Ratings are from 1 to 5 stars. Five stars = Awesome as that scene in "Last Temptation of Christ" where Jesus shows up and is like, "I used to believe in peace, but now I believe in this" and he has a fucking axe! One star = Worse than that scene in "Dark Angel" where Dolph Lundgren almost robotically describes the space-alien/villain as "Some asshole from outerspace."
Comics Purchased 5/4/11:
- Fear Itself -- Book Two
Good Lord is Marvel WINNING with this one! I have my reservations about any Marvel "summer event" ever since Civil War blew so blowfully, so I was hesitant going into Fear Itself. Particularly adding to my hesitation was that it's based mostly on Thor, and I've always kept a working knowledge of Thor, but never read the book religiously. So I wasn't sure I'd grasp this one...but they're doing a great job sucking in even the most reluctant fan. They're delivering on making the vibe creepy and dangerous. They're drawing lines in the sand and making the reader choose sides in a way that is MUCH more effective than what they did with Civil War. Book Two was a little bit less fulfilling than Book One, mostly because this issue mainly just deal with people finding their respective hammers to gain their God-like powers...but it's a necessary part of the story. (Thankfully, they're splitting some of the hammer quests out and dealing with them in side issues rather than making those of us who deal with only the main title deal with all of it.) It was a slow down, but not in a bad way. Book One was so good Book Two would have to be a soft-ball just to keep us reading. From peak to valley, and all that...but even the valley is a fun, exciting, "oh no, don't let it end there!" place to be.
Rating: **** - Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth -- Issue #3 of 3
Axe Cop is some of the most fun on stands. Written by a six year old. Drawn by his 30 year old brother. It makes absolutely no sense and is insane, and I don't know why they don't let MORE six year olds write comics! This was the final issue of this title, and it just kept getting weirder and weirder. At one point, Dinosaur Soldier started getting splattered with the blood of (and/or eating) other characters and taking on their attributes. My personal favorite incarnation of the character was when he became President Zombie Bear Cop (complete with Roosevelt's mustache). If you are confused and don't know what the hell I'm talking about--neither do I. And that's why I loved it.
Rating: ***** - X-Men: Prelude to Schism -- Issue #1 of 4
I'm going into Schism almost as reluctantly as I did Fear Itself, and I'm hoping it'll be just as good a payoff. I've lost track of the X-Men. I barely recognize the franchise anymore. It's gotten so muddy and overflowing with characters (some of whom are laughably poorly developed) that for someone who has been away since House of M, it's almost impossible to get back into it, unless you start at an "issue one" of a new series (like Generation Hope--and even for that, you needed background info from the main title). However, Schism sounds like it might be kind of good. In this issue, Cyclops is pretty much staring off into the distance, preparing for war, and he receives consultation, mentoring, and understanding from Professor Xavier (who they have just pretty much made look exactly like Patrick Stewart now--not a bad thing). The main thing I appreciated about the way they did this issue is that it gives people like me a little bit of the back-story leading up to Schism and serves as a good reorientation into the universe. Hopefully the "Prelude" will continue on that route and get me primed for Schism to the point that I'm raving about it. But for now, I just consider this a "well played" moment. Marvel seems to know what they're doing on this one.
Rating: *** -- with a bullet. - Batman Beyond -- Issue #5
I'm struggling a little bit to remember what happened in this issue...something with Terry's girlfriend...and they broke up...and Wayne Industries workers are rioting...and the guy who went radioactive (Powers) in the animated show shows up again to be a bad guy for an issue or two moving forward. It's foggy, but I enjoyed it at the time. My only real issue with this one is that you need to have a working knowledge of the cartoon show to understand the villain. I have that knowledge, so I'm cool with it...but a lot of people might not, and that's a major disadvantage. The fact that I can't remember all of it is probably largely my own fault...but it doesn't necessarily say much for the writing either, I guess. Still, I like this title best of the current mess they're calling "Batman." At least it's not TOO wrapped up in this "Incorporated" nonsense (though they have referenced it). I mean...the present "Incorporated" mystery is "Who is Emoticon Man?" Ugh... Here's an emoticon for you... :( But I digress...at least "Beyond" is basically recognizable, and I appreciate that since we long-time Bat-fans are presently wandering in the desert.
