snap judgments no, really, there are some comics you really should read

Alone at Last – Preview Reviews for 8/1

Hoo boy, is Comic Con over!  Now I sit, alone at Metro, waiting for a ride back home.... and reading preview books.  Pardon my spelling, but without further ado...

(the new) Fantastic Four #548

This is actually a pretty fantastic issue (thank you folks, I'll be here all week). The Wizard has a grudge against Mr. Fantastic being the better man and so now he's devised this plan to prove him wrong, which included getting a new Frightful Four back together (the Trapster, Hydro-Man and Titania, since she's got red hair), taking the Invisible Woman hostage and blowing up the FF's rescue ship. Not a shabby plan... but Black Panther's here to save the day with quick thinking. They rally, show up to save Sue and it's on like Donkey Kong. Action! Adventure! Humidity (take that, Hydro-Man)! And, with some quick thinking on the Wizard's part on how to take care of that pesky know-it-all Black Panther, THE RETURN OF THE KLAW!

Sure, it's a heavy on the Black Panther side, but you know... I'll forgive that for showing some fun villain and hero action in a day where most mainstream Marvel heroes are threatening to choke fools and/or making situations worse.

Ms. Marvel #18

Now, I haven't been a fan of Ms. Marvel since her series started adn she just seemed to fall into mistake after mistake. Her last storyline left her with tons of "whoops" and very little to show for it. So that's why they brought in the big guns. At Comic Con, Brian Reed said that Machine Man would be joining the cast in all his Nextwave glory and he was not kidding. Not many can be Warren Ellis, but he does a fine job of giving some humor and anti-BS to a book that really seemed to cater to the whims of a woman not really cut out for the jobs they keep giving her. Sleepwalker also joins as a wet behind the ears recruit who will be our audience's viewpont on this wacky situation which is... the Puppet Master! Giving up evil villainy (so he says), he's gone into the slave trade, kidnapping chicks and selling them as living dolls. Apparently, he's getting a super-heroine collection for the utra-kinky, and we end with underage Araña showing up as the latest part of his collection.

Hey, Machine Man's in it! Yay!

New Warriors #3

Night Thrasher may be Bill Foster's nephew (last seen in Incredible Hulk #107 ready to watch the Hulk beat up the guy who had a hand in his uncle's death); in any case, this New Night Thrasher can grow really big and that's our clue. Also, Wolverine shows up to confront "Wondra", Jubilee's new alter-ego and to make sure that she knows what she's doing here. All signs point to "Not really" as people are starting to question this dude who's funding all this New Warriors business. Thanks to some loving starting shots of the last New Warriors are gross and dead and unpleasant, it might just be that Dwanye Taylor just got really small during the blast as nothing remained of him but the tattered remnants of his uniform. Starting to show some meat on this story, but I'm just not getting that the New Warriors are doing anything but just existing. Where is all this vigilante crime stuff they're doing? Where's the good that can come from being a rebellious teen? Besies the anti-Stark and SHIELD graffiti they apparently put up on Stark Tower with no one noticing? Still not entirely sold here, though showing Tony in a SHIELD uniform since he's the FRIKKIN' DIRECTOR is a great idea.

Shanna the She-Devil: Survival of the Fittest #1 (of 4)

Sorry. This is going to be short since I just can't get past this artwork. Something about it just peels my eyes and I can read the story without wondering if we can get the inker a thicker pens so the action doesn't look so transparent. Because boy, there's a lot of action here. The book barely stops between a bunch of pirates hijacking a boat that gets attacked by a giantsquid who's pirranha friends crash the pirate boat that lands them on Shanna's island where they're chased by dinosaurs until they are chased by beees and ... *phew* I'm tired just typing all of this. And I know I'd like the story if my brain could just get past this art...

Spider-Man/Red Sonja #1 (of 5)

That's weird. Second story page in is a two page spread of Spider-Man kicking crooks in the face while talking to MJ on his cell phone. That's surprisingly awesome for a simple, barely understandable crossover book. I mean, Red Sonja? Really?? No, really, this is actually a pretty fun little book. Hyborean villain, Kulan Gath, takes over some poor fool through an amulet, turns New York into something more his style and then- best part- puts Red Sonja in the body of Mary Jane to make sure that Spider-Man is far too busy chainsg around his wife, mind controlled to try and stop the Spider-Man, to bother with his evil plans. Continuity be damned! They harken back to the old Red Sonja/Spider-Man crossover, but nothing else touches this funny little adventure book. I had my doubts but this is some good stuff.

