I’m going to start blogging about the comics I read every week, because God knows there isn’t enough of that online already. I’m going to try and stay positive and hit the high points of each comic I read, but if I feel there’s something bad that I feel was glaring, I’ll mention it.
The Amazing Spider Man #669 — Spider Island Part 3
First, let’s start with the first page of the story:
The first thing we’re greeted with is the ass of a squatting, scantily clad woman staring us in the face. And you know what? Humberto Ramos’ art is so fun, it doesn’t bother me. If she was drawn as an 8 foot tall woman with breasts as big as her head, I’d be disgusted, but Ramos’ cartoony style keeps it from being offensive.
Overall, this issue was a blast to read. Peter trying to keep his duel identity secret from Carlie keeps getting more exciting; Carlie’s Lois Lane-esque suspicions about Peter being Spider-Man despite Peter having a perfect excuse for having spider powers was perfect. She’s very clever, and proving that Peter was right to be nervous about dating a cop.
Despite all that, my favorite scene had to be J. Jonah Jameson talking with Reed Richards. JJJ is always awesome, but when you give him a straight-laced genius to play off, and he’s a hoot.
Needless to say, Spider Island is an amazing mini event, each issues leaves me eager for the next.
Daredevil #3
I haven’t read many Daredevil comics, but I made it a point to pick up Mark Waid’s run, and I haven’t been disappointed. The first three issues have been smart, fun and with great art.
The action throughout the issue was really well done, but my favorite part was Matt Murdock and Foggy celebrating at the bar.
Matt is approached by two women that who are interested in him because they heard he was Daredevil. Despite spending the last 3 issues trying to convince everyone he’s not Daredevil, he’s at least a little tempted to use his notoriety to get laid.
Let me just say that it is incredibly fun to see someone enjoying himself this much. Even if you don’t take the previous 30 years of continuity into account, it’s makes for good comics.
Fear Itself #6 of 7
Here’s another great event comic. I keep forgetting why I keep buying it, but then I read the issues and I remember. The only problem is that I haven’t followed the tie-in issues, so there are parts of the story that I wish were more fleshed out.
I did buy Cullen Bunn a few weeks ago and was very disappointed. It really highlighted for me the problems inherent in tie-in issues, especially one-shots. All the important things need to be included in the main title, so the tie-in isn’t allowed to have any kind of satisfying resolution. (I actually bought Chris Hastings’ Deadpool miniseries, but that wasn’t directly related the main event.)
Fear Itself, though, is amazing, and I can sum it up in one sentence: Captain America is a badass. Tony Stark’s method of getting Odin’s attention a couple issues ago was great, but Captain America standing up to him was even better.
The above picture is Captain America telling off Odin. Odin has amassed an army worthy of the All-Father in order to raze the earth to stop the army of the Serpent. Cap isn’t telling Odin that he’ll need a bigger army to stop the Serpent, he’s telling him that if he wants to raze the Earth, he’ll need a bigger army to get past all the superheroes. Steve Rogers’ balls must be made of an adamantium/vibranium alloy, ‘cause only he could tell off the king of the Asgardians like that and survive.
The end of the issue leaves me excited for the event finale next month. The idea of Captain America standing up to the Serpent’s army single-handed, armed only with a few rifles and shotguns is what that character is all about.
Mystery Men #5 of 5
Mystery Men has been a really good miniseries, but it’s suffered from having too many characters for the number of issues allotted. The plot itself wasn’t that complicated, but introducing all the characters and giving them backstory ate up a lot of pages. I would have definitely wanted more issues than fewer characters.
After four issues of build up, the final battle was a bit anticlimactic, and included a female Rocketeer pastiche being used a deus ex machina twice. Which brings me to another gripe I had with the series: the only female hero, the Aviatrix, was underwritten. Despite being told that she’s a tough, independent pilot/engineer, she lacked the save development and history as the others, and her character lost her edge once she was romantically paired with one of the male characters. She only had four lines in the last issue, and three of them could have been spoken by another character and still made sense.
Despite all that, I would love to see another miniseries with these characters, if not an ongoing series.
Pigs #1
Following Nate Cosby on Twitter has exposed me to Pigs hype for months now. Out of the six comics I read this week, I was the most conflicted about Pigs.
The art kept crossing the line between charming and wonky, and one of the characters leaping 10 feet into the air to attack someone took away from the realism of the rest of the story.
The story is interesting, slowly building up the conspiracy and explaining how the characters are involved. I don’t read a lot of non-superhero comics (see the four reviews above, and the one below), so I wasn’t sure if I wanted to follow an espionage comic. That, however, changed with the final page. I won’t give it away here, but that is how you get people to read your comic. It’s not just a twist, it ratcheted up the stakes far higher than I anticipated. I’m definitely willing to give the second issue a try.
Uncanny X-Force #15 — The Dark Angel Saga: Chapter 5
Apparently there’s a lot to Apocalypse’s history and the Age of Apocalypse universe that I’ve missed out on, so this series has been getting weirder and weirder. And I love it. Thanks to Rick Remender, this is the only X-book I follow. It’s beautifully written, the characters are dynamic and it has a sense of humor.
Despite his over-exposure, Rememder’s take on Deadpool is fresh and funny. He’s not the Looney Tunes version of the character bouncing around other titles (although I like some of those too). Remender’s Deadpool is dark and damaged, and is used as comic relief in a book that could collapse under it’s own darkness.
And that’s why the above panel is my favorite panel of the week. X-Force are exploring an alien ecosystem that was force-evolved millions of years in mere minutes. They are surrounded by bizarre flora and fauna, and Deadpool’s joyous irreverence nails his character perfectly.
