Oh Crap

Man...I just found out that Steve Dillon died, and I really really liked his artwork, so now am depressed. It's a darned shame, and he was far too young.

I member his work with Garth Ennis the most of course. Hellblazer was brilliant, and so was The Punished, but my favorite still has to be his phenomenal run on Preacher.  He had a helluva a talent for being able to draw some pretty gruesome... and yet hilarious stuff. Good backgrounds too, and unlike some artists he actually knew his anatomy and wasn't afraid to draw non-perfect people.

I am going to miss his work.

Some Reviews

Dagnabit.  I had almost my entire review all typed, and then...somehow hit a button, and lost the whole damn thing.  I hate when that happens.  So...here we go again.

Firstly, I was moaning that I haven't been feeling all that enthusiastic about my books lately.  There are some really good ones out there, that I am enjoying, but there are also an equal number of books that I feel I ought to be enjoying...but aren't all that much. It's a tad depressing.

Green Lantern Corps #7

This is the perfect example.  I love Green Lanterns, and I love the Corps, but once again, it seems as though this book is just going through its paces, providing some generic fight scenes that could have come from any of the last six issues, and I wouldn't have known the difference.  Sinestro is fighting Hal. Hal is fighting Sinestro.  Guy does manage to withstand the torture,and frustrate the Hate Guy, and Soranik has a brief spat with Lyssa, while John, Kilowog and the rest of the Corp which are slowly...oh so slowly charging to the rescue all get together to pose nicely.

It's...adequate.  But it could be so much more.  The plot is advancing at a glacial pace, and frankly, I'd like to see something actually happen.  And soon.


Blue Beetle #2

This is another example of a book that I was waiting for desperately, and have been pretty...lukewarm about.  It has some of my favorite characters, but the plot is choppy, and the dialogue is dense and a tad confusing.  It involves the Posse...somehow, and they all seem to have powers of some kind, and some girl is inappropriately flirting with Jaime, and the Scarab never ever seems to do anything, and it was all kind of confusing actually. 

And Jaime's mom is helping the Posse?  What the hell?

I do hope that this settles down, and becomes less scattered.


Ms. Marvel#12

This book on the other hand, has always delivered,and continues to do so.  Taking a break from all of her troubles, what with Bruno being hurt, and Captain Marvel being a giant douche and the whole Civil War crap, Kamala goes back to Pakistan to visit with her extended family and just chill for a bit.  She still feels a bit like an outsider, but bless her plucky little heart, is still trying to chip in and help out where and when she can.  It's a nice issue, and it also has nothing to do with Civil War...Thank God.


Saga #39

Yet another book that always delivers.  Hazel has figured out that something terrible has happened to Izabel, and Prince Robot admits that he sent her off on a more or less suicide mission. Petrichor, who takes no crap from anyone decides to go and find out what happened.  Also Alana stops children from playing with dangerous firearms, which is a good thing, and the Will, who has pretty much gone to seed, gets fired.

And we never do find out how a robot drinks, which is a shame.  God I do love this book.

So...two really good books and two books that should be really good, but are just going through the motions at this point.  

Playing Catch-Up Again

My wi-fi has been utter crap lately, and I'm not quite sure why...other than the general cussidness of things.  Still up there poking and prodding and desperately unplugging and replugging things in.  We will see how this goes.

But anyway...reviews!


Black Widow #7

You know...I like this book, but darned if Natasha isn't a pretty awful person.  I know that she was made that way by the Red Room, which is also awful, and that the Weeping Lion is also an awful person, but...yeesh!

She has managed to blackmail the Weeping Lion, who turns out to be the son of one of her early, if not THE earliest hits, and she goes up against her former Head Mistress, and rival...aka Recluse.  She's doing it for a good reason...so save other children from what she went through, but it is pretty brutal.  The art is gorgeous of course, and it's a compelling story...but pretty grim.  But good.

Doctor Strange #13

Baron Mordo is trying to beat Doctor Strange, but Dormammuu thinks he is a weenie.  Which of course he is.  Meanwhile, Strange is asleep and being tortured by Nightmare, because....why not?  And Wong and Zelma are trying to save him in their dreams, and it all turns out that Stephen dreamwalks through EVERYONE'S Dreams!  It is awesome!  And epic!  And Chris Bachalo was born to draw this stuff!

Fabulous.

Hellcat #11

For some reason, Black Cat is after Patsy, and is using a group of young female vandals to do her dirty work. One of them is the ex-roomie of Patsy's new roomie, and...and stuff happens.  It's all delightful as usual.

Howard the Duck #11

Waaaggghhh!  It's the last issue!  But in true meta fashion, it is more or less hinted at quite broadly that he'll be back.  But I have absolutely adored this iteration of Howard, not to mention his vast and wacky cast of characters.  Aunt May!  Biggs!  Spider-Man being an idiot!  Tara!  Bev!  And you should never leave your Aunt on a roof for safety if that roof is on fire! 

God I'm going to miss this...but what a way to go.

Squirrel Girl #13

Still stuck in Canada without wi-fi...I feel her pain.  And Enigmo is the one stealing the muffin, and he can split into other Enigmo's and is taking over the earth.  Also Ant-Man, and we learn a whole lot of cool stuff about mega colonies of Ants, although Scott doesn't seem to care all that much.  Scott is a bit of a jerk in this...but in his defense, he does have a fair amount of reason to be peeved, what with being kidnapped by Brain-Drain, and his client's very expensive jet being jet-napped, and ending up in Canada.  God I love Canada...even is Scott doesn't. 

Also squirrels.

The Mighty Thor #12

Jane/Thor is a tad confused about the sentience of Mjolnir, and is hauled off to the Parliament of Gods or whatever, where that cranky Librarian hangs out, and we learn how Mjolnir was forged and why, and boy howdy, but Odin is still a jerk.  But a giant sentient storm and Uru, and devastating the Universe and...whoa! 

