What I Bought 9/12/07

Well, um, how's it going? Yeah, that's cool. Oh me? I'm doing OK, just can't come up with a witty opening paragraph, or even one where I can complain bitterly about something. Weird, huh? Well, anyway, I guess I better talk up some comics, so we'll resume this conversation later. Yeah, I'll make sure to try and avoid the spoilers.

Amazing Spider-Girl #12 - I think DeFalco may be piling a bit too much on May here. Between how her choices wind up affecting Moose's dad, and her little brother Ben, and how that's going to strain her relationships with Moose and her parents, I'm really hoping we aren't going to go into an extended period of May being in a depressed funk.

The worst part has to be that by the end of the issue it's pretty clear that if May had just stayed out of this whole thing at the start, things would have been a lot better. I know she thought she was doing the right thing by helping to stop the heist of Specimen 297, but just like her dad, May has bad luck when she gets mixed up in matters of espionage. Also, the art seems a little rushed; heads seem unusually oblong at times, at least enough to distract me. All in all, the end of this story arc was kind of a bummer, and I'm pretty sure we'll see Carnage again some time within the next, oh, two years tops. Just a hunch. 2.3 out of 5.

Nova #6 - Sean Chen's not long for this book, is he? I know he's doing the art for that stupid DC book with the Rogues stranded on some alien world, and Scott Hanna draws a few of the pages in this issue (why I'm not sure. Is Chen incapable of drawing Drax the Destroyer?). Anyway, I hope I like whoever winds up replacing Chen, because I really enjoyed how he laid out the panels and the fighting in this issue (the parts he drew).

Anyway, it's Nova 001 against the Nova Prime. Good luck, Ko-Rel. Nova's got the experience, and the power, big advantages on both. Ko-Rel's got the Worldmind. I love the way Worldmind strategizes, giving Ko-Rel directions on where to go, and when to attack, while pissing Richard off by outright telling him that the Worldmind will continue to fight the Phalanx, even if Richard's one of them. There was something sort of smart-aleck like - more so than usual - about how Worldmind was talking that I really liked, because I know it would have ticked me off too.

Given the circumstances, Ko-Rel had no room for error or indecision, and she hesitated a little too long. Oh, don't worry, I'm sure she's fine. You can't even see the wound on the last page, when we're looking right at where it should be, ergo, she's fine. 4.1 out of 5. Also, just to go back to the DC title Chen's going to be drawing, I saw the Previews advertisement say it stars DC's 'deadliest villains'. Really? Heatwave and Weather Wizard? By those standards, I think I could qualify as one of DC's deadliest villains, at least in the hours after I've consumed both salted corn chips and ice cream. Whew, not a good time to be in my vicinity.

Ultimate Spider-Man #113 - I'm going to be honest and admit that I really don't entirely understand what Immonen is trying to portray with the panels of, I assume, Norman Osborn's bloodstream on pages 2 and 3. I know it's meant to represent that whole thing Osborn's raving about inside his own head, how he's constantly evolving, I'm just not sure it really works as a representation. Looks more like Osborn's catching a cold, with the green things merging with red blood cells. Which, if you're going to portray his condition as a sickness, I suppose works pretty well. I retract my lack of understanding. Wow, things just make so much more sense when I go stream of consciousness on my blog.

At any rate, Norman Osborn on the loose! And rather than immediately go after Peter, Norman takes what is probably the wise step of putting Fury on the defensive with a calculated p.r. move. Well, nobody ever said Norman Osborn was stupid, although Reed and Dr. Storm kind of suggested it at the end of the Clone Saga. What I'm still a little confused about is there keep being panels (in green shades) of stuff that's apparently going on elsewhere during Norman's prison break, and I wonder whether this is stuff he knows, because he has really enhanced senses now, or if he just knows how SHIELD will respond, and how fast, and he's thinking about those responses. Eh, not a big deal. There's not much else to this, it's a very Osborn-centric issue. 3.4 out of 5. Also, I don't all the extra-large horns that Immonen's giving Osborn's Goblin-mode. It looks a little too silly.

X-Factor #23 - You know what? I think Raimondi is using WWE wrestler John Cena as his facial reference for Mr. Huber. I don't think he's pulling a Greg Land, but I keep seeing a resemblance, especially from a 3/4 perspective. Also, I think Mr. Huber is Mimic. Except, Mimic's name was Calvin wasn't it? So maybe he's the Super-Adaptoid? No, that's in Kree Space right now. Well, I don't know what that leaves to explain the optic blasts, or the "Bamf"ing.

See, Mr. Huber's got plans. Evil plans, that he set in motion long ago, that he's been carefully guiding things to this point. This cannot be a surprise. Dudes that wear trenchcoats, especially trenchcoats kept completely buttoned up, are always evil (Vash the Stampede being an exception, but his trenchcoat is red, not black, so I'm sure that offsets somehow. And can you believe that Firefox's spellcheck didn't recognize "trenchcoat"? Or "spellcheck" apparently. Lame ass).

In other news, Pietro has gone even further around the bend than he was previously. At this rate he should be back where he was before House of M anytime now. Today he's trying to kill someone. And failing. He called it, right before the end, that he wouldn't have any further to fall if he botched this, so now I guess he can start pulling himself back together. Assuming he's still alive.

Raimondi does his usual good job, though there are times I'm not sure motions look right. Still, he's got a good eye for detail. I like that he had Layla missing a shoe at the beginning, and kept that consistent throughout the issue. 3.9 out of 5.

And I did read the Endangered Species chapter in X-Factor, but I don't care about Beast being cranky, so no review of that for you.