War Journal Entry number 807 - Weekly Haul 11/17/10
MARVEL
Chaos War: Chaos King one-shot - Brandon Montclare + Michael Wm. Kaluta. (I wrote about this when it first came out, because it's that good, so you might remember this write-up.) The welcome return of Kaluta's art to a full comic book. He's best known for his work on Starstruck and The Shadow, as well as a lengthy run on House of Mystery in the late 70s/early 80s. The story centers on the Chaos King's travels through the universe destroying and absorbing the deity pantheons of various alien races. This begins with the gods of Zenn-La (the race the Silver Surfer came from) trying to stop him, then comes to an odd stop off with the Impossible Man, of all beings, and finally a fight with Satan and the hordes of Hell. It's like a comic book version of a Hieronymus Bosch painting. But on top of the great art is also some solid writing making this a worthwhile book if you're even just marginally curious about it, and doesn't require you to have read all of the Chaos War to enjoy it.
Chaos War: Dead Avengers #1 of 3 - Fred Van Lente + Tom Grummett. With the living all laid low by the destruction of the realm of dreams, it's up to the dead to help save the world. The team of dead Avengers is made up of ones from different Avengers eras, but they've all got something prove. The attention to history and continuity is impressive, but all is explained for those unfamiliar with some of the characters.
Deadpool MAX #2 - David Lapham + Kyle Baker. Deadpool is in an insane asylum and meets people even crazier than he is. Unfortunately they are on the staff. Hijinks ensue. Very funny and very disturbing all at the same time, just like any good Deadpool tale should be.
Hulk #27 - Jeff Parker + Gabriel Hardman/Mark Robinson. Red Hulk has to team-up with someone else that he's seriously pissed off already, this time it's Namor. Parker continues to give Big Red more and more depth, just like a good writer should.
Thor: First Thunder #3 of 5 - Bryan J. L. Glass + Tan Eng Huat. Still enjoyable, save for the reproduction quality of the art. Seriously annoying.
Thunderbolts #150 - Jeff Parker + Kev Walker. Some of the Thunderbolts try to make their escape, but come face-to-face with the primary Avengers, Iron Man, Thor, and Steve Rogers. In some cases, understanding are reached. In others, well, let's just say they've lost their chance.
Also contains a history of the team and a reprint of Thunderbolts #1 by Kurt Busiek + Mark Bagley.
X-Factor #211 - Peter David + Emanuela Lupacchino. X-Factor battles dead Asgardians in Las Vegas. Can Thor be far behind? I'm enjoying the series, but of late I've felt that it's been going slow. Not sure whether this is accurate, or just because it doesn't have any solid endings to anything and the heroes seem to just be stumbling along.
X-Men #5 - Victor Gischler + Paco Medina. Cyclops shows off the fact that he's the man with the plan and the X-Men turn the fight around in spectacular fashion, despite the vampires having Wolverine on their side. Because Cyclops knew that would be the case, he planned it that way. It's nice reading about heroes that can pull their shit together and get things accomplished.
DC
Green Lantern #59 - Geoff Johns + Doug Mahnke. The Indigo Tribe show up and another avatar is given form on Earth, because everything significant happens on Earth, evidently. I'm seriously bored with this story, but know it will be important for the upcoming Green Lantern family crossover.
Green Lantern Corps #54 - Tony Bedard + Tyler Kirkham. Kyle fights Sinestro, trying to get him to go save his own daughter who has been kidnapped by the Weaponer of Quard, a guy with a major hate for Sinestro. Sinestro proves to be very unhelpful. Kirkham art still bugs me.
Hellblazer #273 - Peter Milligan + Giuseppe Camuncoli/Simon Bisley. The build up to the wedding continues across two time periods.
Power Girl #18 - Judd Winick + Sami Basri. PG fights a clone of herself. So when exactly did she jump the shark? I seemed to have missed it. Still entertaining even if disappointingly cliché.
FUN PUBLICATIONS
G.I.Joe vs COBRA #3 - Greg Sepelak/S. Trent Troop/David S. Lane + Sheldon Goh. A reprint of the special edition comic made for the 2010 G.I.Joe Convention. Introduces some new characters... who probably had special edition figures available at the convention. Whatever. Nice to see the G.I.Joe organization expanded to international membership and operations. The art is uneven, ranging from decent to amateurish. The story and writing remind me of the original Marvel G.I.Joe series, and that I mean as a compliment.
Transformers Timelines vol.2 #5 - Greg Sepelak/S. Trent Troop + Robby Musso. A reprint of the special edition comic made for the 2010 Transformers Convention. Also used to show the convention exclusive figures in action. But in this case most of these figures are based on older characters. But because many of these guys are repaints of more recent figures, well, it left me kind of confused on who was who and what they did. I think it also ties into the ongoing comics in the collectors' club magazine, something I need to look into getting into at some point.
IMAGE
Hack/Slash: Trailers #2 - A bunch of Hack/Slash shorts (too many to list individually) done by a bunch of different creators. The creators were allowed to do whatever they wanted, so we've got things like the pair versus Norman Bates (of Psycho), a bunch of Cassie Hacks from throughout time attacking Jack the Ripper, a buffalo-headed monster, a show-tunes inspired murder spree (by Gail Simone, of course), and a van that rapes cars while teenagers are making out in them. Yes, I said a van that rapes cars. These work best when you don't take the plots too seriously. And they are (mostly) damn funny.
WILDSTORM
X-Files/30 Days of Night #5 of 6 - Steve Niles/Adam Jones + Tom Mandrake. Since the X-Files are involved, we've also got to have aliens, bizarre mutations, and government conspiracies on top of the problem with vampires. It does start to feel like a little much, but I've got to get my X-Files fix where I can get it, right?
