Reviews for Batman, Inc. #2, Secret Avengers #8 and more

Hello everyone.  My apologies for not posting reviews for last week, but last minute Christmas shopping will do that to ya.  Well, this week is a loaded week, so lets strap in.

Batman, Inc. #2: Grant Morrison seems to be having more fun then allowable in "Batman, Inc."  It's classic Bruce Wayne/Batman, but with a new twist.  Instead of focusing on a long drawn out and confusing plot, Morrison is going straight for short stories.  I'm sure these will all fall together into one massive story, but for now, I'm kind of enjoying these small stories.  After the long convoluted stories of "Batman & Robin," it's a piece of fresh air.  I'm sure Lord Dead Man will be back, as he seems to have a hard time of dying.

Yanick Paquette's pencils look better this month.  His bold lines really suit the action, and make Catwoman look really good.  Bruce looks a tad to beefy in the neck (borderline steroids).  Also nice to see Paquette draw a girl without massive double D's.  Every panel feels alive though, and very fluid.  The massive action scene looks bright and energetic, and I can't wait to see Batman battle this gorilla thing.

Batman, Inc. #2 gets 4/5

Namor: The First Mutant #5: After the first couple of issues underwhelmed and seemed like a crappy series, the last three issues have been really good.  This issues seems to break down Namor into four sides, doing a good job with each.

The story seems to keep Namor as a supporting character, which works in this story quite well.  Seeing him through the eyes of non-super powered people is a nice touch.  Namor gets plenty of character development, showing that the guy can actually be interesting besides when he is being a pompous ass.  Alani Ryan seems to be a mutant to pay attention to in the upcoming months.  Wouldn't doubt if she had a role in the "Namor Goes to Hell" arc.

Stuart Moore seems to be finally making Namor sympathetic.  Ok, somewhat.  He is a character that doesn't get that, but I wouldn't be surprised if some love interest finally breaks that mold.  Ariel Olivietti's pencils look good as usual.  Sadly, Brian Ching's pencils look atrocious.  They really take the reader out of the comics.

Namor: The First Mutant #5 gets 3.5/5

Punisher: In the Blood #2:  I'm going to miss Rick Remender when he stops writing the Punisher.  The guy seems to have such a tight grasp on what makes the character such an interesting character.

#2 seems to focus more on the Jigsaw brothers, and this gives the character some much needed character development.  They both seem more credible as arch enemies of Frank.  They are more cunning and thought out, something that has sometimes been lacking in the past.  I'm perplexed as to why Henry actually went with his father, but I'm interested to see where it takes us.

The only fault is the pencils by Roland Boschi.  I loved his pencils in #1, but for some reason this month, they seemed very rushed.  There isn't as much detail as their should be, and there are way to many odd head shapes.  It looks confusing and it's pleasant to look at.

The ending leaves a legitimate twist ending and looks to affect Frank for years to come.

Punisher: In the Blood #2 gets 4/5

Secret Avengers #8:  The revamp of the Avengers franchise was worth it alone for this book. Ed Brubaker has been telling a compelling story steeped in black ops and history that is a joy to read.

We slowly are learning more about Shang-Chi and his father.  More is set up for future issues, while minimal is affecting the arc.  I kinda wish we could have learned more about Shang-Chi's father and his tie in to the secret organization, but gotta take what you get.

Mike Deodato draws some amazing art this month.  It seems more fluid than usual for some reason, which is a great thing.  Sometimes his overly muscular characters can seem stagnant and stale. 

Secret Avengers #8 gets 4.5/5

Dan Slott and fan reaction

In a recent incident on a CBR board, a certain fan posted on a Spider-Man thread that Dan Slott (the current writer for "Amazing Spider-Man") is "only writing for the paycheck."  Dan Slott took this quite personally and responded like this:

As a guy who turned down a side job this year for a paycheck that would’ve been over a third of his yearly income– BECAUSE it would’ve meant cutting back on his not-so-lucrative comic book writing career– and get in the way of working on his Spider-Man dream job…
…and the guy who slept less than 12 hours over the course of 4 days this week working on a script while he was sick… a guy who finally had to be ORDERED off it by his editor to go see a doctor… and is still in a good deal of pain today…
…this is the first time I think I’ve ever said this to somebody over a comic book message board:
Go fuck yourself.
Seriously.
Go. Fuck. Yourself.

Dan Slott, I love you.  It's the perfect slap in the face that I think some of the comic fandom needed.  Seriously, where does this guy get off saying that?  Does the asshole think he is that entitled and that much of a genius about comics to be able to say that?  No one knows that much besides someone like Stan Lee. 

Comic fans in general seem to be a very entitled bunch.  Something is slightly changed, they go nuts over the internet and start a mob looking for the writers head.  Calm. The. Fuck. Down.  Dan Slott is a great writer and has been proving that he loves the character with every inch of his comic writer being.  Anyone who follows the guy on Twitter knows how committed he is to his writing. 

I hate this part of the medium.  It actually makes me not like writing about the industry at some points.  I wrote a review of Boston Comic Con and got lots of hate emails for "not reporting factually."  How the fuck do you know that?  Look at the facts then comment.  Just because people can post anonymously doesn't mean you can just spout hate and things that are just flat out false.

Hopefully this will help the rest of the bitchy comic community collectively calm down and think clearly before posting comments.  HAHAHAHAHA......that made me laugh.  That will never happen

Reviews of Superboy #2, Captain America #612 and more

Hello readers.  Kind of a light week.  Also had some trouble finding "Widowmaker #1," so that will be in next weeks reviews.  This upcoming week is looking to be a big week, so look forward to a big list of reviews next week.  Ok, let's get started.

Captain America #612:  The concept of putting Bucky on trial for his actions as the Winter Soldier is a natural direction that Brubaker has been keeping in his back pocket for some time.  Sadly, not much of an actual trial takes place in this issue.

Most of the issue focuses on the media and how those closest to Bucky are handling the situation.  Some of the dialogue of Bucky in the prison sounds a tad weird.  It's very reminiscent of Matt Murdock in prison.  Brubaker continues to write Steve Rogers like no one else.  Butch Guice draws a beautiful issue.  He makes even all talking head panels look interesting and fun. 

