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Welcome back, Grave Diggers. We have a huge week, so let us get this show on the road! As always, spoiler alert!
Amazing Spider-Man #682 began the big epic that we’ve all been waiting on since Doctor Octopus began embarrassing and one-upping the great minds of the Marvel Universe including Iron Man and Mister Fantastic and, honestly, it’s damn impressive. Doctor Octopus really stepped his game up and created a threat that certainly has to be among one of the better in recent memory. His threat is that he’ll burn the world asunder unless the planet acknowledges his greatness for all time as the savior of the planet, and in doing so, he’ll use the very technology he’s using to threaten the world with to maintain it indefinitely. He’s more or less blackmailing the planet, but honestly, for simple acknowledgement, I’d go for it if it means keeping the planet in order… then again, this is Doctor Octopus we’re talking about, so it’s safe to say there is more to it than that. It looks like Spidey is going to bring in the Avengers to help out with this one (as the Fantastic Four and X-Men are both conveniently away at this time… all of them? Seriously?). Nonetheless, we also continue subplots with J. Jonah Jameson going after Horizon Labs for what almost happened to his son, as well as a little bit of Peter and MJ. And honestly, I just like the name of this arc. “The Ends of the Earth.” I really hope this one ends up as good as I expect it to be.
Verdict – Highly Recommended
Avengers: X-Sanction #4 brought to a close a decently-sized and generally pretty good four-part mini-series. There isn’t a whole lot to say, really, other than there is some animosity between the Avengers and X-Men, which sets up the upcoming mega event for Marvel this year. We get some good action and nobody dies in this one, which is a really nice change of pace from most events, even the smallest. I enjoyed this ride entirely and if I find a decently priced trade, I’d definitely consider picking it up. I won’t call it the best, but it was definitely an entertaining read throughout four issues.
Verdict – Highly Recommended
Batman #7. Hot damn are we on a hot streak to begin off this Back Stack. Spoiler alert, I’m giving this one another Highly Recommended. Fact is, Batman, for as emotionless and detached as the character portrays himself as, is one of the most engrossing books on the shelf. While this one was drastically light on action, this one was more about Batman and Nightwing and the connection between the Court of Owls and Hayley's Circus, where Nightwing is hanging out nowadays. It’s some pretty interesting stuff, seeing how Batman is rationalizing that the Court of Owls is bringing the dead back to life. It makes me wonder if we’ll see Batman have to fight his reanimated Great Grandfather or someone along that line, especially considering the identity of the first Talon he faced. Quite the interesting villain. One concern I have about them, though, is their shelf life after this arc wraps up. I dunno. Maybe I’m just enjoying them too much as a nemesis to Batman and that I WOULD like to see more of them. The next issue has a real good tease and I genuinely cannot wait for the next issue.
Verdict – Highly Recommended
Deadpool #52 continues an apparent step up from recent issues with added humor and storytelling, which is a good thing. Better yet, it’s not just Deadpool we’re getting humor out of. Bob the Hydra and even Kingpin get some comedic moments too. The ending twist sets up the climax of this arc and… I’m sorry, I get the feeling that the one that follows this one, if it truly ends with Deadpool’s death, is going to be HILARIOUS! Can you imagine Deadpool riding the River Styx trying to woo Death the entire way? I get the feeling we’re going to see Thanos again in that arc too… if it goes where it goes. Deadpool is definitely on the upward trend and thoughts of potentially dropping the book are fading fast.
Verdict – Recommended
Fear Itself: The Fearless #11, on the other hand, has really been letting me down. We get some good action, but I still can’t help but feel that all this build-up, ten issues worth, just isn’t living up to anything. The Serpent’s Destroyer is powerful and a definite threat, but considering we only have one issue left, which is going to need resolution at the end, leaves me thinking that whatever happens will feel rushed and unsatisfying. If the Serpent’s Destroyer showed up earlier, it would have probably helped the prospect, but right now, I am not looking forward to what lies ahead. I could be wrong, though. Like I said, though. This series hasn’t been bad, but it’s just been so slow, and now I fear it’s going to get rushed at the end.
