Jumping SHIP: August 13, 2008

BPRD THE WARNING #2 (OF 5)
GOON #27
HELLBOY THE CROOKED MAN #2 (OF 3)

BATMAN #679 RIP -- "My city cracked its back and had a flashback."
FINAL CRISIS REVELATIONS #1 (OF 5) -- Rucka! Spectre! FALIN CRISSI!
WONDER WOMAN #23 -- wish I was enjoying this more

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #567 -- wheel-spinning has never been so much fun
ASTONISHING X-MEN #26 MD
CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI 13 #4 SI -- Paul Cornell = YES (his concurrent FF mini, True Story, is pretty swell, too, esp. if you're looking for non-slappy characterizations of the FF)
FANTASTIC FOUR #559 -- plz piss me off enough that I remember to drop you
LAST DEFENDERS #6 (OF 6)
SECRET INVASION #5 (OF 8) SI
SECRET INVASION INHUMANS #1 (OF 4) SI -- NOW
SECRET INVASION RUNAWAYS YOUNG AVENGERS #2 (OF 3) SI -- CUT
SECRET INVASION THOR #1 (OF 3) SI -- THAT
SECRET INVASION X-MEN #1 (OF 4) SI -- OUT

RE: THOSE LAST FIVE ITEMS

god, they really wanna kill you.

AND WHEN THE HELL NEW JAIME?

If I was actually using discretion, I'd not bother with the minis about the Inhumans (written by someone on the Heroes TV writing team!) & R/YA (written by the guys that made New X-Men a depressing slog, from what I heard!), but I'm giving myself over to this event shit (maybe for the last time), so what the hey.

RB -- it might be on the actual list?

One hopes!

anyway:

BPRD: THE WARNING #2
HELLBOY: THE CROOKED MAN #2
BATMAN #679 - Batman's color coordinating skills R.I.P.
SECRET INVASION: THOR #1
PUNISHER MAX #60 - I'll be sure to pour some of my 40 ounce on the ground at next weekend's barbecue.

BPRD, Batman, Final Crisis: Revello & a growing emptiness inside

BatRoach and Final Cripes.

Dr. S, am shortly transplanting to Kits Beach in Vancouver for a week or two. I've never been out there before. Recommend any decent comic stores round those parts?

The Comic Shop on W. 4th is a fully functioning comic store in that general area. My personal faves are RX Comics and Lucky's Comics, both on Main Street, nowhere near any beach.

Are you gonna go see Krazy at the Vag?

Batman
Booster Gold
Final Crisis Revelation
Amazing Spider-Man
Last Defenders - this has actually been pretty damn good
Secret Invasion Thor - Fraction's Thor is much better than JMS's, but still not that great. Will give him another shot though.

I will now, thanks!

Action
Batman
Booster Gold (Maybe. I just finished the whirlwind 52 read-a-thon and I'm thinking about catching up.)
Final Crisis: Revelations
Astonishing X-Men

And so begins the glut (and, very possibly, the cull):
Captain Britain
Secret Invasion
SI: Inhumans
SI: Runaways/Young Avengers
SI: Thor
SI: X-Men

I think I'll start my Secret Invasion: The First Half read-through after this week's books are out. If I'm as underwhelmed as I expect to be, I'm cutting bait.

BPRD, Hellboy The Crooked Man, Batripurple, Ruckrisis,

HELLBOY THE CROOKED MAN #2 (OF 3)
BATMAN #679 RIP
FINAL CRISIS REVELATIONS #1
CHARLATAN BALL #3

TALES DESIGNED TO THRIZZLE #4
TALES DESIGNED TO THRIZZLE #4
TALES DESIGNED TO THRIZZLE #4
TALES DESIGNED TO THRIZZLE #4
TALES DESIGNED TO THRIZZLE #4

Dude, save some for the heathens!

Speculation fever, I'm not even gonna read them.

Also, there's a five-page preview of FC: Revelations at Newsarama:
http://www.newsarama.com/php/multimedia/album.php?gid=565

Kind of disappointing, actually, but hopefully this will get DOCTOR LIGHT, RAPIST EXTRAORDINAIRE off the table and let us never speak of him again.

