War Journal Entry number 800 - Weekly Haul 10/6/10
MARVEL
Chaos War #1 of 5 - Greg Pak/Fred Van Lente + Khoi Pham/Reilly Brown. Hercules must lead the heroes against the most unrelenting threat the universe has seen since, well, ever. Yes, Hercules. It's fantastic, and quickly takes unexpected turns.
Deadpool MAX #1 - David Lapham + Kyle Baker. An idea long past due. Baker is drawing again instead of doing the CG art, which was simply atrocious. The jokes are a bit hit or miss, but that's typically the case with something intentionally trying to be funny. I'm glad that so far (I'm up to #3 now) the issues have been fairly self-contained. That does cause a bit of a problem with issue 3, but here it works well. Any longer and the primary joke would have gotten old.
Deadpool Pulp #2 of 4 - Mike Benson/Adam Glass + Laurence Campbell. This Cold War-era tale features the most realistic take on Deadpool that I've scene anywhere. His crazy is bubbling under the surface, creating the tension of wondering when it will burst out. And there's a complete lack of superpowers making this a Deadpool that can be injured or even killed.
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West give-away - ? + ?. No, I don't know who wrote or who illustrated it. That's really annoying since I swear that I recognize the artists' styles here and there. Anyway, it's a promo for the new game, a game that really looked interested right up until they revealed that the entire thing would be an escort mission. I despise few things more than escort missions...
Anyway, the book is a nice intro, and worth the read. Grab one if your shop still has a copy.
Fantastic Four in... Ataque del M.O.D.O.K.! one-shot - Tom Beland + Juan Doe. Like all the other Beland and Doe special, this is a pure joy to read. The team is on vacation in Puerto Rico, but of course things go awry. Monkey soldiers! Led by MODOK!
Official Index to the Marvel Universe: Avengers, Thor, and Captain America #6 - Avengers #182-218, Captain America Comics #22-26, Captain America #248-273, and Thor #278-313.
S.H.I.E.L.D. #4 - Jonathan Hickman + Dustin Weaver. Still mostly disappointed with this series. The concepts are interesting, and keep from dropping it, but the execution as a bi-monthly leaves much to be desired. There just isn't enough actual plot progress to make up for waiting two months between issues.
Spider-Man: Back In Quack one-shot - Stuart Moore + Mark Brooks/Ray Height. Howard the Duck rocks. But first, Spidey has to break the brainwashing that has turned him into a clichéd catchphrase spewing spokesperson for a disturbingly controlling philanthropic organization. Satire ahoy!
Man-Thing back-up by Moore + Joe Suitor. Hmmm.... Appropriate for a Man-Thing tale, but really shockingly freakin' dark in comparison to the first story.
Taskmaster #2 of 4 - Fred Van Lente + Jefte Palo. It's Van Lente, it's fantastic.
Thor: For Asgard #3 of 6 - Robert Rodi + Simone Bianchi. Thor continues to have nightmares as his authority crumbles.
Ultimate Thor #1 of ? - Jonathan Hickman + Carlos Pacheco. The origin of Thor in the Ultimate universe sees Asgard assaulted by a combined force of Frost Giants and Nazis.
Uncanny X-Force #1 - Rick Remender + Jerome Opena. The man behind Fear Agents and Franken-Castle brings his sci-fi horror slant to the X-universe as Wolverine's secret team tracks down one of the X-Men's most powerful foes. The inclusion of both Deadpool and Fantomex leads to a lot of witty banter that plays well against the grim determination of Wolverine and Archangel. And then there's Psylocke. She doesn't exactly mesh into the team yet, but I trust Remender to make it work.
Wolverine #2 - Jason Aaron + Renato Guedes/Steven Sanders. Wolverine is in hell. No, really. And his body has been possessed by a demon that's hunting down his friends. Yes, the “hunting down his friends” thing does sound like a cheap rip-off of Millar's Enemy of the State storyline...
ASPEN
Lady Machanika #0 - Joe Benitez. So the creator of the series said to himself, “Gee, based on the cosplayers at conventions, there's a big untapped market for steampunk comics.” From that slim thought comes a decent series. It's probably a little too serious for its own good with the prerequisite mysterious past and unequaled skill at fisticuffs, but it looks good. And I am kind of intrigued to see how it plays out. To be fair, I can only think of two other steampunk comics. There's Girl Genius by Phil and Kaja Foglio, which is stupendous, or at least is for as far as I've gotten. I'm a little behind right now. On the other side is the short-lived Steampunk from Cliffhanger, by Joe Casey and Chris Bachalo, which quickly collapsed under its labyrinthian writing and art.
