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Underground > Comic Books >

This Week's Comics

  
 
Captain Zoom
18:15 / 28.02.02
Started a new thread 'cause I couldn't find the old one.

NXM #123 - Ye-freakin'-ha. Discussed to death elsewhere, but great fuckin' issue.

Ultimate X-Men #15 - ah, the welcome return of Mr. Millar after those two Gambit issues. Well laid out and well-told, though I still don't like the art that much. The ending with Prof. X and Colossus in the park was excellent.

Howard the Duck #2 - far funnier than the last one, and finally, after years of waiting, the lovely Beverly gets nekkid. Worth the price of admittance right there. Oh, that and the militant brownie.

Green Arrow #12 - first year's end and a bit of a low point for this excellent comic. The inevitable Black Canary/Green Arrow reunion, but without Smith's characteristic verbosity. A few teasers that make next issue's villain look like something out of Grant's DP, but we'll see.

Ultimates #2 - Now things are getting juicy. Sam Jackson as Nick Fury. Yes! Only problem is it feels like I need to have read the Ultimate Team-up with the Hulk to understand what was going on with Banner. Won't have a real opinion on this until the first arc is done I'm sure, but Hitch's art is soooooo lovely to look at that it really doesn't matter.

Midnight Nation #10 - this series is just so goddamn good. Despite the late shipping the story barrels along and I'm dying with anticipation for the last two issues. When it comes out in trade, I highly, highly recommend it. Highly. I just hope they include the Wizard #1/2 issue that was really a high point in the series.

I'm part way through the latest Starman trade as I type, and I've got the Rose HC (Bone prequel) to look forward to tonight.

It's good to be the boss.

Zoom.
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
18:24 / 28.02.02
I really like how Millar is integrating the same ideas about the Xavier being a highly progressive school in Ultimate X-Men as Morrison is in New X-Men. If just because if one writer does it, people may ignore, but if two (or three depending on where Chuck Austen stands...) do it, it will probably stick with the X-Men concept for the rest of its existence.

Did anyone pick up the Darwyn Cooke Spider-Man comic? I did, just cos I like his stuff. I was so cute. It was probably the truest Spider-Man comic published in ages. It's the sort of Spider-Man anyone could enjoy - this is how they should have done the Ultimate Spider-Man comic, this would hit the youth/mainstream market much better than that Bagley/Bendis crap...
 
 
sleazenation
20:05 / 28.02.02
quote:Originally posted by Flux = Expert Textpert:
I really like how Millar is integrating the same ideas about the Xavier being a highly progressive school in Ultimate X-Men as Morrison is in New X-Men. If just because if one writer does it, people may ignore, but if two (or three depending on where Chuck Austen stands...) do it, it will probably stick with the X-Men concept for the rest of its existence.
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Hey, its either Millar going with morrison's ideas or (que twilight zone music) Morrison is actually controlling everything that "millar" writes, almost as if this Millar character were just a name which morrison writes under occasionally... spooky.
 
 
Murray Hamhandler
00:30 / 01.03.02
quote:Originally posted by Captain Zoom:

Howard the Duck #2 - far funnier than the last one, and finally, after years of waiting, the lovely Beverly gets nekkid.

Actually, she's nekkid in the first issue of that black and white Howard the Duck magazine that came out years ago, too. I remember this vividly because, as a kid, I thought I'd hit the fucking jackpot. A comic with boobies. I don't even know if I ever read it.

Midnight Nation #10 - this series is just so goddamn good.

