The Good , the Bad and the Ugly [10/17/09]

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Its been about a month and I have a lot of books to cover. So lets take it away peeps. Ya know the drill by now. THE GOOD stuff is what ya treasure in your collection til the end of days. The BAD slightly less so.....and the plain UGLY is what ya wanna burn , piss on , and just wipe your ass with. So lets get this party started !


SPOILERS AHEAD


LAST CHANCE........


THE GOOD

Deadpool #900: Everyones favorite fun filled Merc hits the big #900 this past week. After a huge amount of teamup stories with Wolverine and Black Widow ....the great Deadpool hits his 900th issue way ahead of Action Comics . So after Wade pimps it out big time we get to the meat of the stories which is pretty funny.

We get Pool in his 1st story after he killed a crap load of Russians , get abducted by anal probing aliens. Who make the mistake of thinking Deadpool was some kinda thing to do wacky experiments on. BIG MISTAKE. Wade bites his own arm off , and then proceedes to kick ass with it. Crashing the ship and dead Russian's at Chico's where he was supposed to meet him .

Then we get a Fred Van Lente story about where Pool in an explosion sufers a setback against some super powered mimes. He loses his hearing and can't hear himself talk ! Ohhh shit. He ends up at the end with his healin factor growing his ear back to hear finally ...after he kills the evil mimes.

We get a Mike Benson story where the artist is Damian Scott. The art looks like Ed McGuiness basically. Its like Scott really copied that style. Anyhow this story has Pool getting help from a shrink as he sits on his couch awhile and gets told he sufferes schizophrenic behavior as he hears 2 competing voices in his head. The finale of that suprises ya.

In the story "Pinky Swear" the prodgical son RETURNS baby. Joe Kelly returns to Deadpool. And its pretty much one of the funniest stories in the book. Kelly has Pool during an assignment to save a hot babe , remember a promise/bet he made as a 11 yearold kid. So he soon decides to travel to Canada and get there to see his old school chum. Where he fufills his bet.....after blowing the dudes house all to hell !

In the next tale we get a funny CSI rip as Deadpool poses as a dead body as the Vegas CSI team go thru the motions and learn how he ended up DOA. With a chicken in the room. The end has Pool reveal why he did this and why this CSI team deserves to die.

Next up is a Deadpool on vacation on a cruise line story where his natural ability to be an asshole has the people hating him. After he injuries them playing water volleyball and shuffleboard. A stranger is less than happy and soon enough Pool dares him to a game of ping pong. This stranger.... DOCTOR OCTOPUS ! Pool wins and then makes the mistake of gloating. Which has Doc Ock sink the cruise boat.

The next story is a funny one where Pool hates that he's became famous and cracks the 4th wall. He goes to a comics geeks basement and kills him. Saying he wants to kill all his fans so he can quit.

In the end we get the Lil Wade story reprint from 1997. Remember that folks ? It was once Deadpool month then in 1997 and the one shot never did much. Anyhow Pool's past in Japan as a sumo wrestler is brought up. And how he never wanted to hurt the 1st girl he loved by killing her dad. So he left town....til he returns to save him and stop a small midget clone of himself.

Is it worth it ? Pretty much yeah. Maybe the one clinker story in the book is that one breaking the 4th wall . But the rest are funny. Very funny and its great to see Joe Kelly do a Deadpool story. I know im happy man. We get a cover gallery thats real and adds up to #200 Deadpool comics actually. Then a fake one thats so little ya'd need a magnifying glass to see how real it is....adding to #900.


Justice Society of America #31: The JSA is in shambles team wise as Magog and Wildcat square off against each other. The team has to stop them from tearing into each other even more. As "Old School" vs "New School" gets set to lift off. Magog feels that the old ways of allowing anyone to join has led a traitor to the door. Wildcat thinks Magog is a young guy full of shit.

The new Doctor Fate stops them and tells them he needs plenty of blood for Mr.Terrific.... NOW. He will use a spell and make the blood turn to Terrific's type as needed. Inside his lab Doctor Midnite works alongside some in the JSA to save Terrific. While Flash repairs the damage to the survillace systems . Its there they learn All-American Kid is the one responsible for the knife attack on Holt.

