Comics are Awesome III

A general discussion forum, plus hauls and silly games.
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andersonh1
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Aquaman #45
After three issues, I'm not a fan of the new writer. The story is still moving very slowly, and the majority of this issue is taken up with explaining just who the villain is and how she exists, and it's all couched as mythology. Most of the present day is just Aquaman and another new character out in a rowboat, trying to reach the villain to talk to her. We're wasting a lot of good art here on a story that just isn't worth all the pages it's taken up so far.

Justice League #18
Last issue was a two-hander with Lex Luthor and the Martian Manhunter that delved into their shared past. This time it's Luthor vs. Brainiac and a review of what Vandal Savage knew and hid from the rest of humanity. It reminds me a bit of animated Luthor and Brainiac as Luthor offers fire and drive and spirit as the one thing Brainiac lacks, with all his knowledge. With all the characters Justice League has to choose from in its cast, why are we spending so much time with Luthor? Still, good issue.

Hawkman #9
Back in the first issue, Carter Hall visited Madame Xanadu with an artifact that could unlock his memories of his past lives, setting him off on his quest where he's actually met some of them. He returns to London for more help, but the Deathbringers have arrived on Earth, and attack, while Carter tries and fails to reason with his former subordinate from his first life when he led the Deathbringers. This remains my current favorite book, and probably one of the best Hawkman series I've read. It has direction, it gives the main character a purpose, and it has an interesting story to tell. And it makes the best possible use of the many and varied versions of Hawkman that we've seen over the years.
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andersonh1
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Justice League #19
The League recruits Mxyzptlk to help save the universe from Perpetua and from the effects of the destruction of the Source Wall. They keep him contained long enough to reason with him, and actually get his help in accessing the sixth dimension, one level past where Mxyzptlk originates from. It's all some sort of trap for Superman though, and I'm getting flashbacks to Metal here.

Green Lantern #5
As most of us probably suspected, Hal's actions up to this point are all in service of having him infiltrate and join the Blackstars, which the issue makes quite clear by revisiting and continuing the conversation he had with one of the Guardians in issue 1 about a traitor in the ranks. He undergoes a trial by combat ordeal to gain pieces of his Blackstar armor, ultimately gaining membership in the group, only to find that his final test is to kill Adam Strange. Great cliffhanger, and his running conversation during his trial by combat gives us mentions of Parallax and Green Arrow, along with Hal noting that he's been dead already. Morrison has said that the vast majority of Hal's published history still counts and was not overwritten by the various crises and reboots, and it shows.

Doomsday Clock #9
I dip in and out of this series as it goes on. I'm interested in the larger story behind Rebirth, and this should eventually give us the answers, though it could have been six issues rather than twelve and accomplished the same thing. At any rate, all of DC's major characters sans an injured Superman and Batman, and Wonder Woman, go to Mars to confront Dr. Manhattan. They temporarily stop/kill/disintegrate him several times but he reforms, and is ultimately a match for all of them, going so far as to destroy Guy Gardner's ring, and survive being disassembled by Captain Atom. Professor Stein (half of Firestorm) is revealed to have been someone trying to infiltrate the meta-human community all along, so he's essentially a government spy, always assuming Dr. Manhattan didn't make it all up of course. And Manhattan's interference in Alan Scott's life, preventing him from becoming Green Lantern, also had the effect of stopping the Legion of Superheroes from coming into existence.

With both Green Lantern and Doomsday Clock there are plot points built on continuity that goes back pre-Crisis, and there's a sense that all of DC's history is fair game for telling the story, which is as it should be in my opinion.
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Sparky Prime
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Kinda forgot about this mini-series....

Star Trek vs. Transformers #4 and 5
While Autobots and Enterprise crew battle against the Decepticons and Klingons, with the latter starting to loose the battle. Starscream, having been secretly given a cloaking device, abandons the fight to power himself up on dilithium crystals, before leaving the planet to make himself the ruler of some other world. Megatron, realizing Starscream's betrayal, and that the Klingons gave him his own cloak, turns on his allies. He is prevented from killing the Klingons by the Autobots however. Realizing the battle is lost, and wanting to destroy Starscream for his betrayal, Megatron orders Trypticon to retreat. With the Klingon crew now in Starfleet custody, Kirk informs everyone his sensors detect the Decepticons are headed for Klingon space. Fortress transforms back into his Enterprise vehicle form and finds the real Enterprise so they can pursue the Decepticons together.

