elnino14

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Everything posted by elnino14

  1. I've read a crap ton since I was last on here. I'll do my best to just hit the highlights. First the x-universe stuff: Matt Fraction's X-men (including Lovelorn, Utopia, Nation X, Birth of Generation Hope) - Ed Brubaker's X-men left me cold (even if I though Rise and Fall of Shiar was fun), Fraction's also left me cold, mostly. There's a bunch of events scattered in between this, but they all feel meaningless. Mind you I like the focus on Cyclops in these stories and I like Cyclop's evolution from just soldier boy to this general/prime minister/dictator of the mutant race. Magneto's return into the X-fold is also pretty interesting here. But mostly every body else comes and goes, I could hardly tell you who played important roles in what books and what happened. It's mostly cannon fodder. Nothing special, kind of just there. We'll see if Kieron Gillien can handle the characters any better, well at least until everything gets eaten up by Avengers vs. X-men. I've grown to really like Hope in her appearances throughout all the books. X-men Legacy by Mike Carey (Divided He Stands, Sins of the Father, Original Sins, Salvage, Emplate, Colission, Age of X, Aftermath): I'm a tale of two halves with Carey. The stuff before Messiah Complex, I didn't care for at all, as a matter of fact, I actively disliked. But his exploration of Professor X in the three books after Messiah Complex are really good. Easily the best stuff he's done with the X-universe in his run. It plays into the earlier looks that Brubaker began to explore in Deadly Genesis and just picks apart the man, critiques the character to it's core. And it's very awesome. But after Rogue returns, it's not nearly as good. It kind of just moves from place to place and feels like the main X-book with a different core group of characters (Rogue being the main, obviously, along with Magneto, and Legion). Age of X was a fun little story that echoes classics like Days of Future Past and Age of Apocalypse but fails to be as earth-shattering. To the purpose of the story it's very confined and feels very similar to the main X-books and I think that's kind of the point. I'll try and finish out Carey's run (there's only two more trades) but generally I've grown weary. X-force vol. 3 and Sex and Violence: I REALLY liked the first half of the Kyle and Yost's X-force run, but this is the point they get pulled into all kinds of other crap and begin to tying into some crap events. Messiah War was blah, I liked seeing the Hope and Cable relationship in the one-shots that were available it gave a great idea into their bond. But everything else seemed like treading water. And while the Sex and Violence mini was fun, it was completely different in tone to what came before. X-23 gets some great moments here though that follow the threads that came before. I hardly remember what happened to Rahne and I was really enjoying her developments here. X-Necrosha: Gosh I hated this, I was just BORED by it all. And was upset that this was the climax to a lot of plot threads that were started in a book I was really enjoying and was forced to derail. It was hard to tell what was going on, it was hard to care because I didn't know most of the characters coming back from the dead and ultimately it's a shit climax that should have been confined to the stories of one book (X-force) and not brought up all the other X-books. X-men Second Coming: I actually enjoyed this. I still stand by what I said previously, but Bastion always seemed way bigger than just X-force to handle (Selene and Eli Bard story should have had a better climax). I really enjoyed this one, was it better than the last event involving Hope, no, but very enjoyable and entertaining. In the end this was a good send off for a couple of characters, and pretty well put together. I liked the building tension between Wolverine/Hope/Cyclops. That'll be great to see later. I love Namor as a supporting character in these X-books. In the end, it probably amounted to less in the large scheme of things, but that's comics always ending with "to be continued..." Schism: Prelude: Whatever. It tried to be a character study but seemed totally off balanced in the direction they were going in for Wolverine and Cyclops. I'm pretty much caught up to Schism at this point. I (regrettably) ordered an X-men vs. Avengers book. So I'll read through that, but I'm already getting X-fatigue. Secret Avengers vol. 1-2 by Ed Brubaker, and Fear itself Secret Avengers: I like Brubaker on Captain a lot, but this was severely disappointing. In the end I didn't care and it wasn't fun. I'll get one more volume just because I love Warren Ellis, but after that I'm pretty much done with Avengers books, unless Remender and Hickman can breathe some life back into the franchise. One thing consistent is that Ant Man is still fun. Secret Warriors vol 1-6 by Hickman: I enjoyed this quite a bit, it felt like a Bond story in the Marvel Universe. I liked the lessons taught to the younger characters, I like how smoothly everything flowed from one section to the next (except for the misstep on the Dark Reign crossover). But it felt logical all the way through. I loved the beginning characterization of Nick Fury as a man who doesn't have a war, as a man who is not relevant in this new world any more, and as a character who just CAN'T and WON'T accept that. The minor characters all get their time as well although it's mostly just snippets they're well-crafted snippets. I liked this one a lot Next up: Animal man vol. 1 by Lemire, Swamp Thing vol. 1 by Snyder, Young Liars vol 1-3, X-men Schism, Next year I'm planning to go through the Cosmic universe (Annihilation/Annihilation Conquest/Nova/Guardians of the Galaxy/etc.). Should be fun.
  2. Fantastic Four by Hickman vol. 1-4, FF vol. 1: So I've read some of the greatest runs of the modern Fantastic Four and found that the FF aren't something I'm really interested in, in general. Sure Hickman here has some crazy plots and the concept of the future foundation is interesting, but still, I always feel like I'm just reading to read, more than being invested in what's actually happening. Hickman's FF stories (and Millar) in particular have a great sense of disconnect as they're so focused on how much plot and high-concept they can juggle, also the plots are overarching, making it very difficult to read as each tpb comes out 6 months at a time. There's obviously some kind of over-arching plotline here, some meta plot Hickman is developing, but it's difficult to follow with extended breaks every so often. X-men Second Coming: This story works on so many levels, it's bombastic, fast paced, exciting, and feels earth shattering. It's exactly what an X-cross over should be without losing sight of the story they are trying to tell and without being overly long. While I didn't enjoy it as much as I did on previous reads, I still really enjoy certain elements, including the formation of X-Force, Madrox and Layla time-hopping, and Cyclops outing Professor X from the Mansion. X-men by Brubaker/Matt Fraction (Divided We Stand, Manifest Destiny): Brubaker's run on X-men has left me mostly cold and Fraction's run on X-men starts the same way. Honestly can't remember much of these books, enjoyable, but severely forgettable. Fraction brings Pixie to the forefront of his first arc, and it's cool to see a lot of development for a third tier character in a main book, but the rotating cast, pretty much guarantees that shell be relgated to the background in the next book. The only one who's consistent in their continuous build of character is Cyclops and it's welcomed. Solid stories but they're also stories that I've already forgotten about. X-Force vol. 1 -2 by Yost & Kyle: Really enjoyed this book, the brooding, dark, and mature themes of dealing with violence within yourself and the scars that committing violence makes upon your soul was super intriguing to me. The artwork is over the top with blood and guts flowing everywhere. I have enjoyed the characters in other books, Rahne is a character I've enjoyed in X-factor, and Warpath is one of the characters that stood out to me in Brubaker's run on X-men. The first arc was a bit better than the second, Warpaths run-in with a demon bear and Ghost Rider was kind of goofy to me but I liked the other half with Angel having anger management issues basically. Johnathon Hickman: Pax Romana, Red Wing - Johnathon Hickman is no doubt a fantastic writer, but I found his writing on these independent books far sharper than his writing on mainstream characters. His high concepts provide unique backgrounds for fantastic stories, and while Pax Romana doesn't really have any great characters per say, the story was something I was just amazed by, an excellently build story with fantastic themes that shook me in a way that his work on FF never did. Red Wing also has high concept but develops into a more human story, it doesn't hit quite as hard as Pax Romana but still quite fantastic. Up Next: More of Fraction's X-men (Lovelorn, Utopia, Nation X), Carey's X-men Legacy, and Second Coming
