snap judgments

Though I’d forget again?

Amazing Spider-Girl #3

Maybe it’s my 80’s upbringing, but having a central location for trouble be a women’s shelter is kind of a throwback in this day and age.  Not saying battered and in need women aren’t as important as they were when Jem was on, but I keep expecting Mrs. Garrett to show up and teach everyone a little something about ourselves.  More of a monster of the week issue as we catch a bit of peripheral story buzz from all the little subplots running through the book, some supporting characters catch screen time and we get an object lesson in force vs. compassion with villains.  I really do like May’s story here and I can see why there is such a huge fan base for the little book that could.  They don’t have nice futures in the Marvel Universe except here, where life isn’t perfect for our hero, but she works hard to do what she can.  How can you not like a book like this?

Avengers Next #3

In a similar vein is good ol’ Avengers Next, proving that the M2 universe is good for what ails you.  A character love triangle emerges, a fight happens and the villains take a twist at the end of the book that leaves you waiting for #4.  It’s a lot easier sometimes to pick on a book that’s doing something wrong, but when they don’t swing for the fences or fail to give it up each issue in the Mighty Marvel Manner, there are only so many times you can say ‘Good on ya, guys’.  But good on them anyways, goshdarnit!  In the days of radical change and out and out madness, there are still books you can literally take off the shelf, read and enjoy consistently.  Sure, it’s not mind blowing or risk taking but isn’t it nice once and awhile just to have it there?

Bullet Points #2

Man, does JMS love his work.  Enough to repeat it over and over, making a simple phrase seem like poetry… or pretentiousness.  You see, the issue starts off with the idea that bullets change ’space, time and flesh’ and how really profound that is hen matched up with events.  Like say, the magic bullet theory (which I thought was pretty well disproven by this point).  The ’space, time and flesh’ are repeated to drive the point home when Peter Parker ‘Hulks out’ and over Aunt May’s inner turmoil of not having Uncle Ben to help raise him, which are honestly the weakest parts of the book.  As if the metaphor was supposed to help the reader think it was much better for the similarities to events that also may or may not have happened.  I can say the more time spent on Steve Rogers and Reed Richards that will keep me looking into the book as it comes out (because if Captain America never came to be, Tony Stark doesn’t exist along with Rick Jones…. maybe Bruce Banner at this point too, anyone seen him?).  Next issue promises some Fantastic Four-age.

Ghost Rider #6

Richard Corben is stylish.  He’s like the R. Crumb of horror for me. And this issue uses him wonderfully as we get more of Ghost Rider’s background in between brutal moments of now.   Ol’ Flamehead is still on the hunt for more bits of the Devil keeping with the main premise of the book while we catch moments of Blaze’s life before he was really settled into the Vengeance business.  Considering how ‘monster of the week’ things could get as we look for a piece of the devil, fight him, kill him and move on, these vignettes keep things from stagnating and are done rather well.  And there’s nothing like the Hell’s Angels in Ghost Rider to make you look forward to next issue.

New X-Men #33

From the first page, my jaw dropped.  It’s a O.N.E. report!  No way!  And they are actually talking about all the mistakes they’ve made regarding school safety (minus the bus thing)!  Leave it to New X-Men to remember what it did last week, let alone last year.  In fact, with an appearance by the Astonishing headmasters Scott Summers and Emma Frost, they also cover up the fact that kids wound up saving the universe from Nimrod a few issues ago and that wasn’t even really needed, as the average reader is rather used to kids saving the world in lieu of adults.  But still, they tried and that’s why I like this book.  Mind you, Dust’s burqa keeps getting more form fitting and now sports a red sash, so I guess no one’s perfect.  This is their tie in to X-23: Target X, so it’s got X-23 having boy trouble, Mercury taking her into confidence at a coffee shop where Wolverette cuts herself under the table while mulling over her woes and then… explosions!

Wolverine #49

Wolverine is best when not taken seriously in large doses.  This is how i have come to get over my initial dislike of an overexposed character who’s normally handled with an obnoxious level of invincibility.  I think Humberto Ramos is perfect for the Canuklehead, all the exaggeration and kinetic energy just what’s needed to get across the ridiculousness of how far Logan can gone in recent storylines (I mean, I liked the book and all but… regenerating when he looks to be just a metal skeleton?).  This is a fill-in issue for the holiday season that turns out to get the point as well as give us a new one to make the reader count some blessings in the yuletide season.  Logan goes shopping for Kitty at a local mall and turns out to get mixed up in the kidnapping of a spoiled rich girl.  Now, keep in mind that the villain of this issue is just a dude, no powers, no super duper ninja squad, just a guy with a plan and it nearly works if it wasn’t for the girl’s loyal bodyguard and Logan’s bad assery.

X-23: Target X #1

You know, this is better than I thought it was going to be.  Sure, I’m slowly learning to love the Logan, but X-23 is an obvious cash grab and continues the theme of Video Game style Chicks for Marvel, women who are girls and never wanted to be as effortlessly super bad ass and oh why does life have to be so hard?   Go read Spider-Woman: Origin for the best example of this trend, but back to the book at hand.  A chance to get some fill in for between  the first mini, NYX and New X-Men, it’s written fairly well and gets its point across.  Someone should really thank Mike Choi and Sonia Oback personally, though, because without their stunning artwork I don’t think it would have flown as well as it did.

X-Factor #14

The book makes a good point:  the new noir look really saps a lot of the humor the book had oh back in the day.  But you know, that’s okay.  This isn’t the same book, despite being the same writer and PAD will remind you of that just like he did on his return to the Incredible Hulk that got lost in the House of M.  While I’m not saying the book is (without its quips because really, what’s a Peter David book without them?), it’s just not as fun as the original run and it’s not supposed to be.  For #14, we get Jamie walking about and working the beat as, with a little extra Samson time (and in an interesting twist as he plays the Val Cooper role from the original X-Factor shrink issue where the other characters are completely misjudged and there’s even a kidnapping at the end) he decides to ‘pull himself together’ and collect rogue dupes.  Guido’s guilt over killing a guy is given some closure, Monet and Theresa forgive each other if not Jamie and Shatterstar/Rictor fangirls everywhere will collectively squee over a sit down with Rictor and Jamie.  This is not an action book, it’s a conversation book and when two characters get together to hash something out, it really does sing.

X-Men: Phoenix Warsong #4

Let me get this straight:  proving to me at least that Scott still calls Jean’s name in bed, Emma gets more Marvel Girl treatment as she is cloned or eggs are taken from her ovaries by Weapon X to create a crop of Emma babies (take that Nate Grey and Madelyne Pryor!).  Five of these Emma-Babies make their way to Xavier’s and we all know and love them as the Stepford Cuckoos.  Wacky hijinks ensue, two of them die and one of them winds up ‘calling out’ to the Phoenix Force; in distress and plot convenience, they go back to the World from the Morrison run (when will they learn that only Morrison can do Morrison?).  The rest of the Emma Babies (tell me you’re not humming the Muppet Babies theme) are hooked into a very Evangelion looking device and it turns out that they are plugged into a machine that could potentially destroy all mutants.  TOO SLOW THERE GUYS!  With a lot of headache and standing around by various X-Men just waiting to do something, the Phoenix Force goes into the Emma Baby Machine and everyone goes ONNOES!  The book started out interesting and now it’s just getting silly.

Happy Wednesday, everybody