So, What comics did you buy this week?

[Tom Foolery]

Wow. It's been awhile. The "G" pile took forever, because I got stuck reading that awful GIJoe series and then a reprint of Bill Mantlo and Mike Mignola's 1985 Rocket Racoon miniseries. So I basically took like a month off from reading books before I dove back into the current Guardians series this morning.
It's been so long, the first half of this list will be spotty because my recollection of books I read over a month ago might not be the freshest.
Here we go.

Generation X 1-4. A new take on the 90's mutant book has Jubilee in a sort of mentor/guidance counselor role for some of the more problematic students of the new school(y'know the one in Central Park which is a stupid idea and I won't stop mentioning how stupid it is). The art is...not great. Which is worse because you've got great Terry Dodson covers and then weird faced people like Paul Pope's art student is drawing the book. The upside is a lot of b-, c-, and even d-list X characters are at least getting some page time.

Clash of Kings 1-3. The Game of Thrones sequel series finally started coming out. I might just hold off and read this once it's done, however long that may be. It's a straight up adapatation of the books, so it's good stuff. Also, I like that they are being true to the images of the book and not just drawing the people from the show.


GIJoe ARAH 240-241. There might've been another issue since then, but it's been awhile since I read these. This is the only decent Joe book right now. Lots of stuff happening with Snake Eyes mind being trapped in Dawn's body. And Dr Venom takes over Mindbender's body. The only thing that sucks is not being able to get the Royle covers.

GIJoe 5-7. This book, on the other hand, is atrocious. Make it stop.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Racoon Tales from HalfWorld. This is an oversized $8 comic that came out around the time of the first movie that reprints Rcoket's miniseries from the 80's. Bill Mantlo had some crazy out there ideas and it was a fun read, but after that GIJoe bullshit, my head wasn't in the right place and I kept slogging thru the book and had to put it down.

Guardians of Infinity 4, 8. A time traveling series by Dan Abnett where the original Guardians from the 31st century, the current Guardians, and a team from the ancient past team up to fight a big baddie who, plot twist, turns out to be one of the original past Guardians. Decent book. It only lasted the 8 issues. I'm still missing a couple of them.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Mother Entropy 1-5. A weekly series that came out timed with the second film. By Jim Starlin and Alan Davis. Typical cosmic fun from Starlin writing the current GoG team.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout. A oneshot that also came out the week of the new movie. As if Marvel was trying to cash in or something. The GoGs are prisoners in the Collector's menagerie and have to break out. Hence the title.

All New Guardians of the Galaxy 1-8, Annual 1, and the FCBD issue. After Bendis had been phoning the last series in for awhile, this book kicks it into high gear. Reintroducing the Nova Corps, the Shi'Ar Raptors(the alien assassins where Darkhawk got his suit from), Nega-Bands, and a showdown between the Collector and the Gamemaster with the GoGs stuck in the middle. Also some long overdue great character development for Drax, Gamora, Groot. Hell everybody. The issue where Star Lord is chasing down old Earth radio transmissions to find a memory from his youth was fantastic. Great stuff by Gerry Duggan. The Annual was a dumb Secret Empire tie-in that is trying to make hillbilly trucker Yondu from the movies a thing, but they can't all be winners.

Gwenpool 15-19. After finishing up the previous arc guest starring Hawkeye Kate Bishop and the new Ghost Rider, the current arc is a super meta arc with Gwen literally breaking the 4th wall and stepping outside the panels of the comic she realizes she's in. I'm thoroughly enjoying this series.

[jjreason]

Store B had Action, Detective & Dr. Strange 24, while Store C provided me with the Thor: Generations special. Done for this week.

DD25 wrapped up the court story in half decent fashion, and Secret Event just keeps getting more & more indecipherable. I've had to read reviews of the last 2 issues to try and make sure I'm getting what's happening. God Bless Lenil Yu for trying his best to save this thing.

[Tom Foolery]

I'm hoping the Secret Empire will be a more cohesive read in one sitting when I get to it, but the opening salvo issues I read weren't anything remarkable. I think I read the FCBD issue, the 0 issue and issue 1. So by the time I get to the "S" pile it should be finished. 2 thru 10 and the few Oneshots and tie in minis like Brave New World.

[Tom Foolery]

Back already with some H and I titles.

Harley Quinn 23. Honestly I just picked this up because it had a fun Frank Cho cover on it of Harley and Ivy dancing to the 60's Batman theme song. I don't much care for Harley and her unwarranted popularity. Apparently she broke up with Ivy and is dating a goat faced boy. And some other shit. Wev.

All New Hawkeye 5 and also All New Hawkeye 5. Remember when I bought the wrong fifth issue of one of Lemire's two super short Hawkeye ongoings? And then found the correct one? Boom. Something something Kate has Daddy issues because her dads a supervillain now yadda yadda. There was a reason I dropped this series two issues before I figured out it was ending anyway. It's because Lemire is overrated.

Hawkeye 7-9. The current Kate Bishop ongoing. She's a PI out in LA and is still having daddy issues. The covers are cool though. Homages to old pulp detective dime novels.

