The Back Stack: January 31, 2012

Hey everyone.  I’m considering discontinuing the WWEekly Wrap-Up in its current form and, instead of doing match-by-match, segment-by-segment, I’ll only touch on stuff if its relevant to feelings.  Unlike a comic-by-comic rundown, going through TWO shows, sometimes three, maybe four or five, shows if I were to do NXT, Superstars, and the pay-per-view on the rightful months.  So, I’m going to experiment in upcoming weeks and see how it goes.

In the meantime, the Back Stack will remain the same.  Ten books to review this week.  Let’s get started.

Aquaman #5 continues the awesome run on arguably the best book of the New 52 Relaunch with honorable mentions going to Batman and Justice League International.  There are other good books too, but Aquaman has been the gold standard so far.  This one shows new villains arriving with old Atlantian technology and Aquaman being stuck in the middle of the desert chasing them down.  The next issue promises to expand on the supporting cast, particularly with his wife, Mera, which is a good thing and probably coming in at just the right time.  Aquaman is still a book you’ll love and arguably the most consistent of the New 52.

Verdict – Highly Recommended

Deadpool #49.1.  I don’t care too much about the whole “Marvel.1” initiative.  It’s supposedly meant to be a jumping-on point for comic readers, but I odn’t think there are enough wannabe comic readers out there to care about it, and these tend to not be that great in general… or I could just be critical.  Deadpool’s .1 though was decent.  Had some good chuckles here and there.  Not sure if this is a good introductory comic, but it does give you the nuances of the character.  However… I’m not sure if Deadpool is a character I’d recommend for first-time comic readers.

Verdict – Cautiously Recommended

Fantastic Four #602 is the Fantastic Four book I’m following primarily.  I did purchase FF #14, but I found that boring, so I may just stick with Fantastic Four until the two series’ converge later in the year and we’re back to just Fantastic Four, thankfully.  This side of the story has been pretty darn good so far with the return of the Human Torch, only older, due to being in the Negative Zone for so long.  Not sure where this is going to go in that regard, but the invading war happening here is showing the uniqueness of the Fantastic Four as a superhero team.  Best part?  Reed Richards isn’t acting like a total high-and-mighty jackass.  He’s acting like a scientist superhero.  And he’s not underscoring his wife, either.  There are good character moments and it’s the way a Fantastic Four comic should be.  Not recommended for first time readers, but more for comic fans looking for something new.

Verdict – Recommended

FF #14 continues to spiral into a bore… until the ending with Galactus and the god-like entities that were present for Infinity Gauntlet… at least I think they are, it’s never really clear.  They look different, but it’s clear that they’re something even Galactus has to reckon with.  I do not approve of making Franklin or Valaria Richards lead characters… at all… and the Future Foundation itself bores me, really.  Even Doctor Doom, the biggest regular baddie of them all, is horribly squandered here.  The only intriguing thing about this story is the title.  “All Hope Lies In Doom.”  I would drop the series, but I’ve only got one or two more issues before it and Fantastic Four converge.  So, for all of you, I wouldn’t bother with it.

Verdict – Pass

Green Lantern:  The New Guardians #5.  While Bleez returns to Atrocitis on the Red Lanterns’ home world, the other members of the different Corps. Investigate a collection of artificially made worlds.  We see the different personalities beginning to clash and the question of Larfleeze’s actual involvement begins to loom large, especially in light of his recent attack on the Guardians of the Universe.  Overall, these have been good issues and if you like the multiple lantern concept, this one is for you.

Verdict – Recommended

Justice League #5 was much better than previous issues have been.  It focuses primarily on Green Lantern and Batman, contrary to what the cover suggests, and their putting aside of egos and coming together to fight Darkseid, who has already wasted Superman and captured him.  As Batman goes to Darkseid’s planet to rescue him, getting more than he bargained for, he talks Hal Jordan to begin to embrace a team aspect, suggesting that he might end up becoming either the leader or second in command of this team under Batman, who shared his identity with him.  Good issue, good action, good character development… still far from great, though.

Verdict - Recommended

The Mighty Thor #10 begins the home stretch towards the hopeful end of the Taranus storyline.  Thor has regained Mjolnir and remembers being the Norse God of Thunder.  We also begin to see more contradictions as to Taranus as the God of Thunder instead of Tthor, namely his non-relationship with Sif.  The focus of the issue is Taranus’ battle with Heimdal, which basically is just Heimdal getting thrown around again to show that a villain is “fo serious, yo.”  I’m looking forward to seeing how this plays out.  The issue does suffer from being a little too text-heavy with inaugural exposition, just as Journey Into Mystery does, but it’s worth reading through.  What I’m more interested in reading about is Donald Blake and what his return to the series means.  Will he become Thor again?  What about him and Jane Foster?  Lots of questions and I’m interested in the answers.