Chaos War: Chaos King one-shot - Brandon Montclare + Michael Wm. Kaluta. (I wrote about this when it first came out, because it's that good, so you might remember this write-up.) The welcome return of Kaluta's art to a full comic book. He's best known for his work on Starstruck and The Shadow, as well as a lengthy run on House of Mystery in the late 70s/early 80s. The story centers on the Chaos King's travels through the universe destroying and absorbing the deity pantheons of various alien races. This begins with the gods of Zenn-La (the race the Silver Surfer came from) trying to stop him, then comes to an odd stop off with the Impossible Man, of all beings, and finally a fight with Satan and the hordes of Hell. It's like a comic book version of a Hieronymus Bosch painting. But on top of the great art is also some solid writing making this a worthwhile book if you're even just marginally curious about it, and doesn't require you to have read all of the Chaos War to enjoy it.
Chaos War: Dead Avengers #1 of 3 - Fred Van Lente + Tom Grummett. With the living all laid low by the destruction of the realm of dreams, it's up to the dead to help save the world. The team of dead Avengers is made up of ones from different Avengers eras, but they've all got something prove. The attention to history and continuity is impressive, but all is explained for those unfamiliar with some of the characters.
Deadpool MAX #2 - David Lapham + Kyle Baker. Deadpool is in an insane asylum and meets people even crazier than he is. Unfortunately they are on the staff. Hijinks ensue. Very funny and very disturbing all at the same time, just like any good Deadpool tale should be.
Hulk #27 - Jeff Parker + Gabriel Hardman/Mark Robinson. Red Hulk has to team-up with someone else that he's seriously pissed off already, this time it's Namor. Parker continues to give Big Red more and more depth, just like a good writer should.
Thor: First Thunder #3 of 5 - Bryan J. L. Glass + Tan Eng Huat. Still enjoyable, save for the reproduction quality of the art. Seriously annoying.
Thunderbolts #150 - Jeff Parker + Kev Walker. Some of the Thunderbolts try to make their escape, but come face-to-face with the primary Avengers, Iron Man, Thor, and Steve Rogers. In some cases, understanding are reached. In others, well, let's just say they've lost their chance.
Also contains a history of the team and a reprint of Thunderbolts #1 by Kurt Busiek + Mark Bagley.
X-Factor #211 - Peter David + Emanuela Lupacchino. X-Factor battles dead Asgardians in Las Vegas. Can Thor be far behind? I'm enjoying the series, but of late I've felt that it's been going slow. Not sure whether this is accurate, or just because it doesn't have any solid endings to anything and the heroes seem to just be stumbling along.
X-Men #5 - Victor Gischler + Paco Medina. Cyclops shows off the fact that he's the man with the plan and the X-Men turn the fight around in spectacular fashion, despite the vampires having Wolverine on their side. Because Cyclops knew that would be the case, he planned it that way. It's nice reading about heroes that can pull their shit together and get things accomplished.
DC
Green Lantern #59 - Geoff Johns + Doug Mahnke. The Indigo Tribe show up and another avatar is given form on Earth, because everything significant happens on Earth, evidently. I'm seriously bored with this story, but know it will be important for the upcoming Green Lantern family crossover.
Green Lantern Corps #54 - Tony Bedard + Tyler Kirkham. Kyle fights Sinestro, trying to get him to go save his own daughter who has been kidnapped by the Weaponer of Quard, a guy with a major hate for Sinestro. Sinestro proves to be very unhelpful. Kirkham art still bugs me.
Hellblazer #273 - Peter Milligan + Giuseppe Camuncoli/Simon Bisley. The build up to the wedding continues across two time periods.
Power Girl #18 - Judd Winick + Sami Basri. PG fights a clone of herself. So when exactly did she jump the shark? I seemed to have missed it. Still entertaining even if disappointingly cliché.
FUN PUBLICATIONS
G.I.Joe vs COBRA #3 - Greg Sepelak/S. Trent Troop/David S. Lane + Sheldon Goh. A reprint of the special edition comic made for the 2010 G.I.Joe Convention. Introduces some new characters... who probably had special edition figures available at the convention. Whatever. Nice to see the G.I.Joe organization expanded to international membership and operations. The art is uneven, ranging from decent to amateurish. The story and writing remind me of the original Marvel G.I.Joe series, and that I mean as a compliment.
Transformers Timelines vol.2 #5 - Greg Sepelak/S. Trent Troop + Robby Musso. A reprint of the special edition comic made for the 2010 Transformers Convention. Also used to show the convention exclusive figures in action. But in this case most of these figures are based on older characters. But because many of these guys are repaints of more recent figures, well, it left me kind of confused on who was who and what they did. I think it also ties into the ongoing comics in the collectors' club magazine, something I need to look into getting into at some point.
IMAGE
Hack/Slash: Trailers #2 - A bunch of Hack/Slash shorts (too many to list individually) done by a bunch of different creators. The creators were allowed to do whatever they wanted, so we've got things like the pair versus Norman Bates (of Psycho), a bunch of Cassie Hacks from throughout time attacking Jack the Ripper, a buffalo-headed monster, a show-tunes inspired murder spree (by Gail Simone, of course), and a van that rapes cars while teenagers are making out in them. Yes, I said a van that rapes cars. These work best when you don't take the plots too seriously. And they are (mostly) damn funny.
WILDSTORM
X-Files/30 Days of Night #5 of 6 - Steve Niles/Adam Jones + Tom Mandrake. Since the X-Files are involved, we've also got to have aliens, bizarre mutations, and government conspiracies on top of the problem with vampires. It does start to feel like a little much, but I've got to get my X-Files fix where I can get it, right?