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Also, while I DO read a lot of DC, I’m primarily a Marvel guy, even more so with the shift of the New 52. While the DC re-launch HAS made me a fan of Batman, seeing him be a more compassionate and caring superhero, it’s sadly soured me on Wonder Woman and partially soured me on Superman (at least in Action Comics… the only thing bugging me about present-day Supes is that stupid “armor” he’s wearing. Comic companies, NEVER LET JIM LEE RE-DESIGN ICONIC HEROES AGAIN!).
That said, let’s begin. A note, though. There WILL be spoilers where I see fit, which goes against my “two-year rule,” in which I won’t publically talk about spoilers with anyone without asking them first or unless it’s been two years passed since the subject in question. Also, for this week, I wasn’t able to buy everything I normally pick up (and I pick up a lot, mind you) nor have I been able to read everything I did pick up because I had a little game called The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword to buy this week. And yes, the Zelda retrospective reviews are coming… they just won’t be every other day like I mentioned. Life and all.
Okay, let’s start.
The Amazing Spider-Man #674 was… meh. It’s the first issue off of the very fun Spider-Island event comic in the Spidey Universe and it really disappoints. We get the return of The Vulture, which was good. It seems like he’s going to have a new air about him which I applaud since some of Marvel’s lower villains, particularly Spidey’s Rogues Gallery, seem to be relegated to jokes. I remember in the prelude to Spider-Island, Firestar, Gravity, and the insanely awesome Spider-Girl, members of the sadly unapriciated Young Allies, were getting overwhelmed by Hydro-Man. What happens? One page later, Spidey swings by, throws an ice capsule at him, and saves the day interesting. Not only is that NOT how you show a hero being a strong superhero, it’s not how you treat newer or sparingly-used superheroes who you want to push to the public, and it’s not how you handle a villain whose been a tough opponent for Spidey before.
Anyway, the other problem with this issue was that, once again, the city is turning on Spider-Man. Spidey gets seen with a dead body and the police open fire… this on the heels of Spider-Man saving everybody from the effects of Spider-Island. Yeah, we get a celebratory rave of some Spidey fans, including Mary Jane who recently confessed her love for him again (albeit under her breath), but I swear, New York City in the Spider-Man Universe is so bi-polar towards him it isn’t even funny anymore.
Verdict – Pass
Avengers #19… another meh book. This one, however, didn’t feel as weird. There were some humorous bits of newscasters pimping or trying to demonize Captain America forming a new Avengers team in the wake of the Fear Itself event (which I have mixed opinions on, but we’ll get to that later). Spoiler alert, the cover. It will spoil most of the new team for you. There is one red herring on the cover, but I expect that individual to join later. I am glad to see Ms. Marvel on the main Avengers team for no other reason then to see one of Marvel’s best female characters getting more spotlight time. I’m sorry, but I don’t consider Spider-Woman one of Marvel’s best female characters. Rogue? Yes. Storm? Definitely. Spider-Girl? Absolutely. Spider-Woman? Eh… This one wasn’t bad and we get a neat cliffhanger at the end, as well as an interesting mystery. While it isn’t that much better than Spider-Man was, it does give you a solid story with elements that make you interested in the next few issues. I still prefer New Avengers over this Avengers title, but this one can be good too.
Verdict – Recommended
Avengers Academy #22 continues to be one of Marvel’s best titles and a personal favorite of mine. In the wake of last issue’s apparent death of Jocasta, Magneto has been brought in and, naturally, the students of Avengers Academy are freaking out over it. I won’t go too much into it but we get some good bits here. I think Finesse steals the show with this one, coming to Quicksilver’s defense when he’s confronted by his father in a genuine display of emotion, something she’s not done a lot as a part of her character… then again, a couple issues ago she made out with Reptil before they were preparing for their own deaths in the Fear Itself tie-ins. Strong book, fun bits, still love it.
Verdict – Highly Recommended
Deadpool #46 continues a VERY funny arc where Deadpool fights an evil version of himself made up of pieces of him that have bonded together. Not a lot to go into, but it is entirely enjoyable, especially after the mess that was the last story arc. By the way, in the last issue, Evil Deadpool threw some jackass out of plane in mid-air while he was on fire. That got me gut-bustingly laughing, but something else stuck out at me about that. The preview section of the issue advertised “Flying on Fire Man #1” which ripped a panel from that same issue as the cover art. If that comic actually came out, I would SO buy it just for the laugh.