Verdict – Recommended

Queen Sonja #26… somebody screwed up BIG TIME in the editing department.  In one scene, we get nude dancing girls.  Now, nudity isn’t anything new to the series, but everything that may be considered questionable is usually covered in shadows or the environment, most notoriously was when Red Sonja ever actually had sex in previous issues of this or the Red Sonja main series.  But here, we get women in the distance who are clearly topless and exposing nipples.  It may have been a distance thing, but seeing that was extremely surprising to me and I’m wondering if this was just the testing grounds for pushing the series into more NC-17 route.  The story itself is good with Sonja ascending into the role of Empress and an assassination attempt on her life at the ceremony.  It’s not bad, but not very action-oriented, which is good, because I’ve been worrying if the book was a bit too action-heavy.  The panel in question is small and some of you may not interpret nipples, but because it is what I’m interpreting, I can’t give this issue a full recommendation to everyone since the nudity alone doesn’t make it for everyone.  If you’re of age and are okay with one brief panel, by all means, go for it.

Verdict – Cautiously Recommended

Superman #5 was just okay.  We have Superman possessed by the villains he’s been facing since the relaunch and raising his own brand of hell on Metropolis, but perhaps more intriguing is hearing Lois call out for Clark with Superman overhearing it.  I know it wasn’t what the intention was, but I’m wondering if its going to be a teaser of Superman Lois Lane getting back together some time soon.  It’s still the best of the Superman books, but with Supergirl starting to pick up steam, that might change soon.  Still, this is the type of book Superman should have.  Good writing, good character, and some mighty nice artwork if I do say so myself.  Subplots seem to bog it down a little bit and interrupt pacing, but nothing significantly major to complain about.

Verdict - Recommended

Teen Titans #5, on the other hand, was a huge disappointment.  We finally get the team together and they get absolutely manhandled by Superboy.  While it’s likely that he’ll just end up joining them later, this is not how you want to see a new team come out of the gates.  While Wonder Girl, Solstice, and Red Robin looked good to different degrees, Kid Flash still looked impulsive (no pun intended), Bunker looked like he had no business being a hero, and Skitter was AWOL.  This looked more like an advertisement for the Superboy book.  Solstice did seem to break Superboy’s link to N.O.W.H.E.R.E., but this isn’t the way to hook fans and it seems like a story that’ll continue more in Superboy’s book.  Not good for Teen Titans, to say the least.

Verdict – Pass

And we end this blog with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #6.  I love being re-introduced to the Turtles and seeing what this book is trying to become, sort of a mix of the old comic and both cartoon shows, the second one more than the first, while also doing things their own unique way.  The brothers are showing more of their dynamics and how they'll play off of one another.  Casey Jones is back with his dad, but we’ve seen in previous issues that it’s probably a bad idea.  He does get to meet April O’Neil, predictably, in a mechanic that seems a little forced.  The Turtles themselves are introduced to whom Splinter believes are links to the Foot Clan and Baxter Stockman introduces Old Hob to the mousers.  Heh, mousers going after a mutated cat.  I don’t know, I just find that very funny.  Overall, good stuff and if you have any love for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, get this series.  This issue is a great place to start off if you’re looking to get into it.

Verdict – Recommended

There you have it.  A pretty darn good week last week and I’m looking forward to more of the same this week.  Weeks like this are why I’m glad to be a comic reader.  Lots of quality material that I can recommend to you guys with very few dark spots.  Even then, the only one I was sorry to pick up was FF.  But, I’m trying to make these things short, so I’ll end it here.

Cheers;

Graves

EDIT 2/1/12 @2:42 a.m. - Fixed the Turtles review.

WWE Royal Rumble 2012 Predictions

Hey everyone, don't mind me.  I had a few bad days this week, so no Grave Issues or WWEekly Wrap-Up.  Please don't ask.  I did, however, want to put my Royal Rumble predictions out there, so here we go.

