Some new stuff I Read

Firstly a Happy Thanksgiving to all.  I'm still stuffed, and it's a day later...but it was WORTH it!

I have been fairly remiss about blogging lately.  Just haven't been in the mood.  I did go to my beloved comic book store, and got my books, there are a whole lot fewer than I had normally been interested in, I must say.  I have dropped Blue Beetle which is killing me, because I love Jaime, and I love Ted, and I so wanted to love this book...and it's just...dull. Dull and a bit incoherent, which saddens me beyond belief.  But I imagine it will be back eventually. 

Green Lantern Corps #9

So...Hal went and blew himself up battling Sinestro, which is more or less the sort of thing that Hal would do.  But his spirit or whatever is wandering around talking to Abin Sur.  Meanwhile, Guy and John and the rest of the Corps is on Xudar fighting with the remnants of the Sinestro Corps, who bugged out with Soranik, and they are actually fighting together to save Xudar from the Starros.

Man, I haven't seen Starros in quite  a while.  Rot Lop Fan shows up and wins the day!  Woohoo!  And it was all a feint by Brainiac, and they are stuck in a bottle, which makes them a bit peevish.  And as for Hal, Sayd and Ganthet have this covered, and none other than...Kyle Raynor shows up on the last page!  Finally!  I have missed Kyle. 

This was actually...a pretty decent book, things were happening, and the story was advancing, and it was more than just posing and dragging the story out.  So...good read. 


Lucifer #12

God, or Yahweh, or whatever is back and he's really really creepy and evil and wants to end the world, but Lucifer and Mazikeen and Gabriel are fighting off their brothers, and the Basanos come back into it, along with Eileen and some other rather forgotten characters, and it's all pretty good when Lucifer confronts dear old Dad.  I always love Garbett's artwork in this, and the story is gripping and satisfying.  I do love it when a writer doesn't forget old storylines and characters, and respects those same storylines and characters.

Doctor Strange #14

I thought that was Clea on the cover but it is actually Satanna, and she has opened up her own little pocket of Hell, and wants Stephen to star in her production.  Seriously, Hell has the best...or at least the most interesting people in it, like dead rock stars and such, and she feeds him hell-bacon so that he'll be around to run a floor show or something for new arrivals. 

It's a little convoluted, but the art is insane, and so is the story, and I loved it to death.  Having Stephens little astral image...naked but with a strategically placed black bar...fight the demon bacon in his stomach is just...sensational.  I don't know what Marvel has been feeding some of its writers lately, but it is WORKING!

Hellcat #12

And speaking of working, Black Cat is up to her new nefarious deeds, with a bunch of girl vandals, including Patsy's roomate Ian's old roomie, Zoe. And is SHE a piece of work!  When they were room mates, she spent all her time bullying and being a total beeyotch, and she hasn't changed.  Plus Black Cat has kidnapped Bailey, the girl with the magic bag, and is using her to break into the Costume exhibit at the museum. 

Ian...who along with Ms. Marvel is the only GOOD thing to come out of the Terrigen mists of the Inhumans...decides enough is enough and fights along with Patsy and her cohorts...and looks just fabulous doing it. 

Too bad about Bailey though.

Wonderful as usual.

Squirrel Girl #14

And speaking of Wonderful!  As you all recall, Doreen has been on vacation in Canada with Nancy and her mother, and Scott Lang aka Ant Man has shown up and they have been infiltrated by Enigmos, who are a guy who was a wrestler, but can split into other versions, and has gone bad, and is taking over New York, and....and stuff. 

Things aren't going so well, but a single good version of Enigmo shows up and wants to help our intrepid band,and they win...through SCIENCE!  Wonderful wonderful science.  It turns out that Pym Particles really do defy the laws of nature, when you increase your size and such and they fool the Enigmos into combining and growing huge to fight Ant Man, who is also giant, and he breaks his ankle from the weight, and...and...oh God it is just great. 

I love this book SO MUCH!

The Mighty Thor#13

Well...Jane has teamed up with Roz, and some of old Thor's buddies from when they were fighting Malekith way back when, since they want to free the Queen of Alfheim, and stop all the shenanigans from Malekith.  Odin sure isn't helping and neither is the Congress. Oh, and Angela shows up too, along with a Light elf, a Troll, a dwarf, a mystic from Vanaheim and a Mountain Jotun.  It's going to be fun, since of course, Malekith and his evil posse show up at the end...including Loki. 

I assume that Loki is out for himself, as usual. It's going to be fun.

Those are some pretty darned fine books actually!

So So Reviews

To top off a perfectly horrible Wednesday, there were only three books waiting for me at the Comic Book Store.