  3. Chase TPB: Solid. Chase seems like a very early version of Jessica Jones in Alias. Unfortunately there's a lot of crap material sprinkled in here. The opening issue from Detective Comics is not very good and all the back end material after the series was canceled is really pretty crappy. The issues from the actual Chase series though are pretty good, though a little uneven. The character arc of Chase going from pretty boldly hating everything to do with superhumans to reluctantly accepting them by the end isn't naturally progressive, it kind of stutters. The stories are fun and entertaining and I can see why it became a cult classic, but it just seemed like it was laying the foundations for others to do it better (Alias). Red Skull Incarnate: I picked this up because I was pretty heavily reading Captain America at the time, and I felt this was a good companion piece. It's an interesting look into the mind of a sociopath growing up in Nazi Germany. It's a very well researched story and very different than what I expected. It's more cerebral than I was expecting and a very serious take on what's usually a pretty over the top villain. My biggest issue is that a lot of the big decisions seemed to come out of nowhere. Maybe I didn't notice but especially the decision to join the Nazi party seemed to come out of left field, especially after all the build up. 7/10 Astonishing Spider-man and Wolverine: A thoroughly inconsequential yet zany, crazy take on the team up. Nothing matters here, but that fact doesn't matter. This is pure indulgent comic book, everything in here is comic booky, from time travel to the banter, to the villains. The conclusion is a little anti-climactic but the message that these polar opposites who hate each other, don't really respect each other, but still are friends. 7/10 Uncanny X-men by Brubaker (Deadly Genesis, Rise and Fall of the Shiar Empire, Extremists): A very average run that has some big changes to not only the X-universe but also the Marvel cosmic world. I'll say it right now Vulcan is like a child having a fit, reminds me a lot of Sentry actually. Anyways, Brubaker does some fun stuff here, especially with his established characters, he continues the characterization of Xavier as someone who has a dark past and has done some pretty f'd up stuff, he makes Warpath into a badass (certainly helped by the artist on Rise and Fall), there's (new?) character named Korvus who is basically wolverine in space and he's fun, and Havoc gets to be a leader again. Most of the good stuff is in Rise and Fall, which I thought was a pretty fun space epic, not fantastic, but I had a lot of fun with it, the rest is more below average. Oh yeah and Darwin is introduced here as well, it's good to see his origins, it makes him a bit more rounded for when I continue to read X-factor. Deadly Genesis: 6/10 Rise and Fall: 7/10 Extemists: 4/10 X-men Supernovas and Blinded by the Light by Mike Carey: I was really disappointed by this. I heard Carey's run on X-men: Legacy was pretty good, and this is the precursor to that run but it's just not good at all. While usually I like B-teams, heck my favorite team book is X-factor, nothing is done with this team, they're kind of just put through what seem like pretty typical X-men plots and melodrama with even some really unlikely pair ups (Iceman and Mystique, really?). It's an interesting team but not characterization is done here for me to care about the characters and it ends up being a mess of plots I couldn't get into. And Blinded by the Light was just a big Messiah Complex prequel. Supernovas: 3/10 Blinded by the Light: 3/10 Mark Millar's Fantastic Four: My search for a connection to the FF continued here with this run. I've been through quite a few runs and while a lot of stories were satisfying none of them made me stand up and say, these are/could be my favorite characters. Ugh. I didn't find it here. This whole thing just feels like Mark Millar trying to make the Fantastic Four into the ultimates. A lot of stuff is just throw shit at the wall and see what sticks. It's not bad, it's high concept, and it's definitely got some interesting plots, but pretty much no new light is shed on the FF characters and every big conflict seems to drag in the rest of the Marvel Universe. 1st tpb: 6/10 2nd tpb: 5/10 Dark Reign: Fantastic Four by Johnathon Hickman: This was more like it. I really enjoyed this arc, and while some of it feels goofy and added nothing (3 members get trapped in time), it was still fun. I really liked the characterization of Reed here, Hickman just gets Reed here and I really sympathized with him, he feels like the world is on his shoulders and that the splintering of the superhero community and for a short time, his family, was his fault. The kids are given some things to do and really stand up for themselves, it's obvious that the positive morals of standing up for family are leaking through into the next generation. They are kids, they act like kids, but everything here is done with joy and wonderment. I'm excited to see where this goes next, something I haven't been able to say very often when it comes to FF. 7.5/10 Up Next: More of Hickman's FF and X-men's Messiah Complex, Divided We Stand, and Manifest Destiny.
  4. Brubaker's Captain America (up to Trial of Captain America): So I read (and in terms of the first half, reread) Bru's Captain America. I had read through Man with No Face before, but never went beyond. I'll say generally that my knowledge of Captain America isn't the greatest, but Bru's run doesn't seem like the definitive Steve Rogers story, it seems like the definitive Bucky story. He doesn't do a ton of new stuff with Steve himself here, but he does a fantastic job of Steve's relationship with Bucky (the first few arcs), and that's what really let's it flow into the fantastic second act (Death of Captain America). Obviously everybody gushes about the Death of Captain America, and for good reason, it's a fantastic story about the icon of Captain America, his place in the U.S. and Red Skull's hidden stateside terrorism. The new stuff for me is the return of Steve (Road to Reborn, Reborn, Two Americas arcs) and while there were some crazy fantastical things happening in these stories (the giant robot in Red Menace and the consistent presence of the Cosmic Cube) it never got too crazy for me, it still seemed grounded, but Reborn took it to another level and kind of crossed the line of fantasticalness for me (the whole being trapped in time with no way of controlling his actions). I don't know why that was the line that crossed it but that whole Reborn story is probably my least favorite in the entire saga thus far. The continuing adventures of Bucky Cap were good, but they never reached the height that was reached during the Death arc. I really liked the Trial of Captain America and the idea that Bucky still feels responsible for his actions as Winter Soldier and is still trying to earn the redemption. Looking forward to see where he goes after the cliffhanger. Also it kind of sucks that Brubaker's stories get sucked into the main events, you could tell he's crafting his epic in spite of this, but they hinder the effect with the tie-in. Overall: Winter Soldier: 8.5 Red Menace: 8.5 Civil War tie in: 7.5 Death of Cap: 9.5 Man with No Face: 8.5 Road to.../Reborn: 6.5 Two Americas: 8 No Escape (Zemo): 7.5 Trial of Captain America: 8.5 Arkham City: This is a prequel to the video game (which I haven't played yet). It's sufficient and there's some interesting stuff going on, but honestly unnecessary. It's hard to craft a story that doesn't really have a clear narrative with a beginning middle and end. Sure it fills in some blanks on how Arkham got the way it is, it fills in some themes like the on-going gang wars (Peguin, Two Face, and Joker) are all vying for control. But it's got no ending and no clear purpose outside of filler plot moments that probably were explained in the game. Mark Waid's Fantastic Four: Fantastic Four is a book that I never REALLY got into, no matter who I read. I read a bit of Stan and Jack it's imaginative, but it all seems so dated now. I read Roberto Aguierre-Sacasa's run that ran parallel to Waid's run and while enjoyable (especially that fantastic first arc), it just never compelled me and lost a ton of steam way too quickly. Waid's run is one that I hear is one of the best (I've heard Hickman's run is another one worth checking out, I have some of his run but haven't read it yet), and there's a lot of good stuff here. Compared to Roberto's kind of down to earth, family oriented, character driven stories, Waid embraces the imagination and takes his character's some great places, confronts Reed with his failures and religion, amongst other things. All the main four characters are given a lot of time and a lot of great character beats, and Doom is as ruthless as he's ever been, but none of that takes a backseat to the adventures. Really there's a great few arcs in here (the first three), but once you hit the hereafter arc things get a little bogged down, especially since it deals with Ben in human form and by the end of that arc, it's like the status quo is back to normal. Also the frightful four arc absolutely sucks. I liked it but still, in the back of my head, I don't REALLY love the Fantastic Four like I do with Madrox, Daredevil, and to a lesser extent Bucky and Iron Man, they're not characters that I absolutely run to and desire to read about even when the quality of storytelling is super strong. By the end of this run, it was still strong reading, but I had just grown bored of the adventuring and the characters. Up Next: Red Skull Incarnate. Astonishing Spider-Man and Wolverine, Fantastic Four by Hickman Total: Brubaker's Captain America (up to Trial of Captain America), Arkham City, Mark Waid's Fantastic Four
  5. Is the X-foce/Cable crossover Messiah War a necessary read because it's becoming hard to find? I'll be picking these up one day soon as yours isn't the only recc for this that I've read, but originally when I read the first couple of issues, I was left wanting and was just really pissed off that they took Rahne out of X-factor.
