Comics for January 5

[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.
Well, the warm snap's over, sigh.  Rants, Capsules can be found on my 
             homepage, http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/Rants 

     http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/Rants/Best04.html - Best Books of 2004!

First Looks:
     Every so often, I will take my PDA and its folding keyboard down to the
comic shop on the weekend and type up reviews of the stuff I read out of the
First Looks pile.  Books I end up buying will be moved down to the Capsules
section on Wednesdays.  If I don't give it a recommendation, I'm probably not
buying it. 

     The Intimates #3: DC/Wildstorm - While it treads pretty hard on some of
the cliches of "relationship stories", it's steadily getting better overall.
I may end up getting the inevitable trade of the first 6 issues.  $2.95/
$4.50Cn (price still in 5 point typeface guaranteed to drive the guy behind
the counter nuts)
     Phoenix Endsong #1 (of 5): Marvel - There's always an element of
graverobbing in any story that brings back dead comicbook charaters, but
rarely is it so literal as in this story.  I think it's in-continuity, but I
don't have a whole lot of reference for x-continuity these days.  :)  Pak's
story is pretty good, if sometimes hard to follow for someone not up to date
on all the X-books.  Land's art is, well, typical of his work.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     New Avengers #2: Marvel - There's some controversy online about a
certain character's mask coming off in this book (no, I won't say who), but
given the circumstances Bendis set up, it's not really something the characer
could have avoided.  That said, I'm not too keen on the circumstances
themselves, or the frequent "But isn't he/she dead?" reactions Bendis's
choice of "guest stars" led to.  Oh, it's not a horrible abomination that
spits on the name "Avengers" by any means.  But neither is it something I'm
tempted to buy.  $2.25/$3.25Cn
     Captain America #2: Marvel - Methinks the lady doth protest too much.
But on both sides of the pivotal issue, which is good in one way, at least.
Mildly recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn  (Turns out I wisely dropped it from my
pull after #1)

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 #11 (of 12, as it turns out): Marvel - While the arc
title is a reference to Days of Future Past, this is clearly a What If riff,
as every change to the timeline just results in things being worse (and
silly, in some cases...I have to wonder if Lobdell knew about the
cancellation at this point and just started tossing in stuff he liked because
he knew it couldn't hurt the title's chances anymore).  Sadly, I expect this
will go out on a whimper.  Mildly recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     Fantastic Four: Foes #1 (of 6): Marvel  - Heh.  Cute easter egg Wacom
stylus appearance.  More "Isn't he dead/reformed?" stuff, which I suppose is
inevitable these days, especially if an artist is simply told to draw a crowd
scene.  OTOH, experience tells me Kirkman's more likely to deliver a story
I'll enjoy despite thise problems than, say, Bendis.  Mildly recommended for
now, $2.99/$4.25.
     Incredible Hulk #77: Marvel - Peter David is back, in what was
originally going to be a miniseries.  Now it could turn into a regular run
again if sales are good.  Lee Weeks does the art, and while I'm used to
seeing multiple inkers or colorists, this one has three assistant editors.
Heh.  Anyway, this arc is called Tempest Fugit, and at least at the moment it
seems to be another dive into Banner's life before the Gamma Bomb made the
Hulk real.  So far, so good, plus lovely monster fun.  Recommended.
$2.99/$4.25Cn
     Superman: Strength #1 (of 3): DC - Well, shop got more in, and this IS a
slow week, so I picked it up.  McCloud's story is pretty good, if
occasionally a bit too nod&wink.  Amancio's pencils over McCloud's breakdowns
are...not so good.  They remind me of the worst aspects of Kieron Dwyer's
art, with none of the good aspects, and even Terry Austin's inks can't save
them.  There's the appearance of attempted Kirby as well, but it fails.  Now,
considering both story and art, if this was a regular comic at $2-3 an issue,
it'd be good enough.  But this is a prestige format $6 an issue series, and
it deserves better art.  It also, I think, should come together a bit more
clearly thematically in the first issue.  There's bits and pieces of theme,
and some hints at why the series is subtitled "Strength", but I didn't get a
feeling of convergence yet.  Mildly recommended.  $5.95/$9.25Cn
     Gold Digger v3 #59: Antarctic Press - This is a done-in-one side story
with almost no connection (for now, anyway) to the main plotlines, something
Perry tends to do a couple times a year.  On the plus side, it has Peebos,
which I adore.  On the minus, it depends a bit too much on the reader having
a connection to one of the tertiary characters who hasn't really had that
much screen time during the time I've been reading the book (she got a focus
issue a year or two ago).  It was interesting, but not as involving as I'd
like.  Mildly recommended.  $2.99/$4.05Cn
     Flaming Carrot #1 (#33 overall): Image/Desperado - Ut!  On the one hand,
there's a lot of clues in this issue that I'd normally say suggest that this
was written years ago and has just been sitting in a drawer.  On the other
hand, this is FLAMING CARROT, and weirdly dis-timed plot elements and
untopical references don't necessarily mean it wasn't written three months
ago.  That said, this issue is a good introduction to Flaming Carrot, in that
it is a fairly typical FC story, with the usual assortment of freaks,
weirdos, buxom lasses and giant ears built from french bread.  Is good.
Recommended.  $2.95/$3.50Cn (huh, cheap in Canada)

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 12/29:

     Savage Henry Puppet Trap, Savage Henry Powerchords #2, Flare #2,
Serenity Rose #5, OHOTMU Golden Age, Invader Zim action figures. 

Awards:

Best Book: Flaming Carrot #1

"I Guess They're Boned" Award to Alpha Flight v3 #11

"Dude, Don't Drool On The Carpet" Award to Fantastic Four: Foes #1 (of 6)

"Squids Shouldn't Have Hairy Pits, Ew" Award to Hulk #77

"A Head For Crime" Award to Superman: Strength #1 (of 3)

"Okay, eBay Really Needs To Keep A Better Eye On Things" Award to 
     Gold Digger v3 #59

"Is That A Flaming Carrot On Your Head, Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?"
     Award to Flaming Carrot #1

   Dave Van Domelen, "Toy company sent it to me. Had to use it because is now in new action figure line." - Flaming Carrot, regarding the Baloney Gun