Comic reviews from June/July/August

It took me nearly 6 weeks to read these. I managed to post short reviews (thoughts) on twitter so I'm going to rewrite those comments for here.

Bombshells 1 - Pretty good. Nice designs. I'm glad I got this.
Hawkeye - this made me cross. Then my friend pointed out that the thing that made me cross didn't actually happen, and then I felt relieved. If you've read it you'll know what bit I mean.

Raven the Pirate Princess 1 and 2 are VERY GOOD. There is a not all men joke. Fnaar.

It also promises gayness and is building a wicked cool cast of lady pirates. Love it.

JLU 11 and 12 were pretty good. Nice art and a new direction for the series,in terms of team members. It's big heroic efforts to save.the whole world, and that's the sort of story I like

Batgirl 42 was good fun. Nice cartoony physical artwork. The annual had similar fun art and took us to the other Batladies! Including this era's Spoiler. It was a good intro (for me) of the character to the post-Flashpoint universe. Or is post-convergence now?

Starfire 3. Look at this Terra as drawn by Emanuela Lupacchino, inked by Ray McCarthy and coloured by Hi-Fi.

Justice League Gods and Monsters: Wonder Woman 1 - I did enjoy this and JL Gods and Monsters 1 and 2.  It's a decent alternate Trinity story.

Sex Criminals 9 and 11 were both good comics. I don't seem to have 10 so I bought that next time I was at the comic shop. I was pretty tired when I read 9 and 11 so didn't have any actual commentary. I've kind of forgotten the details of the two issues too.

Convergence week 7 (and a Sensation Comics)

On to the last two weeks of Convergence comics.  Reviews will be split into two posts.  Spoilers ahead.

Convergence 7
So we finally have some familiar and likeable heroes, boshing the bad guys.  There's a giant rocky triangle shaped thing with a face, disembodied arms and two curved extensions coming up by the side of his head.  I have no idea who he is.  Deimos is still around, causing trouble.  Apparently Demios is an existing character, not invented for this series.  He looks like Dr Strange,  I assume Telos was invented for this series.  I don't care about either,

I wonder what this main Convergence title would read like if read in one chunk.  From week to week, it's felt dull and by the numbers.  It's editorially driven and it doesn't feel like the creators care about the story, which is a shame because comics always read better when the creative team care about what they are doing.

Anyway, Deimos is destroyed, the chronal energy he was containing is released, triangular rock dude breaks apart and tells new 52 Supergirl and Superman that all of reality is breaking apart,  Nothing in this story has made me feel like this is a momentous occasion.  It just feels uninteresting.  I reviewed Zero Hour for New readers...start here recently, and even with all it's faults, that story felt like it existed on a grand scale and deserved my awe.  Convergence doesn't.  Flashpoint didn't either.

Convergence: The Adventures of Superman 2
Kal and Kara are in the Phantom Zone, fighting the Kryptonian criminals imprisoned there,  Kara knows she has to get Kal out so that he can fulfill his destiny in the first crisis, but he doesn't know about this and boots her out.    Kara thinks for a few seconds and contrives a way to pull Kal out, leaving the criminals behind.

Meanwhile Kamandi and his mates are trying to work out how to stop the ape army wanting to take over 'Greenwitch' - I guess this refers to an American Greenwich, not the London one. The Super cousins join in the fight and the apes actually think they can beat them. Ha.  The absolute certainty of the cousins and their skills is nice to read.  No second guessing, no tactics to hurt them, juts the knowledge and certainty that they will win, because why wouldn't they? Who could beat a pre crisis Kryptonian?  No one, that's who.  I loved this issue.  It's a keeper,

The preview is for Martian Manhunter.  I didn't like it and I don't think it does J'onn justice.  the story has a suspicious, dark tone and that's not what I'm keen on reading.

Convergence: Wonder Woman 2
Also a keeper.  Lovely, lovely art by Aaron Lopresti, Matt Banning, Tanya and Richard Horie and Tim Napolitano.  The character designs for the vampires are lovely too.  Diana is perfectly in character, heroic and a warrior,  She takes the time to talk to Athena to figure out her plan.  She's not fazed by the vampires.  She doesn't revel in her victory over them.  I want to be that sort of person.

The preview is for Secret Six but it's a different Secret Six to the pre 52 version.  I'm not interested in it.

Convergence: Hawkman 2
The Hawkguys are fighting giant bats and giant rats. Then they (Katar and Shay) get strapped to a giant rocket and Shayera frees them.  They work with the other Thanagarians to defeat the giant rodents and get a peak into the future - the first crisis.  Then they fly off into the light declaring their love for each other,
Possibly a keeper.

Convergence: Batman and the Outsiders 2
I don't care about this or the Batman Beyond preview in it.  To be got rid of.

Convergence: Swamp Thing 2
I realllly don't like how Swamp Thing speaks.  Pauses in sentences irritates me.  Swampy joins up with vampire Batman, and it turns out that this is a Batman I am interested in.  So clearly he dies at the end.  Interesting introduction to Swamp Thing, but not a keeper.

The preview is for Catwoman, I'm not interested.