Thor #2

Thrill as Thor, God of Thunder, BUYS REAL ESTATE! He buys the land after he brings Asgard back by shouting really loudly and doing a lot of weather effects, and so now Asgard looks like a weirdly medieval castle. He pays off the local yoakles with armloads of gold to keep the land then decides to go and find the Warriors Three. According to the teaser for the next issue, he finds Iron Man instead. Despite Iron Man being in World War Hulk right now. *sigh*

Uncanny X-Men #489

On one hand, we have Kurt and Professor X on the hunt for Magneto, knowing that he's confortable enough to wander about after being blown up in a hellicopter after that whole ridiculous New Avengers issue to be walking around, visiting gravesites. Oh, and geting called out on YouTube. Masque is getting braver and braver with these random mutant-ing attacks and Storm is assembling some X-Men at the FF's place, much to Johnny and Ben's chagrin. They go into the tunnels and find the leftovers of a confrontation with Sentinel Squad O.N.E. That's of course when a Sentinel is going to show up on the scene instead of... I guess Sentinel Squad O.N.E's ground troops... and think that Storm, Queen of Wakanda and public member of the Fantastic Four, totally just killed some guys. A fight ensues, Skids of the Morlocks comes to just in time to show some SHIELD creds and tells the Sentinel to stand down.
Meanwhile, in the Endangered Species back up, Beast encounters Dark Beast for a good talk about what he's destined to become without morals and Dark Beast gives his goody two shoes counterpart the keys to the old Neverland project from the old Weapon X series, effectively gving him an eeeeevil laboratory. Not a bad piece of the back up, but still a little odd to find within all this.

HEY EVERYBODY! – Preview Reviews for the Week of 7/25

You know, screw it.  If a US soldier can explode an entire city with the words 'God Bless America' on her lips and Peter Parker didn't see Spider-Man 3 where Aunt May plainly and patiently explains that Spider-Man doesn't kill... I can spoil a few books coming out this week.  All of these were written off the cuff as I read them over this weekend, in between work, work and more work.  It's preview reviews, everyone!  Fresh and snappy.

Amazing Spider-Man #542

And we start out with a grand speech from Kingpin with Black-Emo-Rage Spider-Man just stading there for two pages.  Apparently, the suit represents "a promise about all the things I said I would do and all the things I said I would never do...because doing so would destroy everything this suit stands for.  And that, you see, is why you're confused."  Damn right I'm confused.  Oh, the suit represents the Hero Spider-Man, so that's why he takes it off (woo!) to "kill" the Kingpin.  Oh Batman.  He kicks the ever-lovin' shit out of the Kingpin, and is there, ready to kill him at his lowest moment of having his his big butt handed to him surrounded by the criminal element by some nothing school teacher and then... Peter Parker pulls back, saying that when Aunt May dies, he's gonna come back and finish the job.  Oh, lookit me, big man kicking the crap out of someone who exploited my stupendously dumb acts during Civil War.

This serves as both a warning for the Kingpin and for everyone else in that prison thinking "Hey, I can look up Peter Parker in the phone book!".  He goes back and there are money complaints, all of which will probably be taken care of by Mr. Fisk next issue.  I mean, come on.

Annihilation: Conquest - Starlord #1 (of 4)

Four pages.  BAM!  You know who Starlord is, flaws and strengths as well as where he's at now.  Why can't all books be like this?  The Dirty Dozen in Space.  The book knows it and has no bones telling you to your face what you're about to read.  All the characters are introduced summarily, their mission dire (being put in the middle of the Phalanx to dismantle some potential 'seeds', thus preventing the Phalanx from spreading throughout the galaxy.).  It's got personality, action, some fantastic artwork and just the right touch of self-humor and redemption.  Once again, a Annihilation book meets all my expectations and gets me excited for what's to come.

Black Panther #29

Okay, really.  No more zombies.  The covers were cut and cool and now they're just obnoxious.   I think I figured out my oddity with Hudlin:  when I first read Black Panther, it was from Christopher Priest, so there was a level of 'taking things serious' with the book that I grew accustomed to.  I don't think this book is supposed to have some greater moral objective, some lesson for us all to learn, some deeper meaning.  It has a parental advisory on the front, but feels more like an all ages book and it would be fantastic as an all ages book.  Weird.  Anyhoo, this one brings you more adventure on a Skrull world in the Marvel Zombie universe (just, for the love of Pete, don't give it a number!).  People get eaten, Black Panther meets his other self, and the allies they had with the Skrulls are now zombies too.

