Full Version: Comic Reviews for 3-16-2005
On the day before National Drunkeness Day, what did you enjoy...and what made you need to take that extra shot of whiskey?
With all the TPBs I've been stockpiling due to the Battle, I'm not even sure I'll get around to reading my comics this week, forget reviewing them.
*hic* I see three comics... *hic*
Review the one in the middle!
Review the one in the middle!
With all the Battle of Comic Story lines and all, it's taken a while to get to the regular comics, which is a shame, becasue almost everything this week was really really good. So without further delay...
Bought/Thought for 3-16-05
Uncanny X-Men # 457 (Claremont/Davis/Farmer)
Good book from Claremont! First time in a long time I actually found myself enjoying a Claremont penned story, and for that alone, I decided to list it first here. Lots of nice touches, especially the tip o’ the hat to Tom Baker’s Dr. Who which had me giggling like a schoolboy.
Ex Machina #9 (Vaughan/Harris/Feister/Mettler)
Hol-lee… Damn, this title just keeps getting better and better. Seriously, this may just be the best issue of the entire run. Everything from Jackson’s 9/11 speech, to the Gay Marriage part, to all the rest (No spoilers here. I don’t want to ruin anything, it’s just too damn good) was as close to perfect as it can get. This is one damn fine piece of Comic book literature.
Ultimates 2 #4 (Millar/Hitch/Neary)
Millar is giving us one wild ride. At this point I just don’t know if it’s really Thor or if it even matters if he’s delusional or not. This book is TIGHT! You want the total package? Story, Art, Characters, drama, action, and humor? It’s all here. Tight.
Wolverine #26 (Millar/Romita Jr./Janson)
A number of words come to mind: “WooT!” “Buh-MUA-HAHAA!” “Holeeee…” and “YEEHA!”
I love the pacing and non-stop action of this tale. My advice to Fury in the next ish… UNLEASH THE HOUND!
Ultimate X-Men #57 (Vaugn/Immonen/VonGrawbadger)
Excellent wrap up with a twist I definitely did not see coming. The narrative seemed a bit … fragmentary, but it tied itself up nicely by the end. This arc will make an excellent TPB.
Teen Titans #22 (Johns/McKone/Alquiza)
Very cool stuff… right up until the Hawk and Dove section, then it completely lost me. Seemed like a very strange time to try to introduce 2 new players, along with a fair portion of their backstory and whether it was worse to visit day or spend a weekend at Georgetown. Awww poor babies. Nice ploy on Starfire’s part though. Quick distraction, then BAM! Overall, good stuff.
Ultimate Spider-Man #74 (Bendis/Bagley/Hanna)
Nice stuff. I especially liked the DeWolfe scene. I’m not sure I buy it, but I like it. Also it’s nice to get a little bit of the old Parker-soap opera back. The rooftop scene was especially poignant (n’ shit)
Marvel Knights 4 #16 (aguirre-Sacasa/Muniz/Royal/Rebar)
I likes me a good time-travel yarn, I do .Jury’s still out on whether this is one or not, but it’s a fun read so far.
Birds of Prey #80 (Simone/Benes)
Well, I’m not sure what got wrapped up here (I have the feeling it wasn’t much) but I’m enjoying being along for the ride. I’m a bit sad that this was Benes’ last ish. Hopefully he’ll come back to it soon. This is too good a team to break up, both in and out of the story.
Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta ray Bill #3 (Oeming/Berman/DiVito/Villari)
Nifty action sequences highlight this chapter, and an equally nice splash page at the end!
JLA #112 (Busiek/Garney/Green)
Wow. That’s some serious kick-ass action! Don’t know who half the heroes are (JLElite? Who the heck is Faith?) but they seemed relatively harmless in this format. Actually they seemed more like filler than anything else, which raises the question where the rest of all the old JLA has gotten to, but I didn’t find their presence too intrusive.
Young Avengers #2 (Heinberg/Cheung/Dell)
Well, they’re young enough… but they aren’t very Vengeful, are they? I mean… shouldn’t there be some avenging of some sort? Maybe they could talk about avenging some terrible wrong, then go out for starbucks. That’d be alright.
Seriously, This is actually turning out to an interesting read… and it’s got some time travel too! And there’s this rumor going around… I likes me a good time travel story.
Bought/Thought for 3-16-05
Uncanny X-Men # 457 (Claremont/Davis/Farmer)
Good book from Claremont! First time in a long time I actually found myself enjoying a Claremont penned story, and for that alone, I decided to list it first here. Lots of nice touches, especially the tip o’ the hat to Tom Baker’s Dr. Who which had me giggling like a schoolboy.
Ex Machina #9 (Vaughan/Harris/Feister/Mettler)
Hol-lee… Damn, this title just keeps getting better and better. Seriously, this may just be the best issue of the entire run. Everything from Jackson’s 9/11 speech, to the Gay Marriage part, to all the rest (No spoilers here. I don’t want to ruin anything, it’s just too damn good) was as close to perfect as it can get. This is one damn fine piece of Comic book literature.
