Deadpool #900 - I don't know why Drew Johnson went with a cover that looks like it goes on the back of a mudflap. Anyway, for $5, you get a "Deadpool abducted by aliens, the poor, poor aliens" story by Jason Aaron and Chris Staggs. Then Fred van Lente and Dalibor Talajic have Deadpool fight mimes who can make whatever they're miming real, done silently. Mike Benson and Daimon Scott have Deadpool visit a therapist, Joe Kelly and Rob Liefeld have Deadpool completely blow off stopping some device from doing something to follow up on an old bet, Duane Swierczynski and Shawn Crystal take CSI down a peg (shoulda been you, Caruso). Victor Gischler and Sandford Greene send Deadpool on a cruise to engage in vacation ping-pong. There's what I'm assuming is a reprint of a battle between Deadpool and a miniaturized, cranked up to 12 version of himself, written by James Felder and drawn by Pete Woods.There's also a story by Charlie Huston and Kyle Baker that's highly discordant compared to the rest, and makes me feel bad about buying so many comics with him, not to mention writing him poorly on this blog. I'm contributing to his torment! The rest are all varying degrees of good, though Liefeld occasionally makes Wade's old friend look about 12 feet tall, and I'm really wishing Daimon Scott would rein in his style a bit, get closer to what he did on Batgirl. He's not a bad choice for a story about Deadpool's mental problems, and there are some layouts I really liked, but there are others where things are too distorted, too loose. No inker's listed, so I wonder if Scott is like Stroman, and needs an inker to solidify his work. Or maybe that would make things worse. The mime story was nice, though the telekinetic killer mimes with dimensional gateways where their torsos should be from Grimjack: Killer Instinct pretty owns the top spot for "Use of mimes" in a comic, so I'd say my favorite was the CSI one. I'd imagine how much one likes that story depends on how aware of (and periodically annoyed by) the cliches of those types of shows one is. I considered this excellent value for my money.
Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth #4 - Jack must have figured I buy this since I buy so much other Deadpool stuff. Reasonable assumption, I suppose, and it's here, I've paid for it, might as well discuss it. The recap page tells me what I need to know: That Deadpool is to recover Zombie Deadpool (of those Marvel Zombies books) from the Savage Land for AIM, but HYDRA wants Zombie Deadpool, so they show up, and there's a zombie T-Rex, and an attractive AIM agent who hates Deadpool.
Compared to the book I just discussed, this felt really light. It's largely an extended chase scene: Deadpool running from the T-Rex, the scientist agent lady trying to find transportation while carrying the head of Zombie Deadpool. There's a few other oddballs in there who I'm sure would mean more to me if I'd read the preceding issues, but it's mostly Deadpool and Betty running in various directions. Also, I've never been to a tropical jungle, so I don't know proper procedure for clothing, but I'd think, considering the giant-ass mosquitoes, I'd want more clothes than Betty wears. Certainly the way those shorts ride up must be uncomfortable to run for your life in. On the other hand, I'd guess there's no risk of catching a pant leg on a root or something. Basically, this issue did not convince me that I'm missing out by not purchasing this book monthly. The potential fun of two Deadpools was killed for me by one of them being a Zombie. I mean, it's kind of a neat idea, AIM and HYDRA wanting the zombie head for various reasons, I'm just so sick of zombies. And Betty's generally so unpleasant towards Deadpool that the fact he'd like to jump her bones doesn't make me any more kindly disposed towards her, so there aren't many characters I care about.
Power Girl #6 - So the party girls are princesses from Vega 7, and Nerdy Jetpack Guy (Carl) is supposed to be looking after them, but they ran, and he followed, and now they're on Earth, and both their spaceships are wrecked. Power Girl learned this by removing Carl from the fight he was having with the girls, and politely talking with him. OK, she removed his jetpack and threatened to drop him. But she was nice about it! They track down the girls, ensure they don't kill anyone, and set the four of them up with a nice place in Brazil (it's warm on Vega 7, and the girls had lost of jewels and such). Also, Power Girl knows someone knows her secret identity, which doesn't make her very happy.For awhile there, I thought the issue was going to end with PG unable to find the girls. She'd know their story, but they'd be a dangling plot thread she'd probably have to wrap up down the line, since keeping a low profile doesn't seem to be their style. So the fact she did find them and help them (rather than just fighting them) was nice. Plus, we had some more interaction between Power Girl and Terra, which I enjoy. Power Girl's the older, more experienced of the two, but Terra can help her a lot just by being someone to talk to about her difficulties. Sometimes all you really need is a good listener. OK, it is time once again for me to struggle to find something to say about Amanda Conner's art, that I haven't already said. The part at the hospital, there are so many little things going on in the background I want to know about. I know, that's always true, but between the guy with the cooler in the last panel, the guy trying to hit on the receptionist, the little kid eying Anez (I can't tell whether she's giving him a look or glancing over that "My-Tykes Magazine" she's holding. Maybe she was trying to decide if the kid was a Doofus or Dashing?).