  6. Haven't been around in a while, but I read a ton of books, some that I remember, some I don't. Ex Machina the Entire Series (TPBs 1-10) - This in NOT Y The Last Man amazing, unfortunately, BUT it IS good. The meta plot (which I don't want to spoil), like usual for a BKV story, is only hinted at and not the center of this story. But the center of this story, Mitchell Hundred's tenure as mayor sprinkled in with backstory from his superhero adventures, is crafted impressively. Mind you, I didn't think Mitchell Hundred has the most depth, at times, especially early on, he felt like a robot, with no actual depth, I thought the plots (of TPBs) were wrapped up quickly and were anti-climactic without any pro-active Mitchell activity, but as an overall character arc it's fascinating tragedy that you never see coming even though BKV warns you in the first page of the first issue. Again, the characters and the story, aren't as strong as Y the Last Man or Preacher, but something BKV was able to do the Garth Ennis wasn't in Preacher (and something I heard happened in Transmet with Ellis, but haven't read to see it for myself) is that he was able to separate himself from the Hundred character and not use the Hundred character as a platform to spout off his thoughts. Queen & Country - I've always liked Rucka, he's wrote solid stories in the Batman world and he's helped with an arc for Brubaker's run on Daredevil. But this (and maybe Gotham Central) is really his defining story. The best way to describe this is a mix between Bourne Identity (in terms of it being a spy thriller), The Wire (in terms of the detail, and the exploration of things usually not seen, as in the minute day to day, the hierarchical bureaucratic politics or running an organization), and a mix of Alias (nuanced, Female Character). It's follows the real world spy game, it's dirty and grimy, and people die, friends die, and people are affected by these things. The Tara Chace character is flawed, nuanced, and full of life, obviously her story is one of the driving forces of the series. You care about her, and you want to see her work her life out. My biggest issue, is there is no real ending (maybe in the novels, which I do plan to read as I go along a second re-read of this series in the future), and the continuity is strong in terms of characters, but from operation to operation artists change and with that comes their interpretation of the Q&C world and sometimes each operation could be read on its own. I love the main characters, I didn't care for some of the declassified stories and the ordering is especially awkward as some of the declassified stories deal heavily with the current operations, and the novels take place between operations as well. Overall excellent main characters and an excellent attention to detail and realism. A welcome change of pace, and a must for anybody who loves spy thrillers. Bullseye: Perfect Game - I don't remember much about these books, but the general feeling was that I liked it. I've always liked the Bullseye character as while shades of gray is great, sometimes it's just fun to have someone just be sadistic and evil for the sake of evil...that's Bullseye, he's a murdering dick and proud of it. These issues look at one of his assassinations, one that's gone under the radar, the framing device is fantastic and I really like it, it's all told in flashback by someone who's not Bulleye, but the flashbacks retains everything that makes the title character who he is. It's an inconsequential, but fun read. Daredevil Father, Daredevil NOIR - Daredevil is my favorite character, but these two stories didn't do much for me. I'm sure I thought they were okay, but they didn't leave any sort of lasting impression on me. Both of them have things that I both like and hate, the art in Father is quite amazing, and truly makes Daredevil an enigma (not a charismatic one), someone to be feared. The story though leaves a little to be desired and goes on for a little long. The worst part about it is the throwing in of a whole slew (team)of new superheroes where only one (or two) could have served the purpose and maybe have had more focus. Noir is short and succint, fun for it's elseworlds style, but it's even more inconsequential than Bullseye: Perfect Game was, and I remember even less of it. Fantastic Four: Four Books of Doom - I'm not a consistent FF reader and I don't know why because I've liked a lot of it. I've read some Lee, first hardcover of Waid, the stuff before and during the Civil War, the first 6 trades of Ultimate FF, and am interested in checking out Hickman's. The thing is I've never LOVED any of it but I've always LOVED the DOOM character. This exploration of his origin was something that I truly enjoyed, it really showed the foundation and machinations of this fascinating character and that's exactly what I wanted. It's a great book and even though it lacks the twist and turns because of it's origin story structure, it's still a lot of fun to see the blanks filled in on this character, and Brubaker gives us a pretty definitive origin here. Decimation: Son of M - As much as house of M was a cross-over story, I think that stand-out character, even though he didn't do much was Quicksilver. I was always interested in what happened to Quicksilver after House of M and part of that is here. The other part is his appearances in Peter David's X-Factor, but while the majority of it goes into that, the other half, is meant to set up an Inhumans crossover called Silent War. Now I really liked Jenkin's 12-issue Inhumans trade/story and they've never been done better than in there. There's some really crazy plot devices being used here as Quicksilver's mutant powers well...mutate... The book spotlights Quicksilver, obviously, and his desire to get his powers back and win back his family, his arc is pretty defined with a beginning and a middle, and while the book has an ending to the Quicksilver / his daughter and Crystal relationship story, it's still a cliffhanger about the Inhumans, and Quicksilver himself. I enjoyed it, but it's still a middle section to two stories (House of M, The Son of M, and Quicksilver's appearances in X-factor trilogy and Inhumans, Son of M, Silent War trilogy, these aren't defined by anybody else, just by me as that's how I see these stories). Really interesting take on Quicksilver here, as he continues his downward spiral. Aztek: The Ultimate Man - I don't read a ton of Morrison and I never buy into the hype, his madcap stylings usually turn me off and confuse me. But I've enjoyed his superhero work. Even this one, it doesn't go too far into the crazy and stays comfortable in the superhero stylings. It's a solid superhero adventure. I don't remember much, outside of the fact that I enjoyed it. I heard this is a precursor to Morrison's JLA as Aztek looks to play a role there, I may revisit it before I begin reading Morrison's JLA run (which I got all 6 tpbs for $12, including this, and Ultramarine Corps . No Earth-2 though ). UP NEXT: Bendis' New Avengers 1-13 Avengers: Kree/Skrull War JLI vol 1-5(6?)
