Weekly Comic Book Discussion 1/4/2007

[CandidGamera]

The first installment of 2007. Civil War #6 finally hits - or flops, depending on your point of view. The discrepancies between the different versions of events between this and Amazing Spider-Man are becoming more troublesome. As is the implication at the end of the new issue of ASM.

That said, points to Cap for some cleverness. Points to Reed for thinking of family. We get a good glimpse of the 50-State Initiative, and we're all set for a major battle in #7. Whee.

Also out today was the latest installemtn of Civil War : Frontline, in which we get more vague handwringing about some secret motive behind the war on Stark's part, a little talk about the traitor responsible for the Green Goblin going off the leash, and in which Speedball is utterly ruined for all time.

[cmkeller]

Just 52 for me. An excellent story...Adam Strange and Natasha use their brains and Luthor gets dirtier. I'm a little disappointed, because I could swear one of the editors said Supernova's identity would be revealed in week 35. But I definitely feel things are moving along.

[Lightray]

Superman: Well, that storyline sucked. Fortunately it is over, and Krypto is next. yay!

the All-New Atom: Continues to be fun and a joy to read. More books should be like this. Particularly enjoyed the reappearance of the Haid. Although I thought the Linear Men were dead as of 52?

52: If Everyman wasn't posing as one of the other members of Infinity Inc., I'll eat my hat. Further testing, my hat, Lex.

[Kamino Neko]

52: If Everyman wasn't posing as one of the other members of Infinity Inc., I'll eat my hat.

Agreed. It's pretty obvious it's him.

newuniversal - Interesting. I wonder who the Cipher is, an old NewU character repurposed, or a new one. (I would hope the former, personally.)

[Revenant Threshold]

...and in which Speedball is utterly ruined for all time. I thought that was brilliant. When they ruin a character, they really fucking ruin them.

[Menocchio]

Damn was this a great week to be Superman. Half my titles were Superman (or Luthor)-centric, and they ranged from very good to amazing. I don't know if DC made a push because of the movie or if this is just one of those things, but the Man of Steel is just doing really well.

The All-New Atom #7: This is just amazing. They kept the Head around. A giant floating head, herald of a bizarre extra-temporal conquering race is now watching TV on our hero's couch. And yeah, I'd go out with Dr. Zuel again too. Also, when I say that artists have to know their anatomy, this isn't quite what I mean. Although it's accurate, far as I can remember. I assume Dr. Hyatt the elder was the inventor of the Time Pool?

All-Star Superman #6: Gets me right here, it does. I like the Kents alive as supporting characters, but I have to admit that keeping them alive (along with making Krypton into an awful place that the universe is better off without) does rob Superman of some important tragedy. Like the future Supermen. I really enjoyed DC 1 Million.

Jonah Hex #15: No surprises, but still enjoyable. Pretty much sums up this series.

52 Week Thirty-Five: Damn. Lex is a bastard . A stone cold son of a bitch. The image of heroes falling from th skies is so wonderfully poetic, too.

Superman Confidential #3: Darwyn Cooke snuck up on me. I hadn't heard of him before New Frontier, which was astounding, and now this. This is a wonderful portrayal of Superman and why it must sometimes suck to be him, without becoming overly angsty or dark. Plus, he designed the opening to Batman Beyond, which was the greatest thing ever.

Superman #658: I really liked this story. But then, I'm a sucker for post-apocolyptic stuff, Luthor being heroic by default, and impossibly moral dilemmas.

[Licentious Ectomorph]

Agreed. It's pretty obvious it's him.

I don't get what you guys are talking about. :confused:

[Menocchio]

I don't get what you guys are talking about. :confused:
Everyman is probably Jake. Or if he's not right now, will be at some critical junction.

[Menocchio]

I just saw some scans of the debut of Penance.

Now, there's a difference between a humor character and a joke character.
Speedball was (often) a humor character.

That right there... That's a joke.

Say what you will about DC, but at least they only raped and killed Sue Dibny. For a fictional character, this is much, much worse.

Fuck dude, this pisses me off and I've never read a Speedball comic in my life. It's just so risible.

[cckerberos]

The discrepancies between the different versions of events between this and Amazing Spider-Man are becoming more troublesome.Punisher War Journal doesn't mesh with Civil War #6 very well either.

[Lightray]

I don't get what you guys are talking about. :confused:
To elucidate a little more from Menocchio:

1. We know that Everyman (the Infinity Inc. shapeshifter) is in the habit of passing himself off as another of the teammates, to his teammates.