Convergence: the New Teen Titans 2
These aren't my Titans and I've never cared for this era.  I can see why people like these issues, but they aren't for me.  The preview is for Robin Son of Batman.  It's an OK preview, but I won't be buying it.

Convergence: Flash 2
I am so bored of Barry Allen and this is a love letter to him.  The preview is for Suicide Squad, the new 52 more badass Squad.  I do not care.

Convergence: Superboy and the Legion of Super-heroes 2
This has Atomic Knights riding giant dalmations.  I know a winning idea when I see one.  Having said that, I think I preferred issue 1 to this.  I def preferred the art in issue 1.  Superboy does the heroic thing and the Knights don't fight the Legion.  I'll probably keep these issues, now I have discovered a fondness for the Legion.
The preview is for Teen Titans, which like most of the rest of DC's line, just doesn't interest me.

Convergence: Green Lantern Corps 2
This is not as much fun as issue 1, but still enjoyable.  Hal is being a bit stupid and using old fashioned ring constructs (hands etc) which is what I like to see.  John is John like and Guys is Guy like.  He steals Hercules' armour and then gets his ring recharged.  Good fun for Green Lantern fans.
The Gotham Academy preview shows what is probably a solid book, marketed at teens and reminds me of Gunnerkrigg Court webcomic.  As I've read Gunnerkrigg court I'm not interested in reading this.

Convergence: Justice League of America 2
Good fun for fans of this JLA team.  I guess it's nice to see Vibe, Vixen, Steel and Gypsy get credit for saving the day, even if it's Zee, J'onn and Arthur that really finished everything.
The Batman/Superman preview makes me want to cancel my standing order.

Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman 10
My head was full of Convergence when I read this so I don't think I appreciated it enough. I think this book is aimed at readers who want to see Diana in explicitly feminist stories, so I think it will turn a lot of people off.  For me though, it's great.  Especially with the backup story being mythological.  It's these books that make me want to cancel my in continuity titles and just get the standalones.  They are so much better,

Comics review: Convergence week 5

Spoilers ahead (probably).

Convergence 5
I really cannot bring myself to care about this main title.  Skataris and dinosaurs are fun, but it's not necessary to read this to understand the tie-ins.  I suspect that I will be selling this mini.

Convergence: Justice League 2
There's some ridiculous bum and boob images in this.  Ignoring that, this isn't too bad,  It's pretty much a big fight between the League and Flashpoint Aquaman, with a bit of Vulko, ending with Mera killing Flashpoint Aquaman.  I can't imagine anyone not invested in pre 52 continuity enjoying this.  Fortunately, I like the pre 52 world a lot.  These 2 issues are keepers, really just for Supergirls' involvement in them.

Convergence: Superman 2
Just lovely.  Lois has been kidnapped by Flashpoint Kal, but he doesn't mean her harm, and he takes her to Flashpoint's Batman's cave.  Lois goes into labour and Flashpoint Batman (Thomas Wayne, a  doctor) says he can't handle delivering the baby so Clark does it.  Surprisingly, they show the labour as being quite drawn out, and not over in half an hour.  And at the end Lois and Clark and a baby boy.  It's delightful.  This is definitely a keeper.

Convergence: Batman and Robin 2
This appears to be one of the few tie-ins that lets it's heroes be heroes - i.e. not willing to go fight the opposing champion.  Of course it is, it's Batman.  Jason Todd and Damian are in this, and it turns into a father-sons piece.  The art is nice.  I couldn't care about the story.  I'll try and sell this.

Convergence: The Atom 2
I think I'd remember this more fondly if I hadn't watched Smallville's Booster episode last night (with the three Blue Beetles in it).  Which means that I'm getting my blue heroes muddled.  The comic was OK.  I find the Deathstroke vs the Atoms storyline strange, probably because I wasn't reading the pre 52 issues where Deathstroke killed Ryan Choi.  I do like that Ryan has been resurrected, that's a good thing about this event.  I am undecided as to whether I should keep this.

Convergence: The Question 2
This might be called the Question but really it's a Two-face/Renee story, with lots of support by Batwoman and Huntress.  Some of the storytelling through just art (no words) is pretty damn fine.  I highly highly recommend this.  Definitely a keeper.

Convergence: The Titans 2
Roy finds a way to save Lian and his friends, and Lian is the real Lian, and she remains alive at the end.  This resonated.  It's a keeper.

Convergence: Speed Force 2
This has a very flat, cartoony, style of art. It's not what I'm used to, but I can't tell if I think if it's bad, or if it's just different.  Reading it, I have trouble accepting this Flashpoint Wonder Woman.  She's too far away from the Diana I am used to.  Irey seems to have some sort of torso muscles, which is strange, given her age.  I think I thought this issue was nice enough, but it's not really got anything memorable in it.  I liked the first issue though, so I'll probably keep this.

Convergence: Harley Quinn 2
This was fun.  Harley tells Cap'n Carrot she has super fists, scorch vision, canary scream, awesome-portation and a magic hammer stolen from the Gods.  He believes her, because who lies about having super powers?  This plan backfires but it all turns out well in the end, and Harley is reunited with ivy and Selina.  But doesn't go back to her fella.

