2009 Comics In Review - Part 1

Yes, almost two weeks into 2010, it's the start of my annual look back at all the new single issues I bought in 2009! Like last year, I'm going through the titles alphabetically, hitting what I thought were the highs and lows, maybe an overview of the storylines for the year, and we might look at the creative teams used. I'll try and have some little bit of miscellaneous info here in the opening paragraph, so it's more than just a "Hey, it's the next Year In Review Post! Whoo!" intro.

Agents of Atlas 1-11 - Started in February, done by September. At least Marvel's still trying to give the team a push, adding them as a backup in Incredible Hercules, giving them plenty of mini-series, and of course, if Jeff Parker's writing a title, they're going to show up at least once. Over the course of 11 issues, we meet the team, see them establish a relationship with Norman Osborn, fight the New Avengers, deal with the results of some of Atlas' more questionable enterprises, and staved off the attack of the Jade Claw and her Great Wall organization.

Jeff Parker was the only writer for the ongoing, but over 11 issues, they had 5 different pencilers, most of the work done by Carlos Pagulayan and Gabriel Hardman, but Clayton henry also drew parts of 2 issues, Dan Panosian drew an issue and a half, and Benton Jew drew half of the first issue, detailing the 1950s team encountering Agent Logan in Cuba.

High Point: The New Warrior fan in me appreciated the scene in #3 where Namora reflects on coming back to life right as her daughter was killed to feed the Civil War monster. For an entire issue, #5 where the Agents battle it out with the New Avengers. It was a nice knockdown, drag-out fight, and Parker wrote a Spider-Man who was actually smart. Plus it established that there's going to be a ongoing feud between Wolverine and M-11.

Low Point: Issue #4 I suppose, since a lot of it seemed to be spent inside Bucky's head or in the past dealing with a Captain America and Bucky cryogenically frozen by the FBI. I'm guessing those were the Commie-Smashers Cap and Bucky, but it wasn't terribly interesting to me.

Amazing Spider-Girl 28-30 - The title ended, which was just as well, since I was not pleased that Norman Osborn became an active presence (albeit one running around in Peter Parker's body), plus the "Which May is the real one" stuff was getting tedious.

The creative team was basically the same one it's been since roughly Spider-Girl #70, with Tom DeFalco writing, Ron Frenz penciling, and Sal Buscema on inks, although Buscema was credited for "finishes" on these issues as well.

High Point: Mayday convincing her parents to sort of adopt the other May. I wasn't happy with all the clone stuff, but that's pretty typical for Spider-Girl. She wants to give people the benefit of the doubt, be more than a hero who solves the problem by punching the villain. The compassion route doesn't always work, but it's the way she operates, even when the person she's dealing with tried to steal her life.

Low Point: Norman Osborn running around in Peter Parker's body. I preferred Norman being completely dead, where he's simply a specter whose past actions loom over everyone, but isn't taking an active role. It was a nice change of pace comapred to 616-Marvel where you can't hardly get away from Norman.

Amazing Spider-Man #589 - Only issue of the title I bought this year, and I picked it up because the Spot was in it, and it was basically a one-shot. Fred van Lente wrote it, Paulo Siqueira penciled it, and we got to see Spidey not only punch himself in the face, but see him try and use the Christian Bale Batman voice. Granted, a voice gag isn't ideal for comics, but since I have seen the recent Bat-flicks, it worked for me.

Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter 1-3 - Kieron Gillen write it, and Kano drew (and partially inked) it, as Beta Ray Bill decides that as far as Galactus is concerned, enough is enough. The series raises the question of how being worthy is measured, at least by Odin, and how far Bill is willing to go to achieve victory. And you get to see Cyborg Horse Thor throw down with not one, but two Heralds of Galactus, all with the help of his ship Skuttlebutt. Skuttlebutt's actually quite a bit of what I like about this mini-series, as the ship has a bit of the wry humor that I liked so much about how Skeets was written during the first year of Booster Gold.

Also, each issue included the first three issues of Walt Simonson's Thor run, which double as the first three comics Beta Ray Bill appeared in, so Marvel provided some extra content to go along with the $4 price tag.

BloodRayne Prime Cuts 3 and 4, Revenge of the Butcheress - The two Prime Cuts issues consisted of several short stories taking all over the globe, some focusing on secondary characters' past, others involved time travel or investigation of alleged mystical artifacts. Revenge of the Butcheress I reviewed last week.

Chad Lambert wrote all the stories. Pow Rodrix drew three of the six Primce Cuts tales, Oscar Bazaldua drew two of them, and Chase Conley drew the other. David Miller was artist for the Revenge of the Butcheress one-shot.

High Point: I was fond of "The Infinite", the 3rd story on Prime Cuts #4. Rayne meeting up with a well-meaning time traveling cyborg vampire, misinterpreting his actions, and getting them both in hot water was a nice concept. I think it could have used more pages, but it was amusing as it was.

Low Point: The story preceeding it "Love Like Winter". It wasn't bad, focusing on Rayne's assistant, Severin, and his past associations with one of Rayne's enemies/relatives, but the story was so short, there wasn't time for Lambert to really establish the depth of feeling between the characters, so that we could understand the importance of it to Severin.

Booster Gold 16-22 - There was a multi-part story of Booster chasing after these knives, teaming up with a Booster from earlier in the series against Chronal Energy Rex Hunter. Then he traveled to the 1950s to team up with Frank Rock, then tried to stop the Black Beetle from eliminating the Wolfman/Perez Titans. None of that interested me, so I dropped the book. It was an extra dollar by then, with the Blue Beetle backups, which was another reason to save so long.

