Just Wondering

This is just one of those odd thoughts that come to me when I am pondering my comics. When Thor is visiting the Avengers Tower, and speaks to Jarvis... and I am thinking of the Jarvis system that is from the Iron.Man movies, his AI... would he call it "Yar-vis"? That would be the Norse way of pronouncing it, I would think.

I just think it would be funny.

Stuff I Bought

That was a very pithy title.  I got tired of just typing "Reviews".  It's the end of February and I'm going a little stir-crazy.


Justice League #48

I actually haven't bought the last few issues of this, even though I have to admit that it is an easy title to write for a change.  I don't care about the Anti-Monitor or Darkseid, and having the JLA go bonkers is getting pretty damned tedious.  But I saw the cover, and it had both Hal and John on it, and I am a sucker for my Green Lanterns still. 

For some reason the Justice League is trying to broker a deal with the evil Justice League, which of course won't blow up in their faces.  Haw!  Sure it will!  I hesitate to write this...but Hal seems to be the only member who hasn't gone nuts...he is still his old goofy self.  It...it's rather endearing actually.  He also calls in help from the Green Lantern Corps, which is GREAT!  There is a lovely two page spread of almost the entire Corps!  No Guy however.  And...I hate to cavil here, but in the last issues of GLC,  the entire Corp except Hal, has been in another Universe, behind the Source Wall, and just last issue, Arisia and Bd'ge were sucked out into Space. So how can they suddenly be here? 

Editors, you really should meet once in a while.

Then Lex Luthor shows up. 

It's...not terrible, it is just that I don't really care any more.  I can't wait for the RE-Rebirth deal coming up, because it can't possibly be worse than what we currently have.  Or can it?


Angela: Queen of Hel #5

So...Angela, with the help of Sera and Leah, has been fighting Hela.  Due to a curse by Freyja, all dead Angels go to Hel, and that's where Sera has been.  It's been pretty good actually.  We get to see a bunch of characters that haven't been around since Journey Into Mystery, so that's quite nice.  Angela fights Hela, on top of the Hell Hound, and actually Wins!  But Hela's not dead, and Angela really doesn't want to rule, she just wanted to get Sera out and find a better afterlife for her fellow Angels, and that is what happens, when she hands over the crown of Hel to Baldur of all people.

So Sera is back, Leah is out of exile and has Thori, whom I adore, and they are all going to their version of hell on earth...the Brooklyn Ikea. 

This is pretty great, actually. 


All-New, All-Different Avengers #6

Now that is a fabulous cover, hearkening back to a classic by the late great John Buscema.

So, the guy that Tony sold the Avengers Tower to, turns out to be Kang the Conquerer, because...well because of course he would.  The Vision is a dirty rotten traitor, who had his programming fiddled with, and things are not looking good.  Thor dropped her hammer and turned back into Jane. Nova went to find poor Kamala who was kicked out and they come back and kick butt themselves.  With the help of Sam, Jane gets her hammer back, although it is a future hammer, and there are other time-related shenanigans, but it all works out in the end, and that's fine with me.

The art is pretty, the story is fun, and what's not to like?

Daredevil #4

And speaking of what's not to like...Matt is having a bit of a crisis, and calls in moral support from Steve Rogers, who helps him by just standing around basically.  Also, he dismantles a bomb, although cutting the green wire is a bit problematic for him. Also, Blindspot, his new sidekick...er...apprentice, is having his own problems, since his own mother, is busy swapping spit with the villain Ten Fingers.  Eeew!

Ron Garney's art style is perfectly suited to this book and Charles Soule does his usual bang up job.  Very nice. 


Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #4

Amadeus Cho as Hulk has butted in, and tries to beat up Big Red, while Lunella tries to explain. Amadeus is a bit of prat in this, pointing out how smart he is and trying to get her to go hide, but he won't listen to her at all, and heck, she's smart too.  And he leads Devil off in chains, while he looks sad. 

