I like comics, How 'bout you?

KingMob · Post by **KingMob** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 10:49 am

So, SPOILER for Astonishing X-Men #18

They weren't real!

Oh and there is something extraordinarly sexy about a scruffy Cyclops just capping people.

Civil War 5 was a weird read. Each issue seems to get more disjointed than the last...but at least most of the tie-ines do seem to fit into the gaps between the scenes. Still a good time though.

Predabot · Post by **Predabot** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 11:51 am

SO! Spoilers for Annihilation #4....

----------no, r'ly!------

Booyah!!

Ding Dong, the witch is DEAD! ^^ Somebody finally, truly beat up Thanos, and beat him up GOOD! So good, that our main man behind it, ripped out Thanos friggin' HEART and handed it to him!

Cudos also to Annihilus for being just as clever as Thanos himself.. or maybe not. I was actually quite a bit sympathetic to Annihilus cause prior to this reveal, because not only is our universe STEALING territory from him, but it was also destabilising his entire universe!

It was a matter of life and death for him, and as we all know, ANNIHILUS MUST LIVE!! Now tho, he is just as egotistic as ussual, and it was all a big lie..

That clever bug, he. ^^

A nice finish off was Nova assessing the situation on Earth and coming to the logical conclusion that if Annihilus gets to Earth during the Civil War, everyone on it will be pretty much completely f***ed.

I'm also reading some swedish publications, and our Spidey-man mag has come to the point of the Other, with Morlun takin' Spideys eye..

So far I don't think it's been all that bad as people have made it out to be, it's not a bad story at all, perhaps a little bit fragmented.

There is one thing I dun' get tho... last time they fought, it was established that Morlun feeds off of totemic power and life force, virtually no physical sustenance required. He just touches his victims and soakes up their life-force, so.... WHY would he then eat his eye??! I don't get it... he just wants to be sadistic with the only enemy that's beaten him..?

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 1:48 pm

KingMob wrote: Civil War 5 was a weird read. Each issue seems to get more disjointed than the last...but at least most of the tie-ines do seem to fit into the gaps between the scenes. Still a good time though.

Completly agree. It seems like CW suffers from the same thing IC did: instead of decompression, it's ultracompression, the "Let's stick 12 issues worth of material and story into 7 issues so it'll look good in a trade" viewpoint.

Surely we could have more drawn out time with both sides, a longer conversation between Spidey and IM, a scene where we actually SEE DD get taken down, etc. etc.

I mean, to think that they're going to have to have the whole "Spidey comes clean with the anti-regs" thing, plus bring in the whole Namor/Sue angle, plus have this whole "Final Battle" they can't stop foreshadowing, plus a multitude of other plot strings all tied up in two issues is already making me sad for the overall quality.

But, as you said, still a fun read. It's just like someone's giving you the Cliff's Notes version of it. It seems like Millar could have EASILY given us a few more issues worth of story, but who knows who long it would take McNiven to draw it.

Shame too, because I'm a big Millar fanboy. Although I definitely enjoyed Wanted, Chosen, and Red Son more than Enemy of the State or MK:Spiderman, even though those were good as well.

As far as the tie ins, they've been hit or miss for me. ASM was/is sweet, Wolverine started off nice but was completly anti climactic, YA/R and CW: X Men sucked, Thunderbolts/C&D were servicable, primarily because of the strength of the writing CW or no, and Ms Marvel was okay, but it did nothing but make me dislike Ms Marvel.

Cap has started off well though, and I bet Iron Man will be good too.

Re: Annihillation: My fave so far. CW is plot holey, and Planet Hulk has grown a bit repetitive.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 3:02 pm

I'm looking forward to the Civil War trades. That seems to be the way the series was meant to be read, not spread out over the better part of a year with huge gaps in between releases.

Post by **Best First** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 11:09 am

sprunkner wrote:Does anyone else think the Spidey-side switch makes him look like a bit of a pansy? I mean, "Sure, I'll support this and reveal my identity and compromise everything I have... but you threw them in jail for life? That's it."

i more thought that the fact that he got muwumped by a combination of a window, the Jester and Jack O Tits made him seem like a bit of a pansy. Did he lose his spider sense when he banged his head on the window or something?

I think his switch was probably more convincing if you have read the associated ASM issues.

I can't help but think that the whole reg thing would make a lot more sense of it was just a matter of registering powers, not that you then have to be a super trooper - if that was the case i think they would have a far better arguement.

Issue 5, overall - bit dissapointing, the whole Final Battle chat just seems.... well, very forced.

Astonishing 18 was great stuff, although the ending was a bit whoah. Really don't want any of this line up to bite it either.

sprunkner · Post by **sprunkner** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 4:25 pm

Ah, but I have been following ASM. I guess that was my problem. He took one look at the prison and it was like, "Whoa, that's it." Dramatically, it doesn't make much sense. Peter Parker has always been misunderstood, but he's never been wishy-washy. He has weaknesses-- for example, if, after seeing the prison, Cap was captured, I could see Spidey letting Cap get away and then getting busted for it. He's always been a softie. But I don't think Peter backs down once he takes a moral stand.