Rucka, back to lifting lines from Homicide...maybe Dr. Light's final words will be "I'M NOT MONTEL WILLIAMS!"

Tales Designed To Thrizzle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Action Comics!!!
Batman!
Angel
Astonishing X-Men
Fantastic Four
Secret Invasion X-Men (pro: Mike Carey using the main cast, con: SKRULLS PLEASE STOP IT WITH THE SKRULLS! I have hated Skrulls since I was a little kid, please show me some mercy!)
Secret Invasion (I'm a glutton for punishment.)

Didn't Kurt Vonnetgut once say something like [proceeds to destroy quote], the Nazis were inevitably going to fail because their uniform was just too silly? The Skrulls are kind of the same. They're just hopelessly un-menacing.

For me:

BATMAN #679--that Technicolor spandex thing gets me right here
FINAL CRISIS: REVELATIONS #1--out, out, brief candle
MILLENNIUM TP--I'm actually kinda curious to reread this now; too bad it doesn't include all the tie-ins...
ASTONISHING X-MEN #26--perhaps we'll see what last issue was leading into
JUDGE DREDD COMPLETE CASE FILES TP VOL 10--heading into a particularly prime era

ACTION COMICS #868
BATMAN #679
WONDER WOMAN #23
TRANSHUMAN #3
ASTONISHING X-MEN #26
PUNISHER #60
SI STUFF x5

So what's wrong with the link? Why does it go to August 20th's stuff?

Yeah, I find it odd that a race that could make themselves look however they wanted would have such poor taste in fashion. It's also kinda ironic that they have that choice, yet choose to all wear the same thing.

So what's wrong with the link? Why does it go to August 20th's stuff?

Because it's a page that only shows the upcoming week's tentative releases, & changes after the list has been officially posted -- this week's schedule has been set in stone, so now the page has been updated w/ next week's probables.

But there is THIS.

ACTION COMICS #868 - Action has been on a roll for a few months. I however think that this Brainiac storyline is just a precursor for doing a big DC Universe versus Brainiac next summer. I think they are bringing back the old looking one and are going to amp him up to about Galactus level bad ass, which he kind of was anyway.

BATMAN #679 RIP - I still have no idea how this one is going to turn out, which is part of the fun. Some current speculation I have been seeing is that some think that this whole thing might be tied in with Darkseid and/or Desaad. Seems kind of far fetched to me, as Darkseid & Co. are not usually Gotham underworld kind of guys, but there was that whole thing months ago when the rumor was that Batman was going to die and become a 'new god' or some thing of the sort.

It does make some sense in that if someone wanted to take over the DC Universe earth, Batman along with Martian Manhunter would be some of the first people that you would want to take out. It also makes sense that Morrison is behind all of this, so it is just tying in with his own story.

There really isn't anyone in particular that could be the Black Glove that makes any more sense.

Alfred- That is way too wacky and completely screws up a big character. It could happen, but seems unlikely.

Thomas Wayne- What do you mean he's not dead? That is way screwed up. I could see someone faking to be Bruce Wayne's dad, but not actually being his Dad. They already did the Clayface trick a few years back so strike that one out.

The Devil (aka Satan)- I've seen this put up as behind all of this and is someone who has been around from the beginning. There are some odd references in the issue #666, but seems far fetched to me. Morrison's first Batman story was based around a vampire character who was in league with Satan.

Bruce Wayne - To be honest, the idea that Batman himself is behind this one or at least perhaps somehow got programmed into doing all of this seems as feasible as anything.

Hugo Strange - I think this is a totally out of the dark kind of pick, as he is a very old Bat villain. He wanted to be 'Batman' in some of the stories and is a psychiatrist. This is just a stab, doesn't seem likely either.

Scarecrow - This would be really out of nowhere, but he is also a psychiatrist. Doesn't seem likely.

The Joker - They are playing this out like he is more of a rival to whoever is behind this play than him being behind it all. To be honest, it seems if you want to have Batman to lose, it might as well be to his most fierce rival.

Ra's Al Ghul and or Talia - They know who Batman is and have all of the details, so they are as likely as anyone I suppose.

BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #20
FINAL CRISIS: REVELATIONS #1- I'm kind of curious to see how Rucka plays The Question and the enigmatic end to the Books of Blood series.

It does make some sense in that if someone wanted to take over the DC Universe earth, Batman along with Martian Manhunter would be some of the first people that you would want to take out.

But Darkseid & Friends already took him out, in FC #2, in an unrelated fashion. Alfred as the Outsider is still a possibility, I think. Significantly less likely but still a possibility is Thomas Wayne, Jr.

I think Ra's and Talia are unlikely, for different reasons- Talia because she seemed genuinely surprised at some of the weird goings-on in the issue with the Nine-Eyed Man (can't recall the issue #, 675 possibly?) and Ra's because he's already had his big crossover event book (and it wasn't terribly good, but that's neither here nor there).

Ooh, I must've skipped Action. Definitely picking that up as well- I just caught up on the recent Brainiac stuff and the preceding Toyman reboot (a rare instance of Johns making a villain less DARK AND EDGY), and I have high hopes for this arc.

Oh yeah the other speculation thing in that thing I read on Darkseid being behind all of this was that coming out of Final Crisis, there was going to be another "Earth" where Final Crisis never happened and that the Batman/Detective titles would be following a new Batman startup with a restart of continuity.

The new Batman & Robin series starting up would be based around Dick Grayson as Batman following the current DC Universe storyline with that Red Robin title taking over being about Jason Todd.

"Significantly less likely but still a possibility is Thomas Wayne, Jr."

I've wondered on that one as well. Morrison's interview kept saying it is pretty obvious, but I cannot see at all what he might mean.

Another thing I wonder how it fits into this storyline is the whole thing with Joe Chill. All I know is whoever reads this storyline in a couple of years when it is said and done is going to have a totally different read than following it month after month.

I've wondered on that one as well. Morrison's interview kept saying it is pretty obvious, but I cannot see at all what he might mean.

I think he might be blowing smoke up our collective ass, along with the "no one's guessed it yet" and "it's a villain everybody knows" from various Comicon panels. What, like he's going to admit it and say, "yeah, you guys totally guessed it, way to ruin everything *sob*"?

Joe Chill or his son are also definitely options- the whole wealth/poverty theme running through the book since day one has to pay off somewhere.

Wouldn't it be pretty funny if the Black Glove turned out to be Morrison? Not outside the realm of possibility either.

I re-read #666, which is the Damien-Batman issue and #663, which is the 'rebirth' of the Joker prose story. There are so many things in those issues, it could mean everything or it could mean nothing. The whole Morrison run is like one big jar of red herrings.

I'll say this, there has not been that many comics that have led me to go back and re-read them like this. It is about the closest thing to a Philip K. Dick style narrative done in a super hero comic as I have ever come across. It kind of reminds me of something like 'Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said' or 'A Scanner Darkly'.

Final Crisis is fairly straight ahead by comparison to this epic Batman story.

Didn't Kurt Vonnetgut once say something like [proceeds to destroy quote], the Nazis were inevitably going to fail because their uniform was just too silly? The Skrulls are kind of the same. They're just hopelessly un-menacing.

Yeah, SI was pretty good up until you actually started seeing the Skrulls and - they're just Skrulls. Big Skrulls, sure, but Skrulls. And I've always quite LIKED them as Marvel U window dressing.

I have always been sneakingly fond of Millennium - re-read the main series a while ago and even when it's bad (which is frequently) it's interestingly bad, even ambitiously bad. If the trade is leaving out the four-part 'swamp' crossover and the JLA/Superman space fight issues then the two actual main FIGHTS in the storyline will be missing: it was an unusual way to structure an event, looking back.

"Wouldn't it be pretty funny if the Black Glove turned out to be Morrison? Not outside the realm of possibility either."

Been there, done that. I'm sure Morrison could make it interesting, but it wouldn't be surprising at all.

I agree on the fondness for Millennium; especially for its concept. And I'm a sucker for stories driven by treachery. That being said, I haven't touched Secret Invasion yet; I thought I would be interesting but reading so many bad reviews and comments has killed my enthusiasm.

