The Back Stack: May 31, 2012

Sorry I forgot to do a Back Stack last week.  Kind of hard getting back into the swing of things following my hiatus.  It doesn’t help that I have a HUGE My Little Pony project I’m working on.  There was a Sonic hardcover I picked up, but I haven’t actually cracked it open yet, so I’ll save that for next week.

But onto this week!  This week was… underwhelming, by and large.  Certainly, there was some good stuff to be had, but everything else was just fair to moderate.  Let’s get started.

As always, SPOILER ALERT!

Amazing Spider-Man #686 continues the Ends of the Earth storyline.  This one was more focused on action and saw that the Sinister Six wasn’t as cohesive as once thought.  The Chameleon and Mysterio work on their own means to confront Spider-Man immediately, but Doc Ock put the kabash to that.  We see Mysterio reluctantly join Spider-Man to face Octavious… and his new Sinister Six, The Avengers.  The end revelation was admittedly pretty weak and a bit of a stretch, but something that works with this episode is that, in the face of Armageddon, we see how some of the supporting characters spend their moments.  While I’m disappointed with how J. Jonah Jameson responded to his father, I’m glad to see Mary Jane have so much faith in Spider-Man, seemingly, that she buys an expensive building to throw a party at.  This isn’t the strongest issue, but it’s far from weak.

Verdict – Recommended

Aquaman #9 continues to be just awesome.  We see some insight into Aquaman’s past and a pretty nifty revelation at the end about Aquaman and his “father.”  Honestly, I’m running out of stuff to say about Aquaman at this point.  It’s well-written with great characters and good action.  This issue is more of the same greatness that you should be reading right now anyway.

Verdict – Highly Recommended

Captain America #12.  This wasn’t bad.  We learn more about the new Crossbones and how it’s affecting Cap.  We also see he might still hold a flame for Diamondback, but clearly she’s still no match for Sharon Carter right now.  I can’t say I was impressed with some of the revelations, but it’s kind of humorous to see just how routine duking it out with Hydra is to Cap and Dum Dum Dugan, one of the more unfortunately named supporting characters in Marvel if I do say so myself.  I mean, really, just how bad would it be to go through school with the name “Dum Dum”?  But I’m sure I’m missing something with that in the backstory.

Verdict – Recommended

Deadpool #55 was a big letdown, but I understand why it was written.  It was written to establish the new status quo of what an essentially powerless Deadpool will be like, but it wasn’t exactly a compelling read.  It wasn’t funny and the action was just dull.  I haven’t been impressed with Deadpool for some time.  The last arc had its moments, but it’s been far too inconsistent to be a series I could recommend at the time.

Verdict – Pass

Fantastic Four #606.  Wow.  Hickman is still knocking it out of the park even after the Council of Reeds series.  This issue started out with me scratching my head and then realizing just why exactly the Fantastic Four were on this mission, to save the life of one of their longest family friends, Willie Lumpkin.  Seeing the Fantastic Four, especially Mister Fantastic, go to this extent on such a small scale for someone who they care for really lets this superhero team live up to their pedigree.  This is a great feel-good issue.

Verdict – Highly Recommended

Green Lantern:  New Guardians #9.  This issue focuses on the Blue Lanterns and I was thrilled with that at first, because I feel of the expanded Lantern Corps.’, they have the best source of raw material to work with… then they brought in the cast of Blue Beetle.  Ugh… and I had such high hopes for this issue.  I’m not even entirely sure of how this ties in with the current storyline, but what saves this issue is how the Blue Lanterns relate to one another.  How they hold each other to such a high degree and how their own Hope is truly the source of their power.  Sadly, the issue isn’t completely compelling and I can’t give it a complete recommendation.

Verdict – Cautiously Recommended

Hulk #52 concludes the Haunted Hulk series.  It was far better than the last issue (which I didn’t review) and we finally see who is haunting the Red Hulk.  Doc Samson.  It wasn’t exactly thrilling, but I did like seeing the monsters who helped the Punisher while he was Franken-Castle make a comeback, unlike the Forgiven from the last issue who were sadly sans Jubilee (an angle that still ticks me off).  It’s good for seeing more of General Ross’s personality as both a human and a Hulk and it ends on a high note in the most bizarre of ways.  Good stuff.

