War Journal Entry number 486 - Weekly Haul 5/29/08
Holy moley, but it was a big week. My head is full, let me empty some it...
MARVEL
Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men #1 - Continuing off of issue 24 of Astonishing X-Men, this super-sized finale to Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s run suffered the same issue as Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do by Kevin Smith. Invariably, and I try not to do it but can’t help myself, the longer I have to wait for something the more my expectations increase. Take, for instance, the fact that this story began with Astonishing X-Men #19 that is dated February 2007. That’s not a typo. 2007. They took a year and a half to get out seven issues. What makes it even worse is that the span of time told in these seven issues is only a couple of days, tops. They took a year and a half to tell a fairly brief adventure. Add to that we knew something had happened to Kitty since it was alluded to months ago in the other X-Men series. So it’s taken forever to come out, we already had a hint of the ending, and even without those negatives it’s just an overall fairly weak finale on its own merits with a significant plot point left unexplained. Sorry, Joss, I don’t know what happened, but this is not one of your shining moments. Oh, and John really needs lessons on how to draw the Thing. Usually my opinion is that John can do no wrong, but his Thing is as wrong as wrong gets.
Daredevil #107 - Crime writer Greg Rucka lends a co-writing hand to the already skilled Ed Brubaker in what looks to be an excellent cross of vigilantism, investigation, and courtroom daring-do.
King-Size Hulk #1 - Arthur Adams, Frank Cho, and Herb Trimpe provide the art on a trio of short (very short) tales that fill in some details to Jeph Loeb and Eric Ed McGuinness’s current Hulk run. The reprint of Incredible Hulk 180&181 makes sense since it features a classic Hulk battle with the Wendigo and the Wendigo was featured in the Arthur Adams tale, plus they happen to feature the first appearance of a popular little Canadian super-hero. But the reprint of Avengers #83 has me scratching my head. The story doesn’t have any of the characters currently appearing in Hulk but instead is about a gathering of female heroes. Please say this isn’t a hint that Jeph is going to go for the lame gimmick of having She-Hulk gather a group of female heroes. Hell, Mark Millar is already pulling that BS in Fantastic Four in a nauseatingly PTA fashion. I don’t have a problem with strong women, frankly, I quite like them. (I wouldn’t be dating Becca if strong women intimidated me.) I also don’t have a problem with a team that is all female. I have a problem with characters being gathered because they are female. That’s sexist. The point of the Avengers issue that’s reprinted was that you shouldn’t trust someone simply based on their gender, because that’s not an indication of their true intentions.
Immortal Iron Fist #15 - Matt Fraction takes a solo stab writing a one-shot tale of one of the historical Iron Fists, and it’s as fantastic as every single issue that has come before it.
Marvel Comics Presents #9 - Vanguard starts to pull together, Weapon Omega begins to click, and the Machine Man story is simply wonderful. The one-shot Hulk story, though wonderfully illustrated by Ed McGuinness, was the weakest of the batch.
New Avengers #41 - Secret Invasion. Truths are revealed as Spidey and Ka-Zar sit down to tea. Yeah, right.
New Warriors #12 - Better than the previous issue as characters were able to differentiate themselves, but I’m still wishing for a roll-call on the re-cap page.
She-Hulk #29 - Shulkie spends her time in a Cleveland jail cell talking about how she was disbarred.
Thor #9 - The story deepens.
Uncanny X-Men #498 - The story starts to make sense. And Mike Choi finally gets a chance to prove he can do more than just draw pretty people by illustrating a brutally impressive Wolverine fight.
Wolverine: First Class #3 - Wolverine. Kitty Pryde. The High Evolutionary. One of these things doesn’t seem to belong, but it works. And it works well.
X-Force #4 - Still digging it. Some nice character work with X-23 highlights the bloodiest issue so far.
X-Men: First Class #12 - More fun with the original five. I never thought I’d be interested in stories about them that didn’t tie into on-going continuity, but Jeff Parker is making me actually like them. And the Colleen Coover shorts are always worth it.
X-Men: Legacy #212 - Is Gambit back where he belongs (i.e. with the good guys)? That’s only one question raised in this issue.
Young Avengers #5 of 6 - Kevin Grevioux demonstrates the best of the same writing skills here that he uses in New Warriors, but the at by Mitch Breitweiser is stiff and awkward.
BROADSWORD COMICS
Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose #50 - Issue 50 is a pretty impressive milestone for a self-published independent series, especially for one that was told it wouldn’t last past three issues. Congratulations go out to Jim Balent and Holly Golightly for making a success of a series that embraces alternate lifestyles, sexualities, and religions. And for crafting stories like this one that force the main character to question whether she has truly honored the oath that she swore to uphold.
DC
Final Crisis #1 of 7 - A decent start to the DC event spearheaded by Grant Morrison and J. G. Jones, but I’m still apprehensive about it. Infinite Crisis started well but ended up a muddled mess.
Green Lantern #31 - Secret Origin continues. And it’s good.
DEVILS DUE PUBLISHING
G.I.Joe #35 - World War III part 11 of 12. This storyline has been the best one ever earning Mark Powers a sense of respect that he may not deserve. Still, I look forward apprehensively to the next issue since it not only finishes this off, but is also being solicited as the end of “a continuity that spans 26 years and over 230 comics.”
DYNAMITE
Army of Darkness/Xena #3 of 4 - Still as fun as expected.
VIRGIN COMICS
India Authentic #13 - This issue features Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity. It’s a very good issue, one of my favorites of the series, because it shows the personalities of the featured Gods through mundane actions.
