It´s now Friday night and again I can´t sleep because of the german IRS. If it´s not the unemployment office it´s the IRS or some other damn bureaucratic invention.......damn, nowhere in the world you have to take so much s#i! from them like in Germany. But let´s finish this before I finally go ballistic. My weekend´s ruined so let´s see what else is going down the drain in the world of comics......or not. Who knows ?
Giant Sized Astonishing X - Men 1
Okay, what has this comic to do with going down the drain ? Is ASTONISHING X - MEN not the best written x - book at the moment ? Is it not the best drawn x - book at the moment ? And is it not the only x - book I still read.......which must be the reason why it´s not in continuity.
You´re right on all accounts but if you have read what I have written so far then you must have noticed that I´m writing " at the moment ". Because the new Giant Sized Astonishing X - Men may be the artistic zenith that Joss Whedon and John Cassaday are reaching - but it will be downhill from then. I´m not a big fan on Simone Bianchi ( I quit Wolverine when he took over ) and any writer after Whedon would just be a big disappointment. Marvel can continue this title but for all I care it will become just one of the many unreadable x - comics that are floating out there. More money for other books I guess.
So I´m going to enjoy it while it lasts but after this issue it will be Sayonara from Subzero.
If I´m getting this issue. I´m not sure. With my old comics shop I wouldn´t have counted on it ( GIANT SIZED Astonishing X - Men - it´s like a totally different title )but maybe my new comic shop will surprise me. I´m just glad I picked up my new comics before the comic fair in Stuttgart because my brother is still waiting for his package to be sent to him. I guess they need a bit longer because of all the new customers. I think I´m going to have to pay them a visit before Christmas to get the IMMORTAL IRON FIST trade so maybe I can pick up a few comics to read.
Hulk 2
Uh - oh. Don´t look now shellhead but Houston we got a problem. Yep, the Hulk looks like me when I got done reading the last issue of WORLD WAR HULK but unlike me he seems to have found someone to vent his frustation on. So instead of singing the praises of this issue of TONY STARK - WHIPPING BOY let´s speak about the ending of WWH 5. I was floored. Sometimes you read a comic and the the end is not like you expected. Which can be a good thing. But in this case.....I didn´t feel ripped off but a satisfying read is something altogether different than what I got from reading this comic.
You go and read it and than you tell me how you feel. I´m not going to spoil it but if you have read it you will know what I mean. And the worst thing is that in my opinion it isn´t crucial to the story. Things like these happen WAY too often in Marvel comics ( and in DC comics now ) without having any further meaning cheapening the act in itself and just wasting great story potential. What happened to the House of Ideas ? I really miss some creative writing.
Incredible Herkules 114
Wha ? Huh ? Jabbawhaat ? No, you didn´t miss 113 issues of Marvel´s latest megaseller. For whatever reasons after issue 113 of THE INCREDIBLE HULK Hercules will take over the spotlight in this issue and to get more attention Marvel decided to rename it to THE INCREDIBLE HERCULES. To which I have to say : Whatever get´s Art Adams to do the cover ( and one promo art piece ) is okay in my book.
He´s doing two covers and one FF poster ( picture included at the bottom of the last post ) so I´m hoping he´s just getting ready to do some interior work. As for Hercules taking over the spotlight I´m not sure if the writer knows what to do with him. In too many comics Herc gets treated like a second - rate Thor - wannabe which he definitely is not. In a few instances he has been portrayed right with his temper tantrums, drinking and womanizing ways. Let´s hope he is depicted with the craziness and grandeur that befits the lion of Olympus.
So all I´m saying is : Herc smash !!!
She Hulk 26
Speaking of Hulk and other green things.....while I like Greg Land´s cover for issue 26 what´s up with Jen quitting the superhero biz to become a bounty hunter ? What´s with all the spy stuff ? Or am I complaining to soon ? Who knows ? I heven´t read the issues yet so they may be really good. Maybe I´m just grumpy from Mr. Slott´s resolution of his storyarc. How can someone write such awful drivel in She Hulk and real comic book gold in AVENGERS : THE INITIATIVE ? Which by the way features Slapstick - and in a cool way. How awesome is that ?
