Welcome to another edition of Moments of the Week! The big events take up a large portion of the moments, with Brightest Day reaching the end and Fear Itself starting, but we also have moments from other titles like Generation Hope and REBELS. That's without mentioning the controversial moment from Superman, or what's going on in X-Factor. Hit the jump to see those and many more.
Amazing Spider-Man #656
Because Peter lost his Spider Sense, now he struggles with a lot of every day things, like catching a can of soda. Also, small glimpse of the new suit.
Here's the new bullet proof suit. Some people have complained about it, but I think it looks quite good. I obviously don't want this as the everyday suit, but for special ocassions? Sure.
Avengers Academy #11
Small nod to the Super Hero Squad show, where Reptil appears.
The future, Conan? The kids from Avengers Academy get to see their future selves. Couple of interesting things here: Mettle looks basically like The Thing, Hazmat has a new suit, Finesse is carrying Elektra-like sais, Veil seems to posses some uncorporeal form, Reptil is in full dinosaur form, and Striker looks totally evil (you can tell by the goatee).
Brightest Day #22
Is this from earlier in the Brightest Day series or from way back in Crisis on Infinite Earths?
It's not a Johns' written DC event until the Anti-Monitor gets a double splash page spread. (Actually, I think he might have showed up earlier, but the point still stands)
Professor Stein gets turned into salt.
Fear Itself - Book of the Skull #1
Baron Zemo helps out Sin, but only to repay some debt. I'm really confused, because the last time he showed up, he wanted to utterly destroy Cap/Bucky, didn't he?
Occult Nazi experiments in some God-forsaken rainy place to obtain a magical secret weapon? I think the Red Skull is trying to summon Hellboy.
Oh wait, no, the secret weapon is this hammer, which we have seen Sin wielding in some of the preview art for Fear Itself.
Generation Hope #5
Oh, Magneto, you rascal. Also, McKelvie draws Xavier without earlobes, which is a nice attention to detail.
My god, Emma is actually wearing clothes, as opposed to random costume pieces glued to her body!
Just your monthly tease that Hope might or might not be Phoenix.
Invincible Iron Man #502
This was a pretty awesome moment for Pepper, wasn't it?
Knight & Squire #6
I would like an order of Kryptonite Fritters, please.
Power Girl # 22
You have to admit, there can't be many women with Power Girl's eh... figure, so it would be pretty easy to figure out her secret identity.
REBELS #26
And the award for the creepiest image of the week goes to...!
More like Starro The Coward, amirite?
Superman #709
Here's the controversial page that caused the DC Source blog to close down their comments because people kept arguing (violently, by the sounds of it) over who is faster, Superman or Flash. As you can see above, Superman is struggling to keep up with Flash, and this seemingly upset a lot of fans.
Just to be clear, Flash's whole point is that he RUNS FAST. Most of his stories are about RUNS FAST, there's a whole Flash family who RUNS FAST, and his pants are made of RUNS FAST. If you make someone else RUNS FASTER, then Flash becomes completely useless. At least that's my take on it.
When no one was looking, Lex Luthor stole forty cakes. And that's terrible.
X-Factor #217
Looks like they are going to be exploring the relantioship between Shatterstar and Longshot. Fan speculation has always seemed to hint at some possible connection. I say that Shatterstar is actually Longshot's father. Any other theories?
Here it is revealed that Monet is Muslim. The explanation is perfectly logical (and she was born in Bosnia, which has a pretty high Muslim population as well), but 1) Monet never struck me as the religious kind at all, and 2) it is kind of ridiculous that she says this while wearing an outfit that would get her stoned in most countries with Sharia law. I'm actually surprised there hasn't been an uproar over this by those neo-con bloggers that like to complain about Muslim characters, but I guess since she is a minor X-Men character, not many people know or care about her.
Avengers Academy #11
Brightest Day #22
Fear Itself - Book of the Skull #1
Generation Hope #5
Invincible Iron Man #502
Knight & Squire #6
Power Girl # 22
REBELS #26
Superman #709
Just to be clear, Flash's whole point is that he RUNS FAST. Most of his stories are about RUNS FAST, there's a whole Flash family who RUNS FAST, and his pants are made of RUNS FAST. If you make someone else RUNS FASTER, then Flash becomes completely useless. At least that's my take on it.