Okay, okay. So what's the deal on this guy, already? The writer is the same fellow who's doing Amazing Spider Man and did Babylon 5, right? So what's the scoop? I've not watched Babylon 5 or read anything by him, but everyone talks him up like he's the second coming of Christ. What would you compare his work to? Who would you recommend it to? You've piqued my curiosity...
Arthur Sudnam
 
 
kid coagulant
16:05 / 01.03.02
Has anyone read that 'Sci-Spy' book yet?
<<<Sci-Spy #2 (Mature) Written by Doug Moench; Art by Paul Gulacy and Jimmy Palmiotti; Cover by Gulacy
The sexy, sci-fi VERTIGO miniseries continues! With the fate of the Terra-formed Arcturus system in peril from swarms of Nano-tech Hunger Bugs devouring everything in their path, Sebastian Starchild must go undercover and infiltrate the deadly covert terrorist organization Blackside. Against his better judgement, Starchild teams-up with S.C.I-SPY's dangerously beautiful agent, Isis Nile, to find the Hunger Bugs power source and hopefully save the universe.>>> http://64.4.20.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=EN&lah=df7d49e9b8817dd6e87cec17e5f4cc0c&lat=1015009183&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2emilehighcomics%2ecom%2ffirstlook%2ffirstlook%2ehtml
Looks like a total Morrison ripoff (is the main character's name really Sebastian Starchild?). Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy are doing it. Is it any good?
 
 
Professor Silly
17:13 / 01.03.02
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Batman 600: You may think it a bad idea...you may not care! None the less, I guessed correctly in my earlier thread--Bruce Wayne has left the building. To quote the Dark Knight: "Bruce Wayne is a mask I wear, that I've been wearing since a child...but it's become a liability, so it's over." Whether this represents a permanent change remains to be seen, but I'm sure it will color the ongoing crime drama that Rucka and Brubaker have been giving readers for the darker. Besides the rather annoying "Joker: Last Laugh" crossover, I'd say the run in Batman and especially Detective Comics stands head and shoulders above any story in those books as far back as my memory goes.

My god, I can hardly wait for New X-Men 124!!! Van Sciver's art may not have the weight or the urgency of FQ, and none-the-less he captured a feeling in the pages of NXM 123 that really reminds me of my university days...only with much cooler people (what can I say, my fellow students were so drab and boring compared to me). Beast making his discovery (concerning their "flu") means that they can begin figuring a way to fight it, and I enjoyed the fleshing out of some of the students we've been seeing over the last several months. Now I sceam: I want the action the the next few issues will deliver!

I got some other stuff, but it seems hardly worth mentioning compared to the above two books.
 
 
Captain Zoom
11:26 / 02.03.02
arthur - I am really enjoying JMS's work on Amazing Spider-Man right now. It's the first time I've ever enjoyed a Spidey comic. As far as Midnight Nation goes, I feel it owes a great deal to Gaiman's Neverwhere conceptually. JMS has a real feel for timing. Like Jeff Smith had in the early Bone books with the humour, JMS will throw a shock, or a beautiful ending in and take your breath away. The end of Midnight Nation #4 was wonderful. I've not read his Rising Stars but I hear all sorts of good things about it. He's spreading himself thin right now and his shipping schedule is suffering.

Sorry, it's not really answering your question. Mythically, let's compare him to Gaiman. His worlds seem very well-defined. Dialogue-wise, he's a bit verbose sometimes, though not in a Kevin Smith kind of way. He understands the usefulness of silence sometimes. Add this to the fact that he's been teamed with some stellar artists (JRJR and Gary Frank) which really does count for a great deal. I love Midnight Nation and ASM. Highly recommended.

Zoom.
 
 
Jack Fear
11:56 / 02.03.02
quote:Originally posted by invix:
Has anyone read that 'Sci-Spy' book yet? ... Looks like a total Morrison ripoff ... Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy are doing it. Is it any good?Utterly fucking dire, from what I hear, although myself I wouldn't touch it with a barge-pole.

Watch what you're calling a rip-off, though: Gideon Stargrave himself was a totally retro creation, don't foget, a crazed homage to the psychotropic sixties and seventies, with a generous dose of comics mixed in with the Moorcock. That sort of name was pretty common in 1970s SF comics: I remember a character named "Stargrave" from Paul Levitz' run on LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, not to mention Mike Grell's STARSLAYER... this is more a case of "the guys who created the thing that Morrison was referencing in the first place, returning to the same well."

