It's Wednesday! It is time to heed the call for reviews for comics for 08/29/2007!

[conorkilpatrick]

Tell us what you thought of the books of the week!

If you want to see what's on Ron & Conor's pull list, check it out here (http://www.ifanboy.com/archive/weblog/august_29th_200.html).

This week's Pick of the Week:
http://www.ifanboy.com/images/POW_082907-thumb.jpg
Action Comics #855

Watch out for SPOILERS, because from here on out, people are talking about the books of the week.

[mikegraham6]

i have a reallyyyy bad feeling about this week:(

[iSteve]

i have a reallyyyy bad feeling about this week:(

Cheer up, Mike. Sometimes the books have a way of surprising you. :D

[mikegraham6]

Cheer up, Mike. Sometimes the books have a way of surprising you. :D

thanks for keeping things positive steve! i think writing that Zero Hour review just put me in a negative mood:rolleyes:

[pkbear]

I dropped Countdown this week. I picked it up and walked away with it, but then stopped and flipped thru it and found I just didn't care anymore. It may be great collected in a trade, but I just don't enjoy getting only a page or two of a storyline and then have to wait a week for another page or two.

And now I'm fearing the next "event", will that be a weekly as well? I'm a little event-ed out.

[cam-]

Here's a review for y'all:

SPOILERS!

Silver Surfer Requiem # 4:

He's dead. Yup, you heard me right, the silver surfer is dead. One of the most famous, legendary, well designed and facinating characters is dead.

To be honest, I think Straczinsky did a really nice job with this mini, though I don't see why, now, marvel felt the need to do away with the Surfer.

Not an epic story, just a sort of retrospective of what the character of the surfer was about, and, while not earth shattering, this was a nice moving read.

The art was a little weaker than previous issues, but still some really strong painted stuff, ideal for the world the Surfer inhabits (Zenn-la and space).

I'm...sad. But I'll still give this one an A.

[mikegraham6]

Avengers: The Initiative #5 - Oh ya, World War Hulk is still on... just when I was starting to forget it. In all honesty folks, I was going to drop this book, but since it was such a light week for me I figured I'd put that off until next month. This book isn't bad, but it's not good either and with so many quality books out there it just makes me feel bad spending my money on this. I have absolutely no interest in these characters, but with this issue they introduced The Shadow Initiative, the black ops team of trained superhumans. While this concept is more interesting to me, the excution was equally as boring as the previous team, and I have a feeling that the idea won't last beyond this issue either. The art is good, but it's not my favorite style. Im not a fan of the anime school of art that this draws from but I can still appreciate the energy on each page (I was a fan of the "constipated Hulk" face on the second to last page though. An extremely average book. C

[iSteve]

Here's a review for y'all:

SPOILERS!

Silver Surfer Requiem # 4:

He's dead. Yup, you heard me right, the silver surfer is dead. One of the most famous, legendary, well designed and facinating characters is dead.

To be honest, I think Straczinsky did a really nice job with this mini, though I don't see why, now, marvel felt the need to do away with the Surfer.

Not an epic story, just a sort of retrospective of what the character of the surfer was about, and, while not earth shattering, this was a nice moving read.

The art was a little weaker than previous issues, but still some really strong painted stuff, ideal for the world the Surfer inhabits (Zenn-la and space).

I'm...sad. But I'll still give this one an A.

I'm shocked, absolutely shocked that a mini-series with the name, Silver Surfer Requiem, would end with the Silver Surfer dying!!! ;)

[iSteve]

I ended up spending $68 today on comics - in what was suppose to be a relatively light week. My addiction (fed by the many and multitudinous recommendations on this board) is growing.