X-Factor #217
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27 comments:
God I am so going to miss Rebels. Tony Bedard can do no wrong when it comes to space opera. Is Marvel bringing back Negation any time soon? Pretty please with a squished sugared Starro on top?
@ Brightest Day 22: Ronnie was saying that was from when he fought the Anti-Monitor back during the original crisis.
@ Superman #709: Your dead on. Flash is faster. He has to be or else he is pointless.... Watch this whole site come crumbling down in a fight over this now
Also Red Robin had a great moment with, what appears to be, Anarchy making a serious play for some power. Soon as I get a color scanner I'll try to bring that up
@Peter: I am fully prepared to weather the storm of Flash vs. Superman discussion. That's why we have comment moderation enabled, haha.
Isn't Monet also half Algerian?
I'd also note that most Muslim women don't actually wear any form of veil.
@Interstant: Yeah, that is mentioned on the image that her mother is Algerian.
I love Superman, and think the idea that he can overcome and beat anyone and anything isnt a bad thing like others do (see All Star Superman), but Flash (either of the Allen's or West) have to be faster than Superman, they are the fastest men alive. Youre right, thats their thing, if someone is faster, even Superman, then they are like Quicksilver, speedster, but not that important. The Flashes' speed has been shown to be epic (Wally punching a white martian off the planet by building up enough speed). I dont think this devalues Supes, he can still be as fast as light, or some such really high level of speed, but the Flash family, in my mind, has always been of something like infinite speed, it does make sense how they can move that fast, but its a comic book, it has its own laws of psuedo science.
The thing I don't understand is that its not like this is new. Flash beat Superman in Rebirth and, when it was Wally, demonstrated time and again he was faster than the big S. I don't think this really is a debate
Based on my extensive knowledge (which is to say, Wikipedia), most Algerians may identify as Muslim, but don't necessarily follow orthodox Islam as much as in some other countries. So I guess her outfit isn't too inconsistent with that, whether or not the writers thought about that first.
@Matt I think with Monet is that although she hasn't been religious since before her first appearence she is still technically part of the minority the teabaggers are victimizing
The Monet (otherwise known as "She of a different skin color with every different colorist") thing was a *little* surprising, but not in the sense that it would be out of character (think people that are Catholic, but not *practicing* Catholic... I know a ton of those, and a few Muslims like that as well), more in the sense that it was a pretty politically charged issue in general. Which is not a bad thing.
Re: Superman vs. Flash: Didn't Flash say something afterwards about how he was trying to get caught by Superman anyway? Hence he would be trying to slow down so Superman could catch him...
That 40 cakes thing is HILARIOUS. Well played writer, well played.
Re: Longshot & Shatterstar : You probably put the wrong page here for that, as Shatterstar says he was joking about that whole dialogue...but then we get a knowing sideglance from Longshot indicating otherwise.
with concern to the superman issue, not that i think superman should be able to run faster than the flash, but his running form is terrrible, the flash is definitely pumping his arms in sync with his legs whereas superman was not :P
Go Pepper!
I agree with the previous poster. Monet's costume doesn't mean she can't be Muslim.
I love McElvie's artwork, but thanks to him, while reading Generation Hope I was expecting Hope to start dancing to The Pipettes.
To be honest, I think that out of the many geek discussions, the one about who is faster, Superman or Flash, has to be the worst one.
Can't we give Zemo his own Thunderbolts team? Let him fight against his former teammates and Cage?
Heck, I'd rather give Zemo his own AVENGERS team.
Just to be clear, I know about the different interpretations of Islam law, and how different countries have varying degrees strictness on it and I know that not all Muslim women wear veils. However, I was commenting on the fact that Monet's breast are halfway out, which would be frowned upon in just about ANY society. It is entirely possible that she is not a practicing religious person but still identifies with the religion.
Nice run for cover, Matt. But you seem to be saying Monet's costume is more revealing than any Christian (or other religious) comic book heroine, which is demonstrably not true. Hell, I'd say her outfit is pretty tame by the usual misogynistic standards in comics. You got caught buying into the teabagger perpetrated myth that all Muslims are extremists who follow the Koran to the letter. But, just like any other religion, there are plenty who either don't practice but still identify, or are salad bar types, just picking and choosing what works for them. I think in this issue, Monet takes the stance that she is Muslim (and mutant) for making the point to show the crowd their bigotry and intolerance. I found it appropriate, even if I was a bit surprised that she was Muslim since I never realized it. But Peter David does do his research, and given her background, it makes sense.
