[Discussed in this post: Captain America #22-25 and Winter Soldier: Winter Kills.]
I almost did all of Ed Brubaker's Captain America up until Reborn as well. I figure, since I'm doing storylines, it would have been only an additional eight or so posts. I would have cut other stuff if necessary. But, then I decided against it, because I don't think this format would suit the sort of story he's telling -- if only because he's still in the middle of it. Bendis introduces new status quos, but tells complete stories and where I stop with his work is just fine.
Ed Brubaker uses Civil War to further his plots quite well, I think. One issue is centred on Sharon Carter, one on the Winter Soldier, and one on Captain America plus the Winter Soldier special. Each offer a unique perspective on Civil War.
The Sharon Carter issue has her struggling between her SHIELD duty and her personal relationship with Steve. She should turn him over to SHIELD, but she doesn't. She doesn't know why either, because her career matters more to her. We learn a big secret about her then -- that she doesn't know and advances Brubaker's story. The tension between Sharon and Steve here is interesting as they have an actual conversation about their views. And there's no big fights or raised voices, just two people sad that things are the way they are.
The Winter Soldier issue barely relates to Civil War, it just has the Winter Soldier and Nick Fury taking advantage of the situation to allow Fury to get into SHIELD's database via a Fury LMD and steal some Cape Killer armour. The most 'advance Brubaker's story' issue of the bunch. I love how the Winter Soldier and Nick Fury are both almost above the whole Civil War bullshit -- they aren't superheroes, they're intelligence operatives and everyone paying attention to the guys in masks hitting each other just makes it easier for them. Neither like seeing Cap in ths position he's in, but there's not much they can do about it without sacrificing a lot of their work.
The Captain America issue shows something that Civil War didn't show much of: a superhero stopping some villains. He tries to take down a Hydra base. I understand this sort of scene not appearing in Civil War proper as it would distract from the main thrust of the story, but's nice.
Those three stories are drawn by Mike Perkins, who does some very, very good work. I love how he adopted a Steve Epting style when he drew Captain America, soft pencils, heavy shadows... Frank D'Armata's colours really help for the unified visual look.
Winter Kills is a nice nostalgia story drawn by Lee Weeks. Fury asks the Winter Soldier to stop three members of the Young Avengers from taking down a Hydra base since it's one that he watches -- and therefore learns from. It's the first time we see Barnes stepping into the role of a mentor/leader, hinting at his upcoming gig as Captain America. Also, we get his first meeting with Namor since WWII.
I originally didn't have Captain America #25 down as a book I'd be doing, but figured I should include it since Captain America dies in it. The issue itself is good, but works better within the context of Brubaker's run. I still would like to believe that if a guy like Captain America existed, people wouldn't turn on him so easy. Come on, folks!
In 30 minutes, New Avengers: Disassembled.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
Showing posts with label blogathon 2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogathon 2009. Show all posts
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Blogathon 16: Civil War
[Discussed in this post: Civil War #1-7.]
Actually, according to the cover, the proper title of this is Civil War: A Marvel Comics Event. Oh ho ho.
Civil War is a frustrating read, because it's not a story. It's a series of moments that have some relationship to one another. It's one 'fanboy orgasm' after another. I don't really buy into the incident that starts everything, first of all. Nitro, a human bomb explodes mid-fight and kills hundreds of innocents, including a large number of children... and how would that be prevented by government-trained superhumans? The guy can blow himself up at will! How can Iron Man stop that? Ellis has Doctor Samson say it in an issue of Thunderbolts later: it could have happened to any of them.
This is the first of Marvel's very cynical comics. This treats people in the Marvel universe in a very cynical fashion, including the heroes. How is it that the pro-registration side is filled with people who are willing to hunt down and fight people who were teammates days previous? Where was the person going "I agree with the SHRA, but I'm not going to arrest Captain America..."? It's such a 'with us/against us' mindset that it betrays Millar's cynicism about America. It's meant to capture that political climate of red states/blue states, but never really reaches any level of complexity in the process. There's no debate, just talking points. Which is fine for the TV excerpts, but for the heroes, it's just awful to read. A lot of these people are friends and we're to expect they'd fight in the streets?
Why is SHIELD, a UN organisation, enforcing US law in the US? Where is the goddamn Security Council demanding an answer?
Tony Stark makes some serious missteps, like using the villains. Seriously, how could any of them see that as a good idea? They were really making the leap from being friends to enemies to using former enemies to hunt down their former friends?
Reading this, I couldn't find a single thing I really enjoyed.
A lot of the meaningful action happens off-panel. Like the Thing leaving the country and the return of Captain Marvel.
Civil War is really constucted as the basic spine of a much larger story with the real stuff happening elsewhere and it shows. It's very uneven and doesn't really take the time to explain any of its internal logic.
I can't remember who said this, but one thing that Civil War does right is create a story where superheroes choose their fates. Everyone makes a choice -- granted, there are only two choices you can make and they're both stupid. And that's the making of an interesting, dynamic story that comes from the characters. However, the way in which it's executed doesn't show that part of the story off at all. None of the characters make choices with any sense of logic or explanation -- they all seem thrust on the characters from above (which they were).
As I'll discuss soon, another big downside is that when meaningful debate does happen, no one ever changes their minds. NOT A SINGLE PERSON. Horribly cynical and really goes against the idea that any of these people like or respect one another at all. I don't expect every superhero to be best friends with every other superhero, but Captain America and Iron Man reformed the Avengers together about a week ago! I think they'd have a goddamn conversation before beating the shit out of one another.
I honestly dealt with this book again because I had to here. It's a piss poor comic through and through.
In 30 minutes: Civil War: Captain America.
I would be more coherent in my thoughts, but the storytelling of the comic warrants only quick, unrelated thoughts... that's how the story is constructed after all.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
Actually, according to the cover, the proper title of this is Civil War: A Marvel Comics Event. Oh ho ho.
Civil War is a frustrating read, because it's not a story. It's a series of moments that have some relationship to one another. It's one 'fanboy orgasm' after another. I don't really buy into the incident that starts everything, first of all. Nitro, a human bomb explodes mid-fight and kills hundreds of innocents, including a large number of children... and how would that be prevented by government-trained superhumans? The guy can blow himself up at will! How can Iron Man stop that? Ellis has Doctor Samson say it in an issue of Thunderbolts later: it could have happened to any of them.
This is the first of Marvel's very cynical comics. This treats people in the Marvel universe in a very cynical fashion, including the heroes. How is it that the pro-registration side is filled with people who are willing to hunt down and fight people who were teammates days previous? Where was the person going "I agree with the SHRA, but I'm not going to arrest Captain America..."? It's such a 'with us/against us' mindset that it betrays Millar's cynicism about America. It's meant to capture that political climate of red states/blue states, but never really reaches any level of complexity in the process. There's no debate, just talking points. Which is fine for the TV excerpts, but for the heroes, it's just awful to read. A lot of these people are friends and we're to expect they'd fight in the streets?
Why is SHIELD, a UN organisation, enforcing US law in the US? Where is the goddamn Security Council demanding an answer?
Tony Stark makes some serious missteps, like using the villains. Seriously, how could any of them see that as a good idea? They were really making the leap from being friends to enemies to using former enemies to hunt down their former friends?
Reading this, I couldn't find a single thing I really enjoyed.
A lot of the meaningful action happens off-panel. Like the Thing leaving the country and the return of Captain Marvel.
Civil War is really constucted as the basic spine of a much larger story with the real stuff happening elsewhere and it shows. It's very uneven and doesn't really take the time to explain any of its internal logic.
I can't remember who said this, but one thing that Civil War does right is create a story where superheroes choose their fates. Everyone makes a choice -- granted, there are only two choices you can make and they're both stupid. And that's the making of an interesting, dynamic story that comes from the characters. However, the way in which it's executed doesn't show that part of the story off at all. None of the characters make choices with any sense of logic or explanation -- they all seem thrust on the characters from above (which they were).
As I'll discuss soon, another big downside is that when meaningful debate does happen, no one ever changes their minds. NOT A SINGLE PERSON. Horribly cynical and really goes against the idea that any of these people like or respect one another at all. I don't expect every superhero to be best friends with every other superhero, but Captain America and Iron Man reformed the Avengers together about a week ago! I think they'd have a goddamn conversation before beating the shit out of one another.
I honestly dealt with this book again because I had to here. It's a piss poor comic through and through.
In 30 minutes: Civil War: Captain America.
I would be more coherent in my thoughts, but the storytelling of the comic warrants only quick, unrelated thoughts... that's how the story is constructed after all.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
Blogathon 15: Bendis's New Avengers Pre-Civil War and Some Ryan Adams
Before I get into Civil War, I want to stop a minute and discuss what we've covered so far. We've covered the first 20 issues of New Avengers (plus other stuff, but I'm ignoring it right now) and, as one commenter, Scott, pointed out, the team has only been on a handful of missions before disbanding. If you include the Sentry's involvement, only one. If you actually read the comics, you'll notice that the time frame hinted at tells us that, by the end of issue 20, only a week or so has passed since the breakout at the Raft. The events of the first 20 issues happen very quickly and in quick succession, but go by in our time at a very, very, very slow pace thanks to Bendis's writing style and art delays. Even if every issue shipped on time that's still more than a year-and-a-half in the real world for a week to pass there... that's weird.
Something the characters never really address in story is how much of this happens in such a short period of time. How the New Avengers formed and then broke up pretty much right away. Or, even later, how short a time Tony Stark was SHIELD Director (a month at most by my estimation). It's a weird method of writing comics, brought on directly by decompressed storytelling.
There's always been a difference in how characters and readers experience time in comics, but this is such a big difference -- made explicit by references to time within the comics -- that it's shocking almost. It actually gives fuel to the people who say that Bendis's Avengers aren't the real Avengers, because the team lasted a week before the two main members decided they hate one another.
I still have no problem with the characters that Bendis picked for his team, but they never feel like the real Avengers in the first 20 issues, because they don't do a whole lot. Four stories happen. Four. In an older comics storytelling style, that would mean this Avengers team lasted for four issues. Not the most effective way to build up characters like Luke Cage and Spider-Woman.
That said, I think elements of it work. I like the idea that so much happened in a week, that from the get-go, the New Avengers didn't have a free day, it was constant action and problem-solving.
I do think Bendis's New Avengers gets better once we hit Civil War though.
Also, I've been spending the morning/afternoon listening to Ryan Adams while doing these posts. I'm currently in the middle of lloR N kcoR, which used to be my favourite album of his, but would currently rank... I don't know, actually. Man, Adams is just so fucking good. He began alt-country, but does rock with ease and everything between. lloR N kcoR was done after his label rejected Love is Hell and is just straight-up rawk. It was the first Adams album I got. I joined the Columbia House music club and needed my 275 initial selections for a penny and something about the cover called to me. One of the best decisions I've ever made.
Love is Hell was released in two parts as EPs, the first of which shipped the same day as lloR N kcoR and, eventually, was released as a single album.
After this will be his double-album, his first with his band, the Cardinals, Cold Roses. It was the first of three albums he released in 2005. Three albums in one year, one of them a double-album. All three were unique in style and feeling -- and all three are fantastic. Cold Roses is some laid back rock, Nashville City Nights (also with the Cardinals) is country, 29 (totally solo, recorded before the other two, but released last) is depressing.
He began in a band called Whiskeytown and that stuff is okay. His first solo album, Heartbreaker has some great stuff, but Gold is where he really took off. Pure fucking brilliance. Demolition was a collection of demos and outtakes. He's got, like, 12 records sitting in the drawers. AT LEAST.
He didn't release anything in 2006, but released Easy Tiger, an album that doesn't credit the Cardinals officially over his protests. It was the finest album he did until 2008's Cardinology, which marked his swansong (sorta, no one belives it really) since he has an ear disease that makes the whole life in a band thing difficult. The song "Magick" off Carinology is essential listening and should have been the hit song of 2008 if anyone with any goddamn sense paid attention. Just a bit over two minutes and catchy as hell.
Here's my quick list of Essential Ryan Adams (limiting myself to one song per album plus a couple that break that rule when I so choose):
"Come Pick Me Up" (Heartbreaker)
"Touch, Feel and Lose" (Gold)
"The Bar is a Beautiful Place" (Gold 'side four' bonus track)
"Nuclear" (Demolition)
"English Girls Approximately" (Love is Hell)
"Note to Self: Don't Die" (lloR N kcoR
"Rock n Roll" (lloR B kcoR)
"Magnolia Mountain" (Cold Roses)
"Beautiful Sorta" (Cold Roses)
"The End" (Nashville City Nights)
"29" (29)
"Halloweenhead" (Easy Tiger)
"Magick" (Cardinology)
In 30 minutes, Civil War.
And seriously! DONATE, PEOPLE!
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
Something the characters never really address in story is how much of this happens in such a short period of time. How the New Avengers formed and then broke up pretty much right away. Or, even later, how short a time Tony Stark was SHIELD Director (a month at most by my estimation). It's a weird method of writing comics, brought on directly by decompressed storytelling.
There's always been a difference in how characters and readers experience time in comics, but this is such a big difference -- made explicit by references to time within the comics -- that it's shocking almost. It actually gives fuel to the people who say that Bendis's Avengers aren't the real Avengers, because the team lasted a week before the two main members decided they hate one another.
