Got any money left that you didn’t send to the IRS? Obviously you spent it on comics. Which ones and what did you think?
APD
40 comments on “Stash Wednesday – April 15”
I picked up Invincible 60, the Invincible War. This is the best single issue multi-hero crossover since Fantastic Four Annual 3 (the Wedding of Sue and Reed).
Come back to http://www.comicon.com, Peter. We miss you (though the trolls are still there).
I actually just bought DC’s 2 volumes of “Fallen Angel” which is what brought me here & i have to tell it’s amazing & i can’t wait to read the Omnibus to know what happens next (particularly with Linda Danvers being “back” and after the astonishing work you’ve done on Supergirl – one of my favorite runs EVER).
I also bought the second volume of Warren Ellis’ Thunderbolts. The 1st one was promising but this one is just amazing too! I still can’t believe that Marvel is actually publishing this and that it’s a “mainstream”, Marvel Universe comic-book (and not some creator owned suggested for mature readers” thing). Quesada did some stupid choices for sure, but still what he’s allowing to happen in company-owned comics is wonderful and i gotta say i respect him a lot for that.
By the way my name is Shaomi & i’m a writer too and if everything goes as planned, my 1st graphic-novel should be published this year (here in France). Pleased to meet you Mr. David. You’re one of the best in the field and you’ve been one of my major inspirations for the last 20 years. For that i thank you a lot.
You’re very welcome, and best of luck with your graphic novel.
PAD
Thanx for welcoming me, then 🙂 Let’s hope that comic of mine sees the light of day (it’s been greenlighted but the contract ain’t signed yet).
I’ve been roaming ’round this blog for the last hour and it’s really full of interesting stuff. It’s great to be able to discover one of my favorite writers on a more “personnal” side ;-D
Bought X-Factor, which I liked, but won’t detail in any great length because I don’t want to sound like a suck-up.
Also bought X-Men: Legacy. I guess I’m the only person who’s really jonesing on this book; I know other people who buy it, but nobody seems to be as into it as me. Well, I really dig it; Carey’s little walkabout-therapy session for Xavier has been an interesting look at memory, identity, guilt, and redemption, and I like how he’s meshed all that together into this holographic vision-quest he’s got Rogue going through at the moment. And he’s managed to make Gambit tolerable, no small feat in itself.
You’re not totally alone on Legacy, it’s currently my favourite of the regular X-Men books and Mike Carey is a darned good writer, not just with a good track record in comics but with the Felix Castor series of novels as well.
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Cheers.
Mike, This is the perfect place to discuss X-Factor. PAD seems to love feedback on this work- and who wouldn’t! When you pour yourself into something, it’s always great to get acknowledged for it.
ASM #591-I really wish they would stop šhìŧŧìņg on Peter Parker’s life in this Brand New Day era. How does he explain being gone for 2 months to friends, family, job, and landlord? Meanwhile over at DC I have to read Action without Superman. This is not why I buy comics.
Delmo,
You don’t “have” to read Action without Superman. You don’t have to read Detective or Batman without Batman. These are your choices, and YOU, as the paying customer, should get what you want – or not get it.
These comics without their title characters in them is an innovative idea – and if it’s a month or two or three, pretty handy. If it’s a year, then it treads into the idiotic (in my mind, anyhow.)
I don’t read many Marvel comics anymore because I can’t afford to buy all the crossover titles… although I know that they’re the most popular books, as sales seem to evince. From “Brand New Day”, I think I understood that the entire Marvel universe was recreated by having Spider-Man’s life change radically. (If you don’t think that changing Spider-Man doesn’t change the MU, then either you’re kidding yourself, or I’m REALLY out of touch – but he used to appear in dámņ near every title sooner or later.)
Sum up – buy it if you like it, don’t buy it if you don’t like it. You could try letting them know, but I don’t know if any editors care what readers think anymore.
I remain,
Sincerely,
Eric L. Sofer
The Silver Age Fogey
x<]:o){
These comics without their title characters in them is an innovative idea
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Far from it. Not saying it’s a bad thing to do, but it certainly isn’t new. It wasn’t that long ago that there was a “World without a Superman”. There was a string of Captain America-less issues by Englehart back in the mid ’70s.
Eric L. Sofer, the Silver Age Fogey says:
April 16, 2009 at 8:42 am
” but I don’t know if any editors care what readers think anymore”
I think editors care in so much as what readers think affects what they buy, and some editors probably care a lot about what readers think as a secondary concern after making sure the sales figures are good… (The comics industry is an industry, and if you’re a decision influencing part of an industry the bottom line is a thing you’re getting paid to care about, so no criticism there)
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General question, what could/should/does a ‘good’ editor bring to a book he/she is assigned to? Input from PAD more than welcome on this one!
