Comics, I read comics
Haven't done one of those since November, wow.
Iron Man 3-5: Aaand, Gillen's Extremis storyline wraps up with a whole lot of "meh" on my part. Five issues, and not a single one that's memorable. Gillen writes Tony Stark as if somebody gave him a one-paragraph summary of a Wikipedia article and he's basing his entire characterization on it. He's rich and likes technology and women! Have him use an expensive gadget and bang a bimbo every issue, and you're good! And Gillen has absolutely nothing interesting to say about Extremis. (Has anyone other than Warren Ellis ever had anything interesting to say about Extremis?) I'm kinda peeved that Maya Hansen got killed off for such a half-assed arc.
Also, Land's art has deteriorated to a point where it just makes me laugh now. I don't know which was funnier in the last issue -- the panel where Pepper's boobs were talking to Tony, or the way the sleeves on her outfit just disappeared between panels.
Avengers 1-2: I like this relaunch. Good action, good character dynamics. Slashy scenes for Steve/Tony and Carol/Jessica (the four of them totally meet for a double date at a fancy restaurant). Much better version of Tony than what we're getting in his own book. Decent art. Okay, Hickman, you can stay.
New Avengers 1: Don't know what I think of this one yet. The Illuminati line-up does not appeal to me, and the first issue is all about Black Panther, whom I have no interest in at all. And there's a bunch of Wakandan redshirts who get introduced only to get killed off for angst, except I've never seen any of them before so I had trouble feeling the angst. I'll give it a few more issues, see how it goes.
Avengers Assemble 9-10: Kelly Sue DeConnick writes great banter. The story totally reads like a movie/comics fusion fanfic, in a good way. Once again, Tony is smarter and more likable than in his own book. Steve and Carol get some really good interaction. And the art is very pretty. I think this is actually my favorite of the Avengers books right now, which is kind of amusing given that it's not in continuity.
Captain Marvel 8: Did I mention DeConnick writes great banter? It's even better when you have Carol Danvers bantering with Monica Rambeau. Seriously, they could stand around and snark at each other in every issue and I wouldn't complain. I seem to be the only person in the universe who actually likes the art on this book, but I don't care. Honestly, the art could be stick figures drawn in crayon and I'd still buy it for DeConnick's writing. It's so great to see Carol finally get the awesome book she deserves.
Captain America 1-2: I'm not sure what to make of this. It's not bad, exactly, but it reads more like generic portal fantasy than a Captain America story. You could replace Steve with just about any Marvel superhero and the story would play out the same. Also, I thought the time skip was kind of a cop-out. Saddle Steve Rogers with a kid, but then skip the part where he actually adjusts to parenthood? That's just a cheat, man.
Indestructible Hulk 2: totally a filler issue. Tony shows up, and he and Bruce do stuff, and none of it is relevant. Also, Bruce is kind of an asshole. I expect better from Mark Waid, dammit.
Iron Man 3 Prelude: Hi, Rhodey! Good to see you, dude! So we get to find out why War Machine wasn't around for the Avengers movie, and I now have hopes for Rhodey having a good part to play in IM3. Nice Tony-Rhodey interactions. Pretty much all I wanted from a movie tie-in comic.
I think I may be forgetting a couple of issues, but enough about Marvel, dammit. I wanna talk about Bandette. I checked it out on impulse from ComiXology, and it has charmed my socks off. The promos plug it as "Tintin meets Nancy Drew," but I'm going to throw in an extra fannish reference and say it's more like "Tintin meets Nancy Drew and they form the Leverage gang together. With costumes." Or possibly "Amanda from Highlander decides to become a costumed superhero." It's so funny and cheerful, and the art is so cute. The only bad thing is, there's just three issues so far.
Wow, that's a lot of comics, isn't it? In my defense, it has been over a month.
This entry was originally posted at http://marinarusalka.dreamwidth.org/565045.html. You may comment there using OpenID.
Iron Man 3-5: Aaand, Gillen's Extremis storyline wraps up with a whole lot of "meh" on my part. Five issues, and not a single one that's memorable. Gillen writes Tony Stark as if somebody gave him a one-paragraph summary of a Wikipedia article and he's basing his entire characterization on it. He's rich and likes technology and women! Have him use an expensive gadget and bang a bimbo every issue, and you're good! And Gillen has absolutely nothing interesting to say about Extremis. (Has anyone other than Warren Ellis ever had anything interesting to say about Extremis?) I'm kinda peeved that Maya Hansen got killed off for such a half-assed arc.
Also, Land's art has deteriorated to a point where it just makes me laugh now. I don't know which was funnier in the last issue -- the panel where Pepper's boobs were talking to Tony, or the way the sleeves on her outfit just disappeared between panels.
Avengers 1-2: I like this relaunch. Good action, good character dynamics. Slashy scenes for Steve/Tony and Carol/Jessica (the four of them totally meet for a double date at a fancy restaurant). Much better version of Tony than what we're getting in his own book. Decent art. Okay, Hickman, you can stay.
New Avengers 1: Don't know what I think of this one yet. The Illuminati line-up does not appeal to me, and the first issue is all about Black Panther, whom I have no interest in at all. And there's a bunch of Wakandan redshirts who get introduced only to get killed off for angst, except I've never seen any of them before so I had trouble feeling the angst. I'll give it a few more issues, see how it goes.
Avengers Assemble 9-10: Kelly Sue DeConnick writes great banter. The story totally reads like a movie/comics fusion fanfic, in a good way. Once again, Tony is smarter and more likable than in his own book. Steve and Carol get some really good interaction. And the art is very pretty. I think this is actually my favorite of the Avengers books right now, which is kind of amusing given that it's not in continuity.
Captain Marvel 8: Did I mention DeConnick writes great banter? It's even better when you have Carol Danvers bantering with Monica Rambeau. Seriously, they could stand around and snark at each other in every issue and I wouldn't complain. I seem to be the only person in the universe who actually likes the art on this book, but I don't care. Honestly, the art could be stick figures drawn in crayon and I'd still buy it for DeConnick's writing. It's so great to see Carol finally get the awesome book she deserves.
Captain America 1-2: I'm not sure what to make of this. It's not bad, exactly, but it reads more like generic portal fantasy than a Captain America story. You could replace Steve with just about any Marvel superhero and the story would play out the same. Also, I thought the time skip was kind of a cop-out. Saddle Steve Rogers with a kid, but then skip the part where he actually adjusts to parenthood? That's just a cheat, man.
Indestructible Hulk 2: totally a filler issue. Tony shows up, and he and Bruce do stuff, and none of it is relevant. Also, Bruce is kind of an asshole. I expect better from Mark Waid, dammit.
Iron Man 3 Prelude: Hi, Rhodey! Good to see you, dude! So we get to find out why War Machine wasn't around for the Avengers movie, and I now have hopes for Rhodey having a good part to play in IM3. Nice Tony-Rhodey interactions. Pretty much all I wanted from a movie tie-in comic.
I think I may be forgetting a couple of issues, but enough about Marvel, dammit. I wanna talk about Bandette. I checked it out on impulse from ComiXology, and it has charmed my socks off. The promos plug it as "Tintin meets Nancy Drew," but I'm going to throw in an extra fannish reference and say it's more like "Tintin meets Nancy Drew and they form the Leverage gang together. With costumes." Or possibly "Amanda from Highlander decides to become a costumed superhero." It's so funny and cheerful, and the art is so cute. The only bad thing is, there's just three issues so far.
Wow, that's a lot of comics, isn't it? In my defense, it has been over a month.
This entry was originally posted at http://marinarusalka.dreamwidth.org/565045.html. You may comment there using OpenID.