Dark Reign: Hawkeye, New Avengers: Reunion

Dark Reign: Hawkeye 1-5

I like the concept of this miniseries more than the execution.  Bullseye goes on a solo adventure during his tenure on the Dark Avengers.  He kills things, he questions his sanity, he kills his father, the end. Nothing wrong with it, nothing stand out about it either.  Tom Raney’s okay, and that’s about it. Thoroughly middle of the pack, and there’s nothing inducing me to keep it.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Didn’t suck

New Avengers: The Reunion 1-4

I love the pairing of Hawkeye and Mockingbird, but somewhere through the second issue, I wondered if this story would read any differently if you swapped them out for Green Arrow and Black Canary.  Wise cracking archers, serious martial artists. Deeply in love, not the best at relationships. If it weren’t for the Marvel-specific references, it’s possible.

I love Jo Chen's covers.  

I’m not the biggest fan of Clint in this series.  I get that he never wanted to divorce Bobbi, but he comes across a little too strong for my tastes.  He doesn’t give her any of the space that she asks for, and fails to recognize that the non-Skrull Bobbi truly wanted a divorce.  Though to his credit, Clint has matured a great deal since Bobbi last saw him. And they do make an excellent power couple. Their fight scenes together are great, and I just love their costumes.  (Credit to David Lopez for some solid, clean art.)

I liked this enough back then to keep buying their subsequent team-up comic, which I’ll get to tomorrow.  We’ll see if Hawkeye can back off a little.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Fine

MODOK's 11, Ms. Marvel

Modok’s 11 1-5

I need to stop getting suckered in by MODOK comics.  They’re never as good as I want them to be, but is it so wrong to hope that there’s a great story somewhere inside that massive head?  

The highlight of the story comes with the reveal at the end, as MODOK’s ultimate goal comes to fruition.  The flow chart detailing his machinations is elegant in its simplicity, and because no one’s reading this, I don’t have to care about spoilers.  Also, I’m not keeping these comics, so I want to remember the best part.

Profit.

Regret buying? Yes

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Didn’t suck

Ms. Marvel 1-3

Why did I stop buying this?  Kamala Khan rocks, and she’s as awesome as Nadia Pym in Unstoppable Wasp.  It’s not like I don’t love her in Champions, what was I thinking? Time to start borrowing volumes from the library.  These stories need to be read, though I’m still not convinced that I’ll need to own them. As enjoyable as I found these three issues, and as fun as they are, I didn’t ever feel the need to revisit them the first time, nor this second time around either.  Odd for a comic that I’ve rated so highly.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Marvel Legacy, Marvel Zombies, Master of Kung Fu, Ready Player One, Jessica Jones, Invincible Iron Man, Champions

Ready Player One

I love the book.  It gets me in all the right geek places.  But the trailers made me skeptical about the movie, despite the direction of Steven Spielberg.  All of the pop culture references work in the book because my imagination could linger on the mental pictures they generated.  With the film, I was worried that the cameos would barely register, severely diluting their effect on my nostalgia centers.

That’s exactly what happened.  I caught flashes of Hello Kitty, Battletoads, Serenity, and Chun Li, but there was nothing cool about seeing them next to each other.  Perhaps the mention of Wade’s lightsaber was just as much of a throwaway line in the book as Art3mis’ Aliens pulse rifle in the movie, but my mind was able to process the cool factor in the novel its own pace.  In the movie, I saw it for two seconds before I had to move on to the Zemeckis Cube.

The plot of the movie failed in the same way.  There was no time for anything to breathe, everything happens way too quickly.  It makes no sense that after five (?) years of no progress, the heroes blast through the entire hunt in, what, a week max?  The book drew out the puzzle for a lot longer, gave all of the relationships more time to develop. Even The Shining scenes felt more like a pit stop than a major set piece.

I did love the club dancing scene between Parzival and Art3mis.  The freedom and joy of their movement in zero-g space was lovely, and I hadn’t expected that.  

Regret watching? No

Would watch again? Yes

Would buy on DVD? No

Rating: Nice

Jessica Jones 18

What a wonderful way for Bendis to end his run.  He explains it in his farewell letter at the end: “I wanted to give Jessica one perfect day.”  And he succeeds so beautifully. Just another case, just another paycheck. Just another day in the life of one of the most fucked up, normal, perfect creations in the comic book universe.  Bravo.

Invincible Iron Man 598

Meanwhile, Bendis continues to tread water on this title, padding it for all he’s worth on his way to issue 600.  

Champions 18

It’s a day of final issues as Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos sign off on this really-fun-but-not-as-fun-as-Impulse collaboration.  They put everything back in the toybox as they found it, all of the characters a little richer for the experience. I suspect I’ll look back on this series fondly when I get to re-reading it.  

