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Post by Philip Ayres on Oct 3, 2009 12:54:10 GMT
No I haven't. Ist trade is due 21st so I've stuck an order in ...
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Post by Philip Ayres on Oct 3, 2009 12:54:53 GMT
£7.50 for 5 issues !
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Post by The Doctor on Oct 12, 2009 10:20:40 GMT
Meanwhile X-Men Forever is now up to #8. Some fun nonsense with Sentinels and the like in the jungle.
Galactica 1980 #1. Oh, leave me alone.
Planetary #27: You know something is wrong when one of the characters (Jakita) says words to the effect of: "Is this it how it ends? Standing around?". Reads like one of Ellis' Bad Signal columns about whatever new technology has caught his attention that day. Devoid of drama. When it's been three years since your last issue, you really need some drama in it. Very pretty to look at and there's a good time travel idea in there, but it's buried under characters talking technobabble to each other, like in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager. Planetary fizzled out years ago and can now die quietly in the corner.
-Ralph
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Post by legios on Oct 13, 2009 20:36:46 GMT
Planetary#27:
Suffers very badly from the fact that the comic is basically over, and by the looks of things the writer knows it too. In essence the rescue of one previously established character from his previously established fate is the only loose end left over from the series. This is resolved through a quirky little physics conceit which I've rarely seen anyone play around with in fiction, but this doesn't amount to an actual story. The issue basically consists of people either standing around talking about physics, or just standing around. It is painfully flat and doesn't really do anything interesting with the idea that it introduces.
It does pretty much what is needed to resolve the outstanding loose ends of Planetary as a series but unfortunately fails to fulfill the comics remit of re-examining existing fictions and fictional concepts. It does serve to remind us that the story of Planetary itself was never the main impetus of the comic - it was just a vehicle to take us to interesting fictions and allow us to see them from an outsiders perspective. The epilogue reminds me of my nagging feeling that Planetary overran its point somewhere before it ended.
Was it worth waiting several years for? Speaking as someone who was (and is) very much a proponent of Planetary's early years, of course not. The length of the delay meant that this would have to be something truly special to justify the delay. This doesn't hit even close to that mark. A sad end to a comic that limped far too much in the closing of its live.
Karl
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Post by The Doctor on Oct 20, 2009 20:22:31 GMT
X-Men Forever #9. More nastyness with Sentinels in the jungle, while Evil Folk monitor from an Evil Monitoring Room. Great fun. And take note: 9 fortnightly issues delivered on schedule. See, comic companies, it is possible to put product out on time when you treat it as an actual product rather than 'art'.
Galactica 1980 #2. I know, I know, but beneath the unappealing art and mindboggling premise (whoever dreamed of a Galactica 1980 comic?) lies a bloody clever reworking of a legendarily shit TV show. It's a lot better thought through than most TV tie-in comics (most of current Transformers comics included). Dr Zee is an amoral bastard, just like he should be.
-Ralph
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Post by Philip Ayres on Oct 22, 2009 20:08:28 GMT
Ex Machina 46 Everything in one issue focused on the same direction as the title step up a gear toward the conclusion. Mitch meets his foe and we discover what his dreams have been about
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Post by The Doctor on Oct 22, 2009 21:02:45 GMT
The Unwritten #4-6. Hurray, FPG finally got #4 in so I could catch up on the series. Very much a slow burner, but in the novelistic sense rather than a decompressed sense. It's fascinating stuff, and packed with content as we learn more of the strange forces that have been using fiction as weapons. I'm also increasingly convinced that the lead character may himself be fictional. #5 was one of the most engrossing single issue comic reads I've come across in a while, focussing on Kipling railing against dark forces possibly using his stories to affect the world. Great series. Don't think it will work as well in trades though: very much a serial orientated series.
Doctor Voodoo: Avenger of the Supernatural #1. What a fabulous title for a comic. I had to try it! A fine example of that rare beast: how to do a #1. A full and proper intro to the character, lots of action, strange magic stuff and an intriguing mystery at the end. Good solid fun in the mighty Marvel manner. I shall be back next issue.
-Ralph
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Post by Philip Ayres on Oct 30, 2009 14:02:15 GMT
DARK REIGN: YOUNG AVENGERS #5 First couple of issue of this were great, since the Princess Python revalation it hasn't hit the mark for me. This issue continued in that vein with one big fight with the Dark Avengers getting involved. Come back Alan Heinberg.