The Flash #10

I haven't been reading the Flash, because...well, because it has been pretty dull.  And this Wally, although he seems like a perfectly nice young man, isn't MY Wally.  But the cover caught my eye, because it has the Shade, and I LOVE The Shade!

Well...this isn't MY Shade either.

Ugh.

Green Lantern Corps #8

Boy Howdy, but John is a bit of a pain. All he does is whine and moan.  I understand that he has a lot on his plate, but still!  Soranik and her kidnapped Sinestro Corps members go back with Guy to meet up with the Green Lantern Corps.  Naturally John gives her some grief, but I was happy to see that Iolande was glad to see her, as was Soranik to see her old partner. 

Then they find out that the explosion was Hal, who wasn't evil, but actually fighting FOR the GLC.  Seriously, Kilowog, you couldn't have figured that out? In fact you knew it all along, because it was exactly the sort of idiotic idea that Hal would come up with.  But anyway, Hal's ring shows up in front of Ganthet and Sayd, whose vacation seems to be over.

Not a bad issue, but nothing too exciting either.


Wonder Woman #10

Nicola Scott is back...Woo Hoo!  I do love her artwork.

We have more of Diana learning to adapt to Man's World, as she goes out on the town with Barbara, Steve and Etta and they all start to learn to communicate. Unfortunately the mall is under attack, and she goes to town and shows them all exactly the sort of gifts that were bestowed upon her by her Gods. 

It's lovely.

And that's that! 

What The Hell?

Oh great.  We just elected a Bizzaro version of Doctor Doom.

I am going to go sit in the corner and cry.

A New Era?

I may be jumping the gun here, and Lord knows there are still plenty of depressing comics out there... but I am feeling just a wee bit optimistic, that things may be changing for the better. In tiny drps and drabs of course, but every movement begins slowly.

Marvel seems to be taking the lead in this, DC seems to be still stuck in the "grim and gritty" stage, but that doesn't really surprise me. With all the innumerable reboots, it is hard to really change things when the exact same people are still in charge. 

At Marvel however, there seems to be some genuine energy. There are still a whole lot of the same old stuff, such as the totally unnecessary Civil War story which is dragging on FAR too long.  Fortunately for my sanity, I haven't been reading it except tangentially. Heck, it was the first Civil War that drove me almost completely to the DC side of the aisle.

But oh... there are some really fun, quirky books out there now. Independents have always been good, and I do adore Saga  and Atomic Robot, but gosh, Squirrel Girl, and Hellcat and Howard the Duck, although the latter has sadly ended, are some of my favorite books being published. I think I can add the new Champions book to that list as well. I am suddenly a fan of Doctor Strange, because it is just bizarre, and weird, and hat's not a bad thing in a comic book.

I was desperately hoping that the new Blue Beetle book was going to be just as much fun, but so far have been disappointed, although I have heard good things about the new Superman/Batman and sons book by Tomas and Gleason. If there is one thing that I have learned, it's that those two always produce good work.

I still miss the Hawkeye book, Young Avengers, and Loki; Agent of Asgard, which were phenomenal.  The common thread in all of these books, is good art, which goes without saying, and good writing... humor combined with story and a certain fearlessness, to try something a little different.

I can tell you this... I will always be looking at Kraven the Hunter with a fresh perspective from now on.

Teensy Reviews

Well, that's was a very tiny Wednesday. But tiny is still better than nothing at all.

Champions #2

I AM enjoying this book so far! Basically it is Young Avengers with a different moniker, but I also loved the crap out of Young Avengers. So far we have Amadeus Cho as Hulk, Ms. Marvel, although she is apparently thinking of changing her name, Miles as Spider-Man, and Nova and Viv, of the Visions. It is a pretty eclectic group.

They are camping out in the woods for a little team bonding, and basically introducing themselves and learning their powers.  It is actually a clever way to tell the readers the same thing. Then young teen Cyclops shows up and there is the usual misunderstanding. For example, I was unaware that original Scott was apparently dead, after going to the bad. I am sure he will eventually be back.

It is pretty fabulous.


The Unworthy Thor #1

It was very nice to see Thor, AKA Odin son again. I have been enjoying Jane Foster as the new Thor, but I still have a warm spot in my heart for the original. Poor baby, he is still moping about becoming unworthy to wield Mjolnir, and goes off to the moon to beat up some Trolls. It isn't quite as easy as it used to be, but thank Odin, he brought along Toothgnasher...one of his pair of Goats. I have always like the Goats.

But this is actually a bit of a flashback, since the story actually has him fighting to get to another Hammer... from another Thor. Also Beta Ray Bill shows up, and that's always nice. It is pretty darned good so far and have been enjoying the heck out of the Aesir stories lately, so this s also definitely a keeper.

And that was it!