War Journal Entry number 701 - Weekly Haul 11/25/09
MARVEL
Avengers: The Initiative #30 - Christos N Gage + Jorge Molina. Nightmare makes a foray into the corporeal world and poses enough of a threat to get the Initiative and the Resistance to fight side-by-side. We also, finally, get an interesting development with Penance.
Speedball's transformation into Penance due to his feelings of guilt over the Stamford disaster (see Civil War) was poorly done and downright stupid. I haven't paid much attention to him because the uber-angst of the character was so melodramatic that the term melodramatic doesn't begin to describe it. And then, just to make it worse, somewhere along the line he forgot who he was. This issue marked the first time I've actually liked seeing him.
Fantastic Four #573 - Jonathan Hickman + Neil Edwards. The kids stow-away on Ben and Johnny's trip to Nu-World, a little vacation that goes very wrong in a suitably FF style. The super-human refugees from the future that were featured in Mark Millar's run make an appearance here, and speaking as someone that didn't like them the first time around, they work well here as the past-their-primes fuck-ups they were from the start.
Guardians of the Galaxy #20 - Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning + Brad Walker. Another fantastic issue, with delightfully twisted moments of horror. Just how I like my science fiction.
Halo: Helljumper #5 of 5 - Peter David + Eric Nguyen. The prequel, of sorts, to the Halo 3: ODST game comes to a close. As the series became more linear, it became more enjoyable. No big revelations in regards to the Halo-verse, but Dutch and Romeo are a fun pair of characters to follow around.
Hulk #17 - Jeph Loeb + Ian Churchill. As the Red Hulk finally shows some vulnerability and self-doubt, he at the same time finally starts to becomes interesting. That's right, I enjoyed an issue of Jeph Loeb's Hulk. I still think Ian Churchill trying to mimic Ed McGuinness's art style is the biggest mistake since the Star Wars prequel movies, but, meh, can't have everything.
Immortal Weapons #5 of 5 - David Lapham + Arturo Lozzi. Lapham does a great job of balancing Iron Fist with The Prince of Orphans, who doesn't reveal much about his history and purpose but still comes across as the Immortal Weapon with the most story possibilities. Think a combination of the Phantom Stranger and the Spectre, with martial arts. Part five of the five part Iron Fist back-up, by Swierczynski + Hatuey Diaz, is, well, a back-up story. It's not anything other than just OK.
Incredible Hercules #138 - Greg Pak/Fred Van Lente + Rodney Buchemi. It's part two of “Assault on New Olympus,” wherein Hercules and Amadeus Cho are joined by members of both the New Avengers and the Mighty Avengers in their attack on Hera and her forces. Yes, that Hera. If battling almost an entire pantheon of gods wasn't tough enough, Amadeus has the additional stress of having been told by Athena that Herc is going to die in the coming battles so that Amadeus can replace him as the greatest hero of the age. Oh, you didn't know that was Athena's plan? A hero of physical strength was what was needed before, but the world has changed, and the hero of the future will be one of intellectual strength.
Meanwhile, the Agents of Atlas back-up by Jeff Parker + Gabriel Hardman is smartly written and gorgeously illustrated, but far, far too short.
Marvel Masterworks: Deathlok volume 1 - reprinting Astonishing Tales #25-28, 30-36, Marvel Team-Up #46, Marvel Spotlight #33, Marvel Two-in-One #27 & 54, Captain America #286-288, and more. I already had the Marvel Team-Up, Spotlight, and Two-in-One issues, as well as a collection of the Captain America stories, but finding the Astonishing Tales issues has proven to be very difficult. And every time I've seen them, they've been damn-ass expensive. So I jumped at this, despite it being pretty pricey. I'm glad to finally have the original stories of the original Deathlok. Rich Buckler was really trying to do something different, and it was a science fiction story divorced from the trappings of superhero conventions. The fact that it was a series where the star is not a hero was fairly unique for mainstream comics of the time, but it needed some more work. It's hard to get a handle on some of the early issues as they seemed to go in many directions at once while intentionally muddying the motivations of various characters, but the final Astonishing Tales issues just completely lost any sense of purpose. That may have been somewhat intentional, as it was dealing with characters that had lost their sense purpose, but it doesn't make for very engaging reading.