Verdict – Recommended
Next up is the merciful end of Fear Itself with Fear Itself #7.3. Yes, I know that there is still The Fearless, which I didn’t pick up this week because of money constraints, but this is the last one in what is supposedly the main story. This one focuses on Iron Man having a meeting with the supposedly late Thor’s father, Odin. This one I expected more out of only because it seems that Iron Man had really been stroking his man of science-ness when the subject of God or gods came up. But, no, it’s fairly clean cut. The issue ends with its third straight “take back” of the 7.whatever issues. In #7.1, Bucky didn’t really die. In #7.2, Thor is seen opening his eyes in wherever he was. In this issue, the genocide of Paris at the hands of the super powered Grey Gargoyle was undone. This one is still the best of the three issues… but that’s not saying much. We do get a bit that I hope gets expanded upon with the Grey Gargoyle in a containment chamber. He apparently begins to pray in the wake of what he did during the events of Fear Itself. I’m kind of hoping this gets expanded upon. A villain’s remorse at the wake of what he did when he was more or less turned into a demonic berserker. Sadly, it’s not enough to tell you that you should pick it up and it’ll probably be collected with the initial hardcover and possibly trade paperback. Especially since the revival of Paris really does feel like a cop-out. That’s what these 7.whatever issues have been.
Verdict – Pass
Ghostbusters #4 continues the team’s comeback. I’m not sure if the events of the recent video game are entirely cannon with this comic, but I’m not going to assume that they are, especially with rumors of Ghostbusters 3 being in the works. The book deals with Ray and his premonitions of the return of Zuul. Other ghostly activity begins to grip New York and it ends with the prophecy showing the death of the Ghostbusters. It’s a fun book that in my opinion nails the personalities of all the characters involved. If you’re a fan of the Ghostbusters movies, I say you should give this a shot. If you don’t know who the Ghostbusters are, this series doesn’t really leave you in the dark on too many things… but I highly suggest watching at least the first movie just to know some of the homages and details more thoroughly.
Verdict - Recommended
Green Lantern Corps #3 was good… and there isn’t much else to say about it. The battle against the enemies in this issue, who can also seemingly control the green energy of willpower, leads to a rescue attempt going bad. There’s not much else to say about it. It’s got some good character moments and it makes you wanna see what happens in the next issue.
Verdict – Recommended
The Incredible Hulk #2… I think I’m abraisive towards this comic simply because I absolutely loved Greg Pak’s run on the book. It turned The Incredible Hulk into one of my absolute favorite characters and I was so disappointed to see it go… not to mention to see ANOTHER series get a stupid re-numbering. Seriously, comic writers, re-numberings DO NOT HELP! And they’re damn sure not going to change the stigma that has been established for comics that you’ve buried yourself in by making events of the past a “must read to understand” situation. That ranting aside, this was decent. We still don’t know exactly how The Incredible Hulk and Bruce Banner got separated, but it seems that Banner is the one who isn’t happy with it. He can’t reconcile with his wife, the Red She-Hulk, and he’s obsessively trying to re-create the moment he became The Incredible Hulk and has had varied success… just not with himself. There wasn’t anything in terms of action here, but we get some good story development. I still recommend it, just not if you’re looking for a lot of Hulk smashing this month.
Verdict – Recommended
Justice League #3 continues the made for trade origin story of the new Justice League. Wonder Woman shows up here and is a bit thoughtless as to the world around her as she openly hunts for harpies in Washington DC. There is a cute moment between her and a little girl with ice cream though. Also, we see Victor Stone begin to become Cyborg, which I’m guessing will be completed next issue. This was a very action-centric book so there isn’t much to go on, other than groaning at Green Lantern calling “dibs” on Wonder Woman. I’m just not sold on this yet, but am willing to see this origin story out.
Verdict - Recommended
Now it’s time to talk about Wonder Woman #3… I’m not happy with this book in general. I think I went through a lot of denial these first few issues with Wonder Woman’s characterization. This issue was a grim reality for me… Brian Azzarello is the absolute wrong person to be writing Wonder Woman, let alone redefining the character. Wonder Woman was once the compassionate, heroic, peace-loving spirit of truth in the DC Universe. This Wonder Woman is a battle-happy, over-aggressive, anti-hero-like, generic demi-god. Yes, folks, Wonder Woman is no longer born from clay and blessed by the Greek pantheon and is now simply Zeus’s daughter. That stupidity aside, the Amazons and the Greek gods themselves leave so much to be desired. Since I’m going to go on a long-winded rant for the good with our next comic, I’m going to save you guys the headache here. Your must watch video is Linkara’s Amazons Attack prologue video. Compare the original history and characterization of Wonder Woman and the Amazons to this one and you’ll understand just what’s gone wrong here.
But the retcon isn’t the biggest fault with this book and, in fact, this series. It’s just about everything else. Wonder Woman has acted unheroic, the Amazons are just plain baffling at times, and it’s just not a fun book. Since the first trade and hardcover is six issues long, I’m willing to see where this goes and hope this was just another made for trade story. However, I’m not going to give this series much more of a break because I can see this getting even stupider.