Elsewhere we see the villains and see Icicle and a few others meet up. Its there Ice tells the others they never wanna meet the boss. And since they took the job , he owns their asses NOW. They have to finish this or they'll pay .

At the end of the book , Garrick is called by Midnite. Its there he reveals he did all he could. Mr. Terrific is DEAD ! Sheet over his dead body as we get that holy fuck moment.

Its a big shocker that Mr.Terrific would be the one who dies . I had never thought he'd be up for that. Shame to see it happen. But I can sense theres a bigger story involved and we may see it with who used All-American Kid to do that.


Deadpool #16: Theres 2 Deadpool books this month babbbyyy. In this one Pool is all ready to join the X-Men and usher them into a new era of GREATNESS. Pool is turned down by Cyclops as Pixie questions it. If Utopia is a Mutant sanctuary...why turn away Deadpool ? Cyclops realizes he was wrong , plus Wade could get into big trouble away from him.

So he sends Domino to bring him back to the island. Its there Domino has a brief battle with Pool , lands in 5,000 pancakes and has breakfast with him. He then reveals his plan to impress Cyclops after showing off his new X-Costume.....he's totally gonna kill that dude on TV who is making the news and stirring anti-Mutant favor.

Its pretty funny and seems to hit the bases and ya can't wait til next issue to see if Wade kills the guy and how Cyclops/Domino try and stop it. Thus far Deadpool is an ICON baby.


Gotham City Sirens #4: In this one , Paul Dini is back from last issues fill-in story. The one that , while a great Riddler story...really didn't fit this book. Anyhow ....the girls gotta save Harley Quinn who has no clue that the Bruce Wayne she is with is in fact.... Hush posing as him. Posion Ivy uses her powers to talk with plant life and look thru them to locate Hush and Harley.

But the Joker is less than happy. Jealous and angry his girl Harley would go off with some playboy , he orders his men to kill Harley Quinn. Joker even uses the Joker blimp as well. As Catwoman/Posion Ivy battle to get to Harley they have to beat the Joker's henchmen.

The end sees Hush having to decide if he shoots the Sirens , he will be a murderer , but if he shoots down the Jokers ship , he will be a hero. He shoots the ship down and saves the day. The Joker is suprised at that and vows revenge later on Bruce Wayne. Back at the girls HQ .... Harley is more in love with Mr.J ... "Can't ya see...Mr.J does care...when was the last time he hired henchmen and used the Joker ship to impress me ?" Selina and Ivy give her looks she is certifiable insane.

The ends sees Joker still on the chase as he crashes his ship into the HQ. Is it worth it ? Ohh yeah. It plays as a Batman the Animated Series type comic and its fun . The Joker being jealous was cute...and now he's gonna make Harley pay for kickin him so fast to the curb ha ha.


end of part #1 ...part #2 coming....

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Batman & Robin #5: The best run of Morrison's thus far continues. In this Dick and Damian meet up with Jason Todd and Scarlet . The new Red Hood and his new Robin type. Damian takes a beating from Scarlet and knows he'll have to be better . As Dick now has to stop Red Hood (Jason) from making things worse.

We learn that the Flamingo (a new hit man hired) has arrived in Gotham City. A really sick bastard , he eats the faces off his victims as we see the entire aircraft of dead peoples faces as Gordan is horrified this mad man is loose in his city.

Then we meet Oberan Sexton ... a figure in head to 2 black costume. Wearing dark shades and a top hat. Pretty cool figure Morrison has created here . His true details about being in Gotham should be revealed soon I suspect .

The ends sees Jason reveal that Bruce wanted him to be like Dick Grayson and keep his hair dyed black. But his hair is naturally red. As he has let it change to that. We also get a final battle as the Red Hood and Scarlet escape into the night. As they are leaving.... the Flamingo shoots Todd ! Then shoots him in his helmet...knockin him down. Uh oh....

You have to wonder if Dick can save Jason in time from this sick puppy the Flamingo. Its a good read and Morrison has seemingly done what he always does.... create new interesting villains. And for Batman... Prof. Pyg and Flamingo seem to be following in that vein. Worth it people....


