Guardians of the Galaxy #13 - Does that cover make it look as though Havok is channeling his power through his voice to anyone else? It reminds me of how people used to depict Banshee and Siryn's powers, back in the day.The issue starts with a bar fight at "Starlin's", a bar in Knowhere. Jack Flag is officially on the team, and all the wayward team members, the ones who scattered after they learned how Star-Lord got them on the team, have returned too. Geez, if they keep adding members at this rate, they'll challenge the Justice Society in roster size (the Legion being the title holder, with what, fifty members?). Phyla has adopted the codename "Martyr", and golly gee, isn't that cheerful? Oh, and Adam Warlock shows up and starts throwing his weight around, deigning to agree to work with the team. Geez, what a tosspot.
So the team splits, one half going to trounce Vulcan, the other to ask Black Bolt to please stop fighting before the universe is destroyed. The Inhumans decline to be sensible, because they're obnoxious assholes ("No", oh just like that, huh? No wonder nobody likes the Inhumans), and the trouncing of Vulcan isn't going so well. No biggie, it's not like the book will be losing anyone interesting if Vulcan wins his current fight.
I liked this issue, though I'm not sure about the "telepath joke" sequence. It doesn't bother me, it just seemed kind of abrupt. I still like Brad Walker's art, and at times it reminds of Tom Raney (who drew Annihilation: Conquest), though there's a roughness to it, that's different from the smoothness of Raney's figures. Walker does choose some odd body positions for characters at times.
Immortal Iron Fist #25 - So the situation with the first Iron Fist was not what we thought? Or, if you were smarter than me, it wasn't what I thought it was. We learn some more of Quan's story, the Immortal Weapons make their move, Danny makes the sort of decisions that Danny always makes, and Davos prepares to do something ominous, because Lei Kung told him to. Wait, Davos looks like he has two hands again. I thought he could only make a chi fist when he had those crane girls to draw power from? Does K'un-Lun have that kind of technology?Generally, I've tried to be positive about Travel Foreman's art, but I have to say, Fat Cobra's "Heaven's Haymaker" looked really unimpressive. And don't get me started on his "Thunder Devil Stomp". Also, I am troubled by this tendency towards showing disfigured ladies sans clothes in comics. First it was Ragdoll's crazy sis, now the Bride of Nine Spiders from Quan's time, who was an old woman. *shudders* That's going to replace the cheese grater in my nightmares. Something I can't figure: There are two different sequences that take place in the past, the first detailing why Quan ended up in the 8th city, the other about what happened while he was there. The first sequence is drawn by Foreman, the second by Juan Doe. Why not use Doe for both, so it's consistent? Also, I liked Doe's art. Kind of Expressionistic, really using shadows and color to convey mood, and doing detailed work in a way where I don't really notice a lot of lines, so it simultaneously looks simplified somehow.
Nova #24 - The Nova Corps enters the War of Kings! The Nova Corps promptly gets its butt trounced! It's exactly what Richard was worried about when it came to rebuilding the Corps. We see the battle from the perspective of rookie Centurion Suki Yumiko, and from Robbie Rider, who's stuck in tactical trying to help guide her through. It's a nice way to handle it, with Suki being overwhelmed by what's going in, that people are dying around her, that she's killed people, while Robbie's wishing he was in that. At the same time, Suki's flying here, flying there, blasting the things she's told to, and has no idea whether they're winning or losing, while Robbie has the birds-eye view and can see what's happening, including the arrival of Shi'ar Imperial Guardsmen, including Gladiator.Meanwhile, Richard uses the Quantum Bands to storm Ego, and gets himself quite a surprise when he reaches the brain. Yeah, I'm not sure exactly what it means, but it certainly isn't good. I must say, I'm impressed with Rich's skill with the Bands. I know he has Quasar acting as his 'ghostly co-pilot', and he's used to having lots of power, but I'd think being Nova Prime is different from being Protector of the Universe. It's like going from having Superman's powers, which are numerous but fairly rigidly defined (in theory, allowing for variance at the writer's convenience), to using a Green Lantern ring. This wasn't a bad issue. Rich is out in space again, which is what I've been wanting for the last seven or eight months, so that's a huge plus right there. I like Andrea DiVito's art, which doesn't have too many lines to it, and DiVito seems to know when to pull the shot back and let us see a lot of the battlefield, which helps convey the scope of everything.
Thunderbolts #131 - This was really disappointing. As in, I feel bad I wasted time and money on this. Really, Deadpool gets schooled by Ant-Man? It's not even a good Ant-Man, like Pym or Lang, it's that loser O'Grady! I knew Deadpool wouldn't get to kill Osborn (unfortunately), but jeez, I don't know, I have a hard time seeing Wade lifting Norman's ATM card and using it to fatten his and Taskmaster's wallet as a "win". And since when does Deadpool have hair?!Are they planning some long-term thing where Deadpool starts stalking Yelena the way he used to do to Siryn? Because other than that, what did we get out of this? The Thunderbolts can barely handle Taskmaster and a Deadpool that seems very low in the competence category (not to mention Osborn did more damage to Wade than the entire T-Bolts roster). Norman will still be gunning for Deadpool, and we saw that Norman has a tendency to lose his mind, but I already knew that! I don't know what I was expecting, but I don't feel this was it.
That was the wrong comic to end the reviews on.
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