Random Thoughts and Mini-Reviews

Thanks to the dumbtards that dropped a shipment under a truck on the way to my local comic shop, I did not in fact get to purchase the final issue of X-Men: Deadly Genesis, because the ones my LCS got were all damaged. Flarg!

MINI-REVIEWS:

52 #1: Well, that was...underwhelming. I know, I know, it's a setup issue. But man, there wasn't a single exciting moment in here, and I'm wondering if after all the pains DC took to "wipe away the gloom" from the DCU with their OYL titles, if a weekly dose of this melancholy is the right thing to do.

Anyway, I was bored throughout this, mostly. The one bright spot was that I immediately took to liking Steel, a character I've never much thought about or read about before. Him I am definitely interested in reading more about.

But the Booster Gold shtick is already tiresome to me, Ralph Dibny's story looks to be a continued reminder of the Depressing DC, and Black Adam is still a hyperviolent jerk. The Question and Renee Montoya could be an interesting team-up, so we'll see on that.

So, yeah. Steel was good, there's some promise, but there's a lot I don't care about in here, which means that I probably won't be getting this every week. Your mileage may vary.

Oh, and it scares the hell out of me that this whole thing is written by committee.

Battle for Bludhaven #3: Um. OK, I thought I knew what was going on, but it turns out I didn't, and now I'm just confused, and unfortunately I won't be getting the rest of this series. There are just Too. Damn. Many. People. Which leaves zero time for characterization, which I just can't get behind. Oh, and the Teen Titans show up in this one, and in what may be comic blogging hari-kari, I will now state that I do not care one bit for the Teen Titans. No, not even Wolfman/Perez Teen Titans.

Jonah Hex #7: I'm gonna come right out and say it, this is one of the top 5 ongoing series being published right now. This may have been my favorite issue yet, as it also includes a nod to the DCU proper in the form of a shout-out to St. Roch. Just buy this comic, people, OK? It won't kill you. And it's a hell of a lot of fun.

Random Thoughts:

Also, thanks to the comicsblogoweb I have officially reversed my positions on two of comicdom's sillier sticking points:

1) I no longer feel that Spider-Man's marriage is a hindrance to the character. Upon reading about this topic for what seems like forever last week, I have come to realize that marriage/non-marriage has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you can tell great Spider-Man stories. A good writer should be able to do either, and I think that's the point.

Who gives a damn whether he's got a wedding album or not; just tell me a good story about Spider-Man!

So, while I no longer think that his marriage is a bad thing, I don't think it's a good thing either; it just is, kinda like gravity, and people like my former self (and Joe Quesada) who complain that his marriage/singleness are hindering the character are missing the larger point, I think.

2) I also am now totally on board with the idea that Joe Chill, murderer of Thomas and Martha Wayne, was caught, tried, and arrested, instead of Batman having this faceless man behind his quest for vengeance. Having had it explained to me by a number of comicsblogoweb commenters, I have been swayed!

Yeah, it does lighten the load for him in a lot of ways, and allows for a better-adjusted Bruce Wayne (as well-adjusted as he's ever going to be, anyway). I'm down with that.

Thank you, comicsblogoweb, for showing me the error of my ways!

Oh, and when do we get another issue of Fell?