2007 Comics In Review, Part 3

Lots and lots of solo titles this year. Heck, I'm actually leaving one out, because I think it fits better in Part 4, which we'll get to on Saturday. I did include the Spider-titles this year, rather than keeping them separate, because there weren't as many. I don't have anything else to say so let's begin.

Amazing Spider-Girl (4-15) - This title's been one of those steady books for me, rarely knocking my socks off, but also rarely depressing or aggravating me. I've been a little worried that DeFalco's run out of things to say about the characters, but I think Ron Frenz' artwork has made a dramatic improvement over where it had been during his work on the previous Spider-Girl. May's made a full return to the webs, with all the problems that causes in her personal and academic life. MJ's gotten a job at the school, in addition to her fashion work. Carnage showed up, and the story remarkably did not suck, probably because the symbiote was primarily a means to an end, and the real focus was on how the characters react. And through it all, Hobgoblin's been trying to tack control of the New York criminal underworld, with Black Tarantula periodically taking steps to slow him down, when Spider-Girl doesn't do it first. Interestingly, Peter Parker hasn't been much of a factor in the series this year, as it's been mostly about May and Mary Jane.

High Point: I'm going to give it to #6, when Jimmy Yama convinces his girlfriend to dress up as Spider-Girl, to help promote their comic, with hilarious consequences. OK, I suppose Hobgoblin showing up and abducting Heather to draw out the real Spider-Girl isn't hilarious (more like terrifying), but I was glad to see another Spider-Girl/Hobgoblin direct confrontation. All the behind the scenes stuff Hobby's been up to is nice, but sometimes you just need a reminder that the Hobgoblin is a personally dangerous dude. #14, where Hobgoblin learns all about Black Tarantula's history was pretty good too.

Low Point: I'm going to say #15, when Mindworm begins messing with May's mind, but then May breaks loose, a bunch of heroes show up, and Hobby and Mindworm retreat. As much as I've felt that the gang war arc has dragged at times, this part seemed to happen too fast, and I thought it might have been better to show Mindworm gradually messing with May's mind, while Hobgoblin continued to make inroads in his schemes elsewhere. Mindworm's still out there, so I suppose he can try again later, but it felt rushed, like DeFalco just needed a conflict to fill part of this issue.

Amazing Spider-Man (537-542, Free Comic Book Day offering) - Wasn't that great of a 2007 for Spidey, was it? I must say though, I think not having bought One More Day has lowered my reaction to it. I'm still not happy with it (seems incredibly half-assed. Quarter-assed, even), but at least I didn't spend money on it like I did Sins Past and Sins Remembered (back when it was much harder for me to give up hope on a title). And for the record, no I'm not planning on buying Brand New Day (though Jackpot intrigues me for some reason), because that would tell Q I thought his break up the marriage scheme was a good one, and I don't. Vote with your wallets, blah blah.

High Point: #542, where Peter Parker goes to the prison and breaks out the can of ass-kicking on Wilson Fisk. I am surprised Fisk didn't have a better plan than to try and fight Spider-Man hand to hand (no weapons hidden in the cane?), but on a sheer, visceral level, I enjoyed Spider-Man reminding Kingpin of just how much nothing he is compared to someone who can bench a city bus. Daredevil can have his legal victories, temporary as they always seem to be, but Parker can outright humiliate Fisk in front of all the people he wants fear and respect from. Plus, as overwrought as JMS' tough guy dialogue came off at times, I thought Garney and the rest of the art crew (inker Bob Reinhold, colorist Matt Milla) did a great job on the whole arc.

Low Point: #537, because it had those two pages of Captain America quoting Mark Twain to Spider-Man. Yawn.

Cable/Deadpool (36-48) - Severely hamstrung by Mike Carey stealing half of the main characters, thus removing the major thing the book was built on, Cable and Deadpool interacting, and how they affect one another. Still lots of funny moments, but it just wasn't the same.

High Point: The fight with Taskmaster in #36 was fun, and who could forget #38, where we first meet Bob, Agent of HYDRA? The two issues with Wolverine (#43 & 44) were pretty good, especially when Logan realizes Wade was right all along at the end, just for the confusion on the Canucklehead's face. #46 had its moments, but I got tired of Black Panther's attitude pretty quickly. Jerk. Still, the high point goes to #41, when Wade arrives on Providence to help Cable in the aftermath of that Hecatomb or whatever nearly destroying the island. Really, the scene where Domino tells Cable that Wade showed up and saved Irene from Sabretooth, and Cable smiles a little, it was just great. I think it really surprised Nate, and in a good way.

