"No longer like a toad in these foul cellars will I secret the venom of hatred -- for you shall bring me love!" - Erik
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May 1, 2002
Daredevil 33
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Well, i'm just about ready to drop 'em all, get a subscription to Black Panther, and just start watching for trades. Nothing particularly bad this week, but nothing special, either.
Daredevil 33
Daredevil deals with his secret identity being revealed to the public for the... what, now? Third time? I'm suddenly finding myself agreeing with the people who've been saying that this book is moving far too slowly. Absolutely nothing happens this issue. I felt like i was reading an extremely padded strip of Apartment 3-G. So i can't even say "well, yeah, they did the 'daredevil's secret id is revealed' story before, but this time they are doing it well'. Because they aren't doing anything. We were lucky enough to get a half a page of complete repeat from last issue, and three, count 'em, THREE silent pages of the Black Widow leaping around on the rooftops. Matt Murdock spends some time at a complete loss, despite having had his identity revealed to the public around 10 years ago, and then, for the shocker cliffhanger, an option that should've been presented on page 2. The rest of the book explores the life of a police officer and his strained relationship with his wife. I'd say something glib like "If Bendis wants to write a story about a cop and his strained relationship with his wife, let him. I'll read it!", but nothing much really happens there, either. Nice things to say: It's certainly well written, if poorly paced. The dialogue reads well, the characters act realistically (if you pretend that this really is the first time DD's identity is revealed), and the art is as good as always. There's also a good line in there about the illegality of DD's actions in the last, prior-to-Bendis, story arc. I will... *sigh*... i will keep getting this.
Hulk 40
Speaking of books where nothing ever happens... Banner stumbles into a hostage situation and has to keep his calm and not turn into the Hulk because people might get hurt. Meanwhile, the focus on the story is a hostage negotiator, who recently had a bad time on the job. But don't worry, this book isn't anything like the old TV show where Banner would wander into whatever random plots the series writers felt like writing about and just using the Hulk as a walking plot device. Fairly unique artist John Romita JR is missed this month, making this story even less interesting. You know, i loved Bruce Jones' Ka-Zar 400 years ago, and i was really excited when i read all his interviews where he talked like his Hulk was going to be like the sequel to Finnegans Wake. So i stuck around and held my breath and had faith and all that while nothing happened in the first story arc. But now i'm gone. Another $2.25/month added to the CD buying fund.
Muties 4
I like the art to be good in a comic book, but it's never been a draw for me. Nor have i ever dropped a book due to bad art. So mainly i'm indifferent to it, but it certainly enhances an already good story when it is well done, or a good experiment. But i know that other people feel differently, and i understand that some books are just bought for the art. Well, since the stories of the first three issues of Muties were extremely mundane, i assumed that the point of the series was to showcase the experimental art styles. Which is fine. And since i'm a chump, i'll buy anything and i stuck with it. This issue, however, uses art that would fit very well in a 1995 image comic book. Nothing wrong with it, it's just... plain. Like the story. And believe me, this story is even plainer than the first three. At least the first issue had an O'Henry plot twist, and the third issue took place in a setting fairly unique to superhero comic books, so they had something going for them on top of the art, however minor. This issue's got nothing. Nothing. It reads like a cup of water. Except not refreshing. Maybe more like white rice. Nah, i like that too.
Peter Parker, Spider-Man 44
Paul Jenkins is the guy who writes really good, dark, character driven, tension filled stories. You know, he wrote Inhumans. He wrote Spawn: The Undead. He wrote Sentry, which failed only because of repetition between issues and when he tried to be more action oriented in the related one-shots. He also wrote Hulk, and he tried to pick up on the psychological aspects of that character established(badly) by Bill Mantlo and used extensively (and well) by Peter David. Unlike the previous stories, where a cerebal or psychological aspect was essentially the focus, in Hulk he tried to mix those psychological aspects with standard superhero themes. And it didn't work. We ended up with a major retcon to PAD's merged Hulk, and a bazillion "versions" of the Hulk, including one that was a clown and one that was a scary lizard. Meanwhile, the plot went nowhere. Some half baked conspiracy theory guy stuff, or something. Similarly, his best issues of Peter Parker have been the quiet downtime issues. They haven't been dark at all, but they've been rather good. And for a while i thought all was well with the universe, because Peter Parker was the character driven book, as it should be, and Amazing was the book where Spidey took on the megasuper bad guys, like Morlun. Things have been getting more mixed up lately, and now we're setting up for a big Green Goblin fight. Again, there are psychological aspects kinda being thrown into the issue, but i'm not quite sure where it's coming from. Peter and Osborn are sharing some sort of bond where Peter actually has bad dreams when Osborn is coming for him, and Norman considers Peter his son and the heir to the Osborn legacy. Wh-wh-wh-what? I dunno, it's not working for me, and since everything else this month is so bleh, maybe i should concede that i don't think i'm giving it the chance i ought to be. I'll admit the scene where Spidey takes off his mask and says that he isn't playing the game with the Goblin was pretty cool. The art is perfect for the Green Goblin. It's a weird cartoon caricature and it makes him look appropriately disturbed and menacing. The scenes in the rain with Spider-man looked quite good, and it even works well on Osborne, cause he's supposed to be kinda screwy even when he isn't dressed up in a goblin suit. Unfortunately, the same artwork is used on everyone else. Aunt May looks like she fell out of a Ren & Stimpy cartoon. Peter looks about 12 years old. I realize this is a problem with the style and not necessarily the artist's ability, but can't the guy use his stylized art only when it makes sense to and use something more realistic for the "people" scenes? Am i asking too much? I will... *sigh*... i will keep getting this.
