Awful.

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #79: I’m enough of a Marvel nerd that I can appreciate a Marvel Team-Up trope when I’m given one, and I liked the replay of last issue’s scene from Peter’s point of view. Pretty far up the OK scale.

UNCANNY X-MEN #462: God, that Alan Davis can draw! I really loved the mix and match designs that spun out of chaosverse (particularly after Hibbs pointed out that brilliant Deathlok/Captain America character) but even just scenes of Rachel and Psylocke against the blankness of the White Hot Room were lovely. Too bad it was all heart-stoppingly dumb, though. A very high OK for the art alone.

VILLAINS UNITED #3: I liked most of it but Catman’s getaway was less than inspired—I just didn’t buy it, frankly. And you get a character like the Crime Doctor and all he does is shock people with a car battery? They could’ve just gotten the Crime Tow Truck Driver to do that! Let’s see some sewn together eyelids and disturbing organ removals, people! A waning Eh.

Y THE LAST MAN #35: Hmmm. I remember liking it fine, but I can barely recall a thing about it a day later. Chalk it up to my underachieving soul and call it OK at least.

PICK OF THE WEEK: Guess it’s Gotham Central #33, although the competition was pretty damn anemic.

PICK OF THE WEAK: Was going to be Blood of the Demon #5 but now, even though I flipped through it twice at the store, I’m worried I missed some crucial sequence that explains away all my problems. So let’s go with Superman #219.

TRADE PICK: Dead Boy Detectives Digest came home with me but I haven’t cracked it open yet. I’ll let you know. Also, I was a big fan of Boneyard in black and white so I can’t imagine it’s any worse in color, and the new printing of Grant Morrison and Jae Lee’s Fantastic Four 1234 is totally worth reading/owning if you don’t have it already.

I was also able to read the review copy Fanta sent to Hibbs of The Night Fisher (and Volume 4 of The Complete Peanuts, of which I only read Jonathan Franzen’s opening essay) and am thinking I may try for a mid-week essay covering The Night Fisher, The Push Man, maybe Vol. 4 of Complete Peanuts, and Walt & Skeezix. We’ll see if that comes together, or just opt for the underachieving thing again.

Labels: Jeff

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The grand wrap-up to this week's "Salute to Content" with June's column now up and running, just in time for me to get to the store and start reading this week's comics. Ah, the Internet--it's a treadmill of trivia! (Perhaps even a cosmic treadmill of trivia, with the original Reverse Flash astride it, if Charles W. is to be believed.)

Labels: Jeff

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Okay, the "Salute to Content" week continues, with the second Fanboy Rampage column, dealing with the return of my evil twin, now up. June's installment will be posted tomorrow.

I bought an Adaptec PCI card for my PC yesterday, figuring it was finally time I got some USB 2.0 ports in my PC, and it's been sheer hell getting the thing installed. Of course, I have no idea what I'm doing and, of course, the instruction manual makes it seem like it's the easiest thing in the world and, of course, it turns out there are conflicts between my BIOS and earlier versions of the card and I should make sure that Bus Mastering Support is provided and enabled for the PCI slot, yadda, yadda, yadda. Someday our bald, big-headed descendants will look back on the shit we went through and laugh their three asses off (I haven't decided yet whether each descendant has three asses, or if there are only three asses for the collective mass of them).

Labels: Jeff

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You, of course, remembered that a Monday holiday means a Thursday shipment, right?

We fielded... oh, easially 20 calls today "are comics in?", though I always assume that half of those are from people for whom we're their "secondary" store, and they're just making sure thier primary didn't, y'know, fuck up or anything.

I had a nice weekend in Monterey, thanks. The hotel room, and Ben, Mr. 20 month....er, he turned 21 on the fourth and I just realized that none of us noticed!... well, let's just say it made a tight fit.

I was planning on taking Ben with me to the DC RRP meeting in November, but my experience in Monterey convinced me that was a lousy idea. 4 days trapped in space and time dictated by a toddler imposes limits that neither Tzipora nor myself can have fun at all.

