Well other than Hulk beating up the mother of Nephilim and some more movement on the Kraoka front, I can say the Marvel side is slightly slow moving.
Thought Al Ewing's Resurrection of Magento ended with less of a whimper and many thinking 4 issues was just too short.
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Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance - So.....apparently Mephisto could have yanked the Ghost Rider from Johnny Blaze whenever he wanted to? All he would have needed was someone to cut a deal with him? That seems silly, but at least it's better than "he could have just done it whenever he wanted to". Which is what the first issue implied. Which would have made all those years of Johnny Blaze defying him kind of meh. Anyway, it looks like they're at least setting up for some kind of conflict between Blaze and this new guy to get GR back. I almost hope they don't put it back with Blaze, but I'd also prefer they not keep it with the Hood. I'd prefer they try to build a new character, instead of someone they keep trying to make a thing. And it looks like they got the memo to include vampires as a way to help promote yet another crossover event.
Incredible Hulk - I kind of liked the backstory they gave the Frozen Charlotte. Though I'm not too keen on this Mother of Horrors supposedly being some uber-powerful entity all the others are afraid of, but of course no one has ever heard of her. I did like the ending, though. With the kid trapped in the doll. Hopefully that'll stick, since she's pretty much useless. The guest artist was....not the greatest.
Giant-Size Hulk - Hulk on a train battling hobo demon. Weird and pointless. Calling an adult an "Old"? Is that really how kids talk these days? Somehow I doubt it. The reprint of the old Hulk issue was cool. Still, if I had known what was in this, I probably wouldn't have bought it.
Roxxon Thor - I wasn't going to get this, but decided to at the last minute. Glad I did because that was funny. A nice bit of mockery of both capitalism and socialism. I loved how they kept doing the Earth/Earthgard references. And I swear they tried to make Loki look like Richard E. Grant, which was cool. And I liked the Roxxon ads....Microtransaction Warz....
James Bond 007 - So everything up to this point was misdirection by the Russians. And, ultimately, Bond and M misdirected the people trying to misdirect them. That was cool, but kind of easy to see coming. And now they've got to race against the clock to stop a big attack. The only thing this story is truly missing is a single, big bad. It's a hallmark of Bond stories, and without it, the thing just doesn't really feel like Bond.
Unnatural Order - This has been a fun series, and we've finally reached the end of the first story arc. After only four issues. I'm impressed and surprised. So the "good guys" confront the bad guy. Turns out he's an actual immortal druid, and the waning power of the gods left him pointlessly wandering. Until he sensed the near mystic power of the first atomic bomb test, and decided to harness the energy results of technology to fuel his magic again. And now, among the heroes, you've got people who want the world to remain as it is, and others who want to it too go back to the way it was. Of course they had to keep it the way the druid changed it, otherwise you wouldn't have a story.
World's Finest - That's a lot of imps. I thought it was only slightly lame that when Robin get's superpowers, they're basically Superman powers. It made sense, though. Just like Bat-Mite making a mech suit for Supes that looks like Bat armor. I kind of liked how Batman intimidated Mxyzptlk just with a grim stare. Although it was a little unbelievable. Still funny. I'm guessing that was the main villain they showed on one page. Not sure who it's supposed to be. Thought it was a Joker Imp at first, but they showed him on another page. I liked how creative they got with Parasite.
Blood Hunt isn't crossing over with Ghost Rider. Blaze though is expected to show up in a mini-limited series tie for Midnight Suns.
Roxxon's Thor was a great parody indeed. Though I don't think it was ENTIRELY aimed at socialism...especially given the left leanings of Al Ewing. But regardless good deal.
I was surprised that Frozen Charlotte was a Nephilim. I assumed, (based on her name) she was some kind of Greek Nymph.
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Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives - Image has been doing other Universal monster series, which I didn’t get. This one is one of my favorites of the Universal Monsters. The story has some reporter tracking down a serial killer who had already tried to do her in. And she comes across the Creature. That’s the basics of the first issue. There wasn’t much of the Creature, but hopefully that’ll change. The writing was decent. The art was solid.
