Yeah, the Flash #1/2 thing really sucks. No idea who thought that was even a remotely good idea. I’ll just read a summary of the thing once someone on the DC boards gets it.
Yeah, that was my though as well – “They must be raking in the dough, why else are they milking that franchise like mad?”
I think it had its ups and downs – the Micromasters limited series was a mishmashed mess, and the first Transformers and G.I. Joe limited series was incomprensible, but I enjoyed watching the G1 ongoing series get into its groove, and Simon Furman was doing some neat stuff with Armada/Energon for a while.
The thing that bugs me the most about this shutdown is that Dreamwave was clearly trying to tie their G1-related titles (G1 ongoing, the various War Within minis, etc.) into one all-encompassing ubercontinuity, and now there’s no chance of seeing that play out.
I don’t really have anything to add (I read this thread every week, but you guys say it all so clearly I find myself at a loss) and I’ve yet to collect this week’s load yet.
But…
I discovered a tiny little shop over in Katong that has stacks and stacks of old comics! (cue fanboys, ‘ooooohhhh’).
Apparently they’ve been ordering since the mid-60’s and only recently stopped, so there’s a ton of stuff. Unfortunately nothing is mint or even near mint, the best stuff is maybe ‘fine’ (whatever that means), this being a side-effect of tropical life, and the sad state of the shops sorting system (which is akin to ‘shove it on that shelf over there’).
So the long and short of it is; I’ve been reading old Micronauts issues all week. Damn these stories are a lot of fun! Especially gripping is Commander Rann losing his hand in issue #1 of …New Voyages. >ouch!<
Now, back to your regularly scheduled comics. More oldies soon…
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I suggest waiting for the inevitible TPB
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I’m really enjoying New Avengers. I certainly don’t expect this line up to stay for more than 6 issues. Cap has flip flopped on Spider-Man a number of times. He admires Spidey and recognizes the fact he’s a loner. But if he thinks there’s something useable, he can draw it out. Sentry is a great character and one of my favorite TPBs, and although I’m unsure why he’s in jail or why anyone even knows his name, I’m anxious to find out. And I don’t see this becoming a big Purple Man story anymore than it’s a Jigsaw or Mr Hyde story. Just seems to me like villains are finding their nemeses and picking on them. (I’m still not sure why you’d incarcerate supervillains in their friggin costumes. And why Hydroman can’t just be kept in a Mason jar.)
Anyway my books for the week:
New Avengers : I’ll be the minority and really really enjoy it.
Spectacular Spider-Man: I don’t normally collect SSM since I’ve hated Jenkins run on it (Spider-Man does NOT share a chuckle with the man who killed his true love, idiot) but I wanted to see the continuation of the Stacy twins story. So far, bleh. I really hate it when Spider-Man leaves the country. Feels so unnatural. (except when Ult SM winds up in Brazil. That was ok 
)
Ultimate X-Men: I’m liking this arc much better than the last already. They kept the Mojo look without making him alien/interdimensional. And I like the little tributes to Art Adams. I hope we get to see more of Kitty’s infatuation with Spider-Man in the future. That’d make a fun little love triangle: Kitty, Pete, MJ.
Oh and I just read in Wizard that Mark Waid will be writing some for the City of Heroes comic book and will now be published by Dark Horse instead of Blue King. (I KNEW that online comic had a Dark Horse logo.) Hopefully that means some quality stories coming up.
Don’t feel too bad, Fenris. I didn’t see the fine print re: the cost of Flash #1/2 (when I kvetched about it on another board) until afterward. They saw me coming though as I have little willpower, and they got my four bucks.
Another series of “thetruth” ads came out. This time, they depict a young man’s mouth stitched. It’s a bit less garish than the freckled girl with her eyes stitched, but still I was repulsed and won’t be paying their website a visit.
New Avengers #2 : Spidey is unmasked and gets his left arm broken. I wonder if the former will have any reprecussions (somehow I doubt it) and how long it will take in comic book time for his arm to heal regarding the latter. Question: How did Matt Murdock know that Spider-Man was unmasked? Radar-hear a mention of it? I tthought this issue moved a bit slower than the first one, but it held my interest enough to stick around.
I do commend the editors on the letters page. Seven letters printed; two regarding characters/continuity, two positive and three strongly negative.
Flash #217 : It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Wally gets his lover back. The rogues hold a funeral.
As Candid did, I was trying to see who all was there at the funeral too; and spotted (a?) Flash in the back. I don’t know who he was supposed to be either and wondered if there was a coloring problem with the characters that were in the background. The best part of the issue for me was the Flash/Batman chat, er, confrontation. And the last page? WTF?!?!
Detective Comics #802 : Part 2 of the “City of Crime” storyline, and there was a blurb that this is “A Pre-Wargames Batman tale.” I missed that before.
