Comics for Dec 20, 2006

[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.
Reminder, Thursday comics next two weeks.  Rants, Capsules can be found on my 
             homepage, http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/Rants 

First Look Comments:

     Books I read over the weekend as First Looks, but didn't buy, so can't
really say much in detail about.  DC has stopped having First Looks, so it's
just Marvel and Image...and there's word that Diamond doesn't want to bother
with the program at all anymore.

     Illuminati #1: Marvel - A little retconned in coda to the Kree-Skrull
War.  Tries to justify recent changes to characters by positing that they
were doing this sort of crap all along.  $2.99/$3.75Cn
     Union Jack #4 (of 4): Marvel - A decent resolution, if a bit dragged
out, like they had enough for three issues but didn't quite manage to stretch
it to four without the marks showing.  $2.99/$3.75Cn

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.

     Books of Note (Strongly Recommended or otherwise worthy): Shadowpact #8,
Secret Six #6 (of 6)

     Herc & Thor Pocket Manga: Antartic Press - I ordered this because Rod
Espinosa's name was attached...sadly, he's not doing the art, just the plot.
Still, despite some occasionally confusing layouts by artist Yayoi Neko and a
few odd grammatical choices by scripter Dan Johnson, it was a fun story.  I
get the feeling there's a missing section in the middle, though, concerning a
guy named Hirgoth who gets mentioned in the resolution at the end, but didn't
appear before that (the transition from the pizza place to Argont's office
seemed a bit abrupt too, so I'm thinking maybe a scene got left out there?).
Recommended.  $14.95
     Ninja High School #145: Antarctic Press - A Tetsuo-focused issue, which
gets inside his head without actually letting him change or grow (at least,
not yet).  Annoying at times, but it's trying to be, and it's good at evoking
the desired response.  Recommended.  $2.99/$4.05Cn
     Conan #35: Dark Horse - A tale of Conan as king, and more hints about
the nature of Wazir from the framing sequence (who I get the feeling may
eventually show up in one of the tales of Conan as more than an observer).
Good, solid story adapted by Truman, with good art by Paul Lee and Dave
Stewart.  Recommended.  $2.99.
     Transformers Escalation #2 (TF #12): IDW - I got cover B, I liked the
design better.  Heh, the UPC/price bit is a sticker, looks like someone
goofed on layout for the cover (or it was planned for a retailer exclusive
initially).   Cute easter egg on the last page of story.  The cliffhanger of
#1 resolves about how I think most people expected it would, and we get a bit
more worldbuilding regarding Decepticon strategy.  Recommended.  $3.99
     Transformers Spotlight #4 (Sixshot): IDW - Again, cover B.  Art by
Ruffalo, but it's not as bad as his usual stuff.  Of the Spotlight issues,
this one seems the least tied-into an overall plot...whether the threat of
this issue is meant to dovetail into the uberplot later, or if Furman just
wanted to take a break and do a character sketch, it's too early to say.
Recommended.  $3.99
     Ms. Marvel #10: Marvel - Fight, talk, fight, talk, fight, angst.
Reasonably well-done fight-oriented issue, but it didn't really have the
impact I think writer Reed was shooting for.  Mildly recommended.
$2.99/$3.75Cn 
     Thunderbolts #109: Marvel - The end of the current Nicieza run, a coda
to the Wellspring plotline.  It generally smooths the transition to Ellis's
run, but unfortunately that just makes it clearer that I'm not going to want
to read that run (this is the last issue on my pull).  At least they don't
try to put Radioactive Man in a hoodie this issue.  Mildly recommended.
$2.99/$3.75Cn
     She-Hulk v2 #14: Marvel - Awesome Andy spotlight issue, covering not
only a summary of his life since joining the cast, but also his origins and
how he came to be emancipated from the Mad Thinker.  I'd call it a
bittersweet tale, but it doesn't have quite the level of cliched crap that
tends to draw the application of the term "bittersweet" these days.  :)
Recommended.  $2.99/$3.75Cn
     Marvel Adventures Avengers #8: Marvel - After all the buildup this got,
it felt like Bedard phoned in this issue.  The dialogue just sort of thuds
limply on the table, and the twist felt like Bedard was writing down to widde
kiddums.  Yes, it's an all-ages book, but writing down to the audience tends
to result in bad writing, period.  The art is mediocre, and the coloring
pretty bad.  Pfeh.  At least Parker's coming back next issue.  Neutral.
$2.99/$3.75Cn 
     Cable & Deadpool #35: Marvel - A nice change of pace, after all the
"Cable can do anything he puts his mind to" plots of late, we get to see how
he doesn't always know best.  There does seem to be a slight continuity oops
at the end, though (plot-device-related: shouldn't Cable's powers not work
for a while after a bodyslide?).  Also has a "preview" of Wonder Man #1,
suggesting there was a dropped ball somewhere in scheduling.  Recommended.
$2.99/$3.75Cn
     Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #15: Marvel - Ah, lots of old home week
stuff, plus a guest appearance by Stephen Colbert (sorta...he denies being
Colbert, and his right ear doesn't have a missing bit).  Betty Brant easily
steals the show, though.  Scott Eaton's art gets a little wooden in places,
but the layouts are good.  Recommended.  $2.99/$3.75Cn
     52 #33 (of 52): DC - It's not a good sign that fifteen minutes after
reading this, I had to go back and glance through it before writing this
capsule.  In other words, it really didn't leave much of an impression.
Mildly recommended.  $2.50/$3.50Cn
     Aquaman Sword of Atlantis #47: DC - Second half of the flashback story,
which seems in part intended to set up a "long term" plot that'll probably be
resolved pretty soon.  It was okay, but that's about it.  Mildly
recommended.  $2.99/$4.00Cn
     Teen Titans #42: DC - The origins of Kid Devil, with guest art by
Snejbjerg that looks like a lot of it was drawn at half the usual size and
blown up...blurry and indistinct.  Still, good to see one of the not-so-sucky
parts of Underworld Unleashed picked up on.  Recommended.  $2.99/$4.00Cn
     Shadowpact #8: DC - Man, it's the week for origins spotlights, innit?
This one is for Ragman, his origin getting not only explained but also
expanded, along with his mission and motivations.  And I love it.  The Shawn
McManus art doesn't work so well on the framing stuff, but it's very good for
the flashbacks and so forth.  Strongly recommended.  $2.99/$4.00Cn
     Secret Six #6 (of 6): DC - A strong ending to a strong series.  And it
has monkeys!  Strongly recommended.  $2.99/$4.00Cn