On Kronos, Starscream breaks into the High Council chambers and declares himself the Klingon's new ruler. The Klingons however refuse to do his bidding, preferring to die than serve him. The rest of the Decepticons arrive and Megatron declares they will make this planet into New Kaon. Before Megatron is done giving commands, Fortress Tiberius arrives unleashing the Autobots and the Enterprise crew sporting new Cybertronian mech suits. The captured Klingon crew is released and the Decepticons face off against three sides instead of two. The Decepticons get the upper hand thanks to Soundwave, but the Klingons have prepared, as their fleet decloak with new weapon modifications designed to be more effective against Cybertronians, and quickly defeats the Decepticons.

Having come to a truce with the Klingons, the Enterprise and Autobots are allowed to leave Klingon space with out incident. They are forced to leave the Decepticons in Klingon custody however, which Kirk knows will likely lead to future conflicts. Kirk offers for the Autobots to return to Earth, but Optimus explains their destiny is elsewhere, but offers if the Federation ever needs allies, they know how to contact them.

--
Not a bad miniseries, although it does leave me with some questions I wish they addressed. Neither the Autobots or Decepticons seemed interested in contacting Cybertron in this century, or even mentions going back there. You'd think Starscream and the Decepticons would want to conquer their own homeworld rather then some other planet they've never been to before. Seemed a little odd that the Decepticons were actually winning the fight on Kronos, but it was a nice touch to have the Klingon fleet decloak and easily take them down. I'm guessing the Enterprise was helping them modify their weapons? Seemed like the Enterprise alone could have done that form orbit with a few well placed phaser shots but it was absent from the fight entirely. I'm not surprised the Klingons would want to keep the Decepticons, and I'm glad they addressed Kirk's concerns, but what about Optimus? I find it a bit hard to believe he'd leave the Decepticons on Kronos under any circumstances. And where are they off to at the end of the story? Maybe they're headed for Cybertron? Either way, it leaves things open for a possible sequel at some point.
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Dominic
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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With both Green Lantern and Doomsday Clock there are plot points built on continuity that goes back pre-Crisis, and there's a sense that all of DC's history is fair game for telling the story, which is as it should be in my opinion.
In principle, I agree. But, for the last 5 years or so, DC has given me the impression of having no plan to speak of. While I am sure there are good DC series, finding them seems to be more random than I would like. (And, every DC series that I have liked has either ended or gone bad, which is bothersome.)
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andersonh1
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Dominic wrote:
With both Green Lantern and Doomsday Clock there are plot points built on continuity that goes back pre-Crisis, and there's a sense that all of DC's history is fair game for telling the story, which is as it should be in my opinion.
In principle, I agree. But, for the last 5 years or so, DC has given me the impression of having no plan to speak of. While I am sure there are good DC series, finding them seems to be more random than I would like. (And, every DC series that I have liked has either ended or gone bad, which is bothersome.)
It feels like a tug of war among top management for the direction and tone of the company to me. Rebirth was a massive course correction attempt when the New 52/DC You declined in sales, and now they seem to be moving away from Rebirth towards... who knows? They can't pick a direction that works and stick with it. Every few years they try something different. It's exhausting. My pull list has dwindled again, as it does periodically. I'm down to four books at the moment.
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Hawkman #10
With the army of Deathbringers attacking London and Carter facing Idamm, his old co-general who he betrayed, things are looking pretty hopeless. Hawkman is massively outnumbered, but he takes on the army of Deathbringers by himself. It goes poorly, as might be expected, but Hawkman has an epiphany about all that he's been through during this series, and is able to summon all of his past incarnations to the present day. It's an army, all Hawkman, and the war is on. Robert Venditti has taken this reincarnation idea and pushed it as far as it can go, and I love the crazy idea of every Hawkman ever in one place, fighting this invading army.
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Dominic
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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"Hawkman" sounds like the sort of title that can only happen with loose editorial control. I would probably be more interested if I trusted DC to have a plan otherwise.


In any case, I am probably making some changes to my pull-file. Not sure that I am keeping "the Punisher", especially if I add the new "Transformers" series to my pull-file.