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Cheers.
I feel so out of the loop right now. I haven’t had the chance to read anything new, but a friend of mine left me three volumes of Invincible so that’s been keeping me occupied. In response to Delmo walters jr. comments on Spiderman, I was really hoping that Peter Parker would have evolved from the whole Civil War stuff instead of there being a type of reset on his life. It would have been interesting to see things play out the way they were going. Then again I haven’t read much on Spidey so I’m not sure which way he’s heading now. I guess that just keeps with the whole “Illusion of Change” concept that most characters are treated with. Stuff happens to them, but they essentially stay the same. I guess it’s a necessary formula.
Won’t be picking up my goodies until tomorrow for various reasons, but a quick follow-up to a conversation last week is that I managed to track down most of the Green Lantern issues since Rebirth, and it’s actually a lot more enjoyable that I’d expected, so thanks for the suggestion. Also picked up Ignition City, which is brilliant, as expected.
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Cheers.
Glad I took the time to respond last week. Without the face-to-face feedback that comes with a real life conversation, one sometimes wonders if words typed on the internet are ever ‘listened’ to.
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The Sinestro Corps War was voted one of the best storylines of the year (2007? Time flies.).
Largely why I made a point of replying… 🙂 If PAD’s kind enough to give us the room we may as well “chat” to the other people in here, plus getting other people’s opinions is always interesting.
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SCW was probably a different experience read month by month as opposed to in one big chunk. Without turning in a 30 page spoiler packed essay on GL, I’d quickly say that Rebirth was kind of clunky, but more or less had to be so by nature of the fact that Johns was bolting a pretty huge retcon kludge onto the side of the existing structure. I’d say that GL is a tough book to bring into the 21st century, being as it is the bášŧárd love child of a 1930’s pulp series and a late ’50s early ’60s sensibility of how aliens are. (Sidebar; it’s probably vaguely interesting how the DC universe has lots of individual planets with lots of funky aliens whereas Marvel has half a dozen stellar empires)
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Once Johns had set out the toys in the playground, it’s interesting to see Hal Jordan as more of a right wing womaniser than he’s been before, it’s interesting – if perhaps a little unoriginal – to give more play to the GL Corps being a police force very akin to our own and it was fun to see some old GL villains being worked back into the game. Nice to see Hal talking to the ring again as well. (Mmmm..that sounds like a dirty euphemism!)
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What is really good is the idea of the emotional spectrum and the Guardians relationship to it. From a hard science point of view it’s complete gobbledygook, but it’s plausible and internally consistant, so it works very well as a story point.
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Sinestro Corps War (pant, pant, finally back there!) was – to me – kind of over-egged with three major bad guys – four if you count old purple-puss himself – but it works well as the opening salvo in a bigger and deeper storyline, and serves to introduce the major change in laws governing what the rings can be used to do.
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That change also opens up very interesting moral and ethical questions, and I’m always a sucker for those.
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Seven issues for the secret origin of Hal Jordan was waaaay too long, especially as big chunks of it had been shown in the previous couple of years anyway. This time around reading in a oner was much better than slogging through seven months of filler.
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Where it currently stands is good, it’s got a sense of purpose and depth that does make me want to come back and find out what happens next, which is what I wants in me comics!
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Cheers.
“Seven issues for the secret origin of Hal Jordan was waaaay too long, especially as big chunks of it had been shown in the previous couple of years anyway.”
Agreed that much had been shown in the recent past. What DC was doing at this point was getting it all together in one place for the trade reprint, something they have been doing quite a bit over the last few years.
That’s a really businessy reason to do something like that… I don’t mind that the comics industry is an industry, and can usually see both sides of how and why some things get done, but if that was the driving reason for that seven issue run, I think someone somewhere just jumped the Killer Shark…
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Apart from the story elements having appeared in the monthly book within the last two years, they’re also in the even more recent trades of the series, so bringing out a more concisely collated trade is not so much milking the cash cow as turning poor old Bessie inside out by the sheer scale of the suction on her udder!
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(Ten points there for imagery, methinks!)
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Cheers!
PAD, as we are going with a tax season theme here, you must be in the comic shop every Wednesday increasing your “business expense” totals for the year.
Who is this APD? Is that Peter’s evil twin? X-D
Well, I had a small “stash” today – Vigilante (solely for the Titans/Jericho storyline), Batman: Oracle and, of course, X-Factor! I really liked the latter two, though I thought the cover of Batman: Oracle was pretty over-the-top (or under her top?).
XFactor was great, Superman/Batman was horrible, liked Action Comics and Farscape. It was a tiny week for me. I quit Uncanny Xmen and Legacy Xmen a few issues ago, with so few Xtitles I have been able to buy other comics.