BLATANT
Marry Me - Bobby Crosby + Remy “Eisu” Mokhtar. A pop star has a bit of a panic attack and accepts a “Marry Me” sign at her accept. The guy was holding the sign for his friend that had just gone to the bathroom, and that's only the smallest part of the drama. The book is actually very funny, with characters that have a surprisingly unexpected amount of depth. The story follows a fairy tale sense of logic half the time, and the other half follows well from the revelations of the characters' backgrounds, so that could throw some people off. My only complaint is really with the production, the printing is very inconsistent, ranging from kind of good in some sections to rather poor in others. It's not the artist, it's the printer. But I was able to enjoy it despite that problem. To be honest, this was a bit of a spur of the moment buy without seeing the book or being familiar with the people that worked on it, but if there was a sequel I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
BOOM
28 Days Later #15 - Michael Alan Nelson + Alejandro Aragon. And here's another fine mess they've gotten themselves into.
DC
Batman: Hidden Treasures one-shot - Ron Marz + Bernie Wrightson (inked by Kevin Nowlan). Batman confronts Solomon Grundy in a tale told in full page pieces of art with accompanying prose. Wrightson's art inked by Nowlan is beautiful to behold, and I wish that we'd see more of it. The story itself is pretty darn week, which is probably why this had gotten shelved for a number of years.
Also reprints Swamp Thing #7 by Len Wein + Wrightson, which guest-starred Batman.
Batman: Odyssey #4 of 13 - Neal Adams. More and more it's becoming obvious that Neal needed a writer on this project to help him with the story structure. The characterization of Batman is a lot more hot-blooded than I'm used to seeing him, but that's nothing compared to the confusing time-jumps and flashbacks within stories being told to people. Ouch.
DC Comics Presents: Green Lantern one-shot - Reprints Green Lantern #137-140 by Judd Winick + Darryl Banks/Dale Eaglesham. Though it's four consecutive issues, they are a bit of a mixed bag. The first is character driven, Kyle proposes to Jade, and then subsequently finds out that his male coworker has a crush on him. After that is a two-parter featuring Kyle and Jade dealing with a no-win interplanetary diplomatic situation from which they eventually just have to walk away, or fly away more accurately. Then Kyle has some bonding time with Jade's father, the Golden Age Green Lantern, Alan Scott.
Doom Patrol #15 - Keith Giffen + Matthew Clark/Ron Randall. Seriously, Chief is such a ball-biting asshole! The team is better off without him. Again.
IDW
G.I.Joe #23 - Chuck Dixon + Robert Atkins. It's nice to finally see the Joes actually fighting Cobra. This IS supposed to be an action comic.
Transformers: Drift #3 of 4 - Shane McCarthy + Alex Milne. For the first time in his life, Drift stands up to fight for the lives of others. I'm still having trouble following his character arc in this, and understanding why he's making that decisions that he's making. I'll have to give the entire series a re-read as a single piece.
Chaos War #1 of 5 - Greg Pak/Fred Van Lente + Khoi Pham/Reilly Brown. Hercules must lead the heroes against the most unrelenting threat the universe has seen since, well, ever. Yes, Hercules. It's fantastic, and quickly takes unexpected turns.
Deadpool MAX #1 - David Lapham + Kyle Baker. An idea long past due. Baker is drawing again instead of doing the CG art, which was simply atrocious. The jokes are a bit hit or miss, but that's typically the case with something intentionally trying to be funny. I'm glad that so far (I'm up to #3 now) the issues have been fairly self-contained. That does cause a bit of a problem with issue 3, but here it works well. Any longer and the primary joke would have gotten old.
Deadpool Pulp #2 of 4 - Mike Benson/Adam Glass + Laurence Campbell. This Cold War-era tale features the most realistic take on Deadpool that I've scene anywhere. His crazy is bubbling under the surface, creating the tension of wondering when it will burst out. And there's a complete lack of superpowers making this a Deadpool that can be injured or even killed.
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West give-away - ? + ?. No, I don't know who wrote or who illustrated it. That's really annoying since I swear that I recognize the artists' styles here and there. Anyway, it's a promo for the new game, a game that really looked interested right up until they revealed that the entire thing would be an escort mission. I despise few things more than escort missions...
Anyway, the book is a nice intro, and worth the read. Grab one if your shop still has a copy.
Fantastic Four in... Ataque del M.O.D.O.K.! one-shot - Tom Beland + Juan Doe. Like all the other Beland and Doe special, this is a pure joy to read. The team is on vacation in Puerto Rico, but of course things go awry. Monkey soldiers! Led by MODOK!
Official Index to the Marvel Universe: Avengers, Thor, and Captain America #6 - Avengers #182-218, Captain America Comics #22-26, Captain America #248-273, and Thor #278-313.
S.H.I.E.L.D. #4 - Jonathan Hickman + Dustin Weaver. Still mostly disappointed with this series. The concepts are interesting, and keep from dropping it, but the execution as a bi-monthly leaves much to be desired. There just isn't enough actual plot progress to make up for waiting two months between issues.
Spider-Man: Back In Quack one-shot - Stuart Moore + Mark Brooks/Ray Height. Howard the Duck rocks. But first, Spidey has to break the brainwashing that has turned him into a clichéd catchphrase spewing spokesperson for a disturbingly controlling philanthropic organization. Satire ahoy!
