So, What comics did you buy this week?

[Tom Foolery]

I liked the current Avengers book, I just didn't like the artist, so I stopped buying it. But now that they've got a new artist, I started getting it again.
Mark Waid doesn't get enough credit as a writer. He's been doing this for a long time, but still comes up pretty good ideas consistently. He's not flashy, bombastic writer like Millar or Bendis, but he's got the voice of just about every character he writes down. And he's one of the writers that still does more than pay lip service to continuity. He should be given the chance to pitch an Event for Marvel. I bet whatever he came up with would be better than most of Marvel's recent meh-vents.


I just made up a word. TM it!

[jjreason]

Yes he has. My first memory of Mark Waid being someone to follow was way back in Cap volume 1, "Man Without a Country". Culminates with an all-time great hero/nemesis moment right up there with Reed & Doom in Secret Wars or the chess match issue by JMS. That's got to be over 20 years in the game, for both big companies, working full time. Clicky for a spoiler image.

http://bcrefugees.blogspot.ca/2011/07/b ... ca-by.html

[jjreason]

Finally hit a jackpot at some dollar bins. Most of Aaron's Thor run (what I was missing, I think I need 2 more issues now) and finished off my Battle of the Atom X-Men crossover with the last 3 I needed from various series. Grabbed an Origin II #1 because I don't think I have that series so it was worth the gamble. Oh, and Bendis Avengers 7, a little ratty along the spine but it completed my run. Fuck it.

[jjreason]

DD 22,23, 24 - trying to fill in the last few issues leading up to the renumbering & eventual 600th issue. I think I need 21.

Aaron Thor v1 8 & 12 - turned out I need 12 & 18, so I'm still missing 18... but I'm richer than ever in issue 8s. That doesn't help me feel better oddly.

SE7, Iron Doom 10, Rogers Cap 19, Thanos 9. There was new Saga. I will need that from store B this weekend.

[anarky]

Revolutionaries Vol. 1: Crisis Intervention

Before I actually give my thoughts, GOD FUCKING DAMMIT, I HAVE TO TRACK DOWN HEARTS OF STEEL AND INFESTATION 2, AND IDW BLOWS WHEN IT COMES TO KEEPING EVERYTHING IN PRINT!!

That out of the way, someone give John Barber a medal. He is not the best writer at a nuts-and-bolts level. His attempts at an English accent are laughable. It's disconcerting how out of character Kup and Soundwave sound, especially when you consider this is the same guy who wrote the incredible "Soundwaves" issue of RiD. And the "guest star of the month" gimmick has already worn thin.


But, dammit, the overall story kicks ass. This is a true old-school comic, one that builds on years of continuity and sets up years more. He just gave us the fucking missing conclusion to pre-Revolution G.I. Joe in a couple of panels worth of dialogue. He solved the ridiculousness with the Adventure Team, and brought in Sgt. Savage. He filled in new (old) adventures of Soundwave and the Predacons, and, fuck, a nod to the goddamn Magnificence after more than a fucking decade? And, again fuck, the Cobras were stranded on the moon so long ago, even I'd forgotten it!

Because, unlike everyone else who's written G.I. Joe since Hama, Dixon, and Costa left, he fucking read the old issues!

This is a solid comic book. Like I said, some of the mechanics aren't the greatest, but the attention to continuity and the seeds being planted for future stories are things that have been missing from a lot of comics for ages.

[jjreason]

Glad to hear someone has actually taken up the reigns to GI Joe instead of just writing it as a job. I can't even remember where Karen Traviss' run left off, so I won't bother asking about the resolution.

[anarky]

Revolutionaries is, primarily, another Transformers book, since it stars four recurring characters and half of them are Cybertronian. But the overarching plot so far deals with the remnants of Cobra doing... something. I'm not trying to be ambiguous or snarky, but the master plan isn't clear yet (though I'm betting it will lead into their invasion of Cybertron in the upcoming First Strike crossover).

So far, we've seen Mayday, Flash, Quarrel, Heavy Duty, Snake Eyes, the Oktober Guard, Major Bludd, Storm Shadow II (a female, who debuted in Action Man), Baron Ironblood, Iron Klaw, Iron Grenadiers, Tomax, and the Red Shadows, along with Colton's Adventure Team (with a young Stalker reconned as a member) and Sgt. Savage & the Screaming Eagles in flashbacks. Even with that limited cast, and most of the action revolving around a mysterious artifact with aparent ties to Cybertron and Microspace, it feels more like a Joe book than anything they've done outside the ARAH continuation.

