drqshadow
-
Posts
1,103 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Posts posted by drqshadow
-
-
I refuse to be surprised by this kind of news going forward.
-
I don't get them at home or at work.
-
I don't mind Hulu at all, especially with AdBlock installed to transform the commercials into 30 seconds of simple, unobtrusive black screen with a countdown clock.
-
This has more in common with Reign of the Supermen than "Death of..."
That's exactly what I said!
I was probably lumping the "Funeral for a Friend" storylines in with the main "Death of" arc, which I think is understandable...
Arkham getting its own one shot is fine and dandy, but how does that affect my opinion of this issue, here and now?
-
I figured that review might ruffle a few feathers...
It's natural to expect a bit of chaos and anarchy within the family when their cornerstone is removed. I can understand the heroes acting strangely in such a situation, even doing things that are far out of character. What I don't expect is a lack of passion and direction, which is what I got in this issue. Although Robin plays the part of narrator, the primary focus this month is on Nightwing, and he didn't even seem to have a reaction beyond an insistence that there shouldn't be another Batman. OK, Dick, you want to elaborate a bit on that for us? No? Where are you going with that stick?
Tim donning the cape and cowl made for a nice visual, but that was over after three panels and the rest of his appearance was just business as usual, cleaning up the streets with the team. The rest of the crew didn't even merit that much attention. How did it set up any infighting if nobody changed their outlook on the situation during the course of this issue? Dick came in disliking the idea of a new Batman. Tim thought it was necessary. The two shared maybe three words from cover to cover. Alfred had his say, but I don't even think Dick was listening. If anything was "set up" there, it was done before this issue.
If the destruction of Arkham and the release of Bruce's rogue's gallery were such huge events, why were they touched on and then forgotten so quickly? The asylum barely had a single panel to burn before it was left behind, never to be mentioned again. I'll admit that, in retrospect, both could turn out to be major turning points, but they felt more like footnotes in this story.
I didn't hate the book, but I was disappointed by the lack of circumstance and forward momentum. This should be a big deal - Bruce Wayne is dead. There's going to be another Batman. Instead, it felt more like a generic "fight the goons in the streets until the bad guy shows his hand" throwaway story arc. I was expecting something with meat, and what I got was a light snack.
As for the Death of Superman reference, I wasn't reading that into DC's marketing, I was drawing my own comparisons. They're both major events for the publisher, both feature the aftermath of a similar event, and I really don't think the first issue of Battle for the Cowl benefits from the comparison. The "Death of" arc included more than just the battle with Doomsday.
-
BOOOOOOOOOO
-
it seems I'm the only person here who didn't think battle for the cowl issue one was that great.
-
When I'm not waiting on buddies to sign on for some Left 4 Dead or pounding on the drums in RB2, I'm getting started on an old Xbox title that I've been meaning to play for years: Psychonauts. Really enjoying it so far.
-
Dark Avengers #3 - They can just go ahead and drop the rest of the team to focus on Osborn at this point, because he's like Atlas carrying the Earth on his shoulders right now. His opening dialog with the Sentry this month was flawless, and by the end of it I was ready to follow the guy into battle myself. The Sentry as a whole is a personality I'd really grown tired of, and when the book opened in his bedroom I feared the worst. We'd seen this same scene thirty times before, first in New Avengers and later in Mighty Avengers; the guy moping around and using his schizophrenia as a crutch, all the while running around in circles and carefully avoiding any sort of character development. I was actually wishing they'd drop him from the team as a whole because it was becoming clear that he was never going to go anywhere personally. Osborn solved that conundrum in six pages, then went on to win a battle of the egos with Victor Von Freaking Doom. If it weren't for a particularly bland battle in the second half of the issue and artwork I'm still not totally on board with, this would be getting top marks.