Man-Thing back-up by Moore + Joe Suitor. Hmmm.... Appropriate for a Man-Thing tale, but really shockingly freakin' dark in comparison to the first story.
Taskmaster #2 of 4 - Fred Van Lente + Jefte Palo. It's Van Lente, it's fantastic.
Thor: For Asgard #3 of 6 - Robert Rodi + Simone Bianchi. Thor continues to have nightmares as his authority crumbles.
Ultimate Thor #1 of ? - Jonathan Hickman + Carlos Pacheco. The origin of Thor in the Ultimate universe sees Asgard assaulted by a combined force of Frost Giants and Nazis.
Uncanny X-Force #1 - Rick Remender + Jerome Opena. The man behind Fear Agents and Franken-Castle brings his sci-fi horror slant to the X-universe as Wolverine's secret team tracks down one of the X-Men's most powerful foes. The inclusion of both Deadpool and Fantomex leads to a lot of witty banter that plays well against the grim determination of Wolverine and Archangel. And then there's Psylocke. She doesn't exactly mesh into the team yet, but I trust Remender to make it work.
Wolverine #2 - Jason Aaron + Renato Guedes/Steven Sanders. Wolverine is in hell. No, really. And his body has been possessed by a demon that's hunting down his friends. Yes, the “hunting down his friends” thing does sound like a cheap rip-off of Millar's Enemy of the State storyline...
ASPEN
Lady Machanika #0 - Joe Benitez. So the creator of the series said to himself, “Gee, based on the cosplayers at conventions, there's a big untapped market for steampunk comics.” From that slim thought comes a decent series. It's probably a little too serious for its own good with the prerequisite mysterious past and unequaled skill at fisticuffs, but it looks good. And I am kind of intrigued to see how it plays out. To be fair, I can only think of two other steampunk comics. There's Girl Genius by Phil and Kaja Foglio, which is stupendous, or at least is for as far as I've gotten. I'm a little behind right now. On the other side is the short-lived Steampunk from Cliffhanger, by Joe Casey and Chris Bachalo, which quickly collapsed under its labyrinthian writing and art.
BLATANT
Marry Me - Bobby Crosby + Remy “Eisu” Mokhtar. A pop star has a bit of a panic attack and accepts a “Marry Me” sign at her accept. The guy was holding the sign for his friend that had just gone to the bathroom, and that's only the smallest part of the drama. The book is actually very funny, with characters that have a surprisingly unexpected amount of depth. The story follows a fairy tale sense of logic half the time, and the other half follows well from the revelations of the characters' backgrounds, so that could throw some people off. My only complaint is really with the production, the printing is very inconsistent, ranging from kind of good in some sections to rather poor in others. It's not the artist, it's the printer. But I was able to enjoy it despite that problem. To be honest, this was a bit of a spur of the moment buy without seeing the book or being familiar with the people that worked on it, but if there was a sequel I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
BOOM
28 Days Later #15 - Michael Alan Nelson + Alejandro Aragon. And here's another fine mess they've gotten themselves into.
DC
Batman: Hidden Treasures one-shot - Ron Marz + Bernie Wrightson (inked by Kevin Nowlan). Batman confronts Solomon Grundy in a tale told in full page pieces of art with accompanying prose. Wrightson's art inked by Nowlan is beautiful to behold, and I wish that we'd see more of it. The story itself is pretty darn week, which is probably why this had gotten shelved for a number of years.
Also reprints Swamp Thing #7 by Len Wein + Wrightson, which guest-starred Batman.
Batman: Odyssey #4 of 13 - Neal Adams. More and more it's becoming obvious that Neal needed a writer on this project to help him with the story structure. The characterization of Batman is a lot more hot-blooded than I'm used to seeing him, but that's nothing compared to the confusing time-jumps and flashbacks within stories being told to people. Ouch.
DC Comics Presents: Green Lantern one-shot - Reprints Green Lantern #137-140 by Judd Winick + Darryl Banks/Dale Eaglesham. Though it's four consecutive issues, they are a bit of a mixed bag. The first is character driven, Kyle proposes to Jade, and then subsequently finds out that his male coworker has a crush on him. After that is a two-parter featuring Kyle and Jade dealing with a no-win interplanetary diplomatic situation from which they eventually just have to walk away, or fly away more accurately. Then Kyle has some bonding time with Jade's father, the Golden Age Green Lantern, Alan Scott.
Doom Patrol #15 - Keith Giffen + Matthew Clark/Ron Randall. Seriously, Chief is such a ball-biting asshole! The team is better off without him. Again.
IDW
G.I.Joe #23 - Chuck Dixon + Robert Atkins. It's nice to finally see the Joes actually fighting Cobra. This IS supposed to be an action comic.
Transformers: Drift #3 of 4 - Shane McCarthy + Alex Milne. For the first time in his life, Drift stands up to fight for the lives of others. I'm still having trouble following his character arc in this, and understanding why he's making that decisions that he's making. I'll have to give the entire series a re-read as a single piece.