Ultimates 2 #4 (Millar/Hitch/Neary)
Millar is giving us one wild ride. At this point I just don’t know if it’s really Thor or if it even matters if he’s delusional or not. This book is TIGHT! You want the total package? Story, Art, Characters, drama, action, and humor? It’s all here. Tight.
Wolverine #26 (Millar/Romita Jr./Janson)
A number of words come to mind: “WooT!” “Buh-MUA-HAHAA!” “Holeeee…” and “YEEHA!”
I love the pacing and non-stop action of this tale. My advice to Fury in the next ish… UNLEASH THE HOUND!
Ultimate X-Men #57 (Vaugn/Immonen/VonGrawbadger)
Excellent wrap up with a twist I definitely did not see coming. The narrative seemed a bit … fragmentary, but it tied itself up nicely by the end. This arc will make an excellent TPB.
Teen Titans #22 (Johns/McKone/Alquiza)
Very cool stuff… right up until the Hawk and Dove section, then it completely lost me. Seemed like a very strange time to try to introduce 2 new players, along with a fair portion of their backstory and whether it was worse to visit day or spend a weekend at Georgetown. Awww poor babies. Nice ploy on Starfire’s part though. Quick distraction, then BAM! Overall, good stuff.
Ultimate Spider-Man #74 (Bendis/Bagley/Hanna)
Nice stuff. I especially liked the DeWolfe scene. I’m not sure I buy it, but I like it. Also it’s nice to get a little bit of the old Parker-soap opera back. The rooftop scene was especially poignant (n’ shit)
Marvel Knights 4 #16 (aguirre-Sacasa/Muniz/Royal/Rebar)
I likes me a good time-travel yarn, I do .Jury’s still out on whether this is one or not, but it’s a fun read so far.
Birds of Prey #80 (Simone/Benes)
Well, I’m not sure what got wrapped up here (I have the feeling it wasn’t much) but I’m enjoying being along for the ride. I’m a bit sad that this was Benes’ last ish. Hopefully he’ll come back to it soon. This is too good a team to break up, both in and out of the story.
Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta ray Bill #3 (Oeming/Berman/DiVito/Villari)
Nifty action sequences highlight this chapter, and an equally nice splash page at the end!
JLA #112 (Busiek/Garney/Green)
Wow. That’s some serious kick-ass action! Don’t know who half the heroes are (JLElite? Who the heck is Faith?) but they seemed relatively harmless in this format. Actually they seemed more like filler than anything else, which raises the question where the rest of all the old JLA has gotten to, but I didn’t find their presence too intrusive.
Young Avengers #2 (Heinberg/Cheung/Dell)
Well, they’re young enough… but they aren’t very Vengeful, are they? I mean… shouldn’t there be some avenging of some sort? Maybe they could talk about avenging some terrible wrong, then go out for starbucks. That’d be alright.
Seriously, This is actually turning out to an interesting read… and it’s got some time travel too! And there’s this rumor going around… I likes me a good time travel story.
QUOTE(Gelf13)
Don’t know who half the heroes are (JLElite? Who the heck is Faith?)
The Justice League: Elite are an invention of Joe Kelly; they are some of the members of the Elite, together with some Justice Leaguers, doing covert-ops stuff so the League doesn't have to. It's a fairly stupid series from what i've seen and heard. They consist of:
- Sister Superior: Vera Black, sister of Manchester Black. A cyborg with a snippy attitude.
- Coldcast: Has extremely powerful control over the electromagnetic spectrum.
- Green Arrow: Joined for reasons I'm not aware of.
- The Flash: Working both teams.
- Menagerie: Sister of the previous Menagerie, is a living alien weapons creche.
- Major Disaster: Redneck former super-villain who can affect probability to cause mayhem; created by Joe Kelly.
- Manitou Raven: Joe Kelly's homage to Apache Chief (I am not kidding) and other Indian stereotypes.
God, I haven't even read my comics this week. I'm too busy trying to defend the Kingdom from the heathens! 
I hope I get some time tonight....
I hope I get some time tonight....
QUOTE(Chaomancer Omega @ Mar 20 2005, 01:22 AM)
The Justice League: Elite are an invention of Joe Kelly; they are some of the members of the Elite, together with some Justice Leaguers, doing covert-ops stuff so the League doesn't have to. It's a fairly stupid series from what i've seen and heard.
Yeah, I think I'd agree with that. I tried two or three issues and couldn't get into it.