X-FACTOR #50 Big issue rounding the story off. And a little bit of a let down to be honest. We didn't end up with Layla back with the team but the revelation of how she knows stuff is fab, as his her true power. I'll get the first couple of the new old numbering to see what's what
X-FORCE #20 rounding off the X-23 saga. Decent conclusion leading nicely into
X-NECROSHA One Shot Oh yeah. X-Force's writing team and their star artist back together leading straight on from X-Force 20 as Selene's plans start to come to Fruition. Worth the price alone for the X-23/Doctor Nemesis scene, but a joy to read right the way through as stuff Yost/Kyle laid down 18 months back comes to fruition.
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Post by The Doctor on Nov 2, 2009 17:21:18 GMT
X-Men Forever #10. Ah, now this was nice. Scott narrates the funeral of Wolverine. A well written bit of character work. I thought it was great, though I see The Internet is complaining a lot about supposed continuity bombs in this issue. Sod them.
Essential X-Men #184. Started picking up this newsstand reprint title last month. This time we have parts 4-6 of Messiah Complex. It's readable tosh. Not of the quality where I'd pay £3 for each US issue but £2.95 for a title which prints 3 of them? At that price-point, I can just enjoy this as disposable tosh. Hurray. The formation of X-Force was unintentionally hilarious. The X-Factor bits are good.
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Nov 6, 2009 11:28:19 GMT
Deathlok the Demolisher #1. Hmmm, I kinda like Deathlok to, you know, actually be in my Deathlok comic.
Sugar Shock one-shot. Crap.
Doctor Voodoo: Avenger of the Supernatural #2. Splendid, splendid tosh. Really enjoying this. I suspect this will be lucky to last a year, which is a shame.
-Ralph
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Post by Philip Ayres on Nov 6, 2009 19:58:15 GMT
Isn't Doctor Voodoo a limited series ?
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Post by The Doctor on Nov 7, 2009 11:46:00 GMT
If it is the comic doesn't state this.
-Ralph
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Post by Philip Ayres on Nov 7, 2009 14:54:49 GMT
I thought I read it was but can't find any reference to it being so. So it may well be an ongoing, albeit one that doesn't last long
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Post by legios on Nov 8, 2009 20:59:02 GMT
X-Men Forever#10: A good little character piece anchored around Wolverine's funeral. Serves all the regulars well with a bit of characterisation and comfortably gets a full issue out of the funeral and the fallout from the death. A nice breather after the hefty action piece of the last few issues. Noticed some of the continuity changes (and probably missed others) but they don't really bother me. It is already an out-of-continuity series so if it wants to start redefining past history I don't mind to much, as long as it finds a way to let me know what I need to know as and when it is relevant.
Doctor Vodoo:Avenger of the Supernatural#2: A good solid second issue of this title with a few unexpected guest characters. It is doing a great job of raiding the mythology of Marvel's own mystic subculture, whilst at the same time using Doctor Vodoo's religion to define him as distinctly different from the generic spell-slingers that generally define comic mages. It moves at a good clip too. A rather enjoyable series so far.
Not a comic, but as DC are doing a promo thing for Blackest Night the kind gentleman who picked up my comics for this week also obtained me a free Sinestro Corps power ring. Just a wee plastic thing but it is nice to be the owner of a power ring at last. Even if it is one forged after the designs of the Qwardians in their anti-matter universe. :-)
Karl
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Post by The Doctor on Nov 8, 2009 22:30:50 GMT
I too have a yellow power ring. I shall rampage across the cosmos with it.
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Nov 11, 2009 20:42:28 GMT
Stumptown #1. Excellent crime comic from Greg Rucka, Matthew Southworth and Lee Loughridge. PI investigates young woman's disappearance but in the way of those things it's more complicated than it first appears. Dripping with atmosphere and well defined characters in an interesting location. Nicely designed book too. I'll be back for #2.
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Nov 12, 2009 18:11:47 GMT
A bumper today for comics today! I haven't bought this many at once in well over a year!
X-MEN FOREVER #11: Ah, yes. Colossus is back and is getting it on with the Black Widow! Some good character stuff with Xavier. I get the feeling Claremont is repositioning the character to try something new. Die-hard X-Men continuity fans might have a fit over the cliffhanger, ho ho.
THE UNWRITTEN #7: Lots of twists and turns this issue, none of which I saw coming. The most solid single issue read for me right now. And it's got Frankenstein's Monster in it!
STRANGE #1. Picked up this due to Mark Waid being on it. Not what I expected. Quite a fun, quirky run-around as Strange battles demons at a possessed baseball game. Quite enjoyed it. Wasn't sure of the art style at first (Strange is drawn younger than he should be given recent events), but it grew on me by the end. Not essential reading, but decent enough. It's only 4 issues so I reckon I'll stick with it.
