Comic book thread ON!

[Burn]

Getting back to Marvel's "big story arcs" of the last few years, don't forget what DC started.

It began with 52. A weekly comic that would lead into their big story arc for the year (which turned out to be a fizzler), which was then immediately followed by Countdown, which later became Countdown to Final Crisis, which lead into Final Crisis, which is rapidly going no where. And now we have Trinity which frankly is bloody awful and I dread the big story arc it's suppose to lead into next year.

So Marvel may be doing a few big story arcs, but DC's doing just as many. And the other thing too is that Marvel's story arcs actually impact on the regular titles. DC's don't seem to be doing that. I mean really, they're still wrapping up Batman R.I.P. with the other Batman titles basically saying Bruce has gone, but in the big story arcs Bruce is still around.

[piratescratch]

piratescratch on the Marvel comics for the week of October 5th.

Amazing Spider-Man #576 - Part two of the Hammerhead arc. I know I mentioned I dig the art but I have to say Bachalo does draw some odd looking people especially Pete in some panels. Other then that fun conclusion to a short yet very enjoyable story arc.

Avengers: The Initiative Special #1 - So this is set after Secret Invasion for those who want to know. We finally get a few answers to Hardball and Hydra. Actually there's nothing really stellar about Hardball and what he does under the table for Hydra, bit of a dissapointment there, looks like all he just runs the odd errand/mission for them. So Komodo finds out, does the girlfriend thing and trys to help, things don't go as planned, some what predictable twist at the end. We also get a Trauma short, a bit about his past is revealed, "big" dun dun dun at the end, probably see more of this in later issues.

Civil War: House of M #3 - Average read, nothing spectacular but nothing bad. Fans of the House of M event might want to check this out but if you're giving this mini series a pass well you're not really missing out on anything. two more issues left I hope this mini series picks up a bit.

Invincible Iron Man #7 - This issue is pretty much just an epilogue to the opening arc with an extended Spider-Man cameo. I still cringe at the art and inking. But other then that it was a solid read, more focus on character development then big action. I'm looking forward to seeing where Invincible Iron Man takes us.

Marvel Zombies 3 #2 - Best read for the week. I love Marvel Zombies and well issue two of the third Marvel Zombies series gets two thumbs up. It's fun, bloody with gratuitous amounts of limb dismemberment, everything that makes a good Marvel Zombies issue. Machine Man is an absolute blast to follow, calling Jacosta a "ho-bot" was definitely the highlight of the issue for me. Marvel Zombies 3 is definitely shaping up to be an awesome read if this keeps up. I'm also liking the Evil Dead homage with the next issue preview cover with Jacosta. Speaking of covers I do miss Suydam's covers.

Ms. Marvel Special: Storyteller #1 - We remember Gavin from last years Ms. Marvel Binary Special right? I was expecting a bit more from this one shot, expecting some more Marvel pirate action (god Marvel Pirates, they should totally do that, it can't possible turn out worse then Marvel Apes). Storyteller ends up being a pretty straight forward by the books one shot, it's a decent read but nothing worth recommending unless you're a Ms. Marvel fan or you want to see her in a pirate corset.

Ultimatum #1 - Only thing I've read from the Ultimates universe is Ultimates 1 and 2, both I love to death. Didn't bother with 3 as I haven't heard anything good about it. I decided to check out the first issue of Ultimatum because, well because I guess I'm a sucker for these "big" events. Meh is how I'd sum up my thoughts towards the first issue, I'm probably a bit more lax towards this because I have very little knowledge of the Ultimates universe, I'm sure sure readers of the Ultimates titles can scrutinize this issue some more.

[Burn]

Suprise read for the week for me was "Adam - Legend of the Blue Marvel".

It's a 4 issue mini-series, first issue introduces us to the character of the Blue Marvel, a super hero from the 60's.

Who just happens to be black.

At a time when racial intolerance was ripe.

It was an interesting read and got me thinking of just how a black super hero would have coped in a world where people condemned him for the colour of his skin, not to mention how nervous it made the American government having a "negro" who could wipe out their army.

[STL]

piratescratch on the Marvel comics for the week of October 5th.

Ultimatum #1 - Only thing I've read from the Ultimates universe is Ultimates 1 and 2, both I love to death. Didn't bother with 3 as I haven't heard anything good about it. I decided to check out the first issue of Ultimatum because, well because I guess I'm a sucker for these "big" events. Meh is how I'd sum up my thoughts towards the first issue, I'm probably a bit more lax towards this because I have very little knowledge of the Ultimates universe, I'm sure sure readers of the Ultimates titles can scrutinize this issue some more.

I'm surprised at how convoluted its all become though. Ultimatum was supposed to a freedom of expression from the original 616 universe but this "whole connected" thing has not helped and goes against the essence of what Marvel tried to make the appeal of the line. I was never a supporter of the line but I always thought the Ultimates broad appeal was how free it was.

Or maybe Marvel are just redefining the brand? Realising that its 616's continuity and impact on everything that is rejuvenating 616 which many 4 years ago said was dying and should be replaced by the Ultimate universe.

[jacksplatt11]

Just finished Crisis on Infinite Earths.. It started out pretty slow, but at the end really got going and overall I enjoyed it.. I suppose when it first came out 20 odd years ago it would've been very different to what people had experienced so far..

I guess I should probably read Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis now

[TheDirtyDigger]

Just finished Crisis on Infinite Earths..

Great story. It was my grail of comics for a long time as I only ever had Issue 4 (an Australian colour reprint) when I was a kid and it always had me wondering what happened after it.
Because large comic crossovers had never been done on that scale or with all the characters of a single universe before it really was a benchmark series.
I ended up finding all the single issues about a decade ago for a great price.

[piratescratch]

piratescratch on the Marvel comics for the week of October 12th.

Amazing Spider-Man #577 - Spidey and Punisher team up with this extra big issue, feels like a giant sized. The story is split in two with an interlude short story featuring Jonah getting accused of being the spider tracer killer, nothing terribly interesting, might be a lead up to a possible future story arc. Anyway an enjoyable self contained story in this issue, nothing particularly outstanding but it's a solid read.

Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #4 - So far the second "season" of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane feels more like the Mary Jane and Mary Jane Homecoming comics then the first Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane. There's a lot more Mary Jane and school life drama then Mary Jane and her crush on Spider-Man. Not a bad thing but not really a riveting read.


Yeah slow week this week. But the next few weeks look ace.

[STL]

The top 25 Comic Battles of all Time

I don't care about the greatest battles and biggest brawls generally but it sure is an entertaining read and having a look at some of the memorable brawls in DC/Marvel history.

[jacksplatt11]

That's a good read, and I'm happy that I actually own some TPBs that contain some of those fights

[piratescratch]

Secret Invasion #8, two* three more days guys!

Then we can bring on Dark Reign!

This week looks absolutely ace, there's a lot for me to look forward, there's;
- Amazing Spider-Man #579
- Immortal Iron Fist #20
- Marvel Zombies 3 #3
- New Avengers #47
- Secret Invasion #8 (well duh!)
- Weapon X: First Class #2
- What If? House of M #1
- X-Men Noir #1
- X-Infernus

Oh wow.


*According to the Marvel website, this weeks comics will be hitting shelves on Thursday (4th) which means Friday (5th) for us here in Australia. I wonder why it's not the usual Wednesday/Thursday?