[mikegraham6]

Teen Titans #50 - This book is nothing if not consistent. I've been disappointed with maybe 4-5 issues total, and everyone other than that is either above average or great. This issue falls into the great category. The issue centers around the fallout of the death of Bart Allen, the Flash. Now this leads into the only real problem I have with this issue, it's late. Bart's death feels like it was ages ago, we've already gone over the last issue of the Flash: The Fastest Man Alive, the service in Countdown, All-Flash #1 and the new renumbered issue of the Flash. They should have covered the reaction to Bart's death far sooner and just skipped over those silly Amazon Attacks tie-ins. Other than that minor complaint though, this issue was fantastic. I love it when books focus on character development rather than action and fluff and this book has it in spades. It travels through Titans (and Young Justice) history to give us flashbacks of Bart's greatest moments, it even sneaks in an old Wally West Kid Flash scene. It does set up a major confrontation for the next issue but my interest laid elsewhere. The scenes with the major DC heroes kinda of discounts the big reveal at the end anyway. A

[mikegraham6]

Countdown 35 - You've got to be kidding me!! No Rogues storyline?!?! What's the point? After realizing this I should have thrown down my copy of Countdown and stormed out of the room but I didn't, and am I glad I made that choice. This was far superior to the last few issues of this series (which had me contemplating dropping this book). This is still wasn't fantastic, but there definitely were a lot more aspects that enjoyed. I still down care for the Atom/Red Hood/Donna Troy story, and it still basically feels like an advertisment for The All-New Atom. After a disappointed past few weeks, the Mary Marvel story has started to pick up steam again. I didn't like her with Zatanna and I like the fact that she may have lost her one hope at redemption here. The Jimmy Olsen story went on far too long and is still retarded. Why does DC think this series needs a comic relief? 52 didn't, and it managed just fine, thank you very much. I'm still not interested in either the Karate Kid or the Holly Robinson stories. The KK part felt like a cop-out from it's set up last issue and the Robinson story bugs me only because DC has failed to really tell us who she is and why we should care about her (is Catwoman that sucessful a book that the majority of readers will know who she is by name alone?). I liked the Parallax backup story because I personally seem to be on a big Green Lantern kick right now. All in all this has kept me on for yet another week, but I have to agree with pkbear when he says that two to four pages per storyline just doesn't seem to be enough to keep this series going. C+

[mikegraham6]

Batman Annual #26 - I really don't have too much to say about this comic. It was utterly average in every respect. Average art, average story, average origin. I suppose if your a HUGE Batman fan you'll enjoy it. It does contain an origin of Ra's Al Ghul and features Batman's son, Damian. But really, Al Ghul's origin isn't that interesting and the rest of the story is pretty flimsy. It felt like a big waste of time to me and a waste of five bucks. C

[ultrazone]

I tried out Brit #1. Went out of the store not really sure as to why I bought it, maybe its one of those First issue things but anyway its an alright book. The art was very nice and allowed for both the over the top feel but keeping it fun. The writing is decent as well. Now I need to buy the Trade of the collected one shots.

[mikegraham6]

Countdown To Adventure #1 - I wasn't initially going to pick up this book but again, the light week gives us a handful of unexpected books. This book is divided into three stories. The first is Adam Strange's return to Rann. The second (which I assume is connected with the first) is Animal Man's returen to family life, complete with a passed out Starfire in his guest bedroom. The thrid is what we were all clamouring for, a Forerunner origin story! Can you feel the excitement?:rolleyes: I'm not a big fan of space stories (which is why my current Green Lantern kick feels so surprising) but this Adam Strange story doesn't really feel like a space opera yet. Rann has found a replacement for Strange in his absence (something that doesn't really fit in with what we've seen in Brave and the Bold, but whatever:rolleyes:) and tension ensues. The Animal Man feels like something out of a bad sitcom as Starfire awakes from her coma without her powers and AM's family takes her in as the new life in Nanny. I love Buddy and his family so I'm willing to give this story another issue. The Forerunner story sucked big, fat, hairy monkey balls and was so boring I will be skipping it over when I pick up issue 2. It went on for far too long and really didn't offer any interesting insight, did anyone really care about this character when she was introduced in Countdown? Overall, though, a decent first issue. B

[six-gun]

After Reading Outsiders Five of a kind this week and pondering the whole of the series, I've decided that Batman and the Outsiders is a story I want to read, just not from Tony Bedard (whose issue was arguably the weakest of the five) he just doesn't seem cut out for the gritty political nature the story need to be told in.

