Casual Comic Talk

Raien · Casual Comic Talk

We need more conversation about comics, so this topic is just for that. Post what you want about the comics you've been reading.

So today, I picked up the first issue of Blackest Night. I haven't been following Green Lantern because it looks too context-heavy for my liking, but this event piqued my curiosity with its Evil Dead theme (i.e. dead characters possessed by evil), and it was surprisingly good. You'd think that with the ridiculous nature of the comic book death, that it would be impossible to give the theme a serious treatment in the DC universe. But Geoff Johns pulls it off to make a compelling story, as the theme of death both before and after the Black Lantern attack is given some serious depth and relatability. I recommend this one.

Deadpool was also released today, and as I finish this issue and the Secret Invasion TPB, I realise that I am absolutely in love with Daniel Way's version of the character. Better than Joe Kelly, if the recently reprinted Hulk story is anything to go by. Wisecracking is one thing but complete insanity is another, and I find a Deadpool who shoots himself in the head out of boredom or builds a chair out of C4 plastic explosives infinitely more entertaining.

The American Son arc of Spider-man also concluded, and I think this final issue is probably the best one yet (excluding the artwork). I love what Joe Kelly has done with Harry Osborn here; it's the sort of meaningful development of a character that I wish more comics would adopt on a weekly basis. I also look forward to seeing Harry's evil stepbrother, who I presume will appear before too long thanks to rapid aging jibberjabber.

Raien

Interesting to see how the Dark X-Men story is progressing in the main Marvel titles. I was expecting it to be rubbish and rely on X-Men continuity, but it's actually taken a back-to-basics approach that even I can get involved in. I also like that the story isn't revolving around action; instead there's a conspiracy afoot involving the kidnapping and torture of important mutants. Good stuff.

Still, one thing that seems rather weird is that Marvel are signalling the end of Dark Reign after the conclusion of the Dark X-Men. When Dark Reign began, I thought it was a good idea to explore some new territories (at least it was a workable enactment of the "evil wins" scenario). But to have most of the suggested ideas completely ignored in its short lifetime just makes me wonder what the point of it was in the first place. It feels like a waste of good potential.

One other series I've recently been enjoying is Agents of Atlas. You see, I really like the style of science fiction from the 40s and 50s, but I've never found a series that combines that style with the high quality and depth of modern storytelling. Agents of Atlas looks like it does just that. Every issue appears to feature an independent story, but it never feels like the stories are oversimplistic. Agents of Atlas does everything just right.

Batmanuel

I have been reading the Dark Avengers/dark x-men/Utopia titles, which although very formula have been fun, as has the dark Spider-man thingy, which has great art by the way.
Read the latest Gene Colan issue of Captain America which contains a story much like i have suggested in that Marvel doesn't need to bring Cap back debate insofar as its a "remembering back type story" but Cap and Vamps? has to be said the art was fucking fantastic.
But that's it for now, its late, and i have a pillow with my name on it Wink

Reaper

I think I'm a little behind on the Dark X-Men side of things. Will see if I can catch up this week.

I'm still enjoying the Thor series, especially with it's current main storyline. Though I'm sad to hear that J Michael Straczynski is leaving, I always enjoy his writing and feel that Thor won't be the same without him.

Longshot

Gotta say I'm not sure on the whole Dark X-men thing, its great that they're pulling in line with the rest of the MU but it felt forced, even though they had been planning it for a wile, have to read the next couple of issues to see what I really think.

Love deadpool, have for a couple of years now [Cable and Deadpool being the start] but not sure that the character needs 2 ongoing books and a mini series all at once, I guess we'll have to see.

I think I'm loving Superman at the moment, I say think because It's all good, but there are at least 4 stories going on at once and you never quite get enough of one at a time to keep it going. Hope the new Krypton things ends well though.

Raien

Deadpool has two on-going series? What's the series that Way isn't writing?

I just finished reading Amazing Spider-man #600, and it was... amazing. The main feature with Doc Ock was great fun, there was a good mix of humorous and emotional back-up features, and some hilarious joke covers (Spider-man and Batman being the best). I particularly like Stan Lee taking us through Spider-man's transformations over the years. Nice statement.

PS: I think the lead-up to Aunt May's wedding in this issue was handled incredibly well. It's done a much better job of emphasising the warm nature of family than a lot of stories where May's just been by herself. Now that she has more reason to be active in Peter's life, I look forward to seeing more of her in future issues.

The conclusion to Captain Britain this week was also probably the best issue of the series I've read so far. This, more than anything else, makes me sad to see the series go. In fact, come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen a writer build a story so well on an issue-by-issue basis as Cornell did with this Vampire State arc. This really did not deserve to be cancelled.

Reaper

With Amazing Spider-Man the only thing I look forward to is Aunt May being crushed by a falling grand piano

Raien

Okay, I just read the first issue of Hulk: Gray in Hulk #600 (I swear, Hulk: Gray was the only reason I bought the issue at all), and I have to ask one question.

Why, Mr. Loeb, did you butcher Stan Lee's original issue so horribly? Sure, you rewrote scenes in your other nostalgic series like Spider-man: Blue and Daredevil: Yellow, but you never changed the characters to something worse than the original stories. Why do so here?

In the original first issue, Gray Hulk has the intelligence to speak full sentences, but he's a jerk. In Hulk: Gray, Gray Hulk is now retarded. As countless reviewers have pointed out, no one likes retarded Hulk anymore, regardless of what colour he is. Without some degree of smarts, he quickly gets repetitive and dull, as do his stories. That's why the recent Hulk movie implied that the Hulk would get smarter in the next film. PLEASE GET THAT THROUGH YOUR HEAD, JEPH!

Longshot

Deadpool's other series is 'Merc with a mouth' which has been advertised as an ongoing, which it may not be in the end.

Cap Britain was amazing, shouldn't have been canceled, but maybe that was a good thing, as the story only climaxed in this was because the series ended.

X-Factor, I'm still loving it, but is anyone else still reading it, I kind of wonder if its been doing the same thing for a little too long now.

Just read the last issu of Final Crisis: Legion of three worlds, gotta say that it ended a lot better than it started, but sadly a long time after the rest of it ended.

Reaper

Is X-Factor still looking for Layla stuck in the future? I haven't kept up with it since Messiah Complex.

I'm still enjoying Punisher even without Ennis, Welcome to the Bayou has been fun so far. Speak of Ennis, I'm still thoroughly entertained by The Boys (maybe that says a lot about me). For me it is still a fairly novel concept and I really want to see watch Butcher does to the supes in #33

Raien

Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth #1 was one of the worst comic book issues I have ever read. The only consolation was the Joe Kelly back-up issue.

In other news, Marvel have just recently announced that the aftermath of Dark X-Men will be a new status-quo called Nation X, which will bring back Magneto but not as the primary figure he once was. It sounds like a good jumping-on point so I'll give it a shot when it arrives.

Hey Zeus

I'm really enjoying the boys at the moment as well, except I really wish Darick Robertson would come back as main artist, his style really complimented the story.

Herogasm is a bit disappointing but again I think this is due to Darick's absence.