Low Point: Eh, I'm going to say #39 and #48, because I really don't care about T-Ray, or his issues with Deadpool. Of the two, I'll say #39, because #48 had the scene where all the different parts of Wade's mind appear as different heroes, including IronPool, who says he will start a Civil War in Wade's brain, and all brain cells must register. #39 had none of that, so it loses.

Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born #1 - I felt I'd already read this story, it's largely the fourth Dark Tower book, so I didn't really need to buy it twice. Maybe the next set, since that seems to be something that wasn't in the original books.

Deadpool/Great Lakes Initiative Summer Fun Spectacular - I don't know what to say about this. I really liked it though. Especially Squirrel Girl's heartbreaking quest to find Speedball, and Tippy-Toe's assertion that Squirrel Girl's victory over Dr. Doom counts because it was in story that involved Steve Ditko, so deal with it fanboys. Plus, the adventures of Deadpool as the deadbeat houseguest the GLI can't get rid of.

Dr. Strange: The Oath (4-5) - Oh, there's not really enough here to do a high/low points, but I do want to say I loved this mini-series (BKV for the win!), and I especially liked Strange bringing the martial arts beatdown in #5. Hell yes. And heck, Dr. Strange and Night Nurse being a couple even made it into New Avengers, though based on where Bendis went with the Hood, maybe that isn't a good thing. You'll have to decide that for yourself, as I don't read New Avengers anymore. Thank goodness I broke free of it! My soul has been so much lighter since then!

Immortal Iron Fist (#3-11, Annual) - I don't seem to love this title as much as everyone else. I mean, I enjoy it, but not with the "This is the greatest thing EVER!!!" passion of some others. I must say though, it reads a lot better when I read several issues in a row for this post, which I guess is a pretty convincing argument for the trades. It just seems as if they take the Countdown approach of advancing all plots incrementally every issue, rather than the 52 strategy of advancing one plot a lot, then the others only a little. Maybe I'd like it more that way. Or maybe I just want more kicking.

High Point: The Annual was pretty damn good. Of course, so was #6, when Danny and Orson, with a little Heroes for Hire backup, fight HYDRA, Crane Sisters, and that punkass Davos. #8, with our introduction to Fat Cobra was pretty badass as well. But, for my money, #7, with the story of Wu Ao-Shi, takes the gold. I don't know why exactly, it just seemed like a stirring tale of love, honor, triumph through force of will and cunning, but with pirates, and chi energy fired like arrows of lightning.

Low Point: Hmm, there hasn't really been an issue I can point to and say, "That was awful", but a lot of these Tournament of Heaven issues aren't moving enough for my tastes, so I'll say #10, which felt a lot like an issue of pure set-up, though the parts with Davos and Wendell Rand were plot advancing.

Ms. Marvel (11 & 12, 14-22) - Kind of an up-and-down year for Ms. Danvers. She made some strides to make up for her unpleasant attitude during Civil War, bu then there was the whole thing with Puppet Master, and now I'm very worried about what she's going to be like when this Brood thing is over. Are we on the verge of a Carol that strives for world domination? And how will Tony Stark respond if Carol gets closer to accomplishing that than he does? On the plus side, we got an arc with MODOK, we have Aaron Stack and Sleepwalker, and I, at least, enjoy the presence of Arana on the title (I may be the only person other than Brian Reed of that opinion, though).

High Point: I'm going with #19. Not only is it Tigra's best moment of the past year (her mind-controlled battle against Ms. Marvel, where she actually holds her own), we got Aaron Stack in a fake mustache. Aaron Stack is comedy, if it were turned into gold. And I have no idea how one would do that. Also worth mentioning is the Scientist Supreme checking out Wonder Man's butt, and Wonder Man appreciating it (he's such a skank), the battle with Doomsday Man in #11 & 12, and of course, Carol's attempt to make things right with Julia Carpenter in #14.

