Another Small Week

I must be giving my comic book store owner fits.  I've been putting his kids through college, but the funds are drying up, because...well because.  Maybe if DC would see fit to publish books that I would actually like to READ would do the trick. 

Dagnabit.

Daredevil #5

Well, Ten Fingers comes to a rather sticky end, at the hands of the...Hand.  I honestly didn't intend to write that, it just came out that way. 

*snicker*

Matt is stuck doing Night Court, except of course when he isn't, and Blindspot is actually the hero in this rather satisfying conclusion to Charles Soule's first outing with Daredevil.  Good art, and good story.

Moongirl and Devil Dinosaur #5

I have to admit, that I'm really starting to like that big red T-Rex.  Or whatever he is.  Or she, I have no idea.  Lunella busts him out of his cage at the museum, using her wits and her giant springie shoes, which just delights me.  They really have no idea where they are going from there, but what the heck. 

And boy, those Terrigen mists are really starting to become a problem.  Maybe those Inhuman jerks could cut back on the stuff?

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #6

Oh God, oh God, oh God...I LOVE this book! 

Nancy is going to make a new costume for Doreen, because her furry one is too hot in the summer. Makes perfect sense to me.  Meanwhile, Howard the Duck shows up looking for a cat named Biggs. He accidentally grabs Mew, because to him, all cats look alike.  Naturally, they fight.  Well, they argue a lot. 

Then Kraven the Hunter shows up in his Kra-Van, and it is may be one of the greatest things I have ever seen  in a comic book.  He's still hunting Gigantos, but it doesn't come cheap, and he needs some ready cash, so he nabs Howard, and tosses Squirrel Girl in the air, because he actually...kinda...likes her.  She tracks them to a rich millionaire's lair, and it turns out to belong to Shannon Sugarbaker, a southern Belle's Belle.  She likes cosplaying and hunting, and wants to hunt anthropomorphic critters, such as Howard of course, Rocket, the Beast, who keeps trying to explain he's just a Mutant, and Biggs the robo-cat.  Oh, and Weapon II, a Squirrel with adamantium claws.

At this point, I was just sitting in my chair having a hysterical fit of the giggles.

Eventually, after fighting off some second rate Doombots, Doreen shows up ready to rescue Howard. Shannon orders Kraven to hunt her, but he refuses, because well...he LIKES Doreen. So Shannon uses all of her cosplay weapons which incidentally WORK, and now she's going to be hunting all of them including Doreen and Kraven. 

This...this is ART!  It is Poetry!  It may be the greatest concept in Comic Book History!

BUY THIS BOOK!!!

Saga #35

Oh. Saga is good too.

I have to admit that I am beginning to experience a certain joy in Prince Robot.  He's just so...so cranky all the time. It's rather endearing.  He's teamed up most reluctantly with Alana and Marko, who have gotten pretty close to getting Hazel and Klara back. But things are transpiring that will probably foil that, but still...it's all pretty fabulous.

Also the Will, who is still fat, is hunting Prince Robot's kid, and Gus shows up mounted on a Walrus. And Lying Cat makes an appearance!

Fabulous as usual

That's it for this week, which was small, but pretty darned good actually.

Waiting For Gadot

So... the new Batman vs Superman movie is out... and the reviews have not been particularly kind.  Apparently Superman isn't much nicer than he was on the first movie, and... as usual Batman is almost as psychotic as the villains he fights. It is dark... literally dark. Practically every scene is at night, or in the rain, or in the rain at night or in a coalmine or something.

So Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman is a rare gleam of light. That is encouraging.

I have to say that a few years ago I would have been overjoyed to see this movie come out, and especially all the subsequent movies, ala Marvel.  I would have KILLED for a Justice League movie. Now... not so much. What would be fun would be a JLI movie, but since it would be... fun...I can't see the Powers That Be at DC or Warner Brothers going along with that.

So I guess I will just have to keep waiting patiently for Captain America: Civil War... which looks pretty amazing. I will admit that although I like Tony as embodied by Robert Downing Jr. I am a devotee of Cap. Chris Evans simply has one of the finest derriere that I have ever had the privilege to ogle. He could be inducted into the Green Lantern Corps on the basis of his butt alone!