My initial thoughts on tonight's Royal Rumble are that it's basically a two-match card with the WWE Championship match between champion CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler with, as Jim Ross puts him, the Funkhauser as the special guest referee.  Now, I hate matches with special guest referees, but more on that later.   The other match to watch is, of course, the Royal Rumble match, probably my favorite match of the entire year.  It's an hour long, so many names and colorful personalities enter, and somehow each one ends up having it's own unique personality unto itself.  My favorites remain the 1992 Royal Rumble, where Ric Flair won it all, and the 2004 Royal Rumble, where it had a West Side Story theme leading in and reflected it a bit with a Raw vs. SmackDown standoff at one point, followed by a gang beatdown of overly-over super heel Muhammad Hassan.

With that out of the way, let's get to predicting.  Again, I am picking winners under the assumption that there won't be any no contests or double disqualifications.  I must choose not with personal preference, but with whom I feel would drive story lines better, even if I feel the inevitable winner isn't the most talented in the ring.

World Heavyweight Championship Steel Cage Triple Threat Match (ain't that a mouthful?)
Champion Daniel Bryan vs. The Big Show vs. Mark Henry
Official Prediction:  Daniel Bryan to retain the World Heavyweight Championship

Now, it's clear to everyone that Daniel Bryan isn't winning a brawl with either of these two.  However, he is the crafty heel now, as much as I would have preferred ambiguity in his regard, and as such he'll likely make a swift and clever escape when the match nears it's end... or, he could actually physically be thrown THROUGH the cage and end up on the floor.  Heck, Big Show may punch out the door or a panel to the cage and Bryan escapes that way.  I don't see the title going back on Mark Henry so soon, especially after his lengthly reign, and I don't know if this is how they'd put the title back on Big Show, if they ever do.  Besides, this is a golden opportunity to turn Daniel Bryan into one of their biggest names and it'd be terrible to squander it... much like they did with Zack Ryder in recent weeks...

WWE Championship Match with special guest referee John Laurinaitis
Champion CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler
Official Prediction:  CM Punk to retain the WWE Championship

In our other world title match, we have the special guest referee match.  For the record, I absolutely HATE special guest referees.  They're... cheap drama, to be perfectly honest.  Typically, there is either always a good guy overcoming or a bad guy paying off the ref in some way.  One exception seems to be someone like Mick Foley whose integrity tends to make the idea of a guest ref pointless.

Anyway, I'm going with CM Punk because I think the WWE is more willing to trust him going towards WrestleMania as WWE Champion than they are Ziggler, even though I'd honestly let these two rematch AT WrestleMania.  We all know they could really use some extra oomph in the card lineup right now... seriously, Big Show vs. Shaq?  Undertaker vs. Triple H FOR A THIRD TIME?  You're not even trying anymore, are you, WWE?  Since there needs to be the belief that the Funkhauser has a chance to keep his job, I don't see him protesting too much when Punk goes for the win... or heck, Triple H may come out and become the ref himself.

John Cena vs. Kane
Official Prediction:  John Cena

As we approach WrestleMania and the main event made a year ago, we must ask ourselves... do we really care?  The Rock has been off the road for about seven-eight years now and John Cena's been in the main event scene of EVERY WrestleMania since WrestleMania XXI (21, if you wanna be technical).  We get the overexposed vs. the person who just shows up and is awarded a main event spot.  I'm not thrilled with the concept, nor have they really excited me with this in the past year.  But they won't jeopardize their main event picture by burying one of their competitors, unless this "embrace the hate" thing leads them to having Rock as a face and John Cena as a heel.  Besides, with WrestleMania being in Miami, that's likely going to be the scenario anyway... until they boo BOTH men because they find that the two can't work a good match together.  Anyway, as much as I like Kane and think he SHOULD  win so he can take back his top tier spot that he had before, the WWE isn't going to let John Cena kill what imaginary momentum they have going towards the grandest stage of them all.

The Royal Rumble Match
Official Prediction:  Chris Jericho

While you could make a strong case for Wade Barrett or Sheamus, though the Internet dirt sheets seem to be indicating that it'll be Randy Orton who wins, I think it became painfully obvious that another long-loved iconic name from the past will return from a year-plus hiatus and be rewarded for abandoning the industry with a main event spot.  This goes a long way to tell you how the company feels about their young up-and-coming talent.  Seriously, it's really sad, considering the likes of Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, and others have all participated for the whole flippin' year are getting the shaft for people like these.  So while I may not be looking forward to the inevitable outcome, I'm still looking forward to the Rumble match itself because, no matter who wins, it usually ends up being a lot of fun and a match I generally say I like to see every year.