[mikegraham6]

The Last Fantastic Four Story - I should have known better than to pick this up. Earlier in the month I wrote this:
you know what? im not really that big of a fan of retro comics. i've tried to get into older issues and they just never click. I can appreciate the art and storytelling in them, but they don't entertain me. I loved the older stuff when i was a kid, they were more simplified back then, but the reason i got back into comics a few years ago is because they grew up and the stories were more mature. They didn't feel like they were written for kids anymore and those retro book do.
that's not to say i've given up on pre-80s books, but they have to really wow me to warrant any kind of praise.
This is a retro-book, it's written exactly like something out of the early 60s and not even one of the good stories. It's wierd seeing all this older writing style with the very modern look of John Romita Jr. and in fact if it weren't for JRJR's art I would have avoided this like the plague. His art's good but not good enough to save this book. Stan Lee, stick with Striperella. D

[six-gun]

I know I should be grateful for his contributions to comics, but I can't stand Stan Lee, he irritates me to no end. I watched three minutes of Who Wants to Be a Superhero? and for the first time in my life wanted to beat down a geriatric.

[mikegraham6]

52 Aftermath: The Four Horsemen #1 - Wow! This surprised the hell out of me! So far DC has been hitting these 52 miniseries out of the park! This book takes place in the country of Bialya, where Black Adam unleashed his reign of terror in World War III, and basically it entails the rebirth of the Four Horsemen from 52 into four seemingly random people. The first issue focuses on Famine. I was lost for the majority of the first part of this book, but when he finally shows up, things really kick into high gear. I still don't really know what's going on with the folks over on Oolong Island but the dark debut of Famine and his attack on Batman and Superman really has me stoked for the next issue. The art really fit the story as well as it remained dark and really helped convey the bleakness that came about in the damage from WWIII. If you liked 52 and the other follow-up minis check this one out, you won't be disappointed. A-

That's it folks, all my books for the week, done in a little over four hours, I can't believe it! From the looks of things the Pick of the Week was Teen Titans #50, but I definitely have to give The Four Horsemen a big recommendation, it was the surprise of the week, check it out!

[paper]

Just scanned through the Ex Machina Masquerade special. The art by John Paul Leon is sensational. Very much in the Michael Lark school.

[fred]

I went with American Virgin #18. They're here (http://thisweekincomics.com/08292007.php).

[paper]

I saw the new Complete Bite Club trade on the shelf. Is the series any good? I was this closing to buying it totally blind. Grabbed Whiteout instead.

[mikegraham6]

I saw the new Complete Bite Club trade on the shelf. Is the series any good? I was this closing to buying it totally blind. Grabbed Whiteout instead.

the first miniseries was good, not great and it didn't really warrant a sequel. worth a read though, if you can find it at a discounted price. it's basically Sopranos meets vampires and repositions vampires as a different race in society rather than mosters, it was an interesting concept

[itsbecca]

I was completley dissapointed in the first Mice Templar. The awkward jumps with characters we don't really know yet was horrendous. Not only was it not a natural flow, but even after examing a couple of the problem pages I still can't figure out what was supposed to be going on. BUT I am hopeful for the future because I am getting into the story. I'll definitley buy the next issue.

Walking Dead was a great followup from the last week. I don't have a whole lot to say specifically but it was just more of the good stuff and I'm peeing myself for the next issue. I've been biting my fingernails waiting for the confrontation for a long time now.

That's all I've read so far b/c I had a nap. More tomorrow.

[humphrey-lee]

The PUNKS Summer Special looks awesome. If you loved NEXTWAVE and need a book in the same vein, look no further.

[acomicbookgirl]

I saw the new Complete Bite Club trade on the shelf. Is the series any good? I was this closing to buying it totally blind. Grabbed Whiteout instead.
Good choice. I loved Bite Club. Shame I bought Bite Club last week and was annoyed with myself when I saw Complete Bite Club. Probably get it on Amazon. Hope you like Whiteout. I loved it.

[jimski]

I found an indie book this week that I am still trying to wrap my mind around, "My Friend Dahmer." Apparently, Derf from Derfcity.com went to school with Jeffrey Dahmer and hung out with him. He has spent the last several years reflecting on his experience and basically self-published a comic telling his story. I had never heard of it before, but it called out to me from the shelf and I was riveted.