Having said that, it was a pretty magic weekend -- we went to the Monterey Aquarium, which is, frankly, incredible, and Ben got to see Fireworks off a unobstructed deck maybe a half mile, max away. It was a great view. Seeing Ben's face light up both times more than made up for any discomfort in lodgings.

So, my Mom rocks for that, yes.

Anyway, here are this week's comics!


AMAZING FANTASY #10
AQUAMAN #32
ARMY OF DARKNESS SHOP TIL YOUDROP DEAD #4
BATMAN DARK DETECTIVE #5 (OF 6)
BATMAN LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #193
BATTLE POPE COLOR #1
BETTY & VERONICA #210
BLACKPOOL #1
BLOOD OF THE DEMON #5
BONEREST #1
CATWOMAN WHEN IN ROME #6 (OF 6)
DAREDEVIL VS PUNISHER #1 (OF 6)
DARKNESS #21
DC SPECIAL THE RETURN OF DONNA TROY #2 (OF 4)
DEAD EYES OPEN #1
EXILES #66
FANTASTIC FOUR HOUSE OF M #1 (OF 3)
FATHOM #2
FINDER #37
FIRESTORM #15
GOTHAM CENTRAL #33
HOUSE OF M #3 (OF 8)
HOUSEWIVES AT PLAY #14
HUNTER KILLER #3
INCREDIBLE HULK #83
INTIMATES #9
IRON MAN HOUSE OF M #1 (OF 3)
JANES WORLD #20
JSA #75
JUGHEAD AND FRIENDS DIGEST #3
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #11
LOONEY TUNES #128
MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #5
MARVEL TEAM-UP #10
MATADOR #3 (OF 6)
OCEAN #6 (OF 6)
PALS N GALS DOUBLE DIGEST #95
SHANNA THE SHE DEVIL #6 (OF 7)
SON OF VULCAN #2 (OF 6)
SPIDER-GIRL #88
SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED #10
STAR WARS EMPIRE #32
STRANGE GIRL #2
SUPERMAN #219
SWAMP THING #17
TWILIGHT EXPERIMENT #6 (OF 6)
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #79
UNCANNY X-MEN #462
USAGI YOJIMBO #85
VILLAINS UNITED #3 (OF 6)
WILDGUARD FOOLS GOLD #1 (OF 2)
Y THE LAST MAN #35


AMAZING JOY BUZZARDS VOL 1 TP
AUTHORITY HUMAN ON THE INSIDESC
BONEYARD VOL 1 COLOR ED TP
BUMPERBOY LOSES HIS MARBLES GN
COMICS BUYERS GUIDE SEP 2005 #1608
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS SER1 MASTER CASE ASST
DEAD BOY DETECTIVES DIGEST
ESSENTIAL DAREDEVIL VOL 1 TP NEW PRINTING
ESSENTIAL IRON MAN VOL 1 TP NEW PRINTING
FANTASTIC FOUR 1234 TP NEW PTG
FEMME FATALES JULY AUGUST VOL14 #3
FREAKS OF THE HEARTLAND TP
FREE FRESHMEN PREVIEW BOOK
HEAVY METAL SUMMER 2005
HORNY BIKER SLUTS VOL 1 TP NEW PTG
LEES TOY REVIEW JULY 2005 #153
MIRROR MASK REALLY USEFUL JOURNAL
MOCCA WILL EISNER A RETROSPECTIVE
ROBOT GN
ROGUE TROOPER VOL 2 FORT NEURO TP
ROOM MATES VOL 1 GN
SPACE GHOST TP
SUPERMAN THAT HEALING TOUCH TP
TEZUKAS BUDDHA VOL 6 ANANDA HC
THING FREAKSHOW TP
TRANSGENESIS 2025 VOL 1 ANCESTOR PROGRAM TP
X-MEN NEW AGE OF APOCALYPSE TP
YURI MONOGATARI GN
AVENGERS ASSEMBLE DOLLAR DIGEST
FANTASTIC FOUR FIRST FAMILY DOLLAR DIGEST
HULK HULK SMASH DOLLAR DIGEST
SPIDER-MAN AMAZING FANTASY DOLLAR DIGEST
SPIDER-MAN DOCTOR OCTOPUS DOLLAR DIGEST
X-MEN CHILDREN OF THE ATOM DOLLAR DIGEST

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Okay, so true to my word, I've begun catching up on posting the Fanboy Rampage columns I do for the CE newsletter and will add links here each day as I upload 'em. It's, like, content! Kinda! So first up, we have a look at DC's timeline of Infinite Crisis, and my own particularly berserk spin on it, although if DC doesn't end up using "two Ectobane pizzas from beyond hypertime..." I'll be bummed.

