Shipping This Week! - 05.01.26

I'm getting Legion #2 and the new FF. A week of Waid.

Also, reading Joe Quesada's hype column in last month's Marvel books was hilarious. He's all about the self-fulfilling prophecy. "And next month, BECAUSE YOU DEMANDED IT, the debut solo book of the WILDLY POPULAR mutant X-23! Straight from the pages of the SMASH HIT NYX!"

Hang on, NYX is written by Joe Quesada!

Wow. That's a super-light week. I might pick up that trade I was looking at last week now (although in classic style, I can't remember what it was other than thinking "I'll leave that for another week")

aldo, how is Hellblazer going? I find myself becoming more an admirer of Mike Carey's writing than a fan - I'm still getting Lucifer, but the underlying story's not sticking w/ me, and Hellblazer just wasn't grabbing me, either.

I have never heard of this before this very moment, but a willing to bet money it is fucking awful.

In other words, if you're not buying it then don't, until I give you the all-clear.

That'd be J!m B@l3nt's big-boobed mystical comic thingy. We are talking bodacious ta-tas the size of wedding cakes bounding about in bikini tops about 10 sizes too small. I'm assuming the same things as you, Austin, but who knows what hides behind the mondo-sized breasts of witchy women?

I just couldn't decide which was less appealing.

I read an interview with Mike Carey which has really put me off reading anything by him at all - his basic line was "Yes, my mission in this world is to provide detailed monthly marginalia upon the offerings of the Great Neil". Though I suppose that kind of fill-in-the-blanks mentality is hardly unique to him.

(google search)

Sean Phillips! As for the writing, well, I think it was pretty good under Jenkins and Ennis. I haven't looked at the book in ages, though. Constantine seems to be a pretty handy way to describe political events through a metaphor of supernatural whackadoodle. You know: politics, uh, I mean magic, is this permeating yet invisible force in all our lives. You can affect it somewhat if you have some specialized knowledge, but there's almost always someone out there with tons more juice than you've got who's jerking your strings to make you dance, and often as not you don't even know who that is! etc. Hellblazer is the fantasy that there's more than just the illusion of free will in the face of this scary mysterious force - if you're savvy enough, you can duck it entirely. But by neccesity that means being somewhat alienated from the rest of society.

I'm surprised that Hellblazer has made it to 200 with so many writers having long runs on him. He'd be perfect for Judge Dredd-type stories where something exciting happens every week and in the end nothing changes, but so much actual continuity is dizzying. Although part of the secret might be Paul Jenkins run, which spent ages tying up old plot threads in a masterful fashion (if you like that sort of thing) and then it turned out that he didn't have anything very impressive to say for himself.

Morrison stuff always sells out here by the next week, I may see about finding a store in Louisiana.

I think Leeeee started a thread about this stuff way way back.

yay, this was really good fun. Lots of dorky science fiction wackiness and fite action (though I don't like the sound of the big war coming up. zzzz). Brainiac 5 and Dream Girl are the main characters and Dream Girl is really well written and not a ditzy slut with deus ex machina powers like she always was back in the day.

Flash

Filler with Heatwave trying to catch Murmer. You'd think that man with flame thrower vs gimp with knife would be quite a mismatch but no, Murmer uses his superhuman weaselling away powers again. Nice art though.

I am v lucky as their a comic shop between home and work and about three others a short bus ride away.

Flash - Filler, intermission. Yeah, the art was good. I didn't care for how skinny Captain Cold was in this issue though, in his last few appearances he's seemed a little stockier, or at least more substantial. But Johns is making him into my favourite supervillain.

Adventures of Superman - Identity Crisis tie-in. Luthor's back, Superman is cypher for post-9/11 America, with Wonder Woman as Blair's England and Batman as Canada. Okay, that's stretching it. Batman is probably the least likely superhero to ever have anything to do with Canada. They misspelled Rags Morales's name on the cover.

Teen Titans - more IC aftermath. I felt a little uncomfortable reading this, like I'm too old for this bullshit, but there was a Green Arrow cameo, so I felt better. Luthor's back, and Robin continues to struggle to not be like Batman too much.

Daredevil - Fuck, end this story already. Though this was the most enjoyable chapter so far.

JLA Classified - A disappointing conclusion to GM's return to the JLA. There were great moments, but there just seemed to be too many gaps in the narrative. I keep thinking I had turned an extra page (like how did Batman get loose? or was that even Batman on the spit?).

Outsiders - hmmm, curious end to the America's Most Wanted crossover. John Walsh stops short of advocating killing the child abductor, but not by much. As Kyle Baker moves Plastic Man into his own comedy corner of the DCU (where he really belongs), Judd Winick seems to be moving Shift (the Metamorpho skin graft) into the shapechanging yukster of the DCU. Change is good.

Also New X-Men is way better than it has any right to be.