Reaper

I haven't read Herogasm yet, keep meaning to but time is not on my side. Darick is definitely the best artist for The Boys at the moment, is slowing leaving the comic completely?

Batmanuel

The Amazing Spider-Man #600, picked it up as i am such a sucker for those all new no reprint giant size anniversary issues, and besides i haven't really read Spider-Man properly since the overindulgent debauchery which was Brand New Day.

Oh sure i read the first couple of arcs just so see if it could be worse than i suspected and in this it didn't disappoint, and that dialogue, "oh no! Aunt Mays in Danger" "oh no! may web fluid has run out" "curses! its Spider-Man foiling our dastardly deeds" "in another life" i think by now you have the picture, also in a wizard pole 74% of comic book readers assembled seemed to agree. BND was shit.

But one cant hold a grudge forever its not healthy, and it has been awhile so now that the dust settled maybe it might be OK, so off home i went with my copy.

Nothing could have prepared me for what was to come....

Aunt May is getting Married to...wait for it... J J JAMESON'S FATHER!!!

"And Mayor or not you are not to big that i wont put you over my knee" he informs his son?

Since when did JJJ have a dad? i never ever remember him ever being mentioned, and i have read a lot of Spider-Man comics in my time.
and Aunt May marring him make Peter Parker family to the Jameson's
that just wrong on so many levels'

Besides every one know that JJJ wasn't born, well not in the conventional sense anyway.

Some say that he is the illegitimate son of Hitlers Moustache and a rampant red neck, all we know is that he is JJJ.

so apart from this revelation was the rest of the comic any good.

No!

It gets worse, yes worse, when Aunt May throws her bouquet and guess who catches it? Yes Its Mary Jane Watson traveling with her Aunt as the plus one, i was taking a drink of coffee at the time and nearly bulked it out over everything within target radiance.

Christ this is one awful comic.

I was all for giving Spider-Man a second chance with this issue, but i feel kind of sorry for him, i know he is only a fictional character but even so talk about being taken for a ride, i would like to see an issue where Parker goes on Strike as says, thats it, no more Spider-Man, not until you start treating me with a bit of respect.

Saddest thing is that with Spider Man you were always guaranteed a good read.

Not so now it seems.

Hey Zeus

I don't think robertson's leaving completely. I think he's just a slow bastard and needs time to catch up.

Conradical

X-Factor I'm still loving at the moment, but I feel it's become a fair bit diluted as the characters have been removed from each other for too long. It's not as good as it used to be, which capped at issue 40, I reckon, but it's still enjoyable. And yep, they've got Layla back. Kind of. In an X-Factor kind of way.

I hadn't really touched any Punisher titles until this Welcome to the Bayou plot, which attracted my by looking all cool and shiny. Have to say, it's pretty awesome, great style, I'd recommend it to anyone else lookin for a taste of Punisher. Don't try Naked Kill - although it's awesome, there's a pretty funny looking sidekick that gets strung along. Teehee.

Other than that, I'm really enjoying Dark Reign: The Hood, think he's a brilliant character that really deserves exploration. Just wondering - is anyone picking up the noir titles at the moment? I flew through Spider-Man and X-Men, thinking the first was okay, the second pretty awesomely noirish. But then I lost the desire by the time Daredevil and Wolvie came out. Any takers?

Raien

I've been ignoring X-Factor for too long now. It's been consistently getting good reviews from IGN, but I've stayed away because it's an X book (which I associate with convoluted continuity). But I just can't pass up on an O.A.P. Doom; that's just awesome.

I've avoided the Marvel Noir titles for the reason that I think the noir genre has been overexposed. Unless someone manages to do something really special within the genre, I'm unlikely to care.

Longshot

Found x-men noir really dificult to read, which was a shame as I really liked the idea. And the whole old Noir feel from X-Factor was pritty awesome.

On X-Factor, I think you're right about the characters being too far appart. Loved seeing shatters and rictor back together, but they did manage to ignore that for a whole issue. Needs to be reigned back in me thinks.

Just read issue 4 of Star Trek: Missions End and although the line started off really well I think its really lost something, they've lost their originality, and are taking too long to tell a story again. Use to have one, aweome, story per issue, now they're dragging one, fairly average, story out over 5 or 6 issues. Saying that Crew was prrtty cool.

Conradical

Definitely agree with X-Men Noir being a difficult read, I had to go through that one a few times before I had a clue what was going on. But worth it in the end.

So here's a biggie - Which Avengers title is your favourite? If you had to lose all but one, which would be the last line standing? Initiative, Dark, Mighty, or New? Are there any others?

For myself, I can't really comment on Initiative, due to not having read, well, any of it. I think Mighty's doing okay, started off looking a bit worse for wear, but is progressing nicely. Dark is a lot of fun, though I feel it hasn't been squeezed hard enough - there's plenty of dirty criminal juice left in that sponge of possibilities, that should already be on the ooze. So my front runner would have to be New, the characters are comfortable without having to be too explained, and it's mainly the plot which I'm finding outstanding. Some awesome artwork recently by Chris Bachalo, and a good bit of delving into some of the taken-for-granted marvel morality, with characters like Doctor Strange and The Hood. Them's my two pennies - how about you lot?

Raien

Well, we already know that Dark Avengers won't survive to see 2010, so there's not much to say on that. It's been a wasted opportunity.

New Avengers was great fun to begin with, but as Dark Reign has progressed, it's become painfully obvious that they're not going anywhere. This whole Sorceror Supreme arc felt like three-four issues of thumb-twiddling, waiting for Marvel to approve their fight with Norman Osborn.

I haven't read either Mighty Avengers or Avengers: Initiative, but from what little I've read about them, Mighty Avengers looks more promising.

Longshot

Dark Avengers does seem a little like they saw Thurderbolts worked so coppied it, and the cross with Uncanny seems a little like they needed to make it fit, so this is how we'll do it.

Reading Cancertown, and loving it, gotta say its nothing like I expected it to be, but it is ruddy awesome. I can't say more as I haven't quite finished it yet

Conradical

I completely back-up what you're saying about Cancertown, though I didn't even know what to expect! What I loved about it is that you hear that cliche about stories that "pull you in, twist you around, and spit you back out" blah blah blah, but this is one of the novels that you do find yourself being pulled into. I sat down for one chapter, ended up reading them all at once. You actually go into Vince's (the protagonist's) point of view, and start asking the questions that he would. And it's brilliant, because it's exactly what he does on the next page. Not to say it's predictable, because that is one thing Cancertown could not be. It's just awesome. In a big way.

Reaper

So what did we all think about the end of Ultimatum?

*Spoilers btw*

Anyone else think that Magneto's change of heart was faaaar too sudden? I would have expected him to become angry at the news he heard not remorseful. And he managed to put the planet back on cue pretty easily really, didn't seem to require too much effort.

It was good in the amount of character deaths that transpired even some very unexpected ones, like the last one for instance.

Anyone else think the mysterious woman at the end if Scarlet Witch? Would explain why using the same bullet to take out an X-Man would be ironic.

