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« Comics: June 2011 | Main | Comics: August 2011 » ComicsDoom has been hanging out with Klaw too much Maybe afterward, Dr. Doom would like to have a nice cup of soop-oop-oop? Spider-Man would like to stop Dr. Doom, but Captain America won't tell him how. He's saving all the glory for the Avengers. By fnord12 | July 31, 2011, 4:38 PM | Comics | Comments (1)| Link Captain America & Bucky #620 - So the Captain America comic gets renamed "Captain America & Bucky" the minute Bucky dies. (Or supposedly dies. Since i don't read Fear Itself, i have seen no evidence that he's actually dead.) And this issue is narrated entirely by Bucky (when does the narration take place? I need to know for my Marvel Timeline project!) and repeats stuff we've already seen in the Return of Bucky arc. With some new information like Bucky had a kid sister - is she going to become the new Bucky when this reminiscence arc is over? I hope not. We already have enough Buckys running around, dead and alive. I enjoyed this; i'm just annoyed that Bucky has died - in a book i'm not even reading - after Brubaker spent so much time convincing me that it was ok to bring him back from the dead in the first place. Also, i noticed this book was co-written by Marc Andreyko, but it still felt like a Brubaker book to me. But i won't be fooled. Last time Brubaker co-wrote a book, it was with Matt Fraction. New Mutants #28 - I don't care if this is just X-Factor #87. I liked it, and i would read it every month. Get Abnett & Lanning on a comic called Psychoanalysis Monthly, and just have them go around the Marvel Universe with variations of this comic. By fnord12 | July 31, 2011, 1:09 PM | Comics | Comments (1)| Link So i was reading up on Thundarr the Barbarian (and it was a passing planet, not solar flares, that caused the earth to fall apart - and get taken over by wizards, of course), and Wikipedia notes an odd fact: Now, Gerber did create Wundarr. He was a Superman parody, sort of a "What if the pod that sent Superman to Earth was never found or opened and he grew to manhood in isolation?". He comes out a super-powered idiot, of course. Later, Gerber left Marvel, and in an issue of Marvel Two-In-One, it was Mark Gruenwald & Ralph Macchio who had Wundarr evolve into the cosmically aware hippie, Aquarian. He's never called "Wundarr the Aquarian". He just changes his name from Wundarr to Aquarian. And i always assumed the name was an "Age of Aquarius" reference; it never would have occurred to me that it was actually a deliberate parody of Gerber's Thundarr the Barbarian cartoon. If it was, there's something of a time paradox, i think. The Marvel Two-In-One comic has a cover date of Dec 79, which means it was published probably a few months earlier than that in actual time. But Wikipedia tells me Thundarr first ran in October 1980. So did Gruenwald & Macchio have some advanced knowledge? It's possible. Or was Thundarr's name actually a nod to what Marvel did to his old character? I doubt it. Is someone a witch? Or is the whole thing just a coincidence? By fnord12 | July 28, 2011, 9:04 AM | Comics
& TeeVee | Comments (2)| Link Captain America Corps #2 - I actually thought the art was better this issue. I know there's no inker but it felt more "inked". I dunno. My one complaint is if you're going to have as bizarre and cool a concept as the Ameridroid shooting his fingers at people, you should really draw it out and show it. Not have him pointing in one panel and then a vague cylindrical object in the next. And look, i'm not saying i thought the art was great. I said "better". Storywise, i'm past the "this is a silly concept" phase (it still is, though), so i'm enjoying it. Roger Stern can still write a good book. Get him a real series. Herc #5 - Ok, i've been vacillating on this series, but this issue was awesome. Avengers #15 - I'm not going to sit here defending these talking heads every issue. It's what the Avengers are doing during Fear Itself. Live with it. I thought this issue did a good job delving into Spider-Woman's character. And i think Bachalo is getting better with the story telling aspect of his art. Avengers Academy #16 - You know who wasn't in this issue at all? The Avengers Academy. This was Henry Pym fighting a super-powered version of the Absorbing Man, who should be able to beat up Giant Man even without a magical Asgardian hammer. So i don't know how Pym gets to beat this guy twice. But this was fine. Hulk #37 - Wow, after Parker's depiction, i actually want to read Fear Itself. Or at least, i want Parker to go back in time and write Fear Itself. This was great. MODOK is great. I like his new attempt at an ego-free attitude and even the way he admonishes himself and corrects for when his ego comes through. This book has turned around quite a bit from that Zero/One story, and i'll like it even more if next issue MODOK goes and kicks the Zero/One crew's ass. But.. what happened to the Omegex the World Ender plot? I know we kind of jumped back in time for issue #36. Are we still back in time? Or did i misread that entirely. I guess it'll sort itself out eventually. By fnord12 | July 24, 2011, 10:56 PM | Comics | Comments (2)| Link Because we don't really want to talk about politics, do we? By fnord12 | July 22, 2011, 12:55 PM | Comics | Comments (3)| Link I like this cover from the new Daredevil relaunch, with a really cool depiction of how Daredevil "sees" (or actually hears) the world. Of course, that's not enough to get me to read a book by Mark Waid written in 2011 (and that's where i deviate from Mike Sterling). By fnord12 | July 21, 2011, 10:50 AM | Comics | Comments (1)| Link Alpha Flight #2 - This was first in my pile this week because i kind of downgraded my expectations after the last issue. Possibly due to Marrina's depiction. And it's probably just a coincidence that Marrina doesn't talk in this issue, but... wow. I'm enjoying the Conspiracy In Canada angle. Great characterizations. And it sure looks to me like they're going to retcon away Puck's ridiculous "sword in my head" origin story. So keep it coming. There's something i don't love about Dale Eaglesham's art, but it's hard for me to say exactly what - the characters are in that grey area where they're too realistic looking but not realistic enough, maybe? And things are a little too stiff - Puck bouncing around the room didn't looke quite right; the Box units are a little too round and not menacing enough. I dunno. Overall, i enjoyed the issue, though. Captain America #1 - If i recall correctly, Steve McNiven is the guy who converted Captain America's chainmail armor into scalemail without telling anyone. So i'm a little down on him even though he is a good artist. And the art is good this issue. As for the story? Points for Baron Zemo. Minuses for introducing some more goddamn super-soldiers into Captain America's WWII backstory. We'll see where it goes. But if i may: this issue implies that Hydra formed out of Nazi Germany. All Marvel fans know that Hydra was an underground Japanese organization that Baron Strucker infiltrated and took over after he fled Germany when the war wasn't going well. And the original Baron Zemo was never a member of Hydra. Sheesh, people, let's do a little research before writing on a subject. Captain Savage and his Leatherneck Raiders #4 isn't exactly an obscure comic. What? It is? Well then, maybe you should have asked me. New Avengers #14 - I don't know what the problem is that certain people have about this comic. I know there's a bit of treading water while the ridiculous Fear Itself mini-series wears itself out. I prefer that to actively participating in the mini since i'm not reading it and i don't want just a portion of the story. But this issue has Spidey raising his issues with Victoria Hand, former Green Goblin lackey. It's got Mockingbird learning about her new super-soldier powers. And it's got Luke Cage hurling Wolverine at a giant Nazi robot. Yes, there are four pages of talking heads. But Bendis is great at talking heads. He was a great dialogue writer in Goldfish, and Powers, and he used the talking heads device and we loved it. Now he's doing it with Avengers. I think it's cool seeing characters that i've grown to love over the years engaging in dialogues and monologues that match their personalities pretty well. I don't see the problem. Oh and you know what else i liked about this issue? The art. New Mutants #27 - I've been looking at my beloved Sugar Man action figure in a new light. "One of the single most capable hand-to-hand combatants" that the X-Men are aware of, huh? Anyway, i thought this was great. Good characterization, a nice use of Steve Rogers, a fun fight, and nice touch at the end with Scott reconciling with X-Man. I like the mission statement for this series and i hope the New Mutants continue to tie up loose ends in the X-Men's backstory even through all of the upcoming Schism stuff. Maybe Abnett & Lanning could write another book just for me called the Continuity Miners - "boldly dredging up bad stories from the past and making them good". Speaking of Sugar Man, it turns out he was originally a fan submission for the Foom Magazine contest from the early 70s. By fnord12 | July 19, 2011, 7:06 PM | Comics | Link Honestly, i would hang out with that kid just to get some of his delicious bubblegum soda. But i'd be wary of that blond girl. She kinda looks like a psycho. By fnord12 | July 16, 2011, 11:12 PM | Comics
& Video Games | Link Hulk #36 - I think Jeff Parker must have caught wind of the fact that my decision to continue collecting this series is dependent on the Omegex the World Ender confrontation, so he's doing whatever he can to delay that. First the Planet Hulk Redux two-parter. Now this Zzzax story which doesn't even take place chronologically after the previous issue. And next month is a Fear Itself tie-in that looks like yet another interpretation of the Red Hulk/Thing fight that we saw in Avengers #14 (and presumptively an issue of Fear Itself as well). That said, i have to admit that i did enjoy this issue. Nice nod to continuity, nice New MODOK action, and a good story. Your strategy is working, Parker! Also, if i'm interpreting that Audrey Loeb back-up strip, it looks like Marvel is going to finally stop ripping off Chris Giarrusso. Thunderbolts #160 - Who doesn't enjoy a Juggernaut fight? I am loving this book. Love Ghost. Love Satana messing with everybody and playing with the Man-Thing (i re-wrote that sentence like 10 times and couldn't make it not sound dirty, so i gave up). I like the machination of the B-team. And i thought the art in the "inside Juggy's head" sequence looked cool (one quibble: i thought Mach-V's symbolic representation should have been a beetle). Yeah. Good book. Too bad it's #64 on the sales charts. By fnord12 | July 13, 2011, 11:06 PM | Comics | Link By fnord12 | July 13, 2011, 11:00 PM | Comics | Link By fnord12 | July 12, 2011, 1:49 PM | Comics | Link By fnord12 | July 12, 2011, 1:44 AM | Comics | Link May. By fnord12 | July 6, 2011, 6:28 PM | Comics | Link Speaking of fixing things, if you aren't reading Jim Shooter's blog, i don't know what's wrong with you. As a fan of early to mid 80s Marvel comics, this is the most awesome website to ever come into existence. By fnord12 | July 6, 2011, 2:07 PM | Comics | Link Some nerd* Wanyas found fixes obscure comic book plots and also attempts to fix the Star Wars prequels (although he gets way too much into the expanded universe stuff for me). Meanwhile, at MightyGodKing, the Matrix sequels - which i barely remember - are fixed as well. *Late update, as i clicked through some old posts looking for something else: This "nerd" is now good friend of the site Nathan Adler! "Nerd" clearly meant as a badge of honor! By fnord12 | July 6, 2011, 2:04 PM | Comics
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& Star Wars | Comments (4)| Link ...with fnord12, Wanyas, and Bob usually go something like this:      Which is fine with me as long as they remember to order the food first. A fed min is a happy min. By min | July 5, 2011, 5:28 PM | Comics & My stupid life | Link Settle in, people. It's time for another session of your favorite comic reviews, so make yourself comfortable. Avengers: The Children's Crusade #6 - This was fine. Ok, that's it for this week. Tune in again next week when we'll probably have about 16 books to review. By fnord12 | July 4, 2011, 10:49 PM | Comics | Link |
