Agents of Atlas #10 - That is a really nice cover. The bullet holes in all the blocks, with a few of the chips sitting on the ground.So the Agents try to decide how to deal with Jade Claw, and Parker takes the opportunity to do some character-building, as well as expanding on the Atlas organization and its history, and setting some things up for when the book becomes a back-up feature in Incredible Hercules, and probably starts tying in to that book's plots.
The two I found most interesting were the segments with Bob Grayson, and Temugin's. Bob's because it drove home so forcefully how much everyone seems to depend on him, as literally everyone comes in while he's trying to repair his saucer, and starts making requests for help with projects they think will help fight the Jade Claw. Temugin's because it showed me something different about him. Not the part where he demands they go directly attack the Great Wall, and if they fall, they fall. However, his outrage, both at the experimentation going on at that Atlas outpost in Nevada, and at the conditions of the workers at the diamond mine, that was surprising. He never struck me as the sort of ruler who would care about the means needed to achieve his goals, or the lives of the people he'd be using. It provided me with a bit more respect for him, that maybe he isn't just biding his time waiting to seize control.
Gabirel Hardman's back on the art chores, working with Paul Rivoche (they share the "artists: credit). It's still a fairly minimalist style, though with Rivoche the art doesn't remind me as much of Michael Lark as it did in the Namor arc. That's not really good or bad; there are still bits that I like, where the art lends some character to the, uh, characters, but also places where I feel the details are lacking.
Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #3 - Despite not being able to use Stormbreaker, Bill presses on with trying to starve Galactus, and it's working. Galactus sends the Surfer to negotiate/extort a detente out of Bill, but for long moments, it's not clear how Bill will respond. Eventually, though, he makes the only decision he could, both as a hero, and considering the character he was trying to kill. Still, he does receive something for his troubles, and I guess we'll see if he becomes a recurring character in Gillen's Thor run.One bit I like with the art is that Kano doesn't let Galactus dominate the page in this issue compared to his brief appearances in the first two issues. The camera tends to regard Galactus from a more level angle, rather than straining upwards, and he's dwarfed by other things in the panels more than once. Only near the end, does he start to seem so much larger than everyone else again, and that serves as a way to better highlight that he, better than the Surfer, understands what Bill feels. It's strange, because I know the mini-series couldn't really end any other way, yet I'm both disappointed, and not. I guess, even if this is the ending I expected, it was done well, so it works, but I still would have kind of liked to see Bill pull it off.
Deadpool #15 - OK, like I said, I didn't get issue 14, but the recap page told me some of what I need to know. Enough, I suppose. Deadpool is alone on his pirate ship, going a little nuts, even for him. He's questioning his existence, why he does what he does, and what he should really be doing. What does he want, and is he willing to try hard to get it and keep it? By the end of the issue, he thinks he knows what he wants, and where to go to get it. Yeah, good luck with that, Deadpool.Wow, that was an exceedingly depressing issue, though I suppose it's overdue. I had found myself wondering where Way was going with this, after I read a bit about the arc in Wolverine: Origins he had Deadpool guest-star in. He seemed to have a clear idea of Deadpool there, but thus far, he didn't seem to be going anywhere. Which may have been the point. Of course, the idea he settled on is the same one he settled on in Cable/Deadpool, but I guess when one is as crazy as Deadpool (and is considered a marketable character for serialized fiction), you have to expect some regression.
Paco Medina is back on the penciling chores, which is generally OK, though I don't feel he draws Deadpool quite hideously enough. He honestly looks like an old guy who's had too much sun, so his skin is burned and kind of tight.
Exiles #6 - And we reach the end of the road, and bloody hell, that was a lot of scientific babble. The team returns to the first reality they visited, to finish wrecking the mutant alliance, and they take good advantage of the fact that Scott Summers can't quit fooling around with other women. Reality saved, they earn a brief vacation. Then most of the team pulls a fast one on Blink and Morph/Timebroker. Finally, they learn what's been going on and it involves Kang. Well, a Kang. This time. There's a lot of that old Marvel standby about how if you change the past, all you accomplish is creating a new timeline, and that means more Kang's, and they aren't necessarily the same, and oh, my head.Anyway, the truth has come out, the team does get to see how the their worlds progressed without them, and there's something up with the Scarlet Witch. I'm not clear whether the one from the first reality they visited switched with the one that was on the team, or if the one that was on the team really was the one from that reality. I'm guessing the former, but I'm not sure I'd trust that the death scenes we saw in #1 were all legit. Yeah, this would have worked a lot better if Parker had time to parcel the clues to the mystery (and various aspects of the characters) out over time. Sadly, was not to be, because it didn't have Dark Reign plastered on the cover.
No comments:
Post a Comment