IN OTHER Reviews....
Avengers forever ends with a pretty solid whimper and pretty WTF moment with Dark Phoenix Mystique kissing Supreme Doom or Doom Supreme while the God Quarry goes poof. (Which apparently is what Mephisto wants which doesn't REALLY feel like a Mestipho thing...) But thankfully MacKay will be taking over the writing desk in May.
IN OTHER Related Avengers news:
So yeah. There's that.
Immoral X-men/Sins of Sinister showcase the return of Rasputin IV along with some intrigue and at least one more Quiet Council. Good riddance to b@~%%y Hope. Also, Sinister doesn't seem perturbed by the fact he might not be the original, but more perturbed he might have to do more than just free Rasputin IV from her conditioning.
Bishop has some fun in an alternate timeline/world while his students try to deal with Blightswill dousing and lack of reliable powers.
Sam goes ape&%*) angry on White Wolf. So much so he has to have Nomad hold him back. Can't wait to see how this plays out in Cold War.
FINALLY some connective tissue in Captain Marvel with what's going on with the Brood and the X-men. So there's that. Still unclear if the Rogue with them is the real one or not. But a lovely bonding moment between her and Jen/Hazmat over how their powers tend to isolate them. So that was nice.
Norman crosses the line but I guess since it's a clone of a clone or something like that with Kafka...not sure that's murder...I guess. Still wish there had been better resolution for her instead of just killing her off.
I can't say I enjoy Cantwell's style some times...but I do appreciate him writing Patsy well. Even if she's in trouble. Also nice to see Sleepwalker back in a book...even if it's as a murder suspect. (Side note, when she calls for a lawyer I TRULY expect to see Jen/She-Hulk come running...but eh.)
D’Spayre's boss will be a good reveal. But yeah it's the end of the road for this volume of Hulk's story. Philip Kennedy Johnson will be taking over the scribe/writing duties come June and Hulk will go back to being Incredible Hulk.
I can honestly say I don't think Zigler gets how much Miles has ACTUALLY handled since he took over. I mean sure Rabble is a lot...but at the same time, Miles has fought worst self and won. So...I dunno. This entire bad guy is just terrible. At least when we get Carnage coming into this next story arc, it will be better. I hope.
Moon Girl usually elicits some positive reactions from me. But honestly I'm just BORED. Maybe it's the challenge being it...or the fact her supporting cast seems cooler than her. I dunno. But I will be glad when this limited series is done.
So not only did the Goblin formula bring Phil, it has basically turned him into a vampire with the need for Goblin serum. Great... Undead Goblin! Still it's a good series. I just dunno if I can hold on until Carnage shows up. We'll see.
FINALLY!!! I knew Maria hill wasn't this bloody stupid. I'm glad she trusted the Skrulls to help her expose the traitors that are trying to destroy Earth. Interesting ending and certainly a good setup for what may come down the road. Not the best Secret Invasion but far from the worst...
So I guess Percy is expecting us to accept that we'll get a better Beast AFTER he goes full Sinister and has to be put down. I mean that's all I can think of when it comes to the fact he wiped most of his back up on Krakoa but left some of Avenger time in there. We'll see.
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The Wasp miniseries continues to be a pretty cool sequel to the old Ant-Man/Wasp story from back in the day. They're delving way further into the creature this time, which is neat. The alternate, Ant-man free version of the original bridge battle was well done. And I love seeing Jarvis in (kind of) action.
Joe Fixit - The diner scene was both funny and kick ass. The mindscape scenes with Joe Fixit and Banner were interesting. Loved the part with Spidey playing the tough guy.
Doctor Strange - What a great first issue! A few pages to kind of set stuff up, then a whole bunch of cool thrown at us. I love the "Warlord of Manhattan" bit. Him helping out other heroes was cool, and I hope we see more of it. I also wouldn't mind seeing more of Doctor Doom. That little scene between the two of them was cool. All that stuff with Aggamon was neat. I'm sure the answer to who killed him won't be as straight forward as it seems. And then, of all things, a back-up feature. And a good one. I love seeing Wong stepping away from Strange's side and getting to show off some of his own skills. And this new W.A.N.D. could be pretty cool. Freaky Doktor Zee was weird, but funny. I hope to see more of this trio (and maybe an expanded team). The art for both stories was solid.
Spider-Man:The Lost Hunt - Solid finish to a solid story. The fight between Gregor/Takhar an his mom was kick ass. The Spider-Armor was cool. It seems she adapted some Wakandan armor with a look from past issues of Spidey comics. Either way, I wouldn't mind seeing it again. The ending of it all was really well done, especially when Peter stops Takhar from taking his own life. Overall, a great sequel to a classic story. Hopefully, Marvel will have the brains to keep doing stuff like this, but I won't hold my breath.