SUPERGOD #1. Yep, you can tell it's a Warren Ellis comic, though more like the version that wrote Planetary than the Warren that writes Marvel comics. Our high concept is that at (apparently) the end of the world our Warren Ellis self-insertion character narrates how humanity tried to create 'Gods' which ultimately brought about their downfall. Very solid read, big ideas, gorgeous art. And for an Avatar book, not overly graphic. I'll be back for #2.
S.W.O.R.D. #1. Didn't work for me at all. It's going for a light-hearted screwball comedy in space feel, but it feels overly forced and the very cartoony art style robs it of any drama (The Beast and Death's Head in particular look like they've wondered in from a younger reader's comic). Even the Cassady cover is a bit mince. I won't be back. You do at least get a lot of story for your $4, however.
BATMAN/DOC SAVAGE SPECIAL. I enjoyed this, but with some caveats. It builds well and then just sort of stops but I can forgive it because it is a fun read and does a good job of the two main characters interacting in a believable world without it feeling at all gimmicky. It's really more of a #1 of a series than a proper done-in-one special, however, which could annoy some. And $5 is taking the piss, frankly. Why it's so expensive, I don't know. It's not like it has a card cover.
Taken on it's own merits though, it is good. Azzerello's scripting is spot-on for Batman and the Doc, and Phil Noto puts in a solid job. The backmatter also promises the most awesome comic idea I have come across in quite some time. I'll be back for First Wave#1 next Spring for sure. Just a shame the price-point on this special will put a lot of people off.
And hurray for FPG, which has been my main comic provider for many years. Alas, I'll be stuck with the horrors of FPE for a while until I get settled in at which point I'll be moving to mail-order. The less money I give that crappy shop the better!
-Ralph
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Post by legios on Nov 15, 2009 19:43:41 GMT
X-MEN FOREVER #11: Ah, yes. Colossus is back and is getting it on with the Black Widow! Natasha Romanov - working her way through the Marvel universe one hero at a time... X-Men Forever#11 continues on its merry way. Half-retro and half Chris Claremont doing whatever he wants with the characters without having to work around half-dozen other creators' agendas. Entertaining stuff, and I like the fact that he is taking these characters off in completely different directions to their main continuity counterparts. Batman/Doc Savage Special Ralph is correct - this doesn't really feel like a self-contained special. There is a story that is begun and finished in the one issue, but that is over by two-thirds of the way through. Really this special is about establishing a world in which it is credible that Doctor Clark Savage and a neophyte crime-buster called The Batman both exist and fight gangsters and other criminal scum in their own ways. In this it is very successful. Both the writing and art sell the idea of a later forties/early fifties setting that is like our world, but not quite like it, and in which Doc Savage and the 1940's Batman really belong. Phil Noto's art is lovely and has a nice sense of the period. The fact that it sets up a forthcoming series that is to feature not just Batman and Doc Savage but The Spirit and a new take on both the Blackhawks and Black Canary is just the icing on the cake. I shall definitely be back for the "First Wave" series, but it is to be hoped it won't have such a prohibitive price tag on it. The Unwritten#7 This keeps throwing me curve balls, and remains an intriquing piece of work. Moves along at a nice clip, and I do like some of what it is doing as regards the history/fictionality interface . Good stuff, and for my money one of the better books to come out of Vertigo in a long time. Supergod Another of Warren Ellis' "I've been thinking about..." comics. In this case he has been thinking about the often tossed around line "Superheroes are like the modern equivalent of mythical gods and heroes", and asking what if that were literally the case - and would this be a particularly good thing. (The answer appears to be an unqualified no on the basis of the first issue). Some decent ideas here and it fels like Ellis is on good form here . Interesting enough that I will be sticking with this - unlike the last thing I read of his Avatar output which I couldn't drop fast enough. Karl |
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Post by The Doctor on Nov 19, 2009 15:22:27 GMT
Finally located copies of CHEW #3 and G-MAN #3. Splendid stuff, good solid reads. CHEW in particular is brilliant. Hurray to Image for going back to print on it - it's a hard comic to find.
-Ralph
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Post by Philip Ayres on Nov 20, 2009 10:09:51 GMT
X-Force 21 Crain's back on art so this looks great. Vanisher's back in the comic so it's better full stop. Lovely comedy with everyone showing up looking for Elixir at once and discovering him comatose, and a fine E for Extinction hommage as the mutant count on Geonosha rises as Bard brings them back to life. Top X-Men action in here.
