Comics for Nov 16, FL Nov 23

[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.
Will I ever see another Titan TF TPB?  Rants, Capsules can be found on my 
             homepage, http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/Rants 

First Looks:
     Every so often, I'll have the time (either while waiting for comics to
be sorted on Wednesday, or over the weekend) to pull out my PDA 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.
     If I read the First Looks on Wednesday, I won't include them in the next
week's review.  But if I don't get around to them until the weekend, I'll
include them in the next regular post.

November 16:

     Captain America v5 #12: Marvel - More retcons, no resolution to speak
of, but more hints that it'll all reset anyway.  A few decent bits, but not
enough to make me want to buy it.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     Amazing Spider-Man #526: Marvel - And Hudlin's month on the crossover
comes to a close.  I think he's trying to evoke JMS's narrative-heavy style
here, but it's just coming out clunky.  And while I think it's supposed to be
climactic, the big center of the arc, it just felt like another diversion.
$2.50/$3.50Cn
     Young Avengers #9: Marvel - A bit heavy on the angst, but I suppose
that's almost mandatory considering what happened last issue.  I liked the
mid-story bait and switch.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     She-Hulk v2 #2: Marvel - Horn's cover is pretty bad.  And speaking of
bait and switch (which is a line that won't make sense once I move this out
of First Looks and into regular Capsules), naughtily played, Slott.  Cute use
of time travel twists too.  Recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn

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.

     Robotech Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles #3 (of 5): DC/Wildstorm -
While this was an okay read, I kept feeling like it was just walking through
the numbers, making sure that certain plot points got hit and characters
introduced, but not really paying attention to whether there was any dramatic
tension.  Mildly recommended.  $3.50/$4.75Cn
     Green Arrow #56: DC - Winick kinda belabors the "Dr. Light is a bad, bad
man" point here, especially since it got belabored over in Teen Titans pretty
recently too.  Mildly recommended.  $2.50/$3.50Cn
     Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster
Hunters: Marvel - This departs from the format of the recent OHOTMU titles,
being rather more...bloggy.  Literally.  Much of it is the blog of Elsa
Bloodstone.  The style is an interesting experiment, but does make it harder
to tell what an entry IS sometimes.  There's no entries for Godzilla or the
Shogun Warriors due to trademark matters, but they *are* referred to in the
text of Red Ronin's entry, which I appreciated.  As of writing this Capsule I
haven't had time to read the whole thing, but it's very meaty.  And scaly.
Recommended.  $3.99/$5.75Cn
     Fantastic Four #532: Marvel - I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at the
Minbari cosmogeny brought into this.  :)  Can't really say much more without
giving away the plot, but I liked how it turned out, despite use of elements
I normally disdain.  Recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     The Thing #1: Marvel - Strictly speaking, this should be v2 or v3 or
something, but it's not listed as such.  Before I comment on anything else, I
should say that the page after the staple has possibly the most painful
groaner of the month.  DiVito's art is nice, but feels a little too staid for
the more whimsical tone Slott is trying to establish in some of the scenes.
And while good, the humor isn't up to Slott's usual standards...a little too
SNL celebrity spoof for my tastes.  Recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn

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 11/16:

     Transformers Way of the Warrior TPB (which shows as "backordered" on
Diamond's system, meaning they're out) Bone Sharps, Cowboys and Thunder
Lizards GN, Exalted #1.  Add Transformers Fallen Star TPB (although that may
only be a week late, rather than never shipped).

Awards:

Best Book: Marvel Monsters: From the Files...etc.

"Before I Kill You, Mister Bond..." Award to Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow
     Chronicles #3 (of 5)

"The Darkness In Light's Heart, Yes We Get It" Award to Green Arrow #56

"GAFB...Oh Wait, Never Mind" Award to Marvel Monsters

"Where's Zathras?" Award to Fantastic Four #532

"Ah, Schlicting" Award to The Thing #1

   Dave Van Domelen, "Brilliant, guys: Take a giant robot that's managed to go on several rampages throughout its short existence, and give it a brain. Smooth." - Red Ronin entry, Marvel Monsters

Comments

[lurkerwithout.livejournal.com]

Green Arrow didn't come in for me this week. Though considering how much I hate near everything associated with mega-crossover that might be a good thing...