Wednesday Reading Meme
What I Just Finished Reading
Martha Wells, All Systems Red: The blurb of this SF/F novella talks about its tense action plot and how it explores artificial intelligence and the nature of humanity and I was totally going to skip it until
muccamukk told me it was about a murderbot who just wanted to watch TV and deeply resented the fact that it had to save humans instead and actually (ugh) interact with them. Seriously, that should have been the blurb, because it is WAY BETTER than the actual blurb makes it sound. Anyway, this is definitely worth it.
What I'm Reading Now
Comics Wednesday!
Invincible Iron Man #7: Riri's still got to decide what to do with her life. And of course SHIELD (well, Sharon, so presumably this predates Secret Empire) is investigating Riri. They're concerned about AI Tony and also the fact that Riri doesn't like them. Anyway, Riri and AI Tony fight a bad guy together and she gets knocked out so Tony has to win, and bring her back to the company and have a pep talk in the workshop with everyone. Anyway, whoever it is in charge of Latveria sends a person-bomb to an event at the Smithsonian and there's an explosion and I guess we're supposed to be worried about Sharon but we know she's alive in Secret Empire so this is kind of pointless. On the plus side, stuff actually happened this issue (and it's kind of sweet that apparently Tony always wanted kids and has made up for this by basically parenting all the teen Avengers) though I have to say I am not looking forward to watching Sharon get fucked over by canon even more.
Secret Empire #2: Rick Jones is dead and Vegas is in rubble and we've still got a stupid mysterious narrator telling us stuff because yay monologue. The street-level heroes of NYC are stuck in the Dark Dimension where Fisk is attempting to put himself in charge. The Clintasha Resistance Fighters (ugh ugh ugh why go there?) are trying to rally themselves for vengeance (but hey, panel of Tony for "one was light" -- it's like reverse Hickmanvengers) and AI Tony's got Rick's info about what happened to Steve. So Rick summarizes the Kobik story all the way back to Pleasant Hill. Tony naturally wants to track down the Cube fragments, Natasha wants Steve dead because she says Steve would want Steve dead, Clint's like no, fuck that, we don't kill, and it's a great time all around. Anyway Steve is saaaaad at his BFF Zemo because apparently he didn't even order the attack, Elisa did, and gosh he hates killing people. *rolls eyes* Steve wants Zemo to find the fragments. Meanwhile Clint and Natasha are still mad and I think Nick Spencer has just remembered that Clint killed Bruce. Anyway, she kisses him and knocks him out and leaves... I guess to kill Steve? When Clint tells Tony this, he responds by putting together a team of people to hunt the Cube fragments: Herc, Pietro, Scott Lang, and, uh... some woman I can't identify (ah, I have just checked the character page and that is apparently Bobbi). Miles and all the Champions (minus Kamala who is off in the tie-ins with the Secret Warriots) follow Natasha on her Steve-killing mission and she decides to train them using Red Room techniques, a move that is deeply in-character for all of them on several fronts oh God I'm gonna cry. Anyway, the Cube rescue team, which somehow includes AI Tony out of armor just wandering around like he's corporeal, runs into Scott's contact Sam Wilson at a bar. Sam is not very thrilled to be here. And then there's a weird sequence I thought was a dream but maybe isn't (???) of a bearded Steve (?????) fighting what looks like the Serpent Society and saving a girl and saying he's just trying to get home (???????). The end. I AM SO CONFUSED RIGHT NOW. IS HE REAL. WHAT IS REAL.
US Avengers #6: A Secret Empire tie-in. Sam gets home except he's stuck in space and the new Quasar gets eaten by a dragon-thing, boo. Bobby is suspicious of Steve telling him yo stay put but hasn't figured out Steve's evil (this is right before the shield goes up) and Tony and Aikku are fighting about Toni suiting up with weapons. Hydra sabotages their Hulk, Sam is presumed dead and Bobby is sad, Faustus tries to take them over and as they're all resisting an AIM/Hydra agent shoots Bobby (no body shown, though) and the team heads to DC where they will be under attack and Hydra takes control of Hulk to make him start punching Toni. I really hope Bobby and Sam aren't really dead. They probably are. Sigh.
Ultimates 2 #7: A Secret Empire tie-in. The Ultimates are stuck on the other side of the shield and they are fighting Chitauri and Carol is sad and angry and not even Galactus (who is a good guy now) will come help them break the shield when Monica asks him to. So the Ultimates are sad and on their own. That's about it. There, you don't need to read it.
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #20: So much happier than ANY OTHER COMIC THIS WEEK. Anyway, evil villainess, army of animals, stopping her with awesome teamwork and squirrels disguised as rats carrying EMPs, yay. Also there's a bear dressed up as Doctor Doom, which is really a thing you need in your life. And there's J. Jonah Jameson!
X-Men Gold #4: Aww, it's Gambit, my fave! Hired to steal some nanites, he decides not to hand them over when he sees the buyer is Trask's granddaughter and whoops now there are Sentinels and the team's gotta help. There's also a plot about dead mutants and aliens, but, whatever, Gambit. Can he have a solo book again? I would read that. I really like how this book feels like everything I loved about X-Men, though. Weird how Blue doesn't. Maybe it's just me.