Wolverine: Madripoor Knights - Cap, Wolverine, and Black Widow are trying to rescue Tyger and the mystic artifact hidden in her armor. Then, out of the blue, ninja attack. It looks like The Hand is going to try and turn Natasha again. Like in Uncanny X-Men 268. I like seeing a lot of the old Madripoor residents again. They even brought in Sapphire Styx. And the art is solid.
Conan the Barbarian - Kull comes to his senses, and we get the team up we didn’t know we wanted: Kull, Conan, and Brule. They go to Atlantis. They fight pirates. Conan gets busy with a chick archer. And they find Kull’s home village destroyed. Still awesome.
The Bat-Man: First Knight - I missed this last week, but my peeps at the comic book store found me a copy. This is a really cool series. Jurgens continues to do a really awesome job of bringing the late-1930s to life. I’m looking forward to seeing who the mastermind is, but I’m wondering if it’s maybe Ra’s or Joker. Ra’s would fit better, since it’s bad guys seemingly being brought back to a semblance of life. We’ll see. I kind of miss there being an Alfred, though. The art is kick ass.
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Hellboy: The Fortune Teller - picked this up for Free Comic Book Day. It was a short, but solid story. They also had a Stranger Things story in the issue, but I didn’t bother with it.
Conan: Battle of the Black Stone - another Free Comic Book Day issue. Not too shabby. And it’s going to kick off a larger story later on. One involving multiple REH characters in what they’re calling the Howardverse. I like that.
Ghostlore - daughter and dad reunited. Dad being kind of evil (of course). And more of the same. Getting tired of the way this one is dragging on. Might stop getting it.
Moon Knight - well, it looks like The Shroud won’t be Moon Knight anymore. So what’s even the point of the series? Unless they wise up and just make the whole thing about Hunter’s Moon. Then maybe they can kill off the two vampire characters, the psychiatrist, and maybe 8-Ball. Just have HM and occasionally Tigra running around kicking ass.
Incredible Hulk - I have to say, I kind of enjoyed watching Hulk smack around those kids who thought they were badass. It was cool seeing Doctor Voodoo again. I always thought they didn’t give him enough of a chance as the new sorcerer supreme. And it looks like we’ll finally get the showdown between Banner and Hulk.
Barbaric: Born in Blood - maybe that’s what my fantasy has been missing? An alcoholic dragon who completely lets herself go. And then there was blood. Lots of blood. And Booshu. I do enjoy these stories. Irreverent and funny.
Get Fury - I picked this up on a whim. It was Garth Ennis doing Nick Fury and Frank Castle. During the Vietnam War. If nothing else, I figured he’d at least be treating the (future) Punisher properly. I was not disappointed. Brutal, but good. I look forward to the rest of the miniseries.
Immortal Thor - Well, Roxxon Thor didn’t last long. Thor kicked his butt. Quite easily. And then poor Minotaur got killed. Again. And Thor is being framed for it. All around, a good issue. Except for the art. That sucked. Big time.
DUDE!! I am totally against killing the vampires AND especially 8-ball. This issue COMPLETELY vindicated himself in terms of accepting he can change. He's TOTALLY worth keeping. Also no guarantees right now. Especially with what's going on in Blood Hunt. So yeah... F off on that.
I will agree that Immortal Thor (other than the art) was a GREAT issue, especially as it allows Amora and Skurge to help kickstart Ragnarok.
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Captain America - I think I'm done with this one. The series started off okay, but now it's just gotten...boring. And at least once upon a time mutant abilities made some sense. This new one just seems a mishmash of powers.
Daredevil - there were two issues this week. I seem to recall that #8 was being withheld for some reason or other. After reading it, it might have been better off not being released. The main story was adequate. The rest just kind of sucked. What's worse, they charged $10 for that crap. And the following issue was, once again, merely adequate. Of course Kingpin will be possessed by one of the evil sin spirits. This might be another series I'm finally done with.
