Review: Birds of Prey #117

Sean McKeever, why must you confound me so? Your abysmal run on Teen Titans is unreadable, and that’s putting it kindly, yet your Birds of Prey has been a complete joy! Did Simone leave a plot outline to follow? Did Johns throw you to the wolves? Is that the difference? Am I close?

Anyway, enough whining, regardless of your track record on other books, this one’s a clear winner. In lieu of a proper review, I’ll instead list the Top Five reasons why I love Birds of Prey.

Number 5: It’s funny!

 

 

Number 4: Inadequately vague sexual innuendo!

SHOW ME YOUR HANDS! SHOW ME YOUR HANDS!

Number 3: The best in cheesy villains!

He shoots bullets from his mind? Tenacious D fans give thanks and rejoice!

Number 2: The charmingly disarming Misfit!

 

I know you didn’t create her, McKeever, but you’re doing a bang-up job writing her nonetheless. Thank you, Sean!

And the Number 1 reason why I love Birds of Prey: These girls are seriously tough!

 

These aren’t your basic dudes masquerading as women, these are fully realized female ass-kickers! This is due in large part to Simone’s contributions to the book, but McKeever excels here as well.

Hey Mandy, why aren’t you reading this book?

Foilball’s Review Roundup #18

Rating System:

5 Stars: Superplex!
4 Stars: Power Bomb!
3 Stars: Drop Kick… to the balls!!!
2 Stars: Sleeper Hold…
1 Star: Dirty Low Blow… to the balls!!!

Action Comics #864 (****)

Some nagging continuity is finally explained. We get answers regarding some questions about the Legion, the Lightning Saga, the murdered Karate Kid and Duo Damsel… blah blah blah. I’m not entirely interested in any of this, but Johns writes it so well, I can’t help but be entertained. And then Starman shows up and the fun factor spikes again! Who’s the douche on that last page? Hey, it’s the Time Trapper talking about trapping time. YAY. The entire issue basically works as an advertisement for the new Legion of Three Worlds book by Johns and Perez and it does one hell of a job selling me. Touché Mr. Johns, touché.

Hulk vs Hercules #1 (*****)

This page… right here. CLICK THE LINK! Are you kidding me? I could not stop laughing for a full minute. 5 Stars, just for that!

Young Avengers Presents: Vision #4 (***1/2)

I don’t actually remember this, but were Iron Lad and Stature an item? Seriously? So Vision, whose mind is a copy of Iron Lad’s, a.k.a Kang, tries to put the movies on Cassie Young, Stature. Um, you know you’re a machine right? I know your previous self knocked the booters out of the Scarlet Witch, but this the 2000’s, man, we don’t roll like that no more. Or do we? Here’s another awkward series of panels. Gosh I miss Allan Heinberg.

Quick Hits:
• Batman #675 (*): This was the first truly awful issue of Batman in Grant Morrison’s run.
• Checkmate #25 (**): Not with a bang, but a whimper. In a time when big event comics hit every few months, this 3-parter felt bland and had more than just a whiff of “we’ve seen this before.” Lucky for us, it’s not awful enough to make us forget how great the first 22 issues were.
• New Warriors #11 (-): Could not be more done here.
• Number of the Beast #2 (**): Still no clue what’s what and losing interest fast.
• Project Superpowers: FCBD Edition (*): Not great. But shit… it was free, right?
• Spawn #177 (***): I wish the writer would make up his mind. He sets up this new status quo… no angels or demons on Earth… and then he continually violates it. Lame.