Marvel Legacy 1

I thought that this would be a sweet look at the Avengers and the heroes they’ve inspired, the beginning of a mini-series that would show the generations working together against a common foe.  I don’t know why that was my impression. Perhaps I was fooled by the shiny lenticular cover and Joe Quesada art.

What I got instead was a commercial for Marvel’s upcoming titles, a couple of pages teasing each one.  I’m completely insulted that they sold this abomination. This calls for the creation of the all-new Hated rating!

Regret buying? Yes

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Hated (Cutting)

Marvel Zombies 1-5

Marvel Zombies: Dead Days

Marvel Zombies 2 1-5

I’m positive that Robert Kirkman had already been writing Walking Dead by this point...yep, he was three years into it.  He infused the perfect amount of absurd dark humor into this thing. The zombified heroes recognize just how ridiculous their situation is, and never stop commenting about it.  I mean, look at the things that happen - They eat Silver Surfer. Then they eat frikking Galactus. And gain the power cosmic. And eat the world. And Ego, the Living Planet. They literally eat a planet.  

Apparently there were 5 more volumes of this story, none written by Kirkman.  I’m good with what I’ve got.

Also love all the zombie cover homages.  Some inspired work by Arthur Suydam.  

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Nice

Master of Kung-Fu 1-4

A Secret Wars: Battleworlds spin-off.  So basically an Elseworlds story. Shang-Chi fights a bunch of martial arts masters, which is really all I was hoping for.  If only the artist were more accomplished. Dalibor Talajic does an okay job, and is actually good with the flashback sequences, but this could have been amazing with someone like David Marquez.

Very evocative.

Not shabby.

But wouldn't Marquez have killed it?

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Nice

Waid/Kubert Ka-Zar, Marvel Adventures

Ka-Zar 7-14

Mark Waid falters bit during the second half of his run.  He starts off strong as Shanna struggles through a crisis of confidence in her love for her husband.  Her inner monologue that runs through the issue rings true, and I bought her reconciliation at the end with Kevin.

After that, things start to run a little askew.  I love the visuals of New York CIty overrun by dinosaurs and jungle sprawl.  Andy Kubert and Joe Rosas continue to shine.

Kubert shows scale so well.

Rosas does all the heavy lifting in this panel.

But the idea of Ka-Zar somehow surviving a face-to-face confrontation with Thanos defies all suspension of disbelief.  That story's followed up by Shanna-with-Earth-Mother-powers, a dull play on the mortal-can't-deal-with-absolute-power-and-struggles-to-retain-their-humanity storyline.  It doesn't help that the dull High Evolutionary plays Iago to her Othello, goading her down the seductively easy path. Nor that the substandard Louis Small Jr, Aaron Lopresti, and Randy Emberlin fill in on art for two of the issues.  

Is it canon that the High Evolutionary is a gorilla beneath the mask?  I can’t find any mention of it elsewhere - His wikipedia entry doesn’t mention it at all, and refers to him as human.  The reveal was a decently emotional beat, but seemed to come out of nowhere.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Fine

Marvel Adventures 9

I could not pass up the concept of the Avengers transformed into MODOCs.  (As opposed to MODOKs. Because this is an All Ages comics, the Killing has been changed to Conquest.)  Unfortunately, perhaps because it’s specifically targeted to kids, it’s far more silly than it is funny.  There’s still promise in the idea, and I hope someone comes back to it someday.

C'mon, who could resist this?

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Stupid (Cutting)

Waid/Kubert Ka-Zar, Mister Miracle, Pacific Rim 2

Pacific Rim Uprising

The reviews have been unkind to this movie, but I think that’s only because they generally liked the first one.  I, on the other hand, didn’t think as highly of del Toro’s original vision. I mean, I liked it and everything, but it doesn’t stand up after repeated viewings.  (Though there’s something to be said about the fact that I voluntarily watched it multiple times.)

Mako Mori is the best part of the first film, and for all the pageantry of Jaegers going toe-to-toe with kaiju, my favorite scene is her quarterstaff duel with Charlie Hunnam (whose character’s name I can’t even remember).  In the sequel, she’s ignominiously killed off, without even having the chance to pilot a Jaeger. Travesty.

She doesn't just deserve better.  She deserves everything!

The rest of the movie is the same as the first - Entertaining smash-up fights that destroy huge swaths of cities.  I don’t understand how this is any worse than Superman’s battle with Zod. I’m sure just as many people, if not more, died in the crossfire, despite the throwaway line that the city was evacuated.  (There’s just no way that was possible.) Not that I had a problem with that Metropolis fight, either.

