As you all know, there were exactly 248 comics released this week and I did my best to represent all of them in this week's Comic Book Moments of the Week. I couldn't cover all the books here, but I tried to find as many as I could and I think I covered all the major happenings that happened.Hit the jump for momenty goodness and feel free to let me know if I missed anything major or what your personal moment of the week was!
AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #14
"Strawberries and pickles?"Even Skrull Pym is a complete screw up. All he had to do was lay off the Skrull food for a few months and we could have taken over Earth, but noooo, he had to go and eat the goddamn strawberry pickle delight and blow his cover.
DAREDEVIL #108
"Matt who?"Couple things I liked about this scene. First is the fade in focus on Dakoto's magazine cover and how it mirrored her current pose. The other is her sarcasm towards both Luke and Matt. Great scene for a support character.
"Nice place? Your blind!"What the hell is Murdock looking at? He's blind, yet checking out the entire place and commenting on how nice it looks. His radar gives a general location and shape of stuff, but he still can't see anything.
FANTASTIC FOUR #558
"Can we now forget about Loeb's Hulk?"Not sure if this is alternate reality or future related or what, but this is Bruce Banner in control of the Hulk persona. Maybe something to do with Marvel 1985?
FINAL CRISIS #2
"I'll take a heart in a glass, hold the ice."While purely a shock value killing, it was still pretty badass.
"Oh yeah, like this'll stick."I smell a retcon or complete copout coming up. As if they'd ever kill Lois Lane, Perry White and the other nobodies at the Daily Planet. This was supposed to show off how great Libra was and how much he can hurt the heroes, but it's hard to take serious when we know there's no chance this will ever be followed through on.
"Run!"That's Barry Allen. We all knew he was coming back and the big hero cover probably was a huge hint about him returning this issue, too. Don't see a reason for bringing one of the few "dead means dead" characters back to life, but I hope it's not a permanent thing. Wonder if this would have been shocking and unbelievable if they didn't advertise his return in newspapers and stuff?
HULK #4
"Shut the @#$% up, Loeb!"If I owned this book, I'd just paste Jeph Loeb's face into this image. Words cannot describe how ridiculous this image is.
IMMORTAL IRON FIST #16
"Math is hard."If every kid was given this speech for motivation to learn math, I think we'd see a lot more success stories.
"Are you funding the New Avengers?"Just a funny moment between friends. Danny's a horrible liar.
"Those two look familiar..."This is the Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction cameo. If you don't know what they look like, each is wearing a t-shirt of their respective creator owned project.
MS. MARVEL #28
"...I watch it die."Um, well, Ms. Marvel's kind of hardcore in this scene. From what I understand, she was back in New York and just started killing all the Super Skrull invaders as if they were nothing with this image being the first kill. Not sure if this will be followed up on or not...
SECRET INVASION: RUNAWAYS / YOUNG AVENGERS #1
"We should be the rulers of this world!"That wacky Xavin. Always about the conquering and the ruling and some such.
"It's raining Xavins, hallelujah!"Molly didn't get much face time this issue, but she still managed to make me smile.
SUPERMAN #667
"Me no speaky the English."What the hell happened in this panel? First there's just some absolutely atrocious dialogue with Superman coming off like a bungling idiot. "What all have you seen?" being the worst offender.
He also goes on to act like a total ass to Hal and disrespectful to Jade, who's a human being, not an exotic alien. She also died and Superman should know how much Kyle cared for her. Kyle was only GL for like the past decade or more. Not like Superman would have got to know him or anything.
Finally, we have the bubble helmet. Let's say it's not for breathing and only so Hal could communicate with Superman. How does Krypto hear either one of them when they tell it to fetch or Superman starts baby talking it in the last panel? It also comes up in the next moment...
He also goes on to act like a total ass to Hal and disrespectful to Jade, who's a human being, not an exotic alien. She also died and Superman should know how much Kyle cared for her. Kyle was only GL for like the past decade or more. Not like Superman would have got to know him or anything.
Finally, we have the bubble helmet. Let's say it's not for breathing and only so Hal could communicate with Superman. How does Krypto hear either one of them when they tell it to fetch or Superman starts baby talking it in the last panel? It also comes up in the next moment...