Foilball’s May Previews Order

100 BULLETS #93 (MR)	MS MARVEL #29 SI
ACTION COMICS #867	NEW AVENGERS #43 SI
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #564	NEW WARRIORS #14 SI
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #565	NEWUNIVERSAL SHOCKFRONT #3 (OF 6)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #566	NIGHTWING #146
ANNA MERCURY #4 (OF 5) PAINTED CVR (MR)	NO HERO #0 (OF 7) (MR)
ASTONISHING X-MEN #25	NOVA #15
AVENGERS INITIATIVE #15 SI	NUMBER OF THE BEAST #7
AVENGERS INVADERS #3 (OF 12)	NUMBER OF THE BEAST #8
BATMAN #679	POWERS #32 (MR)
BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #9	PROJECT SUPERPOWERS #6 (OF 7)
BILLY BATSON AND THE MAGIC OF SHAZAM #1	PUNISHER #59 (MR)
BIRDS OF PREY #120	PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #21
BLACK PANTHER #39 SI	REIGN IN HELL #1
BOYS #20 (MR)	ROBIN #176
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #16	SAVAGE DRAGON #138
CABLE #5	SECRET INVASION #1 DIRECTORS CUT
CAPTAIN AMERICA #40	SECRET INVASION #4 SI
CAPTAIN AMERICA WHITE #0	SECRET INVASION FANTASTIC FOUR #3 (OF 3) SI
CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI 13 #3 SI	SECRET INVASION FRONT LINE #1 (OF 5) SI
CRIMINAL 2 #5 (MR)	SECRET INVASION RUNAWAYS YOUNG AVENGERS #2
DAREDEVIL #109	SHE-HULK 2 #31 SI
DC WILDSTORM DREAMWAR #4 (OF 6)	SKAAR SON OF HULK #2
DETECTIVE COMICS #846	SKRULLS ONE-SHOT
DOKTOR SLEEPLESS #9 WRAP CVR (RES) (MR)	SKRULLS VS POWER PACK #1 (OF 4)
ETERNALS #2	SPAWN #183
FABLES #75 (MR)	SPIDER-MAN BRAND NEW DAY EXTRA
FANTASTIC FOUR #559	SUPERMAN #678
FINAL CRISIS #3 (OF 7)	SUPERMAN BATMAN #50
FINAL CRISIS REQUIEM #1	THOR #10
FINAL CRISIS ROGUES REVENGE #1 (OF 3)	THUNDERBOLTS #122 SI
FOOLKILLER SHORT TIME #1 (OF 5) (MR)	TITANS #4
GRAVEL #5 (MR)	TRINITY #6
GREEN ARROW BLACK CANARY #10	TRINITY #7
GREEN LANTERN #33	TRINITY #8
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #26	TRINITY #9
GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #3	ULTIMATE ORIGINS #2 (OF 5)
HULK #5	ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #124
I KILL GIANTS #1 (OF 7)	ULTIMATE X-MEN #96
INCREDIBLE HERCULES #119 SI	UNCANNY X-MEN #500
INVINCIBLE #54	WALKING DEAD #53 (MR)
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #3	WAR HEROES #2 (OF 6)
IRON MAN DIRECTOR OF SHIELD #31	WAR IS HELL #5
IRON MAN LEGACY OF DOOM #4 (OF 4)	WARREN ELLIS AETHERIC MECHANICS GN (MR)
IRON MAN VIVA LAS VEGAS #3 (OF 4)	WILDCATS WORLDS END #1
JACK OF FABLES #25 (MR)	WOLVERINE #67
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #23	WOLVERINE ORIGINS #27
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA ANNUAL #1	WONDER WOMAN #22
KICK ASS #5 (MR)	X-FACTOR #33 SI
LAST DEFENDERS #5 (OF 6)	X-FORCE #5
MARVEL 1985 #3 (OF 6)	X-MEN LEGACY #214
MIGHTY AVENGERS #16	YOUNG LIARS #5 (MR)
MOON KNIGHT #20	YOUNG X-MEN #4

I finally did it. I cut books. Iron Fist, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Angel, Conan, Teen Titans, Titans (#4 is the last part of the Trigon arc, I will not be ordering #5) and a couple of other random books that are so random I can’t remember them off the top of my head. Heh. There’s a half dozen other books I’m keeping my eye on, but for now, they earn another month.

Things I’m looking forward to from this month’s order, in no particular order: Captain America, Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam, Wildcats Worlds End, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, I Kill Giants and….

Skrulls Vs Power Pack!!!

Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #14

The strength of this issue, and to be honest all of Drew Goddard’s issues, lies in the ways that it feels like a natural extension of the show.

The issue opens with the death of a slayer, a really horrific display and we are reminded that while many share the power, Buffy is still the first and thus the leader. While Buffy generally irritates me, I totally sympathize with her as she is shocked and yet she can’t be consumed with it because she has to deal with it. She has to cut her down and take her back to headquarters and figure out a way to keep more girls from dying. And of course she broods and thinks that she has to do everything herself and then here comes Willow to smack her and say, “Hey remember me? You’re friend with powers? Let me make you a blanket.”

