And it's funny, now I am one of those Avengers that dumb people say aren't really Avengers. So I got mine.--Ben Grimm,
Avengers #9/"Avengers Assemble: The Oral History of the Earth's Mightiest Heroes" Chapter 13
That bit made me laugh. Bendis says "FUCK YOU!" and I'm with him.
This was a bigger week for me and I even skipped over some stuff I was tempted to get like Magneto #1 (I'll get it next week if people say it's worth getting) or that polybagged Fantastic Four death comic... really just for the off chance I'd get one of the signed editions. But, no, stuck to comics that I would be getting normally. Let's get to those...
The Boys: Highland Laddie #6: This was a good finish to the series. I'm interested to see what happens next with Hughie and Annie (obviously). There's a sense of closure here but a lot left unsaid. I'm still surprised that the older criminal who looks like Hughie wasn't revealed to be his biological father. Maybe it was meant to be one of those things that we all saw but would never get addressed in the comic. If so, that's an interesting call and, probably, the right one. [***1/2]
Captain America #614: I know it credits Butch Guice for pencils and six people with inks, but... these look more like layouts and finishes. The look of the art changes drastically from scene to scene with different inkers. BIG changes. "The Trial of Captain America" has been a pretty good story -- and it hasn't played out as expected. The way this issue ends has me excited to see the conclusion next issue. [***3/4]
Detective Comics #873: Hurm. The weakest issue of the storyarc. Snyder discussed putting the focus on the 'detective' and I never got that feeling from this story. There was a slight mystery, but it wasn't engaging, it was a plot device to set up this encounter, one that came off as bland and... lacking in stakes. I don't know, this issue just felt very generic to me. I didn't care what happened or if the bad guy was caught. Jock's art continues to not win me over much of the time. He nails some panels, but others just look ugly and unfinished. Not the creative team's fault, but the lack of the back-up feature hurt the issue. We go from two issues with the back-up feature to the conclusion of the first arc with none. It's jarring and shows why line-wide implementation of certain ideas don't work in a creative medium. [**3/4]
New Avengers #8: This comic features one godawful, ugly cover. An issue that has the characters speak to the frustration of an a dangling plotpoint, but that makes it work. I loved Acuna's depiction of the waitress as she stood there, waiting to take Luke and Jessica's order while they just ignored her, caught up in their own bullshit. It's funny, but also makes them come off as real jerks. They don't even acknowledge she's there with a "Could you come back in a few minutes?" I wonder if that was in the script. A decent issue. I liked the 'Power Woman' stuff, too. [***1/4]
Later
