melworks | Entries tagged with comics

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS BELOW SO CONTINUE READING AT YOUR OWN RISK.

So, I read the X-Men: Hellfire Gala book today. It's the start of the Fall of X storyline, and, well, it was a thing.

I like the fact that Orchis is being presented as a clever enemy, able to use strategy against the mutants.

Their strike on the Hellfire Gala was layered, but felt a little too pat.

Juggernaut went toe-to-toe with Nimrod, and got his ass handed to him which has been happening far too often recently.

Jean and Iceman die, but since we know that they're getting their own books in the near future, their deaths have no meaning or impact. The new X-team was wiped out almost instantly, as well, and I'm curious to see what ramifications that will have for the future. Especially Cannonball's death, as his wife is a member of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard. Izzy is gonna be soooo pissed.

It's interesting to see Wilson Fisk thrown into the mix. Like the X-Men, he's a hunted fugitive, and he'll probably be able to bring elements and resources into play that neither Orchis nor the X-Men have considered. Also, I'm hoping we'll see a return of Fisk as the brilliant, amoral mastermind that he is.

Xavier, as always, turns out to be a greater liability to his dream than an assett. He marches almost all of Earth's mutants through the Krakoan gates to an unknown fate, just to save innocent humans. The pragmatic part of me would have let Modok send his murder-signal. At least then they wouldn't have that noose tied around their necks.

And the Stark Sentinels. Oy vey. Where to even begin? Sentinels enhanced with Tony Stark's Iron Man armor. Stark has been in contact with the X-Men and he didn't give them workarounds and vulnerabilities to his technology? Is his ego that big? Oh wait. We're talking Tony Stark here, so of course, it's that big.

And poor Firestar. Coopted by Jean into infiltrating Orchis, now feared and hated by all the mutants who don't realize she's a double-agent. When Jean resurrects, she's gonna have some serious explaining to do.

All in all, the book was a busy, busy read. But was it good?
Eh.
It was okay.
I'll admit it was nice to see the mutants get their comeuppance, but their defeat just feels a little too pat, a little too easy.
With a host of new x-books coming out, the only ones I intend to read are X-Men Red and the Uncanny Spider-Man. I might glance at the Uncanny Avengers, but that's gonna be a hard sell for me.

So, I just finished reading this week's comics and here are my off-the-cuff impressions.

Crowded #9. More shenanigans in Las Vegas. The more I read of this title, the more it feels like a limited series. It's taking a break next month, so #10 won't be out until October.

Die #7. We finally catch up with Izzy and Chuck and the refugees from Glass Town. Chuck is a dick. Izzy is totally overcompensating. I love how Mistress Woe is the Goddess of the Natural One. Heh.

House of X #4. None of this shit matters. Not the deaths or the suffering because we see all these same fucking characters in the in-book-solicitations for Dawn of X. Goddamnit, Hickamn!

Justice League #31. Picked this up by accident. Been browsing the story for a while, but not interested in, y'know, actually buying it. The story just feels too big and too convaluted to me.

LoSH:Millennium #1. I am . . . ambivalent about this book? Underwhelmed? Issue 2 had better be a lot more compelling. And maybe have the damned LoSH in the book?

Mystere #1. I'll admit it, I got sucked in by the cover art. The story was, I dunno, okay? Most of the Zenescope books, I think, suffer from a lack of concrete story. They usually don't feel like anything is there to sink your reading teech into. This book is kinda like that.

Vampirella/Red Sonja #1. It's 1969. Vampirella is in the Soviet Union, looking into some mysterious deaths and meets...Red Sonja? I am intrigued! Also, the art in this book is REALLY nice!

So, with Hurricane Florence descending upon us all, I thought I'd take a moment and reveal what comics I'm reading RIGHT NOW. :)

So in no particular order here are the books lying next to me:

Crowded (Image)
The Dreaming (DC/Vertigo)
Mage: The Hero Denied (Image)
Rat Queens (Image)
MCMLXXV (Image)
Low Road West (Boom!Studios)
House of Whispers (DC/Vertigo)
The League of Extraordinary Gentlement: The Tempest (Top Shelf)

Crowded has been a pleasant surprise. I highly recommend it.
The Sandman Universe stuff from Vertigo has been good, but not terribly engaging so far.
After the last storyline, Rat Queens needs to start making some damn sense or I'm out.
Haven't had a chance to read MCMLXXV or LEG:Tempest, but they both look really good.
The jury's still out on Low Road West.

Work today was fucking slow. I doubt ten people came through the store, which is weird because Wednesdays are usually good days for us. I guess people are still recovering from Free Comic Book Day. At least the lag gave me some time to restock supplies and make a bit of a dent in the books the owner picked up from the library. Priced one at $50 which was a surprise and came across an Absolute Edition DC: New Frontier that's selling for as much as $140 on Amazon. I like Darwin Cooke but I don't like him that much.
Got new comics today which was kinda cool. Usually, I have to wait until the week after because of my schedule but I said fuck it today and actually made it to my shop before it closed.
Secret Wars was really good. Descender, slightly less so. As for Arcadia? It had some good hype but, honestly? I doubt I'll get the second issue.
More later.
- MEL