I love the inclusion of Dracula in this storyline. This is such a great thread to pick up from previous seasons. At the time when he appeared in the show, it was really a great device to drive more of a wedge between Buffy and Capt. Cardboard but Goddard is totally exploiting the awesomeness of his power over Xander. Oh funny Xander. How I love you.

For the record, Billy thinks that Xander’s girlfriend looks like a guy and the more I look at the picture, the more I disagree. I think I tend to agree with Billy in person because it’s easier than dissent. However, I dissent here, on the intarwebs. She looks like a girl.

So the Big Bad wants to take back the power of the slayers…HA! And yet, I wonder…because obviously, eventually, they go away? Or they all die off? Or they don’t create more slayers? Or another slayer isn’t called? Because, I mean, Fray lives in a world with no slayers or something right? OOOH CONTINUITY AND FUTURENESS. I don’t even know.

Possibly my favorite aspect of this issue was the conversation between Buffy and Satsu. As I’ve said, Buffy annoys the hell out of me. She’s whiny and self-righteous and as far as Buffy-verse characters go, I don’t think she grew as much across seven seasons as other characters. That being said, Goddard is nailing the intricacies of her emotional retardedness. The girl is an emotional terrorist. She’s incapable of participating in a romantic relationship that isn’t a function of or a reaction against her power. (This all goes into my argument about why Buffy isn’t actually a new action hero but rather just the same old action hero played by a girl this time.) While it annoys me, I have truly appreciated the development of this “relationship” and Goddard’s faithfulness to Buffy’s dysfunction.

And now to contrast, some Xander sweetness. This too has been a nice reminder of things past. The “let’s get this out of the way” kiss was sweet. Oh Xander…will you ever learn to not be a spaz when you’re dealing with girls? No? Oh good. I wouldn’t know what to do with suave manly Xander. (Unfortunately, sweetness and light are not often rewarded in the Buffyverse so I think we know where this is headed.)

Alright, so Billy was complaining about Goddard ripping off himself in this issue and warned me that there was some Cloverfield action and so fine, maybe there is, but you know what? I’m okay with Giant Dawnie tramping through the streets of Tokyo. You know why? Because I’m tired of seeing her sitting in a barn like Alice in Wonderland after she ate that stupid cupcake and popped out the window with her black Mary-Jane’s. And I mean, Dawn hardly ever gets to help. And here she is helping…awkwardly. “Hi…or, I mean. Roar.” Ha. I just remember how completely awkward she was in that last season episode when she thought she might be a potential.

The final image is a sad one and I have to wonder if Xander will ever catch a break. At the same time, it rings true. This is just the sort of thing that would happen to him…and just the motivation that Buffy needs. While she’s nearly incapable of surrendering herself to a romantic relationship, she’s nothing if not fiercely loyal and protective of her friends. Things are not going to end well for our shapeshifting vampire friends.

And I’m excited to be truly excited about Season Eight again.

So How ‘Bout Them Mini Reviews?

Secret Invasion #2

Most of you have probably seen my little back and forth with Billy on the comments for his review, so there’s not a whole lot to say about this one. I liked the issue quite a lot. The art remains strong, and I liked the change of pace to focus on the paranoia of the heroes when faced with the unknown. Not much else to say, other than my need to reiterate how badass that Illuminati Super Skrull looked on the last spread. B

Green Lantern #30

Remember in my DC article how I mentioned that as much as I love Geoff Johns, he always seems to make story decisions that piss me off? Well, he’s still doing that. Any momentum from the Sinestro Corps War has been completely drained out of this book by a completely contrived bit of pseudo-retconning. I know I mentioned this in the last mini review for #29, but we don’t need to see Hal’s origin AGAIN. You’d think Mr. Johns is running out of ideas, because he’s capable of so much more than this. C-