This is a rather silly premise, but what the heck...I like it. 


Hellcat #3

God, I do love these covers.  This one has Patsy being a barrista, for Groot, the Enchantress, Howard the Duck and others, and it is adorable.

So Patsy moves into her new apartment, and gets a bit of a crush on the evil landlord's hot son.  But it turns out that there is trouble in paradise, since it is a very nice apartment, but for some reason, the  tenants always move out and forfeit their deposits.  Turns out that the cute son, has the power to summon...BED BUGS!

Hey, this is a serious thing! 

Delightful.  Just delightful.


Squirrel Girl #5

And speaking of delightful, God, I love this book so.  So Very Much.  Well, it turns out that some student named Cody inherited a weird gun thing from a crazy aunt, and it turns out to be a time machine.  And since they grade on a curve at ESU, he decides to shunt all the smart students back to the '60's, and THAT is why they all ended up in the past!  Nancy is a bit miffed that her grades didn't seem to be high enough to get her shunted back, but she got there on her own anyway. 

And that time's version of Squirrel Girl, shows up but she is Old Lady Squirrel Girl now, and she is simply magnificent.  So while Nancy and the rest of them stage a "movie" scene in order to keep civilians away, Doreen and old Doreen fight with Doom, and manage to create a time thingie, wherein she keeps multiplying herself, and uses SCIENCE and CODE to defeat Doom!  And they do! Without creating a time paradox!  And Doom is defeated, except that they never said anything about defeating his Doombots, except that Old Lady Squirrel Girl planned for that too, and Doom is ultimately defeated again.

Sensational! And also I really want a story about Pete McFleet now.


Saga #34

Oh, things are coming along so nicely now.  Alana and Marko go back and find Gus and Prince Robot and baby Prince Robot, and con him into helping them find Hazel, who is still back on the re-education place, and Hazel makes an ally, actually two allies, and theWill is awesome, but still fat.

That sounds a little strange typing it out that way, but just read it.  It's great.


Only one DC book, and that was on a whim, and the lure of pretty good cover, but some really spectacular books this week from Marvel and Saga.

Woot!

Oh Hal

I find myself typing those two words so many many times when it comes to Hal Jordan.  And as terrible as his current book is, I still love the big doofus.  Not as much as Guy of course, but still...



Once again managing to show off his buttocks.

Reviews

Another Wednesday, and another clutch of new books. Not as many as I used to get, but still not bad.

Robin, Son of Batman #9

A bit all over the place, but at least it wasn't that Robin's crap. Damian is tying to deal with the fact that for the moment at least, his father doesn't even know who he is, which seems like a pretty cruel thing to do to a kid, but that's just me. Also Nobody gets some redemption,  Goliath shows up and rescues Damian's bacon, and on my favorite part of the whole book, he goes back to the Batcace and introduces Goliath to the Bat Menagerie... including Batcow.

It is... delightful.


Avengers: Standoff #001

Also known as "Welcome to Pleasant Hill"

I have said it before, and no doubt I will say it again, but these three sentence titles are verting just a wee bit out of hand. That said I had a certain amount of skepticism about the premise of this book. As I began reading, it seemed as though any one of a dozen generic blond Avengers had been kidnapped by an evil Maria Hill and placed in some sort of environment straight out of "The Prisoner".  Oh, and look, there was Tony Stark!

Well! That was a twist that I did not see coming, so kudos to the writer, one Nick Spencer. You sir, have my attention!


The Mighty Thor #4

At the moment this is my favorite book, and it continues to deliver. Thor was busy blowing up all the Roxxon bombs that Malekith had dropped on Alfheim, but had lost her hold on Mjolnir, which is not. Good thing. Fortunately, she got it back before Jane went splat. The Queen of Alfheim meets with Malekith, and Lacey shows up, wherein Loki yells "Hi Daddy!" Too bad he vets chained up... Loki, not Laufey,who meets the new Thor and just cracks up.