Jack of Fables #38: Our favorite hero Jack has basically seemed to get his comeuppance for his many sins he has done. Growing fat and ugly , poor Jack struggles with this. Is it some kinda magic or revenge from someone ? Either way ...Jack is in a diner content to gorge himself while faithful Gary has to dress as a mascot to feed him.

His son Jack Jr. meets up with MacDuff , a wooden Owl and the 2 become a team. Jack Jr wants to be a hero and enters the hero trade with some funny results. He basically has to pull pigs and cows from the mud and do that type of thing. Til a hot girl shows up and claims her father and people are under attack and she needs a hero. Jack Jr. to the rescue ! The 3 set off to do this task but find an empty castle where her people once was. As the evil monsters prepare a massive attack ..uh oh.

Jack remains fun as hell. As this plot continues with Jack Jr. We all know its leading to Father/Son meeting up and resolving things sooner or later. (Likey at #50)

Uncanny X-Men #516: Its part #2 of "Nation X" as Magneto has arrived at the island...fully powered. He then shocks everyone by getting on his knees and surrendering as Xavier is less than impressed. Believing Erik is up to something. But Mags throws his helmet to them and says he is ready to serve.

We get the story that while in space with the High Evolutionary , Magneto had his powers restored using Celestial technology. That he was trying to find a way to re-ignite the entire mutant race again in space. But the machine that nearly killed him giving his powers back , blew up. And it also reset his age back.... restoring him to a man in his 20's . There is no hope for them . The mutant race is a doomed one.

Cyclops tells him there is hope and tells him of the mutant child born in Alaska. That Cable is watching over now. Elsewhere we see a group of new rogues being led by a man with a funky helmet. They have captured Scalphunter and after some torture , tell him if he doesn't pilot a plan to Utopia and drop off these dangerous creatures.... they will let the same creatures eat him alive ! Yikes...

Scalphunter agrees and we see him in the plane make the call. Cyclops orders Nightcrawler to port and check the ship out. Kurt does and comes back screaming to shoot the plane down as Cyclops orders evasive action for the X-Men. The battle is coming.... next issue.

Good plots and story. Were getting somewhere with "Nation X" . I'm glad this book is free of the crossovers. Should be a good fun arc to read.

Fables #88-#89: The "Witches" arc kicks into gear as Frau Totenkinder knows there is trouble brewing and things must come to a conclusion with Mister Dark. King Cole is worried about Fabletowns money woes as all the money is gone and the farm needs it to keep the animals and others fed. He talks with Totenkinder to see if there is a way to remedy this. She agrees to help him .

Meanwhile one of the young witches of the 13th floor wonders what Frau Totenkinder is up to and sends her black cat to spy. Its there he watches as she morphs her old body into a young girl again....and opens a doorway into another world. Dissapearing from sight !

Elsewhere in #88 , we see that Beauty has a reason for being agitiated and angry at Beast at some times. She is pregnet after centuries of trying with him. Back at the cut off Woodland office , Bufkin the little monkey is left alone to face Baba Yaga and a powerful Dijin . Bufkin has to handle this alone and is advised by the Magic Mirror to do what he has always done and read lots of books and use his brains to beat the powerful enemies. He does...trapping the Dijin in his magic bottle. Bufkin knows he is gonna have to beat Baba Yaga now...

Bigby goes to outside NYC and has a fable bird do a fly over and see whats happening in what was once Fabletown. The poor creature flies to close as Mister Dark spots it and saps it of its life span. Killing it instantly. Uh oh.

Elsewhere we see Far Totenkinder find the treasure crpyt where Mister Dark came from as she inspects it.

Fables as always is a great read and Willingham seems to be leading to a massive #100 soon. Should be fun.


Batman #690-#691: Usually I will dismiss a lot of what Judd Winick does on established characters. It usually falls into the "Bad" to the very "Ugly" catagory. Its just that damn sad really. But here.... the last 2-3 issues of Batman...he shocked me. He created himself a moment there.

In #690 , Two-Face suspects that the smiling Batman isn't at all the Batman he knows. He puts his plan in motion and wants to hire teleporters. He wants inside the Batcave. The latest is a new female teleporter who gains entrance to the Batcave as Dick Grayson is off battling Clayface and another rogue that was set up by Two-Face to keep him busy.