Dan Jurgens wrote and drew all the Booster Gold stuff except #20, which was written by Keith Giffen and drawn by Pat Olliffe.

High Point: The run-in between Booster and Dick Grayson Batman was pretty interesting, though Grayson came off more abrasive than I'd expect of him. He's supposed to be the Batman with people skills, after all. It was funny how casually Booster doped out who was wearing the cowl, then says "Grayson" likes it's no big deal. Clearly, he wasn't impressed.

Low Point: I was pretty bored by the whole deal with the chasing of the knives across the timestream. Not sure why, it held no interest for me.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer 24 - I bought it in the hopes of more Faith and Giles fun, like the Brian K. Vaughn arc from 2007. Jim Kreuger wrote it, and Cliff Richards penciled the story about Faith and Giles following a young Slayer to a supposed Sanctuary for Slayers, which ends up not being that at all. It was OK, but I was hoping for more interplay between Faith and Giles.

Deadpool: Games of Death - A one-shot written by Mike Benson and drawn by Shawn Crystal about Deadpool traveling to an island that's the site of a violent game show to rescue some rich guy's kid. Deadpool ends up competing against a bunch of action hero homages/rip-offs, who die in gruesome or hilarious ways. Or both. And, of course, things are not as they were advertised to Wade, but that's OK, he's the star so he can handle it.

It wasn't laugh out loud funny, but I had to smile a bit, and Shawn Crystal's art makes everyone look odd and kind of freaky, which is fine, since you'd have to be odd and kind of freaky to be involved in this whole thing.

Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth 4 - I didn't order this, it just got sent to me by my comic guy for some reason, so here we are. Deadpool's suppsoed to be helping AIM retrieve a Zombie Deadpool head from the Savage Land before HYDRA gets it, but keeps running afoul of a Zombie T-Rex, which was somehow not as cool as I thought it would be. Maybe a Werewolf T-Rex would have been cooler. There was nothing about it that made me really want to buy the next issue.

Deadpool: Suicide Kings 1-5 - I really hoped this would be better. It involved Tombstone, and I have kind of a soft spot for him. Plus, Mike Benson wrote it, and this started right after Games of Death had come out, so I was reasonably confident he could write a Deadpool story I'd enjoy. Not so much as it turns out. Carlos Barberi is the penciler, and he keeps to a monthly schedule, which is nice, but I thought anatomy was skewed too much, especially when it came to Outlaw's chest (too large), and Spider-Man's head (too small). Punisher as a matador was kind of a nice visual, but Barberi doesn't alter his style for the hallucinations, which hampers it.

High Point: There were two things in this series I found funny. One was Spider-Man and Deadpool trading insults until Daredevil gets fed up and leaves. The other was when Tombstone tries to escape Deadpool, leaving his fat cousin behind. Said Fat Cousin tries to run from Deadpool, but gives up in exhaustion after about 10 feet. Yeah, it's a cheap joke, but I needed something to laugh at.

Low Point: I think the story could have done without one of the three heroes they had guest-star. Probably Spider-Man. Daredevil has run into Tombstone before, and if you want to have fun with Deadpool getting really thrashed by a hero who thinks he's guilty of blowing up an apartment building, well, the Punisher's a better choice than Daredevil or Spidey.

That's all I have for today. Tomorrow, I'll try and get through the rest of the Deadpool stuff, and move into some other letters in the alphabet.

Now To The Books

I'm fairly certain both these books are historical fiction, though their introductions attempt to cast them as based on fact. And maybe they are. I'm still confused on that point.

The Adventures of Alianore Audley, Brian Wainright - Set during the reign of Edward IV, up into the reign of whichever Tudor first ended up on the throne. Alianore is a young woman who claims to be uninterested in power or a life of adventure and shaping the world, yet has considerable skill when it comes to espionage. Sent to serve as a lady in service of another powerful lady in the northern extents of England, she learns that the lord of the manor is planning to throw in with a rival to Edward, sends warning to the King, and before you know it, she's been drafted into the Royal Intelligence Services, much to her dismay.

Perhaps because of the time she's raised in, Alianore's goal is to meet a nobleman who's well-off enough she can focus on running the house and having lots of kids. She does achieve those goals, after much time and effort spent trying to interfere with usurpers and settling disputes between rival houses. I'm a bit surprised she's so good at espionage, given her tendency to speak her mind and not observe the niceities expected when dealing with royalty (at one point, she flatly refuses Edward's request the she become one of his three regular mistresses, which seems like it could get you thrown in jail). It's not as though she doesn't know how, and she can fake it as necessary, but her natural inclination is to call it as she sees it. Then again, she makes it clear (as the story is presented as her relating it to various transcribers) that much of her work was to form a network of informants who would report to her, and receive pay based on their peformance, so she was as much administrator and advisor as field agent. She does nearly die in France, and later leads a group of Welshmen against allies of the Tudor wretch, but she's not strictly Jack Bauer.

It's a quick an easy read, livened up by Alianore's frequent biting remarks, which add humor to the proceedings. So even though there are poisonings, treasonous acts, murderous ambushes of despicable lawyers and more, the book isn't particularly grim. Even the more dire moments have that pulp serial feel of "how will our heroine escape this?" where there's suspense, but no doubt she will escape.

Death of a Musketeer, Sarah D'Almeida - The intro for this book described someone (I assume the author) receiving a package from her relatives in France, which appeared to be the diary of D'Artangan, with notes in the margins written in 3 different sets of handwriting, ostensibly the scribblings of Athos, Aramis, and Porthos.