[labor_days]

Tom from Around Comics recommended "My Friend Dahmer" on the show a couple of weeks back. Seemed hella interesting but couldn't find a copy myself.

[jurassicalien]

Here's a review for y'all:

SPOILERS!

Silver Surfer Requiem # 4:

He's dead. Yup, you heard me right, the silver surfer is dead. One of the most famous, legendary, well designed and facinating characters is dead.

To be honest, I think Straczinsky did a really nice job with this mini, though I don't see why, now, marvel felt the need to do away with the Surfer.

Not an epic story, just a sort of retrospective of what the character of the surfer was about, and, while not earth shattering, this was a nice moving read.

The art was a little weaker than previous issues, but still some really strong painted stuff, ideal for the world the Surfer inhabits (Zenn-la and space).

I'm...sad. But I'll still give this one an A.

He was able to do this because it's out of continuity. Marvel Knights book are there own stand alone thing now and that's what this book was, its own pocket story, so he's dead but not

[jimski]

Tom from Around Comics recommended "My Friend Dahmer" on the show a couple of weeks back. Seemed hella interesting but couldn't find a copy myself.

I have some good news! In the foreword, he talks about how he's not cashing in on his association with Dahmer through this book, that indeed he will probably lose money publishing it himself.

"Well then," I harrumphed to myself, "why didn't he publish it for free on his web site?"

"Well," said his web site, "he f***ing well did, (http://derfcity.com/crap/crap.html) smartypants."

So, free troubling comics for everyone!

[labor_days]

I have some good news! In the foreword, he talks about how he's not cashing in on his association with Dahmer through this book, that indeed he will probably lose money publishing it himself.

"Well then," I harrumphed to myself, "why didn't he publish it for free on his web site?"

"Well," said his web site, "he f***ing well did, (http://derfcity.com/crap/crap.html) smartypants."

So, free troubling comics for everyone!
Oh man, that's great. Thanks for the tip off.


edit: Ahhh! I just read the preview. Yeah, the preview. The whole comic isn't online.

[six-gun]

Last night I laid down to read Action Comics and last week''s Batman and about three pages into Batman #668 I decided that it simply wasn't the kind of Batman story I wanted to read, so I went to my bookshelf and grabbed Batman Year One and stayed up way too late devouring the gorgeous trade once again. Oh my goodness, I guess I forgot how much i liked that book but it is just so amazing and it doesn't really have that much of a plot per se (I'd classify it more as a slice of life story that takes place during Batman's first year.)

I'll read Batman #668 and Action Comics #855 tonight, but man, how I love Frank Miller's Batman.

[pkbear]

So I read the final Amazons Attack book last night. To be quite honest, I didn't get it. It all builds to this climax and then...surprise...Athena appears and just ends it all and scolds everyone and makes the Amazons vanish and leaves the U.S. to clean up the mess and dead bodies that's left. Yeah, there was a bit of the futility of war and following a leader to war blindly....but was that the whole point of a mini-series with tie-ins to other comics throughout the DC universe? And then at the end, Athena isn't Athena after all? So does that negate her whole "war is bad" speech?

Just very disappointed and feeling like my wallet was taken for a ride.

[luthor]

I'm not much of a reviewer, but I wanted to make a quick mention about Teen Titans #50.

The overall story of the book is good and the return of the Titans of Tomorrow is exciting but the highlight of the week(for me) has be the return of my all time favorite Titans creative team, Marv Wolfman (http://www.marvwolfman.com/) and George Perez (http://vu.morrissey-solo.com/moz/perez/index.htm).

The duo tell the tale of a young and doubting Wally West(Kid Flash of that era) realizing he has the stuff to be a hero and writing to his uncle, Barry Allen(The Flash of that era) asking for his approval. Wolfman and Perez slip back into these characters with the ease of your favorite shoes. These pages could seamlessly be placed into the pages of The New Teen Titans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teen_Titans_(comics)#New_Teen_Titans_.281980.E2.80 .931996.29) and that's not a bad thing. It's not often that creators of a different era can come back together and tell stories that are entertaining and relevant, but this pairing almost always leads to gold.

