Episode #12, Offered up to the gods of Technical Difficulties
I cringe to say it, but here it is: No episode this week. There was an error due to a slipped sprocket, or something related, but fear not! We shall overcome online, with a bevy of reviews right here on the blog. STAY TUNED!
EDIT: Sometimes, the best laid plans go awry... Apologies for the lateness, but your IPers were indisposed this weekend, but we shall make it up to you this week! For now, here are our reviews as promised! Read on, true believers, read on!
EDIT: Sometimes, the best laid plans go awry... Apologies for the lateness, but your IPers were indisposed this weekend, but we shall make it up to you this week! For now, here are our reviews as promised! Read on, true believers, read on!
posted by Erick at
4:03 AM
2 Comments:
It was a solid week of books, lots of good books. So lets check it out!
Booster Gold #3- The top of a large stack this week, I have to say that this is the best new series, and possibly one of the best titles, period, coming out of DC. It's got that great blend of action and humor that a lot of books these days lack; with a massive, bloody intergalactic war raging on the other side of the spectrum, it's nice to have an irreverent hero like Booster to protect the time stream.
The first thing to note is the cover; sure, Jonah Hex figures into about two actual seconds of screen time in this issue, but when you're tripping through time, you're bound to have more than a few flash cameos. It may get old soon, but I love the text on the covers as well. It lets you know just what type of book you're getting into.
The actual content of the book has a lot of little moments that really make it worthwhile. Sure, you may buy it to follow the ongoing story of who is this new Supernova, and what villain is behind the attempted deaths of the world's greatest heroes. But you also get a drinking contest between Booster and Jonah, an alternate history where Superman and Lex are brothers, or the best moment in comics this week, when a drunken Booster crashes Rip Hunter's Time Sphere right into the Flash's own Cosmic Treadmill. Who thought that was a good idea? I mean, if he can travel through time with a piece of gym equipment, imagine what he can do with an elliptical! Anyways, if you haven't already, go grab the first 3 issues of this series; it's much more accessible to long-time DC fans, but Nick and I aren't very hardcore and we still get plenty of chuckles out of it.
X-Factor #24- I haven't mentioned my favorite X-book yet on the show, but X-Factor is another hidden gem combines the funny with the fantastic. This team is comprised of a lot of lesser-known mutants from various older X-books, nobody overwhelmingly popular or powerful, but there's a great dynamic between their leader, Jamie Madrox, and the rest of the group. One stand-out new character in this book is Layla Miller, the girl who knows things, and she invariably saves the day in some bizarre style (in this issue, she picks up a penny, and thus slays an evil robot girl. It makes sense, just check it out).
This particular issue is not a very good jumping on point at all, as it is wrapping up a story arch that touches on a lot of smaller points from earlier. The villain of this arc, Huber, is dispatched and things are wrapped up nicely. Also, with the big Messiah CompleX crossover, who knows what'll happen to this team in the coming months. But if you like quirky books like I do, give the first trade a try and go from there.
Green Lantern #24- Now, I want to go on record by saying, first, that I enjoyed this book. Chapter 8 of the best event of the year (not that there was much to compete with. Amazons Attack?), it was everything a an epic space war should be. It was huge in scope, with an army assaulting our entire planet, while still providing that individual focus on our group of Earth's Lanterns and their struggle with Parallax. And the oath at the very end was super-cool, especially that shot of the Anti-Monitor stepping down in from of New York.
With that being said, there were some pretty godawful lines in this book. I can let a few cheesy ones go since the dialogue would normally take a backseat in this sort of story, but there was some really terrible stuff here. For example, when John Stewart faces Parallax, his big come-back is "Right now... I don't have to do anything... but stay Black." Oh, I'm glad they reminded me that he was the BLACK one. I need him to shout it out every once in a while to reinforce it. Seriously, what does that even mean? And then on the opposite page, you've got the big entrance of Superman Prime, which should be huge since he tore shit up in Infinite Crisis, right? But his big opening is, "I'm baaaaaack. Jerks." Really? Being pent up in that cage, all you could come up with was to call them jerks? How old are you? And for that matter, what year is it? Anyways, that was my only huge complaint. Still, epic stuff.
Also, FYI, I explained this a bit to Nick, but the whole thing with Kyle and the picture was elaborated on in the Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Parallax special. It's a painting that Kyle remembers from his mother's house that he liked as a boy. He finds out there that his mother actually made it, which is the extra push he needs to start fighting back against Parallax. I guess in a previous issue to the whole Sinestro thing, he told the others about it, but I missed that.
Runaways #28- Another book in need of a mention, we listed this in our Top 10 a couple back but haven't really talked about an individual issue. Now, Whedon's writing for this (hence, the delays), and I believe that after another issue or two, he's wrapping up this story and moving on. But this is another time travel book done good, with some fun throwbacks to the early 20th century for any history buffs out there. There's some fun dated slang and an obligatory strike-breaking, since you can't let those workers get too uppity. It's great setup for an climactic encounter next issue between 3 separate groups, with the Runaways stuck bang in the center of it.