And I hate Charlie Day’s character with the fire of a thousand suns.  Hated him in the first movie, hate him in this one. And he looks so much like JJ Abrams, whom I do not hate.  

Want to smack.

Don't want to smack.

Regret watching? No

Would watch again? Yes

Would buy? No

Rating: Nice

Mister Miracle 7

Last new comic of the week.

Nothing crazy happens this issue.  Big Barda gives birth while her insane family sits out in the waiting room.  Nine-panel grids the whole way. Mundane on the surface, but the feeling of dread that looms over the proceedings is absolutely oppressive.  When the tv static effect that’s been cropping up throughout the entire series starts showing up halfway through the issue, I almost couldn’t stand the tension.  Something bad was going to happen, I just knew it.  That nothing did just makes it worse, because the shoe has to drop at some point.  I can’t wait, in all meanings of the phrase.

Ka-Zar 1-6

I don’t know how Mark Waid made a Tarzan clone interesting to read about, but he completely succeeded.  In just six issues, he examines multiple facets of Kevin Plunder’s character - his love for his son, his martial prowess, his connection to Zabu, his struggle to reconcile his longing for technology with the lifestyle he’s promised to live with his wife, the marital issues it creates with Shanna, his antagonistic relationship with his brother, and and and.  That I could go on for even longer illustrates my point. And the comics are fun, to top it off. I had a blast reading this, and can’t wait to read the back half tomorrow.

This might be my favorite Andy Kubert series.  And let’s not forget Joe Rosas on colors, who deserves just as much credit.

3 pages in, and Kubert gives us our first insane action pose.  I love it.

Let's look a little more at Gregor, shall we?

It takes a while to decipher how he's exactly posing here, but it's suitably impressive.

How is this kick possible?  How?

And I love his splash pages.

This literally took my breath away when I turned the page to reveal it.

Everything good about Ka-Zar is in this picture.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Good

Inhumans

Inhumans 1-2

I bought the first half of this miniseries for Ladronn’s art.  I don’t know how to define it, but the combination of fine line art and muted colors make me think European comics.

Beautiful, but the story wasn’t good enough for me to finish off the series.  I’ll keep the issues for the art, but I doubt if I’ll ever read this again.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Fine

Inhumans 1-12

The Marvel Tsunami issues.  (Tsunami was Marvel’s ill-defined attempt to attract manga readers.)  I primarily remember it for the one month that they did some sweet looking covers.

“Teenage Inhumans go to college.”  This is what I’m talking about when I ask for character-based comics, slice of life stories with a modicum of larger plot.

I’m really confused by the Inhumans’ attitude towards the underpinnings of their culture.  There are layers upon layers of contradictions. They flat out call the stratification that results from their Terrigen ritual a caste system.  Those with stronger powers are placed in positions of higher esteem. Yet they insist that because everyone has unique abilities, theirs is a population of equals.  Then we’re shown multiple examples of people shunning former best friends after the Terrigen ceremony creates a dramatic power disparity. And if everyone’s equal, and their scientists have shown that the system somehow creates mutations that fit the needs of the societal infrastructure, why do the inhabitants ostracize anyone who doesn’t get to be a Royal Guard member?  Why do the tattoo artists and sculptors hate their lives so much?

And then there are the don’t-call-them-slaves Alpha Primitives.      

Ending today with a series of panels by Robert Teranishi.  I love how he uses the background silhouettes to stress each of the speaker’s native countries.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Nice

Jenkins/Lee Inhumans

Inhumans 1-12

Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee won the Eisner for Best New Series for this in 1999.  Compared to the competition, sure. I would have gone with Age of Bronze, but this is fine.  Hmm. I’m running low on inspiration when it comes to writing today, so I’m going to start at the beginning and begin listing things I do and don’t like.  

Lee’s the best part of this series.  I’ve been a fan of his style since his X-Factor stint during The X-Cutioner’s Song.  The best thing I can come up with to describe his art is “jagged black shadows.”

His cover of Inhumans 1 is the definitive representation, and no one does a better imperious Black Bolt.

Apparently Marvel feels the same way, because they had him draw a promo image for their poorly-received TV show.

Why why why does Black Bolt keep Maximus alive?  For some reason, it pisses me off more than Batman’s refusal to kill Joker.  I find Maximus’ thirst for the throne mundane and unimaginative. Execute him for treason and be done with it.

Jenkins makes the interesting decision to sideline the royal family for the majority of the story, their forced inaction a requirement of Black Bolt’s plan.  Instead, they’re relegated to the role of complaining chorus as Black Bolt keeps them in the dark.

