Friday, November 30, 2007

This Week's Haul: One More Day? More like: This comic costs "One More Dollar"

Here's some whirlwind comic reviews comin' at ya!

The Sensational Spider-Man #41

Spidey. Hear me out.

Aunt May is very old. And her husband is dead. I just want you to consider that before you do anything crazy like trade your life as you know it for hers. I know you love her. We all do. But seriously, she is, like, what? 150 years old now? She probably wants to die. And she certainly doesn't want you throwing your life away so she can live the last six months or whatever of hers.
Also, incidentally, your comic books suck.

Sub-Mariner #6

You know what was surprisingly awesome? This mini-series. Particularly this issue. If you missed out, I think it's going to make an excellent little TPB, so watch for it.

This was actually the first comic in a long time that I was so into while I was reading it that I actually got pissed off at the ads. I'd turn the page after an awesome cliffhanger panel and be like "What?! Ad?! Get out of here!" It was a very gripping issue with a great ending.

I'd like to mention this about Marvel: I like what they do with their comics in terms of extra stuff. I like having that front page that summarizes the story up to this point. I like those new pages at the back with a Q&A, and some fun facts about characters, and some other stuff. I'm into it. Fix up, DC.

X-Men First Class #6

Holy lord. What a mess! I mean, the story is as great as always, but it was completely out of order. And that confused me for an embarrassingly long time before I figured out the problem. I assume that Marvel is going to send out corrected issues.

Right, Marvel?

Daredevil #102

It seems like Daredevil comes out every week now. But I am certainly not complaining.

Poor Matt Murdock. Proof that bad things happen to good/borderline psychotic/actually not that good people. This latest helping of sweet, sweet schadenfreude has Milla returning home to Matt, but under 24-hour house arrest surveillance. Matt's happy she's home, but we all know he has no reason to be because something awful is definitely going to happen to her, or him, or both of them very soon.

You know what I'd like? An issue of Daredevil where he wakes up, has a big delicious breakfast, takes a relaxing stroll in the park with a wife who is in no way crazy or sad, and then maybe takes the night off and goes dancing. And maybe eats cake in there somewhere. That guy is in desperate need of a really good day.

Of course, then we wouldn't get to see awesome fights like this:

Batman and the Outsiders #2

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...huh? Whu? Oh right. This is why I always have, and always will, hate The Outsiders.

Awesome! Catwoman and Martian Manhunter are going to be in it! I love those guys...oh, wait. They're leaving forever. And here's that dumb Batgirl I have no time for. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Batman #671

So much talent being wasted on a stupid crossover.

However, the fight between Batman and whatshisface was great. I don't know if I've ever seen Batman's eye shields get smashed up like that. It looked cool.

Also...Batman ended up coming back and winning this fight. Because he is awesome.

Blue Beetle #21

Nice fill-in! This was really enjoyable. The more Traci Thirteen the better, I say!

All-Star Batman and Robin #7

Making fun of this isn't even fun anymore. It just makes fun of itself so effectively that there is no joy in it.

I mean, the cover is The Joker sporting a giant back piece for no reason. In the very first panel Gotham City is called a "whore." Dick makes yet another homophobic remark about Batman being queer. Batman says/does some more things that make it clear that he should not be allowed within five states of a child.

And Green Lantern is an idiot man-child. Usually that would be funny, but it really is just obnoxious here.

I hate this comic. I hate it so much.

Countdown #22

This issue had a perfect example of what's wrong with this series. Mister Miracle shows up to help Jimmy Olsen. He's wearing his old costume, and seems unconcerned that at this very moment he is on a mission with Superman to Apokolips. Why can't this damn comic sync up even slightly to what's happening in the other comics?

Know what else I hated? Trickster dying. And I can't really see a way out of this death. He was shot in the head and the heart. He's fairly dead. And this little scene was heartbreaking:

Nooooooo!!! They were just starting to like each other! I hate you, comics.

Green Lantern Corps #18

This whole issue was one big fight between Superman Prime and the new Ion, Sodam Yat.

Superman Prime continues to be delightfully bratty:

"Read 'em and weep!" I really love how hard Prime tries with the smack talk, but he really just sounds like a giant tool.

I really liked Sodam Yat's back story too.

Superman Annual # 13

Camelot Falls (or should I say Camelot Stalls...zing!) finally gets wrapped up in this annual. Good lord, how long has this story been going on? I know I really enjoyed many issues of it, but it just seems so long ago. We're lucky enough to have three great Superman stories happening in three separate series simultaneously...but they are all moving slower than molasses.