Does anyone buy their comics online? Any good or bad experiences? It seems a lot of places can offer 40-70% off on comics, and wasnt sure if it was a scam.
Read X-Factor, Zorro, and Action Comics.
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In keeping with ‘no spoilers’ about X-Factor, I’ll just generally say that this issue has many of the classic items that make the X-Universe so fun–classic villains, classic heroes, and a classic storyline.
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Zorro is a lot of fun, albeit slightly predictable.
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Action Comics stars Christopher Kent, the newest “Superboy”, so it’s still connected to Superman.
I think the ‘no spoiler’ deal was only in regard to the past 3 issues, and that we can talk freely about the current and future issues. Right PAD?
Yup.
PAD
I bought X-Factor #42. Your spoiler for next issue is awesome.
X-Factor #42 and Vigilante #5.
That’s all.
The first one was a blast: fun, drama and fun. Can’t wait for what’s to come.
The second was awful: I don’t understand how Jericho works (is he a spirit or has he a body of his own ?), I’m bored to death with his father issue and Vigilante is totally insignificant. Don’t like the art neither.
Picked up Treason yesterday, and just finished it. As usual, a gripping read. And a sad one, too, though it is good that unlike the TV series, no one is safe from death.
Picked up Treason yesterday too.
Still need to read it, but glad to hear a good review.
(of course, I had no doubt, which is why it was top of my shopping list yesterday.)
Fashionably late as usual…
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Light week for me, picked up the regular X-Books, enjoyed X-Factor but actually an issue where not a lot happened. I’m looking forward to seeing PAD’s take on that last page character, and will probably hurl praise/abuse as and when appropriate 🙂
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REBELS is so-so… It being a light week is probably why it still made the cut.
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100 Bullets 100 didn’t turn up this week, so that’s mildly annoying.
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No real fanboy moment to report, other than had fun re-reading the thirteen issues of The Establishment by Ian Edgington, and the Stormwatch Team Achilles issues…
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Cheers.
I figured someone would bring up the whole “you don’t have to buy it” rebuke, which is true. Unfortunately for me, if I don’t buy these titles I ‘ll have a decent gap in my my run of those titles. I have stopped buying titles because I didn’t like the creative teams taking over-Phil Jimenez on WW, Keron Grant on Iron Man-but I’m a big Superman fan so I deal. At least the art doesn’t suck. As a fan I think I’m allowed to vent every once in a while.
“Unfortunately for me, if I don’t buy these titles I ‘ll have a decent gap in my my run of those titles.”
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On the one hand I want to mock you as mortal man has seldom been mocked before, for everything that says and does to perpetuate every fan-nerd stereotype in the known universes… On the other hand, I do know exactly where you’re coming from and have done the same thing a (very!) few times…
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Ðámņ these ethical and moral dilemmas, dámņ them I say!!!
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Cheers.
Like Peter, I’d like to mock you for being a complete-ist, but shan’t because of my complete run of Rom. What WAS I thinking?
Some could argue you lost all right to mock by STARTING a run of ROM, never mind completing it 😛
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Sorry! (Sunday is bìŧçh-áŧ-á-bûddÿ day in Scotland)
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Cheers
The latest Spidey and X-Factor #42.
Amazing was interesting. While I guess I’m happy to see some former allies brought back into Parker’s inner circle once more after keeping so many at arms length since the start of Brand New Day, it still seems a bit too soon after the fact. Not only that, but the “rules” laid out by Spidey in the issue completely contradict with the last New Avengers book. I get the feeling sometimes Bendis doesn’t quite go out of his way to accommodate the nuances involved with characters which have been or still are being written by other people.
Hëll, Iron Fist is still in his old 70s outfit in the NA, ugh.
X-Factor was good! I’m waiting for a future swerve where the snarky tension between Madrox and Ruby will reach a passionate boiling point, having her disowned from the Summers bloodline and crushing Layla x Jamie shippers for the time being (I do lurve Layla though).
Intriguing event concerning Longshot, good continuity with the scant foundations laid about the Summers Rebellion years ago, fun dialogue – can’t wait to see if a certain somebody gets put in their place.
“Bendis doesn’t quite go out of his way to accommodate the nuances involved with characters which have been or still are being written by other people.”
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Did Bendis ever comment publicly on what he thought of OMD/BND?
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Without trying to second guess the guy, I’d imagine there’s a dichotomy for any writer working at a company on that company’s characters.
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You’re hired by the company, therefore you are required to sing the company song, but there are probably going to be some verses you can sing with more enthusiasm than others…
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Cheers.
To your first question, I’m actually not sure.
To the rest of your reply: that’s definitely true to an extent, but with the role he’s played in general with Marvel over the last few years, he seems to be less of a standard choirboy and more akin to the Paul Shaffer of the company band, to run with that analogy.