Incredible Hulk #108

So, Rick Jones and Miek are kind of one in the same, okay, I'll buy that.  Even though Rick Jones kind of went on later to become a much deeper character than just 'the Hulk's sidekick' and helped a lot of other heroes, stopped a war...  We get a little in-the-wings moment pre-World War Hulk #2 with Miek and Rick Jones thinking in really big splash pages about the Hulk and their connection to him where we, the reader, are supposed to infer that they are very similar.  Well, in any case, whatever the motivation, Rick convinces Miek to do something about all this craziness instead of just going along with the plan to kill all humans.  Now, mind you, from what I remember about the Hulk's buggy chum, he might just get a couple blocks down the road, change his mind and go to what he was doing before, so... not really sure what we're supposed to be getting here, besides a lot of info for new readers on who Rick Jones is at the core of it all and how important Miek is to the story at large.  Eh.  I expected more from a Rick Jones appearance, but then again, I might not be the target reader for this book.

Iron Man #20

Meanwhile, the Hulk's just sort of smashing around, doing his thing and SHIELD is now under sub-director Dugan.  (Side note:  have I mentioned how weird it is to call this all World War Hulk when everything is happening in New York?)  Hulk shows up, talks to Dugan, finds out more about how it was an LMD who tricked him into space to start this whole mess and takes off, giving SHIELD a pass for now.  Dugan does the smart thing, takes two guys who've Hulkbusted before and gets the lamest ideas of either 'waiting this all out' since the Hulk seems pretty focused on his revenge or attacking now with nothing they can say for certain is going to do the job.  So their out of luck and that's when Dugan gets a secret message from Tony saying that if all this goes to hell, Dugan is to OPEN UP THE NEGATIVE ZONE and BLOW UP MANHATTAN.  He wants to destroy the Fantastic Four, himself, entire divisions of soldiers, heroes standing up for him, just to get at the Hulk.  It's Dugan's call on when to use this Doomsday Device.

I don't know any more.  On one hand, Tony's got a big brass pair to pull something like this to cover his own ass.  On the other, something that large a scale may stop the Hulk, but will ruin him personally.  If Speedball is a national enemy for being connected to the blast in Stamford, no one's going to trust Tony again after effectively nuking New York.  He may spin it, but there's got to be an end to all these lies.

Interesting stuff.

Mighty Avengers #4

Stop.  Stop, right now.  Go to your local comic shop, tell them you want this book off your pull sheets and that you'd prefer to collect it in trade instead.  Because this story arc is useless in 'floppy' format.  Ultron says she's going to destroy all humans, the team figures out that Ultron is merely going off of old plans and is nothing new under the sun despite appearances, and there's some empty fighting.  Though, at least it's not ninjas.  Really, that's about it.  Ares says he knows how to stop Ultron, but DOESN'T SAY HOW.  Just an epiphany, more fighting, maybe nuclear threat, end of book.  Now, if this was just chapter four in a six-chapter book, maybe it'd feel less empty because I sould see the pages ahead and get to the heart of the story... whatever it is.  I'm sure the thought balloons would still irk me, but at least the story would read a lot better.  Such a sad sad waste, I tells ya.

Wolverine #55

I'm sorry, guys.  I'm so sorry.  I didn't so much as read as flip through the pages really fast, avoiding all word balloons and occasionally stopping to wonder what Simone Binchi's next project is.  The man's really good, he just deserves a better story than this.  From what I can read without gouging my eyes out,  Wolverine and Sabertooth are connected since the dawn of time (or 'primordial ooze' as Logan puts it) and are all either descended or connected to someone named "Romulus".  He is at the top of the list of all 'feral' mutants and is the great manipulator and whatnot.  Sabretooth's gone wild and Logan has to take him out back to the woodshed, so he goes to <strike>Batman</strike> Cyclops to get the <strike>Kryptonite Ring</strike> <strike>Plot Device from Wolverine: Origins</strike> Masamune Sword.  Mutants with regenerative powers can't heal the wounds made by the Masamune Sword, so this should do the trick on ol' Victor Creed.  After some obligatory Cyclops/Wolverine tension (it's in the contract), Logan gets on a plan with Rahne and <strike>they go to Spain</strike> they talk up Romulus and how bad Creed is (he killed an unarmed girl!  OMG!!) and Wolverine goes back to where it all started, and chops off Creed's head with the magic sword at Silver Fox's old cabin.  Fresh out of Hot Topic, Wildchild shows up and explains that the whole reason Wolverine and Sabretooh have this big grudge (uhm, had, whatever) is that ONE IS BLONDE AND THE OTHER HAS BLACK HAIR.  Blah blah blah, different tribes, blah blah blah, curse you Romulus, into the night.