Verdict – Pass
Ghostbusters #7, on the OTHER other hand, continues to be an excellent series stemming from the movie series. We get some damn-near perfect characterization and good moments between the four heroes, a villain who you genuinely believe is a force to be reckoned with, and well-written dialogue that sells you that these are, indeed, the Ghostbusters. There isn’t a whole LOT to say about this issue, other than it resolves the terror in the Cony Island ghost problems and next issue will likely be a one-shot. One disappointment? Nothing from Kylie, whom had been a nice nod to old fandoms. But nothing major, really. One thing I will say is that Peter Veinkman is VERY well portrayed here. That’s all I’m going to say. Read it for yourself. Then again, you SHOULD be reading this.
Verdict –Recommended
Green Lantern Corps #7. This focused primarily on John Stewart and his murder of a fellow lantern, not to mention bringing his body to his home planet where we see just how bad this affects them. It’s nice to see, but we don’t see any repercussions or confessions from John about this, which I think is a major cop out, no pun intended. He killed a fellow officer. And he got away with it. Granted, I wouldn’t want the Guardians of the Galaxy being the ones punishing him either, but, eh, it wasn’t a satisfying conclusion for this. The bits with Guy Gardner telling off the Guardians and the family’s emotional reactions are good bits, but I don’t know if I can use that to fully recommend this issue. In fact, sorry, I can’t.
Verdict – Pass
Invincible Iron Man #514 was one of the more coherent stories in recent memory with one thing becoming clear. Tony Stark may refuse to be Iron Man anymore to avoid any sanctions from rival Justine Hammer. With the reprucussions of his getting drunk catching up with him, it’s making me wonder who’ll really take over the suit. Moreso, how will Stark get out of this and stop the bad guys this time? My money is on the man who was Detroit Steel becoming the new Iron Man, but I’m probably going to be wrong about that. Good stuff in this issue with good character and action bits.
Verdict –Recommended
Justice League #7 was a colossal waste of time and energy. I can’t find myself cheering for anyone on the Justice League outside of Aquaman and maybe Cyborg. Hal Jordan and the Flash aren’t winning me over, Superman’s been a disappointment in this book, Batman’s acting like a grade A jackass, especially regarding the Justice League International, Wonder Woman in this universe is dead to me… the only character I actually found myself cheering in any degree was Steve Trevor. STEVE. FREAKIN’. TREVOR. Wonder Woman’s would-be squeeze. Oh, wait, she turned him down already! So, what, we’re going to find she’s sleeping with Superman like all the writers wanted all this time?! While I’m digging Steve Trevor’s personality in this book, it’s not enough when you consider this book is about the JUSTICE LEAGUE. If this is the book that introduces us to the New DC Universe, than it is making me want to abandon ship completely. I’m giving this book one more issue, but if it lets me down again, I’m dropping it.
Verdict – Pass
Sonic Universe #38. This may be partially because I missed the first issue, but I had absolutely zero investment in anything that was going on. Apparently, Snively has a plan to overthrow Eggman and rule the world with the Iron Queen and he attempted to get Hope Kintobor, whom he claims is actually his sister, not niece, to go along with him. It ends as well as you’d expect. Hey, that girl has SOME brains. Ian Flynn, on the other hand, does not. Honestly, the only thing that makes me feel as though this arc will be resolved is if I get to see Robotnik give the little banana nose a savage beating. Also, we get more interations on how Princess Sally is “lost forever.” Ian, since we know she won’t be like this forever, trying to reinforce the contarary as blandly and juvenilely as you do is just a waste of time and effort, much like your entire career as a writer! YOUR COMICS STILL SUCK!
Verdict – Pass
Supergirl #7. This wasn’t so bad, actually. We get Supergirl resolving herself to defending people in a nice bit of development for the character, including her battle with the Worldkillers. It ends with a mystery that, while only four Worldkillers attacked, there are, in fact, five. Yeah, I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that Supergirl is the fifth Worldkiller. Still, a fun issue, great action scenes, and I’m looking forward to more.
Verdict – Recommended
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Infestation 2 #2… was pretty disturbing, actually. On some pages, it honestly looked like tentacle hentai. I’m dead serious. I don’t know what this two-parter actually accomplished either. What does this do for the Turtles universe? Was it necessary? And what was Infestation 1, anyway? I just… don’t know why this story had to be told. It didn’t grow the characters. It didn’t advance any subplots. It felt like a big waste of time. If you’re going to sell me tentacle hentai… you know what? DON’T send me tentacle hentai. Especially not Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles tentacle hentai.
