What I Bought 8/10/2011 - Part 6

The end of the review line. No dumb comments about what type of day it is, but only because I can't think of a good one.

Secret Six #35, 36 - Bane, when you're actually frothing at the mouth with Venom to the extent it's coming out of his mouth, I think that means you're overdoing it. Why are there wisps of red trailing from your eyes?

Bane's learned something from his date with Spencer. Unfortunately, it isn't that what I'd call a life-affirming lesson. He's realized that to destroy Batman, you need to destroy the people he cares about, not his spine. The Six, for some reason, decide to go along with this, though Catman objects to hurting the Huntress. Aw, ain't that cute. They attack the Penguin, and force him into the group. Naturally Penguin betrays them, but when the hell did he get a subcutaneous transmitter? Is that something from Simone's Birds of Prey? All the heroes show up. Even Red Tornado! Oh, and some guy with an "S" on his chest. Not Wonder Woman, though. Still caught in JMS Hell, I suppose. The plan to destroy the Bat falls through, but Bane's secondary plan kicks in. He's now able to line up perfectly with what we'll see in the next Bat-movie. It's not a bad twist, I guess I hoped Bane was a wise enough man to recognize a better way.

I get why the guys go along, but I can't see what Scandal or Jeanette get out of it. It won't make them any bank, and they know what something like this will bring down on their heads. Also, when picking targets, why didn't Bane list Robin or Grayson Batman? I like Steph, but you can't tell me killing Grayson wouldn't be a bigger gut punch to Daddy Bats than Steph. Certainly more so than Huntress or Azrael. OK, fine, I'd just like to see King Shark devour Damien like he was going to do to Pengy's pets.

As for the art, it's Calafiore. It's solid, nothing spectacular, the big fight at the end was kind of a mess, and I didn't really get the sense the heroes 'got brutal' as Huntress suggests. What, because Captain Atom blasted Knockout in the face? She's not scarred as far as I can tell, and she's a denizen of Apokolips. They breed 'em tough there. Heck, John Stewart was involved in the brawl and didn't even blow any planets up. That's positively restrained for Johnny.

Wolverine and the Black Cat: Claws #1 - Looking at that cover, it's pretty impressive how Wolverine's body hair seems to stop at his elbows. Admittedly, I'm less hairy on my upper arms as well, but not with that abrupt a shift. He looks like he skinned a bear and wrapped it around his forearms, after waxing the rest of himself. I think I have to use the "hair" label for this post now.

There should be a "2" in that title, since this is the second mini-series by that name, but "Claws 2 #1" just looks silly. I don't know if I'll regret buying this, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Palmiotti and Gray (and why didn't Justin gray get his name on the cover? That's bull, Marvel) have some goodwill built up from Power Girl, and it has the Black Cat and Arcade, both of whom made the Top 10 Marvel characters list I submitted for the Comics Should Be Good poll.

Felicia and Logan are having a swanky dinner, while Arcade and the White Rabbit flee Savage Land natives and stumble across an alien ship. The pilot had come here intending to give Earth weapons to fend off an incoming invasion, but our villains knock her out and take the weapons for themselves. Including a little orb that can send you anywhere in time or space. So they crash the dinner, get beat up by our heroes, even get their device stolen. Oh wait, that was the plan. Welcome to a future where Mars conquered Earth, Felicia and Logan. Hope you survive the experience!

What? Don't look at me like that. I couldn't help it.

I know Wolverine has a staggering track record with women, but I'm still surprised Felicia would be interested in him. He strikes me as too gruff and rude. No style at all. Maybe it's just me. Having not read the previous mini-series, I'm not clear on why Arcade and the White Rabbit when after these two heroes, but Gray and Palmiotti did explain sort of why the heroes were having dinner in a high-class restaurant. I'm curious to see if the alien that Arcade stole the weapons from plays a bigger role in the story than simply "well-meaning patsy". As for Killraven, eh, we'll see how it goes. I can take or leave him.

Linsner's art is fine, definitely tends towards the cheesecake, but it's not photo-referenced, which is a huge plus in my book. I was looking at the preview for Rucka's Punisher series they put in the back of this issue, and one of the detectives couldn't have looked more like Morgan Freeman if I'd been watching Se7en on AMC, rather than reading a comic. It really irritated me, it just seems so cheap. I know, it isn't new, but I try to avoid artists who go to that well too much. Sorry, back to Linsner. His Arcade does have suitably scheming grins though. They aren't the huge smiles I'm used to, but they capture that evil mirth of his, so that's good.