CyNic

Longshot

Just finished Incovernient Tooth and that last chapter was a stonker, definitely a quality ending, looking forwards to another book, any idea how long, I'm guess another year at least.

No other comics other than 2000AD at this week, if anyone isn't reading this and thinks they would like it the next jump on is in two weeks, and I would really suggest it. Since I started reading the prog I haven't had a bad week of it, they sure know how to put out a good comic, and I think more people should be reading it.

CyNic

CatFang

If you don't mind spoilers read the comments that go with
This post on Cy's blog and you will find out more about what is to come in the special 12 page prequel that will appear in the Insomniac's Guide to Cancertown (out next year).

Reaper

Just read Ultimate Comics Avengers #1 and I'd like to point out that Jeph Loeb needs to read that and then rewrite Ultimates 3 to be more like that. The difference? Decent storyline and dialogue, oddly enough makes a big difference to a comic.

Miller should have stayed on for Ultimates 3 and written Ultimatum, both would have been far far better with Loeb involved.

Hey Zeus

I think everyones in agreement with you about that.

Ultimates 3 was the biggest pile of crap i've ever read. Half of it didn't even make sense

Reaper

No that was the biggest shame of it really, considering that Vol1 + 2 were very well written and quite topical as well. Was Jeph Loeb's only shining moment Batman: Hush? Has he managed to write anything else that was't painful, I remember his run on Wolverine a few years ago..... ouch

Raien

I'm back! And I'm up to date on my comics to boot. But for now, the Ultimate comics.

EDIT: I re-read these comics with a fresher head and have rewritten my comments accordingly.

Ultimate Comics Spider-man #1 was a little underwhelming, for the reason that it introduced a lot of different elements without developing any of them. The Hood is in town, Peter is making out with Gwen, Johnny Storm collapses at Peter's house. It's hard to make any judgments about where Bendis is going with this series as a result, or where the promised "fresh change" is supposed to come into it. As for LaFuente's art, I can't say I like it. The character designs just look weird and... I don't like it.

Ultimate Comics Avengers #1 was a fantastic action-movie introduction to the new series. Pacheco did an excellent job drawing this comic and the writing was very complimentary to the artwork. I look forward to seeing what happens next.

Reaper

I'm hoping this 'fresh change' doesn't cause the writing on SM to degrade. It has been one of the more consistent titles for a long while, I like the first issue and am happy for it to start up multiple threads.
However the artist needs to walk out of the door and go back to Japan..... I don't like this incursion of anime style art that is creeping in everywhere, it tires me. Anime stylings should stay in Japan, american cartoons and comics should try and have their own identity and stop jumping on the bandwagon.

Longshot

Just read the last issue of Exiles, which was cancelled at issue 6. Don't know if anyone else was reading this, and I'm not overly surprised, but it was a shame, when all the storylines had to be hashed into a quick ending. Then again I guess its always good when my reading list shortens. Anyone got any ideas why Marvel are cutting down on some issues, and then releasing random new other ones in other areas.

Batmanuel

Why does The Ulitmate Spider-Man have such a BIG round head???

Reaper

because he has such a huge brain it has taken all the nutrients from the rest of his body

Batmanuel

sounds like a very reasonable explanation Smile

Oh and for those of you who have decided to jump off of the Fantastic Four because Miller has left, i fear that you may be missing out on what could become a seminal run by Johnathan Hikman.

Hikman is no stranger to those familiar with the likes of The Nightly News
10 or so pages we posted by myself many moons ago.

Don't say that you have not been warned.

Web of Fear

I jumped off Fantastic Four because Millar joined ....

Batmanuel

Web Of:

Reaper

Why don't you like Miller?

Raien

Back again!

I also didn't like Millar's FF because the story was all over the place and nothing really hinged together comfortably.

Anyway, NEW COMICS!

Spider-woman #1 came out today and Bendis spent a whopping six pages getting to the point that Jessica Drew's life is worse than Wolverine (which is still debatable). The obvious padding wasn't helped by the fact that the characters spoke as if they didn't really know what they were saying. Why do Marvel characters suddenly regress to the mental state of a fifteen year old whenever Bendis writes them? At least Alex Maleev's artwork was good. You can always count on Maleev to boost the average review score of a Bendis book.

Superman: Secret Origin #1 also came out today, and it was surprisingly good. I was expecting a padded version of the earlier events depicted in Superman For All Seasons, and while it did to that to some extent, there were two things made it stand out in other ways:

1) The first issue actually covered the Superman For All Seaons backstory in its entirety, so the remaining five issues promise an original story that diverges significantly from Jeph Loeb's book.

2) Geoff Johns writes Clark Kent as a modern, opinionated 21st Century Kid, as opposed to the shy and retiring (i.e. boring) character we've all come to know and love. All I can say is that I wish this mini-series was the precursor to a new Ultimate Superman series because the Clark Kent character is in sore need of updating, despite how well some writers like Grant Morrison have written him recently.

So yeah, this one looks good and I recommend it to anyone who cares.

Raien

PS: I posted some comic book opinions on the last page.

Okay, I've got a question for people here who have read Brian Vaughn's Ex Machina.

I have not read Ex Machina, but I have heard that it is an involving series that blends superheroism with contemporary politics, which sounds right up my alley. However, I felt that Vaughn's other series, Y: The Last Man, did a terrible job of representing women's issues. Simply put, the issues were just being quoted by the characters and did not play any real, affecting role in the story. I think that's an absolute cop-out direction to take, and I might as well be reading an actual book on women's issues.

So anyway, what I want to know is, are the political issues in Ex Machina just things for the characters to talk about, or do they actually affect the characters directly?

Longshot

Funny you should say that about Superman: Secret Origins, I hadn't thought of picking it up [trying to put down some books] But I am so enjoying the current runs on Superman [all but Superman/Batman]. I wonder if I should be picking this up or if its gonna have no reflection on anything else, so I won't be missing out on anything.

Raien

Raien

New comics.

Ultimate Spider-man #3 arrived and I'm starting to wonder whether it would be worth continuing to read the series after this first Mysterio arc. The only moment I really enjoyed was the Bombshells fight last issue; it's been pretty boring otherwise.

Batman & Robin is in a weird place for me. It's not really any better than the other generic comic books on the stands, yet I keep picking it up for some reason. Perhaps it's the 3-issue arc system that keeps me saying "Just one more." Also, for anyone interested in knowing why Jason Todd now has red hair, that's apparently another Grant Morrison attempt to bring back pre-Crisis of Infinite Earths continuity.

Sweet Tooth #2 was also disappointing as I felt the only thing that distinguished the first issue from all the other generic apocalypse horror stories was the personality of the main character, Gus. But in this issue, Gus did very little and gave very little of his own opinions. I'm hoping it gets better.

BUT WAIT! There was a comic book that gave me a nice surprise!

Daredevil #501, in which Daredevil kills his sensei (or something), Izo. Since it so brilliantly breaks a tired 80s TV trope (i.e. hero with old chinese Kung Fu teacher), it has immediately jumped up on my awesome-o-meter.

