DC really took it to Marvel this week based on my pull list. I don't buy every book, obviously, but Marvel usually dominates in terms of quanity and, debatably, in overall quality as well. Marvel pretty much sent the X-titles out to the frontline this week and maybe it's just me, but post-MC, I think they're mostly dead weight. The Logan mini-series was the only noteworthy Marvel title I picked up and I'm not sure if it's a great book or more derivative Logan / Japan / ninjas / dead hot Asian girl cliches. I think Moon Knight came out this week, but I stopped pick ing that book up around issue 6. It just took too long to come out for my liking. Maybe I should have picked that up again. Anyways, enough rambling. Here's the rest of this week's reviews in the shorter, but for some reason getting longer and longer each week, Quick Shot Reviews.
CABLE #1
Written by Duane Swierczynski
Art by Ariel Olivetti
I thought JMS's name was hard on the ol'spelling skills, but Mr Swierczynski manages to out do him here. He doesn't even have the decency to have a middle name so we can give him a neat little acronym.
All joking aside about the name and my lack of spelling skills, this was not a book I enjoyed. First and most obvious thing is the art. I can't stand this style. The 'copy and paste' realistic photo backgrounds, the insanely disproportioned bodies with arms bigger than legs or torsos and the insanely stiff look to everyone just grinds on me every panel. The baby is about the size of Cable's palm, making her a candidate for the incubator or other life support for underdeveloped new borns. Every single 'action' scene looks like everyone was pasted there and if they moved they'd fall over. To say the least, I'm a bit biased against the book based on the art alone.
Next up is the story or lack thereof. Cable walks into random city. Thugs attack him. He kills one, who is a couple stories up in a building, with a shotgun and manages to take them all down with only a small flesh wound on himself. I did like the need to change the diaper for the baby afterwards and Cable's aversion to it compared to the fight just before.
After the fight, Cable goes to find milk for the baby. There, Bishop, with new cybernetic arm, is having coffee waiting for them to walk in and shoots Cable on sight, giving us an obvious cliffhanger cop out that will be meaningless next issue. Yes, this is all that happened this issue. Thugs, baby poop, Bishop shoots Cable.
I might, and I stress the might, pick #2 up next month if it happens to fall on a dead week with few books coming out and only to see if they explain why the hell Bishop is such an asshole these days and how he survived Messiah Complex. It's extremely unlikely I'll be picking up this book after this first issue and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone but the most diehard Cable fan.
Verdict - Avoid It
LOGAN #1
Written by Brian K. Vaughan
Art by Eduardo Risso
I'm not sure what to think about this issue. It is expertly written and the art fits the tone of the book to a tee, but a) this is a Wolverine story featuring Japan and b) it's been done a million times before.
Now that's a bit harsh an assessment and reason to go into this book tentative, but Logan can only go to Japan so many times, fight so many ninjas and get hot Asian women killed so many times. Is this issue better than just about every other one of those stories save the original mini-series? Yes, it definitely is. It's also a million times better than anything Way has done in the abysmal Wolverine: Origins with the choice of narration Vaughan has chosen.
I'm definitely going to stick around for the rest of the series as it's still a good read, but, like I said, the setting and typical plot points for this Wolverine story are starting to wear on me. I am curious about the opening though and who snuck up on Wolverine and took him out in the present day. Maybe someone from the past story that hasn't been revealed yet? Hopefully not Silver Samurai. I don't think I could handle that. The other thing that really made me want to stick around was the setting. Hiroshima. WWII. If there's a reference to Lazerus or whatever in this book, I will lose it because we all know Wolvie's gonna get nuked to kingdom come and I can't wait to see it.
Verdict - Check It (maybe Must Read. Will depend if Vaughan avoids the Wolverine cliche pitfalls of a Japan flashback)
UNCANNY X-MEN #496
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Mike Choi
Ya, I said I wasn't going to be picking this book up anymore and I wasn't, but I'm going to blame the lack of books out this week and my retarded collector mentality for picking it up.