One of the really fun aspects of this whole run on Runaways is the massive array of new characters that Whedon has introduced. Each of those groups is comprised of several characters that are brand new to the book, but it doesn't overwhelm you and you can accept it and move on pretty quickly. There's even an homage to the Punisher called "The Adjudicator". I really hope that Marvel keeps up this title, since it's got some great staying power.
Random Pick of the Week
Graveslinger #1
Story by Shannon Eric Denton and Jeff Mariotte
Art by John Cboins
Published by Image Comics
The cover says it all: "He's the most dangerous man alive... to those who have already had one life too many!" That means zombies. COWBOY zombies. Now, let's jump into the pros: the art is pretty interesting. It's sketchy and old-timey, which is great for the content of the book, and the colors are all of a sepia sort. And the concept intrigues me, I have to admit. You've got two pretty good things, so if you stick them together, why wouldn't they be even better?
Well, then there's the cons: turns out, the concept is not exactly the sum of its parts. It ends up pretty silly. The dialogue is pretty lacking, and I enjoy some good, canned Western talk every now and again. It's not like Clint Eastwood is known for his eloquence. There's part where the main character's idea of a pun is, in response to a mention of a farmhand, to whip out the hand of a recently slain zombie and say, "Hand? I got me one of them too!" Probably a lot cooler in the script. Don't even mind the fact that the guy he's talking to hasn't seen a zombie for, yet doesn't bat an eye at this corpse-slinging crack-up. Which brings me to the next point: I could care less about the main character, or any other character for that matter. After one issue, I got nothing. Maybe it'll do something really cool in subsequent issues, but I'd not shell out the cash to this bandit.
Man, I'm almost as funny as he was. Hand...
Sorry about being even later than Erick. I'm particularly lazy.
Booster Gold #3
I'm going to go ahead an concur with everything Erick said. Not just because it's easy, but also because it's 100% true.
Booster is straight up, the hero with the most character I've ever seen out of DC. I love Bats and Supes, but they're almost too shiny and perfect to read all the time. It's nice to see someone like Booster; dirty, funny, and relatable.
This week is pretty much on par with the previous two books, making it a must pick up for anyone with a sense of humor. And if you're reading this you must have something in that department.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man #24
I'm sorry to say, but the second part of One More Day is about as asinine as the first.
Sure, the comic has all sorts of wacky antics, time travel, Doc Strange, and a totally freaky last page. But, after you read it you realize literally nothing has happened.
I can only hope this is just a wrap up of what I've felt is a very weak Spidey story, probably ever since Civil War ended. Pick it up only if you're a collector; otherwise just grab the fourth book when it hits just make sure you're ready for what is hopefully a Spider-Man renaissance when it goes triple monthly.
Green Lantern
This book continues to surprise me. It's basically everything I dislike about DC, but somehow I LOVE it.
It's epic, huge, involving dozens of characters I have no idea about, and continues to hold my attention somehow. DC, take note, this is how you get Nick to buy your comics, though I'm not really sure what's different in this one.
Erick is spot on with the cheesy lines though. A few more issues, Guy calls Sinestro "Adolf" which probably really stings him, considering he has no concept of Earth history; unless of course we've made WW2 required reading across this universe and subsequent dimensions.
The best frame of the week is also right above that line, in which the main badasses of the JL are fighting off what I'm told are super robots. Of course, Batman is there, but not with a special Batzooka or Batank. Rather, he is full on bitch-slapping the crap out of a robot who is holding up his arm in a classic battered wife position. I think someone at DC has some issues to work out at home.
World War Hulk
There were two issues this week involving the big greeny; Punisher War Journal #12 and Frontline #5.
Both were solid pickups, with War Journal rating a "Fucking Awesome" on a scale of 1 to Fucking Awesome.
I'm not even going into it. If you're following Frontline grab it, otherwise let it go, nothing new there anyway. But go get Frank!
Fantastic Four #550
I'm dropping this comic after this issue. It's horrible, has nothing to to with The Initiative, despite having it plastered on the front, and is generally just enraging me every week I pick it up.
Bullshit Moment
Now, I'll be the first to tell you that comic book covers have nothing to do with that issue. However, if you have a picture of Wolverine being taken over by a symbiote on the cover of your issue (as does New Avengers #35) you better have Wolverine, a symbiote, or at least someone saying the words "Wolverine" and "symbiote" in the same sentence.
Instead, we get a whole issue about Tigra getting messed up by The Hood in a borderline misogynistic beat down scene. Erick offered a reasonable explanation involving timing delays and The Mighty Avengers, but as is usually the case I was too engulfed by rage to hear or understand anything he was saying.
SORRY FOR THE DELAY I SUCK!
Cya next week, hopefully not in print!
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