Sorry for the delay, but the Moments of the Week are pretty substantial in size this time around, which caused them to take a little longer to put together. We've got Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Thanos and a whole bunch more to go through, so let's get to it, shall we?
Amazing Spider-Man #645
Some heated discussion over in the announcement post
that Carlie is Peter's new girlfriend come the new status quo,
Big Time, but this panel shows how far they are going to push this new relationship by having
MJ pretty much throw Carlie at Peter and giving her blessings to take her ex-
husband boyfriend.
Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne #5
Not really a moment, per se, but I did not know
Tim was Bruce's partner that long. Thought it was a few years. He must be like 20+ years old now if he's been his partner longer than
Dick Grayson, who started as Robin at age 12. Anyone know the exact years of service for each of them? Dick must have at least 6 years (12 to 18 minimum) before moving on to Nightwing. Tim started at like 16 or so I thought. Have they aged Tim that much during his time as Robin?
Panel of the week for me.
Bat to the Future.
Bruce Wayne: The Road Home - Batgirl #1
Ouch. Good thing Stephanie has high self-esteem. Oracle is always cutting her up with these verbal jabs.
Stepanie reacts to Bruce having tested her abilities and not informing her that he was alive and under the belief that he was going to make her stop being Batgirl.
Bruce Wayne: The Road Home - Batman and Robin #1
Clear shot of
Bruce in his new costume. He's got all of the JLA's powers in this suit. Super speed, heat vision, invisibility, some kind of lasso that makes people tell the truth like Wonder Woman (but not magic) and even access to Green Lantern constructs (or some fascimile of it). It runs on power and needs to charge after short uses from what I could tell. And everyone is drawing Bruce really young looking in these shots. I guess he was de-aged with all the time travelling? He looks as young as Nightwing, maybe younger, in most shots.
Daken: Dark Wolverine #2
Just a short sequence showing the dialogue and chemistry between
Daken and
Mystique. Roughly half the issue was dedicated to innuendo and wordplay like this between the two.
The possessed
Wolverine shows up and 'kills'
Daken. Not sure if his soul gets sent to Hell or if he's just going to regenerate from this.
Green Lantern #58
For anyone thinking
Larfleeze has become just a joke character, he was pretty badass in this issue.
Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #3
The big, shocking, super secret reason for Guy teaming up with Atrocitus and Ganthet, journeying to the outer, unchartered sectors and hiding this from friends and the readers for so long was...someone is stealing minute traces of energy from their rings? All this fade to black and 'several minutes later' skipping over of scenes was to hide this from us? Uh, why?
And the whole energy stealing plot ties into Ion/Sodam Yat and Guy thinks he'd be able to kill a Superman-level threat that is wielding the Ion entity (at least Guy believes he still has it)? Dude, I love you Guy, but that wouldn't work even on your best day. And it's quite clear at this point that the rogue Guardian-like being stealing the entities, who is also in possession of Ion, is the one responsible for stealing the energy.
Justice League: Generation Lost #11
Coloured version of the new
Ice shown off and discussed in
an earlier guest post. She was getting beat on pretty hard by the Metal Men and in an off-panel transformation became this new version.
New Avengers #5
Hawkeye has been hitting the gym lately by the looks of his car lifting antics here. Not even using both hands or with some kind of rocking motion to move it, but a full on one armed, no leverage pushing of a taxi off of his pinned body? Hawkeye confirmed for Skrull?
One thing I hate about Bendis's attempt at redefining or updating anything, like his use of the Hood or, in this case,
Brother Voodoo, is that he always falls back on established characters to solve the problem. This is a magic story with magic origins and pretty much revolves around Dr Strange, Damon Hellstrom and Brother Voodoo. Voodoo, being the new Sorceror Supreme, should be the one to fix this mess or, at the very least, be the central character involved. Instead, his abilities are called into question constantly and now he's called out for not having the balls to do the job properly and Wolverine has to step up to the plate. Instead of Dr Strange backing up Voodoo's abilities, he agrees with Wolverine. Just throw Voodoo under a bus and be done with it.
Shadowland #4
Speaking of Wolverine, he gets to kill
Daredevil over in
Shadowland.
But it doesn't take as the
Beast, the evil demon that is possessing Daredevil (ugh, I know, it's gotten really bad) isn't going to let some runt like Wolverine finish him off, so we get some magic demon possessed Daredevil vs everyone battle royale to end this event next issue.
Superior #1
The origin of
Superior. Only thing missing is that the inspiration for his looks and powers comes from a movie the boy saw earlier in the book. This was probably the first thing that popped into his mind after having watched it, so that's why he's now Superior.
Superman #703
I don't really subscribe to the whole 'JMS is writing Superman to hate black people' or any of the racist stereotypes that people are applying to the book since JMS took over, but it's becoming harder and harder not to agree with them. Every single issue so far has had a black stereotype of some kind in it or the few black people shown in each issue have been criminals or otherwise doing something wrong, from drug dealers to two black men urging their white friend to run a red light to this issue having Superman terrorize both physically and psychologically this fellow. Even the main villain ends up being a possessed black person that later leads a big rally of protesters against Superman for a television news conference.