  7. RE: Killing Darwin - In my opinion Shaw seemed pretty racist, even when he was giving his speech to the young mutants he was talking about how humans hate you and blah blah, and at one point he says "enslave" or "enslaved" and the camera cuts directly to Darwin as if Shaw speaking directly to him. So I could totally see Shaw looking down upon Darwin, who was also the first to speak up, wasn't he? True, Angel wasn't particularly "Aryan" but Angel had gone willingly with his ideals. RE: Magneto taking up "Shaw's" Ideals - Throughout the movie you always had a feeling about how Magneto felt about his powers, about being a mutant, in the end it just really hit home. The whole taking up of ideals is just to show that Magneto has come full circle, in many ways he's become the people he's hated so much, he's moved from victim to oppressor. There is still one key difference between the two, Shaw was much more megalomaniacal, the mutant pro-propaganda he spouted was all just so HE could have more power, you kind of get the feeling that he doesn't really give a shit about other mutants as much as he gives a shit about himself, his power (figuratively, as in not his mutant power), and his ego. On the other hand I feel like Erick really cares about the mutant community. RE CONTINUITY: For my opinion, I really enjoyed the movie, yeah, some of the continuity is irksome, but the movies core of Magento and Erik relationship, along with some strong supporting characters of Beast and Mystique, were pretty ace I felt. I can see how continuity issues pull people out of the story, but I ignored it and enjoyed the movie for what it was, which was a damn fine superhero spectacular. Maybe the best X-men movie, and possibly the best Marvel movie. Definitely the most mature and deepest of all the Marvel films. Now to play with the continuity, on some I provide a solution in how we it can be fix in First Class sequel, and some others it's just explanations. The explanations are purely speculation, and not drawn from the films, but it's fun to think about.: Some of the answers I got are from this
  8. Got a few more books in over the past month. Ultimate Iron Man 1 and 2 by Orson Scott Card: Didn't like it. Both books have pacing issues and framed completely different (Book 1 jumps time to the most important parts of Stark life, including before his birth, Book 2 takes place over a couple of months at most), and the first one ends on a complete cliffhanger. The book changes the origin and while that is intriguing there's really nothing else interesting holding it together. The main plot is kind of boring, and the relationships are weird. It's fine but man it lacks depth. Ultimate Iron Man: Armor Wars by Warren Ellis - With Ultimate Human, Ellis writes my favorite Ultimates book (and I was intrigued by Ultimate Galactus), here Ellis returns to Iron Man and produces something solid. It's got a solid plot with Stark tracking down variants of his armor sold to terrorists, it's a fun little book with lots of stuff going on, and you think it's pretty fluffy, but that last scene in the book, spins the book on its head and gives it all a different look. Unfortunately it's weighed down a little by all Jeph Loeb's Rapture on the Ultimate Universe and it recalls a few things from that, but Ellis (and a previously on) gives you everything you need to know to read this book. Ellis gets to play with Stark and gets to use all the techno babble that he likes so much, and he entwines it with witty banter and a solid globe-trotting adventure. Not the best book from one of my favorites, but a fun read, especially in the post Ultimatun environment. Iron Man: Rapture - Not very good, I didn't really enjoy this one much at all. It just seems slapdash, another man vs. machine book that's very "been there, done that." The beginning stars off well enough, but it just devolves in my opinion as it goes along. Rhodey and Pepper play big roles in this one, sometimes bigger than the title character, and the story is completely forgettable. There's some awful twists and turns along the way, and it just plods along most times. Essential Fantastic Four vol. 1: Stan and Jack's first 20 issues, yes it's dated, yes it's goofy and hokey, but the imagination on display and the creation of all these characters is amazing. The amount of ideas present here is astounding and they just keep flying at the page, sometimes too much. The stories are fun, sure there's too much dialogue on the page, there's a lot of cramming, but that's how these stories were done those days. There's a lot of repetitiveness reading them back to back and by the end it got kind of boring, but in general it was a lot of fun taking a look at these early stories. I'm going to skip volume 2 because my library doesn't have it and plus it's mostly cross-over stories with other characters, sure I'm missing some great issues (like the Dr. Doom origin in the big annual issue, the Hulk vs. Thing issue, and the Battle of the Baxter building, I only know because I read summaries of the issues in the second volume) but I get to the big famous stories quicker in vol. 3 which I heard is the pinnacle of Stan and Jack's run. Ex Machina vol. 1-3 by Brian K. Vaughan: I'll go on record saying that Y The Last Man is probably my favorite comic book series of all time, so my love for Vaughan is on display (at least for that series, Pride of Baghdad is amazing too, but I could take or leave Runaways). As for Ex Machina, it's no Y, heck it doesn't match up to other favorites like Planetary, Preacher, or Sleeper, but it's pretty darn good. Vaughan mixes politics and superheroics pretty flawlessly and rarely uses his characters to be soapboxes for his own political ideologies, which even some of the best writers can't avoid. Vaughan spins a pretty good yarn thus far, has some decent characters, even if they are a little flat and lack the pop that makes a truly magnificent series. His dialogue is spot on and his stories are very well paced thus far. I am quite fond of the Kremlin character, he was a highlight of vol. 1 and when he disappeared for vol. 2 the quality went down tremendously in my opinion. Mitchell Hundred is a bit boring and kind of a blank slate, he hard to get into as a character and it's hard to feel for him. Vaughan is best when he's playing Mitchell Hundred off of his supporting characters. The other big problem is that some of the stories (especially the first volume) have anti-climactic conclusions. Vaughan never juggles one plot at a time, he constantly has an A Plot and a less important going side by side. Usually the A Plot is the big plot (murders, terrorist activities) that takes up most of the issue and the B Plot is the political issue (Gay Marriage, Controversial art, etc...). I think he plays with the idea of superheroes in a post 9/11 world very well, he does well with the realistic world and solutions but I think the themes need to come to the forefront more. They never got better than when Kremlin and Mitchell were arguing about what it truly means to be a hero in the shadow of ground zero. I'm waiting for more of that. So far really enjoyable but hardly one of the greats, and sometimes hardly memorable.