Doctor Strange - And things had been going fairly well. Without having wasted money on the other crossover stuff, I'm guessing Blade's body is possessed by Varnae. Or it's him in Blade's shape. Even still, it was awful convenient he was able to convert Stephen Strange so quickly. And one thing I've noticed is the just as conveniently seem to have retconned that Stephen Strange once did use the Montessi Formula to wipe out all vampires. So how are there so many old vampires running around? Or did they all once again conveniently have ways to either survive or be brought back? I thought Marvel used to care about continuity. Anyway, at least whoever's plot is actually somewhat creative, even if a bit stupid. And at least now we know what the plan was for human-turned-vampire-turned ghost Victor Strange.
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Doctor Strange - And things had been going fairly well. Without having wasted money on the other crossover stuff, I'm guessing Blade's body is possessed by Varnae. Or it's him in Blade's shape. Even still, it was awful convenient he was able to convert Stephen Strange so quickly. And one thing I've noticed is the just as conveniently seem to have retconned that Stephen Strange once did use the Montessi Formula to wipe out all vampires. So how are there so many old vampires running around? Or did they all once again conveniently have ways to either survive or be brought back? I thought Marvel used to care about continuity. Anyway, at least whoever's plot is actually somewhat creative, even if a bit stupid. And at least now we know what the plan was for human-turned-vampire-turned ghost Victor Strange.I think that was retconned away a long time ago. I know Dracula came back and at least some of the others.
Just dug around on the Web. The formula's effect must have been broken by someone reinstating the curse of vampirism.
Once the effect is broken, all vampires it destroyed come back.
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Just dug around on the Web. The formula's effect must have been broken by someone reinstating the curse of vampirism.Once the effect is broken, all vampires it destroyed come back.
Yeah, as I recall they did that way back in Doctor Strange. A multi-part story back in the late 80s/early 90s. Doc Strange accidentally used the vampiric verses on his brother. Marie Laveau takes the book containing the vampiric verses (Darkhold, I think) and ends up resurrecting Varnae, the first of all vampires (unless they've retconned that). At the time, they were the only two. Strange theorized Dracula would return, since he'd done that plenty of times already.
At the time, though, those two (Vic Strange and Varnae) were the only ones. So since then they must have retconned it to say all vampires who'd been wiped out by the Montessi were brough back. Sad, but there it is.
Look I'm getting TIRED of Zombie harshing on what is a GOOD concept. That vampires, not Dracula, have decided using ancient magics, made the sun go Dark. It's no worse than what's going on with Mutants.
The vampires that got destroyed by the Montessi Formula are gone. BUT some of the other survived or came back. ESPECIALLY SINCE WE JUST HAD THE ENTIRE MARVEL COMICS REBOOT ITSELF!! READ THAT AGAIN! IT REBOOTED ITSELF.
So if you hated that, I suggest you STOP READING COMICS! For f*@&'s sake...
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Wolverine: Madripoor Knights - Claremont’s latest series is nearing its end. Luckily for anyone who enjoys good writing, I think he’s got another one coming along. This one’s got a few nice flashbacks, some cool back and forth between Cap and Wolverine, and a heck of a lot of fighting. All culminating in our heroes being transformed by The Hand’s magic. Which, of course, they have to bust free of next issue. That’s one of the only things I dislike about these miniseries - flashbacks mean you know the hero’s going to win. And I love The Hand, considering them to be one of the more interesting villain groups in all of comics. Still, sometimes I think they have a tendency to write them too often having big grandiose schemes. All in all, it’s good, well-written fun.
That’s all for this week. I toyed with buying picking up issue one of that Dr. Doom series, but read that it had Valeria Richards in it. I dislike that character.
1) The Doom issue was a one shot. 2) Valerie is a GREAT character. Especially when it's written by Jonathan FREAKING Hickman.
Also the end of the Fall of the House of X minis for the most part....it was weird but those that wanted Hope dead got their wish.
It's a decent Wolverine...but not sure it will be an on going. Even with Hickman at the helm.
All I know is Immortal Thor gave me the best new version of Bragi, God of Poetry since Chris Pine was a bard.
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Pretty sure that's another miniseries. Hickman's doing a few of them it looks like.
Actually kind of okay with me to have him just do some straightforward stories that aren't intended to introduce grand events or restructure everything.
Yeah, this is another 5-issue miniseries. I like these kinds of stories as well.