I think he’s a decent writer and this is probably a fumble by the editors more than anything, but I’ve noticed things like inconsistent characterization and even slight continuity errors with characters he’s adapted as pets in his own books, like The Hood and The Sentry. It makes me have the feeling he’d force a square peg into a round hole just to get the desired effect he has in mind.
Overall, I’d think all Spidey related editors and writers at Marvel maybe would have laid out what the exact rules and repercussions of the BND mojo would be, just for some semblance of consistency out of a very messy affair.
I’d agree with most of that. Certainly a clear functional spec is needed for something as pervasive and major as OMD/BND, and the apocryphal quotes on that sound like JMS and Joe Q didn’t have one of those even while they were writing it 🙂
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There’s probably a flip side to that though, as in “What does an 800lb writer get to write?” Telling Bendis to ‘do it over and get it right this time’ would probably take some degree of intestinal fortitude…
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Actually, we’re kind of circling back to my (much) earlier question of what should an editor bring to the process. I had planned to throw that one out again at the start of this week’s stash post, but if anyone want’s to run with it here I’d still be interested in people’s thought.
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Cheers.
I wish I knew more of what an editor in the comic business does specifically, but I always assumed and would expect is that they’re kind of like a handler crossed with a middle-man – they make sure the scripts/art are all tight and error free, that theme and continuity is upheld in terms of itself and other related books (by co-ordinating with other editors, especially if you’re in a sub-brand like the X-books or the Ultimate line), but also play go-between for the two parties of the talent and the higher ups (editor in chief/s?).
I remember reading in a recent interview where PAD was saying he had to fight tooth and nail for a long time with his editor to do the recent Madrox baby storyline. Whether the buck stopped at his editor or then the editor in turn had to run it by whoever oversees the general X books, I dunno – but I’d imagine they often can be either a mouthpiece and a possible bane, or a personal savior.
Whether I’m on the mark or not is a another question, but that’s pretty much what I’d want and expect from somebody in such a position.
That and maybe the ability to do your research for you. :]
Only read one or two issues of ROM back in the day I think but grew up reading Mantlo’s Spectacular Spider-Man run (and Mr. David’s as well come to think of it)…
As far as comics that came out this week, I really liked quite a few (DMZ, Soul Kiss to name a couple) and loved X-Factor. Not sure I have to mention spoilers are upcoming but if so – well, the next couple paragraphs may contain a spoiler or two … The image of Madrox and the dupes climbing the Sentinel was astounding. The story itself was great with the various threads bobbing and weaving. Looking forward to next issue …
Like Peter and Michael I really like X-Men: Legacy. I have to say I’m not always enthused with some of the plot points or Xavier’s characterization but I do think Carey does a masterful job delving into their history while making it relevant and compelling. It’s terrific to read month after month.
The book that surprised me a bit was Incognito – I didn’t think the concept would be torn asunder so quickly and Overkill’s “normal” life would be seemingly destroyed – though seemingly may be the key word.
And speaking of Brubaker, the line of the week for me was Sharon Carter in Captain America describing her life: “It’s a long story … and mostly classified.”
Thought it was a pretty cool week for comics overall …
Forgot to mention Captain America in my list… I’m really enjoying Brubaker’s run on the book, and his Daredevil work. I’ve had kind of an on/off thing with Cap over the years, partly because as a Brit there’s no instant connection/identification with the patriotic aspects of the hero as an icon.
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(Having said that, I never fealt any instant bonding with Captain Britain either, though it is nice to see him now being written by a British writer…)
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Cap 25 made me look at the title again, then pick up the trades for this volume and stick with the title to date. Brubaker seems to be better at the smaller more ‘intimate’ books than at the big team epics. His take on X-Men was – by me – execrably bad.
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Bill Mantlo… Mantlo always seems to me like an ‘almost’ great writer, lots of good, competent, reliable, intelligent, enjoyable work, but never anything where he got to really slam out the home runs month after month… (Ðámņ, more cross-pollination of thread memes… I must watch that!).
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I’m open to persuasion here if anyone thinks that’s doing the man a disservice btw.
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Cheers.
I can’t say I personally think Peter Poole is doing Bill Mantlo a disservice by saying Mantlo’s “almost” a great writer. I did love his work on Spectacular Spider-Man years ago and after rereading Essential Spectacular recently I still love it.
I think to continue the baseball analogy (and this may be a little silly) but every fan may be his or her own ballpark – and like baseball, different eras in comic books can be discussed and dissected, compared and contrasted. It’s part of the charm and timelessness of both.
As far as Brubaker, Daredevil is currently my favorite title and I am huge fan of so much of his work, but I didn’t like Vulcan and Deadly Genesis all that much.
