Second half of “The Whole Hero Thing.” Whad’ja think?
UPDATED because no, I didn’t know Fallen Angel was out this week. The war in Bete Noire continues.
PAD
Second half of “The Whole Hero Thing.” Whad’ja think?
UPDATED because no, I didn’t know Fallen Angel was out this week. The war in Bete Noire continues.
PAD
• 
Loved it. Your uncanny ability to pull off gfreat drama and emotion in the midst of absurd humor — or vice versa — was a trademark in the Apropos books (seriously, I could never imagine feeling sad over the death of a character named Sir Umbrage of the Flaming Nether Regions). I felt really bad for the campers whose lives were forever altered by becoming collateral damage in an intergalactic super-throwdown. “Minor” characters like that are too often overlooked or treated only as cannon fodder for bloody death scenes. Making readers care about these characters also acknowledges, to me, that every person in the real world has value too.
Or maybe I’m overthinking it. I also enjoyed the punchline of She-Hulk losing her pants after such a dramatic climax.
Pretty dámņ good, Peter. I’d hate to just rehash what rnmkr said, but you managed to once again write a good action sequence with good characterization, humor, tragedy, etc.
Larry surviving the fall into the water was a bit hard to buy (I can buy She-Hulk surviving, or someone perhaps pulling off a perfect dive, as Spidey did in an issue of ASM years under Michelenie and McFarlane, but him surviving her just holding onto him and falling in is a bit of a stretch), and Tanya being able to hold onto Kodor’s weapon for more than just an instant was unlikely, but these are minor quibbles. I really enjoyed the story and the characters, and Shawn Moll (does he have a bailiff brother named Richard?) renders it pretty well. I particularly was impressed with his rendering of Cazon on Page 8, panel 1.
Thanks for making an Avengers-related title are worth my time.
I did not really like it, things felt… as if it is just stalling before the Secret Invasion crossover. The surprise ending of Jazinda’s actions at the end felt like it was not a suprise. The Toarchwood like device, bringing someone back for just a short bit, just did not seem to click. The bounty hunter angle seems alright, but just does not seem to be working right here good in these last to issues.
I used to think that it wasn’t posible to have a comical story that resonates emotionally, but then I encountered your work (It was your Star Trek: New Frontier books or Captain Marvel I discovered first…I don’t know wish). Terry Pratchett is the only other writer I know that can do this.
It left me feeling empty, which I guess means it did a good job. But it also means I didn’t enjoy it, and I don’t understand why it has to be like that. Not knowing what changed She-Hulk means I can’t relate to her. And Jazinda’s just evil. So who am I supposed to care about here?
I started reading She-Hulk because you came onto the book and I haven’t been disappointed. (I’m a big Fallen Angel fan and it’s got me picking up some of your other things now.)
Haven’t seen Torchwood so I have no idea if the temporary-resurection bears any semblance to something in that series, but for me I found it to be quite dramatic. Having the bounty hunter recognize She-Hulk seemed like a nice continuity touch – I didn’t read Slott’s run, but I remember hearing some details and I *think* that was a reference to an early story. The ending to me didn’t seem like the point was to surprise so much as to show the contrast between Jazinda and She-Hulk. I thought it worked well.
Looking forward to next ish.
I just KNEW people would draw “Torchwood” parallels. Even though it wasn’t a glove, even though the resurrected people on Torchwood didn’t discorporate, even though on Torchwood it was limited to about a minute whereas in SH #26 it went for far longer, even though–in short–it was no more like Torchwood than Torchwood is like Pushing Daisies–I just knew people would bring that up.
Hate being right all the time.
PAD
She-Hulk needs to be pantless more often.
PAD,
Fallen Angel also came out this past week, in case you weren’t aware.
Rick
This looks like a job for…EMERGENCY PANTS!
She-Hulk,
Fin Fang Foom put you in his pants.
(signed)
FFF
PAD,
Fallen Angel #24 confused me. 6 pages before the end we see Liandra say that Jude is in the church and the bottom panel shows Jude and Gilles De Rais. Then we cut to a 2 page interlude back at Furors. Then suddenly we have Liandra holding some kid who “clobbered the bad guy with holy water”. And then Jubal attacking Jude. And on the final page what appears to be Gilles de Rais with a scarred eye.