The story itself begins with D'Artangan in his duel with Athos, with Aramis and Porthos awaiting their turns. Then some of the Cardinal's boys appear, D'Artangan stands with the Musketeer, they score a resounding victory. All of which, if you've read the book or seen the movies (I was introduced to the story through the movie with Charlie Sheen and Tim Curry), you know. Afterward, they visit taverns all across Paris, where other Musketeers are only too happy to buy them drinks for having routed the Cardinal's Guards. Leaving a tavern late at night, they see another Musketeer, who flees at the sight of them. They pursue, and catch up, only to find their quarry dead, her throat cut. Oh yes, and she's the spitting image of the Queen.

From there, our four heroes set about trying to piece this together, but quietly. Is it actually the Queen? If so, where was she going to (or coming from)? Why was she dressed as a Musketeer? What's the meaning of the encrypted letter in her pocket? Fortunately, all of the Musketeers have various contacts (usually romantic) that prove useful in their endeavors. Naturally, the whole thing has potentially global ramifications, and our heroes must scramble to prevent a major mess.

D'Almeida opts to have the quartet frequently split up, each pair having a different objective. She usually alternates chapters between the pairs, so it stays fresh in your mind what each group is up to, and makes certain that something happens in each chapter, even if it's just reaching a dead end. Also, she alternates the perspective the chapters are written from, between Musketeers. Over the course of a mission where Aramis and Athos visit an orphanage, one chapter would be written from Aramis' perspective, the next from Athos, with chapters detailing what Porthos and D'Artangan are up to interspersed. Because the pairings shift as the Musketeers convene to share their findings, then pursue new avenues, we are able to see how each character reacts to the others, how they perceive, or how they think those others perceive them, though D'Artangan doesn't waste much time on that, perhaps because he hasn't been around them long enough to consider how each Musketeer might view him differently.

I wasn't totally satisfied with the ending, but I don't want to say more because it would likely spoil things. I suppose it works given the past of one of the characters involved, but I think he needed to be overruled in this case. This was another quick, entertaining read, my disappointment with the conclusion notwithstanding. It's night loaded with very much sword-fighting, but it's interesting wathcing the Musketeers try to solve a problem with their wits, by trying to investigate the crime by talking to experts and chasing down leads. I know that all of them came from at least moderately noble families, so presumably they'd received an education, but I hadn't ever though of the Musketeers as being suited for sleuthing.

Films That Attempted To Entertain Me Over Vacation

There were several, so let's dive in.

Drag Me To Hell - Maybe the horror genre isn't for me. Maybe we shouldn't have watched the unrated, director's cut. There were several scenes that made me nauseous (usually they involved vomiting), but nothing actually scared me. I couldn't decide if I was supposed to sympathize with the old gypsy who placed the curse on the plucky young bank employee who refused a third extension on the gypsy's mortgage to prove she was cutthroat enough for a promotion, or the plucky young bank employee. I wasn't going to sympathize with the gypsy, since I didn't buy her spiel about being shamed by the girl (the gypsy chose to beg on her knees for an extension, so the way I see it, she shamed herself), but the girl went against her instincts and denied the extension solely for a promotion, so maybe I'm supposed to think she had it coming. The fight in the parking garage was alternately hilarious (use of a stapler) and disgusting (gypsy trying to bite the girl only her dentures were knocked out when she hit the dash, so she was just gumming the chin. Shudder).

The ending did surprise me. Not that I expected a happy ending, I thought it would be harsh in a different way.

Shutter - OK, I only half watched this. I think Unforgiven was showing on AMC, so I kept leaving the living room to watch that on a TV in one of the bedrooms. What I saw didn't interest me much.

Star Trek - I don't know what my expectations were for this film. It was entertaining enough. I liked Quinto's performance as Spock, Simon Pegg was funny, I was surprised to see Charlie Bartlett playing Chekov, though I can't decide if we needed the accent. It only seemed to be there for the purpose of one joke, so probably no, at least to the extent it was portrayed. Basically, all the actors worked for me, more or less.

I would have liked to see Kirk have more time to argue with Spock at the academic overview hearing. It's a simulation you aren't supposed to win, so why does it matter that Kirk cheated to beat it once? When he didn't cheat, he lost twice, so what's the big deal? All the time travel stuff actually made sense to me, which is a nice change. I don't mind the threat being a time-traveling Romulan miner out for revenge either. Star Trek does time travel stuff all the damn time, so it's not as though it's an unusual plot device.

Paranormal Activity - I can't decide which ending I like better. The alternate ending leaves a bit more ambiguity about what was at work, and what it's motives were. The ending they went with is creepier, because it suggests she's out there, up to who knows what (Hopefully that won't be answered in Paranormal Activity 2: Road Trip!). I had a hard time believing Micah is such a twit, so unconcerned with his wife's emotional distress. The whole "Well, you said not to buy a Ouija board, so I just borrowed one" bit was ridiculous. I'm not in a relationship, and even I know better than to pull such a jackass stunt. His stubborn insistence they not contact the demonologist because it might make things worse, even though Katie points out it's already getting worse, was kind of sad. He wanted to be the big man, run off the supernatural hoobajoop after his girl, and calling in someone else would be admitting he couldn't cut it. He almost seemed to be in the movie solely to keep making the wrong decision.

All of us watching laughed heartily at the psychic, who upon his second visit, immediately said that he couldn't do anything and that he needed to leave. He took a step into the house and was all "I've got to leave. I'm making it angry, I have to go, but I'll try and do something to help, but I can't stay here." If you can't be inside the house, then what are you going to do to help? I managed to avoid jumping from my seat throughout the movie, but I think that was because every time they switched to the bedroom camera, I started watching the entire screen intently, determined that I wasn't going to miss any little thing that might happen. That cut down on its ability to catch me off-guard. Really enjoyable film, though I don't think it lends itself to repeat viewings.

