Veteran’s Day Reads

Yes, new comics DID come out today, even though it’s Veteran’s Day!

Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard #1 – Not bad. I haven’t kept up with Marve’s cosmic stuff as much as I’d like, but I’m enjoying Gladiator as the new Shi’Ar Majestor.

Dark X-Men #1 – Oh, well. Okay. Let’s just re-introduce a whole bunch of forgotten X-Men family characters, like the Mimic, Weapon Omega, and… The X-Man?

Green Arrow/Black Canary #26 – Wait, what? Two Ollie Queens? …did I miss something? I thought I’ve been reading this series since #1.

Deadpool #17 – Deadpool continues to try and join the X-Men. Good fun, but Daniel Way uses too many censored swear words (#&%@!). More than once per issue is really distracting, and takes me out of the story.

S.W.O.R.D. #1 – A solid start for the SWORD series, but what’s up with Beast’s face? I’m not sure if this series is necessary, but more info on Abigail Brand is certainly needed for casual Marvel readers.

Amazing Spidey #611 – The banter between Spider-Man and Deadpool is always exquisite!

Strange #1 – Quite fun. Emma Rios & Christina Strain KILL on the artwork chores. I wish more comics were like this; everything is far too epic and crossover-y, right now. I like simple, fun, one-off adventures.

Batgirl #4 - Ah, yes. This is what I was waiting for the last three issues to get to. Stephanie with Oracle backing her up. Wonderful issue.

Batman & Robin #6 – Wait, whaaaat? So, is this out-of-continuity? Or are the DC editors just THAT out of touch with each other…?

Red Robin #6 – I read about half the issue and gave up. I just don’t care. Glad to see Marcus To getting work, though.

Batman #693S – Intriguing.

Updates, quickies

So, I’ve been kinda poor at keeping this thing as updated as I would like. But there’s a very good reason for that; I’ve been working on the NEW ComicZoneAZ.com! Hopefully, if all goes according to plan, it will be up and running before Thanksgiving.

Here’s some quickies from our Twitter account – Twitter.com/comiczoneaz

Wednesday, 5:20 pm
If Superman sales were so poor already, why was it a good idea to take Supes out of his own book? Who’ll buy “Superman” without Clark Kent?

Wednesday, 5:22 pm
Clearly, DC didn’t think this one through. People are already dropping Justice League, because Mon-El is just not an interesting character.

Wednesday, 5:24 pm
I think Blackest Night: Superman actually using him just goes to prove that the New Krypton experiment didn’t work. Put Kal in his own book!

Wednesday, 5:26 pm
Inversely, how great has Batman been since Dick Grayson took over the cowl? It’s nice to give Bruce a rest, and put Dick in the limelight.

Thursday, 6:50 pm
How did X-Men Origins: Iceman get Iceman’s origin wrong? “I got mutant powers and my dad kicked me out of the house” isn’t hard to do right.

Thursday, 7:00 pm
Deadpool Team-Up #899, meanwhile, made me into a big Hercules fan. I should probably start reading his solo book. Can’t wait for #898 in 30.

Thursday, 7:05 pm
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man continues to be wonderful. Just the right mix of high-octane action and high school drama. Magnifique!

Thursday, 7:25
The Psylocke/Revanche/Betsy Braddon/Kwannon story (X-Men #20-23) was my first X-Men story. So this new Psylocke miniseries feels like home.

Thursday, 7:27
Re: Psylocke #1 still, I’m digging Harvey Toliabao’s action panels, but I’m not sold on his storytelling quite yet.

Quickie Reviews…again?

I’m kinda digging these quickie reviews. I can get more stuff covered, and give out fewer spoilers.

- Gen 13 #31: I guess I missed last month’s issue, ’cause I was kind of confused… But it wasn’t bad. The series definitely has a direction that it’s moving in, but that direction is more of a traditional team book than the quirky, fun, teenage book that the original series was. But maybe that’s what the book needs, in the current market. As a random aside, the Worldstorm Gen 13 title has now lasted about half as long as the original ongoing, and twice as long as the Herod relaunch from 2002.

- Blackest Night #2: More black lanterns! More mayhem and violence! More death! And, for once, I actually find Aquaman intimidating! Definitely sticking with this one through the end.

- Blackest Night: Batman #1: “What’s happening in Gotham during the Blackest Night?” Deadman has both been turned into a Black Lantern, and is still Deadman. But he’s gotta warn the new Batman and Robin about what’s coming! Not bad, but the cliffhanger ending makes me wish I had issue 2 right here. I might suggest waiting until all 3 issues are out, on this one.

- Green Lantern Corps #39: Blackest Night tie-in! Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner talk about their bizarre lovelives, when the Black Power Rings zing past their heads and start resurrecting even more fallen heroes. Not as essential a tie-in as Green Lantern #44 was, but certainly nothing to scoff at.

- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1: Bendis has still got it! David LaFuente’s artwork is a little more cartoony than I think this series really calls for, but it’s still hard to get over Mark Bagley’s 110-issue run. Either way, this is definitely one to stick with.

- Ultimate Avengers #1: Not a bad first chapter, but this had the same effect on me as Blackest Night: Batman, where I wish I had more of the story at once. I guess that’s a good thing, really, since it means I’ll be back next month. This issue debuts the Ultimate Red Skull! OooOOOOoooo!

- Ms. Marvel #43: “War of the Marvels” continues. And the original Ms. Marvel is revealed to be… Catherine Donovan? Wait, that’s not Carol Danvers at all! I’m not sure about this alternating artist thing… I wish they’d just get Sana Takeda doing the pencils all the time.

New Avengers 52

New Avengers #52
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils by Billy Tan and Chris Bachalo
$3.99
Marvel Comics
No, everybody else is going to be talking about Detective Comics 853 this week. I won’t do it.

Well, maybe a little: Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert’s “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?” is damn good. It almost makes me care about Batman, which I generally don’t. So, you should come in to Comic Zone and pick it up. We still have some second printings of part 1 (Batman 686) available, too, so you can get the whole thing at once!

But, no. Today, I’m going to talk about New Avengers #52. The quest for Earth’s new sorcerer supreme continues, as Stephen Strange (formerly Dr. Strange) comes to the New Avengers (which now consist of Captain America (Formerly Bucky), Ronin (formerly Hawkeye), Ms. Marvel (formerly of the Mighty Avengers), Wolverine (formerly not in 70 comics a month), Spider-Man (formerly had an identity even the Avengers couldn’t remember), Luke Cake (Formerly wore a tiara and a yellow disco shirt), Spider-Woman (formerly abducted by Skrulls), and Mockingbird (formerly dead)) to explain where he’s been, and about his recent run-in with Parker Robbins, a.k.a. The Hood.

The Hood, in addition to creating a criminal syndicate the size of which has never been seen in the Marvel U, has taken up as the host for some big bad demon (which I learned from the dialogue, since Chris Bachalo’s artwork mostly just looks like a muddles mess of black globs, these days — Good thing he’s only drawing the demon scenes, with Billy Tan drawing everything else), and is looking for the Eye of Agamotto (the mystic amulet dealio that is the property of Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme). But ol’ Stevie Strange won’t give up the Eye to just anybody – He’s lookin’ for the next Sorcerer Supreme, and won’t rest until he finds that individual.

So, of course, the Avengers take a trip with Dr. Strange, because they’re out looking for The Hood, and think that the team of them can take out The Hood. Even though he’s more powerful than Dr. Strange. I don’t see that ending well for anybody. Meanwhile, Madame Masque reveals her face to The Hood, and then they start making out. I’m not sure I see THAT ending well for anybody, either.

I think there may be some misdirection at the end, as the Hood finds another magic user we haven’t seen in a while, but it’s a character that I’m pretty sure is not in the running to be Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme…

Still, if you’re reading New Avengers, #52 is a worthy addition to your collection. It’s been really nice having a comic written by the same guy for more than a year, and other than Chris Bachalo, the artwork has consistently been top-notch. After all, it’s like Ultra Magnus taught us back in 1986: “Consistency is victory.”

Amazing Spider-Man 590+591

So, for those you who have been keeping track, Spider-Man is going to hit issue 600 in July. And, way back when, Marvel said that that will bring a wrap-up to the “Brand New Day” world that Spidey’s currently living in. And after about 50 issues of uncertainty, it looks like they’re taking steps in the right direction.

Spidey and the Fantastic Four go on an adventure to another universe, and during the battle, Human Torch remembers that he used to know Spider-Man’s secret identity, and he’s miffed that he can’t remember.

Meanwhile, because time travels differently in this alternate world, Pete loses 2 months of time in the regular Marvel Earth-616.

I’m not going to pussyfoot around here: the story that actually takes place in the alternate world isn’t all that interesting. The reason this story exists is to get the FF to remember that Peter and Spidey are the same person, and to have Reed Richards create a macguffin device that allows the FF to remember that Petey = Spidey but not reveal that information, even if they get brainwashed or psychically attacked or whatever. So Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben all know Pete’s secret, but there’s no worries about the secret leaking past them.

Along with the reveal in New Avengers #51 (which lead to the best Jessica Jones moment in New Av., but only if you read all of Alias… which you totally should, by the way), it looks like things in Spidey’s world are beginning to go back to normal. People who should know do, and everybody else has forgotten. Which is probably closer to how it should be.

And what was up with that answering machine message that included the word “Tiger” before getting cut off? Hmmm…

I can’t wait for Amazing #600. But, this month’s Previews shows that Menace will be back in #598 and she’s… pregnant? Whaaaat?