What I Bought 7/19/06

So before I start, let me warn you of spoilers, as always, and play a little "Good News, Bad News".

Bad News: My internet connection is out. I can't fix it, neither could the over-the-phone tech guy, so they're sending someone and he'll be here on. . . Monday. How efficient.
Good News: The university has many computers, I'm just not sure how often they'll be available, or if picure posting will work well, so if posting is erratic the next several days, you know why.
Good News: I'm adopting the 2 Month Rule, as espoused by Fortress Keeper at Fortress of Fortitude last week (I'm too aggravated to do links right now), so expect a shifting menagerie of titles in the future.
Bad News: Yet another title falls from my pull list after this week.
Bad News: Civil War #3 made me sad. . . thrice. The reveal of what side the person on the final page is on, plus Marvel's decision of what to do with Dr. Strange, plus the fact I find myself rooting against Spider-Man for the first time in 19 years of reading comics. Thanks a lot, Marvel.
Good News: I bought two books not on my pull because they made laugh while reading them. If I'm going to complain that things are too grim and angry, then I should buy what's funny, right?

Annihilation: Nova #4 - Well, it turns out Carla of Snap Judgements was on the money about Quasar. Too bad, he really showed me something in these last two issues. But, can't be messing with Annihilus I guess.

As for the rest of the issue, Nova got down to business. He embraced the Nova Force for all that it enabled him to do, and he got the Worldmind to help him out. I thought it was pretty nifty, the Worldmind guiding his movements and use of power to most effectively delay the Annihilation Wave. Of course, all he really did was get the head bug's attention.

I have to admit, I never realized how powerful Annihilus actually was. I've only read a book with him in it once, and Spidey was in that, so they probably downgraded him a bit. But damn, he faced down Quasar and Nova, and other than Nova suckering Annihilus into connecting to the Worldmind, and taking one good punch from Bucket Guy as Cammi might say, he came out unscathed.

What's a little scary about this is that he did all of this stuff concerning Nova, then turned his attention to Galactus, the Heralds, and the Power Cosmic, all within a couple of days. He moves very quickly I'd say, which leaves no time for dickering about. Solid, sad ending for the book. 3.9 out of 5.

Cable/Deadpool #30 - I've been glancing through this the last few months, and it's clever, and amusing, and I like the characters, which I never thought I would say about a book starring Cable, so I bought it.

Wade wants to cash in on the resistant heroes, and starts by attacking the Great Lakes Champions. First off, I'm glad that Marvel remembered Dan Slott changed their name in the last issue of The Thing. Sure it's a small thing, but given Marvel's editors seem to be asleep most of the time, I'll take what I can get. Deadpool is doing alright, by his standards anyway, but then he runs into that most dire opponent. . . Squirrel Girl! If you can't figure how that went, well I can't help you. Well, I could, but I won't. Deadpool-like, aren't I?

Having been thwarted in his attempt to capture them, by their already being registered, Wade does get drafted as a bounty hunter, talks to Cable, who seems to give the whole thing away in a statement at the end. It leaves me wondering: is Cable trying to ruin Captain America's plans, to force Cap to go along with his idea of taking asylum in Providence? I wouldn't put it past Nate.

Then we get a Deadpool/Daredevil fight. Good times. Combine that with comments about 'nubile Young Avengers', and trouble with first person narration boxes, and it was great. 4.7 out of 5.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #10 - Welcome to the other side of the tracks. This blew chunks. We find out Spidey has six moments in his life that are intersection points across realities. The Hobgoblin of 2211 offers to undo Gwen Stacy's death. Spidey turns her down (because he loves Mary Jane. Stop making him pine after a dead girl Marvel! Damnit! That's Scott Summers job!), and a fighting we will go. Spidey of 2211 shows up, fighting continues, retcon bombs are wielded, and well, Spider-Man of 2211 is a dick, to be quite honest. Dude, don't bite Spidey's head off, you're the one who locked your own daughter up, leading to her becoming crazy and evil.

Plus we get an Uncle Ben/Aunt May reunion, and well. . . that blew chunks too. Can we have anything be happy? No, May has to assume he's fake, and Ben has to get kind of agitated, and Jarvis has to butt in, and punches have to be thrown, and Ben has to stagger off sad. Oh yeah, and he's not going away. Apparently I should have known this, but I didn't, and I'm not pleased. Why the expletive deleted are we leaving alternate universe Ben Parker in the Marvel 616 Universe?! AAgh! This gets a 1.3 out of 5, for Spidey actually fighting a villain, and an itneresting question it's raised with me. But the revelation that next month we're dealing with the new Mysterio, the one we got courtesy of Kevin Smith's tripe, and that's it, I'm done with this book. Peter David might have made Layla Miller fun, but not even he can make this new Mysterio work.