Things aren't looking good in Alfheim, let us say.

Meanwhile, back in Asgard, a totally deranged Odin is accusing his own wife of treason. I will say this for Frey, she isn't afraid to let him have it. Odin still hates Jane, and wants her dead, Six and the Warriors Three are feeling rebellious, and everyone assumes that Cul is behind it all. Then Thor and Loki show up, which surprises Frwy...since it seems as though she and Loki ha some sort of plan. They compare their shackles, while Loki is glad to see his other Daddy.

Then Odin and Thor start to fight.

Oh, it is fun, the art is great, the writing is equally so, and heck... it's just rather epic.


Archie #6

I really am enjoying this book, which is not anything ever would have believed in a million years. But it is dated and also fun. Betty hits a great homerun in softball and accidentally clobbers Archie, putting him in the hospital with a concussion. Reggie sees this as his chance to move in on Veronica, and incidentally tries a few tricks on Mr. lodge as well. Reggie is a cine achiever, but he's just not in Mr. lodges weight class yet. Give him a few years.

Naturally I am glad that Reggie is in this. I love Reggie.

Man, it was a pretty good week!

Happy Valentine's Day

I am bucking tradition this year, by  NOT posting old Romance Comics or best couples or...normal stuff.
Instead, in honor of the Polar Vortex which is currently besieging my humble abode, I thought that this was appropriate.

I give you...




Hal Jordan, attacking a polar bear...while snow blind...with his head.

God, I love comics!

The Usual Reviews

Gosh, but I am getting predictable.  Maybe it is the deep winter funk, or something, but I'm having a hard time getting too excited about my comics lately.  That said, not a terrible week.

Three  from DC! Woohoo!

Batman'66 meets the Man from U.N.C.L.E #3

Well, if I can't have Batman '66, this is the next best thing.  The bad guys have crashed Bruce's party and stolen his satellite.  Fortunately, he anticipated this, and they stole a dummy satellite.  Oh, that Bruce Wayne!  He thinks he's so smart!  They take Batgirl to the Batcave, and Robin likes her motor...ahem...Batcycle.  Thrush is still trying to take over the world. Ilya doesn't have a lot to do. Batman takes his cowl off.

Not quite as exciting as previous issues, but still head and shoulders above a lot of the other stuff out there.


Green Lantern Corps #2

Yes, I know it is called Green Lantern Corps: Edge of Oblivion, but man, that is a whole lot to type!  Sheesh!

Those nice people with their last refugee planet are...mostly nice. I thought it was going to be the dynamic duo from last issue, but there is another serpent in their Eden, who is not nice. Not nice at all.  John and Guy seem to be getting along better, but for some reason Guy and Kilowog are at each other's throats. Guy is skeptical about helping these people, while Kilowog is all emotional because he is the last survivor of his people.

So there are explosions and such, and John grabs all the Lanterns with technical know-how to go under and try to stabilize things, while the rest of them hang out and do damage control. There is a rift in the...whatever it is that is holding things together and Arisia and B'dge get sucked out. 

Guy is...not happy.  Guy is pretty much heartbroken, and punches out Kilowog. 

Best Green Lantern goodness out there!

Fables: The Wolf Among Us #14

Yeesh, this thing just keeps going and going and going, and I don't know if I see a resolution anywhere in the near future.  Don't get me wrong,  I enjoy reading about Bigby and Snow, but there are a whole passel of new characters that I am not so invested in, and...and...believe it or not, I am one of those people who like to have an actual beginning, middle and end of a story...and then a brief pause before we jump into the next story. This thing is just...it's never going to end, is it? 

I guess I'm just getting jaded or something.

All-New All-Different Avengers #5

Oh, that Vision!  He's actually a Bad Guy!   Kamala is writing fan-fiction about Thor and Captain America, because that is the sort of thing she would do.  She does love being an Avenger. She takes down a robot thing that is attacking Jersey, and then the Vision replays her actions and it shows her carelessly endangering civilians.  She didn't do anything of the sort, but Iron Man is being a jerk, and kicks her out of the Club. 

