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Dark Phoenix
Jun. 12th, 2019 02:12 am( cut for spoilers )
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Jul. 28th, 2018 08:18 pmI watched Ant-Man and the Wasp and I had a really good time, and not just because it was a few precious hours in a climate controlled environment. (As much of world we are having a heat wave here, and yesterday it was over 33°C, about ten degrees hotter than normal July temperatures. Today there has been a brief respite as in the afternoon with some thunderstorms temperatures fell to 20°C, but the forecast for tomorrow is much higher again, and Monday it's forecast as back to 33°C and staying hot as far as the forecast goes.)
Anyway, to get back from the weather whining, ( cut for spoilers )
Anyway, to get back from the weather whining, ( cut for spoilers )
I post about Daredevil so rarely because I tend to wait for a couple of storylines to accumulate before reading, even though I collect the monthly issues.
( Now I've read DD #107-110: cruel & unusual, #111-115: Lady Bullseye, #116-120 (500): Return of the King )
( Now I've read DD #107-110: cruel & unusual, #111-115: Lady Bullseye, #116-120 (500): Return of the King )
I'm reading X-Men comics for a change...
Jul. 5th, 2007 07:40 pmAstonishing X-Men #1-21 (written by Joss Whedon, art by John Cassaday)
I wonder whether I shouldn't have waited for the final issues to come out before reading. Now that I'm faced with a cliffhanger again, I remembered how irregularly this came out for a while. Still it was entertaining so far, and I like the mix of an overarching plot that's coming to a conclusion in the final issues, i.e. that alien world that is convinced by some prophecy that an earth mutant will destroy it, which makes for a nice mystery keeping you hooked, and the subplots threaded into that.
Though the subplots didn't all work equally well for me. The one with the mutant cure was pretty cool, but I didn't really get into the sentient danger room thing as much, though it wasn't bad. I have to admit that the Hellfire Club stuff left me mostly confused, as I had no idea who all these people and their history with the X-Men were (though I have come across some in fanfic), and I didn't know anything about this Cassandra Nova character and her history with Emma Frost. Eventually I read with a couple of reference and overview websites open and skimmed those to get the gist, but I still felt lost. How did anyone manage to follow superhero comics at all before reference websites?? Anyway, I suspect readers familiar with the background may get more out of this (or hate it for messing with something, I guess that's always a possibility).
Still, even with my confusion the basic suspense worked for me, or I wouldn't have bothered looking up all these Hellfire Club people and their history and powers in the first place. Also I'm inclined to like this X team because it has Cyclops, Wolverine and Beast who are among my favorite X-Men characters.
I wonder whether I shouldn't have waited for the final issues to come out before reading. Now that I'm faced with a cliffhanger again, I remembered how irregularly this came out for a while. Still it was entertaining so far, and I like the mix of an overarching plot that's coming to a conclusion in the final issues, i.e. that alien world that is convinced by some prophecy that an earth mutant will destroy it, which makes for a nice mystery keeping you hooked, and the subplots threaded into that.
Though the subplots didn't all work equally well for me. The one with the mutant cure was pretty cool, but I didn't really get into the sentient danger room thing as much, though it wasn't bad. I have to admit that the Hellfire Club stuff left me mostly confused, as I had no idea who all these people and their history with the X-Men were (though I have come across some in fanfic), and I didn't know anything about this Cassandra Nova character and her history with Emma Frost. Eventually I read with a couple of reference and overview websites open and skimmed those to get the gist, but I still felt lost. How did anyone manage to follow superhero comics at all before reference websites?? Anyway, I suspect readers familiar with the background may get more out of this (or hate it for messing with something, I guess that's always a possibility).
Still, even with my confusion the basic suspense worked for me, or I wouldn't have bothered looking up all these Hellfire Club people and their history and powers in the first place. Also I'm inclined to like this X team because it has Cyclops, Wolverine and Beast who are among my favorite X-Men characters.
yay, I'm finally caught up with Spider-Man
Jul. 5th, 2007 12:10 pmFriendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #11-19 (written by Peter David, pencils by Todd Nauck and Scott Eton, inks by Robert Campanella, Rodney Ramos, and John Dell)
I enjoyed those three stories. While they aren't outstanding all are solid and entertaining action-adventures with Spidey and some of his classic villains. All are set during Civil War and the direct aftermath, but not closely connected to any Civil War plots, except for Peter's identity being known. In the first several Mysterios appear at the school, mayhem ensues, and Flash deals with Peter as Spider-Man, the second, is set after Peter changed sides to oppose registration, and the government employs the Vulture to fight and capture him, but it's mostly irrelevant why the Vulture is attacking Peter just then. In the third The Sandman seeks Peter's help to exonerate his father from the murder of the alternate Ben Parker, so that also brings the future Spider-Man story to a close. Actually I liked the last least, probably because I wasn't too fond of that earlier plot in the first place. There's also a strange school nurse with a spider affinity and spikes like Peter's new poison stingers, so I assume she's the spider-creature from Spider-Man: The Other.
