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Review: Invincible 65 : Eve lives, someone else died.

Published by NiteMayr on August 23, 2009

Invincible65-Killthemall

When they gave me my powers the installed mental blocks — That’s the only reason that I can’t use my powers on living organic matter. — Atom Eve explains why her powers are not the exact same as Firestorm and totally fails.

The Invincible War has ended and provided a nice narrative device to excuse an art change, a cast change and allow the lead singer of My Chemical Romance a chance to build murder zombies out of a whole raft of super corpses.  Isn’t war grand?

We were left with a dead or dying Atom Eve at the end of 64, I’m gonna spoil this one and say that Eve is still alive.  If this was a spoiler, congratulations, you are a long time Kirkman reader, expecting fully that Mr K would have not only killed Eve but had her cooked and them vomited into her own grave.    I expected it, I was surprised that things didn’t turn out that way, golf clap for Robert Kirkman and Company for the twist.

Everything else, sadly, goes exactly how you expect.  I like Invincible a ton, I don’t stop reading it and buy the big hardbound editions to read over and over, it is THE BEST “young” superhero comic out there.  It hits all the correct notes and gives us enemies we can dig:

Invincible65-Whatdoyouwant

However I keep expecting Mr. K to kill off the main cast and start fresh with Allan the Alien or something.  This might actually be the real appeal of the comic.

Either way. we don’t see much of the world in mourning after a global attack by Invincibites and the Cavity Creeps so we’ll have to wait another issue before we see the global Anit-Invincible movement getting up to steam.  Also, that is Mark claiming that he’s going to go all Dirty Harry some time in the future.  Can’t wait.

Review: Walking Dead 64: Finally! Something to Smile about

Published by NiteMayr on August 14, 2009
Dale has a big Surprise
Dale has a big Surprise

After about what 10 issues of “Let’s Shit on the main cast some more” we get an issue where Rick is neither a giant blubbering douche or leading his son into mortal danger.  While it opens with Dale getting served as a nice leg-o-retiree but at least it’s amusing;  see, Dale is laughing!  It’s not all bad being kidnapped by cannibals during a zombie apocalypse, clearly there’s some kind of upside.

The Cannibals would be a nice change of pace if it wasn’t for the roving rapists from a few issues back. The Man’s inhumanity towards man plotline was pretty much settled during the climax of the fourth year with Rick losing his entire family and 75% of the main cast dying.  Adding more “Oh, here’s some more people who gave up on humanity after the big die off” is just ridiculous, it might be more realistic (in comic logic) but it’s not really.  People tend to bunch up in adversity and while some fall to criminality and lawlessness, the majority try to get by and survive, a cannibal community doesn’t exactly have survival in mind, does it?

Oh well, overlooking this clunker of a plot point (seriously, it just sets up more people for murder by Rick and Son and doesn’t really make them any more heroic, just bloody handed) besides all that we don’t get to hear from the magic phone in this issue (so no insight into Rick’s mental state either).  There is a bit of action too, but it’s more of the “RUN AWAY” kind:

Run Away!
Run Away!

I won’t spoil it, since it sets up the first really badass moment we’ve seen in a while.

So thank-you Mr. Kirkman for making Issue 64 interesting, maybe the thought of a TV Series won’t seem so bad in light of an equally uplifting issue 65

Crossed Six: Geoff's Big Surprise

Published by NiteMayr on July 3, 2009

Two Issues in a row and we haven’t heard from Horsecock again.  All setup no follow through I guess. For Now.

This (like the tepid issue 5) is an other “Humanity” issue; where we get to see the survivors getting along anddealing with one another (as well as the horrors in their past).

Geoff has a big secret
Geoff has a big secret

Geoff, the weepy older man in the group sidelines the team to tell them about growing up gay in a small town where he just wasn’t accepted.  He also tells the people about how he met the crossed for the first time.  I have omitted his big secret.  The mind reels now, doesn’t it?  Is he a cannibal, is he a secret Unitarian?  I’ll give you a hint, it rhymes with Sea Org.