Sherlock Holmes - I saw this twice: Once with my dad, and once with Alex. We all enjoyed it. I didn't think it was particularly Holmesy, a bit too rough and tumble, but I'm a neophyte when it comes to Holmes. I may have read Hound of the Baskervilles when I was much younger, but I don't remember it. I was eager to see it with my dad, because he's much more familiar with Holmes, and he's a history teacher, so I wanted his unput on the historical accuracy of the film. He was highly impressed with the physical surroundings, the buildings and such, and the period accurate ordinance. He thought the clothes were almost entirely wrong, except for Watson, who he said was usually dressed half-right. He also though too many of the streets were cobblestone, but that there were appropriately few hansom cabs. So in terms of period accuracy, that sounds like a "C" grade.

He felt that Downey and Law did a good job portraying the characters as they were written, but he thought they weren't very true to the earlier works. For me, Downey felt more Dr. House than how I normally think of Holmes. I kind of think of Holmes as being more precise and controlled in his mannerisms, better able to control his condescension as the moment requires it, as opposed to Dr. House who just says whatever, whenever. From things I've read online, that picture is way off, but I didn't know that going in. I like how Jude Law plays Watson, especially having watched some of the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Shelock Holmes movies (The Scarlet Claw and Adventures of Shelock Holmes) with my dad in the days after we watched this movie. If I have a choice between the two portrayals, I'll take a Watson that's not a well-meaning, but ultimately useless buffoon.

I like Downey Jr.'s Holmes, too, he was an entertaining character, but I tend to associate with the long-suffering sidekick of the jerk genius (it's the same with House and Dr. Wilson. I am eternally on Wilson's side, more concerned that things go well for him than for House). There was a scene I particularly liked, the dinner scene, before Watson and Mary arrive. As Holmes sits there, and the camera jumps to different people, the noise gradually becomes overwhelming, it made Holmes' gift seem more like a curse for a moment, an inability to stop noticing all the little details that tell you so much, even for a moment. And all the little crimes and indiscretions he notices seem so obvious, it helps explain his sinking into drug-addled depression. It's all too easy, but he can't stop himself from seeing it, so he has to wall himself off. Of course, he follows that up with his assessment of Mary, which you could be charitable and say was jaundiced by his frequent associations with criminals, but really is him being pissy she's taking his best friend away.

One thing I couldn't figure out were the two scenes were Holmes is fighting, and maps out a plan of attack which we see in slow-motion, then the attack goes off exactly as planned. I assume it's suppsoed to show his powers of observation and deduction that he can so quickly perceive weaknesses in his opponent, and predict their movements well enough to map out a long-term strategy that factors them in. But why do it twice? Once would have been sufficient, or else do it repeatedly, say against the really big guy, or Blackwood. Only twice seemed odd.

All Business Today, Apparently

I'm Applauding Moondragon for saving Cynosure, and Hugging her because it was hard on her. {Wait, aren't you going to say hello? Tell me how much you missed me?} I thought you liked to get to it? Cynosure gets a Bonk for being a jerk, and Drax gets a Hug. {Wait, why?} That Boss Lady hurt him. {She hurt him with the memory of all the people he'd hurt and killed, so he did it to himself. You wouldn't hug some criminal Ghost Rider gave the old Penance Stare, would you?} No? {There you go.}

Is it OK to give BlacJacMac a Hug? {Sure. He was possessed by an Elder Being, had his place nearly burned down around his ears, and his girlfriend is probably going to be ticked at him about all of it.} Bob the Gatorlizard saved the day, so Hug for him, and GrimJack's going to let Bob stay at Munden's Bar, so Hug for him too! I want to give Amanda Waller a Bonk. She ought to leave Deadshot alone. Why are you shaking your head? {I wouldn't go near enough to Amanda Waller to do anything. You might wind up with an explosive chip in your head.} She wouldn't do that to me. It would mean war with the Pandas! {Kid, she's Amanda Waller. The Wall. That means she doesn't give a damn.} Then she needs to learn a lesson. {If you say so. Give Deadshot a Bonk while you're at it.} Huh? {Because he didn't make sure Rick Flag was dead. He could have at least shot him in the face! Then we'd be rid of Rick Flag again!} But John Ostrander just brought him back a year ago. {Hey, we all make mistakes. Besides, the purpose of some characters is to die for our amusement. Like Quasar.} That's cold.

{Anything else?} Marvel Boy stopped an angry scientist with a weather machine, and saved a bunch of window washers. {So, applause?} No, a bonk. Of course Applause! {Your grasp of sarcasm is improving.} Soon I'll be better than you! {Oh, trying to put me out of a job, eh? Get out you downsizer!} No, it's cold and snowy outside! {Oh come on, the wind chill is still in the positive numbers.} Then why don't you go outside. {Are you nuts? It's windy outside. Nothing good happens when it's windy.} You can fly kites when it's windy. {Or you could just buy a huge fan and fly kites whenever you want.} That's silly.

What I Bought 1/06/2010

Yes, I've returned. Movies and books I was entertained by during my time away will be discussed later this week, for the record. Beyond that, I'm pleased I was able to make it back the day before snow will arrive. I had been starting to think nature was timing it so poor weather would appear when I needed to travel. Also, I don't find much amusements in comedies these days, but watching friends and family interact with their pets is consistently good fun.

BloodRayne: Revenge of the Butcheress - The Butcheress was one of the bosses from the first BloodRayne game, one of those scientists who loves to torture the people she experiments on, and one who also apparently bathes in the blood of virgins to maintain her youth. I don't remember if that came up in the game, but they mention it in the comic.