I still have no problem with the characters that Bendis picked for his team, but they never feel like the real Avengers in the first 20 issues, because they don't do a whole lot. Four stories happen. Four. In an older comics storytelling style, that would mean this Avengers team lasted for four issues. Not the most effective way to build up characters like Luke Cage and Spider-Woman.
That said, I think elements of it work. I like the idea that so much happened in a week, that from the get-go, the New Avengers didn't have a free day, it was constant action and problem-solving.
I do think Bendis's New Avengers gets better once we hit Civil War though.
Also, I've been spending the morning/afternoon listening to Ryan Adams while doing these posts. I'm currently in the middle of lloR N kcoR, which used to be my favourite album of his, but would currently rank... I don't know, actually. Man, Adams is just so fucking good. He began alt-country, but does rock with ease and everything between. lloR N kcoR was done after his label rejected Love is Hell and is just straight-up rawk. It was the first Adams album I got. I joined the Columbia House music club and needed my 275 initial selections for a penny and something about the cover called to me. One of the best decisions I've ever made.
Love is Hell was released in two parts as EPs, the first of which shipped the same day as lloR N kcoR and, eventually, was released as a single album.
After this will be his double-album, his first with his band, the Cardinals, Cold Roses. It was the first of three albums he released in 2005. Three albums in one year, one of them a double-album. All three were unique in style and feeling -- and all three are fantastic. Cold Roses is some laid back rock, Nashville City Nights (also with the Cardinals) is country, 29 (totally solo, recorded before the other two, but released last) is depressing.
He began in a band called Whiskeytown and that stuff is okay. His first solo album, Heartbreaker has some great stuff, but Gold is where he really took off. Pure fucking brilliance. Demolition was a collection of demos and outtakes. He's got, like, 12 records sitting in the drawers. AT LEAST.
He didn't release anything in 2006, but released Easy Tiger, an album that doesn't credit the Cardinals officially over his protests. It was the finest album he did until 2008's Cardinology, which marked his swansong (sorta, no one belives it really) since he has an ear disease that makes the whole life in a band thing difficult. The song "Magick" off Carinology is essential listening and should have been the hit song of 2008 if anyone with any goddamn sense paid attention. Just a bit over two minutes and catchy as hell.
Here's my quick list of Essential Ryan Adams (limiting myself to one song per album plus a couple that break that rule when I so choose):
"Come Pick Me Up" (Heartbreaker)
"Touch, Feel and Lose" (Gold)
"The Bar is a Beautiful Place" (Gold 'side four' bonus track)
"Nuclear" (Demolition)
"English Girls Approximately" (Love is Hell)
"Note to Self: Don't Die" (lloR N kcoR
"Rock n Roll" (lloR B kcoR)
"Magnolia Mountain" (Cold Roses)
"Beautiful Sorta" (Cold Roses)
"The End" (Nashville City Nights)
"29" (29)
"Halloweenhead" (Easy Tiger)
"Magick" (Cardinology)
In 30 minutes, Civil War.
And seriously! DONATE, PEOPLE!
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
Blogathon 14: The Road to Civil War
[Issues discussed in this post: New Avengers: Illuminati, Fantastic Four #536-537, and Amazing Spider-Man #529-531.]
This is an odd trade collection that I picked up one day as I wanted the New Avengers: Illuminati one-shot. It's the first of four Bendis/Maleev New Avengers one-shots/issues and introduces to us the Illuminati, who we saw in New Avengers: The Sentry. Shortly after the Kree-Skrull War, Iron Man calls together Namor, Professor X, Reed Richards, Dr. Strange, Black Bolt, and the Black Panther and they meet in Wakanda to hear his idea of putting together a large group, to effectively unify the world's superhumans as a cohesive whole. This idea is quickly shot down, but the idea for a smaller group to work behind the scenes, made up of the seven of them comes up. Except the Black Panther doesn't join. No worries, six members is still good.
We then get the group dealing with the Hulk problem, seemingly for good, by sending Banner to space, which sets up Planet Hulk and World War Hulk. During this time, Maria Hill mentions the idea that superheroes are responsible for the actions of supervillains are a while. Like, it's Spider-Man's fault for what the Green Goblin does because he could just kill him -- never mentioning that the system that simply locks him up again even though he escaped every time before may want to reconsider simply locking him up. I do love the irony of people blaming superheroes for not simply killing villains in a story that leads up another where people don't want superheroes doing anything without the government's approval -- a government that would try and charge superheroes with murder if they killed their villains. Oh ho ho, people sure are complex! The story also sets up the Superhuman Registration Act and Civil War.
Not much actually happens in New Avengers: Illuminati. It's all set up and weird fighting. I can't stand these characters when they question 'Who put you in charge' or 'Who says you can just do that?' when that's all they ever do. All of these characters simply decided that they're qualified to do as they like and have been doing as such for years. To pretend otherwise is wrong.
I like the idea of the Illuminati group. It makes sense. I don't think Bendis ever uses it in a way that works, but the idea is sound.
Alex Maleev is a goddamn good artist.
The other issues included in this trade are written by J. Michael Straczynski and the Fantastic Four ones are red herrings, supposedly building up the return of Thor in Civil War, but that's Clor... so their inclusion here is somewhat insulting. They're not very good either.
The Amazing Spider-Man issues work better as they cement the Peter/Tony friendship more and also deal with the creation of the SHRA in a larger way. They also reveal Stark as a corrupt jackass... and that US senators are assholes. This also isn't that great.
If this is The Road to Civil War, Civil War better be good. We'll see in 60 minutes, because I want to stop and talk about Bendis's New Avengers until this point in 30.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
This is an odd trade collection that I picked up one day as I wanted the New Avengers: Illuminati one-shot. It's the first of four Bendis/Maleev New Avengers one-shots/issues and introduces to us the Illuminati, who we saw in New Avengers: The Sentry. Shortly after the Kree-Skrull War, Iron Man calls together Namor, Professor X, Reed Richards, Dr. Strange, Black Bolt, and the Black Panther and they meet in Wakanda to hear his idea of putting together a large group, to effectively unify the world's superhumans as a cohesive whole. This idea is quickly shot down, but the idea for a smaller group to work behind the scenes, made up of the seven of them comes up. Except the Black Panther doesn't join. No worries, six members is still good.
We then get the group dealing with the Hulk problem, seemingly for good, by sending Banner to space, which sets up Planet Hulk and World War Hulk. During this time, Maria Hill mentions the idea that superheroes are responsible for the actions of supervillains are a while. Like, it's Spider-Man's fault for what the Green Goblin does because he could just kill him -- never mentioning that the system that simply locks him up again even though he escaped every time before may want to reconsider simply locking him up. I do love the irony of people blaming superheroes for not simply killing villains in a story that leads up another where people don't want superheroes doing anything without the government's approval -- a government that would try and charge superheroes with murder if they killed their villains. Oh ho ho, people sure are complex! The story also sets up the Superhuman Registration Act and Civil War.
Not much actually happens in New Avengers: Illuminati. It's all set up and weird fighting. I can't stand these characters when they question 'Who put you in charge' or 'Who says you can just do that?' when that's all they ever do. All of these characters simply decided that they're qualified to do as they like and have been doing as such for years. To pretend otherwise is wrong.
I like the idea of the Illuminati group. It makes sense. I don't think Bendis ever uses it in a way that works, but the idea is sound.
Alex Maleev is a goddamn good artist.
The other issues included in this trade are written by J. Michael Straczynski and the Fantastic Four ones are red herrings, supposedly building up the return of Thor in Civil War, but that's Clor... so their inclusion here is somewhat insulting. They're not very good either.
The Amazing Spider-Man issues work better as they cement the Peter/Tony friendship more and also deal with the creation of the SHRA in a larger way. They also reveal Stark as a corrupt jackass... and that US senators are assholes. This also isn't that great.
If this is The Road to Civil War, Civil War better be good. We'll see in 60 minutes, because I want to stop and talk about Bendis's New Avengers until this point in 30.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
Blogathon 13: The Pulse: Fear
[Discussed in this post: The Pulse #11-14 and New Avengers Annual #1.]
The issues of The Pulse collected here at the best issues of that series. Bendis really brings his A-game to issue 11-14, which chronicle the birth of Luke and Jessica's baby, Luke asking Jessica to marry him, and the unknown story of D-Man. Bendis is joined by Alias collaborator Michael Gaydos, which is very appropriate since this is the end of The Pulse (it mutated into Frontline: Civil War or Civil War: Frontline, whatever), so no more Jessica Jones solo book.
I'll begin with the D-Man plot since the other stuff leads right into the New Avengers annual. There are probably some who hated this story as it turned the normally goofy-yet-heroic D-Man into a sadder version of himself, portraying him as mentally unstable and not as heroic. Except he is as heroic. Ben Urich investigates a few prevented robberies that Daredevil apparently stopped -- in his old costume. He eventually figures out that it's D-Man (as Kat Farrel tells him: Daredevil costume with a Wolverine hat) and also learns that a few of jewelery stores noticed, after the robbery, that some items were missing -- is D-Man preventing robberies only to steal himself?
Urich eventually discovers where D-Man enters/exits the sewers and goes down, and meets D-Man who is a big Daredevil fan and thinks that the jewels he took from the stores are Infinity Gems. He's on a quest, you see, to gather them and save the world. This is a man who could have been a great Avengers (well, 'great' being optional) and chose to be a superhero for the homeless, now mentally ill but still doing his best to save the world. Ben writes the story and it ends with Daredevil coming down to the sewers to tell D-Man his quest is over and to take him to get the help he needs. Man, when Daredevil shows up, I always get a little lump in my throat...
I understand people who would argue that Bendis ruins D-Man somehow, but something Bendis does very well at times is show just how dangerous being a superhero could be -- and the result of it. D-Man chooses to be a superhero for the homeless and pays the price through his mental balance. He's a victim of his heroism and gets the help he needs. Besides, it's the best use of D-Man... ever.
The main story has Jessica, first, freaking out over having the baby, so Carol sets up a lunch with Susan Richards. That's okay... it's got some of Bendis's wonky dialogue (which I'll probably discuss in a post all it's own at some point). The actual birth stuff is handled very well. The hospital is worried about the effects of a superhuman giving birth, Jessica is freaking because she's having the baby, and Luke Cage will not be stopped from seeing his child being born -- first, he's stranded while Carol flies Jessica to the hospital and then has to jump to catch the Quinjet. Luke Cage is the motherfucking man. Jessica gives birth at Dr. Strange's house and there's a lot of media -- one of the deals Jessica made when she took the job at The Daily Bugle was to give them exclusive access, but after Jameson lying about giving the team fair coverage in issue 15 of New Avengers, she tells him to go fuck himself. The baby is born and Luke Cage proposes.
All of that is done with skill and the right amount of frantic, excited energy. It's kind of goofy and wacky, but the right kind. It's exactly how a superhuman birth should be handled.
Issue 14 of The Pulse has Jessica considering Luke's proposal and has a flashback to her final attempt at being a superhero before giving it up. She helps take down the Owl with Power Man and Iron Fist (more accurately, they help her) and, after, a couple of kids are left since their dad was a criminal and brought them to see the supervillain. Instead of leaving the kids to spend the night at a police station, Jessica takes off her mask, reveals her identity, and takes the kids for one last night of normal living before things go bad. Luke shows up and they have a little moment. The issue ends with her deciding to accept Luke proposal.
These issues are, as I said, illustrates by Michael Gaydos and he does an amazing job. The man can draw people without being a hyper-realist sort of artist. His style is heavy on blacks and thick lines and it's just so damn good. He and Bendis do fantastic work together every time they work together. The best New Avengers issues are the ones that Michael Gaydos draws... all two of them.
The New Avengers annual is mostly just the team fighting the new Super-Adaptoid, the Black Widow II after Jessica accepts Luke's proposal and before the actual marriage ceremony. One big fight scene that's okay. Nothing special. A little long.
The wedding itself is fine. Stan Lee performs the ceremony, which would work if he had anything to do with either of these characters, but he doesn't. Has Stan Lee ever written Luke Cage even? It just feels hollow and forced.
Olivier Coipel does much weaker work here than he did in House of M. He uses a much more manga-influenced style that has energy, but the characters don't quite look like themselves. It's a little disappointing after House of M was so strong.
And so ends New Avengers pre-Civil War, because we're on The Road to Civil War in 30 minutes.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
The issues of The Pulse collected here at the best issues of that series. Bendis really brings his A-game to issue 11-14, which chronicle the birth of Luke and Jessica's baby, Luke asking Jessica to marry him, and the unknown story of D-Man. Bendis is joined by Alias collaborator Michael Gaydos, which is very appropriate since this is the end of The Pulse (it mutated into Frontline: Civil War or Civil War: Frontline, whatever), so no more Jessica Jones solo book.
I'll begin with the D-Man plot since the other stuff leads right into the New Avengers annual. There are probably some who hated this story as it turned the normally goofy-yet-heroic D-Man into a sadder version of himself, portraying him as mentally unstable and not as heroic. Except he is as heroic. Ben Urich investigates a few prevented robberies that Daredevil apparently stopped -- in his old costume. He eventually figures out that it's D-Man (as Kat Farrel tells him: Daredevil costume with a Wolverine hat) and also learns that a few of jewelery stores noticed, after the robbery, that some items were missing -- is D-Man preventing robberies only to steal himself?