Raien

There are very few comics that appeal to me this week, so I'll leave on this short note.

Avoid Web of Spider-man. It sucks.

Raien

Another week, another comics release.

The "World's Most Wanted" arc of Invincible Iron Man concluded this week with #19, and while I can't say I've been captivated by this story, the conclusion was absolutely fantastic. All the characters and plot points came together very satisfyingly and have set up the story for the next arc with an excellent twist. I look forward to continuing this series.

Spider-woman #2 was on more-or-less the same level of quality as the first issue. While it isn't as slow-paced as the first issue, we now have an annoying habit of Maleev showcasing close-ups of Jessica Drew's face in every other panel. It's a shame, because this frustrating repetition lets down what is, in my opinion, superior artwork to what I've seen of Maleev's Daredevil run.

And tragically, this week marks the final issue of the excellent reprints of Thor: Tales of Asgard. As significant as Stan Lee is to the comic book industry, his cheesiness puts me off most of his work. But this series was made for Stan Lee's cheesiness, and with Jack Kirby's excellent artwork (fantastically re-inked for the 21st Century), I've not seen a better representation of classic mythology.

Batmanuel

Mate... i have just read the conclusion to worlds most wanted.
it f?@king rocked.
i don't want to say too much because i know some have not read it,
but this has got to be one of the best storylines in a long time.

Raien

It should be no surprise that World's Most Wanted won an Eisner award for Best New Series. But anyway, new comics...

I want to start with Ultimate Avengers #3 just because it was such a fucking disappointment for me. Having already grown tired of Ultimate Spider-man (and Ultimate Armor Wars was never particularly enjoyable to begin with), I had hoped that Ultimate Avengers would keep me invested in the Marvel universe that got me into comics, and the first two issues were indeed fantastic. But this issue introduced the actual Avengers team, and Mark Millar did his absolute best to make them more unlikeable than the Ultimates under Jeph Loeb. The book has now degenerated to a dick-waving contest with horrible "bad-ass" dialogue. *sigh* And this is from the man who wrote Superman: Red Son, ladies and gentlemen. At least the art's still good, I guess.

I've been toying with the idea of dropping Ultimate Spider-man at the end of the first arc, but now that book looks awesome compared to Ultimate Avengers. Unless things improve, I will absolutely drop this.

In other news, Fantastic Four's new arc ended with an unsatisfying thud after some exciting build-up. It's a shame because I really felt that the concept could have held up six issues of plot.

The Spider-man Clone Saga mini-series has been interesting, given that I picked it up just as I started reading The Life of Reilly. The story is certainly much easier to understand and much more logical to boot.

Reaper

Isn't it a little premature to start considing dropping a title because of one bad issue?

Raien

Batmanuel

Raien:

Raien

I'll agree with you that Hickman's run has certainly been better than Millar's FF run so far, but I was really disappointed to see this arc end after just three issues. There were a lot of ways that the entire family could have been brought into this story, but they were pretty much shoved into the background. It's such a shame.

Batmanuel

Raien

Batmanuel

Raiden:

Raien

I think Millar sold his writing skills to Mephisto in order to resurrect that dead Hilary Clinton "cankle" gag.

Batmanuel

I think that you may be right.

Robin The Boy Wonder

I wonder if Mark Millar's present output has anything to do with our high expectations for the writer.

Ultimates 1 & 2 were outstandingly good. Millar was the perfect writer to infuse fresh blood into a variation of the Avengers theme and used the then-modern world as a very clever mirror image within his work. Quite frankly, the Avengers had never been that good!

Since then, he's enjoyed other well-received stories including Wolverine's Enemy of the State, Marvel Knights Spider-Man and, of course, a small story you may have heard of: Civil War.

He's raised the bar so high for himself now that any present work may only fall short. His Fantastic Four was littered with some outstanding concepts (Nu-Earth, Doom's Master); however, the final product fell short, not least because of his over-emphasis on depicting Reed Richards as a dynamic-scientist, James Bond type (you only have to read the first story-arc to see how his Reed worked). It was still better than some other runs I may care to mention, including Chris Claremont's and Carlos Pacheco's.

I haven't read Kick-Ass (yet) and haven't started Ultimate Comics Avengers either (again, yet) so can't comment.

I just thought the above might be worth mentioning.

Oh, and a writer should never go back to a previous body of work. It will never be as good as the previous run. Take Chris Claremont on X-Men as the definitive example of this point.

Raien

I don't think that a writer's past work affects how I view a new comic, which is what makes me partial to most writers. Sometimes they write something I enjoy, sometimes they write something I hate. I don't feel an attachment to anything beyond the material, not even if it's Alan Moore.

As for why Millar is suddenly writing dumb action movie stories, I think it's quite obvious. Millar is moving his attentions from comics to film. He's certainly pushed harder than any other comic book writer to have his independent comic series adapted to film, and he even recently announced that he was going to direct a yet unnamed film.

I can understand the appeal of adapting comics to film on all sides. For Millar, having films on his CV draws attention to his creative talents and makes him a more prominent celebrity (he hosted a Newsnight segment on comic book movies not too long ago). For the filmmakers, comics allow them to assess new ideas without the financial risk. The problem is that to make the transition easier, Millar has quite obviously dumbed down some of his stories. The political subtexts that made his earlier works so popular are being steadily dropped for the sake of a film cash-in.

As for Chris Claremont's fall as a writer, it's not so much due to a change in his writing style, but due to the increasing standards of writing leaving him behind. Subtlety has been a watchword since the turn of the century, and when older writers continue to beat you over the head with unnecessary text boxes (like Tom deFalco in his new Spider-man Clone Saga series), it can be painful.

Raien

New comics:

The big release this week is of course the first issue of The Marvellous Land of Oz, and if it's any indication of the rest of this series, then Marvellous Land will be just as good as the Wonderful Wizard of Oz that came before it. Skottie Young is still my favourite comic book artist of all time thus far, and Shanower's writing is brilliant as ever.

Ultimate Spider-man #4 was a surprisingly good issue for me, because it actually explains (in hint form) why Bendis decided to break up Peter and MJ. Granted, that reason doesn't have anything to do with character motivation, because the Peter/MJ break-up was done twice in the first volume of the series and it should have been clear by then that they were true loves. No, the reason why Bendis broke up the two characters is to establish a relationship between MJ and the Ultimate Shroud/Hood, who conveniently is another school student. Normally I'd be unhappy about this, but considering that the opening scene between the two characters was very good, I'm actually intrigued by it. I want to see where Bendis takes this.

Fred Van Lente did a very good job with Deadpool Team-Up #899. I usually find him a funny writer in Amazing Spider-man, and he manages to bring that same humour to this book. I don't know if he's the sole writer or whether there's a rotating team of writers, but he's certainly the best Deadpool writer I've seen since Daniel Way.