Verdict – Recommended

Hulk Smash Avengers #4.  This issue focused on one of quirkier versions of the Hulk, Mr. Fixit.  It wasn’t exactly one of the more compelling issues of the series and at this point it’s become way more formulamatic than anything.  A Hulk incarnation fights with the Avengers, one of the Avengers has a heart-to-heart with the Hulk, resolution.  Seriously, the first few issues had so much more depth to them and this one just… didn’t.

Verdict – Pass

Journey Into Mystery #638 is, to me, textbook 101 of how NOT to do a crossover event.  You don’t overlap the story between unrelated titles.  Once upon a time, I forgave a Titans/Teen Titans crossover since they were related, but in general, I hate crossover storylines like this that span two or more titles, especially when they’re books I don’t pick up, such as the case with New Mutants.  The storyline, nor the characters coming from New Mutants, were particularly compelling this time around and it certainly didn’t invite me to want to see how this plays out.  I’ll wait for this series to get back to its own stories.

Verdict – Pass

The Mighty Thor #14 was just okay.  I’d have liked to have seen more of the dynamics between the Enchantress and Donald Blake, considering it’s going to play big dividends later, that and I’m just genuinely entertained by The Enchantress sometimes and it’s been a while since we’ve seen her.  However, what we got with Thor wasn’t exactly interesting until we got to the very end, which isn’t a sign of a good comic.  But, it’s still far better than its counterpart, Journey Into Mystery.

Verdict – Cautiously Recommended

Superman #9 was kind of boring for the first bit, but picked up towards the end.  I’m not sure how I feel about Superman right now.  When it’s good, it’s very good, but when it’s not up to par, it’s sometimes a bit of a chore to read.  It’s a book I’d drop if it were less consistent than it is, but right now, it’s doing just enough to keep me around and wonder what’s happening next.  It won’t be the first series I recommend, but I wouldn’t say it’s one I’d entirely pass either.

Verdict – Cautiously Recommended

And that ends it.  Next week, The Back Stack returns to Tuesday at its regular time.  Welcome back.

Cheers;

Graves

The Back Stack Catch-Up Special - May 11, 2012

Hello all.  I’ve missed you guys.  It’s been a while, hasn’t it?  Definitely a lot longer than I had initially intended, and for that, I apologize.

As you know, I’ve missed a LOT of weeks and, with that, a LOT of comics.  Naturally, it’s nearly impossible for me to review ALL the comics I pulled during my downtime, because just as I begin to catch up, a new week comes by and that means new comics to buy.  It’s a never-ending mess if I let it be one.  Instead, I decided to take the notables, both good ones and bad ones.  These are going to be very cut and dry and shorter than normal reviews of mine.  Regular reviews will resume on Tuesday/Wednesday morning (before comic shops typically open with the new stuff).

Anyway, let’s begin.  (As always, SPOILER ALERT!)

Fantastic Four #605.  This was a very good change of pace from the action-heavy issues.  We learn a lot about The Thing and what his potential future has for him.  All thousands of years of it.  That’s right, apparently The Thing ages at about the speed of a rock and is only accelerated thanks to the serum that lets Thing be human for one week out of the year.  It’s nice to see a human side of Reed Richards in this one and just slow down and realize what shouldn’t be taken for granted.  If only he’d do that with his wife every so often… but still, it was a great book with great characterization, especially in the end where Reed and Ben share a beer and watch TV together.

Verdict – Highly Recommended

Justice League #8 brings to an end my patience with the DC superheroes being a band of assholes.  Recent issues haven’t exactly painted the Justice League in a good light and this issue didn’t help either.  Made worse is the Shazam back-up that features Billy Batson being just as big of a dick as the Justice League.  What is with DC?  Did they decide that DC should stand for Disregard Character or something?  It was a boring issue to boot and I can’t say it’s a story in a book I’m interested in continuing with.  The only remotely interesting thing is that we learn that Martian Manhunter apparently was a member of the Justice League and it ended badly with the Justice League unceremoniously kicking him out.  And he’s supposed to be a good guy now?  Ugh… no thanks.

