What I Bought 10/10/2013 - Part 2

I was told yesterday by my crew leader than a guy on another project asked about the guy who walks down the road talking to himself. She assured him I'm not crazy, but I'm not willing to vouch for that statement.

Avengers Arena #15, by Dennis Hopeless (writer), Kev Walker (penciler), Jason Gorder (inker), Jean-Francois Beaulieu (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - That cover really makes Aiden look too old.

Good news is Cullen releasing the otherworldly horror imprisoned inside him is going to keep X-23 from killing them all. Bad news is said otherworldly horror will end up killing them all if they can't find that ring again, fast. There's mixed success on that front as they find it, then lose it in the ocean, and the question becomes whether Nara will find it before Aiden has to end things more permanently. She does, and get Cullen to revert, but it may have killed her, unless Nico can turn things around somehow. There isn't any hint she can, mind you, I'm just speculating.

Most of the issue is about Nara. We hadn't really learned anything about her, so we find out why an Atlantean was living in England, or at least not in Atlantis. It's kind of interesting, the conflict between the part of her that tries to take Namor's advice to heart (don't rely on anyone), versus the part of her that wants to be close to people. Which probably explains why she got so heated at Kid Briton when he sided with Katy, and it manifests itself again with Aiden. I'm kind of surprised her feelings for him advanced that far that fast, but I guess that happens sometimes. I'm curious why we aren't seeing any of Arcade's reactions to this. I kind of assumed he was consciously manipulating the path of the sun the way Cullen described last issue, so I figured he'd be pretty interested in one of the kids turning into a giant Lovecraftian monster and rampaging. Maybe that's significant, maybe it isn't.

I hope that in the future, they'll slow the output on these books so Walker has time to ink himself. Gorder's not doing a bad job most of the time, but he definitely rounds off and simplifies the faces on the characters a lot. When Walker inks himself, the lines are a lot firmer, the characters' faces have a more solid feel to them.

Captain America #11, by Rick Remender (writer), Carlos Pacheco (penciler), Klaus Janson (inker), Dean White (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I'm guessing on those credits. They list the names but not what anyone did. On another note, the costume, ye gods, could it have any more needless lines? Between the knee pads and whatever that crap is on his hips, I expect him to be a Cap Transformer.

Back on Earth, Cap gets a clean bill of physical health, but does not want to talk about his losses to anyone. Not Maria Hill, played here as much less of a jerk than when she showed up in Avengers Arena a few months back, and not to Jet. As for Jet, she didn't take kindly to this new Nick Fury's interrogation. Or maybe she was just amused by it. Anyway, Cap takes her to his place, where she'll be staying for awhile, and tries to give her advice on how to move past the grief. Except jet doesn't buy "forget the past" from someone living in a museum. So Cap burns all his mementos.

OK, let's stop here for a minute. I understand the symbolic act, of burning all these old costumes and newspapers that record tales of his exploits with the Invaders or whatever. But even setting aside the fact his old shields aren't going to burn in a trash fire, it's just stupid. Even if Steve doesn't want to keep it, that stuff has historical value, or perhaps sentimental value to someone else. Maybe Jim hammond or Bucky would want some of it, or hell, Namor. Give it to the Avengers to keep as part of their history. Or auction off the harmless stuff and donate the proceeds to charity. That's a very Captain America thing to do. Maybe this is just the part of me that has difficulty parting with things, but that's a stupidly wasteful way to go about divesting yourself of reminders of the past. Letting go of the past doesn't mean destroying it

The only other thing of note is Nuke showing up in some Eastern Eurpean country, popping pills, and opening fire on civilians. Whatever.

OK, Pacheco's art. He doesn't get much to do, people sitting or standing and talking, that's basically it. So it's down to faces. I think he draws Jet's face very well, and Steve when he isn't wearing the mask/helmet. When he is, damn he looks really old, which is funny since they outright say in this issue that he doesn't age like everyone else because of the Serum (they also treat that like it's a new revelation. Shouldn't Cap have been in the present long enough for them to already know that?) But Maria Hill's face seems to change a lot from panel to panel, and he keeps giving characters this bored, almost sleepy look. Hill gets it once, and so does Pym while he and Banner are trying to remove the last remnants of Zola from Steve. You'd think Pym would be a little more engaged, but he looks as though he hardly cares. I think Pacheco (or maybe it's Janson) gets too busy with the lines on the face, and that creates the effect. Also, the colors are muted. Not inappropriate for an issue about people dealing with loss, with feeling disconnected, but it dampens my mood while I'm reading, makes the book that much more depressing and me that much less inclined to want to read it.

I guess I like the idea of this issue in theory. Cap trying to adjust to a new set of circumstances - again - and deciding to try a different approach. It's the execution that didn't work for me. Or maybe I've already checked out on the book.