What I Bought 6/29/2013 - Part 5

Saw a bunch more clips and/or trailers for Wolverine yesterday after I did that post. Saw a certain cockiness (or maybe just confidence) in Yukio that was encouraging, but they've also decided Logan was in a POW camp near either Nagasaki or Hiroshima during WWII. Not sure that's a good call. It depends on whether the Japanese officer he saved is relevant in a larger sense, or if this is just some cool moment they're shooting for. Like how major monuments always get destroyed in disaster films.

Moving on, comics.

Captain Marvel #13, by Kelly Sue DeConnick (writer), Scott Hepburn (artist), Gerardo Sandoval (artist, pgs. 12 & 14), Jordie Bellaire & Andy Troy (colorists), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - The way the Avengers in the background are colored in faded tones, part of Clint's (stupid) costume looks skin-toned, so for a second I thought he was wearing this low-cut outfit to show off his upper chest. Well, Natasha's actually zipped up for once, and the Hulk's wearing armor, so I guess someone had to do it.

All right, 40% of this thing is already done, so let's see if we can figure it out. Fortunately, Carol and her associates are doing the same, which neatly catches me up to speed with Rose's brief abduction, and the theft of a piece of the Psyche-Magnitron from Carol's place. Before they can do much more than hear from Banner that someone sent a message to Kreespace (I'm so out of the loop these days, how are the Kree doing?), Yon-Rogg starts waking up Kree Sentry robots for some mysterious purpose. The Avengers are trying to destroy them, but there are a lot more of the robots than there are Avengers, and Yon only needs a couple.

Given the power of Kree Sentrys, it feels like the Avengers would have made finding and destroying them a higher priority. Surely after all their conflicts with the Kree they would have developed some way of doing that? Ah well. Also, Cap still hasn't gotten around to watching Star Wars? I know there's a lot of film to catch up on, but I'd think he'd find time to squeeze in something that prominent. This is very much a middle chapter, DeConnick's starting to tie things together, she advanced the plot a little bit, but that's about it. I was pleased with Scott Hepburn's artwork. It reminds me a little of Andrade's but Hepburn's a lot less exaggerated and much more consistent with character's face and body shapes. Hepburn also has a cleaner style, which works better for facial expressions than Andrade's did.

It's gonna be interesting trying to read July's issue, since that'll be the conclusion and I'll have missed Part 4. I expect a lot more plot movement will have taken place by then. You know, Yog's master plan will actually be happening, the Avengers will be on the ropes, things will look grim. That sort of thing.

Fearless Defenders #4, by Cullen Bunn (writer), Will Sliney (artist), Veronica Gandini (colorist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - That's a nice cover. The Thor plushie's a good touch. Are those fingerless gloves, though? I have never understood those. I get the frustration of not having fine motor control when using gloves. I've tried to finger tighten a bolt or pick up some small thing with gloves on enough to understand the problems. But I feel like if the gloves aren't going to protect your fingers, what's the point? Just wear something with long sleeves.

Our heroines rescue Dani Moonstar and escape the Doom Maidens, who are rapidly growing stronger. Valkyrie has to deal with some revived memories which reveal she was one of the Doom Maidens once, until Odin did. . . something. Meanwhile, Hippolyta's trying to drag Dani off the Hela, but Dani tells her to piss off. Good for her, and it seems to impress Hipployta sufficiently for her to drop it. The three of them take off to face the Doom Maidens somewhere else, while Misty calls for reinforcements.

OK, I had some doubts about Hippolyta earlier, but this is more what I was envisioning. She's loud, arrogant, cheerfully violent, but there's just enough of something tempering that to keep her from being completely insufferable. I think it's the fact she respects people who stand up to her. Misty's complete disinterest in her threat after Misty slapped her, Dani telling her off. Polly doesn't strike them down, regardless of her big talk.

I'm still not impressed with Le Fay. I'm sure at some point she'll do something, but for now, she's just an old woman who talks shit while everyone else does all the work. I suppose the fact they all take her abuse should be a sign, but Mr. Raven's hired help, so I'd expect he's used to unlikeable employers, as long as the money's good. Essentially, she's a crotchety old person, and I find them annoying (or hilarious, depending on their brand of crotchety), but not intimidating. All the panels with her face partially obscured by shadows in the world can't change that.

Not that it matters. I'm still moving on from the book. Just in time too, since there appears to have been a recent death that has people riled up. I'm not too worried. There's already one character that was returned from the dead, and two others that either serve Death or are responsible for working with the deceased. I'm sure there's a way to get her back in play if they want.