JLA #112
Man. This issue didn't do anything for me. I mean, geez...Busiek screwed around for the first four issues with more exposition and explanation than I thought necessary, only to sledgehammer us with non-stop, near-incomprehensible action these last couple. In other words: The pacing is terrible. It didn't help matters that #112 starts off several hours in the "future," then doubles back to tell you how they got to that point from #111. It was distracting, completely unnecessary, and broke any escalation of suspense. After that, the dialogue was stilted and lifeless, I couldn't give a shit less about the Elite, and the art is nothing to write home about. Honestly, I expected a lot better from Busiek. This run is beginning to make me wish I had waited longer to start picking up JLA.
Black Panther #2
This was the very epitome of average. Nothing remarkable, nothing original, nothing controversial, nothing all that clever or intelligent. The story doesn't really move all that much, I have not been made to care about any of the characters yet, and the idea of the USA vs. Wakanda, while intriguing, seems like it will be only expressed through Klaw and his lackeys. A waste of a good concept if you ask me.
Adventures of Superman #638
I think I would have liked this issue a lot more were it not smack-dab in the middle of a pretty hairy situation with the villain Ruin. That said, it was a fun little story, with the artist Matthew Clark stealing the show in the middle for the various comic styles. Also delivers a nice message to Lois and Clark at the end, while foreshadowing that things are certainly not going to be wine-and-roses in the DCU for the forseeable future. Still, this story's placement in the midst of the developing Ruin plot was jarring.
Incredible Hulk #79
Fin Fang Foom vs. the Hulk! We also learn a bit more about the mysterious island...or at least we think we do. As always, Peter David's dialogue is clever, and his plots ever-twisting. Good, fun read.
Birds of Prey #80
The ending of this was perfect, really. A lot of times in comic books, the heroes come to conclusions that leave you scratching your head wondering where the hell that came from. But here, even though you certainly weren't thinking about this as the arc was progressing...you can definitely look back and know that it was exactly what was happening. Good writing there. Simone is back on her A-Game as we say goodbye to Ed Benes on pencils.
Cable & Deadpool #13
There is no other book in comics that makes me laugh out loud this much during the reading of a single issue. So read it. NOW!
Teen Titans #22
Damn good stuff. Except for the Hawk & Dove section, which Gelf already mentioned. Other than that, it was the kind of kick-ass stuff we've learned to expect from Geoff Johns...and a harbinger of yet more kick-ass stuff to come when the Titans and Outsiders crossover.
Ex Machina #9
Yowza.
Man. This issue didn't do anything for me. I mean, geez...Busiek screwed around for the first four issues with more exposition and explanation than I thought necessary, only to sledgehammer us with non-stop, near-incomprehensible action these last couple. In other words: The pacing is terrible. It didn't help matters that #112 starts off several hours in the "future," then doubles back to tell you how they got to that point from #111. It was distracting, completely unnecessary, and broke any escalation of suspense. After that, the dialogue was stilted and lifeless, I couldn't give a shit less about the Elite, and the art is nothing to write home about. Honestly, I expected a lot better from Busiek. This run is beginning to make me wish I had waited longer to start picking up JLA.
Black Panther #2
This was the very epitome of average. Nothing remarkable, nothing original, nothing controversial, nothing all that clever or intelligent. The story doesn't really move all that much, I have not been made to care about any of the characters yet, and the idea of the USA vs. Wakanda, while intriguing, seems like it will be only expressed through Klaw and his lackeys. A waste of a good concept if you ask me.
Adventures of Superman #638
I think I would have liked this issue a lot more were it not smack-dab in the middle of a pretty hairy situation with the villain Ruin. That said, it was a fun little story, with the artist Matthew Clark stealing the show in the middle for the various comic styles. Also delivers a nice message to Lois and Clark at the end, while foreshadowing that things are certainly not going to be wine-and-roses in the DCU for the forseeable future. Still, this story's placement in the midst of the developing Ruin plot was jarring.
Incredible Hulk #79
Fin Fang Foom vs. the Hulk! We also learn a bit more about the mysterious island...or at least we think we do. As always, Peter David's dialogue is clever, and his plots ever-twisting. Good, fun read.
Birds of Prey #80
The ending of this was perfect, really. A lot of times in comic books, the heroes come to conclusions that leave you scratching your head wondering where the hell that came from. But here, even though you certainly weren't thinking about this as the arc was progressing...you can definitely look back and know that it was exactly what was happening. Good writing there. Simone is back on her A-Game as we say goodbye to Ed Benes on pencils.
Cable & Deadpool #13
There is no other book in comics that makes me laugh out loud this much during the reading of a single issue. So read it. NOW!
Teen Titans #22
Damn good stuff. Except for the Hawk & Dove section, which Gelf already mentioned. Other than that, it was the kind of kick-ass stuff we've learned to expect from Geoff Johns...and a harbinger of yet more kick-ass stuff to come when the Titans and Outsiders crossover.
Ex Machina #9
Yowza.
QUOTE(Slovman @ Mar 20 2005, 12:30 PM)
Ex Machina #9
Yowza.
Yowza.
[snapback]132455[/snapback]
Yet another thing I've got to read one of these days...
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