What I Bought 12/29/05

Wow, six books this week, and none of them really 'grabbed' me. Oh well, here we go.

Spider-Man and the Black Cat 5 of 6 - Blah, blah, blah. Yak, yak, yak. So Garrison's brother tells Felicia all about how he and his brother formed their empire, and about how he realized his powers, and how his brother sexually abused him, and so on. Meanwhile, Nightcrawler is telling Spidey and Daredevil all this stuff about Nazi experiments, involving mutant organs and human children, because, you know, Nazis are always behind stuff like that. Couldn't be the Soviets just once. I gotta, say, I think this story is going to end with a lot of talking, no fighting, very dull. But, I hate to give up on things part way (which is the only reason I can think of that I bought all 12 issues of Justice League Elite). 2 out of 5.

X-Factor #2 - So Rictor doesn't die, Monet is snooty, all Layla Miller will say about herself, is that 'she's Layla Miller and she knows stuff.' Not being someone who likes kids that much, I would probably go crazy from that pretty quickly. Who knows? If I keep reading the book I just might. Anyway, Layla gets them to take a case that will supposedly tie-in to "Singularity", the group responsible for killing Siryn's informant in issue 1. Singularity meanwhile, appears to be an evil corporation, that is worried about X-Factor re-powering the mutants. What? Repowering? Really? Go X-Factor, Stacy X may get her happy day after all! So, for continuing the tone, for a funny self-immolation bit, for Madrox possibly being psychotic, and for the promise of something big, it gets a 4 out of 5.

Wolverine #37 - So Logan remembers everything now, and with the chance to send him anywhere as part of his past, where does he go? Japan. Again. To fight the Silver Samurai. Again. And would the writers at Marvel please decide how S.S. is going to act? One book he's a frightened figurehead, another he's a confident leader, and in this he's an ass-kicking bodyguard. Can I get a consensus? So they fight, Logan gets gutstabbed, Samurai loses a limb. Logan gets answers and leaves, walks through the sewers, breaks a water main, gets washed out to sea, swims to a boat, sneaks onboard, and only then is he so injured he passes out. Shouldn't that have happened earlier, when he hadn't had as much time to heal?

I know what my problem is with this. Paul Jenkins should be writing this. He wrote Origin, which I thought was very good, this should be sort of like a continuation of that, through flashback. Still, a somewhat ominous Captain America comment gives this 3 Wolvie claw-inflicted wounds, out of 5.

New Avengers #14 - You know what I said in my first review of today. 'Blah, blah, blah. Yak, yak, yak.'? Repeat. I will give it credit. For me, it neatly encapsulates the Spider-Woman origin story and "Secret War", so I feel no need to spend money on either. Ha! Anyway, Jessica talks, Captain America and the others listen, We even get an appearence by the Sentry, and electronic transmission Nick Fury (in stores this February!). And apparently the Sentry's tower appearing on top of Stark's building, plus a Quinjet, has outed the Avengers. Given that the Sentry's place magically appeared back in issue #10, this would indicate people in New York are kind of slow. So I guess next month is "Meet Your Avengers Issue". This book is really teetering for me right now, and that's with very nice Frank Cho artwork making it one of the better ones in awhile. If I start picking up New Excaliber - don't laugh, it's a possibility - this is probably what goes. 3 out of 5.

Ultimate Spider-Man #88 - Spidey gets proactive, and as so often happens in his life, it bites him in the ass. he's decides he has to tell Aunt May he's Spider-Man, she gives the "Spider-Man is evil" speech. I was really hoping this Aunt May would be different. She could have at least listened to what he had to say before going on a rant. He talks to Kitty, interrogates Flash, and goes to Sable's location. Quick fight scene, ignore the spider-sense, and there you go. This, this is not real good. I mean I still love Bagley's art. Love it! But, I just can't buy this storyline. I mean this whole deal is because the head of Roxxon believes Spider-Man knows something about who is targeting his holdings. And he believes this because Spidey stopped two - count 'em, two! - attacks. Here's something simple for you, Mr. Head of Roxxon: 2 is not a pattern, it is a line. When held up in comparison to the sheer total of incidents that Spidey gets involved in, it's a drop in the bucket. Not even that. Use your vast commercial wealth, and buy a clue. Please. Call off the attack dogs, and let Peter get on with his life, such as it is. 3 idiot C.E.O.s, out of 5.

Amazing Spider-Man #527 - So Peter's not dead, he's just in a cocoon, under a bridge. Having weird dreams or something where he converses with a spider part of himself. Apparently, 'the man wished to be a spider, and the spider a man.' Anyway, Peter's back among his loved ones, and wondering which he is, the spider or the man? Oy.

At one point, the Spider-Thing hinted Peter had only scratched the surface of what he was capable of. That he had only used the gifts 'a child would find exciting'. So does this mean this was all some excuse to give Peter new powers? I don't know, it all seems needlessly vague and JMS just keeps pushing the mystic thing harder and harder. It's Spider-Man; I want to like it, but I can't. 2 out of 5.

Wow, that was pretty much a downer. I guess it was just a balancing from last weeks mostly positive reviews. Karma, the Great Wheel and all that, don't ya know.