Once inside , we see that Two-Face has scarred the giant penny ! Holy crap.... thats a moment folks. Finally after years of trying....and trying.... Judd Winick finally wrote a HOLY FUCK moment. Congrats Judd...we knew ya could do it. All it took was not falling into the trap ya usually write yourself into at times.

In #691 we see that Dick is suffering from the effects of Two-Faces ambush with the powerful tranquilizers he used on him. He's beating the shit outta Dick Grayson pretty easy. Knowing its not the real Batman. Finally Alfred in another Batman costume shoots anti-tranqs into Dick...allowing him to beat the shit outta Harvey. Ending his attempt.

Its here we see why Dick and Alfred left the Batcave . They just don't think its safe anymore to keep going without Bruce and his defenses he used. Its claimed he used magic defenses as well while alive. The 2 pack it all up..and in the final page we see Dick find a picture of a case file Bruce was working on. The death of the flying Graysons ! WOW.

Its pretty solid story and seques right into what Morrison is doing. Its the 1st adventure for Dick as Batman and they use this to make it flow into Morrison's arc. I have to say...Winick suprised me with this story. He really did. Lets hope he continues that.

THE BAD


Superman : Blackest Night #2 (of 3): While not outright terrible as a book. This one really seemed to lose a lot from the #1 it had going. In this story , Superman and Superboy are battling the dead Earth II Superman who is a Black Lantern now. Also revived is Earth II Lois Lane who goes after Martha . Its there the 2 wanna revive Jon Kent as Superman and Superboy stop them. Pyscho Pirate also plays a role as he's back as a Black Lantern.

The 2 are destroying Smallville pretty easy ...and then we get a cut to New Krypton where Supergirl's dad is revived as a Black Lantern. What the ?

In the end we see that Martha isn;t gonna take this shit anymore and gets a torch ready for Black Lantern Lois Lane. Yeah.... you show em Ma Kent....not to be fuckin with ya. We see also that Pyscho Pirate has effected Superboy too !

Not horrible....but it seemed to lose a lot from the #1 issue of this mini-series.

end of part #2 ... final part coming....

[SUPERECWFAN1]

The Ugly

Amazing Spider-Man #605-#607: At some point you have to wonder.... where did Tom Brevoort and Steve Wacker miss what made Spider-Man..... Spider-Man ? When BND 1st started the 2 were scared shitless to make Peter Parker do anything with his single life and spent a year letting the supporting cast have lives and pissing on some of the older ones fans cared about (Flash Thompson , Mary-Jane Watson).

So after #600 , which was a great issue and seemed to be in effect moving things towards something...we all felt maybe the 2 realized where they had went wrong. Instead.... the ship started to sail fast. Brevoort issued his bizzare mandate claiming "Responsibility" wasn't the #1 thing in Peter's life at all. That the key mandate was "Keep him young" .

So the youth movement had drunken irresponsible sex in #601 , where Peter showed little guilt and took off...worrying more about meeting MJ than the girl he had slept with and called her by the wrong name. I won't even get into the rape issue wth Chameleon and the dodge Marvel floated 2 issues later.

In #605 its a love issue ....and it shows the story from Mary-Jane Watson's point of view. And its a pretty twisted , turn the knife...make MJ into a bitter wife bitch issue. Its just sad and dumb....and that suddenly MJ decides to walk out on him after all the villain fights , all the Power and Responsibility ,mantras and all.

Then we see her with asshole actor Bobby Carr... really ? And how he is using mutant hormone drugs to play Steve Rodgers in a movie. The 2 have a brief fight over MJ's career and MJ walks out on the bastard after the White Rabbit goes down in a fight.

But the kicker on this clown piece is Michelle...who was written so horrible bizzare as a female character... it has to make female readers question what the men in the Marvel offices are doing . Michelle gets told by Peter it was the Chameleon she did the deed with . In a funny moment that was supposed to be comical... its just fucking sad and sums up how wrong and dumb this issue is.

The finale sees Peter with Harry trying internet dating. And meeting a girl as Spider-Man who has a bf ...and wants an autograph. Much to his sadness. When this is the best moments in #605...what can ya say ?