Thor #8

JMS is still going strong, and this issue is probably the series’ best since the fantastic third installment. We’ve got two threads going on here, with Thor still inhabiting the Thorsleep while Donald Blake makes one last attempt to find Lady Sif and reawaken her. The Donald Blake side plot is what really shines here, as JMS does an excellent job in scripting his interactions with the person he believes is harboring the soul of Lady Sif, which ends in a wicked cliffhanger. But there’s also something undeniably fun about the Norse mythology side of the Thorsleep, where he has his confrontation with Odin, who is locked in an eternal daily battle with Surtur. It’s a no win situation for Odin, but he confronts it like a true hero. Great issue, featuring some awesome pencils from Marko Djurdjevic, who is fast becoming a favorite of mine. A-

Thor: Ages of Thunder

Matt Fraction + Norse Mythology = Good times. I do enjoy the fact that this little exercise in one shots (the first of three) isn’t completely pointless, as it paints a pretty vivid picture of the pre-Donald Blake “dick Thor,” which makes you really understand why Odin went out of his way to bind Thor to a human host and give him a little well deserved humility. It’s pulpy fun, with lots of Frost Giants and hammers and Loki shenanigans and Enchantress as a sex object. Not required reading in any sense of the word, but I wasn’t upset that I read it. Looking forward to the rest of these. B-

The Order #10

And so the series ends, while no one pays attention. I still liked this series, and it’s the type of exploration of the 50 States Initiative that is needed (you can only get so much out of Avengers: The Initiative). Ezekiel Stane is a fun character, and I like the way Fraction decided to use this series to build him up so he can be the first main villain in the Invincible Iron Man book. I like these characters, and I like that Fraction didn’t simply callously kill them off to allow them to possibly sneak back into the Marvel U in some fashion. This was a different kind of superhero book, and that may be why it didn’t go anywhere, but I enjoyed the ride. B

Immortal Iron Fist #14

Yep, more Fraction here, this time tempered by a taste of Brubaker. Epic chop socky action, as the entirety of the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven champions lay some smack down on HYDRA. The book is just good. But we pretty much already knew that. I like the story potential of the ending, and it’s a shame that Bru and Fraction won’t be able to hash that out, as they only have two issues left and one of them is another one-shot dealing with a past Iron Fist. This being the last major issue of the Fraction/Brubaker/Aja run, it’s sad to see them go, but it was a good climax and a worthy end to the craziness that was this particular arc of Iron Fist. B+

Review: The Man With No Name #1

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is in my Top 5 movies of all-time, so I came in with some seriously serious reservations about this book. But, I like Christos Gage, he’s the new “Matt Fraction!”, and I thought I’d give it a shot. What I found inside was a mixed bag. The art was adequate but not mind-blowing. The writing wasn’t mush better.

It’s very obvious that Gage is trying to connect this book to “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”. When I say connect, I mean that the first issue takes place somewhere between three days and three weeks after the credits roll. This could be interesting, but right now it’s just clunky. The connections: the Union is after Clint for blowing up that bridge right before the climax of GBU. Hmm, kind of weak, but I’ll go with ya’ Gage. Next, one of the padres from Tuco’s brother’s mission shows up dying of his wounds. The dying father begs Clint to save his mission from bandits. After giving it the due amount of consideration, Clint agrees… and I can here the “Kung Fu” music playing in my head.

This may be too much coincidence for me to handle. The problem with this is, there really is no continuity between the three “The Man With No Name” movies, save for Eastwood himself. The movies exist in their own worlds. Each new movie brings a new adventure with new characters. And now, in the span of a single issue, you want me to believe that Clint just happens to run into a character from one of those movies in the middle of the desert? If recycling old characters and plots from the GBU is all this series is really about, then why not just call it “The Gooder, the Badder and the Uglier”?

The Good: The dialogue was perfect when it was quick and snappy. I could actually hear Eastwood’s voice in my head when I read this. That was cool. Complaints about coincidence aside, I’m more than a little excited at the idea of seeing Tuco again, one of the most quotable movie characters of all-time.

The Bad: Here’s some other stuff that bothered me… Clint shooting up Union troops is something the movie character wouldn’t do. He’s an anti-hero, no doubt, but I don’t see him killing honest soldiers. There’s also way too much dialogue from Eastwood. But I understand Gage’s intent. Gage has Eastwood explain himself to a dead man in order for the reader to understand the thought process that went into Clint’s decision to help the padre’s mission. But you know, I think this page would read fine without the cheesy word balloons. We get it. We don’t need to be told…

The Ugly: And that brings me back to the art. If the art was better, Gage wouldn’t need to compensate with unnecessary dialogue. He could let the art breathe and speak for itself. The reader would still feel like he got his money’s worth and the writer wouldn’t have to cover boring art with balloons.

