Dread

Hello all. I hope I'm not stepping on any toes but I did mention that I wanted some feedback on this weekly column. Feel free to tell me what you think, argue with me, or suggest topics for future articles. Thanks, Des

Rock on! Way to go Yoda! More writing to add to the list #4 is almost done by the way.

Nick Fury is waiting to make his move. God forbid his face be seen before he's ready for that to happen. The eye thing: he's had it repaired or had himself cloned. Perhaps it's a life model replica. I just see Fury as an underground kind of superspy. I have a feeling he'll be assembling an army of hjis own and kicking all kinds of ass when he returns. Both Cap and Iron Man deserve a good whupping if you ask me.

Nick Fury

I applaud this and Vaughn's future C&D series (because you know he'll write it). It's just that Dagger, despite all of the stuff they have seen, would be more likely to stand slack-jawed in awe. Her meeting with the Beyonder in the 80s was more along those lines and according to her Thor is on that level. Still: anti-climactic. The preview panels they released were in no way done justice. But is it enough to say that when characters are so out of character to the point of being ridiculous being the fundamental drive to the plot? Mind control is the only way out of what they've done to Reed and that's just cheap and stupid. Who is that directly behind Bullseye?

Wow....what a huge letdown this issue was. Totally inconsistent with the rest of the MU. I've said before: Dagger does not know Thor. Nor is she the type of character who would feel comfortable speaking like that to someone of such prestige let alone a god/most powerful being on earth. Goliath? Kill the guy who was created because they needed another minority in the MU? Wow, he had expendable written all over him since his inception. The woman whose son dies is now on Tony's side? She railed at him at the funeral and now all of a sudden, what I assume to be no more than about a week later, she is cheering him on? Whether or not she believes what he is doing is right it does not fit. The Thor thing? I like the idea of cloning a god but despite all my railing against this I would have preferred the original Thor to be such a douchebag. Captain America is losing his lustre to me and Tony Stark has not been redeemed. Maybe the greying of all areas is a ploy but if it is, it's a vague ploy. I'm beginning to lose steam on this storyline. It seems to be nothing more than a series of good story moments without the overall story to tie it all together. I've thought this all along but was hoping that by the 4th issue there would be some hope. This is not what Marvel said it would be: a self-contained story with the MU revolving around it. There were things sprinkled throughout that required further explanation: Cable leaving Cap's team, the prison is the 42 project, Reed employing psychopaths? WTF?! That is the worst of all. These people are your friends, you are going to send Bullseye, Taskmaster and fucking Venom after them??? These are the most dangerous men in the MU and would love a crack at killing any hero. Did Iron Man ok Mandarin's release? It doesn't make sense. I am in for the ride but my expectations have been lowered by this issue.

So damn awesome! I am psyched. There is not one storyline that doesn't intrigue me in some way and knowing they will all collide very soon is enticing.

My vote goes to Grayson.

Hero into a villain sounds awesome. Is it a ground up Ultimatizing or a story idea to turn an in continuity hero into a villain?

Wow...three really separate pitches but all connected in various ways. The children thing was prevalent and the green flame connected a few as well. That was fun. Count me in on any others that come along!

it only went like 40 issues right? Edit: never mind. I thought it was cancelled in the 40s.

I really thought there was some bitterness over the ending of Hitman?

You make some good points and that last one is the truest of them all! I think that was Ennis being upset at having Hitman cancelled at DC and venting through the Punisher. Garbage. The first 12 or so issues were pure gold though. I just don't know. I think the Mature title is getting old to me. I like a Punisher with some visual and literary limits.

That New X-Men collection sounds awesome. The only thing that would make me go to the trouble to sell my entire run and re-buy it in the form of the collection would be Joe Quesada's introduction being a written apology on behalf of Marvel Entertainment for throwing out the legacy Morrison left them with in the span of a few months.

Really? Man, I've been loving almost every arc of Punisher MAX. The Barracuda story was great. I agree. Only they seem to be nothing but more of the same. Ennis is repeating himself over and over with a nastier villain each time. He's repeating a winning formula but he's still repeating. The human trafficking, the pissing on the corpses of the Castles, Barracuda...when will he actually fight Hitler, Stalin and Satan?

Hey folks. Just wanted to plug this Devil's Due book about a werewolf who kills at the full moon and makes up for it by using his slightly diminished non-full moon powers as a superhero the rest of the month. It's black and white and really moody and dark. Really nice stuff. I'm reminded of the Crow comic. Check out Nightwolf #0, it's a cheap intro. Nightwolf: The Price (I don't like the sub-title either) is a 5 issue miniseries. SUPPORT INDIE COMICS!!!!!!

just when i was going to drop it...

I'm all about the New Gods collection. I'm currently reveling in the Essential Fantastic Four trades.

It used to be 20-30 bucks a week but then I moved away and I only get my comics once every month or two and I drop 50-80 bucks each time. I need to catch up...Christmas where are you?

Okay, but the President would react differently to the death of Captain America. Unless, of course, he was complicit in the death. Who dies? Falcon?

I do see what you're saying but I'll go a little farther and ask what the Sentinels even stand for besides a symbol of mutant persecution anymore. It seems like, after the X-Men animated series, the Sentinels are made of tin. Anybody with a power signature can destroy them (Cyclops, Havok), anybody with a mutant weapon (Wolverine, Maggot), anybody who's a telekinetic can destroy them. Why would you want to send them up against Captain America who could take an entire squadron of Sentinels out on his own without breaking a sweat. Morrison tried to bring back the menace of the Sentinels what with the Master Mold thing and the attack on Genosha but Marvel went and retconned that, like they did with everything else Morrison did on New X-Men.

Go here immediately!!! http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/CivilWa...ilWar04Pre.html OOOOOOHHHHH MMMMMY GOD!!!! I have one complaint about this preview: Dagger. Love both her and Cloak but the way she talks to Thor is too casual. She doesn't really know Thor if she has even met him. But HOLY SHIT! Can't wait for this.

So that is US Agent. Newsarama has a story about a collection of 5 stories of b-listers (Venom, Ant Man, Iron Fist, US Agent and Howard the Duck). The US Agent story is written by Oeming and drawn by Kolins.

I remember wayyy back there was some talk about a thread for suggested reads for Jenny, I could not find said thread (Right Said Thread?). I wanted to recommend Fragile: Love Never Dies with story and art by the awesome Stefano Raffaele. It's a zombie scifi love story that is touching, action-packed and gory. Great characterization too. It was published by DC/Humanoids a couple of years ago.

Right you are sir. Auggghhhh!!!! 'ow dare you tease me so Messr Sims! <shaking fist>