606-607 isn't much better. Black Cat returns and acts like she stepped outta the mid 80's again. And is SUPER HORNY. I mean jesus guys...have ya ever heard of the "chase" in a comics series ? I mean not just horny... SUPER HORNY wanting Spider-Man's ass bad. They find a dead man in Dexter Bennents office , face a rogue and at the end kiss as pictures snap.

In 607 we see that Black Cat being Super Horny has her nail Peter in someones bed. I mean wow. That was fast. And brings up my chase statement. Guys its been 2 issues...I know ya want young , hip Peter Parker nailin ass.... but jeeze. The finale sees the 2 beat the rogue who gets an invite to join the Gauntlet to take Peter down soon.

Just outright garbage sadly. Its like the men writing the women in Spider-Man now have 3 levels. And this is them :

Mary-Jane : Bitter and angry .

Michelle : Crazy bitch

Black Cat : Horny as hell.

Theres just no in between or good writing for these women characters. Just horrible done sadly. Its pathetic. Pathetic and wrong. Tom Brevoort and company know better. But they have lost what made Spider-Man and his world ...and seem content on showing how young and hip he is.

[Village Idiot]

Originally Posted by SUPERECWFAN1

Wildcat thinks Magog is a young guy full of shit.

Aren't they all?

[Village Idiot]

Originally Posted by SUPERECWFAN1

The Ugly

Amazing Spider-Man #605-#607: At some point you have to wonder.... where did Tom Brevoort and Steve Wacker miss what made Spider-Man..... Spider-Man?

Theres just no in between or good writing for these women characters. Just horrible done sadly. Its pathetic. Pathetic and wrong. Tom Brevoort and company know better. But they have lost what made Spider-Man and his world ...and seem content on showing how young and hip he is.

I quit reading Spider-Man after the One More Day fiasco. And I'm sorry to hear that it is such the mess it is. But this is what Quesada wanted, a Spider-Man who is a whore, not a responsible character that young people could emulate.

Spider-Man is my favorite Marvel character, but I can see that if today was my first day reading comics, Spider-Man wouldn't make my list of favorites.

(I clipped most of your post so as to emphasize where I think the problem is.)

[Village Idiot]

Double post.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Originally Posted by Village Idiot

I quit reading Spider-Man after the One More Day fiasco. And I'm sorry to hear that it is such the mess it is. But this is what Quesada wanted, a Spider-Man who is a whore, not a responsible character that young people could emulate.

Spider-Man is my favorite Marvel character, but I can see that if today was my first day reading comics, Spider-Man wouldn't make my list of favorites.

(I clipped most of your post so as to emphasize where I think the problem is.)

Its the fact that they wanna push the wrong type of character traits for Spider-Man. Its like if they took the Fantastic Four and decided to make a team of people like She-Hulk , Ghost Rider , Iron Fist and Mr. Fantastic. While a cute lineup it basically departs on what makes the FF work. Family.

With Spider-Man its the failure of Tom Brevoort and the current editoral direction to realize , sure Peter Parker is a young hero. But it shouldn't over shadow the key fact that makes that drives the character. And thats the whole "Power and Responsibilty" motif.

This move to push it down , to mock it as Mary-Jane did in #605 is just dumb. Its not understanding your basic character. If a Jim Shooter saw this he'd be all over them. He'd question them on what Peter Parker having drunken one night stand sex and all fits with the character ?

It doesn't. It fits this new Peter Parker , Tom Brevoort and Steve Wacker promote. But it has no place in the Spider-Man that 60% of the fanbase who have said "Fuck this" and dropped the book feel.

[ScottyQuick]

Originally Posted by Village Idiot

Aren't they all?

I don't think the saying goes "Young, dumb and full of poop".

[Michael P]

Originally Posted by SUPERECWFAN1

Its the fact that they wanna push the wrong type of character traits for Spider-Man. Its like if they took the Fantastic Four and decided to make a team of people like She-Hulk , Ghost Rider , Iron Fist and Mr. Fantastic. While a cute lineup it basically departs on what makes the FF work. Family.

With Spider-Man its the failure of Tom Brevoort and the current editoral direction to realize , sure Peter Parker is a young hero. But it shouldn't over shadow the key fact that makes that drives the character. And thats the whole "Power and Responsibilty" motif.