Verdict – Pass (personally dropping)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #9 continues the awesome revival of our favorite sewer-dwelling teens in green.  Of course, the big thing with this issue was the reveal of THE SHREDDER!  What do I think?  Well… it certainly was The Shredder all right.  I won’t say it was a very impressive reveal and the surprise was kind of negated from how prominent the Foot Clan had been in the past couple issues, but hey, this was what we all waited for.  Things are coming together beautifully for this series, though, and I can’t wait to continue once we’re up to speed.

Verdict – Recommended

Sonic Universe #39… that’s right, our old pal Ian Flynn continues his unnecessary made-for-trade Sonic side-series.  However, to his credit, this one doesn’t feel like a complete waste of time and might help to validate this particular story arc known as “Scrambled.”  We get the return of the least-requested character in the Sonic comic’s expanded mythos, Monkey Khan (I guess “Ken” Khan wasn’t cutting it anymore) and his reaction upon seeing Sally become roboticized.  It ends with Robotnik tricking him in becoming his servant again as Khan gives up his power ring control crown to restore Mecha Sally.  While this does provide some interesting story angles, it also opens up the door for several potentially bad story angles and, knowing Flynn’s track record, it’s likely one of the ones we’ll be getting.  While I do like the prospect of Robotnik starting his collection of robot minions made from Sonic’s old running buddies, it isn’t something I think Flynn has the forethought or talent to capitalize on.

Verdict – Cautiously Recommended

Mega Man #12.  I am quickly losing my patience with Mega Man.  This issue of this made-for-trade series wraps up the Mega Man 2 adaptation, and mercifully might I add.  What could have been so much more was wasted with Ian Flynn behind the keyboard scripting this story.  Wily’s minions continue to look like tinfoil against Mega Man and Dr. Light’s Robot Masters and the potential drama of Wily pretending he was an alien was wasted needlessly.  This is clearly not a series Ian Flynn has a connection with.  While I consistently criticize Flynn’s Sonic comics, at least it seems like he wants to build something.  With Mega Man, it just seems like he’s looking to just get it over with, and that’s a shame because I think, even more than Sonic, Mega Man has the potential to be one of the best comic adaptations out there.  It’s just a shame that it’s all squandered with Ian Flynn.

Verdict – Pass

We’ll end on a trade paperback I picked up.  Sonic Select vol. 5.  This is a mix of both good and bad.  The good being the inclusion of the Girls Rule Super Sonic Special.  The bad being the inclusion of BOTH Sonic Kids Super Sonic Specials.  But with the good and the bad comes the ugly.  For the first noticeable time, we see a major edit done to one of the old stories.  In particular, during Sally’s story in the Girls Rule special, her vest is superimposed in when she’s immersing herself with a pool of liquid known as “The Source,” which has guided the Acorn Family for generations.  Grant you, it isn’t used hardly at all in general and it has led to the belief that it was just Ken Penders’ excuse for making softcore furry porn, but honestly, I give Penders a slide on this.  Think about it.

The Source is described as a near-sentiant, near-all-knowing guiding force.  Sally enters it and experiences of oneness.  I think that Sally not wearing her boots and vest actually helped that idea of oneness and facing the future.  While maybe not something you’d agree with, there was something pure about it, almost like it was a higher deity.  That’s what lets me give the concept a pass because of that idea of pure oneness.  Also, because it’s just stupid for Sally to take her boots off, but not her vest, especially considering she runs around without pants anyway.  The edit to add her vest not only breaks that view of oneness by having a big, super-imposed blue block thrown in on all the shades-of-orange panels and makes it look gaudy as hell, and really makes it look like Flynn is trying to continue to paint Penders in a bad light, like he made the story simply to have Sally strut around in the nude in a glorified swimming pool.  It's very furry-phobic of Flynn, almost like anything that could be described as fuel for furries automatically triggers a panic button with him... interesting considering Sally was running around in other issues and trades without her vest for so long without her vest IN PUBLIC and a vest is edited in for when Sally is by herself.  Anyone else see the problem here?

While the Girls Rule special is still good and features some of the best artwork in the series (Flynn’s stupid-ass edits excluded), this is just an okay trade and I can only recommend it if you can’t find Girls Rule by itself (where you’ll get more beautiful artwork) or if you are a die-hard Sonic collector… like me.

Verdict – Cautiously Recommended

So, there you have it.  There would be more comics I’d touch on, but honestly, nothing majorly new to report.  Next week, a full, true, return of The Back Stack.

Cheers;

Master Graveheart