I'm not really sure what I think of the Claremont Wolverine (or other similar project). On the one hand, they're kind of fun and cool, but on the other it kind of feels like just retro nostalgia. Old writers being dragged out to go through their old paces, without even trying to do anything new.
Claremont isn't the only one they've been doing this with. I kind of like the stories. The miniseries format is also appealing. And, yeah, it does feel like nostalgia bait, but to be honest I still find these old guys to be far superior to 90% of the younger folk. In some ways, I think that's to be expected. They've got tons of experience. I just also happen to think they're better writers.
I disagree since I feel Al Ewing is KILLING it and so is Jonathan Hickman.
Maybe, Jeff. But the fact was no one asked him and he didn't volunteer. So we got Hickman to do some...and then we had the lesser tier involved (besides Al) and then...we got this.
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I don't have any problem with them bringing some of the old writers back, it just feels weird to me for them to be like "Just go write something set back during your run, don't try to do anything with new characters or even those characters as they are now."
Like, wouldn't it have been cool to have Claremont write a Krakoa mini-series?
It would be awesome to bring more old writers back to work new material with existing or new characters, instead of the flashback stories we keep getting (as entertaining as they are). For various reasons, I doubt it'll happen.
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My books for this week....
James Bond 007 - This continues to be a fun little series. A bit darker than cinematic Bond, I think, but entertaining nonetheless. This James is certainly a bit harder edged. We're closing in on the end, I think. And while I don't think it's the best writing Ennis has ever done, it's been fun enough I wouldn't mind seeing him do more of it.
World's Finest - "I am the Mite." Heh...that was a good opening. I liked seeing the Metal Men and Firestorm. The 2D images of Batman and Superman looked just like they did in the old Superfriends cartoon. I had to look up Zha-Vam, and no wonder I didn't recognize him. That is one thing I always liked about Waid's writing - his excellent use of his extensive comic's history knowledge. The Olsen Squad was interesting. Still not sure who the bad guy's supposed to be. Maybe someone new?
Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance - I'm still not at all impressed with The Hood. He's basically just a petty criminal with powers. Not at all worthy of even being considered a supervillain. There are way better bad guys they could have picked for this role. We're going to get a showdown, though. So as much as I hate to just see Blaze keep being Ghost Rider, it'd be better than this loser.
Immortal Thor - It was nice seeing all the actual Norse gods, though I'm pretty certain not all of them were supposed to be children of Odin. Then again, this is comic book Odin, which is how we get that idiocy of an elder sister. Damn, the In-Betweener. Can't recall the last time I saw him in something. I think the first time might have been the Handbook of the Marvel Universe back in the day. And I still dislike hobo Loki.
Conan the Barbarian - I love seeing Yag-Kosha again. This idea that his immortality gives him a kind of untethered look at time is cool. And now we have Thulsa Doom. Comic Thusla Doom, not James Earl Jones Thulsa Doom (who still kicked ass). The sword was just like the one from the movie, though.
The Bat-Man: First Knight - A solid finish to an altogether solid story. With a nice little twist in the villain reveal. Batman used his brains along with his fists, as it should be. I'm glad they didn't make him struggle too much with the thought of using the gun. Overall, this series was solid, and I hope they get Jurgens to do more with it. The only thing I didn't like was no Alfred.
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I also picked up the second issue of three different series: Geiger, Redcoat, and Rook Exodus. I going to wait to read them, however, because the comic book store folk are getting me the first issue of each as well.
There's a youtuber I like to watch sometimes, and he went over mostly Rook Exodus in a video (also mentioning the other two briefly). I had no idea Johns was doing these, and while he's not my favorite, the youtuber is someone who's opinion I sort of value, so I thought I'd give them a try.
We'll see if he was correct.
I was deeply impressed by Himbo Bragi myself. Also hobo Loki is still way more fun than evil Loki, especially with his new rivalry with Bragi.
Ullr is cool too.
As for the In-Betweener, he's been a few other things like Ultimates by Al Ewing and Hickman's G.O.D.S. saga.
Blood Hunt is shaping up VERY nicely too. Especially when round two between the Bloodcoven and the remaining Avengers when more how I expected it. GO VISION!