A little bit of a filler issue, until the big stuff next month, but I don't mind. 

Green Lantern Corps #6

Guy is not in this much except as a torture victim, but his bros are trying to find him, and he's holding out, because you simply cannot break Guy Gardner!  Hal is doing a lot of showing off, but that's just how Hal rolls. And finally Sinestro gets off his yellow butt and decides it's time to show Hal what's for. 

Good, but needs more Guy.

Lucifer #11

Well, "God" is back, and he's pretty much insane.  He's bringing all his boys back into the fold, and stuff is going down, and it's the end of the world, and Elaine is back too, and she has a bit of a surprise for Lucifer.  I still like Gabriel best though.  All setting thing up for the big donnybrook, which is always  a good thing, and the art is gorgeous as always.

Wonder Woman #8

This is a retelling of the story of Barbara Minerva, and it's pretty great actually.  No Nicola Scott artwork however, which made me sad, but Bilquis Evely does a nice job with it. Rucka has been doing a lovely job, and it's a good story.

So...two weeks worth of books, and not a clunker in the bunch, which is always nice.

Finally Some Reviews

My God, but I have been slacking off lately.  In my defense, my Sweet Babboo is having Cataract surgery, we did the left eye two days ago with the right eye scheduled for the end of the month.  It was...actually a lot less traumatic than he had expected. Thank goodness!  And I have a wicked cold at the moment. 

Achoo!

But basically I've just been lazy. But there are two weeks worth here.

Blue Beetle #1

I thought we already had a number one, but apparently that was just the prologue.  The Actual Number One, takes place before the other number one, which was the prologue,so actually this is the prologue, and I'm getting highly confused.

I am also a bit...disappointed.  I have been looking forward to this forever, because I love Jaime, and his family and his supporting cast, and Ted Kord is back!  Woohoo!  And all of these characters are here.  But the pace, and the dialogue were...a bit on the confusing side.  Colored balloons tell you who the speaker is...eventually, but there is no point of view, it is ALL dialogue, and it...doesn't flow particularly well. 

We have Brenda and Paco sniping at each other, Jaime being incredibly snarky, and they are at their school's career day...I assume, and Ted shows up, but is a flop, but the posse shows up.  And Jaime just flies off with Ted anyway, so they obviously know each other.  And Jaime is having scary recurring dreams about Dr. Fate and a giant scarab. 

I'll keep with it, because I REALLY want it to improve, but it was choppy and disjointed to say the least.

Everafter/Fables #2

More Fables stuff, which is always nice.  Connor Wolf, one of Bigby and Snow's kids is all grown up and has been recruited to be a spy, and is a bit insufferable about it frankly.  And he and Peter Piper and BoPeep and Hansel are chasing a little girl who likes to kill things.  Hansel bought the farm last issue, and good riddance.  It's...okay.  Connor is a jerk though.

Green Lantern Corps #5

Not nearly enough naked Guy in this one.  A fair amount of torture for him though, but all he keeps doing is reciting the Green Lantern Oath, which is pissing off the Bad Guy.  That's my boy.  It has dawned on John that Guy may be in trouble, so the entire corps is out looking for him, and run across some trouble, and there are some lovely two-page spreads of the Corps in action which is always nice.

Oh, and Soranik is finally taking to Hal, and he's naturally soooooo fabulous.

Good Green Lantern action.



Champions #1

Now this looks like it is going to be a great book!  Ms Marvel has finally had enough of the grown-ups cavalier attitude towards property damage, and quits!  She teams up with Nova and Spider-Man who have also quit for more or less the same reasons, and they team up with Visions daughter Viv, and also Amadeus Cho aka the Hulk.

It...works. It works quite well.  And it's fun, and quirky and the dialogue is great, each  character has a distinctive voice, which is always appreciated.  I am quite happy with this one.

Doctor Strange #12

In the aftermath of the battle, the wearied sorcerers and magic users are trying to put their lives back together.  The contractor hired to fix the mansion is...a little different, to say the least.  Wong isn't happy, isn't that always the case when working with home improvement people? 

And to make matters worse, Baron Mordo is back and trying to make Stephen's life miserable. Or more miserable. 

I do love this book.

Ms. Marvel #ll

Things are going from bad to worse with the whole Civil War crap.  Bruno is awake, but NOT happy.  He's hurt,and things are never going to be the same, and he's a bit fed up with being taken for granted, and who can blame him?  Kamala is over her head and overwhelmed.  She's also had it with Carol and her proactive approach to crime fighting, and especially with her little Nazi cohort, so she sets up a fake bomb attack,and naturally they fall for it, thus proving that prescience isn't infalliable.

Carol is all pissy and snotty and tells Kamala she's fired, and goes off in a snit.  Bruno decides he's going to go to school in Wakanda, which is the only one he can get into now, that he's handicapped. 

Stupid Carol!

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #12

Doreen and Nancy go off to Canada to a nice cabin on the woods to hang out with Doreen's mother. No wi-fi, no phones, no television, no social media of any kind!  Sounds like a little bit of heaven to Nancy, but Doreen is going stir-crazy.  Things are being covered back home by Brain Drain, which is a good thing.

Except...who stole the muffin out of the tupperware?  And who is Enigmo?

You'll just have to read it and see!  It's fabulous as usual.


Saga #38

Why do you keep killing off characters?  Waaaaaaaaaaaah!

Our heroes made a brief pit stop that turned into months.  They made some new friends, which makes some of their old friends nervous, but hey.  And Prince Robot is still being a jerk. Izabel goes off to help him, and runs into some people who aren't worried that she's a ghost.

Waaaaaaaaaaah!