New Mutants #7 - Zeb Wells + Diogenes Neves. Necrosha continues to hit the X-Men hard, including (or especially) the New Mutants. The horror of the previous issue is greatly reduced, as this issue is not told through the resurrected Doug Ramsey's eyes. It's still a dream come true for fans of the old school New Mutants.
Son of Marvel Reading Chronology - It's pretty much one long advertisement for Marvel collections, but that's OK since it was a free-giveaway. The nice thing about it is that it places the collections in sequence with other related collections, providing a nice overview of how to follow the stories of various characters or teams across multiple series.
Thor Giant-Size Finale one-shot - J. Michael Straczynski + Marko Djurdjevic. This really should have just been a regular issue of Thor, the story is only 23 pages long (average length of a comic is considered 22 pages). The preview of Thor #604 by Kieron Gillen + Billy Tan and the nicely recolored reprint of Journey into Mystery #83 (1st appearance of Thor) hardly warrant a “giant” sized special. On top of that is the fact that the only thing that makes this a finale is that it is Straczynski's last issue, there is very little story resolution here. There is change, and there is set up for more stories, but it doesn't feel like a closing to JMS's run. Still, it does have the great, bold action the defines Thor, and it's got wonderful art. It also features another shining moment for Volstagg, who is unfortunately doomed to becoming a pariah with upcoming events in Siege. Damn you, Brian Michael Bendis. If Volstagg starts wearing a rubber suit and self-flagellating, I may have to... wait, what did I just say? Moving on...
Uncanny X-Men #517 - Matt Fraction + Greg Land. It's the X-Men versus five of the Predator X mutant killing monsters. And though that really is it for plot here, it's still very enjoyable and does a good job allowing quite a few of the characters to have their own moments to shine.
Wolverine: First Class #21 - Peter David + Scott Koblish. Xavier finally figures out a Danger Room scenario to put Kitty through the paces, and Wolverine couldn't be more willing to help out. Like all the previous issues, it's a fun read. Even if it's not so nice for Kitty.
ARCHAIA
Days Missing #4 of 5 - Matz + Hugo Petrus. The mysterious, time-manipulating savior of mankind tries to steer Cortez away from the New World, but succeeds only in ensuring what he wished to prevent. Both a nice historical piece, and a view of how things don't always go as planned for the protagonist of the series.
BROADSWORD
Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose #59 - Jim Balent. A perfectly excellent example of why not to feature real people as a guest star in a fantasy story - such things usually come off either as creepy and stalker-ish, or as a total fanboy squee session. I assume Tonya Kay got to read this before it went to print and approved, so I'm guessing she must have thought it was the latter instead of the former. If I didn't know Tonya Kay was a real person, and they hadn't proudly trumpeted about her, I'd probably have a different perception of this issue. But as it sits, it's difficult to read without cringing. A lot.
DARKHORSE COMICS
Beasts of Burden #3 of 4 - Evan Dorkin + Jill Thompson. A fantastic series, disturbing in the juxtaposition of talking animals with wonderful characterization against often grisly horror.
DC
Blackest Night #5 of 8 - Geoff Johns + Ivan Reis. Continues to be one of the stronger companywide crossovers from the last few years, with a cliffhanger that's logical yet still surprising.
Gotham City Sirens #6 - Paul Dini + Guillem March. It may be written by Dini, and have beautiful art, but it's just not holding my interest. It may not be bad, but it's no longer on my pull list either.
Green Lantern #48 - Geoff Johns + Doug Mahnke. Another good issue in the Blackest Night crossover.
IDW PUBLISHING
G.I.Joe Origins #9 - Larry Hama + Andrea Mutti. It's nice to see G.I.Joe action as straight espionage thriller divorced of sci-fi elements, I just wish it was moving along a little faster.
