What I Bought 1/3/08

OK, here we go. Got my comics, time to review. For the record, I gave up on House of M: Avengers. I looked through last week's offering, and I just wasn't feeling it. Maybe I'll give it another look when #4 comes out, but I wouldn't hold your breath. There will probably be spoilers because a) these books came out almost a week ago, so it's doubtful I'll be ruining them for anybody, and b) I'm out of practice, not having reviewed any comics in two weeks.

The Punisher #53 - On a certain level, you have to appreciate the simplicity of the cover Bradstreet went with here. Punisher sees through Barracuda's big "Surprise!" moment from last issue, then proceeds to stomp 'Cuda's face, and hook the car battery to 'Cuda's testicles. Delightful. Frank finds baby, must face off against Barracuda again, and then still again. Frank may just be in over his head here.

Jog, over at Savage Critic(s), already mentioned that he wasn't entirely pleased with the reason why Barracuda is as he is, and I'm basically inclined to agree with him. I suppose the reason could make Barracuda a commentary on how far someone can let abuse they sustained in the past push them, much the same way Frank Castle is a study in how it's everything that happens in your life that makes you who you are, not just one unfortunate incident. I'm not sure whether that's a good thing to do with the character or not.

Some of the facial expressions Parlov gives the characters are gold. Barracuda's face when he's "haw haw"ing, Frank's tired expression near the end of the issue, Baby Sarah as the shells fall all around her. Definitely enjoyed, and I'm really eager to see how things wrap up this month.

Ultimate Spider-Man #117 - Oh boy, two Goblins. Wahoo. Well, at least Carol Danvers recognized that her plan is kind of a crap thing to do with Harry, I can at least respect her for admitting she's going for a big play when she's at wit's end. If Maria Hill did that a little more often, I might not have disliked her as much (back in the days before Iron Man commandeered the Douchebag Who Leads SHIELD title from her). At least no public property was damaged, other than Peter's costume.

Such an odd, abrupt ending though. I have to think something in his personal life prompted Bendis to write this story because otherwise it just seems odd to go through the whole mess they've gone through these past few issues, to reach the conclusion we did. It was good to see Harry and Peter working together, though. I mean, I liked 616-Harry as a villain (Ultimate Harry never really got past "pitiable monster"), but it was because there were times he and Peter were such good friends, it made it that much more of a gutpunch for Spidey when it was Harry he was fighting. Immonen's art works pretty well. Nothing gets confusing during the punching, it all flows pretty well, though I'm curious how Peter knows which SHIELD agent was Danvers, since they were all wearing the same armor, and she put it on before he showed up. Not that good of an issue, because it felt like everything got sped up, like they'd taken too long getting here, and had to wrap everything up quick.

Reviews of books that come out this week tomorrow. Huzzah!