"If Atlas yells from Earth and Superman is in space, does it make a sound?"How does Superman hear Atlas screaming his name on Earth if he's off in space playing with his dog?
THUNDERBOLTS #121
"Oh, trust me, it's all gamma-enhanced."Warren Ellis. Samson on-going. Now. Please!
"Trust me on that. I'm a psychiatrist and everything."See previous moment's description.
"Should have thrown you off a bridge the moment I laid eyes on you."Well, if the Samson book is a no go, I'll gladly take a Norman Osborn series.
"Finally, you make a sound I like."Just a continuation of the Songbird vs. Green Goblin fight.
"Hate you so much."The fight is declared a draw!
"You're just a breathing target."While I found this ending to be a tad rushed and kind of copped out on all the insanity the telepaths caused, I have to admit, Bullseye coming in and inadvertently saving the day post-surgery was pretty damn awesome.
However, those scalpels really couldn't kill anyone... They just aren't long enough to pierce the skin, skull and do enough damage to the brain with such a short blade for how deep they penetrated. Kind of nitpicking, but, hey, I'm a coming fan, that's my job.
However, those scalpels really couldn't kill anyone... They just aren't long enough to pierce the skin, skull and do enough damage to the brain with such a short blade for how deep they penetrated. Kind of nitpicking, but, hey, I'm a coming fan, that's my job.
ULTIMATES 3 #4
"Come with me if you want to live."Words cannot describe how bad this title is. I don't even read it and I feel ripped off.
"Uh, that's not Pryo."What the hell? Pyro's a nice guy. He also has burns all over his body from his own flames and wouldn't be just lighting his finger on fire like that. Oh, and implied rape is never a good thing in comics.
"Robots in Disguise!"I'm not even going to bother trying to figure out how retarded this scene is. You can make up some description yurself.
X-MEN: LEGACY #213
"Professor Sinister? Mister Xavier?"Don't read this title either, but, apparently, Mr Sinister implanted some code in Xavier's DNA when Chuck was a child and it was set to activate upon the death of Sinister. Now Sinister is in control of Xavier's body or something. Moving on...
YOUNG AVENGERS PRESENTS #6
"Chainsaw! Chainsaw! Chainsaw!"Aw, Gears of War, how I hate that goddamn chainsaw when I'm on the receiving end.
"Ronin needs to add the top hat and jacket to his costume permanently."That's a snazzy jacket and hat Ronin is sporting here. I'm kind of confused how the two Young Avengers missed such a little detail like their driver wearing a Ronin costume, but I'll ignore it considering how awesome he looks in it.
"Maybe I can make that Hawkingbird schtick stick."This was a great page from the Hawkeye one-shot. It just showed off the team dynamics and how they're all like a little family, as well as Hawkeye's stubborness and personality. It was stuff like this the other Young Avengers Presents issues were missing.
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16 comments:
o god. good thing i'm not reading ultimates v.3 or hulk
good job as always kirk.
I think Loeb is trying to prove he is the dumbest writer and he is well on his way to do so.
I am going to have to check out the Runaways/Young Avengers is trade. It looks good.
Thunderbolts was awesome, even if it had a weak ending.
And a point of clarification, Superman doesn't actually call Jade alien, just exotic. But yeah, the first scene is still kind of weird.
I'm sad to say I bought both Hulk and Ultimates... I'm a huge fan of both artists. I did, at least drop Wolverine Origins and Superman. I let Ms. Marvel go too.
Sad to see Ellis go on Thunderbolts, hopefully his astonishing is good.
Man... I dropped FF after that last lackluster arc, but I ended up picking this one off the shelf....much better.
The "Pyro is a rapist" thing bothered me too.
I think Loeb is just screwing with us now when it comes to Hulk.
Lois isn't dead. She can't die. She's like Aunt May, but hotter.
I personally want to see Ellis write a Green Goblin Max series.
Great moment choices Kirk.
-Andrenn
You know, I really enjoy your blog, read it all the time, subscribe to it on my Google Reader, but it really gets on my nerves when you rip on books for using plots that'll be "retconned "or are "hard to take seriously," like the attack on the Daily Planet in Final Crisis. As comic book fans, we're used to that, but I think it's pretty bogus to take on the typical, cynical comic book nerd perspective when it really has little to do with the story as it's actually unfolding. It's not Grant Morrison's fault that you've seen Lois Lane get messed up before, or Brian Michael Bendis' fault that Reed Richards getting blasted in the face is a "meh" moment to some. Enjoy the stories for the story!
