Saturday, December 03, 2011

What I Bought 11/29/2011 - Part 3

I was positive I had something to serve as an introductory paragraph, and now I've completely forgotten it.

Resurrection Man #3 - I would never have known Ivan Reis did that cover if his name wasn't on it. It isn't how I normally picture his art, though I imagine he doesn't draw that skinless people. Then again, knowing Geoff Johns. . . The way he drew Shelly's hair, I thought it was horns and he'd resurrected as a demon. It's the new 52 version of Kid Devil!

This issue is largely Mitch getting his butt kicked by the Body Doubles. They killed him once last issue, and after he manages to escape a shadowy demonic force that was holding him in whatever empty realm his soul normally lands in before he comes back, he returns with armor skin. Well, it looked like rock to me, but the ladies said "armored" so whatever. And they killed him again. So he comes back, more quickly this time, with a sonic scream, and, would 50 CCs of Sedabarbitol kill someone or knock them out? I'm guessing from "seda" in the title, it's a sedative, since killing him would just bring him back with another new power. Maybe some cool narcotic power.

"All right, girls, time to get high!" No, that's stupid.

It's actually amusing how bad he is at defending himself. Maybe Mitch is too nice. Also, the Doubles are smart enough to not give him any time to figure out his powers. I'm curious if there'll be some dissension in the future. Carmen seems a little more compassionate than Bonnie. She was almost gentle with Mitch after she drugged him. Admittedly, I'm not nearly as interested in the people the Doubles are working for and how they're connected to Mitch as I am in the metaphysical stuff, but I am curious, if only to see how differently it plays out from DnA's first go-round with the character.

Nothing new to say about Dagnino's art. I'm still fond of it, and I'm curious about when he alters the thickness of his lines. Sometimes they're heavier than others, and it isn't a matter of some characters getting heavy lines and other lighter ones. Something to keep an eye on, maybe.

Suicide Squad #3 - I thought that guy on the cover was Lock Up, that stupid villain from that one episode of Batman: The Animated Series. But no, it's Mad Dog. What? I thought the background suggested a prison, and I've been watching some BTAS recently. Is Mad Dog supposed to be Wild Dog, only they changed the name for some reason, the same way Belle Reve became Belle Reeve? They called it that again in this issue, so I assume it was not a spelling error, but a deliberate alteration.

The Squad's attempts to lie low until they're picked up fail miserably, which is unsurprising since Deadshot took Harley with him to buy groceries. Yes, the chalk white girl with multi-colored pigtails who is also CRAZY! was going blend in seamlessly. Tactical genius there, Floyd. OK, yes, she did use, something to get them their supplies without paying (I think we're supposed to assume sex appeal, but she may have slammed the cashier's head into the scanner until it broke for all we know). Black Spider and El Diablo learn what really happened to Voltaic, the team survives a run-in with Mad Dog, who may or may not have survived his run-in with King Shark. If there ain't a corpse to be warm, you can't say he bought the farm.

Wow, that's also stupid. 0 for 2 today on the attempts at clever. The team is not rescued. Instead they get some new recruits, and told to stay in the field, and look it's Captain Boomerang!

I don't know. Glass had piqued my interest in Black Spider a little, but for the time being at least, he's gone, and I wouldn't be surprised if we learn later that this version of Waller has him dumped out of the helicopter on the way back. Hell, he's wounded, that makes him worthless, right? I still can't disassociate my past experiences with these characters from reading their current versions, and the comparison isn't doing the current versions any favors. That's probably why Black Spider was working for me, because if he's a preexisting character, I don't know about it, so there's no past conceptions. The thing between Harley and Floyd, as it stands felt thrown in their for, shock value, because they can, something? Maybe Glass will turn it into something more than that, down the line. As it stands, it felt out of left field.

Also, Cliff Richards drew this issue, which makes 4 artists in the first 3 issues.

Villains for Hire #0.1 - This whole Point 1 thing seems kind of ridiculous to me, especially to start a series. Why couldn't this just be issue 1? Also, wasn't this originally going to be a five issue mini-series? I saw in the last solicits it's down to 4. Geez, Marvel, would you have a little goddamn patience? This is pretty much what I was afraid of. Marvel sees the early (relatively) positive sales DC's getting, and I think they're starting to panic. Or I'm reading to much into all the cancellations, layoffs, and abbreviating of mini-series.

This starts out like most issues of Heroes for Hire. A hero in the field, trying to deal with a problem. In this case, Silver Sable trying to stop the new Stilt-Man from stealing antiquities. The chase goes into the subways, and here comes the Black Panther. It's strange to see him dealing with something so low-level. I know he's been doing it for awhile, but still not what I'm used to. He mostly handles it, with an assist from Daimon Hellstrom? Shouldn't they have saved all these Hellstrom appearances for October, rather than November? Whatever, job well done heroes. Too bad the Purple Man plans to take back "his" idea and use it with villains.

I'm curious how this is will play out. Are we going to see how "Villains for Hire" works, is it going to be about Misty trying to put the brakes on it and having a showdown with Kilgrave? But hey, Headhunter! Haven't seen her since Byrne's Namor (where she was introduced, right?). Perhaps before this is over, she can use her hypnotic eyes on Kilgrave and take his operation. Then kill him, because Purple Man's a creepy asshole of a character, and I'd really enjoy seeing him get offed.

Not sure I'm excited about Renato Arlem as an artist. The expressions are better than I remember from seeing him on Peter David's X-Factor run, but the action is awkwardly posed, and is a subway car really the best place for a Stilt-person? I didn't think they were as wide as they're presented in this issue. I'd figure the leg would go out the window and get stuck, or tangled in the handholds, or something.

For Monday, two books, both from the same mini-series. Not consecutive issues, though, which could make things tricky.

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