Verdict - Pass
X-Men #21 continues a hopeful revival of the series. Before, they were one-off X-Men adventures that were either good or just downright stupid. They also had a habit of crossing over with other heroes a lot. One thing I don’t like about this series is the title. We have a book out right now called X-Men Legacy which stars Rogue. Fine, but it used to be called X-Men too. I really don’t know why they changed the name of X-Men to X-Men Legacy and came out with this. How are we supposed to figure chronicle numberings? Same with Captain America & Bucky and Captain America. Stuff like this is just downright stupid.
What isn’t stupid, however, is the setup for this book. The X-Men have learned of foreign powers getting their hands on Sentinels and they send a task force to put an end to it. The team consists of Storm, Colossus, Domino, Warpath, Psylocke, and Jubilee. Yes, Jubilee. For those who don’t know, Jubilee was depowered after the events of House of M and eventually re-powered… with vampire powers from the beginning of this series. It’s weird, yes, but now hopefully we won’t get any more jokes about her power being “razzle dazzle.” That was always Dazzler’s M.O. Besides, I always liked Jubilee. She was my main on X-Men Legends… but that was also for the sheer fun of seeing her punch-out some of the big bads she has no business competing with.
Anyway, the book is already shaping up to be a lot better than it had been before. The X-Men had grown to such large sizes that we really do need books like this to give them all their spotlight time. I mean, let’s face it, we haven’t had an X-Men writer as talented as the former creative team of Justice Society of America (before their own stupid split) that can balance 20-some superheroes in one issue. This is a nice alternative, though. The X-Men books have always been favorites of mine and this one is shaping up to be a treat with three of my favorite X-Men (Storm, Psylocke, and Jubilee) in the mix. If I have one downside to say about this team is that there’s not a lot of personality to this team. Unless Jubilee’s suddenly going to start being like she was back before she was a vampire and Colossus regains his personality, this one could get real dull.
Also, I need to echo Linkara’s thoughts as to superhero teams. I like my teams bright and colorful too. This team is NOT bright and colorful… at least not as much as I’d like. Yeah, we got Psylocke’s purplish blue, Jubilee has her bright yellow trenchcoat that’s just perfect for sneaking around, and Colossus has his red and yellow ensamble. However, black is the dominate color with this team. Besides Colossus and Psylocke (though with her it can be tough to tell sometimes), everyone has predominately black. Domino is wearing all black, Warpath is wearing black with red trim, Storm is wearing black with gold trim, and Jubilee is wearing all black under her yellow coat. This may be the Power Rangers fan in me talking, but what’s wrong with each individual having their own dominate color scheme?
That gripe aside, this book is a lot of fun two issues into the new era. There’s a good twist with the Sentinel project at the end that really makes the situation feel that much more grim and the characters are generally enjoyable. The only exception is Warpath, who doesn’t exhibit much personality at all, and Domino, who doesn’t exhibit much of anything under suspicion of being dead. Good book, just hope for some more personality.
Verdict – Recommended
Finally, there’s the last book I want to talk about today. X-23 #17. Yes, I’ve recently heard that this, along with another book I like, Herc, is being cancelled along with Iron Man 2.0 (which I didn’t like so much, in spite of me giving it every opportunity to win me over). This is a huge disappointment for me. Some people look at X-23 and see her as just “Wolverine with boobs,” but I see her as her own character on her own merits. A tortured woman who keeps herself distant from the world and who has never known what it’s like to truly be loved by the people around her. Yes, she had a boyfriend at one point, apparently, but I didn’t read much about her until her Women of Marvel one-shot, so I hope you’ll forgive me. Still, this run has been good and this issue was a lot of fun. Laura is babysitting Reed and Sue Richards’s children and all hell breaks loose. I think we could have gotten some more comical bits, considering the set-up, but X-23 has rarely been a book focused on humor. It’s been pretty dramatic at times. I’ve really enjoyed this series. As this seems to be the start of its final arc, I hope anyone who’s been intrigued will give it a shot on its final few issues.
Verdict – Recommended
As I’m still recovering from Skyward Sword, I may or may not pick up my entire pull this week either. I will pick up what I saved from last week though as, well, it’s my shop’s policy to not keep books in the pull boxes for more than a month and I don’t wanna lose track. Next week is a big reprieve week for me, so I’ll definitely be able to catch up then. I don’t know if I’ll cover those leftover books on next week’s back stack yet, though, because these things can get pretty long on certain weeks and, as a personal preference, I don’t like long blog posts. Heck, my first WWEekly Wrap-Up was over 11 pages in its initial draft before I reformatted it for the blog. Still, I’m finding my blogger legs and I hope you’re all willing to stick with me for this ride.
This has been The Back Stack and… I’ll work on the closing statements. ^_^;
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