What I Bought 12/28/06

So I'm going on vacation tomorrow. I'll be back next Thursday, to do reviews of that week's haul. Probably be pretty light, but what can you do? I'll put up another post, either before I go to bed tonight, or before I leave in the morning. Hopefully, it'll be a nice discussion topic to keep you occupado while I'm gone. But until then, let's hit the books of the final week of 2006!

Annihilation #5 - I've just read this a second time through, and I feel like hopping up and down in one place, this has me so fired up for the conclusion. Nova's own "suicide squad" is getting closer to Annihilus, with a little help from some SpaceKnights and someone that, well, it makes perfect sense he'd fight Annihilus. Drax realizes he may have been a bit hasty in killing Thanos.

OK, he doesn't realize that, but he does listen to Moondragon when she tells him they needed a Thanos-level power to free Galactus. Fortunately, there just happens to be another one of those nearby. And it is on now. In the meantime, Ronan, Super-Skrull, and Praxagora are attempting to oust the House of Fiyero as rulers of the Kree, enabling the Empire to get back in the war. The only problem is, things are much worse than they thought. Whatever, Ronan isn't having any of it. About two months ago, I said that Ronan looked kind of weak in his first go-round with Ravenous. This time, he aimed to show what the Supreme Accuser can do, and all I can say is damn.

The Kree Empire just got a lot more interesting. 5.0 out of 5. Also, lest I forget, I like Andrea DiVito's art. It's very active, clean, works well for fight scenes. Props also to colorist Laura Villari, as everything looks vibrant.

Blue Beetle #10 -As part of my "Find a New DC Book" quest, I turn to another Keith Giffen book. So Jamie needs to find Brenda, who has Boom Tubed somewhere... not safe. There's little alien fellas there, and they seem interested in Brenda, which can never be a good thing. Jamie powers up, and communicates with the Mother Box, and away we go.

There's all kinds of traps on this planet though, as well as a "Citadel of Evil", and a guy called Lonar who looks a lot like Conan. One way or the other it all seems to be tying into New Genesis, which I'm sure means Darkseid will be showing up eventually, because doesn't that kind of stuff always turn back to him? The issue ends on the cusp of a classic "misunderstanding battle", so that ought to be fun. I didn't dig this as much as Shadowpact last week, but not bad. I'll be back next month to see where it goes. 3.6 out of 5.

Exiles #89 - Funny, this book kept not showing up on lists of books being released this week, but Marvel's website said it would be here, and it was. So what do we got? Well, the Exiles start off against the Sinister Six, to save Jonah Jameson. Kinda weird. Blink gets hurt, so it's off to the infirmary with her, which brings us to injured Exile Thunderbird, and we head off into his dreams. It doesn't start off too cheery, but by the end the dreams are going pretty well, so that's nice. Smiles are good.

In the meantime, Heather is concerned about Morph (who is really Proteus who thinks he's Morph, if you recall), and the fact that Proteus didn't show a vulnerability to metal in Morph's body. I thought metal only hurt him in his energy state, but given that he isn't burning out Morph's body, and thus might never be back to an energy state, it's probably a valid concern to have. But the Exiles have realities to save, so it's back to work, even as things start to get kind of ominous. About the time that Morph speaks in a Scottish accent, I start to wonder if that and a series of rapidly failing realities aren't connected somehow. Have to wait and see I guess. It's a nice enough one-and-done, I think it lays groundwork for future issues, and it was fun, so what more do I want? 4.3 out of 5.

Immortal Iron Fist #2 - Judging by this issue, Danny's only scratched the surface of what he could do with the Iron Fist. Of course, Danny doesn't know that, as he's spending most of the issue trying to recuperate from the beating Mecha-Gorgon gave him last issue, so something for another time then. Good time to have friends, though I wonder if Misty Knight can still be considered among those ranks.

The other plot deals with the elderly Mr. Randall entering the country, and being immediately hassled by Chinese-speaking fake cops. Which leads to face-kicking, car-wrecking, and a whole lot worse, all of which Danny becomes highly aware of about the time his right fist starts spasming like crazy. Kind of takes your mind off HYDRA's impending hostile corporate takeover. I'm much more down with David Aja's art than I was previously, as I feel he does an especially nice job with the facial expressions, and Brubaker and Fraction are giving us an interesting little story. Besides, 'Oh! My name is Daniel Rand. I am Iron Fist and I know kung fu. Hi-Yahh.' is classic. Just great stuff. 4.8 out of 5.