  9. Hey guys, I need some thoughts on a few different books/runs that I've been interested in. So comments on the following: MARVEL Captain America (After Man With No Face arc, I have Bru's run through that arc): So basically thoughts on the Road to Reborn saga and beyond...also any thoughts on Brubaker's Steve Rogers Super Soldier Mini? Moon Knight: I'm talking about both the original run collected in Essentials and Charlie Huston/Mike Benson's Five Trade Run? I've never read Moon Knight before. I'm not all that familiar with the character but I heard both these runs are the definitive take on the character. Generally I gravitate towards grounded, street level characters/ dark characters with my two favorites being Daredevil and Batman, and this seems like it's in the same vein. Fantastic Four: Stan Lee's Fantastic Four Run John Byrne's Fantastic Four Run Hickman's Fantastic Four I've read the beginning of Waid's run and enjoyed it, also enjoyed what I read in the Ultimate run (about the first 6 volumes). But I heard these following runs are the definitive runs. Mainly it's sparked by my interest in Cosmic universe. Mainly interested in Lee's run but thoughts on the other definitive run and the current run I'd like to hear them. I would add Millar's run in there but I'm beginning to find myself not liking anything he's ever done. Cosmic Marvel: Basically all the major things from Cosmic Marvel...I've never read Cosmic Marvel before, but like I said my interest has recently been sparked. Both Classic - Death of Captain Marvel Rebirth of Thanos As in the Infinity Crossovers (Infinity Gauntlet/War/ and Crusade) and Modern - Annihilation and Anni Conquest, Nova Guardiands of the Galaxy War of Kings Realm of Kings Thanos Imperative Ed Brubaker's X-men: Deadly Genesis and Rise and Fall of the Shiar Empire: As in they're part of the Cosmic event universe. DC Giffen's JLI/JLE Morrison's JLA Harley stories (Mad Love, Preludes and Knock Knock Jokes) Gotham City Sirens Gotham Central The Question - both the old and new John's Green Lantern
  10. My March and April and reading: Spider-man Gauntlet: Lizard and Grim Hunt: I don't read Spidey consistently but the Gauntlet had me intrigued (I really haven't read much since JMS' run, flipping through New Ways to Die and American Son). I finished up the spider-man Gauntlet, with the last one being Lizard. The entire Gauntlet was a lot of fun, but the Lizard story was on another level, not only was it fun, it was really good as well. Probably one of the best Spidey stories I've read in a long while. They play Lizard a bit differently, with Lizard being played more like Hulk, than like just an animal. Connors is of course a tragic character, and it sucks to see how far he's fallen. Fantastic story. Grim Hunt, was another great story and a semi-sequel to my favorite Spidey story of all time Kraven's Last Hunt. It deals with a lot of different elements, not only does it deal with the Kraven family, but with the Spider-family as well, including Kaine, Mattie Franklin, Aracne (sp), Madame Web, and another. It's a really harrowing look at just how messed up the Kraven family is. I enjoyed it, but it certainly doesn't stand alone like Kraven's Last Hunt, and it's definitely not anywhere as great as that story was. Still some great stories in a Spidey-verse that I don't care about much. Now I'm probably going to go back to ignoring Spider-man for a while. Ultimates 1 & 2 by Mark Millar This didn't jive with me this time. I loved this series before, but now...my goodness, I don't care for this much at all. Everybody is either an asshole (Fury, Cap, Hawkeye, Wasp, only Iron Man is Supposed to be an asshole, maybe Clint too) or shown to be pathetic (Hank Pym, Bruce Banner, Thor...before he proved he was awesome...twice!). I like how the book talks about politics and uses superheroes in a real world/slightly futuristic setting but I'm not able to get behind a single one of the characters. The art is beautiful and I have it in two large hardcovers and it's a beauty to look at, but the story doesn't do much for me anymore. Ultimate Galactus Trilogy I don't know what it is, but I like this book. The first arc, Ultimate Secret, is really good, creates a super foreboding atmosphere and really plays up the terror of this "thing" coming to destroy Earth. The next two arcs aren't nearly as good, but still enjoyable to an extent. Warren Ellis gets to play with his all his techno-babble in this one while creating his story. I actually liked it, it was a good mix of earthly story and cosmic story. The story doesn't mesh fantastically but I enjoyed seeing how these earthly superheroes deal with a crisis way larger than any of them. It actually piques my interest in reading some Marvel Cosmic...something I've never even thought about before. Next I'm going to read Ex Machina, I have the entire series in trade now... and Y the Last Man is my favorite comics book ever, so I hopefully Vaughan has another great story to tell me.
  11. I read everything in trades so this is a bit harder for me. I've got some catching up to do. Day 1 - Your Favourite Comic (Ongoing, Current) I was going to say Daredevil but I haven't read anything from Diggle's run yet. So it'll have to be... X-factor by Peter David is a book I consistently enjoy, except for the awful Secret Invasion arc. I haven't read the last two trades, so I don't know how it is right now, but unless it completely jumped the shark, I'll probably still enjoy it. Favorite Comic (All-time) This is a little easier... Just love this book. Absolutely love it. Day 2 - Your Least Favourite Comic (Ongoing, Current) I usually don't read stuff I don't like. So this is a weird one for me. Probably... Amazing had a good run of some fun stories, some middling, with the Gauntlet and Grim Hunt, but outside of that, it hasn't really done much for me for a long while. I didn't care for JMS run all that much, outside of the coming out to Aunt May arc and the Civil War arc, and ever since they retconned Pete's marriage, nothing really clicked for me. I checked out the Gauntlet and liked it. But everything with new villains like Jackpot, and Anti-Venom, none of it works for me. Mainly it's a shame because I can't get into Spider-man anymore, like at all. And he used to be my favorite character, the one I couldn't wait to read more of. I don't know if it's me or not. But Spidey doesn't interest me anymore. Oh and the Hulk...I never liked the Hulk but I would read the good stuff (Planet Hulk was fun, read some of Peter David's work). Damn, Loeb did a number on that one. Day 3 - Your Favourite Comic (Limited series) Oh God this is fucking hard. Someone already said Batman: Year One, Watchmen, and Nextwave...so I'll go with something different... How about: Ultimate Human...One of the best things to come out of the Ultimate Universe, arguably, the best thing to come out of that universe. OH and there is a not very well known mini called Daredevil Redmption by David Hine that really took me by surprise and was quite excellent, you could probably find it for cheap, and it is absolutely one of the best blind buys I've ever made. Oh and I have to mention this one: Madrox is one of my favorite characters, a lot of it has to do with this mini. Day 4 - Your Least Favourite Comic (Limited Series) Going to have agree, Ultimates 3 and Ultimatum...fuck that shit. And for something different... Seriously, too long, and an absolutely let-down after all the hype, pomp, and circumstance around it. I still enjoy/ed the New Avengers book, and even the tie-in issues related to this mini, the mini itself was awful, badly paced, too long, and just not a very good story. Day 5 - A Comic That Reminds You of Someone My best friend love Hulk, absolutely loves Hulk. I don't really like Hulk, but Planet Hulk and especially World War Hulk got us talking about comics again, that we both enjoyed. Day 6 - A Comic That Reminds You of Somewhere Day 7 - A Comic That Reminds You of Your Past Both of these are the same for me...J.M. DeMatteis run on Spectacular Spider-man in the 90's was one of my first introductions to comic books (in comic book form, we'd already had X-men and Spidey cartoons on TV). My dad got me a 12-month subscription and that was the run I got. I loved those comics, it was actually a really good run, more Kraven stuff, return of Norman Osborn, among other things. So it reminds me of my youth and my dad's old house before he my first younger sister (half-sister). Also X-men #1, It reminds me of my elementary school, with my good friends all talking about the animated series, and planning a movie 5-7 years before it was ever released, some ideas from those casting talks: Collossus = Arnold, Gambit = Jean Claude Van Damme, and Professor X = "That bald guy from Star Trek" (none of us could remember his name, and a couple of our Trek friends would remind us, Patrick Stewart). Day 8 - The Comic You Can Quote Best I can't really quote any comics, but I do remember some lines from this one: One of my favorite trades ever. Day 9 - A Comic With Your Favourite Character (Male) Easy... Day 10 - A Comic With Your Favourite Character (Female) Again, pretty easy...I don't have a lot of favorite female characters: Day 11 - A Comic By Your Favourite Writer It's so hard to pick a favorite writer...A lot of writers do things that I love and that I hate. But ever since Bendis stopped doing gritty, dark works and focused more on big Avengers stories. I'd probably have to go with this guy: I mean Sleeper, Criminal, Incognito, and also getting me to love Cap and Iron Fist...this man is awesome. Day 12 - A Comic By Your Least Favourite Writer Okay Loeb has written a lot of terrible shit recently but he also wrote decent Batman stories and the Color series in Marvel (Hulk: Gray, Spider-man: Blue, Daredevil: Yellow). We've already covered how crappy Hulk and Ultimates are because of him. He's probably my least favorite writer going now, I don't like any of his stuff outside of Daredevil: Yellow and maybe Hush. But I don't want to retread him over again, he's been lambasted plenty. The more and more I read from this man...even stuff that I used to like...the more and more I don't like his stuff... Mark Millar is a fucking great hype machine... but almost of all of his works come out disappointing me. Nemesis, Kick-Ass, and Wanted, all stuff I tried to read but couldn't. Marvel 1985, Marvel Knights Spider-Man, Wolverine Enemy of the State/Agent of Shield, Ultimates 1 & 2, I read them all and even liked them at some point, but I'm not sure if I like any of them the second time (or third time) I read them. They all come across as just loud and stylish with no substance. I don't hate the man, he's got me to buy his stuff many times over, but every time I come back to it, I'm like why did I like this again? Oh and another man: Okay, so let me get this straight, I don't hate Morrison either. I actually like his major Super-hero works (that I've read: New X-men, All Star Super-man, Batman and Son), but it's all his other stuff, that's the stuff I don't like. I thought Animal Man was okay, Invisibles I couldn't understand, and Seven Soldiers was a mess in my eyes. I don't like this stuff. I don't like this stuff. It just didn't work for me.