Avengers: The Initiative #30 - Christos N Gage + Jorge Molina. Nightmare makes a foray into the corporeal world and poses enough of a threat to get the Initiative and the Resistance to fight side-by-side. We also, finally, get an interesting development with Penance.
Speedball's transformation into Penance due to his feelings of guilt over the Stamford disaster (see Civil War) was poorly done and downright stupid. I haven't paid much attention to him because the uber-angst of the character was so melodramatic that the term melodramatic doesn't begin to describe it. And then, just to make it worse, somewhere along the line he forgot who he was. This issue marked the first time I've actually liked seeing him.
Fantastic Four #573 - Jonathan Hickman + Neil Edwards. The kids stow-away on Ben and Johnny's trip to Nu-World, a little vacation that goes very wrong in a suitably FF style. The super-human refugees from the future that were featured in Mark Millar's run make an appearance here, and speaking as someone that didn't like them the first time around, they work well here as the past-their-primes fuck-ups they were from the start.
Guardians of the Galaxy #20 - Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning + Brad Walker. Another fantastic issue, with delightfully twisted moments of horror. Just how I like my science fiction.
Halo: Helljumper #5 of 5 - Peter David + Eric Nguyen. The prequel, of sorts, to the Halo 3: ODST game comes to a close. As the series became more linear, it became more enjoyable. No big revelations in regards to the Halo-verse, but Dutch and Romeo are a fun pair of characters to follow around.
Hulk #17 - Jeph Loeb + Ian Churchill. As the Red Hulk finally shows some vulnerability and self-doubt, he at the same time finally starts to becomes interesting. That's right, I enjoyed an issue of Jeph Loeb's Hulk. I still think Ian Churchill trying to mimic Ed McGuinness's art style is the biggest mistake since the Star Wars prequel movies, but, meh, can't have everything.
Immortal Weapons #5 of 5 - David Lapham + Arturo Lozzi. Lapham does a great job of balancing Iron Fist with The Prince of Orphans, who doesn't reveal much about his history and purpose but still comes across as the Immortal Weapon with the most story possibilities. Think a combination of the Phantom Stranger and the Spectre, with martial arts. Part five of the five part Iron Fist back-up, by Swierczynski + Hatuey Diaz, is, well, a back-up story. It's not anything other than just OK.
Incredible Hercules #138 - Greg Pak/Fred Van Lente + Rodney Buchemi. It's part two of “Assault on New Olympus,” wherein Hercules and Amadeus Cho are joined by members of both the New Avengers and the Mighty Avengers in their attack on Hera and her forces. Yes, that Hera. If battling almost an entire pantheon of gods wasn't tough enough, Amadeus has the additional stress of having been told by Athena that Herc is going to die in the coming battles so that Amadeus can replace him as the greatest hero of the age. Oh, you didn't know that was Athena's plan? A hero of physical strength was what was needed before, but the world has changed, and the hero of the future will be one of intellectual strength.
Meanwhile, the Agents of Atlas back-up by Jeff Parker + Gabriel Hardman is smartly written and gorgeously illustrated, but far, far too short.
Marvel Masterworks: Deathlok volume 1 - reprinting Astonishing Tales #25-28, 30-36, Marvel Team-Up #46, Marvel Spotlight #33, Marvel Two-in-One #27 & 54, Captain America #286-288, and more. I already had the Marvel Team-Up, Spotlight, and Two-in-One issues, as well as a collection of the Captain America stories, but finding the Astonishing Tales issues has proven to be very difficult. And every time I've seen them, they've been damn-ass expensive. So I jumped at this, despite it being pretty pricey. I'm glad to finally have the original stories of the original Deathlok. Rich Buckler was really trying to do something different, and it was a science fiction story divorced from the trappings of superhero conventions. The fact that it was a series where the star is not a hero was fairly unique for mainstream comics of the time, but it needed some more work. It's hard to get a handle on some of the early issues as they seemed to go in many directions at once while intentionally muddying the motivations of various characters, but the final Astonishing Tales issues just completely lost any sense of purpose. That may have been somewhat intentional, as it was dealing with characters that had lost their sense purpose, but it doesn't make for very engaging reading.