This issue seems like an issue of "Invincible Iron Man."  A lot of pieces are moving around, and when they fall into place, we have a great arc.  But unless this is a 7 part arc, the trial really needs to happen.  Judging from the cover art of #613, it looks like that will finally happen.  I have all hope that Ed Brubaker will provide a great arc that gives us a new look at the character of Bucky, I just wish it would move along a little bit.

Captain America #612 gets a 3.5/5

Daredevil #512: With this being the final issue of "Daredevil" as we know it, you'd think Andy Diggle would at least give a slight retrospective of the character and make his final moments worthwhile.  Sadly, he doesn't AT ALL, and Matt Murdock is gone with the wind.

The issue mostly focus' on the fact Daredvil/Matt is gone the central people in his life.  Foggy shows he has lost just as much gusto as Matt, as he seems like a bumbling side kick instead of the richly deep supporting character he use to be.  Iron Fist and Luke Cage make an appearance, but their dialogue makes them interchangeable with any street character.  The ending doesn't leave any real resolution, and it really just sets up "Daredevil: Reborn" instead of ending the series. 

The one bright side of this issue is Marc Checchetto.  His pencils have greatly improved from his days on "Squadron Supreme" and "Amazing Spider-Man."  His work doesn't make me miss Robert De La Torre one bit.  Speaking of him, what happened?  He was suppose to be the main artist and no explanation was given as to why he stopped penciling.  Maybe I missed it, but I don't remember anything about him not being the artist anymore

Daredevil #512 gets a 2/5

The Flash #7: Geoff Johns has been the most consistent writer at DC.  That fact lets me forgive an issue like "The Flash" #7.  It's a fun issue, but nothing to move along the status quo of the Flash universe.

The issue focuses on Captain Boomerang and his past.  It's somewhat interesting, but a lot of it is very cliche.  I would have liked more interaction between Boomerang and the Reverse Flash (who Boomerang breaks out in this issue). I'm reading an issue of "The Flash" though, so I would have liked to see more Flash.  I'm glad that this issue sets a new thread in motion, but it seems to blatant a lead up to "Flashpoint."  Maybe we could have had a fun Flash backup?

Scott Kollins takes over on art this week, and he does a good job.  Some flashback panels have some weird facial expressions, but nothing major.  He doesn't try to be Francis Manapul, which can be the case when there is a fill in artist.

The Flash #7 gets a 3.5/5

Superboy #2:  With the main "Superman" book not doing that well, the world needs a good book about a person with a big ol' S on their chest.  "Superboy" is that book.

The book starts with a weird team up between Ivy and Superboy.  Anyone who has read one team up knows that it was a set up, but I look at it as a learning experience for Superboy.  His friend Simon thinks up a humorous way to defeat her, and much of the rest of the issue is devoted to sowing seeds (no pun intended) for story lines.  Speaking of this, the little hints at plots are amazing.  It makes the upcoming issues look that much better.

Pier Gallo draws Ivy a tad to sexy.  Ok, that sounds weird, but once you see her wedgie, you'll get what I mean.  I'm all for a comic to look great, but that's just not needed.  Otherwise, Gallo does a stand up job of making the book look bright and fun.

Superboy #2 gets a 4.5/5

The Walking Dead, Season 1

And just like that, season 1 of "The Walking Dead" is over.  It seemed like it just began.  Oh wait....

The season finale was a great way to end the season, except that it didn't leave that big of twist for next season.  It just...ended.  No big "OH MY GOD" moment.  There didn't to necessarily need to be one, but that's how TV shows work.  Maybe it's good that the producers decided to not do this in the end.  I must say, the producers are really going away from the comics, but doing a hell of a job with theses stories.  The CDC echoes some of the comic book arcs, but not to a degree where comic book fans can expect everything that is going on.  Which is one of the biggest advantages of the show.  It left moments like the touching moment between Andrea and Dale actually up in the air.  Near the beginning of the show, it seemed like it would take small detours, but follow that plot point for point.  Now, I have no clue as to what is going to happen next season.  I can speculate, but I don't actually know.  We can guess that they group might run into the Governor or the prison, but we don't 100% know.  Maybe Shane will be around for a lot longer than we thought.  And Lori being pregnant hasn't even been discussed or hinted at (at least I don't think so.  Might need to do some re-watching just in case).

I was kind of hoping that big holy crap moment was going to be Shane dying at the end of the episode.  But I like the way the writers are treating him, so I'm not going to complain that much.  Speaking of Shane, I loved the beginning of the episode and how they explained the bed being outside the door.  It's a small thing, but adds to the mythos and is very enjoyable.  I hope the writers/producers continue with this next season.  Seeing everyone act as the outbreak hit would be interesting.  I don't want to see the survivors before the outbreak.  This isn't "LOST." But expanding on little things said in the comics is a great idea.  Maybe we could see how everyone got together.  There will be lots more room to show things when you don't have to cram everything into six episodes.

Overall, I call the season a massive success.  It took some courage to not only adapt a comic book into a TV show, but for it to be so violent and get the point across that it isn't about zombies.  The actors stepped up and the writers changed the stories just enough to keep everyone interested.  Comic book devotees and non.  Thankfully, the second season will be a full 13 episodes.  Sadly, we have to wait around 10 months for that second season to begin.  Time to have a few marathon sessions in that time.

Reivews for ASM #649, Marineman #1, and others

This week has a lot less than usual.  Not that many comics were released, and I got a few in the mail.  So here we go folks!

Amazing Spider-Man #649:  The second issue of the "Big Time" direction.  Dan Slott is really stepping up his game for writing Spider-Man.  During "Brand New Day," Slott wasn't the most efficient writer when it came to humor.  He was either amazing, or just flat.  In the last two issues though, Slott has shown that he can really write great humor without it seeming forced or having it fall flat.  A lot of people are saying that Peter's job seems to good to be true.  I'm one to give things a try, and I'm enjoying this so far.  It's comic books, so why do people question absurd stuff like this?  People don't seem to mind that Bruce Wayne came out and said he supplies Batman.

