What's New? POSSIBLE SPOILERS! (Comic Book Forums)

• What's New? POSSIBLE SPOILERS!

Author	Discussion
atom Wise Beyond the Years Location: Utah Posts: 1090 My Collection	Posted: March 13, 2017 3:12:27 am New page, so let's repeat the warning: THERE WILL PROBABLY BE SPOILERS IN THIS THREAD CAPTAIN AMERICA: STEVE ROGERS #13 (Marvel) This issue is a bit more tightly focused than the previous two. . . The first main story thread (in flashback) deals with the death of the original Baron Zemo and HydraCap's guilt over not being able to save his friend's father. In the second main thread (in the present) the story pretty much ignores HydraCap and is a Helmut Zemo story as he and Dr. Selvig go behind Cap's back and begin assembling a fairly impressive army of villains that escaped from the Pleasant Hill fiasco. There is a nice series of one panel shots of Helmut on his recruiting drive that make up the bulk of the back half of the book, but there's ONE as yet unidentified villain still in his brainwashed Pleasant Hill state that seems to be Zemo's main objective. One wonders what HydraCap will say when Baron ZemBro tells him, "I hear you like villains. . .so I got you some villains to go with your villains." Oh! Almost forgot. Third thread: Sin and The Red Skull come into possession of a nice stash of nuclear weapons. I'm sure THAT will end well. All in all, this was a pretty good issue. The tighter focus was definitely a good thing. Last edited March 13, 2017 3:19:07 am Favorite Characters: Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, Captain America, The Shadow, Zorro, The Rocketeer, Jonah Hex
atom Wise Beyond the Years Location: Utah Posts: 1090 My Collection	Posted: March 13, 2017 4:03:10 am MOTHER PANIC #4 (DC / Young Animal) As I said last issue, Mother Panic seems to be the sort of comic that can quickly go off the rails with a creative team change. This issue, we get half that change with an artist swap. . .I knew it was too good to be true for Tommy Lee Edwards to actually be on a monthly title. I hate it when a company hooks you in with the A-Team and then starts swapping them out. And not for nothing, but 3 issues? Really? Can you make the hook and switch any more obvious, DC? That said. . . The new artist isn't bad. They have a deformed, somewhat cartoony look that reminds me a lot of Sean Gordon Murphy over at Image (Chrononauts, Punk Rock Jesus, etc. . .). It's pretty good, but I'm a bit on the fence as to whether or not it's good for THIS title. Then again, anyone following Tommy Lee Edwards has a hard row to hoe. As for the story. . .we start a new story arc along with the new artist, and are given plenty of breadcrumbs to follow with a nice, steady drip of information in each issue where the backstory of Violette Paige continues to fill in. We also meet another victim(?) of the mysterious "Gather House" where Mother Panic has her origins. It looks like he has some of the same targets marked for death that she does. . . All in all, I'm not sold on the new artist, but the story is becoming more and more engaging. Last edited March 13, 2017 4:04:54 am Favorite Characters: Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, Captain America, The Shadow, Zorro, The Rocketeer, Jonah Hex
atom Wise Beyond the Years Location: Utah Posts: 1090 My Collection	Posted: March 14, 2017 1:41:58 am THE WILD STORM #1 (DC) Let's get this straight right off the top. . . The Wildstorm is NOT a reboot. It's pretty much a complete re-envisioning (is that even a word?) of the old Wildstorm universe. About the only thing carrying over from past titles are names of the characters and the overall vision and themes of "Cosmic paranoia and paramilitary conspiracy" (in the words of Warren Ellis). So basically, even though there's a character named Miles Craven (for example), he is NOT the Miles Craven who was a sketchy old guy who was part alien and desperate to find a way to live forever. THIS Miles Craven is a 30-something openly gay guy married to a black man. He's still sort of sketchy, though. . . Yep. Like I said, it's not so much a reboot as a complete clean slate. Just be warned, if you (like me) were expecting new stories from your favorite old characters. . .you will be disappointed. That said. . .how IS this "re-envisioning"? I say it's pretty good. The art style is extremely detailed. The book looks more like something Vertigo or Image would put out today than ANYTHING from the former Wildstorm universe. I like the art a lot. And if you can get the Jim Lee variant cover. . .it's worth a frame on the wall. The story (by the great Warren Ellis) is a really good introduction to these new characters. You can tell that there's a LOT under the surface, and there's some good stuff to come. All in all, this first issue of The Wild Storm is a winner in just about every way, and I'm on board for what comes next. Favorite Characters: Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, Captain America, The Shadow, Zorro, The Rocketeer, Jonah Hex