-the Punisher

-Captain America

-Superior Spider-Man

-WWE

Mega Man Mastermix

-Peter Cannon Thunderbolt

-Transformers
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andersonh1
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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The Green Lantern #6
I think I've missed something somewhere. This can't be the end of Controller Mu, after all the buildup, for him to be shot and killed by Adam Strange's wife is more than a little anticlimactic. I suspect we haven't actually seen the last of him, but who knows? I figured Hal would fake Adam's death, and he did. I didn't see the universe ending bomb or Myrwhydden of all characters showing up. I presume that means Hal took the bomb inside his ring... which, doesn't appear to be the one he forged for himself back during Rebirth.
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Hawkman #11
It's a massive battle of Hawkmen from across space and time versus the Deathbringers, mixed with Carter Hall's battle against Idamm. The issue is generally filler in the sense that the plot doesn't really move forward. It showcases many of the Hawkmen, many that we've seen before, but some new ones as well. We do learn that the giant mutated Hawkman from Metal is still considered a legitimate past incarnation, and that Idamm is functionally immortal and can't be killed by impaling him, as Carter tries to do. But the issue ends with the Deathbringer armies recalled to their ships, preparing to burn London to ash, and then the Earth.

Justice League 21 and 22
The writers here continue to go big, with the Justice League in an alternate future which is a paradise because everyone who would choose doom for the Universe has been rounded up and locked away. It's a future the World Forger wants to ensure happens, which is why he's locked Superman away in a pocket universe, and why he's trying to convince the Justice League to work with him. When they refuse, he sends them to an Apocalypse ruled by Lois Lane. Issue 22 gives us the origin of Perpetua, the multiverse creator, and casts the Monitor, the Anti-Monitor and the World Forger as her three children, tasked with overseeing the multiverse. It's massive cosmic storytelling, and more craziness as Lex Luthor brings in Bat-Mite to help contain the out of control Myxlplk. How can you not love a comic that references both Crisis and Bat-Mite?

Aquaman #47
Kelly DeConnick needs to drop the pretentious dialogue and actually spell things out for the reader. I haven't read anything she's written prior to this, but her first storyline on Aquaman leaves a lot to be desired. I generally understand what's happened and who the players are, but it's been a very unsatisfying storyline. And now, purely because Momoa has them I'm sure, comic book Aquaman has to get tattoos that link him to the old gods he's spent five issues on an island with. If this book doesn't improve, I'm liable to drop it and wait for a new writer.
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Spider-Man: Life Story #1 and 2

I thought this was an interesting idea when I first heard about this series. Basically, it's sort of a more realistic approach to Spider-Man, if he lived and aged in real time from when he was first introduced in 1962, with each issue taking place in a different era. Issue 1 begins in 1966, where much of the set up is like it was in the original comics. Peter has been Spider-Man for several years at this point, and is currently attending college, along with Harry, Flash, Gwen and MJ. Flash has recently signed up for the military to fight in the Vietnam War, believing it's what Spider-Man would do. Peter is very much conflicted by this however, knowing with his powers he could make a difference, but wonders if that's part of his responsibility, especially as Iron Man begins to help the war effort. Much of America wonders if Captain America will get involved, and Spider-Man is surprised to find Cap feels very much the way he does. Cap decides he will go to check things out, and assures Spider-Man that he knows he's a responsible man. Whatever he decides will be best for him. By the end of the issue, Gwen discovers Peter is Spider-Man, and Cap goes rogue, fighting against American troops...

In 1977, we find out Peter has married Gwen and now works with the Future Foundation at the Baxter Building. Neither he nor Reed Richards are happy the war still rages on, with Peter feeling guilty for not having gone to the war, since Flash died and he thinks with his powers he could have saved him. Peter is also frustrated with Reed for hording so many inventions they've created when they could do so much good for the public, and eventually quits after he fights with Reed about it. He decides to take Miles Warren up on his job offer, but ends up fighting with the "Black Goblin" (Harry) who is there to ensure his employer's (Norman) plans are met. The fight is interrupted when they discover Professor Warren has clones of Norman, Gwen and Peter. Harry lashes out at Spider-Man, angry to find out his father is still obsessed with Peter to have had a clone made of him. Peter talks some sense into Harry, and Harry throws some pumpkin bombs into the chamber with the clones. Norman and Gwen's clones are killed, but Peter's survived. Warren explains however, Gwen was the original that he wanted to keep for himself, while Peter's wife is the clone. A year later, "Ben" and "Helen" Parker have decided to leave New York to start a new life together. Harry has disappeared, leaving his fortune to MJ. Peter feels he's the only one that doesn't get a new life, having lost everything. But MJ assures him this isn't true...

There's a lot of interesting ideas packed into these first two issues, and some twists I didn't expect. Honestly, I wish these issues were longer so they could explore some of these ideas more along with more of these eras. I feel each one could be a graphic novel in its own right. But I guess the idea is this series is more supposed to be a snapshot of various big events in different eras of Spider-Man's life. I'm really curious about seeing where Spider-Man will end up by the end of this series, in his 70's by the modern day.
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