Not really.

No really, he was a Psilon.

Not Really.

I’d like to say that this moved the plot along, but simple travel and stories of kids being killed (off screen) isn’t really movement.  Two issues of walking, this is turning in to Lord of the rapist and cannibalizing Rings.  But with less hair on the feet I guess.

Amazing Spider-Man 591: Unthinkable!

Published by NiteMayr on April 18, 2009

This is how the comic opens:

headlessspidey

ARG!

The Headless Spider-Man!

If you didn’t catch Issue 590; Spider-Man was given a blank checque, made out to Cash to join the FF on a journey to the “MacroVerse” in response to a summons from the (formerly) grass hut living primitives there.

Johnny got it up his nose to see what was under the mask of the mysterious Spider-Man and THIS is what he found.  Eeeeeww.

Without giving away too much, time is compressed while they are in the Macroverse and about 13 and 1/3 days go by (about two weeks, sheesh).  This is a nice way to move time forward in the Spidey-Verse so that things can go down.

Something goes down that makes Spider-Man react like this:

Oh, No! Aunt May is Dating Dr. Octopus AGAIN!?!?!
Oh, No! Aunt May is Dating Dr. Octopus AGAIN!?!?!

Actually; no.  It’s not Aunt May.  It’s something much more horrifying to Spider-Man (even worse that Osborn as President!?!?!?) you’ll have to check out the issue to find out,  I promise you’ll enjoy it.

Dark Reign Fantastic Four #2: Uh Oh

Published by NiteMayr on April 8, 2009
Reed Richards Determines that had he acted alone, the Civil War would not have been "so bad"
Reed Richards Determines that had he acted alone, the Civil War would not have been "so bad"

I’ve been enjoying the “Dark Reign” crossover storyline; so much so that I look forward to what I get to read of it from time to time.  In Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #2, Reed is scanning the Marvel Multiverse looking for answers to where he went wrong and it looks like he’s coming to “I’m so smart, I can’t fail” as the answer.  Look for “Evil Reed” to show up soon.

Crossed 4: Now with more Phallus related Visual Gags

Published by NiteMayr on March 29, 2009
Iff his press is to be believed, this man is known as Horsecock
If his press is to be believed, this man is known as Horsecock

Jacen Burrows and Garth Ennis set things up for us so well, Global Disaster, murderously horny Rednecks and a rag-tag group of people trying (I guess) to get to Alaska ( if they don’t believe that Alaskans wouldn’t gleefully join in on the Crossed-in-Blood rape and killing spree, they haven’t see Levi’s myspace page).  Our survivors have murdered children (as punishment for cannibalism) and apparently killed any number of psycho rednecks.  They have survived fallout from nuclear explosions and let’s face it the exploding poulations of aggrsive, meat hungry carnivores that have no-doubt set to reproducing in Noahesque numbers.

The Crossed appear to be cannibals, so they’re not hunting.

Anyway, at least issue four has our heroes moving in a direction rather than sort of just hanging around shooting kindergartners.

They have come to this:

Fun in a post Cross-ed World
Fun in a post Cross-ed World

The Crossed are using their victims for sport.

They get entertainment from the following, Rape, killing, dismemberment and apparently survivor style closed-room brawls.    The crossed are MMA fans of a particularly cruel stripe it appears.

This issue filled me with two emotions, dread (because it appears that the Crossed have among them the gleeful sadists that appear in all post-apocalyptic ficiton) and dread because this sets up a plot line that feels unnecessary.   The whole world is out to get our heroes (who I remind you will survive as this is being told in past tense) why set up Horsecock like this?

One point, at least the male lead isn’t bedding random women throughout, please applaud Mr. Ennis for skipping this pointless trope of PA fiction!

The Dark Reign begins drowned in Internet Memes

Published by NiteMayr on March 10, 2009
Black Widow Makes Fap
Hey Guys! What do you think of the black latex battlesuit I'm wearing?