World's Finest - Wasn't Simon Stagg dead already? Although, to be honest, I doubt he is this time. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole thing is some elaborate plot by that old rat. Still, I loved the flashback/recap of Metamorpho's origin. It was really well told. The short scene between Bats and Rex after stopping the museum robbery was good. A solid reminder of the history they have together. I like this twist in the story about Wayne being the murder suspect, and Jimmy's reporting leading into it. It's a nice little wrench in the works. All in all, though, I'm happy to see Metamorpho as part of the story. He's long been one of my favorites.
Swamp Thing: Green Hell - Damn, I didn't really think they'd release part 3 so quickly, but I'm glad they did. What a great finale to a pretty kick ass story. I loved seeing Maxine kick ass. And Swamp Thing juiced up on Hell power was pretty wicked. Leave it to Constantine to save the day in a way only he could. I continue to be impressed with some of these Black Label stories.
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Lady Baltimore: The Dream of Ikelos - picked this one-shot up on a whim. Cool little story. I'm not familiar with the characters, so parts of it were a bit unclear, but not so much I couldn't enjoy it. Art was decent.
Planet Hulk: Worldbreaker - This was the final issue of the miniseries. Overall it was okay. Nothing ground breaking, but decent enough. It was nice to see a bunch of Hulks getting a kind of happily ever after.
Thor - so Doom is once again being his usual self. And trying to achieve ultimate power. Of course, if he weren't, he wouldn't be Doom. It'll be interesting to see how he and Thor go at each other. There's future Thor, though, so I guess Doom will lose.
Dead Boy Detectives - the story is starting to drag a bit. I'm not really sure how a ghost is supposed to be able to astral project. Kind of doesn't make sense. At least they found the dude who looks to be the bad guy. Hopefully, that means the storyline can come to an end soon.
Hellboy in Love - cool end to the Shadow Puppet two-part story. A curse that affects the spirits by the story told about them, so just change the story. One more issue to go, and I have to wonder if the chick is going to survive.
Dark Knights of Steel - It's been a minutes since the last issue and the revelation of the White Martians being behind it all. I kind of like the backstory of the Martians. It's a bit of a twist, but an effective one. So that's a real Green Lantern ring, but not one that talks to it's wielder. I'm beginning to think it might be this world's version of Alan Scott's ring.
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I thought I had cancelled Ghost Rider, but apparently not. So now I'm debating keeping it going on the hope they might actually kill off Discount Black Alice. Or, at least, start writing some better stories. This latest issue they decided to show how Danny is apparently an idiot who seemingly signed a contract with an outfit called Infernal Labs. Almost like he knew absolutely nothing about infernal forces. And now they've got him hooked up like Weapon X, murdering pcureople. And the Blaze Ghost Rider is going to find him.
Where Monsters Lie - Keeps being weird, but in an interesting way. So much for the crazy serial killer monsters. They weren't much against a well-trained police officer. Then there was Baphomutt. And death by lawn mower. Like I said, weird, but interesting.
Joe Fixit - time for a superhero team-up. And a whole lot of villains. I think my favorite part was the one-arm flip and smash Joe put on Fisk. It's so nice to see Kingpin get his butt handed to him physically.
Koshchei in Hell - I remember Vasilisa. First time I saw her story was in the old Time-Life Enchanted World series (which I still have, minus one book). Now Koshchei has her heart, and Baba Yaga magic. Which, apparently, makes him uber-powerful. And then it looks like he might have ended up either back in the real world. I hope they do more of these stories.
Batman & The Joker: Deadly Duo - damn, that's creepy. Apparently, Bridezilla regenerated out of graveyard flesh, and has a lot of their memories and knowledge. I'm curious what she promised Joker, but I guess we'll have to wait until the next issue (which I think might be the last) to find out. As always, Silverstri's art is awesome.
Fables - finally, another issue. The one thing I dislike about this revival is the off-kilter schedule. Pan is kind of a douchebag. Reminds me of some people I know. I honestly find myself hoping Tinkerbell gets free of his service and hands him his lungs. I'm loving Cindy as government agent protecting Earth against magical threats. It really fits her character. That arrow Jack in the Green has - I get the feeling it's like the one that killed Boy Blue, way back when. If so, it's damn powerful. Ambrose freaking out over he and his sisters being naked in front of each other was...very Ambrose. And it seems next issue is going to maybe have a three way tussle between Bigby, Herne, and Jack in the Green. Which will hopefully end with the three of them teaming up to take on Pan and Tinkerbell. I'm liking Herne - he's got some potential for interesting stories.
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Superman: Lost - issue two was interesting. Not much going on but set up for the rest of it. I have to wonder how that mystery Lois is trying to unravel will tie into the overarching story. We’ll see. Art is pretty solid.