This has been a pretty murky and lousy storyline and I can't even get mad about it anymore.  At least it's over.

X-Men #201

Fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight.  Some neat power tricks, more mysteries and just when you thought the Mauraders were enough, along comes Exodus and his crew.  Hey, if I want to read Shakespeare, I'll go to the library.  Entertaining, but not really fulfilling.  It's the pretzel of X-Books right now.  Endangered Species chapter five reveals that the Neverland (from the Weapon X series awhile back) was a real death camp horror story and Dark Beast was either in charge or was required to show in to keep up their last page reveals.

X-Men: First Class #2

So, if X-Men #201 is a pretzel, think of this as your healthy apple slice.  Now that's the book is an ongoing series, we get a two-part story (or so I surmise, maybe it'll be three) about the X-Men being sent by an absentee Professor X to a very strange island full of weird dangers and perilous adventure.  It all seems very strange to Fearless Leader Cyclops who, after getting quite an earful from Xavier after questioning the team's uncertainty about what they're supposed to be doing, is almost certain something's fishy.  And it is!  Because Xavier is shown coming home to the mansion only to find a sneaky looking guy in his house and *gasp* NO X-MEN!  Is Jeff Parker going to give us Krakoa the Living Island?

Any questions?

Guess Who’s Back, Tell a Friend – Preview Reviews for 5/2

It feels good, folks. There's just nothing in the world like lovin' and hatin' the funny books, let me tell you. Let's just get to brass tacks, shall we?

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #20

So, I know that JMS promised some resolution on his big hippy The Other storyline about choosing between The Spider and The Man and the spider-stingers and all that jazz, but did he not have the time? Or the inspiration? Or did Peter David ask to have this fiasco handed to him? Because man, it's like ou can see PAD with mop and bucket in hand as he cleans up the mysterious Other spider-shadow-chick and possibly where they were all going with that. Betty Brant comes to see Flash at his apartment and sees Peter Parker in his holographic disguise; she deduces he's Peter in a matter of panels and gives the guy a hug, some forgiveness and a mystery. She tells him of Ms. Arrow's crazy behavior and they do a little detective Googling on the words "Arrow" and "Spider" (Try it!). They of course, come up with plot results and find out that 'spider ero' is the Pirate Spider, that feeds on other spiders, so Flash is in trouble. Meanwhile, Flash is leading the Midtown High bowling team to glory with a friend of his (a lady friend no less, being one of those jocular types that had a lot of rough and tumble gal pals, or so is my impression) and Ms. Arrow is telling a dark and spooky shadow her plans of mating and man eating. A big confrontation and reveal down at the bowling alley later, Ms. Arrow steals Flash and we're left with the impression that all will be explained next issue. Or maybe that's just me hoping a lot.

Ghost Rider: Trail of Tears #4 (of 6)

No matter what, I will always respect Clayton Craine after an interview in CSN where he declared he wanted the covers of the books he's on to match the interiors. If you saw the first Ennis/Craine masterpiece, you know for a fact that this is something he can pull off in spades. After all, that's what the cover is there for, to judge the book! The Ghost Rider: Trail of Tears mini series continues that tradition of cover matching and gives off this fantastic old West feel, the Eastwood style of Western storytelling that Garth Ennis can provide. In this issue, some spooky stuff happens that's pretty chilling and exciting towards the main plot. Yes, I did lose my notes for this one.

Incredible Hulk #106

I get the sinking feeling that World War Hulk is going to suffer from the same 'What order is this all supposed to be read in?' that Civil War experienced. WARNING! This issue totally summarizes She-Hulk #18, due out at the end of this month. So, if you want some impact for the results of the story, don't read this one. Without giving anything away, uhm... Jen meets up with Amadeus Cho, they discuss recent events and Leonard Samson shows up to throw things. Through being just as much as a natural savant as Layla Miller, Jen escapes, joins Cho's side along with... wait for it... the Champions! Well, at least Hercules and Angel, the former getting just as much screen time as Cloak and Dagger and the latter who's been missing since I believe last year. And yes, the last page is a big splash of static characters posing dramatically, just like Civil War loved to end. Now, I know I'm biased because I haven't been all that thrilled by Planet Hulk but still... I'm wary.

Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness #3 (of 5)

There's a Nextwave cameo. They explode off screen. Also, there's always been a Ash in the Marvel Universe. Next issue has a trip to Latveria. What, were you expecting a plot?

Runaways #26

It's got Whedon all over it. The cover happens exactly how you expect and boy howdy, nothing gets under my skin like a major guest star in a book used only to take a cheap fall to the main characters of the book, making him look like a fool to make the main characters look cool. The Runaways are already suffering some personality adjustments, just like in Astonishing X-Men (you know, the book everyone loves that rarely sees the light of day?). Since when did Niko start openly disliking Davan? Why is Molly constantly begging for attention? And why are they always winning? They take down the Punisher AND escape the Kingpin (who takes a pause from his dramatic monologue to make a yummy sound over chocolate) and his army of ninjas (I know) in this issue. Well, next issue's time travel.

Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #18

And on the opposite side of the equasion we have one of the best depictions of teenagers I have the pleasure of reading. Spider-Man finds himself getting a little too serious with Firestar as she wants to move beyond the mask which honestly just creeps Peter Parker out. Things improve on the Gwen Stacy front, while Harry has been clamming up about his home life and Mary Jane wants to help. Getting into it all would break her 'not getting serious' rule she made when they started dating. Advice from friends, a bit of slugging at the recommendation of Flash Thompson, things wind up getting serious after all and the last page will drop your jaw. Two more issues left!

Sensational Spider Man Annual #1

Mr. Fraction? You had me at page 2, wherein Spider-Man smiles for the first time in recent comic memory for me. I could go on and on about this issue, how it hit every comic fan button I have, how I got a little choked up as I got to the end, how I want to marry this issue if it were a person, and I did over at today's installment of The Fifth Color, but again, let me restate: if you at all have been let down by recent Spider-Man stories and long for something as simple and as solid as Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, go out and get this issue. Get two.

Thunderbolts Presents: Baron Zemo - Born Better #4 (of 4)

Okay, I'm sure this mini-series went under the radar, even by people who used to read Nicieza's Thunderbolts, but just you wait. Someone's going to turn around and realize that this is one of the best directions they've taken a old school villain in a long time. The past issues have taken us on a tour of what it means to be a Zemo through German history, and this issue wraps up everything we've learned in a mega lesson in redemption, the willingness to change and what it really means to be a 'better' man. The guy hunting down Zemo through the past issue turns out to be a relative, forcing Zemo back to the present from his magical history tor by killing all the descendants of Zemo and using the blood to bring him to him... all so he can kill him. Just as he's about to do the deed, the boo opens up your brain an imparts wisdom. Read the whole thing and you will find yourself smarter than you were before.

World War Hulk Prologue #1

This issue, despite being a prologue, should be read AFTER this week's Incredible Hulk (thankfully, there's a lovely little editor's box to let you know the same thing). Here, we have Jen and Leonard Samson parallel a story with Hulk in space (HUUUUUUUULK IIIIIIN SPAAAAAAAACE! God, I just got that.) wherein one of his gladiator buddies is able to help the Hulk contain his boundless rage for the ones who gave him this new life then destroyed it. Doc Samson goes through the internet argument of 'No, really, the Hulk is totally dangerous and the Illuminati totally did the right thing! while Hulks' fellow soldier does something that no one in the history of Hulk comics has done in in my memory: focused the Hulk's anger so he's not just living rage, but a very angry guy with a very angry purpose.

As a side note, the World War Hulk: Gamma Corps series is creating a whole new character to name him the Hulk.

Anyhoo, Jen's uses the legal term for an event that justifies a war (Casus Belli), the Hulk's crew decides they're going after Black Bolt first, and there's a backup story that dovetails into the issue of Hulk this week. On the whole, this is for new readers and isn't exactly necessary for people who've been keeping up with things and are just waiting for Hulk to punch Iron Man's head off. What this issue is worth, however, is the Chris Giarrusso's Mini Marvels's recap of the whole thing.

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Shortcomings – Preview Review for 3/07

Wow.  Apparently, last week a good handful of people showed up to read my trouble with handing a kid an Iron Man comic.  Mind you, it's not going to be a problem what with the Marvel Adventures book coming out soon and the fact that the quality of the Marvel Adventures line is good enough for anyone off the street, I mostly just found it interesting to think that while Quesada is touting the change of status quo (ooh, that phrase is working on my nerves, but more on that later), some are looking exactly for that 'quo' in the first place.
Anyhoo, nothing as topical here, just some reviews of the preview books we got at work.   They didn't even give us anything juicy, like Mighty Avengers #1.  Let's get to it!