If you read comics in the 80s, you owe it to yourself to pick up Teen Titans #50 and relive an awesome era...at least for a few pages.

[davegraham]

Here's a review for y'all:

SPOILERS!

Silver Surfer Requiem # 4:

He's dead. Yup, you heard me right, the silver surfer is dead. One of the most famous, legendary, well designed and facinating characters is dead.

I think like this was a series like Spider-man Reign, a possible future/not in regular continuity. I only read the first issue, but I am hearing some good things about this mini series. Maybe I will check out the trade.

[mikegraham6]

I'm not much of a reviewer, but I wanted to make a quick mention about Teen Titans #50.

The overall story of the book is good and the return of the Titans of Tomorrow is exciting but the highlight of the week(for me) has be the return of my all time favorite Titans creative team, Marv Wolfman (http://www.marvwolfman.com/) and George Perez (http://vu.morrissey-solo.com/moz/perez/index.htm).

The duo tell the tale of a young and doubting Wally West(Kid Flash of that era) realizing he has the stuff to be a hero and writing to his uncle, Barry Allen(The Flash of that era) asking for his approval. Wolfman and Perez slip back into these characters with the ease of your favorite shoes. These pages could seamlessly be placed into the pages of The New Teen Titans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teen_Titans_(comics)#New_Teen_Titans_.281980.E2.80 .931996.29) and that's not a bad thing. It's not often that creators of a different era can come back together and tell stories that are entertaining and relevant, but this pairing almost always leads to gold.

If you read comics in the 80s, you owe it to yourself to pick up Teen Titans #50 and relive an awesome era...at least for a few pages.

seconded! this was my POW, a great issue and the different artists really helped highlight how much the Titans has changed over the years.

[mikegraham6]

I think like this was a series like Spider-man Reign, a possible future/not in regular continuity. I only read the first issue, but I am hearing some good things about this mini series. Maybe I will check out the trade.

I read the first 2 issues of this series and I could tell it was good and that fans of the Silver Surfer woulld enjoy but i dropped it mainly because im not a fan of the character or anything cosmic. I did really like that scene were he took Mary Jane for a ride on the surf board in issue 2 though, it was really touching

[jgg0610]

Teen Titans and Countdown to Adventure were definitely the best thing I read this week. Teen Titans had been sagging a little lately and it was great to see it come back to a higher level of quality this week. I'm very interested to see where McKeever takes this series. On the Countdown to Adventure side, I haven't read the backup story line yet, but the main story line was great. I'll definitely be picking this up. I'm just sad that Adam Beechen had to leave Robin in order to have time to write another series.

[mikegraham6]

Teen Titans and Countdown to Adventure were definitely the best thing I read this week. Teen Titans had been sagging a little lately and it was great to see it come back to a higher level of quality this week. I'm very interested to see where McKeever takes this series. On the Countdown to Adventure side, I haven't read the backup story line yet, but the main story line was great. I'll definitely be picking this up. I'm just sad that Adam Beechen had to leave Robin in order to have time to write another series.

The extremely long, boring and crappy back up kinda soured me on all the good that was in Countdown to Adventure. I'd recomend skipping it all together, i will be skipping it in issue 2. it was horrid

[k33k3r]

Teen Titans and Countdown was pretty much the only books I had this week and can't really comment much on either. I'm not so sure about some of there DC books anymore.

[cam-]

He was able to do this because it's out of continuity. Marvel Knights book are there own stand alone thing now and that's what this book was, its own pocket story, so he's dead but not

Yeah I figured it was something like that, still seems odd to me that the only Surfer story Marvel releases right around the FF2 movie is an out of continuity book about the surfer dying.

Aren't they notorious for trying to capitalize on movie hype?

Good read anyways.

[six-gun]

This week's podcast is going to be short ;)

[six-gun]

I just read Action Comics and.. well.. meh. I liked these types of Superman stories when they were foils to Ben Affleck's character in Hollywoodland and not the main conceits of an entire three issue run.

[racemccloud]

Slow week. That "Last Fantastic Four Story" made me laugh out loud, not in a good way or a bad way, only because it was so jarring to see a classic-style Stan Lee script with modern era art. Stan's the granddaddy of the modern comic, God bless 'em, but his writing rings hokey now. Still, remember that he created the core of so many of these great characters that other artists have nurtured into full being.