With the third issue of Sweet Tooth, I'm getting frustrated at my conflicting feelings towards the different elements of this story. Having been convinced by the last issue that the story should focus on Gus, I no longer find that Gus to be an interesting character. I thoroughly enjoyed his POV in the first issue because his home defined his entire life and philosophy, but since he's abandoned his home, he's become the generic fish-out-of-water. A character who just submits to whatever the writer throws at him and moves on. Granted, I did like the dream sequence and the town that appeared later in the issue, but I wish scenes like this were more prominent in the comic. The interactions between Gus and Jepperd are dull in comparison.

I recently got Jeff Lemire's Essex County in trade form, so I'll give a summary on that when I finish it.

Robin The Boy Wonder

While I don't read any of the titles you mention above, Raien, I will say that Fred van Lente is quite the talented writer.

I've really enjoyed his work on Amazing Spider-Man recently and I think he may indeed be the regular writer on Deadpool Team-Up.

While I think about it, I also think it's very cool that Deadpool Team-Up is bucking the established numerical trend by sequencing their numbers in reverse order from No 900. The only foreseeable problem...? If this title ships monthly, no matter what format, and is allowed to run without cancellation or retooling, it's going to take 75 years before it counts down to No 0. I guess my great-grandchildren can find out for me! ...I'm not sure what smiley to use for that as I don't know if I should be happy or sad so... Confused

Raien

Robin The Boy Wonder

Raien

Reaper

www.majorspoilers.com is fairly good though his reviews list most of the story, hence the name of the site.

One adaption i've liked is Raymond E Feists Magician series, so far they have been pretty good, current issue is Riftwar #5

Robin The Boy Wonder

I'm not a fan of judging a comic by its cover, although it's the way it's now become for me.

Unfortunately, I don't have the time I once used to, to properly surf the various comic book websites and glean insight into the potential quality of a comic through a review, preview, interview or article (I used to post shedloads here and on Newsarama once upon a time).

I'm relying on you guys now... Confused

Raien

Longshot

Alright am I being led to believe there are going to be 3 ongoing deadpool books now. WHY???

I like Deadpool quite a bit, read all of Cable and Deadpool and fell in love, but the character doesen't seem that great to carry as many books as Spiderman. Never Mind

Anyone Else still reading Cable, cause its really sucking at the moment, its going nowhere, and theyre just dodging away from the point.

Sadly i'm in a cull mode at them moment, so I can't say too much about too much at the moment.

Reaper

In what way is it missing the point?

Raien

Although I don't read Cable, it sounds like the series was created to tread water for the Hope character. It doesn't have any purpose other than to have her grow up for the next big X-Men event.

As for whether there are too many Deadpool books, it always depends on the quality of the writing and the ability for each book to distinguish itself from another. Deadpool and Deadpool Team-Up both serve their own purposes and go in distinct directions, so I think they are justified. Merc With A Mouth, on the other hand, is not only redundant but it's crap. Marvel should drop it.

Anyway, COMICS ROUND-UP! (I feel like I need a title to justify my constant updates)

The star comic this week was Dark X-Men #1 (of 5), written by Paul Cornell of Captain Britain & MI13 fame. This book certainly feels like a spiritual sequel to Captain Britain, with an unusual science-fiction mystery and a good dose of comedy to liven things up. Definitely worth your while.

Deadpool #17 was a great return to form for Deadpool after a few random and mediocre issues where nothing really happened. This story sees the X-Men trying to prevent Deadpool from committing murder in their name. Very funny and quite clever in its own way.

Spider-man #611 was not enjoyable at all for me. Aside from some confusing art that makes it difficult to see the action (or anything), Joe Kelly's writing features some of the most horribly forced humour I have ever seen in a comic book. When the humour does raise a smile, it's a very rare occurence.

Daredevil #602 reveals that the exciting direction taken in the last two issues was all a charade, bringing down my enjoyment of the book drastically. While Andy Diggle's writing is still very good, I fear this run isn't going to give us anything fresh or unexpected. Things may change, but this issue was still very disappointing.

Batman & Robin #6 was quite good. The villain was nothing special, but the conversations and arguments between the two duos made up for it. Phillip Tan's art wasn't very consistent, though.

Batman #693 was very interesting in the respect that Tony Daniel is setting up his chess pieces for some excitement in the future. But as a stand-alone issue, it's just a "good" comic. No more, no less. Still worth a read, at least.

Longshot

Cable at the moment is just, as Raien said, treading water. They have supposedly 2 of the most powerfull mutants to have ever existed, and all their doing is running away from Bishop who they should be able to take easily.

They ahve created a number of poorly concieved futures, which are entierly unbelieveable. Since issue 1 it has been a case of, we need to get away from Cable, lets jump into the future. It was alright when X-Force came in, but nothing more that alright.

They could have done some much and the have done so little.

Raien

The February 2010 solicits are out and... oh dear. I'll give you three guesses as to who's writing this new series...

Reaper

Jeph Loeb?

Raien

The Rascal King

Flash: Rebirth #5 was out today, and I've only got one thing to say.
NEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSE!

Raien

COMICS ROUND-UP

STAR COMIC - Dark Reign The List: Amazing Spider-man - This one-shot was incredible and puts this week's main Spider-man comic to shame. An epic showdown between Spider-man and Iron Patriot, drawn by the incredible Adam Kubert. I was practically drooling over the panel layouts and one particular double-page spread. Definitely some of the best art I've seen in a superhero story this year. The Bendis/Bagley back-up feature is also excellent, although it's a little frustrating that it appears to be the final part of a larger story.

The Amazing Spider-man #612 - Absolute crap. Regardless of what he's achieved in comic books, Mark Waid's current Spider-man stories are always the worst of the current rotating writers. His jokes aren't funny, his concepts feel half-arsed, and his constant depiction of New Yorkers as fickle and stupid is both an insult to them and to me. Anyone remember a few issues back when several weeks of non-stop heroism was apparently undone by interrupting an American Football game? Ugh. The art is crap as well, the worst I've seen in this comic in a long long time.

Dark Avengers #11 - A fun story, but ultimately forgettable. Good if you already read Dark Avengers, not worth picking up if you don't.

Spider-Woman #3 - This is a book that's been skirting on the edge of boredom over the last two issues, thanks in part to Bendis's agonising use of decompression. When you think about it, all the long conversations that took place in the second issue were made pointless by what happened at the end of it. This issue is better because it feels like Bendis is finally developing the plot, as he creates an interesting conundrum for our heroine. But if he drops the pace again next issue, I'm dropping this book permanently. It's not worth my time or money for Bendis to drag things out as long as he has.

Realm of Kings #1 - An alternate reality where the Avengers worship Satanic forces reads just as well as it sounds. An innovative concept, solid writing, detailed artwork, Realm of Kings should prove to be even better than the excellent War of Kings.

Sonic the Hedgehog #206 - I haven't said very much about this yet, despite reading it since #200. In a nutshell, this is absolutely the best kids' comic on the stands right now. The concept is easy to get; Sonic is the super-speedy leader of a village of freedom fighters that fight against all sorts of villains, most notably Dr. Robotnik, who at this point has been driven mad (and even cited his own internet meme last issue). Ian Flynn's writing has equal amounts of humour and well-developed characters, whereas Tracey Yardley's artwork is exquisitely detailed. Now remember this review well, because the quality of this book is so consistent that I could probably just cite this review with every new release.