I thought she died in the game, but apparently not, and based on this, she and Rayne met prior to that confrontation, the memory of which was blocked by some demonic larvae Rayne was infected with during that first meeting. The death of the Queen said larvae came from not only ressurects dead infected with larvae, it removes the mental block. Why? Not a clue (though there's a good possibility I've forgotten a reason explained in the games, as it's been years since I played either one). There's some fighting before that bit of expostion, then Rayne nearly dies, which triggers the emergence of DarkRayne, some evil alter ego that appears periodically, but hasn't been explained (she seems a lot older than Rayne, for one thing).

The comic is connected to both the games (and takes place somewhere is the 60-odd years between them) since adversaries from both show up. I think the story is limited by that and by being a one-shot. I think it would have helped if we could have seen the Butcheress begin to implement her plan, instead of it being cut short in the developmental stages. Also, I'm not sure it was necessary to have Rayne have blocked memories that lead her there, rather than her usual method of being sent on a mission and running into trouble. It's still an OK story, but those things nagged at me. David Miller handles the art and does a decent job. There's a roughness to the art that works with the horror of the story, though it seems to get progressively rougher as the story progresses, which I'm not sure was necessary.

GrimJack: Manx Cat #6 - Gaunt gets inside BlacJac's compound, finds BlacJac, now under Mannachs control, fights BlacJac, traps Mannachs with the help of Bob the Gatorlizard, returns the Manx Cat to the Sleepless Monks, and tells Bob he can stay at Munden's Bar if he likes.

This has much of what I like about GrimJack as a character. His wry sense of humor, his adaptability in combat, then sense of weight he carries on his shoulders from his past, and how that drives him. Also, the banter between he and BlacJac is always good. It's that ball-busting you get with two longtime friends, where they can say things to each other that wouldn't be tolerated by anyone else.

I don't know what to say about Truman's artwork. It's swell. I thought it was interesting Mannachs was in human form, but didn't have her face wrapped as she did when Gaunt encountered her in the past. His GrimJack looks rough and old, but not too old, not yet.

Guardians of the Galaxy #21 - The book I would have reviewed 2 Wednesdays ago, had the UPS fellow not been extraordinarily late in delivering comics. Moondragon tries to contain the otherworldly creature that took control of a Luminal. Eventually all the commotion leaves her with no choice but to trap it inside her, where she hopes to use her telepathy to calm it to the point she can make it leave and go back through the Fault to its home. Then the Luminals do something stupid. Then the Universal Church of Truth makes their play.

It's a nice issue, though it's a heck of a development with the UCT that makes me think the Guardians were better off when Magus was running the show. My enjoyment is hampered by the fact the story is Moondragon-centric, and I'm not terribly interested in her. I don't have anything against her, but nothing for her either. There are other characters in the title I'd rather see the focus on. Brad Walker's artwork continues to be fine, though I feel he's exaggerating his style more as time goes on. Not a lot all at once, just gradually elongating peoples' faces, making facial expressions more over-the-top. Which may be appropriate for a book about really weird stuff. Maybe I've just grown fond of Wesley Craig's work.

Marvel Boy: The Uranian #1 - It's Agents of Atlas related, Jeff Parker wrote it, so I bought it. This seems like it might be a Year One story for Bob Grayson, as I believe it takes place after he began his superheroic career on Earth, but before he joined Jimmy Woo's original squad.

We see Marvel Boy thwart a disgruntled engineer who developed a Helicarrier looking thing with weather control abilities. For which Marvel Boy is locked up, because people are afraid he might be working with the bad guy, or is maybe a Communist. It's the 1950s, you must recall. Bob leaves and decides to try heroics in New York, where he meets a writer for Timely Comics named Dean who wants to feature him in a comic and gives him the name Marvel Boy. Also, Bob's activities are being observed by the people from Uranus who outfitted him and are hoping he'll be the key to their leaving Uranus.

I like that Parker includes that, as well as Bob's origin in general. He's not assuming that the only people reading this mini-series are those already familiar with the character (hope he's right about that), so best to get them up to speed. We get to see Bob dealing with some basic super-hero stuff, while trying to adjust to living on Earth, and struggling with how to convince people he really is a hero.

That's all fine and dandy, I'm less enamored of Felix Ruiz' art. The faces remind me a little of Keith Giffen or maybe Sean Phillips (at least the way he drew on Joe Casey's Uncanny X-Men), which is admittedly not really to my personal tastes. There's nothing wrong with it, there's no difficulty following the action, but there seems to be an attempt to make it look old-timey. The characters' shadows have these vertical lines, and there are dark blobs at the edges of panels, like an old movie. I'm not sure it adds anything to the story. Maybe they could have tried to replicate the the style of the artists in the two old stories included (the first drawn by Russ Heath, the second by Bill Everett).

Suicide Squad #67 - Is there anyone who ever drew the Bronze Tiger's mask/headgear in such a way it looks like such a thing, as opposed to make him look like some kind of tiger man? Not going by the cover for this issue, or the interior art.

The Six are hired to bust a drug dealer out of Belle Reve, but it's a trap. Waller wants Deadshot back, and has decided she might as well take out the rest of the Six while she's at it, stinking mercs. The Six are getting throughly handled by issue's end, when a bunch of, sigh, Black Lanterns, lead by the Fiddler who died in Villains United, arrive at the prison, to eat hearts I assume. Also, Bane plays disapproving Dad when Liana shows up for a date with Scandal, which makes me not like Bane since Liana's a nice sort. Which is probably the point. He means well, but what does Bane know about romantic relationships?

J. Caliafore is the artist, and does his usual solid job. One minus, the new Squad recruit, Yasemin could stand to have a better outfit, especially if she's going to go hopping over bannisters. One plus, he draws a nicely creepy looking Fiddler zombie in a couple of panels. Oh, and Ragdoll in a suit and bow tie is kind of cute.