Convergence: Batgirl 2
Steph and Tim seemed out of character in this.  Tim says that he ignored her for the last year because she was no longer Batgirl. Now she is suited up again, he's interested again.  She gets annoyed at this, but then takes him back.  I prefer to think that Steph has more self respect than that, and that Tim isn't such a dick.  Possibly keeping for nostalgia reasons.

Convergence: Nightwing and Oracle: 2
This was good.  I really like the design of the Hawks, and Black Canary shows up.  The Hawks get defeated and are offered the chance to live in this Gotham, curating their culture.  That's how heroism works.  Then Babs and Dick get hitched and we see the second ever good comic book wedding dress.  The first was Canary's when she married Green Arrow, FYI.  These 2 issues are keepers.

One thing that I realised during this week's comics, is that the fights between champions aren't to the death.  I had assumed they were, but I don't think Telos ever stated that.  He just said one champion must be defeated.

I didn't read many of the divergent previews.  I doubt I'll be getting many of them.

Comic reviews: Convergence week 4 and lots others

So many comics to write about.  I'll try to keep each review brief.

Justice League 40
I bought this one for the boy band cover and obviously now want to watch Magic Mike, the film it is apparently from.  I did rather like the story too.  Metron is about and meets the anti monitor and all the crises are referenced.  At the end the Amazonian birthed anti-God turns up, which feels less stupid than it did in the WW FCBD story.

Multiversity 2
I think this reestablished the pre 52 Multiversity, with new universes, and established a group of protectors for it, including lady Aquaman.  It also has a panel of Vampire Wondy and Vampire Bats craving coffee.  Which is fun.

Superman 40
This is a very strange comic,  The JL are being written like they are all aged about 18 or 19, or younger.  The plot kind of works, but the way in which it's delivered is weird.  John Romita JR writes and pencils, and the pencils are bloody awful.

X-Men 26
The Krakoa storyline ended.  All but Rachel seem a bit bloodthirsty.  It's a reasonable ending, I suppose.

Bitch Planet 4
I adore this comic and the editorials.  Y'all should read it.

Princeless the Pirate Princess 4
Fecking wonderful, as ever, and Raven is confirmed queer. Love this,

FCBD offering from the CBLDF
This is a bit too much issue focused for me to really enjoy it. I'll pass it on.

FCBD offering: DC's Divergence
Ridiculous.  Commissioner Gordon is the new Batman in the Batsuit that looks like a Blue Beetle suit.  Lois has told the word Clark's secret.  An Amazonian fucked Darkseid and the child is the anti-God.  What a load of crap.

FCBD offering from Dark Horse
The Fight Club story was quite good.  I haven't bothered reading the other two.

FCBD offering from Boom studios
I've flicked through this and it looks good, but I haven't had the headspace to read it in totality.

Convergence 4
I can't be bothered to flick through this and re-acquaint myself.

Convergence: Shazam 1
One of the best Convergence books so far.  It has that innocence the Marvel family used to have, when they were unashamed at being written for kids.  It's got Sivana and Tawky Tawny but isn't written as a nostalgia trip - it's a genuinely good story and a good addition to Marvel canon.

Convergence: Blue Beetle 1
This is about Captain Shinypants, the Question and Blue Beetle, with a guest appearance by Booster.  Pretty Good, even with Shinypants in it.

Convergence: Crime Syndicate 1
Somehow I liked this.  I normally find the Crime Syndicate really really dull, but this was enjoyable.   Nice art too.

Convergence: Booster Gold 1
Pre 52 Booster meets New 52 Booster and if you like traditional Booster you'll like this issue.  the Legion of Superheroes turn up.  Fights ensue.  This was one of the highlights of this week's comics.

Convergence: Detective Comics 1
Helena Wayne and Dick Grayson from the earth where they are proper adult legacy heroes.  I liked their squabbling an the clear characterisation of all involved.

Convergence: Infinity Inc 1
I'm not clear on the background or history for this, but I quite enjoyed it.

Convergence: Plastic Man 1
I get the Freedom Fighters existing in a world where the Nazis won the war, I don't understand what Plastic Man is doing there.  Was he ever part of that world?  I did enjoy the comic and the Freedom Fighters as a team, so that's a job well done by the creators.

Convergence: World's Finest 1
This I did really enjoy.  It feels like a decent standalone story in it's own right.

Convergence: Action Comics 1
Another good one.  Like World's Finest, it simply works as a story by itself.

Convergence: Justice Society of America 1
This week turned out a bunch of corkers.  This feels like it was created by people with real respect for the JSA era and the main guys in the team.  Good work.

JLA Paradise Lost 1
I got this from the comic shop in Brugges in March, but forgot I'd bought it.  It was pretty good.  It has Zauriel in it trying to stop a fellow angel take over Heaven.

JLA Incarnations 6
Also from the Brugges comic shop.  This is the JLI at it's finest and it much better than the Convergence JLI issue.  The first story is led by Booster and Beetle, and proves why they shouldn't be allowed to roam around unsupervised.  The second story is led by Captain Shinypants when he's on Extreme Justice and just proves that team is rather incompetent.  Worth reading for the JLI story.