She-Hulk #8 - Book 2 that made me laugh. The page with 12 spit take panels of reaction to Jennifer and John Jameson getting married? Beautiful. I wasn't really all that concerned with the subplot concerning Pug, who loves Jennifer and is convinced Starfox monkeyed around with things to make Jen and John fall in love, to the point of getting married. It'd probably mean more if I'd been reading the book previously. I mean, I get what he's doing and why, but I lack the emotional connection for it to resonate you know?

But let's be honest. I bought this because of the "dinner at the Jameson's" scene. I absolutely love that Jonah keeps the first Spider-Slayer up in his attic, almost as much as his frequent use of profanity. I will say I didn't buy him being so freaked about Jennifer and John having kids. That struck me as kind of bigoted, and I'm not totally sure that's Jameson's problem. He just doesn't trust people who run around in masks, and say they're here to help. Plus, they make him feel small inside. Maybe he was just stressed over the Parker thing, and I guess finding out about his son's marriage on the news didn't help either. Anyway, it was amusing, and the fact Jennifer uses her legal knowledge to get on JJJ's good side, after his earlier tirade against lawyers was fantastic. 4 out of 5.

Ultimate X-Men #72 - And here's another book that's teetering. Having stepped away for three months (stupid Phoenix), I can't say my life has been horribly empty without it, but I'm willing to give it the two months.

So the X-Men are fighting the Friends of Humanity, who were killing ordinary humans who wanted to offer medical aid to mutant children. It's all very easy, with Iceman and Wolverine both taking time out of their busy fighting to rag on Spider-Man, what with him being Kitty's boyfriend and all. You know, I like that this book actually seems to be in continuity with Ultimate Spider-Man. I don't think you can say that about the other two Ultimate Universe titles. And I've just realized that Kitty is the only X-Woman that doesn't go with the exposed midriff look, even though, with her intagibility, it would be less of a problem for her than any of those who sported it (Storm, Jean, Rouge, Dazzler went that route as well). No understanding the female mind, at least not when it's written by guys, I suppose.

Anyhoo, one member of Friends of Humanity is a mutant himself. He lays waste to the team, except Magician, who then beats the guy down himself, before the rest of the team can pick themselves up. Meanwhile, Nick Fury, being a manipulative bastard, tells Xavier he wants Magician for the Ultimates, and he has parental consent, which I'm sure was gained through use of bamboo splinters under the fingernails. Except Xavier points out that Fury told him the parents were dead when he brought him here. Fury has no idea what Chuck is talking about.

Oh yeah, and Jean Grey is stills eeing transparent goblin things. Are these those German speaking guys from that Green Lantern story a few months ago? Sure look similar, little smaller though, probably lost mass passing into another universe.

Not bad, not gripping, I'm most intrigued by Dazzler waking up, and Nightcrawler being there, given as those two are longstanding favorites of mine. Oh, and I think Magician is actually Proteus, back from wherever he went after Colossus hit him with a car while he was trapped in Betsy Braddock's body. 3.3 out of 5.

X-Factor #9 - Yeah, I know it's the wrong cover. I'm doing the best I can here. X-Factor yells at Quicksilver. Jamie doesn't want to make decisions, so he doesn't. Did he reabsorb the duplicate that was already working for SHIELD? Jamie yells at Layla for witholding things from him. She tells him that he needs her to tell him where he needs to be. She's not wrong, but the idea of Madrox being on the leash of a creepy, secretive little kid is a bit disturbing. On his walk, Madrox helps Aegis escape SHIELD, who want to arrest him for commiting the awful offense of stopping a crime *rolls eyes*. But hey, at least that's one New Warrior not dead or in jail. Cheers.

By the time Madrox gets back to the office, the X-Men have arrived, summoned by Layla, who told them Pietro was there. The situation escalates, as the X-Men try to defend not telling all the depowered mutants what happened, or the public in general. 'If they knew that just one mutant was capable of rewriting reality, taking away powers, we'd be even more hated and feared'. That's me paraphrasing their bullshit, because news flash!, you're already hated and feared. Morons. All this finally spurs Madrox into action and he declares that anyone with powers who doesn't want to register can come to Mutant Town and X-Factor will protect them from whoever tries to arrest them. Which prompts Cyclops to talk tough, because really that's all he's good for. Certainly can't think or act, unless Emma tells him to. Wanker. Go X-Factor! 4.3 out of 5.