Nova isn't happy, because apparently he's being blackmailed by the Vision too, so he suspects something is going on. And sure enough, Cap tells him he is too reckless and he can't come and play either. Each time Vision gets an evil smile on his big red face.

Then they all fly off and fight Equinox, who keeps bringing versions of himself from the future to outnumber the remaining Avengers. Then Vision just flat out fires on Thor and Cap, and she loses her hammer...and well...it ain't pretty.

Stupid Iron Man.

This is my favorite Avengers book so far.  Out of the million or so that are on the market anyway.

The Totally Awesome Hulk #3

Boy, titles are getting a bit out of hand lately. 

Amadeus goes off with the Monster Queen Lady Hellbender, to fight Fin Fang Foom...because...why wouldn't he?  God, I do love Fin Fang Foom.  Meanwhile the real Hulk is having some problems, and Iron Man is about to enact the fail-safe protocols and stuff. Gosh, but Iron Man is a real dick! 

So Amadeus defeats Fin Fang Foom or at least saves a cruise ship, and then the Monster Queen decides that HE is the best monster out there, and captures him.

Great art, and a fun story.


Invincible Iron Man #6

This is actually from last week, but for some reason, I forgot to pick it up.

Tony tells Rhodey to go to his tower in Japan and investigate what Madame Masque was up to, because he is too busy romancing his latest. What the hell happened to Pepper anyway?  They go out for waffles, and Doctor Doom shows up, and Tony accuses him of stalking and it all rather degenerates into childish taunting.

Oh...and ninjas. 

I've been liking this book actually, but I'm starting to get annoyed with Tony this week.  He's been an absolute ass in three different books. I understand he's not quite as rich as he used to be, but still...he's being a complete jerk.  I was rather hoping for less jerky Stark.  I know who's side I'm going to be on in the Captain America: Civil War movie, and it ain't Iron Mans! 

So There!

Ms Marvel #4

Kamala is struggling with school, home, romance and being an Avenger and it is starting to take a toll on her.  Fortunately, Bruno comes up with a home-made android or something, that they can use as a dummy for Kamala when she is out saving the world again.  And her brother wants to get married. 

And then things...as usual go a little sideways.

This is such a fun book. 

And that's it!

Super?

Well, that had to be one of the more boring Super Bowls, but then again I am neither a Broncos nor a Panthers fan.  The guacamole on the other hand was excellent. And the half-time show wouldn't have been bad if the sound guy had actually done his job and made it... audible.

So... that leaves the commercials.

I was not, for the most part impressed.  I still think the Weiner dogs were the cutest, and I found Willem Dafoe as Marilyn Monroe to be mildly amusing. That thing... the manbearpig, only a pugapebaby monstrosity was genuinely disturbing. And I completely missed the trailer for Captain America, which annoys me.

The Coke commercial with be Hulk and Ant-Man was a hoot, and quite well done. I certainly don't mind ogling Ryan Reynolds. But Sir Anthony Hopkins peddling... whatever it was?  I can only assume that after Thor: the Dark World, he made a deal with Loki to pretend to be him on Asgard, so that he could go to see just what the heck was so darned fascinating about Medford that both of his sons wanted to hang there. And if you are used to literally living like a king... then you need the funds to do that.

So Pretty

So... it snowed here in lovely New England, and it caught a fair number of us a little off-guard. At least it did me... maybe I have becomes inured to the constant gore warnings of impending climatical doom that normally oozes from the news and weather reports.  It was a fairly average snowstorm, about six inches, and wet and heavy, unlike the light powdery snow we received in the giant non-blizzard a week or so ago. A pain to shovel, that's for sure.