7/10
Ex Machina Special #4 - This series is really starting to reek of the same problems that plagued Vaughan's work on later issues of Y: The Last Man. Maybe I should just start jumping on board for his first three or four storylines, when he does his best work introducing a premise and setting up the major players, then exiting before he can get lost and the plot comes to a screeching halt. Ex Machina hasn't been making forward progress in years, but I keep buying it because I think I see a flicker of hope off in the distance. This concept is so strong, I hate to think the writer doesn't have a finish line in mind, but that's starting to look like it's the case. Again. Either way, it's nice to see the series testing fresh ground on the artistic front. John Paul Leon is nothing like Tony Harris's work on the regular series, but he still feels compatible. He's somewhat inconsistent this month, but when it was working I really liked what I saw. The hype machine would have me believe the seeds are being planted right here for the book's final storyline. In that case, let's hope I missed something because this is some dry shit.
4/10
The Punisher: Frank Castle #68 - That's it, no more threats, I'm done with this series. The writing has transitioned from "going nowhere" to "going nowhere would've been more compelling" and the artwork is more interested in clumps of blood and sailing bullets than cluing the readers in on what's actually supposed to be happening. It's a shame, too, because on paper this is a great premise - a nameless bad guy injects Castle with a serum that will end his life in six hours, and rather than doing their bidding for the antidote, Frank puts a bullet in their brain and prepares for death by annihilating as many bad guys on his checklist as he can before time runs out. But rather than using that as the spark to ignite a blood bath of heretofore-unseen proportions, Frank's aimlessly wandering around and blaming the serum when he doesn't land on his feet after a fall. Really? That's it? This was one of the most confusing, frustrating, aggravating reads I've endured so far in 2009. And, as if that weren't enough, it's also incredibly stale. I wish they'd canceled the series when Ennis left, because Frank just doesn't seem to have anything left in the tank without him.
1/10
Kingdom Come #2 - Only three months after I went back to revisit chapter one - at this rate I'll finish the entire series in just under a year! The story really lifts off in this issue, and Alex Ross's artwork follows suit. Where the first issue was about hope in the face of terrible adversity, this verse shows us that even the brightest stars have their dark corners. The wheels show signs that they're ready to fall off for Superman and his gang of old Justice Leaguers, the modern generation doesn't seem as enthused about their presence as Supes had imagined, and the return of the heroes has also brought with it the resurrection of their enemies. I was never all that thrilled with the way this series depicted Bruce Wayne (I have a hard time imagining Batman reduced to an old man bent over a keyboard, keeping watch over a series of robots) but his role is becoming much more clear to me with this pass. I'm also noticing a startling number of similarities to present-day America and its crusade to defend those who never really asked for our help in the first place, which has made the series twenty times more interesting. So, you mean showing a little muscle and draping ourselves in the red, white and blue isn't enough any more? All right, make with the impervious gulag. All of the best works remain relevant long after the date of their publication. Count Kingdom Come among them.
10/10
Also, two contributions to IIWY? last week: Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #3 and Killer of Demons #1
Comics: 48, TPB: 5
-
I'm slowly working my way through the Wire. Just started season three on Monday. Great stuff so far.
-
I loved that book when I reviewed it for IIWY, too. Make with the TPB!
-
This may be the most positive IIWY on record. Three buys and a borrow? Yow!
Preston, I had the same problems going into UWvH as you did. It's brutal to wait so long between installments (especially when the artist is active in as many high profile books as Yu was) but once you crack the cover, the third issue barely misses a beat.
-
Lots of Rock Band 2 with dashes of Left 4 Dead thrown in when I need a break. I like L4D a lot, but I wish there were more to it. Glad I bought a buddy's spare copy for half price instead of dropping the full sixty on it.
-
And the apple logo on the keyboard is the stand in for the Ctrl on windows.
:angel:
-
-
Man, I was sure it was Larsen too, but Google autocomplete told me otherwise. Moral of the story: when in doubt, don't be too lazy to walk the ten feet into the guest bedroom and pull out a back issue.
As for his artwork, to each his own. I can see what many readers would like about it, but in my book it doesn't hold a torch to his previous work. I get what he's going for with the looser style, it just isn't working for me and rather than drawing me further into the motion of the moment it's taking me completely out of the issue.
