Monthly Archives: January 2011

This Week’s Comics

by Jesse

Even by my looser standards of what I’m adding to my pull list, there’s not a lot to pick up this time.  Here’s what I’m looking at this week.

  • BATMAN BEYOND #2 - Dig some Beyond, yo.
  • BATMAN ODYSSEY #6 – It’s truly been killing me that I haven’t been able to pick up Neal Adams’ new Batman work.  I’ve been discovering that I haven’t really been interested in jumping into series that have been running for a while (that’s why Secret Six hasn’t made this week’s list, but maybe it should), but I’ll be on the lookout for every issue of this one.
  • INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #500.1 - As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m a sucked for anniversary issues, and this one is both priced at $3 and written by Matt Fraction.  I’m curious to see how the .1 initiative plays out.  In theory, if its just a signifier that the issue in question is the jump-on point for a new arc, I’m all for it.  I’m hearing some rumblings that they’re just recap issues, though, which I’m not down with.
  • JESUS HATES ZOMBIES LINCOLN HATES WEREWOLVES TP COLL - I just mention this because I feel the anachronistic team-ups/battles are feeling played out.

These books get added to my running pull list, which now has a few books I’ve been able to cross off thanks to a friendly hookup.  All I’ll say is that Rick Remender is writing the hell out of Uncanny X-Force.  I would NOT want to be Warren Worthington III last week. Also, stay tuned tomorrow, as I review the worst comic since Arsenal messed with a dead cat.

That’s it for me.  What are YOU looking at?

Also-Rans and Never-Wases

by Jesse

Not everyone is quite ready for the big show. Of all Professer Xavier’s students, not all of them make the X-Men, some of them get bumped to AAA ball (aka The New Mutants). And then some mutants are
just cut from the team and become never-wases. These are some of those mutants.

  • This mu-tant ain't gonna make the Gold Team.

    Ankle-Sprainer

  • Le Petomane

  • Switzerland, The Man Who Walks Like a Neutral Country

  • Sparkles

  • The 8-bit Kid

  • El Guapo

  • Swingline – with the ability to create staple-like fasteners out of finger and toenails

  • Thursday

  • Ted the Mutant

  • 1-Up, who can beat any video game without ever losing a life

  • Average, the exact center of any bell curve

Game Tape

by Matt

As Jesse pointed out on Tuesday, there are a ton of books out this week worth looking at. Two books change the status quo for their characters. All progressed a larger plot. Some did this very well… some not so much. Here’s what we’re looking at.

I’d be an idiot not to talk about Fantastic Four #587. Is it worth they hype and the polybag? No. It’s a great issue… dare I say fantastic, but it’s no Superman #75. The black polybag is almost certainly meant to evoke the memory of that issue, yet it falls short on the emotional impact. Everything about the issue is set up and executed masterfully except for the death at the end. It seems like a formality: as though it’s a mile post that has to be passed on the way somewhere else. Maybe that’s how death should be viewed…

That said, I loved everything else about this issue. Galactus acts petulantly leaving his thread open and Sue pimp slaps someone. There’s no doubt it’s a big issue that changes much for the team. I’m looking forward to the next, and “last” issue.

Chaos War ended this week with issue #5. Big things change for Hercules, and Alpha Flight is back, but I was mostly left feeling, “so what?” That said, I am looking forward to the new series, Herc, in April. The interplay between Cho and Hercules is almost always worth the price of admission.

Age of X: Alpha was an interesting introduction to this new alternate reality. All the major mutant players are already gathered around Magneto at his Fortress X. So we don’t get any back story on the universe. We do meet a lot of characters, and we get to know origins of a few. We also get an explanation of why there’s not been a Wolverine in the promo images. If you read the communiques that CBR has been posting, you already know half the stories told here in this Tales of the Green Lantern Corps style book. I’m in for one more issue only because it’s an alternate reality X-Men. Here’s hoping the main story is stronger and better framed.

 

Finally, Action Comics was okay. Luthor (and readers) learns more about the spheres thanks to the Joker. It’s hinted strongly that someone is yanking Luthor’s chain, and it’s someone the Joker is frightened of. There are some nice Joker moments, but the issue falls a little flat. Still, there’s enough intrigue and interest to keep with the title. Cornell’s work is still solid here.