This is
Superman having a conversation with
Dick Grayson. Dick, who idolizes Superman and who has always been on good terms with everyone, is being bitched out by Superman? These strawman arguments are a staple of JMS stories, but this is just full blown editorial failure. Neither character is written properly and this garbage should not have seen print in this form.
More bullshit right here. Batman. Mother#$%&ing Batman doesn't care about stopping street crime? Batman only cares about super powered menaces and global threats? WTF are you smoking JMS? Please, I'd like some. The editor needs to be slapped, too, for letting him push this through.
Is this a new power? I don't recall ever seeing something like this before. If it's him viewing the infrared spectrum, it doesn't work this way. He's tracing footprints coming to a crashsite and walking away after taking something from it and only seeing the footprints. They are the same colour throughout, so it can't be heat, especially since it would have shown heat everywhere for every object giving off heat and the footprints would have dissipated more depending on time and surface (concrete sidewalk, asphalt road, grass, dirt, etc). So, does anyone know what power this is?
The Thanos Imperative #5
Cool splashpage of the Revengers.
Perfect reactions from everyone in this panel.
Yeah, we're screwed. I welcome our new Many Angled Ones overlords.
Thor #616
Thor wants to revive
Loki after all the crap he's pulled. Why? There's not even any build up or anything to it.
And instead of taking Balder's advice in the previous panel, Thor just goes out and prepares to revive Loki. I didn't think that's how his power worked in JMS's run. He doesn't even have the Odinforce anymore and it was calling back spirits lost during Ragnarok, not from dying to the Sentry. Loki was already revived in the former method. It shouldn't even work again.
Untold Tales of the Blackest Night #1
Animal Man has some part to play in
Brightest Day I take it?
Karu-Sil's story was my favourite in this anthology.
Lyssa Drak is recruited to guard what I assume will be the Book of Epoch or some variation of that.
Cool shot of Sinestro Corps
Scarecrow.
X-Men #4
Cyclops declines an alliance with the vampires and threatens to wipe them out.
Wolverine and
Jubilee, the newest recruits to the vampire side, don't seem to phase his resolve.
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21 comments:
maybe this will shut up people saying we just hate bnd when we say carlie is being forced down our throats. seriously any mention of carlie is just OMG SHE IS SO GREAT
I laughed at that part in New Avengers #5. Hawkeye was missing in action for the last two issues without anyone noticing. Did Bendis realize he had included him at the beginning of the arc and forgotten about him, so he quickly made some excuse to write him out of the whole book? The whole thing was so sudden, I don't think it was to be taken seriously.
Oh, and I groaned at Wolverine showing up in Shadowland out of nowhere. I shouldn't be surprised, however.
Holy crap, that's a lot of moments!
I think Untold Tales of Blackest Night is not part of continuity. A lot of it matches up with the Blackest Night Director's Cut commentary, being unused ideas that got left on the cutting room floor. So they took the unused artwork, colored it and stuck those stories between a bookend of Lyssa Drak getting stuck in the Book of the Black. They're "could have beens" that she is experiencing. None of it seemed to contradict continuity, but I don't think the events actually happened.
Dick Grayson can't be more than 25, and I think less than that, since Batman and Superman have been doing the hero thing for a maximum of 15 years. Factor in Robin joining up somewhere in (early?) in year 3, which leaves about 13 years of Robins at the most. As you said, Dick put in about 6 years as Robin, joining at 12 and being in college for a while before becoming Nightwing. Jason Todd was already Robin before Dick became Nightwing, because Dick took some time away from heroing. Jason was probably Robin for at least a year, maybe two. That leaves about 4-5 years for Tim, and 1 year or less for Damian (We can forget Stephanie). I always favored the 6-2-5 scheme.
Superior #1 was a good start, I thought. A heart breaking disease, heartwarming friendship. No one was raped or stabbed through the neck; there was no forced incest or abortion bombs. Are you sure Mark Millar circa 2010 wrote it?
Fraction's Thor is shaping up to not be as good as Gillen's. Two issues in and we know little about these new aliens, but more importantly I've not been made the least bit interested in them. Now Loki is coming back? That should be its on arc unto itself.
Superman sucks. Ugh. I don't have the words. You know JMS is gonna be late, and that's longer I have to wait for a new writer.
Thanos Imperative this week is like a 30 page reason why Nova and GotG are two of the best titles out of Marvel in years. I really hope they stop beating around the bush about Marvel Cosmic and give us those monthly titles back. Or at least give me some way to see Nova be a badass and to see Starlord and Rocket Raccoon riff some more!
Hey, looks like there are plans for Animal Man. Cool!
JMS is doing to Superman what he did to Spiderman. Seriously, why hasn't this guy been banned from touching a comic for life?!?!