Urich eventually discovers where D-Man enters/exits the sewers and goes down, and meets D-Man who is a big Daredevil fan and thinks that the jewels he took from the stores are Infinity Gems. He's on a quest, you see, to gather them and save the world. This is a man who could have been a great Avengers (well, 'great' being optional) and chose to be a superhero for the homeless, now mentally ill but still doing his best to save the world. Ben writes the story and it ends with Daredevil coming down to the sewers to tell D-Man his quest is over and to take him to get the help he needs. Man, when Daredevil shows up, I always get a little lump in my throat...
I understand people who would argue that Bendis ruins D-Man somehow, but something Bendis does very well at times is show just how dangerous being a superhero could be -- and the result of it. D-Man chooses to be a superhero for the homeless and pays the price through his mental balance. He's a victim of his heroism and gets the help he needs. Besides, it's the best use of D-Man... ever.
The main story has Jessica, first, freaking out over having the baby, so Carol sets up a lunch with Susan Richards. That's okay... it's got some of Bendis's wonky dialogue (which I'll probably discuss in a post all it's own at some point). The actual birth stuff is handled very well. The hospital is worried about the effects of a superhuman giving birth, Jessica is freaking because she's having the baby, and Luke Cage will not be stopped from seeing his child being born -- first, he's stranded while Carol flies Jessica to the hospital and then has to jump to catch the Quinjet. Luke Cage is the motherfucking man. Jessica gives birth at Dr. Strange's house and there's a lot of media -- one of the deals Jessica made when she took the job at The Daily Bugle was to give them exclusive access, but after Jameson lying about giving the team fair coverage in issue 15 of New Avengers, she tells him to go fuck himself. The baby is born and Luke Cage proposes.
All of that is done with skill and the right amount of frantic, excited energy. It's kind of goofy and wacky, but the right kind. It's exactly how a superhuman birth should be handled.
Issue 14 of The Pulse has Jessica considering Luke's proposal and has a flashback to her final attempt at being a superhero before giving it up. She helps take down the Owl with Power Man and Iron Fist (more accurately, they help her) and, after, a couple of kids are left since their dad was a criminal and brought them to see the supervillain. Instead of leaving the kids to spend the night at a police station, Jessica takes off her mask, reveals her identity, and takes the kids for one last night of normal living before things go bad. Luke shows up and they have a little moment. The issue ends with her deciding to accept Luke proposal.
These issues are, as I said, illustrates by Michael Gaydos and he does an amazing job. The man can draw people without being a hyper-realist sort of artist. His style is heavy on blacks and thick lines and it's just so damn good. He and Bendis do fantastic work together every time they work together. The best New Avengers issues are the ones that Michael Gaydos draws... all two of them.
The New Avengers annual is mostly just the team fighting the new Super-Adaptoid, the Black Widow II after Jessica accepts Luke's proposal and before the actual marriage ceremony. One big fight scene that's okay. Nothing special. A little long.
The wedding itself is fine. Stan Lee performs the ceremony, which would work if he had anything to do with either of these characters, but he doesn't. Has Stan Lee ever written Luke Cage even? It just feels hollow and forced.
Olivier Coipel does much weaker work here than he did in House of M. He uses a much more manga-influenced style that has energy, but the characters don't quite look like themselves. It's a little disappointing after House of M was so strong.
And so ends New Avengers pre-Civil War, because we're on The Road to Civil War in 30 minutes.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
Blogathon 12: New Avengers: The Collective
[Discussed in this post: New Avengers #16-20.]
We're fast approaching the end of the pre-Civil War New Avengers run and all of a week has passed. It was during my reading of this arc that I realised that. Decompressed storytelling in action, folks. A GODDAMN WEEK HAS PASSED!
This story is what it is... a long fight with a naked guy that's fallout from House of M. Steve McNiven draws the first issue, half of which is splash pages. Seriously, the first eight pages are splashes for no good reason except that THESE EVENTS ARE BIG TIME SERIOUS, GUYS! PAY ATTENTION!
Basically, the collective energy of every mutant that Wanda wished away is drawn to a guy named Michael who is a postman in Alaska. It destroys his home town and possesses him, causing him to gain all of those powers and go running across Canada (where he slaughters Alpha Flight in seconds) and the US and fight in space until eventually he settles in Genosha where it's revealed that it's actually Xorn in control somehow. Oh yeah, Magneto is writing a book in Genosha and he apparently dies at the end of this story.
It's really a big, long fight scene. There are a couple of interesting parts. The Avengers going to Detroit and 'policing' a bad neighbourhood to try and clean things up? Fantastic. Bendis does more great Luke Cage stuff here. Luke would be the sort of Avengers that would demand the group do more -- and I really like that no one argues with the idea. No one says it's a waste of their time or beneath them, they just do it because it's a great idea.
The tensions between SHIELD and the group are amped up here, which I'm not sure works with the way that Iron Man and Spider-Man will work with SHIELD during Civil War. Spider-Man, in particular, gets arrested, unmasked, and his mind invaded by a telepath. I think he would have some issues with SHIELD after this.
The Sentry joins the action and we get to see him hit a lot of stuff. That Peter Parker is the only one who can figure out what the Collective is after they see all of the energy matches is weird. Isn't SHIELD aware of the depowered mutants?
This is a rather weak story, honestly, not helped by its drawn-out nature. Now, Michael receiving the energy because that's his new power and then going crazy from all of the power would have worked, but the Xorn connection takes it too far.
McNiven's art is what it is and I won't badmouth it since he's obvious talented, just not to my taste. Mike Deodato's work here is some of his weaker stuff. He isn't doing his best work, it looks rushed, and not complete. That helps this arc sink a bit lower in quality since it's frustrating to see such shoddy work from an otherwise talented artist.
In the content/promise of content department, I'll call this one a wash since there's not much content, but not much 'come back next time' crap either.
Now, the brutal slaughter of Alpha Flight? That is cheap. This guy kills them in two seconds and yet doesn't kill a single Avenger? That's not good writing and the worthless sacrifice of characters for no reason other than an "Oh wow cool awesome!" moment.
New Avengers wraps up its pre-Civil War status in 30 minutes with The Pulse: Fear, which contains New Avengers Annual #1, for anyone who was about to say I'm lying.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
We're fast approaching the end of the pre-Civil War New Avengers run and all of a week has passed. It was during my reading of this arc that I realised that. Decompressed storytelling in action, folks. A GODDAMN WEEK HAS PASSED!
This story is what it is... a long fight with a naked guy that's fallout from House of M. Steve McNiven draws the first issue, half of which is splash pages. Seriously, the first eight pages are splashes for no good reason except that THESE EVENTS ARE BIG TIME SERIOUS, GUYS! PAY ATTENTION!
Basically, the collective energy of every mutant that Wanda wished away is drawn to a guy named Michael who is a postman in Alaska. It destroys his home town and possesses him, causing him to gain all of those powers and go running across Canada (where he slaughters Alpha Flight in seconds) and the US and fight in space until eventually he settles in Genosha where it's revealed that it's actually Xorn in control somehow. Oh yeah, Magneto is writing a book in Genosha and he apparently dies at the end of this story.
It's really a big, long fight scene. There are a couple of interesting parts. The Avengers going to Detroit and 'policing' a bad neighbourhood to try and clean things up? Fantastic. Bendis does more great Luke Cage stuff here. Luke would be the sort of Avengers that would demand the group do more -- and I really like that no one argues with the idea. No one says it's a waste of their time or beneath them, they just do it because it's a great idea.
The tensions between SHIELD and the group are amped up here, which I'm not sure works with the way that Iron Man and Spider-Man will work with SHIELD during Civil War. Spider-Man, in particular, gets arrested, unmasked, and his mind invaded by a telepath. I think he would have some issues with SHIELD after this.
The Sentry joins the action and we get to see him hit a lot of stuff. That Peter Parker is the only one who can figure out what the Collective is after they see all of the energy matches is weird. Isn't SHIELD aware of the depowered mutants?
This is a rather weak story, honestly, not helped by its drawn-out nature. Now, Michael receiving the energy because that's his new power and then going crazy from all of the power would have worked, but the Xorn connection takes it too far.
McNiven's art is what it is and I won't badmouth it since he's obvious talented, just not to my taste. Mike Deodato's work here is some of his weaker stuff. He isn't doing his best work, it looks rushed, and not complete. That helps this arc sink a bit lower in quality since it's frustrating to see such shoddy work from an otherwise talented artist.
In the content/promise of content department, I'll call this one a wash since there's not much content, but not much 'come back next time' crap either.
Now, the brutal slaughter of Alpha Flight? That is cheap. This guy kills them in two seconds and yet doesn't kill a single Avenger? That's not good writing and the worthless sacrifice of characters for no reason other than an "Oh wow cool awesome!" moment.
New Avengers wraps up its pre-Civil War status in 30 minutes with The Pulse: Fear, which contains New Avengers Annual #1, for anyone who was about to say I'm lying.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
Blogathon 11: House of M
[Discussed in this issue: House of M #1-8.]
Bendis writes an event book. It's an Avengers-centric event that spins out of Avengers Disassembled, so it only makes sense that Bendis would write this. The only other writer who tackled the material is Chris Claremont in Excalibur and I think we all know that he's not writing a big Marvel event book anytime soon.
House of M suffers from having a clear beginning and clear ending with nothing in between beyond 'Hey, look, alternate reality fun!' Now, you can carry your story a long way on alternate reality fun. I love alternate reality fun, but not for eight issues. House of M works at, oh, let's say four issues. If this was a four-issue New Avengers story, it would be pretty good. As an eight-issue Marvel event, it's a failure.
There simply isn't enough meat to this story. The Avengers and X-Men get together to discuss the problem of Wanda: she's too powerful and too crazy to allow to live. Some agree, others disagree, but they figure they'll go to Genosha and talk it out. There, the world goes white and everything it different. Mutants are dominant and most of the heroes here are leading happier, more fulfilling lives. Wolverine remembers the truth, though, and freaks out. There's also a mutant named Layla Miller who remembers the truth and can cause others to remember, so they gather up a posse, attack Genosha and Wanda says "No more mutants," putting the world back to normal except for there only being 198 mutants left.
Notice that issues 2-7 are all summed up in three lines? Not enough damn meat to the story! Looking back, I can't remember how Bendis and Olivier Coipel filled those issues. I'm sure the second issue was all "This is how it is now," but the rest?
In that way, House of M is Bendis's first real failure in the content/promise of content ratio. There isn't a lot of content, but the promise of the new mutantless status quo looms big. It seems like the entire event happened just to get to that point with little rhyme or reason. It ends almost on that "Okay, so this wasn't that great, we know, but keep reading, because now it's interesting!" note.
This also shows his habit of leaving the final chapter of a story to act as epilogue completely as happens here. The big climax is "No more mutants," and that happens at the end of issue seven. Issue eight is all reaction -- Secret Invasion repeats this. I actually like that since it's an attempt to avoid the 'Now keep reading for it to be good!' feeling, but it doesn't quite work.
Olivier Coipel does some nice work here. I like Coipel -- he's just about the only one of this crop of 'Young Guns' whose work I dig. He designs a whole new Marvel universe and isn't afraid to keep things the same if there's no call for change. His style is really dynamic. I think his work suffers under Frank D'Armata's colours at times in this series. Layla Miller using her powers is just ugly because of the colouring. Otherwise, this is a great looking comic.
Bendis nails some characters here, I will admit. Peter Parker's reactions are all 100% spot-on. Absolutely perfect. Same with Wolverine. Bendis can do some great character stuff.
I'm still not sure how they made Charles Xavier help them -- did Wanda use her powers to control him? What? That's never really explained.
In 30 minutes: New Avengers: The Collective.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
Bendis writes an event book. It's an Avengers-centric event that spins out of Avengers Disassembled, so it only makes sense that Bendis would write this. The only other writer who tackled the material is Chris Claremont in Excalibur and I think we all know that he's not writing a big Marvel event book anytime soon.
House of M suffers from having a clear beginning and clear ending with nothing in between beyond 'Hey, look, alternate reality fun!' Now, you can carry your story a long way on alternate reality fun. I love alternate reality fun, but not for eight issues. House of M works at, oh, let's say four issues. If this was a four-issue New Avengers story, it would be pretty good. As an eight-issue Marvel event, it's a failure.
There simply isn't enough meat to this story. The Avengers and X-Men get together to discuss the problem of Wanda: she's too powerful and too crazy to allow to live. Some agree, others disagree, but they figure they'll go to Genosha and talk it out. There, the world goes white and everything it different. Mutants are dominant and most of the heroes here are leading happier, more fulfilling lives. Wolverine remembers the truth, though, and freaks out. There's also a mutant named Layla Miller who remembers the truth and can cause others to remember, so they gather up a posse, attack Genosha and Wanda says "No more mutants," putting the world back to normal except for there only being 198 mutants left.
Notice that issues 2-7 are all summed up in three lines? Not enough damn meat to the story! Looking back, I can't remember how Bendis and Olivier Coipel filled those issues. I'm sure the second issue was all "This is how it is now," but the rest?
In that way, House of M is Bendis's first real failure in the content/promise of content ratio. There isn't a lot of content, but the promise of the new mutantless status quo looms big. It seems like the entire event happened just to get to that point with little rhyme or reason. It ends almost on that "Okay, so this wasn't that great, we know, but keep reading, because now it's interesting!" note.