Nightmare Country: The Glass House - a new miniseries starring The Corinthian. The art is…kind sucktastic. I don’t think it’s the same person as the previous series. I see that Azazel got free from that bottle Morpheus had him in.
Moon Knight - I loved this Tigra centric issue. A seemingly new Midnight Man (loved The Committee tie in to his victims)! She has a kid!! Whose father was a Skrull chick pretending to be Hank Pym!!! That’s weird. And the mystery villain from last issue turns out to be another old villain. One who used to target Werewolf by Night. Hopefully, that means we’ll get to see more of Jack.
Seriously where the hell have you been in the past 10 years? Secret Invasion was 2009. This was OLD news before it came back to light. Also the Skrull that impersonated and impregnated Tigra was actually a CLONE of the first one she mentioned.
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I picked up Warlock Rebirth on a lark. It’s Ron Marz and Ron Lim again, so I figured it can’t be too bad. Unlike far too many modern writers, Marz is pretty good. Anyway, it’s got Genis-Vell visiting Warlock and other members of the Infinity Watch in Monster Isle. “I am Goom!” Cool! Anyway, then another cocoon shows up, and a chick that looks like Her, but isn’t, pops out. Apparently she was draining Warlock’s energy, which would explain how she beat everyone. Not sure why they had to create another female version of Adam, but hopefully the story will be decent. The art, as I expected, is pretty solid.
I saw issue #2 of the Darkhorse series Order & Outrage on the shelf, and noticed the writer/artist combo of Jim Starlin and Rags Morales. I like their work (especially Starlin), so I picked up the first issue as well. The story is weird, and a little disjointed, but good so far. We’ve got some kind of oppressive genetic supremacy group called the Order, a mysterious dude in armor, and some chick whom I think is both the main character Alexis/Megan and the blue chick at the beginning. And the dude in armor and blue chick may be tied up in some kind of cycle of battle. The art is pretty solid. It’s only a four issue miniseries, but maybe if it’s good enough they’ll do a follow up.
World’s Finest - so I was correct that Stagg might not be dead, but possibly wrong about him being the bad guy behind all this. Seems like that’s Ivo. And it looks like his created a more specific version of Amazo, one that only duplicates (and improved upon) Metamorpho’s abilities. Cool. I kind of wish they’d gone through a few more of Mason’s enemies though. And, I’ve got to say, Metamorpho is always one of those characters who I think is great with the right artist, and Dan Mora is really doing a good job with him.
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As I've cut back from the disappointment that is the big two, I've also been delving into a lot of creator projects on one of those crowdfunding websites. All graphic novel type stuff. So far I've put in for four different projects:
Enemies of Self: Shadow of the Conqueror Vol 1. This is a graphic novel adaptation of the writer's book of the same name. I found out about it from a youtube channel he showed up on.
Two things from Graham Nolan (co-creator of Batman villain Bane). The first is Ghosts of Matecumbe Key, which ties into other works he's done, both of which were also available through the campaign (and I'm getting). The second is Joe Frankenstein Vol. 1.
The most recent, just backed today, is Ghost of the Badlands. It looked pretty cool, and was apparently at least partly inspired by classic westerns like Pale Rider and High Plains Drifter.
I look forward to reading these books as they come out.
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Finally got around to reading all my books from last week.
Rocket Raccoon - I'm no particular fan of Rocket, but I picked this up because it was a reprint of old work, and I knew the writing would be better than 95% of most modern stuff. This 4-issues miniseries from back in the mid 80's was written by the great Bill Mantlo (one of Rocket's creators) and penciled by the equally great Mike Mignola. The series finds Rocket and his allies (among whom are Wal Rus and Lylla) working to end a Toy War between Judson Jakes and Lord Dyvyne, then (later) battling an alliance between the two villains. The story is fast-paced and fun. The art, though not yet evolved into Mignola's signature style, was dynamic. Overall, I'd recommend picking this reprint up (or the originals, if you can track them down).
Hulk - What a weird finale to a weird series. Overall, while the art was pretty cool, the story was lackluster. I can see why the series was ended. The last thing the Hulk really needed was yet another uber-powerful persona. Good riddance. Hopefully, the next series will be better.
Thor - this story is getting more and more disjointed and senseless. It seems that, in the distant past, a time-displaced Thanos was patiently awaiting Bor's creation of some powerful object (which turns out to be a kid, maybe Hela?). Meanwhile, in the future, Doom is using the knowledge of what Bor did to try and remake the world (again). The art work was lame.
Wasp - A good ending to a solid story. Hopefully, the Creature from Kosmos is finally and truly defeated.