I've read somewhere that Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is going to be canceled soon in favor of ASM coming out more frequently, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand I like ASM better, and having it come out more often with more room for a single, consistent Spider-Man plot arc isn't bad, on the other hand FNSM seem to have hit its stride and provides decent adventures with the classic Spidey villains, and it's kind of nice to have a slightly less angsty break from ASM.
Amazing Spider-Man #539-541 -- Back in Black (written by J. Michael Straczynski, pencils by Ron Garney, inks by Bill Reinhold)
I kind of hate it that I'm now caught up so that I have to wait for the next issue again, especially with cliffhangers. But I like the story so far. Peter is hunting down those responsible for shooting Aunt May, and it's fast paced and tense. Peter being pushed to his limits, not just from the assassin shooting Aunt May, but also from Captain America's death and from being hunted himself, comes across as very believable here. I also like how he keeps in contact with MJ. And I'm curious what will happen during the fight with Fisk. I mean, Fisk isn't going to die, especially not since this seems to be set before the whole FBI deal in Dardevil ended, so he obviously survived, and I don't see Peter dying yet again either, but still.
One random quibble though-- what is it with comic rats having canines?? I've complained about this before, but let me say again: rats are rodents. Their incisors are plenty sharp, but they just don't have canine teeth, nor are any of their teeth pointed. Giving them canines doesn't make them look more scary, it just looks ridiculous.
I enjoyed those three stories. While they aren't outstanding all are solid and entertaining action-adventures with Spidey and some of his classic villains. All are set during Civil War and the direct aftermath, but not closely connected to any Civil War plots, except for Peter's identity being known. In the first several Mysterios appear at the school, mayhem ensues, and Flash deals with Peter as Spider-Man, the second, is set after Peter changed sides to oppose registration, and the government employs the Vulture to fight and capture him, but it's mostly irrelevant why the Vulture is attacking Peter just then. In the third The Sandman seeks Peter's help to exonerate his father from the murder of the alternate Ben Parker, so that also brings the future Spider-Man story to a close. Actually I liked the last least, probably because I wasn't too fond of that earlier plot in the first place. There's also a strange school nurse with a spider affinity and spikes like Peter's new poison stingers, so I assume she's the spider-creature from Spider-Man: The Other.
I've read somewhere that Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is going to be canceled soon in favor of ASM coming out more frequently, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand I like ASM better, and having it come out more often with more room for a single, consistent Spider-Man plot arc isn't bad, on the other hand FNSM seem to have hit its stride and provides decent adventures with the classic Spidey villains, and it's kind of nice to have a slightly less angsty break from ASM.
Amazing Spider-Man #539-541 -- Back in Black (written by J. Michael Straczynski, pencils by Ron Garney, inks by Bill Reinhold)
I kind of hate it that I'm now caught up so that I have to wait for the next issue again, especially with cliffhangers. But I like the story so far. Peter is hunting down those responsible for shooting Aunt May, and it's fast paced and tense. Peter being pushed to his limits, not just from the assassin shooting Aunt May, but also from Captain America's death and from being hunted himself, comes across as very believable here. I also like how he keeps in contact with MJ. And I'm curious what will happen during the fight with Fisk. I mean, Fisk isn't going to die, especially not since this seems to be set before the whole FBI deal in Dardevil ended, so he obviously survived, and I don't see Peter dying yet again either, but still.
One random quibble though-- what is it with comic rats having canines?? I've complained about this before, but let me say again: rats are rodents. Their incisors are plenty sharp, but they just don't have canine teeth, nor are any of their teeth pointed. Giving them canines doesn't make them look more scary, it just looks ridiculous.
Marvel: Civil War
Jul. 4th, 2007 09:10 pmOkay, figuring out the reading order was a bit of a pain in places, especially between ASM and the main Civil War series since I just couldn't get a real grip how the events sort out into a single timeline for Spider-Man. (A bit more on that below.) Also I haven't bought all the tie-ins, so I'm missing chunks, and I think I've rad the specials (War Crimes and The Return out of order).