Now, that's not to say that writers couldn't use some more innovative plot points in their work, but I think we could do without the complaining every time something happens to a major character, especially in a book like Final Crisis where readers *expect* significant things to happen to the big guns. :p
Great picks for moments of the week, we've got a lot of favorites and non-favorite favorites.
The Avengers "strawberries and pickles" information might not ever, ever get old for me. If I ever own a comic book themed restaurant, that's got to go on the menu.
--I contemplated adding a few "all's" to this comment, but thought you might twitch yourself into a coma and refrained. The dialogue from that issue was intensely ridiculous, I'm not certain what was going on there.
As for the Loeb dilemma, I've decided not to look at him in disgust anymore. It's just too damn easy.
When you think about it, he's just a fanboy gone wrong, with way too much leeway in his titles. That's just it. You can't really blame him for the horrible writing; he doesn't know any better! He'd write well if he could, but that's exactly the problem: he can't. Not anymore, at least.
So now, instead of saying "stupid Loeb!" I say, "Poor, poor Loeb."
Kirk,
Thanks so much for putting a site like this together. I am a comic book "crack" fiend and really don't have anyone to discuss this stuff with.
So here are my thoughts:
The comic book moments were great. Although I think I slightly disagree with your Final Crisis comments.
While, true, there's no way they'd ever take a plot device like Lois away, I do enjoy the occasional "hit the hero where they live" story. Having grown up in the 80s reading the original crisis books, I have enjoyed the scale of the storytelling in this book and the weekly ones.
Anyway, thanks again and I am definitely bookmarking this site.
Scalpel to the head!
yeah the last few issues of Thunderbolts are getting to be my favourites. Even beats Exiles, which was in danger of going downhill recently, though it's picked up.
You say Bullseye inadvertently saved the day? I thought he was just kidding. But if he really just went down to the cages to get some target practice. Wow!.
The scalpels, which I agree wouldn't penetrate much, are just what was available, plus it'd be too graphic if he threw something that could really penetrate to the brain. Maybe he throws so accurately that the handle breaks through behind the blade. hmm.
I was thrown off by Banner appearing. Mentallo spoke of a really old friend and I started wondering who was the Marvel version of Vandal savage.
I've been reading up on how no one handling all the New Gods has been corresponding with anyone else, but the whole thing keeps convincing me the only reasonable explanation is it's another Earth.
When I read Superman the other day I thought two things.
1) What does Superman need a helmet for?, and
2) He can hear in space?
Great post, as usual! I almost had to laugh at the comment you made about Matt digging Dakota's apartment in DD #108 since I just a few hours ago had a discussion with a fellow DD fan about that exact panel. :)
I'm usually the first one to give writers a hard time when they forget - or conveniently ignore - that Daredevil is blind (in ways that actually do matter), but what he's saying here didn't bother me. The posing so that it looks as if he's checking out her Vogue covers? Yeah, that looks a little funny. As for his comment, he's not actually talking about the look of her apartment. While I don't know any blind people, I wouldn't be surprised if some would comment on the "niceness" of a place, though naturally not based on the same things a sighted person would.
So, I didn't think that was a particularly odd thing for Matt to say, though his "nice" probably isn't the same as everyone else's "nice," and I didn't even think it was necessarily a sighted thing to say either. But you're definitely not the first one to bring it up! :)
/Christine
The Other Murdock Papers
1) Solicits call the character 'Doc Banner', so he could be a clone or a different guy who gamma-enhanced himself but kept his mind...or even a time-displaced Professor Hulk.
2) Sinister in xavier's body would actually be pretty cool...similar to Apocalypse trying to take over Cyclops that time.
3) If not for the beard, I'd suspect that was Quesada on the left of that panel with Brubaker and Fraction.
4) Good ol' Warren...far more considerate than other writers, he takes the time to quickly sweep away all the continuity errors (Seemingly normal setting in Secret Invasion, presence of Venom, Osborn & Bullseye in ASM: New Ways To Die) before closing the door behind him.