Immediately, I'm still pissed at the direction of the book. It's almost like they did their own Brand New Day with Messiah Complex. Pre-MC we have all these storylines going on in the various X-books. Post-MC, good books are cancelled, characters are moved around and everything from MC and earlier is forgotten in favour of new stories and all new directions that have been done before and no one wanted to see. Still no real mention of Xavier's "death", what happened to him, what happened in MC or what's up with all the injured or dying people from that crossover. Elixir? Blindfold? The rest of the New X-Men? No wondering if giving Cable the supposed saviour of the mutant race was a good idea or wondering what happened to Bishop's body at the end of that whole deal where he betrayed them, tried to kill a baby and what not. Magic! We don't have to explain it, I guess.
To be fair, Brubaker is doing his best work on Uncanny post-MC, but his earlier stuff wasn't all that great to begin with either. This issue continues the hippies in San Fran and we even get to see a cameo the giant Celestial from the Eternals mini-series! Eternals? Canon in my Marvel books? Crazy. I'm pretty sure it has no significance plotwise, but it was cool to see nonetheless.
Basically, Emma and Cyclops, who are the best couple in comics right now, go check on Angel. That's all that happens on that front. In Russia, we find out Colossus is all teary eyed and homesick because Kitty died. Ya, in a year or two's time, when Giant-Sized Astonishing X-Men finally comes out, Kitty is going to die. Good to know. With Wolverine in tow, they obviously all get in a barroom brawl. Then we see the Russian mafia finding out Colossus is alive and wanting to recruit him again. Joy.
I can't see me picking this up again next month, but I am weak willed, so I guess I can't guarantee that if it falls on another slow week for me. Like BND, some might like the new direction, but this is not the kind of book I want to read.
Verdict - Check It
X-FORCE #2
Written by Christopher Yost & Craig Kyle
Art by Clayton Crain
Cyclops. Skrull. No question now. "Her mission was to eliminate Matthew Risman, not perform a search and rescue. The situation with Rahne is your doing, Logan. Not hers. So if anything happens to her now, it's on you." Cyclops forms kill crew, sends people to murder people and then blames person he told last about the mission for anything that goes wrong. Right, this isn't the Cyclops I know and I refuse to believe he's not a Skrull. And it's not just the book that portrays him like this. All the X-titles have been doing it.
Cyclops douchebaggery aside, I think this is the best post-MC X-title, which is really shocking considering the characters involved. It's very much a 90's style book with over the top violence, which is quite bloody all things considered, and a cast full of Wolverine-like clones and one honest to God real Wolverine clone.
The Rahne 'execution' was an obvious cop out from last issue. Daddy issues and all that. This ends up resulting in a bigger bloodbath as X-Force paint the base red with blood. Bastion's back and his plan is to resurrect Magus, the old New Mutants villain who's at the bottom of the ocean. I can see how people view this as upstaging Annihilation Conquest, as Magus is leader of the Technarchy and the Phalanx are basically failed and inferior Technarchy, making Wolverine and Team Claw's villain technically a bigger threat than the one ravaging the galaxy. Personally, it doesn't bother me and this was a villain that didn't even require Wolverine to beat the first time, just a bunch of kids. The timing could have been a little better, but I don't see the big deal over it.
Moving right along, I liked the mini-focus on X-23 this issue and Wolverine's thoughts on how this is a slippery slope for these characters in terms of all the killing. The book skirts the line between extreme 90's gratuity with the character based storytelling mixed in and it's really growing on me.
Verdict - Check It
Written by Duane Swierczynski
Art by Ariel Olivetti
I thought JMS's name was hard on the ol'spelling skills, but Mr Swierczynski manages to out do him here. He doesn't even have the decency to have a middle name so we can give him a neat little acronym.
All joking aside about the name and my lack of spelling skills, this was not a book I enjoyed. First and most obvious thing is the art. I can't stand this style. The 'copy and paste' realistic photo backgrounds, the insanely disproportioned bodies with arms bigger than legs or torsos and the insanely stiff look to everyone just grinds on me every panel. The baby is about the size of Cable's palm, making her a candidate for the incubator or other life support for underdeveloped new borns. Every single 'action' scene looks like everyone was pasted there and if they moved they'd fall over. To say the least, I'm a bit biased against the book based on the art alone.
Next up is the story or lack thereof. Cable walks into random city. Thugs attack him. He kills one, who is a couple stories up in a building, with a shotgun and manages to take them all down with only a small flesh wound on himself. I did like the need to change the diaper for the baby afterwards and Cable's aversion to it compared to the fight just before.