Low Point: #20, when Carol lets the Puppet Master blow himself up, because she knows she'll survive it somehow. It's not that she let the bad guy kill himself; I don't care if he wants to commit suicide. But how did Carol know that all the women he'd abducted were far enough away that the explosion wouldn't harm them? She couldn't have, but she let him do it anyway. Then she lied about it. If you're going to play hard, then damnit Carol, take responsibility for it! Don't try and lie about stuff! I know, it's supposed to demonstrate that harder edge she has, her Binary personality I guess, but still. It was disconcerting, to say the least.

The Punisher (43-53) - And soon, Garth Ennis' run on this title will conclude. It's probably for the best that he wraps it up before he runs out of stories to tell, but I can't help but be bummed out. Sure, it's the very definition of "written for the trade", but that doesn't mean it isn't awesome. I'm willing to give the new person, whoever they wind up being, a first arc to prove themselves, but it's going to be a hard act to follow.

High Point: So much to choose from. There's Frank's battles with Barracuda in #51 and #53, or just the final page of #52, when it looks like "Cuda has made a severe tactical error. For my money, though, I'm going with #49, the conclusion of The Widowmakers arc, when Jenny exacts her revenge, and then tries to go on beyond that. I saw someone say the arc was giving a message of "Girls can't be vigilantes", which I don't buy because up to a point, Jenny is as calm and cool as Frank ever is. Yeah, she loses it with her sister, but she feels betrayed by her own sister, so it figures she'd lose it. Frank lost it with those people in The Slavers arc, and they weren't family, so why can't Jenny have a freakout? The point I figured Ennis was trying to make wasn't about whether certain people can be vigilantes (though I think the detective illustrated that to a certain extent), but that Frank isn't a normal vigilante. It isn't revenge with him, it's something beyond that, and that's the difference between him and Jenny. I felt it was a really powerful arc, though I don't understand why Jenny had to have breast cancer specifically.

Low Point: #48 was kind of slow, but I think I'll go with #47, when we learn how Jenny got to the point she's at. It was a very disquieting issue to read, which was Ennis' hope, I'm sure. Still, it was not an enjoyable experience, to read about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband, and her friends. It did help paint the picture of how she sees herself, though. Still, it was perhaps too ugly for my delicate sensibilities.

Thor #2 - I bought it because the Legion of Doom asked me to join in their Book of Doom discussion that week. It's a very pretty book, certainly, and I thought Copiel did an excellent job conveying the sense of loneliness Thor must feel, but not much happened to make it worth the time.

Ultimate Spider-Man (104-117) - The Ultimate Clone Saga ended, Spider-Man helped bring down the Kingpin, and Osborns went crazy again. Also, Mark Bagley left (and I wept), and Stuart Immonen did his best to step in. He's done pretty well, but there's just something lacking. A lack of clarity, perhaps.

High Point: #105 had its moments, from MJ wanting to know why Fury is always on Peter's case, to Fury admitting he was wrong about Peter (And Peter's "Thank You!" in response), and Kitty finding out the hard way she's been dumped (Bad Ultimate Peter Parker). I'm going to pick the Ultimate Knights arc, because it was when Peter really seemed to step up and take control. He told the other heroes that if they tried to kill Wilson Fisk, he'd bring Fury down on them because they are supposed to stand for something more (someone might want to clue the Ultimates in on that though). Then he told Fisk to leave all of them alone for the same reason, because he remembered that Fisk knows Fury protects Spider-Man. Plus, there was the point where he confused Moon Knight by saying he was there for chicken wings (Moon Knight's response: 'There - there are no chicken wings' He's so funny when he's all confused), and when he managed to talk Daredevil out of killing Fisk's comatose wife. Man, Daredevil was pretty scary in that scene. Good times.

Low Point: #117. Not so much because Harry died (weird that one Harry dies as another is brought back), but the whole thing just felt rushed, and it really did feel like Bendis just had to get the Osborns wrapped up somehow, and in a hurry. So, it was a lot like the Isolationist story in X-Factor in that regard. Stupid events, messing with preexisting story arcs on actual good books.

My gosh, that took forever. And as I type this, I haven't even added the images to break up my boring text. As far as I know right now, Saturday will be the last one, unless I decide to do some big ranking thing after that. I'm kind of getting a itch to do it, but I'm not sure I'm up for it. Either way, Saturday: Cosmic Marvel!