• 
I picked up Invincible 60, the Invincible War. This is the best single issue multi-hero crossover since Fantastic Four Annual 3 (the Wedding of Sue and Reed).
Come back to http://www.comicon.com, Peter. We miss you (though the trolls are still there).
I actually just bought DC’s 2 volumes of “Fallen Angel” which is what brought me here & i have to tell it’s amazing & i can’t wait to read the Omnibus to know what happens next (particularly with Linda Danvers being “back” and after the astonishing work you’ve done on Supergirl – one of my favorite runs EVER).
I also bought the second volume of Warren Ellis’ Thunderbolts. The 1st one was promising but this one is just amazing too! I still can’t believe that Marvel is actually publishing this and that it’s a “mainstream”, Marvel Universe comic-book (and not some creator owned suggested for mature readers” thing). Quesada did some stupid choices for sure, but still what he’s allowing to happen in company-owned comics is wonderful and i gotta say i respect him a lot for that.
By the way my name is Shaomi & i’m a writer too and if everything goes as planned, my 1st graphic-novel should be published this year (here in France). Pleased to meet you Mr. David. You’re one of the best in the field and you’ve been one of my major inspirations for the last 20 years. For that i thank you a lot.
You’re very welcome, and best of luck with your graphic novel.
PAD
Thanx for welcoming me, then 🙂 Let’s hope that comic of mine sees the light of day (it’s been greenlighted but the contract ain’t signed yet).
I’ve been roaming ’round this blog for the last hour and it’s really full of interesting stuff. It’s great to be able to discover one of my favorite writers on a more “personnal” side ;-D
By the way, i think that Caroline (or yourself for that matter) might be interested in that amazing story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4uInxRVX8w&feature=player_embedded (I don’t know where this comes from it was sent to me yesterday).
Bought X-Factor, which I liked, but won’t detail in any great length because I don’t want to sound like a suck-up.
Also bought X-Men: Legacy. I guess I’m the only person who’s really jonesing on this book; I know other people who buy it, but nobody seems to be as into it as me. Well, I really dig it; Carey’s little walkabout-therapy session for Xavier has been an interesting look at memory, identity, guilt, and redemption, and I like how he’s meshed all that together into this holographic vision-quest he’s got Rogue going through at the moment. And he’s managed to make Gambit tolerable, no small feat in itself.
You’re not totally alone on Legacy, it’s currently my favourite of the regular X-Men books and Mike Carey is a darned good writer, not just with a good track record in comics but with the Felix Castor series of novels as well.
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Cheers.
Mike, This is the perfect place to discuss X-Factor. PAD seems to love feedback on this work- and who wouldn’t! When you pour yourself into something, it’s always great to get acknowledged for it.
ASM #591-I really wish they would stop šhìŧŧìņg on Peter Parker’s life in this Brand New Day era. How does he explain being gone for 2 months to friends, family, job, and landlord? Meanwhile over at DC I have to read Action without Superman. This is not why I buy comics.
Delmo,
You don’t “have” to read Action without Superman. You don’t have to read Detective or Batman without Batman. These are your choices, and YOU, as the paying customer, should get what you want – or not get it.
These comics without their title characters in them is an innovative idea – and if it’s a month or two or three, pretty handy. If it’s a year, then it treads into the idiotic (in my mind, anyhow.)
I don’t read many Marvel comics anymore because I can’t afford to buy all the crossover titles… although I know that they’re the most popular books, as sales seem to evince. From “Brand New Day”, I think I understood that the entire Marvel universe was recreated by having Spider-Man’s life change radically. (If you don’t think that changing Spider-Man doesn’t change the MU, then either you’re kidding yourself, or I’m REALLY out of touch – but he used to appear in dámņ near every title sooner or later.)
Sum up – buy it if you like it, don’t buy it if you don’t like it. You could try letting them know, but I don’t know if any editors care what readers think anymore.
I remain,
Sincerely,
Eric L. Sofer
The Silver Age Fogey
x<]:o){
These comics without their title characters in them is an innovative idea
.
Far from it. Not saying it’s a bad thing to do, but it certainly isn’t new. It wasn’t that long ago that there was a “World without a Superman”. There was a string of Captain America-less issues by Englehart back in the mid ’70s.
Eric L. Sofer, the Silver Age Fogey says:
April 16, 2009 at 8:42 am
” but I don’t know if any editors care what readers think anymore”
I think editors care in so much as what readers think affects what they buy, and some editors probably care a lot about what readers think as a secondary concern after making sure the sales figures are good… (The comics industry is an industry, and if you’re a decision influencing part of an industry the bottom line is a thing you’re getting paid to care about, so no criticism there)
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General question, what could/should/does a ‘good’ editor bring to a book he/she is assigned to? Input from PAD more than welcome on this one!
