Comics for August 2

[dvandom]

                    Dave's Unspoilt Capsules and Awards
         The Week's Picks and Pans, plus Awards of Dubious Merit

Standard Disclaimers: Please set appropriate followups.  Recommendation does
not factor in price.  Not all books will have arrived in your area this week.
Hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot.  Rants, Capsules can be found on my 
             homepage, http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/Rants 


First Looks:
     My comics shop subscribes to the First Looks program, in which a
selection of titles from DC, Marvel and Image for the next week are shipped a
week early for preview purposes.  I usually have time to read some of them
while the comics are sorted, although they don't always arrive on time.

August 9:

     None this week.


Capsules:
     Short, relatively spoiler-free reviews of books I actually bring home
(as opposed to reading in preview form in the shop or online).  If I get a
book late due to distributor foulups or whatever, I'll put it in the Missing
section.

     Manifest Eternity #3: DC/Wildstorm - Not looking good for this series.
It seems like Lobdell has decided to tell a generations-spanning tale in
vignettes, stitched together with excessive narration exceeding even his own
reputation for rampant captioning.  Nguyen's art drifts to even murkier
territory, but it's not like it really has to carry the story, what with all
the captions.  Neutral.  $2.99/$4.00Cn
     52 #13 (of 52): DC - Almost all Ralph this issue, with a bit of Black
Adam.  Ehn.  The Ralph plotline just doesn't interest me.  Neutral.
$2.50/$3.50Cn
     Outsiders #39: DC - Pacing is bad, but Mallah and the Brain steal the
show anyway, so it's not so bad overall.  And a huge hint about Grace's
origins is dropped, I think...but if I'm reading it right, it may contradict
what we already know about her, so it's probably more of a red herring.
Mildly recommended.  $2.99/$4.00Cn
     Agents of Atlas #1 (of 6): Marvel - This is not a "historical" story
about the 50s Avengers, although there's some flashbacks.  Rather, it follows
those characters into the present day (may or may not be strictly in
continuity, due to some entanglements involving a few of the characters).
I'm a little disappointed there wasn't even a vague allusion to Jimmy Woo's
time on the Godzilla Squad, though.  And lest anyone think they need to
inform me, the company that would become Marvel was called Atlas in the
1950s, and did publish comics with the characters who would be retconned as
the 1950s Avengers back then.  :)  Promising start from Parker, with good
art from Leonard Kirk.  Recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn 
     Marvel Team-Up #23: Marvel - This issue is explicitly split into two
parts, one of which continues the running fight from last month, the other of
which catches up on Freedom Ring's doings and sets him up for what I hope is
not a repeat of the twist plot of the Gravity miniseries.  There's two
artists, neither of whom I like very much.  Recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #18: Marvel - More monster action, as
Spider-Man encounters the Man-Thing.  Between this, Werewolf by Night last
issue, and the promised foe for next issue, I'm starting to think if Peter
David is running a theme here, Spidey Monster Stories or something.  Anyway,
it's a decent done-in-one story.  Nothing spectacular, amazing, etc, but
good.  Recommended.  $2.99/$3.75Cn (aha, the exchange rate changes finally
start to kick in!)
     Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #11: Marvel - Fallout from Civil Bore,
and Flash Thompson's reaction is classic.  :)  Most of the issue is either
reaction stuff (which is handled well) or setup for the remaining two parts
of the arc (which looks promising).  Recommended.  $2.99/$3.75Cn
     Invincible #34: Image - Innnnteresting.  Some of the impact of the Big
Reveals this issue is lost on me, since I've only been following the title
for about ten issues, but there's definitely some worldbuilding going on
here.  Recommended.  $2.99/$3.40Cn
     Fallen Angel #7: IDW - The "origin" story finishes off with a look at the
possible future.  PAD is plunging into the theological aspects of the title
with both feet now, definitely interesting.  Recommended.  $3.99
     PS238 #17: Dork Storm - Only one week late, yay.  A somewhat "busier"
issue than usual, with several intertwining plot threads and a couple of
mysteries (that get largely solved for the reader, at least).  Recommended.
$2.99 


Gone Missing:
     Stuff that came out some places this week and that I wanted to buy, but
couldn't find for whatever reason, so people don't have to email me asking
"Why didn't you review X?"  (If it's neither here nor in the section above,
though, feel free to ask, I might have forgotten about it!)

     Current list as of 8/2:

     Still missing Keif Llama V2.1, Stinz Tribals (which Diamond's system
says "will come in" June 14, and nothing else), Gold Digger Perfect Memory
v5, Anthem #3.  Add Gold Digger Tangent #2, Gold Digger Throne of Shadows #3,
Devil's Panties #3.  Five Fists of Science finally came in, but it's so late
I'm going to take my time reading it and cover it in next week's capsules.
Oh, and I decided not to get Liberty Girl, in case anyone cared.


Awards:

Best Book: PS238 #17

"Manifest Ender" Award to Manifest Eternity #3

"Strawman Argument" Award to 52 #13 (of 52)

"Domesticity Isn't Pretty" Award to Outsiders #39

"Love, Or Something Like It" Award to Agents of Atlas #1 (of 6)

"There's An 'In Marvel Universe' Sitcom Premise In There Somewhere" Award
     to Marvel Team-Up #23

"Send In Gatoraider!" Award to Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #18

"Nobody Makes Me Bleed My Own Blood!" Award to Friendly Neighborhood Spider-
     Man #11

"Timeline, Shmimeline" Award to Invincible #34

"Reaper The Whirlwind" Award to Fallen Angel #7

"Seeking Satori" Award to PS238 #17

   Dave Van Domelen, "That would be one kick-ass hot dog stand." - Gorilla Man, Agents of Atlas #1

   P.S. Ads in several Marvel books proclaim that Pogs are back. AIE!

Comments

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

Pogs can't be back. They were never here to begin with. Do not want.

[1boringperson.livejournal.com]

I saw a similar sign at the toy store in the mall some days ago. And had a similar reaction to Dave's.

[funct.livejournal.com]

Man, still no Detective Comics?

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

I found last month's issue, read it, wasn't really impressed enough to add it to my pull.

[funct.livejournal.com]

That's too bad. I found it to be the best I've read in years, and the second issue was even better.

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

It was okay, but I didn't like it as much as other Dini work. I suppose my having not read any Batbooks for years kept it from looking better by contrast.