Thursday, January 03, 2008

What I Bought 1/3/08

OK, here we go. Got my comics, time to review. For the record, I gave up on House of M: Avengers. I looked through last week's offering, and I just wasn't feeling it. Maybe I'll give it another look when #4 comes out, but I wouldn't hold your breath. There will probably be spoilers because a) these books came out almost a week ago, so it's doubtful I'll be ruining them for anybody, and b) I'm out of practice, not having reviewed any comics in two weeks.

The Punisher #53 - On a certain level, you have to appreciate the simplicity of the cover Bradstreet went with here. Punisher sees through Barracuda's big "Surprise!" moment from last issue, then proceeds to stomp 'Cuda's face, and hook the car battery to 'Cuda's testicles. Delightful. Frank finds baby, must face off against Barracuda again, and then still again. Frank may just be in over his head here.

Jog, over at Savage Critic(s), already mentioned that he wasn't entirely pleased with the reason why Barracuda is as he is, and I'm basically inclined to agree with him. I suppose the reason could make Barracuda a commentary on how far someone can let abuse they sustained in the past push them, much the same way Frank Castle is a study in how it's everything that happens in your life that makes you who you are, not just one unfortunate incident. I'm not sure whether that's a good thing to do with the character or not.

Some of the facial expressions Parlov gives the characters are gold. Barracuda's face when he's "haw haw"ing, Frank's tired expression near the end of the issue, Baby Sarah as the shells fall all around her. Definitely enjoyed, and I'm really eager to see how things wrap up this month.

Ultimate Spider-Man #117 - Oh boy, two Goblins. Wahoo. Well, at least Carol Danvers recognized that her plan is kind of a crap thing to do with Harry, I can at least respect her for admitting she's going for a big play when she's at wit's end. If Maria Hill did that a little more often, I might not have disliked her as much (back in the days before Iron Man commandeered the Douchebag Who Leads SHIELD title from her). At least no public property was damaged, other than Peter's costume.

Such an odd, abrupt ending though. I have to think something in his personal life prompted Bendis to write this story because otherwise it just seems odd to go through the whole mess they've gone through these past few issues, to reach the conclusion we did. It was good to see Harry and Peter working together, though. I mean, I liked 616-Harry as a villain (Ultimate Harry never really got past "pitiable monster"), but it was because there were times he and Peter were such good friends, it made it that much more of a gutpunch for Spidey when it was Harry he was fighting. Immonen's art works pretty well. Nothing gets confusing during the punching, it all flows pretty well, though I'm curious how Peter knows which SHIELD agent was Danvers, since they were all wearing the same armor, and she put it on before he showed up. Not that good of an issue, because it felt like everything got sped up, like they'd taken too long getting here, and had to wrap everything up quick.

Reviews of books that come out this week tomorrow. Huzzah!

3 comments:

Jason said...

Part of me thinks that Bendis had to wrap this up quicker than he wanted too since they've decided to do the big Ulitmate cross-over this summer and everyone has to get their books in line to fit in. Seems like the same thing with Kirkman having to wrap up his run rather quickly before leaving.

Are you going to pick up Ultimate Human? Annihilation is the only book I'm getting this week and it feels sad to go to the shop for just one book.

SallyP said...

Punisher was brutal as usual, and excellent as usual. You know that Frank has to be feeling just a little on the fatigued side by now!

I like Ultimate Spider-Man, but you are correct, it seemed to have ended awfully quickly, and with a bit of a thud. I don't for a moment believe that Norman is really dead however, or that SHIELD can't resurrect him if it suits their ends. Too bad about Harry though.

Did you read Giant-Sized Avengers? I was pleasantly surprised. I had a dose of Jarvis, Super-Butler, and in the same week had Alfred in JLA: Classified.

I just LOVE Butlers.

CalvinPitt said...

jason: So there's going to be a giant Ultimate Universe crossover that the other books have to pay attention to? Crap. At least everyone else could ignore Ultimate Gah'lak'tus.

I didn't pick up Ultimate Human. I mean, it's Warren Ellis (I think), so assuming it stays on schedule it's probably worth at least a first issue glance.

sallyp: I didn't see any copies of Giant-Sized Avengers when I visited the shop, so can't say as I have.