This issue is also the first to be missing it’s Jimmy Olsen back up. It is missed sorely.

Captain America…SECRETS!

by Matt
The butter scene in “Last Tango in Paris” is based on something I did in Italy during the war.

secret…

FACT: the Red Skull smells like cinamon. You won't find that in a history book.

Secret…

What's so wrong about telling incontinence jokes to an AARP convention?

SEcret…

Mr. Captain America? No, that's my father's name

SECRET…

I lost my shield three months ago; I bought this one on clearance at Party City.

SECRETS!

This Week’s Comics

by Jesse

We’ve got quite a long list this week, with a pretty healthy number of books I would have picked up anyway. Here’s what’s I’m looking at.

  • ACTION COMICS #897 - I’ve been really looking forward to the DC price drop SPECIFICALLY so I could start picking up Paul Cornell’s Action Comics…only to cut myself off at the knees by The Experiment.
  • AGE OF X ALPHA #1 - To be honest, I get fed up with X-Overs, and I’ve had a hard time identifying the X-Characters in the ads. But curiosity gets the best of me sometimes.
  • AVENGERS #9, NEW AVENGERS #8, and SECRET AVENGERS #9 - This is way too many Avengers books, but each seems to have their own interesting hook. I just picked up several back issues of each for 50 cents each, and I expect these will be pretty easy to get caught up on.
  • CHAOS WAR #5 - I really enjoed the first issue (and all of The Incredible Herc), but cover price and Matt’s less-than-glowing review for subsequent issues led me to drop it pretty quickly.
  • DETECTIVE COMICS #873 - You know…Batman.
  • FANTASTIC FOUR #587 - This is the one I’m afraid I’ll never be able to find for less than cover price. Jonathan Hickman’s work on this book has been revelatory.
  • SPAWN #201 - Only to see the new direction.
  • THUNDERBOLTS #152 - Passing up this one is going to be hard. Jeff Parker’s really been taking this book about die-hard criminals to fun places.
  • UNCANNY X-FORCE #4 – Much like I wrote about Jason Aaron’s Wolverine last week, I’ve been hearing great things about Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force. So I’m in as long as it stays good.

So, these get added to my running pull list and that’s it for me this week. What are YOU looking at?

LEMUR Sunday Night at the Movies

by Matt

With the leak and then official release of the X-cast photos this week, I thought back to that GL post from last November. First Class is set in the 1960′s, but what would an X-Men movie look like if it were from the 1960′s/1970′s? What if an X-movie had been made during the Neal Adams era of the team, circa 1970? As with last time, I’m working under the assumption that the movie would be a big budget affair with an all-star cast.

Although he wasn’t getting much panel time in the late 1960′s, you couldn’t have an X-movie without the X, Professor X. Bald, intelligent, and nigh stoic says one person: Yul Brynner. Outside of the look, he’s got the perfect voice to say, “To me, my X-Men!” Besides, what else was he doing in the early 1970′s, prepping for “Westworld”? On the flip side, in the adversarial role would be Jason Robards as Magneto. Robards had an interesting charisma and manic look at times that fits with the Magneto of the 1960′s/’70′s.

Moving on to our Merry Mutants, we’ll start with the leader: Scott, Slim, Summers, a.k.a. Cyclops.

During this era, we were finally past the pining for Jean every fifth panel phase, but not past the whole, “I can’t open my eyes a fraction of an inch…” Still, Scott had also proven to be an effective leader. There’s an earnestness and calm strength in his character in this time period. Richard Thomas showed these characteristics as the eldest son on The Waltons. Thomas also has the tall slender build, and if we are to believe the picture at right, the same fashion sense. Slap a visor on him and you’re done.

With his easy smile and clean cut good looks, a young Kurt Russell fits the bill for high flying Angel. For the youngest of the X-Men, Ron Howard would bring exuberance to the role at an age between this tenures as Opie Taylor and Richie Cunningham. With an air of intelligence and fun, Jeff Bridges could easily fill the tights of the Beast. Rounding out the quintet of mutant teens, is the lovely Jane Seymour. No good reason here other than I’d like to see a young Jane Seymour running around in a green mini-skirt.