If this had been an issue of Secret Six, I'd have enjoyed it more, as it could more acceptably be one-part of a multi-issue story. It's listed as an issue of Suicide Squad, but on a one-time return from the grave, essentially a one-shot, so I'd prefer a one-in-done story. I know those aren't common at DC or Marvel these days, but Ostrander and Simone know how to write a story like that, and still have other plot threads running through to be picked up in Secret Six. Maybe settle all the Black Lantern crap in this comic, then resume the Six/Squad conflict. Or vice versa. For all the beefs I had with BloodRayne: Revenge of the Butcheress, it tried to tell a complete story in one issue, which was nice, since it was a one-shot. Doesn't fill me with confidence for the other returning titles.

That concludes our reviewing programming for the day.

Entering No Posting Mode - Holiday Edition

I'm off to visit family and friends for at least the next week. I might actually stumble across Internet access along the way, but I'm not betting on it. So before I vanish from the comic blogowhatchamafloogle for awhile, I'm leaving you with a hypothetical, posed to me by Alex.

Simple question: Which would you rather be able to play (assuming you've only the time to learn to master one), the cello or the saxophone?

Alex and I both picked the cello. I'm not sure of his reasons, and I was a little surprised at myself, since I often enjoy music prodyced by saxophones, but I felt that if I was an excellent cello player, that would mean I had excellent fine motor control in my fingers.

Which doesn't make any sense, as you probably need excellent fine motor control to play a saxophone well, but that was my off-the-cuff explanation for my choice. Which is your preference?

Until sometime in the New Year! Probably!

Is Bane Still Doing The Right Things?

Tuesday I looked at some recent developments in Secret Six from Scandal's viewpoint, what she was trying to accomplish and such. Since Bane was a major factor in those actions, we can look at his from his perspective as well.

In the first story arc, Bane was fond of saying that he only does what he knows is right. That included not taking Venom, refusing to sell out his teammates to Junior, adopting a paternal attitude towards Scandal, insisting Deadshot not be so rude to their prisoner and so on. Granted, he wasn't perfect, since he took Venom to save Scandal, an action we debated the meaning of back on March 28th. Since then, Bane has stayed away from Venom, so he hasn't given up on trying to do what he thinks is right.

So what's that mean? He took command of the team, ostensibly because as money-making enterprises go, the Secret Six are a disaster. They take jobs, but are unwilling to see them through, so Bane plans to change that. Does that mean they'll take less questionable jobs, ones that won't cause such deep divisions in the team, so it'll be easier to see it through? Or does it mean they'll continue to take the same types of jobs as before, but Bane won't allow the team to back out? That'd be interesting, considering he was one of the first to bail on the job of guarding the prison. In one sense, I'd think the right thing to do would be to take les morally questionable jobs, but that's from a personal standpoint. From a business standpoint, which seemed to be what prompted his coup, the morally questionable jobs probably pay better, so the right thing from a financial standpoint would be to take those jobs, but not get cold feet.

His second act was to boot Scandal off the team. That could be considered right in the sense that he's protecting her from harm, though she seems more resilient than he is. From the team standpoint, Scandal switched sides on the last job when Bane did, and was voicing doubts even earlier. She's friends with Jeanette, and she Bane do care about each other, and that kind of emotion could be said to interfere with the team's ability to succeed. They're more worried about each other than about doing the job. It could be considered right in a couple different ways. Of course, Scandal could also sink into a deep funk, which could make her a danger to herself and others, and that would be partially Bane's fault, since he set her adrift*. But if Bane's concerned primarily with the team, and secondarily with Scandal, and probably not at all with anyone else, then it's the right decision.

Then he welcomes Black Alice onto the team. She more powerful than anyone they've got currently, and she actually wants to join (we can certainly question the wisdom of choosing this route to get cash, but she's commited to it regardless). She's going to harass the team until they let her join, so best to just let her in so they can get on with business. She's not close to anyone on the team, so if Bane is trying to reduce annoying emotional bonds between the team so they'll focus more on the job at hand, it's the right move. Now, is it the right move morally, to let Alice in, to presumably encourage her to use her powers this way? I'd say no, but as Catman noted, she observed him telling another person how to torture someone and didn't flinch, so maybe it's too late to be worried about such things. Perhaps Bane has some brilliant scheme to expose her to such horrors that she reevaluates her life and leaves the team. That's probably the best thing he could do for her**.

But that would likely not be best for the team, so I doubt that's his plan. Again, though, I think Bane's concern for others ends at Scandal Savage. His teammates are means to an end, and beyond that, I don't think he cares much for them. I think Bane's definitely doing right by the Secret Six as an organization, but not so much for Alice or Scandal.

* I'm unclear on the current situation. She's off the team, but still hangs out with them? Do they still live in her house? If she told them to pack up and move out, would they?

** That and give her enough money to take care of her dad so she wouldn't simply turn to other criminal enterprises to raise the funds.

Once Again We See That Greediness Gets You In The End

Return of the Jedi was running on TV this afternoon, and watching the early part of it I found myself thinking that Jabba the Hutt probably wishes Luke's Jedi tricks had worked on him. If they did, he cheerfully lets Leia, Han and the rest go, and there's no trouble. Instead, he gets choked to death, and then whatever was left of him gets blown up with skimmer/skiff/floating pleasure barge thingamabob.

There's a lesson in there, something about listening when people make polite requests. Or, in the spirit of the season, it teaches us if one doesn't get into the spirit of giving, sharing, and good will, they and all their friends will die horribly in a miserable desert. That was the lesson of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, too, you know. Blondie didn't give Tuco his cut on their last scam, so Tuco hunted him down and tried to death march him across a barren stretch of desert. At the end of the film, Blondie has learned his lesson, and leaves Tuco half of the gold, as was agreed upon.