This also shows his habit of leaving the final chapter of a story to act as epilogue completely as happens here. The big climax is "No more mutants," and that happens at the end of issue seven. Issue eight is all reaction -- Secret Invasion repeats this. I actually like that since it's an attempt to avoid the 'Now keep reading for it to be good!' feeling, but it doesn't quite work.
Olivier Coipel does some nice work here. I like Coipel -- he's just about the only one of this crop of 'Young Guns' whose work I dig. He designs a whole new Marvel universe and isn't afraid to keep things the same if there's no call for change. His style is really dynamic. I think his work suffers under Frank D'Armata's colours at times in this series. Layla Miller using her powers is just ugly because of the colouring. Otherwise, this is a great looking comic.
Bendis nails some characters here, I will admit. Peter Parker's reactions are all 100% spot-on. Absolutely perfect. Same with Wolverine. Bendis can do some great character stuff.
I'm still not sure how they made Charles Xavier help them -- did Wanda use her powers to control him? What? That's never really explained.
In 30 minutes: New Avengers: The Collective.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
Blogathon 10: New Avengers: Secrets & Lies
[Discussed in this post: New Avengers #11-15 and a story from Giant-Sized Spider-Woman #1.]
There are three stories in this trade/set of issues and I'll tackle them one at a time.
The first is "Ronin" where the identity of Ronin is finally revealed. Except, if you've just been reading the issue, you'd have no idea that there was anyone named Ronin around anywhere. See, this is why you don't announce the line-up first and then introduce them. The whole controversy where Ronin turns out to be Echo instead of Daredevil, which people assume is a swerve because Bendis didn't like everyone online figuring out the secret, is totally stupid and Marvel/Bendis's fault. They created a needless mystery that wouldn't be 'solved'/actually intoduced in the comics until issue 11 at the earliest and then the title suffered massive delays and... oh well who cares.
Ronin is Echo, sent by Captain America to Japan to take down the Clan Yashida and the Hand, which are vulnerable. This is at Daredevil's suggestion, because he doesn't want the gig. Daredevil would have made sense, but, in-story, Echo works just as good. The actual story where the Avengers go to Tokyo and get sucked in is fine enough. They fight ninjas and we get another hint that Spider-Woman may be a traitor as she has a discussion with Viper/almost kills Captain America to let Viper escape.
It's a nice little story. Finch returns to do the art. I have no real complaints, but no real praise either.
The Spider-Woman plot is an interesting one: she is a triple agent working for SHIELD while working for Hydra and the Avengers, all under the direction of Nick Fury. Again, not a lot here once you get the actual revelations. Her story is sad and full of pathos and ends with a revelation that *GASP!* she's actually betraying them all, even Nick Fury.
Spider-Woman's stuff introduces the idea of trust into the book, something Bendis will return to a lot, especially in the lead-up to Secret Invasion.
Rick Mays illustrates the story from Giant-Sized Spider-Woman #1 that adds nothing, because it's recapped in New Avengers #14 with art by Frank Cho, who is better. Cho is probably the best artist to work on the title by this point. Very good stuff. I love Cho's art.
Issue 15 spotlights Ms. Marvel and takes place post-House of M, which happened somewhere in all of this. I don't know where. It also has the New Avengers revealing themselves officially to the public. It's at this point that we realise that we're on issue 15 and only, like, three days have gone by. Actually, you'll notice that pre-Civil War, this team of Avengers only exists for... oh, two weeks. The insanely compressed time is very odd.
Ms. Marvel narrates this issue via blog posts that begin and end every page and offer no real idea of how anyone would blog. I get whay Bendis is going for, but it doesn't work. He does some good character work with her, though. She saw her full potential during House of M and wants to reach it before rejoining the Avengers.
There's also a bit where Stark makes a deal with J. Jonah Jameson ahead of time for favourable coverage in exchange for exclusive access to the group. Jameson even shakes Spider-Man's hand... and then slams the group in the press. Fuck J. Jonah Jameson. Fuck him right in the ear.
The page the new team introduces itself (minus Wolverine who opts out) is great as guys like Luke Cage and Spider-Man finally get some big time recognition for their acts of heroism.
Frank Cho, again, does a stellar job.
In the content/promise of content area, this trade/set of issues does a decent job. A kind of lacklustre "Ronin" story sets up two character-based issues that tell good stories. All that's set up is Spider-Woman's possible betrayal in the future and that there's a new Avengers team.
In 30 minutes: House of M.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
There are three stories in this trade/set of issues and I'll tackle them one at a time.
The first is "Ronin" where the identity of Ronin is finally revealed. Except, if you've just been reading the issue, you'd have no idea that there was anyone named Ronin around anywhere. See, this is why you don't announce the line-up first and then introduce them. The whole controversy where Ronin turns out to be Echo instead of Daredevil, which people assume is a swerve because Bendis didn't like everyone online figuring out the secret, is totally stupid and Marvel/Bendis's fault. They created a needless mystery that wouldn't be 'solved'/actually intoduced in the comics until issue 11 at the earliest and then the title suffered massive delays and... oh well who cares.
Ronin is Echo, sent by Captain America to Japan to take down the Clan Yashida and the Hand, which are vulnerable. This is at Daredevil's suggestion, because he doesn't want the gig. Daredevil would have made sense, but, in-story, Echo works just as good. The actual story where the Avengers go to Tokyo and get sucked in is fine enough. They fight ninjas and we get another hint that Spider-Woman may be a traitor as she has a discussion with Viper/almost kills Captain America to let Viper escape.
It's a nice little story. Finch returns to do the art. I have no real complaints, but no real praise either.
The Spider-Woman plot is an interesting one: she is a triple agent working for SHIELD while working for Hydra and the Avengers, all under the direction of Nick Fury. Again, not a lot here once you get the actual revelations. Her story is sad and full of pathos and ends with a revelation that *GASP!* she's actually betraying them all, even Nick Fury.
Spider-Woman's stuff introduces the idea of trust into the book, something Bendis will return to a lot, especially in the lead-up to Secret Invasion.
Rick Mays illustrates the story from Giant-Sized Spider-Woman #1 that adds nothing, because it's recapped in New Avengers #14 with art by Frank Cho, who is better. Cho is probably the best artist to work on the title by this point. Very good stuff. I love Cho's art.
Issue 15 spotlights Ms. Marvel and takes place post-House of M, which happened somewhere in all of this. I don't know where. It also has the New Avengers revealing themselves officially to the public. It's at this point that we realise that we're on issue 15 and only, like, three days have gone by. Actually, you'll notice that pre-Civil War, this team of Avengers only exists for... oh, two weeks. The insanely compressed time is very odd.
Ms. Marvel narrates this issue via blog posts that begin and end every page and offer no real idea of how anyone would blog. I get whay Bendis is going for, but it doesn't work. He does some good character work with her, though. She saw her full potential during House of M and wants to reach it before rejoining the Avengers.
There's also a bit where Stark makes a deal with J. Jonah Jameson ahead of time for favourable coverage in exchange for exclusive access to the group. Jameson even shakes Spider-Man's hand... and then slams the group in the press. Fuck J. Jonah Jameson. Fuck him right in the ear.
The page the new team introduces itself (minus Wolverine who opts out) is great as guys like Luke Cage and Spider-Man finally get some big time recognition for their acts of heroism.
Frank Cho, again, does a stellar job.
In the content/promise of content area, this trade/set of issues does a decent job. A kind of lacklustre "Ronin" story sets up two character-based issues that tell good stories. All that's set up is Spider-Woman's possible betrayal in the future and that there's a new Avengers team.
In 30 minutes: House of M.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
Blogathon 09: The Sentry: Reborn: #1-8
[Discussed in this post: The Sentry: Reborn #1-8.]
This series is an absolute trainwreck failure on every level except for the art, which is done by John Romita, Jr. -- and his talents are put to waste.
The entire series leads up to a revelation about the true nature of the Sentry and here it is: the formula that Bob Reynolds took trying to get high would have worked on anyone. It wasn't a unique, one-in-six-billion accident where it somehow combined with his cellular structure to produce the Sentry. Wow. Big frickin' deal.
Beyond that, the General is made to look a joke and quickly killed, eliminating the one good thing about Bendis's story reintroducing the Sentry. Nice job there, Jenkins.
Um... the Sentry and the Void are possibly separated, but not really, and the Sentry throws the Void into the sun, but that doesn't last since we've seen the Void at least three times since.
This series has no purpose. It really doesn't. Sorry for the short blog post, but I can't muster up anything else to say.
In 30 minutes: New Avengers: Secrets & Lies.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
This series is an absolute trainwreck failure on every level except for the art, which is done by John Romita, Jr. -- and his talents are put to waste.
The entire series leads up to a revelation about the true nature of the Sentry and here it is: the formula that Bob Reynolds took trying to get high would have worked on anyone. It wasn't a unique, one-in-six-billion accident where it somehow combined with his cellular structure to produce the Sentry. Wow. Big frickin' deal.
Beyond that, the General is made to look a joke and quickly killed, eliminating the one good thing about Bendis's story reintroducing the Sentry. Nice job there, Jenkins.
Um... the Sentry and the Void are possibly separated, but not really, and the Sentry throws the Void into the sun, but that doesn't last since we've seen the Void at least three times since.
This series has no purpose. It really doesn't. Sorry for the short blog post, but I can't muster up anything else to say.
In 30 minutes: New Avengers: Secrets & Lies.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
Blogathon 08: New Avengers: The Sentry
[Discussed in this post: New Avengers #7-10.]
First off, thanks to Robot 6 for giving the blogathon a little promotion. Now, back to the comics...
So, Bendis brings the Sentry back. In Breakout, he's in the Raft for killing his wife. Since then, he's been hiding out in a cave where Iron Man and Captain America find him -- and inform him that his wife, Lindy, is alive and the Sentry isn't real, he's the creation of comic writer Paul Jenkins.
While I had high hopes for Bendis bringing back the Sentry, he falls down here. It is just brutal how much he screws this up through worthless, bullshit changes that don't add anything. Bendis has a habit of bringing back unused characters or ideas and changing them for the hell of it. He reminds me of movie studios who option a book and then change it so completely that you wonder why they bothered with the original.
The inclusion of Paul Jenkins here goes nowhere and adds nothing. It's a needless little stunt that tries to play into the way that the Sentry disappeared/was forgotten, but never quite does anything.
Eventually, Bob is suddenly home and finds all of the heroes outside. Then, the Void attacks and Emma Frost goes into his head to solve things. This is all very well and good, but, during the course of this, we get a revelation: the Sentry didn't make the world forget him on purpose, his mind was altered by the Mastermind at the command of an old enemy, the General to do so. So, I guess, the Void and all of that is a result of them? Except the Sentry's own powers -- coming from him -- make the world forget? It really changes what Jenkins originally wrote and for no good reason. The situation is unchanged, but the reasons behind it are... but they don't make it a better story in any way. All it does it make it so the heroes don't make the world forget the Sentry again, which is kind of lame. Bendis needed to find a way for the Sentry to remain an existing character... but he doesn't.
The Void is still a threat. The Sentry is still mentally ill. Why wouldn't they get him to go away again? It also lessens the idea that so much power would harm a person mentally, which was a big part of the Sentry to this point. Now, he's just a victim of a little punk like the Mastermind? And constantly referring to the Mastermind as a little punk as they do doesn't help -- why can't Emma undo the damage?
I like the idea of the General being a badass villain who gets rid of his arch-enemy and is satisfied, at the time, knowing that he did so even if he won't remember later.
During the beginning of the arc, the Avengers take on the Wrecker and it's an entertaining fight. We're also introduced to Edward Gross, a collector of superpeople items... he had the Wrecker's crowbar. The fight is good and shows off the team (minus Cap and Iron Man) working together well.
Steve McNiven does the art here and I'm not a fan. His people look like their skin is made of plastic. They don't look right. But, he does do some very pretty pages. It's really he's just not to my taste and I accept (and see why) others liking him.
A couple of other things:
* The Sentry's 'fate' element to the team is cemented when it's revealed that the new Avengers Tower is really the Sentry's Tower!
* The Illuminati appear here for the first time. And Tony Stark lies to them about the Savage Land.
* On the content/promise of content, this story is pretty content packed without much 'stay tuned for something better next time' crap.
The Sentry coming back also raises a lot of questions... few that are answered, sadly. Not even in the book I'll be discussing in 30 minutes: The Sentry: Reborn, which has Jenkins return to the character and spend eight issues doing absolutely nothing.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
First off, thanks to Robot 6 for giving the blogathon a little promotion. Now, back to the comics...
So, Bendis brings the Sentry back. In Breakout, he's in the Raft for killing his wife. Since then, he's been hiding out in a cave where Iron Man and Captain America find him -- and inform him that his wife, Lindy, is alive and the Sentry isn't real, he's the creation of comic writer Paul Jenkins.
While I had high hopes for Bendis bringing back the Sentry, he falls down here. It is just brutal how much he screws this up through worthless, bullshit changes that don't add anything. Bendis has a habit of bringing back unused characters or ideas and changing them for the hell of it. He reminds me of movie studios who option a book and then change it so completely that you wonder why they bothered with the original.
The inclusion of Paul Jenkins here goes nowhere and adds nothing. It's a needless little stunt that tries to play into the way that the Sentry disappeared/was forgotten, but never quite does anything.