Spider-Man Quality Of Life 1
Toy Story covers Spider-Man. If you like watching action figures talk to each other... if you'd like to read Twisted Toyfare Theater but without the humor, this book is for you. Gripe: is Spider-Man is that blatant about taking pictures of himself and the people he is fighting, why can't anyone ever figure out that he's really Peter Parker? All you'd have to do is check the credit on the photo in the paper the next day. Please let's not use bad writing like this 2 years from now in a "The public figures out Spider-man's secret ID" plotline, ok? Greg Rucka matches the art by providing the stiffest dialoge i've read since last week's The Order. Or maybe it's just the art making it feel worse that it really is. But remember when Spidey used to be funny? It's all made up for in the plot, though. For those of you who don't know, the evil plot that the evil nasty villain in this book talks about is not science fiction. It's real. You should read all about Monsanto's terminator seeds and join those polyannas in the street. I'd like to see Monnano/Monsanto become Marvel's Roxxon/Exxon for this decade, and i'll definitely be picking up the rest of this to see how the plot continues. If it ends with Spider-man saying "What Monnano does is wrong, but that's not a problem Super-Heroes can deal with.", i'm agreeing with the "super-heroes are fascist maintainers of the status quo" argument once and for all and petitioning for a Lizard comic book.
Taksmaster 4
What do you want me to say? It's a pretty good action story. It'd make a good kung fu movie. But it ain't the Taskmaster, and it's causing long time problems. I've heard and am sometimes swayed by the argument that continuity shouldn't get in the way of a great story. Maybe, maybe not. The main strength of the Marvel Universe is its great sense of history and cohesion between titles. But continuity shouldn't be confining to a writer doing something grand, either. If a minor detail here or there isn't working, i could see brushing over it. But i don't think anyone would argue that there's no need to ruin a character, however minor, for the sake of a fair to middling story. And that's what's happened here. In the backdrop of this pretty good action story, a number of things have happened to a character who, while he rarely if ever has been in any great stories, has a lot of potential and is fairly unique in comics books. Why? Well, his powers aren't very flashy. Basically, he's a really good fighter*. That's nothing special by itself, of course. That describes 90% of the West Coast Avengers. But on top of that, he's got a real down-to-earth, cut the crap sort of attitude, and, best of all, he doesn't really want to be a super-villain. He doesn't want to rob banks and fight Spider-Man. So he sets up a school and trains goons. You know all those Hydra guys that Captain America knocks over on his way to Modok? Taskmaster trained them to last 30 seconds with Captain America, instead of exploding instantly like a Stormtrooper the second Cap looks at them. That's kinda cool. I've always liked that. (*He gets his "really good fighter" abilites due to a mutant ability that allows him to imitate any normal (key word) ability, once he sees it. So watching Captain America perform a move that he spent years training to do, Taskmaster can do instantly. That's a pretty unique power, i think, but it's one that will never elevate him beyone "peak normal human" status.) Well, that's over now. Now he's a fairly pedestrian mercenary. And he talks kinda like this generic Ken doll. Not even, like, James Bond suave, which is what i think they were going for. Just like some plain ordinary guy. And that's not all. That alone, you could ignore. The problem is that they kinda retconned him into a major power boost. The Taskmaster now:
None of these things were even necessary to tell their little action story, but even if they were, why not use a new character altogether? I don't get it.
X-Force 127
Hey, this is good! There's some satirical social commentary, character development, and a plot with a few twists and some actual progression. The repercussions of a moral choice a character made some time ago are brought back and put things in a new light. The dialogue is fun to read. There's a great line from Mr. Sensitive that touches on the mutant problem and kinda ties it into the marvel universe as a whole. (Isn't that what this is about? Being liked by them?".) The art is typical Allred, which means it's really unique. It's also a lot more detailed and fits more panels per page. The characters have expressive faces and the action scenes are well done. Good stuff.
X-Men 126
Remember the first issue of Grant Morrison's X-Men? You were like "WHOAH! They're actually doing something different with the X-Men, and it's gonna be COOL! Remember that? Yeah, i remember that. Well, that's over now. We've finally meandered our way to the end of the Cassandra Nova storyline, and all the cool ideas that have been dropped along the way are just laying there, dropped. All the stuff about the new, more postive relationship between mutants and humans, the entire class of mutant students that popped up out of nowhere, the whole new direction. I don't think anyone plans to deal with that with any amount of detail. We're too busy spending about 4 issues fighting the Imperial Guard. But Xavier can walk again. That hasn't happened in like, 15 years! I really like having Xorn on the team. I hope we can have Galactus and the Beyonder join, too. Cause there's really nothing better than establishing some plot tension, and then just having some character wave it away. I like that. It gives the book more room to dump in those really deep throwaway lines like "Legend says each of us faces our own personal Mummudrai in the womb, shortly before birth-- It is the first experience of the alien, the "other", the different." I don't know why everyone is so upset that Quitely has been missing. His work is sloppy and done in giant, plot-lite panels. I prefer Igor Kordey's rush jobs. Don't get me wrong. This story isn't crap. It's just plain middle of the road. There's a few good scenes, and it's nice to see Cyclops being a leader with a confident smile on his face. It's just that i expected a hell of a lot more from Morrison.
Extra Crap
Do they really expect to maintain a monthly series of this crap? |