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Cheers.
I feel so out of the loop right now. I haven’t had the chance to read anything new, but a friend of mine left me three volumes of Invincible so that’s been keeping me occupied. In response to Delmo walters jr. comments on Spiderman, I was really hoping that Peter Parker would have evolved from the whole Civil War stuff instead of there being a type of reset on his life. It would have been interesting to see things play out the way they were going. Then again I haven’t read much on Spidey so I’m not sure which way he’s heading now. I guess that just keeps with the whole “Illusion of Change” concept that most characters are treated with. Stuff happens to them, but they essentially stay the same. I guess it’s a necessary formula.
Won’t be picking up my goodies until tomorrow for various reasons, but a quick follow-up to a conversation last week is that I managed to track down most of the Green Lantern issues since Rebirth, and it’s actually a lot more enjoyable that I’d expected, so thanks for the suggestion. Also picked up Ignition City, which is brilliant, as expected.
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Cheers.
Glad I took the time to respond last week. Without the face-to-face feedback that comes with a real life conversation, one sometimes wonders if words typed on the internet are ever ‘listened’ to.
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The Sinestro Corps War was voted one of the best storylines of the year (2007? Time flies.).
Largely why I made a point of replying… 🙂 If PAD’s kind enough to give us the room we may as well “chat” to the other people in here, plus getting other people’s opinions is always interesting.
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SCW was probably a different experience read month by month as opposed to in one big chunk. Without turning in a 30 page spoiler packed essay on GL, I’d quickly say that Rebirth was kind of clunky, but more or less had to be so by nature of the fact that Johns was bolting a pretty huge retcon kludge onto the side of the existing structure. I’d say that GL is a tough book to bring into the 21st century, being as it is the bášŧárd love child of a 1930’s pulp series and a late ’50s early ’60s sensibility of how aliens are. (Sidebar; it’s probably vaguely interesting how the DC universe has lots of individual planets with lots of funky aliens whereas Marvel has half a dozen stellar empires)
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Once Johns had set out the toys in the playground, it’s interesting to see Hal Jordan as more of a right wing womaniser than he’s been before, it’s interesting – if perhaps a little unoriginal – to give more play to the GL Corps being a police force very akin to our own and it was fun to see some old GL villains being worked back into the game. Nice to see Hal talking to the ring again as well. (Mmmm..that sounds like a dirty euphemism!)
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What is really good is the idea of the emotional spectrum and the Guardians relationship to it. From a hard science point of view it’s complete gobbledygook, but it’s plausible and internally consistant, so it works very well as a story point.
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Sinestro Corps War (pant, pant, finally back there!) was – to me – kind of over-egged with three major bad guys – four if you count old purple-puss himself – but it works well as the opening salvo in a bigger and deeper storyline, and serves to introduce the major change in laws governing what the rings can be used to do.
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That change also opens up very interesting moral and ethical questions, and I’m always a sucker for those.
–
Seven issues for the secret origin of Hal Jordan was waaaay too long, especially as big chunks of it had been shown in the previous couple of years anyway. This time around reading in a oner was much better than slogging through seven months of filler.
–
Where it currently stands is good, it’s got a sense of purpose and depth that does make me want to come back and find out what happens next, which is what I wants in me comics!
–
Cheers.
“Seven issues for the secret origin of Hal Jordan was waaaay too long, especially as big chunks of it had been shown in the previous couple of years anyway.”
Agreed that much had been shown in the recent past. What DC was doing at this point was getting it all together in one place for the trade reprint, something they have been doing quite a bit over the last few years.
That’s a really businessy reason to do something like that… I don’t mind that the comics industry is an industry, and can usually see both sides of how and why some things get done, but if that was the driving reason for that seven issue run, I think someone somewhere just jumped the Killer Shark…
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Apart from the story elements having appeared in the monthly book within the last two years, they’re also in the even more recent trades of the series, so bringing out a more concisely collated trade is not so much milking the cash cow as turning poor old Bessie inside out by the sheer scale of the suction on her udder!
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(Ten points there for imagery, methinks!)
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Cheers!
PAD, as we are going with a tax season theme here, you must be in the comic shop every Wednesday increasing your “business expense” totals for the year.
Who is this APD? Is that Peter’s evil twin? X-D
Well, I had a small “stash” today – Vigilante (solely for the Titans/Jericho storyline), Batman: Oracle and, of course, X-Factor! I really liked the latter two, though I thought the cover of Batman: Oracle was pretty over-the-top (or under her top?).
XFactor was great, Superman/Batman was horrible, liked Action Comics and Farscape. It was a tiny week for me. I quit Uncanny Xmen and Legacy Xmen a few issues ago, with so few Xtitles I have been able to buy other comics.