I prefer an annual that stands on its own and is fun with lots of mini stories, but this was fine. The back-up, with lovely art by Renato Guedes, was really cute. I liked the premise of Supergirl trying to cook everyone a traditional Kryptonian meal.

Gotham Underground #2

Sometimes you just want to read a Batman comic that isn't about the resurrection of Ra's al Ghul in anyway. Thank God for Gotham Underground, the totally entertaining criminal-centric 12-part Batman series for the rest of us. If it keeps up the good work, this is going to be my favourite current Batman title.


So close to being done school for four weeks, guys. And when I'm done, I am going to read every comic ever and write about them. I thank you for your patience. As always, I wanna hear what you all thought of this week's comics, including any that I didn't post about. Because chances are good that I read them.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

As good as the fight between Prime and Sodam Yat was, it felt almost tacked on. I mean, it seems like the line about Yat becoming Ion "earlier than expected" last issue was true, and he should have gotten the role in the Special centering around Ion. It also felt like the Ion power was poorly used, especially since Yat still funnled his power through his ring.

Other books I liked that atleast weren't mentioned were Teen Tians 53 and Crime Bible 2. Titans was scattered at times, but fun. My only complaint there is how tacked on the notion of it tying into Sinestro Corps (as M'Gann tells Tim) felt. Also, the cover with Jaime looking back to all of the Titans and saying "Oh my god" in Spanish was pricless.

Crime Bible was good probably the only book where the lesbian sex didn't feel as much like it was saying "Heh heh... Lesbians are hot" since Renee was reluctant, and it tied into the theme of lust for that issue. The whole parody religion of the Crime Bible has me intrigued between this and the Four Horsemen. I also want a Question book. And a Batwoman book, since they would both be by Greg Rucka in all likely hood. He likes lesbians, apparently.

Oh and Jack of Fables was awesome too. If only for Babe the blue ox's inner monologue, as well as Paul Bunyan finding out Babe is male.

Anonymous said...

As a long time reader of Spider-Man (since 1989, not as long as some, but longer than others), I had already heard what was going be the crux of One More Day (although I had heard it was going to be Loki offering the deal, not Mephisto.) While I don't mind Marvel destroying the marriage, even though it's something that's always been a part of MY Spider-Man, I didn't really have a huge problem with this story. I mean it's a better way to bring back single Spider-Man than saying the married Spider-Man is actually a clone.

Something did bother me, though, while the new issue of Sensational. I wasn't sure what it was until you nailed. They're willing to give up their love and marriage for the life an woman, who by all rights, should have died 20 years ago? It does seem sort of silly.

Two of the biggest mistakes that Marvel ever made with Spider-Man that have never been fixed has been the resurrections of Aunt May and Norman Osborn. Marvel should just let Aunt May die with dignity, like she did the first time, and not be brought back with indignity, like she was the first time.

SallyP said...

The whole Spider-man thing just makes me sad. Wouldn't it be a poke in the eye, if Aunt May got run over by a truck, a day after she leaves the hospital? That strikes me as something that Mephisto would do.

But Green Lantern Corps was decent...although it needed more Guy in it.

And Jack of Fables was hilarious as usual, while Blue Beetle managed to be just as good as always.

Mory said...

Regarding Spider-Man: I wouldn't recommend it to anyone but Straczynski fans. I agree that the plot has fundamental problems. And it is going much slower than it has any right to.

But as it happens, I'm a Straczynski fan. I like his grandiose pseudo-philosophical monologues and the way he throws in lots of little tragically directionless characters to demonstrate things he's seen in real life, and the way he pushes his main characters to their emotional limits, and the way he used to be really really good at plotting. His plotting has gone down the drain in the past few years, but the rest is all still there. So I actually enjoyed this issue a lot.

The men Peter meets were very provocative, I thought. They make the whole existence of Spider-Man a little more impressive. And it reminded me of Peter's "everyman" roots, grounding the story in realistic humanity even as it presented the most over-the-top operatic mythology the series has ever had. The monologues all four characters recite give the story the weight that befits the last story Straczynski's writing here, even though I wish the plot could have had more of a bang. I found the little girl very interesting. I have absolutely no idea what she's doing there, which I'm sure is the point right now.

But I will grant you that this series is being released much too slowly. Quesada drawing this story is of interest only to Quesada. I (and I assume everyone else) would have been much happier having Garney or Deodato or anyone else who can work on a regular schedule draw this. (Well, maybe I wouldn't have minded waiting this long if Clayton Crain were drawing it.)