Bullet Points #5 (of 5)

This could have gone a lot longer.  JMS really loved his idea and it does show, no matter how much I may poke fun at the idea of putting Reed Richards in an eye patch.  He has a point to make, a very valid and very "Marvel" one at that: that one person can make a difference to change the whole world, for good or ill.  We humans are very powerful creatures no matter what radioactivity does, and that power comes from within.  Unfortunately, whether he just had an excess of ideas or just hadn't found that miracle pacing that would have highlighted his point better than the constant repetition of words and phrases and ideas (man, the first three books really hit you upside the head with that bullet metaphor).  This issue, we find out that despite the drastics changes to some heroes, others are perfectly fine: the X-Men are pretty standard, Clock and Dagger are around, Daredevil wasn't touched by the "Magic Bullet", even Doctor Doom still seems to be the Doom we all know and love even without the rivalry between himself and Mr. Fantastic.  We get a little montage of the rest of the heroes of the Marvel Universe because, as you may remember from last issues, Galactus is here.  All ABP is put out to everyone everywhere to stop the alien menace, everyone shows up, and everyone falls down.  Some die, but one lone figure continues his assault until the bitter end; Peter Parker Hulk goes down in a flurry of word repetition ("Absurd", "Pathetic", "Inevitable"), inspiring the Silver Surfer to turn against his master and too be blown to smithereens.  In the end, Galactus decides that eating Earth is just way too much work and the planet is saved.  At the very large funeral, we find ourselves face-to-face with the stirring speech I believe Straczynski wanted to tell us all along.

Ghost Rider: Trail of Tears #2

Did you see Ghost Rider?  Remember Sam Elliot's part?  This is like that only painted and rendered and written by Garth Ennis.  That same tone, that Sam Elliot feel of the lone cowboy and the big wide world that has such darkness in it is shown here and, for my part, I dig it.  Clayton Craine continues his quest for having the cover accurately portray the art inside, giving us great visuals that almost switch between a painted look and the crystal texture clarity that comes from a good CG art program.  Evil men come and hideously torture and murder a black family who has accomplished as much as any other white family in the area and the land is reclaimed by the former white owners and Travis Parham is the man to deliver vengeance.  Exposition is had and a very well timed horror pace is set.  Good gruff book.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #18

ATTENTION!  The recap page has spoilers for the next issue of Amazing Spider-Man, so if you want to wait out Aunt May's fate, don't read it.  Just know that the Sandman's dad stands accused of killing Uncle Ben which he didn't do because... well, Uncle Ben killed Uncle Ben.  CRISIS ON MULTIPLE UNCLE BENS!  Sandman and Peter Parker go to investigate all this in disguise, Peter using his holoemmitter to pretend to be Jamie Madrox.  The cops, being scum, go to far and Sandman obviously reacts to the idea of torturing his father for a admittance of guilt and the two have to flee.  In the meantime, Flash and Liz go on a date made more awkward by having a sudden attack of spiders when Liz goes to the ladies room.  She freaks and gets out, but all the manager finds when he goes in is the most blatant use of cocaine paraphernalia that would make the Comics Code Authority choke.  With a sneaky shot of "Ms. Arrow" doing everything but twirling a mustache, there's more wacky hijinks to come.  Sandman and Spidey go to the cemetery where Uncle Ben v.1 is buried (Flushing, NY apparently) and find a goth kid with Spider-Man 2211's helmet.  The helmet knows where an Uncle Ben, thus any answer for any of this madness still has at least another issue.

Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness #1

What were you expecting, plot?  From Dynamite's John Layman and Fabiano Neves, Marvel takes a page from your own wandering thoughts and gives you the man from Army of Darkness versus their cavalcade of hero-cum-zombies.  A rather Ash-centric book, we follow his exploits as he gets randomly sent to the MU (well, not so random if you keep up with the Army of Darkness comics) in time to have the Avengers not take him seriously in the slightest, but fall to their own hubris as a big cloud with pink lightning brings about the zombie-ness.  This is the issue to set down the rules of the Army of Darkness movies, introduce the characters and let the real violence begin next issue.  Really, if you like either, this book is your bag.  If not, move along please.

newuniversal #4

Funny side note:  I tend to write and take notes in all caps, but I always make sure to use lowercase letters for newuniversal.  I repect the artist's vision.  And for my efforts, Warren Ellis continues to do what he enjoys as the man can talk alter reality the way some naturally learn a second language.  Reality shifts, paradigms, all of it sounds so new and wondrous when he talks about it, I just couldn't explain to you why.  Nor can I exactly 'recap' the storyline as we are still in the process of collecting our characters for the Big Show ahead.  There's some shades of the Authority in all of this, but considering I can cruise a lot of the New Universe titles out of the Quarter Bin, I think he's doing a fine job on bringing new life to the old source material.  It's full of plot points and setting info, easing you into this brave new world he's penning.  I'm such a sucker for sci-fi.

Onslaught Reborn #3 (of 5)

I also can't really recap this issue, but for entirely different reasons.  And I can evn find your a similar story in the quarter bin!  Man, there is something so old school about Onslaught Reborn, even dated further past the original Onslaught story, back to the days when Ghost Rider and Wolverine could totally rule on the Fantastic Four and Carnage was the bestest character ever because he could kill a lot of people.  In the third issue of Onslaught Reborn, people fight.  Thor fights Hulk, Hulk fights Thor, the Avengers fight Hulk and there's a not so subtle hint that Hawkeye is Wolverine.  Which... would be kind of unique considering the original Heroes Reborn universe left mutants out of the picture.  Huh.  In the end, the Fantastic Four seem to be very confused about the littlest Richards and Loki and his magical mystery crew show up to threaten that they'll be the ones to stop Onslaught as the Invisible Woman and a very gung-ho Ant Man swear to protect Franklin.

Squadron Supreme: Hyperion vs. Nighthawk #3 (of 4)

I have so many notes from WonderCon that I will be getting to, really.  One particular note that sticks out in my mind is how the idea of 'real world politics' would be integrated with the DC books.  Dan Didio said that it's a rough call:  if you have the real world event in comics, it makes your heroes look petty not to be involved and if you do involve them, it stops being a 'real world event' because just by having these superpowered characters involved, it becomes fantasy.  Not an exact quote, but a good gist especially after reading this book.  Now, the atrocities in Darfur should have the whole world watching, but when you put Mr. Hardcore Superman into the mix, it not oly makes the situation uncomfortable, but it makes him look less 'superhero-y' because they show very well that there is no clear way to end this conflict.   Nighthawk is responsible for dragging him around and getting him involved (also Nighthawk's able to predict his thoughts because he's so 'predictable'), but Hyperion reminds us that there are no heroes or easy solutions.  Depressing, but at least they have some African superheroes show up at the end of the book to bring back our fantasy of a better world.  I know, I know... better world in the Squadron Supreme universe is asking a little much, but what can I say?  I'm a dreamer.

Happy Wednesday, everybody!

Flying Past – Preview Reviews for 3/1

Okay, so these are the books we got ahead of time at work, cruised through on a couple breaks since last week I happened to take a vacation out Arizona way.  I was completely worried when I realized that my notes were kind of sparce, but than thankfully remembered that I named my site well:  SNAP Judgments.

So here we go!

Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus #1

One of my favorite things about Annihilation was that, while the story was truly epic in scope, they still had time to focus in on character defining moments that allowed the reader to connect to the larger story.  I had no idea who Starlord was going in but by the end, I had a pretty darn good idea.  And now, thanks to Heralds of Galactus here, I'm getting some strong points on the behind the scenes' nature of the Heralds.  Or, two in this case: Terrax the Tamer and Stardust.  Again, my Marvel Cosmic Hero fu is very weak (silly me spent my younger years tracing out the Summers family tree...), but the strength of these stories artfully tells me everything I need to know.  Terrax finds himself on a planet under a fairly stock conundrum, and I will now buy anything with Stardust attached to it because not only do we get an explanation of true sci-fi fashion about Etherials, but learn a little something about the kind of devotion Galactus can inspire.

Daredevil #94

Now, I never liked Daredevil's marriage to Milla Donovan; maybe I'm too used to the spectacle Marvel marriages can be and that one just slipped under the wire, maybe I have 'Gwen Stacy Syndrome' and still hold a torch for Karen Page.  I'll admit my shortcomings.  But Brubaker takes some time to make sure she fits in nicely into Daredevil's new world, showing her sit by the window with the same woes that have plagued Mary Jane all these years.  It's also a nice recap book as well, giving people the lowdown of the last few arcs since the character showed up and her views on things as they've turned out.  Nothing shocking, just settling which in the wake of Civil War is a great idea.