And I was stoked to see that "Teen Titans #50" showed some love to Bart Allen's "Young Justice" days (with the man, Todd Nauck, in the artist's chair) even if it WAS only for one page. Too often that series gets treated like the red-headed stepchild of modern Titans history, when really, the characters in that book felt more like a family than they ever have as members of the Teen Titans. And not to make too much of a Fanboy nitpick... Bart Allen/Impulse/Kid Flash/Flash is dead. Yeah, we have to make sure that Ravager and Kid Devil show up, that's great. They have a real history together. (Sarcasm doesn't play well online, I always forget.) Would it have killed somebody to draw Secret or Arrowette or Empress at the funeral? Just in one panel? They wouldn't be there? Or back when Conner died? They wouldn't be there either? Come on!

I miss Young Justice.

[labor_days]

I hate the way DC is treating Young Justice these days. They depowered or killed half of 'em, ignored the others and to add insult to injury we'll probably never see a proper collected trade.

A Wonder Girl mini doesn't cut it, DC. Bring back Secret & Arrowette!

[conorkilpatrick]

And not to make too much of a Fanboy nitpick... Bart Allen/Impulse/Kid Flash/Flash is dead. Yeah, we have to make sure that Ravager and Kid Devil show up, that's great. They have a real history together. (Sarcasm doesn't play well online, I always forget.) Would it have killed somebody to draw Secret or Arrowette or Empress at the funeral? Just in one panel? They wouldn't be there? Or back when Conner died? They wouldn't be there either? Come on!

Do you mean the official funeral in Countdown? They could have been there, there were thousands of people.

[jurassicalien]

Yeah I figured it was something like that, still seems odd to me that the only Surfer story Marvel releases right around the FF2 movie is an out of continuity book about the surfer dying.

Aren't they notorious for trying to capitalize on movie hype?

Good read anyways.

He actually was in both FF and Ultimate FF at the time of the films release.

[labor_days]

So, I guess that final page in Amazons Attack clues us in on what is going down with Holly & Harley in the Athenian women's shelter during Countdown. Suppose Holly's story is going to be picking up now.

[hometeam790]

I miss Young Justice.

Yeah, me too. That was the only thing I liked about the Titans Issue.

[mikegraham6]

So, I guess that final page in Amazons Attack clues us in on what is going down with Holly & Harley in the Athenian women's shelter during Countdown. Suppose Holly's story is going to be picking up now.

alright Labor.....

Spoil the end for me please! i have no plans to read Amazon Attack...

[six-gun]

This was just one of those weeks, a miserable, seemingly endless five days that the escapism of comics was made for. Ten I read my books this week and all I can say is what a load of crap!

If I had to pick, I’d say Wonder woman #12 was my least hated book (thanks for making Nemesis act like a slightly less inept DMA agent Mr. Torres) and Countdown gets honorable mentions for the awesome scene in which Jimmy Olsen gets the crap beaten out of him by the JLA.

These two books were at best C+ all of my other books were D’s with one F (Amazons Attack)

I’m going to play Bioshock now.

[kahunablair]

alright Labor.....

Spoil the end for me please! i have no plans to read Amazon Attack...

SPOILER..
Apparently the ending to Amazon Attacks reveals that it all is the manipulations of "Hera". It was all supposedly a test for the Amazons. They failed and "Hera" in turns makes it appear like she killed all the Amazons as punishment.

Well it turns out "Hera" isn't Hera, she's Granny Goodness from Apokolips. It looks like she didn't have the power to actually kill the Amazons, so all she did was wiped their minds and make them all human.
Apparently the reason for the whole thing is to take away the Amazons, who are the "World's greatest fighters", which will lead Earth undefended.

The big part to me though is the fact that during th Granny Goodness reveal, it appears she has the Shadow people from Crisis, as her minions.
Which means that not only is Apokolips going to be making attacks on Earth, but Darkseid is teaming up with the Monitors.