I agree that Sub-Mariner was excellent. The ending has left me desperate for an ongoing.



Groo the Wanderer is also really fun, as expected. I don't know if you read that series. This particular miniseries (Hell on Earth) is a lot more political than usual, but it's still very amusing.

Mory said...

Oh wait. Now that I think of it, Groo was last week. There really weren't many good comics this week, were there?

rachelle said...

andrew - I actually didn't read Crime Bible. I guess I just forgot about it, because I read the first one and thought it was alright. I'll check it out next time I'm in the shop.

Most people can't handle the notion that I am a female comic fan, yet I don't read Fables. I've read the first couple of trades, but that's it. I don't hate it, but I don't love it. Maybe I should keep reading because everyone else goes nuts over it.

Will - I'm not a long-time Spider-Man fan, but from an outsiders perspective, it seems that every decade or so Marvel has to drop some crazy twist into continuity to undo a bunch of crappy storytelling. With that sort of track record, it's no wonder I'm not that interested in new Spider-Man comics. I am looking forward to the post-Straczynski run, though.

SallyP - yeah, GLCorps was a little lacking in characters who weren't Sodam Yat or Superboy. But it was a pretty cool fight.

Mory - I am enjoying the new Groo series. It is very political, but it's not clunky or annoying. I like it.

I really don't like Quesada's art, but it doesn't sound like I'm alone on that one.

I kinda liked the part where we saw Peter being called away from where he was standing in the lab, and then the radioactive spider just falls to the floor and gets stepped on.

I'm looking forward to Dan Slott taking over. He's already writing a really good Spider-Man over in The Initiative.

GeneralBobby said...

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was confused by the page order in X-Men:First Class.It made an otherwise very entertaining comic almost totally unreadable.

Rich said...

Amazon has a listing for the Sub-Mariner mini with a late Feb. release date. I only picked up one ish of the series, but I'm sure I'll be picking up the TPB.

Anonymous said...

"...but from an outsiders perspective, it seems that every decade or so Marvel has to drop some crazy twist into continuity to undo a bunch of crappy storytelling."

Aren't you primarily a DC fan?

Marvel's don't ask/don't tell approach to things like the Clone Saga is irritating and the sliding timescale has some kinks in it, but I will maintain that crazy continuity twists are the hallmarks of DC.

rachelle said...

Hey, DC's got problems (*cough* countdown *cough* megaverse), but they don't seem to play cards like the clone thing, or what looks to be the "Spidey wishes on a magic dude that his comics no longer sucked" card. Instead they just go for overly-complex, drawn-out explanations and by the time they drop any "shocking" developments on us, we're just too sleepy to care anymore.

"Superboy is punching what in the where now? Whatever. Fine."

Alexa D said...

Oh I agree with you so hard on the Spider-Man thing. I mean, srsly, Peter, grow the fuck up.

(And Quesada, just because you're too immature to make your marriage work is no reason to foist your issues on Spidey just because you can.)

Anonymous said...

'"Superboy is punching what in the where now? Whatever. Fine."'

The Jason Todd thing was inexcusable. Not that they brought him back to life, that's fine. But the fact that SBP punched a "wall" of some sort that led to JT's ressurrection? I realized I'd never be able to explain that part of Batman's history to anyone, ever.

"See, Joker killed Jason Todd(the second Robin). But twenty years later, this alternate universe version of Superboy(who had vanished into another alternate paradise dimension after all of DC's alternate dimensions were destroyed) punched the crystal wall... of his dimension... and that brought the dead Jason Todd back to life. Then Talia put him in a Lazurus Pit, which would have also brought him back to life without all the weird parrallel universe stuff."

DC had a fine stand-alone explanation in the Lazurus Pit. Why they felt the need to inject Superboy Prime into Batman's comic is unclear.

Shawn said...

wrApparently JMS isn't really happy with some of the editorial mandates that drive One More Day either:

http://blog.newsarama.com/2007/12/04/jms-on-one-more-day-theres-a-lot-that-i-dont-agree-with/#more-6323

Anonymous said...

I happily bought the first and last issues of the Camelot Falls story and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I also stole a bunch of quotes from this haul and posted them (with credit) into our comments section because this week we mentioned a lot of the same things. :)

paperghost said...

"DC had a fine stand-alone explanation in the Lazurus Pit. Why they felt the need to inject Superboy Prime into Batman's comic is unclear."

You can apply that to the entire DC Universe.