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Kelley Jones has been posting some art he's done for a story in this week's issue of Brave and the Bold. It's a Deadman story, which should be good. If it were the only story in the issue, I might have picked it up. As is, it's only one story, and I don't think I'll waste my money on the entire issue just to get that.
The ending of Krakoa is a pretty big flop in terms of feeling anything...but at least it's an ending.
Also, Blood Hunt tie-ins are working nicely, especially Midnight Suns. :)
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I didn't get a chance to read it yet, however. Been busy. Same with all the other new comics I picked up this weekend. I started reading them last night but didn't finish all of them.
Incidentally, I think this was the first time in my very long history of comic book collecting where I had such a large stack of books (8) and not a single one was DC or Marvel.
Only because you're ignoring some good books because you're a prissy neckbeard...
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Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives - This story got a little more interesting in the second issue, although I think it still suffers from a lack of enough actual creature. The chick from the first issue has been rescued from drowning, and is recovering in the home of Dr. Edwin Thompson, who was one of the characters from the original movie. Turns out he's looking for the creature in order to study it for potential scientific breakthroughs regarding DNA and longevity. Considering what the creature did to him, I'm sure a little revenge might be mixed in there as well. They get out into the jungle, and come across some cartel members, who just happen to be looking for the serial killer the chick was pursuing. And it just so happens that serial killer is ex-military and was training said cartel members. The creature does show up, and two cartel dudes are stupid enough to try and shoot it. That doesn't end well for them. Anyway, I'm guessing things will eventually get to everyone's paths crossing violently. Still, it's interesting, and the art is pretty solid.
William of Newbury - I'll admit, I picked up this Darkhorse offering solely based on the cover. It showed an anthropomorphic racoon monk in a graveyard, with at least two glowing skeletons. It's set in 12th Century England, with all the people as anthropomorphic animals. The racoon, Father William, is intent on fighting the forces of evil. He banishes spirits and quiets unquiet spirits. His got a brother who's a rabbit (and the prior). By the end of the book he's got a partner (not sure what kind of animal) who's a bandit, and wants to learn her letters from him (and maybe betray him after). The art kind of reminds me of Mignola. I like it.
All three of the next books are written by Geoff John as part of the Ghost Machine group. Now I've got the first two issues of each, although each issue #1 is a second printing.
Rook Exodus - This one's sci-fi. It's set on a planet (Exodus) that was terraformed by this big company, then settled. Some of the settlers are Wardens, with hi-tech helmets that allow them to control a type of animal. In the case of our protagonist, Rook, those animals are crows, ravens, & rooks. Fast forward several years, the "engine" that terraformed the planet (and kept it that way) has broken down, and most people have left. Rook and his fellow warden Swine are trying to build a ship to escape. There's a loyal-to-the-company Warden named Dire Wolf. The main villain, Ursaw, is someone who killed a Warden and took his helmet. The art is pretty good. The setting is interesting. I think this is my favorite of them so far.
Geiger - this one is set 25 years after some big catastrophe called The Unknown War. Tariq Geiger, who had cancer when "the bombs fell", gained super powers and is now called The Glowing Man. He wanders around dispensing justice. Looks normal until he pulls these rods from the harness on his torso. Then he gets all glowing green, semi-transparent, and radioactive. His companions are a two-headed wolf and some dude who used to be a Las Vegas thug with a group called the Nuclear Knights. So it's kind of post-apocalyptic, but also hints there are still very much functioning cities and such. The art is adequate. The protagonist looks cool when he goes all super power. I like the whole rods controlling it thing.
Redcoat - this last one is about a British Soldier, Simon Pure, from the Revolutionary War who accidentally became immortal when he fell into a magic ritual being conducted by some of the Founding Fathers. It's hinted the magic came from Native American Indians. Anyway, the tag for Simon is : Immortal. Mercenary. Kind of a Tool. And boy is he. He's kind of like Han Solo, if Solo was a coward and deserter. By the end of the first issue it's 1892 and he's partnering up with a young Albert Einstein to try and prevent some disaster Einstein's sister foresaw. It's hinted the disaster is the very same Unknown War from Geiger. Oh, and there's one other immortal running around that Simon knows about - Benedict Arnold. Bryan Hitch is the artist on this one.
