It's been a long while, but with more time and money on my hands again, it's time to take the weekly comics and run with it. We start off with...
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #634: Well, first, we should start with...
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #633: I have no idea why two ASM titles shipped this week, but...yeah. So this is the last part of the "Shed" arc. Spidey takes some of the Connors inhibitor formula to prevent Lizard from scaring him off again. So the fight is on for reals this time, but the Lizard-influenced New Yorkers all pounce on Spidey. Spidey brings out the picture of the now-deceased Billy Connors, which mentally takes Lizard out of the fight. The idea, I'd imagine, is that even thought Connors is gone for good, the Lizard absorbed his knowledge AND his mammal emotions, leading to him fleeing the fight. Ok, then. Issue ends with the Lizard regrouping underground with a series of minions. This arc, as a whole, was a major downer. Killing off the Connors family seemed patently unnecessary and it's a bummer to lose Curt and Billy for good. And worse than that, the big fight with the Lizard felt really anti-climactic. Thumbs down.
Ok, so now let's go to...
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #634: And here we go. The Kravinoffs unleash their big plan. A badly-beaten Kaine arrives at Peter Parker's door and delivers an ominous warning of "they're hunting spiders". Of course, it'd be awfully arrogant of Peter to believe he's the only spider, so you get the Kravinoffs attacking Arachne. Spidey arrives to make the save, but passes out from the sounds of drumming in his head. Arachne's able to save Spidey, but now we get the main event. The Kravinoffs sacrifice Mattie Franklin to bring back...KRAVEN THE HUNTER~! Well, no, not really. It's a false alarm. But they'll bring back the REAL Kraven by sacrificing the "true" spider, Spider-Man. Ok, it's a good start here. I guess you'll want to stick around for Kraven's eventual return. Thumbs in the middle, leaning up.
NEW AVENGERS #1: This is the big relaunch. Iron Man sells the new Avengers Mansion to Luke Cage for $1. That's a pretty good deal. The big threat du jour comes in the form of a spirit possessing the resident Marvel magic users. Issue ends with a possessed Dr. Strange making Luke Cage 50-feet tall or something. Wow, they lost me there. Thumbs down. Maybe it's a snap judgment, so I might give this a second chance.
BRIGHTEST DAY #4: The Black Lantern Firestorm on the cover is a red herring, as he makes no such appearance. Deadman is transported into...Dove's bedroom. That's nice and all, but Hawk quickly comes in and beats his ass. Once the ass-kickings are out of the way, Deadman tells them about the White Ring and the way its taking him everywhere. Hawk gets a light bulb over his head here. Meanwhile, Hawkman and Hawkgirl go through a portal and relive their deaths, we get a look at the new Aqualad (before he becomes Aqualad, anyway), and Ronnie Raymond is attacked by a salted Gen apparition. But the big moment comes at the end, where Hawk decides to try and make use of Deadman's White Ring. Issue ends at the original Dove's grave. Nicely paces, but nothing to write home about. Thumbs in the middle.
JOKER'S ASYLUM II: HARLEY QUINN: The Joker's Asylum series was a pleasant surprise last year and the Riddler one-shot from earlier this month was pretty good, so let's see if they can keep striking gold. Joker tells the tale of Harley escaping Arkham to spend Valentines Day with her puddin'. Unfortunately, when she gets to his hideout, she finds he was abducted by a Falcone (it's not mentioned which one), who's looking for mob payback. So Harley goes on a violent spree that only ends when Batman assures her Joker's safe in Arkham. It's a decent issue, but I've never heard Harley refer to Joker as "Jokey", so that took me out of the issue right there. Watching Harley commit wanton acts of violence also seem a bit much, even if she was her usual jovial self. I'd call it a bit of a miss. Thumbs down.