CW 5 definitely would have worked a lot better as two issues. It's a shame they didn't reorganize things and make it longer. Epic fantasy writers do it all the time. Btw, the image of Punisher holding Spider-Man says "After Keown." Anyone know what the original Dale Keown image is?

I did like the fact that two also-rans took down Spider-Man. Irony is thick. I'm assuming he'd been shot a few times by the Shield agents. But then when Punisher shot them, it was reduced to a convenient plot device. They had to use villians they could throw away. Why not have Venom do it, then when Punisher shoots him, have V spend some time recovering? That would make for an interesting story, if Venom was out to get the Punisher.

Why don't I just write everything for Marvel?

Astonishing 18 was good, though Danger's new body took some re-reading for me. I figured it would all turn out to be in the White Queen's head. I like Cyclops without those stupid glasses.

Ozz · Post by **Ozz** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 4:52 pm

sprunkner wrote:Anyone know what the original Dale Keown image is?.

Supposedly this.

Post by **Best First** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 5:50 pm

sprunkner wrote:Ah, but I have been following ASM.

i knew you were gonna say that.

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 7:55 pm

That's what I've been saying this whole time:

The BEST way to have cemented Spidey's turn would be to have what they said on the cover was going to occur: Spiderman being hunted down by Tony Stark's new police force, The Thunderbolts, led by Venom and Green Goblin. That would totally demonize Tony in Peter AND May/MJ's eyes, and he would have a fire under his ass for the rest of the series.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 12:43 am

Best First wrote: i knew you were gonna say that.

Did they really need to give Dredd a different catchphrase for the movie? Honestly? He already spouts "I am the law" a couple of times, enough times to have Fergie (wtf was that about anyway?) give him crap for it.

I have high hopes for Dredd: The Origin (or whatever they're calling it now). Dredd has been kinda "meh" in comics for quite some time.

KingMob · Post by **KingMob** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 2:30 am

Professor Smooth wrote:I have high hopes for Dredd: The Origin (or whatever they're calling it now). Dredd has been kinda "meh" in comics for quite some time.

Are you reading Dredd: Origin? Do you like it? It's pretty slow, but really cool?
I think there's been some pretty good Dredds in the last few years, but with a character like that, the good can sometimes be buried a bit, yeah.
I like how they've been slowly developing his character as he ages. Brothers of the Blood is an awesome Dredd TPB, that followed up by Total War and a few choice picks from the stories not yet collected show modern Dredd as being damn strong IMHO.
Are you getting the Casefiles reprints? I need to pick up the newest.

Internets gossip says the next issue of ASM is prob gonna touch on all the things that made us go 'eh?' about the Spidey scenes in CW5...which pretty much means the main CW series doesn't read very well on its own anymore. Which is a bit poo.

Did you guys pick up Enron Man's own book, and his New Avengers ish?

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 4:26 am

Importing Dredd: The Origin would cost more money than I can count, so I'm waiting for the trade on that.

I've read most of Civil War through...questionable means. I've got all of the trades pre-ordered, though. I really wish Marvel would do some iTunes like deal where you can read their books online for a buck or so. Trades seem like the way to go for reading modern comic book stories, but damn if I can wait.

Predabot · Post by **Predabot** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 7:29 am

KingMob wrote:Did you guys pick up Enron Man's own book, and his New Avengers ish?

Since I've been reading both, I'll make sure to pick them up when the time comes. But I'm behind on the mainstream-books because the swedish publi. is one year behind the US one.

So probably in 6 months or so... Bah.

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:02 pm

Damn, that sounds nice Smooth. I would LOVE to pay some way reduced rate to read the comic online (to keep up with the Internet gossip) and then buy it in TPB and not feel like I just paid for the same thing twice.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 1:56 pm

Okay, finally got my mits on AXM #18. Good stuff, but a bit underwhelmed, to be honest... the solution makes sense and, well, we all figured it out but got double bluffed out of it... I think the fact it's taken so bloody long for the arc to be released is why I feel let down - if it had been a monthly schedule or a TPB I was reading, it would feel better, but as it stands it's taken what? A year to resolve itself to what we pretty much expected in the first place?

Good stuff, though. Ending was, as said, a bit "oh... okay then..." abrupt is probably the word.

In other news, upto date on Ultimate TPBs now, I think... read everything bar the Daredevil and Elektra stuff and the last two thirds of Team Up (which I'm not too fussed about)... oh, and Ultimate Adventures or whatever it is.

Surprisingly good stuff all round. Very enjoyable. UXM was pretty weird... going from Mark Millar trying to rewrite the Authority to Bendis redoing Team Up then an actual series of standalones, onto BKV being awesome. Kirkman... not sure about. Magician needs a kicking.

UFF is lovely. USM is great, though seems to suffer from the occasional "story which is actually really short but dragged out across loads of issues, then ends abruptly" thing that Bendis does. A bit like Astonishing, to be honest. Still enjoyable stuff, though. Makes the shorter stories all the better. Venom felt a bit wasted, but I'm guessing he's back in the Clone Stuff, right?

Love the fact that certain characters are guest stars in existing books rather than having their own title... means they don't get overexposed/used just for the hell of it.

