Small suggestion. Can we have a thread, such as this, pinned, so that I don't have to keep starting one every week



Trade

X-Men: Deadly Genesis.Written by Ed Brubaker, Art by Trevor Hairsine and Scott Hanna. I was actually convinced I had decided against this, but John H stuck it in my pull and I didn't want to be rude. Plus, I really like the Premiere HC line.



X-Men: Blood Of Apocalypse. Written by Peter Milligan, Art by Salvador Larocca. Oh bollocks. There's a GREAT story here. Apocalypse, seeing mutantkind being shit on, decides to stand up for them. Gambit, tired of being shit ON, LISTENS. Big Fight. Under any other writer on Earth, this would be an awesome story, but Milligan seems more intent on his little side gags (just what actually happens to Gambit's insides?), and making Apoc out as a lunatic rather than a rational guy, and the whole story, which started out so well, dies a sorry death. Althought the thought of a miniseries entitled "The wacky adventures of Dark Gambit, Evil Sunfire and MISTAH Sinister", written by Milligan, isn't the worst idea in the world.

And the art looks pretty, if nothing else.

Der Funny Books

52: Week Ten

Clark Kent uses the most questionable journalistic ethics known to man to get a story. Hilarily ensues. On the downside, this means more frigging Booster Gold. I got two weeks left.

Civil War 1: Director's Cut Written by Mark Millar,Art by Steve McNiven.

In which our heroes publish Millar's script, and give away the identity of Fake Daredevil by mistake. Boo And Hiss.

Front Line: Issue 3 Paul Jenkins and a cast of thousand artists.

The actual story is still a little iffy, and there's no real movement on the whole "embedded" status. As usual, the back up stories are far more interesting. Speedball's an idiot, but he's a determined one. The other one (art by Lee Weeks, I'm pretty curious about)

But now........

X-Men 188, Supernovas, 1 of 6Written by Mike Carey, Art by Chris Bachalo.

Within five years, people will talk about Mike Carey the way Grant Morrison is spoken about. FANTASTIC issue. Rogue comes off as a bad ass, Sabretooth comes off as...rational, not least relatively intelligent, Cyclops and Emma Frost...are still dickheads towards Xavier. So nothings changed there. Even the tone is Morrison, but Carey goes about it in his own little way. I'm genuinely excited about where this book is going. I can even put up with the art, which isn't even that bad (although I've never forgiven Bachalo for Ultimate X-Men)

Done. I think in special cases, some books might need their own thread. These types of threads are usually tough for gaining new members (example: if someone wanders in and wants to talk about Firestorm #13-- good luck finding it in our weekly thread)...but they're not exactly beating down our doors to post here!

I know you like to name-drop creators, but can I suggest citing full names and positions? Just once for each entry. Like "Issue#345. Writer: X Artist: Y"
I really don't know who "McNiven" is.

Plus, this sounds stupid, but I've seen some dweebs think "Millar" is a typo. They then talk about "Millar's run on Daredevil and Dark Knight Returns in the 80's".

EDIT; Oh yeah, if you throw in a back issue or two (which I'll probably do), please try to cite the YEAR.

No probs, lemme edit stuff. And thanks for the quick pinning

Okay, I'm guessing this thread will be like the "what song are you listening to " and "what movies have you watched" threads. I think I'm okay with that.

Fuck, it's HOT here today...but I still managed to bike my 8.5 miles in the 103 degree heat to pick up the following:

-Thunderbolts #104.
Pretty big tie-in to "Civil War". Bolts are rounding up all the supervillains for the governmetn and getting them to join. Lots of Scourge leftovers in this one, including....the Porcupine?!! Pretty sure he was killed about 20 years ago. WHY would someone work in a Porcupine resurrection?! Zemo could be a main eventer for "Civil War". But since he's a b-level character, I'm not sure if that's in the cards. Also, minor gripe, but Swordsman's ditched his helmet and is now running with the traditional Swordsman mask.....lame.

GI Joe: America's Elite #13
Cobra Commander makes his appearance. But...there's a new fanboy group introduced called "The Phoenix Guard", competitors to the Joes. I dunno, it's like something I used to whip up with all of my knock-off GI Joe figures, circa 1986.

Thank heavens that the Gamecock escaped with his life.

