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« Spare Penis | Main | Pride and Prejudice for Dummies »

SuperMegaSpeed Reviews

Captain Marvel #9 - So we all hated the time travel arc and with DeConnick also doing a poor job on Avengers Assemble, we decided that the Monica Rambeau arc was good, but not good enough to keep getting the book. Then min changed her mind, so here we are. And i'm glad she did; i thought this was a cute talky sort of book. I don't love the "here's some dinosaurs to fight; who cares why?" sort of action element where it feels like an obligatory acknowledgement that this is a super-hero book and not an indie soap opera book. But i did like the soap opera bits (until the Disease of the Week ending; hopefully that is just about limiting Carol's powers and nothing more, but then again: why do we need to limit her powers?) and i thought the cutesy stylized art fit the book's tone.

Secret Avengers #1 - This is like a solid C book that has the interesting angle of showing the new Nick Fury as a dirty Black Ops guy (along with Coulson and Hill). If Marvel was only putting out like 20 books a month, i'd probably get this. But i'm already kind of overwhelmed and all told i don't think i need to add a Hawkeye/Black Widow to the pull list.

Uncanny X-Men #1 - Same basic thing here. I did like Bachalo's art and the new costumes. I don't really buy the Magneto switch (surely he himself has tried to kill Xavier a number of times, and he also understands what it's like to not be in control of your own actions) but i think there's room for a double-cross here or some other explanation. I have been a defender of Bendis' dialogue, tics and all, but i really am starting to need a break from it. Magneto saying "This -- what I'm describing to you -- is what you call a lucky shot."... there's nothing inherently wrong with it but it just doesn't feel right. I'm tired of everyone sounding the same. More critically, i don't see what this story can't be combined with the one in All New X-Men. In a single comic, i mean. We need to pick up the pace on these books again. We've decompressed as much as we can decompress and now it's time to squeeze things back together a little bit. You know that Bachalo won't be able to draw every issue of this series; how awesome would it be for him and Immonen to switch off on a single book? So as much as i feel like i'm required to get this if i'm getting All-New, i'm saying we drop it.

Avengers Arena #4 - Well, i asked for the kids to get together and try to figure stuff out, but obviously Hopeless won't let that happen. It reads like plot-driven distrust; i really think that X-23 is both willing to believe and also capable of determining that Chase wasn't the guy who attacked Reptil. Still, i want to see where this story goes. According to the lettercol, issue #7 will have some revelations, so i think that's our next checkpoint.

By fnord12 | February 18, 2013, 3:55 PM | Comics


Comments

Captain Marvel: i changed my mind. i thought about it. it's a book about a strong female lead, written by a woman and the art is not exploitive. why was i not giving this more of a shot? DeConnick really screwed up starting with a time travel story - people only tolerate time travel stories when they care about the character. you can't start with a time travel story as the intro to the character - but i liked the Photon story and tried to think positively. so here we are, and i have to say i'm ok with the book generally.

the art style might not be something everyone likes but i would take this over Guice or Land any day. why? cause you can follow the action. Unlike Guice, Andrade is able to tell a coherent story with his art and unlike Land, the characters have expressions and emotions and regular-sized teeth.

as far as the story goes - wasn't the last time Ms. Captain Marvel get her own title also totally focused on how she was managing her day-to-day life? the superhero gig gets pushed to the background and the main story is following her around and possibly seeing her date. let's contrast this with pretty much every single character book with a male lead - Captain America, Iron Man, Winter Soldier, etc. with these male lead books, the day-to-day is in the background. getting the bad guys is the main objective.

i can't speak for all women comic book readers out there, but i'm completely not in it for the soap opera life affirmation romance story. this is why i'm definitely not reading the She-Hulk or Rogue novels Marvel is putting out. i'm reading superhero comics for the superheroes to kick ass. a side of character development is fine, but please, let's not make it the focus. let's not turn Captain Marvel into an episode of Felicity because i really want to like this book.

SA: i am actually enjoying this book. things happened. we have a bit of intrigue. the art was decent (not the cover art, though. ugh.). compare this to Bendis' decompressed time in Uncanny X-Men where it takes a whole issue for Magneto to tell Agent Hill what happened the other day. in Secret Avengers, several days and several actions and conversations have occurred, and it's all been way more engaging than what's going on in either X title. my vote is to keep this on the pull list.

UXM: remember when Gillen wrote that post-Phoenix Five story and it was good? yeah...those were the days. i don't know that this is a bad book, per se. the time has been decompressed to such a point that nothing happens in any one given issue so there's not enough for me to form an opinion. i'm neutral on whether we keep or drop it.

my biggest gripe is the reveal at the end - why the hell does Magneto look like Jason Statham??? he sure as hell doesn't look like Magneto. i don't even know how any of those SHIELD agents knew it was him. even now, i'm convinced it's Jason Statham and would have an easier time believing the SHIELD agents are drunk.

Avengers Arena: i agree that X-23's behavior is out of character. i can understand the suspicion affecting the judgment of Hazmat and Reptil and many of the others we've seen in previous issues. not X-23, though. not after the way she'd been trained as a child. not with her abilities. i'd drop this title.