  12. I have the first volume, been meaning to pick up the other two. But for about £16 a volume, it's pretty damn good value. What are you waiting for, it's like the best run ever (of course I'm biased, I absolutely love DD) Are you talking about the Ultimate collections? I was going to say, because those Harcover Omnibuses are mighty pricey. I have the Trades, all 10 of them or so. Such a fucking awesome run.
  13. The more you play it, the more you grow to completely despise the single player experience of the game. The game is just soo boring. I got it when it came out played through the single player, had a couple multiplayer matches and then couldn't wait to get rid of it. I'm super interested in ALL Stars, I really hope it doesn't let me down. The demo is fun as hell.
  14. Theatrical or Director's Cut? If it's the former, I recommend the latter for comparison. Seconded! I didn't like the Theatrical but I think the Director's Cut is actually a solid film. But then again Daredevil is like my favorite super hero ever.
  15. Jesus where'd you get that? It must have cost you a fortune, considering at least one of them are out of print?
  16. So in January I read J.M.S's Thor run. February, I read mostly Ed Brubaker's Criminal. I really enjoyed it and I liked the short story feel for each one. It's a refreshing change of pace from the long-form 20-60 issue storytelling. I liked how there's some little crossovers that only fans or people who are paying attention would notice, but each volume could be read on it's own as it's own story. The Lawless story just had the perfect pacing and a really awesome main character, it's made even better by the volume preceding and especially by the volume following. Rated from Best to Least Best (because let's be honest, even the worst book in this series was pretty good): 1. vol. 2 - Lawless 2. vol. 3 - The Dead and the Dying 3. vol. 1 - Coward 4. vol. 4 - Bad Night I think there's a vol. 5 but I don't own it. I should get it someday. OH and I also read some old-school Batman with Tales of the Demon some of the first Ra's Al Ghul stories, and some Superman book that sucked. In March I've been reading Spider-man: The Gauntlet. I read the first two volumes a couple of times already so I skipped those this time around. Now I'm reading vol. 3-5 with vol. 5 being the last in the Gauntlet series, I think. Some stories are better than others, some have some very bland elements, like Electro's political stance in vol. 1. But overall, they're fun, light-hearted, and humorous stories. All the stories are decent fun, none of them so far will blow you away or anything, but I've enjoyed them. I've got one more volume left of Gauntlet (vol. 5: The Lizard) and then it's off to Grim Hunt (which I should receive in my next DCBS shipment). I really thought the Rhino story (the two one-shots) was the best mix of all elements. Then...you know, it's probably time for another list: Rating the Gauntlet Stories: 1. Rhino 2. Sandman 3. Juggernaught (plus the reprinted story is really awesome, as well) 4. Scorpion 5. Morbius 6. Vulture 7. Mysterio 8. Electro After I finish off Gauntlet, I've got Fraction's Iron Man Omnibus and some Siege stories (Siege, New Avengers tie in, and Dark Avengers tie-in) that I want to read...I'll probably get to that for April. The Omnibus usually takes a couple of weeks, cause I read about an issue a night.
  17. Every single one since Goldeneye. I was severely disappointed in Quantum of Solace though.
  18. I just got done finishing the entire Thor Omnibus from J. Michael Straczynski, I read about a chapter (issue) a night. It was the first Thor I've ever read (outside of Millar's Ultimates) and I have to say, I think it's incredibly well written. There's a lot of moving pieces and it balances the humor, the regality, and the mythology quite well. I love that there's very little cross-over with the rest of the Universe it helps build up a stand-alone epic much easier. I thought the art was appropriately spectacular throughout the book, the full page splashes were used sparingly but super effectively. And I really enjoyed all the characters. I really liked it. BUT...where the fuck is the ending? I mean, I understand that it's a comic book that will be continuous, but a lot of writers will tie up some of the major plot threads of their arc (see DD from Miller, from Bendis, Mark Millar's run on Ultimates, Wolverine, and Spidey, and I'm sure there are numerous other examples). That doesn't happen here, it just kind of trickles off in the middle of the story. In fact, I'd say it left right at the climax. That really left a bad taste in my mouth. I want to see more, but the writers change, and I have no idea who Kieron Gillen is and how his run was. Anyways, anybody got any comments?