Eventually, Bob is suddenly home and finds all of the heroes outside. Then, the Void attacks and Emma Frost goes into his head to solve things. This is all very well and good, but, during the course of this, we get a revelation: the Sentry didn't make the world forget him on purpose, his mind was altered by the Mastermind at the command of an old enemy, the General to do so. So, I guess, the Void and all of that is a result of them? Except the Sentry's own powers -- coming from him -- make the world forget? It really changes what Jenkins originally wrote and for no good reason. The situation is unchanged, but the reasons behind it are... but they don't make it a better story in any way. All it does it make it so the heroes don't make the world forget the Sentry again, which is kind of lame. Bendis needed to find a way for the Sentry to remain an existing character... but he doesn't.
The Void is still a threat. The Sentry is still mentally ill. Why wouldn't they get him to go away again? It also lessens the idea that so much power would harm a person mentally, which was a big part of the Sentry to this point. Now, he's just a victim of a little punk like the Mastermind? And constantly referring to the Mastermind as a little punk as they do doesn't help -- why can't Emma undo the damage?
I like the idea of the General being a badass villain who gets rid of his arch-enemy and is satisfied, at the time, knowing that he did so even if he won't remember later.
During the beginning of the arc, the Avengers take on the Wrecker and it's an entertaining fight. We're also introduced to Edward Gross, a collector of superpeople items... he had the Wrecker's crowbar. The fight is good and shows off the team (minus Cap and Iron Man) working together well.
Steve McNiven does the art here and I'm not a fan. His people look like their skin is made of plastic. They don't look right. But, he does do some very pretty pages. It's really he's just not to my taste and I accept (and see why) others liking him.
A couple of other things:
* The Sentry's 'fate' element to the team is cemented when it's revealed that the new Avengers Tower is really the Sentry's Tower!
* The Illuminati appear here for the first time. And Tony Stark lies to them about the Savage Land.
* On the content/promise of content, this story is pretty content packed without much 'stay tuned for something better next time' crap.
The Sentry coming back also raises a lot of questions... few that are answered, sadly. Not even in the book I'll be discussing in 30 minutes: The Sentry: Reborn, which has Jenkins return to the character and spend eight issues doing absolutely nothing.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
Blogathon 07: The Sentry
[Discussed in this post: The Sentry #1-5, The Sentry/Fantastic Four, The Sentry/Spider-Man, The Sentry/X-Men, The Sentry/Hulk, and The Sentry VS. the Void.]
The Sentry was originally presented not just as a mystery to his fellow heroes but to the readers as well. A lost Stan Lee creation meant to debut before the Fantastic Four. The real beginning of the Marvel Age. But... then why doesn't anyone remember him, not even Lee? All of this was presented in Wizard (by the way, them going along with this fake story was the exact moment that the magazine lost its last shred of credibility) and it was a good way to market the series.
The story itself is very simple: Robert Reynolds begins to remember his life as a superhero named the Sentry. He remember adventures with other heroes, but they don't remember him. No one does. Why? The series slowly unravels the mystery of the Sentry as he returns to confront his arch-enemy, the Void, who has also returned (but no one seems to remember either...).
Ultimately, the big revelation is that the Sentry is the Void. Something about Reynolds's powers and mental state cause the Void to come into existence whenever the Sentry is active. If Reynolds is the Sentry, he creates the Void, so he and Reed Richards made the Sentry disappear to save the world. They ruined his heroic image and used the source of the Sentry's powers, a formula, to power a device that makes everyone forget him.
As an idea, it's wonderful. I love The Sentry for its ingenuity. The greatest hero the world has ever known is also its biggest threat and must disappear or else doom everyone. Fantastic stuff. Why doesn't the Marvel Universe have its own Superman? Because he would destroy the Marvel Universe. If Marvel heroes have problems to keep them grounded, a Superman-level Marvel hero would have Superman-level problems. Genius.
Jenkins finds a lot of ways to fit the Sentry into the Marvel universe. Making him and Reed Richards best friends is a great touch. I'm not sure why the Sentry was never on the Avengers... when he went away, the Avengers were still relatively new, I guess. That is one area where the series falls down: the Sentry disappear WAY too early in Marvel history. Hank Pym is still Giant-Man... yet we see comics featuring the Sentry from later points. It doesn't add up.
The storytelling of this series is very, very, very slow and would have worked better monthly where each issue would draw you deeper into the mystery. Reading it as a whole, it is just too slow -- and seems needlessly so. But, it also works with the idea of people slowly remembering the Sentry. Details unfold slowly and it's compelling.
The four teamm-up one-shots shed some more light on the Sentry's past with his fellow heroes. They acted as sort of a fifth-week event. We get to see the Sentry and Fantastic Four team-up since Bob and Reed are best friends. Or, how the Sentry provided Spider-Man with a picture opportunity that won Peter Parker a Pulitzer and made him famous. Or, the influence that the Sentry had on a young Angel. The best of these one-shots is the Hulk one as the Sentry acts as a calming influence on the Hulk, supposedly to help him evolve into something better.
Throughout the series, we get pages and covers of old comics -- the Sentry appeared in a book called "Startling Stories." And Jae Lee alters his style accordingly. In the Hulk one-shot Jenkins takes it a step further by having the adventures of the Hulk and Sentry begin with The Incredible Hulk #7 -- so that's why it stopped at issue six for us! A little joke that I love.
Jae Lee's art is phenomenal. The right amount of edge and oddness to suit the material. He can draw damn near anything and it looks spooky as hell, matching the spookiness of the story... it is spooky to suddenly realise that you don't remember a guy like the Sentry, that you're not supposed to -- to suddenly see a shelf in your home with a unicorn statue on it. The Sentry is a spooky story and Lee's art is perfect for it.
An element of the story that Jenkins originally wanted to use but didn't work in all that well is the idea of addiction, that the Sentry was addicted to the formula that gave him powers. They use this idea as the reason why the Sentry is really a bad guy to get the world to turn against him so the brainwashing will work, but not much elsewhere. Kind of a shame, because his idea of Hourman as a superpower junkie is a great one.
The story ends with the world forgetting the Sentry again -- but with a hint that Bob has a vague memory of it all. It ends in a way that if the Sentry never came back again, we know why. The Sentry never actually happened and that's for the best. I actually think it may have been better if he never came back, because there isn't a lot to the character beyond 'mentally ill Superman,' which works for this story, but not as much beyond it. So, if he were to come back, it would be bad for everyone. Thus, Bendis brings him back... and needlessly alters elements of his story as Bendis is wont to do.
Which we'll see in 30 minutes in New Avengers: The Sentry.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
The Sentry was originally presented not just as a mystery to his fellow heroes but to the readers as well. A lost Stan Lee creation meant to debut before the Fantastic Four. The real beginning of the Marvel Age. But... then why doesn't anyone remember him, not even Lee? All of this was presented in Wizard (by the way, them going along with this fake story was the exact moment that the magazine lost its last shred of credibility) and it was a good way to market the series.
The story itself is very simple: Robert Reynolds begins to remember his life as a superhero named the Sentry. He remember adventures with other heroes, but they don't remember him. No one does. Why? The series slowly unravels the mystery of the Sentry as he returns to confront his arch-enemy, the Void, who has also returned (but no one seems to remember either...).
Ultimately, the big revelation is that the Sentry is the Void. Something about Reynolds's powers and mental state cause the Void to come into existence whenever the Sentry is active. If Reynolds is the Sentry, he creates the Void, so he and Reed Richards made the Sentry disappear to save the world. They ruined his heroic image and used the source of the Sentry's powers, a formula, to power a device that makes everyone forget him.
As an idea, it's wonderful. I love The Sentry for its ingenuity. The greatest hero the world has ever known is also its biggest threat and must disappear or else doom everyone. Fantastic stuff. Why doesn't the Marvel Universe have its own Superman? Because he would destroy the Marvel Universe. If Marvel heroes have problems to keep them grounded, a Superman-level Marvel hero would have Superman-level problems. Genius.
Jenkins finds a lot of ways to fit the Sentry into the Marvel universe. Making him and Reed Richards best friends is a great touch. I'm not sure why the Sentry was never on the Avengers... when he went away, the Avengers were still relatively new, I guess. That is one area where the series falls down: the Sentry disappear WAY too early in Marvel history. Hank Pym is still Giant-Man... yet we see comics featuring the Sentry from later points. It doesn't add up.
The storytelling of this series is very, very, very slow and would have worked better monthly where each issue would draw you deeper into the mystery. Reading it as a whole, it is just too slow -- and seems needlessly so. But, it also works with the idea of people slowly remembering the Sentry. Details unfold slowly and it's compelling.
The four teamm-up one-shots shed some more light on the Sentry's past with his fellow heroes. They acted as sort of a fifth-week event. We get to see the Sentry and Fantastic Four team-up since Bob and Reed are best friends. Or, how the Sentry provided Spider-Man with a picture opportunity that won Peter Parker a Pulitzer and made him famous. Or, the influence that the Sentry had on a young Angel. The best of these one-shots is the Hulk one as the Sentry acts as a calming influence on the Hulk, supposedly to help him evolve into something better.
Throughout the series, we get pages and covers of old comics -- the Sentry appeared in a book called "Startling Stories." And Jae Lee alters his style accordingly. In the Hulk one-shot Jenkins takes it a step further by having the adventures of the Hulk and Sentry begin with The Incredible Hulk #7 -- so that's why it stopped at issue six for us! A little joke that I love.
Jae Lee's art is phenomenal. The right amount of edge and oddness to suit the material. He can draw damn near anything and it looks spooky as hell, matching the spookiness of the story... it is spooky to suddenly realise that you don't remember a guy like the Sentry, that you're not supposed to -- to suddenly see a shelf in your home with a unicorn statue on it. The Sentry is a spooky story and Lee's art is perfect for it.
An element of the story that Jenkins originally wanted to use but didn't work in all that well is the idea of addiction, that the Sentry was addicted to the formula that gave him powers. They use this idea as the reason why the Sentry is really a bad guy to get the world to turn against him so the brainwashing will work, but not much elsewhere. Kind of a shame, because his idea of Hourman as a superpower junkie is a great one.
The story ends with the world forgetting the Sentry again -- but with a hint that Bob has a vague memory of it all. It ends in a way that if the Sentry never came back again, we know why. The Sentry never actually happened and that's for the best. I actually think it may have been better if he never came back, because there isn't a lot to the character beyond 'mentally ill Superman,' which works for this story, but not as much beyond it. So, if he were to come back, it would be bad for everyone. Thus, Bendis brings him back... and needlessly alters elements of his story as Bendis is wont to do.
Which we'll see in 30 minutes in New Avengers: The Sentry.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
Blogathon 06: New Avengers: Breakout
[Discussed in this post: New Avengers #1-6.]
And so it begins...
Okay, I'm on my fifth post of Bendis's Avengers stuff, so it obviously already began, but, to most people, this is where it really begins. Avengers Disassembled was a board-clearing thing, the other books barely noticed. New Avengers: Breakout is where Bendis's Avengers work really begins as he creates the most controversial team in Avengers history with a line-up of Captain America, Iron Man, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Spider-Woman, Sentry, and Ronin. Personally, I love the line-up Bendis creates here, because it fits with the first Avengers line-up: a bunch of random heroes thrown together. That's what we've got here and it works for me.
Especially as Bendis goes out of his way to have Captain America spell out for us that this is just like that first time! It's fate! There's a breakout at the Raft and the heroes that arrive on scene to settle down the riot form the team later after Cap takes it all as a sign that it was meant to be. Of course, those characters being there is simply a result of Bendis writing those characters there, but whatever, Cap doesn't know that.
Electro breaks into the Raft to break Sauron out -- and why not everyone else at the same time? He was hired by Mysterious Shadow People that won't be revealed until much later (quick hint: SKRULLS!). The plot of this story falls into three parts: the breakout, the assembling of the team, and the hunt for Sauron in the Savage Land. It's all pretty good. The fight scenes work, as do the dialogue ones. I think it falls apart towards the end as Bendis just doesn't know how to end it. The whole Sauron stuff is just kind of... lame.
One thing I didn't like was how we knew who the team would be right from the get-go. That makes Wolverine's appearance at the end of issue four not as surprising as it should have been -- and he appears in issue four, because he's the final missing element just like Captain America was, who re-appeared in Avengers #4! I would have liked the make-up of the team left a surprise, because it is a surprising line-up.
Let's examine the line-up a little. Captain America and Iron Man are obvious choices, but this also sets up their feud in Civil War (even though that wasn't planned at the time). Spider-Man and Wolverine are insanely popular, so if you're going to make New Avengers a flagship book, sticking them in it doesn't hurt. Luke Cage and Spider-Woman are Bendis's pet characters and every new team line-up has those -- every one, so don't pretend like Bendis invented it. Ronin is a mystery and a means to a different story. The Sentry is an attempt to bring a somewhat forgotten character into the spotlight. I think it's a solid, balance line-up. A little light on the women, but Jessica Jones adds some of that as an unofficial member via her past membership and relationship with Luke.
In a content/promise of content comparison, Breakout sets up a lot, but it does so by giving us a lot. A rogue element of SHIELD, Mysterious Shadow People, what's up with the Sentry, 40-someodd supervillains escaped... all loose threads, but the formation of the new team and official introduction of Maria Hill as the new Director of SHIELD more than outbalance that. A lot happens here.
