The Back Stack: June 6, 2012

And with this, we return to our regularly scheduled… schedule.  This week we see a return of a book I formerly dropped, the end of a weekly series, the return of the non-big-two, a pair of annuals, and the Boys in Grey taking a trip to my back yard.

As always, SPOILER ALERT!  Let us begin.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #39 was a book that was probably unnecessary, but certainly had its moments.  I’m sure a story where Peter Parker met his Uncle Ben on some level has been done, but this still wasn’t bad.  I kind of got a kick out of it because of some of the scenes of what Spidey would do if he went back to certain periods of his life knowing what he knows.  That’s the human side of Spider-Man that I like to see alongside him being the superhero.  The issue itself had its moments, but you’ll have to decide for yourself if you’re interested.

Verdict – Recommended

On the flip side, Batman Annual #1 was a huge letdown.  I’ve always enjoyed the revival of Victor Friese, a.k.a. Mr. Freeze, and his torment at being driven to madness in trying to help his wife.  Well, all that was thrown away in the new DC Universe as he becomes just a nutcase obsessed with cold.  His wife?  Not really his wife.  He just became obsessed with her because she was frozen.  This kills the arc to Mr. Freeze’s character, in my view, and makes him impossibly less interesting.  The action was bland and the storyline was just blah.  It wasn’t up to par with what the Batman books have been since the reboot.  Also, the tie-in with the Court of Owls feels REALLY forced and unnecessary, and it is really a shame.

Verdict – Pass

Ghostbusters #9.  I’m probably going to sound really partisan on this, but the fact that this issue took place in Detroit and didn’t go out of its way to take shots at the city really put a smile on my face.  While I’m not from Detroit proper, I do spend some time there enough to gain a bit of an attachment to it, mostly Tigers and Red Wings games.  But, no.  They’re completely respectful of Detroit, the officials trust them, Winston is a Red Wings fan, and the Ghostbusters have apparently been to Detroit before and have a good solid relationship with the city.  I like that.  It sure beats the hell out of Justice League of America’s “anyone can beat Detroit” crack before Black Canary disbanded the Avengers.  Anyway, I enjoyed the scenario with the fallen soldiers, General Wayne of Fort Wayne fame, and Winston’s “moment” with him.  It was an issue of Ghostbusters that worked as much as the others, but on a far different level.  I may be bias because it took place close to home, but I say it’s another issue well worth your money.

Verdict – Highly Recommended

Hulk Smash Avengers #5 completes the downward spiral that had been happening since issue #3.  I’m going to keep it short because it really was just so dull.  The post-Civil War avengers are fighting the Red Hulk and Iron Man is trying to talk Bruce Banner into stopping him.  It fills in a gap that really didn’t need to be filled.  Long story short, consider the first two issues, but the last three are unnecessary.

Verdict – Pass

Queen Sonja #29 was on the incoherent side for me, but certainly had some moments.  The story of Sonja returning to her kingdom while the prostitution cult of magic continues to do their thing… and there isn’t much else to say about it.  I do hate Red Sonja’s costume at this point.  Blue jeans and a metal blouse.  If you’re not going to have her in her iconic chainmail bikini, then stop putting her in it on the covers!  Good action, lackluster story, and that terrible costume.  What can I say?  I’m a sucker for iconography.

Verdict – Cautiously Recommended

Sonic the Hedgehog #237 was… okay.  I hesitate to call it good, but it wasn’t exactly bad either.  There was one story involving the Wolf Pack and Mecha Sally going after them with Lupe, one of the more storied original characters of the series, being taken by Robotnik and threatening to be Legionized.  It was okay, but some scenes were overly goofy considering the stakes.  A second story was between Mina Mongoose and Nicole where they patched things up and made nice in one of the most contrived, forced, and stupid ways.  It can be said that it was directly because of Mina’s concert that the people backed Ixis Naugus in usurping the order of Acorn and then this?  I would have preferred more of a story arc where Mina has to stew in her own juices and deal with her actions, but this is Ian Flynn we’re talking about, the king of unrealized potential.  Still, not nearly as bad as other issues have been lately, but I’m not looking forward to where this whole “Team Freedom, Team Fighters” angle is going.

Verdict – Cautiously Recommended

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #10 was decent, but I feel is relying too heavily on other incarnations of the TMNT with this one, particularly with April O’Neil’s antique store, Second Time Around.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good homage, but it seems just more than a little convenient.  Then again, she’s not living above it, so maybe it’s not as outrageous as I’m making it out to be.  I would have liked to have seen more out of the Shredder, though.  Here he is, the most iconic villain of the Turtles, and all we've seen is him standing around.  I'd have much preferred something with a bit more bang to his entrance.  There was also some good dynamics between the Turtles themselves that wasn't quite so good-natured, particularly between Leonardo and Donatello and the debate on whether past events have come back to play out in their modern day with the scientifically-minded Donatello taking a more skeptic approach whereas Leonardo is going with  Splinter's teachings and stories, interpreting them today.  We've seen Leo and Donnie butt heads before, but nothing quite like this, and it's good to see.  Siblings who spend time together like this tend to bicker and it's a refreshing change of pace to see that it isn't Raphael and Leonardo AGAIN.  In fact, I kind of appreciate that, considering Raph's backstory in this series, being separated from the others for so long.  We also get to see why Splinter IS the master to the Turtles, which is something that sadly gets overlooked by many who do interpretations of the Turtles.  It's not one of the best books in the series, but it's one that I enjoyed.

Verdict – Recommended

Wolverine and the X-Men #11 did for Kid Gladiator what should have happened for him a while back.  It gave us a reason to care about him.  Defying the order of Gladiator, one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe, Kid Gladiator decides to stand with the X-Men in their hour of need.  We get some other good moments and some great action including Iceman vs. the Red Hulk.  Yeah, Iceman against the Red Hulk and it’s actually got some decent moments in it.  Wolverine and the X-Men is a book that can be really good when it’s clicking and this is one where it was really clicking.

Verdict – Highly Recommended

X-Men Legacy #267.  Yeah, I brought back X-Men Legacy to my pull list and I’m thrilled to start back up with this issue.  We pick up in the middle of a fight between Rogue’s X-Men and a handful of Avengers members and it isn’t going well.  It’s a primarily action-heavy issue, but you see the heart of the X-Men play out beautifully here including their desire to defend their students.  On an action standpoint, it’s great to see upwards and creative thinking on each of the combatants’ parts including Kitty Pryde vs. “Iron Man,” Moon Knight vs. Rogue, “Iron Man” vs. anybody (seriously, though, if this were an RPG, it’d be spammed to hell for being “God Moding), and others.  This was a fun issue to read and I’m looking forward to getting caught up… but I’m sorry to say I probably won’t cover my back issue purchases of those books here.  This is a series typically for what came out last week as you go to pick up this week’s comics.  However, if you want my opinions on them, ask and I shall do my best to make an exception if I feel there is a lot to say about them.  As for this one, it’s another X-title well worth your time from last week.

Verdit – Highly Recommended

And so we come to an end of another pull.  I hope I gave you some good ideas as to what to pick up from last week in addition to what you might pull this week.  For me, I’m hoping World’s Finest keeps up the good work, Earth 2 doesn’t let controversy cloud the potential for a good story, and the Avengers vs. X-Men tie-in books can keep up what X-Men Legacy pulled off, and Black Cat brings some extra fun to the Defenders and hopefully is there to stay.

Cheers;

Graves

EDIT 6/7/2012 - Yeah, I screwed this up.  Didn't finish my TMNT review.  I fixed that.  Sorry, folks.