It is also... breathtakingly beautiful.  it looks like whipped cream. It's still sticking to the tree branches, and when it was falling it looked like feathers. Suddenly all the mud and sooty brown grass looks so pretty.

This has nothing whatsoever to do with comics. But oh, it is lovely.

New Books this Week

Yet another DC free week.  This...is not a good trend, DC.  I actually took a few moments to analyze this, and something like 80% of my books lately have been from Marvel or Independents.  I've dropped Green Lantern, (which just KILLS me) although I am still enjoying Green Lantern Corps. Dropped Justice League because I just don't care about Darkseid and evil JLI, dropped Aquaman because it started out so good and then got so bad, dropped Batman because I don't care about Jim Gordon running around in an armored moth suit, dropped Wonder Woman because it went from being fabulous to stinking to high heaven.  I wanted to like Doctor Fate, I really did, but it was dull as dishwater. 

Maybe I'm just getting old and jaded, but I really don't see the point in buying books that I don't enjoy anymore. I'm not saying that every single issue has to be mind-boggling, (although that would certainly be nice) but it must at least be enjoyable, and not a chore to slog through.  I like to ENJOY my hobbies!  So I am being a lot more selective and just plain picky.  If it doesn't grab me in a few issues, it is now gone. No more hanging on, month after month in the hope that maybe...THIS month, it will start to be good.

Whew! That was cathartic!

Doctor Strange #5

Now this book I am enjoying the heck out of.  I've mentioned before that Bachalo is not my favorite artist, but he was simply BORN to draw this book!

Things have come to a head, the Empirikul have arrived, and they aren't fooling around.  Strange has to resort to the deepest of black magic in order to hold them off, and the physical and psychic costs are enormous.  All the other mages are doing their best as well.  The problem is that the force against them, isn't necessarily magical, but technical, but in a way that makes it all the more terrible. 

Strange does the unthinkable, and for a moment...but only for a moment thinks that he has won...But that's not the case.  A humdinger of a cliff-hanger!

Seriously, this is an excellent book.


Howard the Duck #4

Now that he is a living Nexus of all Realities, Howard finds himself to be high demand...by every power-crazed nutcase in the Universe!  First he is kidnapped...um...ducknapped by the Stranger, then Galactus and his new herald show up, although his new herald isn't actually his herald, and then the Silver Surfer, and then of course it all ends with the Collector.  The Guardians of the Galaxy are in there too. 

It's all a bit silly and frankly, that is how it should be.  The art is cute, the dialogue is cute, and heck, it is all just cute as can be.

Scarlet Witch #3

We have new art in this issue, by none other than Steve Dillon. I LOVE Steve Dillon!  I keep expecting Garth Ennis to show up as well, but James Robinson does a perfectly good job of getting that Irish voice. For Wanda has gone to Ireland, to save the country, since it is simply rotting away.  She takes the ghost of Agatha Harkness with her, as back-up, and figures out that something is seriously magically wrong. 

There is also a guy calling himself the Emerald Warlock, who has been going around for ages and ages, killing off the descendants of everyone who killed his family.  This is taking vengeance to a heckuva a degree!
Naturally he is tailing Wanda.  She does manage to wipe a perfectly nice old pup off the face of the earth, much to the dismay of the crusty owner, but heck, collateral damage is always present in comic books.

The covers have been utterly gorgeous, and although I have never been a Scarlet Witch fan much, I am liking how this is all going so far.

Klaus #3

This is Grant Morrison's take on the legend of Santa Claus, except that he's a Norse/Germanic hunter who hangs out with a magical white wolf, and sees spirits in the forest, and is doing his Norse ninja thing in a little hamlet which has an evil baron, and no toys...it's a little hard to explain actually.

But the art is just gorgeous and the story is fun, and what the heck, I'm liking it a lot.  It's a mini-series so it won't be around for long, so I am enjoying it while I can.

And that's it!  Not a huge week, but a pretty good week all the same.  So Get with It, DC!