Action Comics
Batman - Hobo Batman galore!
Final Crisis - Revelations - Does it count reading the Wikipedia snippets as an inclusion in the list?
Fantastic Four 559 - I haven't read any of the Millitch issues yet; I suppose that might have something to do with the fact that I'm still interested in getting it.

TELEPHONE THING:

Is CHARLATAN'S BALL the newish Joe Casey Image series? If so (or even if not), how is it?

Black Glove = Bat-Mite? Too obvious?

It's Bob Kane. I mean, his name's been in EVERY ISSUE, didn't you get the clue?

Is CHARLATAN'S BALL the newish Joe Casey Image series? If so (or even if not), how is it?

It is, and it's uneven. He's still using the Marvel Method like in Godland, and there's a lot of (deliberately) awkward and silly dialog, but it looks fantastic and it's quite fun so far.

I am really hoping that there will be a moment in FC: REV'ED UP where the Spectre and the Question come face to unface and remark upon how silly they've become.

That'll be in the last issue, when Gordon and Bullock become the new Judomaster and Wonder Tot, respectively. They'll all have a good larf.

Speaking of: I broke down and bought the Question hardcover. And all the post-collection issues of Booster Gold (for which I will likely break down and buy the collection sometime this week). Except for the new one. I try to avoid putting money in Chuck Dixon's pocket, if it can be helped.

ACTION COMICS #868 - I think the current run of stories in Action is way better than anything in Green Lantern, which I thought was OK. Gary Frank's artwork is really sharp. The inside of Brainiac's ship was really cool.

BATMAN #679 RIP - I still don't know who is the Black Glove. I can't believe that is actually Bruce Wayne's father. I think you can forget the whole Darkseid angle, it doesn't fit. I can see the allusions to the Devil in the Three Batmen story, but it doesn't seem to be that either.

I could see the 'tulpa' theory that Batman/Wayne somehow in his meditations or willpower has created this creature, as that is kind of Grant Morrison/Invisibles kind of thing to have happen. It is part of the current Warren Ellis series Doktor Sleepless, so I kind of doubt it at the same time.

OK, that Batman was some serious cool shenanigans. And Walking Dead 51 also ace in a protagonist-gone-mental way.

But if the Black Glove is actually Thomas Wayne I will be very cross.

Just read Batman. It's great, Tony Daniel's pencils are inexcusably bad; you know the drill by now. Seriously, Daniel seems to get worse on every page. Some great moments, though. "Old chum," Senator Fishy, speaking parts for most of the Club of Villains at last*, and a fantastic moment with Morrison's revamped Joker.

*is it just me or were they much scarier when none of them except Dr. Hurt and Le Bossu spoke? Especially King Kraken, who goes from some truly masterful LOOMING to (admittedly fun) "HENCHMEN ARE FOR WUSSIES"?

James, I really doubt that the Black Glove himself is Thomas Wayne, especially after a certain character's behavior here.

Hellboy: The Crooked Man. This is the first Hellboy comic I've ever read that's actually been scary- the American folklore setting and Richard Corben's art (especially that last panel of the story proper, GAAHH JESUS CHRIST) just freak me the fuck out.

Is it me or were all my comics -- Final Crisis, Action, Secret Invasion, Batman -- a bit rubbish this week?

Does Richard Corben's art freak you out because everybody he draws seems to have been made of plasticine?

Chuck - I really liked Batman (might be my favorite Morrison issue thus far) but the rest of those were decidedly "meh." I'm done with Secret Invasion.

However, I'm warming to the Ellis/Bianchi Astonishing X-Men - I'm one of those who thought the Whedon run was beautiful trash - and am so glad I called it a day on Checkmate. Just thumbing through it made me ill.

Tony Daniel's pencils are inexcusably bad

Y'know...remakes are coming closer and closer on the heels of the originals these days. Would it be too soon to remake Morrison's Batman run with a competent artist, like, immediately after his run is finished? I kind of get the impression that I would be loving this shit if I could see through the blood pouring out of my eyes and onto the pages.

In other news this week, here's my reaction to Secret Invasion 5:

"Oh, hey, what's up, Secret_Invasion_006_(2008).cbr?"