[jjreason]

Jessica Jones 11
Avengers 10
Thor 18 from the overstock bin to finish my God of Thunder run, only $2. Someone's thrifty! Just need Jane Thor 1 and I'm caught up on Jason Aaron.

EDITED: Don't look now, but Charles Soule is writing a very good Daredevil story. Issues 21-24 (and the upcoming 25) are about Matt trying to put DD on the witness stand and have him testify about what his powers are telling him. She-Hulk, Foggy, Echo & Luke Cage have all made appearances, along with Kingpin, Tombstone and a "new-to-me" character named Legal who was apparently Tony Stark's lawyer before the business enterprises went tits up.

I've always like the courtroom aspect to DD - in fact it's one of the things that drew me to the character as a kid - and this courtroom stuff has been pretty engaging. Looking forward to seeing how it plays out in 25.

[jjreason]

Cap 25
Secret Event 8
OM Logan

[Tom Foolery]

EDITED: Don't look now, but Charles Soule is writing a very good Daredevil story. Issues 21-24 (and the upcoming 25) are about Matt trying to put DD on the witness stand and have him testify about what his powers are telling him. She-Hulk, Foggy, Echo & Luke Cage have all made appearances, along with Kingpin, Tombstone and a "new-to-me" character named Legal who was apparently Tony Stark's lawyer before the business enterprises went tits up.

I've always like the courtroom aspect to DD - in fact it's one of the things that drew me to the character as a kid - and this courtroom stuff has been pretty engaging. Looking forward to seeing how it plays out in 25.

Charles Soule is a lawyer who started writing, so it's no coincidence he does decent courtroom drama. He also did a She-Hulk series a couple years ago that had a great story arc where Captain America was put on trial. She-Hulk was his lawyer, and Matt Murdock was the prosecutor. It was the first time Matt and Jennifer, Marvel's two most famous lawyers, had ever faced off in the comics.

[jjreason]

That sounds vaguely familiar, I have to either see if I have that or look for a trade.

[anarky]

Serenity: No Power in the 'Verse: Very good, worthy continuation of the series, though it does seem in part designed to set back River's development and also partly to backtrack the Mal/Inara relationship. I was hoping for some further development in the FCBD story, but it clearly takes place earlier than the rest of the book.

Jem and the Holograms: The Misfits: Haven't read. But this is essentially five (six?) more issues of the series, which has been shockingly good. Think about it: probably the kid who hated this show the most checked out the book based on glowing recommendations and the knowledge of how good most IDW/Hasbro collaborations turned out, and was so hooked that only a Serenity comic in the same box kept me from reading the latest immediately.

[jjreason]

That's interesting to me, that they've found someone to care for Jem in a real way.

Old Man Logan 27 - I'm almost regretting carrying this book "over the break" into Legacy (the X-books did their reconfiguration a little earlier than the other titles will). Deodato art is fine, but there's nothing from him here that is making my jaw drop. Same as the Thanos series. Hopefully this arc ends at 30 and I'll be done with it.

Cap 25 and Secret Event 8 were fine, but I think I can see where this is going, and it's not super surprising.

[jjreason]

STORE A

SW 34 (done - good Lando story featuring Han's ex wife)
Ultimates 100 (done)
Surfer 13 (one more - tear jerker, maybe the most serious one I've ever experienced in the comic medium)
Thor 22 (23 maybe? whichever one came out this week - not bad, setting up for next issue)
Iron RiRi 10 (I think maybe that's done now as well - and again ok, actually a fairly good comedic issue)

STORE B

Ultimates 2 9 (can finally read this & finish it off)

Batman, Action, Detective & Superman from the last 2 weeks, all of which will be fine, I'm sure, if not crazy memorable. Will read Sunday morning on the throne as per my bi-weekly ritual.

[jjreason]

Store A - SW 34 Hoth Han variant (impossible to resist, even if the art is one of the wort likenesses so far - looks like Baby Han)
DD 25
Secret Event 9

Still need Dr. Strange 24 & the Thor Generations special if I can find one.