Comics for August 11

[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.
Man, I did not need today's stress load.  Rants, Capsules can be found on my 
             homepage, http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/Rants 

     Go check out http://www.whiterose.org/HowlingCurmudgeons/ when you're
done here. 

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.

     Alpha Flight v3 #6: Marvel - Apparently we have drifted into the Legion
of Net.Heroes Looniverse for the resolution of this plot.  I mean, it was a
fun read on those terms, but I'm sure the rampant breaking of the fourth wall
is going to drive away readers.  Not to mention, it's strongly anti-
climactic.  Mildly recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     Captain America #30: Marvel - Cute diversion with the cover-featured
villain to start with, but the rest was sort of ehhh.  A little too much
kitchen sink throwing-in, I think.  And while it's moderately amusing to see
Cap being a two-timer by accident (lack of editorial communication has him
effectively sleeping around), I can't help but think...well, that would be a
spoiler.  Let's just say I strongly suspect at least one person isn't who
they seem to be, if not more than one.  Mildly recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     Avengers/Thunderbolts #6 (of 6): Marvel - I could give away the plot of
most of this issue with a single sentenced followed by "Repeat ad nauseum."
I'm guessing the intent was to have a dramatic struggle as things teetered
back and forth precariously, etc etc etc.  But my reaction kept being, "Geez,
not again?  How stupid ARE they all?"  This really should have been four
issues, not six.  Neutral.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     Legion #37: DC - So far, so good.  Simone is on a roll here, and while a
scene or two were a bit clunky in delivery, the overall story is working
well.  Recommended.  $2.50/$3.85Cn
     Green Arrow #41: DC - Pretty good story, and I do like the way the
villain of the arc is being portrayed...thinking at least one step farther
ahead than the usual paraganger does, and taking advantage of his abilities
in not-so-direct ways.  Recommended.  $2.50/$3.85Cn
     Teen Titans #14: DC - The main Beast Boy plot doesn't do much for me,
but I rather like the Tim Drake subplot.  Recommended.  $2.50/$3.85Cn
     JSA #64: DC - Nice mining of old...well, not exactly retcons, I suppose,
not directly.  Rather the results of retcons, I guess.  A little confusing
for those who haven't kept up with the vagaries of DC/Vertigo inter-imprint
continuity, but it's portrayed as being confusing in-story to those who lived
it, so that works.  Recommended.  $2.50/$3.85Cn
     Neotopia v3 #5 (of 5): Antarctic Press - The end of the penultimate arc
sees forces massing for the Final Battle.  They do seem to mass a little too
politely, but that could also have been overconfident gloating.  :)  Espinosa
gets to do a lot of Big Hoo-Hah Splash Scenes this issue, which he's pretty
good at.  And while there's a bit more "and here's what happened off-camera"
stuff than I'd like, I understand the need to fit it in now.  I liked the bit
of comic relief near the end, and wonder if it might not be foreshadowing of
Something Important in vol4.  Strongly recommended.  $2.99/$4.05Cn

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!)

     Still waiting on Blue Monday Painted Moon #2.

Awards:

Best Book: Neotopia v3 #5 (of 5)

"Is That The Typewriter Of Expediency I Hear?" Award to Alpha Flight v3 #6

"Like Mister Met Doesn't Get Enough Bad Press Already" Award to Captain 
     America #30

"My Turn To Escalate Things!" Award to Avengers/Thunderbolts #6 (of 6)

"Brin Logan" Award to Legion #37

"Brick's House" Award to Green Arrow #41

"Higher Register" Award to Teen Titans #14

"I Can Show You Terror In A Handful Of Kirby Dots" Award to JSA #64

"That's A Whole Lotta Ship" Award to Neotopia v3 #5 (of 5)

     Dave Van Domelen, "Psst, kids.  Floating heads denote flashbacks.  Hush
up." - Centennial, Alpha Flight v3 #6