Please Gage, I hope this series doesn’t turn into some weird version of the “A Team” or “Kung Fu” with Eastwood traveling from town to town doing good deeds. What made Clint’s nameless character so special was that even when he was playing “The Good” he wasn’t the superficial white hat. He was a downright bastard at least half the time, just as “The Bad” and “The Ugly”, like Angle Eyes and Tuco, had their altruistic moments. The key to this series is balancing the “good” with the “bastard”. If Gage can do that, I’ll be quite surprised.

Foilball’s Review Roundup #17

Rating System: The Best of Jim Starlin

5 Stars: WARNING: The Infinity Gauntlet
4 Stars: Adam Warlock and the Infinity Watch
3 Stars: Cosmic Odyssey
2 Stars: Dreadstar
1 Star: Marvel Universe: The End

Avengers: The Initiative #12 (***)

Once again, Iron Man compromises his position on the SHRA and allows a group of fugitive super heroes to “escape”. I just don’t understand editorial’s inconsistent stance on this. In a shared universe, you can’t just abandon bits of story and character development every time a creator writes himself into a corner. For those of you who would say that Iron Man’s resent behavior IS a sign of character development, I say, “I don’t think so.” I don’t feel the writing here, or in the other books where he isn’t the title character, would support that argument. I think it’s just editors letting writers do their own thing. Would Tony really act like this? He fought a war over his beliefs and he got his best friend killed. If that honestly changed how he felt about registration, he’d have gone rogue already and we’d probably see him fighting to repeal the Act. He hasn’t and he’s not. I expect this type of shit from DC, not Marvel… the masters of continuity.

Ms. Marvel #26 (*)

I’m really starting to dislike this book. Too much exposition and too much useless dialogue. It’s Reed aping Bendis, and he’s aping him badly. I want to drop this book, but I really like Carol Danvers. But I’m also pretty sure I only like her when Bendis is writing her. Dilemma!!! Oh yeah, and this issue doesn’t feel like it fits in with Secret Invasion at all. I know that’s kind of a ridiculous thing to say, because there’s a bunch of Skrulls in here… but these Skrulls aren’t acting very Skrully, that is to say, their Skrulliness isn’t consistent with how Bendis has set them up in Avengers and SI. Like, this Skrull chick is way too forthcoming with the infos. I want to like Reed and his Ms. Marvel, but this book is less fun than it used to be and now I’m starting to wonder if it was ever any good. And another thing, pretty convenient for Reed to introduce this Agent Sum guy’s background information a couple of pages before it’s relevant to the story. UGH. So bad.

Rann-Thanagar: Holy War #1 (**)

I didn’t preorder this, but I picked it up on Wednesday because back in the day, Starlin and Lim were a creative team to be reckoned with. I went in with semi-high expectations, I tried very hard to keep the nostalgia factor in check, and the book failed to exceed them. Actually, it didn’t even come close. I was bored; bored to tears. That’s about the worst thing you can say about any piece of art. Sorry, guys. This sucked. Oh, but I did laugh at these two pages. Robin sits there completely invisible till the very last panel where he gives Starfire permission to go on the mission. Hold on, Robin is still a kid, right? Starfire’s the adult? HAHAHAH… stupid. I won’t be reading #2.

Superman/Batman #47 (***1/2)

Hey FYI, Busiek wrote this idea already over on Superman. I don’t remember the specific issue number, but it was about six months back I think. The idea: a team designed and trained by the US government to take out Superman if he ever goes rogue… been there, Green. But it’s okay, since surprisingly, Green does a better job with this idea than Busiek. You don’t have to be original all the time, most of the time we’ll settle for interesting. And this, this Doomsday kryptonite creature, this thing is interesting… to me at least.