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 12/20:

     Still missing Gold Digger Tangent #2, Fred Perry's S-Guild #1,
Dr. Debunko: the Short Stories, Transformers Timelines Featuring Beast Wars
#1, Fallen Angel #11.  Add Fallen Angel #8, which I had forgotten I never got
and my store had never ordered, and Devil's Panties #7 (this one's definitely
Diamond's fault, I had my store doublecheck my DP orders a few weeks ago).



Awards:

"Wait, Herc Is The RESPONSIBLE One?  Clearly, I Read Too Much Marvel" Award
     to Herc & Thor Pocket Manga

"King Rat" Award to Ninja High School #145

"Sometimes, It's Not So Good To Be The King" Award to Conan #35

"SLEIGHT of Hand, Guys" Award to Transformers Escalation #2 (of 6)

"Peace Or Else" Award to Transformers Spotlight #4 (Sixshot)

"Serial Self-Loathing" Award to Ms. Marvel #10

"Nah, Donnie, It Ain't Ugly...Just Boring" Award to Thunderbolts #109

"Letters In The Sand (Font)" Award to She-Hulk v2 #14

"Did Ironclad Meet Kiki The Ferret?" Award to Marvel Adventures Avengers #8

"Patchwork Guilt" Award to Cable & Deadpool #35

"Hey, Tony, See?  There's Worse Signings!" Award to Friendly Neighborhood
     Spider-Man #15

"She Still Won't Date You, Dick" Award to 52 #33 (of 52)

"Reef-er Madness" Award to Aquaman Sword of Atlantis #47

"Ho HO, Little Brother!" Award to Teen Titans #42

"How Do I Get Outta This Crazy Outfit?" Award to Shadowpact #8

"Keep It Under Your Hat" Award to Secret Six #6 (of 6)

   Dave Van Domelen, "Cheshire, your womb is the most godawful dangerous weapon I've ever faced." - Catman, Secret Six #6 (of 6)

Comments

[scavgraphics.livejournal.com]

Cable's old powers might not have worked following a body slide. His new tech based powers probably do...and Carey hasn't gotten rid of them yet. (surpringly, Carey hasn't gotten rid of Cable or Rogue's new power sets...wild...a Marvel A lister not screwing over the Blisters.