The only thing that kept this issue from getting a perfect review was Humberto Ramos.  I'm not that big a fan of his pencils, but they have fit the story and he has made the Hobgoblin look really menacing.  There are some weird un-detailed panels that just seem lazy considering how much detailed some of the panels are.  But He still does a great job.

Amazing Spider-Man #649 gets a 4.5/5

Brightest Day #15: #14 was one of the best issues of the meta event, focusing on one story line and set of characters.  Geoff Johns and Paul Tomasi decide to do this again with #15.  Sadly, the result isn't that great.  The story is all a dream and doesn't affect any story and barely moves along the Martian Manhunter story.  It's just overall bad.  The pencils by Patrick Gleason and Scott Clark look good and fit the story.  Especially the bloody ending.  It's the only redeeming quality about the issue.

I'm getting to the point with "Brightest Day" where I can't decide if I want to continue with the series.  For every two issues like this one, there is one issue like #0-2 and #14.

Brightest Day #15 gets a 2.5/5

Heroes for Hire #1: After years in the cosmos, Dann Abnett and Andy Lanning have decided to come down to the street level.  Guess what, the guys can do no wrong.

The concept is quite simple.  Misty Knight contacts a certain set of characters to do good things, but they get paid in the end.  The group looks to include Moon Knight, Iron Fist, the Punisher, Misty Knight, the Falcon, the Black Widow, Elektra, and Ghost Rider.  I'm a little perplexed to how Ghost Rider is going to be involved.  The guy seems to be on his own.  But then again so does Moon Knight and look at him on the Secret Avengers. 

The ending is actually surprising.  The villain came out of left field, but has some real plans.  This villain could last for a while if given the right treatment.  Oh yeah, it's DnA, so he/she will

Brad Walker on pencils draws a beautiful comic.  Every thing is very detailed, and the action is kinetic.  Not one panel seems stale or static.  Even the most brilliant penciler can have this trouble.


Heroes for Hire gets a 5/5

Invincible Iron Man #32:  While Matt Fraction's book has been slight dip, that slight dip was still better than most books on the stands.  But sad for everyone else, "Invincible Iron Man" #32 bring the book back to it's brilliance level.

Finally, Detroit Steel and Iron Man fight.  Tony's quips are hilarious and it's awesome to see him, War Machine, and Rescue act as their own little Avengers franchise.  Although we haven't seen Steel much in the form of what he can do, it seemed like he would be able to stand his own again Iron Man better than he did.  He needed hundreds, maybe thousands of planes to beat him.  You would think the Hammer's would have more faith in their machine.

The Pepper Potts back up is beautifully drawn.  The story also looks to have some actual affects on the story, unlike some backups.  It looks to keep the soap opera relationship between Pep and Tony going, which I'm not sure I'm completely happy about.

Larrocca brings his A game this month.  He improves all around, making even the talking head panels look great.  As usual, the machine battles look great and the action is drawn without a flaw.

Invincible Iron Man #32 gets a 5/5.

Marineman #1:  I'm not one to indulge in creator owned comics besides the ones for Icon or "The Walking Dead."  But for some reason, I decided to give Ian Churchill's creator owned comic a chance.  And surprisingly, I loved every second of it. 

It isn't specifically stated if Marineman is an actual superhero or just a TV show host.  It's a nice change of pace and doesn't focus on an origin story of his powers either.  While the dialogue does get a little to dry, it never gets boring and is incredibly interesting.

Churchill's pencils look great, as do his colors.  They are greatly improved from when he was penciling "Hulk."  It's a bright, vibrant, and overall great comic.  This looks to be a great sleeper comic and one of my favorites of the year.

Marineman #1 gets a 5/5.

Ultimate Spider-Man #150:  We all know that Brian Michael Bendis writes the hell out of Spider-Man.  Especially Ultimate Spider-Man.  He never seems to run out of ideas for a high school Peter Parker.  This issue looks to change the status-quo while still paying tribute to the past 10 years.  The three stories look and read great.  My favorite was the story with Thor.  This had to do with the way Spider-Man handles himself and Skottie Young's pencils.  The silent Captain America story was better than I thought and got better with a second reading. 

The book looks to reignite the Tony=father Peter=son relationship again in comics.  I loved this when JMS did this in "Amazing Spider-Man" and it would be great to see it again.  As great as it's going to be seeing Spidey get lessons from the Big Three, I hope they bring in other heroes to help him learn. Any chance we could see a meeting between the Spider-Man in "Ultimate Avengers"?

It was also nice to see a reprint of the "Ultimate Spider-Man Special" #1.  It's a nice special from back in the day that is a blast to read.

Ultimate Spider-Man #150 gets a 5/5.

Shadowland #5:  I have not been a fan of "Shadowland."  It has destroyed the great character that is Daredevil while shaking up Hell's Kitchen.  I'm all for change, minded the execution is good.  And this execution has been terrible.

Surprise, Daredevil has a battle with himself and disappears. Gasp (notice no exclamation point).  I'm still confused as why Ghost Rider needed to be added beyond that he will be in "Heroes for Hire."  Why couldn't Elektra or someone from his past be the person to finally give a run for his money.  And what the hell happened to Ghost Rider after all of this. 

Billy Tan has been mediocre at best during this series.  He finally shows up this month, but still has some problems.  He can't draw the Kingpin's head for shit.

The only good thing to come out of all of this is the Black Panther will finally have his own ongoing again.  The character is a great character and needs more press.

Daredevil

So "Shadowland" wrapped up this week, and as you might have guessed, it wasn't that great.  I gave it a 2.5/5, and that was only because Billy Tan finally stepped it up for this issue.  I'm a fan of Andy Diggle, but what the hell happened here buddy?  The "Daredevil" ongoing was great under you.  But then you decided to destroy the series.  But before I get on with the bad, there is some good coming out of this crap of an event.