2. We know that Everyman is a bit of a bastard and a freak.

3. Lex gave some lame reasoning that Everyman was undergoing "further testing" for the genetic flaw that Lex says caused all the others to reject their superpowers.

4. We know that Lex is a total bastard, and that the genetic flaw is a cover story, so there's absolutely no reason that Everyman would have to be off for testing.

Ergo, Lex is providing a coverstory for Everyman's absence while Lex addresses the rest of Infinity Inc., when Everyman is probably already there posing as one of the other teammates. Menocchio spoiled the likely suspect.

[Licentious Ectomorph]

To elucidate a little more from Menocchio:

1. We know that Everyman (the Infinity Inc. shapeshifter) is in the habit of passing himself off as another of the teammates, to his teammates.

2. We know that Everyman is a bit of a bastard and a freak.

3. Lex gave some lame reasoning that Everyman was undergoing "further testing" for the genetic flaw that Lex says caused all the others to reject their superpowers.

4. We know that Lex is a total bastard, and that the genetic flaw is a cover story, so there's absolutely no reason that Everyman would have to be off for testing.

Ergo, Lex is providing a coverstory for Everyman's absence while Lex addresses the rest of Infinity Inc., when Everyman is probably already there posing as one of the other teammates. Menocchio spoiled the likely suspect.

Okay, I'm with you now. Thanks. :)

I wonder if
Everyman really does love Nat.

And you guys have me dying of curiosity now. I don't read Marvel and I only know Speedball from pictures, but what the heck did they do to him?

[cbawlmer]

And you guys have me dying of curiosity now. I don't read Marvel and I only know Speedball from pictures, but what the heck did they do to him?

I'll second that request. I read a few Marvel titles, but haven't followed Civil War. And what were the discrepancies between #6 and the tie-ins?

[CandidGamera]

The timeline of events regarding Spider-Man's joining with anti-reg forces, as presented in Civil War, do not jibe with the timeline as presented in Amazing Spider-Man. In Civil War, he quits the pro-reg side, gets thrashed pretty badly, gets taken by the Punisher to the anti-regs and patched up, and is still thought to be recovering from injuries when they anti-regs plan their big assault. No indication of any major time-jumps is given at any time.

In ASM, he doesn't seem as badly hurt, moves MJ and May to a hotel, and is brought to the anti-regs after a signal from the Human Torch leads him to a meeting with Captain America. He seems entirely recovered.

As for Speedball :

Robbie took a big left turn in Frontline #9, seeming to enjoy pain and announcing his intent to sign up with the Registration Act. #10 expands on this - he burns his old Speedball togs, reveals that the bullet lodged in his body gives himj constant pain and may one day kill him, and we learn his powers have changed - now he can channel pain he receives into bioelectric blasts. Wildstorm's Sleeper did it better.

He commissions the super-tailor to build him a suit with spikes on the inside - one for each victim of Stamford - and straps it on, so he'll be in constant pain, and melodramatically re-dubs himself 'Penance'.

I'm sure once he figures out he stole the name from a Generation X-er, he'll try to make up for it by adding a thumbtack over his nipple or some such.

What else this week? Exiles was as good as usual. The JLA Classified Arc comes to an end, mercifully - so close to dropping that book. Nightwing - a weak outing, but it brings us closure and moves us on to the next arc. Powers was as solid as ever.

[cbawlmer]

Wow, that whole Speedball thing sounds EXTRA lame. Like a mid-'90s Image book you'd find in the quarter bin.

[Askia]

Wow, that whole Speedball thing sounds EXTRA lame. Like a mid-'90s Image book you'd find in the quarter bin. Most of the extra lame mid-90s Image books I find turn up in the NICKEL bins of my comics shop. Great toliet paper.

[Love Rhombus]

Wait, the two guys who found Speedball after he was thrown from Stamford died? How did that happen?

I liked JSA Classified, hated the JLA one, still don't care about the new JSA, and wish poor Wonder Man had a better series. He deserves it, IMHO.

[B. Serum]

The timeline of events regarding Spider-Man's joining with anti-reg forces, as presented in Civil War, do not jibe with the timeline as presented in Amazing Spider-Man. In Civil War, he quits the pro-reg side, gets thrashed pretty badly, gets taken by the Punisher to the anti-regs and patched up, and is still thought to be recovering from injuries when they anti-regs plan their big assault. No indication of any major time-jumps is given at any time.

In ASM, he doesn't seem as badly hurt, moves MJ and May to a hotel, and is brought to the anti-regs after a signal from the Human Torch leads him to a meeting with Captain America. He seems entirely recovered.