If you're ordering the show, I hope you all enjoy it.  Still debating on whether or not I'll get it myself, but I probably will unless I talk myself out of.  Royal Rumble has been a staple of my fandom almost as much as Survivor Series has, but with only three matches in the undercard, I'm not overwhelmed.

Cheers;
Graves

The Back Stack: January 24, 2012

Greetings one and all and welcome back to The Back Stack.  Last week’s comics were generally very good, with a few choice exceptions.  There will be spoilers and I may be vague.  It was a very heavy week and I’ve decided to make a couple drops here and there to help myself out.  Since there are so many, let’s just get started.

Amazing Spider-Man #678 started a new arc in which Spider-Man receives a newspaper from the future and must prevent the destruction of New York City before a certain time during the day.  To add to the pressure, Spidey is told by the new Madame Web, Julia Carpenter, that he must go through his day just as he normally would have done.  It’s a generally fun issue, if not obscenely silly, but it ends on a decent cliffhanger.  I really think Dan Slott is the guy needed to carry Spider-Man forward post One More Day, for better or worse.  I still have an off relationship with this book because of One More Day (being someone who grew up with a MARIED Spider-Man, didn’t think of that one, did you Joe Quesada?), but it’s still good clean superhero fun.

Verdict – Recommended

Avengers #21… while Osborn’s war with the Avengers teams is a lot better handled here as opposed to New Avengers, it wasn’t as exciting an issue.  In this issue, I actually believed that Osborn’s new cabal of evil is a threat and could beat this team of Avengers.  Things were fairly dull, but the point got across.  One thing I distinctly didn’t like was the cover, which depicts Storm seemingly rising up to strike back at her assailants.  That didn’t happen.  I also didn’t like Spider-Woman’s attempts at weaseling out of danger by saying she was undercover for Hydra.  Granted, this may end up being true, but I don’t think so.  I did like the competency shown by The Protector that he was willing to call for help when Iron Man seemingly got compromised by Osborn’s tech, but I can’t tell if Iron Man was able to break free after taking Protector down, but knowing Osborn is going to want a new Iron Patriot armor, I’m saying it’s 50/50, unless I missed something.  So-so book, but it continues things well.

Verdict – Cautiously recommended

Avenging Spider-Man #3 was a complete disappointment.  Going into Avenging Spider-Man, the concept was team-ups with members of the Avengers and possibly other heroes.  In this first three-issue arc, Red Hulk got completely outshined by Spider-Man in virtually every way and the resolution was completely unsatisfying.  For as big of a threat that the usurper of Mole Man proved to be, a comedy resolution was truly disappointing.  I don’t think I’ll be going forward with this series from here.  I’ll pick it up again if there is a hero I’m interested in such as Spider-Girl, Gravity, Ms. Marvel, X-23, or others.  For now, no thanks.  Also, Marvel, why is your stinkin’ digital code only good for TWO DAYS following release?  What if you pick the book up on Saturday?  Then you’re screwed!  So, yeah, not the best book, but if you’re willing to take Spidey over any other hero, you might enjoy it, but it’s just not for me on a regular basis.

Verdict – Pass (personally dropping)

Batman #5 was a pretty darn good read, and a bit psychedelic.  As you experience Batman’s madness in traversing the Court of Owl’s catacombs under Gotham, the book turns on its side and even upside down.  It’s kind of a trip, actually, and ends appropriately.  For almost entirely focusing on Batman, it’s an engrossing read.  Batman has been one of the best books since the DC re-launch, but I’m still convinced that Aquaman has been the best.  Still, Batman isn’t a book you want to miss.

Verdict - Recommended

Blue Beetle #5 is a book I got into particularly because of Linkara’s video on the character Jaime Rayes.  I don’t think this book has quite captured what Blue Beetle once was, but I’m guessing things will become more leveled out as Jaime and the scarab understand one another.  I just hope this takes its happy turn sooner rather than later.

Verdict - Pass

Daredevil #8 is the second part of the “next great love triangle” between Daredevil, the Black Cat, and Spider-Man.  I absolutely love the Black Cat.  Some reasons are more obvious than others, but she’s always been a lot of fun to have around because when she gets serious, she gets serious in a good way.  Anyway, long story short, another great issue of Daredevil, Black Cat ends up in bed with Daredevil, and we learn she may betray him later on… which will probably end with her coming forward to him about it and these two having an actual relationship beyond the physical.  But the big cliffhanger?  Someone has stolen the corpse of Jack Murdock, Daredevil’s father.  More next issue and I definitely hope you’re buying.