Anyway, the Civil War issues I read were:
Road to Civil War: The New Avengers Illuminati
Amazing Spider-Man #529-538
Civil War #1-7
Civil War: Front Line #1-11
Civil War: The Return
Civil War: War Crimes
Civil War: The Confession
Civil War: The Initiative
New Avengers #21-25
Overall I quite enjoyed Civil War. ( cut for lengthy rambling )
Anyway, the Civil War issues I read were:
Road to Civil War: The New Avengers Illuminati
Amazing Spider-Man #529-538
Civil War #1-7
Civil War: Front Line #1-11
Civil War: The Return
Civil War: War Crimes
Civil War: The Confession
Civil War: The Initiative
New Avengers #21-25
Overall I quite enjoyed Civil War. ( cut for lengthy rambling )
still reading Spider-Man
Jul. 3rd, 2007 11:50 pmWell, all that Spider-Man reading has some nice side-effects: I had a neat Spider-Man/Superman crossover dream last night. Sadly no slashy content or anything, just a wacky action-adventure, and I mostly forgot the details soon after waking up. Still, nicer than lots of other dreams.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #5-7 (written by Peter David, pencils by Roger Cruz and Michael Wieringo, inks by Karl Kesel)
These issues were kind of forgettable, except for the brain-hurting part where they somehow compressed or relocated the timeline to make weblogs a common thing when Peter attended high school, but it is best not to notice these details. Also, I'm really not interested in wrestling, much less into mythical wrestling gods or whatever that villain was, so it didn't do anything for me, and some angsting by Peter about the origin of his powers (i.e. are they (comic-book) scientific or from magical totems?) didn't make up for my lack of interest in the rest.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #8-10 -- Jumping the Tracks (written by Peter David, pencils by Roger Cruz and Michael Wieringo, inks by Karl Kesel and Mike Manley)
And this story was just-- it just didn't work for me. It's not even the timetraveling future Spider-Man whose daughter is the future Hobgoblin as such. I mean, yes, that's weird, but this is comics and you deal. But the whole setup was lame. First, some crazy torturing Peter with his guilt over dead relatives and friends yet again gets old, and really there is no need to bring back Uncle Ben (again? maybe they don't count the ghost thing). Also, to me it made no sense that a future Spider-Man ends up as the boss of the time police, and that they don't even prevent that stereotypical apocalypse that apparently happened. And the whole thing with the alternate Uncle Ben just got more boring with him seemingly shooting that Spider-Man. Obviously the "real" Uncle Ben, or a reasonable equivalent from another universe as the one in the Spider-Man as pro-wrestler AU flashbacks seemed to be, wouldn't just turn into a homicidal lunatic, even when he's depressed, so the shooter isn't that Ben, no matter what the artificial tension is supposed to be. So he's either some evil!Ben brought from yet another universe (but that crazy timetravelling Green Goblin said she only brought one) or some shapeshifter bad guy who will then try to trick Peter (*yawn*), only I was confused by the clothing issue. The guy who confronted alternate!Ben first appeared to wear a woolly hat, and then later the dead!Ben (whom I assume is alternate!Ben) wears a baseball cap, so where did that come from? Alternate!Ben didn't wear any hat. Other random annoyances: as far as self-referential meta jokes go the "retcon bombs" were on the really clumsy side and not that amusing.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #5-7 (written by Peter David, pencils by Roger Cruz and Michael Wieringo, inks by Karl Kesel)
These issues were kind of forgettable, except for the brain-hurting part where they somehow compressed or relocated the timeline to make weblogs a common thing when Peter attended high school, but it is best not to notice these details. Also, I'm really not interested in wrestling, much less into mythical wrestling gods or whatever that villain was, so it didn't do anything for me, and some angsting by Peter about the origin of his powers (i.e. are they (comic-book) scientific or from magical totems?) didn't make up for my lack of interest in the rest.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #8-10 -- Jumping the Tracks (written by Peter David, pencils by Roger Cruz and Michael Wieringo, inks by Karl Kesel and Mike Manley)
And this story was just-- it just didn't work for me. It's not even the timetraveling future Spider-Man whose daughter is the future Hobgoblin as such. I mean, yes, that's weird, but this is comics and you deal. But the whole setup was lame. First, some crazy torturing Peter with his guilt over dead relatives and friends yet again gets old, and really there is no need to bring back Uncle Ben (again? maybe they don't count the ghost thing). Also, to me it made no sense that a future Spider-Man ends up as the boss of the time police, and that they don't even prevent that stereotypical apocalypse that apparently happened. And the whole thing with the alternate Uncle Ben just got more boring with him seemingly shooting that Spider-Man. Obviously the "real" Uncle Ben, or a reasonable equivalent from another universe as the one in the Spider-Man as pro-wrestler AU flashbacks seemed to be, wouldn't just turn into a homicidal lunatic, even when he's depressed, so the shooter isn't that Ben, no matter what the artificial tension is supposed to be. So he's either some evil!Ben brought from yet another universe (but that crazy timetravelling Green Goblin said she only brought one) or some shapeshifter bad guy who will then try to trick Peter (*yawn*), only I was confused by the clothing issue. The guy who confronted alternate!Ben first appeared to wear a woolly hat, and then later the dead!Ben (whom I assume is alternate!Ben) wears a baseball cap, so where did that come from? Alternate!Ben didn't wear any hat. Other random annoyances: as far as self-referential meta jokes go the "retcon bombs" were on the really clumsy side and not that amusing.
yet more Spider-Man comics
Jul. 2nd, 2007 08:00 pmSpider-Man: The Other--Evolve or Die (in Amazing Spider-Man #525-#528, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1-#4, and Marvel Knights Spider-Man #19-#22, written by J. Michael Straczynski, Peter David, and Reginald Hudlin, pencils by Mike Wieringo, Pat Lee, and Mike Deodato, and inks by Karl Kesel, and Joe Pimentel. )
Overall I really enjoyed this crossover. I think the changes to Peter's powers have cool potential, and it was really creepy in parts. Some of the subplots didn't quite come together for me though, and I thought the first half was a bit weaker than the second.