*sniff* Acts like that restore one's faith in the ability of people to learn and grow. What a wonderful thing.

OK, enough of that. Have a Merry Christmas, or if Christmas isn't your speed, then have yourself a nice December 24th, or 25th if you're across the dateline. Talk to ya tomorrow.

Bah!

There are no reviews, because I bought no comics. Not by choice, but because, as of 3 o'clock this afternoon, the UPS guy had not delivered the week's comics to the store. Thus, there was no new issue of Guardians of the Galaxy for me.

Now I'm sure the comics weren't over six hours late because the UPS person is lazy, or incompetent, or in a drug-addled haze. No, I'm sure they were swamped with so many packages the sheer sight of them would have sent my sanity screaming into the darkest alcoves of my mind. Does not change the fact it left me in a foul mood, especially when combined with the usual dumbassed drivers one encounters on drizzly December afternoons. Like the elderly fellow in the pickup across from me at a 4-way stop, who was there before me, but still had to be waved ahead by me so he could begin the tortuous 27-year process of making a left hand turn.

I don't feel like driving back there tomorrow, so no reviews this week. More books for me to read when I next visit the store (that'd be me looking on the bright side). I've a few things planned for the next couple days, so the blog isn't entering No Content Mode - Holiday Edition just yet.

I'm Sure Scandal Had Some Larger Plan

Secret Six #14. Scandal is trying to explain to Bane why she said they needed the Bane who broke the Bat. They need the master strategist Bane was back then, the guy who wore the Bat down while observing and learning about him, the one who steadily took control of all organized crime in Gotham. She says she knows the Venom just makes him a monster, but that's what they needed, a Bane not encumbered with the concern he has for Scandal. So she took the Venom herself. Then that were-creature thing showed up, she tried to kill it while screaming at Bane to get lost, and so on. I'm confused as to what she was going for her.

1st possibility: She took the Venom to make herself into the monster she described. That'd be an admission that she cares for Bane, in some way similar to how he cares for her. Except there's her mention of the need for tactical genuis, and she said she knows the Venom doesn't help there.

2nd possibility: She hopes the Venom will make her act so horribly it will destroy the bond between her and Bane. That would go along with what she said a page earlier, when she tells Bane she feels the prison is inside each of them, destroying what holds them together. Bane doesn't buy into that, but Scandal does, and she might think Bane was just lying to keep her spirits up, which I can see him doing. If so, she might think that whatever the Venom would unleash in her is sufficient to finish the job. That Bane would no longer feel the same protectiveness to her he had been, and that would clear his mind, letting the brilliance shine through again.

3rd possibility: She had realized that there was no time to get Bane's mind straight, so they weren't going to be able to handle things in a clever manner. In which case, brute force would have to win the day, and since Bane refuses to take Venom, leaves her.

I think the 2nd is the most likely, and it might have worked. Not immediately, as Bane refused to abandon her against the Grendel thing (for all the good he did), and he didn't devise some brilliant scheme that enabled their escape. However, afterwards, Bane assessed how the team has done since he joined, found them wanting, and seized command. Not only that, but he said Jeanette agreed with the move, which means he must have been discussing it with her some time prior to their boarding the helicopter. He was solidifying his base before he made his move. Then he benched Scandal, and has since added Black Alice to the group. Black Alice does seem commited to the cause, and she's certainly more powerful and versatile than Scandal, so from those standpoints, it should bolster the team. Plus, Scandal's likely addicted to Venom now, and has less experience dealing with that than Bane, so she's unrealiable.

The fact Bane made that call in spite of Scandal's protests might suggest that her scheme worked. Bane is seeing clearly now, and making moves in the best interests of the group, regardless of personal feelings. Of course, one could also interpret his benching of Scandal asa protective gesture. Keep her out of the fight so she won't have an excuse to take Venom, or be put in more danger. It's a parental gesture, grounding the child, or keeping her out of some activity she wants to participate in over her objections. I'm inclined to think Scandal went for the second option, only it didn't work. Bonds aren't broken as easily as that, at least not when you're dealing with Bane.

Hack, Smash, Hack, Smash, Hack and Smash Some More

A week ago I was discussing consecutive boss battles in games and how they frustrate me, and I used Genji: Dawn of the Samurai as my primary example, since it was the game drawing my ire at the time. But I hadn't done an actual review yet, so I thought I owed it one.

The game revolves around a young man, Yoshitsune, wo is trying to stop an evil clan from conquering Japan. Yoshitsune's a skilled swordsman, and early in the game, he meets Benkei, a huge fellow who favors clubs or spears as his weapons. After that point, you can choose which one you wish to use from mission to mission, each one having their strengths. Benkei's attacks do more damage, he's more resistant to damage, and he's capable of smashing obstructions that would block Yoshitsune's progress. However, he's much slower, less agile, and a bigger target. Conversely, Yoshitsune is quicker and harder to hit, which offsets his lower amount of hit points, attack and defense values. He's also able to leap and reach platforms that Benkei couldn't. Which means that whichever character you choose for a particular mission, you'll end up coming across some item or path which requires the skills of the other character to access, so you end up needing to play most levels twice.

The game does provide you with save points along the way, which will also give you the option of retreating to your current stronghold if you wish. Once there, you could switch to the other character and make the trek back to the place you were at before. It's handy if you know there's a boss battle coming, and you're low on health recovery items, but the downside is that all the enemies will have respawned so you'll be fighting your way through them again. I prefer Yoshitsune myself, as I favor speed over power, but you can make it work with both.