Verdict - Recommended

Fear Itself:  The Fearless #7 is a continuation of Valkyrie’s quest to get the magic hammers of The Serpent back.  This issue focuses more on the battle between Wolverine and Crossbones, which proves to make for good superhero action.  It ends with Son of Satan supposedly betraying the heroes to join with Sin and the others, but I’m going to call another heroic double-cross here.  Son of the prince of lies, after all.  However, the only real reason I’m following it is because of the star of the book.  Marvel has a severely unrealized horde of female heroes that they could and should be using and Valkyrie is one of them.  If you weren’t a fan of Fear Itself and don’t care about woman superheroes, I can’t recommend this series.  Otherwise, if you’d like some good action and are willing to be in it for the long haul of the 12-issue maxiseries, I’d consider it.

Verdict – Cautiously recommended

Ghostbusters #5 continues the fun rebirth of the Ghostbusters.  You can really tell that these guys have a feel for who the Ghostbusters are and they nail the characters.  The scenarios have been fun and we even have a tribute to Extreme Ghostbusters, that considerably worse cartoon show following Real Ghostbusters, in the form of Kylie, who is working at Ray’s bookstore from the second movie, Ray’s Occult, and it’s got me hoping to see her put on the proton pack soon since she was generally a fun character.  The new situation shows the Ghostbusters jumping through Walter Peck’s loopholes and being sent upstate to take care of an amusement park being taken over by a swarm of seemingly hivemind ghosts that have encased it, much like the river of slime from said second movie, only sentient.  This book has been a lot of fun and this is a perfect jumping on point.

Verdict – Highly recommended

Green Lantern Corps #5 is another good book, but not great.  It’s a series that’s good enough to keep me interested, but hard for me to recommend otherwise.  The idea of them fighting a group of Lantern Keepers that can fight off the Corps’ green energy is very intriguing, but it looks like we’re heading for a bit of a dumb ending with Guy Gardner calling in a group of expert Green Lanterns.  Good book, not great, definitely the weakest of the three Green Lantern books… but still much better than Red Lanterns.

Verdict – Cautiously recommended

Invincible Iron Man #512… I’m half-tempted to drop this book.  Good premise with the Mandarin taking advantage of Iron Man’s getting drunk when faced with the onslaught of the Serpent from Fear Itself.  However, I can’t help but feel things have been incredibly dull since and I’m looking for my books to be entertaining without compromise.  I also feel we’re glossing over character potential with Iron Man and that his new secretary’s getting pimped too much at the expense of Pepper Potts, who went under incredible character development while Stark was being chased down by Norman Osborn prior to the Siege.  I don’t know.  Things are hitting the wrong notes with me, but I’ll give it a fair chance.

Verdict - Pass

Red Sonja #62.  The Red Sonja books are something I have a very questionable relationship with.  On one hand, I love the world of medieval wizards and warriors lore.  I wouldn’t call it a mythologically based book since she’s not typically fighting monsters and myths, but they do come around from time to time to keep things interesting.  On the other hand, she dresses in a chain mail bikini and expects to be taken seriously.  But, still… Red Sonja is a badass hero by the very definition.  She doesn’t always have to be bludgeoning and beheading in order to get her point across.  She’s compassionate too.  Plus, she doesn’t always make the best decisions.  This issue shows us her surrendering herself to an Egyptian pharaoh so her comrades can live and she can get closer to the source of the problems of this story arc.  I won’t give too much away, but if you can get past your hero looking more like she’d be at home on the cover of Maxim, I say check it out.

Verdict - Recommended

Red Sonja Raven doubled my Sonja fun by pitting Red Sonja against someone also blessed by the same goddess who blessed her after her trials in her beginnings, a woman named Raven.  Raven starts off by having soundly defeated Red Sonja in battle.  And, no, this doesn’t mean the two end up having lesbian sex (it’s one of the sillier aspects of Red Sonja, long story).  Instead, it shows Sonja in a decidedly non-combative situation, particularly when she is talking with a servant girl who is tending to her.  This shows the dynamics of Sonja’s character and if you’re going to pick one issue this week to see if she’s someone you’d be interested in, I’d pick this over Red Sonja #62.  This one gives you a complete extended story.  Yes, it’s more expensive than the other, but I think this one is the more satisfying read.