For example I liked Tracer okay as a villain, but he vanished rather abruptly and didn't seem much connected to the main Morlun and spiderpowers plot thread. Also I was disappointed that we never found out what caused Peter's cell degeneration illness in the first place. Was it random? A long term after effect of the initial bite? of Peter not accepting the spider fully? or a side effect of that radiation thing he did to defeat Morlun the first time? Also I was a bit confused why Morlun wasn't always visible to others besides Peter.
I thought the part where he travels to see all these other scientist-type heroes was somewhat boring. I mean, I guess it makes sense that he had to ask around, but it just didn't do anything for me. MJ an Aunt May helping him to play with cool gadgets at Dr Doom's place was fun though.
Another random thing I liked in the first half was MJ beating up that creep with her pool cue. Granted, the creepy stalker fan cliche was trite, but MJ was cool. Peter imagining this plan to make money in Vegas was cute too, though I think a better bet for financial security for his family would be patenting his web fluid or something.
Anyway, IMO the story really picked up once the main fight with Morlun started. Things got much more tense and creepy. Morlun gouging out Peter's eye was really gross, and I actually found it almost OTT for a Spider-Man comic because it wasn't as necessary for the story as the later grossness when Peter transformed. That transformation Peter went through afterwards almost shocked me. I mean, he mutated before, like in stories where he grows extra arms, and that iirc fairly recent change (I forgot when it happened exactly) that brought the comic powers in line with the movie version so that he produces his own web fluid, but the teeth? weird poisonous spikes? and most importantly that then Peter ate Morlun?? It's creepy and unexpected when a hero goes for cannibalism. Not bad though. I actually kind of liked it in this story's context. And it even escalated further when he somehow pupated or something, shed his skin and then regenerated in that cocoon. Somehow cocoons have an inherent creepiness.
I've been a bit dubious when JMS first introduced these spiritual spider connections earlier in ASM, but here Peter's dream of embracing his inner spider or whatever that was, worked for me, and I'm intrigued about Peter's new powers and his control (or lack thereof) over them. I mean, he reacts now faster and on instinct just to being touched in a friendly way, and has suddenly possibly poisonous spikes at his disposal during a fight, that opens a lot of potential way for him to hurt others without meaning to. Especially considering that he already ate one guy, even if it was a villain.
I'm less fond of the upcoming costume change, I like Spidey's classic costume and and gold just isn't as nice, also kind of ominous in that those are Iron Man's colors (and it's not like I want to slash these two) and it's bad enough that apparently Tony Stark listens in on Peter and MJ making out like a stalker. Though I guess it's related to the whole Civil War event.
Overall I really enjoyed this crossover. I think the changes to Peter's powers have cool potential, and it was really creepy in parts. Some of the subplots didn't quite come together for me though, and I thought the first half was a bit weaker than the second.
For example I liked Tracer okay as a villain, but he vanished rather abruptly and didn't seem much connected to the main Morlun and spiderpowers plot thread. Also I was disappointed that we never found out what caused Peter's cell degeneration illness in the first place. Was it random? A long term after effect of the initial bite? of Peter not accepting the spider fully? or a side effect of that radiation thing he did to defeat Morlun the first time? Also I was a bit confused why Morlun wasn't always visible to others besides Peter.
I thought the part where he travels to see all these other scientist-type heroes was somewhat boring. I mean, I guess it makes sense that he had to ask around, but it just didn't do anything for me. MJ an Aunt May helping him to play with cool gadgets at Dr Doom's place was fun though.
Another random thing I liked in the first half was MJ beating up that creep with her pool cue. Granted, the creepy stalker fan cliche was trite, but MJ was cool. Peter imagining this plan to make money in Vegas was cute too, though I think a better bet for financial security for his family would be patenting his web fluid or something.
Anyway, IMO the story really picked up once the main fight with Morlun started. Things got much more tense and creepy. Morlun gouging out Peter's eye was really gross, and I actually found it almost OTT for a Spider-Man comic because it wasn't as necessary for the story as the later grossness when Peter transformed. That transformation Peter went through afterwards almost shocked me. I mean, he mutated before, like in stories where he grows extra arms, and that iirc fairly recent change (I forgot when it happened exactly) that brought the comic powers in line with the movie version so that he produces his own web fluid, but the teeth? weird poisonous spikes? and most importantly that then Peter ate Morlun?? It's creepy and unexpected when a hero goes for cannibalism. Not bad though. I actually kind of liked it in this story's context. And it even escalated further when he somehow pupated or something, shed his skin and then regenerated in that cocoon. Somehow cocoons have an inherent creepiness.
I've been a bit dubious when JMS first introduced these spiritual spider connections earlier in ASM, but here Peter's dream of embracing his inner spider or whatever that was, worked for me, and I'm intrigued about Peter's new powers and his control (or lack thereof) over them. I mean, he reacts now faster and on instinct just to being touched in a friendly way, and has suddenly possibly poisonous spikes at his disposal during a fight, that opens a lot of potential way for him to hurt others without meaning to. Especially considering that he already ate one guy, even if it was a villain.