Since Kevin Smith brought back the brilliance of Daredevil, Matt Murdock has always been the hero that is pushed to the edge, then comes back from it.  Brian Michael Bendis did this a lot during his run, but I was fine with it.  Ed Brubaker did the same, but the stories were good, so who gives a shit.  With "Shadowland" ending, it looks like Murdock is finally changing his ways.

Now, I'm a person who will love a story even though it is a slight regurgitation of an older story.  If it has some new elements that the old didn't, I'm all for it.  I was fine for years with this status quo for The Man Without Fear.  While reading "Shadowland," it was clear this was something completely new.  And I loved it for that.  But the execution was atrocious.  Matt Murdock turned into a villain, and for everything he did, I want the Punisher to kill him.  And he deserves it.  But I digress.

This event has shaken up Hell's Kitchen and looks to bring Black Panther as well.  T'Challa doesn't get the attention he deserves.  Matt Murdock will become a new person because of this.  Hopefully "Daredevil: Reborn" won't suck as much as "Shadowland" did.

What hasn't been discussed much is how his friendship to the super hero community will be after this.  His best friend, Spider-Man, will no doubt forgive him after a while, but he won't trust Murdock for a good long while.  Please Dan Slott, have this be featured in an issue.  It would be good for a stand alone issue to go back over their disagreements once Daredevil eventually comes back.

I expect some sort of fallout to come up in "Heroes for Hire" at some point.  Be it with Matt Murdock in the issue or not.  Iron Fist, Moon Knight, the Punisher, and Luke Cage won't take what Matt did lying down.   

I like the idea of Matt going to another city to be Daredevil.  With Captain Britain no longer having his own ongoing, maybe Matt can go to London.  I would just like him to go to any major city in Europe.  It would be nice to see some of the other countries in the Marvel U.  Hell, how about another city besides New York or San Francisco.  It would also give them a chance to make villains from other countries. 

New column up for 12/2

New column is up for 12/2.  I discuss how more comic books should be sold in January and give the latest movie news and highlights for the week

http://www.thesuffolkvoice.net/opinion/where-are-my-comic-books-1.1819385

Full review of a few comics (11/30/10)

From now on, I'll give my short reviews on twitter, but I will also give full reviews of everything I read. Like on twitter, some will be late as I have subscriptions through the mail. Here are the first of the full reviews:

Avengers #7: Wow, Marvel wasn't kidding when they said ever arc of this series was going to matter. Nothing like the Hood getting his hands on two Infinity Gems. I would have liked to know how he got out of jail and one billion dollars, but I'll let it slide for now. Bendis cuts down on his usual dialogue of pop culture things, but Thor's dialogue seems a little to Norse for it's own good. Fraction is doing fine without it in "Thor." The Red Hulk doesn't really join the Avengers in this issue though. He just so happens to be thrown into Avengers tower. I can see Spidey making a joke about how everything seems to fall in their lap eventually.

John Romita JR. has been doing a stand up job on "Avengers," while a different person on colors and inks might be needed. His pencils are great as usual, but need to accented like they were back during his run on "Amazing Spider-Man" with JMS. They popped off the page and were beautiful. I wish Klaus Janson and Dean White would finish an issue as well.

Avengers #7 gets a 4/5

Deadpool #29: Yeah, there are a lot of Deadpool books, but that doesn't mean you should read one. The main book, "Deadpool," is easily the best and funniest of the bunch. While "Deadpool" was a tad sub par while in Las Vegas, Daniel Way seems to be back on track with the recent arc. Way is getting a run for his money as best writer for Deadpool with Rick Remender over on "Uncanny X-Force," but issues like this show he is still the king of Deadpool. It was nice to see Deadpool's past come back in the form of Doctor Bong. While having Deadpool fight vampires next seems a little unoriginal considering the "Curse of the Mutants" mini-event is about to finish, I'll give it a shot. The Merc with a Mouth will no doubt make numerous "Twilight" jokes.

Carlos Barberi does his usual this month. Nothing spectacular, but nothing wrong either. The only complaint I have, and this is more of a style choice, is how Barberi draws women. He has his moments where they look great, but then they look suddenly misshapen. He has gotten a lot better at being consistent for male figures though

Deadpool #29 gets a 5/5.

Fantastic Four #585: Jonathan Hickman is writing his heart out with his run on "Fantastic Four." I'm sad that it's over half way over. With #585, we continue with the saga that will kill off one of the family members. While at the present time, it looks like Ben or Reed will be getting killed, it is really up in the air. Namor makes a bold move that I hope will reverberate into "Uncanny X-Men" and "Namor: The First Mutant." The quick emotional scene between Johnny and Ben was perfectly written and I see that conversation to come up again or be an intricate plot latter on in the arc or the book itself. Did need a bit of knowledge of back history with the Fantastic Four that I did not have. Had to wikipedia what Reed was talking about, but not that big of a deal. Would have appreciated an editors note so I could have found the info faster, but I'm not going to go nuts about that.

Steve Epting is one of those artists who can draw whatever you tell him too. His pencils aren't as good as they were when he was on "Captain America," but they are still damn good. His style fits the mood of the book, although a different penciler with brighter atmosphere should take over after "Three." Or he could stay around with the family while they grieve.

Fantastic Four #585 gets a 4/5

No Oridnary Family

With the recent news that Marvel will be producing three new TV shows based on Marvel characters, some are forgetting there is already a great show on TV about super heroes...."No Ordinary Family."

If you ever wondered what a real life Fantastic Four would be like, the show perfectly shows how it would work. It seems like the producers looked at the Fantastic family and tried to ground them even more. While the how they got their powers was a tad out there, everything else has worked perfectly. It's fun to see the family not only use their powers for good, but in unique ways that isn't just busting muggings. While the mother, Stephanie Powell (Julie Benz), seems like a Flash copy, she is using her brains to help the family. Jim (Michael Chiklis) is acting like the Thing and doing traditional superhero work. The son JJ (Jimmy Bennett) is using his superior brain to tutor kids who are having trouble in math. While the daughter Daphne (Kay Panabaker) has used her powers to catch a home invader, she is mostly using her powers for personal gain. While clearly not right, it's good to see both sides of using your powers for personal gain while everyone else is using their to help others.