Howling Commandos of SHIELD 2,4, and 5. Apparently to keep the TM current, Publishers have to throw out new books of old titles every once in a while. This particular iteration of Howling Commandos was a team of monsters thrown together and led by Dum Dum Dugan's LMD in a SHIELD offshoot branch called S.T.A.K.E.(get it? Cause they hunt monsters like vampires and shit...) It lasted six issues.

Totally Awesome Hulk 20. So after I had dropped this, I decided to maybe revisit this WMD crossover with the Weapon X series. Even though I haven't bought ANY issues of that series so far. So I got the WMD oneshot and this book, but didn't get the next one because it had a printing error and a bunch of issues were damaged and it just happened to introduce this new character called Weapon H which is a combo of Hulk and Wolvie and now apparently it's going for big bucks on eBay and I don't have it so what was the point of trying to restart this series. Ugh.

Hyperion 3-6. Another short lived ongoing. I thought I had issues 1 and 2, but I did not. In this series, Hyperion decides to become a trucker and help citizens blue collar style or something. He helps a girl escape an evil carnival that turns people into super villains because if some captured alien squid thing, then he bangs Thundra in issue 5 and tussles with Iron Man in issue 6 because he had decapitated Namor over in the Squadron Supreme ongoing. It only lasted six issues. It was written by Chuck Wendig. The named seemed familiar so I looked him up. It was the same guy who's been writing the new Star Wars novels. I remember JJ posted a sample from one of the books and it was atrocious. This wasn't as bad as that, but there was a reason it only lasted six issues.

Iceman 1-4. The new ongoing X-book. Does Iceman deserve his own ongoing? I guess now that he's out of the closet he does. Actually there's been a lot of loose ends character wise that this book is addressing like his and Kitty Pryde's failed relationship, and his glimpse into the future where he was a super villain from Astonishing X-Men a few years ago. And he came out to his anti-mutant and presumably homophobic parents as well. I did not dislike the first few issues. I'll keep with it.

Illuminati 4,6, and 7. The Hood tries to start another masters of evil to rob Asgard's weapons vault, but then the book got shanghaid by a Standoff crossover and ended with issue 7 anyway.

Infinity Entity 3, 4. I think I have the first 2 issues, but maybe only the first issue. This is a 4 issue bridge between two Thanos OGNs which I have not read. So it's like reading the second half of a middle act. Something to do with an alternate reality's Adam Warlock having amnesia. By Starlin and Alan Davis, who draws a GORGEOUS Mephisto by the way.

Next up, the two recent Inhuman series, and some Iron Fist and Iron Mans.

[jjreason]

Secret Event 10 - well at least they kept on schedule. This was a stronger issue than the last few, easier to follow. I guess it went where the story needed to go, but it didn't really leave me feeling very satisfied. Be interested to hear your thoughts, EP.

Saga 40-whatever - haven't read it yet but it will be awesome.

Black Panther 17 & Thanos 11 - haven't read them yet either.

Kirby 100 Black Panther & Inhumans reprints for fun.

[jjreason]

Store B: Dr Strange & the Sorc Supreme 11 (one more issue, I feel lucky to have found this on the shelves as I've had to chase the last few) & SW 35. Done for the week as DC is largely on hiatus - 5th Wed of the month.

[Tom Foolery]

I think I'm gonna keep all them Kirby $1.00 issues together.

But should I keep them under 'k' for Kirby or start putting all the "True Believer" reprints in the 't's?

As an aside, I know Marvel is being all political with the rights to the FF being held hostage at Fox, and Ike Perlmutter being the emperor of the douchenozzles, but having a Jack Kirby month and NOT having Fantastic Four #1 is some heinous bullshit.

[Tom Foolery]

Here's the rest of the "I" list.

Uncanny Inhumans 11-20, Annual 1. 11-14 were CW2 tie ins. Iron Man kidnaps Ulysses from the Inhumans. They in turn systematically destroy Starks life, by bankrupting him, releasing all his emails to Wikileaks, destroying all his homes and stuff and toppling Stark Tower. Then some fringe Inhumans destroy a Stark factory, killing a bunch of employees, and Capt Marvel steps in to stop Medusa. 15-17 were a story about two Inhuman girls trying to bring their mother back to life. 18-20 were IvsX tie ins with Maximus the Mad recruiting fellow bad Inhumans Lineage and the Unspoken to find a way to make new terrigen crystals. The main IvsX series was kinda lame, but these Maximus issues were fun. In the right hands, he's a fun character.
The Annual was actually a follow up to the companion All New Inhumans series below.

All New Inhumans 5-11. 5-6 had Crystal and her NuHumans squad investigating a Skyspear in China with Spider-Man's help and the Chinese super team, the People's Guard(or whatever) show up. 7-10 had Flint find his real family, a matriarchal city of Inhumans living in a secret city in Mozambique. They turn out to be kinda dickbags. 11 was the series wrap up, with everyone surprising Crystal for her birthday. Pretty good series overall.