I'm less fond of the upcoming costume change, I like Spidey's classic costume and and gold just isn't as nice, also kind of ominous in that those are Iron Man's colors (and it's not like I want to slash these two) and it's bad enough that apparently Tony Stark listens in on Peter and MJ making out like a stalker. Though I guess it's related to the whole Civil War event.
reading ASM #519-#524...
Jul. 2nd, 2007 09:20 amAmazing Spider-Man #519-#524 (written by J. Michael Straczynski, pencils by Mike Deodato, inks by Joe Pimentel)
I liked this Hydra storyline better than the previous arc. While terrorism plots aren't exactly my favorite, it was a solid action-adventure, and how it mixed with the personal B-plot in the aftermath of their places burning down worked for me. And the sinister foreshadowing of Peter's worsening symptoms, first subtle then more and more serious, has left me actually curious now about their cause.
While the story didn't seem to rely much on being familiar with non-Spider-Man comics, I think it was still a stumbling block for me that I don't know much about the Avengers. Like, I don't really know Tony Stark, but he comes across as kind of smarmy here when he offers Peter help, and I wondered whether he's always like that. Also reading this I wondered whether I shouldn't have read a bunch of the New Avengers comics that are apparently overlapping with ASM first to better follow what's going on here with Peter, his family and how he became part the Avengers now. I'm also quite lost with all this Hydra stuff, their world domination scheme and how they cloned? duplicated? the Avengers.
Also, maybe I just don't know enough about the Avengers operation, but how was Aunt May and M.J. moving in with them supposed to work while Peter still has a (at least somewhat) secret identity anyway? I mean, Aunt May has neighbors, Peter teaches at a high school, and M.J. has a job with people needing to know their address too, right? How do they intended to explain staying with the Avengers? (I can't imagine that Tony Stark blackmailing reporters into silence was the first choice of plan.) It wasn't even discussed between Stark, Peter, M.J. and Aunt May when they moved, though in a later issue it seemed to be implied (by that reporter confronting M.J.) that it wasn't public knowledge that this was the Avengers' headquarters, just that it belongs to Stark, and apparently they didn't even think of a good cover story. Though I thought that the Avenger place was known. Then again maybe that was one of the previous places. Wasn't some mansion destroyed not too long ago?
Jarvis and Aunt May are cute together though. And on a somewhat random note, am I the only one who thinks it's kind of pathetic of Hydra to produce hoodies with their logo on the back (like the one we see in the closet in #522)? At least I assume it's a hoodie because that piece of clothing didn't look anything like the spandex Hydra uniform Peter puts on later.
I liked this Hydra storyline better than the previous arc. While terrorism plots aren't exactly my favorite, it was a solid action-adventure, and how it mixed with the personal B-plot in the aftermath of their places burning down worked for me. And the sinister foreshadowing of Peter's worsening symptoms, first subtle then more and more serious, has left me actually curious now about their cause.
While the story didn't seem to rely much on being familiar with non-Spider-Man comics, I think it was still a stumbling block for me that I don't know much about the Avengers. Like, I don't really know Tony Stark, but he comes across as kind of smarmy here when he offers Peter help, and I wondered whether he's always like that. Also reading this I wondered whether I shouldn't have read a bunch of the New Avengers comics that are apparently overlapping with ASM first to better follow what's going on here with Peter, his family and how he became part the Avengers now. I'm also quite lost with all this Hydra stuff, their world domination scheme and how they cloned? duplicated? the Avengers.
Also, maybe I just don't know enough about the Avengers operation, but how was Aunt May and M.J. moving in with them supposed to work while Peter still has a (at least somewhat) secret identity anyway? I mean, Aunt May has neighbors, Peter teaches at a high school, and M.J. has a job with people needing to know their address too, right? How do they intended to explain staying with the Avengers? (I can't imagine that Tony Stark blackmailing reporters into silence was the first choice of plan.) It wasn't even discussed between Stark, Peter, M.J. and Aunt May when they moved, though in a later issue it seemed to be implied (by that reporter confronting M.J.) that it wasn't public knowledge that this was the Avengers' headquarters, just that it belongs to Stark, and apparently they didn't even think of a good cover story. Though I thought that the Avenger place was known. Then again maybe that was one of the previous places. Wasn't some mansion destroyed not too long ago?
Jarvis and Aunt May are cute together though. And on a somewhat random note, am I the only one who thinks it's kind of pathetic of Hydra to produce hoodies with their logo on the back (like the one we see in the closet in #522)? At least I assume it's a hoodie because that piece of clothing didn't look anything like the spandex Hydra uniform Peter puts on later.
slowly catching up on Spider-Man comics
Jul. 1st, 2007 09:35 pmAmazing Spider-Man #509-#514 - Sins of the Past (written by J. Michael Straczynski, pencils by Mike Deodato, inks by Joe Pimentel)
The story didn't really grab me. I'm not fond of affairs and children who are retconned in years later in the first place, and while I like the basic Gwen Stacy storyline, I don't think it needs to be changed/retold again to get yet another Green Goblin out of it. Also somehow I couldn't really feel for Peter and his angst here. I guess this was supposed to be shocking, the sudden (retconned) "revelation" that Norman Osborn had had sex with Gwen and got her pregnant to make little future Green Goblins or whatever, and I didn't think it was awful or anything, but mostly just felt indifferent.
