We begin this week with a milestone for the Thunder God.
THOR #600: It's back to traditional numbering here. And a lot of threads come together here. Loki raises Bor, father of Odin, from the dead in the middle of New York. Bor's vision is clouded and, unable to sense Odin, decides to go on a rampage. Unable to do much, Thor calls in the Avengers and gets Norman Osborn's Dark Avengers, who all get their clocks cleaned. With no other alternative, Thor kills Bor dead...which turns out to be Loki's plan all along. Bor is technically a member of the royal family, thus Thor must face punishment: exile from Asgard for all eternity. With Thor out of the way, Loki looks into moving Asgard to a new location: Latveria. Good lord, between the Atlantians and the Asgardians, Doom must have some primo real estate. This was everything it should have been, with action on every page, dynamic artwork, storyline payoffs, and a nice backup story from Stan Lee. This is what every milestone comic should be. Thumbs way up!
BATMAN #686: We've had an awful lot of Bat-retrospectives in the last few months. Neil Gaiman's story is a little more complex, but still quite intriguing. This is a look back at the Golden and Silver Age-era Batman, as Bruce watches them all live and die. It reminded more of the "Many Deaths of Batman" than anything else, but it's still a good read. I'm just...well...a little burnt out on Bat-retrospectives, so my interest was tepid. Thumbs in the middle.
NIGHTWING #136: With Batman "dead", Dick Grayson decides to go back to Gotham. We also look at another interesting angle of Bruce's demise, as Tim Drake loses another close friend/family member, having now lost his father, Conner, Bart Allen, and now Bruce in the span of five years. I didn't even think of that. Issue just kind of meanders toward its ending. The first half was good, but it seemed like Tomasi couldn't tell where it was all supposed to go and it just kind of...ended. Thumbs in the middle.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #586: After almost two years (!), they FINALLY reveal Menace. It's Lily Hollister, which hammers home the editorial edict "You can't tell stories like this with a married Peter Parker". Harry understandably loses his marbles and the issue ends with him on Goblin tech. They dragged the Menace mystery out for months and months and MONTHS and THIS is the payoff? Why do I keep getting my hopes up with this book? Thumbs in the middle, leaning down.
BONUS FROM 2/4/09
FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF 3 WORLDS #3: Damn if I can tell who's who at this point. I don't even know who everyone is on ONE Legion, much less three. Nonetheless, this is an action-packed issue, as Sodam Yat joins the fight and looks to revive the GLC. Superman-Prime continues being his annoying self, which actually becomes awesome once you realize that that's essentially his character. Say what you will about DC's horrible decision to kill off Batman, but this issue ends with a DIFFERENT horrible decision mercifully rectified. Welcome back, Bart! You never should have left us. Thumbs up!
More to come later, including Green Lantern Corps, Action Comics, Buffy, and Angel.
"It's worth remembering that sometimes popular things are popular for a reason. Because they're GOOD or because Will Smith is in it."
I liked Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader a bit more than most, and I suspect it's because I haven't been reading all the other stuff that's been going on up till now. I will grant that the whole thing reads like a big setup for part two, but we'll see how part two works itself out.
Legion of 3 Worlds was pretty fun, and I like that the other 2 Legions are finally getting some play here. Based on Polar Boy picking up that strand of Luthor's hair, I'm also willing to bet that at some point in this series they'll be attempting to re-clone Connor Kent as well. If you're trying to undo some unpopular decisions, a story with time-travel and dimension-crossing is as good a place to try as any.
Batman was good, but I do feel that should have been a graphic novel like "Whatever happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" from Alan Moore. The Dark Avengers storyline is interesting, but I hate the fact that Norman is alive though. Speaking of things that I hate about Spiderman, who the hell cares about Menace anyway? Also, If you wanted there to be a Green Goblin again use Harry's son that everyone forgot about. There really is nothing being written right now about Spiderman that justifies no marriage. I am hoping the rumors about Leob taking over after Quesda are true and this is the first decree he over rules.
Originally posted by lotjxBatman was good, but I do feel that should have been a graphic novel like "Whatever happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" from Alan Moore. The Dark Avengers storyline is interesting, but I hate the fact that Norman is alive though. Speaking of things that I hate about Spiderman, who the hell cares about Menace anyway? Also, If you wanted there to be a Green Goblin again use Harry's son that everyone forgot about. There really is nothing being written right now about Spiderman that justifies no marriage. I am hoping the rumors about Leob taking over after Quesda are true and this is the first decree he over rules.
the Alan Moore story was originally a two-part story in Action and Superman. It was the last two issues of the Pre-Crisis/Pre-John Byrne Superman.
Originally posted by lotjxI am hoping the rumors about Leob taking over after Quesda are true
You'd be eating those words if that ever did happen. Thankfully, it won't (trust me).
(edited by Deputy Marshall on 17.2.09 1018)
Say what you will about Quesada, but the idea of Loeb taking over wouldn't fill me with confidence. Fill me with horror? Maybe.
Really, I don't know if a creator's talent (or lack thereof) would have much of a bearing on their policies as an editor.
My comment was directed towards Loeb's personality and approach in dealing with people, business and otherwise. Say what you want about Quesada's comments about DC, but he's able to work with his staff.
Oh, my mistake then. I honestly hadn't heard much about Loeb not getting along with others, but I'm always hearing people bitch about his output. Sorry I assumed the worst there.
Originally posted by Tenken347Oh, my mistake then. I honestly hadn't heard much about Loeb not getting along with others, but I'm always hearing people bitch about his output. Sorry I assumed the worst there.
I always thought the top dog had to have some type of creative vision. I haven't cared much for Loeb's vision in quite a few years. Quesada had a vision, he stuck with it amid much fan criticism, and IMO, he has succeeded. I may not like everything he has done, but I won't argue his success.
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
Originally posted by odessasteps scored quite the deal today.
when i was in reading PA for tonight's CHIKARA show, I went to the local comics store near the building.
Didn't get anything new, but they had about 5 boxes of quarter boxes.
I came away with 30+ issues of ROM for less than 10 bucks.
Bought almost the whole run of that book for $0.25 apice m'self a few years ago. Good stuff!!
“You are going to get a certain amount of snarkiness on the Internet no matter what, and my rule is that you don't post anything that you wouldn't say to someone's face.” Marc Andreyko (Writer of DC Comic’s “Manhunter”)