Verdict - Recommended

Sonic Universe #36… I’ve made it no mystery that I dislike Ian Flynn’s run on Sonic the Hedgehog.  What starts off with a good storyline typically ends in dull, drab, here comes the hero and all is well nonsense.  This arc in Sonic Universe focusing on the cast of Sonic Riders as part of the Bird Battalion has been handled by Tracey Yardley… a.k.a. Ian Flynn Light.  I’ll give her credit that she can at least make the ending fun, even if it is more of the same, but I think her biggest weakness is that she has no concept of character hierarchy.  In the last issue, she made the Bird Battalion responsible for most of the destruction of New Mobotropolis instead of Robotnik (as it was shown) in the main series, the new big bad Ixas Naugus getting sucker-punched and trumped by the Bird Battalion captain, and Bunnie, having just gone through an emotional realization that she’s not robotic anymore and realizing she could be of use (as quick and contrived as the subplot was), being CARRIED off by ANTOINE.  Are you freakin’ kidding me?!  Ian Flynn’s and Tracey Yardley’s run on Sonic has been an absolute insult to the long time fans.  They’ve reconstructed the status quo and not for the better in my book.  As big of an issue fans had with Ken Penders and Karl Bollers, at least they knew how to keep things focused and coherent.

My biggest issues with Sonic Universe are when they have a sub-story to the main story like this.  When it’s being it’s own unique story outside of what’s happening in the books, its quality varies.  When stuff like this happens, it’s a disaster and just unenjoyable.  Well, okay, this issue wasn’t bad.  It was a solid ending, but it left so many loose ends.  If they wanted to push the Bird Battalion, fine, but this was not the way to do it.  They still seem incompetent and we didn’t need to see them again so soon after Tails’ arc in Sonic Universe.  While Yardley’s not nearly as bad as Flynn, it’s really a case of pick your poison.

Verdict - Pass

Supergirl #5 was a significant step up from previous issues that seemed to drag on without answer.  We get a new villain who proves to be Supergirl’s superior and we learn of more of them being out there.  We get good emotion and a good start to the new story arc.  I just hope we can get Supergirl back down to earth (figuratively and literally), but that may be me missing the old DC talking.

Verdict – Recommended

Thunderbolts #169.  I was prepared to drop this book until I saw this one went back to the era of King Arthur.  Since it’s something I’ve wanted to get into, I gave this issue a chance.  Kind of glad I did because it was a generally enjoyable issue with decent hero bits.  I wish this series would get back to the main era and just start being a fun book with supervillains again and end this time travel nonsense that happened at the end of the Fear Itself tie ins.  Good issue, not great, but I’m willing to check out the next one.

Verdict - Recommended

And finally, there is Uncanny X-Men #5.  I’m loving the X-Men.  I did drop a few X-titles such as Astonishing X-Men, X-Men Legacy, and Uncanny X-Force (reluctantly on the latter), mostly because of cost concerns, but the ones I kept have been great and I think this one has been the best post-Schism.  They replaced Emma Frost with Psylocke temporarily after the fallout of the Mister Sinister arc (although I hope she’s sticking around even afterwards) and the new issues seem to be remnants of the fallout from the Dark Angel Saga and it seems as though that Psylocke’s time with X-force could come back to bite her.  We get some good moments including banter between Cyclops and Storm that emphasizes that Cyclops isn’t just some jackass but a leader who is thinking long term and Storm as his number two can actually bring him more levity than Emma Frost, his current lover.  Other good moments include Magik getting Colossus to keep in touch with his emotions following his union with the Juggernaut power and the tease conversation between Cyclops and Captain America that’ll lead up to Avengers vs. X-Men.  This is an absolutely enjoyable series and if you’re looking for a darker side of X-Men that’ll contrast to the lighter side that Wolverine and the X-Men is about and not a full-on violence-fest, this and X-Men are the books you want.

Verdict – Recommended

And so ends another week and what a heavy week it was.  It looks like a shorter pull this week so that’ll give me more time to get into a rhythm for my other two shows.  Just an update, the first Grave Issues will be Thursday/Friday and the next WWEekly Wrap-Up will be this Saturday/Sunday and it will include the ever-tricky Royal Rumble picks.  Until next time!