And I will watching the new Hank Williams biopic with Tom Huddleston, because seeing Loki singing with a southern American accent is going to be a treat.

Reviews

For some reason, it took me four attempts to correctly type the word "Reviews" into the title.  There is probably some Freudian reason for that.  All Marvel this week!

All-New All-Different Avengers #7

This seems to be heading into the new crossover territory, with their attention being drawn to the whole Pleasant Hill problem.  The bit where Maria Hill and Shield decided to "rehabilitate" supervillains by brainwashing them and having them become fine upstanding zombies in an adorable little prison...er...town.  Nothing could POSSIBLY go wrong! 

Of course it has, and some of my favorite Avengers are heading out to see what the heck is going on.  Also, The Vision apologizes to Kamala for betraying them, by giving her tapes of all the previous Avenger deeds of derring-do, which is rather sweet, actually. 

So, they are all on a Quinjet with Agent Hill, when they run into some OTHER Avenger types, who are also accompanied by Agent Hill.  They start to fight, because that is the sort of thing that Marvel Heroes do, and for some reason, they all end up brain-washed in the town. 

You have piqued my interest, Marvel!

I would much rather read this than the new Civil War, because in so many ways I am STILL furious about the disaster that was the original Civil War, which caused me to dump pretty much all of my Marvel books way back when. It is only recently, due to the grimness and depression and futility at DC that I have been slithering back to the Marvel side.  Also, books like Loki: Agent of Asgard, Young Avengers, Angela, Thor, Ms. Marvel, Hellcat, She-Hulk, Squirrel Girl and others which are quirky and FUN helped a lot.

Angela: Queen of Hel #6

And speaking of Angela, it was literate, it was odd, and I loved it. So naturally, they are cancelling it.  Through a bit of clever meta-text, we learn that this is the penultimate issue, and it will end next month, which just depresses the HECK out of me. The art was gorgeous, the dialogue was clever as all get out and heck...it was weird, but oddly engrossing. 

Damn. 

Where will I get my Leah fix now?  Not to mention Thori.

Oh, and Angela goes to Ikea, and ends up fighting Thor, and mean people are getting poetically killed, and it all has to do with Faust.  Great stuff.

Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat #4

Patsy is on her way to meet with Jennifer and Hedy, to try and get her rights to her own comics back but runs into a little problem with Casiolena, who is no Enchantress, but does her Asgardian best to round up some villainous minions.  Except for the most part, her minions just want to pay off their student loans.  Also Brunnhilde shows up which is always nice. 

It's a hoot as always.

Totally Awesome Hulk #4

So, Amadeus has been taken prisoner by the Queen of the Monsters, and is enjoying it far too much.  She-Hulk, and his sister are doing their best to rescue him, but all the previously captured monsters are let loose, and really, most of them are pretty nice little monsters except for the control patches.  Also  we learn how Amadeus became the Hulk, in the first place, no thanks to Tony incidentally! 

Again, an odd but hilarious little book.

A pretty darned good week actually!

Tiny Reviews

A massive three books this week. Three!

Yeesh!

Lucifer #4

At least this time, I managed to pick this up on time.  And it's a dandy as usual.  Great art, and it has the Dreaming in it, and good stuff like that. Plus the cover just cracks me up. 

The little girl Medjune who ran into the Demon Jar last issue is running away from her adopted home, and it's a good thing since her "Parents" are more or less monsters.  She just happens to run into the kid with the Peacock feather on the same bus.  And yes, Lucifer shows up to get the jar.  Also Lucifer runs into himself while in the dreaming, and it is rather amusing actually.  Gabriel gets wings back, although they aren't necessarily HIS wings. 

Great stuff.

Robin: Son of Batman #10

For some reason, this was...polybagged?  Seriously?  A bunch of DC books were polybagged, and I am not sure why, except that they showed pictures of the upcoming Superman/Batman movie...which I have NO intention of going to see. It looks dark and dismal and boring.