After the fight, Cable goes to find milk for the baby. There, Bishop, with new cybernetic arm, is having coffee waiting for them to walk in and shoots Cable on sight, giving us an obvious cliffhanger cop out that will be meaningless next issue. Yes, this is all that happened this issue. Thugs, baby poop, Bishop shoots Cable.
I might, and I stress the might, pick #2 up next month if it happens to fall on a dead week with few books coming out and only to see if they explain why the hell Bishop is such an asshole these days and how he survived Messiah Complex. It's extremely unlikely I'll be picking up this book after this first issue and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone but the most diehard Cable fan.
Verdict - Avoid It
LOGAN #1
Written by Brian K. Vaughan
Art by Eduardo Risso
I'm not sure what to think about this issue. It is expertly written and the art fits the tone of the book to a tee, but a) this is a Wolverine story featuring Japan and b) it's been done a million times before.
Now that's a bit harsh an assessment and reason to go into this book tentative, but Logan can only go to Japan so many times, fight so many ninjas and get hot Asian women killed so many times. Is this issue better than just about every other one of those stories save the original mini-series? Yes, it definitely is. It's also a million times better than anything Way has done in the abysmal Wolverine: Origins with the choice of narration Vaughan has chosen.
I'm definitely going to stick around for the rest of the series as it's still a good read, but, like I said, the setting and typical plot points for this Wolverine story are starting to wear on me. I am curious about the opening though and who snuck up on Wolverine and took him out in the present day. Maybe someone from the past story that hasn't been revealed yet? Hopefully not Silver Samurai. I don't think I could handle that. The other thing that really made me want to stick around was the setting. Hiroshima. WWII. If there's a reference to Lazerus or whatever in this book, I will lose it because we all know Wolvie's gonna get nuked to kingdom come and I can't wait to see it.
Verdict - Check It (maybe Must Read. Will depend if Vaughan avoids the Wolverine cliche pitfalls of a Japan flashback)
UNCANNY X-MEN #496
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Mike Choi
Ya, I said I wasn't going to be picking this book up anymore and I wasn't, but I'm going to blame the lack of books out this week and my retarded collector mentality for picking it up.
Immediately, I'm still pissed at the direction of the book. It's almost like they did their own Brand New Day with Messiah Complex. Pre-MC we have all these storylines going on in the various X-books. Post-MC, good books are cancelled, characters are moved around and everything from MC and earlier is forgotten in favour of new stories and all new directions that have been done before and no one wanted to see. Still no real mention of Xavier's "death", what happened to him, what happened in MC or what's up with all the injured or dying people from that crossover. Elixir? Blindfold? The rest of the New X-Men? No wondering if giving Cable the supposed saviour of the mutant race was a good idea or wondering what happened to Bishop's body at the end of that whole deal where he betrayed them, tried to kill a baby and what not. Magic! We don't have to explain it, I guess.
To be fair, Brubaker is doing his best work on Uncanny post-MC, but his earlier stuff wasn't all that great to begin with either. This issue continues the hippies in San Fran and we even get to see a cameo the giant Celestial from the Eternals mini-series! Eternals? Canon in my Marvel books? Crazy. I'm pretty sure it has no significance plotwise, but it was cool to see nonetheless.
Basically, Emma and Cyclops, who are the best couple in comics right now, go check on Angel. That's all that happens on that front. In Russia, we find out Colossus is all teary eyed and homesick because Kitty died. Ya, in a year or two's time, when Giant-Sized Astonishing X-Men finally comes out, Kitty is going to die. Good to know. With Wolverine in tow, they obviously all get in a barroom brawl. Then we see the Russian mafia finding out Colossus is alive and wanting to recruit him again. Joy.
I can't see me picking this up again next month, but I am weak willed, so I guess I can't guarantee that if it falls on another slow week for me. Like BND, some might like the new direction, but this is not the kind of book I want to read.
Verdict - Check It
X-FORCE #2
Written by Christopher Yost & Craig Kyle
Art by Clayton Crain
Cyclops. Skrull. No question now. "Her mission was to eliminate Matthew Risman, not perform a search and rescue. The situation with Rahne is your doing, Logan. Not hers. So if anything happens to her now, it's on you." Cyclops forms kill crew, sends people to murder people and then blames person he told last about the mission for anything that goes wrong. Right, this isn't the Cyclops I know and I refuse to believe he's not a Skrull. And it's not just the book that portrays him like this. All the X-titles have been doing it.