Victorian Undead #1 - While this new series may look like yet another zombie story, it should be credited for not panning to the lowest common denominator. Excessive shock and gore has been omitted in favour of developing a proper story, with Sherlock Holmes as the hero who is about to investigate the zombie mystery. The writing tries to emulate Victorian dialect, and while this sometimes helps immerse me into the story, I often find it difficult to read the flow of conversation. The art is definitely up there with Adam Kubert this week. It captures the feel of Victorian England very effectively. It's a fun book that shows promise.

The Rascal King

NEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSE
NEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSE
NEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSE
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NEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSE
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NEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSENEWIMPULSE

Raien

It's time for another Comics Round-up!

This week's Star Comic is Superman: Secret Origin #3 - This is one of those stories that in the wrong hands could be very mediocre. Not only is the Superman origin story practically ingrained in 21st Century culture, making a retelling almost instantly redundant, but the clean-cut Clark Kent character has become an increasing hard-sell to modern audiences that demand more sophisticated and energetic characters. Despite that Geoff Johns doesn't do much to make Clark Kent feel less outdated, his writing and characterisation is so incredibly strong that it defies any reason why the datedness should even matter. It's great fun, and it distinguishes itself nicely from the other origin story, Superman For All Seasons.

Invincible Iron Man #20 - This was a distinct "setting the scene" issue, so I can't say it was particularly exciting in the wake of the "World's Most Wanted" arc. But that said, the imagery that we see in Stark's head is wonderfully mysterious and the continuing story before/during Siege promises to be very exciting. I must also give a mention to the awesome cover design for this new arc. Nice abstract stuff.

Giant-Size Thor Finale - Maybe it's because I haven't read JMS' Thor from the beginning, but I can't help wondering why the reviews I've read hold such negativity for this issue. It didn't resolve very much, but it was still a thoroughly entertaining read. It's certainly no worse than the other JMS issues I've read since starting with Thor #600. The inclusion of the first Thor story by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby made for an interesting back-up feature, but it pales in comparison to the Tales of Asgard series that was recently republished.

Fantastic Four #573 - This story was shockingly bland and boring, and I couldn't even bring myself to finish it. Thank God it's a single-issue story with little-to-no consequence on the rest of the series.

Spider-man: The Clone Saga #3 - This mini-series has really grown on me since I started reading it. Perhaps The Life of Reilly has helped my appreciation, but the writing has been excellent and the story has been fast-paced and exciting. Definitely worth looking at.

Ultimate Avengers #4 -This issue was just as stupid as the last one, but I have to admit that I enjoyed the final few pages. And the art is still good.

The Rascal King

You thought UCA was stupid? What kind of deviant are you?

I'm really excited about Blackest night and GL hitting the shelves today, both are craking reads. Geoff Johns is the best Spandex writer in the industry.

Reaper

Keep up the reviews Smile

Glad to see that someone else read War of Kings and rated it highly. I'm looking forward to reading Realm of Kings, might have to get it added to my pull list.

My copy of UCA 3 arrived yesterday so will read that and post my comments.

Raien

Conradical

On the subject of cosmic Marvel, I have to stand out and stay I read but did not enjoy War of Kings. Unfortunately, I'm not all that eloquent with my reasons, suffice it to say that I am a big cosmic fan, especially anything to do with Black Bolt or the Guardians of the Galaxy series, and for me, something just did not gel with it. I read the Marvel Spotlight interviews with Abnett and Lanning (if I recall correctly), and they made a big show of giving the Vulcan character more dimensions, but he just came across as angry kid with daddy issues, without any real expansion. Disappointed, to summarize.

That said, I am massively looking forward to Realm of Kings, having read the one-shot and recent Guardians of the Galaxy build-up. To anyone looking to jump on the cosmic bandwagon, definitely hunt down the Realm of Kings one-shot, which came out two weeks ago, I think. Lovecraftian Avengers are a brilliantly innovative idea, and it's packed with double-take artwork. Revved up, without a doubt!

Raien

Realm of Kings #1 was a One Shot? I thought it was the start of the event.

Conradical

Unfortunately so - I just furiously flipped through the collection to check and sure enough, it was only a one-shot. The plot's being carried out through the course of Realm of Kings: Inhumans, Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Nova. Real shame if you ask me. Missing a trick.

Raien

So it was all too good to be true... Across multiple series, Realm of Kings will no doubt prove to be just as convoluted as War of Kings, if not more so thanks to the inclusion of characters that I've never read before.

I won't dismiss the event just yet, since the concept is strong and the writing has proven reliable, but I can't say I'm looking forward to it as much as I was before.

The Rascal King

I don't see how anyone could be bothered with the Marvel Universe right now, what with the Blackest Night decending upon the DCU.
What am I excited for tomorrow?
BLACKEST NIGHT FLASH! WOO WOO!

Oh, and Supergod #2, obviously.
How does China enginner their own Messiah?
"A subject enveloped by scanning tunnelling microscopes wired into his Visual Cortex. Forced to Meditate upon his own Atomic Structure untill he could perceive the Quantum Foam of every particle of his Being, birthing and annihilating under the Uncertainty Principle"
Of course.

Raien

I read and enjoyed Blackest Night #1, but then I missed a single issue and it became impossible for me to go back to it. Like Final Crisis, it's just too condensed and convoluted to be accessible to anyone other than the dedicated fanbase.

And to be honest, there are very few DC superhero comics that interest me now. I've only just become a consistent reader of Batman, and I've only read a few important Superman trades. But maybe if you're a DC fan, you could do your own version of Comics Round-Up? It would be good to widen the range.

COMICS ROUND-UP

Star Comic: Ultimate Spider-man #5 - I don't revere this issue as much as I have with previous Star Comics, but it's certainly been the most entertaining of the bunch this week. A fight with Mysterio brings the action in the first half, and the introduction of Bobby Drake (aka, the X-Men's Iceman) into the regular character line-up gives us some depth for the second half. The Parker household is starting to look a little crowded, but I'm warming to this series now that I have a clearer idea of the direction this series is heading. Still unsure whether it's trade-worthy, but the fact that I'm even considering the trade is a big step up from my disappointment with the first issue.

Sweet Tooth #4 - As you may recall a few weeks back, I said that the slow pacing of a Jeff Lemire story makes it a more fulfilling read in trade form (I have since finished his earlier work, The Collected Essex County, and I can heartily recommend it as a moving piece of drama). But in addition to that challenge of the monthly issue format, I have to ask whether Lemire's writing works well for this sort of story.

Jeff Lemire's writing talent lies in his ability to make the most of a scene, to bring out a character's personality in the simplest of interactions. While Jeff Lemire did that excellently in his first issue of Sweet Tooth, I haven't felt it much since then. Sure, his artwork still captures a mood, and his writing still has that revealing sense about it, but it all feels like it's being undermined by the uninspired apocalypse setting.

