War Journal Entry number 899 - Weekly Haul 11/9/11
MARVEL
Avenging Spider-Man #1 - Zeb Wells + Joe Madureira. I've missed Joe Mad's art, though I have to admit that it did look better in the preview pages I saw of the art before it was colored. Anyway, lots of high octane fun and Wells' writing is as witty as usual.
Fear Itself #7.2: Thor - Matt Fraction + Adam Kubert. Thor's funeral gets more detailed here, and some of it is more than a little heavy handed. Fraction won me over with the first things I read by him, Immortal Iron Fist co-written with Ed Brubaker and then The Order written on his own, but since then I have not been very impressed. It's frustrating because every time he's announced on a project I get all excited, and then I'm let down. That's what Fear Itself as well as his run on Thor have been, letdowns.
Journey Into Mystery #631 - Kieron Gillen + Whilce Portacio. Loki is in a special position as seemingly the only one that remembers Thor and knows that Tanarus, The Thunder God, is an usurper.
Magneto: Not a Hero #1 of 4 - Skottie Young + Clay Man. Someone is killing anti-mutant racists and claiming to be Magneto. Considering his history, no one believes Magneto when he says he didn't do it. Impressively written so far, deftly moving from dark and menacing to humorous. As for artistic choices, I'm really impressed that Cyclops and Magneto were drawn in street clothes when they went to speak with Captain America and Iron Man. That's unusual, but perfect for the story.
Point One one-shot - This anthology one-shot is meant to tease a bunch of upcoming projects. Nova by Jeph Loeb + Ed McGuinness features the return of Phoenix. The Age of Apocalypse by David Lapham + Roberto De La Torre offers a preview to the preview of their series. Seriously. Scarlet Spider by Chris Yost + Ryan Stegman was, well, I just don't really care. Sorry, I liked Ben Reilly, but don't care about this new Scarlet Spider at all. Coldmoon & Dragonfire by Fred Van Lente + Salvador Larroca had, I believe, the first appearance of the characters and since it is Van Lente I'm looking forward to wherever and whenever they show up. The Doctor Strange prelude to Defenders by Matt Fraction + Terry Dodson is making me more confident in the new series so hopefully it won't be another Fraction letdown. Lastly, the Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis + Bryan Hitch was, well, have you ever seen a teaser trailer for a movie that leaves you clueless as to what is going on and why you should care? That was this. The framing sequence by Ed Brubaker + Javier Pulido had art that mixed the styles of Kirby and Ditko, and quite honestly had me the most interested out of the entire mix.
Uncanny X-Force #17 - Rick Remender + Jerome Opena. The Dark Angel saga approaches its end, finally. Seriously, eight parts for this thing? Sure, there have been some neat moments, but this just seems unnecessarily long.
Wolverine #18 - Jason Aaron + Ron Garney. Wolverine + Gorilla Man + Fat Cobra make for some of the most enjoyable reading I've ever had from Jason Aaron. Maybe instead of so much drama he needs to do more comedic stuff like this.
X-Men Legacy #258 - Mike Carey + Steve Kurth. Big loud action that just barely keeps me interested and art that is decidedly inconsistent and we have another typical issue of the series that is just barely staying on my pull list. I was extremely relieved to hear that there will be a new writer in the very near future.
DC COMICS
Green Lantern #3 - Geoff Johns + Doug Mahnke. Sinestro and Hal got along as well as is to be expected from two bitter enemies. The quality since the DC New 52 has been fairly good, comparable to the better non-crossover issues of the previous series. Too bad I don't care about Hal all that much.
Grifter #3 - Nathan Edmondson + CAFU. Grifter is the story of an ex-special forces operative turned con-man who then becomes the only person able to hear the mental communications of an alien race that is infiltrating humanity by replacing key individuals. Now that's some science fiction intrigue I can get behind. I wasn't originally going to pick this series up, despite having almost everything he was in under Image and Wildstorm, but the praise brought me to it. The fact that the continuity starts entirely from scratch doesn't bug me in the slightest. I will concede that there were some issues with the timing of events in the first issue, but it's still a good read and has been the biggest surprise of the DC New 52.
Resurrection Man #3 - Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning + Fernando Dagnino. I'm digging this, it's a follow-up to the series Abnett and Lanning wrote in the 90s which was a cult favorite of mine. It's not horribly friendly to new readers as I think some things could have been better explained by this point, but it's not impenetrable either.
HOUGHTON MIFLIN
Mangaman graphic novel - Barry Lyga+ Colleen Doran. If you're tired of meta commentaries upon storytelling forms and genres, then don't even consider this. If you are still interested in them, though, this is an excellent one. This is the story of a young man from a manga-style universe that has been transported to the “real” world. The scientist acting as guardian to Ryoko suggests that he attend high school to interact with others. There he meets Marissa, and drama ensues. Oh, and some hijinks, too. Colleen's art is gorgeous and she manages to deftly mix the styles. Barry's writing did at times border on cloying, but considering the meta commentary going on I just went and enjoyed it. It was well worth the $19.99.
