Shipping This Week: December 21, 2005

MARVEL SPOTLIGHT JOHN CASSADAY SEAN MCKEEVER

Is 'Marvel Spotlight' sort of their answer to DC's Solo? If so, it should have been called Duo.

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ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #647 [[oh, if only Myxzptlk (sic) were in this issue]]
BIRDS OF PREY #89
SEVEN SOLDIERS BULLETEER #2 (OF 4)
TESTAMENT #1 (MR)
TOP 10 BEYOND THE FARTHEST PRECINCT #5 (OF 5)

BOOK OF LOST SOULS #3 [[JMS gets on the Sandman tip, with VERY mixed results so far - the bits being mixed: his foppy meh, Colleen Doran's stained-glass whoa]]
CAPTAIN AMERICA #13
FANTASTIC FOUR #533
GENERATION M #2 (OF 5)
IRON MAN THE INEVITABLE #1 (OF 6) [[FRAZIER IRVING! FRAZIER IRVING!]]
RUNAWAYS #11
SPIDER-WOMAN ORIGIN #1 (OF 5)
ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS HULK #1 (OF 6) [[RIPPED IN HALF! RIPPED IN HALF!]]
ULTIMATE X-MEN / FANTASTIC FOUR SPECIAL [[MAD THINKER! MAD THINKER!]]
X-MEN DEADLY GENESIS #2 (OF 6)

I've actually begun to really enjoy Lucifer JUST AS IT'S WINDING UP TO CONCLUDING. There's irony there, I'm sure.)

So true. I've gone from thinking "hmmm, this is alright" and "What's going on, again?" to really looking forward to Lucifer issues.

The Edwina Crisis will probably be the best thing to come from all the IC shenanigans.

andddd... that's it. i am kinda a brubaker fanboy, huh? i may go back and pick up GLC:Recharge, but I missed issue 2 in the shuffle somehow even though I really enjoyed ish #1.

I also picked up this week: Watchmen for my 15 year old cousin Marian, and Essential X-Men Vol. 2 for myself.

I picked up GLX-mas as well, which was generally just 'pretty neat', but contained one of the blackest, funniest jokes I've seen in ages.

1) Half the shipment ending up in Kent instead of Bristol. Again.
2) Due to 'robust' ordering policies by the supplier, my local shop have had to cut back and aren't willing to take a chance on titles any more.

Thanks d14m0nd YOU CUNTS.

Anyway, from what did turn up:

FLASH #229
Vandal Savage (for it is he behind the fake church) kills Wally. Possibly. And off-screen. So he probably doesn't, since it's written in the stars Wally will die in Infinitely Craptastic. Despite this, there is some good OLD SKOOL Flash action including becoming invisible by super-vibration.
HELLBLAZER #215
The last Mike Carey issue makes me wish the rest of it had been as good. He's left the character utterly alone with nobody on Earth, or above or below, owing him any favours of caring a jot. I don't think I've seen anybody else depart a title leaving such a blank slate before, basically having removed everything that makes the lead identifiable. This could be a good thing, but I sense a repeat of the NANCY A COLLINS FIASCO.
JUSTICE #3
Welcome, my friends, to the JOYCORE/SADFACE CROSSOVER SUPERWANG. This really is a good book, honestly. WATCH! as Braniac fails to kill Aquaman JUST YET! GASP! as Red Tornado takes himself to bits while philosophically wondering why he's doing it! BOGGLE! as the Martian Manhunter is burnt to death on Mars UNDER THE SEA ON EARTH thanks to the mental powers of Gorilla Grodd!
LUCIFER #69
In which God decides to allow everywhere to live. He decides to allow three worlds like before - Hell is to be made of jelly, the Earth of custard and Heaven of whipped cream with sprinkles. I think he's just trifling with his creation.
SEVEN SOLDIERS BULLETEER #2
Ah, so that's what SS0 was all about... actually, the last ten pages or so are kind of great, about from when the bulleteer starts taking the hand apart but especially the OMGWTFLOL YOU NEARLY MARRIED A WEREWOLF SUCKA! ending. Is it just me or were there a lot of Brit comic references in this one?
TOP 10 BEYOND THE FARTHEST PRECINCT #5
Erm. It was OK. I personally thought there was too much of an effort to make EVERYTHING THAT TIES EVERYTHING UP fit exactly into continuity from the original series. And I didn't really get what the Toybox DEM was supposed to be either, or how Smax did what he did.
FANTASTIC FOUR #533
Hahaha GREY HULK SMASH AGANE!1!! Nothing will ever be the same!!1!! (Until it gets retconned. Or solved in the next issue.)
INCREDIBLE HULK #90
Not feeling this, I have to say. Too much ambitious writing, not enough SMASHING.
PUNISHER VS BULLSEYE #2
Despite what I said upthread, this is Daniel Way and not Ennis. It's very much in his style though, and is a pleasant enough canter through a story. Last few pages are very confusing though, I think I need to re-read them to work out what happened.

