Fred's Reviews Week of 1/31/2007

[fred]

I had a weird mixed week of comics. Some titles were awesome(Daredevil, UCWSHC, TWD). Some titles were quite good but not magnificient(BP, American Virgin, Ex Machina, Anita Blake). And some were downright horrifying(Ms Marvel, X-Men). And when I say horrifying I mean it. I'm looking at you Carol Danvers. My pick of the week would be Daredevil #93.

There's a big spoiler warning around TWD because something huge may've happened and I mention it.

Ultimate Civil War Spider-Ham Crisis #1 - This was really fun. I enjoyed it. It was nice to see Marvel poking fun at themselves rather than their fans for a change. There was not even one use of the word 'interfret' in the whole book. I didn't think JQ was into anyone talking about comics without it.
It was cool from an art standpoint too in that they had many different artists work on the book.

Ms. Marvel Special - Let me begin by saying that I've enjoyed the Ms. Marvel relaunch. It's been rocky in spots but overall pretty good. This issue though was another thing entirely. The only thing 'special' about it was the mind that dreamed it up. Needless to say I was quite disappointed.

The 'story', if you will, was about a boy who had the gift of 'broadcasting'. No that doesn't mean that he was running a pirate radio station out of Mommy's garage. It actually meant that he could read something out loud and everyone around him would see what his mind imagined of the story. Thin? Very but it gets worse. So he goes to the library and picks a book written by Carol Danvers about her time as Binary. Then Carol gets sucked into the story, saves the world, gives Slappy from the garage morning zoo some advice, and goes back to lunch with Wonder Man. Seems like a fitting reward for saving the world right?

You've got to love a book that retcons itself. Wait, was that 'got to' or 'would never'? At the end of the story, Carol Danvers is unsure if she helped the kid or hurt him or if there even was a kid. Thanks for the clarity guys; now let's talk about my $3.

Black Panther #24 - This was good. It continued the BP and Storm in America storyline they began last month. It also showed how the anti-regs found out that Tigra was a spy - T'Challa smelled it on her. This was definitely behind in the 616 timeline as it seemed to take place before Civil War #6(the end of it at least), but it answered some questions so that's certainly positive. Independent of this, the story was quite good.

American Virgin #11 - This was good again as it is every issue. They are really torturing Adam in the story and I love the darkness creeping into him. Becky Cloonan's art looked a little different to me this issue. I don't know if it was rushed or what the deal was, but it wasn't the level of quality I've come to expect from her on this book.

Anita Blake ...................longasstitle...... #4 - It was OK. I like that the story is transitioning but they need to make something happen fast. My interest is waning. This is still much better than it should be though.

Daredevil #93 - This was great as usual. It was the end of The Devil Takes A Ride. It marked an almost complete return to the status quo for Daredevil. The fact that I'm not pissed about that is a testament to Brubaker's skill as a writer. By the end of this issue Foggy has come back seemingly from the dead, Milla has come back into Matt's life, the charges against him are dropped, he's convinced most of the world he's not DD including the government, and gotten his law license back. Some of these changes are only 5 or 6 issues old. It seemed improbable initially that some of them would ever change, but Brubaker did it and he did it all without it seeming forced or unreasonable. This wasn't some blanket retcon of convenience that just got slammed down our throats; it actually worked as a story.

The other thing I want to mention, besides the beautiful art which was of course and as always beautiful, was the thing with Matt getting the Kingpin out of jail. I thought that this was really good. The reason being that it would be so easy to say 'Matt would never do that because the Kingpin is evil and his enemy'. This fact loses out though to Matt's sense of honor and duty. The Kingpin's wife gave him his life back with this as her only request and he had no choice but to oblige. It would be further out of character for him to deny his honor-bound role. The other thing that made this work was that the Kingpin has to leave the country and renounce his citizenship. This gets him out of Matt's hair and off the throats of the people of the Kitchen and also clears the way for the new kingpin spinning into the pages of the new New Avengers. Oh my Christ, editors talking to one another - go team!

Ex Machina #26 - I love BKV. Strangely, I should say that this is the first week in 3 that I've actually had something nice to say about one of books. I'm glad we're back to that and I hope we stay there. ExM 26 was good. I liked it. There was a bit of a reveal surrounding the whole what the hell is January up to storyline which I though was cool. Also, more of Hundred's mom whom I'm fascinated by.

X-Men #195 - This just flat out wasn't any good. The story is hard to follow and doesn't make sense when you can. The art is BAD. I don't care how many people say they like it; it's not good. What have they done to my X-Men? At least it wasn't Bachalo.

************************************************** *******************************
***IF YOU READ THE WALKING DEAD IN TRADE SKIP THIS SECTION - SPOILERS****
************************************************** *******************************

The Walking Dead #34 - Yes it's true there are spoilers throughout my reviews but I know that a lot of people read TWD in trade. This issue was great. In issue #33, Michonne(sp?) killed the governor in one of the most gruesome and awesome issues I've ever read. For example, she nailed his dick to the floor. That's just ****ed.

