What I Bought 5/23/2011 - Part 1

As I walked through town yesterday, I espied a man with a shaved head wearing a black shirt. I saw him continue east on the sidewalk as I swung by to check the library's hours (open until 9 on Tuesdays, but not past 5 any other day of the week. Strange town). That business concluded I turned east myself, but didn't see the man anywhere. I did see a young boy, maybe six years old, wearing a black shirt, with buzzed hair. For a second I feared UnCalvin had tracked me down, and was finally using his shape-shifting to a greater potential.

Then I looked another block ahead and spotted the guy. Life returns to its routine. In other news, comics! Three days of reviews ahead!

Annihilators #3 - I like that cover, and that's a good rendition of a classic Dire Wraith by Garner.

The Wraith Queen tries to brainsuck the Silver Surfer, which doesn't accomplish anything other than confusing her enough for the team to subdue her, and convince the Surfer they need to help her. The only way to keep the Black Sun from consuming Galador's sun (and destroying Galador in the process), is to get Wraithworld back out of Limbo, as that will stabilize the Black Sun. Which doesn't seem like accurate gravitational theory, but the Surfer has Power Cosmic, so I guess he understands more about it than I do. Traveling to Limbo, doesn't go as planned, as the team is besieged by Immortus' Time Army, all of which plays into the hands of the real masterminds behind all this.

In the Rocket Raccoon feature, we learn about why Rocket didn't remember where he came from, and what's become of his old home, and what's threatening it.

This was a mixed bag. Tan Eng Huat's art is bothering me the more I see it. It doesn't sell consistently sell the action to me, as characters feel posed, or the combat feels flat. There's no oomph to it. On the other hand, I did like that the Surfer arguing in favor of restoring Wraithworld. Of course the Herald of Galactus would be pragmatic, or an expert at justifying poor decisions. With the backup, I still like Timothy Green's art a lot, but I'm a bit befuddled by the story. I'm not sure if having read the original Rocket Raccoon mini-series is the problem or what, because I keep thinking "Halfworld was not like this," and I can't decide if that's an intentional story hint by Abnett and Lanning, or if they've simply changed things up. Plus, it was an exposition heavy chapter, so kind of dull.

Avengers Academy #13 - What is up with Reptil on that cover? I follow it's a surprised reaction to the spiked punch, but he's looks emaciated.

The cadets have a school dance thing with the Young Allies and some of the old Initiative students. There is much discussion of personal problems, some of which may have been resolved, more of which have probably just been back burnered. I really doubt Striker's not going to resume worrying the team is talking about behind his back just like that. Also, Pym and Tigra resume their relationship, which isn't awkward at all with Jocasta (mind based on the Wasp's engrams, thanks Ultron!) hooked into the fabric of their headquarters.

I did really like this issue. A little bit of downtime, the cadets behaving pleasantly towards one another, or trying to at least. Even if it's a temporary thing, it was a nice change. And I notice Quicksilver declined to show up, unless he's zipping in and out of the backgrounds, which makes perfect sense. Sean Chen's art is fine. Not spectacular, but solid, gets across what it needs to. Some of his faces remind me of Steve Dillon's work, especially Striker, which isn't a comparison that had ever come to mind before.

Avengers Academy #14 - While most of the teachers are dealing with a volcano, Electro attacks an advanced lab in France, and the cadets, feeling good after fighting Korvac, convince the teachers to let them try and take him down. Turns out he brought along the entire Sinister Six, who beat down the kids and take advantage of Pym's doorway system to haul some advanced power source to Doc Ock's lab. The facility they robbed blows up, the Director bitches out Pym and the public begins to turn against the idea of Avengers Academy. Of course they do. Where's the Annihilation Wave when you really need it to kill stupid people?

I was surprised at Doc Ock's elevation to big time at first, but it makes sense. He's had big schemes before, but they were limited to Spider-Man comics (even though other heroes would help out). Sooner or later he'd put one in motion and keep it going long enough it move beyond simply a Spider-Man problem. He has a point about it being ridiculous he was left out of the smart people stuff recently (I'd take Ock over the Wizard or the Red Ghost), and the idea he'd be angry about it fits. He always used to be frustrated that he couldn't beat Spider-Man, when he was so sure he was Spidey's superior mentally and physically (with the metal arms and all). I don't think he's smarter than Pym, though at least his inventions don't backfire on him as frequently.

Anyway, it was perhaps a predictable result that the cadets would lose after their recent victory against Korvac. Still worked. It wasn't as though they rolled over for the Sinister Six, they had a bad day. Their opponents were ready for them, had everything planned out, and the cadets didn't realize what they were up against. It happens. I'll be curious to see how Hank tries to get them ready for more stuff like this.

Gage did a good job giving the Six personality in limited panel time. We see a little something about how they interact, their outlooks on being crooks, and what they all have in common is they take pride in what they do. None of them want to get shown up by a bunch of kids, none of them like being considered second-rate.