I remember one series where Heroes were being beaten by someone and then crucified inside glass crosses. One of the remaining heroes was asking Daredevil didn't he think it was a bit weird. DD naturally only knows they are large crosses, since he can't see inside them.
There was also that bit a while back where the new Ronin was talking to Echo, while her back was turned and he had his mask on. Hello, she's deaf.
(speaking as soemone who is half deaf)
To randallw: Sometimes writers literally forget that DD is blind (as in THIS classic goof), and other times they just get lazy. I've thought about the Echo situation too, and it's the same kind of deal, I think, with writers (or in that case artists) simply not trying hard enough to get into the head of the character. While I sort of like Echo as a character, one thing that always bugged me a little about her basic premise it the popular, but erroneous, idea that all speech sounds are 100% visible, so her phenomenal "lip-reading power" is a tad wacky to begin with. Other than that, I think she's pretty cool.
My favourite characters are Deadpool, Bullseye and Taskmaster. I always put them together as the same type, highly athletic fighters, with great fighting skills. As someone who is deaf, a character like Echo, who is basically a deaf female taskmaster is wonderful.
I read lips a bit, I really should learn properly for when I go completely deaf. It's not perfect I'll admit but if you do have some difficulty understanding someone, looking at their lips helps a bit.
Great moments this week Kirk, however I thought that Ant-Man talking to the shrink about his naked santa memory was comedy gold for Avengers Inivitive this week, but I agree with the rest of your moments.
Also, Micheal Turner died this morning. I saw it on Newsarama this morning. Sad stuff.
Wow, a hefty number of comments. I'll try to address everyone here.
@Andrenn - Ya, I'd love to see Ellis do something like a Green Goblin MAX or even a regular title. It seems Marvel has plans for the upcoming elections in America with the Colbert mock voting images in some issues and the rumour of Tony Stark for president.
I'd love to see Ellis take the President Osborn angle for a book, but, alas, he hates mainstream books and only does them for money to fund his creative owned work.
@zeromus - Thanks for the feedback. I try and shy away from being "that guy" who's always bashing things and I rely on you guys, the readers, to let me know when I stray too far into Comic Book Guy territory.
Sometimes my current mood carries over into my writing, like if I stub my toe or didn't have my morning coffee or whatever, and other times, it's just easier, but not always right, to critique (aka, bash the shit out of) books than it is to praise or point out the good.
In fact, the Superman / Lois "death" scene was actually something I enjoyed in Final Crisis and one of the better moments from the book, despite my nagging on it.
So, thanks for the input, I'll try and keep a handle on the overly negative stuff in the future.
@girl friday - Ahaha, ya, that's one of the most random combinations I've ever heard of and made me laugh at the absurdity of it. Open a Kingdom Come Planet Krypton-like shop and have Skrullberry Delight on it or something.
@randall - I'm pretty sure it was inadvertently. The way I read it, and I could be wrong, is that he woke up from surgery with no one around and just went fora stroll looking for someone to kill. Figuring the prisoners were free game or, at least, not something he'd be punished for, like say killing civilians, he just went down for target practice.
@christine - Ahah, that panel you linked to was pretty good. I have no problem with the Brubaker one, but it's just funny how he's looking around and commenting on things he shouldn't be able to see or at least judge on appearances as to whether it looks nice or not. I'll go with it being just a being nice / making conversation thing.
@salieri - 1) I think the Doc Banner might be the same Hulk from 1985, who has Banner's persona, and tied into the Wyncham character somehow, but it's hard to tell right now.
2) It looked cool, but the whole DNA from the past thing sounded a bit hokey to me. Probably makes sense to those reading the book,t hough.
3) I thought one was Quesada, too, but he's lost a lot of weight and that's more in line with his older look. I think one might be Aja, but have never seen an image of him.
4) I guess the Penance mini by Jenkins takes place after Ellis' run? It almost helps make sense of that nonsense by Jenkins with Bullseye up and about again and Penance's different personality. Almost.
@hikerman - It's a shame about Turner. I was not a fan of his work, but no one should die that young and, by all accounts, Turner was one of the nicest men in comics and a friendt o many.
@everyone - Thanks for the kind words and I'm glad you enjoyed the moments. Always appreciated and I read everyone, despite only replying to a few here.
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