Superman Krypton Chronicles 1 and 2
These are really good fun, and a bit batshit.  Plot holes a aplenty but as they aren't meant to be serious, who cares?  Clark is asked by the Daily Planet boss to put together an article on Krypton's history, so Clark has to travel to Kandor with Supergirl, now on the planet Rokyn, to meet with Supergirls parents and learn about Kryptonian history.  It's all a bit unhinged, but it allows the writers to have fun, and so the reader has fun too.  The reasoning for getting Kryptonian's history seems a bit bandwagon jumping though:

Superman Confidential issues

These are a great set of issues, and it's a great run.  Superman stories where he's being heroic from different stages of his life.  It's only 14 issues long and the ones I picked up were written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, who nearly always turn out reliably solid work, with the later issues pencilled by Phil Hester, who I adore.

Superman issues, pre 52 ones

One is a Christmas issue which I recall liking a lot, one is a one year later one that I already had, but forgot about and because it had Supergirl on the cover I bought it again.  She's barely in it.

The Adventures of Superman Annual 1997

I'm always disappointed by these pulp heroes annuals that don't have a pulp themed story.  Upon reading this it occurred to me that perhaps it's just that I don't know what it meant by 'pulp'.  The letters section was intriguing as everyone was complaining about the blue and red Superman.  It reminded me of all our kvetching about Supes' new solar flare power.  Oops.  Perhaps we should just roll with it...

Wonder Woman Wednesday

Canary, Shiera and Peej (look in his shades) try to hold Di back, while Zee looks on aghast.
You can see the credit in the image.
This is reminiscent of this Barda and Plas sequence from JLA 33, written by Mark Waid:

I don't like this depiction of Plas.  It's creepy.

Comic reviews - week of 23/04/2014

Reviews ahead for this lovely lot:

 

Spoilers ahead for Larfleeze, Secret Origins 0, Batman/Superman, Justice League United 0, Red Lanterns 30 and Supergirl 30.

LSCC 2014 report

I went to London Super Comic Con yesterday and had a fine old time.  LSCC is great to attend - it's really well organised and it's got a really nice feel to it.  Unlike MCM, it's completely focused on comics - no games, no anime, no films, just comics.  Both cons are held at the Excel Centre in London yet MCM felt like a massive, soulless warehouse and LSCC feels friendly.

This likely to be my last con for a quite a long while, as a fresh baby is going to put a dampener on our social life for a while.  So I wanted to make this count.  So I dressed up as this Aquaman:

On me, this translates into this:

(I didn't get any full length shots at the con so I took these photos Sunday morning at home).

With this glove:

Why Aquaman? Because I adore the character.
Why this costume?  Because I genuinely love it.  I think it's a really cool version and I thought I could get it comic-accurate.
Why the blue glove? Because the hook I spray painted gold turned out bloody awful so I decided the glove would do for the waterbearer version.
Why no appropriate wig?  Because the wig made me feel stupid....

Hmm, I'm not quite the same as the comic version am I!  Sod it, I love the costume and I'm really pleased I wore it.  I wish I could be less self deprecating but I feel the need to get in jibes at myself before anyone else does.  It's taking me quite a lot of courage to post these photos.

I didn't make the leggings or top - I commissioned it from Too Many Heroes (facebook link) and I think they did a fine job.  Anyway, I'll do a post on the costume and the process for putting it together (including costs) soon.

I arrived at the con venue, changed into the outfit and felt terrified.  It's really quite revealing you know?  Also, I was convinced I looked fat rather than months pregnant.  Looking at photos, I can tell I'm quite clearly pregnant but I didn't have that at the time. I felt so self-conscious.  But perhaps I'll write more about that in another post.  Once I put on the knitted beard I started feeling less stupid, probably because I felt it was more obvious that I was having fun with it and not taking myself too seriously.

The queue went down really quickly (LSCC is super well organised) and I headed to Peter David's table, where I saw another Aquaman, who looked far more in character and faer better turned out than I was.  So we gave each other a smile and later on a friend took this photo of us:

I had earlier seen a Mera who was graceful and elegant and dressed in a lovely flowing green gown.  Clearly I felt far too ungainly, short and inelegant to ask for a photo with her, which I am not regretting. Arrgghhh.

Anyway, at Peter David's table.  He recognised me from when I told him on twitter I would be the 6 months pregnant Aquaman, and his wife took a couple of photos of me. :D  I did apologise for looking a bit foolish, but he brushed that off and seemed to liked the costume.  He said he'd seen lots of Aquamen over the years, but never a pregnant one, so I've got that going for me.  He signed my comics.

These are all the books I got signed that day.  The Green Arrow book is signed by Mike Grell, not Peter David!

I got to tell David these books all mean a lot to me and I was especially pleased with the Supergirl and Young Justice sign language issues he did.  He was really friendly and I'm glad I saw him in-costume.  He had his daughter with him as they were selling copies of a book they'd co written, I really should have bought it.

