Comic Book Reviews
for the Week of May 30, 2012
I
was thoroughly disappointed with the Amazing
Spider-Man annual. It wasn’t badly written and the art was fine. I just
don’t think it was a tale that needed to be told. How many times has Peter
already been through the “It’s a Wonderful Life” story? Is this a story that
needs to be told over and over again? And the twist is that everybody’s life
actually IS better without him? That’s awful. Dan Slott is wrapping up “Ends of
the Earth” in a couple of weeks. I would have thought this would have been a
great opportunity to end the story on a grand scale and almost guarantee better
sales numbers for the annual.
Now,
Batman Annual #1 was the way to do an
annual. It loosely tied into the story running through all the Bat-family
books. Mr. Freeze got an updated origin, and I’m not 100% sure what the
differences are between this origin and his last one. I wasn’t a fan of the
Bat-books before I checked out Scott Snyder’s new series. He seems relatively
close to the Freeze from Batman: The
Animated Series, which is the version of Batman I know best. Close, but a
bit more badass. THIS is how you do an annual. Regular writer, “new” character,
current storyline tie-in…I’m glad I started picking up this title.
I
finally got around to picking up DC’s Free Comic Book Day offering, and I liked
it for the most part. I enjoyed the new origins of three classic but seldom
used DC characters (I fully believe that Pandora is supposed to be the Crimson
Avenger, so I’m counter her as a classic character), although the Question gave
me pause. I always thought part of his charm or allure was that he was just a
regular guy. This new origin is vastly different. And it looks like we’re
getting a definitive origin for the Phantom Stranger, and it borrows a bit from
one of the origins Alan Moore gave him (assuming I’m right in saying that the
Stranger is Judas). We also get a look at seven wizards with lightning bolts on
them. These guys HAVE to play a part in the creation of the new Shazam/Captain
Marvel. I also enjoyed looking around the Black Room. A buddy and I noted the
Haunted Tank, the Psycho Pirate’s mask, something that might be the helmet of
Big Barda or another New God, the Demon’s armor, the Spear of Destiny, and
something that I’m hoping is either the Painting that Ate Paris or the demonic
poster from James Robinson’s Starman series. It looks like the new DC universe
is going to be a very interesting place.
The
ending to “Exiled” in this week’s New
Mutants was very satisfying. Although this did seem more like an Asgardian
book than a mutant book. The Disir were given a logical new purpose. Mephisto
and Loki are at odds again. All of the Asgardians have their memories back. And
Sigurd ran away again, although his reprieve was short indeed. I was happy
enough reading about these “new” mutants during the crossover, but it looks
like my time with them has ended.
The
biggest problem I had with Wolverine
& the X-Men was the lack of continuity between this issue and Avengers vs. X-Men #4. In that comic,
Wolverine told Hope that he called Captain America while she was sleeping in
the back of the jet. Here, though, he calls Cap after they’ve been attacked by
and defeated an assassin squad of Shi’ar death commandos. That’s not a tiny
gaffe. Other than that, though, the issue worked for me. Art and story were top
notch, and it still remains my favorite X-Men book (but X-Factor is my favorite
mutant book).
My
back issue purchases this week were Amazing
Spider-Man #s 669 and 670. I also picked up the DC/Cartoon Network FCBD
issue for my son. He’s really getting into Young
Justice, so he loved the issue.
Nextweek’s planned purchases:
Earth
2 #2
Boys
#67
Secret
#2
Avengers
vs. X-Men #5
Dark
Avengers #175
Invincible
Iron Man #518
Journey
into Mystery #639
Ultimate
Comics Spider-Man #11
X-Factor
#237
