comics
had some time to kill yesterday and ended up buying some comics at the mall. surprise.
1)the Iron Man Demon in a Bottle collection: not what I thought it was going to be, but I enjoyed it. Par for the course with my experience with comics, it was a good idea that was spottily executed. I liked how they weaved in the pressures on Tony (SHIELD buying up Stark stocks!! I love me some morally ambiguous SHIELD!) and his increasing reliance on the booze was handled for the most part with a light hand. Until like, the last two issues or so, when suddenly it turned into a Lifetime Movie of the Week, wherein he realized he was an alcoholic and kicked the habit in the space of two issues. Sigh. It was all set up and very little payoff, and the collection doesn't include the later relapse when Rhodey takes over the armor and Cap pulls Skid Row Tony out of a burning building like he's Scarlet O'Hara. Which of course was what I really wanted to read. However, I did enjoy Bethany Cabe again, and predictably I adore the plot where someone hacks the armor and forces Tony to kill an innocent bystander, because that's how I roll.
2)the Iron Man Civil War trade: I'd read it back when I flung myself head first into this fandom, but I adore it now. It's a great collection, with everything that was awesome about the Civil War concept. I love the debate between Tony and Cap, because both sides are right, and both sides are wrong. I love Tony's relationship to Maya and Sal. The scenes with Pepper and Tony at the hospital completely break me into little pieces, and Tony putting his hand through a window and then finally doing what Pepper asked just stomped on those pieces until they were grit. Then, of course, there's The Confession, which made a nice pate out of that grit and then set it on fire.
Civil War had major problems, but this collection is really spot-on.
I also picked up two Serenity collections but I'm saving those for the plane ride home.
1)the Iron Man Demon in a Bottle collection: not what I thought it was going to be, but I enjoyed it. Par for the course with my experience with comics, it was a good idea that was spottily executed. I liked how they weaved in the pressures on Tony (SHIELD buying up Stark stocks!! I love me some morally ambiguous SHIELD!) and his increasing reliance on the booze was handled for the most part with a light hand. Until like, the last two issues or so, when suddenly it turned into a Lifetime Movie of the Week, wherein he realized he was an alcoholic and kicked the habit in the space of two issues. Sigh. It was all set up and very little payoff, and the collection doesn't include the later relapse when Rhodey takes over the armor and Cap pulls Skid Row Tony out of a burning building like he's Scarlet O'Hara. Which of course was what I really wanted to read. However, I did enjoy Bethany Cabe again, and predictably I adore the plot where someone hacks the armor and forces Tony to kill an innocent bystander, because that's how I roll.
2)the Iron Man Civil War trade: I'd read it back when I flung myself head first into this fandom, but I adore it now. It's a great collection, with everything that was awesome about the Civil War concept. I love the debate between Tony and Cap, because both sides are right, and both sides are wrong. I love Tony's relationship to Maya and Sal. The scenes with Pepper and Tony at the hospital completely break me into little pieces, and Tony putting his hand through a window and then finally doing what Pepper asked just stomped on those pieces until they were grit. Then, of course, there's The Confession, which made a nice pate out of that grit and then set it on fire.
Civil War had major problems, but this collection is really spot-on.
I also picked up two Serenity collections but I'm saving those for the plane ride home.