What You Should Have Read #62

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