Writing a good Batman story isn’t as easy as one might think, IMO. It seems hard to break the formula of origin rehash/recalled, long, monotonous introspection via thought boxes, etc. I think writer David Lapham *tries * to tell a story by not showing something that doesn’t seem repetitive, in hopes of making it interesting. But by doing something different, characterization got sacrificed.
Case in point: Robin comments about a fire victim as " … a total knockout. Too bad she was passed out the whole time." Batman snaps him back to reality reminding him people died in the fire. I thought that seemed totally out of character for Tim Drake, he’s always been a mature and professional. I was very appalled at the comment.
Briefly …
Breach #1 – Don’t know what to make of it yet. Flashback scenes. Another person gets powers from some government experiment gone awry. I need to reread it, but don’t know if I’ll say with it.
Spider-Man Unlimited #7 – It really doesn’t have the feel of “filler” stuff, to me. Two stories here; both from the POV of those who encounter Spider-Man. The latter one is about a man who has to spend a hour upside-down while caught in his web.
Yet to read: Incredible Hulk #77, Fantastic Four: Foes #1, Spectacular Spider-Man #23, Spider-Girl #82, Firestorm #9, Superman: Strength #1, Captain America #2, Jubilee #5, X4 #2, Phoenix: Endsong #2, Flaming Carrot #1, Justice League Elite #7, Question #3, Ultimate X-Men #54, Intimates #3, Wild Girl #3, and something called misplaced@17.
Speculation? Pete’s voice sounds slightly different when unmasked.
Yeah, I took another look at that Flash panel. Definitely a Flash there. That’s… Odd.
What is it? A misdrawn rogue? A miscolored memorial to Zoom I? A memorial to Barry (hey, don’t scoff, those guys are the types who respect the Flashes, at least the dead one)? Or was Wally actually there…
Hmmm… As for the last shocker, it looks like Trickster is trying to rip out rogue secrets from Digger’s dead brain. Maybe reanimate him (and wouldn’t it be ironic if the first IC death to be undone was the least objectionable one).
Didn’t think about it at the time, but that’s not a good way to convince the world that you AREN’T Daredevil.
“Hey Matt! Those were some nice moves out there! And how did you know Spider-Man lost his mask?”
“Yeeeeah…you see, about that…hey look over there! [runrunrunrunrunrun]”
And I wouldn’t worry too much about Pete fighting unmasked. It’s not like Peter Parker has that famous of a face that the villains would recognize him. Besides, according to Marvel Knights Spider-Man, having a beat-up bruised face is apparently a perfectly good disguise. :rolleyes:
And what’s the deal with Carnage? I’m a big Spider-Man fan since the early 80’s and even I can’t keep up with Carnage (despite my name.) He was encapsulated by Silver Surfer in a delicious inescapable silver coating about 10 years ago, as it was the only way to stop his rampage short of killing him. Next thing you know, he’s in prison where Venom broke in and ATE him. Then Cletus Cassidy shows up in an institution with mutated blood, not a symbiote. Now he’s got an alien again? All I can say is thank you, Sentry!
That’d be my completely uneducated guess. The JSA Flash was shown in the JSA IC crossover issue running back and forth to keep a constant eye on his wife, so my guess is that the “snapshot” of that frame is Wally. It’s hard to imagine that someone with the brain speed/capacity of a Flash wouldn’t already know where the Rogue Cemetary was (having probably run through it 8 bazillion times in the past).
Or am I assuming something I shouldn’t?
I think you are. The Flash’s (any Flash) ability to be practically everywhere virtually simultaneously is one they he doesn’t seem to use much unless a specific plot (like IC) demands it. After all, if he did operate at maximum potential like that, all the Rogues would be off the streets a millisecond after he learned they had broken out again. Wally doesn’t even know they have a cemetary (a few issues ago he was wondering why the Rogues stole the Top’s original body, and what they did with it, the panel showed them burying it in what I assume was the original Avernus). And remember, this cemetary doesn’t even exist in our dimension!
So, until I see otherwise, I’m assuming this is some kind of funky art error.
Quibble–they don’t respect Flashes as such–they’ve got no special love for Jay, for instance and they’ve commented repeatedly that they don’t like Wally at all: the only Flash they respected was Barry, so I’m guessing it’s a Barry statue
Except the nature of his power is such that if he’s written right, the story must become a Purple Man story–he can’t help it and he’s that damned over-powered.
Unless one of 'em read WEBS. And at least a few of 'em certainly did (if only to look at their own pictures).
What’s the deal with Brubaker being so good? Two issues into the new CAPTAIN AMERICA series and I’ve probably been burned out on this character for good. I also tried SLEEPER and that was…average.