Invincible Iron Man #2 and Buffy #15
Ok, these are not going to be positive reviews. I give you fair warning. Get out while you still can.
Invincible Iron Man #2
I'll start with the good. Fraction did a little better with the tech-talk this time, although it tends to be imho a lot easier to bullshit about jet engines, than it is to bullshit about experimental bio-augments.
The bad? There's a lot of bad. Fraction continues to write Tony like a pathetic old guy ,who wishes he were back in college, sucking on a beer bong, with his best years ahead of him. Fraction seems to be writing Tony's dialog as if Tony were one of his hipster friends. Tony of course, is at the very least, ten to fifteen years older than the writer, and raised in a really, really, I can't emphasize it enough, different social circle. Having him talk like a twenty/thirty-something hipster actually has the effect of making him sound older.
Tony should basically sound like a regular guy. He doesn't sound like an isolated, supergenius billionaire, though that's what he is. He sounds like a regular dude who happens to also be a supergenius billionaire. Movie!Tony's dialog was extremely effective in a way that Fraction's is not - in Iron Man, Tony sounds freakishly intelligent, and aware of this fact, but also like someone it'd be cool to hang out with. Fraction's Tony is trying too hard. Exhibit A:
Tony should NOT sound like Faith Lehane.
Fraction's characterization problems extend beyond the dialog. In the space of one issue, Tony performs some intense emotional gymnastics that should leave him reeling, but instead only gear him up for a party. Here's where it gets spoilery.
The issue starts with Tony rooting out a genocidal, terrorist group. Tony fights the bad guy, and defeats him by tossing him INTO SPACE. Next up, he heads to a ceremony honoring a Filipino superhero team, which is attacked by suicide monks. Then there's the funeral for the dead, where he runs into Thor. And finally, a charity gala, which gets surprise, surprise, attacked.
So in this issue Tony kills a guy, watches some superheros get killed, attends a funeral, begs his ex-BFF Thor to pay attention to him, and after all of it, what does he want to do? Spend time with some hot chicks at a charity gala. Personally, I would go home, put up my feet and have a beer after such a shenanigan-full day. But wait, I'm not a recovering alcoholic. I guess if I were a recovering alcoholic like Tony is, I'd skip the beer and have a nice tea or something.
Here, have a page:
What was that? Pepper Potts, loyal assistant extrordinaire just threw a glass of champagne in her bosses face? She threw an alcoholic beverage in his face because he dared to ask her to get drinks for the ladies he's chatting up? Are you fucking kidding me? No, seriously. That's so incredibly far out of character that I don't even have words.
Let's also not forget the serious creep factor of Tony and Pepper's flirting in these last two issues, considering that only a few short months ago, Pepper not so subtly hinted that she'd like Tony to mercy-kill her comatose husband. And then he did. Pepper was so broken up over the whole thing that she jumped at Tony's offer of a job in California, far, far away from him. In the meantime, Tony's been sexually involved with a bio-engineer, turned mass murderer. So no, I don't think some cute, movie-style Tony/Pepper is called for at this juncture.
This issue has given me something, though. It's something I'd like to share with you all. I have a PSA for the flist:
SALVADOR LA ROCCA HAS BEEN REPLACED BY A SKRULL.
The man is a talented artist. What the hell is this dreck he's passing off as art? It's like he combined a slightly more cartoony style of penciling with awkward and inconsistent photo-referencing, then finished it off with an over-use of effects, and a poorly chosen colour scheme. Granted, that's not his fault, but what's up with all the pastels? The smiley armor? The horrifically blurry faces? I honestly can't say a single good thing about the art in this book, because ever time La Rocca got it right, he did something idiotic to screw it up.
And since I normally quite enjoy his work, that's saying a lot. Really. A lot.
Oh yeah, and Ezekiel Stane? Still annoying.
OMG he's so extreeeeme.
***
Buffy Season Eight # 15
As for this issue (some scans here), I mainly have one thing to say.
Dear Joss Whedon and company,
Please, for the love of pete, examine your hinky racial issues and examine them good. This is getting ridiculous. Not only did you kill off Renee, you neatly disposed of Satsu too. Once again the cast of the book is all white.
This is particularly infuriating, since nearly every slayer who's died and has stayed dead, has been a character of colour. Meanwhile Buffy and Faith fight on. Meanwhile your only other supporting character of colour, Robin, has appeared once, while Andrew shows up regularly to dispense geeky one-liners. Guys, come on.