Dead Boy Detectives - this opening story is still pretty good, and looks to be reaching near the end. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if they manage to drag it out for another 2-3 issues. And now we have Thessaly, probably one of the most consistently obnoxious characters to ever come out of Neil Gaiman's Sandman run.
Last Ronin: The Lost Years - I'm still not too keen on the second generation of turtles. I think the attempts to differentiate them by look has just made them idiotic looking. That said, I'm really enjoying this look back at Mikey and how he became the bad-ass Ronin from the previous miniseries. I look forward to seeing the final confrontation with Death Worm. Incidentally, I'm not a big fan of alternate covers, but whenever I get the opportunity on these I pick up the Eastman covers.
Doctor Strange - I know the title is focused on the good doctor himself, but if they continue this two issue trend of focusing on both Stephen and Clea, I wouldn't be upset. I'm even hoping they do maybe single issues focused on just one of them (although I know it's asking a lot for a modern writer to be capable of writing a good single issue story). I liked the inclusion of Moon Knight, and how Stephen doesn't like him but Clea does. The cover by Alex Ross was awesome. The interior art is still impressing me as well. I'll be curious to see who has the power to imprison Nightmare and weaponize the astral form of a child.
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I didn't wait this week....
Where Monsters Lie - Continuing with the weirdness....I'm really feeling sorry for that kid. He just can't get away from the psychos. And now he's lost a hand, but I'd have made the same choice. Then we got to see cannibal chainsaw brute take on skull face, super-human brute. I was kind of wanting the skull face to win, but in the end neither of them did. And I was correct in thinking the cop would eventually side with the killers. At least, that's the way it's looking. It said "The End" so I'm not sure if this was it. It was an interesting read.
Conan the Barbarian was a free comic book day offering. This is the new series from Titan comics. It started off okay, with a look into Conan's past from a throw away line in Beyond the Black River. Basically, it was Conan's first battle, with the Cimmerians defeating invading Aquilonians. The are was pretty good. I think it's someone they've used on other recent Conan books.
Shazam - I picked up this first issue since Mark Waid was writing it. I've heard he can be a bit...cranky...but the dude can write. I wasn't disappointed. The space dinosaurs were unexpected, but fun. The peak inside the Rock of Eternity was what you'd expect from a kid. I'm not crazy about him just being "Captain". He's the original Captain Marvel, and should be called that. I can understand why they don't, however. And it looks like the first arc will be the gods he get's power from being a bit cranky themselves. As usual, Dan Mora's art is pretty top notch.
Joe Fixit - what better way to end the series than with a big fight between two awesome heroes and a bunch of bad guys. I think one of the best parts was the "Let us never speak of this again." part. I'm really glad Spidey got to keep his head. All told, this was a fun little series. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - Marvel has done really well with these, and I hope they keep doing more of them.
Moon Knight - I didn't know Eddie was dead. Or that he had a kid who inherited Venom. Must have happened during the time when I had better sense than to collect Marvel. Anyway, not sure why Venom had chains around his forearms, but eh. The fight against the cut rate mercs was appropriately brief. I was hoping for more with the Sarnak confrontation, but I guess they want to build on that some more. I've been loving the art since issue #1, but I thought it was really suited towards Venom (though the tongue thing got old pretty quick). And it looks like next issue will see the return of classic Moon Knight villain Morpheus. At least, that's what I'm hoping.
Batman & The Joker: Deadly Duo. So we get a final, climactic battle, where Batman once again almost kills Joker. We find out the Dead Bride Chick figured out Batman's identity, and was using it as leverage over Joker (though not in the way I was expecting, which was a nice touch). More Bruce Wayne efforts to help. And Dead Bride Chick is still out there. I was a little iffy on Joker giving Quinn an engagement ring. I thought they weren't a thing anymore. Or maybe the timeline is in the past. I don't remember. This was a decent series. Solid story. Magnificent art. I wouldn't mind seeing Silvestri do some more of this. Although maybe with a more experienced writer next time.
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I didn't remember that the old Rocket Raccoon series was Mignola art. Didn't know anything about him at the time and never made the connection when I got into Hellboy years later.
I think that project came very early in his career. Comparing that art to his later stuff, I’d have never made the connection either. Very different.
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Ghostlore #1 - I had seen a preview for this awhile back and thought it might be interesting. The setting kind of reminded me of Midnight Mass - small town, probably dying, with a preacher as one of the main characters. This one's got a family, though. And then weird stuff happens. Ghost stuff, of course, but more than that. Seems the daughter has a speak with dead type gift (and maybe the preacher does as well). Kind of reminds me of Brian Lumley's Necroscope. Anyway, we'll see if it stays interesting.
Nightmare Country: The Glass House - This dude visiting the hell club and talking to the dead chick has some kind of connection with the chick from the first series, who's now running around in a cat body, working with the Corinthian. And the dude's weird boss looks like he may have some of the Dream King's sand. And Azazel is up to temptation shenanigans.
