Daredevil #12 - So the downside to my Marvel Timeline Project is every time i read a comic like this, which goes into an extended flashback that covers new ground on Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson in law school, instead of just enjoying it, i'm busy worrying about what contradictions it's going to introduce. I don't think this particular flashback actually hurts anything (although the idea that Foggy was possibly secretly financing Matt's education is new information), but something Waid's DD series in general has been pushing is the idea that Foggy is the better academic lawyer, whereas Matt is the courtroom super-star (and, of course, the super-sleuth and human lie detector) but not all that familiar with case law. There's some support for this in past runs depicting "modern" Nelson & Murdock, but i think flashbacks showing the law school years generally depicted Foggy as bungling and amazed by Matt's ability to breeze his classes. I actually like Waid's way of making both characters useful in their own way so i'm happy to let it slide, but these are the things that go through my head, just so you know. Beyond that, i'm worried that Waid is losing focus a little with this series. The appeal with this reboot of Daredevil was really, "Yes, we know that Daredevil's been through tragedy after tragedy for the past couple of decades, but we're just going to blow past all that and have him put on a happy face and fight super-villains outside his traditional rogue's gallery like the Spot, Klaw, and Mole Man". And in the background, you have Foggy looking at his friend and worrying about what his cheerful avoidance says about his sanity, but that was basically an out to bring back the grim & gritty stuff at some future date and to maintain continuity with the past. But really we just want to read some fun Daredevil stories. I mention all this because 1) the Omega Whatever storyline is going on too long and it's putting all of Matt's friends at great risk, which for those of us who've read a couple of Daredevil stories is a very real threat that we've seen acted upon on more than one occasion and 2) No one, at this point, wants to see a new love interest introduced in Daredevil. Unless her name starts with Black, the odds of her eventually being turned into a druggy porn star and/or killed or at least traumatically frightened are pretty high, whatever Waid's current intentions (which, again, at least involve being threatened by one of the Omega super-gangs). Similar with the Secret ID thing; i like the way Waid got around that initially: everyone knows it but Matt's willfully pretending otherwise and after a while it settles back to rumor status. But having the Secret ID and the pursuit thereof being an actual plot point makes us stare it in the face, which (i thought) wasn't the idea. All of this is caveated with the caution that it may be Waid's intention to start tearing down the facade that Matt has constructed for himself. Waid's a good writer, and this issue is fine (artwise too). Just making sure we know where we're going.

X-Factor #235 - I know i've been vacillating wildy on this book and we're reaching increased frequency because now i'm going between loving and hating it within a single issue. I didn't think i was going to like the goofy take on vigilante heroes, which isn't something we really need a "take" on in a world that has actual super-heroes, but i liked the idea of X-Factor infiltrating the group. Then i got really annoyed by the exaggerated fighting between Havoc and Madrox. Then i liked the humanizing dialogue with the vigilantes and some of the other character interactions, and then i thought the big baddie who showed up at the end was pretty lame. But he's so 90s lame that he must be a parody designed to fight the ultimate 90s character Shatterstar, right? So, who knows what i think? One thing i do know is that since PAD is so jokey it's really best to pair him with an artist that really plays it straight - i remember the Starlin two-parter in Captain Marvel being a huge uptick compared to the surrounding issues, for example (but again, it's Starlin and we were comparing him to ChrisChross), but instead the artists for this series tend to ham it up and go with exaggerated facial expressions and poses which exacerbate the farcical dialogue. I think Kirk is a good artist and the art on the series is fine; i'm just asking for everyone to please tone it down.

Avengers Academy #29 - Whenever Gage starts writing some new characters from another series that i haven't read, i go through a couple of stages. First, "oh boy, now i have to read about these losers". Then, "hey, these characters are actually interesting! Now i'm regretting not following their old series. I need to make a mycomicshop order!". Then, "Waaaaiitaminute! I probably won't like them if they're not by Gage. Or will i...? Now what do i do?!?". And with the addition of the X-Children (why aren't they called the New Mutants?) to this series, i was prepared to go through my Gage Stages, and i did, but not quite in the way i expected. Because instead of focusing on the X-Kids (who i actually felt were a bit undeveloped here), i found myself thinking, "Sebastian Shaw is an amnesiac, and he's hanging around with the X-Men's extended family? That's lame." And then "Hey, that book bonking idea was really cool, i guess this version of Shaw is actually interesting, what did i miss regarding him previously?". Then as usual i caught myself. But clearly i enjoyed that and thought it was a cool use of Shaw's powers. And i enjoyed the book more generally too. Great scene with Mettle and Loa. And Hercules' appearance is certainly welcome and i hope he sticks around. And i know there were "budget cuts" that affected the artist on this book, but i think the art is looking good.

Avengers vs. X-Men #3 - Ok, let's just reveal that Wolverine has secretly been replaced with Mr. Immortal. It'll save all of us a lot of agitation. I mean honestly. Especially if during the same issue you're going to have him square off against Captain America and expect us to think Cap has a plausible chance of winning against a guy who can regenerate all his flash-fried flesh back in an hour and then go running off in search of a new fight. Also, having your characters say out loud "Hey, we're acting out of character!" doesn't really solve the problem. That said, we knew what we were getting into for this series, and i like the old school JLA/Avengers-Defenders War approach of having the teams split up and go to various Marvel specific locales where they will presumably have to fight each other again. That's all we're in it for, so just skip the plot and get them fighting.

these speed reviews are becoming the opposite of speedy.

DD: i felt like the art changed from one style on Page 1 to a totally different style on Page 3. i kept looking at the credits to see if there were multiple artists or inkers. Page 1 was fine. Page 3 and onward was blech.

is Matt Murdock covered in pheromones? why are all the women tripping over themselves to get with him ALL OF THE TIME?

as soon as it gets "grim & gritty" again, i.e. depressing, i'm outta here.

XF: Shatterstar. heh. and the villain with the big gun at the end. nice.

AA: why is X-23's costume a bra? it's not a "midriff-baring top", it's a bra.

is saying Shaw absorbs kinetic energy correct? he doesn't absorb it from being thrown, only from direct impacts to his body. it just seems imprecise and it irritates me when physics terms are used in possibly imprecise ways.

A vs XM: ugh. that he didn't regenerate it in 5 seconds is, i guess, their idea of Wolverine's healing factor not being too ridiculously effective. just ugh.

nice trick with Magick posing as Doctor Strange. when i saw Strange carrying Magick's body, i thought "goddammit. i was so sure she was going to hand him is ass." so yay. she won.

that said, can we hurry up and get to the part where the Phoenix actually arrives and the shit hits the fan?

oh, and believe me, i know i'm being ridiculously sensitive about this kinetic energy thing. i don't even know that i'm right to doubt the use of the term in this instance because it mostly sounds right but sort of not quite, and i don't remember enough physics to know one way or another.