What I Bought 11/29/07

Well, based off the recommendations of all my readers, I guess I better go hunt I Am Legend (the book) down. Once I get it read, I'll let ya know what I think, though that probably won't be until after I've seen the movie. Until then, I'll let ya know what I think of a coupla comic books. And I have no idea what constitutes a spoiler right now, as I'm referencing things that I'm uncertain how long they've been known so, you know, keep that in mind.

Deadpool and his Amazing Friends #47 - I could have done without a return to this particular plot line, myself, but that's life. Wade's still having to do things he doesn't really want to do, but he does them because he wants to honor the faith Cable showed in him as he died. Oh right, Nate's not dead {Surprise Face!}. How about dropping Wade a line at some point there, Messiah of the Future? You know he'd help you if you asked, right, and be glad to hear you were OK? Why must you be such a loner, Bionic Arm Man?

I'm still disappointed this book's being canceled, though I'm curious to see where Nicieza leaves Wade as a character when he finishes (and for the record, I'm terrified of what Daniel Way might have planned for Wade in that upcoming Wolverine: Origins issue.) I kind of want to see Wade have to make some harder choices, though. He really didn't want to do what he did this issue, but the universe was at risk if he didn't, so it lacks in suspense. I need to think about that some more. Give me a few days, 'kay babe? And I'm talking like Dennis Miller now, so allow me to venture off on a rant here. What happened to you Dennis? I know, you experienced a huge personal shift after Sept. 11, but dang. I used to love you on HBO, and then you joined Monday Night Football, where you just seemed out of place. I mean, I felt like you enjoyed football, but it wasn't your venue (And I enjoy Tony Kornheiser on PTI, but it's not his venue either. Get Dick Vermeil in there with Jaworski and let them talk football, damnit!) And then you were on the O'Reilly Factor, and now you've got a sports show on Versus, and it all keeps going downhill for ya like Josef Stalin kneecapping Ella Fitzgerald and tossing her from the top of Uluru.

Ahem. You know, I'm not a huge Ron Lim fan, at least not when he isn't drawing bright and reflecty Silver Surfer, but he works pretty well here. Big, scary (Beowulf?) sea monster was pretty, the frown on Wade's face being visible through his mask as he utters 'This sucks'. I was unclear near the end of the issue whether Dr. Strange was there in his corporeal or astral form. He looked faded in one panel, but not in others. I'm going to say corporeal, but I think the colorist (Gotham?) might have wanted fainter, less distinct colors. It was a decent enough issue, though I had no idea what was supposed to be going on until Strange cast his spell of Reveal Needed Information.

Ultimate Spider-Man #116 - Man SHIELD can't be this stupid, can they? Losing the bad guy, then initiating a very bad plan to draw said bad guy out, all in one issue? I guess the plan isn't horrible. . . if you don't care about property damage, which Acting Director Danvers apparently does not. Which is good, because I think there will be a lot of it next month. Kitty saves Peter, somehow catching up to him before SPLAT!, I guess by pushing off the building as she jumped, and probably by streamlining as she fell, rather than flailing like Peter. Oh! I should mention, the laws of gravity appear to have reasserted themselves, and Peter is indeed closer to the ground than Norman, which makes sense, as he was falling faster. I figured since I mentioned it last issue, I should provide an update.

Bendis writes a couple of nice scenes here. The one between Kitty and Peter, after the craziness, and Peter talking with the guys in the van outside his home, those were nice. Yeah, the van scene had a lot of that Bendis banter, but I liked seeing Peter have nice interactions with law enforcement for once. I was not so happy about the post-craziness interaction with SHIELD, just because I'm tired of them being aggressive jerks towards Spider-Man when he hasn't done anything wrong.

As to Immonen's artwork, there's good and bad. That two-page splash of Osborn going BOOM! was very nice. On the other hand, the two pages that precede it, with everyone falling, and Kitty trying to catch up to Peter, don't quite work as well. In one panel they're reaching for each other and seem to be close to one another, even though Osborn should be between them. Then there's a shot of Peter's arm reaching up, but there's no sign of Kitty anywhere, or Osborn for that matter. It feels out of order, which is too bad, because I think it's a really nice idea in theory, I guess the execution just didn't work for me. Oh, and I'd like a ruling from all interested parties, Norman Osborn in a bed sheet toga: sexy or not? I have no idea why I'm asking this, just for reactions, I guess. There are parts of this comic I enjoyed, but on the whole I can't say it was that enjoyable. Certain scenes worked, certain scenes did nothing for me. A very meh, kind of issue.