Spidey get's taken by the Punisher to the anti-regs and patched up.
Spidey moves MJ and May to a hotel and gets his old costume back.
Cap's Secret Avengers call him back in where he will "safer" and can participate on planning the final attack.

I don't see the problem?

[Harborwolf]

Civil War Frontline: It's such a fine line between dark and gritty and creepy and pervy. Next thing you know, the punisher will dress in a gimp suit and punish evil with a firm but gentle bottom paddling.

Civil War #6: Crap. Pure crap.

[CandidGamera]

Spidey get's taken by the Punisher to the anti-regs and patched up.
Spidey moves MJ and May to a hotel and gets his old costume back.
Cap's Secret Avengers call him back in where he will "safer" and can participate on planning the final attack.

I don't see the problem?


There's no indication of such a time lapse in Civil War at all. Peter is implied to still be injured. The depiction of his first trip to the anti-regs is substantially different as well, beginning with the way the fight with Iron Man is portrayed.

Marvel's right hand doesn't know what its left hand is doing.

[CandidGamera]

The rest :

Manhunter #27 - I desperately hope it's him.

Superman - Was that the last issue of the arc? Isn't there supposed to be a resolution?

All-Star Superman - Heh. Such a great book.

Atom - Gotta love the Haid.

52 - I wish I could time travel to see the next few weeks' worth of this book.

Speaking of time travel, it's supposed to be more difficult in the DCU OYL, according to various comments - but both Atom and Flash are currently featuring Time Travel.

[B. Serum]

There's no indication of such a time lapse in Civil War at all. Peter is implied to still be injured. The depiction of his first trip to the anti-regs is substantially different as well, beginning with the way the fight with Iron Man is portrayed.

Marvel's right hand doesn't know what its left hand is doing.

Hmm. I'll agree that there are bits in the massive cross-title crossovers where it's not clear what's happening when between the main and the tie-in titles, but I've been watching the Spidey arc pretty closely and this particular thread holds together the strongest. I've got CW 5-6, ASM 535-7, and PWJ 1 right here...

ASM 535; p. 21
After confirming Parker's about-face, Iron Man tackles Spidey, sending him through a wall. (to be continued)

CW 5; p. 4-7
After just getting blown through wall, Iron Man & Spidey face off, culminating in Cape Killers shooting through the glass; permitting Spidey's escape, plummeting to the street below.

ASM 536; p. 2-6
Spidey crash-lands on the street below; pursued by Iron Man. They face off. Spidey escapes into the sewers.

CW 5; p. 8-10
Spidey's running through sewers with the new Thunderbolts in pursuit.

CW 5; p, 10-11 & PWJ 1; p. 26-28
After being bombed by the Jester & Jack O'Lantern; Spidey is rescued by the Punisher. Spidey, still bombed out of his gourd, sees a weird demonic skull creature.

PWJ 1; p. 29
Punisher carries Spidey off towards the Secret Avengers lair.

CW 5; p 15 & PWJ p. 32
Punisher delivers Spidey to Secret Avengers lair.

ASM 536; p. 7- 22
[Caption: Sometime later] A non-costumed Parker catches up with MJ & May at the school. They hole up in a seedy motel. Pete gets back in the old red & blues, crashes a newscast and makes his speech.

ASM 537; p. 1-21
Spidey's back at the hotel and sees the Torch's message to "call me." Spidey and Cap rendezvous and Spidey follows Cap back to their headquarters.

CW 6; p. 8
Spidey's back at the Secret Avengers HQ.

----

I've been pretty impressed that the different title's "cameras" have been able to include the relevant bits of the same events across the titles so consistently. And I'm not sure what kind of time-lapse indicator you're wanting here.

On the other hand, if you simply don't like the Civil War event for whatever reason, then that's totally your prerogative. I'm just trying to defend my own previous post about how the order of events make sense to me.

[CandidGamera]

I've been pretty impressed that the different title's "cameras" have been able to include the relevant bits of the same events across the titles so consistently. And I'm not sure what kind of time-lapse indicator you're wanting here.

On the other hand, if you simply don't like the Civil War event for whatever reason, then that's totally your prerogative. I'm just trying to defend my own previous post about how the order of events make sense to me.

No explanation for Parker's highly variable health? Or the editorial caption in Spidey 536 that indicates (part of) it takes place after Civil War #6? Or the fact that 535 and Civil War #5 have Spidey and Iron Man's fight beginning under different circumstances? (The Civil War #5 stuff - presuming that conversation happens AFTER Iron Man shoves him through a wall? No.)