The big conspiracy that is taking place hasn't been laid out yet, so it's mostly about the family. Hopefully the show will get a real chance unlike "Heroes," which crapped out after one season.

Thankfully the producers have looked to comic book writers for help when making the show. Marc Guggenheim ("Amazing Spider-Man"," Wolverine") has been a supervisor and has written an episode.

Like any good piece of media that involves people going through life with powers, there have been some social commentary. The most blatant of this is JJ's problem with his teacher who thinks he is cheating. As someone who is learning to become a teacher, it's interesting to see the commentary on teachers not caring for the students as they should or listening to them. I commend the actor who has been the annoying teacher, as he has really made it easy to hate him, which is his job on the show.

Final note, watch the show. It's a great show that comic book fans and non comic book fans can love

Keeping up with digital comics

So I am the person who has whole heartily embraced digital comics. I buy them quite often on the Marvel and ComiXology app and occasionally on the DC app. It's been good to discover and catch up on comics like "The Walking Dead" and "Captain Britain and MI13."

But unlike Marvel and ComiXology, DC can't seem to keep their store updated. While they do release new comics every Wednesday, their free section is atrocious. Marvel releases a lot of free comics and it's a great way to give series a chance if you are on the border. DC just gives 10 page previews and one page recaps for characters. The app also crashes 9 times out of 10 when opening it on my iPhone 3G. I have yet to talk to a person who has the app on their iPhone 4 to test out how good the app works. I know ComiXology crashes just as often, but at least they have a lot of good stuff. It may be that I have a slightly older phone, but come on. It gets to the point sometimes where I just want to delete the app. I have also not used the apps on the iPad

Different Types of Comic Book Readers

We are having some technical difficulties with the opinions section of The Suffolk Voice, so I won't keep my loyal readers waiting. Here is this weeks column:


After a few weeks of straight reporting and being opinionated, it’s time for some levity. We all ready comic books differently. Some like to spoil the ending for the ending, some like to keep everything a suspense until the reach the end. And some are jerks and scan pages and post them on the internet. Here are the categories:

The Purist

This person never EVER jumps up a page. No matter how tantalizing the scenario gets, they can never jump ahead one panel to see what happens. This person will also buy issues and not read them if continuity will be messed up by them reading that issue. Fun to dangle the ending in front of them. Easy to blackmail.

The Observes the High Holidays

This reader is mostly “The Purist” but decides to skip ahead a panel or page when they just can’t help it anymore, like in the final issue of an event. Won’t give away the ending, but might hint at it to tease “The Purist.”

The Accidental Jerk

Person who talks about an event recently after, but thinks it has been long enough that he can talk about big changes when not everyone has necessarily read the arc. Doesn’t mean to be a jerk, but dislocate his knee just to be safe, so he/she learns their lesson.

The A-Hole

I despise this person. This is the person that scans the final few pages of a big comic and posts them on the internet without warning. There is a special spot in hell reserved for them......with child molesters and people who talk at the movie theater. Have any one from the other categories read that thread and watch hilarity/insanity ensue.

Movie Time

“The Walking Dead” is tearing up the ratings for AMC (or should I say noming.....) and has been renewed for a second season

A photo of a HYRDA tank appeared, which will be in “Captain America: The First Avenger”. Thank you British comic book fans for being so diligent.

Martin Sheen will be playing Uncle Ben in the Spider-Man reboot. Sally Field will be playing Aunt May. Looks like Sony is going to the way of the Ultimate Universe.

Speaking of Spider-Man, the musical based on the wall-crawler has been postponed till next year.

There will be no “KNEEL BEFORE ZOD” in the new Superman movie. Zach Snyder says Zod is not the villain.

Disney has hired the writers of “Zombieland,” Paul Wemick and Rhett Reese, to write a screenplay of the Image comics series “Cowboy Ninja Viking.”

Trade/Series for Newcomers

It’s one of Marvel’s biggest series, but right now is a great jumping on point. “Amazing Spider-Man” is ending the Brand New Day, 3x a month thing and going to Big Time. It looks to have Peter Parker finally have some good luck. The title will be released twice a month.

Highlights for 11/17

DC
-Batman Incorporated #1: Grant Morrison’s new ongoing for the Bat, it looks to franchise the Batman and Robin archetype

-The Flash #6: With the big Flash-centric event “Flashpoint” coming up, it would be good to start reading. It also helps it’s one of DC’s best ongoings.


Marvel
-Deadpool MAX #2: The first issue was so vulgar, I can’t describe it without getting censored. It’s the type of book Deadpool was born for, so pick it up.

-Thunderbolts #150: Crossbones vs Steve Rogers? Ghost vs Iron Man? Holy crap, I can’ wait to get this issue. Lots of grudges will be brought up and look for a big battle

Superman: Earth One Review

J. Michael Straczynski is one of those great comic book writers who, upon seeing his name, gives the average comic book buyer a reason to buy the book. The guy has had a knack in recent years of imagining characters or making drastic overhauls with the continuity, while still keeping the original feel for the character. This has never been more evident with his recent original graphic novel "Superman: Earth One."

The story starts off with Clark leaving Smallville after the passing of Pa Kent. Clark applies to a good amount of jobs, with all of them wanting to hire Clark. His last stop for employment is the Daily Planet, where we meet Lois Lane and Jimmy Olson. After applying to all the numerous jobs, Clark flies back to Smallville and talks to his fathers grave about what he should do with his life.

Straczynski gives a refreshing take on Superman, while still keeping some of the aspects of the main continuity and Richard Donner movies. The beginning with Clark taking the train into Metropolis is a nice touch that mirrors his current "Grounded" arc in the Superman ongoing. What was a little disappointing was the lack of development of Lois and Jimmy. While this may be reserved for future volumes, Lois blends to much into the background for how important of a character she is destined to be. Jimmy gets more time than Lois, as the fearless photographer who won't back down in the face of the villain. Speaking of the villain, the guy looks menacing. But after that, the guy doesn't seem that much like a threat. He doesn't seem like that much of a villain on par with Superman. While he may come back and be more menacing, he is easily the weakest point of "Superman: Earth One."

