Weekly Comic Book Discussion 9/2/2004

[CandidGamera]

It's that time again.

To kick things off:

Invincible #15 - A classic plot gleaned from the early days of literature? Check. Absolutely inspired weaving of said plot into Invincible's life? Check.

Astonishing X-Men #3, #4 - After I heard about #4's little spoiler, I had to pick these up. They're good - but I just don't know if I want to read a single X-Title since I'm ignoring all the others. Then again, the preview for the next two Uncannys said 'Murderworld' whichs mean I may have to buy them..

Majestic #2 - Majestic, in addition to being less compassionate than Superman, apparently lacks the other's skills in maintaining a secret identity.

[cbawlmer]

CandidGamera: I just read Astonishing X-Men (ok, and Wolverine, but that barely counts) and I don't feel like I'm missing anything by not reading other X-titles. I'm there for the Whedon-ness.

Ultimate Spider-Man #65 (I think that's the number. Whatever came out yesterday.): The breakfast club! Can't help wondering if Gwen's mother is going to show up at some point. They keep bringing her up. Peter's losing it, but understandably so. It's not good for anyone, especially a teenager, to constantly be exposed to the worst of humanity. If he's not careful, he's going to get weird like Batman. Character moments for Flash and Kong too.

Detective #whatever (Wargames Act II, Part 1): Ramping up for the 2nd part of this story. I think we get 3 parts of it next week. I wonder what Tim will do when he finds out about Stephanie's role in all this.

SPOILER:

Good to see him make his choice and get back in costume. I agree with Alfred. He'll never have a normal life, but he's probably doing the right thing.

Avengers #501: Yes, an extraordinarily bad day for the team. Neat final splash page though. Anyone else heard who's supposed to join the team soon? Some odd choices. Any thoughts on that? Not sure what to think. I'm new to reading the book but I'm familiar enough with it, I guess.

I also read the first issue of the Bullseye origin miniseries. Can't remember the title, and it's at home. It was okay. They admitted in the book that the story wasn't very original, but I suppose there are some tried-and-true methods to ensure a kid grows up psycho.

I think that was all I had this week. I'm reading a bunch of old backissues recently, getting caught up on characters and storylines from before my comic-reading days. Why was John Ostrander's Spectre series never collected in trades? I just finished reading that in single issue form and I liked it a lot. I'm plowing through '90s Green Lantern now, working my way up through the fall of Hal Jordan. I know about it, but I never actually read it.

[Munch]

JLA: Elite: I'd spoil it for everyone, but I honestly can't remember what happened to whom by who. It was good, but christ am I lost.

CG, count me in as an Ast. X-Men-only reader. I think getting resucked back into Clairmont's wide world of suck would be a terrible idea, then you'd get sucked into buying the solo books as well (Rogue, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Cable, etc.). No thanks. Astonishing is supposed to be fairly stand alone, and I like that.

I also picked up WE3 upon someone's suggestion last week. Great book!

Also picked up Ult. X-Men #41, upon my own suggestion. No one in town had it in stock, and one of the stores had a copy in a branch far outside of town that they shipped for free. I'd have paid double.

[cbawlmer]

Originally Posted by Munch

I also picked up WE3 upon someone's suggestion last week. Great book!

Me! That was me! Wasn't it swell? Help me peer pressure everyone else into getting it. ;j

[Chairman Pow]

Originally Posted by cbawlmer

They admitted in the book that the story wasn't very original, but I suppose there are some tried-and-true methods to ensure a kid grows up psycho.

Oh man, why bother to print it then?

[cbawlmer]

Originally Posted by Chairman Pow

Oh man, why bother to print it then?

I assume they're building toward something. It has Steve Dillon artwork, which I enjoy. It was a character in the story pointing out the lack of originality, not an author's note or anything. But the "abusive parent creates psycho son" story isn't exactly groundbreaking.

[CandidGamera]

Starjammers #4 - Still no Hepzibah. Sigh.

Justice League Elite #3 - Hm. Ehhh.. If they'd switch artists...

Firestorm #5 - I thought we were going to see Killer Frost.. darn.

Swamp Thing #7 - I'm gonna give it a couple of months to catch my interest.. this issue was not very appealing.