Seriously, Bendis? Seriously? Five issues in and we're still fucking around with Who's Who in the Savage Land? I have read all of the stuff leading up to this and you so had me right in your hands. But there's this thing, see, called plot progression? And I know it may be a bit difficult for you to understand, but I'd guess that most people dropping 4 bucks a pop on an eight-issue miniseries would like to have seen something of consequence occur once said miniseries had passed its halfway point. Now, I know you get away with that shit on your monthlies, but that's because a) there isn't an extremely limited number of issues for you to dither around on, and b) an eight-issue span of Mighty Avengers isn't touted as an Event. At this point, issues 6 through 8 of Secret Invasion would have to be the most earth-shakingly amazing comics I've ever read to keep me from doing $32 dollars worth of donut-related damage your lawn. Can you please just admit publicly that you didn't really have much of a plan going into this thing? That might be enough for me. Thanks.

Thanks for inducing so many rage-fueled typos, Bendis.

Oh, also: did Thrizzle actually come out this week? I went to three different shops, including Quimby's, and didn't see it anywhere.

Gah, Batman was okay, but I'm not sure Morisson's really getting away with this Zurr-en-Arrh stuff -- it needed a little more set-up, I think.

I was also kind of enjoying the hairy-chested love God status quo, and wish he'd pissed around with that concept for a bit longer before the inevitable Batman Goes Mental business kicked in. I'm just not really interested in Batman Goes Mental again.

I don't think Thrizzle came out this week--it's not on the final Diamond list--although I picked it up in San Diego, and it's pretty choice.

I have returned to loving Morrison's Batman, with the help of David Uzumeri's annotations: http://www.funnybookbabylon.com/2008/08/14/batman-679-batman-rip-part-4-miracle-on-crime-alley/#more-1158

Secret Invasion: yeah, the pacing here is full-on bizarre, e.g. not resolving the Captain America cliffhanger from last issue AT ALL? And how much time has passed since the beginning of #1--six hours, maybe?

I hope the twist in Secret Invasion is that they've all been trapped in this time-stalling bubble. And that the world is actually occurring normally around them.

Poor old [NO SPOILAZ] getting shot in the face in this week's Captain Britain was a lot more surprising and dramatic than anything in the main mini, definitely including Sadface Hawkeye. Especially as the shot-face character gave every impression of being a writer's pet.

Man. So much disappointment this week. Basically all the SI stuff was awful, and Astonishing X-Men actually seems like a weaker book than Uncanny (if you can believe it). Super sadface :(

I get over my weekly disappointment by buying trades! After the fact, I snagged the first Booster Gold collection and the Superman and the LOSH collection. And I'm realizing that (gasp!) Geoff Johns is actually improving as a writer. By leaps and bounds. The LOSH story was as good as everyone's been saying, and I'm able to contrast the quality on display there with the original Johns JSA series which I've been trying to read lately (via completely legitimate means, I assure you). Maybe 52 was his trial-by-fire and it pushed him to do better work. It makes me happy to see people in the world of mainstream comics make an effort to improve their craft, especially when they know that they could coast forever and maintain a fanbase that's completely loyal to their mediocrity.

You guys, maybe it's just because I'm on vacation and 2500 miles from home so my perceptions of everything are out of whack, but I enjoyed SI 5. It gave me a Tweety Matthewsesque thrill down my leg!

The crazy pacing is part of the fun!

It just disappoints me compared to Final Crisis. With FC, I feel like I can read it a dozen times and keep getting something new out of it. SI is so throw-away, and that's even in comparison with WWH. I feel like the same plot is happening every issue; "Oh my god. We weren't ready for this! Some of us are really Skrulls!"

And SI should really be doing it for me. Unlike FC, I actually know every character involved with SI (I have a much more comprehensive understanding of MU than DCU). But it just feels so empty, such a waste of time. Agent Brand, at the moment, is the only good moment in the entire arc.

SI is so throw-away, and that's even in comparison with WWH.

No argument there. But I'm enjoying the contrasts: enormity of the invasion itself in SI, concurrent with the backing and filling in the Avengers books. I really, really like the short timeline. It makes sense to me, and it sort of goes against traditional comicbook pacing.

That said - Fraction's SI Thor is really good.