Also you missed Avengers Twilight which was a GREAT ending to a great mini-series by Zdarksky.
Along with a new Hellverine that's pretty awesome after all the crap that's gone down since Fall of X in Wolverine's life.
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Yaira #1 is the latest offering from Rippaverse comcis, and to be honest, it's the first one I'm disappointed in. The character is interesting, and has potential. She's hinted at being alien, but whether its another planet or another dimension isn't revealed. Either immortal or very long-loved. She's got powers over cold, super human strength and durability. She can fly. Th story, however, was not well constructed. There was a lot of repetition in scenes and dialogue. The art was decent.
Yaira has been on the planet since the viking era. She's got numerous descendants. One in the story develops powers. That kicks off the story. Yaira is trying to protect her descendant. Alphacorp is trying to catch them both. Into the mix are thrown two people who appear to be from wherever Yaira is, accompanied by an insectoid humanoid sorcerer. They want to either kill or capture her as a criminal. That varies from page to page.
I wasn't at all familiar with the Soska Sisters before they were announced for Yaira. After reading this, I think perhaps they are Rippaverse's first error in choosing talent.
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Ghost Machine #1 - this was the one shot that kicked off the current Ghost Machine imprint of comics. From what I've been able to tell, Junkyard Joe (Vietnam era robot) and Geiger already existed as comics. So I might have to go back and get those collected series. Anyway, this one had stuff about Geiger and Redcoat as part of The Unnamed universe. Then it had the beginnings of Rook Exodus, which is kind of set off by itself. It also introduced what looks to be some future stuff: The Rocketfellers, Hornsby & Halo, and Hyde Street. Of those three, Hornsby and Halo seemed like an intriguing idea regarding two children and a truce between Heaven and Hell. The Rocketfellers seemed silly and annoying. Hyde Street looks to be maybe a Tales from the Crypt style horror, so that's probably a definite for me.
Mortal Terror - This flipping of the Dracula script continues to be interesting. Dracula can turn vampires mortal again if they drink his blood. Dr. Seward as a vampire is an evil douche trying to create a plague. And the vampire king, Rollo, has some kind of secret history of vampires locked away in his brain. A history Dracula plans to expose.
Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance - Though I normally advocate for letting new people take over and retiring old heroes, I really would rather not see this Hood punk take over permanently as Ghost Rider. Mostly because he's a nothing character. Absolutely pathetic. However, I think they are setting him up to be the permanent Rider, just by some of the lines they've dropped in this issue alone. I still love the art though. At least they make Hood Ghost Rider look good.
Get Fury - This second issue was even better than the first. There's CIA drug operations, plans to silence Fury for good, and some really nice twists and turns. Ennis doesn't hold back on some of the brutal stuff that went down back then, either.
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Gotham by Gaslight: The Kryptonian Age - I loved the original Gotham by Gaslight, so decided to give this 6 issue miniseries a try. It was interesting. Started off in the Kansas territory in 1860, with Ma and Pa Kent doing their thing. Flash forward to 1893, and black widow Lady Selina Kyle shows up to attend a dinner presentation called The Kryptonian Age. It’s basically someone claiming a heretofore lost, advance civilization. The exhibit showcases stuff from what looks to be Atlantis, Themyscira, the Hawks, and Krypton. Lady Kyle steals a shiny green ring from the exhibit. The people she’s turning it over to get killed by the League of Shadows. The last page has Batman and Talia. The story is intriguing. The art is pretty good (but still no Mignola).
Ghost Lore - the chick and her preacher dad have been found by people who want to follow them. Before much can happen the bad guy shows to. Turns out he’s a ghost. A really angry and powerful ghost. But dad and daughter, working together, scare him off. This just got a bit more interesting.
Incredible Hulk - Hulk and Banner work together inside a soul prison to find a prisoner who can help the girl they’ve been traveling with. They get a lead, but the prisoner gets a symbolic bit of Hulk’s blood. I’m sure that won’t come back to haunt them.