Superman: Lost - Space Dolphins!! I like the white uniform. And each issue seems to be an almost complete story, with a bit of overarching narrative to tie it all together.
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Just for completion, I picked up Hulk Annual. I think the story was pretty decent, but I think it would have been better if they hadn't tried to frame it as some kind of "found footage". That just doesn't really work well in the comic medium. Still, it was pretty straight forward - documentary crew researching Hulk, explore the old Gamma Bomb base and come across Hulk battling another gamma monster. Throw in a cameo by Mole Man and his flunkies, going crazy due to gamma seepage into down below. Hilarity ensues. In the end, though, the whole thing turned out to be a lead in to the next Hulk ongoing (for however long) series. The art was pretty decent.
Miss Truesdale and the Fall of Hyperborea - I've been picking up a lot of Darkhorse lately, and especially Mignola. He's a solid writer. This one is a miniseries. Starts out in late 1800s, with two chicks in the Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra. Then it goes to flashbacks of them in past lives in Hyperborea - one as a gladiator, the other as a younger servant. I'm get the feeling these characters have probably been in other work, and I'd probably be more into this if I was familiar with that other work. Still, the story was decent. The art is okay.
Order and Outrage - It seems like we're finally transitioning into a more or less single timeframe, instead of jumping around. It starts with the Lieutenant right after the space station explosion and her crash land on the mystery planet. Then she gets hit by weird temple energy, and some other power warps in with its ship and fires a weird missile at her. Then we swing back around to where the story started, with her being discovered by two soldier lackeys. And now it looks like it's going to be a fight between her and the dude who ran the space army she used to work for. I look forward to seeing where Starlin goes with this.
Danny Ketch: Ghost Ride - new miniseries, with the great Howard Mackie as writer, returning to the Ketch version he helped create. And it looks like it's set back in the time of that series. Danny and Johnny Blaze are going to be going up against someone who has a pieces of the Medallion that empowers Danny. That should be interesting. It's not Saltares on art, which is a bummer. The new guy doesn't do too bad, though. And the cover looks awesome, but it's by someone different. I wouldn't mind seeing this lead to a new Ghost Rider wielding the Medallion.
World's Finest - Well, this quickly went from murder mystery to robot uprising. I really liked the Metal Men Bat Armor. And, damn, are they pulling in more oldies: Mekanique, Ultivac, Bug-Eyed Bandit, Doctor Cyber. Waid has always been good at digging into comic book history, though. And now we've got a new uber-bot boss - Amazo 2.0 (I'm not sure I can bring myself to regularly call him Newmazo. Should be interesting to see where this goes.
The new Hulk series is by the same guy that did "The Last God" series, Phillip Kennedy Johnson. He will be bringing back more of the grass roots horror that Immortal Hulk had.
ALSO!!!! Debuting with a stellar issue, MacKay's Avengers. VERY, VERY excited by some of the stuff I've seen, especially with his newest bad guys, the Ashen Combine.
Finally, of note, after Chip Zdarsky's Daredevil run, Saladin Ahmed will be taking the reigns in September.
Finally, while the 700 issue wasn't as splash-tacular as the 600th, Fantastic Four writer, Nolan North's Doctor Doom. VERY on brand. Especially his latest technology usage.
....I mean I like Chuck, but I wish he was doing something more Marvel oriented...Maybe.
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A video popped up in my YouTube feed the other day. Some dude I’d never seen before, but I’m guessing the algorithm showed it to me because I’ve watched other comic book related videos.
Anyway, the dude said that apparently IDW has lost the rights to ROM, and that it cleared the way for Disney to reprint collections of the old series. Supposedly, volume one will come out next January.
If true, that’s cool.
Yep. Rom is coming back to Marvel in 2024.
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Now all we need are..
Micronauts(with some tweaks due to copyrights)
Godzilla
Shogun Warriors(Maybe with a Not-Raideen and Red Ronin in the group)
I'll settle for Godzilla if only because he and Hulk need to fight.
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Warlock: Rebirth - so it looks like the High Evolutionary is playing his "let's evolve humanity" games again. He makes such an awesome villain. I kind of wish they'd gone with him as the next main villain in the MCU. Not that the MCU matters to me anymore....
Dead Boy Detectives.....meh. Not sure I'll keep going with this one. And I'm a little disappointed they're going to bring Thessaly over into the Nightmare Country book. She's never been my favorite character, and I think they're overusing her now.