Secret Six #14 - This book has a startling lack of Bane wearing a torn mask and screaming. Or doing either of those things separately for that matter. I know, the cover lies, shocking. Grendel wants to eat Wonder Woman. The Amazons want to escape and kill lots of guards, Smyth doesn't want them to escape. Scandal's lost her damn mind. So has Deadshot, probably. Nobody's having a good time. Wonder Woman killed the Grendel, and said it was OK 'cause it's a demon. Except its dad was Vandal Savage, and its mom was a cavebeast. So that wouldn't technically be a demon. I mean, Wonder Woman's clay given life, right? So she'd be less human than that thing, at least in a biological sense, anyway. I don't really care that she killed it, since I never once understood during this arc why everyone was making such a big deal about it (what's the difference between it and that talking shark Jeanette ripped an arm off of during the opening arc?). It tends to erode the moral high ground from which she would look down her nose at the Six. Which explains why she let them leave, but she was snooty about it. Clearly I'm not much of a Wonder Woman fan.Nicola Scott is sharing art duties with Carlos Rodriguez, who drew Secret Six #8. Their styles aren't too far off, but Rodriguez' is different enough, a little simpler, thinner lines, that the shift is noticeable. Rodriguez draws the middle of the book, and I wonder if it wouldn't have worked better to just have him draw certain characters , and have Scott handle others, so there'd be a continuity. You know, have Rodriguez draw all the stuff with Bane and Scandal, or maybe all of the Artemis stuff, and Scott takes care of the rest. I'm not sure whether that would have made the shift more noticeable or less, since there would be multiple switches in the issue, instead of just two (from Scott, to Rodriguez, and back again). Coming up next month, Ostrander! Deadshot! Double Fist Pump of Excitement!
X-Men vs. Agents of Atlas #1 - I don't remember M-11 being able to fly. Maybe he can and I've forgotten it. Wouldn't be surprised. As I've said, if Jeff Parker writes something with the Agents of Atlas, I will buy it. Crap, I just paraphrased Field of Dreams. I might have to chop off my fingers. The X-Men are moving to their island home. They haven't moved Cerebra yet, and the Agents want it to find Venus, who has been abducted. They almost get away before the X-Men show up, and the fight scene begins, and then resumes at the Agents headquarters. Then there's a backup where the Agents of Atlas (in their retro styles) fight the original X-Men (in their old school yellow and blue outfits). Something's up though, because pieces of it don't fit together (I mean on purpose, like there's going to be a reveal next issue, not that Parker's being sloppy).At least the fight scene makes sense, as it isn't a misunderstanding battle. M-11 did burn Wolverine's arm off last time they met, and the Agents do run a vast criminal empire. Granted, they want to use it for good, but they're still putting up a facade of being evil. So taking that with the fact they're stealing Cerebra, and the fight makes sense. I think Parker tells you everything you need to know, and it those little boxes next to the characters were actually helpful, since I had been wondering why Emma was always in her diamond form in Deadpool #16. Also, Jimmy Woo kicks Cyclops right in the back of his stupid head. Go Jimmy Woo! Carlos Pagulayan handles most of the art for the main story (I think Gabriel Hardman draws two pages in the middle), and something's rougher about his work. I'm not sure whether he went with a sketchier style, more little lines, or if it's the inker, or the colorist or what. I think it's Pagulayan, but I'm not sure why the difference. Was he rushed a bit? The work isn't bad, I just don't like it as much as his art from the beginning of the Agents of Atlas series.
With that, I conclude my broadcast for today. Comment if you get 'em.
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