Random Thoughts
1. Haven't gotten this week's books yet, but should be soon. Also, I've kicked several titles to the curb. Goodbye Hawkgirl, New Avengers, Marvel Team-Up, and 52!
2. I have mixed feelings on 52. On the one hand, I feel like I should support the Grand Experiment. On the other hand, I've paid $10 now for $2 worth of story. Also, I really think that the OYL titles I've been reading --- Batman, Superman, Shadowpact, Green Lantern, etc. --- have done such a good job at making me interested in the "new" DCU that I have no desire to go back to the Ominous Dark Pantha-Havin' DCU, particularly if my guides through the missing year are a bunch of relatively minor characters and crappy backup histories told by Dan Jurgens.
(I'm sorry. That "Donna Troy/Orb Dialogue of History" is awful. Really.)
3. I know the "minor characters" line is bound to hack some people off, but it's true. Just because a character is seldom seen over the years doesn't necessarily mean they're interesting when they do pop up. It's just how I feel.
4. Maybe I'll be wrong. I hope I am. But if ever there was something made to wait for the trade, it's a weekly series in "real time" told by four different writers.
5. No, I wouldn't feel any different if it was Marvel.
6. Catching up on late reviews, I only got 3 books last week: 52, which was loads of meh, the last issue of Iron Man: The Inevitable, which was the most non-conclusion-y conclusion I've ever read to a miniseries, and Godland, which was as usual all kinds of awesome.
7. Speaking of which, I saw that Godland is going on hiatus for a few months. No worries, Joe Casey --- just promise you'll come back!
8. Speaking of which, that Iron Man: The Inevitable miniseries upon rereading smells like it got editorially hijacked in a way that I can't put my finger on. I'm guessing that Casey had some kind of slam-bang status quo-changing ending in mind, then the Big Marvel Plans for Iron Man took precedence.
9. Did they ever tell us what happened to Hawkman? And if you say, "You have to buy 52 to find out", I'm gonna slap you right in the mouth.
10. Anyone check Manifest Eternity out? It looks like my kind of space opera, but it's Scott Lobdell, which...you know. Doesn't always turn out well.
11. This is turning out to be a longer post than I expected.
12. Kate Kane: Batwoman, huh? What's all this, then? I thought they were shrinking the Bat-family again, not expanding it. Anyway, I do dig the red and black color scheme.
13. Speaking of which, I guess I'm glad that Manhunter got saved, but I still don't buy it. I read the first 4 issues and it just didn't grab me. I'm glad for the fans, though.
14. I reread Watchmen again. This too will hack some folks off, but I think it's getting less relevant as time goes by. Either that or I'm getting less philosophical about things. Of course, now that Alan Moore is in the porn business...you know what? I don't even have a joke for that. That is just so.... bizarre.
15. Books tomorrow, with reviews this weekend or Monday!
5 Comments:
Yaay for Manhunter. I hope it lasts a while longer than 5 issues. Its not the fastest paced book, but the story has slowly developed along well. Our Gal Kate has multi-JSA umm..relatives...
What happened to Hawkman?
Hey Chris, you have to buy 52 to find out, and since I'm not buying 52 anymore either, I can't tell you which one to pick up.
Does the line form to the left? Ooo, at least I see many others in front of me...
Yes!
I'm not the only one Not reading Manhunter.
We should start a club.
I'm kinda digging 52. Since I hit my comic shop only once a month, I bought and read issues 2-4 all at once. That approach seems to help. Since each character gets six or eight pages per issue, reading a slab at a time seems like the way to go.
Except for that "history of the DC universe" backup. Ye gods, what a piece of incoherent crap that is. It's not a story, it's a checklist. Jurgens is simply listing everything in the past that's now considered "canon." (Multiverse existed? Check. Krona caused the split? Negative.)
The original "History of the DC Universe" two-issue mini from '86 was actually pretty dang cool. They're aping the structure in the new version, and it's not working.
It seems like the whole purpose of Infinite Crisis and the retelling of the History of the DCU is to re-integrate the original Crisis into continuity. Back in yonder days, the idea was that the Crisis wiped out peoples' memories of pre-Crisis ways. This idea wasn't evenly applied or consistent, but there ya go. The whole whangdoodle is a way to make the original Crisis important again.
Bleaugh.
1. Hmm, I think that makes me the last person on New Avengers. It's just this next issue, I swear!
2. I've glanced through it, but I honestly don't care, beyond the fact that this week's issue told me someone was still alive, that I'd been worried was dead. Which is no guarantee they'll make it the remaining 47 weeks, but it's something.
3. It's a matter of who writes them. I believe there is a perfect writer for each character, unfortunately EVENTS can't wait while you figure out who that is.
12. They are shrinking the Bat-family. Of characters that aren't caucasian. I'll just go punch a wall now.
Chris and Mallet - welcome to the club. You can be my partners in the great summer-of-super-villainy experiment I'm conducting. Through the use of indifference and sarcasm I'm working on getting well received series cancelled. Manhunter has temporarily thwarted my schemes but Thing and Spider-Girl are falling in line nicely.
As for 52 I think the weekly comic is the only way to "write for the trade." As a monthly series I can't recall most of what happened a month ago (if I'm lucky and a book isn't delayed). I also think that's why Superman and Batman are being so well received OYL - they're bi-weekly instead of monthly so the story seems more coherent than if they were on a monthly schedule. But don't worry, I won't try and convince you to buy anything you don't want to - I encourage people to drop stuff they're not enjoying and spread the wealth to other titles if they so desire. Like more Action Philosophers for instance.
As for Godland, isn't it odd that by simply saying ahead of time you're going on hiatus you are greeted with open arms by the fans as opposed to simply disappearing for three months and claiming delays of something indecipherable for the delay in the book. Shockingly people appreciate forewarning and honesty and won't run off to other titles when this one hits the shelves again.
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