And I know I'm wayyyyy behind the curve on this, but Hawk & Dove action figures?? Wha? I was in Target yesterday, stopped by the action figure aisle on a lark, and got knocked on my ass over these. I got the action figure monkey off my back several years ago but between my purchase of this set and DC Direct's Composite Superman, I wonder if I'm not slowly falling off the wagon. Christ, I hope not.

Labels: Jeff

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Ahh, holiday weekends. They are truly lovely things, even if you're a guy stuck in an office on a Saturday. Now that I've finished the few crackpot jobs lying around, I've got time to grouse about this week's books for those of you who'll next check out this site on Tuesday...or Wednesday...or sometime, maybe. Despite all the fake-outs Hibbs and I have been pulling lately with the "I'm not doing reviews/ no wait, I am after all," he assured me that he's not doing reviews this week. He's off doing a family thing and is staying in some hotel down in, uhh, Santa Barbara, I guess? As always, Hibbs talked about it with all the gusto of a convicted prisoner describing his upcoming trip to the gallows, but the important thing is I can pass along his observations about the books (when I remember 'em) and not feel like I'm stepping on his toes.

And it's not a review, so much as an observation, but didn't Land of the Dead kinda seem like what you'd get if George Romero and Gene Roddenberry had collaborated on a TV show pilot? Very odd...

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #521: Nothing worse than an issue where the main characters have to act like genuine idiots in order to get any story going at all. (I'm too lazy to look up the exact entry, but google Kung-Fu Monkey for the term "carrying the idiot ball.") I'm kinda aghast at how far downhill JMS has gone on this title. Awful.

AUTHORITY LOBO SPRING BREAK MASSACRE: Although Giffen writes them in a straightforward fashion, I was delighted by how Bisley makes The Authority look like a pack of deranged supercreeps. I don't like Lobo and the story did more or less nothing for me, but the art alone (not even close to Bisley's best, mind you, although his rabbit dictator was amazing) makes this a pretty high OK.

BATGIRL #65: Hibbs liked the dark humor of the ending but thought this was nothing special otherwise; I thought it was both unrealistic and unnuanced. Although I haven't bothered to keep up with the Batgirl title for a long time, I kinda felt like the story was unfair to the character: apart from Batman, there was no conversation that didn't begin with a fight, end with a fight, or take place during a fight--and those were with her friends and family. Maybe that last match would've meant a little more if it'd been different from the rest of the issue. Eh.

BATMAN #641: Okay, finally with the reveal promised a bunch of issues ago. And I thought this worked well--the art is pretty and Judd's given the Hood an enjoyable mix of wit and bitterness that gave the issue much more emotional resonance than I thought it might. But it also had a very abrupt ending, and the ground covered in the discussion between Bats and RH sounded more like the talking points of one of Judd's interviews than I would have liked. There's a lot of potential in the storyline, but I worry that bad habits on the part of either the writer or editorial could wreck this pretty easily. Good.

BATMAN ALLIES SECRET FILES 2005: Hibbs was pretty funny about this: "Allies? Batman doesn't have any allies anymore! Shouldn't they call this the Batman Non-Enemies Secret Files?" I really liked the half-page Joker anecdote in Will Pfeifer and Ron Randall's story but thought the rest of it lived up to the sloppiness of the title. Super-low Eh.

FANTASTIC FOUR #528: You just gotta wonder about Reed Richards. He's the smartest guy on Earth, has supposedly been working on Ben Grimm's cure forever and still seems utterly out of it when it comes to the accident that created the FF--this is no particular slam against JMS, it's pretty much always been the case, but boy does it seem creakier every time it's trotted out. And Reed's analysis of why each of the four got the powers that they did made me nostalgic for a topless Adrienne Barbeau, since the idea seems cribbed from Wes Craven's Swamp Thing movie more or less outright. But the "Ben Grimm, Millionaire" plot has some potential, I guess. Let's go with Eh.