Porcupine was killed when he fell on one of his own quills in "Captain America", about a year or two before the Scourge stuff. Porcky did a face turn of sorts. Cap was so impressed by it that he displayed the Porcupine armor in Avengers Mansion.

When and WHY would you bring him back? A worthless villain whose death was somewhat memorable.

Picked up #1 & 2 of the Eternals. Good shit.

I buy all my stuff through a sub service. So in a few days I'll be ordering all my stuff for October. I really enjoy that system as going to the comic shop was become tedious due to how all of them are run.

Surprisingly, there are several good comic shops in my new/old hometown. I had no idea how well this town was doing in the comic book business. Three shops that are worth going to. Of course, most of them are closed after 6, but that's workable.

None of the shops here open until noon which annoys me. I would rather go at like 10 in the morning or so.

Tempted to pick up Gumby #1... but here's what I'm slated to get:

Batman/Superman #28
Civil War #3
Flash #2

Need to find JLA #0, too,

Heading out to a shop this afternoon to check out these new storage boxes:
http://collectiondr.temp.powweb.com/
Looks promising. Durable, stackable long-boxes with pull-out drawers. They're based out of Denver, too.

Yeah, I'm definately considering those boxes. That would fix a lot of my storage issues currently.

I read the first Dini issue of Detective Comics. I was amazed that it was a single issue and not kicking off another 5 part epic that DC has been doing lately. Good issue for the most part. I'm glad he'll be sticking to the detective side of Batman.

Picked up that drawer box. The Comic Book Store Guy weighs about 230 and he was able to stand on top of it, with no cracking or bending. Plus, the drawer actually "locks" into place. I held it long-ways, upside down, and the drawer didn't come flying out. Each box also has four or five cardboard dividers inside.

Looks like a good product. At the very least, I'll make sure all my future boxes are this type. Just hope he can stay in business and get 'em widely distributted.

The Dini run is 12, standalone issues

I thought the new 'TEC was just okay. The "new" villain reminded me of Faceless, a guy who had popped up in Gotham around 1996. I didn't care for the way he was annointed into the "pantheon of villains" at the end. It was a routine caper and even Batman's narrative made it seem kinda' ordinary.

The Hack Who Writes Green Arrow could learn a few things from this book. Alot of things. I cancelled my subscription to 'TEC when the awful 12-part "City of Crime" was running, but stories like this may make me return. I've always felt that Batman works best when things are status quo and he's fighting the villain of the month.

Yeah, Batman tends to get bad when they go away from the status quo. Bat-Jerk starts to emerge when they do that. I also like it when Batman is fairly segregated from the rest of the DCU. He should be more of a local hero like Daredevil is.

Ok, here we go again

52 wasn't in my pull this week for some reason. Apparantly I didn't miss much

Checkmate *4, "The Game Of Kings, Part Four". Written by Greg Rucka, Art By Jesus Saiz.

4 Issues in, and I still don't have a clue what exactly is going on - or, Crucially, WHO ANY OF THESE PEOPLE ARE. Dropped as of this issue.

Uncle Sam And The Freedom Fighters *1, "Freedom Fighters". Written By Justin Gray/Jimmy Palmiotti, Art By Daniel Acuna.

Total Curiousity buy, but I was pleasant surprised. Unlike Checkmate, they make an effort to explain who everybody is. Decent art aswell, if verging on Greg Land levels of photoshop in places.

Uncanny X-Men *476, "The Rise And Fall Of The Shi'Ar Empire". Written by Ed Brubaker, Art By Billy Tan.

Nice little set up for what is obviously going to come - Team Xavier's wacky adventures in space. The introduction of Darwin into the team is a little hamfisted - but his scene later on is pretty cool. And I'm digging the Havok/Warpath rivalry. Next issue is a Vulcan story, so Team Xavier can stew for a bit, I guess

Eternals *2, "Indentity Crisis" (I think). Written by Neil Gaiman, Art By John Romita Jr.

Um...ok. Does more to explain the set up, and the Eternals start, you know, interacting. But it's still not exactly clear what is actually going on. And I don't buy the 'death" for a second

Justice League Of America *0. Written by Brad Meltzer, Art by....30 people, by the looks of it.

