Browsing: Review

Or – “The First Avengers Book In Months That Didn’t Leave Me Angry Or Confused…” Friday night, my pal Jason at Gatekeeper Hobbies (Huntoon & Gage, Topeka! Ask ’em about Matter-Eater Lad and see how many of them look frightened!) had a graduation or a family wake or a beer bust or something, and asked me to cover his shift. While going through a couple of long-boxes and organizing a couple of years worth of books that were meant to be purchased (but obviously were NOT) by the local library, including a ton of Archie, Sonic The Hedgehog, G.I. Joe,…

Or – “With A Name Like Matter-Eater Lad, You KNOW He’s Got To Be Good…” Gail Simone, one of the best comic writers of our time, recently said something incredibly wise about the creators who claim to only want to work on the the top-of-the-line characters.  Gail’s response to this was something akin to “if they’re not first-rate characters, MAKE THEM first-rate characters.”  Her advice goes double for today’s review subject, one of the most denigrated characters of all time.  Matter-Eater Lad has never gotten any respect, sometimes not even from his fellow Legionnaires, and he’s often trotted out as an excuse for…

Or – “Well, At Least The Damn Talking Has Ended…” It’s been three issues, and FINALLY, we get to see the Mighty Avengers do something other than snipe, get recruited, or talk about how they can’t fight the horrible, horrible menace. There’s still some questions in the air, the damn thought balloons are still here, there’s a couple of inexcusable cheesecake shots (like 2/3 of the cover), but at least there’s no Iron Dictator in evidence, forcing the other heroes to step up and actually act heroic. How did they do, you ask?

Or – “Despite The Peek-a-boo Costume, Dawnstar Is Not A Stripper!” I’m always appalled at the apparent adoration for the artwork of Aicahael Aurner… Uh, I mean, Michael Turner. The cover of this issue has a very-malnourished looking Hawkman holding his mace in an incredibly phallic manner, while Red Arrow (Ugh.) positions one of his, you should pardon the expression, shafts to try and compete, but looks disappointed not to measure up, while Dawnstar hovers overhead, leaning forward to apparently make it easier for them tuck her tips into her cleavage. Luckily, she found some of Jimmy Olsen’s Elastic Lad…

Imagine my surprise when this arrived in my comic shipment this week. How about a gut reaction mini review?

Or – “Is It A Coincidence That This Thing Came Out During May Sweeps?” Well, this IS interesting. Many Spoilerites may NOT know that this issue marks an imaginary milestone for me… Ultimates 2 #12 was the first-ever review I did for Major Spoilers, waaaaay back in the heady days of October, 2006. Doesn’t seem that long ago, until you look at the hard numbers. That was Major Spoilers post #314. THIS is Major Spoilers post #1452. Captain America was alive. Spider-Man had a secret identity. And Iron Man wasn’t yet the red-and-gold Doctor Doom he is today. Heck, I…

Or – “A Naked Blonde Walks Into A Bar…” “She’s got a mystical extraterrestrial artifact of infinite power under one arm, under the other she has a six-foot salami.” I honestly can’t decide whether I’m disappointed in Green Lantern or not right now. Certainly, they’ve lost a bit of momentum… Not so very long ago, in the wake of Geoff John’s and Ethan Van Sciver’s excellent “Rebirth” miniseries, Hal’s book was the DC’s second best selling title. Heck, GL even had enough momentum to spawn a second title, ‘Green Lantern Corps,’ but in March of this year, Hal’s book clocked…

Or – “For Those Of Us Who Like A Comic To Creep Us Right The @#&$ Out.” I remember quite vividly the day I read Marvel Zombies #1. I had briefly flipped through the Fantastic Four issues that debuted the infected alternate Marvel Universe (Greg Land’s art always puts me off. Too much pornface!) but MZ #1 grabbed me from the first page, and when I got to the scene where the undead Avengers cornered Magneto, I was ready to write it off as a quickie tie-in to the cultural zeitgeist of Zombie Madness. But the scene didn’t stop. The…

Or – “Turns Out You CAN Go Home Again, But Iron Man Will Probably Have It Bugged.” Annihilation was a huge punch-’em-up cosmic-scale war in space, where valiant heroes fought against unbeatable odds, and pulled out a victory in the nick of time. Civil War was a huge punch-’em-up personal scale war in America, where valiant heroes fought against… um… other heroes and nobody really won except Iron Man. (Doctor Doom nuked Cleveland during the endless fighting, and remarked to the New York Post “It was easy! Nobody even NOTICED!”) Both battles took place relatively concurrently, and never the twain…

Or – “As The Creative Team Called It, ‘That Damn Legion Tabloid’…” This is it, Spoileroholics…  The Holy Grail of my Legion collection.  The first Legion of Super-Heroes issue I ever read, the one that started a lifelong obsession with Legion and with continuity.  Miraculously, I got it on an internet auction site for COVER PRICE (plus shipping, of course) and it’s actually one of those rare experiences that is still as entertaining now as it was then.  In 1978, the Legion was in the midst of a renaissance, with new members, a new title (taking over ‘Superboy’ and eventually…

Or – “You Gotta Love Grace…” There’s two important safety tips to the reading of Major Spoilers recaps of Outsiders. One: I am a fan of Judd Winick, his dialogue and plotting, so while many other reviewers may raise hue and cry about the earmarks of Judd’s writing, you won’t get that here. Secondly, I have a huge imaginary crush on Grace Choi. I don’t know why, and I’m not going to try and defend it, but a six-foot tattooed half-Asian woman with super-strength appeals to me. As Grant Morrison (or someone quite like him) said in this week’s ‘Tales…

I sure as hell hope this isn’t another Zero Hour Even though the final numbers aren’t in yet, 52 was a huge success for DC, which means if the formula works once, it will surely work again with the brand new series Countdown. I’ve read through the first issue, and while I’m excited about following yet another weekly series, one comment in the entire issue has me worried just a little bit.

Or – “As I Walk Along, I Wonder What Went Wrong…” New Avengers is an interesting case for me and my comic book reading habits. I like the interplay of the characters (even the criminally-overexposed Wolverine) and I like the sense of family created in early issues. Since the beginning of The Initiative, that family sensibility has been tightened and emphasized until it feels more like a gang, waging an underground war against another (much larger) band, reminding me in a way of “The Warriors.” The problem is, that scenario doesn’t leave much space for that long-lost Marvel concept, the…

Or – “Fat, Drunk, And Stupid Is No Way To Go Through Life, Son…” Venom in that picture just reminds me of Flounder when he saw the damage to his brother’s car… I don’t know why. On the subject of comics, though, Thunderbolts also reminds me of something, another series from a couple of years ago. The Authority was, in it’s original incarnation, an innovative and fun thrill ride, but it’s metaphorical followers, including this title, have created a whole new species of comic: the big, loud, incoherent slapfight, now commonly (and only somewhat mistakenly) referred to as “Cinematic Storytelling.”…