Thoughts
on Last Week’s Comics
Animal Man/Swamp Thing #s 5 – These aren’t main
DCU books, these are old-school Vertigo books, and I love them both. As much as
I’d like to see some of these non-JLA characters and books stand on their own
for a bit in this relaunch without crossovers and team-ups and stuff, Animal Man writer Jeff Lemire and Swamp Thing writer Scott Snyder have
done a wonderful job of weaving The Red and The Green together. I think that NOT
having a crossover would be a disappointment. I like how this is shaping up to
be a battle between the kids, Maxine vs. William, with probably the obligatory
Animal Man vs. Swamp Thing superhero misunderstanding as an undercard.
Avengers Annual #1 – Gabriele
Dell’Otto was a wonderful find for Marvel, and it pains me that he hasn’t been
used as much as he should be. I’m guessing it’s a speed thing? He’s my new Alex
Ross, which is a pretty poor comparison considering their styles are so
different. Dell’Otto doesn’t drip with realism like Ross does, but he’s got
energy. Now, you know I love Brian Michael Bendis, but I was expecting more
from this issue. I was expecting a battle royale, but I guess we got all our
fighting from the New Avengers Annual
(with just a bit here). All this annual seemed to do, though, was set up more
stuff. So the world is going to start looking at the Avengers with a bit of
mistrust? They’re going to turn into the X-Men? If anything, I expect Beast to
do exactly what Simon asked of him. He took Cyclops to task, why wouldn’t he do
the same thing with Steve or Tony?
Avengers Academy #24 – Too much hand
wringing and self-justification from Reptil to really make this issue
enjoyable. It was the brief interpersonal moments that barely saved it.
The Boys #62 – Looks like
everything is about to hit the fan. I’m enjoying the ride that Garth Ennis is
taking us on with these amoral superheroes, but I REALLY want them to get their
asses handed to them, every single one of them.
Defenders #2 – This was a
rather quick issue. The Defenders get their butts kicked, they get captured,
they escape, and they hear the “villain’s” plans. That’s a lot of stuff for 22
pages.
Thunderbolts #168 – Really, who
would have thought that Luke Cage would have been such an important fixture in
the Marvel Universe? This issue felt like filler. Luke is trying to round up
some of the Raft escapees while Songbird and Mach-V have it out with some
suits. Yeah, kind of boring, since Luke spends most of his time in his own
head. I’m hoping we’ll get more action or quasi-villainy next issue.
Uncanny X-Force #19.1 – So X-Force
isn’t actually in this issue. This is all a set-up for the Age of
Apocalypse…mini-series? I don’t think it’s an on-going. I know UXF writer Rick Remender isn’t writing
the mini, but as long as it keeps the quality that this issue brought to the
table, then I’m going to enjoy it.
Villains for Hire #2 – Like Purple
Man, I’m not buying the Misty Knight thing. Something else is going on. As good
as the writing is, though, it’s getting really tough to care at all about what’s
happening to these fourth-rate villains.
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