There was a time not all that long ago when I would have killed for a JLA movie or Superman/Batman movie. But DC has managed to destroy most of my desires for that, with the whole Convergence/Reboot/52 crap.  Also the cover has Superman and Batman on it, and I'm only reading this for Damian!  Double Yeesh!

Stuff is happening,  it seems to be the end of the world, but Pat Gleason isn't writing or drawing, so I just may be out of here.Talia shows up, and it's a bit confusing actual.



International IronMan #1

What the hell?  I thought this was the OTHER Ironman book!  Another new number one?  It's a flashback to Tony and some girl named Cassandra in College or something, and Hydra shows up and stuff happens.  It's not terrible, but I honestly thought that I had picked up the next issue of the other Ironman book, and kept wondering where Mary Jane and Rhodey were. 

I think I'm getting jaded or something.

Slightly Delayed Reviews

Having to wait a day to get my comics was a burden, but there were some pretty good ones, so it was worth it.

Fables: The Wolf Among Us #15

Well, Bigby has finally had enough and goes full beast on Bloody Mary, and it is rather epic, actually.  And we go back to the beginning and confront Faith's creepy father, and things don't go particularly well after that.  Still interesting, but not much of an ending in sight, which I find a little annoying.

Green Lantern Corps #3

Now this is Green Lanterny Goodness!  Beautiful art by Van Sciver, and a decent story,and I am happy.  Also as usual, Guy gets the best lines, although I'm not thrilled with he and Kilowog fighting each other.  They should be beating up Hal!  But it is a joy to see a bunch of Lanterns who haven't even shown up as cameos lately.

Things are going poorly, mistakes have been made, and something must be done.  So Guy and Kilowog go to find Marniel and have it out once and for all. The rest of the Lanterns are trying to find a weak spot in the walls so that they can slip through into their own universe. 

And then Marniel takes their rings....and USES them!

I did not see that coming.

Pretty good actually.


Doctor Strange #6

Things are NOT looking particularly good for Stephen or for any of the magic users on Earth. The interesting part is that non-magical people don't even have a clue that anything is even going on.  Strange keeps trying to pull things out of his hat, as it were, and it works for a moment or two, and then he is overwhelmed again.  As usual, the art is intoxicating, and the story keeps you on the edge of your seat.

This is a book that I had my doubts about, but man, it has become one of my favorites.

Howard the Duck #5

Well, the Guardians and Howard and their motley crew are going up against the Collector, The Silver Surfer and his wannabee show up and it is a lovely interstellar donnybrook.  As the Nexus, Howard is able to free all of the Collector's prisoners, which is a nice thing to do, and sends Tara back as well as Shocket and Linda, and then...he sends himself home.

Or does he? 

Always a hoot.


Ms Marvel #5

Well, the clones are malfunctioning...what a surprise!  Bruno has the bright idea of getting Loki back to fix them, which I would totally be up for, but he's a little...busy at the moment.  Her brother wants to get married, and so they have the parents meet, which is both terrifying and hilarious. 

The engagement party is even more so. 

It's a little hard actually for me to describe all that is going on, but rest assured, that it is as charming and delightful as always.  Man I do love this book.


The Mighty Thor# 5

And it is Jane vs Odin! Finally!  Odin is mad as Hel, but Thor isn't too much of a slouch herself, and she is finding enormous satisfaction if pummeling the old god thoroughly.  Meanwhile, Freya and Loki are freed, and it turns out that he was Freya's spy on Malekith's council all along.  We also have a lovely battle between the Warriors, Sif, Heimdall, Freya and Loki against Cul and his bully boys.

Also Malekith marries the poor Queen of Alfheim, and immediately stuffs her in a prison cell before celebrating with his evil compatriots...all of whom would betray each other at the drop of a hat. 

Meanwhile, back in Asgardia, they are fighting the Destroyer, when Loki stabs Freya in the back. Literally.  He looks so sad as he does it too, so there must be something more going on there as well.  She's not dead, but she is turned to stone or something, and Odin realizes it and rushes home. Loki has a little talk with Uncle Cul, and everything seems to quiet down for the moment.