It reminds me of an analogy I've been working towards lately. There are a lot of brilliant fantasy and science-fiction ideas that make their way into superhero stories, but end up being stifled by the series formula. The concept behind a single issue story, or even a six-issue arc, could have a lot of potential if it wasn't smothered by a need for the superhero to end the conflict and move on to a new one. I feel the same way about Sweet Tooth. If I had my way, Gus would never have left the forest because our fear of the unknown would have played to Lemire's greatest strengths as a writer, while avoiding the cliches that now permeate the comic.

I honestly don't know what to think. I am on the edge of dropping Sweet Tooth, but the innate charm of Jeff Lemire's writing is holding me back. Maybe next issue, I'll make my final decision.

Iron Man Requiem #One-Shot - Now this is certainly an unusual comic. What I presumed to be a completely original story turned out to be reprints of two important Iron Man stories, framed with original material and concluded with a typical Marvel retrospective and technical information about the Iron Man suit. Despite the difference, this package is put together with a couple of twists that make it a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Allow me to explain. The story begins with Tony Stark in a bunker at the end of the World's Most Wanted arc. Most of his memories are gone, and he's recording a message for posterity before getting into his original Iron Man suit. Suddenly he has a flashback of his origin story, leading to a reprint of Tales of Suspense #39. As well as being a typically entertaining story from Stan Lee, this reprint has also been re-inked in the vein of Thor: Tales of Asgard, which for some reason greatly improves my personal enjoyment of the story.

When the story ends, the current Tony Stark reminds us that Stan Lee's story has since been retconned by the Warren Ellis arc, Extremis. In a particular bit of cleverness, Tony explains that the deletion of his memories must have led to the change of location from Afghanistan to Vietnam in his flashback, as well as the silliness that permeated Stan Lee's story. We then cut to Iron Man #144, which presents the origin of James Rhodes in the same re-inked presentation as the first reprint. While not as classic as Stan Lee's story, it's still silly and enjoyable. When that's over, the book ends on a sad note that essentially tells people to buy the new Stark: Disassembled arc.

Overall, a very unique and entertaining one-shot. I now realise that I'd happily pay to see more Stan Lee stories in the re-inked design of Thor: Tales of Asgard.

Thor #604 - For the beginning of Marvel's upcoming event, Siege, Kieron Gillen steps up as the writer of Thor to replace the beloved JMS. While I don't believe Gillen has quite the poetic tongue that JMS brought to his Asgardians, his story is proving to be exciting nonetheless. It's hard to describe in detail as it follows closely from JMS's story, but it has a lot of promise for the next issue (imagine a battle between the Asgardians and Doom's Frankenstein Asgardians). And it's all complimented wonderfully by Billy Tan's gorgeous artwork. If any of you were thinking about removing this book from your "pull" list, I'd think again.

Siege: The Cabal #One-Shot - As a prelude to the Siege event, this was generally unsatisfying. The writing and art was all good, but the story was absolutely nothing special. In particular, the war between Osborn and Doom feels contrived. I presume Osborn's madness is supposed to be leading him to instigate the war, but that premise always sounds like a cop-out. That said, the preview of Siege #1 makes a compelling case for the main event, and I no doubt will pick it up in January to see where the Marvel universe will go from here.

Reaper

I seem to be completely out of the loop with Siege at the moment, I have no idea when it is starting, what it is actually about and which titles I need to read as background :S

Raien

Raien

A day late COMICS ROUND-UP

Star Comic - The Invincible Iron Man #21 - The second issue in the Stark: Dissassembled arc, this issue sees everyone team up to bring Stark back to life (following Stark's own instructions), while Madame Masque arranges for Ghost to assassinate him. Matt Fraction is handling Stark: Disassembled in very much the same way he handled the World's Most Wanted arc. His story development is very relaxed, there's no rush to get from plot point to plot point, and there's no forced action scenes. So just like World's Most Wanted, it appears that Stark: Disassembled is taking its time to build up drama. I had a less-than-enthusiastic reaction to Invincible Iron Man #20, but this issue feels much stronger as it builds upon what came before. The conflict becomes clearer, the stakes are raised, and the cliffhangers become increasingly substantial. So this series is definitely worth watching. Based on past experience, it can only get better.

Dark X-Men #2 - This issue was a slight disappointment in contrast to the strong first issue of Dark X-Men. Paul Cornell is a great writer, but he has a habit of settling into some typical superhero conventions that make it difficult for his work to stand out from the crowd, and Dark X-Men #2 demonstrates that perfectly. In this issue, the Dark X-Men are trying to find the X-Man, Nate Grey, who has been trying to get back to Earth from a parallel plane of existence or something. I can feel myself yawning at this concept as I write. But what made the first issue of Dark X-Men so enjoyable was the humour, and that's mostly absent here. Cornell tried recycling the "Dark Beast kills people for experiments" gag, but it just doesn't have the same impact when you see it again.

Dark X-Men #2 is still a very enjoyable comic due to the excellent writing of Paul Cornell, but I can't help wishing that Cornell was writing something else. Something that could allow him to develop a genuinely interesting plot, rather than the mediocre plot he's developing here.

Deadpool #18 - A good end to the X-Men arc, at least there's one Deadpool book on the shelves that I can call on for reliable quality. The story is a bit farfetched, admittedly, but it still makes a fun read. Next issue, Deadpool meets Spider-man, and I'm banking on Way's team-up outperforming Joe Kelly's recent horrible team-up in every way.

Tank Girl: Dark Nuggets #One-Shot - I've never read Tank Girl before, so I was hoping this might provide a good introduction. Quite frankly, I still don't know how well this represents the original series. I've been told that it reflects the 1990s counter-culture movement, with various adult themes combined with complete anarchy. What I read here felt like a Beano comic with swear words. Very tame for an adult comic. Maybe this book just suffers from the end of the zeitgeist, but I didn't find it very inventive or exciting. Still, I have to praise Rufus Dayglo's artwork, as the punk style still comes across well.

The Rascal King

Raien

Reaper

Not sure if I was that keen on Ultimate Spider-Man 4, the dialogue doesn't seem to be as good as it prior to Ultimatum. Bring into that the fact that the current artist is shockingly bad..... My g/f was reading over my shoulder and had to ask if Peter Parker was Peter Parker because he looked like a girl and her next comment was: 'His hair makes him look like a spaniel'.

I have mentioned before I don't like anime stuff stylings in comics that traditionally have an American artistic style, especially if the previous artists have been fairly good (Bagley in particular) and the current artist just isn't....

I'd agree with Raien on the break up of Mary-Jane and Peter, it feels crowbarred in and unnecessary. Their relationship was exceptionally well done in the first run of Ultimate SM and it's rare that you get an onscreen or on-page romance that actually strikes a cord with the reader and their's did. Now Peter is with Gwen to make it controversial (almost) and to try and distance the Ultimate SM from the 616 SM.

Raien

Reaper

Immonen was better than the current artist but I still by comparison to Bagley wasn't a huge fan of the sketchy style that he adapted. I suppose I prefer my comic art to be slightly bolder and solidly drawn. One of my favourite periods of comic art is the mid 90's Marvel X-Men drawn by Joe Madureira such as Onslaught.