Fury - I picked up this one shot because (a) Al Ewing was writing. He's pretty decent, and (b) I liked the last series they did with Nick Fury Jr. It was...okay. The best parts (for both writing and art) were the stuff from WWII, and Nick Fury battling Zodiac on the Moon. The new Scorpio was lame. I thought the Zodiac Key was originally a piece of tech, but it seems like they've changed it to yet another mystical artifact. And maybe it's just me, but the whole explosion of acronym spy agencies is kind of lame. I mean, comics has always had its fair share of that stuff, but now it's getting ridiculous.
So whatever Bor did, it was something to start Hela on the path to being goddess of the dead. That didn't seem to be his intent, however. I kind of wish the fight between Thor, Thanos, and Doom had a little more oomph to it.
JSA - Between the atrocious lack of anything resembling a regular schedule and the new (and lame) reimagined characters they've introduced or hinted at, I'm almost regretting seeing Geoff Johns return to writing comics. At least he's pretty solid at crafting an actual story, even if he's like most modern writers and can't do an arc of less than 6 issues. And it's awesome seeing some of my favorite JSA characters again: Jay Garrick Flash, Doctor Fate, Power Girl. Even Alan Scott (whom I recall they ruined). And even though time travel villains are really hard for even the best writers, and give me headache, I've always liked Per Degaton.
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It seems that IDW is losing one copyright after another. Transformers, Rom, Micronauts.....
In news that matters, Al Ewing will attempt a second Herculean feat of doing what he did for Hulk with Immortal Thor. So take that as you will.
*is dreading new comic book this week given the spoilage that came a few weeks ago*
Also Alan Scott isn't RUINED. He's better. :p
It was interesting but it wasn't for everyone. Honestly I'm more intrigued by the fact JMS is going to take over writing duties for Captain America. That and Dan Slott is bringing back Superior Spider-man.
...not a fan of Rippaverse...but whatever.
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Shazam - It was cool to see Psycho Pirate again. Not sure if it's the same one as back in Crisis, though. I like how his minions each had different expressions on their masks. I thought the bit with the space dinosaur bureaucrat was a little silly and pointless. And now the gods who give Captain Marvel are having a contest it seems, to see who can mess with him best? Weird, but hopefully Waid can make it pay off without dragging it out too long. Art was solid. It looks like next issue is going to tie in to yet another of the endless crossover events. Ye gods, can't they give those things a rest?
Dark Knights of Steel - well, it looks like the good guys are now one, big happy family. With a Phantom Zone projector, no less. And just when I thought they were all out of plot twists, it appears Waller was working with the White Martians the whole time. I look forward to this ending.
Doctor Strange - This was a holdover from last week. Didn't feel like driving all the way for just one book. Anyway...... Well, that was weird. Even for Doctor Strange. I've got to say, Dormammu looks good in a suit. The mini-tour of past encounters was cool. I especially liked the call out of Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #2. That was during my early days of collecting Strange.
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Sweet! Two Sundays in a row I have a reason to check mail (which I usually do only on Mondays).
This time it was my copy of the new printing of Joe Frankenstein (Part 1), by Graham Nolan and Chuck Dixon. I had seen it advertised somewhere awhile back, and though I missed the early days of the campaign, I was able to get in before it ended. I’m looking forward to reading it.
All I care about is the fact Hickman is going to do a different updated version of Ultimate Marvel. I can't wait to see how that goes. :)
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Queen of Swords - I picked this up on a whim. Liked the cover. It’s an interesting story, with three chicks (a witch, a barbarian and an assassin) teaming up to stop some other evil witch (the good witch’s sister). There’s stuff that definitely makes it for more mature audiences. Good art. The story could have been told better. I get the feeling the writer is relying on folk having read the stuff this spun off from.
Ghostlore - It seems this father and daughter, having survived the first issues problems, can communicate with the dead and put them to rest by listening to their stories. And there’s bad things at work. I look forward to seeing where they go with this.
Miss Truesdale and the Fall of Hyperborea - Miss Truesdale and some other chick are flashing back to their ancient past lives, when one was a barbarian warrior woman, and the other a slave girl. And this issue also related the origin of Hellboy’s Hand of Doom. Cool. The cover was, I thought, very inspired by Mignola, but not quite there.
Nightmare Country: Glass House - lots of shenanigans going on. Azazel and some angel have teamed up. There’s the same weirdo fat version of Corinthian called the Smiling Man. He’s been lurking since the previous miniseries. It was nice to see Lucien again. And, of course, there’s Thessaly. These people trying to follow in Gaiman’s footsteps can’t see to write a story without her. Very unimaginative.
Superman: Lost continues to be a fun, but weird series. I’m really digging the white uniform more and more. And him finding this planet to live on for a few years is kind of cool. Especially the farm house. Then those short aliens show up again, followed by a new Green Lantern. Should be fun.