MARVEL
Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men #1 - Continuing off of issue 24 of Astonishing X-Men, this super-sized finale to Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s run suffered the same issue as Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do by Kevin Smith. Invariably, and I try not to do it but can’t help myself, the longer I have to wait for something the more my expectations increase. Take, for instance, the fact that this story began with Astonishing X-Men #19 that is dated February 2007. That’s not a typo. 2007. They took a year and a half to get out seven issues. What makes it even worse is that the span of time told in these seven issues is only a couple of days, tops. They took a year and a half to tell a fairly brief adventure. Add to that we knew something had happened to Kitty since it was alluded to months ago in the other X-Men series. So it’s taken forever to come out, we already had a hint of the ending, and even without those negatives it’s just an overall fairly weak finale on its own merits with a significant plot point left unexplained. Sorry, Joss, I don’t know what happened, but this is not one of your shining moments. Oh, and John really needs lessons on how to draw the Thing. Usually my opinion is that John can do no wrong, but his Thing is as wrong as wrong gets.
Daredevil #107 - Crime writer Greg Rucka lends a co-writing hand to the already skilled Ed Brubaker in what looks to be an excellent cross of vigilantism, investigation, and courtroom daring-do.
King-Size Hulk #1 - Arthur Adams, Frank Cho, and Herb Trimpe provide the art on a trio of short (very short) tales that fill in some details to Jeph Loeb and Eric Ed McGuinness’s current Hulk run. The reprint of Incredible Hulk 180&181 makes sense since it features a classic Hulk battle with the Wendigo and the Wendigo was featured in the Arthur Adams tale, plus they happen to feature the first appearance of a popular little Canadian super-hero. But the reprint of Avengers #83 has me scratching my head. The story doesn’t have any of the characters currently appearing in Hulk but instead is about a gathering of female heroes. Please say this isn’t a hint that Jeph is going to go for the lame gimmick of having She-Hulk gather a group of female heroes. Hell, Mark Millar is already pulling that BS in Fantastic Four in a nauseatingly PTA fashion. I don’t have a problem with strong women, frankly, I quite like them. (I wouldn’t be dating Becca if strong women intimidated me.) I also don’t have a problem with a team that is all female. I have a problem with characters being gathered because they are female. That’s sexist. The point of the Avengers issue that’s reprinted was that you shouldn’t trust someone simply based on their gender, because that’s not an indication of their true intentions.
Immortal Iron Fist #15 - Matt Fraction takes a solo stab writing a one-shot tale of one of the historical Iron Fists, and it’s as fantastic as every single issue that has come before it.
Marvel Comics Presents #9 - Vanguard starts to pull together, Weapon Omega begins to click, and the Machine Man story is simply wonderful. The one-shot Hulk story, though wonderfully illustrated by Ed McGuinness, was the weakest of the batch.
New Avengers #41 - Secret Invasion. Truths are revealed as Spidey and Ka-Zar sit down to tea. Yeah, right.
New Warriors #12 - Better than the previous issue as characters were able to differentiate themselves, but I’m still wishing for a roll-call on the re-cap page.
She-Hulk #29 - Shulkie spends her time in a Cleveland jail cell talking about how she was disbarred.
Thor #9 - The story deepens.
Uncanny X-Men #498 - The story starts to make sense. And Mike Choi finally gets a chance to prove he can do more than just draw pretty people by illustrating a brutally impressive Wolverine fight.
Wolverine: First Class #3 - Wolverine. Kitty Pryde. The High Evolutionary. One of these things doesn’t seem to belong, but it works. And it works well.
X-Force #4 - Still digging it. Some nice character work with X-23 highlights the bloodiest issue so far.
X-Men: First Class #12 - More fun with the original five. I never thought I’d be interested in stories about them that didn’t tie into on-going continuity, but Jeff Parker is making me actually like them. And the Colleen Coover shorts are always worth it.
X-Men: Legacy #212 - Is Gambit back where he belongs (i.e. with the good guys)? That’s only one question raised in this issue.
Young Avengers #5 of 6 - Kevin Grevioux demonstrates the best of the same writing skills here that he uses in New Warriors, but the at by Mitch Breitweiser is stiff and awkward.
BROADSWORD COMICS
Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose #50 - Issue 50 is a pretty impressive milestone for a self-published independent series, especially for one that was told it wouldn’t last past three issues. Congratulations go out to Jim Balent and Holly Golightly for making a success of a series that embraces alternate lifestyles, sexualities, and religions. And for crafting stories like this one that force the main character to question whether she has truly honored the oath that she swore to uphold.
DC
Final Crisis #1 of 7 - A decent start to the DC event spearheaded by Grant Morrison and J. G. Jones, but I’m still apprehensive about it. Infinite Crisis started well but ended up a muddled mess.
Green Lantern #31 - Secret Origin continues. And it’s good.
DEVILS DUE PUBLISHING
G.I.Joe #35 - World War III part 11 of 12. This storyline has been the best one ever earning Mark Powers a sense of respect that he may not deserve. Still, I look forward apprehensively to the next issue since it not only finishes this off, but is also being solicited as the end of “a continuity that spans 26 years and over 230 comics.”
DYNAMITE
Army of Darkness/Xena #3 of 4 - Still as fun as expected.
VIRGIN COMICS
India Authentic #13 - This issue features Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity. It’s a very good issue, one of my favorites of the series, because it shows the personalities of the featured Gods through mundane actions.