Here it is. Mystery in Space wrapped, in a decent enough fashion; Tales of the Unexpected gave us an awesome Dr. 13 conclusion, and a mediocre Spectre finale.
My only Marvel title of the week was NEw Avengers, and I think it’s going to be my last issue of the title. The New Ronin revealed - and my reaction was: Meh.
Countdown #51: Shows a great deal of promise. What’s interesting here is that Jason is shown as an anti-hero, whereas before he’s been more of a mad-dog killer, more interested in hurting the Bat-Family than doing any sort of good. I guess now that Huntress has been reformed by the bounds of siterhood in BoP, the spot she used to occupy is now open was open. And has Duela always been from another Earth? I thought she was just confused. It was dropped awfully casxually for what was a decent-sized revelation.
Green Lantern Corps #12: So, nobody sees anything wrong with how Kilowog is acting? Really? The mystery is fun, but there’s a bit much manufactured drama.
Mystery in Space #8: Kinda fizzled at the end. Just a bit.
Tales of the Unexpected #8: Hmm… I really need to think about the meta-message here. I think it’s “don’t give in, fanboys, eventually someone will come along and undo everything you don’t like”, but that sounds awfully subversive for this title. Best last page ever. Yes, I’m ignoring the main event. It was okay. Dr. 13 has long been the real attraction here.
Y The Last Man #56: I don’t see how 355 thinks she can leave Yorick alone. Even if he has matured, the dude is still the last adult male on the planet, a major strategic resource, and needs a bodyguard. Ok, if 355 thinks it’s time she moves on, that’s one thing, but at least get him to his next detail!
[spoiler]That’s a new bit of information. What’s shocking, though, is that, if the Monitor who killed her is to be believed (and we know Duela isn’t), it’s true. Which suggests either the Monitors’ information is faulty, to keep Duela’s theme going, or Duela actually managed to figure out her real origin.
This does put an interesting spin on the Jimmy Olsen Must Die promotional tags, though. (Who knows if Jimmy does tie into that, but, it’d be interesting if he’d pulled a Jason at some point. Maybe around the same time Superman died?)[/spoiler]
Gen[sup]13[/sup] - Heh…multiple unexpected crossovers. Roxy, although one of the few characters I could stand in the previous continuity, is really getting on my nerves here. The sense of entitlement she has is mindboggling.
Some bits that amused me: Jenny calling Apollo ‘Happy Dad’. ‘I brought a nice ride, too.’ And Swift’s reaction to Grunge. Those last two were pretty good cases of Gail anticipating my reaction. ‘Gee, does he mean Apollo or the Carrier? … Heh.’ ‘Hey, didn’t Swift screw Grunge at one point in the prior continuity? … Hah!’
Green Arrow - Moderately interesting story, on the whole. I was iffy on the Green Arrow/Black Canary romance returning, but, unlike the Nightwing/Oracle crap, they actually pulled it off, for me. ‘Hal has a big damn mouth!’ Heh. They’re still teasing me with Mia/Connor hints that never come through, though. Bastards.
Please spoil me. I don’t read the title, but I DO have a bet with a co-worker over who
the new Ronin is.
The Dredknoks limited series wrapped up, giving us Zartan’s Secret Origin.
With a twist.
He isn’t really Zartan. Never was. He killed the original Zartan, & took his place. Even he doesn’t remember what his real name is. Rather schitzoid, our Master of Disguise is.
Outsiders #47 - I’d forgotten I’d decided not to buy this anymore. Until after I’d bought and read it. Now I remember I’m not buying this anymore. Memo to self: don’t buy this anymore. Dreadfully unfun and Nightwing has become the new Bathole.
GL Corps #12 - I’m hoping one of these days Salaak stops being such a martinet. And I’m already liking Gnat Lantern.
Countdown #51 - Man, that Source Wall Hand* will just write for anybody, nowadays, won’t it?
Happily, sir.
Clint Barton, apparently.
My comic book story of the week.
I decided to take a drive on my day off. One thing I was going to do was check out some stores I knew about but hadn’t visited. But first, a little background.
Last year, I picked up the second issue of the comic book OCT. I liked it but the shop didn’t have the first issue. So I started keeping an eye out for it. And nobody had it. 90% of the shops I went to had never carried it (many had never heard of it) and of those that had, they all said that it had been a cult hit and they had quickly sold out of back issues. And, of course, the first issue was the rarest and hardest to get. But I’ve kept looking.
So when I went out this week, there were a couple of comic book stores I planned on stopping at. I found the first one with little difficulty. But they were the kind of store whose motto was “we carry every publisher - Marvel and DC”. No independant titles like OCT there.
I drove around and did some other shopping. Around quarter to six I was driving through the other town I had heard had a comic book store. A few months back, I had been in this town and looked for the store but hadn’t been able to find it. So this time, I had written down the street number to be sure.
With this, I was able to find the side street I was looking for. I turned down it and saw a strip mall. I figured it was the right place so I turned in. But I couldn’t see any comic book store in the strip mall. I got to the end of the strip and I swung around to drive out when I saw a seperate little building out in the back of the strip with the loading docks. Sure enough, this was the store I was looking for.