atom Wise Beyond the Years Location: Utah Posts: 1090 My Collection	Posted: March 14, 2017 2:11:58 am NEW SUPER-MAN #9 (DC) Okay. . .I'm a little confused. Last issue, 2 new villains were introduced and it looked like $#it was going to hit the fan. Then in THIS issue, all that is ignored as Lex Luthor enters the picture and Kong goes to Metropolis with him as part of a sketchy plan to open an ancient artifact. . .that turns out to be a gate to that an undead pre-Flashpoint Superman comes through while Luthor gleefully cackles about how he'll be getting some real superpowers now. And then a completely unrelated team of Chinese superheroes arrives to put a stop to the madness. Oh. . .and ANOTHER version of Superman shows up at the end for a cliffhanger (Including Luthor in his superman armor suit, that's FOUR Supermen in the same room, for those not keeping count). Wait. What? What happened to everything they were setting up in the last issue? Now, don't get me wrong. . .this is a good, fun read. I thought it was funny how Luthor was pretending not to understand Chinese most of the time until he revealed he was fluent. . .after Kenan spent half the issue talking about him thinking he couldn't understand. And the art is still great. Overall, this WAS a really good issue. . .but it's completely disconnected from the story they were establishing. I guess it comes down to it just being a matter of time before New Super-Man could no longer exist on its own, in it's own space, and had to start crossing over with the larger DCU. Too bad. . . the stand-alone nature of this book was one of the things I liked most about it. But the REAL question here is: Why is SUPERMAN in ? Is there no hope for any of us? Last edited March 14, 2017 2:57:54 am Favorite Characters: Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, Captain America, The Shadow, Zorro, The Rocketeer, Jonah Hex
atom Wise Beyond the Years Location: Utah Posts: 1090 My Collection	Posted: March 14, 2017 2:53:22 am DETECTIVE COMICS #952 (DC) Last issue, I pondered the question of whether or not all the good Batman stories have already been told. In this issue I get a possible answer in a rooftop battle between Shiva and Orphan that is pretty much a deja vu moment, as it basically repeats the SAME fight that took place in Batgirl Vol 1 (2000) issues 7-9 (Thanks to my Uber Batgirl fan daughter for pointing this out to me). Then there's the big battle taking place on the ground during the rooftop Deja Vu confrontation. The writer shows he has no idea what Azrael is all about as he and Batwing are beaten down like chumps and captured. Speaking of being beaten down like a chump. Here's my new question. . .Does Batman win fights any more? Shiva takes him down so easily, you'd think it was Bruce's bookworm cousin, Bob Wayne, in the costume. And then there's Clayface. Okay, it was kind of cool to see a shape-shifting villain on Batman's new team, but he's become such a deus ex machina that they should just name the book "Clayface and Company" as he saves the day with super clay powers AGAIN. One wonders how Batman defeated him so many times. Of course in Rebirth, he'd probably hand Bats his . So let's break it down. . . 1. Borderline plagiarism. 2. Worthless Azrael. 3. Batman beaten down AGAIN. 4. Clayface becoming the main character. No bueno. Last edited March 14, 2017 2:54:38 am Favorite Characters: Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, Captain America, The Shadow, Zorro, The Rocketeer, Jonah Hex
atom Wise Beyond the Years Location: Utah Posts: 1090 My Collection	Posted: March 15, 2017 1:50:29 am SUICIDE SQUAD #13 (DC) Once again, the backup story saves this issue from a 2 star review. . .barely. Romita's art is extremely disappointing here. He is NOT the right artist for this title. The story is okay. . .Rustam takes Flagg and Katana prisoner and offers them freedom in exchange for joining him. In Cyberspace, Hack loses a battle with Djinn and as a result, Suicide Squad's brain bombs are deactivated. The team breaks up and scatters. In the backup. . .which I'm not even sure it should be a backup because earlier issues focused on separate members of Suicide Squad and the hold Waller had over them in short, self-contained stories. These last two or three have connected directly to the main story. Why even have a backup? ANYWAY. . . In the backup, Harley Quinn, Enchantress, and Hack go for a "Girl's Night Out" after the team splits up. Later, Hack gets stabbed in the chest after Cap. Boomerang reveals that he's the spy on the team. It's all a bit of a mess. The awful art doesn't help the main story, and the backup seems like it shouldn't even exist. I would dump this series if it wasn't one of my daughter's pulls. Last edited March 15, 2017 1:55:31 am Favorite Characters: Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, Captain America, The Shadow, Zorro, The Rocketeer, Jonah Hex
atom Wise Beyond the Years Location: Utah Posts: 1090 My Collection	Posted: March 15, 2017 2:26:51 am INTO THE BADLANDS: SPECIAL EDITION #1 (DC/AMC) My daughter and I are fans of this great AMC show (getting ready for the second season). No. . .let me put that another way. I like the show a lot. My daughter is INSANE about it. Of course she loves all things Asian. If you've never checked it out, it's definitely worth a look if you enjoy martial arts, post apocalyptic tales, crazy stunts and fights, or any combination of the above. ANYWAY. . . I got this comic free, polybagged with Suicide Squad #13. To my surprise, instead of being a cheap promo, it's really pretty good! It's black and white except for splashes of red on blood and sound effects. . .the panels are inked instead of pencilled. I'm no fan of black and white books, but the art in this one was impressive. The cover is fantastic as well. The story takes place long before the first season of Into The Borderlands, and tells the tale of how Quinn started on the path to becoming Baron. It's a , brutal tale and well told. All in all, for a freebie tie-in promo comic, there's a lot of quality here. The only thing I can find wrong with it is that if you aren't already a fan of AMC's Into The Borderlands, this is not really a great entry point into the series. It assumes that you are already a fan going in. But as a fan of the show, I really liked this a lot. I would gladly pay for an ongoing series like this. BONUS! While doing a bit of looking into this comic (mostly to see if they planned on making it an ongoing), I discovered there are actually THREE issues, and they are available for free online, not just polybagged with other DC comics. Take a look! http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/exclusives/digital-comic Last edited March 15, 2017 2:29:51 am Favorite Characters: Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, Captain America, The Shadow, Zorro, The Rocketeer, Jonah Hex