Inhumans vs X-Men 2-4. Eh. Yawn. Still missing the final two issues.

Inhumans: Once and Future Kings 1. Only the first issue of the new mini telling the story of how Blackbolt became king after dethroning the Unspoken. Good stuff by Chris Priest and Phil Noto.

Iron Fist 5-6. I skipped a few issues of this new series, but everybody is trying to kill Iron Fist. Shang-Chi is guest starring.

Iron Riri 9-10. I also skipped several issues of this book, but Riri takes over Latveria and declares herself queen or something, causing an international incident. Then sets up free elections.

Iron Doom 8-11. Doomy is trying to be a good guy. The rest of the world is obviously extremely skeptical. Also his mother is alive and a super villain sorceress working with an alt dimension evil Reed Richards, who is really Mephisto in disguise. Only one more issue to go. I hope they keep this status quo after the book ends. Anti-hero dick Victor is waayyyyyy more interesting than one-dimensional megalomaniac evil Victor. That shit is played out.

[jjreason]

Iron Doom is awesome. Without the FF, there really isn't any place for traditional Dr Doom anyhow.

[Tom Foolery]

I'll come back with a full recap later on, but Im reading Jessica Jones #9 page six panel four and I laughed.

"Funny how one story can affect another is surprising but logical ways."

Well played, Bendis.

[jjreason]

Iron Man Generations
Batman
Superman
Jessica Jones 12
DD26

[Tom Foolery]

Finished off the next big batch of reading. J thru M.

Jean Grey 2-6. Teen Jean finds out the Phoenix is on its way to re-possess her(or possess her for the first time...time travel is wonky) so she goes to all the previous Phoenix hosts for advice, including Rachel Grey, Quentin Quire, Magik, Collosus, Namor, etc. Then works her way to Psylocke and Dr Strange and Unworthy Thor for advice also. She also starts hallucinating the adult deceased Jean. I'm not sure I'll keep going with the book. I'll just find the unpurchased issues down the road.

Jessica Jones 9-12. Jessica is hired by Maria Hill to find out who's trying to kill her. Turns out Maria Hill took out a contract on herself if she was ever fired from SHIELD. Bendis loves this character and it shows. Great stuff.

Karnak 2-6. Karnak is hired by SHIELD to find some kid who may or may not be an all powerful Inhuman. But the kid points out Karnak's flaws and Karnak throws a tantrum and turns the kid into a vegetable. Warren Ellis writes whatever he wants.

The Kirby 100th Anniversary issues. Reprints of classic Jack Kirby issues including Ant-Man, Avengers, Black Panther, Capt America, Groot, Devil Dinosaur, Eternals, Inhumans, Iron Man, Nick Fury, Thor, and Thor vs Hulk. But no Fantastic Four. Shake my head.

Vote Loki 3. Third issue of a four issue mini where Loki runs for President and a reporter is trying to make people see he's the God of fucking lies, but everybody is drinking his koolaid. Kinda like what happened in real life, I guess. But this book came out before the actual election. I disliked the art.

Luke Cage 1-3. Like get his own series again, and there's a bunch of retcon bs going on with the guy that gave him his powers and a bunch of other "test subjects". David Walker's writing isn't bad perse, but it's not my cup of tea. This is the third series he's written that I couldn't get into. I'm debating on whether to drop it or stick it out until the legacy numbering kicks in.

Man Thing 1-5. RL Stine, the writer of the Goosebumps books writes this sort of campy take on the classic horror character. I haven't read much of the original series, so I don't know how closely this hews to the original style. It was okay. In hindsight, I would've just waited and found them cheap.

Marvel Previews/Spotlights. Assorted preview issues of upcoming titles.

Moon Girl/Devil Dinosaur 19-22. More wacky adventures of Lunella and her pet dinosaur. This book is pretty great.

Moon Knight 14. The final issue of the most recent MK series. Marc Specter reconciles with his alt identities, and banishes the Konshu identity from his mind.

Mosaic 3. I dropped this after two issues, but found this one cheap. The cliffhanger ending where he possesses Spidey makes me want to at least find and read the next issue.


Next up N thru R.

[anarky]

Mosaic #3 was the use where Ch'p is hit by a car, right?

I fucking hated that.

[jjreason]

Store A:

OMLogan 28 - treading water until issue 30. Nothing to see here.... literally. Super scratchy Deodato & a bunch of hulk-green ink, that's about it. Looking forward to this arc being over with, I shouldn't have bothered continuing past the Lemire break.

Dr Strng & Sorcerors Supreme 12 (final issue) - series ended well in cool perpendicularly-formatted issue. Underused trick. I enjoyed this issue & the whole series honestly.

SW36 - silly R2 focused story. I think I can finally be done with this book, time to try & see if I can sell my floppies & get the trades with a bit left over.

Missing: Secret Event Mega Cash Grab 1, so hopefully Store B will have a copy this weekend.

[jjreason]

Store B: Batman & Superman 30s

Store C: Event Omega & SW 35 & 36 figure variants.