Thursday, October 28, 2010

10/27/10

AVENGERS #6—Bendis Bendis Avengers Avengers blah blah blah. Running out of superlatives for this relaunch. We make it to the end of the first arc, which is slightly anticlimactic in terms of linear narrative, before future Tony drops the whole Ultron Holocaust thing on his present-tense version and we realize that this whole mess has just been the warm-up act. I mean, hell, how much better than BREAKOUT was this arc? And I thought that was a pretty solid beginning. Not crazy about Red Hulk showing up, but I’m sure it’ll be better than I expect. Bendis continues to nail the oral history, taking us through the beginning of Hank and Wanda’s rough patch (i.e. the entire back three-quarters of their relationship, youch).

UNCANNY X-MEN #529—Portacio really pulls it together in this one! We get the spinoff trapdoor for the Generation Hope kids (and what self-respecting PHONOGRAM acolyte can’t jump right on over?), a Fantomex jailbreak, intrigue between Emma, Kitty, and Danger and then, out of nowhere, the best final page on this title in 21 years*. Just a fierce piece of writing, completely nailed everything that I love about this book, or really, want to love, the platonic ideal of this book, the complex tapestry of relationships between the diverse ensemble, all the friendships and loves and enmities and grudging mutual respect that spring up in the unlikeliest of places. I mean, I didn’t care one little bit when Nightcrawler went down, seen too many go and come back to work up the energy to care, or or believe, but those words, man, just leveled me.

SECRET AVENGERS #6—Deodato cranks the art up even more. I’m torn about this one, think I could live with getting it in trade, thanks to the price point, but this certainly isn’t bad in any way and, and I don’t know how to stop buying it! I bet my wife could convince me, but I don’t want her help! Gah!

CAPTAIN AMERICA #611—We knew how this issue was going to end, but Brubaker still takes us on an entertaining journey that feels completely organic, not shaped by the title of the arc. Wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about Acuna on this, but he’s working for me. Refined his style a bit since being over on GREEN LANTERN a few years ago. The NOMAD back-up wasn’t such a stinker.

INCOGNITO: BAD INFLUENCES #1—And the Brubaker hat trick! We all need a bit more of him in our lives. This one comes out swinging. Phillips is just a master. Forgot he did that DARK TOWER arc, going to have to track down that trade. And the essay by Jess Nevins, it probably need not be said, is utterly riveting. This is why we buys the comics, people! That variant cover is stunning, too, wish that one could have been the one I got.

FANTASTIC FOUR #584—All right, now the whole Countdown to Casualty is really cranking every scene in this one way, way up. Because when Reed and Sue say goodbye, we know that there are even odds that they might not lay eyes on each other ever again (or until Hickman leaves or Reed fixes it or whatever, but let me play!). Same thing with Johnny & Ben’s Day Off. Man, that whole montage, yet again, Hickman just nails everything about this book. I can’t believe more people aren’t making a bigger deal about this run, am still working my way through Byrne’s run, but given that I know that he takes a powder mid-arc to go do MAN OF STEEL, and of course depending on what happens in the next few years, man, God bless Waid and ‘Ringo and Uncle Walt, but this one might be gunning for #2 run of all time on a title that’s been pretty consistently excellent throughout its run. Giving it a pass for the 90s, of course. Don’t wait for this in trade!

ACTION COMICS #894—Only DC I picked up this week, but man, it held the line for the company all by itself. Word is that Gaiman made substantial contributions to Death’s dialogue and, I’ve got to say, it reads about as close to the Lex Luthor version of SANDMAN #8 as it possibly could. This is a good thing. Cornell takes the encounter about exactly where you would expect it to go, but he’s got such a lock on both characters that it’s just a joy to be along for the ride, to the point that you’re not even upset when you get to the end and she’s just like, “Nope, I was just checking in on you.” I mean, if that’s a set-up for something crazier in the run, so much the better, but my read on it was that it was just an excuse to get these two together, and I can live with that. Best issue of this run, yet. It will be interesting to see where we go with Vandal Savage next month (give or take a thousand years).

BEST OF WEEK: You know, it’s a really close call. I almost want to give it to Death Doesn’t Take Luthor, but that one feels a bit flimsier on the reread. AVENGERS was excellent, but like I said, a bit anticlimactic in terms of the insane momentum that’s been building since #1. And then there’s that last Fraction page just suckerpunching me, man. No no, give it to Hickman. If only for Ben & Johnny’s early dinner with friends, that one messed me up, too, just the idea that The King would have it in him to break bread with The Man. Comics aren’t supposed to break your heart, King!

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*And the last one that did that, as if you didn’t know, was #251, which came out maybe right around this time back in 1989, I had been picking up the book monthly (or biweekly in the summer, even? Can you imagine them trying to do that now?) for a little bit longer than a year, while, of course, just devouring every issue before #236 that I could get my sweaty little hands on, but #251, that issue with Logan crucified up on the X and Jubilee finally taking him down just about blew my twelve-year old mind, one of the heaviest things I’d ever read, at least that year. Along with WATCHMEN and Miller’s BATMAN and DAREDEVIL and even, yeah, Jean Grey going down that first time. It was a pretty serious time to be catching up on things.

1 comment:

  1. "think I could live with getting it in trade, thanks to the price point, but this certainly isn’t bad in any way and, and I don’t know how to stop buying it! I bet my wife could convince me, but I don’t want her help! Gah!"
    That was the funniest thing you have ever written. I laughed out loud. Snorted, even!

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