Geiger - Geiger and his traveling companions find a library, then some psycho, organ-stealing mutants. Violence ensues. And some bonding over memories. But the bad guy tracking them now has Barney the two-headed wolf. And there was a bit in the beginning with a robot named Junkyard Joe. He had memory flashes of Redcoat telling him to find Geiger. Cool bit of world building.
ALSO not noted here:
Avengers #15 continues to shine on Steve Rogers not quite B+ Avengers but certainly A minus in terms of NOT having Thor, Cap or Hulk on it...but with Quicksilver, Hercules, the best Hawkeye, Miss Katherine Bishop, and Hazmat taking on Baron Blood (and Kate gaining inspire heroics + 20 speech) THIS is why I feel we need two Avengers books. Both with MacKay's hand on them.
Also Blood Hunt #3 shows us that whatever is controlling Blade CLEARLY doesn't understand the whole "They are calling you out while you're winning" That plus the fact it looks like the Midnight Mission MIGHT be going to free Khonshu...might be a thing Thor might not completely over look but eh.
Also G.O.D.S ends and we get some interesting insights in a possible future along with a more dickish version of the In-betweener than previously thought.
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Last Ronin II- Re-Evolution - So...it took awhile for this to come out. I had nearly forgotten about it. Anyway...It looks like the new turtles are all going to have secondary mutations that give them powers. The big, burly one can turn all or part of his body to stone. And it looks like another one has some kind of electric or electro-magnetic abilities. Interesting, but it seems to me this makes them more super-hero than ninja. And, of course, we're also seeing new bad guys being set up (along with some old ones in updated form).
Doctor Strange - I like Wong-centric issues. There should be more of them. And I'm glad they brought back Victor Strange, even if in a round about way, and as a villain. More than ever I think it's possible that Blade is possessed by Varnae, and there was more dialogue in this issue that seemed to support my belief. But....This IS Disney we're talking about. And I wouldn't put it past them to retcon it in some ridiculous way. Though I hope I'm wrong.
James Bond 007 - The miniseries ended in true bond fashion, with him fighting his way to a wild victory, while making some quips, then hooking up (or re-hooking) with a beautiful chick. Oh, and putting a bullet in a bad guy's head. Solid series.
World's Finest - Still not sure who the bad guy's supposed to be, other than that he's immensely powerful and likes to toy with what he sees as lesser beings. Old man Mxyzptlk was funny. I wish they'd shown more of the fight between the other hero imps and the big bad. I'd love to have seen more of Martian Manhunter Imp.
Immortal Thor - Poor Hermod. I kind of liked him. Oblivion possessed Tyr was creepy cool. I liked the battle between Tiwaz/Buri and Thor. The resolution was a good one. It showed Thor can do more than just throw his hammer or lightening at stuff.
For the fact Blade is possessed by Varnae, the Blood Hunt Tie for BP and the preview for Blood Hunt #4 pretty much confirm it. How exactly it happened...is still kind of unclear.
And I don't think they're going to retcon Blade being possessed by Varnae since it seems to be the route MacKay is going. Also, we'll get a look at the Midnight Mission side quest of bringing back Khonshu with Hunter's Moon, Tigra and one other.
I'm pissed about the death of Hermod. He was a good guy and we never see THAT many messenger gods in comics that often. Also like how when Thor threw Mjolnir towards Tiwaz/Buri, he was like "Oh hi there lovely weapon! Let's stop right there and let me admire your craftmanship. *takes a beat* Okay cool. Go run back to your master."
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William of Newbury - quirky and weird. Best way to describe this book. I must have missed it in the first issue, but there’s a tag at the end that says “Based on the true accounts of English historian William of Newburgh.” I can see that, if William of Newburgh was a monk who wandered the land putting spirits to rest. Still, the writer is building some as yet mysterious back story involving fairies. Looking forward to it.
Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives - the creature is one of my favorites. That, plus this being a miniseries (and a weird one), are why I’m still getting it. Because there’s been very little of the creature.
Moon Knight without Moon Knight (or Hunter’s Moon) is really not that good. Still, it’s hard to completely screw up heroes fighting vampires (unless you’re Disney, apparently).