And yet, I find myself not having a lot of material to discuss per se. As I said, this story works for the first 2/3s, but falls apart in the Savage Land with a confrontation with the Black Widow II and a rogue SHIELD unit. Maybe it's just that I don't care about the Savage Land, but maybe it's also I don't know why Sauron was involved. Even knowing what the rogue SHIELD group was and why they were in the Savage Land, I'm not sure why they wanted Sauron out -- especially when it resulted in tipping off SHIELD the rogue element. It doessn't add up for me.
David Finch is again on art and he again isn't that great. He can still do action, but not talking. The talking pages are just brutal to see.
But, something you may be asking yourself is "Who is this Sentry guy?" Aha! I've anticipated your question and will answer it in 30 minutes when I discuss The Sentry.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
And so it begins...
Okay, I'm on my fifth post of Bendis's Avengers stuff, so it obviously already began, but, to most people, this is where it really begins. Avengers Disassembled was a board-clearing thing, the other books barely noticed. New Avengers: Breakout is where Bendis's Avengers work really begins as he creates the most controversial team in Avengers history with a line-up of Captain America, Iron Man, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Spider-Woman, Sentry, and Ronin. Personally, I love the line-up Bendis creates here, because it fits with the first Avengers line-up: a bunch of random heroes thrown together. That's what we've got here and it works for me.
Especially as Bendis goes out of his way to have Captain America spell out for us that this is just like that first time! It's fate! There's a breakout at the Raft and the heroes that arrive on scene to settle down the riot form the team later after Cap takes it all as a sign that it was meant to be. Of course, those characters being there is simply a result of Bendis writing those characters there, but whatever, Cap doesn't know that.
Electro breaks into the Raft to break Sauron out -- and why not everyone else at the same time? He was hired by Mysterious Shadow People that won't be revealed until much later (quick hint: SKRULLS!). The plot of this story falls into three parts: the breakout, the assembling of the team, and the hunt for Sauron in the Savage Land. It's all pretty good. The fight scenes work, as do the dialogue ones. I think it falls apart towards the end as Bendis just doesn't know how to end it. The whole Sauron stuff is just kind of... lame.
One thing I didn't like was how we knew who the team would be right from the get-go. That makes Wolverine's appearance at the end of issue four not as surprising as it should have been -- and he appears in issue four, because he's the final missing element just like Captain America was, who re-appeared in Avengers #4! I would have liked the make-up of the team left a surprise, because it is a surprising line-up.
Let's examine the line-up a little. Captain America and Iron Man are obvious choices, but this also sets up their feud in Civil War (even though that wasn't planned at the time). Spider-Man and Wolverine are insanely popular, so if you're going to make New Avengers a flagship book, sticking them in it doesn't hurt. Luke Cage and Spider-Woman are Bendis's pet characters and every new team line-up has those -- every one, so don't pretend like Bendis invented it. Ronin is a mystery and a means to a different story. The Sentry is an attempt to bring a somewhat forgotten character into the spotlight. I think it's a solid, balance line-up. A little light on the women, but Jessica Jones adds some of that as an unofficial member via her past membership and relationship with Luke.
In a content/promise of content comparison, Breakout sets up a lot, but it does so by giving us a lot. A rogue element of SHIELD, Mysterious Shadow People, what's up with the Sentry, 40-someodd supervillains escaped... all loose threads, but the formation of the new team and official introduction of Maria Hill as the new Director of SHIELD more than outbalance that. A lot happens here.
And yet, I find myself not having a lot of material to discuss per se. As I said, this story works for the first 2/3s, but falls apart in the Savage Land with a confrontation with the Black Widow II and a rogue SHIELD unit. Maybe it's just that I don't care about the Savage Land, but maybe it's also I don't know why Sauron was involved. Even knowing what the rogue SHIELD group was and why they were in the Savage Land, I'm not sure why they wanted Sauron out -- especially when it resulted in tipping off SHIELD the rogue element. It doessn't add up for me.
David Finch is again on art and he again isn't that great. He can still do action, but not talking. The talking pages are just brutal to see.
But, something you may be asking yourself is "Who is this Sentry guy?" Aha! I've anticipated your question and will answer it in 30 minutes when I discuss The Sentry.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
Blogathon 05: The Pulse: Secret War
[Discussed in this post: The Pulse #6-9.]
This story basically expands on the Luke Cage/Jessica Jones subplot from Secret War as she tries to figure out what the hell has happened that cause someone to be in their apartment when they got home and make it blow up.
Luke is in critical condition because the doctors can't get through his skin and Jessica is freaking out. When Fury and Cap show up, things get worse as something happens at the hospital (the beginning of the final fight from Secret War) and, during that time, Luke disappears -- presumably taken by Danny Rand somewhere safe. Except Jessica doesn't know where and can't get ahold of him.
This story is a rough one for Jessica as she spends most of it utterly confused and freaked out, clinging to the idea that all that matters is keeping her baby safe. That baby keeps her sane here. She eventually gets together with Ben Urich and they go about trying to figure out what's happened. Urich gets a call from an old SHIELD source that hints that Fury has fucked up -- and it's okay to write about it. This is an oddity, because, normally, Fury and SHIELD are hands off, because the media assumes that if it's something that needs to be printed, they'll be told (otherwise, lives may be in danger -- a lot of lives)... and, if they don't play by SHIELD's rules, they'll lose all access to everything in the government. So, to suddenly be told that writing a story about Fury is okay... well, something must have changed.
During this time, Jessica is kidnapped by Hydra who make her an offer, which she rejects. She's sent to the wrong place after being told Luke was upstate and encounters Wolverine. Then it dawns on Urich where Luke will be and we get a scene that still kind of bugs me: Danny basically tells Jessica to fuck off. This scene never rang true for me and still doesn't. Danny's reasoning seems solid: he doesn't really know Jessica and Luke's life is in danger. Except, they were both by Luke's side at the hospital. Obviously she's not a threat. It's presented as a momentary lapse in judgment as the others tell him to shut up, but it really stands out. It isn't a momentary lapse in judgement since they purposefully didn't tell Jessica where Luke is -- all of them.
Jessica, though, covers for Danny when Luke asks how he's been treating her, which I think is nice. She understands what Luke needs then, while Danny doesn't. A good idea, showing how Luke's closest relationship has changed from Danny to Jessica, but done in a manner that's forced.
I really like how this story ends with Jameson deciding not to run the story about Fury and his 'secret war' even though he can. It shows an understanding that some things are more important than the news and need to stay secret. I assume some other media outlet eventually told the story, though.
Brent Anderson and Michael Lark provide the art here and what can you say about these two guys? They're very, very good. Anderson does the frantic, tired Jessica very well -- same with the fucked up Logan who is damn near suicidal after having his brain messed with again. Anderson is a respected artist, but he deserves more, people. Lark, too, does great work. It's no coincidence that Bendis's best work is accompanied by great art -- his method of writing relies on artists who can depict real human emotion or it falls a bit flat.
As we'll see in 30 minutes with New Avengers: Breakout.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
This story basically expands on the Luke Cage/Jessica Jones subplot from Secret War as she tries to figure out what the hell has happened that cause someone to be in their apartment when they got home and make it blow up.
Luke is in critical condition because the doctors can't get through his skin and Jessica is freaking out. When Fury and Cap show up, things get worse as something happens at the hospital (the beginning of the final fight from Secret War) and, during that time, Luke disappears -- presumably taken by Danny Rand somewhere safe. Except Jessica doesn't know where and can't get ahold of him.
This story is a rough one for Jessica as she spends most of it utterly confused and freaked out, clinging to the idea that all that matters is keeping her baby safe. That baby keeps her sane here. She eventually gets together with Ben Urich and they go about trying to figure out what's happened. Urich gets a call from an old SHIELD source that hints that Fury has fucked up -- and it's okay to write about it. This is an oddity, because, normally, Fury and SHIELD are hands off, because the media assumes that if it's something that needs to be printed, they'll be told (otherwise, lives may be in danger -- a lot of lives)... and, if they don't play by SHIELD's rules, they'll lose all access to everything in the government. So, to suddenly be told that writing a story about Fury is okay... well, something must have changed.
During this time, Jessica is kidnapped by Hydra who make her an offer, which she rejects. She's sent to the wrong place after being told Luke was upstate and encounters Wolverine. Then it dawns on Urich where Luke will be and we get a scene that still kind of bugs me: Danny basically tells Jessica to fuck off. This scene never rang true for me and still doesn't. Danny's reasoning seems solid: he doesn't really know Jessica and Luke's life is in danger. Except, they were both by Luke's side at the hospital. Obviously she's not a threat. It's presented as a momentary lapse in judgment as the others tell him to shut up, but it really stands out. It isn't a momentary lapse in judgement since they purposefully didn't tell Jessica where Luke is -- all of them.
Jessica, though, covers for Danny when Luke asks how he's been treating her, which I think is nice. She understands what Luke needs then, while Danny doesn't. A good idea, showing how Luke's closest relationship has changed from Danny to Jessica, but done in a manner that's forced.
I really like how this story ends with Jameson deciding not to run the story about Fury and his 'secret war' even though he can. It shows an understanding that some things are more important than the news and need to stay secret. I assume some other media outlet eventually told the story, though.
Brent Anderson and Michael Lark provide the art here and what can you say about these two guys? They're very, very good. Anderson does the frantic, tired Jessica very well -- same with the fucked up Logan who is damn near suicidal after having his brain messed with again. Anderson is a respected artist, but he deserves more, people. Lark, too, does great work. It's no coincidence that Bendis's best work is accompanied by great art -- his method of writing relies on artists who can depict real human emotion or it falls a bit flat.
As we'll see in 30 minutes with New Avengers: Breakout.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
Blogathon 04: Secret War
[Discussed in this post: Secret War #1-5.]
If you want to see Bendis's dream Avengers, I think you should look no further than Secret War: Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Daredevil, Black Widow, Luke Cage... with some Nick Fury and Daisy Johnson thrown in for good measure. That group doesn't look at all like the Avengers Bendis would put together, does it?
Secret War was a five-issue mini that suffered some serious scheduling problems, but is fairly important as it takes Nick Fury off the board as Director of SHIELD and introduces us to Maria Hill as his replacement. In many ways, this is where Bendis's larger story begins. I honestly don't remember/care when these issues shipped in relation to New Avengers, but I place the events of the 'present' as taking place sometime in the six months between Avengers Disassembled and New Avengers: Breakout.
Told in two time periods, now and one year ago, Secret War has Fury discover that the tech-based criminals are being funded by an outside source that he tracks back to Latveria and the new government that was put in place by the United States post-Doom. Fury wants to take the Prime Minister down, the President says they'll handle it quietly and diplomatically. Fury takes it upon himself to put together a group and goes to Latveria, and they fight all of the tech-based villains and Fury kills the PM by bringing the entire castle down on top of her via Daisy Johnson's earthquake powers.
In the present, those involved with the mission are attacked -- Luke Cage is in critical condition, Captain America fights off his attackers, Daredevil and Spider-Man take out DD's, and Wolverine survives his... except none of them remember the mission. During a fight that eventually grows to include numerous other heroes, villains and a resurrected Latverian PM... they save the day and Fury reveals the truth before dropping out of sight. He's a wanted criminal now, having ducked the political fallout once before, and Maria Hill is now Director of SHIELD.
Secret War plays to Bendis's strengths: a compelling story grounded in real characters told in a slow series of reveals. I think it's him at his best. There are quiet character moments, big loud explosions, and everything in between. I also love his Fury. His Fury comes off as the guy he's supposed to be: the best spy in the world. Would Nick Fury sit back and wait for diplomacy to save lives? The hell he would! He'd take the bad guys down, because that's what he does, damn what the politicians think. Does he care about betraying the superheroes' sense of trust? A little, but not as much as he cares about saving lives.
One of the best scenes is when they finally close in on the Latverian PM and Fury tells Johnson to bring the castle down, because that's how you send a message. If they wanted her dead, there are easier ways than a huge frontal assault... but you need to send a message that when you fuck with SHIELD, you get killed in a big horrible way.
Nick Fury plays on a different level from everyone else and this story illustrates that clearly.
Gabriele Dell'Otto does the painted art here and it's gorgeous. A variety of colours indicating flashbacks are used. His actual drawing skills are also quite good. Very stylised, but it works for this sort of grounded story. The only panel I kind of hate is one in the final issue where Maria Hill yells at Daisy Johnson. It's so absurdly over the top... but, Dell'Otto does some fantastic work here.
Included in the trade (and the issues) are a lot of bonus material -- transcripts of conversations and Nick Fury's files. Work a look.
The content/promise of content ratio here is good since a lot happens here, while also setting up a new status quo. It's actually the right amount of balance you want from this sort of book. You don't finish it and think that everything was just set-up, but rather that it's the natural result of the story you've read. Nick Fury makes a decision and these are the consequences. Done.
This story raises a question I have about SHIELD: what the fuck is it? It's a supposed United Nations-funded world peacekeeping organisation that... is staffed primarily with Americans, answers to the President of the United States, operates out of US ports primarily, and, later, enforces US law within the United States. In what world does a UN-funded organisation behave that way? My god. I fucking hate SHIELD and the way it's written. I'll address this point several times throughout the day, don't worry.
In 30 minutes: The Pulse: Secret War.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
If you want to see Bendis's dream Avengers, I think you should look no further than Secret War: Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Daredevil, Black Widow, Luke Cage... with some Nick Fury and Daisy Johnson thrown in for good measure. That group doesn't look at all like the Avengers Bendis would put together, does it?