The ending is also a refreshing take on the Superman mythos. Without giving away any plot points, it's an angle that should have been explored a while ago for the character.

Shane Davis does a stand up job pencaling the novel. There are a few points where the panel angles get a little muddy. Same with the panel transitions during the final battle.

Overall, "Superman: Earth One" is a great re-imagining of Superman, and I look forward to future volumes.

"Superman: Earth One" gets a 4/5

Changes in the number of books

New column is up. I talk about the decrease in books at Marvel: http://www.thesuffolkvoice.net/opinion/changes-in-the-marvel-universe-1.1750136

Women in Comics

So this originated from an inebriated conversation from my girlfriend and her room mate and her boyfriend. What is the role of women in comics? Or to be specific, what is the role of feminism in comics?

I'm going to admit right away that this is a topic that could have a dissertation written about it. The role of women in comics is debated often and the topic can take many different routes dependent on what your views on the role of women are. I'm hoping if your reading this your sounding off in my comments section below this column as it is a topic that needs input.

Whats the main demographic of comic books? That's right, men are the main demographic. So naturally, all women should be big breasted and have huge asses. Well, as much as I love that, it's not true. I'm going to use Ms. Marvel as the main example of my argument, as I personally think she is the best example of feminism in comics in today's market.

Looking in past arcs, Ms. Marvel has been a strong character. She is one that many of the male characters look up to and hope they can be a hero like. Even when showing her feminine side, like when dating Spider-Man, she showed that she is comfortable in her own skin while showing she is a woman. While weird to the normal comic buying public, it was amazing to read the man be the weaker person. While many people are use to seeing Peter Parker like this in general, it was refreshing to see the man be uncomfortable while the woman plays the cooler head. The only way this could get better is if the person writing the scripts was a woman (Gail Simone anyone?). Men (besides Joss Whedon and occasionally Brian Reed) have a problem writing strong women. Even if Brian Michael Bendis tries to focus an issue on a woman, there is still some occasional stereotypical woman dialogue that undermines what is going on. Now don't get me wrong, Bendis is one of my favorite current writers and helps the feminist movement in comics, just not as much as he could. I sight the Spider-Woman ongoing as my example. Although he has shown growth in his "Scarlet" creator owned ongoing.

If I'm trying to give advice to comic book writers, make sure to acknowledge women as just as important as men while showcasing their differences. That's feminism as it's best.

Take a number and your favorite comic will be released when your called

Ok, so I know the title is kinda lame, but I couldn't think of anything funnier. I was recently looking through the solicits of DC and Marvel as I do, and I noticed a real problem with DC ones compared to Marvel. DC can not stay on schedule to save their lives.

Marvel isn't without blame. Need I bring up "Captain America: Reborn"? I think not. But why isn't anyone going batty (hehe, I went there) when it comes to the scheduling sin that DC is doing with "Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne." Due to the massive delays of "Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne" and "Batman & Robin," the story of how Bruce is getting back has been completely messed up. I know many people who will wait to read #16 before the final issue of the miniseries gets released, but DC should still fix this. Thankfully with Captain America, Steve Rogers only appeared in one or two comics. The whole Bruce thing has had him appear in two issues of "Batman & Robin" and had a slew of one-shots dedicated to him. Crappy one-shots at that

Speaking of delays, "Batman: The Dark Knight" is already being delayed. It's suppose to be a montly comic, so why the delay? Wasn't David Finch given a head start? I don't mind if it's going to be a bimonthly, but at least give the readership something to go on. "S.H.I.E.L.D." has never lied to be a monthly, and neither has "Ultimate X," two great ongoings at Marvel. I don't mind if books are going to be bimonthly, just let the buyers know so we can expect how to be spending our money.

Column About Variants

New column is posted. While the title may seem like I rip variants a new one, I do support them to a degree.....just not that high of one

http://www.thesuffolkvoice.net/opinion/variants-are-stupid-1.1733269

Views

Wow. I'm pumped that a lot of people have been reading the site. If you guys want to hear me talk about something specific, feel free to post a comment. I'm always up for new ideas and I might even include the idea in my column instead of just a normal blog posting.

Liberties with Characters and Marvel TV

New column posted yesterday. Here is the link: http://www.thesuffolkvoice.net/opinion/liberties-with-characters-1.1722677

Teaser Adds

While this has been a staple of the comic industry, teaser adds have been quite the mixed bag recently, especially by Marvel. DC hasn't gone to the lengths that Marvel has with teaser images, and have had great success. The recent Brightest Day teaser that appeared in a lot of books was beautiful, and had to much to look at that I'm still deciphering the image. It's big, it's bold, and it makes clear and subtle claims at the same time.

Now Marvel. I'm going to start with Shadowland. There were so many teasers for this event that is stinking up the stands. What really bothered me was that one of the adds WAS A PANEL FROM SHADOWLAND #1! What the fuck. It's a splash page teaser, would it have taken that long to get an artist to draw one page?

Next is the new Hero for Hire series. It was blatant from the first teaser that there was going to be a new Heroes for Hire series. It totally defeats the purpose of a teaser. The rest of the week's teasers were pointless besides finding out who was in the book. If they were going to do something like this, why didn't they take the route the marketing department did with the relaunch of the Avengers books. Those teaser images were perfect. I was more pumped for those than I have been in a series in a long time

The only teaser image that I have actually liked recently from Marvel is the Bendis/Maleev Moon Knight ongoing. Although I hope Bendis isn't over stretching himself. And can anyone answer me when I ask if Scarlet is a miniseries or ongoing? I thought it was a miniseries (like Nemesis or Kick-Ass), but a lot of recent comments by people have said otherwise.