FLASH #222 and #223: I liked it, particularly since Johns loads two sub-plots into the Boomerang subplot. [Note: I'd missed the previous issue of Flash and so read both at the store. As Peter Adriaenssens pointed out in the comments, almost all of this review is about Flash #222. Oy!] I almost wish he'd tried for more: "Don't tell him who his mother is! And keep him away from his broth--Aghhhh! Oh, and I'm not his real father! It's actually Barry Alll--urghhh! But for God's sake, tell him to be careful with the anti-life equation tattooed on his testi--clahhhhh!" Good, because I did like it but seriously, between this and Teen Titans (and Wonder Woman...), I'm wondering if DC is preparing us for Infinite Paternity Crisis... [And since that was all about Flash #222, I wonder how good Flash #223 actually was. I remember it ended with The Reverse-Flash and the cosmic treadmill; I also remember Reverse-Flash kept insisting he wasn't a villain, which must make things a little complex when he's, you know, meeting with his Secret Society of Super-Villains and everything... Anyway, let's call both issues Good and go back to pretending I know what I'm talking about, okay? Thanks!]

GREEN LANTERN #2: Kinda dull, and can DC ever bring back one version of Manhunter, without bringing back every version of Manhunter at the same time? It seems to do no one any favors. Eh.

GRIMOIRE #4: Missed last issue (again), but I'll definitely be picking up the trade on this one when they get it out. A very enjoyable read. Good.

OMAC PROJECT #3: I am deeply confused by those last two pages. Isn't Clark out in space looking for that satellite? Is Max Lord doing his brain-worky thingy? Or did he travel back in time and space to impregnate Lara on the Planet Krypton? (Crafty Max Lord! Crafty Infinite Paternity Crisis!) Hibbs actually had a better take on the whole deal, since he noticed that Jack Kirby is getting a creator credit for OMAC on the title page. On the one hand, he pointed out, this is the sort of stuff that Kirby would *not* have wanted his name associated with it since Kirby was all about the sweep and the uplift of the new, and this is very much the grim and gritty retconning and regurging of the old. But, on the other hand, Kirby would have wanted his name on it if it meant Roz was getting some money, and got money every time OMAC appeared. If anyone knows what the arrangement is, we'd be mighty interested.... Eh.

OUTSIDERS #25: And so Judd Winick kills the only relationship in the book that I cared about. Also, DC talks a pretty good talk about "quality control" and "tightly managed crossovers," but this leads directly into the first issue of a mini that came out a month ago, dramatically stunting its impact. I can sorta let Judd off the hook since I really get the feeling the guy really wants to be Chris Claremont circa 1982, and it's the sort of thing that might've maybe worked if the rest of the team weren't snarly asshats, but DC, on the other hand, has no excuse. Between the scheduling snafus and the lack of crossover notices on the cover, the DCU comes across less like a meticulously coordinated universe and more like a clumsy daisy chain of "goddamned plotless free-for-alls" (to paraphrase Kurt Busiek's timeless quote on the CE bathroom wall). Somewhere between Awful and Eh.

PENNY & AGGIE #1: Not exactly brilliant stuff, but it's an attempt to bring a different kind of a book to the market (it's sorta/kinda like Betty & Veronica in a daily webcomic version of Clueless) and, although it straddles the line between incompetent and inept somewhat precariously, it never entirely flies off into the void of crapitude. Very much Eh, but with the hopes the creators get some chops, develop a more comfortable format to develop their storylines in, and find the skills to suit their ambition. It'd be worth it.

PLANETARY #23: A damned keen issue although the "Worst. Rescue. Ever." line harshed my buzz a little bit. A very admirable job of both filling in us in on the Drummer (finally!) and underscoring how much of the drama of the finale may well rest on Snow's internal struggles. Very Good.

