What I Bought 1/17/07

This is the high point week of January for me. Five books, hot-cha-cha. I've really got nothing else to say, so let's begin, with caution advised for potential spoilers.

Cable/Deadpool #36 - So, rather than confront the issues raised in the last issue (by seeing all the people he's killed), Deadpool has decided to focus on repairing his reputation. And what better way to do it than abduct a number of potential employers and watch him fight the Taskmaster - while shackled?

Of course, things are never that simple (which Wade should be used to by now), and the end result of the fight, while pretty much all Wade could hope for, doesn't produce the reaction he hoped for. As for what Wade's contemplating now, well, I forsee disaster for a small town in Georgia.

But hey, props to Taskmaster. He came off a lot better than he did in that recent Moon Knight storyarc, so he's got that to build on. And, a good job once again by Reilly Brown. He even enhances his fight scenes with those little outline figures to show the various movements. I love that stuff. 4.4 out of 5.

Exiles #90 - So begins the Chris Claremont era of Exiles. Man, was the shift in dialogue style noticeable. The issue is primarily the team trying to decide what to do about Morph-Proteus, and Sabretooth bemoaning the fact that they're low on power. Plus, things in their "Crystal Palace" seem to be breaking down, and the bug-like guys that run the show are hiding. So yeah, nothing seems to be going well for the team.

Still, when there's a reality that needs saving, the Exiles are going to give it their best - except their best isn't nearly good enough (great, now I'm talking in Claremont-dialogue. IT BEGINS!) So it's time for a new recruit, even as some otherworldly being is screwing with them. More on that in a few days. Kind of an odd start. Dialogue seemed interchangeable between characters, and it seems like a lot of time has passed since #89, because the team seems to have gotten a lot more concerned about Morph-Proteus than they were before. I mean, they're now actively discussing what to do with him, before it was just "make sure he keeps thinking he's Morph". Still, not a bad start, and I like their newest team member, so I'm in for the next few months anyway. 3.3 out of 5.

Shadowpact #9 - Figures. I start buying the title, and about half the team nearly dies. Just great. Do superteams in the DC Universe often hold press conferences? I know the Avengers do it too, but given the typical acrimonius relationship heroes have with press in Marvel, it always seems out of place. Still, a mystical team doing this, and letting the hyper-intelligent chimp be the spokesman was pretty amusing.

Meanwhile, a high-level demon is interested in Etrigan's lack of rhyming. Of course, finding Etrigan (in Jason Blood form) also lead to roughly thirty people getting killed, and that attracts DC's premiere mystical superteam. Except, as Knightmaster (Nightmaster?) noted, they aren't ready. Still, he probably shouldn't note that out loud. Way to bolster their confidence. Not that it matters, Etrigan opened the proverbial can of ass-kicking on them. And he stole a rather powerful mystical instrument. Hard to see how the team is going to manage to save the day given their current state. Should be fun. Oh, and since McManus has moved on and been replaced by Derenick, let me say that I'm also good with him as the regular penciler. Seriously, why the hell can't they pick one artist? Maybe Marvel should loan them Bagley. 4.4 out of 5.

Ultimate Spider-Man #104 - So, the Ultimate Clone Saga has ended, and it seems Bendis hasn't done as much to shake up the status quo as I had thought. The MJ being mutated situation is handled (good to have friends in the Fantastic Four), Peter's "father" is handled, and Octavius appears to have been handled. Now that part was fun. Ock was seriously entrenched on the crazy train, but at least he embraced that. Heck, even Ultimate Nick Fury was cool. Of course, he was dealing with Gyrich, and just about anybody can look cool when in opposition to that loser.

So yeah, a lot of stuff isn't gonna carryover, but there are a couple of things that will, and it should be interesting to see how they shake out. I do feel bad that it looks like Peter and Kitty are headed for a break-up. I liked them as a couple. It helped distinguish the Ultimateverse from the Marvelverse. Not a fantastic ending, but given the source material, pretty damn good. 3.9 out of 5, though I could bump it higher depending on the fallout in the next few issues.

Wait, where the hell did the GwenCarnage clone wind up at? She got fried, but not destroyed right?

Ultimate X-Men #78 - So, an X-person died. That's the primary gist of this. The rest is just the X-Men against Cablerine's Wild Six Pack. God, Colossus just quoted Ivan Drago. I get it Kirkman, it's because he's Russian, right? That is so offensive to Russians such as myself! Wait, I'm not Russian. Never mind then.

Damn, Cyclops is being crazy. Wow, between that and the stubble, he's this close to being cool. And yes Charles, this is all your fault. That guy's spine is broken because you crashed the X-Jet on top of everyone!! And how does somebody 'go limp' from a plane landing on them? Man, Xavier's a dumbass. And Cyclops is really hanging tough. Good for him. And kaboom, cue dead X-person. I'm mildly surprised that I'm not disappointed by the result. Quite a way to end the arc, but for some reason it's still not getting me fired up, so an unsettling 3.6 out of 5.