Does anyone buy their comics online? Any good or bad experiences? It seems a lot of places can offer 40-70% off on comics, and wasnt sure if it was a scam.
Read X-Factor, Zorro, and Action Comics.
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In keeping with ‘no spoilers’ about X-Factor, I’ll just generally say that this issue has many of the classic items that make the X-Universe so fun–classic villains, classic heroes, and a classic storyline.
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Zorro is a lot of fun, albeit slightly predictable.
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Action Comics stars Christopher Kent, the newest “Superboy”, so it’s still connected to Superman.
I think the ‘no spoiler’ deal was only in regard to the past 3 issues, and that we can talk freely about the current and future issues. Right PAD?
Yup.
PAD
I bought X-Factor #42. Your spoiler for next issue is awesome.
X-Factor #42 and Vigilante #5.
That’s all.
The first one was a blast: fun, drama and fun. Can’t wait for what’s to come.
The second was awful: I don’t understand how Jericho works (is he a spirit or has he a body of his own ?), I’m bored to death with his father issue and Vigilante is totally insignificant. Don’t like the art neither.
Picked up Treason yesterday, and just finished it. As usual, a gripping read. And a sad one, too, though it is good that unlike the TV series, no one is safe from death.
Picked up Treason yesterday too.
Still need to read it, but glad to hear a good review.
(of course, I had no doubt, which is why it was top of my shopping list yesterday.)
Fashionably late as usual…
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Light week for me, picked up the regular X-Books, enjoyed X-Factor but actually an issue where not a lot happened. I’m looking forward to seeing PAD’s take on that last page character, and will probably hurl praise/abuse as and when appropriate 🙂
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REBELS is so-so… It being a light week is probably why it still made the cut.
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100 Bullets 100 didn’t turn up this week, so that’s mildly annoying.
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No real fanboy moment to report, other than had fun re-reading the thirteen issues of The Establishment by Ian Edgington, and the Stormwatch Team Achilles issues…
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Cheers.
I figured someone would bring up the whole “you don’t have to buy it” rebuke, which is true. Unfortunately for me, if I don’t buy these titles I ‘ll have a decent gap in my my run of those titles. I have stopped buying titles because I didn’t like the creative teams taking over-Phil Jimenez on WW, Keron Grant on Iron Man-but I’m a big Superman fan so I deal. At least the art doesn’t suck. As a fan I think I’m allowed to vent every once in a while.
“Unfortunately for me, if I don’t buy these titles I ‘ll have a decent gap in my my run of those titles.”
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On the one hand I want to mock you as mortal man has seldom been mocked before, for everything that says and does to perpetuate every fan-nerd stereotype in the known universes… On the other hand, I do know exactly where you’re coming from and have done the same thing a (very!) few times…
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Ðámņ these ethical and moral dilemmas, dámņ them I say!!!
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Cheers.
Like Peter, I’d like to mock you for being a complete-ist, but shan’t because of my complete run of Rom. What WAS I thinking?
Some could argue you lost all right to mock by STARTING a run of ROM, never mind completing it 😛
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Sorry! (Sunday is bìŧçh-áŧ-á-bûddÿ day in Scotland)
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Cheers
The latest Spidey and X-Factor #42.
Amazing was interesting. While I guess I’m happy to see some former allies brought back into Parker’s inner circle once more after keeping so many at arms length since the start of Brand New Day, it still seems a bit too soon after the fact. Not only that, but the “rules” laid out by Spidey in the issue completely contradict with the last New Avengers book. I get the feeling sometimes Bendis doesn’t quite go out of his way to accommodate the nuances involved with characters which have been or still are being written by other people.
Hëll, Iron Fist is still in his old 70s outfit in the NA, ugh.
X-Factor was good! I’m waiting for a future swerve where the snarky tension between Madrox and Ruby will reach a passionate boiling point, having her disowned from the Summers bloodline and crushing Layla x Jamie shippers for the time being (I do lurve Layla though).
Intriguing event concerning Longshot, good continuity with the scant foundations laid about the Summers Rebellion years ago, fun dialogue – can’t wait to see if a certain somebody gets put in their place.
“Bendis doesn’t quite go out of his way to accommodate the nuances involved with characters which have been or still are being written by other people.”
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Did Bendis ever comment publicly on what he thought of OMD/BND?
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Without trying to second guess the guy, I’d imagine there’s a dichotomy for any writer working at a company on that company’s characters.
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You’re hired by the company, therefore you are required to sing the company song, but there are probably going to be some verses you can sing with more enthusiasm than others…
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Cheers.
To your first question, I’m actually not sure.
To the rest of your reply: that’s definitely true to an extent, but with the role he’s played in general with Marvel over the last few years, he seems to be less of a standard choirboy and more akin to the Paul Shaffer of the company band, to run with that analogy.