Comic Book Prices column

My new column is up. I talk about prices of comics and how they affect the reader and the seller. Hope you all enjoy: http://www.thesuffolkvoice.net/opinion/mr-comic-book-10-1.1691821

Twitter

So I have started up a twitter just for all my comic book thoughts. It has been around for a few weeks. I'll post review of books I have read and the most recent links to my columns. As well as anything else that pops into my head. Here is the link: http://twitter.com/#!/mrcomicbookSUVO

New Column Up

Here is the link to the new column post. First one of the year. Don't worry, I'll still try to post here regularly

http://www.thesuffolkvoice.net/opinion/mr-comic-book-6-1.1672314

Comic Book Sales

So there is some type of layout problem at the Suffolk Voice, so I can't put my weekly column up just yet. Here is what the article would have been:

We all know that print journalism is hurting. Magazines, newspapers, even comic books have all taken a sharp dip in sales. This past week, when Diamond Publishing released the sales numbers for August, the industry was shocked. Sales were down 17% from August in 2009. Graphic novels were down 21%. Now many things can be blamed on this, but I have a few ideas as to why there was a such a steep decline.

Lets look at 2009. By August, “Blackest Night” was into its third month, while Marvel was deep into the “Dark Reign” branding. Marvel also had the “Utopia” mini-event going on between “Dark Avengers” and “Uncanny X-Men.” While it many seem like a lot of events, it’s nothing in comparison to this year. For events, we have “Shadowland,” “Brightest Day,” the overarching “Heroic Age” branding, the mini-event “Curse of the Mutants,” “The Thanos Imperative,” and “Chaos War” to start very soon. Sometimes trying to have a lot events make people just say forget it. In something like “Secret Invasion,” people would be more likely to buy the secondary stuff. But in this case, with so many events, people can’t afford those. They stick with the main story, and if they happen to be reading a title that crosses over, well that’s fine.

This time last year, the economy looked like it was recovering more than it does now. Buyer confidence has defiantly declined in the last year. People are more careful about what they buy, sense if the comic doesn’t entertain them 100%, they will drop it from their pull list.

One thing I notice the other day when looking at the comics I bought last month, was there were a lot of delays on the more popular comics. Grant Morrison’s “Batman and Robin” and “Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne” were both delayed to September and October respectively. “Green Lantern” and “The Flash” were also delayed into September. It may not seem like a big deal, but these titles sell like hot cakes every time they are released. Strangely, Marvel didn’t have this problem during August.

“Brightest Day” #7 and #8 topped the list, with “Avengers” #4, “New Avengers” #3, and “Secret Avengers” #4 filling out the top five.

Movie Time

Photos of Chris Evan’s stunt double have surfaced. He is wearing the full Cap garb, and it look all right. Won’t make judgment until the final product is seen. HYDRA minions were also shown, looking almost nothing like they do in the comics. Instead of the traditional yellow and green, they went with all black. Still looks good though.

A trailer for “Thor” leaked, and it looks epic.

The trailer for “Priest” and “RED” have been released in the past couple of months

A Doctor Strange and Iron Fist movie are in the works

Trade/Series for Newcomers

Started reading “The Walking Dead” during the summer and I am stunned by how great it is. Easily one of the best comics to come around in the decade. The zombie setting is great and it’s something George Romero should read to make his movies better. Plus it’s going to be a TV series on AMC

Here is the first volume on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Walking-Dead-Vol-Days-Gone/dp/1582406723/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1284489679&sr=8-2

The Coming Year and Other Things

Well, the semester is coming up, so that means the weekly column of Mr. Comic Book will be starting up again at The Suffolk Voice.

In other news, we have multiple Batmans now. It's Grant Morrison, so I'll give anything he does a chance. It seems a little to similar to what is going in the Captain America corner of Marvel, but again, it's Grant Morrison. The guy has probably had this plan before he started writing the solo book "Batman," so it's just a coincidence most likely. It's a radical new take on the character, but Grant seems to be at his best when he is taking radical new takes on established characters/teams. Sadly, it sounds like once his plan is done for "Batman Inc.," that Morrison is done with the Batman franchise. This is more me just speculating and reading in between the lines of interviews, so this is nothing to quote me on.

One surprise that came this summer that I thought was going to piss me off was the "O.M.I.T." storyline in "The Amazing Spider-Man." While I don't like the way the marriage of Pete and MJ was brought about, it needed to be done. I'm happy though that continuity wasn't toyed with that much.

One of the sadder things to happen in recent weeks is the slight decline in "Brightest Day." In earlier posts, and one of the last column posts of the last school year, it looked like this book would be the spine of the DC Universe. Lately, it doesn't seem that way. With the most recent issue, I'm not sure what really happened. I'm liking the way Deadman is being developed, but the characters aren't being developed enough on a consistent basis. That was one of the charms of "52," if one character didn't get face time, well there is always another one being released next week. Hopefully as all the resurrected start to realize what they are here for, the stories will get better

Second Coming

Well, the latest X-Men crossover has finally come to a close. Well I wouldn't call it a 100% success, it did get its point and put a close to the whole M-Day fiasco that House of M started all those years ago. Was it overly long? I would have to agree, both in story line and money.

A 14 issue crossover is unprecedented. While the first five issues were amazing, the next four didn't seen to deliver, with most plot points coming to a complete halt to set up for the third act. 10-13 had some awesome action, but still kept grinding the wheels while waiting for issues 13 and 14. Issue 14 did kind of close the event, but I felt Siege #4 did more in terms of closing instead of this. Nothing seems to be answered, as Hope doesn't remember using her powers and Emma sees Jean Grey in the fire. The biggest surprise is the reveal of Uncanny X-Force which will start in October. I'm nervous about Deadpool being in another book, but under someone like Rick Remender, I'll give it a chance.

I personally find it hard to believe that your telling consumers that you NEED to read 14 issues to understand a story line. My wallet has personally hated me sense April sense I was required to buy three extra series these months that I normally wouldn't have read. What's worse, this crossover isn't going to make me want to read them. I was really just looking forward to this event ending so I could save some money.

What's also surprising about this event ending is....well another event has already started! Curse of the Mutants started on 7/8 and seems to be running through at least two X-books (X-Men and Namor: The First Mutant). Wasn't Marvel suppose to be cutting back on events?

