Sunday, May 2, 2010

things i liked this week

Scalped #37 (DC/vertigo)
Jason Aaron/Davide Furno/Guilia Brusco/Steve Wands (cover: Jock)
consistently good, the conclusion of last issue's story arc "A Fine Action of an Honorable and Catholic Spaniard", has a surprising twist, and as gritty as any. Shunka thinks he's acted on his convictions, but as it turns out, he's been played by his own kind. Vasco Núñez de Balboa would be kind of disappointed.


Justice Society of America #38 (DC)
Bill Willingham/Jesus Merino/Jesse Delperdang/Allen Passalaqua/Rob Leigh
an intriguing tale (though not original): time has been changed and Jesse James' favorite people have taken over. a Darkness wave has negated all superpowers and no one can step up to the goose-steppers. ex-superheroes are executed for entertainment, and for some reason, Michael Holt is on the side of bad guys. why? well, since Batman just bit the dirt, he's the only one with the brains to get them out of this.


Secret Warriors #15 (Marvel)
Jonathan Hickman/Stefano Caselli/Sunny Gho/Dave Lanphear (cover: Jimmy Cheung/Mark Morales/Justin Ponsor)
i liked the confrontation between Nicky and the Contessa - i guess that's that for them. i'm just confused of all this Hydra/Leviathan business. i guess i need to go back and re-read (especially now with another Hickman distraction, S.H.I.E.L.D.). nice touch on the Logan/Viper wedding (the '90s were a pretty weird time).


Mighty Avengers #36 (Marvel)
Dan Slott/Khoi Pham/Craig Yeung/Dave Meikis/John Rauch/Dave Lanphear
i think we're giving this Earth's Supreme Scientist/smartest man alive/starring role to Hank Pym or else he's gonna go nutso on us again. actually, they should go back to making him Yellowjacket. at least he doesn't pretend he's not a douche. hey, Hank, you just got c-a-n-c-e-l-e-d.

New Avengers #64 (Marvel)
Brian Michael Bendis/Mike McKone/Dave McCaig/Albert Deschesne (cover: Stuart Immonen/Wade Von Grawbadger/McCaig)
what's with Madame Masque? suddenly she's now the power under The Hood? (yeah i know they wuz knockin' boots, but hey, that's like trading down from a Ferrari (Tony Stark) to a Kia (yeah, Parker Robbins, without the Norn Stones, you iz just a punk). notice that this shipped earlier than Siege #4, so basically we all get spoilers. what? Norman Osborn is the Green Goblin??

how can she slap??

Thunderbolts #143 (Marvel)
Jeff Parker/Miguel Sepulveda/Frank Martin/Albert Deschesne (cover: Adi Granov)
great syncing with the Siege Avengers titles. a perfect sendoff to the most interesting bunch of villains south of Dark Avengers. and perfect lead in to Luke Cage's stint as new T-Bolt MC.

X-Factor #204 (Marvel)
Peter David/Val De Landro/Pat Davidson/Jeromy Cox/Cory Petit (cover: David Yardin/Nathan Fairbairn)
i've read somewhere that Peter David hates crossovers, especially when it affects the stories he wants to tell (what writer wouldn't?). but Second Coming seems ok here: the Bastion-influenced military goes after X-Factor, starting with a use of a decoy (the Absorbing Man is a cuckolded husband!) to lure them out of their HQ and get ambushed. over in South America, Guido's having a wee bit of trouble with Baron Mordo. and then these soldiers come out of the woodwork. for all the pain they get, i doubt if Jamie would be the one to kick Bastion's ass when the time comes.


X-Force #26 (Marvel)
Craig Kyle/Christopher Yost/Mike Choi/Sonia Oback/Cory Petit (cover: Adi Granov, variant covers: David Finch/Matt Banning/Peter Steigerwald/John Cassaday/Laura Martin)
the much-talked about comic of the week, and the most telegraphed as well. this is not going to be a spoiler since you have the Internetz. yes, Kurt Wagner is dead, and for some reason, Bastion's brain is located in his arm (how else would his body just collapse after Kurt bamfs his arm off the grid?). looks like an X-Man dies with every issue of Second Coming. i am ambivalent about this development (because maybe he'll be back someday).


Captain America #605 (Marvel)
Ed Brubaker/Luke Ross/Butch Guice/Dean White/Joe Caramagna (cover: Gerald Parel)
more often than not, i have no sympathy for crazy people, so i cheered Buck on as he pulled the trigger on his machine gun to stop Bad Cap from detonating the bomb on the Hoover dam. but if you don't find a body, always expect bad things. when was the last time that an unrecovered villain's body was the end of it?


Thor #609 (Marvel)
Kieron Gillen/Billy Tan/Matt Banning/Rich Elson/Christina Strain/June Chung/Joe Sabino (cover: Mico Suayan/Laura Martin)
the Asgardians strike back! Loki has been de-pantsed. Broxtonians like Volstagg. Siege is almost over, and i anxiously await how Asgard is going to be rebuilt.


Ultimate Avengers 2 #1 (Marvel)
Mark Millar/Leinil Francis Yu/Gerry Alanguilan/Laura Martin/Cory Petit (variant cover: Marc Silvestri/Sunny Gho)
look who's dressed up as a Captain America! why, its that Punisher fellow back when the 616 Cap just died. anyhoo, Samuel Jackson Nick Fury, fresh off orchestrating a coup to get his (sort of) old job back, has recruited mass murderer Frank Castle to his new team. next up: the first Hulk. who? by the way, i like reteaming of countrymen Leinil Yu and Gerry Alanguilan (those weird '90s Wolverine, Superman: Birthright among others) for art duties. sugod!


Invincible Iron Man #25 (Marvel)
Matt Fraction/Salvador Larroca/Frank D'Armata/Joe Caramagna (variant covers: Rian Hughes/Tetsuya Aoki/Ryan Meinerding/Herb Trimpe)
Iron Man is back. and he wants to change the world. gently, this time. but he only takes cash.

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