Your friend, schmevil
Invincible Iron Man #2
I'll start with the good. Fraction did a little better with the tech-talk this time, although it tends to be imho a lot easier to bullshit about jet engines, than it is to bullshit about experimental bio-augments.
The bad? There's a lot of bad. Fraction continues to write Tony like a pathetic old guy ,who wishes he were back in college, sucking on a beer bong, with his best years ahead of him. Fraction seems to be writing Tony's dialog as if Tony were one of his hipster friends. Tony of course, is at the very least, ten to fifteen years older than the writer, and raised in a really, really, I can't emphasize it enough, different social circle. Having him talk like a twenty/thirty-something hipster actually has the effect of making him sound older.
Tony should basically sound like a regular guy. He doesn't sound like an isolated, supergenius billionaire, though that's what he is. He sounds like a regular dude who happens to also be a supergenius billionaire. Movie!Tony's dialog was extremely effective in a way that Fraction's is not - in Iron Man, Tony sounds freakishly intelligent, and aware of this fact, but also like someone it'd be cool to hang out with. Fraction's Tony is trying too hard. Exhibit A:
Tony should NOT sound like Faith Lehane.
Fraction's characterization problems extend beyond the dialog. In the space of one issue, Tony performs some intense emotional gymnastics that should leave him reeling, but instead only gear him up for a party. Here's where it gets spoilery.
The issue starts with Tony rooting out a genocidal, terrorist group. Tony fights the bad guy, and defeats him by tossing him INTO SPACE. Next up, he heads to a ceremony honoring a Filipino superhero team, which is attacked by suicide monks. Then there's the funeral for the dead, where he runs into Thor. And finally, a charity gala, which gets surprise, surprise, attacked.
So in this issue Tony kills a guy, watches some superheros get killed, attends a funeral, begs his ex-BFF Thor to pay attention to him, and after all of it, what does he want to do? Spend time with some hot chicks at a charity gala. Personally, I would go home, put up my feet and have a beer after such a shenanigan-full day. But wait, I'm not a recovering alcoholic. I guess if I were a recovering alcoholic like Tony is, I'd skip the beer and have a nice tea or something.
Here, have a page:
What was that? Pepper Potts, loyal assistant extrordinaire just threw a glass of champagne in her bosses face? She threw an alcoholic beverage in his face because he dared to ask her to get drinks for the ladies he's chatting up? Are you fucking kidding me? No, seriously. That's so incredibly far out of character that I don't even have words.
Let's also not forget the serious creep factor of Tony and Pepper's flirting in these last two issues, considering that only a few short months ago, Pepper not so subtly hinted that she'd like Tony to mercy-kill her comatose husband. And then he did. Pepper was so broken up over the whole thing that she jumped at Tony's offer of a job in California, far, far away from him. In the meantime, Tony's been sexually involved with a bio-engineer, turned mass murderer. So no, I don't think some cute, movie-style Tony/Pepper is called for at this juncture.
This issue has given me something, though. It's something I'd like to share with you all. I have a PSA for the flist:
SALVADOR LA ROCCA HAS BEEN REPLACED BY A SKRULL.
The man is a talented artist. What the hell is this dreck he's passing off as art? It's like he combined a slightly more cartoony style of penciling with awkward and inconsistent photo-referencing, then finished it off with an over-use of effects, and a poorly chosen colour scheme. Granted, that's not his fault, but what's up with all the pastels? The smiley armor? The horrifically blurry faces? I honestly can't say a single good thing about the art in this book, because ever time La Rocca got it right, he did something idiotic to screw it up.
And since I normally quite enjoy his work, that's saying a lot. Really. A lot.
Oh yeah, and Ezekiel Stane? Still annoying.
OMG he's so extreeeeme.
***
Buffy Season Eight # 15
As for this issue (some scans here), I mainly have one thing to say.
Dear Joss Whedon and company,
Please, for the love of pete, examine your hinky racial issues and examine them good. This is getting ridiculous. Not only did you kill off Renee, you neatly disposed of Satsu too. Once again the cast of the book is all white.
This is particularly infuriating, since nearly every slayer who's died and has stayed dead, has been a character of colour. Meanwhile Buffy and Faith fight on. Meanwhile your only other supporting character of colour, Robin, has appeared once, while Andrew shows up regularly to dispense geeky one-liners. Guys, come on.
Your friend, schmevil