23 May 2010

A Few Thoughts on Comics from Last Week or So

Siege #4! Finally the wrap-up to the storyline! Years in the making! Nothing can live up to all that and this didn't. It wasn't actively bad but the way the main villain is dealt with is meant to be a desperation move and a cool action moment but it comes across as a Russell T. Davies moment. Russell was the showrunner of Doctor Who, bringing the show back, but he had a few stories, 'The Sound of Drums' springs to mind, where the villain gets the upperhand and things are Very Serious Indeed and suddenly you get the impression he doesn't have a good way for the good guys to resolve the situation so it sort of fixes itself. I'd be more condemning of this but I have the bad feeling I just did it myself. This issue plays out as big action moments and excitement but there are a few 'really? that was the plan?' parts and apparently things are so serious that it's okay for Spidey to swear. I'm happy that we are where we are now in general. This wasn't awful but it wasn't as awesome as it might have been.

Dark Avengers #16 ends the book, wrapping up what happens to the team post-Siege. I rather liked this. It could have been two pages at the end of Siege #4 but it would have been rushed and not as effective. Good wrap-up.

Avengers: The Initiative #35 ends this book as well. The main characters are wrapped up before the book gets relaunched with a new title. Not as exciting as Dark Avengers but solid.

The New Avengers Finale wraps up the last of the storyline elements from Siege and lets the characters have a happy before this Avengers title also gets relaunched. It's a double sized issue and was a bit on the long side but, you know, this title has been known for stretching out its storylines so, really, why should the last issue be any different? Not sure Bryan Hitch knows how to drawn Wolverine out of his costume though. Besides all that, it was a good ending.

Web of Spider-Man #8 made me laugh out loud. While trying to flush out a bad guy, Pete creates a picture blog with Spidey 'bloopers'. At the bottom of the page is a panel with JJJ announcing it as the best web-site he's ever seen, written as if in a hushed tone. The main story was actually a good combination of funny, mysterious, and character based. Just as I was wondering how Pete had figured out how to do internet stuff as he's been portrayed as clueless in the past in this regard, we get a conversation with Betty when he thanks her for helping him set it up. Thank you Mr. Writer! Thumbs up.

Savage Dragon #160 is the final part of the Dragon War. Many Bad Things happen. Lots of characters die. I'm really wondering what's next.

The Marvels Project #8 was grand. In the Marvel Universe, the Axis attacked the Allied on a secret front the same day as Pearl Harbor. Somehow this works. The original Human Torch and Toro aren't enough to stop Pearl Harbor. The main characters are all but in a 'place' as they should be at the beginning of WWII. I really enjoyed the art and story in this miniseries. I would recommend getting it in trade paperback.

Prince of Power #1 begins a quest to bring back Hercules. That's all you need. Standard but fun storyline and clear crisp art. Solid comic.

Transformers - Ironhide #1 has, well, Ironhide in it. Except he's dead. Or not. There's a lot of flashback in this issue and it's not clear what's going on at this point. This would be bad if I didn't think that was the writer's goal. More solid robot art.

The Amazing Spider-Man #631... did the Lizard just do what I think he did? Oh my. That's not right.

Vincent Price Presents #17 has a great CGI cover picture of Vincent Price done by Pixar artist Bill Zahn. The story inside has scraggy art and a story that has more build than payoff. Not awful but not impressive either.

Iron Man Legacy #2 confuses me a bit. The story is fun and the art is good but is this set in the movie continuity or what? It's not quite clear and I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't worry about it. That would be wisest.

No comments: