Summer hot enough for you all? I know I'm cooking in here typing up these Moments of the Week. I won't sweat the details here, so hit the jump and enjoy your moments!
Amazing Spider-Man #636
But wait, looks like using Kaine as the sacrifice has caused Kraven to be 'eternally cursed'.
I spoke briefly about this in the review for this issue, but I loved the use of the room as the panels. They don't do unique layouts like these that often these days.
Avengers: Children's Crusade #1
Oi, having a disclaimer at the start of a comic is rarely a good thing. Issue turned out alright, but there's still some questions about why Steve Rogers is running around in his Cap costume or why Iron Man is in the old armour or even what the next moment means...
Magneto sure is chipper after his trials and tribulations over in Second Coming and now with vampires running amok of Utopia.
Batman & Robin #13
I loved this scene. It was the culmination of most of Dr Hurt's early scenes and just had a 'damn it feels good to be a gangster' feeling to it. Additionally, the use of all the masks got me thinking about the Miagni from the last Return of Bruce Wayne issue. They just disappeared and were never heard from again, despite having a hidden tribe in the batcave devoted to Batman.
I was thinking maybe Dr Hurt, who seems to either be or connected to Thomas Wayne, the devil worshipper and black sheep of the Wayne family, who's painting was convenitently missing from Wayne Manor, may have been responsible for the whole summoning the devil and co-opted the Miagni as his own personal 'devils'.
Damian and the Joker were easily my favourite parts of this issue. This entire sequence was perfect and hits at what makes Joker tick. I love the realization on Joker's part that Damian is just like Bruce. He isn't as composed as Dick or won't let Joker get away with his bullshit. He just goes and...
And as if Dr Hurt wasn't bad enough, Pyg is back. Roink. Oh, and note the preview for Dick's death. White light in front of him? Maybe Bruce returning to stop the bullet?
Brightest Day #5
Comics are not soapboxes for speaking out about real world situations. I don't want to know why Superman or Wonder Woman or, in this case, Aquaman didn't go stop the BP oil spill. I don't want to know why heroes couldn't stop 9/11 or why they didn't do something about Iraq or any other real world situation. WWII stuff worked because they went and punched Hitler in the face in most cases. It was patriotism and propaganda all in one. This just doesn't work for me in the slightest.
Mera's confession to Aquaman ends up being that she was sent here to kill him. Atrocitus's chances for love just increased!
Fantastic Four Annual #32
Our WTF moment of the week goes to Fantastic Four Annual #32. Pyscho-Woman, the girlfriend/lover of Pyscho-Man, the emotion controlling Microverse villain, gets inside Human Torch's body at a nightclub. She sends drones to the girl he is dating/dancing with at the time with genetic material and has them impregnate the girl. The issue takes place after the pregnancy is found out about and the girl is trying to inform Johnny about it. They find out about Pyscho-Woman and enter Johnny's body and stop her.
Afterwards, they decide to do a time travel abortion of the baby. I shit you not. Reed "I'm the smartest man in the world and messing with time is a bad thing" Richards thinks it's a good idea to go back in time and abort this baby from ever happening while Captain Irresponsible Johnny Storm is the voice of reason and actually wants to help raise the child. The mother ends up jumping through the portal to abort the baby. Maybe. WTF barely begins to describe this.
Red Robin #13
Tim (I refuse to refer to him as "Red Robin") gets a rematch with Damian in this issue. Damian hacked Tim's computer and saw him going all Tower of Babel on everyone by having files on everyone that might go bad, including Damian. Damian didn't like it, so tries to take Tim down like he did in Morrison's introduction of the character. Things don't go so well...
Scarlet #1
I spent a lot of time talking about how much time Bendis spent having Scarlet talking at the readers that I forgot to mention how awesome this three page life story sequence for Scarlet ended up being. If he had been this succient with the rest of the story, I probably would have enjoyed it more.
Secret Six #23
This one was hilarious. The old fashioned sound effects really balance the absurdity of tearing a man's arm off and beating him with it.
Shadowland #1
Shame Franken-Castle ends. Oh wait, it didn't. It's kind of odd they just renamed that book and he's going to be fighting Daken soon, yet he's in Shadowland right as rain. Hell, the fact he'll regenerate back to life and is instantly back as the classic Punisher kind of disappoints me, too. You'd think he'd take a personal day or something.
...kills him? This was one of the teaser ads for that everyone just assumed was never going to happen. I know I dismissed it the minute I saw it. "Oh, the millionth Elektra homage. Good ad, but don't see it happening in the comic." I guess I was wrong.
Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier #1
Thor and the Warriors Four #4
Afro. Ray. Bill. This series just became one of the greatest comics ever. Oh, and the reason for the afro is that they ate the apples and their aging is rapidly accelerating. Looks like Bill had an afro and lisp while growing up.
And, of course, Loki gets his due when the baby spell backfires on them. Oh, poo.
X-Force #28
Hope seems to channel other mutant powers throughout the issue, but goes Pheonix on Bastion here.
Which makes Cyclops and Wolverine go ga-ga thinking it's an underaged Jean Grey, leaving poor Emma holding the second place trophey to a dead woman.
X-Men #1
Looks like the X-Men didn't get the memo that Dracula is dead. That's Jubilee in shading herself from the Sun. She got infected by some vampire virus after a vampire exploded and sprayed blood all over her. She's gonna turn into a vampire.
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25 comments:
Wow I think I'm pretty glad I decided to skip out on the FF annual.
That FF Annual was hilariously bad. Time Abortion sounds like it could be a 4chan meme.
Damn, very glad I asked the store to put that FF annual back.
Question is, now, does just a sai through the body kill Bullseye, I think the Snakeroot will jump on him pretty quickly and resurrect him. (I also can't believe I just typed that sentence, ha).
Didn't Deadpool stab Bullseye a year ago through the chest? That sai won't be enough, it'll be just another "missing vital organs" excuse (as if there are unnecessary organs in the chest).
Anyway when I saw Hickman wasn't involved in the FF Annual I thought it'd be just another pedestrian FF story. Time abortion - wow.
My Two Cents:
Batman & Robin - Wait a minute. Robin? Joker? A crowbar? I can't believe no one's brought this up yet. Could be mere coincidence but I'm glad to see a Robin beating up the Joker for once.
I hope Dick is not killed to help usher Bruce back from the dead.
Red Robin - Those were some great moments and I liked Tim Drake's inner monologue. Who stopped them, btw?
Shadowland - I too was thrown off when I saw the Punisher back to normal. He's even on the cover.
And I saw the final panel and I was like, "Boy, they sure spoiled that ending way before this was released." And like natureboyHH brings up, Bullseye is been gutted like a fish several times last year by Deadpool and Elektra, but I think the tone of the series indicates that this is the real deal (well, that and Funeral for a Fiend).
Thor and the Warriors Four - Nice Simpsons reference
X-Force - I really hope they keep Jean dead. It's like they only thing Marvel knows how to do is love triangles between Scott-Jean-Logan or Scott-Jean-Emma.
X-Men - They are already ignoring Death of Dracula? Is X-Men #1 even in-continuity?
Thor and the Warriors 4: Great Comic, or Greatest Comic?
I heard that the oil-spill being mentioned in Brightest Day was just a coincidence to the one that happened in real life.
FF: With all his genius, you'd think Reed could have come with an easier way to abort the mother. But I don't see where Johhny is the voice of the reason, here, willing to have a baby neither him or this girl wanted.
Shadowland: It's not a bad comics, but if I was Mark Waid, that's the one which would make me want to quit.
Oh, look, we have classic Punisher because we want to use classic characters and we don't care about recent continuity!
Oh, Matt is having a breakdown and is getting all hardcore... again!
Oh, Bullseye is stabbed... again!
X-Force: Yawn. It's like the blue teleporter guy got killed. I didn't felt anything. Cable has been here for so long, died so often that I don't care anymore.
Thor and W4: Usually, I hate this kind of comics. Never found any fun in Silly Titans or Pest Avengers. But this one makes me laugh at every page! The Gurihiru studio is full of genius!
The Death of Dracula happened at a secret vampire summit of some sort. How do you guys expect the X-men to already know about this? Do you think the vampires put an obit in the newspaper?
Also, I don't think you can fairly state that Johnny is at all irresponsible in the FF annual, at least in this current situation. He didn't impregnate anyone. As was shown in the story, she was artifically inseminated by a villian without his knowledge. Where the story did come off the rails at one point, he can't be accused of knocking someone up.
Lastly, complain all you want, but Cable's death I found to be well handled, and along with the rest of the issue, absolutely beautifully rendered.
@Twobit: That was most decidely not a coincidence. Morrison is clearly making a call back to the A Death in the Family storyline.
@Jikorijo: I can buy that. I'm sure this series was plotted out and has been written months in advance. Maybe they wrote this as it had just began, and they had no idea it would be such a big deal? In any case, this is not the first oil spill of this kind, either.
I too was underwhelmed by the last page of Shadowland. It just struck me as lazy using the actual final page of the first issue, the big reveal, as one of the teaser ads. Not to mention that there is no way a single sai stab kills Bullseye. He still has the adamantium in his bones, right?