-
Finished Fallout 3 - it was all right, but the last mission is a case study for anticlimactic endings. As a whole, the game was a bit too drawn out, very dry and fairly easy. The auto-targeting system makes combat a breeze, especially after you break level 10, and when you hit level 20 you're virtually unstoppable.
I'll be getting Left 4 Dead this week.
-
Daredevil #116 - Return of the King(pin). Not at all what I was expecting, but for the first three quarters of the issue I really didn't care. It was strangely compelling to take in this human side to a character that's long been known as cold, monstrous and impenetrable, but Brubaker's been working on that indirectly since he took the reigns, starting with the arc surrounding Fisk's wife. I kept reading and hoping it wouldn't end as predictably as I'd imagined it might, and in the end it... did and it didn't. When I closed that back cover, I felt like I'd been listening to a musical arrangement that had built and built and built, and just when it was ready to climax, the whole orchestra quit playing and walked off the stage. Should I burst into applause or awkwardly gather my things and head for the doors? I have no idea where they go from here, but I'll be around to find out. No Murdock appearances this month, btw.
7/10
Also, two contributions to IIWY?: Savage Dragon #145 and Youngblood #8
Comics: 42, TPB: 5
-
Keep your receipt or rip disc 4 to your HDD when you get the chance. Lots of copies of LO evidently have problems with the game freezing minutes into the fourth chapter. Including mine.
I'm working through Fallout 3. It's alright. Not the best game ever made like everyone would have you believe.
-
Here's to five more, then!
I don't know that I have much of a story of when I became a geek - like Preston, I think it's just always been in my blood.
-
Death: The High Cost of Living #1: Death is probably one of my favorite characters in the Sandman continuity, period. This is also being turned into a movie, so I thought it was worth a look.
Don't think much of our main male character; don't find him all that deep, still at that stage of being a teenager where he's really whiny. Mad Hettie and Death, though, and their interactions with the world around them are incredibly intriguing and well-written.
You pretty much nailed what Gaiman was going for with that character, and it gets addressed as the series plays out. That mini is one of my all-time favorites, but it does have something of a slow start. Maybe the peak of Chris Bachalo's career, too... just fantastic stuff.
Didn't care nearly as much for The Time of Your Life, though.
-
Dark Avengers #1 (Second Printing) - A lot better than I expected, it was actually somewhat fascinating to watch the pieces fall into place for these guys. I love that there are enough mirror-image villains out there to make this concept fly, although I still don't think it's got the legs for more than a dozen issues. For now, though, Osborn alone makes for tremendous material alone and the series rides routinely on his coattails. Deodato's artwork took some getting used to, and is actually the reason I skipped this issue the first time it hit the shelves, but I was feeling it by the last page. The team's transition to power and immediate public acceptance is a tough pill to swallow (it's actually still jammed halfway down my throat) but otherwise this was enjoyable enough.
7/10
New Avengers #50 - Billy Tan's artwork gets worse by the minute, and none of the extras they've brought in to help him for this anniversary issue offer any kind of an improvement. After getting used to Deodato's rendition of Daken as a lean, prolific figure in Dark Avengers, Tan's take on the character here as a barrel-chested carbon copy of dear ol' dad would've been funny if it weren't so pathetic. I wish I could say Bendis's story fared any better. This book is like a case study for all the things he's been doing wrong lately; weak characterization, a heavy emphasis on heroes standing around and shooting the shit in full uniform, herky jerky pacing and a big lack of consequence. A misleading cover, ten pages' worth of Avengers loitering before their TV set and another nasty showing from the visual team - yeah, I wish I hadn't bought it.
2/10
Also, two contributions to IIWY?: Dynamo5 #0 and X-Factor #39
Comics: 39, TPB: 5
-
I can't bear to watch this show any more.
-
The awesome video thread
in Banter
Posted
I'm pretty sure