SEVEN SOLDIERS SHINING KNIGHT #3: Sadly reminded me of my experience with Sartrean existentialism: Either there's no real there there and the same stuff just keeps gettting said over and over and over, or I am totally missing fine gradations of nuance and it just seems like the same stuff keeps geting said over and over and over. Considering how badly Morrison telegraphed the identity of the white-haired chick, I'm thinking it's more the latter. Barring an unforeseen fourth issue Hail Mary, this is a very disappointing Awful.

SHAUN OF THE DEAD #1: This is why Hibbs and I should do reviews at the same time more often: He, having never seen the movie, thought this was funny and a good adaptation; I, who have seen the movie, thought it was a well-intentioned disaster as punchline after punchline gets stamped on or blown. Adapting a movie to a comic is a torturous affair, to be sure, and the one element that suffers the most--timing--is the thing that makes or breaks a comedy. It's trying hard to do the impossible, but I thought this was Awful (particularly since, at $3.99 a pop, you can buy the entire movie on DVD cheaper than you can read the adaptation). Hibbs, on the other hand, thought it was Good and is now interested in seeing the movie, so go figure.

SOLO #5: Oh my god, this was good. Shockingly good. I'm a fan of Darwyn Cooke's since before New Frontier and I was still shocked at how good this was. Every one of the stories work, the interludes work, the fun page works, the pin-up page, right out of the heyday of men's magazines, works, and it all works well by being clever and intelligent and gorgeous to look at. I've been really freakin' stingy with the Excellent ratings since SavCrit got restarted as a blog, so pretend it came from Brian: this is Excellent work and absolutely the best bang-for-your-buck of the week. Go get it.

SPAWN #147: I check this title out every once in a while to make sure I'm not missing anything. I'm not. Awful.

SPIDER MAN HUMAN TORCH #5: If nothing else, a pretty great argument for why Spider-Man would make more sense on the Fantastic Four than on the Avengers. Darn heavy on the sentimentality, but arguably well-earned by all the preceding issues of the miniseries (and, by extension, all the Spidey/Torch stories of yesteryear). A good Spider-Man story is my weak spot, so I can't blame you if you disbelieve the Very Good rating (in fact, I can imagine Hibbs saying, "Yeahhhh, it was all right, I guess. It wasn't that good, though.") but I quite liked it. (Take that, Imaginary Hibbs!)

SURROGATES #1: Competent and assured science fiction (although Hibbs thought it started to fall apart if you read the text pieces, which I didn't); kinda reminded me of prime Bradbury (without the treacle) (and that example probably doesn't really tell you more than how generally apathetic I am about science fiction literature). I quite liked it, faux Ashley Wood/Ben Templesmith style art and all. A high Good.

WONDER WOMAN #217: I'm no continuity nerd, but...it looks like the events at the end of this get Wonder Woman caught up for DC Countdown, right? So why does Wonder Girl still think her dad might be Ares in issues of Teen Titans that take place after Countdown when she finds out for sure here? Whatever. Eh.

X-MEN #172: Come back, Chuck Austen, all is forgiven! My new theory is that the editor on X-Men refuses to accept any script outlines that do not read like bad fanfic, and this issue is Exhibit A. Awful, but more like Ewwwwful.

X-MEN KITTY PRYDE SHADOW & FLAME #1: Paul Smith did the art for this and it breaks my heart: a great talent working on a less-than-great script. Beautiful but less than Eh. So sad.

YOUNG AVENGERS #5: The romantic stuff with Iron Lad and Giant Chick seemed to come out of left field, and some of the action scenes caused some head-scratching but I am really enjoying this comic anyway. There've been missteps with every issue and yet each issue has enough Good stuff to it, I don't care.

PICK OF THE WEEK: Solo #5 by the remarkable Darwyn Cooke. No question.

PICK OF THE WEAK: Shining Knight #3 because of the whole dashed expectations thing, or maybe Spawn #147 because it just keeps sucking and sucking and sucking...

TRADE PICK OF THE WEEK: Haven't really started anything, but I was pretty damn excited to have taken home The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck by Don Rosa, and am looking forward to reading it over the holiday weekend.

I still haven't written anything on The Push Man and would still like to, and may let you know when I post the latest Fanboy because I was pretty amused when I wrote it, but that'll probably be around the middle of the week. Happy Fourth to those of you celebrating it!

Labels: Jeff

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