Also recently read:
- Sandman vol 1. Odd... but intriguing.
- Powers vol 1. Fun.
- Transmet - vol 3. Genius stuff.

Do I need to read Secret War to understand vol 2 of The Pulse?

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 2:27 pm

Reading Secret War will greatly enhance Pulse volume 2, imo. That's one of the few things it's good for, imo.

Ozz · Post by **Ozz** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 6:10 pm

Brendocon wrote:Venom felt a bit wasted, but I'm guessing he's back in the Clone Stuff, right?

Not that I know of, but I haven't read last three issues.

But he was in the Ultimate Spider-Man computer game and they insist on it being in the continuity, so...

Post by **Best First** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 8:55 pm

i'd skip SW to be honest - its... not very good.

the blanks in pulse vol 2 can be filled in pretty easily.

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 9:57 pm

But SW is what explains why Fury's all MIA and stuff, right?

Post by **Best First** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 10:15 pm

mmm - yeah, but its spectacularly underwhelming for my money and can be pretty much summed up in a paragraph or two (or just bob over to wiki i suspect) for those who don't want to shell out the coin.

of course, maybe that's just me.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 1:52 am

Secret War would have been a fun series had it come out anywhere near on time. I blame that series for Marvel current policy of "We'll ship books whenever we get around to it. Trust us, it'll look better in the trade." This continues to this day with Civil War and Ultimate Hulk VS Wolverine.

KingMob · Post by **KingMob** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 8:46 am

Yeah, and IIRC, I think thanks to those shipping delays, the Pulse SW 'tie-in' story finished before the main series itself? That's how I ended up reading it anyway.

I'm with BF, Pulse is fine without Secret War as the mystery SW creates in it doesn't actually make the Jess story undreadable at all.

I did enjoy Secret War though, in a 'I know this is trash' kind of way.

Brend, have you read Bendis' Daredevil? Apart from it being top class in itself, Jess and Luke turn up in that now and then; their appearances in it 'tie-in' to some Alias stuff and also covers their time inbetween that comic's end and the beginning of Pulse.

Immortal Iron Fist is out this week!

Post by **Best First** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 10:40 am

i think secret war would have been better if it wasn't supposd to be so significant - if that makes any sense?

need to get back up to speed on DD at some point - how many trades are there? cheers.

KingMob · Post by **KingMob** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 11:03 am

Best First wrote:need to get back up to speed on DD at some point - how many trades are there?

Bendis's DD is trades 3-13. 3 is pretty skippable. It's from #4 onwards that it becomes awesome.
But I went for the hardcovers, which are really sweet: numbers 2-6.

You make a good point about Secret War; it did kinda have a smothery sense of self-importance that leeched into other plots and kinda poisoned the concept.

Post by **Best First** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 11:13 am

mmm - hardcovers. gotta love em.

i actually had a lot of the DD issues but they were coming out so often and my shop missed quite a few so in the end i totally lost track and jacked it in. oopsie.

still - trade goodness ahoy so alls well.

more eruditely summed up on the SW front.

Anyone read Fables by the way? I just finished the 4th trade - brilliant heart swelling stuff.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 12:24 pm

I'm 50 issues into Fables and I always forget how good it is. I mean, yeah, 49 issues in a row of great stuff, but every issue seems to get better.

Trade 5's where it REALLY picks up, though.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 12:27 pm

KingMob wrote:I'm with BF, Pulse is fine without Secret War as the mystery SW creates in it doesn't actually make the Jess story undreadable at all.

Groovycoolness.

Brend, have you read Bendis' Daredevil? Apart from it being top class in itself, Jess and Luke turn up in that now and then; their appearances in it 'tie-in' to some Alias stuff and also covers their time inbetween that comic's end and the beginning of Pulse.

Not read it yet. On my eventual to do list, though, due to the fact that there were huge parts of Alias virtually labelled "this is a scene tying in to Daredevil - read it to know what's going on."

Any other writer and I'd probably ignore it. Fortunately Bendis is teh good with teh crossoveriness.

Incidentally...
http://www.marvel.com/catalog/?book_id=5532

What the [composite word including 'f*ck'] is that all about? I mean Jesus. Is this the way forward now? Is every great big Marvel crossover going to get a 10 year anniversary reprise? I mean what's worse than Onslaught? Return of Onslaught! What's worse than that? Jeph ******* Loeb being given it. Christ.

On the plus side:
http://www.marvel.com/catalog/?book_id=5492

That's this week, isn't it? Yay.

Post by **Best First** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 1:08 pm

Professor Smooth wrote:I'm 50 issues into Fables and I always forget how good it is. I mean, yeah, 49 issues in a row of great stuff, but every issue seems to get better.

Trade 5's where it REALLY picks up, though.

i had one and two for ages and kind of forgot about it - i got 3 and 4 in NYC and just grinned all the way through.

sprunkner · Post by **sprunkner** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 2:09 pm

I just got the 6th paperback collection of Runaways-- good stuff. Can't... sniff... believe... sniff... Gert... sniff!

Post by **Best First** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 2:18 pm

yeah - nice double bluff with the future incarnation though.