And that's the problem—Moench and Gulacy are Seventies People, remember, having done the groundbreaking-in-its-time MASTER OF KUNG FU series, and it seems they're still making Seventies Comics. How anybody expects two Seventies People to create something that'll capture the zeitgeist of the aughts—and to do so by mining a concept so shamelessly retro—is beyond me. It's mistaking camp for real irony. If Vertigo thinks SCI Spy's going to be a new flagship book, they're even further out of touch with reality than has been intimated.

I mean, the question that really comes to mind is Why? If DC thinks that The People want to read Seventies Comics by Seventies People, why don't they just reprint the genuine article?

Because the like of SCI Spy has indeed been seen before. Marvel ran a character called PARADOX in a couple of its mid-1970s black-and-white books. I picked up a few of these recently—I'm finishing an article about PARADOX for my blog: should be up in a couple of days. Judge for yourself...

[ 02-03-2002: Message edited by: Jack Fear ]
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
12:38 / 02.03.02
I read those last two JMS/JRJR Spidey comics, mostly because I love JRJR's new art. They are okay, I guess... I would not say that they are bad comics by any stretch. I just can't get into the way Spider-Man comics are done these days - reading that Darwyn Cooke one-shot, that just made me think "see, this is what Spider-Man is. this is what made Spider-Man what the character was". Characters like Spider-Man, Batman, Superman - ongoing continuity does not flatter these characters, it is not their friend. Those characters work best in a permanent status quo, and I don't think it's a bad thing.

If Bart Simpson can be 10 years old for all eternity and have it work brilliantly, there's no good reason why Peter Parker can't always be a photographer for the Daily Bugle who goes to school to be a scientist in his spare time.

Anybody could have a fun time with that Darwyn Cooke Spider-Man comic - that is simply not true of virtually any other Spider-Man comic released in the past 15 years or so. That's a shame.
 
 
SecretlyClarkKent
05:00 / 03.03.02
Cooke's Spiderman issue was the first Spidey comic I've picked up since... since the first time I gave up on comics, a few years back. [Aside from the two Ultimate Marvel Team-Up issues I had to have... I mean, who can resist comics drawn by Jim Mahfood and Chynna Clugston-Major, although I think the latter's issue is some of her weakest work that I've seen. It was a shame, considering her Blue Monday is one of my favorite comics. I'm pretty excited about her collaboration with Mike Allred, on IT GIRL, for Oni and AAAPop.] Anyway, back to Cooke, he was the entire reason I picked up SM:TW - Open All Night. After his X-Force fill-in, I really wanted to see something else of his. And I wasn't disappointed, at all. But it kind of has me curious... What is the point of the Tangled Web series? Are they basically just one-shots, and do they fit into continuity?

I had something else to say/ask, but I forgot it, already. Shit.

Later,
-Jared
 
 
Captain Zoom
18:05 / 27.03.02
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Ultimates #3 - still interesting, though not really keeping my attention. Though the same thing happened for me with Ultimate X-Men, and it's really quite good. You can tell Hitch misses the widescreen of the Authority in this issue, though I'm not sure I like the guy who's inking him on this one. Excellent examination of what it should have been like when Cap came out of the ice.

Howard The Duck #3 - rip off of Witchblade, felt a bit contrived. I still love that HTD is finally able to fulfill his foul-mouthed crazy promise, but this issue seemed to just be a little odd thing that happened on the way to the next issue. Lots of T & A, though not where you might expect it.

Pounded #1 - punk rocky goodness, and I didn't realize it was set in Vancouver. Love the art, that Bond meets Mahfood thing is yummy. It felt like Blue Monday transposed into the punk scene to me. I'm looking forward to the rest of the story and the soundtrack.

Fray #6 - fans of Buffy who aren't reading this are on crack. No, really, it's a government study. This series is excellent. The first 3 or 4 pages had me in goosebumps. Anyone who needs further proof that Joss Whedon is a fantastic writer need look no further than this. And damn, that's a cool slayer weapon.