@Terry: I am not running for cover, I was just pointing out the ridiculousness of the situation and trying to explain my logic behind it.
I would have pointed out the situation with any other heroine with any equally revealing costume making comments on any religion. Admittedly, religion doesn't usually play a big role in superhero comics, which is why situations like this don't pop up often. If next week we have a moment with Huntress proclaiming to a crowd that she is Catholic (which she is, but she doesn't practice or at least follow all the rules), then I will feature it as well. The moment was also featured because as far as I know, this was a new revelation. I already explained that the logic behind it is sound, and I don't think anyone argues that.
I made the comment above to specify that I know about different interpretations of the law so that people wouldn't think I am an ignorant that believes all Muslim people adhere strictly to it, or that they all think the same, or that all governments enforce it equally. Using it AS a proof of my ignorance is kind of a strange move. What would you have said if I hadn't made the comment at all? Also, if you think that I would believe anything the Conservative media from the U.S. spews out on a regular basis, then you clearly don't know me at all (which is fine, I just post on a comic book site, and I normally don't air my political views here).
I find it funny the whole Future of the Avengers Academy kids, it looks as if they've gotten worse rather than better as Hank Pym supposedly promised. Veil's even more ghostly than before and I can't even see Hazmat's face she may as well call herself Radioactive Woman and Mettle is even bigger...another blunder by Hank Pym I guess
As for Generation Hope, I didn't really think Utopia had a school consideration how often I see the younger X-men adventuring or standing around
As for Monet, I wouldn't say shes a convincing Muslim. Not that she needs to be covered up like Dusk from X-Men but Muslim women don't really "expose" themselves like she does in her costume and for anyone who say it's "empowering" I laugh at you naive. If their gonna try to pass Monet as muslim then their gonna have to do a better job at showing it like covering up the funbags for starters
ASM - Great art from Marcos Martin.
AA - *looks at Veil* Apparently middle-age = bigger breasts.
Generation Hope - I feel like I should be getting this book, if nothing else for the Xavier/Magneto interactions, but does anyone know if Xavier is in his wheelchair here? He's walking in Avengers right now.
And of course, Hope/Phoenix/Jean reincarnation would hate Emma.
Superman - Boy, hasn't this been a fun year for Supes comics?
Also, this is the first time I've heard of the Lex Luthor meme. And it's glorious.
Iron Man - Sandman and Electro in Ironman? What's going on there?
@Midnight Monk - I would imagine Mettle is bigger because he's 30 in that image whereas he's in his teens currently.
I almost forgot... reading the Book of the Skull/Fear/Sin thing - was it just me, or was that the worst that Zemo has been written in the last 2 decades or so? The dialogue was so insanely lacking in character that it could literally have been *anyone* in those panels.
Brubaker is earning nothing but negative points with me & his treatment of Zemo. Not that I'm a Zemo buff, but I can appreciate a well written, decades long character change/progression...
@Midnight Monk - Muslim women can dress the way they like, they don't need you to tell them what's 'convincing' or not. Go to Turkey and tell that to any women you see dressed 'inappropriately'; I hope they rip you a new one.
I live in a Muslim community - trust me, funbags are on public display.
I know that meeting your future counterpart is hardly a recent concept, but I can't help comparing this to the Teen Titans storyline a few years ago.
As with all of Spidey's "new" costumes that endlessly come around I'll never understand why he doesn't just wear the thing all the time. Being able to shake of some gun fire seems better than not being able to. Spidey gets new costume is an instant groan to me.
I'm reading ASM in trade, so haven't read the above issue, but from the comment in the post it appears his bullet-proof costume doesn't allow him to do any wall-crawling. Is that right? That would explain to me why it is only suitable for certain situations/tasks. Police/military/EMTs all have special gear for certain environments and jobs, so it only makes sense that superheroes would. Iron Man, for example, has been doing so for decades.
You got the Longshot/Shatterstar thing close, but backwards. It's always been speculated that Longshot is Shatterstar's father. They are both from Mojoworld, Longshot ftom the present, Shatterstar the future.
During one of those old crossover in the Annuals events a very old Longshot appeared in a cameo, breaking the fourth wall a bit by smiling at the reader while the characters are talking about Shatterstar's lineage.
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