Amazing Spider-Man #515-#518 - Skin Deep (written by J. Michael Straczynski, pencils by Mike Deodato and Mark Brooks, inks by Joe Pimentel and Jaime Mendoza)
Why do the scientist geeks in comics always go completely insane when they mess up with their weird, irresponsible experiments? There's no reason why that Charlie guy had to escalate to hurting the rescue workers and worse. Obviously with the lab blown up, the work there was already lost and the plot device of the chemicals making him insane and irrational was lame, and it's not like he intended to be covered with his armor goo. So any normal person, even a somewhat obsessed mad scientist type, would want to be checked out by some medical professional just then, not murder their rescue workers and go on to become some crazed supervillain/serial killer type. And I'm completely sick of the stock character of the geek who somehow becomes insane or looses any ethical perspective because some bullies hassled him in high school, and never gets over it either. Not to mention that the counterpart, the perpetually mean/evil jock, gets old too. Also if Peter knew that guy had problems he should have known better than not to keep at least an eye on him. I mean, living in the Marvel universe he's seen enough supervillain origin stories to be apprehensive about such setups. Well, at least Peter is somewhat aware that he should have known better, but still. Anyway, this story was made of fail, IMO.
The story didn't really grab me. I'm not fond of affairs and children who are retconned in years later in the first place, and while I like the basic Gwen Stacy storyline, I don't think it needs to be changed/retold again to get yet another Green Goblin out of it. Also somehow I couldn't really feel for Peter and his angst here. I guess this was supposed to be shocking, the sudden (retconned) "revelation" that Norman Osborn had had sex with Gwen and got her pregnant to make little future Green Goblins or whatever, and I didn't think it was awful or anything, but mostly just felt indifferent.
Amazing Spider-Man #515-#518 - Skin Deep (written by J. Michael Straczynski, pencils by Mike Deodato and Mark Brooks, inks by Joe Pimentel and Jaime Mendoza)
Why do the scientist geeks in comics always go completely insane when they mess up with their weird, irresponsible experiments? There's no reason why that Charlie guy had to escalate to hurting the rescue workers and worse. Obviously with the lab blown up, the work there was already lost and the plot device of the chemicals making him insane and irrational was lame, and it's not like he intended to be covered with his armor goo. So any normal person, even a somewhat obsessed mad scientist type, would want to be checked out by some medical professional just then, not murder their rescue workers and go on to become some crazed supervillain/serial killer type. And I'm completely sick of the stock character of the geek who somehow becomes insane or looses any ethical perspective because some bullies hassled him in high school, and never gets over it either. Not to mention that the counterpart, the perpetually mean/evil jock, gets old too. Also if Peter knew that guy had problems he should have known better than not to keep at least an eye on him. I mean, living in the Marvel universe he's seen enough supervillain origin stories to be apprehensive about such setups. Well, at least Peter is somewhat aware that he should have known better, but still. Anyway, this story was made of fail, IMO.
Um, so I guess I was a little premature when I predicted the end of the Daredevil content.
Anyway, I've now read some of the older Daredevil stories, that is so far the arc starting from when Miller introduced Elektra to when she's resurrected. And well-- on the bright side, ninjas! But wow, Matt makes it really hard to like him sometimes. He acts like a total asshole towards Heather Glenn, and doesn't treat anyone else too great either. It's not that I particularly care about Heather or anything, but it's really hard to like a character who treats his girlfriend and his friends like shit. I mean, Matt is often somewhat of a jerk in his relationships, but not quite this bad. Then again, ninjas make up for a lot for me, and generally I like Miller's art here. Can anyone rec older story arcs to me in which Matt is more sympathetic? I would really rather like the main character of a series.
I've also read a newer Daredevil mini-series, Daredevil: Father #1-6 (by Joe Quesada, inks by Danny Miki). Actually I reread the first part, which came out a while ago (sometime 2004, I think?) but hadn't read the rest when they came out. I had stopped reading the issues because they were delayed so often and published so irregularly, and now read all six issues at once. I didn't really like the story. This one is just depressing. First, I hate that of course the reason that woman became a serial killer was sexual abuse. Also now the blind guy Matt saved is supposed to be a child molester? Just no.
Another Daredevil comic I've read is What If... Karen Page Had Lived? (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Michael Lark). And I think the Marvel "What If...?" series suffers from the (very strange) assumption that no matter how awful the lives of our heroes are, it could only get worse if things were different. Thus you end up with weird AUs in which Karen Page surviving doesn't lead to a better life for Matt, but against all sense and reason to him being worse off, acting even more self-destructive, and Karen Page dead in the end anyway. WTF Marvel?
