Comics for December 29, no FL

[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.
Parts, $90.  Labor, $260.  Lovely.  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.

January 4 (or 6), 2006:

     None.  Comics got sorted late on Thursday after I'd been told they'd be
sorted on Friday, so I didn't go in early enough to take the time to read the
First Looks.  I may read some over the weekend, but I'll just put those in
next 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.

     Drax #4 (of 4): Marvel - Eh.  Not so much an anticlimax as an
apatheosis, to mangle language.  Such an overpowering aura of "whatever, I
don't care".  I mean, there's some good lines, and it kinda goes somewhere,
and it avoids some cliches, but...the story itself doesn't seem to give a
damn, so why should I?  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     Black Panther v3 #11: Marvel - A really good Spider-Man teamup story...
but the artist put Spidey in Black Panther's costume for some reason.  Lots
of nostalgia to be had, too.  Recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     Amazing Fantasy #16: Marvel - Furman is back, writing Death's Head.
Sort of.  Not much personality shown yet.  Good Paladin backup.  Mildly
recommended so far.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     X-Factor #2: Marvel - Getting down to business with a case, good.  And
the character interactions are up to PAD's usual standard.  Art is still too
inky.  Recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     eXiles #74: Marvel - Decent ending to the New Universe leg of the World
Tour, although it felt a little too by-the-numbers at times.  Good art from
Pelletier.  Recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     She-Hulk v2 #3: Marvel - also counted on the cover as the hundredth
Shulkie issue overall.  Oversized special issue, lots of guest artists, but
all written by Slott.  Fun main story.  Then there's reprints of the first
issues of the first Savage She-Hulk book and the Byrne one.  Recommended.
$3.99/$6.50Cn 
     Thing #2: Marvel - I dunno.  When I try to break this down and look at
all the elements, it hits all the good stuff.  But the overall effect isn't
really grabbing me.  Still good, but not great.  Recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     Flare #31: Heroic Publishing - The lead story was kinda Public Service
Announcement, the second one demonstrate why Mary Sue fanfic is a bad idea,
and as for the third story, I'm not really interested in another illustrated
nativity story.  Very missable issue.  $2.99/$4.99Cn
     Fallen Angel v2 #1: IDW - Okay, not really v2, since it's an entirely
different publisher, but hey.  J.K. Woodward's painted art is decent,
although it's an odd mix of photorealistic and being off-reference.  As for
the story, it does jump ahead a bit from the end of the previous series,
providing an elegant solution to the Franklin Richards Condundrum.  What I
mean by that is, of course, a spoiler.  :)  Recommended.  $3.99
     Gold Digger v3 #70: Antarctic Press - Meanwhile, in the other plot we've
had most of a year to forget about....  I guess I'm just not in a mood for
leprechauns, and aside from some jargon exposition and a page or two of Peebo
goodness, that's what this issue is.  Mildly recommended.  $2.99/$4.05Cn
     Keif Llama V2.3: Aeon - Still no V2.1.  Unlike the long-form story of
last issue, this one is all vignettes, some only a couple of pages long.  All
pretty good, too, illuminating aspects of Keif, of her job, and of the worlds
she lives in.  Recommended.  $2.95/$4.25Cn
     Green Lantern: Sleepers Book 3: ibooks - Okay, I'm only partly through
this as I write this review (one thing about having an internet connection, I
don't read novels as much anymore, so it may be a few weeks before I finish),
but I'm loving it.  I gave up on Book 1 (outlined by Priest, but written by
Mike Baron) after a few chapters, but the difference here is amazing.  And
the fact I haven't read the previous books isn't causing me any trouble, as
Priest manages to cover the action in them quite well (possibly a little too
much, mind you).  I'm really enjoying Priest's prose, as well as his
interpretation of various events in the lives of the Green Lanterns.
Strongly recommended.  $22.95 in hardcover, but not too hard to find online
for about half that.  

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:

     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, Transformers Fallen Star TPB, Keif Llama V2.1, Penny
Arcade #1.  Secret Empire TPB may or may not have come in, there's some
confusion at the shop.

Awards:

Best Book: Green Lantern Sleepers Book 3

"Cut-Rate Gaz" Award to Drax #4 (of 4)

"Ninjaslide!" Award to Black Panther v3 #11

"Mommy Direst" Award to Amazing Fantasy #16

"Stuff And Nonsense?" Award to X-Factor #2

"GILF" Award to eXiles #74

"Busted!" Award to She-Hulk v2 #3

"Send Lawyers, Guns and Money" Award to The Thing v2 #2

"MY EYES!  IT BURNNNNNS!" Award to Flare #31

"I Think She Knows Mell" Award to Fallen Angel v2 #1

"Up **** Creek With A Paddle" Award to Gold Digger v3 #70

"Got 'Em By The Berries" Award to Keif Llama V2.3

   Dave Van Domelen, "Are you gonna do something about all these ninjas lying around? It's a health hazard!" - Bystander, Black Panther v3 #11

Comments

[z4nd4r.livejournal.com]

What is a "Mary Sue" fanfic?

[scavgraphics.livejournal.com]

"My name is Ensign Mary Sue. Today is my first day on board the Enterprise! I was so worried, at first, but then Captain Kirk made me feel so welcomed! He even proposed to me! As did Mr. Spock! And Scotty was proposing to me, but then the engines began to blow up, luckily I knew a special computer code to stop it from happening!"

[z4nd4r.livejournal.com]

Aha. Self-insertion super-character.