Secret War was a five-issue mini that suffered some serious scheduling problems, but is fairly important as it takes Nick Fury off the board as Director of SHIELD and introduces us to Maria Hill as his replacement. In many ways, this is where Bendis's larger story begins. I honestly don't remember/care when these issues shipped in relation to New Avengers, but I place the events of the 'present' as taking place sometime in the six months between Avengers Disassembled and New Avengers: Breakout.
Told in two time periods, now and one year ago, Secret War has Fury discover that the tech-based criminals are being funded by an outside source that he tracks back to Latveria and the new government that was put in place by the United States post-Doom. Fury wants to take the Prime Minister down, the President says they'll handle it quietly and diplomatically. Fury takes it upon himself to put together a group and goes to Latveria, and they fight all of the tech-based villains and Fury kills the PM by bringing the entire castle down on top of her via Daisy Johnson's earthquake powers.
In the present, those involved with the mission are attacked -- Luke Cage is in critical condition, Captain America fights off his attackers, Daredevil and Spider-Man take out DD's, and Wolverine survives his... except none of them remember the mission. During a fight that eventually grows to include numerous other heroes, villains and a resurrected Latverian PM... they save the day and Fury reveals the truth before dropping out of sight. He's a wanted criminal now, having ducked the political fallout once before, and Maria Hill is now Director of SHIELD.
Secret War plays to Bendis's strengths: a compelling story grounded in real characters told in a slow series of reveals. I think it's him at his best. There are quiet character moments, big loud explosions, and everything in between. I also love his Fury. His Fury comes off as the guy he's supposed to be: the best spy in the world. Would Nick Fury sit back and wait for diplomacy to save lives? The hell he would! He'd take the bad guys down, because that's what he does, damn what the politicians think. Does he care about betraying the superheroes' sense of trust? A little, but not as much as he cares about saving lives.
One of the best scenes is when they finally close in on the Latverian PM and Fury tells Johnson to bring the castle down, because that's how you send a message. If they wanted her dead, there are easier ways than a huge frontal assault... but you need to send a message that when you fuck with SHIELD, you get killed in a big horrible way.
Nick Fury plays on a different level from everyone else and this story illustrates that clearly.
Gabriele Dell'Otto does the painted art here and it's gorgeous. A variety of colours indicating flashbacks are used. His actual drawing skills are also quite good. Very stylised, but it works for this sort of grounded story. The only panel I kind of hate is one in the final issue where Maria Hill yells at Daisy Johnson. It's so absurdly over the top... but, Dell'Otto does some fantastic work here.
Included in the trade (and the issues) are a lot of bonus material -- transcripts of conversations and Nick Fury's files. Work a look.
The content/promise of content ratio here is good since a lot happens here, while also setting up a new status quo. It's actually the right amount of balance you want from this sort of book. You don't finish it and think that everything was just set-up, but rather that it's the natural result of the story you've read. Nick Fury makes a decision and these are the consequences. Done.
This story raises a question I have about SHIELD: what the fuck is it? It's a supposed United Nations-funded world peacekeeping organisation that... is staffed primarily with Americans, answers to the President of the United States, operates out of US ports primarily, and, later, enforces US law within the United States. In what world does a UN-funded organisation behave that way? My god. I fucking hate SHIELD and the way it's written. I'll address this point several times throughout the day, don't worry.
In 30 minutes: The Pulse: Secret War.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
Blogathon 03: The Pulse: Thin Air
[Discussed in this post: The Pulse #1-5.]
While the inclusion of the opening storyarc of The Pulse may not seem essential, only a fool would think so, because this is absolutely essential to Bendis's Avengers work. And I will tell you why.
Firstly, The Pulse was a short-lived title that spun out of the MAX title Alias by Bendis and Michael Gaydos, a series that introduced us to Jessica Jones, a former superhero (now private detective) who was even an Avenger once. The only reason Alias isn't in this blogathon is that I don't own anything after the first two trades. Damn, man...
Anyway, by the end of that series, she's pregnant with Luke Cage's baby and they're involved. In The Pulse, she's given a job offer by J. Jonah Jameson to work for The Daily Bugle as part of a new weekly section on superheroes called 'The Pulse.' She winds up taking the job despite being unsure -- she does it for the medical benefits and money because of the baby.
The story here involves people disappearing at Oscorp and the Green Goblin being involved -- something that's capped off when a Bugle reporter is found dead, apparently dropped from a great height. Jameson is reluctant to go after Osborn when the connection is revealed to him, because of past problems where Osborn pretty much took over the Bugle.
The reason why Thin Air is essential is that this is where we get introduced to Jessica and Luke as we'll know them: a somewhat happy couple dealing with being adults. While Alias has a lot of that growth (probably), I think this is a great place to begin as we see Jessica constantly make decisions based on what's best for the baby -- when was the last time you saw a superhero that selfless (even though she's not a superhero now)? Luke is a bit slower in coming to that point, but he's getting there. The idea of being a father is a lot less immediate for him, but, when it's called for, he shows up.
The final confrontation with Osborn who goes all nuts and reveals officially that he's the Green Goblin is fantastic -- as an earlier scene had Jessica worried that he forced a miscarriage (but her superhuman toughness prevented any damage). Luke, as you'd expect, is pissed the fuck off and acts accordingly. It's nice to see, because we're not used to superheroes just randomly grabbing a limo, demanding that the guy get out, so he can get his face pounded in -- and then Luke does it. He takes out the Green Goblin with one punch... but then adds a few more for good measure.
This story also marks Bendis's first writing of Norman Osborn who is different here than he is later on, mostly because Warren Ellis hasn't gotten to him yet. Spider-Man also makes some appearances, teaming up with Luke and saving Jessica, basically, making their being teammates a little more easy of a transition.
Mark Bagley provides the art and it's fine. Bagley is a solid artist. I don't like his Luke Cage, but everything else is done well. This arc marks the first real appearance of something I find slightly annoying in Bendis books: the use of double-page-with-grid layouts. They're damn hard to follow sometimes, particularly with Bendis's dialogue, which can be a bit stilted and non-sequitur at times. But, I'd learn to cope.
This arc also brought to light the obvious West Wing/Aaron Sorking influence on Bendis (and that's not a negative, by the way) with his love of 'behind the scenes' books. Sorkin did a sports show, the White House, and a sketch comedy show... Bendis does a newspaper. His dialogue doesn't have the same rhythm or cadence as Sorkin's, but there are similarities. They're both fond of the joke where someone says something only to have an external event make them look wrong and/or foolish. I noticed this primarily because my girlfriend and I are watching The West Wing currently, so it's been on my mind.
In 30 minutes: Secret War (my favourite Bendis Avengers story, I think).
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
While the inclusion of the opening storyarc of The Pulse may not seem essential, only a fool would think so, because this is absolutely essential to Bendis's Avengers work. And I will tell you why.
Firstly, The Pulse was a short-lived title that spun out of the MAX title Alias by Bendis and Michael Gaydos, a series that introduced us to Jessica Jones, a former superhero (now private detective) who was even an Avenger once. The only reason Alias isn't in this blogathon is that I don't own anything after the first two trades. Damn, man...
Anyway, by the end of that series, she's pregnant with Luke Cage's baby and they're involved. In The Pulse, she's given a job offer by J. Jonah Jameson to work for The Daily Bugle as part of a new weekly section on superheroes called 'The Pulse.' She winds up taking the job despite being unsure -- she does it for the medical benefits and money because of the baby.
The story here involves people disappearing at Oscorp and the Green Goblin being involved -- something that's capped off when a Bugle reporter is found dead, apparently dropped from a great height. Jameson is reluctant to go after Osborn when the connection is revealed to him, because of past problems where Osborn pretty much took over the Bugle.
The reason why Thin Air is essential is that this is where we get introduced to Jessica and Luke as we'll know them: a somewhat happy couple dealing with being adults. While Alias has a lot of that growth (probably), I think this is a great place to begin as we see Jessica constantly make decisions based on what's best for the baby -- when was the last time you saw a superhero that selfless (even though she's not a superhero now)? Luke is a bit slower in coming to that point, but he's getting there. The idea of being a father is a lot less immediate for him, but, when it's called for, he shows up.
The final confrontation with Osborn who goes all nuts and reveals officially that he's the Green Goblin is fantastic -- as an earlier scene had Jessica worried that he forced a miscarriage (but her superhuman toughness prevented any damage). Luke, as you'd expect, is pissed the fuck off and acts accordingly. It's nice to see, because we're not used to superheroes just randomly grabbing a limo, demanding that the guy get out, so he can get his face pounded in -- and then Luke does it. He takes out the Green Goblin with one punch... but then adds a few more for good measure.
This story also marks Bendis's first writing of Norman Osborn who is different here than he is later on, mostly because Warren Ellis hasn't gotten to him yet. Spider-Man also makes some appearances, teaming up with Luke and saving Jessica, basically, making their being teammates a little more easy of a transition.
Mark Bagley provides the art and it's fine. Bagley is a solid artist. I don't like his Luke Cage, but everything else is done well. This arc marks the first real appearance of something I find slightly annoying in Bendis books: the use of double-page-with-grid layouts. They're damn hard to follow sometimes, particularly with Bendis's dialogue, which can be a bit stilted and non-sequitur at times. But, I'd learn to cope.
This arc also brought to light the obvious West Wing/Aaron Sorking influence on Bendis (and that's not a negative, by the way) with his love of 'behind the scenes' books. Sorkin did a sports show, the White House, and a sketch comedy show... Bendis does a newspaper. His dialogue doesn't have the same rhythm or cadence as Sorkin's, but there are similarities. They're both fond of the joke where someone says something only to have an external event make them look wrong and/or foolish. I noticed this primarily because my girlfriend and I are watching The West Wing currently, so it's been on my mind.
In 30 minutes: Secret War (my favourite Bendis Avengers story, I think).
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
Blogathon 02: Avengers Disassembled
[Discussed in this post: Avengers #500-503, Avengers Finale.]
I didn't actually begin reading Bendis's Avengers stuff until New Avengers #23, a random Civil War issue that I picked up at my university's bookstore because I wanted a comic to read. Everything before then, I've gone back and read in trades, so I don't have a firsthand experience with Avengers Disassembled, a story that I'm told may have pissed off a lot of the hardcore Avengers fanbase. If that's the case, then I love it even more. Pissing off the fanbase is good, it shakes it up a bit. You shouldn't cater to them anyway, you should be doing new things and making people feel uneasy.
I actually don't understand their complaints, for the most part, because I really think Avengers Disassembled is one of Bendis's strongest stories that I'll be looking at today. Hey, we're starting on a high note!
Your enjoyment of this story may depend on how much you agree with Bendis's goal: to destroy the Avengers. He gives the Avengers the worst day of their lives and just devastates them. Jack of Hearts returns from the dead to explodes at the mansion's entrance; Tony Stark address the UN drunk; the Vision is controlled by something and unleashes an Ultron attack; She-Hulk, in the process, goes berserk; the Kree invade... Scott Lang, the Vision, Hawkeye? All dead. The Wasp, She-Hulk, Captain Britain? All seriously hurt. Things get fucked up.
It's effective because it all happens so fast that it catches us as off-guard as it does the heroes. No one has any time to really figure out what's going on or to catch their breath. The team just gets wrecked, pure and simple.
The ultimate revelation that the Scarlet Witch is behind it all, having snapped when she remembers her children, doesn't really bother me much. Some people hate it -- and the death of Hawkeye -- most of all and that's the reason they dislike this story so much, but it makes enough sense to me. Wanda has a lot of power and that alone could play some tricks with her brain -- toss in having and then losing two kids, and, well, who knows what will happen. That we aren't given many clues is a slight weakness of the story, but I think the clues are there: she shows up on every cover, and she's at the UN but then doesn't rejoin the team later... very minor, subtle clues.
For all those who complained that Bendis just didn't 'get' the Avengers, Avengers Finale is so dripping with sentiment and nostalgia that you know that's wrong. I mean, it's just over-the-top as characters remember their favourite Avengers moments -- conveniently in chronological order with no repeats! Avengers Finale is a decent book if you want to see a variety of quality artists. After the David Finch-drawn "Disassembled" issues, it's a lovely change of pace.
Yes, I hate Finch's art. It is ugly and horrible. I hate it less here, because it almost matches the ugliness of the events being depicted.
Now, one of the things I want to explore with these posts is the idea that Marvel lately, particularly in the Bendis Avengers stuff, has been a company where stories are less stories with strong content and more teases for what happens next. So, in each post, I'll be weighing the content and the promise of future content.
This is a story where the content far outweighs the promise of future content, because there is no such promise -- at least not in the story. I know that Bendis was telling people in interviews to wait and see, they've got stuff planned, but there's no indication of that in-story except something about Magneto trying to help his daughter. So, I think that ratio is pretty favourable.
The death of Hawkeye is a little problematic, because I still can't figure out why he dies here. The Kree are invading, he gets shot in the back, which sets his quiver on fire, so he rushes a Kree soldier and uses its jetpack to crash them both into the Kree ship, which causes it to explode? What? Couldn't he have just taken the quiver off? Ah well, he's back now, shut up all you whiners.
There isn't a lot to Avengers Disassembled, but there isn't meant to be. It's meant to be a quick, harsh read as the Avengers are just beaten down into the ground -- and it feels that way for the reader, too. We get a few glimpses of Bendis's attempts at team writing and he's still new at it, so it's not great. But, a good start to his run.