Wolverine: Madripoor Knights - to be honest, not as good of an ending as I hoped. Kind of lame, actually. Now I’m debating picking up the next Wolverine miniseries by Claremont.
Redcoat - I kind of like the way they’re doing Benedict Arnold here. Very sleazy. Exactly what you might expect of him, given history. And I’m really starting to like Simon Pure (The Redcoat), even if he is “Kind of a Tool”. There’s a bit of Fables-esque magic of legends stuff going on. And apparently the Founding D
Fathers were into some dark magic. I kind of liked the darker interpretation of the Cherry Tree legend.
Rook Exodus - they did a bit more world building in this issue. And introduced a ton of other Wardens. Including Carapace, the warden of turtles (and probably tortoises). He’s supposedly 118 years old, and lives in some cool armor. Next issue promised some war, so it’ll be cool to see a bunch of the Wardens unleashed.
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…….I'm guessing Blade's body is possessed by Varnae. Or it's him in Blade's shape.
Whelp. That one was easy to see.
I didn’t actually buy the book, but one of the dudes at the store showed me a splash page of the reveal. The art was awesome. And I’m at least glad to see a writer pull an old (and really cool) villain back out and do something with him.
Blood Hunt #4 is awesome and don't worry about Mark Spector. The OTHER people from the Midnight mission did their job; broke out Khonshu AND Khonshu released his undead Moon Knights with Marc (alive!) back in action.
So yeah. Also Steven Strange might no longer be the Sorcerer Supreme. Doom will be. So...yeah.
(And yes Varnae is in control over Blade's body...)
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Wolverine: Deep Cut - I wasn’t going to get this, but two other books I was expecting are delayed, so gave in to temptation. It was an interesting, with most of the issue being a fight between “Sabertooth” and Logan. It’s set some time after Inferno, but when the X-Men are still believed dead by Excalibur. And, well, by the end Wolverine has more in common with Daredevil than just heightened senses. And he’s aiming for Sinister. Interesting.
Barbaric: Born In Blood - each series with these characters is bloody mayhem and fun. This time they’re home, facing what looks to be a half-giant sorcerer (with a hint of necromancer). Then some werewolves get thrown in for good measure. Good times.
Doctor Strange - a cool little story about the birth of gods, followed by Mordo and Bats playing the hero. The only thing that was a bit off - when Victor was pulled out of Stephen’s body it suddenly cured the body of vampirism. Even though his spirit didn’t cause that condition to begin with.
Conan the Barbarian - a nice battle royale between Conan, Kull, Brule and Thulsa Doom. Plus we got a bit of an origin for Doom. That was cool. I had the cover by someone named Jeffery Alan Love. It was pretty badass. The essay at the end spoke of cosmic horror and REH’s involvement in the Lovecraft Mythos.
Blood Hunt continues to be awesome and I'm glad Bats got to be the hero of the day. As for how Stephen got cured, eh...Gods man. They can do a lot.
Also of note is the second issue of the new Infinity Watch mini-series. This issue was alright but mostly to get a better feel for Overtime/Hector. The backup was a little mixed but at least Coulson's back to being goodish.
Best part was the new 0 issue of Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu as the backup story showcase Joe Casey's return to ASM with a connection to Khonshu, Cyttorak and the Blood Moon.
The better of the two Blood Hunt Tie ins was clear Psylocke's. With her and Greycrow doing some heroics, that was some great stuff. The Werewolf By Night was confusing and using the other guy aka NOT Jack Russell.
Venom rolls into Venom War with some SERIOUS steam and also an explanation toward issue #25 appearance by Meridus in the late Cretaceous period. So yeah. Oh and Old Man Dylan shows up at the end. Still feel very wary about Sleeper's ability to justify using humans as he does. But...eh.
The new Ultimate Line continues to shine. Especially with Deniz Camp's Cap as a core part of the team. What was REALLY interesting was seeing Midas in the White House along with Steve (oh poor Steve) seeing the history of this new world in 9 days. That was brutal for him, I'm sure. Anyways best part was the reveal of America Chavez as the newest Ultimate. Very, Very bad ass.