Cyclops douchebaggery aside, I think this is the best post-MC X-title, which is really shocking considering the characters involved. It's very much a 90's style book with over the top violence, which is quite bloody all things considered, and a cast full of Wolverine-like clones and one honest to God real Wolverine clone.
The Rahne 'execution' was an obvious cop out from last issue. Daddy issues and all that. This ends up resulting in a bigger bloodbath as X-Force paint the base red with blood. Bastion's back and his plan is to resurrect Magus, the old New Mutants villain who's at the bottom of the ocean. I can see how people view this as upstaging Annihilation Conquest, as Magus is leader of the Technarchy and the Phalanx are basically failed and inferior Technarchy, making Wolverine and Team Claw's villain technically a bigger threat than the one ravaging the galaxy. Personally, it doesn't bother me and this was a villain that didn't even require Wolverine to beat the first time, just a bunch of kids. The timing could have been a little better, but I don't see the big deal over it.
Moving right along, I liked the mini-focus on X-23 this issue and Wolverine's thoughts on how this is a slippery slope for these characters in terms of all the killing. The book skirts the line between extreme 90's gratuity with the character based storytelling mixed in and it's really growing on me.
Verdict - Check It
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12 comments:
Man, I wish I could get involved with the discussions on new comics but my LCS always gets it's comics a week late. I have no idea why, I'm UK based maybe that's it? Anyways, yep Cable looks appalling. From the previews I've seen it seems like Ariel O's style just doesn't work with sequential storytelling. Anywho can you put some of the Titans year one images in your CBMOTW, cos' I'm too cheap to buy it. Basically for all the reasons you mentioned. Lovely art with great scenes but no real story. Cheers! Pete.
Hey, no worries. Feel free to comment whenever you get your books. I typically try respond to all comments unless they are definitive statements or simple "I agree"'s that leave little room for discussion.
And I've got a few TT:Y1 moments lined up for tomorrow. This month's issue was a little better in terms of beefing up the story, but still reads so fast that I feel like I'm missing pages. I think it'll make an incredible trade, but as a monthly, I feel cheated outside those couple moments.
...Kitty died?
Well, I didn't think I could be more upset with Marvel after OMD, but here it is.
Sigh...
I disagree that X-Force is the best X-book out now, X-Factor is. The characters are a lot more interesting and it has a lot more prospects for the future. What happens after the Purifies are gone? You can't have a series about a group of four constantly fighting the same uninteresting characters over and over. X-Force will eventually wear out its welcome.
I should clarify on the X-Force best X-title. I meant that are coming out of Messiah Complex changed. X-Factor has basically gone back to being awesome X-Factor minus Wolfsbane. It's definitely the best X-title overall.
I'm bummed rahne left x-factor for x-force. while I'll probably follow x-force for a bit, i'd really rather just have her on x-factor. It just feels like they are trying to steal a good character from a good series in hopes to make another iffy series sell worthy. And they just started the thing with her and Rictor.
This explains the obvious discrepancies. The Cyclops in "X-FORCE" is a Skrull, but the Wolverine is real; the Wolverine in "WOLVERINE" is a Skrull, but the Cyclops is real.
hey Anonymous, i'm in the UK as well (London), and all of the stores 'round here get comics on the Thursday (whereas Americans get them on the Wednesday). so it's probably just your store, for some reason.
on another note, Cyclops is this year's shitbag hero, like Iron Man was last year.
Great reviews man, I usually hit your page up before heading out to my LCS.
I won't hold you responsible. but I did run out and purchase DC New Frontier trades 1 and 2 after checking out the One shot special. Now I'm out 40 extra bucks, thanks Kirk!
X-Force is continuity porn. Which X-Fans love.
Uncanny is probably the weakest core x-book right now, which doesn't make sense because it has bru on it. It must be skrull bru who is writing uncanny.
Anybody besides me really annoyed that they would give away Kitty's death in a basically throw-away Uncanny issue? I call BS....
The thing I don't understand, Whedon brings Collosus back from the dead in the beginning of his run then kills off Kitty at the end of his run. What was the point? There seems to be a certain arrogance to it as well.
Pete
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