It was a very small building. I could see the sign saying they were closing at six (ten minutes away) but I figured I’d have no problem checking it out in that amount of time. I stepped in and this place was literally the size of my bedroom. Outside of flea market booths, it has to be the smallest comic book shop I’ve ever been in.
At this point, I should mention that it was not just a comic book store. Its business was comic books and sports collectibles. And when I stepped inside, I could see the main business was sports. The entire comic book display was two four-foot-long shelves next to the door. It didn’t take up too much of my ten minutes for me to check everything they had.
The owner (I assume this place didn’t have any employees) asked me if there was anything I was looking for. Out of force of habit, I asked if he had any issues of OCT. If you had asked me at that moment, I would have readily bet you a thousand dollars on the answer being no and given you good odds.
But his answer was “all I’ve got is the first issue.” And sure enough, he reached into a box and pulled it out. And he was selling it for cover price. I was so stunned, I figured maybe I had stepped into some kind of Stephen-King-Needful-Things comic book shop, so I asked about a couple of other things I had been looking for. Which broke the spell because he didn’t have any of them.
So I bought my comic book and drove away. The whole thing was so improbable that I literally pulled the comic book out of the bag at a stoplight just so I could verify that I hadn’t imagined it all.
Hulk and Power Pack - Please, Mommy, make the bad art go away! But, Sumerak’s still doing good, good work, at least. Although I find it rather amusing that the NYPD aren’t used to disappearing robots to the point that they at least entertain the idea that Alex is telling the truth.
Marvel Zombies - Dead Days - I still have the issue whose cover is being spoofed around here, somewhere - I made sure to get the wraparound, because there was no way I was buying all 4 individual covers! Reed…well, Reed is kind of crazy. One thing that bugged me, that I’m kind of ticked wasn’t addressed… In the first series, it was established that destroying the brain doesn’t kill the zombies - Col. America spent most of the series with his sloshing out. But here, Magneto wipes Alpha Flight, apparently permanently, as Reed was working with Guardian’s body, by throwing things through their heads. I can see Shulkie being rendered inert, or at least mostly harmless, by Sue giving her a bad case of head asplodey, but… Other than that, pretty fun. I especially liked Nova’s little freak-out on the Helicarrier.
Hack/Slash - the Series - Neat issue. Some more details on Cassie and Vlad’s histories, a really creepy Slasher (Evil skinless psychologist! Evil skinless psychologist!), and some pleasant gore. Cassie breaking down and Vlad comforting her was incredibly sweet - and kudos to Cass for keeping it together that long. The reveal on Cass’s dad is interesting…I wonder where it will go.
Outsiders - Wait…is Sasha’s identity supposed to be, you know, a secret? Dick certainly seems to think so, but I was under the impression that the Royals’ identities were public knowledge, or at least not actively secret.
This week I picked up my metal GL ring. I’ve been wanting one for years.
Sigh. I hate crossovers. Outsiders apparently sold out, but I’m a Checkmate fan. This means I have to track down a book i have little interest in to see what’s happening in one of my favorite books.
I can’t see how Sasha’s identity could possibly be secret. She doesn’t have an alterego and she answers directly to the UN Security Council, so she’s not secret to any government. Checkmate’s biggest power is its ability to deputize any metahuman it wants, so she’s not secretive among heroes. She certainly made no moves to hide herself from Sgt. Steel and the Shadowpact in the storyline they appeared in. I suppose the general public may not know who the Black Queen is, but I kinda doubt she cares. Half her body is still covered in OMAC metal. It’s not like she blends in anywhere.
The Uni-Friend.
Am I the only person who thinks that the art on ***New Avengers ** * is hideous? All I keep seeing is “Leniel Yu’s art is incredible” reviews…although, if you’re comparing it contextually to the merits of the story, I guess it’s probably fricken’ Michelangelo.
Yeah, last issue.
I hate it too.
Tengu, regarding the Zombies :
Colonel America only lost a small part of the upper portion of his brain, and was ultimately “killed” when the Red Skull pulled out the rest… The brain definitely seems to be the zombies’ vital organ.
Among items not covered:
World War Hulk kicked off. I didn’t follow Hulk in Space, but I’ll see how this one flows.
Wonder Man concluded. Useless series, horrible art.
Nova seems to be hewing very close to Kyle Rainer-GL. We need new ideas, people.
Still have more to read.
You think so? Gee… a galactic-scale champion with vast power, communicating primarily with his disembodied mentor that provides translation services and tactical advice… <Spade>I really liked the series the first time, when it was called Quasar.</Spade>
:smack: And I read Quasar, rather than skimming storylines like I did with GL. My long-term memory ain’t what it used to be. Hopefully, this being the second issue, they move it into a different direction. I’m curious where the second Annihilation saga will go, so I’ll probably stick through that.
I don’t remember that part - which issue did it happen in?
The last issue of the original miniseries, as I recall. I’ll have to do some digging to find it to verify, I imagine.
digs out issue Aah, there it is. Objection withdrawn, then. Mostly.