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Post by The Doctor on Nov 24, 2009 21:57:38 GMT
I will never shop in FPE again as I noted the staff being disrespectful to a disabled customer when I was in for a comics and trades run last week. I'll just do a comics order online once or twice a month or get them when I'm through in Glasgow. Disguesting shop.
Regarding comics, I did enjoy the BLACK KNIGHT one-shot. Old school 70's style hokum. Great.
-Ralph
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Post by Philip Ayres on Nov 25, 2009 14:58:05 GMT
Mighty Avengers 30 & 31 At the point I bailed out of buying monthly stuff regularly Mighty was mid story, albeit one that wasn't doing much for me. Now it's concluded I picked both remaining parts up and actually they aren't too bad. 30 is the better issue for me mainly consisting of Pym chatting with Eternity and discovering that he's the Scientist Supreme (and why Reed & Tony aren't) Good stuff with Hawkeye too.
Anyone know where the UK Avengers title is up to US wise ?
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Post by The Doctor on Dec 20, 2009 20:58:39 GMT
Today, I enjoyed Fall of the Huks: Alpha which was enjoyable tosh as was Spider-Man & The Secret Wars #1 (though points off for not crediting the re-used Jim Shooter dialogue). Claremont has finally given in to mind control in X-Men Forever #13. I gave SWORD another issue to see if it picked up and it's just...mmmm. Neither the art nor the story are doing it for me at all, and don't get me started on how shit Death's Head is in this. Ah well. The same writer's first issue on Thor was decent though! Meanwhile, in The Unwritten #8 the plot twists yet again. I have no idea where this is going - which is a good thing.
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Dec 26, 2009 18:58:48 GMT
In (deep breath) Dark Reign: The List: Punisher Frank Castle fights Daken to the death. Enjoyable OTT nonsense albeit a slight read. Nice Romita Jr art, but this merely the prequel to Punisher #11, in which the Marvel Monsters grab the bits of Frank and create...Frankencastle! Yes, really. It's completely off the chain.
I gave the first two issue of Dark X-Men a try. Did nothing for me at all.
Essential X-Men #186 in which Messiah Complex reaches its end. Hmmm, this only took up 4 UK issues, but was originally printed across 13 US issues, which is just silly as the story ran out of steam around 8 parts ago. The ending is not helped by much murky art. One of those stories that started well and slid into manure.
-Ralph
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Post by Philip Ayres on Dec 27, 2009 15:24:07 GMT
X-Factor 200 I thought I'd cancelled this, but it turned up anyway. This is a cracker of a special issue with a decent lengtha story, a backup strip of relevance, a 200 issue cover gallery, expanded MU entries for the cast and a reprint of an old issue. Good stuff.
X-Force Annual 1 far too thin for an annual, especially when compared with the above. Decent Kirkman a-strip, plus a short comical backup strip.
X-Force 23 lots of fighting and not much else. A bit of a let down.
Necrosha: The Gathering several "meh" short stpries that don't make much of an impact. Typical of the crossover tie in books Marvel have put out over the last few years to make punters part with their cash add colour and depth to the story.
Origins of the Siege a freebie attempt to sell the next big thing.
Ex-Machina 47 Endgame time so the supporting cast starts to get it.
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Post by The Doctor on Jan 9, 2010 21:36:26 GMT
Batman 80-page Giant: Pile of shite.
Siege #1: A Big Fight Comic, and as far as these things go fairly decent. Enjoyed it.
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Jan 14, 2010 19:33:49 GMT
Enjoyed the third issue of Doctor Voodoo. Picked up the reprint issue with the old 70's stuff in it too (The Origin of Jericho Drum). Fall of the Hulks: Gamma wasn't a patch on Alpha. Not too keen on X-Men Forever #14: please no more Claremont mind-control plots!
Gave X-Factor #200 a go as I had been looking for a jumping-on point for the title. Pretty good stuff and you get a hell of a lot of content for $5. I can see myself picking this up again. Thor is ok. It's perfectly decent but there's a nasty edge to it I don't like too much.
Dropped: SWORD, Dark X-Men. Gave the current Punisher a go, but it leaves me cold.
-Ralph
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jan 14, 2010 19:53:59 GMT
And X-Factor 200 did have MU entries !
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jan 14, 2010 21:41:32 GMT
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Post by The Doctor on Jan 15, 2010 7:59:43 GMT
Yeah, but I gave it two issues and really disliked it so disinclined to spend more money on it.
Also dropped - Transformers: Bumblebee. #1 was the most boring comic I had read in years.
-Ralph
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