JOKER'S ASYLUM II: MAD HATTER: Much more disturbing, but in a good way, was the tale of Jervis Tetch. The Mad Hatter desperately tries to cure himself of his insanity, but every time he looks for his Alice, he finds a girl of a different name. His reaction is to kidnap this girl, mind control her, and murder her. Batman's able to save Tetch's most recent victim, but the twist is that Tetch has a closet full of discarded "Alices". In Tetch's sick mind, his only recourse is to murder young blond girls for no other reason than because they aren't named Alice. And it looks like he genuinely tries to ween himself off that path, but he just can't. You CAN'T feel sorry for him, but in a twisted way, you kind of do. An issue that really makes you rethink the Mad Hatter's character. Thumbs up!
And of course, we end with...
DARKWING DUCK #1: A year has passed since DW's final adventure. What made DW stop crime fighting? A new company by the name of Quackwerks has set up crime-fighting robots that essentially police the entire city. Literally EVERYONE works for this company by the time the issue starts, including Drake Mallard, the entire police force, the entire criminal population, and Megavolt (having retired). The flashbacks to DW's adventures are a hoot, as we get a look at Drake Mallard desperately wanting back in the game. Now if you're reading this plot, you KNOW the robots are going to go too far. And sure enough, they're literally causing property damage simply to bring in poor Honker for downloading illegally. Gosalyn pleads with Drake to put on the costume one last time. Issue ends with Megavolt in captivity...but by Quackerjack, Bushroot, and the Liquidator. They simply want him to join them, because they want to get the band back together. Looks like the Fearsome Five (well...minus one) is back! A very, VERY satisfying start to what should be a great mini-series, as it answered a lot of questions while simultaneously leaving the most gaping question open: Why have DW and Launchpad had a falling out? If you're not into getting the monthly issues, wait for this mini to hit trade. You won't be sorry, because the spirit of the old show is intact and while it's still family-friendly, it's not dumbed down towards children. Thumbs WAY up! The wait was worth it!
Next week, well...don't have a list on me, but I'm sure the Grim Hunt continues.
Originally posted by It's Falsewhile it's still family-friendly, it's not dumbed down towards children.
If it handles being all-ages anything like Atomic Robo (my favorite comic series at the moment) I'm going to have to to give this a try (because Atomic Robo is awesome).
Speaking of which; everyone here needs to read some Atomic Robo.
You know, I really don't know what to put here. Close your eyes and thank of something funny!
Spiderman continues to piss me off with their "shock" writing of late. At Wizard World Philly, my friend asked me what it would take to get me to go back to reading Marvel on weekly basis. I said fix Spiderman. I am ok with how Seige ended, but really I could really careless about the rest of the Marvel U at this point. Spiderman has and will always be my boy at Marvel. Granted, I am picking up the Thor and Messiah War trades which both were excellent. Thor is mainly due to a fuck you to Marvel anyway since JMS is writing it, who will have Superman 700 out today and then after the next trade probably be gone from Marvel. Messiah War, I am going to hang around with even though it maybe another 2 or 3 trades til they finish it up. Cable running with the kid can only last so long. I am curious about Darkwing Duck, but Batman Beyond is coming out next week and that is the 90s storyline, I want to read.
Originally posted by lotjxSpiderman continues to piss me off with their "shock" writing of late. At Wizard World Philly, my friend asked me what it would take to get me to go back to reading Marvel on weekly basis. I said fix Spiderman. I am ok with how Seige ended, but really I could really careless about the rest of the Marvel U at this point. Spiderman has and will always be my boy at Marvel. Granted, I am picking up the Thor and Messiah War trades which both were excellent. Thor is mainly due to a fuck you to Marvel anyway since JMS is writing it, who will have Superman 700 out today and then after the next trade probably be gone from Marvel. Messiah War, I am going to hang around with even though it maybe another 2 or 3 trades til they finish it up. Cable running with the kid can only last so long. I am curious about Darkwing Duck, but Batman Beyond is coming out next week and that is the 90s storyline, I want to read.
(edited by lotjx on 23.6.10 0711)
I agree with a lot you have to say here about Spider-Man. That was the first ever comic I read when I was a kid and I was severely pissed off when they did the One More Day/Brand New Day reboot. In fact I have not bought a Spider-Man comic since and will not until that stupidity is undone.
Lisa: Poor predicatble Bart, always picks rock Bart: Good ole rock, nothing beats that