After this I met some friends, one of whom was dressed as incognito Black Widow, and we saw this really cool pair:

Then I queued to see Gary Frank and he also signed my Supergirl trade.  He liked my beard.  I expressed my disappointment that I couldn't grow a real beard.  Most people seemed to think my fake beard was the best thing I was wearing.  It was pretty cool, but also damn hot.  I hadn't quite realised that all wool is hot.

Then I went to the science of superheros panel but despite being in the third row, had trouble hearing the presentation.  It can get really damn echoey in these places!  So I tweeted this photo of myself and then left.

I'm really not helping my concerns over looking fat as opposed to pregnant am I?!

Then I met my friends again and we went for lunch.  I got a green thai veg curry from the noodle bar in the Excel centre - it looked ranked but tasted fine.

Once back into the hall we went and met Andy Clift, the guy behind Bertie Bear (whom we interviewed on Radio Bamf here).  I got into a discussion with him and another guy about DC's movies - specifically, Man of Steel and Green Lantern and whether they were any good or not.  Opinions varied!  I bought this print from him which will go in the nursery:

The more I looked at it the more I liked it so I bought it.  I'm really pleased with it.

We also visited the Art Heroes table and I caught up with Daniel Clifford again.  I last saw him at Thought Bubble, he's a lovely guy, doing really really good comics work.  I've written reviews of two of his creations over at New readers...start here!.  Halcyon and Tenderfoot is an all ages comic and Sugar Glider is for teens and adults.  Both are excellent and far, far better than most of the crap that comes out of the big 2.

I went into the Jonathan Ross/Ian Churchill panel and it was great fun.  Ross is really hyper - he talked nine to the dozen and barely stopped for breath.  They had good things to say though - talking about their new comic The revenge, comics they like now, comics they've loved in the past and superhero films.  I left halfway through because I experiences a sudden urge to use the toilet (thank you baby).

Last person I visited was Mike Grell.  I asked him to sign my Longbow Hunters trade and we had a little chat, mostly about my beard.  Told you everyone liked the beard.  I told him how much I valued his GA work, as well as saying (again) how sad I am I can't grow  real beard.  He said I carried the beard well.  t was fun, with the beard, I feel like I've made quite a few people smile.

After I left Grell I went to a massage are and paid £10 for a 10 minute back, neck, head massage.  It was well worth it and really loosened me up.  My right side has been a mess lately - it's rock solid. Ugh.  Anyway, the masseuse was great.

Throughout the day I also bought some comics:

The top left one and the Avengers one were in the goody bag you got as you arrived.  I'm certain I own one of the Resurrection Man comics already, but I couldn't remember which, so I bought both.  They were only 50p each.

I nearly bought this Billy Tucci print:

The reason I didn't buy it was partly due to the price (it was only £20 but I was down to my last 20 quid by this point) but also to concern over whether the boyfriend would like it or not.  As I guessed, he doesn't like it (he finds the Japanese wave theme overplayed) so it's a good thing I didn't get it.

I drooled over these Canvas Warriors shoes:

These are all hand painted and the lady on the stall assured me that the paint won't rub off, crack, or otherwise be ruined.  The paint if guarenteed for the lifetime of the shoe.  When they start at £130 for an adult pair and £70 for a baby's pair, you want the design to last.

I bought this Pocky-alike snack:

I met @FacetiousBeard, a twitter friend.  He was fun!

It was a really good day.  I took quite a lot of costume photos and I'll post those shortly.

What I have bought recently

So I mentioned I was going to lay off the comic reviews for a while, and that's true. instead you get pictures of my recent (ish) purchases!  Check them out:

Comic Reviews - more catching up

Reviews coming up for:
Aquaman 19 and 20, Justice League 20 and 21, Last Stand of New Krypton volume 1, Captain America: Man out of Time.

I won't hide these behind a cut because they are all pretty old.

Aquaman 19 and 20
Got round to downloading these from comixology.

19 was alright.  The new king is scary.  Orm talks about how the surface world doesn't even register Atlantis as existing and is overwhelmingly sneery about surface politics and customs.  Fair enough.


I don't like how Topo is now this giant brooding octopus monster.  Enough of making everyone a badass, please.  I like Tula's new 52 costume, but I wished she hadn't been aged.  I guess this is so she appeals to the 18-45 demographic.  Le sigh.  Mera gets ambushed by her husband - a bearded redhead.  Ooh err.  The art was pretty lovely though.

20 was rubbish.  Ya-wara needs to be given some clothes.  I care nothing for these Others.  I read Aquaman to read about underseas or other water based adventure. Bah.

Justice League 20 and 21
So the first 6 issues of this was great.  Then it got really shoddy.  Then it picked up again.  Trinity War is suprisingly enjoyable.  These issues are form just before Trinity War and I picked them up for the Shazam backup.

Goddamn I'm enjoying the new Marvel family.  I know they've now been changed so it's all dark and miserable and Billy started off as a bit of a brat, but if you read on he's not all brattish, and by the end of issue 21 you know the Marvels area  family again.  I really really love this.

Last Stand of New Krypton volume 1
This trade was an impulse purchase at the LCS last week.  I'd read all issues in it apart from the Legion ones, and damn I am now enjoying the Legion.  I really enjoyed this.  I'm intending to get the whole WONK saga in trade. 