@Price: I think Kirk was referring to the *other* time Dracula died recently (*sigh*, stupid Marvel) during the Captain Britain and MI 13 arc. I'm sure at some point Cap called his sister Psylocke and told her "Oh, by the way, we killed Dracula the other week."
Well u got the final page of Brightest Day right as a moment of the week. Too bad you are too biased to see it in the light Johns intented!
@Joe - I'm not sure how you can interpret that as biased. I didn't even say anything bad about it. I made a joke about how Johns is writing Atrocitus like he's still in love with Mera. She admits she was originally sent to kill Aquaman, her husband. I make a joke about how she can now hook up with Atrocitus. Unless you mean I'm biased towards Atrocitus/Mera relationship, nothing you said makes sense.
Why am I not reading Thor and the Warriors Four?
The Punisher bit in Shadowland didn't really bother me, because I think it's been more or less said it was never going to last for that long anyway. What DID bother me is that they revealed the final page weeks before its release.
Also, I think the FF Annual is eligible for "How Bad Is It? That Bad" status.
That was one horrible FT story. Not only did Reed want to commit time abortion, but that was after he told a woman to jump out a window to save Johnny, who was falling to his death, which just resulted in them both falling! Way to go Reed.
As for Scarlet, I quite liked it. I'm just not sure why her favorite place is the Steel bridge. I live here in Portland and there's nothing special about that bridge. Maybe its supposed to symbolize the entirety of Portland, but surely the city skyline would get that point across a little better.
And why didn't Marvel give the Children's Crusade team a heads up about the costume changes for Steve and iron man? I didn't mind. It didn't affect the story any.
@forrest - I think the CC team is second slowest team behind Frank Miller and Jim Lee on All Star Batman & Robin and they could have probably told them 8 months ago and still that would not have given them enough time to change the story/art. I don't mind it that much either, but the narration at the start introducing the team could have just been less vague about the time frame (they mention Siege as the most recent exploit of the team, putting it in the present time).
For Scarlet, I put it as being Portland in general and not just the bridge in particular. I could be mistaken on the interpretation of it though.
@KirkWarren
You're comments in the paragraph above Mera's cliffhanger re: comic books as social commentary seemed to set the tone for a negative Brightest Day post, and I understand that this blog is just the opinion of you and your pals...not intended to be an impartial review site. I am sorry, I didn't mean to engage you negatively and while Mera's revelation is no "Luke, I am your father" it still qualifies as a moment of the week. Thanks!
@Joe - The oil spill social commentary stuff was more a general thing. I dont like it in any comics. JMS is particularly bad with it in Amazing SPider-Man's 9/11 issue, his THor with Drs Without Borders and Katrina and so on. The Brightest Day one can only be interpreted as a BP oil spill related commentary and it bugged me. The writing or art or story can be technically sound and the issue itself can be fine in general, but I dislike when they do these things in comics, so commented on it here.
Hey Kirk, can we please become an impartial review site? Please. I assume that just means posting synopsis work and not commenting, or reviewing, at all. Can we, please? Or should I just go work for Wikipedia.
Lol I can almost hear Joe making that comment in a monotone voice while rolling his eyes. Dude, you sound like you got in trouble and your mom is making you apologize.
I think some people really do think they work for Wikipedia, the way they are real sticklers about editing and policies. I wish I could get paid to do that.
I knew I loved Beta Ray Bill for a reason! He's a brother..cool...i guess....ummmm check that..next page he has John Kennedy hair...my mistake... So I guess Beta Ray Bill is related to that dude painter from PBS then..LOL Power Pack, probably one of the fun series that is criminally overlooked by everyone....
Yes Bullseye did gain a limited healing factor when he gained the adamantium...however I think Shadowland will go The Hand Mystical Resurrection route too....
RIP Cable...by the way, this isn't the first time Kyle, Yost and company has used the Phoenix Force in addition to Scott's eyebeams. They did it in Phoenix Endsong... also it isn't that new of a plot device either.. Claremont did it too in X-Men/Teen Titans too I believe...
I guess I am one of the few that likes Jubilee and finds it a crime her regression from the growing up she did in New Warriors vol 3?
Forget about killing Hitler, Time-travel Abortion (TM) is the best way to use time travel ever! Only second to going back and making things right with the first girl you liked and not look like a complete bumbass and always have to wonder what would have happened if I did things right...
Well, maybe also buy Google and iPhone stock
@Daryll - I liked Jubilee's character development too, and it's a shame that Marvel is using her like this in X-Men. But then again, I'm also not surprised by Marvel anymore.
The old stories never die...under-aged Jean Grey.
Am I the only one who thinks Damian nailing Joker with a crowbar just after he says he "sounds like him", was a reference to Jason Todd instead?
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