Essentially a fill in to remind us that the trinity are friends and have been for a long time. Good writing though - but it doesn't do enough to tease, you know, the JLA?

Daily Bugle: Civil War

Essentially the same as last years "Pulse House Of M" - a newspaper - with stories disguising ads for the various fill ins. Good stuff, and piques my interest in the tie ins I'm not reading

Civil War *3. Written by Mark Millar, Art by Steve McNiven.

Tony Stark fucked Emma Frost. On that staggering bombshell we get to issue three, the first, I assume of several...set up episodes to the finale in..I assume 6, with 7 being the epilogue. Oh and HE'S BACK, Pissed, and apparanty pro-registration. Which, in fairness, I didn't see coming. (If you don't know who it is - and Ed McGuiness' cover gives it away, and you want to be spoiled - PM Me. But good stuff overall - including the first tease of Black Panther and Storm temporarily joining the Fantastic Four

Which reminds me. Where are Luke and Jessica?


New Feature

Dave's Book Of The Week
X-Factor *9. "Trust Issues". Written by Peter David, Art By Dennis Calero.

WOW. The books drops the Singularity Investigations guff - and the quality of the book SHOOTS UP. Funny that. Intersesting to see Mutant Town protecting Pietro - as you know the Inhumans are gonna come after him. X-Factor vs. the Astonishing Crew was very tense, and very well written - but the highlight had to be Layla revealing she'll marry Jamie one day (does he have what? 15 years on her?. Great stuff, and enough to get me to keep the book on my pull, after flirting with dropping it for a while

Luke and Jessica (Jones, I'm assuming) are supposed to be covered in the Civil War issues of "New Avengers". The next issue is scheduled to feature Cage prominently.

I was a bit disappoiinted with JLA #0. Even with the continuity re-do's, I don't like how "the Trinity" (fuck, I HATE that term) are supposedly the backbone of it all. That plays up the obnoxious "A-list" and "B-list" thing that This Writer thought was so cute in "Identity Crisis". I just don't think ANY hero would get up in the morning and say "whoa, Darkseid's attacking the city... but I'm a B-lister! I'd better stay away!"

You can look at it as a fan/observer and say "but ES, they really ARE the backbone of the JLA". Sure, everybody knows that...but you don't really want that in your stories. Batman and Superman are the "World's Finest Team"... and each one rarely crosses over into Wonder Woman. The only reason Wonder Woman is included in this little clique is because she's a big feminine icon.

JLA was about the team-- namely the Green Lanterns, Martian Mahunter and Aquamans. Look at the first 12 issues of the original series. Comic historians have long considered those some of the best team stories EVER. They worked because Superman and Batman were essentially background players (cuz' both already had 3 or 4 books, each, at the time).

And y'know what...there was quite a period of time where Supes, Wondy and Bats weren't involved with the League. Fuck, Batman violently walked out on the team to form the Outsiders. Which is why this goofy "same time every year" idea sucks. This Writer had some GIANT plot holes in "Identity Crisis", so I'm fearing for my enjoyment of the new JLA.

I'm just saying this - as a Marvel Zombie with virtually no knowledge of some of the huge complicated backstories of the DC Universe - I sorta liked Identity Crisis - as a story. If I was a DC fan, I'd probably feel the way about it the way I feel about House of M

Skip over this if you've heard this from me before.... but "Identity Crisis" should've been called "Plot Crisis". Aside from being a time warp to 1984, the biggest error was how it handled Robin's secret identity.

ALL the former JLA'ers (including Atom's ex-wife, who he hadn't been with for YEARS) talked about "Tim's dad" as if they knew who he was. Not only has this identity reveal NEVER HAPPENED, but Batman considers protecting Tim one of his top priorities. Why the hell wuould he go around to guys he hadn't worked with in YEARS and say "Hey, that kid I work with..his name's Tim Drake. Look him up".

At least House of M had that reality altering gimmick that allowed them to mess with things. Identity Crisis had a Shitty Writer who ignored continuity and hadn't read DC since 1984.

He did write a good Green Arrow story. Better than the stuff currently being written

A monkey could fling crap on paper and have a better story than current Green Arrow.