Captain America: Man out of Time
This was recommended to me as I like the movie Cap'n A.  Its' great.  Really really great.  I think I'll be doing a New readers.... post on it.

Comic reviews - only 1 week old!

Reviews and spoilers for Wonder Woman 23, Supergirl 23. Animal Man 23, Justice League Dark 23, X-Men 3, Revival 13,Adventures of Superman 3.

Comics review - catch up

These will likely be three sentence reviews as I'm really behind and have to start cooking dinner in half an hour.. I will talk about:

Justice League America 7, Animal Man Annual, X-Men 3, Fearless Defenders 7, Princeless Tales of Girls Who Rock, Adventures of Superman 3, Resurrection Man 17, Supergirl Annual 2 (1997), Legion of Superheroes (5 years later), Demon Knights 23, Thor 11 and Fearless Defenders 8.

I'll never get these all written in half an hour...

Comic reviews for weeks 18/25th July

Spoilers ahead for Hawkeye annual, Supergirl 22, He-man 4, Wonder Woman 22,  Justice League Dark 21, Justice League Dark 22, Justice league America 6, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man 24 (I think), Wolverine 7 (I think), Thor (can't remember the number), Animal Man 22, Larfleeze 2, Revival 12, Batman/Superman 2.

Whew that's a lot. I'm behind again. Onwards.

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Hawkeye annual  - So we discussed this on Radio Bamf on Sunday, but technical problems meant that the recording didn’t go so well. Pox.  Anyway I wish I’d read this before the show because it turned out to be pretty good fun. It leads on from earlier issues – 4 and 5 I think, which I hadn’t read.  Which I think I’m happy about, otherwise the cover might have given the plot away, since it’s all about Madame Masque getting revenge on Kate Bishop.  As I didn’t know the context I found it delightfully slashy and i honestly thought they were going to jump into bed.  At least I did till it was revealed that Kate knew Masque wasn’t so sincere.  But hey, I have my dreams.

Supergirl 22 – Cyborg Superman shows up and has plans for Kara. Kara is not impressed.  Mahmud Asrar is no longer on interiors and his replacement is just not that great.  I didn’t particularly enjoy this.

He-man 4 – A friend who visited the shop with me bought me this.  She-ra is short haired, scarred in the face, and working for the bad guys.    She doesn’t know she is He-man’s sister.  He-man doens’t even know he has a sister.

It wasn’t bad, but I don’t quite understand why a property that was originally created for children, and is rather ridiculous in concept, has been revived and written for adults.*  Why not revive it as a children’s comic?  Why not come up with a brand new idea for adults?

 

*I do know why, it’s to cash in on the nostalgia market. Doesn’t mean I have to agree with it.

 

Wonder woman 22 – this has a wonderful soviet styled arty cover.  Inside it gets better. Wondy and her group are New Genesis, meeting the Highfather et al for the first time.  Highfather wants to take Zola’s child, Zeke, but Orion tricks him.  The best thing about this book is that Diana comes across as a leader.  It feels like she is the title character in the issue.  She makes the tough decisions, stands up to the Highfather and is generally reminiscent of the Wonder Woman from before the new 52.  This was a satisfying read.

 

Justice League Dark 21 – This was an impulse buy.  From what I recall, Xanadu is haunted by visions of the future, particularly a future romance with Deadman.  She tries to turn her back on all this.

 

Justice League Dark 22 and Justice League America 6 – I can't remember the details of these too well.  I know Green Arrow wasn't quite as Ollie-like as I'd wish, and Wonder Woman was far more Diana-like than I;d hoped for.  There was a lot of fighting and panic.  Hephaestus was in it and it made me think how talented the artist for Wonder Woman is, and how these new gods don't look right when someone else draws them.  Overall I enjoyed these two installments in the Trinity War story.

 

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man – Gwen complains about Miles not being Spider-Man to Aunt May. There’s more Cloak and Dagger stuff.  Spider-woman visits Miles and begs him to put the suit on again.  Spider-Woman reveals she is clone of Peter Parker.  This is stupid.

 

Wolverine – Logan no longer has a healing factor and now has to come to terms with the fact he’ll die.  Blimey :o  I did not see that coming.  Having just finished my epic X-Men run I feel that this is quite  a godo time for me to jump into a Wolvie title.. whether I will or not remains to be seen.  Anyway, good work Paul Cornell.

 

Thor – The three Thors and their granddaughters are still alive, hooray!  And they are fighting back, hooray!  Gorr kills his wife for calling him godlike, so Gorr’s son betrays him and sides with the Thors.  Cor.  This is still nice epic stuff, but I doubt it’s a long term keeper.  When the Gorr plotline is over (I assume it will finish soon) I’ll flog the issues on ebay.  They are well worth reading but not quite of high enough quality for me to keep them forever and ever.