The fighting is left to the Royal Guard and lower class Inhumans as Jenkins provides a half-hearted examination of the class structure in Attilan.  He spends a some time exploring the state of the Alpha Primitives, to little effect. He does a better job with Tonaja and Kalikya, the recently transformed teenagers, showing how power prejudice is ingrained in their society.

Considering how Terrigen transmutation is something that every Inhuman goes through, they really suck at diagnosing their powers when they come out of the transformation chambers.  They completely failed with a full third of Tonaja’s class.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Fine

Busiek Iron Man, Mage, Runaways

Starting with more new comics!  I’m very much a fan of doing these, they’re great for breaking up the monotony of reading the same title for days on end.

Mage: The Hero Denied 7

I don’t care about the broad strokes of this title.  The plot is only marginally interesting to me. After the wonderful Matt Wagner art, it’s the little things that make this a fun title to read.  In this issue, it’s the purples of the rose gardens and the splatters of yellow along the trail. It’s the red caps shooting a magical cannon out the back door of a yellow school bus.  And most of all, it’s seeing how Kevin Matchstick is going to deal with threats to his family after demonstrating how they’ve become his entire life since the previous series.

Runaways 7

I continue to love this comic, especially when Rainbow Rowell focuses on the characters more than any kind of external threat.  Gert’s body image issues, Victor’s lack-of-body issues, Nico’s infatuation with Karolina, and Chase’s new-found sense of responsibility are all so much fun to read.  And best of all, Molly loves school and her BFF! Her joy is my joy, and my enjoyment of this issue shot down any concerns I had that my sleepiness was affecting my low opinion of Iron Man.  

I can’t believe that “Legal Adoption” is a valid spell, but I’m so happy that it is.  

Chase's smile is so dopey!

Iron Man 7-16

Was Kurt Busiek writing Astro City during this time period?  Because between Iron Man and Avengers, he was not at his best over at Marvel.  Checking...Yes, he was. And in fact, wrote Astro City ½ in the same span, only one of my top 5 comics issues ever.  So what happened with Iron Man?

Everything is just so meh.  Tony’s challenges fail to create any tension or sense of danger.  By the end of the night, I pushed through a few extra issues just so that I wouldn’t have to read them tomorrow.  And while George Perez is good enough to keep Busiek’s Avengers in my collection, Sean Chen, while pretty good, can’t do the same for these issues of Iron Man.  I’ll keep the issues from yesterday for nostalgia’s sake, but none of today’s are making the cut.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Boring

Busiek Iron Man, Judas, Mighty Thor, Archie

New comics, split out over the next two days!

Archie 29

I’m not sure if I’m tired of Waid’s Archie formula or just plain tired.  Archie spends half the issue tearing the town apart searching for his lost guitar.  Who’s location he would have known if he’d just listened to his father. Archie’s clueless obliviousness (apparently ‘oblivity’ isn’t a word) wore really thin today.  I cared zero for the other half, which involved Reggie and the Blossoms. A waste of pages.

I do love the cover from this week, and the preview of next month’s as well.  Jughead breaking the visual pattern is hilarious and makes for great cover compositions.

Mighty Thor 705

It really looks like Aaron’s killing off Jane Foster.  Sigh. And while her fight against Mangog is glorious enough, and dying in battle is really the only way for Thor to go, I wish there was a little more to it than that.   

Still, her final scene with Odinson is poignant and beautiful.  She takes off her helmet and reveals her face, finally able to relax now that her fight is over.  She dies kissing her love as a raging star swirls around them---Okay, it’s an amazing, epic ending.  A+.

Judas 4

As retcons go, this was a superbly executed one.  In order for Jesus’ story to happen, Judas had to play his role as betrayer, effectively robbed of his free will.  Jesus can only be resurrected from Hell if Judas forgives Him for His only sin, condemning Judas to that fate. I liked it.  I had also never heard this interpretation of Abraham and Isaac’s story:

It always struck me as evil...a cruel test.  But...You weren’t testing him. You were testing Yourself.  You were seeing if it could be done. If a father could truly give up his son...If You could send him there.  To go where You could not.

It gave me something to think about.

Iron Man 1-6

Kurt Busiek and Sean Chen begin the Heroes Return era of Iron Man.  What is it with Iron Man continuing to fail my memory? Everything is very ho-hum here, with generic stories.  There’s promise in the character of Rumiko Fujikawa, but I can’t remember how much more Busiek utilizes her. I don’t see myself ever coming back to this, but I can’t bring myself to get rid of it either.  (I’m also still worried that I’m letting my fatigue cloud my decision making.) Keeping for now.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Fine