North East Comic Con 2010

This past Sunday (6/27/10) was the North East Comic Con in Boston. As your probably guessing, I went and yes, I did enjoy myself. Mike McKone was the big guest (got him to sign New Avengers #64 and Punisher #1). There were mostly vendors, who had some surprisingly good deals. Picked up Fantastic Four #52 (first appearance of the Black Panther) and Spider-Woman #1 for only $10 each. Even the more rarer ones had some steep discounts (Daredevil #1, graded, was $125). Was easily my most enjoyable Comic Con experience even though it was a smaller venue than the recent Boston Comic Con. The people were much more friendly and were glad to help. They didn't have something I needed? They would point me to another vendor who they thought might have the issue I was looking for. How awesome is that ?!

Safe to say my hope in Comic Cons around Boston is renewed. Looking forward to the New England Comic Con in October

Superman #700

My apologies for not posting in a while (although it appears no one is following me so, my apology might be moot), working a ton and writing a ton will do that.

Ok, so Superman #700 came out this week. I am not a Superman fan. You would think that I could give a crap about this. Well, I decided to give the Man of Steel a chance this week. I must say I was blow away. Not by the first two stories, but by the final one. The "Grounded" prologue by J. Michael Straczynski was what sold me.

Little backstory. I started reading Spider-Man after the whole "OMD/BND" debacle. Specifically, "New Ways to Die." I liked the series (this is what got me started on comic books in general), and decided to look into the back catalog of my favorite Wed Head. JMS's writing is what got me hooked to comics. I still to this day can't figure out how people can bash his run on Spider-Man (people can't realize that OMD is Quesada's fault?). His writing just made me feel for every character that much more, be it hatred or love. His awesomeness in writing continued with the current volume of Thor.

Superman. Long looked at as THE most important character in comics, and maybe media in general. He's an American icon. But for some reason, I never connected with the guy. A superhero who is almost god like isn't interesting to me. He can only be hurt by one mineral? And his one weakness makes plots seem stale. I like my superheroes to be able to be hurt and recover from that damage. Looking at the recent Spider-Man arc "Shed" is great proof of that.

But the two together, JMS and Superman, has made me a believer. "Grounded" seems to do exactly what I would want in a character like Superman, make him relatable. While the beginning of the story felt a tad forced (come on, how did that woman get that close), the intent was there, and I can see Superman as a relatable character for the first time ever. I'm willing to give JMS the benefit of the doubt when it comes to a decision artistically that takes massive balls to do. It's been over two years sense OMD. All of you have to agree it was a good decision in the long run. Go JMS, and I'm looking forward to reading about Kal-El

DC vs. Marvel

Ok, this isn't the topic you would think it would be. I'm not about to start bashing one publisher or the other. This post is more about why people pick one over the other. Now a lot of people (myself included) read both. I mostly read Marvel, but have slowly started reading more DC titles.

What pushes a person towards one publisher? Marvel seems to keep their heroes down to earth while DC has their heroes be idols. It seems that people want to read about people that they can relate too, as well as be entertained. Any person who knows me knows I read almost every Spider-Man title and a real fan of the character (I have a Venom tattoo on my back for Christ's sake). The guy is relatable and I have trouble believing in a hero that is almost god like (Superman).

But we have to start somewhere. So what was it? Was it our parents who took us to a comic book store? An older/younger relative gave you a comic book? The way that seems to be the most popular way is the old animated TV shows from the 90's. Between the X-Men, Spider-Man, Superman, and Batman, we had plenty of variety from both Marvel and DC.

But thats not it. What was the defining factor for you?

Highlights from last weeks comics and this weeks comics (5/26/10)

Avengers #1: When I heard there was going to be a new volume of "Avengers," I got pumped. This ongoing was to me like a big blockbuster movie coming out. After I read #1 a few times and got over my excitement about it just coming out, I found it to be an incredible read. Bendis perfectly blends the smaller moments with the big moments while keeping everyones personalities intact. Naturally, sense "Avengers" is going to be the biggest ongoing for Marvel, it's not surprising that John Romita JR. is was the artist. I personally thing that he is one of the best pencilers to have graced a comic book page, he turned out some of his best work. I'm pumped for the second issue.

Brightest Day #2: I'm still getting myself acquainted with the DC Universe, but I'm loving "Brightest Day." I'm still a little worried about how the series will be divvying up each issue to the characters. I found this to be an issue with this week, as Aquaman is barely around. As with Deadman (although he looks to be getting a big increase in time with #3).

For this coming week (5/26/10), I'm really only excited about "Secret Avengers" #1. Ed Brubaker is a great writer for espionage type stories. And Mike Deodato is just a great artist.

Spoiler Nation

As many of you regular comic book readers know, the industry is a self spoiler medium. It's really the only medium that can get away with it. Movies only spoil somewhat, with us knowing we have seen a moment in a trailer that hasn't happened in the movie yet. Books, not at all. Well, unless you like to read the last page. Video games; not at all unless you buy a guide. With comics, it's impossible for us NOT to know what's going to happen three months ahead of time. A great example is the recent end of the big Marvel event "Siege." The brand wide labeling of "The Heroic Age" has been totted for months. Unless you have never seen seen a comic book movie or anything related to the medium, you already knew the heroes were going to win before the event even started. This happened with "Blackest Night" and "Brightest Day" as well.

So why am I writing about this? Well it just surprises me how often people complain amongst the medium that an event or trend didn't really end the event, but just was a means towards an end. Well isn't it always? Did people complain that "Secret Wars" was just for selling toys? Didn't think so. It's the ride that is the most fun in comics. It's really the only thing that we can enjoy in comics. We see know the ending, but we don't know HOW it ends. Enjoy the ride as much as it can. Many complained about the ending to "Siege" because it was a means to an end to make Steve Rogers top cop and throw out the Superhuman Registration Act, and that the ending was very anticlimactic. Did you all really see Loki dying?

In my last post for the semester, I talked about giving books and things a chance in comics. This is a somewhat of a continuation of it, and my next biggest recommendation for comic book readers. Enjoy the ride and embrace the workings of the meidum