I wanted to mention that it´s about time that She Hulk got a real costume but maybe that´s a moot point now. On second thought black pants and a white shirt CAN be a costume ( Lara Croft doesn´t have much more of a costume than that ) especially if Marvel manages to get the shirt wet every two issues or so. Rowwrr !
Thor 7
And speaking of Avengers who were part of the team the last time the Avengers were disassembled.....and by that I mean in a neat and intelligent way without contradicting 20 years of continuity and wiping out half of the active roster.....
How´s that for a smooth segueway ? Anyway, at the moment I´m enjoying the series. It´s not as grand in scope like when Simonson wrote it but everything pales in comparison with his run. And it could be worse. It could be a lot worse like Dan Jurgens demonstrated. At first ( and I´m not sure I didn´t already mention this ) I was a bit reluctant to pick up the new book. I mean he doesn´t even look like Thor.
Not that Thor ever looked like Thor in the Marvel comics. His hair was blonde not red and he didn´t even have a beard. Not even a beard for crying out loud. I mean everybody knows the saying : By Thor´s fiery beard ! Or maybe that´s just me. Well, as I was saying Thor never looked much like Thor in the Marvel comics and whenever they creative team decided to give him a beard sooner or later he would eventually return to the clean shaven look. They even shaved him in the ULTIMATES animated movie.
And now his new look. That´s no viking helmet. And what kind of square chainmail is that supposed to be ? Who ever heard of the vikings having square chainmail ?
No, I wasn´t really delighted by the new Thor series. What finally made me seek out the single issues ( besides the fact that I desperately needed something to read because my comic shop was only getting scattered issue here and there ) was the preview pages I saw online for issue 3. In which Thor does exactly what Hulk does in this issue of his new series : ripping Tony Stark a new one. One of the things I expected was that there would be some retribution for what Iron Man did to Thor while he was absent. Well, not absent he was dead as a doornail which his Avenger buddies never believed. But I really hoped that if.....or better WHEN Thor returned that there would be a reckoning.
And JMS did not let me down. Issue 3 really showed that Thor is a god - and we all just live in his world. Some people may think that armors give them power but in relation to REAL power they are like insects.
Thinking about it this could become a new monthly theme. Who´s turn is it to kick Tony´s a$$ ? There sure is a long list of possible candidates. Could be even a spin off series.
Ultimate Spider - Man 119
Okay, I´m going to say it. Spider - Man and his amazing friends. It seems after the clone saga Bendis decided to integrate another pop culture hit into the ultimate universe - case in point the hugely popular cartoon series that co - starred Iceman and Firestar ( which will have at least on of the comicgeekspeak guys buying the book - if they kept Firestar as a redhead ). At least I hope it´s hugely popular in the United States. Not that I would know. I mean here in Germany most kids never heard of Speed Racer which may be because when I was a kid the parent groups forced the tv stations to drop Speed Racer because the show was too violent for kids. Which by the way - seguewaying again - you just have to watch the trailer for the new SPEED RACER motion picture coming in May of next year. I tell you one thing : Speed Racer is the new Transformers ! In a big way.
Watch the trailer !
Did I mention Christina Ricci´s in it ? Maaassitta !
Back to comics the last Marvel cover for this post is the cover to.....
Uncanny X - Men 495
Looks like Cyclops is throwing the other x - Men out to have some quality time with Emma. Or he finally went overboard with the training session when he burn a big effing whole into x - mansion. And the other X - Men are bailing out.
Maybe I´ll pick this issue up to see what it´s all about. Well, what do you know ? Just when I thought that Marvel had lost the ability to make intruiging covers that compel you to buy the book ( aside from Spider - Girl )they go and make this one. It´s just like a flashback to my youth. Show´s you one thing : You never know.
Another thing you never know is when I will finally wrap up this month´s solicitations. I´m finally tired enough to go to bed, it´s a quarter past seven in the morning and I think this post is long enough as it is. So ( hopefully ) I can wrap up the few indies in the last part ( part 4 ? ) and then we can talk about other important things. Like what makes a hero or even the next round of comicbabe battle. And if there´s a category of comicbabes you would like to see just drop me a line. Maybe I already have planned to do it and we could make a total request edition.
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