shippity ship ship: Jan. 24, 2006

I'm very excited for Daredevil. I'll aslo get Milligan and Brubaker X-Men.

Sloooow week. Just The Thing for me (though I seem to have missed issue #2), and Age of Bronze vol. 2.

Oh, and for Maddie:

SEXY CHIX Trade (she already has this actually)
X-MEN #181
A TRIP TO RUNDBERG

Whee, I don't have to decide between comics and child support this week!

BATMAN #649 - OMG, did Jason Todd come back to life just to die in Batman's arms AGAIN?
GREEN LANTERN CORPS RECHARGE #4 (OF 6) - OMG, did Guy Gardner come back to life just to die in Batman's arms AGAIN?
DAREDEVIL #81 - Bendis (OZ) and Maleev (OZ) bow out (OZ) from their (OZ) lauded run (OZ) on one of comics (OZ) most difficult (OZ) characters. How (OZ) will they (OZ) leave Matt (OZ) Murdock? Do I (OZ) hear wedding (OZ) bells?

That'll teach me to skim the list. I also need:
LOCAL #3: Indie darling destined for everyone's Best of 2006 lists.
NEXT WAVE #1: This has got the best marketing scheme I've seen in a long time.
POLLY & THE PIRATES #3: Cutest. Pirates. Ever.
BLACK GAS #1: Warren Ellis writes zombies just for meeee!

BOOKS OF DOOM #3 (OF 6)
DAREDEVIL #81
DEFENDERS #5 (OF 5)
NEW AVENGERS #15
NEXT WAVE #1
PULSE #13
THING #3
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR X-MEN SPECIAL

Unusually Marvel-centric pull list this week. I'll probably pick up Black Gas, too. And I might give the new JLA Classified arc a chance, given the BoP/Simone love prevalent here.

CATWOMAN #51
JLA CLASSIFIED #16
PLASTIC MAN #20
WONDER WOMAN #225
AMAZING FANTASY #17
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #528
BOOKS OF DOOM #3
DAREDEVIL #81
DEFENDERS #5
NEXT WAVE #1
PULSE #13
SPIDER-MAN BLACK CAT EVIL THAT MEN DO #6
SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE #2
THING #3
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR X-MEN SPECIAL
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #89
BLACK GAS #1

Looks kind of like LAST ISSUE month, with 6 titles FINISHING or ending x/o or changing writer.

Also, buy Mary Jane, you corny indie fuXors so it doesn't turn into LAST ISSUE OH NOES.

MJ ♥ Spidey is easily the best of the MJ minis!

Thing is good Slott fun, and the Daredevil bit seemed well-timed.

Daredevil #81: Way better than I was expecting. Great end/beginning thing going on. You can stop there and feel satisfied, or you can move on and take a chance. A
JLA: Classified #16: I didn't mean to get this. I was gonna drop this book for an arc or two. But I guess I didn't tell The Pusher, and lucky for me! JGL inked by Klaus Jansen! Written by Gail Simone! It's as good as it sounds! Will definitely play to the GM-JLA lovahs. Teamwork! Giant threats! Oregon! Kubrick-references! A
Batman #649: Where is Mahnke, goddamnit!!!??? Winnick has somehow parlayed his inability to advance plot into consistently readable Batman comics. It's all very frustratingly subplotty, but there's no foreplot, so, um, it's just been like 10 issues of Batman going, "Hrm...Jason's back." and Jason Todd going, "Hrm...I'm back." and Black Mask going, "I'm gonna kill that fucker!" It's this devastatingly inept ballet, but it kinda sorta works (and works a lot better when Mahnke/Nguyen make everybody hott and kissable). C+
Green Lantern Corps: Recharge #4: This is Dave Gibbons making up for the boresville morass of Rann/Thanagar (maybe Geoff Johns's assists are helpful?). Great art, crackling action, sun spiders from outer space! B

Okay, Next Wave is fucking outstanding. Warren Ellis, I love you again.

No Books Of Doom (no loss, probably) and (completely unsurprisingly) no Spidey/Black Cat but DUDE, WO IST MEIN MARY JANE?