Anyway, I've now read some of the older Daredevil stories, that is so far the arc starting from when Miller introduced Elektra to when she's resurrected. And well-- on the bright side, ninjas! But wow, Matt makes it really hard to like him sometimes. He acts like a total asshole towards Heather Glenn, and doesn't treat anyone else too great either. It's not that I particularly care about Heather or anything, but it's really hard to like a character who treats his girlfriend and his friends like shit. I mean, Matt is often somewhat of a jerk in his relationships, but not quite this bad. Then again, ninjas make up for a lot for me, and generally I like Miller's art here. Can anyone rec older story arcs to me in which Matt is more sympathetic? I would really rather like the main character of a series.
I've also read a newer Daredevil mini-series, Daredevil: Father #1-6 (by Joe Quesada, inks by Danny Miki). Actually I reread the first part, which came out a while ago (sometime 2004, I think?) but hadn't read the rest when they came out. I had stopped reading the issues because they were delayed so often and published so irregularly, and now read all six issues at once. I didn't really like the story. This one is just depressing. First, I hate that of course the reason that woman became a serial killer was sexual abuse. Also now the blind guy Matt saved is supposed to be a child molester? Just no.
Another Daredevil comic I've read is What If... Karen Page Had Lived? (written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Michael Lark). And I think the Marvel "What If...?" series suffers from the (very strange) assumption that no matter how awful the lives of our heroes are, it could only get worse if things were different. Thus you end up with weird AUs in which Karen Page surviving doesn't lead to a better life for Matt, but against all sense and reason to him being worse off, acting even more self-destructive, and Karen Page dead in the end anyway. WTF Marvel?
Marvel: Eternals
Jun. 10th, 2007 12:12 amI've just finished reading Eternals #1-7 (written by Neil Gaiman, pencils by John Romita Jr., inks by Danny Miki) and-- this was just weird. I'm completely unfamiliar with any previous incarnation of these characters which were presumably created by Kirby judging from the credits, but clearly I've been missing a *lot* of weird mythological set-up of the Marvel universe by mostly just following Daredevil and Spider-Man, if this is the set-up of things in their main universe. Really a lot.
I mean, a sleeping God-robot ("Celestial"), reminiscent of Lovecraft, others of that kind who come visit as a horde to eat Deviants (or I guess more correctly "Changing People" in their own nomenclature) who are somehow a previous monster evolution that subjugated humans. And the Celestials put the one to sleep because he protested the Deviant eating, but the vegetarian God-robot isn't really a good guy either, because he now kind of wants to destroy earth and only waits to judge for a bit after he watched a lot of tv and absorbed the internet or something? Meanwhile strange immortal protector things (machines?), i.e. the Eternals have secret cities in Antarctica that nobody noticed? Also now one of them is a Messiah for the Changing People somehow?
It's not that I disliked the story, I was even kind of hooked, but also very obviously missing all kinds of context.
ETA: Rereading my entry, I am making much less sense than the comic about what confused me. Well, the story as I understood it is more or less like this:
( cut for more concrete spoilers, and where exactly the story lost me )
I mean, a sleeping God-robot ("Celestial"), reminiscent of Lovecraft, others of that kind who come visit as a horde to eat Deviants (or I guess more correctly "Changing People" in their own nomenclature) who are somehow a previous monster evolution that subjugated humans. And the Celestials put the one to sleep because he protested the Deviant eating, but the vegetarian God-robot isn't really a good guy either, because he now kind of wants to destroy earth and only waits to judge for a bit after he watched a lot of tv and absorbed the internet or something? Meanwhile strange immortal protector things (machines?), i.e. the Eternals have secret cities in Antarctica that nobody noticed? Also now one of them is a Messiah for the Changing People somehow?
It's not that I disliked the story, I was even kind of hooked, but also very obviously missing all kinds of context.
ETA: Rereading my entry, I am making much less sense than the comic about what confused me. Well, the story as I understood it is more or less like this:
( cut for more concrete spoilers, and where exactly the story lost me )
reading yet more Daredevil
Jun. 8th, 2007 10:55 pmSorry about the deluge of Daredevil posts, but since I'm now caught up with the series that should die down again.
So now I've read The Secret Life of Foggy Nelson (issue #88), The Devil Takes A Ride (issues #89-93), Our Love Story (issue #94) and the first two parts of To The Devil, His Due (issues #95-96). I haven't been to my store recently to get #97 yet, which I think is out already, so please don't spoil me in comments.
( Since these are fairly recent, all comments on the story line are spoiler cut. )
So now I've read The Secret Life of Foggy Nelson (issue #88), The Devil Takes A Ride (issues #89-93), Our Love Story (issue #94) and the first two parts of To The Devil, His Due (issues #95-96). I haven't been to my store recently to get #97 yet, which I think is out already, so please don't spoil me in comments.
