Thunderbolts

Thunderbolts

I genuinely liked this movie, and I wish it wasn’t such a rare occurrence in today’s MCU. 

Things I liked:

• Florence Pugh is phenomenal.  She delivers on all of the promise she flashed in Black Widow and Hawkeye, as Yelena is elevated to the headline of what’s essentially Black Widow 2.  She brings depth and emotion to a wonderfully realized character, to an extent that may not have been reached by any other MCU character.  (Maybe Scarlet Witch in WandaVision?)

• Some great action sequences.  Nothing that’s top tier, but the opening building jump, four-way incineration room fight, and futile Sentry confrontation were all well done.

• Shout out to the Bucky v Three Jeeps scene.  A great showcase for the guy who has somehow become a nostalgic fan favorite.  

• David Harbour’s bombastic Red Guardian is hit or miss for me, but he mostly hits here.  His humor works, and I laughed at the majority of it.  He also pulls off the heartfelt moments w/ Pugh.  Some serious acting that almost feels out of place in the MCU.

• Inching up the silo.

• I didn’t expect much from the Sentry, as I’m totally not a fan of him in the comic.  But Lewis Pullman does a fine job here.  His fight scene feels like a totally sanitized, watered-down Homelander scene, but still manages to show just how scary a Superman-level threat can be in the MCU.

• The Void vfx, both on the character and with his victim smearing, is fricking awesome.  Those pinpricks of light are terrifying as his eyes.

• Yelena constantly being embarrassed by her dad will always be funny.

• The Avengerz.  

• Loved both post-credits stings.  

• There’s a lot of legitimately troubling psychic trauma on display in this movie.  Tough to watch, but well executed.  

• I can not believe that the group hug ending actually worked for me.  The other instances I can think of are the “It’s not your fault” scene from Good Will Hunting and the finale of season six of Buffy.  I can’t stand either one.  It shouldn’t work here either, but the filmmakers did a surprisingly effective job of selling Yelena’s despair and her ability to fight through it, reach out, and make a human connection with a similarly lost soul.  

Things I didn’t like

• Julia Louis-Dreyfus just doesn’t fit in the MCU.  She’s plain annoying.

• I would have liked to see more of a payoff with Mel the assistant.

• I feel really bad for Olga Kurylenko.  Everyone else gets to come back and make more future Marvel money, while she’s unceremoniously disposed of.  

• It’s not Wyatt Russell’s fault, but John Walker’s a total tool, and I don’t need to see any more of him.

• Ghost has potential, but she’s nothing more than roster-filler here.

• The writers wimped out by bringing back everyone who died by Void smear.  

• Sad that Valentina didn’t get her comeuppance.  

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: Yes

Would buy on DVD: Yes

Rating: Good

Updated MCU rankings

1. Avengers: Endgame

2. Captain America: Civil War

3. Captain America: Winter Soldier

4. Spider-Man: No Way Home

5. Avengers: Infinity War

6. Shang-Chi

7. Avengers: Age of Ultron

8. Ant-Man/Wasp

9. Avengers

10. Spider-Man: Homecoming

11. Captain America

12. Dr Strange 2

13. Thunderbolts

14. Thor: Love and Thunder

15. Spider-Man: Far From Home

16. Iron Man 2

17. Black Widow

18. Black Panther

19. Iron Man

20. Ant-Man

21. Dr Strange

22. Deadpool & Wolverine

23. Iron Man 3

24. Thor 3

25. Captain Marvel

26. Thor

27. Thor 2

28. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

29. Guardians of the Galaxy

30. Guardians of the Galaxy 2

31. Guardians of the Galaxy 3

32. Hulk

33. Eternals

34. Captain America: Brave New World

35. Ant-Man/Wasp: Quantumania

New comics

New comics!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 7

Juan Ferreyra’s art is so good.  I want to see him on something more high profile.  On the story-side, Jason Aaron has been spending way too much time on the turtles being mad at each other.  They should have reconciled by now, this thing has dragged on past its shelf life. 

DC vs Vampires: World War V 8

I’ve previously written about how impressed I was by Matthew Rosenberg’s ability to juggle multiple engaging plotlines.  With this issue, the pendulum’s swung to the other side.  Nothing’s given enough time to breathe and develop, and it’s hard for me to enjoy any of it.  Also, it’s usually not a good sign when the New Gods show up.  

Absolute Flash 2

Not much happens this issue; Wally tries to run away from the Absolue Rogues’ Gallery with no real development, and I was hoping for much more.  This is the weakest of the Absolute titles, and I don’t see myself sticking around for much longer.