While I’m sure that Marvel folks are aware how the sound effect FAP is received on the Internets; I’m thinking they were trying to illustrate the sound of those guns landing.

Or are they?

Is this a subtle message from the Marvel art department?  PREPARE FOR A MASTURBATORY CONTINUITY WANK FEST DURING DARK REIGN?  No?  I wish it was.

The Dark Reign Concept is a good idea; but it would have been better had it started before the whole Skrull invasion; the Skrull invasion was just kind of pointless and directionless.  It set up some nice tension points, but it would have been just as easy to limit it to the major characters who had been replaced; without the need for the whole crossover.

Dark Reign has gotten off to a fairly good start, with Normon Osborne making nice in front of President Obama… yup, he’s there in Thunderbolts 128 talking to Doc Sampson and looking to get to work fixing the economy (after the Skrulls and not the former President or Tony Stary wrecked it)

With Norman Osborne running roughshod over the Marvel Big Titles and making it a crime to be a superhero at all (TAKE THAT PRO-REGISTRATION FORCES!) I’ll be reading all of these titles; but I’m looking forward tothe collected volumes with more anticipation than I did the Skrull Invasion.  This feels like a real follow-up to Civil War and I’m looking forward to Steve Rogers return.

Blasphemy: Clark Kent is not a Costume

Published by NiteMayr on March 4, 2009

“Clark Kent is a persona Superman puts on to hide his real identity”

I’ve seen this in various forms over the years, mostly from “Comic Fans”  that is to say skinny legged hipsters and dudes with soul-patches with no double-chin to hide.  It’s the dissembling of Supermand versus Batman that places them as opposite ends of the Heroic Spectrum; where Superman is the Natural State of Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne is the natural State of Batman.

This is so far from correct that it would take a series of GPS Units to Lead you back to almost correct.

While Superman may be naturally super-powered and simply taking advantage of his extraterrestrial birth; he isn’t “Superman” because of his powers.  Superman is Superman because he was Clark Kent first.  That’s why Clark Kent is so convincing to the people around him; that is the natual state of Superman.  He may be the premier superhuman of the DC universe, but Superman relaxes by doing crosswords with Lois Lane in bed, not tossing Meteors at passing Comets (just in case).

Batman, or “The Batman” relaxes by pulling on his cowl and beating up muggers.  An Ideal night for Bruce Wayne, going 12 hours without being called Bruce or Master Wayne once.  Batman is the Natural State of Bruce Wayne, Bruce Wayne is a costume “The Batman” wears when he wants to get things done.  He also moves around disguised as criminals.

Writers come and go for these two Characters; but the fundamentals have been fairly solid since the mid-eighties.  Superman is a powerful homebody named Clark Kent who loves his mommy and goes home to his wife at every opportunity.  Bruce Wayne is the farcical personality that the Batman has adopted to allow his activities to be funded and provide the means for his crusade to continue; The Batman barely tolerates Bruce Wayne and would NEVER go home if he could hack it.

I should keep comics on hand for these rants.  Oh Well.

This is not how Batman Died
This is not how Batman Died


Review: The Mighty (From DC, not the Awesome Movie)

Published by NiteMayr on February 23, 2009
Okay, I get it. Alpha is the Killer
Okay, I get it. Alpha is the Killer

Sorry to throw that spoiler up front, but why bother?  Unless there is some kind of amazing twist, the superhero as killer story is kind of stupid (and already being played out in another Mainstream Continuity that I still hold is being used as some king of editoral reset button to be used when the stink of pointless crossovers get too out of control and run on sentences rule the world dontchaknow?)  So why bother?  The Art is good. Really good.  It’s going to be (at least) entertaining to read this (pile of) shit.

Somwhere in DC, an assistant editor is saying “Aw C’mon, not every reader is over 12.  There must be a bunch of under-twelves who can fall for this crap”  I have news for you; my 11 year old daughter saw JUST THIS PANEL and figured it out.  One Page of images gave it away.

Too Bad.