( Since these are fairly recent, all comments on the story line are spoiler cut. )
even more Daredevil
Jun. 8th, 2007 04:55 pmI really enjoyed the next story The Murdock Papers (issues #76-81). Lots of cool action and fights, Fisk being a manipulative bastard, sort-of-evil government officials, and plenty of angst and pain for Matt, and poor Ben Urich caught between a rock and a hard place. Also, the story brought home why Foggy teases Matt about the number and occupations of his (ex-)girlfriends. I felt really sorry for Milla, though. I like her quite a bit, but I suspect she's been rethinking whether it was a good idea to return to Matt quite a lot during the events. Things are quite bad when several of Matt's exes, one of them half-naked and armed with knives, barging into their hotel room , is actually the least of your marriage problems.
With the next story, The Devil In Cell Block D (issues #82-87) the writer/artist team changed to Ed Brubaker/Michael Lark & Stefano Gaudiano. I like their art less than Maleev's though they seem to have tried to keep it in a similar style. But I think he just isn't as good at it, in particular I like the faces less somehow. Still, not bad art or anything, just not quite as awesome as before. As for the plot ( cut for spoilers. )
On a random note, I till hate the spam email spelling of "ass" as "@$$". It's just bizarre. Either use obscenities or don't, but this half-assed (sorry I couldn't resist the bad pun) way drives me insane.
With the next story, The Devil In Cell Block D (issues #82-87) the writer/artist team changed to Ed Brubaker/Michael Lark & Stefano Gaudiano. I like their art less than Maleev's though they seem to have tried to keep it in a similar style. But I think he just isn't as good at it, in particular I like the faces less somehow. Still, not bad art or anything, just not quite as awesome as before. As for the plot ( cut for spoilers. )
On a random note, I till hate the spam email spelling of "ass" as "@$$". It's just bizarre. Either use obscenities or don't, but this half-assed (sorry I couldn't resist the bad pun) way drives me insane.
slowly catching up on Daredevil
Jun. 8th, 2007 02:50 amAges ago (well actually late 2004) I stopped reading Daredevil. The trigger was that #66 had so much idiotic babelfish translated "German" dialog that I just couldn't get through it -- I commented on that at the time -- and then I got the next issue, but still couldn't bring myself to read #66, and somehow that state of affairs continued.
Anyway, tonight I found myself in the mood for Daredevil, and soldiered through the awful fake-German even though it felt like being sporked in the brain, repeatedly, (and spelling "ass" as "@$$" in one bit of dialog came close second-- I mean seriously, WTF, Marvel? Is this the text version of breasts without nipples??).
BTW, if you don't speak any German, and don't mind the occasional spam email spelling, there is actually things to like in #66 and the whole Golden Age story (issues #66-70), like the way the different eras are set apart in the coloring style: The 1940s flashback is b/w, the flashback to early in Daredevils career is colored with a slightly exaggerated rastering effect of older comics, and the present day is colored regularly. I found that effect very neat. And while overall neither the "old crime boss seeks revenge" story nor the White Tiger stuff grabbed me, it was okay to read, and there were bits with Matt and Foggy that I liked a lot (like, Foggy: "Sorry I'm cramping your style with your stalkers." *hearts*)
The next story Decalogue (issues #71-75) is at first about people of Hell's Kitchen sharing their Daredevil stories. I really like the stark covers, especially the first in this series (probably not least for its somewhat blasphemous impression). Though I found the idea of some church support group to discuss Daredevil kind of odd. Also, while I usually like outsider POVs of the characters, getting just these glimpses of Daredevil, until the last issue anyway which had plenty of Matt in it, wasn't all that satisfying, even though the creepy guy in the support group definitely worked for me to build suspense. And actually the reveal was pretty cool and surprising ( cut for serious spoilers. )
Anyway, tonight I found myself in the mood for Daredevil, and soldiered through the awful fake-German even though it felt like being sporked in the brain, repeatedly, (and spelling "ass" as "@$$" in one bit of dialog came close second-- I mean seriously, WTF, Marvel? Is this the text version of breasts without nipples??).
BTW, if you don't speak any German, and don't mind the occasional spam email spelling, there is actually things to like in #66 and the whole Golden Age story (issues #66-70), like the way the different eras are set apart in the coloring style: The 1940s flashback is b/w, the flashback to early in Daredevils career is colored with a slightly exaggerated rastering effect of older comics, and the present day is colored regularly. I found that effect very neat. And while overall neither the "old crime boss seeks revenge" story nor the White Tiger stuff grabbed me, it was okay to read, and there were bits with Matt and Foggy that I liked a lot (like, Foggy: "Sorry I'm cramping your style with your stalkers." *hearts*)
The next story Decalogue (issues #71-75) is at first about people of Hell's Kitchen sharing their Daredevil stories. I really like the stark covers, especially the first in this series (probably not least for its somewhat blasphemous impression). Though I found the idea of some church support group to discuss Daredevil kind of odd. Also, while I usually like outsider POVs of the characters, getting just these glimpses of Daredevil, until the last issue anyway which had plenty of Matt in it, wasn't all that satisfying, even though the creepy guy in the support group definitely worked for me to build suspense. And actually the reveal was pretty cool and surprising ( cut for serious spoilers. )