Avenging Spider-Man #1 - Zeb Wells + Joe Madureira. I've missed Joe Mad's art, though I have to admit that it did look better in the preview pages I saw of the art before it was colored. Anyway, lots of high octane fun and Wells' writing is as witty as usual.
Fear Itself #7.2: Thor - Matt Fraction + Adam Kubert. Thor's funeral gets more detailed here, and some of it is more than a little heavy handed. Fraction won me over with the first things I read by him, Immortal Iron Fist co-written with Ed Brubaker and then The Order written on his own, but since then I have not been very impressed. It's frustrating because every time he's announced on a project I get all excited, and then I'm let down. That's what Fear Itself as well as his run on Thor have been, letdowns.
Journey Into Mystery #631 - Kieron Gillen + Whilce Portacio. Loki is in a special position as seemingly the only one that remembers Thor and knows that Tanarus, The Thunder God, is an usurper.
Magneto: Not a Hero #1 of 4 - Skottie Young + Clay Man. Someone is killing anti-mutant racists and claiming to be Magneto. Considering his history, no one believes Magneto when he says he didn't do it. Impressively written so far, deftly moving from dark and menacing to humorous. As for artistic choices, I'm really impressed that Cyclops and Magneto were drawn in street clothes when they went to speak with Captain America and Iron Man. That's unusual, but perfect for the story.
Point One one-shot - This anthology one-shot is meant to tease a bunch of upcoming projects. Nova by Jeph Loeb + Ed McGuinness features the return of Phoenix. The Age of Apocalypse by David Lapham + Roberto De La Torre offers a preview to the preview of their series. Seriously. Scarlet Spider by Chris Yost + Ryan Stegman was, well, I just don't really care. Sorry, I liked Ben Reilly, but don't care about this new Scarlet Spider at all. Coldmoon & Dragonfire by Fred Van Lente + Salvador Larroca had, I believe, the first appearance of the characters and since it is Van Lente I'm looking forward to wherever and whenever they show up. The Doctor Strange prelude to Defenders by Matt Fraction + Terry Dodson is making me more confident in the new series so hopefully it won't be another Fraction letdown. Lastly, the Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis + Bryan Hitch was, well, have you ever seen a teaser trailer for a movie that leaves you clueless as to what is going on and why you should care? That was this. The framing sequence by Ed Brubaker + Javier Pulido had art that mixed the styles of Kirby and Ditko, and quite honestly had me the most interested out of the entire mix.
Uncanny X-Force #17 - Rick Remender + Jerome Opena. The Dark Angel saga approaches its end, finally. Seriously, eight parts for this thing? Sure, there have been some neat moments, but this just seems unnecessarily long.
Wolverine #18 - Jason Aaron + Ron Garney. Wolverine + Gorilla Man + Fat Cobra make for some of the most enjoyable reading I've ever had from Jason Aaron. Maybe instead of so much drama he needs to do more comedic stuff like this.
X-Men Legacy #258 - Mike Carey + Steve Kurth. Big loud action that just barely keeps me interested and art that is decidedly inconsistent and we have another typical issue of the series that is just barely staying on my pull list. I was extremely relieved to hear that there will be a new writer in the very near future.
DC COMICS
Green Lantern #3 - Geoff Johns + Doug Mahnke. Sinestro and Hal got along as well as is to be expected from two bitter enemies. The quality since the DC New 52 has been fairly good, comparable to the better non-crossover issues of the previous series. Too bad I don't care about Hal all that much.
Grifter #3 - Nathan Edmondson + CAFU. Grifter is the story of an ex-special forces operative turned con-man who then becomes the only person able to hear the mental communications of an alien race that is infiltrating humanity by replacing key individuals. Now that's some science fiction intrigue I can get behind. I wasn't originally going to pick this series up, despite having almost everything he was in under Image and Wildstorm, but the praise brought me to it. The fact that the continuity starts entirely from scratch doesn't bug me in the slightest. I will concede that there were some issues with the timing of events in the first issue, but it's still a good read and has been the biggest surprise of the DC New 52.
Resurrection Man #3 - Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning + Fernando Dagnino. I'm digging this, it's a follow-up to the series Abnett and Lanning wrote in the 90s which was a cult favorite of mine. It's not horribly friendly to new readers as I think some things could have been better explained by this point, but it's not impenetrable either.
HOUGHTON MIFLIN
Mangaman graphic novel - Barry Lyga+ Colleen Doran. If you're tired of meta commentaries upon storytelling forms and genres, then don't even consider this. If you are still interested in them, though, this is an excellent one. This is the story of a young man from a manga-style universe that has been transported to the “real” world. The scientist acting as guardian to Ryoko suggests that he attend high school to interact with others. There he meets Marissa, and drama ensues. Oh, and some hijinks, too. Colleen's art is gorgeous and she manages to deftly mix the styles. Barry's writing did at times border on cloying, but considering the meta commentary going on I just went and enjoyed it. It was well worth the $19.99.