What I Bought 10/21/08

That's right, it's the Comics Blogowhatchamafloogle's Tardiest Comic Reviews! Can you handle the excitement?

Starting with the books from 2 weeks ago:

Amazing Spider-Girl #25 - So we have a Mayday Parker interacting with friends and family, but it's one having to use her diary to refresh her memory as to important stuff in her life. That would seem to suggest something, but doesn't seem certain why she can't remember these things. Arana is trying to "help" the other May, because she's important to their plans towards the Black Tarantula. Oh, and they're discussing the return of . . . Norman Osborn?!

No. Norman is nice and blown up in the MC2 Universe, let's leave him that way. No returns, I don't care how they're trying to do it (I'm guessing downloading his memory engrams into Peter's brain. Norman would dig that). Why does Norman have to be alive for this? Harry's "gift" of fake parents outlasted his death, why can't Norman's? As for the rest, we've got mind transfers, scared babies, and well, May totally humiliating Gene Thompson was pretty good. Oh, and the ad for Marvel Fruit Pies starring the Sentry and Cranio. Far out, man.

Deadpool #3 - That arc was considerably better than I expected. Maybe because I wasn't expecting much. Wade's true master plan is revealed, as we learn he was even farther ahead of the game than I thought he was. Good job, 'Pool! Of course, it wouldn't be Wade's life without something getting screwed up in the end, but which nefarious villain could be responsible? Oh, him? Really? Woohoo! Unlike Spider-Man, Deadpool might actually kill that smarmy asshole. I like that Deadpool was aware enough to recognize when he has Fury over a barrel, and took the opportunity to make Nicky treat him with some respect. Double good job, DeadCool!

Other good things are that he didn't use the "What's Skrull for {insert phrase}" this issue, and they continue to limit the "Deadpool vision" to about one scene per issue. I think that's a good strategy, doesn't overuse it, but keeps it present in the reader's mind that Wade's brain has a tendency to divorce from reality. Granted, there's also the ongoing verbal sparring between Spoken Out Loud Wade, Yellow Caption Box, and White Caption Box, which serve a somewhat similar purpose, but I think they suggest a different problem. Besides, I laughed at the part where White Box asked what the Skrull scientist was talking about clocks for. With Wade's tendency to go on tangents, you'd think he could follow it more readily (though Yellow Caption Box caught right on). Hmm perhaps that's why I like that, because it reminds me of my own writing.

Still iffy on Paco Medina's art, mostly when it comes to capturing motion. There's one sequence where Wade's supposed to be running, but it relies mostly on the blurring of the background to convey speed, because his posture suggests, well, jogging, basically. Also, there's another panel where Wade is supposed to be ducking, but it looks more as though he's leaping away from an explosion behind him. Still, that sequence where we see what's happening to the Deadpool Skrulls was pretty good. Certainly looked like a nasty fate. Ah, they're bleeping Skrulls, ta hell with 'em.

Secret Six #2 - OK, so why wouldn't Catman let go of the whole "where's that smell coming from" thing? Was he just trying to annoy Batman? That's fine if he was, I just started to wonder why he wouldn't let it drop. Man spent all that time hanging around with wild animals, you'd think he'd smelled worse. So Catman and Batman fight and argue back and forth, and on and on, while the rest of the team does their thing, with their usual mixed results. I like that Ragdoll pointed out that he was best suited to be getting thrown at windows, especially because he was a little put out that Scandal seemed to be horning in on his shtick. By the by, are we supposed to know who this creepy villain in the box is? Is it one of Ragdoll's family, 'cause they really seem to be lacking some bones and such.

Aw, Huntress has been speaking on Catman's behalf. That's so sweet. I hope those crazy kids can work it out. They probably can't, but no harm in hoping. It's an odd little cast. Actually, I'd say Deadshot might be the sanest of all them. It would have been Bane, but after some of his comments regarding Scandal, yeah, never mind. I like Nicola Scott's artwork. I don't know that there's anything spectacular about it, but I think it helps the tell the story, certainly doesn't interfere, and it has the sort of clean linework I'm personally fond of. I will admit, when I saw that piece of little on the gargoyle on page 1 I though, "Oh, that's a nice touch. Even up that high Gotham's is dirty." Then it turned out the litter was there for a reason (so Catman could pick it up and toss it away), and I was disappointed. Just a little.

OK, last week's books. Jeez, this is taking forever.

Batman and the Outsiders #12 - Batman contacts them, requesting assistance. Arrow and Cass aren't sure, and Cass wants to try and trace the code "Batman" sent them. Oops. And someone dies. Man, I liked that character. That's it, RIP officially stinks, because it has resulted in a character I had grown fond of dying. Someone else gets badly hurt and the team disintegrates. Unless Cass won't let it.

