|
|
 |
Wow, I haven’t had a week this light since August 29th, 2007. I only picked up 15 books this week, including a trade paperback of Avengers West Coast and chronicling the evil Scarlet Witch storylines. So I didn’t pick these up until Friday, since they were delayed due to New Years Day holiday. I really just rambled there. Anyway, I should be able to bang this out this weekend and even finish the Heroes magazine I had been reading. The breakdown looks like this for those wondering and too lazy to count: 1 Wildstorm, 1 Vertigo, 6 DC and 7 Marvel. Yep, that adds up to 15. I have no more to say.
Spoilers Ahead
Main Event
-Teen Titans Year One #1- Young Robin tries to check if any other young heroes are around but none are and Batman, acting extremely vigilant, brings Robin out. Robin is surprised Bats is roughing up people so much. We check in on Kid Flash, who visits Robin, Wonder Girl, who is looking for Wonder Woman, and Aqualad, who scared of everything. Robin finally has enough with Bats and tells him to back off from beating a thug and gets punched in the face! Batman has gone soo evil! Robin is shocked. From the teaser on the last page it seems that the main heroes have gone rogue which leads to the birth of the Titans. This was a very quick read and for the most part was entertaining, especially after getting over the jarring change in Batman.
-Wildstorm Revelations #1- I was expecting a huge blowout in this one, given the five or so Armageddon’s we’ve seen but it was really a bit of a downer. Nemesis, from WS Armageddon, meets up with Backlash and her lesbian lover, Savant. Nemesis tells them only they can stop the oncoming disaster. The end of the issue sees them in an airport with some other super powered beings descending upon them. I was expecting something different, but this wasn’t bad at all. It seems unique that the three people who can avert the disaster are all women, you don’t see that much in major companies.
Marvel
-Annihilation Conquest #3- Annihilation continues kicking ass and taking names. Ultron battles Warlock and wants him for himself and wants the rest (Quasar, High Evolutionary and Moondragon) dead. Moondragon ends up dying and High Evolutionary takes Quasar and Warlock before detonating the star he was on, with Ultron in it. Ronan and crew meet with Ravenous, take him out of power (thanks Wraith) to reveal hidden secrets behind his throne that will stop the Phalanx. We don’t know what these secrets are as of yet. We then go over to Starlord and crew who are trying to seriously cripple a Phalanx spire. Blastaar shows up on them and kills Gabe (who lost his Capt. Universe power) and a newly returned and reformed Ultron wants to take his rage out on Starlord. I wish this got more time in the limelight since for my money it has been consistently better than any mega-event the past 3 years.
-Howard The Duck #4- Beverly gets some help to bust Howard free form his cell and expose MODOT for what he is! Howard finally exposes him but the two scientists show up looking for revenge on Howard. The president shows up, grants Howard citizenship thanks to Bev and Howard is free to go and can’t be shot at since he’s an American citizen. This was just a great tongue-in-cheek mini-series that provided some pot shots at everything, from Civil War to popular TV and radio. This was a great mini you should pick up, either the back issues or the trade. You won’t be disappointed.
-Moon Knight #14- Moon Knight is now a card-carrying member of the, well whatever members of the SHRA belong to. He causes havoc and the press wonders how he can dish out this brand of justice while registered and Tony Stark looks on in agreement with those notions. It seems Moonie is taking information from some guy on who his next victims will be with his imaginary friend urging him on. We look in on Jean-Paul as well. Nothing really happened here but seeing Moon Knight kick ass was fun and I enjoyed this much more than the first 12 issues.
-Ms. Marvel #23- Ms. Marvel remembers meeting and killing the Brood Queen as Binary before the Brood Queen stabs her through the chest. The Brood go crazy, attacking everyone on board the mini-helicarrier and Carol’s team. Ms. Marvel joins with Cru one last time and returns as Binary at issues end! Overall a solid story and Machine Man in Captain Marvel’s body is still a hoot.
-Silver Surfer: In Thy Name #3- Silver Surfer is still messiah of a race under a collective called Ama. It seems Ama has used Silver Surfer against what they believe is a lowly race to incite a war. The Ama want this other race to strike first so they can wipe them out. Yes, Silver Surfer was used as a pawn and he was not happy about it. He uses a creature capable of illusions to make it appear like Galactus shows up at the end. I wasn’t terribly impressed with this mini-series and I just want it to be over.
-Thunderbolts #118- This awesome issue had everything. Norman is getting crazier and crazier and ever closer to becoming the Green Goblin again. Samson still talks to Robbie, clearly suffering some mental problems. Swordsman is turning back into his Nazi lineage by blowing up a plane in the main area of the T-Bolts mountain. Finally, Venom is taking control of Mac and starts eating people! Finally everything is coming together here! This was a very awesome issue.
-Ultimate Human #1- I didn’t know what this mini-series really had coming towards me but I am happy I picked it up. Bruce Banner goes to Tony Stark pleading for help with the Hulk virus. Tony, in his infinite wisdom, decides to turn Bruce into the Hulk to see how his body reacts to it. So Bruce becomes the Hulk and starts going, well, hulky. He breaks out of his containment cell and when Tony’s anti-Hulk antitodes stop working, the gang starts to worry. There’s also someone called, The Leader, keeping track of Hulk’s progress. Very interesting things coming along with the Leader here. He’s not green, like the comics, but is wheelchair bound with his huge cranium. This has a lot of layers still to be revealed in the next three issues but if they are all this interesting I will be around for the ride.