Wonder Woman 20

Diana enlists Batman’s assistance in solving a murder mystery on Olympus.  Tom King utilizes a strict 9-panel grid.  Guillem March is on pencilling duty.  

Detective Comics 1096

Things end in a rather unsatisfactory manner.  Batman prevents Joe Chill’s murder.  Tom Taylor’s addition to Thomas and Martha Wayne’s past doesn’t make things any more interesting.  Mikel Janin is still an amazing artist.  

Absolute Batman 7

A wonderfully creepy take on Mr. Freeze.  A completely unnecessary, gross death that I did not need to see.  Marcos Martin is too good of an artist for his own good, in this rare case. 

New comics

New comics!

Batgirl 6

So the first arc ends, and it turns out what I thought was a miniseries is now an ongoing.  I’m not sure if I’m going to stick around; As with Kelly Thompson’s Birds of Prey, I want to like this more than I actually do.  The pieces are there, but it’s just not clicking.  Maybe one more issue.

Absolute Superman 6

We find out how the Kents fit into the Absolute universe.  And in a haunting, harrowing twist, Kal-El was essentially in solitary confinement for seventeen months on the journey from Krypton to Earth.  No cryosleep.  He just about went crazy from the isolation.

Absolute Green Lantern 1

As with the rest of Absolute Wave 2, not as strong as the first batch.  But I’ll stick around for at least a little longer.

Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell 1

Charles Soule and Steve McNiven do their Dark Knight Returns spin on Matt Murdock.  McNiven channels Kaare Andrews circa Iron Fist: Living Weapon, which is just fine by me.  

Battle Action 4-5

Nothing new to say about these.  Serviceable, I’ll keep supporting Garth Ennis doing war comics.

Big Burn 3

I can’t remember the last time a comic brought such a broad smile to my face;  The final scene is absolutely pitch perfect, I loved it so much.  Joe Henderson and Lee Garbett continue to be one of the top creative teams out there.

New comics

Batgirl 5

Cassandra Cain fights more of the blue ninja.  Entertaining enough, and my daughter is getting a kick out of this title.  

Batman: The Long Halloween: The Last Halloween 6

I’m not familiar with Enrico Marini, but he’s got a mega Matt Wagner vibe going, which I’m never going to complain about.  I stopped caring about the plot months ago.

Batman 158

I suspect it’s going to be the same for this Jeph Loeb-plotted story as well.  I wasn’t impressed with the original arc, and I certainly wasn’t clamoring for a sequel.  I’m only getting this for the Jim Lee art, and even that doesn’t have the same luster that it used to.  Hard to say if I’m going to make it through this whole story.

Wonder Woman 19

Tom King wraps up this storyline and starts the next one, foreshadowing the death of Diana and the rest of the Wonder Women.  It’s not the strongest of issues, but it’s still a good effort from King and Daniel Sampere.

Black Canary: Best of the Best 5

More of the same, which is pretty underwhelming.  Ryan Sook isn’t a bad artist by any stretch, but I think this title would have been so much better if drawn by someone capable of more dynamic action sequences.  This fight between Black Canary and Lady Shiva should be way more engaging.  Also, for two of the world’s top martial artists, there are way too many moves straight out of the WWE.  It really detracts from the supposed high stakes of the bout.

Absolute Martian Manhunter 1

I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by Deniz Camp.  The jury’s still out on this title, it’s one of those mindfuck “man’s world is falling apart around him as he starts to question the reality he’s living in” kind of things.  Javier Rodriguez is perfectly suited for this, I just hope that the story lives up to the artwork. 

Ultimate Spider-Man 15

Absolute Sandman shows up.  Not much else happens, but it’s still a lot of fun.

 

New comics

New comics!

Free for All

I picked this up because I recognized Patrick Horvath’s name from Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees.  This one-shot has an intriguing concept: randomly selected billionaires, chosen by lottery, must either donate half their money to the public or fight to the death to retain it.  A wonderful basis for a story, but the execution is just a touch lacking.  Still entertaining, but it focuses on the combat, while I would have liked to see more about the society in which this policy exists.

Absolute Wonder Woman 6

Mattia de Iulis is the guest artist for this two issue arc, and he’s an excellent stand in.  This continues Kelly Thompson’s streak of awesome issues in this title, digging into the origin of Diana’s arsenal of weapons.

Absolute Flash 1

Wave 2 of the Absolute line begins here.  Jeff Lemire doesn’t immediately grab my attention the way Thompson and Scott Snyder did, but things are still interesting enough for me to stick around for at least a little longer.