 

Animal Man 22 – This was twee yet gross.  Maxine is in the Red and as she’s the new avatar (?) of the Red it responds to her consciousness and remolds itself around her thoughts.  So it’s all twee and full of baby and mother animals and it’s got rolling hills and it looks like a child’s story.  But the fundamental nature of the Red and it’s purpose can’t change so the organ fields are still there – these are literally fields where organs are grown. Brains and stomachs and lungs etc.  That’s the gross part. Maxine finds these and decides to grow her dead brother, Cliff.  The problem is, without a soul it’s just a simulacrum.  A fleshy, squishy, floppy, gross simulacrum.  Maxine realises this and gets rather upset.  She’s not given up on her plan to hunt for Cliff’s soul though.  She will get him back!

 

Larfleeze 2 – Fun. Larfleez eis always fun.  The voices of all the characters are fun.  The situation is fun. The fight scenes are fun.  This is just all fun. Fun fun fun fun fun fun.

 

Revival 12 – This wasn’t fun. It’s a great read and it’s entirely different to the other comics on my pull list, but it’s not fun.  It’s grim and thoughtful.  I liked it a lot.

 

Batman/Superman 2 - This is just fabulous.  The art is gorgeous.  It's all gothic sillouhettes and moody stuff.  It's a really mature read, not mature like for adults, for complex and thoughtful.  It feels like the creators are really into the story and really care about what they are doing.  I loved it.   One panel made me tear up.  You should all be buying this.  It's great.

Really out of date comic reviews

Here we go..  All these comics are at least 2 weeks old so yeah, spoiler alert, but I bet the content won't be news to many people.  Comics covered are:
Princeless Get Over Yourself Issue 4 and Tales of the Family Ashe, Justice League 22, Fearless Defenders 6, Demon Knights 22, Clockwork Watch: Breakaway, Batman/Superman 1, X-Men 2, Uncanny X-Men 7, Larfleeze 1, Hawkeye 11 and 12.

Thoughts will be short as I've got such a lot to cover.

Hawkeye 11 and 12
11 was told from the perspective of the dog.  It was rather cleverly done.  Lots of unintelligible words and symbols to convey dog thoughts and dog understanding. When I read it I had an awful virus and couldn't take a lot in, so parts confused me.  But I enjoyed it.  Even if I needed a nap afterwards.

12 is told from the perspective of Clint's (estranged?) brother.  the pages are broken up into a lot of different panels.  There's usually at least 10 on each page.  Colours are nice. Dialogue is nice.  Story is interesting.  Good stuff.

Larfleeze 1
This was great fun.  Like the DCU used to be.  This went straight onto my pull list.  It will be interesting to see how and why there are other Orange Lanterns, as I thought Larfleeze could be the only one.  I mean, the whole orange thing is about greed, so I bet he'll go mental when he meets the others.

Uncanny X-Men 7
I bought this by mistake, I intended to get another X comic, that was recc'd to me, but got confused in the shop.  It's got very pretty art and Cyclops did get knocked on the head by a flying rock, which is always nice to see.  Don't think I'll be buying any more though.

X-Men 2
Also great fun.  It's got Jubilee and Mohawked storm, and Shadowcat, Rogue, Psylocke and a redhead from the Summers family tree.  So apart from Psylocke and the Redhead, all my favourites.  This is great.

Batman/Superman 1
Another good offering from DC.  Like Larfleeze this went straight on my pull list.  The art is fantastic, changing to suit the scenes. It starts off in Gotham, and is all gothic, then moves to Kansas and the colour palette goes summery.  It's beautiful.  Even though it's the new 52 Superman and Batman I really enjoyed it.  I have high, high hopes for this title.

Clockwork Watch: Breakaway
This is the second issue in the Clockwork Watch series (issue 1 reviewed over on New readers...) and it moves the story along nicely.  The art is gorgeous and Janav has matured into quite the attractive young man.  Clockwork servants have become more and more advanced, with many resembling humans (apart from their eyes, which have little cogs for pupils).  Janav has been pushed into a sort of police force where he has to hunt down renegade Clocks.

The lettering and speech bubble lines are lovely.  When Janav is visiting his mother's grave his dialogue is written in the style of an Indian alphabet (I wish I knew exactly what).  When he's writing to his childhood friend in India the speech bubbles lines are rough, like that of old paper.  When the Clocks are speaking a little cog is incorporated into the speech bubble.  When Janav is angry the speech bubble drips with aggression.

The Clockwork Watch team is at SDCC this weekend and I think they are previewing the next issue.  I'm jealous because I want to read it!

You can buy copies of both issues here, in hardcopy and digitally.

Demon Knights 22
Oh blimey. The get the grail. The Horsewoman's injuries (?) are healed and she can walk again.  I'm so sad this series will be finishing soon.

Fearless Defenders 6
I cannot get over Valkyrie's ridiculous boob armour.  People complain about sexualisation in comics. They complain about Peej's boob window.  Have I missed all the complaints about Val's costume?  or is that not a thing?
Great issue, but Annabelle got killed. I'm sad.  But I'm sure she shall be back!

Justice League 22
This is the start of Trinity War and Gods help me I actually enjoyed it.  Superman appears to kill Dr Light.  Except he doesn't.  It's quite clear by other characters exposition that he doesn't.  I have little patience for people who took this as badly as they took Man of Steel.  I've put the Trinity War issues on my pull list.  We'll see how that goes.