*Only Bruce Wayne Batman can have a face-off with Superman like that. Dick Grayson Batman doesn't work in that situation at all.
ASM #645: I hate Carlie Cooper more than I hate The Sentry, which is (personally) saying a lot. I've never felt a character so unnaturally forced upon me before. I guess I can at least have the satisfaction in knowing their relation can never get too serious, given Marvel editorial's Peter-shouldn't-be-married stance.
Batgirl: I really love the idea of someone who sees Bruce Wayne and instinctively thinks to slap him. (I know that's likely a gross misinterpretation of the scene, but it's still amusing to me)
Shadowland #4: Oof. Diggle was doing SO well on this series until this whole event started. Daredevil's been consistently solid for over a decade and now this? I don't know what Diggle's endgame is after this and Reborn, but it better be worth it.
Superior #1: This reminded me a lot of Millar's Marvel 1985. This is a good thing, and all I can hope for is that we won't get any surprises like the one we did in Nemesis #3.
Superman #703: I wish JMS would stop with this nonsense and his Wonder Woman nonsense and go back to focusing on Brave and the Bold. He was good at that. Also, The Twelve (which he was also really really good at)
The Thanos Imperative #5: This battle has really taken its toll on Rocket Raccoon's head, it seems. TTI #6 is going to be a hell of a finale.
Thor #616: Is it too late to petition for more Kieron Gillen issues?
I thought that single panel of Star Lord letting an expletive loose is a pretty good way of summarizing Thanos Imperative as a whole.
JMS probably read Morrison's All-Star Superman or thinks we are in a pre COIE world where Superman has any power the plot needs.
Again, I say, for a man who apparently loves Superman, he knows very little about the character or history. And it's not even super specific details, but just general concepts.
What next, Clark will magically work for the Daily Star, not knowing that it DOES exist in post-Crisis DCU as a pro-Luthor newspaper?
As far as DD goes, the character has never been the same since the end of Brubaker's second arc; all downhill since, with brief moments of good stories. There was a demon Daredevil doppelganger back during the DD armor era, but at least that was a good story (it really was, Fall From Grace is A-OK)
I love how Thor is all like ''I need someone of my blood to talk to.'' and Balder, his other brother, is just standing next to him. And I hate this ''I think I'm gonna bring him back.'' He's so nonchalant there, like he just said ''I'm gonna go grab some muffins.'' and not having thoughts about ressurecting someone...
Kieron Gillen oh how I miss you. :(
"So, does anyone know what power this is?"
I think it is superman using heat vision and infrared seeing to look at the imprints foorprints make
But that doesn't make sense since there would be no imprint on concrete
Superman: Grounded sucks.
Tim's age is really quite broken. Earlier this year in Red Robin he was called a legal minor, so he still has to be less than 18. There's no way he's been Robin longer than Dick has.
I think Hawkeye is powered somehow. If you read the arc where one of the Hood's lackeys makes a depowering machine, it affect Hawkeye pretty badly. So.. I dunno, SOMETHING is going on with that.
Tim Drake was supposed to be nine when he figured out Batman's identity. He started as Robin at around 11. He got his driver's license at around 14 in his series during the period his Father was in a wheelchair in his book. That was fairly early in the run, under Chuck Dixon. He's 17 currently, according to Fabian Nicieza.
Dick's parents died at age 12, he started as Robin at about 13 and quit at about 17 to become Nightwing.
Tim never officially stopped being Bruce's partner. He was, after all, still Robin when Bruce "died".
I realize it's only been three issues, but this Superman storyline has been one of the weakest, most poorly-written arcs I have read in some time. I had planned to drop it after the second (that wopuld have been a record for quickest bail on a story arc for me!) issue, but decided to stick around to read the JMS Batman/Superman interaction. You summed up nicely above, Kirk, the complete travisty that turned out to be.
superhero ages are all over the place once you stop aging dick and not bruce. but i do agree, i feel like tim started before 16 and stayed with bruce longer. dick as nightwing doesn't count.
i like that Stephanie slapped bruce for tricking her.... and yet faked her death in front of bruce...
I absolutely love Larfleeze's "crazy eyes" in the bottom panel of the first page.
do not know what's worse, the crap that Shadowland is right now or the grounded arc of superman.... both are huge crap piles
Enrique G.
I am with anonymous 19 about the train wreck that daredevil and shadowland is right now
DIANA
I think the dialog between Batman and Superman would have worked better if it were Bruce and not Dick. I'd be interested to see how JMS described that foot print scene to the artist.
What is great about Larfleeze is that he is able to be both fun comic relief, but Johns keeps him a threat and interesting with moments like this one from GL.
I don't think the long awaited Fraction run on Thor is going as well as people would like. I was already angry during the JMS run that Thor would trust Loki, but this is just dumb.
Shadowland is ridiculous. I'm not sure I have a better way to put it.
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