Infinite Crisis #3: They really shouldn't let Jimenez draw faces. Let him do backgrounds and bodies, and then bring in Perez to do the faces. Fer cryin' out loud, this is supposed to be THE DC event of the 2000s, we don't need everyone to look like Tony Danza. Though the big thing that Power Girl finds is pretty cool.
Flash #229: OMG, only one issue left! Though really, based on everything I remember about pre-Crisis whocaresness, Old Man Supes should've gone to Jay Garrick before he asked for Batman's help. I mean, COSMIC TREADMILL people!!! Livesay deserves a freakin' medal, because he makes artists I don't otherwise care for look better. I really, really like Wally West, but I guess if DC's going to enter a new age, they need a new Flash. Fuckers.
Green Lantern #6: MORE BIANCHI PLEASE. With the exception of Dave Gibbons' 80s run and possibly Seth Fisher's Willword GN (which I haven't read), this is the coolest Green Lantern's ever looked.
Green Lantern Corps: Recharge #3: This is terrific fun. The tale of two inkers continues, with Prentis Rollins giving a spookier, almost Sam Kiethian looseness, while Christian Alamy makes things sharp and sexy. I like both.
Captain America #13: Epting is really, really good. I'm afraid what will happen after next issue, when the Winter Soldier saga ends, and Cap will have to start dealing with Analnation or whatever.

(runs away for Christmas)

INFINITE CRISIS #3: OK, I'm sorta starting to feel this, misgivings notwitstanding. I'll admit the big reveal (OMG CRISIS!) had something to do w/ it. The "World's Finest" salespitch was a bit much, tho. Also, Flash goes to help Wonder Womang fite OMACs, so you know what's coming. PS to GJ: fuck off w/ the cutesy comic title refs / catchphrases (cf. "world's finest," "fastest man alive," "smarter than the average bear," etc.)

GREEN LANTERN #6: Pretty art, but kinda confusing w/ the whole "evil sharkguy breaks out of cage to attack GL, then chases GL out of flying saucer to mix it up w/ gremlins on plane wing" sequence. Black Hand = goth ponce. Hal Jordan = some salt-&-peppered jagbag I couldn't give a shit about (despite heartwrenching flashbacks that try to make it seem otherwise). Still, urge to drop subsides, for the time being.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS: RECHARGE #3 (of 6): This is more like it! It's like the best of the Rann / Thangarian War & Geoff Lantern combined! Even if FATALITY (guh) is involved in all of this.

GENERATION M #1-2: It's pretty OK! I'd like it a lot more were it not for some "um, sure" moments (cf. the big honking machine that's keeping Chamber alive; and who the hell uses a PDA in the rain?), but, yeah, renegade mutant murdering non-mutants, sure.

SON OF M #1: Also pretty OK! Even if Spidey's a little more emo about the Gwen Stacy & kid thing than I expected, especially since his main titles are too busy w/ THE OTHER to acknowledge the earth-shattering implications of HOUSE OF M. Quicksilver as distraught uppity depowered putz = sure. And any book that features Lockjaw gets love from me.

SECRET WAR #5: WHOOP DE FREAKING DOO. A story 15 years in the making: Nick Fury recruits supercats to help depose Latverian Prime Minister in show of strength & power, culminating in the young Angelina-Jolie-in-Hackers clone using her seismic powers to do some landscaping. Then the heroes get their minds wiped, but OH NO the PM wasn't dead! And she's totally pissed off! But Angelina offed her, then popped Wolverine's heart. And now the seeds are sown for DAN BROWN'S FREEMASONS.

Pages 12-13:

Q: Uh….Superman?

A: Cut him some slack – he studied journalism in school. To him, spot welding the outside of a building that was broken in half and skipping the internal repairs to the building’s structure just might make sense…somehow.

Or…maybe Batman is right about Superman, and he really is just a naïve farm boy from Kansas...who knows nothing about structural engineering.

Q: Yeah, but still…he said,”Good as new?”

A: Kind of makes you think that Superman is followed by a crew that goes in and actually repairs the stuff after Superman puts the Band-Aid on it?

Q: What did Jaime find in the alleyway?

A: The Blue Beetle Scarab. Though Ted Kord may have been all about the gadgetry and the tech (although not enough about the gadgetry and the tech to make a freaking bulletproof mask and hood), in its original incarnation, the Blue Beetle (Dan Garrett) was pretty mystical in nature, gaining his powers from the scarab Jaime just found in the alley. The easy money says Jaime is going to be the new Blue Beetle by Keith Giffen and Cully Hamner come March.

As for the reception of a new Blue Beetle from fans? Hey, Kyle Rayner was the last legacy character at DC to get his powers by accident in an alley, and that turned out okay, didn’t it?

Oh…yeah, that’s right.

Q: So what happens after Superman leaves?

A: The building falls down.

Tell me more.

RIPPED IN HALF, SUCKAS! The first appearance of Jen Walters must surely lead to Ultimate Joycore in 2006.

ULTIMATE X-MEN FANTASTIC FOUR SPECIAL

It's a trap, obviously. BUT A GOOD ONE. Will the FF beat the crap out of the X-Men before THEY ALL REALISE IT'S A MISUNDERSTANDING AND DRINK EGG NOG? Probably not, except in my head.

INFINITELY CRAPTASTIC #3

SADFACE. Jumps about for me, trying to tell too many stories at once. I liked the Superman 2/Batman exchange though.

And my Showcase JLA finally came in, so I know what I'm doing for the rest of the day. Huzzah!

Douglas: that's the one.