Cheers;

Graveheart

The Back Stack: January 18, 2012

Hello everyone!  Happy 2012!  I hope all is well for you.  I’m fine myself, if not a might busy, which explains my absence.  I’m a bit rushed, but I wanted to get out another Back Stack before the comic shops open tomorrow so you know what books from the previous week you might like to consider picking up.  I have dropped a lot of my old books for one reason or another, so these will be much shorter as well.  Incidentally, a shipping error meant I didn’t get Amazing Spider-Man #677, which featured the return of the Black Cat in a crossover with Daredevil, but I hope to rectify that error tomorrow.

Also, my first Grave Issues will be a Grave 13 (top 13 countdown) will cover 13 things that need to change about the WWE.  I was going to make it 13 comics I want to see make a comeback, but that one was considerably harder to fill out without cheating a lot.  Not to say I won’t do that eventually, though.

For now, let’s get to it…

Batman and Robin #5 was… okay.  I still like the dynamic of Batman trying to be a good father and not really getting it, Robin being his usual prick self about the whole thing, and Alfred hoping to do his best however he can to keep them together, but this issue begins to show some potential weakness.  Namely, I find Robin to be extremely one-note and boring as a character, not to mention a little bit of a dumbass in regards to certain matters.  One saving grace was Batman’s inner monologging about not being a good father in his mind.  Still, this one seemed to drag on at times.  Still good, but this wouldn’t be a good issue if you just want to get into it.

Verdict:  Cautiously recommended

Captain America #7.  This one had some good moments in it and it continues the mystery of why Cap is reverting back to his pre-Super Soldier form, being frail and vulnerable.  Good action scenes, decent cliffhanger, good character bits, especially from Sharon Carter, all in all a solid read.

Verdict:  Recommended

Deadpool #49 ended, supposedly, the Evil Deadool saga.  I think it was pretty anti-climatic, personally, but it was much better than the Deadpool in an Insane Asylum arc, and certainly much better than it’s horrid conclusion, but Ii still think that Deadpool just hasn’t been quite as funny as it was for so long before it.  Not its worst work, but there is much better.  Since this ended the current arc, consider the next one for a jumping on point.

Verdict:  Pass

Demon Knights #5 continues to perplex me.  It started off incredibly solid, but the last issue was kind of slow and just blah, and this one was more of the same.  We do get to see a traitor in the group, but really, nothing terribly much happens.  We get our explanation why Etrigan’s alter ego, Jason, allows his lover to be lovey dovey with Etrigan… and it doesn’t paint a good picture about either of them.  There was plot development, but it came across as more dull to me than anything else.  Still, I want this book to work out because in the times that it was good, it was damn good.  But right now, it’s not quite where it was in the first few issues.

Verdict:  Pass

Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #5, on the other hand, was very good.  In this issue, Frankie takes on O.M.A.C. and I couldn’t be happier to have seen that Liefeld-creation wannabe get smacked around a bit.  Although, to be honest, it seems a little early for a lot of these books to be doing crossovers.  We also get some hints that Frankenstein will be getting involved in some kind of relationship with Dr. Nina Mazursky, but I may be reading too much into it.  We also see some decent between Frankenstein and Father, which could become interesting down the line.  For a one and done story, it was better than most.

Verdict:  Recommended

Green Lantern #5 confirms what we’ve all been suspecting for ages.  The Guardians of the Universe are completely evil and will be the villains of the next mega-event crossover.  It’s all beginning to take shape here as now, Hal Jordan is out of the picture as a Lantern and the Guardians begin to make their move.  Sinestro is still a Green Lantern, which is something I think will either lead to him being the new overlord of the Green Lanterns or an elaborate plan of him on behalf of the Sinestro Corps.  Then again, we still have Green Lantern: The New Guardians around, suggesting that they may become the new Guardians of the Galaxy… which I’d like.  A representative of all seven Corps.  That is something I could get behind… but seeing Larfleeze in any kind of authoritative role just begs for disaster.  The ending of this book between Hal and Carol was sweet… but the jury is out on just how long this actually lasts.

Verdict:  Recommended

Incredible Hulk #4… I want to like this book.  I really do.  Greg Pak’s run on the last volume of The Incredible Hulk made me fall in love with the character and his mythos.  The war between man and monster, the war between misunderstood outcast and the rest of the world, Pak wrote it in a beautiful way.  However, this one completely eradicates the subtlety, undoes a lot of the work that went into the end of Greg Pak’s run, and bastardizes themes in the sake of literal interpretation.  While I do like the idea of Hulk and Banner waging war with one another, this one… just isn’t that fun.  I want to see where this goes and the fandom for The Hulk I built up during Pak’s run wants me to give this a chance.  I don’t like the way Banner just suddenly and quickly went nutzoid and ostracized his wife… and I’m even less of a fan that we got another Doom walking around, albeit she has no relation to Doctor Doom (seriously, can’t anyone else think up different last names anymore?).  I like to think that this split between Banner and Hulk isn’t permanent because neither character works without the other.  I’ll keep reading, but I’m not convinced it’s for anyone but honest Hulk fans.