[fred]

So that wasn't actually Large Marge from Peewee's Big Adventure? ok then. thanks

[kahunablair]

So that wasn't actually Large Marge from Peewee's Big Adventure? ok then. thanks

http://ssli.ee.washington.edu/people/bartels/personal/large-marge.gif

[fred]

I defy you to prove that it's not her. ;)

[paper]

It's not Bea Arthur?

[fred]

they all have a similar look

[kahunablair]

they all have a similar look

Eerily so.....
http://img26.picoodle.com/img/img26/9/9/1/f_untitledm_556cfbd.png



A little off topic, but I want this painting that came up when I Googled for Bea Arthur pictures.
http://destroyingmyart.typepad.com/destroying_my_art/images/bea_small.jpg

[labor_days]

alright Labor.....

Spoil the end for me please! i have no plans to read Amazon Attack...

Athena turns out to be Granny Goodness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granny_Goodness) all along. Thus leading one to conclude the Athenian women's shelter (and to a lesser degree, the Amazonian War) is a training ground for new Female Furies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_Furies).

[six-gun]

Athena turns out to be Granny Goodness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granny_Goodness) all along. Thus leading one to conclude the Athenian women's shelter (and to a lesser degree, the Amazonian War) is a training ground for new Female Furies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_Furies).

at least it makes bit of sense considering all of the other things going on in the DCU, that was my main problem with Amazons Attack, the ending just didn't make any sense with the rest of the story's development

[labor_days]

It would be rather advantageous for the Bana to have sided with Granny all along. Would have felt less tacked on, I think.

[six-gun]

It would be rather advantageous for the Bana to have sided with Granny all along. Would have felt less tacked on, I think.

The Bana's motives weren't very well developed "um, we're pissed at men so let's wreck some stuff" and it really would have benefited from the added depth that could have come from working with her.

As I think about it, Amazons Attacking doesn't really do that much to help Granny if her motives are to rebuild the Female Furies to help in Darkseid's upcoming war, yeah she removed the Amazons from the board as a force of good, but they were already off on their own. Now, they're back on man's world just waiting for some magical, eleventh hour transformation back into warrior form to save the day in the "Great Disaster"

[labor_days]

Eh, the Bana are really pissed at the Amazons. Not necessarily "man's world", but that'll do in pinch. Sorta been their M.O. for the past few years.

I'm not so sure Granny is building the Furies for Darkseid's war. The Furies may as well be protection for Granny herself. Granny has also been trying to take Darkseid's spot from day one. I don't think many of Darkseid's subordinates are in on his plans for the coming disaster (which is a pre-drawn conclusion, nobody is able to stop it anyways).

[six-gun]

Eh, the Bana are really pissed at the Amazons. Not necessarily "man's world", but that'll do in pinch. Sorta been their M.O. for the past few years.

I'm not so sure Granny is building the Furies for Darkseid's war. The Furies may as well be protection for Granny herself. Granny has also been trying to take Darkseid's spot from day one. I don't think many of Darkseid's subordinates are in on his plans for the coming disaster (which is a pre-drawn conclusion, nobody is able to stop it anyways).

I'm beginning to think that Final Crisis as too many things to deal with if an Apokolips power struggle is added to the mix so I hope that that's not the case and Granny is indeed working with her fellow new god.

[mikegraham6]

Eerily so.....
http://img26.picoodle.com/img/img26/9/9/1/f_untitledm_556cfbd.png


probably one of the scariest posts i've ever seen on this board, this is up there with the funnelfish and zombie dog

[kahunablair]

I'm beginning to think that Final Crisis as too many things to deal with if an Apokolips power struggle is added to the mix so I hope that that's not the case and Granny is indeed working with her fellow new god.

I think Granny is doing it more for Darksied then for anything else. It would curtail perfectly into the Final Crisis, plus she could decide to do the switcheroo during the climatic battle. She could hurt Darkseid in hopes of helping the heroes take him down. With him out of the way she could assume power.

probably one of the scariest posts i've ever seen on this board, this is up there with the funnelfish and zombie dog

I personally am more freaked out by the Ron/ Teddy Ruxpin hybrid.

[labor_days]

It should also be pointed out, that the Amazons did not disappear. They have simply forgotten their heritage and now walk the Earth as mortals.

