what does Superior really wanna grab?

because, y'know, he's a hormonal teenager and all.

happy holidays, everyone!!

elevation

drive-by readings

Superior #1 (Marvel/Icon) "One Magic Wish" Mark Millar Leinil Francis Yu Gerry Alanguilan Dave McCaig Clayton Cowles

what we learned: a gentle nudge in the direction opposite of Kick-Ass and Nemesis, Mark Millar's new movie (ok, soon to be a movie, at this rate) courts the bleeding heart crowd with its protagonist an MS sufferer who's suddenly becomes endowed with superpowers by a ... talking monkey named Ormon.
oh shit moment: an extraterrestial talking monkey!
what's next: all will be explained in one month.


you'd be mad too if you're Superman with Magneto's costume

and justice for one

drive-by readings

Scarlet #2 (Marvel/Icon) Brian Michael Bendis Alex Maleev Chris Eliopoulos Michael Oeming/David Mack (variant covers)

what we learned: now we get into the nitty-gritty. we're a fourth wall witness to how slowly Scarlet goes from victim to justice seeker (nice montage with the hair by Maleev there). Officer, now Detective Gary Dunes, has no idea what's coming. us readers do, but we're still blown away. weren't you?
oh shit moment: the run-up to Scarlet entrapping Det. Dunes and her subsequent choices, is some of the best crime noir sequences i've seen.
what's next: by the second issue, we are reminded of how good Bendis/Maleev were on their stellar Daredevil run. i just wish this thing didn't come out bi-monthly. fuck.


can you turn away? can you?

after a third

not as rich as y'all, but somehow its just the end of April and i've gotten quite a few TPBs (and those are really semi-thought-out, semi-impulse buys). my brain hasn't processed the statues that i've ordered yet (which the wife may raise an eyebrow at). that's for a future post.

Dark Avengers, vol. 1: Assemble - no matter how much i hate Normie, his badass Avengers made for great reading, courtesy of Bendis and Deodato. taking roots from Ellis' great Thunderbolts run, this should have been a Max imprint. i mean, think of all the crazy and sleazy shit that happened. i know it would be viewed as a shameless moneymaker (hello, House of M spinoffs), but can't we have some kind of Dark Reign: The Dirty Files?

X-Force vol. 1: Angels & Demons - this is the real X-Force that Rob Liefeld and Cable only dreamed of: a mutant black ops unit, answerable only to the golden boy Cyclops. even Magneto didn't put one together, because they're all busy posturing. if Sabretooth were alive, he'd be in (after a lobotomy and a bomb implanted in his brain, of course).

X-Force vol. 2: Old Ghosts - seriously? i'd buy this even just for the cover alone. my all-time favorite Mike Choi/Sonia Oback work.

Uncanny X-Men: Sisterhood - a big slap in the face of the Greg Land haters. as Joel McHale says, Chicks, Man.

X-Infernus - despite the lingering misgivings as i loved the Inferno and the death of Illyana storylines, i just had to pick this up. i guess you can still tell stories with revived characters. you can even try a curveball once in a while (see above, cross-reference Jean Grey/Madelyne Pryor).

New X-Men vol. 4: Riot at Xavier's - i thought i had a copy of this way back, and for some reason, i can't find it. that put a big hole in my Grant Morrison X-Men collection (sadly, retconned in its critical parts). now, situation rectified.

Incognito vol. 1 - being a casual fan of Sleeper and Criminal, this should not be left off the list. i read this through a week and i hated putting it down. while reading it though, flashes of a blowhard Ed Brubaker in Who Won't Wield the Shield flickered through my mind (haven't seen @StephenWacker tweet in awhile - that probably means he's been whacked).

NextWave: Agents of H.A.T.E. Ultimate Collection - am sure i'd have gotten this at a cheaper price (true enough, $12 cheaper at Amazon), but this was an impulse grab for Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen goodness, in that moment at a Houston Books-A-Million. sue me. laughed all the way back to New York.

Thor vol. 2 - i've read the individual issues here and there, and i like Straczynski's take on Thor. plus Coipel and Djurdjevic (the Awesomeness)? a no brainer.

Superman: Birthright - i have not been much of a Supes fan in recent years, save Red Son and All-Star Superman. i have read much praise for this volume - although it replaced the John Byrne-penned post-Crisis origin (The Man of Steel), it was subsequently superseded by the current Secret Origins title. probably in 2016 after yet another huge crisis, Jason Aaron will be probably be rewriting history again.

breaking bad

drive-by readings

Nemesis #1 (Marvel/Icon) Mark Millar Steve McNiven Dave McCaig Chris Elipoulos Leinil Francis Yu (variant cover) with the success of Kick-Ass like blood in the water, the shark that is Mark Millar (not @Not_Mark_Millar, but sometimes we're not sure) comes back for more ... shall we say, violence porn. granted, he had to top his and JRJR's baby (and cheekily putting it down right on the cover), and he doesn't hold back in the premiere issue. a diabolical cop-killer, who looks like a cross between Space Ghost and the Midnighter, targets only policeman who do their job well. and to this 'creative' ending, collateral damage doesn't matter. having caused havoc all over the globe, Nemesis now sets his sights on Washington DC Chief of Police Blake Morrow, rumored to be next in line for Homeland Security Directorship and Oprah's favorite cop. how to get his attention? oh, just by simply hijacking Air Force One and forcing it down and running pedestrians over. move over, Dave Lizewski; there's a new Kick-Ass in town. and he's playing for the other side. and he's wickedly good at being bad.

i. am. not. a. bag. of. shit.

... says Michael Moore.

the outspoken liberal filmmaker made this point today, in between gargantuan bites of Domino's triple-cheese-sausage-and-pepperoni-and-everything-else-including-the-staff's-boogers pizza, in reference to the latest right-wing smear campaign masquerading as comics issue of Kick Ass.



"i resent that remark." Moore said, adding "shit only happens after i eat; i certainly do not hold the food in my body for long periods of time after it has gone through my intestines. if that were so, then that description would be apt." Moore then proceeded to call Domino's for another half-dozen boxes of the same pizza.

Moore didn't care that this particular issue of Kick-Ass was our cliffhanger of the week, even if we were curious whether or not he was going to just keel over after eating those pizzas.


-----
Kick-Ass #6

you hit like a girl! #13

this series of posts has finally its own mascot. ladies and gentlemen, from the kickass comic called ... Kick Ass (what else), i give you Hit Girl!


now that's what i call a backstabber!!!


if you ever had a daughter like this ...


i mean i've been to the Chophouse, but this is just ridiculous.


her slicing technique would be great on Food Network's Iron Chef America.



just in case she's gender-considerate ... ummm, actually no.



Go Go Yubari? The Bride? they're Barbie Dolls. this one's the real deal.