  19. I read a whole bunch of stuff from the library: Batman Snow (really good year one Batman story, I liked the art, and the story was clever and new for a batman story) Batman War Crimes (ahh the after-math of War Games, which I didn't read, but I got brought up to the story pretty quick, it's a pretty average story, par for the course, not actively bad, but not actively good either) Batman Broken City (I can't remember this very well, just disappointed because its by Azzarello and it had severely bad pacing and a medicore, convoluted story.) Batwoman: Elegy (Fucking fantastic!!! Beautiful Art, Heartbreaking story, I feel that everything was so alive in this book, I have to think about picking it up for my own collection) Mirrormask (Pretty decent children's story, kind of dark for a children's book, which I'm not even sure it was. Imaginative, like you usually get with Gaiman and a quick read. Ultimately I didn't understand the point of it all, and feel like I'm missing something. Want to check out how it translates to film.) Violent Cases (Don't remember much of it, outside of it being pretty good, but not something I'd buy). Vertigo Crime series Dark Entries (My first Constantine story, and man do I want more, this was really good, but those Hellblazer books are impossible to find). I've been re-reading through Bendis' Meta-marvel universe, along with a couple of major character runs. Last time I popped in here, I had finished Avenger's Disassembled, Secret War, and House of M. I also read the the Winter Soldier and Red Menace arcs of Brubaker's Captain America. Now I'm through the Civil War and on the road to Secret Invasion. It's been a long time, but I covered the following: New Avengers up to Civil War (TPB 1-4) Road to Civil War Civil War Captain America's Civil War trade New Avengers Civil War The Confession (part of New Avengers vol 3 HC) The first arc of New Avengers vol. 6 (With them going back to Japan to help out Echo) Iron Man: Director of SHIELD vol. 1 (from the library) Some thoughts: -So far the best part of this meta-story is something that was pretty much on the fringes and that's Brubaker's Captain America. If I keep anything from this, it'll be that. The Civil War Trade was a step down from earlier ones, but still serviceable side stories to the Civil War and let us spend time with that books supporting cast. The Winter Soldier one-shot is really, really good too. -New Avengers is a very divisive book, like much of Bendis' meta-marvel stuff. So far, I feel that the series is okay. When taken as the big blockbuster book it is, it can be fun, it can be quite enjoyable. And obviously you get a lot more out of it if you are following Bendis' big meta-arc. You see the little things that Bendis is doing, like reintroducing Sentry (in an arc that I kind of liked), building up Luke Cage as a prominent player, the playing up the Cap/Iron Man relationship, and the spider-woman subplot. He also ties up some left-over threads from House of M. So as a book with the purpose of pushing his larger marvel vision forward, it's actually not so bad. The one thing that doesn't really fit, is the Japan stuff, there are two arcs in Japan in the first 6 volumes, and I can't really see what the purpose of it all was outside of the reveal of Elektra as a Skrull at the end of vol. 6. - Road to Civil War - solid but forgettable stories that show the Iron/Man Spidey relationship and teasing the return of Thor. An Amazing story about the Illuminati, some great art-work and I love Namor's character in that book. -Civil War reads very choppy, not early on but in the later chapters, the flow is just really choppy and feels like somebody is jump-cutting from one scene into the middle of another scene in a movie, like you really NEED all those extra books to get a better flow. The art is nice, and I like the concept, but the trade doesn't read very well. -The Confession is easily the best thing that Bendis wrote in this entire story. It brings out the emotion that might have been missing in some of his earlier work. It's hard-hitting and truly heart breaking. -Like I said earlier, I didn't care for the first arc of New Avengers after Civil War, the plotting on the book is trying to be edgy instead it's a bit frustrating and awkward. I really liked the return of Hawkeye story with him searing for the Scarlet Witch, that was a really nice one-off story and really brought his arc full circle. Don't know about the new outfit and line-up, glad to see Iron Fist getting some love though. -Finally, Director of SHIELD actually builds off of the story in the Extremis book, which I haven't seen ANYWHERE, except in a short mention in Confession. I thought it was forgotten about. Anyways, I liked that they picked up where Extremis left off. The story itself had some pacing problems, but it's an interesting subter-fuge take on Iron man, and you can tell a lot of thought was put into it. I wouldn't recommend it at full price, as it didn't completely grab my attention but hopefully it's leading to something exciting in the second volume (also available at the local library). Up Next: All Star Superman vol. 1 - I usually NEVER read Supes, but this book has so much hype, and it's free (library), that I couldn't pass on checking it out. More Bendis' New Avengers, Illuminati, and Secret Invasion. Then my FIRST reading of the Death of Captain America Arc (vol. 1-3, and Man Without a face).
  20. The Bendis run on DD is one of my favorite runs EVER. I recently got the trade with the David Mack issues, it's called Wake Up, and it's really fucking hard to find but I didn't want to update since I had everything else in trade. It's absolutely great. And that's not just any reporter, that's Ben freaking Urich, he's the man who exposed Kingpin and Goblin and figured out Matt was Daredevil but never wrote a story about it. Looking at what's included, the next ultimate volume is just as good. After that it settles down, it's still amazing, but not as crazy as the first half. The only volumes I'm missing are the two trades with Echo. But from what I've heard, they're pretty skippable. Man I can't wait until I get to read Diggles' run, it's been a long while since I had some new DD. As for what I've been reading, I finished up Ultimate Spider-man, it's good and consistently entertaining, but I think as it went on, the high school stuff started to drag on for me. It was still a fun book and I like that they ramped up the superhero element in later volumes, it's just the lack of an overall purpose that comes with pretty self-contained arcs was started to put me off. Still every story was a pretty good story not all of them memorable, but the most memorable from the second half were the Carnage and Hobgoblin arcs. I have also been reading Alan Moore's Swamp Thing. Man, I've never read a horror comic before but this is really good. Not my favorite series ever and I'm not planning on keeping in the collection...but I really parts of this. The best stuff were the one off or two off stories. The larger arc was nothing to write home about and the interplanetary stuff near the end was garbage I thought. I also re-read Captain America Winter Soldier and Red Menace, I enjoyed it much more this time around. Although Winter Soldier stories were miles ahead of the Menace stories. It's a super-serious take on the Captain America mythos, and Bru delves into all aspects of that mythos, the superheroic, the patriotic, the spy thriller, the military, and the jumping through time. Red Menace sticks more into the present and doesn't play with as much, but I've grown to appreciate what this book does a lot more. This is a huge leap for me because I'm not Cap's biggest fan but I loved what Brubaker did with this series. I also re-read Avengers Disassembled, Secret War, and House of M. I really enjoyed Secret War a lot more this time around. House of M was a cool concept, and I like what they did with the Hawkeye character in this book. I'm not familiar with Hawkeye from before, but I enjoyed him in that book. I don't think Bendis' meta concept is as bad as others have made it out to be...but for me, I definitely enjoy the self-contained runs a lot more (shit, I love Daredevil, X-factor, Immortal Iron Fist, and now Captain America which try to stay pretty self contained).