I still have Incredible Hulk #38 and Thunderbolts #62, and 7 Guys of Justice #12 to read, but there's a bit of what I thought.

Zoom.
 
 
bio k9
18:24 / 27.03.02
you should also be buying sample issues of Fray for people you know like Buffy but don't read comics. I bought copies of the first issue for my girlfriend and her sister. My girlfriend isn't too interested in waiting for each issue to come out so shes waiting till its over to read them. Her sister, on the other hand, has gone to a few comic shops with me to see what else they have. It was interesting to see her reaction to the stores and the comics since shed never seen either before.
 
 
Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo
02:01 / 28.03.02
I don't see it so much as Seventies comics for Seventies people and giving a team that has done some GREAT comics in the past a chance to try to do another great comic...even though that have done some bland stuff as well.

And no, Vertigo does not look at it as a flagship book, since it's just a mini-series. They prolly look at it as a nice trade paperback in the SF section of the book store.

However, has anyone but me read Moench's Aztek Ace? THERE'S a series that if it came out now everyone would say is a rip-off of the Invisibles. Too bad Moench did it in 1984.
 
 
No star here laces
08:52 / 28.03.02
Saving pounded for lunchtime.

But...

100 Bullets no. 34

SPOILERS
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What a great issue!
Azzarello is really starting to enjoy and play with our familiarity with these characters. Like the moment Milo walks into the bar and you see the limes and the tequila glass and the cigarette in the ashtray, and you know it has to be Cole (my favourite minuteman by far).

And frequently in the past I've been slightly thrown by the labyrinthine plot twists, scheming and disingenuousness of the characters, but maybe it's just my familiarity with the story, or maybe Azzarello and Risso are getting better at telegraphing what's a lie and what isn't. Whatever it is, I really get the feeling that this comic has really kicked in and started to deliver everything it's always promised. Ever since the mexico storyline there hasn't been a dud issue.

And then, fuck me, they hit me with one of the best scenes I've ever seen in a comic. The face-off between Lono and Milo in the diner. Everything about it is perfect. You can see Lono's confidence and craziness, and the evil grin he cracks at Milo when he's telling him (without saying anything) that he's willing to kill everyone in there just to win. And the look on Milo's face that tells you that he realises he can't win against this guy - it reminds me of that scene in King of New York at the end when Frank White is on the subway with Bishop and grabs that woman - "You see this lady? Nice lady. But I will blow her away if I have to. Could you do that?" Utter genius.

Everybody always comments on Azzarello when they're talking about 100 Bullets, but this is Risso's book. The guy does not get the respect he deserves. He is a genius at conveying subtle body language cues, whether it's the petulance of the park dealers in the Shepherd and Benito scene, or the cracking of Loop's front throughout that story arc, I love it. He has a completely different take on 'urban' from that cliched Frank Miller style. Risso's cities are full of colour and motion, no lazy derelict streets and abandoned alleyways, which always make me think of the 40s - he has a true vision of 21st century urban life.

Damn I love this comic.

And then, fuck - Milo is a minuteman! Who saw that coming? I thought he was a recruit, like Dizzy, someone Graves was going to induct into the minutemen. hell no - he's one already. Which casts a whole different light on what's under those bandages.

Fuck me, does anything coming out at the moment have anything [i]like[/i] this narrative depth?

I am blowed away.
 
 
Captain Zoom
21:56 / 25.04.02
Been awhile.

Captain America #1 - Cassaday art. Mmmmmmmm. Another WTC tribute issue really, but nice set-up for new, militant Cap. Did I mention Cassaday's art?

Skizz GN - I'm so glad to have finally got to read this. I'm also glad that Titan is re-publishing all this cool stuff, 'cause this and Halo Jones really deserve to be read by another generation of comic readers. Excellent sci-fi from Mr. Moore. Now if only Titan would put Zenith out....

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