Comic Book Moments of the Week for 08/29/12

 

The last day of August is upon us, but the Moments of the Week continue like a rolling stone! What better way to head into a Labor Day weekend for our American readers than to see a bunch of DC's annuals hit the stands, from Green Lantern to Flash to JLI, Justice League shows us a much hyped kiss, FF brings humor and heartbreak, and X-O Manowar brings the past to the future, today! Let's get started with the fifth week moments after the jump.

Aquaman #12

Looks like that scepter Black Manta was looking for last issue really is the best weapon of the bunch, I always thought a trident would be better because scepters are more symbolic, I guess it doesn't work that way in Atlantis.

That is just a really well drawn splash page showing the Others arriving to help Arthur, and the coloring works well. If the DCnU has done nothing else, it seems to really push for wowing on the two page splashes.

Things were going too well for Arthur, so Vostok has to be another member to die. And he was one of the more interesting characters in The Others. Compared to other series in the reboot, #13 is going to conclude this arc, as opposed to having everything end in time for the zero issues next month. So look for the conclusion in October.

FF #21

Poor, poor Peter. The space stuff just never works out for him (look at Lockjaw's poor confused face in that second to last panel!). The FF are there to make sure there's nothing bad going on now that the Inhumans have arrived back to Earth, and no Kree ships would be following.

King Blackbolt would dare. One of the best romantic buildups over the years looks to be at an end, or at the very least a forced break to broker peace. It was also heavily hinted at Crystal being pregnant, which would just be another moment of heartbreak for this couple.

Flash Annual #1

Looks like there was a reason for the Rogues having more tangible powers in the DCnU, and it comes down to making themselves be more like the Flash, a real meta. Glider's real body is in a vegetative state, and Mirror Master cannot leave his mirror world now, which we'll see below:

Millions of little cuts, but Barry phases through them all. Wes Craig delivered art for this section of the annual, and really works well. Of all the DC books, Flash has quietly gotten some of the best talent to draw it, Flash alum Scott Kolins even returned for a few pages. Anyways, Rogues are brought down, Captain Cold triple crosses everyone, and in the end it doesn't really matter because:

Gorillas in rocketships trump everything.



Gambit #2

Gambit looks to find out more about the alien device he stole last issue (and has since buried itself into his ribcage), and runs into the pretty lady he saw at the party. Of course she's also a thief, who also betrays others to make a getaway:

Falling fifty feet won't hurt Gambit, he's just going to get his second wind.

It looks to be a fair enough call, as the thieving duo heads to Guatemala!



Green Lantern Annual #1

So, here we go, heavy foreshadowing in this annual, and we aren't even halfway through the issue. We get a bunch of old imprisoned Guardians in the aptly named Chamber of Shadows who aren't as crazy as their current relatives, the First Lantern who looks to be a new power source for the Third Army, and the Guardians really beyond saving. It's early but it would be an easy call to say these new Hidden Ones will replace the Guardians when all is said and done, and maybe the Corps will have some sanity for a year or two. 

The Guardians look to take out Hal and Sinestro by making Black Hand explode (and then be put in the Chamber of Shadows), but it looks like the two get to force the ring to pick who they would choose as a successor, who will more than likely be the new Green Lantern Baz, who we first saw in the Free Comic Book Day DC issue.

Finally, this is what the Third Army looks to be: heartless, crazy eyed beings born from the Oans melting pieces of themselves into the first Third Army member, who then spread much like the Black Lanterns.

Justice League #12

The first half of the issue resolves the Graves story, which ended a lot quicker than I thought it would. Steve Trevor is alive and resents Diana, Hal steps down from the League to save it a PR nightmare since the media is showing the fight between he and Diana, and on top of all that there is talk of expanding the League. But that's not what's getting everyone's attention:

Demigods hook up, and in doing so it feels like there's no reason for Superman to even be Clark Kent at this point, as there is a lack of humanity in a lot of new Superman's actions these days. Diana has always had this difference because she is also a Princess (or was), but the Kryptonian/alien angle is really being emphasized in Superman these days. It also looks like this kiss has bad vibes for the future, as you'll see below.

Justice League International Annual #1

Booster's inability to get any of the A-list talent to show up sees the JLI destroyed, and a warning from his future self to change the future, with all signs pointing to the WW/Superman relationship as having bad consequences in the future. 

Batman still made Brother Eye in the DCnU, which also abandoned Kevin Kho thanks to a Skeets virus courtesy of Booster. As far as Brother Eye's new master, Despero maybe? 

Mudman #5

A nice simple moment showing how comics really influence perceptions if they ever appeared in a more realistic world, Jimmy Olsen should always get preferential saving with powers compared to Flash Thompson. Well, current Flash Thompson is really cool, but old Flash was a jerk.

TMNT: April

April sneaks back into her old lab to see what exactly is being worked on now, and looks to have a little sabotage come about. Turtle hand? Fans of the old cartoon should be able to guess this one:

Say hello to the new version of Slash, who seems to be a clone of the turtles who retains some of their memories. A somewhat bizarro turtle, if you will.



Wolverine & The X-Men #15

If they really wanted to get Quire to grow up a bit and get out of his forced rebellious mantra, I wouldn't put it past Rachel and Xavier to "nudge" people into voting for Quire.

The best student is transferred, for lack of a better word, as Gladiator decides the Earth isn't worth it. Warbird, however, is relieved of her duty and allowed to stay on Earth.

This is an odd one, as Angel still has a creepy vibe after being essentially rebooted after the Dark Angel Saga, and isn't all there mentally. He could go evil like Xorn/Magneto and subvert a whole class of students! This was an issue that dealt with clearing some loose ends in anticipation of AvX ending, so it's a lot more focused on previous issue developments as opposed to the recent tie-in issues.

Uncanny X-Force #30

Villains need to relax too, and Fantomex is hung like a hunting trophy. His death looked pretty convincing, even for comics, but with the way he's just being held up here it seems like his heart might just be put back in him like a battery.

Supervillain road trip with Kid Apocalypse in tow, to show him his Kansas farm and dead parents. Evan finally snaps, but doesn't pull the trigger:

Thanks to the Shadow King's influence it looks like the curtain is finally going to fall on Evan and his manufactured origin story.

X-O Manowar #4

1600 years of history in 30 seconds, on top of taking out fighter jets, it looks like there was a reason it was worshipped by the Vine, who also seem to have not completely left the Earth centuries ago.

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