Princeless Get Over Yourself Issue 4 and Tales of the Family Ashe
As usual, this is brilliant.  If you aren't getting it, go order it now.  The trades are out.  It's so much better than most Marvel or DC fare.  Go buy.

The Nail

I would like to read this book. Having looked at the blurb on Amazon I must say that I take issue with one part of the description:

Now, without a symbol of unimpeachable integrity or a selfless leader who inspires greatness in their ranks.

What does Wonder Woman stand for then?

Eejits. I still want to read it though. That and Another Nail. Anyone else read it? Is it any good?

However, I first must get through my X-Men comics! :D

Another week, another set of reviews (and a Bamf session)

I guested on Radio Bamf again on Sunday. I feel a lot more positive about this episode, although I have come to realise that I suck at verbally summarising and reviewing books. I’m much better responding to other people’s thoughts and ideas. Anyways I had fun, I think it was a good show, so go have listen to episode 15 either at the website or  on Youtube (with automatic captions) and iTunes.  Links are on the we Are Arcade page.

Thanks again to the Bamf team for having me on. Catch them on twitter and facebook.

Now read ahead for comic reviews and spoilers of Supergirl/Prysm Double shot, Signs and Voices, Professor Elemental, Adventures of Superman 1, JLA 4, X-Men 1, Fearless Defenders 4 and Princeless # 3 (second volume).

Nil comics

I bought no comics this week so I have no reviews.  Instead I am going through the boxes of comisc (all 5 of them!) that a friend gave me a while back and reading stuff from there.  I read Grendel: War Child yesterday which was great.  Read a Lords of Misrule and Challengers of the Unknown mini today.  Then started Morrison's JLA run (again).  I am not too enamoured with it (again).

I read 50 Shades of Grey last week and it's absolute shit.  It's a terrible romance, a terrible porn book and terribly written.  Grey is a controlling manipulative stalker, the story IS a story of domestic abuse, Ana can't and doesn't consent and the BDSM stuff is pretty light.  I'm pretty sure I've read blogs about how the BDSM in 50 Shades isn't true BDSM and I can well believe it.  It reads like someone's warped idea of it.

It's awful.  I am disgusted that this book is being marketed as acceptable porn for women.  It's awful.

If you don't know why the book is a domestic abuse story look at this website and this twitter.

I am also thinking about writing another update on my gym/diet progress. I am so near to my goal weight I sort of want to celebrate and I have lots and lots of thoughts about the dieting industry, calories and exercise, and support from others, but it seems a big topic to tackle.  I also need to do more New readers... reviews and get back to signing, but uhh, everything seems so big.  I'm not sure how to break everything down into manageable chunks.  Life seems full of work and gym at the moment, and worrying about weight. Anything else feels too big.

Anyway, I hope you are all well!

Comic reviews for comics bought on 18th May 2013

A-ha, I am up to date with reviews. I think.  Here goes thoughts on the following:
The Pride issues 1 and 2
Wonder Woman 20
Supergirl 20
Thor God of Thunder 8
Ultimate Comics Spider-man 23 (I swear we only just got the previous issue. I do not understand Marvel's shipping schedule)
FF 7
Fearless Defenders 4

Spoilers ahead.

Comic reviews from lord knows when

So I have a long list of comics, that I bought months ago, to review and I just don't think I can do it.  So to clear my conscience here is a list of what I have bought with just a few notes:

Smallville 32 to 43.  Ehh, I've really enjoyed all this but I can't recall details.  M'Gann M'orzz being introduced was fun.  I think there is a lot of Crisis stuff going on with alternate Earth Chloe.  Tbh I'm not entirely sure I've read issues 39 onwards.  I should remedy that.

Ame Comi Girls 22/23/24.  This is still brilliant.  This arc introduced Big Barda the space pirate.  Yes it is as fun as it sounds.

Civil War 1-7.  It was on sale at comixology so I bought it, and surprisingly, I quite enjoyed it. I'd heard mixed reviews, but thought it was pretty darn enjoyable

Black Panther Civil War 18-25.  Yeah so T'Challa is still the bees knees. Storm is in this one, she is equally good.  This story made me fall in love with Wakanda and the Wakandians a little bit more, and I hadn't thought that was possible.

Aquaman 17 and 18 and Justice League 17 and 18.  You know what, I have no idea what really happened in these.  I think it was the end of the Throne of Atlantis story and it was dull.  Vulko was the villain, which I think is a shame.  The Captain Marvel backups are still good.

I have a note that I bought Green Arrow 18, but i cannot remember anything about this, so maybe I haven't read it.  Perhaps I shall remedy that, not that I am in anyway excited by this series..

Comixology comic reviews

I am SO behind.  These may be very short.  Since it's been a while since I read them I'll just have to skim them again, oh no, the horror! ;)

Spoilers ahead for: Power Girl 13, Batman L’il Gotham 4/5/6, Green Arrow 16/17, Justice League 16 and Aquaman 16.

Super Silly Sunday

Haw.

From here.