Finishing up this week's buys, my sole trade

Iron Man: Extremis
Written by Warren Ellis, Art by Adi Granov


Bought because I'm an Ellis junkie, rather than an Iron Man fan. I'm not actually a huge fan of the character. Oddly, I'm still in two minds about him after reading it. Ellis gets charged with doing 2 things - a standard action story - which, of course he loathes and therefore does a very run of the mill story (Baddie gets weapon, Iron Man goes after him, Fight. Iron Man gets own version of Weapon - Iron Man wins. Twist in the finish) It's run of the mill, but it's Ellis so it still rises above the crap being put out in similar stories. Obviously, if he's inventing the thing - the Extremis doesn't come as a deus ex machina, but a reasonably good plot issue.

Secondly, we get an exploration of Tony's arms dealer past vis a vis an updated origin story. Yinsen is now Afgani?

My Delayed Reactions. Ranked from best to worst.

Civil War #3
Hercules seemed kinda' weird. I was a bit supicious of Cap's Kooky Quartet discussing their plans and secret ID's at a diner... but that's just a phobia of mine. I never talk personal at a restuarant, in fear of being overheard. The BIG RETURN at the end was done well...but it could be one of his knock-offs or temporary stand-ins.

Superman/Batman #28
A mystery shape-changing villain is harassing the guys by posing as old, forgotten villains. Namely, Dr. Phosphorous, Titano and Parasite. Rummage through your old 1981 DC's to find suspects.

JLA #0
See a few posts up.

Flash #2
This was quite forgettable. Buncha' rambling commentary about the "Speed Force". Bart's asshole roommate now has superpowers, but it isn't apparent what they are, exactly. He debuts next month in a villainous role as "Griffin". Lame. If I became a villain, I don't think I'd go by my last name. (althought mine IS kinda' cool and much better than, say, "Dr. Dorkas"-- yeah, that was actually a villain)

and...from the Bargain Bin (unranked):
-Marvel two-in-one #92: Thing and Jocasta (ties up Jocasta's exit from Avengers)
-Deadpool #10: Deadpool and the GLA at the zoo. Tries too hard to be funny.
-Heroes for Hire #11 & 14: Thought this was an overlooked book from the late 90's.
-Domino #3 & 4: My thought: whoa, she had a mini-series?!
-Captain America #277: Cap steps into the WRESTLING RING! Need to do a column on this one.
-Marvel Team-up #87: Spidey and Black Panther.

I can't begin to say how disappointed I am with the new Flash series. I guess the Wally West years spoiled me or something. The new series isn't bad or anything. It's just bland and average. I'm hoping after this first storyline that they'll get it moving.

Tiny curiousity about The new Flash series. It;s been written by Ken Bilson and Paul DeMeo - who wrote the (cult?) film all those years ago. Ken Bilson, is Rachel Bilson's dad. Adam Brody - her fella - is currently co writing a book with...Ken Bilson.

I'm gonna have a post up in a bit about all the SDCC crazyness

And he's got some interesting things to say.....

Another strong issue of Robin this month. He's teaming up with Boomerang Jr. to find a bomb that the Joker had left in an old hideout and has now gone missing.

Didn't like JLA #0 as it just seems to be further crapping on everyone who isn't the big three.

So what's your over/under on how many issues until they do a major reboot on the Flash?

I say 9 months

I'll go with a year. They shouldn't give up on Bart but they might have to if the book doesn't pick up next issue. I'm hoping there being a villain and Bart doning the costume will be the boot in the ass that the book needs.

It doesn't help that Bart's origin and backstory is SO convuluted.

First, he's from the future and had an advanced metabolism and was the grandson of Barry Allen, the second Flash. Then Bart went back in time and became Impulse. Then he became Kid Flash, which was the original ID of the current Flash, who was the sidekick of the second Flash-- all three are NOT the original Flash. Now Bart is Flash, but the original Flash, Jay Garrick, is still running around.

Then there's Max Mercury. And Jesse Quick. And Johnny Quick.....and sometimes the second and third Flashes drop by. Then there's Flash Gordon who pitches for the Phillies and was in the title of a Stephen King book.....

Wonder Woman #2 is delayed. Gee what a surprise. So now we'll have Diana prancing around JLA and Donna running around the WW title for awhile.