Well, I kind of like this Cassandra Cain. Trying to keep Batman's team going forward, not really being able to put her teammates at ease enough to get them to go along. I'm not sure how she's going to go about building her own Outsiders. Beyond Katana and Metamorpho, I'm not sure any of the others would trust her. Benjamin's art seems to be getting rougher. Way too many lines, especially on people's faces, feels like it's being overcomplicated. It's more of a problem in closeups, but there are times when facial features look out of place, and expressions don't necessarily sync with what I'd expect in that scene.

Booster Gold #13 - So, more fill-in issues. Rip's a Starro slave now, oh no! Booster and Michelle must try and figure out what's wrong so they can fix things. They do figure out what caused the problem, but as far as fixing it goes, they were less than successful. And is Remender pulling a Tieri and picking up threads from stories he started on other books? 'Cause these Chonoses (Chronosi?) were in All-New Atom too? Or maybe they were just conveinent time travelers to use.

It's a bit of a contrast from Dixon's story. Booster there seemed to be figuring things out as he went along, doing his best to fix it with what little he knew. Remender's Booster seems to have been on the job a bit longer, 'cause Rip has taught him all sorts of protocols in the event of various bad things happening. Not that it makes an enormous amount of difference, things were still going haywire. Also, I assume next issue will reveal the point of the opening sequence where Michelle has to save just one person from a collapsing building and Booster basically explains that's how it goes some times. 'Cause that seemed like a pretty downbeat way to start a story. On the plus side, Pat Olliffe got to draw Booster Gold ripping Gorilla Grodd's face off. That was amusing.

Guardians of the Galaxy #6 - Drax' brilliant plan is revealed! Drax' reason for frequently visiting the Continuum Cortex is revealed! Cosmo's true motives are revealed! Starlord's duplicity is revealed! Did that somehow reveal Starhawk's plan to destroy the Guardians?! Why can't I stop talking about things being revealed!? Oh, and I guess we know the answer to which member of the Guardians was a Skrull is revealed. I mean, revealed! The answer is nobody. Hmm, I hadn't considered that possibility, but it pleases me.

Six issues in and the team fell apart. Given the team members, he should probably count himself lucky he wasn't stabbed repeatedly. Now we see where they go from here. It looks as though they're shifting from a Mighty Avengers style team to a New Avengers style squad. That's fine, though really, they could have just dumped Adam Warlock and I'd have been cool with it. Also, Paul Pelletier draws a very nice picture of Drax punching Adam Warlock in the face. Go Drax!

Moon Knight #23 - You, know that cover doesn't suggest very good shooting by Bullseye. Sure, he put two in the head, a bunch in the chest, a couple in the crotch, but look at all those misses. Was he shooting while drunk? Also, his smile bothers me. Moon Knight wants Khonshu to take him back, and Khonshu makes it pretty clear he's got more loyal followers than Marc to help. Meanwhile, Norman sends a hate group to Frenchie's restaurant to cause trouble, which draws Moon Knight in (though Frenchie was doing a pretty fine job getting revenge himself. Bit that man's ear off, damn!) Cue appearance of, Venom. Spector, do me a favor, rip Venom's tongue out. I know it'll grow back, do it anyway, 'cause it still irritates the hell out of me that he gets to pass himself off as a good guy.

Once again, it appears that Marc Spector has brought difficulty into the lives of the people he cares about. I wonder how that will turn out. Crawley was going to them, seeking their aid, and they turned him down. Will they end up rejoining the fold, just because they can't seem to escape? Spector's whirlpool of violence just keeps sucking them in. There's a frequent orangish tint to the coloring, especially during violent acts. I vaguely remember that from the few issues of Way's Ghost Rider I bought, so is it something Texeira requests of his colorist? It's a nice effect at times, but at other times, especially when it because a background of solid warm colors, it washes out some of the details in the faces, so they might consider easing off a tad.

The Punisher #63 - Well, that's a hell of a book to end on. What is it with Hurwitz and repeating certain phrases over and over again. In his first issue it was "And they are dead", last issue it was "I feel", and now it's "and she is dead". It's like when Marvel gave McFarlane a Spider-Book of his own and in his first arc he kept reusing that phrase "to rise above", and the sound affect "THOOM". At least that part I understood, since it was supposed to represent primal drums driving the Lizard's savagery. This is just annoying.

I think Hurwitz is making it too personal for Frank, and as a result is turning him into just another vigilante. The point is that Frank isn't just another vigilante. He's gone beyond killing for revenge, and so this thing with the kid feels like a needless addition to the story. It's meant to jack up the stakes, but it didn't succed with me. Also, I'd like for them to ease up on the freaking shadows already. I get it, this is dark and serious and Frank Castle is a man with the Shroud of Death drawn tightly around him. Now lighten up the colors a little! Feels like it overly obscures details. I believe I am done with the Punisher. At the very least until the next writer shows up. Oh, don't be so down Mr. Hurwitz, there's about three or four weeks until the next issue, I might change my mind.

And on that note, I'm runnin' out of breath, so you talk now.