What I Bought 2/28/07

I know I shouldn't have, but I looked through Civil War: Frontline #11 today, and let me say this. No matter how much Marvel tries to convince me that Captain America was misguided because he doesn't understand "today's" America (for the record, I don't watch American Idol or use MySpace either), or that Tony Stark was really acting in everyone's best interests - possible war with Atlantis because he thought having Osborn shoot an Atlantean ambassador was a good idea being just part of his scheme - I'm still not buying it. When Steve Rogers is back out there bouncing his shield off the heads of HYDRA agents, I'll root for him, and when Tony Stark fights, well, anyone, I'll be rooting for him to die (sorry Chris). Although there is the possibility that Sally Floyd's applause was sarcastic, given her attitude towards Cap, and her and Urich's decision to not tell the public what they know, I think she was serious.

Having vented my thoughts over that piece of crap, lets move on to books I actually bought. Spoiler warnings and all that hoopajoop.

Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus #1 - It has "Annihilation" on the cover. Yeah, I think we all knew I was gonna buy it. Was it worth it? Hmm, I think so. The first story shows us what happens when you use things to coerce people into fighting for your cause. The result is that they kill you when they get free. Tony Stark, are you and your nanites in the supervillains' bloodstreams paying attention? Terrax, Paibok, and The Delinquent land on a planet ruled by the Space Parasite. Damn, there is so much about Cosmic Marvel I don't know. They're approached by a stranded Centaurian, asking for aid in deposing said Space Parasite. Paibok's willing, but Terrax only agrees because he needs to reestablish his rep. The battle is joined and I'd have to say Terrax would have accomplished his goal, if there were a few more people left to tell about it. Slight oversight there. I think what we see is Terrax in a similar state to where Nova was at the start of his mini-series: He feels he's failed, and he's doesn't know what to do about it. They both responded with anger initially, but I doubt Terrax is going to deal with his problems any deeper, like Nova did.

The second story details Stardust's origin, and it's beautiful. I think the credit here has to go to colorist Laura Villari. McKone's artwork is good (though I keep noticing that we don't see head n views of characters with there arms in front of them. The arms are always out at the sides. I noticed that in his Teen Titans work as well), but I think the pictures are made by the colors, especially since we're dealing with beings made of energy. Stardust survived the first implementation of Annihilus' Galactus weapon, and moves to rejoin its master. Stardust runs into some of its kind, the last remaining ones in fact, they squabble, and then Stardust does something rash, something kind, and then something I think Terrax might have approved of. It was disturbing, but that's where devotion will take you sometimes. I do wonder about the idea of a society made of beings composed of unstable subatomic particles like quarks. I don't know that this book was hugely neccessary, but both the stories were interesting, so I'll say 3.8 out of 5.

Dr. Strange: The Oath #5 - He's the main thing you need to know about this issue. Brian K. Vaughn has read the Lee/Ditko Dr. Strange, and understands that Dr. Strange will beat you up. With his bare hands. In the rain. All we needed was a circle of fire, and I'd have thought it was a Jet Li movie.

So Wong's dying, Nicodemus runs off with Otkid's Elixer and Strange pursues, verbally hammering West the whole time. There's a panel on page 8, after West has fled to the roof, where Strange stands before him, saying 'But your failures always have a way of catching up to you'. I believe Strange would have scared Batman at that moment. There's another panel two pages later, as Strange removes his gloves, that shows the scars all over his hands, it's just great. From there, things start poorly, turn around, go awry again, but wait! You can't lose hope until the last drop is gone!

And so Dr. Strange's life is changed, but not in the way you might have expected from how the story began. Oh, and props to Night Nurse on her remarkable faxing abilities. 4.9 out of 5.

New Excalibur #17 - Wow. I couldn't find a cover image, but let me assure you, this cover had even more white space than the Dr. Strange cover. So Nocturne's awake, but physical rehab takes time. Mentally, she's thinking clearly, but expressing those thoughts verbally, or even understanding what others are saying is a chore. The dialogue from other characters gets chopped up at times, to represent her brain struggling to keep up. The whole team helps out, and we see different parts of her through interactions with them. Through it all, Sage sits in the room and watches. Even at night, when it's just her, Nocturne, and a ghost image of Nocturne, imploring Talia to get up and play. I was having a hard time figuring that out, I think because I still don't understand what Sage's powers are, exactly.

Anyway, Sage keeps pushing Nocturne because she doesn't want her getting used to the idea of being "crippled", and the rest of the team keeps reminding her that there's more to life than being a superhero (yeah, there's creating cyborg clones of your friend and deputizing Norman Osborn while making a buttload of money, Stark). By the end of the issue there hasn't been any magic restorative, no cure-all. Talia's made progress, but her days as Nocturne may be done. As Claremont keeps pointing out though, she can still be Talia Josephine Wagner. I wanted to give some credit to Scot Eaton as well, I thought he did an excellent job with depicting emotions, especially with Nocturne (important, seeing as the issue focuses on her inner turmoil). You could really feel the happiness at seeing friends, to the frustration over loss of mobility, to the fear that was around almost constantly.

I'm not surprised it's taken me this long to consider this, given how slow I am, but do you figure Claremont wrote this story because of his experiences after the stroke last year? I think this was better than the Annihilation comic, but less enjoyable from strictly "comics as escapist fiction" standpoint, so 3.8 out 5.

X-Factor #16 - I'll just throw this out here to start: When Monet and Siryn bust out of that French jail (so much for demonstrating that Americans and mutants don't consider themselves above the law, though I suppose crucifying that bigot probably threw that plan out the window), what was the deal with the red balloon? I'm guessing it's a film reference?

So Jaime's after another dupe, and he's tracked one to a church, but this dupe's made a life for himself, and Jamie's wondering whether it's right to take that away. I don't think it's because he's concerned about depriving the duplicate of his freedom (because where was that with SHIELD Agent Jamie), but because he'd be depriving the family of a father and husband, and Jamie knows what it's like to lose loved ones.. So Jamie's faced with that dilemma, and the duplicate is faced with the dilemma of what he'll do to stay free.

Meanwhile, back in Paris, Monet and Siryn are on the loose. Monet's still acting impulsively, as someone watches and helps them from the shadows. For some reason, I'm terrified by the idea it might be Gambit in his role as Death (or whatever Horseman he became). I doubt that it is, but I can't shake that concern. No Gambit, please (and I'm not even one of the people who hates Gambit)! Um, that's pretty much the issue right there. It was good, though it didn't really grip me, but I wasn't disappointed either. I think it's an important development for Jamie, especially after last month's brainwashing problem. 4.0 out of 5.