Issue #34 covers their trip from the Governor's encampment back to the prison. They have major biter problems along the way but make it back to the prison just in time to see ****ing zombies all over the place. They're inside the gates of the prison and it doesn't look good for any of their party that didn't come along.

It's likely I won't stop twitching until #35 comes out. Faster Kirkman! I need to find out if you just killed off half the cast.

************************************************** *******************************
***END THE WALKING DEAD SPOILERS****
************************************************** *******************************

[dustinsemo]

Fred - I'm enjoying your longer reviews in the Forums. Keep 'em coming.

As an unabashed Brubaker fan, I have to agree with you about DD this week. It was kind of like soft-booting the Bendis run out of existence but keeping it in continiuity at the same time. At first I questioned Matt's defense of the Kingpin, but when Matt saw Foggy, it actually made sense to me. Although vindictive and manipulative at the end, Vanessa had actually given Matt his life back; whether he had agreed to the deal beforehand or not, I think he felt obligated to follow her wishes.

I'm also still fascinated by the idea that Matt brings a lot of this hardship on himself because of his intense selfishness. In some sense, a lot of these superheroes must be selfish if they keep putting their loved ones at risk. This was an intensely selfish move for Matt; he's not helping anyone by getting the Kingpin out of jail and he'll live to regret it (while others around him almost certainly will not).

I didn't read many of the other books you had this month, but I also really liked Teen Titans. Tony Daniel's art has been really good throughout his run on this title. I'm a little confused on who some of the Titan's East team is, but I loved the twist that Deathstroke is responsible for Batgirl's turn to the dark side.

[fred]

thank you sir. Your words of encouragement are appreciated.

On the DD thing, I'm totally with you. I don't think that many other than Brubaker could do this story so effectively. And Matt does have that sense of duty so the Kingpin thing makes sense.

One thing though, I think that he continues to put his family members at risk because of his sense of duty rather than selfishness. It seems, to me anyway, that it's his love of and sense of duty to the Kitchen rather than putting on tights that makes him who he is.

[mister s]

That was definitely the best part about Daredevil - and Fred nailed it.

Some folks are calling this a throwaway arc - that this issue was a kind of a reset.

To those people, I say so what? I loved the arc, I loved the issue, and even if it was a bit of a reset it was wonderfully done. Also I thought it was a great and befitting end to the arc.

[fred]

I actually have a full diatribe planned for later when I have time to write something more involved and it's sparked by this

[PV_2]

To those people, I say so what? I loved the arc, I loved the issue, and even if it was a bit of a reset it was wonderfully done. Also I thought it was a great and befitting end to the arc.

I liked the arc, I don't mind the reset, I like where it ended up, and it was handled about as skillfully as could be - but this specific issue still felt a bit perfunctory, like it was just checking off items on the reset checklist. Which is to say, that an expository resetting of things is just that, and even with Brubaker writing it and it ending in a good place, it still felt like a formality that needed to be taken care of before we get to the next good story.

It all made we wonder whether it would have been better to just jump into the next story, with all these things in place, and to integrate what's covered in this issue into the next arc, revealing it all more slowly. It was just a thought - perhaps an over-thought.

[dustinsemo]

It all made we wonder whether it would have been better to just jump into the next story, with all these things in place, and to integrate what's covered in this issue into the next arc, revealing it all more slowly.

I'm not really disagreeing with you about that PV, but I do think the days of that type of storytelling is gone. Writers have to write for the trade, and things have to be tied up a bit more than I'm used to. I think when read as an arc, "The Devil Takes a Ride" will seem complete. We're just not used to a denouement in super-hero comics, and this was a classic denouement.

[PV_2]

I'm not really disagreeing with you about that PV, but I do think the days of that type of storytelling is gone. Writers have to write for the trade, and things have to be tied up a bit more than I'm used to. I think when read as an arc, "The Devil Takes a Ride" will seem complete. We're just not used to a denouement in super-hero comics, and this was a classic denouement.

Interesting - I was actually thinking this issue felt "old-fashioned" in it's straight-ahead exposition, lots of time passsing and things happening, and then what I was proposing was a more "modern" approach. But the way you explain it, you could be right and I might just have it backwards.

Anyway - SPOILER POTENTIAL - the chick in the last panel is supposed to be Lily, right? I read a review elsewhere that seemed to hint that there was a different reveal there? I couldn't tell enough looking at her. If any can confirm my ignorance, please.

[dustinsemo]

the chick in the last panel is supposed to be Lily, right?

I took it to be Lily. I thought it the reveal/cliffhanger focused on Matt's admission that he is still in love with Karen Page, even though he's committed to his wife Milla, and coming to Hell's Kitchen is the woman who reminds Matt of Karen.

Although I may be missing something, too.