I think he’s a decent writer and this is probably a fumble by the editors more than anything, but I’ve noticed things like inconsistent characterization and even slight continuity errors with characters he’s adapted as pets in his own books, like The Hood and The Sentry. It makes me have the feeling he’d force a square peg into a round hole just to get the desired effect he has in mind.
Overall, I’d think all Spidey related editors and writers at Marvel maybe would have laid out what the exact rules and repercussions of the BND mojo would be, just for some semblance of consistency out of a very messy affair.
I’d agree with most of that. Certainly a clear functional spec is needed for something as pervasive and major as OMD/BND, and the apocryphal quotes on that sound like JMS and Joe Q didn’t have one of those even while they were writing it 🙂
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There’s probably a flip side to that though, as in “What does an 800lb writer get to write?” Telling Bendis to ‘do it over and get it right this time’ would probably take some degree of intestinal fortitude…
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Actually, we’re kind of circling back to my (much) earlier question of what should an editor bring to the process. I had planned to throw that one out again at the start of this week’s stash post, but if anyone want’s to run with it here I’d still be interested in people’s thought.
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Cheers.
I wish I knew more of what an editor in the comic business does specifically, but I always assumed and would expect is that they’re kind of like a handler crossed with a middle-man – they make sure the scripts/art are all tight and error free, that theme and continuity is upheld in terms of itself and other related books (by co-ordinating with other editors, especially if you’re in a sub-brand like the X-books or the Ultimate line), but also play go-between for the two parties of the talent and the higher ups (editor in chief/s?).
I remember reading in a recent interview where PAD was saying he had to fight tooth and nail for a long time with his editor to do the recent Madrox baby storyline. Whether the buck stopped at his editor or then the editor in turn had to run it by whoever oversees the general X books, I dunno – but I’d imagine they often can be either a mouthpiece and a possible bane, or a personal savior.
Whether I’m on the mark or not is a another question, but that’s pretty much what I’d want and expect from somebody in such a position.
That and maybe the ability to do your research for you. :]
Only read one or two issues of ROM back in the day I think but grew up reading Mantlo’s Spectacular Spider-Man run (and Mr. David’s as well come to think of it)…
As far as comics that came out this week, I really liked quite a few (DMZ, Soul Kiss to name a couple) and loved X-Factor. Not sure I have to mention spoilers are upcoming but if so – well, the next couple paragraphs may contain a spoiler or two … The image of Madrox and the dupes climbing the Sentinel was astounding. The story itself was great with the various threads bobbing and weaving. Looking forward to next issue …
Like Peter and Michael I really like X-Men: Legacy. I have to say I’m not always enthused with some of the plot points or Xavier’s characterization but I do think Carey does a masterful job delving into their history while making it relevant and compelling. It’s terrific to read month after month.
The book that surprised me a bit was Incognito – I didn’t think the concept would be torn asunder so quickly and Overkill’s “normal” life would be seemingly destroyed – though seemingly may be the key word.
And speaking of Brubaker, the line of the week for me was Sharon Carter in Captain America describing her life: “It’s a long story … and mostly classified.”
Thought it was a pretty cool week for comics overall …
Forgot to mention Captain America in my list… I’m really enjoying Brubaker’s run on the book, and his Daredevil work. I’ve had kind of an on/off thing with Cap over the years, partly because as a Brit there’s no instant connection/identification with the patriotic aspects of the hero as an icon.
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(Having said that, I never fealt any instant bonding with Captain Britain either, though it is nice to see him now being written by a British writer…)
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Cap 25 made me look at the title again, then pick up the trades for this volume and stick with the title to date. Brubaker seems to be better at the smaller more ‘intimate’ books than at the big team epics. His take on X-Men was – by me – execrably bad.
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Bill Mantlo… Mantlo always seems to me like an ‘almost’ great writer, lots of good, competent, reliable, intelligent, enjoyable work, but never anything where he got to really slam out the home runs month after month… (Ðámņ, more cross-pollination of thread memes… I must watch that!).
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I’m open to persuasion here if anyone thinks that’s doing the man a disservice btw.
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Cheers.
I can’t say I personally think Peter Poole is doing Bill Mantlo a disservice by saying Mantlo’s “almost” a great writer. I did love his work on Spectacular Spider-Man years ago and after rereading Essential Spectacular recently I still love it.
I think to continue the baseball analogy (and this may be a little silly) but every fan may be his or her own ballpark – and like baseball, different eras in comic books can be discussed and dissected, compared and contrasted. It’s part of the charm and timelessness of both.
As far as Brubaker, Daredevil is currently my favorite title and I am huge fan of so much of his work, but I didn’t like Vulcan and Deadly Genesis all that much.