So it just gets better for the Wonder Woman stuff. I guess the person doing the next arc won't be ready until the spring. So there's going to be a lag again at some point and Diana probably won't be appearing in her own book until March/April 2007. Wow, how do you fuck up before issue 2 even comes out?

Onto JLA #0. It was a decent issue but I don't like the implications of it. I'm sorry but the Big Three, I refuse to use the Trinity as I think it's a stupid name, aren't the backbone of the JLA to me. I've always felt that Martian Manhunter was the heart and soul of the team and I always will. This just seems like needless pushing that nothing can be done without Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman being involved. I think that's my biggest problem with DC. Nothing big can happen without one of them saving the day. The rumors of the league roster aren't filling me with a ton of interest.

I honestly think that both companies, but especially DC, need to plan things like the Wonder Woman relaunch better. They should know exactly when the next writer will be available, and have plans for someone to fill in BEFORE they relaunch the book.

And I also agree about the JLA. I think it's much better without Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Those three are crutches to the team.

Bad news for Wonder Woman. I picked up #1 and actually liked it. First time in my life that had happened.

More on the Big Three idiocy: Silver Age fans totally agree-- they wanted Batman and Superman in a reduced role. Wonder Woman wasn't overexposed, so she fit in.

It's okay that they're in the team..and each version of the league usually had at least one of 'em. But this stupid idea of the JLA being their little fun club is what bugs me. Like the 3 of them are the unofficial police of DC's heroes. Green Arrow's gonna' change his costume--whoa there, hoss-- you'd better go get approval from the Big Three, first. Lame.

Martian Manhunter is to the JLA as Captain America is to the Avengers. BUT... J'onn was absent from the league for about 15 years. Roughly 1969-1983, while he was off being a secret agent, then colonizing "Mars II". I've always wondered about that exile...I'm guessing DC thought that the "green man from Mars" was too open to ridicule. Wasn't until the mid 80's relaunch that he was played up as the backbone. A part of it was "holy crap, the guy went through the JLA: Detroit team. Cut him some slack!"

Quiet week, but i forgot Front Line 4.

Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways *1. Written by Zeb Wells. Art By Stefano Caselli

These are the Runaways. They fight a villain. They get attacked by Shield. The Young Avengers rescue them. That's your issue. The fact that I was able to ascertain that, despite the ATROCIOUS art(And when I say atrocious - this is a Chris Bachalo week - and he's fucking Cassaday compared to...Stefano Caselli - whoever he is, and I hope I never hear of him again)

And the colouring is just as bad. At one point I was unable to distinguish between two characters - one of whom has blond hair, them other brown


52. Week 12 Written by the usual.

The Question rules, Black Adam is a bad ass. The Ralph Dibny stuff is boring the shit out of me

This week The Origin Of Wonder Woman!Writtenby Dan Jurgens, Art by Adam Hughes

They've gone with the "baby made out of clay" origin. Good luck with that



X-Men*189 Supernovas Part 2 Of 6. Written by Mike Carey, Art by Chris Bachalo.

It's NORTHSTAR! Hooray. The plot advances, as poor Jean Paul gets his head messed around by the creepy villains, and he goes after The X-Men. Sabretooth is being an ass, so Wolverine helpfully pops up to remind us that Sabretooth is an ass. Later, when Jean Paul and Aurora were attacking the house - I was curious wether or not Wolverine, the guy who KILLED Northstar would pop up. No such luck.


Later: Trades. The Books Of Doom, and Captain America, Red Menace

New Avengers #22
One of my favorite issues, if not my favorite, of the new series. Luke Cage flat out refuses to register. Cage comes off as a very proud and determined man. The art wasn't anything wonderful....but an improvement over the last time I saw Yenil Yu (which was the monkey story in JLA #105 or so). He seems to add too many lines to faces, at times. There's a point when you need to step back from the drawing board and stop.

Batman #655
The opening sequence was VERY questionable and wasn't needed-- a cop dresses up as Batman and shoots Joker. Huh? But the main story involves Talia and Kirk Langstrom. I'm a Man-Bat mark, so that has me happy. Oh, and I guess "Son of the Demon" is in continuity, now.

Nightwing #122
The senseless New York fashion model story continues. Jason Tood exits the book, off-panel like. This stuff with Cheyenne Freemont is boring me to death.

Yeah, there's something about the way Yu draws women that's off putting