So, what kid is Liandra holding? When/where did the kid save Jude? Was this all intentionally in between panels? Or is my issue missing a page or two?
Brad
Brad: Did you read “Fallen Angel #22?”
PAD
PAD,
Yes, but that was 2 months ago. Let me go back and reread that story. I’ll bet that it makes much more sense when you haven’t forgotten the previous issue(s).
Brad
Hate being right all the time.
But you have yet to win the lottery! 😉
And yeah, the comparison to Torchwood’s Resurrection Glove is the first thing that came to mind for me as well. Can’t help it. 🙂
Well, like I said I haven’t seen Torchwood, so I didn’t think of that. On the other hand, I’m a huge Pushing Daisies fan and I also didn’t think of that. I still think it worked very well.
Oh, and I believe you’ve stated in Bete Noir dead is dead, which leaves me really hoping that Slate can survive multiple gunshot wounds, because I’d really miss him.
PAD,
I thought She-Hulk was good this month. Jen and Jaz had a bit of a role reversal this month with Jen giving in (once again) to her hero side, while Jaz goes from concerned citizen to cold and detatched with her business-like dispatching of Cazon. Maybe Jen should be a little more cautious around Jaz, huh? (Honestly, I’ve always had the secret wish that Jen would deal some of that cold justice that her cousin specializes in, but I’ve always had the impression that jen was too fair-minded and had to big of a conscience.)
Moving on – You know, I never thought I’d have any interest in a Badoon character, but over only two issues I find that I do. Since his ship is KO’d and his bounty is dead, will we see more of him in upcoming issues?
Thanks for a fun issue.
PAD,
It has been a bit rocky with me and She Hulk, but this issue brought me a good way around. I added it to my regular order, and I look forward to seeing the book develop further.
Thanks.
1Fallen Angel continues to one of the best books on the market and the current issue proves this. the cast of characters have proven that they can carry the book on their own. In fact as the sereis progress,nearing issue 50,it seems to me that the title just might be refering to Bete Noir .
She Hulk on the other hand is a work in progress.Peter was not going to folow in Slott’s footsteps,as writers after John Byrne tried to do after he left the book many years ago. It surprises me that writers are not allowed to find their own voice on a character. Fans today would rather see Peter continue what Slott was doing the create his own stories. this book is headed in the right direction. Jen in the great tradition of Marvel characters,has to find her own reason for continue being a superhero.We have to see the road she is taking and it will not take one issue to get there. This past issue is showing Jen has lines that she won’t cross. And the question is do these boundaries make her a super hero or just a person of high moral standing. I like writers that explore a characters reason for being.
She-Hulk was excellent! The Jennifer Walters in these stories strike the same chords as when Byrne first put her in Fantastic Four. Her losing her pants was funny in the way She-Hulk should be funny.
As of this issue, I’m dying to know Jazinda’s story. She’s a lot like She-Hulk but also very different. I have a feeling these two friends will end up as enemies before PAD’s run is complete.
My only gripe (again) was the art. It’s just not growing on me. The illustration work is fine but the story telling elements are not as clear or as dynamic as they could be. I’d love to see a re-teaming of PAD and Leonard Kirk on this title.
Thanks for a fun story, Mr. David.
So, OK, I’d made some rough guesses as to how the Mariah/Dolf thing would play out and had a multiple choice set. Should have included “none of the above”. This is, after all, a PAD book. You’d think I’d have learned by now …
Brad Balfour: “So, what kid is Liandra holding? When/where did the kid save Jude? Was this all intentionally in between panels? Or is my issue missing a page or two?“
Yeah, I had exactly the same thought. Did a couple of pages get left out? Because the sense of “waitaminnit, did I miss something?” had me flipping back to see if I accidentally turned more than one page.
PAD?
Nothing got left out. Go read “Fallen Angel #22.” In what I thought would be an interesting experiment in story telling, I actually showed the entire war, including through to the end, in issue #22…just shown from the one kid’s point of view. Issue #24 depicted the events the kid saw from the other side.
PAD
Ah. Once an arc is done I tend to go back and read it all at once. No doubt I would have picked up on that when I did so. With two months between episodes, I missed it.
Thanks, PAD!