Current Mood: Full of chicken nuggets
Current Location: The Fat Farm

Holy shit. Has it really been a month since my last post here? Good lord!
Well, let's see what's been going on.
The landlords both got jobs. Misses went to Chicago with the kids a couple of weeks ago and Mister is leaving next week. I am driving him to the airport. I am also going to be renting out rooms in the house as long as I'm here. How long that will be? I don't know.
Work has been good. I'm still enjoying working in the shop, although I need to get better shoes. My feet are killing me. Some people have recommended I get some NewBalance shoes, while others pimp Birkenstocks. Any opinions? Hit me up in comments.
Writing? Eh. It hasn't really been happening. I like to say it's job exhaustion but the fact is I've written a lot of false starts and none of them have gone anywhere. Still, I'm plugging away.
Speaking of the job, I'm going to be giving a talk on comics and literacy at a local library later this month. It's an all ages talk, and I need to check with the librarian handling the matter, but I'm quite looking forward to doing it. That said, if anyone has any ideas re this subject I'm more than open to suggestions.
Househunting continues to be frustrating. I have expanded my search to include condos and townhouses, but, so far, no luck. The market here is really sucky, at least in my price range.
So, there we have it. A month caught up in less than five minutes. Now I"m going to hit the flist and catch up with what everyone else has been up to. - xoxo Mel

I am not getting this miniseries.
Mostly because it's 12+ issues when the whole thing could be settled in two or three issues at best.
Also, I'm just not into it.
All that said, however, I sincerely hope the Avengers beat the holy fuck out of the X-Men.
More later. - MEL

Today's haul at the comic shop was kind of miniscule. I picked up the latest issues of Fantastic Four and Wolverine & The X-Men, and got the first issue of Saga.

I think this issue will be my jumping off point for Fantastic Four. I already stopped buying the Future Foundation (on account of the horrible, horrible art), and the current storyline was resolved in this issue. Unfortunately, there was no real sense of excitement in the book, in the last few issues. It just felt tedius. So, goodbye Fantastic Four.

Wolverine & The X-Men has been interesting, but I'm obviously not as in love with it as everyone else. Maybe it's mutant burnout? I don't know. But I'm thinking this issue will probably be the last I'll buy of this title too. At least I gave it a while before dropping it. ;/

Finally, we come to the new book on the block: Saga. There's been a lot of buzz about this book and the first issue was servicable, but it didn't really rock my socks. That said, I'll give it three issues before deciding whether or not to axe it from my buy pile.

What'd y'all get this week? - MEL

Back from the shop with this week's comics. I got the latest issues of Cobra, Fables, X-Men: Schism and last week's, Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE. Most of the DCNu titles were sold out, so, alas, no Nightwing for me.
Fables was excellent, but Cobra was confusing. When did Chameleon come into the picture? And why does it look like Major Bludd is being set up to be the big contender for Cobra Commander? Methinks I smell a red herring. Schism was okay, until the last couple of pages, where they drag out Jean Grey and use her as the catalyst that sets off Cyclops verses Wolverine. Personally, I think they should team up and kill Hope, but that's just my opinion.
Frankenstein:Agent of Shade was a letdown. I won't be getting the second issue.
Speaking of letdowns, my comic guy told me that DC issued a memo to their buyers, advising them that any of the New 52 titles that don't perform well will be canceled on their sixth issue. Sounds like the company is playing hardball, not that I can blame them. If this reboot/relaunch whatever fails, I wouldn't be surprised if DC cancels half their line and focuses on Batman and Superman books.
Ah well, there's always fanfic.
More later! - MEL

Went to the comic shop today and picked up a couple of books:Buffy, Daken: Dark Wolverine, Deathstroke, Hellraiser, and Mystery Men.
I can honestly say that Deathstroke is the only DC relaunch title that I've actually enjoyed. I think I'll get the second issue and see if it can keep my interest.
BTVS: Season 9 kicked off on a funny ha-ha note, which just felt completely forced, but since I think that's what they were going for, I guess it was okay. The last page actually made me laugh.
Hellraiser and Daken were okay, but Mystery Men felt like it ended too damn soon. I smell a possible sequel in the wind.
All in all, not a bad week.
It would have been nice if my comic shop had gotten all the new DC titles, but considering how they're flying off the shelves I suppose I shouldn't complain. Still, it would have been nice to take a look at Demon Knights and Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE.
Ah well.
There's always next week.
More later. - MEL

I haven't done a Comic Post in a while, and since nothing else is leaping out at me at the moment, here's this week's haul:

Atomic Robo #1 of 4 - the latest series starring Atomic Robo gets off to a great start with a disastrous job interview and an invasion from the Vampire Dimension. Am already looking forward to the next issue.

Astounding Wolf-Man #21 - I'm a new reader to AWM, but I like what I've read so far. A good issue, and the start of an interesting revenge plot. Also, if next issue's teaser cover is any indication, the possibility of a romance between AWM and Mecha-Maid?

Invincible #70 - It's hard to believe I've been reading Invincible since issue 1. In this issue, the title character crosses a line, and we catch up a bit with Oliver a.k.a. Kid Omni-Man. The title is building up to the Invincible War, which, to be honest, I'm not expecting a lot from.

Locke & Key: Crown of Shadows #4 - This title is a real gem and if you aren't reading it, you should probably start. There's already a trade, collecting the first series, and you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't go buy it. As far as this issue? Things get turned up a notch. There's family drama, an interesting gift, and deadly shadows. Go buy it now!