Rating: Either **.5 or ***, I guess... - Gladstone's School for World Conquerors
This was fun. I wish we'd spent more time with the title character before he was just turned into a statue on the lawn, but that'll probably pay off down the road, and it served their purpose nicely. If you haven't read it, basically it chronicles the day-to-day work of a school for super villains. It's sort of like the goofy version of Morning Glories or something (though not near than layered and amazing). I could see really liking this one over time...but as it is now, this was a first issue. It was a good one, but I don't want to get too excited about it. Yet.
Rating: ***
- The Flash - Issue #12
This is the final issue in the current Flash series (at least up until the end of Flashpoint). It worked fine as a final issue...despite the weaknesses in the last couple of issues. The intervention in issue #11 was stupid. The sudden, unexplained resolution between Flash and Kid Flash in this issue was JUST as stupid. The sexual tension in the issue was unnecessary and even if it HAD been a good idea, they pretty much abandoned it as soon as they started it. It seems like the last couple of issues were written just before they found out they were cancelling the series and starting up Flashpoint, and the writers decided to just deal with everything they WOULD'VE taken a few issues to work out if they'd had the time. So it was kind of crappy and slapped together...but it still kind of worked too, because y'know...fuck you, it's the FLASH! The MAIN story was still strong, and while not essential for Flashpoint, I did feel like it led into it well, mainly in reintroducing us to Reverse Flash who will no doubt be a MAJOR factor in Flashpoint.
Rating: *** - Flashpoint - Issue #1 of 5
I've been looking forward to Flashpoint since I hear about it, and issue #1 did NOT disappoint. We're in an alternate timeline. Barry Allen is somehow NOT the Flash, and he doesn't know why. It's like he's living in one of those nightmares we all have where everything about the universe is wrong, and we're the only ones who know it. Of course, in Barry's world, it's actuall happening that way and it's all the Reverse Flash's fault. Barry seeks help from an old friend and shows up at the Batcave, hoping to enlist Batman to his effort. The Batman of this universe is, as we've seen throughout the issue, a more violent, disturbed, dark person than the Batman we've always known. He's more anti-hero than ever--and it may be going too far to call him a hero at all. He's basically just a bully who runs a casino by day and kicks asses by night (even KILLING the bad guys!). At the end of the issue, Barry confronts Batman, calling him by the name he's always known him, "Bruce." Then we get a super-damn-cool reveal as Batman informs Barry that Bruce Wayne is dead, "I watched him die." And Barry puts the pieces together, telling us--holy shit!--"You're THOMAS WAYNE!" Mind = Blown. Some of the best writing I've seen out of DC in a long, long time.
Rating: ***** - The Flash - 100-Page Spectacular (One-Shot)
I'll keep it short...the 100-page issues are old issues presented in bound editions that are nicer than the comics you bought 10 years ago. The concept should work better than it does---and I LOVE the Batman 100-pagers every time...but leaves me feeling flat. It's not bad, but it isn't awesome either...but maybe I should've just read it before I read Flashpoint...oh well...can't win 'em all.
Rating: ** - Black Panther - Issue #516-518
I looked through my archive and FOUND issue #516, so now I'm all caught up. Yay! Panther's great. I love the Vlad character--one of the few fully developed bad guys in a long while. However, I felt like they went a little too far in making him ultimately the kind of guy who'll murder his own son to advance his own goals...but I guess I should've seen that coming. The reveals throughout the series have been well done, and they're doing a great job of building Panther to be a Batman-ish/Daredevil-ish character that is not super-powered, but is still doing the right thing because he HAS to. It's a great series, and this was a great arc. I hope we see a lot more of Vlad as time goes by, and I KNOW I'll be seeing a lot more of the Panther.
Rating (overall): **** - The Unwritten - Issue #25
Tom Taylor reenters the world! He's been stuck in novel-hell for a few issues, but is back in real life, and real life's insane. The group is trying to steal some of the journals of Wilson Taylor (Tom's dad) that might just explain everything that's going on in their lives. The books are on auction, what with Wilson being dead and all, and they're sneaking in to the auction house, which is (of course) extremely tightly secured. I don't know how to explain some of what went on without giving you 25 issues worth of back-story...but suffice to say it's getting REALLY interesting as we're getting closer and closer to discovering Tom's true nature. I love this book and I can't wait for #26!
Rating: *****
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