Doctor Strange - a WAND focused issue that finally delves further into this whole “someone’s killing powerful mystical entities” mystery. I’m really liking Doktor Zee. And while I find Pandora Peters to be an obnoxious and annoying character, I gotta say I love the bat. Wong, as always, kicks ass. I can’t see Clea being the bad guy, and I really hope they don’t do something that stupid. The art for this issue was….meh.
Moon Knight - I loved seeing Morpheus again. I think he was much better written, with better use of his powers, than previous appearances. Some of the dreams he was helping create were…interesting. The Mighty Mail-Man was hilarious. And at the end….Black Spectre? Could it be Carson Knowles returned from the dead, or someone new? They tried that before, and it didn’t work.
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Going back to that Queen of Swords book, I also picked up the first collection of Barbaric, which Queen was a spin off from. It’s the story of a murderous barbarian named Owen. He’s cursed by three witches to only be able to do good, and help anyone who asks. He’s got a sentient, blood-drinking axe to act as both weapon and conscience. This first series, he helps a young witch battle an evil cult. At the end, they’re going to go off and fight vampires. Solid story. Compelling characters. Good art. I’m most definitely going to pick up the other collections.
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I’m hoping to be able to pick up the other two collected editions of Barbaric today. I know they’ve got the second book, because the lady showed me last week.
And the Queen of Swords issue I bought had an ad for volumes one to three. So I know they at least plan on putting out a third book. I’m just not sure if it’s already been released. And I’m too lazy to look it up.
Really, really, REALLY wondering why you haven't started collecting MacKay's Avengers' run. Or Orlando's Scarlet Witch...or a couple of other releases that came out this week. Like Hickman's relaunch of the Ultimate Universe...
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I picked up the second Barbaric collection yesterday. As I suspected, however, the third collection has not been released yet.
This second volume collects the second miniseries and a one-shot. Starts off with Owen the barbarian and the magic chick Soren teaming up with another barbarian (and form companion of Owen) turned vampire battling this dude’s vampire master and minions (including vampire giants). After that, it goes to them facing off against a long-lived orc warlord (whom the barbarians fought once before) and his evil sorcerer chick (who is also going to be in Queen of Swords). It seems the bad folk want Owen’s enchanted, blood-drinking axe. Anyway, Owen ends up in a bad place, and Soren has his axe (and curse).
The one shot was a flashback to an earlier time in Owen’s life, but when he was already cursed. This story has him reluctantly teaming up with another character who shows up in Queen of Swords to take on some evil bat monsters and dispense some long-time-coming justice.
I look forward to the next collection.
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Hulk #1 (again) - Although I suppose it's technically The Incredible Hulk #1 (still again). Looks like this series is going back to the horror aspect of Immortal Hulk, but with an even more mystical side. And we have what appears to be yet another ancient mystical "Mother" and her super-powered children. Kind of reminds me of Lilith (the other one) and her Lilin, so not really an original idea. And there's a young girl who'll probably end up being super-powered. The art is pretty kick ass, though. And I like the long-haired hippie look for Banner and Hulk. Still, I was less than impressed. I'll give it a few more issues to see if it improves, but I doubt this series will last long.
Danny Ketch: Ghost Rider - The story is okay, and the art pretty good. Still, the events don't seem to fit very well into the existing timeline, making this seem more like a rewrite of what was done before. I kind of like the fat cannibal villain, but the Broker dude just looks a little lame. This is definitely not as good as some of the other retro miniseries Marvel has put out over the last few years.
World's Finest - another AI revolution. Meh. I think this latest story arc might be suffering from Waid having to work on more than one series. And I've always though Amazo was a bit overpowered. The kind of villain the Justice League should really never be able to defeat. Making him smarter just makes that even more so. Still, if nothing else, it's nice seeing some other heroes. Especially Metamorpho, Hawkman (however briefly) and Firestorm. Overall though, I think I'd have preferred this remain a kind of murder mystery story.
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In news that matters, Al Ewing will attempt a second Herculean feat of doing what he did for Hulk with Immortal Thor. So take that as you will.
*is dreading new comic book this week given the spoilage that came a few weeks ago*
Also Alan Scott isn't RUINED. He's better. :p
Immortal Hulk was amazing, Immortal x-men is fine, but I don't need a whole immortal line of comics.
Alan Scott is better, is his wife still in hell? Did they ever divorce? I'd like to hear her be glad for him. The last time I saw her, she sold her soul to stay with him, which is now incredibly creepy.
Reminds of the time Spawn told Batman his mother was in Hell. It was the most interesting thing Martha Wayne ever did.
World's Finest - another AI revolution. Meh. I think this latest story arc might be suffering from Waid having to work on more than one series. And I've always though Amazo was a bit overpowered. The kind of villain the Justice League should really never be able to defeat. Making him smarter just makes that even more so. Still, if nothing else, it's nice seeing some other heroes. Especially Metamorpho, Hawkman (however briefly) and Firestorm. Overall though, I think I'd have preferred this remain a kind of murder mystery story.