In 30 minutes: The Pulse: Thin Air.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
I didn't actually begin reading Bendis's Avengers stuff until New Avengers #23, a random Civil War issue that I picked up at my university's bookstore because I wanted a comic to read. Everything before then, I've gone back and read in trades, so I don't have a firsthand experience with Avengers Disassembled, a story that I'm told may have pissed off a lot of the hardcore Avengers fanbase. If that's the case, then I love it even more. Pissing off the fanbase is good, it shakes it up a bit. You shouldn't cater to them anyway, you should be doing new things and making people feel uneasy.
I actually don't understand their complaints, for the most part, because I really think Avengers Disassembled is one of Bendis's strongest stories that I'll be looking at today. Hey, we're starting on a high note!
Your enjoyment of this story may depend on how much you agree with Bendis's goal: to destroy the Avengers. He gives the Avengers the worst day of their lives and just devastates them. Jack of Hearts returns from the dead to explodes at the mansion's entrance; Tony Stark address the UN drunk; the Vision is controlled by something and unleashes an Ultron attack; She-Hulk, in the process, goes berserk; the Kree invade... Scott Lang, the Vision, Hawkeye? All dead. The Wasp, She-Hulk, Captain Britain? All seriously hurt. Things get fucked up.
It's effective because it all happens so fast that it catches us as off-guard as it does the heroes. No one has any time to really figure out what's going on or to catch their breath. The team just gets wrecked, pure and simple.
The ultimate revelation that the Scarlet Witch is behind it all, having snapped when she remembers her children, doesn't really bother me much. Some people hate it -- and the death of Hawkeye -- most of all and that's the reason they dislike this story so much, but it makes enough sense to me. Wanda has a lot of power and that alone could play some tricks with her brain -- toss in having and then losing two kids, and, well, who knows what will happen. That we aren't given many clues is a slight weakness of the story, but I think the clues are there: she shows up on every cover, and she's at the UN but then doesn't rejoin the team later... very minor, subtle clues.
For all those who complained that Bendis just didn't 'get' the Avengers, Avengers Finale is so dripping with sentiment and nostalgia that you know that's wrong. I mean, it's just over-the-top as characters remember their favourite Avengers moments -- conveniently in chronological order with no repeats! Avengers Finale is a decent book if you want to see a variety of quality artists. After the David Finch-drawn "Disassembled" issues, it's a lovely change of pace.
Yes, I hate Finch's art. It is ugly and horrible. I hate it less here, because it almost matches the ugliness of the events being depicted.
Now, one of the things I want to explore with these posts is the idea that Marvel lately, particularly in the Bendis Avengers stuff, has been a company where stories are less stories with strong content and more teases for what happens next. So, in each post, I'll be weighing the content and the promise of future content.
This is a story where the content far outweighs the promise of future content, because there is no such promise -- at least not in the story. I know that Bendis was telling people in interviews to wait and see, they've got stuff planned, but there's no indication of that in-story except something about Magneto trying to help his daughter. So, I think that ratio is pretty favourable.
The death of Hawkeye is a little problematic, because I still can't figure out why he dies here. The Kree are invading, he gets shot in the back, which sets his quiver on fire, so he rushes a Kree soldier and uses its jetpack to crash them both into the Kree ship, which causes it to explode? What? Couldn't he have just taken the quiver off? Ah well, he's back now, shut up all you whiners.
There isn't a lot to Avengers Disassembled, but there isn't meant to be. It's meant to be a quick, harsh read as the Avengers are just beaten down into the ground -- and it feels that way for the reader, too. We get a few glimpses of Bendis's attempts at team writing and he's still new at it, so it's not great. But, a good start to his run.
In 30 minutes: The Pulse: Thin Air.
[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]
Blogathon 01: Good Morning Good Morning Good Morning
Good morning, everyone! Welcome to the blogathon. For the next 24 hours, I will be your host, Chad Nevett. Every half hour, I will be providing you with content in an effort to raise to some money for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a charity that fights for freedom of speech and helps out people who are wrongfully prosecuted because some still have antiquated views of what comics are. So far, $110 has been pledged/donated to sponsor me in this blogathon and, of course, you can continue to donate throughout the day and beyond. Just go to the CBLDF's website and give whatever you're comfortable with. Don't forget to tell me about it, though, either in the comments section here or by e-mailing me (my address can be found on the right-hand side of the blog) so I can keep track of the money donated -- and who to thank.
This is my second blogathon, I did one two years ago, and this one promises to be bigger and more crazy. In my first one, I discussed three Joe Casey runs issue-by-issue, so it was nice and relaxed. Not so much this year when I will be discussing Brian Michael Bendis's Avengers work along with a lot of books that relate to it. About 230 comics or so. I'll be doing one storyarc per post (sometimes the storyarc will get multiple posts). That's a lot of comics to discuss in a short period of time. But, hey, I've got 49 of these posts to fill up (well, 47 really since the first and last ones are pretty simple)...
A few things you should know:
1. I read all of the comics in advance, but have not written any of the posts. I didn't even take notes. I meant to but didn't. Oops.
2. I may try and work ahead a little bit to give me time to go get a slushy from 7-11 or whatever, but I will ALWAYS work on a post during its half-hour period. Last time, in a couple of cases, I did 3/4s of a post before leaving and finished it when I got back. I take the whole 'post every 30 minutes' thing seriously. This is meant to be a pretty constant thing I'm doing here.
3. I won't be using images in my posts, because I don't feel like searching for so many damn covers. Also, the images would just be covers at the beginning of the post and... who cares? If people do care, let me know and I'll possibly change my policy there.
4. Not every post is going to be a winner. In fact, a lot of them won't be. Nor will I get to say everything I want to or would if I were writing about these works the way I normally do.
5. Posts are being set for the hour/half-hour for simplicity. That means they ARE being scheduled technically, but by only a few minutes... better to be early than late.
6. I picked the Bendis Avengers stuff for a variety of reasons. It's quite popular, so more people will be interested in it. I wanted an excuse to reread it. I wanted to write about it. I want to figure it out. Why can't I drop it? It's a constant 3- or 3.5-star book. It's average to slightly-above-average in quality... why does it have such a hold on me? Why do some people hate it so much? How does it work? That's just a brief summary of why, but I hope that gives you some idea.
7. I was crazy and stupid to do this, but it's too late to back out now.
Enjoy. And remember to donate if you can. Coming up in 30 minutes: Avengers Disassembled!
This is my second blogathon, I did one two years ago, and this one promises to be bigger and more crazy. In my first one, I discussed three Joe Casey runs issue-by-issue, so it was nice and relaxed. Not so much this year when I will be discussing Brian Michael Bendis's Avengers work along with a lot of books that relate to it. About 230 comics or so. I'll be doing one storyarc per post (sometimes the storyarc will get multiple posts). That's a lot of comics to discuss in a short period of time. But, hey, I've got 49 of these posts to fill up (well, 47 really since the first and last ones are pretty simple)...
A few things you should know:
1. I read all of the comics in advance, but have not written any of the posts. I didn't even take notes. I meant to but didn't. Oops.
2. I may try and work ahead a little bit to give me time to go get a slushy from 7-11 or whatever, but I will ALWAYS work on a post during its half-hour period. Last time, in a couple of cases, I did 3/4s of a post before leaving and finished it when I got back. I take the whole 'post every 30 minutes' thing seriously. This is meant to be a pretty constant thing I'm doing here.
3. I won't be using images in my posts, because I don't feel like searching for so many damn covers. Also, the images would just be covers at the beginning of the post and... who cares? If people do care, let me know and I'll possibly change my policy there.
4. Not every post is going to be a winner. In fact, a lot of them won't be. Nor will I get to say everything I want to or would if I were writing about these works the way I normally do.
5. Posts are being set for the hour/half-hour for simplicity. That means they ARE being scheduled technically, but by only a few minutes... better to be early than late.
6. I picked the Bendis Avengers stuff for a variety of reasons. It's quite popular, so more people will be interested in it. I wanted an excuse to reread it. I wanted to write about it. I want to figure it out. Why can't I drop it? It's a constant 3- or 3.5-star book. It's average to slightly-above-average in quality... why does it have such a hold on me? Why do some people hate it so much? How does it work? That's just a brief summary of why, but I hope that gives you some idea.
7. I was crazy and stupid to do this, but it's too late to back out now.
Enjoy. And remember to donate if you can. Coming up in 30 minutes: Avengers Disassembled!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Blogathon 2009 is a Go Tomorrow!
A final reminder for anyone who reads this and doesn't check out Comics Should be Good where I posted a more detailed version of this post: tomorrow, at 9 am, I will be doing a blogathon here to raise money for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. That means I will be posting every 30 minutes for 24 hours. More details can be found at CSBG as I don't feel like writing all of that out again... I'll have enough writing to do tomorrow.
So, see you then!
So, see you then!
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Blogathon 2009: One Week Away
In one week, I will be doing a 24-hour blogathon here to raise money for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. A blogathon is where you post on your blog every 30 minutes for 24 hours for charity and it's quite a lot of fun. You can sponsor me by donating monye to the CBLDF here. The CBLDF is a great organisation that fights for free speech and deserves some love. Give whatever you can and let me know that you have so I can keep track of how much money is raised -- and of who to thank. And, if you can't, that's fine, too, just stop by next Saturday beginning at 9am EST where I will be discussing Brian Michael Bendis's Avengers books with many, many tangents. Unlike the last time I did this, I won't be going issue-by-issue, but rather story-by-story. As such, I have gathered all of the books I plan to discuss and the total number of comics? 195. I am not kidding. 195 comics that I must read in a week to prepare for this. And, if I need to fill more blog posts (as I will be writing 49 of them), I have another 30 or so comics in mind to do that job.
It should be a lot of fun. Spread the word if you can and join me then.
Thanks
It should be a lot of fun. Spread the word if you can and join me then.
Thanks
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Vacation is Over
Returned Monday night from four days at a cottage with the girlfriend and her cadre of friends. Good times. Good food. Read the first 200 pages of Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon (this is my third attempt at reading the book, the previous two never getting past page 20), so I'm pleased about that and hope to finish it sometime this month if at all possible. Oh, and I got to go swimming for the first time in... I want to say over ten years. I honestly cannot remember the last time I went swimming, so that was a lot of fun. But, enough about that, let's get to comics...
First, the Splash Page: Wednesday Comics week four went up with me contributing for part of it before leaving town. Tim, wisely, found several others to contribute and make up for my absense. Yes, it takes four people to fill in for me. Damn right.
Second, this week's reread review on Mark Millar's Ultimate X-Men is actually just a reposting of one I did here (and is found in the links at the right). I assumed that many/most of Comics Should be Good's readers had never read it and it's one of my favourite essays that I've written.
Third, I'm doing a reread review series counting down to the finale of Young Liars, looking at one issue a day with issue 17's post going up on the day before issue 18 arrives. So far, I've done issues one, two, and three. Issue four's post will go up tonight around 9 pm EST (the daily time for every post).
Fourth, go read non-random thoughts posts from yesterday where I discuss my planned upcoming blogathon on Saturday August 22, which will be happening right here. I did it in 2007 and I'm doing it again this year. I will be discussing Brian Michael Bendis's Avengers work with many, many tangents. I want to save those as surprises, but I will give you a hint for two of the tangents (as they're related): they're mini-series that happen to have the same name as a New Avengers story/trade and will be discussed before and after said story/trade. And they're not written by Bendis, but both are written by the same writer. Remember, it's for charity! So donate if you can and let me know so I can keep track of how much I raise, and dole out the proper thanks.
That's about it. I'm off soon to buy comics. I should be reviewing five books this week -- and both Tim and I are in our respective homes, so the Splash Page will be normal... except for the special guest commentator that's joining us. I'm excited about his joining us, too, since I'm a fan of his online writing. Let the speculation begin!
First, the Splash Page: Wednesday Comics week four went up with me contributing for part of it before leaving town. Tim, wisely, found several others to contribute and make up for my absense. Yes, it takes four people to fill in for me. Damn right.
Second, this week's reread review on Mark Millar's Ultimate X-Men is actually just a reposting of one I did here (and is found in the links at the right). I assumed that many/most of Comics Should be Good's readers had never read it and it's one of my favourite essays that I've written.
Third, I'm doing a reread review series counting down to the finale of Young Liars, looking at one issue a day with issue 17's post going up on the day before issue 18 arrives. So far, I've done issues one, two, and three. Issue four's post will go up tonight around 9 pm EST (the daily time for every post).
Fourth, go read non-random thoughts posts from yesterday where I discuss my planned upcoming blogathon on Saturday August 22, which will be happening right here. I did it in 2007 and I'm doing it again this year. I will be discussing Brian Michael Bendis's Avengers work with many, many tangents. I want to save those as surprises, but I will give you a hint for two of the tangents (as they're related): they're mini-series that happen to have the same name as a New Avengers story/trade and will be discussed before and after said story/trade. And they're not written by Bendis, but both are written by the same writer. Remember, it's for charity! So donate if you can and let me know so I can keep track of how much I raise, and dole out the proper thanks.
That's about it. I'm off soon to buy comics. I should be reviewing five books this week -- and both Tim and I are in our respective homes, so the Splash Page will be normal... except for the special guest commentator that's joining us. I'm excited about his joining us, too, since I'm a fan of his online writing. Let the speculation begin!
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