  21. I bought Ultimate Spider-man vols. 1-21 from E-bay, so yeah. That's all I've been reading lately. I've gotten through the first 10 volumes since I bought this shit in late May. So here's my thoughts on each, with a ranking of what I liked from worst to best thus far. Mind you even at it's worst, Ultimate Spider-man is still Highly entertaining. Vol. 1: Power and Responsibility - This really doesn't hold up well. People know the origin of Spider-man by heart, and there's a TON of overlap with the first film here. Also this volume is incredibly long-winded. It's a good re-telling of the origin story, but kind of feels like a chore. Really it's not the plot that stands out, it's the characterization of Aunt May and Uncle Ben as hipper, younger parental figures and the immediate introduction of MJ as a good friend of Peter's that really stands out. Also the high-school experience that Bendis incorporates into his scripts, that almost everybody can relate to. I really hate the Ultimate version of Green Goblin, although the ultimate Norman retains some of the smarminess as the 616 version, it's not nearly as well written. Vol. 2: Learning Curve - I really like the Ultimate version of Kingpin, it doesn't stray too far from the regular version, but there's also a ton of changes. I remember the regular version being a lot more hands-on, while this Kingpin seems to stay as far away from that aspect as possible. The plot is a lot of fun in this volume as Peter deals with lingering issues from volume 1. Vol. 3: Double Trouble - the best part about this volume is that it introduces Gwen Stacy. I really feel like this plot is long-winded and kind of boring. Another character I didn't care for is the Ultimate Octopus. I didn't care for all the industrial espionage, that works fine in an Iron Man book with an older character and different responsibility, but not in a book that's basically about highschool. As much as I didn't like Octopus and the fights with Octopus, I liked how he's shown more to be a horror villain than a superhero villain in this book, that was a really interesting take. Bendis really tries to create these characters as black and white as possible, because the aim was for newer (probably younger) readers. But it's the characters that aren't obviously villains that seems to stand out to me more. Kraven as an entertainer is hilarious and fittingly anticlimactic. Vol. 4: Legacy - Norman Returns! And with him are long speeches. This is when the Spider-man book begins to merge with the larger Ultimate universe as Nick Fury appears. Also the characterization of Norman here is better, as he's more of a psychotic master manipulator like he is in the regular 616. Also a really nice call back to the original death of Gwen Stacy story and lots of great character moments. I'm not a fan of the Ultimate Goblin character and design, but I think Norman is great in this compared to his last showing. He's psychotic and Bendis is really pushing the idea that these monstrosities are doing it to themselves, and you can see it here with Goblin. The series really gets serious in this volume and it continues for the next couple volumes. Vol. 5: Public Scrutiny - The one shot involving Ultimate Rhino that begins this volume is awesome and a quick and humorous look at the Ultimate Spider-man series. It's a breath of fresh air after having a pretty serious ending to the last trade. Then the rest of the trade takes a very serious turn as Ultimate Spider-man is hated by the community, hunted by the cops, and Parker gets in deep shit that puts a lot of strain on all his relationships. It's one of the most well-crafted arcs I've read thus far, and has reverberations through the series felt for a long time, and really shows the complexity of Peter Parker's world and the careful crafting he has to do with every single choice. Vol. 6: Venom - Easily my favorite arc and my favorite re-visioning of a villain. Again a deeply tragic three trade arc as Peter deals with deadly consequences of his actions. Lots of great character moments in here for all the characters and a great balance between revitalizing an older character, making it seem fresh yet still familiar. Also a fantastic ending as Peter recognizes how everyone is turning into these villains because of him, and recognizes the death that surrounds him. Probably the most serious arc of the series. The only real issue is Eddie Brock's characterization and his motivation to become Venom. Vol. 7: Irresponsible - I really like this arc as well, it's lighter than the last three and a ton of fun. It's basically an X-men/Spiderman meet-up and plays with the differences between Mutants and genetics experiments. Lots of great jokes in this one. And a great ying/yang of Peter and Geldoff, what would happen if Peter didn't suffer the tradgedy of Uncle Ben's death and still got his powers? Also there's a lot of depth on May as a whole issue is spent with her and her thoughts about the world she lives in. Vol. 8: Cats & Kings - Another fun arc, more of the great Ultimate Kingpin character, but it all felt inconsequential and tagential to what was going on in the Ultimate Spiderman series beforehand. Introduces Black Cat and Elektra both come off very 2-dimensional. A great twist at the end that builds some sympathy for Kingpin's actions even though he is a murderer. Vol. 9: Ultimate Six - The entire Ultimate Universe comes colliding, as all the SHIELD crossovers and Nick Fury appearance really pay-off here. While this is a mini-series not directly part of the Ultimate Spider-man line it fits in like a glove. A really great look at the villains of the Spidey-verse and a great epic battle at the end of the book. I really liked it and it brought characters and themes so prevalent in Spider-man to the forefront, and also brought these little clues that were hinted throughout the entire series and brought them to a head here. Vol. 10: Hollywood - I really don't like this arc, it's supposed to be fun, but it's hokey and it's more of Doc Ock who I haven't liked in this series thus far. Although he's presented much better here as they take cues from the second film with his arms having personality of their own. I just don't think this arc really worked all that well. Again more great stuff from Gwen here who has been awesome in this series and is a great character. Ranking: 10. Double Trouble 9. Hollywood 8. Cats & Kings 7. Power & Responsibility 6. Learning Curve 5. Legacy 4. Ultimate Six 3. Public Scrutiny 2. Irresponsible 1. Venom
  22. I'm assuming that's American Virgin. If located in the continental US it's going to be, $30 bucks. If international it's higher. What do you think?
  23. So I got a whole bunch of stuff I want to get rid of... Mostly tradepaperbacks. If it's part of a set, I'd like to sell the entire set. I'm putting it up here to my Earth-2 bros first, in about 8 days, whatever doesn't have dibs is going on e-bay. I'm pretty flexible, just make me a decent offer through pm and we'll talk. I've never shipped international before, so I don't know how that works, if you're willing to be patient and pay extra fees, I'm willing to learn. Remember any offer is the price of the books only, shipping and handling is extra. Everything is TPB unless otherwise stated. So where do I start: American Virgin vol. 1-4 (complete series) Animal Man vol. 1-3 by Morrison (entire run) Earth X by Alex Ross Final Crisis HC and Crisis on Infinite Earths Lot Hunter Killer vol. 1 by Mark Waid and Marc Silversti The Losers ultimate edition vol. 1 (includes issues 1-12) by Andy Diggle Planet Hulk HC (no dust cover) (entire storyline) by Greg Pak Seven Soldiers of Victory vol. 1-4 by Morrison (complete series) Strange Lot (William Gravel character) by Warren Ellis: Strange Kiss, Stranger Kisses, Strange Killings, Strange Killings: The Body Orchard, Strange Killings: Necromancer, Strange Killings: Strong Medicine Warren Ellis Independent Lot: Ocean Red/Tokyo Storm Warning TPB Mek/Reload TPB Ultimate Iron Man vol. 1-2 (complete series) by Orson Scott Card Anybody want anything?
  24. BIG BUMP! Just wanted to say that A) For everyone who liked this show, I don't think it's coming back for a second season B) I just watched the first dvd (first 3 episodes) from Netflix. I really liked it. I do agree that the art style looks like an aged X-men evolution, but it doesn't bug me so much because the stories are a little bit more mature than that show was. Wolvie is easily the most fan favorite character in the X-universe and maybe all of comics so putting him front row and center of this show kind of makes sense from a marketing perspective, I was quite glad that they at least tried to make it make sense from a storyline perspective as well. Cyclops is in no emotional shape to be a leader and thus Wolvie must make the stand even though he and everyone else knows that he's not the best choice for this. Anyways that shit went out the window when Zordon X said Wolvie is the leader because otherwise the future is fucked. Blah. I didn't like that. I enjoyed it, they're taking a lot of lesser known characters and doing something with them (Emma Frost is quite good in this show, and Domino seems to be filling the role that's usually reserved for Mystique). I also appreciate the revamped and somewhat mature story and the serialized storytelling that made X-men so popular in the first place.
  25. Yeah, I felt that way exactly. Season 4 gets weirder and weirder as it goes along, actually. I wasn't too happy with the overall story, but it was well-written enough that it was still entertaining as it happened. Season 4 is overall weaker but still has some of the best individual episodes. Hush, Something Blue, Superstar, the episode The Inititive ("maybe we can wait five minutes and try again"), the Oz stuff, the Faith stuff and anything Spike does, season 4 has a lot of upsides. Totally agree with this. Even though Season 4 is weaker than Season 3, and the second half of season 2, it has ALOT of good stuff. While the BIG BAD and overarching season plot is kind of weak, there's a ton of great character developments. Faith's arc is one of the best and most heartwrenching of the Buffy-verse and a lot of that has to do with the few episodes she's in in Season 4 (mainly the two-parter) and Angel season 1 at around the same time. Also Spike really does shine in this season.