Verdict:  Pass

Journey into Mystery #633 was a lot of fun… but not a lot of it is worth mentioning.  Not that it’s bad, but it just wasn’t entirely memorable.  It’s the start of a new ark that involves the Son of Satan hunting down Loki, but between the two, I think Thor is the better of the Asgard mythos books.  My biggest problem with the book, though, is that its impossibly wordy.  I like reading, but sometimes I think the exposition really slows down the book.  If this doesn’t bother you, I’d check it out.

Verdict:  Recommended

Mega Man #9 continues to remind me why I absolutely HATE Ian Flynn.  The man is absolutely married to the video games his comics are based off of, the hero is as close to an invincible Mary Sue that you can possibly get, the villains aren’t threatening, the story starts promising but quickly deteriorates, and it just generally becomes uninteresting.  We’re starting the Mega Man 2 arc, which is fine… but while he gets his clock cleaned by Quick Man, Mega Man is nearly effortless against Wood man and Bubble Man.  What bothers me more is that the Leaf Shield is used against Bubble Man.  The Leaf Blade ISN’T a weakness of Bubble Man!  Either Metal Blades, the Quick Boomerangs, or the Crash Bombs are!  Didn’t Flynn even PLAY Mega Man 2?  It’s like he just wanted these two out of the way for the sake of getting them out of the way.  While I do like the idea of Mega Man doubting his mission, leading to his potential abandoning of Dr. Light… I don’t think Flynn is smart enough to go through with an idea like that to lead up to the Mega Man 3 arc.  Then again, do we even WANT Ian Flynn working on more of… anything?

Verdict:  Pass

New Avengers #20.  We get our first taste the New Dark Avengers and… I’m not really impressed with them as villains.  At all.  Yeah, they have some neat tricks, but they’re really something that should be easily taken care of.  While it does leave a good mystery as to why Norman Osborn was suddenly superhuman, it did lead to a question… why did Wolverine put so much stock into Luke Cage being there?  The remainder of the team included Wolverine, Iron Fist, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Ms. Marvel, Daredevil, a superpowered Mockingbird, and The Thing.  If they were worried about numbers, fine, but Ii actually think the New Avengers outnumbered the New Dark Avengers from the get go… initially.  If they mean a leadership role, you still had Ms. Marvel, who is second in command of the team.  My minor gripes aside, it wasn’t a bad issue and, alluding to my “initially” from earlier, it ends with the revelation of another member:  Ragnarok, the brainless robotic clone of Thor.  Certainly imposing, but not very impressive, if I’m being honest, especially since Hercules took him down essentially single-handedly and we have at least three people on this team who can do what Hercules did in Civil War (Cage, Thing, and Ms. Marvel).  A good book, but I honestly think the coming out party of the New Dark Avengers was a bit lackluster.

Verdict:  Cautiously recommended

We end with Wolverine and the X-Men #4.  This was another good issue of the series and added some new faces to the cast.  Genesis, the child of Apocalypse who is feared to become said mutant one day, and Angel, recently defunct member of the X-Force and now supposed actual Angel.  There are some funny bits with the faculty in regards to Kid Gladiator and a scene where Deathlok analyzes the students with the best one being from his analysis of Kid Omega and Broodling.

Deathlok:  “Quentin Quire.  38.9% chance you are expelled within the year.  67.3% chance you first burn this entire school to the ground.”

Quire:  “Sounds about right to me.”

Deathlok:  “Broodling, Son of Brood.  22.3% chance that in the next three years you will discover a cure for cancer.  34.7% chance that during that same time, you will murder and consume at least four of your classmates.”

Broodling:  “Well that is rather… fascinating.”

This book has been pretty fun and a nice counterpart to the more seriously toned Uncanny X-Men.  This ends with a cliffhanger that’ll probably not amount to much, but it’s still a fun ending.

Verdict:  Recommended

So, that’s all from me for this week.  Check in Thursday for my first Grave Issues, followed by the return of the WWEekly Wrap-Up on Saturday.

Cheers;

Graves