This move to push it down , to mock it as Mary-Jane did in #605 is just dumb. Its not understanding your basic character. If a Jim Shooter saw this he'd be all over them. He'd question them on what Peter Parker having drunken one night stand sex and all fits with the character ?

It doesn't. It fits this new Peter Parker , Tom Brevoort and Steve Wacker promote. But it has no place in the Spider-Man that 60% of the fanbase who have said "Fuck this" and dropped the book feel.

And it doesn't do much to dissuade proponents of the "midlife crisis" theory of OMD's real motivation. Such as myself.

[Village Idiot]

Originally Posted by Michael P

And it doesn't do much to dissuade proponents of the "midlife crisis" theory of OMD's real motivation. Such as myself.

If you mean Quesada's mid-life crisis, I would have to say you might have a point. Or Brevoort's. Or Wacker's.

(But not mine. Won't happen to me.)

[SUPERECWFAN1]

I really don't know if Quesada was having a midlife crisis or the people in charge. I do know he made the statement that "Marriage is boring" and that being single was more exciting. Which made me wonder if he honestly feels that way.

[TCJohnson]

I actually liked Spider-Man 507-508. yeah, Black Cat was written a little slutty but that is also like saying that The Hulk was written as angry or Wolverine was written as being good at what he does and it isn't very nice. But she is also written as competitent and fun.

As for it being fast and she just nails them, they had a long relationship going back years that cooled off when Peter was with MJ. Now that is gone Black Cat wants to have fun with an old lover she still has feelings for. I don't see how that is out of character.

I don't see what Peter Parker doing is out of character either. Peter Parker has always made dumb choices, has always made mistakes and has always been imperfect. For the most part he tries to be the perfect guy, making everybody else happy but every once in a while he will give into temptation and do something selfish...which always gets him in more trouble than he usually does. That is actually why him and Black Cat broke up in the first place, because he did something selfish.

Parker has always been an imperfect character, and when giving into those perfections is when he is reminded of his responsibilities. It's always been this way.

But it has no place in the Spider-Man that 60% of the fanbase who have said "Fuck this" and dropped the book feel.

Really, and you can speak for everybody? Sure it's not the fact that it is being published more a month, requiring people to buy more a month during a recesision? Or that some people are put off by the rotating comic book teams?

Have enough faith in your own opinions so that you don't feel you need to justifying them by speaking for people you don't know and assuming they agree with you.

[TCJohnson]

Originally Posted by SUPERECWFAN1

I really don't know if Quesada was having a midlife crisis or the people in charge. I do know he made the statement that "Marriage is boring" and that being single was more exciting. Which made me wonder if he honestly feels that way.

No, marriage repesents stability which is great for real life but never particularly exciting for action flicks. Name me a franchise that is action orientated (or actually any genre) that improves after the girl gets the guy and they get into a happy relationship? There is a reason why "And they lived happily ever after" is the end of the story.

But really, I am attacked on these boards when Is ay it is obvious Rucka hates the old JLI issues, but it is ok to question the strength of Joe Q's marriage based on a comic. Can somebody explain that to me?

[Sarah Beach]

Originally Posted by TCJohnson

No, marriage repesents stability which is great for real life but never particularly exciting for action flicks. Name me a franchise that is action orientated (or actually any genre) that improves after the girl gets the guy and they get into a happy relationship? There is a reason why "And they lived happily ever after" is the end of the story.

Nick and Nora Charles.

Ralph and Sue Dibny.

Hart to Hart

Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane.

Well, okay, the first three are set up from the beginning as a couple.

But a good relationship doesn't have to dull the storytelling. It's a failure in the storytelling not the relationship if that happens.

[TCJohnson]

Originally Posted by Sarah Beach

Nick and Nora Charles.

Ralph and Sue Dibny.

Hart to Hart

Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane.

Well, okay, the first three are set up from the beginning as a couple.

But a good relationship doesn't have to dull the storytelling. It's a failure in the storytelling not the relationship if that happens.

But then you have things like Moonlighting and Cheers.

When you have a chase (man after woman, woman after man) the story always becomes stale once the chase ends.