Avengers #501 - Whee! Now the Vision thing from last ish makes a bit of sense.

Fantastic Four #517 - Tie-in to Avengers Disassembled. Waid does good stuff. I liked the dialogue and character interactions here.

Birds of Prey #73 - Still no War Games tie-in, just wrapping up the stuff from last time. Insultingly, Huntress identifies every one of the brainwashed metahumans, except Airwave.

Exiles #52 - Sigh. I love this book. I'll be glad when they relaunch What If? though.

Alpha Flight #7 - Yay, character development!

Weird Secret Origins #1 - Anthology of several oddball DC character origins. Not bad, if you're interested in the characters. All reprints.

[cbawlmer]

Originally Posted by CandidGamera

Weird Secret Origins #1 - Anthology of several oddball DC character origins. Not bad, if you're interested in the characters. All reprints.

Which characters? There are a bunch of wacky-ass origins to pick from. One of my favorites is the Golden Age Black Condor.

[cmkeller]

Re: Avengers disassembled. Does anyone know if those Ultron robots that appeared in issue # 500 (do they re-appear in 501?) are the real thing, as opposed to some imitation or illusion meant to trick the Avengers?

I ask because Ultron is my favorite villain, and I have (I'm pretty sure) all of his appearances. I'll buy this if he's really in it, but when I skimmed # 500, it didn't really appear so.

[cbawlmer]

I think it's the real Ultron, programmed to attack at the worst possible moment, when the Avengers are at their most vulnerable.

[cmkeller]

See, that's what gets me suspicious. The real Ultron isn't a tool to be programmed, the real Ultron is self-willed.

[The Asbestos Mango]

Originally Posted by cbawlmer

Detective #whatever (Wargames Act II, Part 1): Ramping up for the 2nd part of this story. I think we get 3 parts of it next week. I wonder what Tim will do when he finds out about Stephanie's role in all this.

It'll probably be over for those two, for good. He's still smarting over Batman hiring his gf to be Robin in the first place. When he finds out she pulled this kind of major shit, he'll probably never speak to her again. The real question is, what is Batman going to do when he finds out about Stephanie's role in all this?

SPOILER:

Good to see him make his choice and get back in costume. I agree with Alfred. He'll never have a normal life, but he's probably doing the right thing.

To this, I would like to add

SPOILER:

Woohoo!!! Tim's back!

[ussentinel]

Originally Posted by cbawlmer

Which characters? There are a bunch of wacky-ass origins to pick from. One of my favorites is the Golden Age Black Condor.

Here's the line-up from the issue

Dr. Fate (from More-Fun Comics #55)

Enchantress (from Strange Adventures #187)

Animal Man (from Strange Adventures #180)

Congorilla (from Action Comics #247)

El Diablo (from All-Star Western #3)

The Specture (from More-Fun Comics #52-53)

There's also a two-page spread on Metamorpho from World's Finest #226 & a four-page look at the Bizarro world from World's Finest #181.

[E-Sabbath]

Astonishing #4: Who's the little asian girl with the psychic armor? She looks strangely familiar. We seen her before anywhere?


Legion #38: Goodbye, friends, for a while. Too bad the last storyline was the only one in the longest time that didn't suck.

Astro City Special: Supersonic: Hm. Well. That was a story. A good one.

[Dante]

Originally Posted by cmkeller

See, that's what gets me suspicious. The real Ultron isn't a tool to be programmed, the real Ultron is self-willed.

Is it just me, or were the Ultrons defeated just a bit too easily? Just because in the past, it took basically all the Avengers to defeat him, and now it seemed like they each took one out alone. I haven't read the Avengers in a long time, but really liked 500 & 501. Oooh, my achin' pocketbook....

Also, excellent issue of Ultimate Spider-Man! Especially the speech to Kong. Maybe a little to adult, but he's being forced to grow up extremely quickly, and it's showing. And MJ needs to learn to keep her yammer shut!

[slight hijack]
Have we ever found out the details of Liz's uncle who was "supposubly" killed by a mutant?
[/slight hijack]

[CandidGamera]

C'mon, folks. Help me out over here: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/...d.php?t=274465

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