We've seen unbeatable Amazo before. The recent Failsafe was built with Amazo tech. (Could Batman build a robot even Batman couldn't defeat?) Grant Morrison also did an unbeatable Amazo in one of my favorite issues. The animated Justice League had Amazo ascend into an uncaring god-like being, playing chess with Dr. Fate.
Ace,
It's not a line, so much as Ewing going a Thor flex with Immortal. Also Immortal X-men was all Gillen. So Al had no input on that. At least not that I'm aware of.
Alan is better and as far as I know his wife isn't in Hell. His kids are okay. So yeah.
I'm giving PJK more of a benefit of the doubt since he's got some good credits in the horror genre along with some of his own spins to work with.
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Thor - Well, I'm glad that's over with. Now we can move on to a new series and a better writer. That was an increasingly silly story with a silly end.
Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. 1957 Fearful Symmetry. I think this was a one shot. The art was....really not good. The story was okay, though. Hellboy had to deal with what turned out to be a kind of variant were creature, with some dude projecting his own fears into a tiger and turning it into something bipedal and murderous.
Warlock: Rebirth - Of course Doctor Strange was going to convince Adam's spirit to leave Soulworld. Otherwise, what would they have done with the other issues. So now we get to see Adam take on Eve, and I'm guessing eventually turn her against the High Evolutionary. He's the real villain of the piece anyway, seeing as he seems to have created Eve and given her all her abilities. I always liked him as a villain.
The Last Ronin: The Lost Years - One step closer to Death Worm. Mikey got caught and put into a travelling Thunderdome. And the dude he made friends with made the sacrifice play to make sure Mikey gets his shot at DW (and ultimately Hiroto. Considering the way this thing ended (which I loved Shaka's last move), I really hope Mikey cave's Finn's head in.
Fables - I'm really starting to like Tinkerbell. Supremely powerful, but bound by ancient magical laws of some sort. I'm really hoping she gets to turn Pan inside out. I mean, I thought Geppetto was an a-hole. Pan makes him look like the nicest dude in the world. And I'm glad they kept Sam around. He was one of the few good things, as I recall, to come out of the Jack of Fables series. It's also nice to see King Cole and the rest. And, of course, Cindy. She was one of my favorites from the old series (and her own stuff). Maybe they could follow this up with another series for her....
I DEEPLY recommend people that enjoy what's Ewing's doing on X-men Red to read the Heralds of Apocalyse one shot. It's a great insight into En Saban Nur's current thought processes along with his wife.
Little surprised though that A-zombie has dropped Ghost Rider. I still think it's going good with Percy at the helm.
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The latest Thor Annual #1 was pretty damned good. Main story had M.O.D.O.K. get his hands on the Bifrost fragments and use them to make himself master of reality. Then Thor stepped in, and after a little pep talk from Peter Parker, he kicks the crap out of the newly rechristened M.Y.T.H.O.S. (who apparently very much prefers a good acronym). Art was solid. Writing was solid. They followed that with a little prelude to Immortal Thor, in which he uses his big mojo to finally fix Mjolnir. After which he’ll apparently go into the Odin Sleep.
Doctor Strange - time for a wedding. Umar the Unrelenting marrying Tiboro, Sorcerer Supreme of the Sixth Dimension. I enjoyed some of the banter back and forth between the four main characters. And Dormammu’s wedding officiating was hilarious. And we finally get to see who’s been behind the recent slaughters - General Strange. A very much altered veteran of the War of the Seven Spheres. I’m very interested to see where they go with this.
Also of note: Captain America 750 came out with some more detail about Sam's shield, and some very touching moments with Steve, Sam and the rest.
(I will agree Thor Annual and Immortal Thor looked great)
The next Venomverse stuff was intriguing with Magic Girl Venom and a flower that is kind of Groot-ish but more Venom. Thanks Peach!
The last Fall of X one shot was also intriguing even if was more of a interlude/interquel for Immortal X-men. I especially enjoyed seeing a different side of Mother Righteous (especially now that's she's not a TRUE Sinister in some ways...and more of Sinister adjacent.) Honestly the one shots have been fairly good with the only one I didn't like was Mutant First Strike.
The new Captain Marvel Mini-series is...not what I expected...but we'll see how it goes. At least they're giving Nitro a makeover...
One thing I've enjoyed about the new FF series is they're not all earth shattering and this one ties into one of the deeper Marvel Monster cuts. So that was good.
While I'm not impressed by Dylan, I still feel Al is doing his best to give him a different voice than his father. Loved seeing more about how to resolve a slight conflict about Flex from a previous series. Overall good.