One World Under Doom 2

Doom continues to outmaneuver the good guys, and turns Ben Grimm back into a human.  

Fantastic Four 30

Those ramifications are handled here.  In a nice twist, Ryan North writes Ben as someone who’s gotten used to, and indeed loves, being the Thing.  After spending so many years wanting to return to normal, he’s completely turned around on the issue, understandably so.  It’s a nice character study by North.

Detective Comics 1095

A filler issue by Tom Taylor and Mikel Janin where not much happens, but at least it looks beautiful.  

Absolute Batman 6

Big, burly Bruce Wayne resolves the Black Mask situation.  This’ll be fun to re-read all at once.  I’m definitely around for more of this.

New comics

One World Under Doom 1

Ryan North begins his first (?) Marvel event.  He’s off to a good start, as Doom finally makes his move and takes over the world.  I suspect his eventual downfall will be self-inflicted, much like with Thanos all the time.  

Fantastic Four 29

Tie-in to the previous title.  Part of Doom’s plan is to give everyone a minority to hate.  The daywalking vampires from the previous Marvel event are the target here.  They’re an easy target, since they, you know, suck your blood and everything.  In order to remove the fear, Mr Fantastic develops a blood substitute that will sustain them.  It all comes a little too easy, and Cory Smith is not a league average artist.  This was one of North’s weaker efforts.  Too obvious.  

Batman: The Long Halloween: The Last Halloween 5

Love the Bill Sienkiewicz art.  Not so much with the Jeph Loeb story, but that’s nothing new.  

Batgirl 5

Cassandra Cain fights some more as she attempts to save Lady Shiva from the blue ninjas.  

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 7

The brothers’ relationships remain fractured as they fight the Foot and amongst themselves.  Juan Ferreyra’s art is still awesome.  

Detective Comics 1094

Tom Taylor and Mikel Janin are a wonderful team for one of DC’s flagship books.  Taylor makes Damian Wayne not-annoying, which is a nigh-impossible task.  He’s such a good writer.

Black Canary: Best of the Best 4

This month’s in-fight flashback shows us how Dinah and Ollie first meet.  Their meet cute is more of a meet-kicking-the-crap-out-Ollie.  I said that I like Tom King’s more linear stories, but this one’s too slight for me so far.  I expect more complexity from a King story, and there’s none of that here.

Absolute Wonder Woman 5

Man, do I love this title.  It’s beautiful, epic, touching, and overall breathtaking.  At the end of the day, the Tetracide is just another big monster, but Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman manage to make it the scariest thing in the world.  

This and the next title are why I love comics.  

Wonder Woman 18 

Sometimes you just need to see the hero be so much better than the bad guy.  Diana’s ROFL stomping of everyone in front of her is so satisfying, given everything that’s happened to her so far.  It’s completely earned, which is what makes it work.

New comics

New comics!

Jupiter’s Legacy: Finale 5

Maybe this will be better once I re-read the entire saga in one go, but right now, this ended with poor art, an unsatisfying ending to an impossible situation, and a reminder that Mark Millar is nowhere near his prime anymore.

Absolute Superman 5

Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval show us the final moments of Krypton.  Kal-El’s escape is tinged with extra tragedy in this version, as his parents almost make it off the planet safely, only to die at the last moment.  Still the weakest of the three Absolute titles, but I’ll stick around for a little longer.  (The next three Absolute comics are being launched soon, and I’ll try all of those out too.)

DC vs Vampires: World War V 7

Darkseid forces both the vampire and human armies into retreat as the next phase of the war begins.  Otto Schmidt’s usually wonderful art is getting scratchier and scratchier, to the point where basic readability is in grave peril.

Battle Action v3 3

Johnny Red continues his flying adventures.  The backup story stars a great white shark with a harpoon conveniently embedded in his mouth such that it can be used as an offensive weapon.  He takes on an equally murderous orca in a batshit fight that I could never have imagined.  I’m not at all surprised that John McCrea was employed to draw it.

Ultimate Spider-Man 14

I did not expect Harry Osborn to take a bullet through the head here.  If Jonathan Hickman chooses to keep him dead, I wonder if Gwen Stacy will take her husband’s place as Green Goblin.  That’d be a fun twist that I’d like to see.

Aliens vs Avengers 3

This is more like the Hickman that I know.  Batshit crazy ideas, undisciplined writing, and unintentional humor that I can’t believe I’m reading.  Not in a good way.  

Am I supposed to take this seriously?

This thing has flown off the rails, and I’m not even sure it’s fun anymore.