Raien

COMICS ROUND-UP

Star Comic - The Marvellous Land of Oz #2 - Do I really need to explain why this comic is so good? I don't believe there's been any newcomers to this forum since I reviewed the first issue of this series, and the reasons are exactly the same. The consistent quality of this book is incredible, and the story is proving to be just as magical as the Wizard of Oz.

Amazing Spider-man #615 - Mark Waid is gone! YAAAAY!! I finally get to settle down with the always-reliable Fred Van Lente, who brings his usual dose of fun to the series. The Sandman has kidnapped a young girl and has built a paradise for her on Governor's Island, with Spider-man following the dead bodies in his wake. It's a clever concept that's made all the more enjoyable by Van Lente's writing, with Spider-man now donning winter clothes over his Spider-man outfit and making some fun references to other superheroes and comics. Great stuff.

Spider-man: The Clone Saga #4 - You know, with all my childhood memories of Marvel superheroes, I've always wanted to read a comic that captured the style of the 1990s, just for nostalgia's sake. But whenever I picked up a 1990s comic, the nostalgia bubble was broken by the dark, convoluted (and generally crap) storytelling that permeates the era. So having given up that particular avenue, I find this Clone Saga mini-series to be exactly what I always wanted. It's a modern retelling of a 1990s Spider-man story, but the writing and art is exactly how I imagined the era. There's a mad scientist's lab in every sewer, cloning experiments for world domination, it's classic cheesy storytelling. I'm having an unexpected blast with this book.

Daredevil #503 - Despite last issue's disappointing twist, this series is still proving to be a good read. Andy Diggle's direct storytelling makes it easy to take in all the various plot developments, and the artwork is a wonderful accompaniment to the story, setting the dark mood perfectly. It's hard to get excited right now simply because this is a scene-setting period, but I anticipate things to ratchet up over the course of the coming issues.

Batman #694 - Tony Daniel's Batman run is a rare example of the point that excellent writing and excellent artwork don't make an excellent comic. As both writer and artist, I would like to see more of Tony Daniel, but the problem with this series is convolution. It feels like Daniel's trying to evoke The Long Halloween (which would explain the random return of a Long Halloween character, with a different personality for some reason) by throwing out a new plot development in every other double page and referencing old plot developments that I'd forgotten about in the weeks between issues. I have a very difficult time following this story, as so much stuff is happening without any explanation. A good storyteller might solve some of these mysteries before creating new ones, just to make sure the reader isn't getting migraine. But with Daniel's Batman, I'm tempted to give up making sense of this story altogether.

Ultimate Armor Wars #3 - Why did I buy this issue again? I guess it's because it's only a four-issue mini-series, and after reading the first two issues, I just said "Fuck it." and decided to finish it. There really is very little value to this comic, and it's all down to Warren Ellis's writing. It feels like he didn't even bother putting together a coherent story or good dialogue. He just took the tagline "Iron Man flies around to recover his stolen tech" and ran with it. The pacing is terrible, the ideas are boring and stupid. There is only one thing that saves it from being completely horrible and that's the combination of Steve Kurth's pencils and Jeff Huet's inking. The artwork really is good enough to rival Bryan Hitch's Ultimates, and the duo are perfectly suited to the "widescreen" direction of this comic.

Raien

A couple of good things in the March comic solicits:

1) New editions of The Sandman are being reprinted, featuring the new inking seen in the Absolute editions. Seeing as how I think classic inking is horrible, this should be a must-buy for me.

2) The final hardcover of the original Ultimate Spider-man series will be released, completing my hardcover collection. This new book also includes the two Requiem issues, as a nice bonus.

And sadly, there's one absolutely horrible new release. Something we've all been dreading for a long long time. I am of course talking about Jeph Loeb's New Ultimates. And as a bullshit bonus, the first arc will be called "Thor Reborn". I can quite literally taste the vomit at the back of my throat.

The Rascal King

Holyfuckingshit BN6 was BADTHEFUCKASS.

Raien

I haven't picked up this week's comics yet, due to the Christmas holidays, but I have something new to try out instead.

As you all may recall, my graphic novel reviews were something of a failure due to a general lack of balance and structure. So I've found a different review structure that should make them a lot easier to write. Rather than writing one lengthy article, I simply list and elaborate on the things I enjoyed and hated, clarifying my emotional reaction to the book. I don't know how many books I'll review this time, and I don't know if Manny will want to publish them, but it'll be fun anyway.

So to start with...

Whatever Happened to the World’s Fastest Man?

A mad scientist has set up a bomb in London, set to kill millions of people. Bobby Doyle, a young man who has the power to stop time, uses his ability to carry the frozen victims out of the blast area. The only problem is that Bobby continues to grow older within that frozen time.

Loved

-The Basic Concept – Every book needs a good hook, and I have to admit that the premise of a man growing old in stopped time to save a city is a very interesting premise. It’s this sort of new idea that I’d like to see more of in comic books.

-The Artwork –I didn’t expect to like after seeing previews of Marleen Lowe’s art, but after a short while, I found it to be doing a more-than competent job of conveying the action and emotion present in the story. I appreciated the technique of using distinct and blurred outlines to show the difference between normal time and stopped time, particularly when the main character stood out distinctly from the rest of the city. It’s a technique that really grabs the eye, and seeing as how my eye isn’t usually grabbed unless the art is of real pin-up quality, it shows how effective it is.

Hated

-The Introductory Exposition – It’s perfectly understandable that a book, comic or otherwise, needs a degree of exposition to help the reader understand the characters and the story. But the absolute worst mistake a writer can make with exposition is to deprive it of character. If it has no emotion, drama or poetic license, it’s going to be dreadfully boring, and this book is a perfect example of that. I honestly can’t imagine how a bomb in London potentially killing millions of people could be as mundane as writer Dave West portrays it as. I had difficulty concentrating during these rambling text boxes, and I noticed that I only started enjoying the book when the exposition ended.

-The Main Character – As good as the basic concept is, it is by nature a character study. We are being brought into the world of a character who dedicates his life to saving the lives of millions of people. Someone should have told Dave West that, because his protagonist, Bobby Doyle, has the absolute bare minimum of personality. Faced with the possibility that his life is literally over, there was nothing to give me an understanding of the emotional weight that Bobby had to face. Neither do we see any real change in Bobby’s personality as he ages (you’d think forty-fifty years of solitude would do more than just cause him to grow a beard and talk to himself). It’s such a shame, because this concept has so many potential areas to explore. Is there any selfishness in Bobby’s heart? Any sign of a significant internal conflict? No, not really. The character’s description summarises him as just an ordinary boy who wants an ordinary life and an ordinary girlfriend and BOOOoooOOOoooRRRIIINNNGGG!!!! Bobby Doyle is not a character, he is an avatar. An image devoid of any lasting impression that brings the entire book down as a consequence.

In conclusion, Whatever Happened to the World’s Fastest Man is a book that fails to be anything more than an interesting idea. As a character study without a character, it lacks the substance that it desperately needs to engross me in the story. The entire experience of reading this book can be pretty much summarised in the blurb.