Doctor Strange: the Oath #5

It is with a heavy heart I have to tell you that this is the last issue of Brian K. Vaughn's fantastic run on wha will now be for me, the definitive Strange.  Sorry, JMS, your mini did nothing for me while this had everything I could have wanted and more.  Magic, mystery, philosophy and action and by the time Doctor Strange was shrugging off this cloak to settle this with some Wong taught martial arts on a roof in the rain, I really didn't want this book to end.  But end it did, with Doctor Strange choosing between curing mankind (and possibly damning it as well) or saving Wong, his loyal friend.  For his choice, he gets the girl.  I still say 2007 might be the Year of the Night Nurse and from the end of the mini, it looks like she's got a pretty good gig working out of the Sanctum Sanctorum.

Heroes for Hire #7

Didn't get a chance to read this one, but a co-worker did share the fact that Misty Knight gives Grim Reaper a swirly.

New Excalibur #17

Nocturne had a stroke (out of nowhere, last issue) and this issue is recovery. The team pulls together in the wake of this rather sudden tragedy, Nocturne kind of argues with herself to get the will to go on in the wake of her injuries and also, she takes Sage out for a ride via her possession powers.  What do we learn?  Having a stroke sucks, but at least you'll get better one day at a time and there's friends nearby.  Heart warming to be sure, but very out of place for what is this, Claremont's first story returning to the book?

Runaways #24

Another sad departure from Brian K. Vaughn, this is the last issue of the book he helped create out of the failed Tsunami imprint Marvel tried awhile back to lure those manga kids.  The closer it has come to this issue, the less and less I can see Vaughn and Whedon having a Bendis-Brubaker kind of changing of the guard, where the story and tone went seamlessly from one author to the next.  And it's a shame because this book hits a lot of the best points of the series, from self-referential comic quips (a surprise fastball special) to teen drama as Alex tries to sacrifice himself to bring back his girlfriend, to some real heart at the end of the battle between the characters as they take a moment to take in what's just happened.  A lot of cool story has been left behind, no one rides into the sunset and there's even a surprise twist; Vaughn left everything behind for Whedon to use.

Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #15

Okay, if you can, find someone who hasn't read this book yet and give this issue to them.  Believe it or not, with just a passing knowledge of Spider-Man, this is a fantastic read on the hardship of living a dua life and the stress it can put on everyone else around you.  Hands down, this is the best co-focus story on both MJ and Peter yet out of the series and the lynch pin of it all is Gwen Stacy.  No supporting cast member goes unturned in this one (okay, well... maybe Flash as I'm not remembering him in this one)  and everything works together like the best and finest crafted tale of heartache I have read yet in comics.

Wolverine #51

Okay, I started this one, but never got a chance to pick it back up.  Honestly?  I didn't want to.  More werewolf flashes and flashbacks, more really pointless fighting between Sabretooth and Wolverine (at least in the first issue Creed was trying to tell Logan something about themselves) and the shocking revelation that after the cliffhanger ending of last issue's stalemate, they're now both in the Danger Room fighting through scenarios.  The moment a unicorn shows up in a Wolverine issue, I'm looking to flip through something else.  Storm shows up at the end, surprisingly without Black Panther attached at her hip.

Wonder Man: My Fair Superhero #3

Sorry, guys.  I just can't get pass the artwork.  And I really want to see how Peter David's taking a rather preachy storyline about reforming supervillains, too.  Well, maybe I'll try harder.  Just reading the word balloons.  Something.

X-Factor #16

I'm really wondering about Rictor.  What's he doing in this book again?  When will we see him?  What does he do for X-Factor Investigations anyway?  There's an untapped story there, folks!  But until then, Siryn and Monet are hunted down in France as Monet takes a survivor of the mutant attacks they tried to stop home with her while they both run from the police since they broke out of prison and killed a guy.  I can see why they are not supposed to be the 'Most Hated Mutant Team' as Monet has no sense of public face.  Jamie Madrox finds a rogue dupe of his living a fine and comfortable family life as a preacher and does the fairly predictable thing when faced with the opportunity to reabsorb him.  It was told well, but we all pretty much knew going into it that Jamie wasn't going to take a parent away from some kid, especially his own.

X-Men #196

This will read better in the trades, I'm sure of it.

Happy Wednesday!