New Mutants #7 - Zeb Wells + Diogenes Neves. Necrosha continues to hit the X-Men hard, including (or especially) the New Mutants. The horror of the previous issue is greatly reduced, as this issue is not told through the resurrected Doug Ramsey's eyes. It's still a dream come true for fans of the old school New Mutants.
Son of Marvel Reading Chronology - It's pretty much one long advertisement for Marvel collections, but that's OK since it was a free-giveaway. The nice thing about it is that it places the collections in sequence with other related collections, providing a nice overview of how to follow the stories of various characters or teams across multiple series.
Thor Giant-Size Finale one-shot - J. Michael Straczynski + Marko Djurdjevic. This really should have just been a regular issue of Thor, the story is only 23 pages long (average length of a comic is considered 22 pages). The preview of Thor #604 by Kieron Gillen + Billy Tan and the nicely recolored reprint of Journey into Mystery #83 (1st appearance of Thor) hardly warrant a “giant” sized special. On top of that is the fact that the only thing that makes this a finale is that it is Straczynski's last issue, there is very little story resolution here. There is change, and there is set up for more stories, but it doesn't feel like a closing to JMS's run. Still, it does have the great, bold action the defines Thor, and it's got wonderful art. It also features another shining moment for Volstagg, who is unfortunately doomed to becoming a pariah with upcoming events in Siege. Damn you, Brian Michael Bendis. If Volstagg starts wearing a rubber suit and self-flagellating, I may have to... wait, what did I just say? Moving on...
Uncanny X-Men #517 - Matt Fraction + Greg Land. It's the X-Men versus five of the Predator X mutant killing monsters. And though that really is it for plot here, it's still very enjoyable and does a good job allowing quite a few of the characters to have their own moments to shine.
Wolverine: First Class #21 - Peter David + Scott Koblish. Xavier finally figures out a Danger Room scenario to put Kitty through the paces, and Wolverine couldn't be more willing to help out. Like all the previous issues, it's a fun read. Even if it's not so nice for Kitty.
ARCHAIA
Days Missing #4 of 5 - Matz + Hugo Petrus. The mysterious, time-manipulating savior of mankind tries to steer Cortez away from the New World, but succeeds only in ensuring what he wished to prevent. Both a nice historical piece, and a view of how things don't always go as planned for the protagonist of the series.
BROADSWORD
Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose #59 - Jim Balent. A perfectly excellent example of why not to feature real people as a guest star in a fantasy story - such things usually come off either as creepy and stalker-ish, or as a total fanboy squee session. I assume Tonya Kay got to read this before it went to print and approved, so I'm guessing she must have thought it was the latter instead of the former. If I didn't know Tonya Kay was a real person, and they hadn't proudly trumpeted about her, I'd probably have a different perception of this issue. But as it sits, it's difficult to read without cringing. A lot.
DARKHORSE COMICS
Beasts of Burden #3 of 4 - Evan Dorkin + Jill Thompson. A fantastic series, disturbing in the juxtaposition of talking animals with wonderful characterization against often grisly horror.
DC
Blackest Night #5 of 8 - Geoff Johns + Ivan Reis. Continues to be one of the stronger companywide crossovers from the last few years, with a cliffhanger that's logical yet still surprising.
Gotham City Sirens #6 - Paul Dini + Guillem March. It may be written by Dini, and have beautiful art, but it's just not holding my interest. It may not be bad, but it's no longer on my pull list either.
Green Lantern #48 - Geoff Johns + Doug Mahnke. Another good issue in the Blackest Night crossover.
IDW PUBLISHING
G.I.Joe Origins #9 - Larry Hama + Andrea Mutti. It's nice to see G.I.Joe action as straight espionage thriller divorced of sci-fi elements, I just wish it was moving along a little faster.