atom Wise Beyond the Years Location: Utah Posts: 1090 My Collection	Posted: March 22, 2017 2:19:21 am BATMAN #19 (DC) This issue is a veritable who's-who of Batman's rogues gallery as Bane fights his way through Arkham Asylum to confront Batman. As usual, the art is spectacular. Finch really brings life to a lot of tired characters. Unfortunately, we've already seen this story. . .in the "I am Suicide" arc where Batman fought his way through seemingly insurmountable odds to confront Bane on Santa Prisca. I guess the derivative nature of the story can be chalked up to King wanting to continue "mirroring" Bane and Batman, but that's not the biggest problem here. . . There is a major fumble in the characterization of Batman in this issue. Batman would NEVER release and arm the inmates of Arkham to be cannon fodder between him and Bane. He believes in their redemption. . .it's one of the things that keeps Batman going and is a major part of his character. He would never purposely cause harm to even his greatest enemy if he can help it. Witness for example the times he has saved Joker's life. Witness the inclusion of Clayface on his Detective Comics team. I could go on. . . This lack of understanding regarding Batman (or just ignoring this major character trait of believing in the redemption of his enemies) is a MAJOR fail on King's part, and (for me, anyway) completely ruined whatever redeeming qualities this issue might otherwise have. Great art, but otherwise. . .No Bueno. Last edited March 23, 2017 4:58:57 am Favorite Characters: Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, Captain America, The Shadow, Zorro, The Rocketeer, Jonah Hex
atom Wise Beyond the Years Location: Utah Posts: 1090 My Collection	Posted: March 22, 2017 2:46:40 am BATWOMAN #1 (DC) It looks like Batwoman is going to take up the "Globetrotting Adventure" mantle that was once worn by Batman, Inc. and Red Robin. Spinning out of the -Awful "Night of The Monster Men" crossover, Batman tasks Batwoman with tracking down the remaining monster venom before it can be sold on the black market. Along for the ride in a huge luxury yacht/mobile Batcave is Julia Pennyworth, playing much the same role here as Alfred does back in Gotham. The story is a very nice first issue. . .setting up the premise, the main players, and adding a good splash of mystery in an unknown assassin and a connection with one of Batwoman's past lovers. It definitely made me want to pick up the next issue. The art by Epting is gritty, realistic, and fantastic. He is one of my favorite artists. Epting brings a realistic, grounded look to any book he works on, and it turns out from this issue, he can draw some great monsters too! All in all, I'd be on board with Batwoman for Eptings art alone, but the story looks like it might be pretty good as well. I just hope that the focus eventually shifts away from the aftermath of Night of The Monster Men soon. The biggest problem I have with this is the same as I had with the "Rebirth" issue: If you're already a Batwoman fan (like me and my daughter are) then you will really like this first issue and the direction it's heading. If you aren't a Batwoman fan, then this really isn't the best introduction to the character. It assumes you already know everything about Batwoman, Night of The Monster Men, and Julia Pennyworth right out of the box. Favorite Characters: Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, Captain America, The Shadow, Zorro, The Rocketeer, Jonah Hex
atom Wise Beyond the Years Location: Utah Posts: 1090 My Collection	Posted: March 22, 2017 3:12:32 am POE DAMERON #12 (Marvel) In the last issue, I was wondering why the story in Poe Dameron seemed uninteresting. With this issue, I think I may have found my answer. . . It's not that the writing is bad. It's decent. Some of the dialogue is a little clunky, but I've seen a lot worse. The art is okay. Noto is a little iffy with faces, but other than that (once again), I've seen worse. I've even seen worse from Noto himself! I realize that this book is sort of falling flat on its "Han Solo Lite" fast-paced con man adventure vibe because the main characters are tied into a huge film franchise and really, nothing is going to happen to them. So in this issue, we have Poe, BB-8, C-3PO, and N1-ZX shot down, crash landed, and being hunted through a cave by Agent Terex. But you KNOW that nothing is going to happen to Poe, BB-8, or Threepio because they're going to be in "The Force Awakens" shortly after the events of this series. Sure, they make it LOOK like Threepio and BB-8 are destroyed, but you know it isn't happening. Now that I think of it. . .maybe that's why the main Star Wars series seems a bit flat as well. You know all the characters are going to be in Empire Strikes Back. . Now I can't unthink it. Favorite Characters: Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, Captain America, The Shadow, Zorro, The Rocketeer, Jonah Hex
49 posts • Page 1 of 5 << Previous 1 2 3 4 5 Next >>

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.