What I'm Reading Next
Don't know. Books. Read this entry on Dreamwidth ||
comments
Martha Wells, All Systems Red: The blurb of this SF/F novella talks about its tense action plot and how it explores artificial intelligence and the nature of humanity and I was totally going to skip it until
muccamukk told me it was about a murderbot who just wanted to watch TV and deeply resented the fact that it had to save humans instead and actually (ugh) interact with them. Seriously, that should have been the blurb, because it is WAY BETTER than the actual blurb makes it sound. Anyway, this is definitely worth it.
What I'm Reading Now
Comics Wednesday!
Invincible Iron Man #7: Riri's still got to decide what to do with her life. And of course SHIELD (well, Sharon, so presumably this predates Secret Empire) is investigating Riri. They're concerned about AI Tony and also the fact that Riri doesn't like them. Anyway, Riri and AI Tony fight a bad guy together and she gets knocked out so Tony has to win, and bring her back to the company and have a pep talk in the workshop with everyone. Anyway, whoever it is in charge of Latveria sends a person-bomb to an event at the Smithsonian and there's an explosion and I guess we're supposed to be worried about Sharon but we know she's alive in Secret Empire so this is kind of pointless. On the plus side, stuff actually happened this issue (and it's kind of sweet that apparently Tony always wanted kids and has made up for this by basically parenting all the teen Avengers) though I have to say I am not looking forward to watching Sharon get fucked over by canon even more.
Secret Empire #2: Rick Jones is dead and Vegas is in rubble and we've still got a stupid mysterious narrator telling us stuff because yay monologue. The street-level heroes of NYC are stuck in the Dark Dimension where Fisk is attempting to put himself in charge. The Clintasha Resistance Fighters (ugh ugh ugh why go there?) are trying to rally themselves for vengeance (but hey, panel of Tony for "one was light" -- it's like reverse Hickmanvengers) and AI Tony's got Rick's info about what happened to Steve. So Rick summarizes the Kobik story all the way back to Pleasant Hill. Tony naturally wants to track down the Cube fragments, Natasha wants Steve dead because she says Steve would want Steve dead, Clint's like no, fuck that, we don't kill, and it's a great time all around. Anyway Steve is saaaaad at his BFF Zemo because apparently he didn't even order the attack, Elisa did, and gosh he hates killing people. *rolls eyes* Steve wants Zemo to find the fragments. Meanwhile Clint and Natasha are still mad and I think Nick Spencer has just remembered that Clint killed Bruce. Anyway, she kisses him and knocks him out and leaves... I guess to kill Steve? When Clint tells Tony this, he responds by putting together a team of people to hunt the Cube fragments: Herc, Pietro, Scott Lang, and, uh... some woman I can't identify (ah, I have just checked the character page and that is apparently Bobbi). Miles and all the Champions (minus Kamala who is off in the tie-ins with the Secret Warriots) follow Natasha on her Steve-killing mission and she decides to train them using Red Room techniques, a move that is deeply in-character for all of them on several fronts oh God I'm gonna cry. Anyway, the Cube rescue team, which somehow includes AI Tony out of armor just wandering around like he's corporeal, runs into Scott's contact Sam Wilson at a bar. Sam is not very thrilled to be here. And then there's a weird sequence I thought was a dream but maybe isn't (???) of a bearded Steve (?????) fighting what looks like the Serpent Society and saving a girl and saying he's just trying to get home (???????). The end. I AM SO CONFUSED RIGHT NOW. IS HE REAL. WHAT IS REAL.
US Avengers #6: A Secret Empire tie-in. Sam gets home except he's stuck in space and the new Quasar gets eaten by a dragon-thing, boo. Bobby is suspicious of Steve telling him yo stay put but hasn't figured out Steve's evil (this is right before the shield goes up) and Tony and Aikku are fighting about Toni suiting up with weapons. Hydra sabotages their Hulk, Sam is presumed dead and Bobby is sad, Faustus tries to take them over and as they're all resisting an AIM/Hydra agent shoots Bobby (no body shown, though) and the team heads to DC where they will be under attack and Hydra takes control of Hulk to make him start punching Toni. I really hope Bobby and Sam aren't really dead. They probably are. Sigh.
Ultimates 2 #7: A Secret Empire tie-in. The Ultimates are stuck on the other side of the shield and they are fighting Chitauri and Carol is sad and angry and not even Galactus (who is a good guy now) will come help them break the shield when Monica asks him to. So the Ultimates are sad and on their own. That's about it. There, you don't need to read it.
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #20: So much happier than ANY OTHER COMIC THIS WEEK. Anyway, evil villainess, army of animals, stopping her with awesome teamwork and squirrels disguised as rats carrying EMPs, yay. Also there's a bear dressed up as Doctor Doom, which is really a thing you need in your life. And there's J. Jonah Jameson!
X-Men Gold #4: Aww, it's Gambit, my fave! Hired to steal some nanites, he decides not to hand them over when he sees the buyer is Trask's granddaughter and whoops now there are Sentinels and the team's gotta help. There's also a plot about dead mutants and aliens, but, whatever, Gambit. Can he have a solo book again? I would read that. I really like how this book feels like everything I loved about X-Men, though. Weird how Blue doesn't. Maybe it's just me.
What I'm Reading Next
Don't know. Books. Read this entry on Dreamwidth ||
comments