Sleepers? We will have to see.

[kahunablair]

Sleepers? We will have to see.

I don't really think that's what was implied... I thought it was more of a way for them to get the Amazons away with out really raising suspicion. I got the feeling that Granny fears them and wanted to get rid of them. She knew that if she just killed them all, she’d raise a bunch of eyebrows. This way she got rid of them without causing huge ripples, and dealt a blow to most of the heroes all in one fell swoop. Two Birds, one stone.

Did I read it wrong?

[labor_days]

See, that's part of the reason why Amazons Attack blew so much. The war didn't really do anything to hurt the heroes or the government. And if Granny's plan was to simply eliminate the Amazons, then why bring them out of limbo to begin with?

Amazons Attack seemed like a waste of resources, figuratively and literally.

[kahunablair]

I just think they needed a little event and this happened to be it. Then when it came time to mapping it out they figured, "How great would it be if we could tie it all in to Crisis??"

[labor_days]

Did we really need another event though? Seems to be AA got lost in the shuffle amid all the Countdown disscussin' and associated minis.

Had AA come out just after Wonder Woman offed Max Lord (like it was suppose to!), I think it would have been a more satisfying mini. Without all the haphazard Crisis/Countdown tie-in nonsense.

[kahunablair]

I'd agree, except I can honestly say that I probably wounldn't have read it if not for the "Crisis/Countdown tie-in nonsense".

I just think this was DC's World War Hulk. A "fun action packed" war event. Sadly I think they've failed, but I appreciate what they were going for.

[kwok_talk]

Amazons Attack #6 – With the splash page of the battlefield at the end of issue #5, I held out hope that this very disappointing series would at least have a fun mindless battle at the end. Nope. Just like every previous issue, the story was a fragmented mess due to the story playing out in other DC titles. Instead of getting to see the JLA/JSA slug it out with Amazons, we only see the aftermath and Wonder Woman confronting her mother. While I like a fight that involves throwing an entire plane at your enemy, the conflict resolves way too cleanly and has very little of the action somewhat alluded to at the end of the last issue. The surprise ending has interesting implications, but requiring wikipedia to tell me who it was and why the events are important really speak poorly of this lackluster mini-series. Grade: F

Avengers: The Initiative #5 – Overall, I thought the book was ok (despite “Hulk needs fiber” face shots), but had some points that prevented it from being great (or at least good). The introduction of the covert team could lead to some fun stories, but right now I don’t really care for some of the team (Constrictor, Trauma, Bengal). Mutant Zero is an interesting introduction, but really teeters the line of possibly being absurd and needlessly cryptic. Cloud Nine’s questionable methods and changes could lead to a potentially interesting side story. I feel like this series would really benefit from a JSA-character exploration approach. Grade: C

Countdown #35 – One of my biggest gripes about the series ended up biting me in the butt this week. All along, I’ve been hoping that they would cut down on the number of storylines being addressed in a single issue to allow them to have more than one page of development per issue. Unfortunately for me, that meant sacrificing the Rogues storyline right at the cliffhanger of Deathstroke showing up. Most of the other storylines were on par with how they had been going, but I’m worried that the Search for Ray Palmer plot will suffer from “Amazons Attack”-itis (the disease of too much going on in another title). The Parallax story was nice with the Sinestro Corps event going on, so I hope a Sinestro one will be coming down the pipeline. Grade: C

WWH: X-men #3 – If the New and Astonishing X-teams weren’t able to take down the jolly green giant, do the Uncanny and X-Factor teams really stand a chance? It seemed like a bit of let down and I kind of felt like Hulk when he asks who all these heroes are. More mindless mutant beatdowns. While I liked the Jersey joke when Hulk pulled off Rockslide’s arms in issue #1, did we really need it rehashed with Monet? And while I like seeing Colossus getting his arms broken and Wolverine getting the snot kicked out of him, the Hulk/Professor X confrontation was sorely lacking in this fight-fest. Like WWH, the low stakes in the fight seemed to limit the excitement. The only change coming out of this series was Juggernaut’s seemingly return to being a baddie. Hopefully he’ll get an updated costume out of it. Grade: C-

[six-gun]

great reviews Kwok