Thus far:

PLASTIC MAN #20

It's a shame to see this go, but by Christ Kyle doesn't go down easily as he plays out the whole INFINITE SADFACE over the top of the Edwina Crisis plot, ONLY IN A FUNNY HAHA WAY. You know that Batman panel where he's not paying attention? THERE ARE AT LEAST A DOZEN PANELS AS FUNNY AS THAT. For shame in not buying this, people, FOR SHAME.

WONDER WOMAN #225

I kind of thought this was the last issue, and it certainly reads like one WRAPPING UP EVERY PLOT THREAD AND ALL. Diana is forgiven and goes back to the real world where NORMAL people love her after all and don't care that she killed Max. Just don't play a drinking game with this issue where 'hope' is the keyword to drink.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #528

That was it? Bleh. (Actually, the enhanced powers are kind of cool but not cool enough to justify all the MOST SHOCKING SPIDEY STORY EVARRRRRRRRRRRRRR bollocks that's been attached to this.)

DAREDEVIL #81

The first half of the book is better than the second half, which perhaps feels too much like a New Writer set-up, but this is excellent really.

DEFENDERS #5

This actually feels a bit rushed, as though it could have done with another issue. Despite this, it's as good as the others although the Hulk sex toy references get a bit wearing by the end. I'd probably buy another mini.

NEXT WAVE #1

HAS THE POTENTIAL TO REPLACE ASS AS ILC'S FAVOURITE BOOK. That's all I'm saying. You need to buy it to find out why.

PULSE #13

I actually got confused at one point with all the D-Man stuff and thought I'd started reading Decalogue again by mistake. But it's great stuff here as well (two in the same month from BMB, what are the chances?) and the timing of the story about Carol's baby is excellent. Also: IT'S A GIRL.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR X-MEN SPECIAL

Kind of washed over me. The Ultimate Mad Thinker is despatched AGANE and we find out just how much of a slapper Kitty Pride is (cross-reading with USM).

I'd buy another Defenders mini if they got another artist.

Kyle Baker = the best Mad Magazine cartoonist there never was.

Actually...

from Wikipedia:
Baker's cartoons and caricatures have appeared in Details, Entertainment Weekly, ESPN, Esquire, Guitar World, MAD Magazine, National Lampoon, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Spin magazine, Us, Vibe and The Village Voice. His animation has appeared on BET, MTV, and in Looney Tunes.

Yeah, he did some Aragones copyist stuff for Mad I'm sure.

I'm not as crazy about Next Wave as everyone else--Ellis doing intentional self-parody, whoopee, plus Fin Fang Four a couple of months ago was a much funnier version of one of the central gags from this one, and nobody read it because Roger Langridge isn't as famous yet...

Fin Fang Four got big up'd by a few folks on ILC, Douglas! (Everyone was just spilling seed over the Allred Solo at the time)

i'm sorry i passed on JLA classified.. i held it in my hand, and instead got books of doom (which i've been enjoying, but i still haven't read this issue! i'll do it now that i am between cerebus re-reads.

i also got x-men deadly genesis, which i would like. i think if brubaker & whedon were the two major x-men writers, i would feel like i was 10 again.

do i get captain america next week? something better happen soon goddamnit.

Scientifically speaking, Nextwave is the best book ever, like Planetary before it grew a long dull plot that everyone forgets between issues. I am starting to wonder whether Warren Ellis is actually Ally.

As Doyglas said, Ganges #1 is wonderful.

Er "Douglas." Sorry! Never type and sleep at the same time.

I bought BOTH Allred's SOLO and FIN FANG FOUR. Does that count?

Depends on how much seed you spilled for FFF after you were done w/ SOLO.

Uhm, I don't recall spilling too much seed over either. But that's not something I keep obsessive track of, either.

I think.

Just watch that someone's google cache will prove me wrong...

I'd Google "maxwell excitement splurge," but I'm busy bagging & boxing.

All I really wanted this week was Nextwave and both stores near here were sold out! Way to order three copies, guys. The torrent fairy delivered as promised and I have to say that this comic feels like it was written by a forum full of Warren Ellises all contributing lines in an increasingly antagonistic fashion.

ANDREW FARRELL OTM