Outsiders #28 - Lessons learned:
[ul][li]Dick Grayson needs a whole hell of a lot of therapy.[/li][li]Indigo’s speech recognition system wasn’t as good as it might have been.[/li][li]Grace is a jazz fan. Who knew?[/li][li]Jade needs to get over herself.[/li][li]Give a Metamorph some Durlan booze, and you get an amusing show.[/ul][/li]
I’m still angry about Indigo, but at least the mourning issue is well done.
Outsiders was an okay issue, but I’m seriously considering dropping it at this point. The double-whammy of Nightwing and Indigo leaving the team, couple with the resolution of the major crossover point leaves me with little reason to continue the title. The Durlan wine was pretty funny though.
Exiles came out this week, and they finally cross into the domain of the House of M - and the quicker they get out of it and leave Beak behind, the better. The Core Marvel U is just not all that interesting to me these days.
Seven Soldiers : Guardian - Sadly, this is the most interesting issue of the entire Guardian run; I really think the staggered release of all these tie-ins are really preventing me from enjoying the overarching story very much, but I enjoyed the insight into the Newsboy team.
Superman - Whichever title came out this week. It’s a Jimmy-centric issue, and heavily features Bizarro! Me am sad! The cover’s a bit misleading, Zoom doesn’t show up until the final page, but the chuckle I got out of his appearance in this context was worth it. The whole issue was pretty humorous.
Villains United - “Recent archaelogical evidence suggests he may have invented cannibalism.” Heheheh. It was said when the four major crossover events were announced, that one of them would lead directly into the Crisis - my money’s now heavily on this one. Pariah, and Lady Quark? One a central figure of the Crisis, the other an Artifact of Earth-6 (if memory serves). Given the recent stuff in JSA : Classified, Luthor’s Crisis comments in Superman/Batman #6, and the like - I think Luthor’s become aware of what happened in the Crisis and is trying to use that knowledge. And hey, the last time every villain in the DCU united under Luthor and Brainiac’s (behind the scenes in VU, no doubt - more visible in other titles) guidance…
Oh, I forgot that I also got the new Ex Machina TPB, Tag, as part of my colossal trade with my comic shop.
SS: Manhattan Guardian #4 – Oh wow. That page with the mug shot-like pics of the Newsboy Army was like a punch in the gut. Even in the few pages they had to work with, Morrison and Stewart gave us just enough information about the gang for it to really hurt when you learned of their tragedies. (Also, the panel in the last page or so where Jake picks up Ed and says he’ll be the Big Brother seems to me like a very clear homage to the old Golden Age Big Brother strip; I wonder how many other references like that are in this series that I’m completely missing.)
Y - The Last Man #37 – The shit could really hit the fan now. Also, I loved the message scrawled on the wall in the office – gave me the creeps (as it was meant to).
Fell #1 – This was pretty good. I’m not a huge fan of Templesmith’s art, but he conveys the mood really well. A very promising first issue.
Gotham Central #35 – Another good issue. This is the best this book has been, I think. Wonk, I think you’re wrong, because (spoilers) the Robin Stacy is meeting on the roof is the real Robin, and he’s in no danger.
–Cliffy
Picked up City of Heroes #4 and #5, as my subscription through the game seems to have stopped running. Can’t decide if I like the art or not. Got Blood of the Demon - the Day of Vengeance tie-in. Just the usual Byrne stuff running in circles, I think… and Cable & Deadpool #19, which was as neat as always.
Wildsiderz #1 - kinda fun. Not exactly deep, but if you’re reading for depth you’ve got the wrong book. I suspect Bam will piss me off very quickly.
Okay, can anybody explain exactly why Captain Marvel is called the Big Red Cheese? Big is obvious, red is obvious, but why cheese? Yes, of course I’ve seen cheeses coated in red wax, but cheese is just not high on the list of things I associate with the color red. And did the nickname originate in the comic itself?
Yep. Dr. Sivana used to call him that. “You big… red… CHEESE!”
I don’t know, either, but you used to get big wheels of cheddar in red wax, same color as the costume, and the lightning bolt.
“The Big Cheese” is a semi-derogatory term for “Boss”. And Captain Marvel is dressed in red. Thus, as he’s so the man, he’s the “Big Red Cheese”.
I think it was Mr Brain, not Dr Sivana.
i HTought it was cause he’s always smiling, you know “say cheese.” And the red thing is obvious to all but the color blind.
You may want to wait for the trade. This one’s a slow-as-hell (heh) intro issue and I get the feeling that next issue will be too, so I’m cutting my losses short at one.
Ennis seems that he’s been on a long, slow decline starting afte Welcome Back Frank although the first few issues of the Max series were promising.
Fell also had a good start, but this intro issue set up a Sherlock Holmes, ending where the conclusion doesn’t necessarily follow from what the audience has been presented. That said, I highly recommend it. It is dirt cheap after all.
Ennis has been on a long slow slide for awhile now. Even his best PUNISHER stuff is decidedly subpar caompared to even the worst excesses of PREACHER, HITMAN and even THE LIGHT BRIGADE. A few of his back issues are worth picking up, though.
I can’t believe a) I made this mistake, and b) I haven’t been called on it yet.
Mr Mind, not Mr Brain.
I was busy most of the weekend and didn’t check in. Sorry. 
It’s Mr. Mind, not Mr. Brain.
Happy now?
I knew it looked funny, but couldn’t remember what. I’m not on my Beck kick right now, so I wasn’t going to say anything. But I do remember a panel of Sivana… on one side, the right, Marvel on the left, and Sivana saying something about a big red cheese in a fit of fury. It’d be Whiz comics era.
The problem with being well read in Golden Age comics is generally, you get the chance to read them once. Specially if they aren’t yours.