For the moment.

Oh, and Odinson shows up again.

Fabulous!

Oops

Well, ordinarily I would be posting my amazing and prescient, not to mention pithy reviews of my new comics here.  Humbly. 

But I cannot do that, because I had to rush home and meet the repairman, so that once again, we can have hotwater and heat.  Fortunately, the little module thingie on the THREE YEAR OLD BOILER was the only thing that needed to be replaced, and things turned out well. You don't really appreciate things like a hot shower until you can't take one. 

So...probably tomorrow. And it seems as though there are a LOT Of good books out this week!

Until then however...




You know whom I want to see in the new DC Rebirth?  These guys! Well, except for Captain Shinypants maybe, but hell, even he would be okay with me, so long as we get some of our favorite B and C characters back.  I don't really CARE all that much about the Big Three anyway. 

Just Pinch Me!

I just saw this, and may be in comic book heaven. 



This is coming out this June, and I can hardly wait.  Please please please let it be Ewing or Gillen writing this!  How can you go wrong?  He has an Angel right up there on the stage, so that should appeal to the religious voters, and Captain America as well!  We don't even NEED an election!

New Reviews

Not a huge week... not a terrible week.

Batman '66 meets the Man From Uncle #4

Oh, and the fun just continues. Batman pretends to be Bruce Wayne and goes off to Monaco, where all the Villains are taking over, closely followed by Robin, Batgirl, Napoleon and Ilya  in the Batsub...why? Because They Can!

It just gets a little more bizarre... and fun from there.


Lucifer #3

Finally! This actually came out a couple of weeks ago, but I couldn't find it, but then I did, and it was pretty fabulous as usual. I do love Lee Garnett's art, and Holly Black is no slouch as the writer either

Lucifer and Gabriel have entered the Dreaming and we get to see Matthew the Raven, which is always a treat, Eve and Lilith, while learning more about the denizens of Hell and their backstories, which is also nice.

There is some more about that nasty little jar as well.  Darned good!



Black Widow #1

I have been looking forward to this for months, and Mark Wait and Chris Samnee do not disappoint. The action gets started immediately, with Natasha running through the helicarrier as Maria Hill shrieks over the intercom that she is considered an Enemy of Shield, and must be stopped at all costs.  this leads to a spectacularly choreographed pursuit, with additional mayhem for good measure.

We don't yet know what it was that she took, but whatever it is... it has Hill in a tizzy. The Widow makes all hose highly trained Shield agents look pathetic, but as far as I am concerned, that is her super power. The leap from the helix harrier, the flying car and all is just icing on the cake.

Fabulous!


Invincible Iron Man #7

Tony meets with Mary Jane to continue their talk about his job offer for her to basically become his new Pepper Potts. Tony is also a bit concerned that he can't contact Rhodey who has been captured by ninjas. Naturally. And apparently Peter Parker is rich now, which is news to me.

The art isn't bad, but I have to admit that the pace and tempo of the dialogue was beginning to annoy me. I know it is a quirk of Bendis to make all of his speakers have the same cadences, but he is trying a little too hard to make comic book Tony sound like movie Tony. There is nothing wrong with that except Everyone sounds like movie Tony!

It's not bad, but small cracks are beginning to show.


Standoff: Assault on Pleasant Hill

This is an Avengers book of course, and we have old Cap and new Cap, along with Becky and the "Whisperer", who seems to be Marvel's version of Oracle. And it turns out to be... Rick Jones!  Better than Snapper Carr, I can tell you!

And of course, they dined out about Maria Hill's little project, and naturally Steve Rogers is outraged. Seriously, what else did she suspect would happen? And Avengers and their allies are all being chased by Shield. It's pretty decent so far actually. I am not much of a fan of crossovers and huge "Events", but this is shaping up nicely... so far.


I did take a peek at the new Green Lantern book, because it just pains me so to NOT be reading about Hal, but it has Parallax and frankly the art is just... awful. At least in my opinion. And I am one of those people that the art is pretty important to... so I am still not buying it. I am looking forward to the new new new rebirth at DC to see if things are going to improve.