Ultimate X-Men #93 (***1/2)

So… a reboot? Yeah, I can live with that. Does this mean Fantastic Four is the Ultimate book on the chopping block? I hope so. Does anyone like Ult. FF? About the issue: the fight between Apocalypse and Phoenix was just long enough to satisfy my need for cosmic violence without boring me. Also, thank you Robert Kirkman for reversing the “Dark Phoenix” expectations we were all… expecting. We don’t see Light Phoenix very often and it was a welcome surprise. There was some lame here, mostly due to the super-muscular art. UGH-UGH.

Quick Hits:
• The Mighty Avengers #12 (****): Nick Fury, you fool! I wouldn’t kick that Skrull out of bed, she was the super hots! Maria Hill is one of the best, most complex characters Bendis has ever written… too bad she’s almost surely a Skrull. The meeting between Spider-Woman and Fury on the bridge was perfect. I think I’m looking forward to this story more than Secret Invasion proper.
• The New Avengers #40 (****): I think I’m 4-starring this mainly for the Jimmy Cheung art. The story was neat too… and I loved how pissy the Skrull King gets. What’s also neat? Plenty of Skrull art to steal for some future Vs. set.
• The Immortal Iron Fist #14 (****): So much fighting in this issue! Just when you think the fights over, Fraction and Brubaker toss out a dozen more fist-pounding panels! Have I mentioned how much I love how they print the names of the special moves in big white font? HEH.
• Justice League of America #20 (**): I wasn’t even aware Flash wasn’t in the JLA right now. I mean, I’ve been reading the book for over 10years, but it’s been so forgettable lately I just had no clue. Apparently the editors felt we needed reminding. Thanks editors!!!
• The Order #10 (**): A decent ending to a mediocre series. I’m glad the Order hasn’t disbanded, but I don’t care about them much past that.
• Teen Titans #58 (-): Dropping this book. Now that we won’t be making any DC sets for a while, it’s finally safe to drop all the DC titles I can’t stand.

Review: Secret Invasion #2

Elektra was a Skrull.
Black Bolt was a Skrull.
Dum Dum was a Skrull.
Contessa Really-Long-Name-SHIELD-Chick was a Skrull.
Ms. Marvel was a Skrull.
Hank Pym is a Skrull.
Jarvis is a Skrull.
Invisible Woman is a Skrull.
Spider-Woman is a Skrull?

After reading Secret Invasion #2, I think we can safely add Spaceship Spider-Man, Spaceship Vision and Spaceship Hawkeye to the list, with an even BIGGER question mark next to Spider-Woman’s name. I mean, check out this totally Skrully panel of her running away! Oh, and could the Spaceship Captain America be the real deal? Clint seems to think so. Wait, is that even the real Clint!?! Too soon to tell, I would say. I want to believe that Mockingbird is really who she says she is, not because I like the character, but because Clint is right… he’s had a rough year. OH! What’s up with Carol giving Stark the Skrulliest look of all time?

If the first issue was an A-, this one’s a solid C+. Why? DECOMPRESSION!!! You know what Marvel, if I’m going to shell out $3.99 for a comic, I want more pages of story not just thicker cardstock! EFF. YOU. This is just bullshit. The plot inches forward… panel by wordless panel. When I got to the end, I was wholly unsatisfied in a way I haven’t been since House of M. Bendis, why do you hate us so much? WHY?!?

The best part of the book was seeing how clearly Clint’s sentimentality is affecting the logic centers of his brain. Dude, get a grip! That’s not Cap and that’s probably not your wife. Why does Bendis torture him so? WHY?!?

And thus it was written that this shall be your cliffhanger: Lots of Super Skrulls.

ASIDE: No “Origin Stories” this week. Sorry guys, The Bill’s got to rest up for next week’s Crime Lords Extravaganza!!!