DC
-Countdown Presents: Lord Havok and the Extremists #3- This title has been a confusing one for me. I wonder what they are trying to do. Are they just trying to move copies of a comic because it has the Countdown logo on it? This tells the origin of another character we’ve never seen or heard of before, and they go about it assuming we know about this dude on the cover. This issue features a guy named Tracer, who is apparantly enhanced, getting killed by Monarch’s army. All I have to say is, who cares? Does anyone care? This one is just a waste of time and I had a tough time getting through this one. I am just happy it is half-way through so I only have to waste 9 more dollars on it.
-Countdown to Final Crisis #17- This issue deals mostly with Ray Palmer and Mary Marvel. The Monitor wants to kill Ray so his Monitor brothers can join him inside. Solomon, the rogue Monitor, kills Bob but is surprised when Bob doesn’t join him. Solomon wanted to become the Source and the other Monitors don’t like this turn. As the Monitor’s argue, Monarch shows up with his army ready for a fight. Mary Marvel battles Eclipso and decides to give Eclipso all her power, thus making Mary Marvel normal and ridding Eclipso from Jean Loring. Mary wakes up the coast of Paradise Island and she’s in trouble. This issue was not without casualties, Bob killed Earth-51 versions of Dibney, The Flash and Jean Loring. Excellent issue and the side-by-side panels of the Marvel and Palmer stories made for a nice read and the Lim art made this an easy winner. That’s two good ones in a row for Countdown.
-Countdown to Mystery #4- Mystery deals with two of the primary magicians in DC, Eclipso and Dr. Fate. The lead story is Eclipso and we recap the events of Countdown where Jean loses the power of Eclipso. The Eclipso jewel looks for a new host and Spectre tries to hide a man named Bruce Gordon. Eclipso finds Gordon and he ends up fighting Spectre. Spectre tells Gordon he can control the power. We then look in at Coast City as Creeper and Plastic Man are joined by Dove. Isn’t she dead? Oh well. I liked this story. The Dr. Fate story deals with the new host falling off the wagon, getting drunk, meeting a woman who writes More Pain Comics, and having her die when Negal liquifies her. Excellent issue.
-Metal Men #5- The Metal Men mini-series was slightly delayed but this one seemed to wrap up a few things I was having trouble understanding. There are three separate stories going on here, one dealing with Magnus and his brother and the history behind the Responsometer. It is based on a powerful device called the Wheel of the World. Some being called The Nameless turned the Metal Men in the world’s destroyers. The second story is one of the past where The Metal Men were first being formed. They go to meet Magnus’ founder named Kahn who wants the Metal Men destroyed. When Magnus refuses he sends robots out to them and they are destroyed anyway. The third story shows the Metal Men in the present looking for Magnus. They end up in Magna-Tech which is overtaken by robots looking to destroy them. They end up meeting the Director of Inhuman Services who offers them a job working with them. Interesting stuff here and I think Duncan is really running with the Metal Men in a good way.
-Supergirl #25- Supergirl now has all her memories back and can’t stop thinking about old friends of hers who are now gone. Supes tries to talk to her but he has to leave back to Earth. Supergirl is still in space when she’s attacked by a villain named Reactron. He seemingly is composed of parts of the universe and can use stars inside him to create atomic explosions, then blows up with Supergirl holding him. I reallt liked this issue. Supergirl has her memories, the title has a place to go and build to, and Reactron is a pretty cool villain. I thought he was a new character but the front says he’s returning. I don’t know where he originally came from but a quick google search showed he made few appearances (in Supergirl, Doom Patrol) before dying in Suicide Squad.
Vertigo
-Northlanders #2- We visit our protagonist, Sven, as he sits on the beach, pondering his next move. While sitting he is shot with an arrow. An old friend, Ivarsson, tells him it’s a woman archer from the top of the rocks. Ivarsson tells him what happened to his family, and Sven is even more bent on revenge. He tries to get some troops to join him but they balk at going against Sven’s uncle, Gorm. Sven ends up killing some rogue warrior after him, then breaks the bow and the nose of the female archer. At the end of the issue Sven meets his old love. They do it, and she says she is working for Gorm now.
Awards
-Book of the Week- I don’t know if there were any one issue that blew me away this week. There were many good titles (Northlanders, Teen Titans Y1, Countdown to Final Crises, Countdown to Mystery, and Thunderbolts) but the issue that kicked the most ass this week was Annihilation Conquest #3. The art is beautiful, the story has been fantastic and the whole mini-series and Annihilation as a whole has been one phenomenal experience.
-Disappointment of the Week- The only title I really loathed this week was Lord Havok and the Extremists #3. I think I expressed my feelings in the review up above so the less time I think about this title, the better.
-Cover of the Week- When there are 15 books and 15 covers it is hard to pick a best one. Most of them were average, some were pretty unpleasing to the eye (I’m looking at you Silver Surfer) and in the end it really came down to two of my favorite cover artists, Greg Horn and Arthur Suydam. Horn’s Ms. Marvel #23 just kicked ass with a reflection of a punching Ms. Marvel in the eye of the Brood while Suydam’s take on Moon Knight was pretty dark and interesting. Either pick would work for me but if I had to choose one this week it would have to be Ms. Marvel. The art is very vivid and lifelike and it’s just a stunning image.
-The Bottom Line- It was a really slow week and really light on my wallet ($60 with the $25 TPB included) so to start off with it was very hard to pick what was going in the main event. Ultimate Human was in the running for a while but ultimately (no pun intended) missed the cut. Let’s look at the different companies. DC had a great week with 5 out of 6 issues being very good. They had a misstep with Havok but hey, no one is perfect. Marvel won the BotW award and the other 6 titles were generally good, maybe except Silver Surfer and Vertigo and Wildstorm issues were good, too. Nothing was a huge standout in terms of story or anything, but when you have 15 issues with only 2 duds, you’re hitting a pretty good average.
|
|
|
|
|
Questions? Comments? Shoot me an email.
|
|
|
|