What I Bought 1/9/08

Ken was having another back issue sale today, in honor of the return to town of Valued Customer and Organizer of Back Issue Boxes Jack, and I grabbed a few things. Haven't actually bought them yet. Friday, I think. Anyway, a few of us were down there, rooting around like pigs after truffles (well, I was anyway, and I'm willing to admit that's how I am when going through long boxes. Keep your head close to the comics, push the comic back just far enough you can see what it is, then grab if you want it, or keep flipping if you don't) and talking about this and that. Jack hasn't really been that in the loop on recent comic events, so Messiah Complex, and the continuing saga of S-Person-Prime came up, and of course, One More Day. While we were discussing it, I came across a couple of issues of Chuck Austen's Uncanny X-Men run and said, 'All this talking about One More Day has me depressed. I'm going to read The Draco to cheer myself up.' It's probably unfair of me to continue to pick on Chuck Austen for that story, but it got a laugh out of everybody, and that's always a good thing. Now, on to new comics!

Nova #8 - Well, at least there's something going on with this cover. Nova and Gamora find themselves in someplace, but they aren't sure where they are. They are attacked by odd, neon glowy things, and must work together to survive. Rich is sweating the virus pretty heavily, and Gamora keeps encouraging him to just give in, but Nova, being a true hero, refuses. As things progress, it comes out why the relationship they had during Annihilation fell apart. Personally, I thought it fell apart because Gamora was willing to be a guerrilla fighter for years, while Rich wanted to finish it all by going after Annihilus, but the events described here could probably have happened between then and Annihilation #1 (where we see they are definitely at least sleeping together). Rich eventually puts some distance between her and him, and continues on to Kvch, but he's running out of time.

First, credit to Wellington Alves, he draws some very nice oddball space creatures, and to Guru eFX, who did the coloring, which is quite lovely. Also, Alves did a nice job subtly showing the transmode virus slowly overtaking Rich, spreading back out over him again. I like how Abnett and Lanning write Rich here. He's still a hero, not wanting to kill if he can avoid it, and not totally willing to write off old allies. But at the same time, he's got that toughness that Drax and Gamora helped instill in him, where he's not naive or trusting, and he's not going to let his feelings get in the way of accomplishing his mission. I'm not so sure about Gamora's portrayal. The thing she did Rich took issue with, I can see her doing, but I'm not so sure about the moment when she really lets her defenses drop around him. I guess she trusts him, cares enough about him to do that, I just wish we had more interactions between them to go on. This issue suffers in comparison to the previous two, what with the lack of a telepathic Russian dog, but it was still pretty good, and I want to see what Rich encounters on Kvch. Given he's infected with the transmode virus, I expect the reception may not be friendly. Though if it was, that would be pretty cool.

X-Factor #27 - With Mr. Sinister, it's hard to tell whether he's enjoying himself on that cover, or if he's ticked off. I think it's the former, but you can never tell with him. So, Gambit presents the baby to "Sinister", X-Force pursues them, Xavier and Cable talk about stuff, and Layla does something of questionable intelligence. Oh, and it looks like some more of the New X-Men are going to die next week. Big surprise, that. I'm surprised they even bother to name those kids.

So, I'm confused. The Madrox that was with Layla, was that Madrox-Prime? I know it was supposed to be a dupe (and the recap page says it was), but did they ever explain why the Madrox that stayed behind fell into a coma all of the sudden? Now we understand Bishop's motivations, I guess, but I'm still unclear on Cable's. Is this because they're looking at different futures, or is Bishop thinking in the short-term, and Cable the long-term? Because based on what Bishop's childhood looks like, I can't figure how that baby makes Cable's future better. Is it Cable? Does this have anything to do with that future that Tryp (from the first year of X-Factor) came from? Ugh, I am so terribly confused. At least the tie-ins are done. Hopefully the fallout from this doesn't cock up the book too badly. I would really not recommend this book. There are some interesting moments (well, for me the Layla/Jamie stuff), but on the whole, not enjoyed.

Tomorrow, the return of 2007 in Review with the solo Marvel titles! Man, were there a lot of them. Relatively.