Verdict – Pass
Thunderbolts #171 was another huge letdown. This issue focuses on Songbird, who gets stupidly seduced and kidnapped by an old enemy of Namor’s. I used to see Songbird as someone with a little more sense than she showed and what happens in this issue wasn’t particularly inspiring for her or her character. Why did she need to go through this? Was it just an excuse to get her in a bikini for 90% of the issue? Granted, I don’t mind seeing her in a bikini for 90% of an issue, but I’m begging you, give me some better context! On the upside, we do see how intelligent she is as a superhero when she isn’t getting wooed by ugly looking supposedly hot guys. Maybe I’m being too hard on this issue because there are good moments… maybe I just don’t like seeing Songbird turned into pure eye candy and stuffed into a dumb storyline.
Verdict - Pass
We end on Uncanny X-Men #9. This is a big team-up with the Avengers, one Hope seems particularly excited for. In fact, guess who is the focus of this story? Hope Summers! Who’d have guessed?! This is setup purely for A vs. X, but it isn’t bad by any stretch. While not a particularly memorable issue, I do like seeing the characters play off of one another. We also get more of Namor trying to seduce Emma Frost back into his bed. I don’t mind Emma Frost’s eye candy moments so much as I do Songbird because, well, Emma Frost has kind of been remade to BE the eye candy. She’s still a competent character, though. And in Namor’s defense, he actually shows concern for her, unlike Cyclops, as Emma herself notes. Yeah, this is going to end well for poor Cyclops. I can’t say I’m fully excited for A vs. X, but I won’t say I won’t be reading, simply because I’m genuinely curious.
Verdict – Recommended
Hey everybody, it’s time for TRADE PAPERBACK CORNER!
Knuckles the Echidna Archives vol. 2 continues the excellent line of digest-sized trades of the old Sonic titles. You know, when the series was actually fun? This one collects Knuckles the Echidna issues #4 through #9 and it’s worth every bit the $10 I paid cash for. I believed, once upon a time, that Knuckles’ book was better than Sonic’s in many ways. The stories were darker, the scale felt more epic, and Knuckles was an imperfect hero. It also had a better cast by and large, in my humble opinion. I cannot recommend the Knuckles Archives books enough if you don’t have the individual issues. In my case, I was missing one of them, so that alone was worth the price of admission.
Verdict – Highly Recommended
Sonic: Genesis. This big, bulky, $25 money-drain only rubs salt in the wound of an already terrible mini-series that inevitably amounts to NOTHING in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic universe. I thought some of the extras would help. I thought reading the series out of context and without the interruptions to the main storyline would help. I thought maybe even the bigger presentation would help. Heck, I thought using my store credit would help. IT DIDN’T! Sonic Genesis sucked when it came out and it sucks now! It’s everything that’s wrong with the first and third Mega Man arcs, but now in Sonic’s comic. It’s Sonic going through the first two Sonic the Hedgehog games on Sega Genesis, almost step by step. It’s an uninteresting mess of a story and I’m embarrassed to have decided to pick this up over DC’s The New Teen Titans: Games, which retails for the exact same price. WHY DID I BUY THIS PIECE OF TRASH?! You want to know why? Because I grew up on Sonic and, knowing how hard the old stuff is to find, I buy the new stuff so I can avoid future frustrations. Ian Flynn is benefitting from the work of superior writers like Karl Bollers, Ken Penders, and Michael Gallagher. I don’t know who to be more angry with; Ian Flynn for making these comics, myself for shelling out hard-earned money for them, or the fans for making the Sonic Comics so beloved that it becomes a case of “you snooze, you lose.” Ugh, this four-parter is just AWEFUL and doesn’t even make a good stand-alone book, since the ending immediately leads back into the main story line. Yes, you get a part of the issue beforehand, yes, you get the whole next issue afterwards, but it STILL doesn't tell a complete standalone story like it should. Don’t repeat my mistake, people. Don’t buy this trade!
Verdict – Venomously Pass
There. Done! And relatively on time too! A shorter week to come next week. As for me, that last one put me in a funk. I need something happy to get out of it. Oh, look! Aquaman, The Mighty Thor, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles come out this week! And hey, if that fails, I got my backlog of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic episodes.
Cheers;
Master Graveheart
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