Early Sketch: May Orders

I managed to wrangle this thing down to $90, which makes me happy as it was originally going to be my first $100+ order, which I’d like to avoid for as long as possible.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #16

Final Crisis #3

Ambush Bug Year None #1

Booster Gold #1,000,000

Green Lantern #33

Green Lantern Corps #26

X-Factor #33

Uncanny X-Men #500

Sky Doll #3

Avengers/Invaders #3

Captain America #40

Eternals #2

Guardians of the Galaxy #3

Skaar: Son of Hulk #2

Immortal Iron Fist #17

Invincible Iron Man #3

Iron Man: Legacy of Doom #4

Marvel 1985 #3

Nova #15

Punisher War Journal #21

Secret Invasion #4

Mighty Avengers #16

New Avengers #43

Avengers Initiative #15

Secret Invasion Front Line #1

Secret Invasion Runaways/Young Avengers #2

Secret Invasion Fantastic Four #3

Black Panther #39

Captain Britain and MI 13 #3

Incredible Hercules #119

Ms. Marvel #29

Thunderbolts #122

She-Hulk #31

Skrulls One Shot

Thor #10

Kick Ass #5

Jetta/Shi #1 (Not in Previews, but available through DCBS along with a free sketch)

Terry Moore’s Echo #5

Comic Book Comics #2

This order included my dropping of Hulk (we all know why), Fantastic Four (didn’t do enough for me to care with all the other stuff I have to buy), and Angel: After the Fall (Issue 6 was really, really bad). Also, it doesn’t include New Warriors 14, which will be the first Secret Invasion tie in I don’t order. I plan to pick it up later, as I hope to bind up the full Secret Invasion event into a nice hardcover, but it’s not necessary at this juncture.

Foilball’s Review Roundup #16 – X-Men Edition!

X-Men: Free Comic Book Day (***1/2)

This comic kind of failed as far as FCBD goes. It had all the elements you need to hook new readers: young, tier 2 character to introduce us to the world of the X-men; Tier 1 X-Men in action; cool villains… wait, no it didn’t. The N’Garai? I know I put ‘em in MTU, but these guys are not cool or clever or anything. They just are. Which brings me to the biggest problem I had with this book: the tone. This book is not appropriate for kids. Super violence and demons… whose brilliant idea was this? Seriously, this is a dark fucking book. I guess Marvel has completely given up on marketing its main line to a young audience. I don’t know, maybe the kids line is selling really well? Sorry, this is a whole ‘nother rant. There’s one other tiny bit of continuity significance in this free comic: it spoils the end of the current Uncanny arc. Apparently, from this final splash page, one could infer that the X-Men will move their headquarters and school to the West Coast, specifically, San Francisco. This, I really liked. A sea change could do these characters a world of good. I wonder if the change in locale has anything to do with Ellis taking over Astonishing?

Uncanny X-Men #497 (****)

Still loving the art… someone please tell me Choi is on this book past 499? Also, is this the return of the Scarlet Witch? I heard tell they’ve been saving her return for an X-Men book and with #500 just around the corner, and with it featuring the return of Magneto, could this really be her? Emma’s comments about the “disturbances in the force” made my mind twist around the possibility that this rogue mutant is actually Scarlet Witch. Everything fits if it is… I can’t think of anything that would say it’s not Wanda. Man, I hope it is!

X-Men: Legacy #210 (****)

This trip down memory lane is just about the best X-Men stuff Carey has ever written. Where has he been keeping the good writerings? Why wait so long to bust out the hotness? So at the end of it, Charles Xavier’s physical mind is fully restored, but some of his key memories have been lost or remain locked inside his brain, as evidenced in this scene between Amelia and Charles. That was a little bit heartbreaking, especially since Amelia’s been hanging out on the fringes of the X-books since the beginning of Messiah Complex. I was hoping for a happy ending for these two. Anyway, this book is just another example of how much Messiah complex actually changed the world of the X-Men and provides further evidence that the promised changes to the Marvel Universe since House of M continue to make an impact. AND, even with all the changes, the creators are still making room for old continuity, again as seen throughout this story arc. Old and new ideas working together to make super aweomes… this makes me a very happy comic reader.

X-Force #3 (***1/2)

Issue #1 was “w/e”. Issue #2 WOW’d me with the re-introduction of Bastion. Issue #3 just turned up the mother-loving heat! The Purifiers are actual badasses now? Bastion is written perfectly. He’s a better character in Yost and Kyle’s hands than he has any right to be. The art is still too dark, but now that the story and characters are picking up the slack, it doesn’t bother me as much. I considered dropping the hammer on this series, now I can’t wait for the next issue. I feel like pretty soon we may have a 4 or 5 Star book on our hands.

So all in all it was a pretty great month for the X-Men and all things considered, it’s only going to get better.