The gameplay is fairly basic. You go to a level, start running through it, and enemies appear. You beat the enemies and proceed, until you face more enemies. You keep an eye out for health items, power-ups, money, new weapons, whatever. Eventually, you reach a boss. So not disimilar from Spider-Man: Friend or Foe.

One twist is the Amahagene, which is a group of magical jewels, of which Yoshitsune and Benkei each have one. As you battle bosses, you can colect their Amahagene, which can be fused with yours. This increases the size of a bar that sits just below your health on the screen. If you hit the button, you trigger a sort of bullet time, except it isn't as simple as you moving fast while everyone else moves slow. It's more like the button-pressing challenges in Resident Evil 4. When you use it, your enemies will attack, and a symbol will appear over your head. You hit the corresponding button, and you'll dodge and unleash your own attack. This will continue until either all enemies are destroyed, you miss a button (or are too slow, either way you get hit), or you run out of the energy. I'm terrible at it myself, especially against the bosses. I'm lucky if I can get the first button press right, let alone the subsequent ones. Fortunately, you don't have to use it to win, though I'm sure it makes it easier, and more stylish looking, to boot.

The story is basic enough. Yoshitsune is the last surviving member of a clan that was defeated by these evil Heishi, and he's looking to stop them from conquering everyone. Benkei was loyal to your clan (and was fighting the Heishi to avenge them), so he's game, and you meet a rival clan lord who is trying to hold out against the Heishi. The baddies have the requisite oddbal, yet dangerous inner circle, including the twisted reflection type evil guy, who ultimately betrays his boss. So there's nothing new about the story, and I didn't feel drawn into it in any particular way, didn't find myself concerned for the characters.

The graphics are nice enough, for when the game was made, and unlike Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, I didn't feel the camera was working against me, though you don't have any control over it. The music is fine, the controls respond well, it's a solid game. There's nothing remarkable or ground-breaking about it, but it reminds me a little of Beyond Good and Evil in that, when the fights are going well, it's a highly satisfying feeling, because it looks really smooth. It's not on par with Beyond Good and Evil in any other way, but that's what it reminds me the most of at those moments, rare that they are.

Not That I'm Advocating It. . .

These Black Lantern rings are reviving corpses where the person had strong feelings at the time of their passing, right? It couldn't revive Dove because he was at peace, no strong feelings left over to work from. When Blue Snowman was devoured by the Ix Negaspike, she was under the influence of Vartox' seduction musk, and consequently, was intensely attracted to him. Which might be construed as love. 

It's probably not really love, but the level of devotion the scent had produced in her seems beyond a mere physical attraction. Then again, maybe physical attraction is all it takes, if it's intense enough. So could she be revived as a Black Lantern (ignoring the fact her body is on its way to being digested, which might make things a little tricky for the ring)? Also, if she hadn't been eaten, would her feelings have gotten her drafted into the Star Sapphires/Pink Lantern Corps? Or would their ring have been able to distinguish that her feelings were artificially induced, and so not real?

It'd Be Quite A Shift

Next month DC is releasing those special issues of series that were canceled but are coming back from the dead because it's Blackest Night and the dead will rise, and so on. Suicide Squad #67 is the only one I'm positive I'll buy, though there are a couple others I'm going to at least consider when I see them. One of the releases is Question #37, where Black Lantern Vic Sage Question will confront Renee Montoya Question. 

Over the last two years or so, DC's been releasing trades of the Denny O'Neil/Denys Cowan Question series. I talked a bit about it back in early summer when I picked up Volumes 2 and 3. Volume 5 came out in October, and I'll buy it eventually. That takes the trades up to issue #30, and there were only 36 issues originally, which would suggest there's one trade left to go. 

I'm wondering if they'll include the Blackest Night issue in that trade, since it is a continuation of the series in a sense. It probably won't fit with wherever the series ended at originally, what with the series having ended 20 years ago, and the main character at that time being dead now. It could be fun to have there as a comparison piece though. "Here's how they did it in the '80s, here's how they do it now" thing. 

It's more likely DC will opt to make a trade that collects all these "back from the dead", since they're all linked, but it could be interesting the other way. If nothing else, they'd have to finally start releasing some Suicide Squad trades so they could reach the end of the series and toss the Blackest Night issue in. Which is probably another reason they wouldn't go that way.

I'm Always Up For A Money-Motivated Villain

Prior to Power Girl #7, I'd never heard of the Blue Snowman, but she's my kind of villain. She had a gimmick, and she uses it to commit robberies. 

Sure, the technology at her disposal is probably worth more than what she steals*, but you have to find some way to market it, set up a system for mass-production, and that requires capital, or selling your ideas to someone with capital, and since this is comics we're talking about, whatever businessperson Blue Snowman tried to make a deal with would undoubtedly tangle her in contractual mumbo-jumbo, and ultimately hoard all profits for themselves. At which point she'd swear vengeance, and get beaten up by some costumed do-gooder before she could carry out her revenge. Better to just skip all that and go straight to jewelry store heists. 

Plus, if she's successful, it probably brings a greater sense of accomplishment than hammering out some deal with International Cooling Experimental, Limited. But you know me, I'm a sucker for the old-school villains that use their weird abilities for things other than revenge schemes on the hero, or random mass slaughter. It's what I like about The Blank, and it was nice to see there was at least one super-criminal left at DC that had the same goals. I'm sure there are others out there (I guess most of the Rogues would fit), but they seem badly outnumbered by the other types.  

* Question: Do you think it a good idea for Palmiotti and Gray to have Power Girl and Dr. Mid-Nite actually mention that impracticality? Blue Snowman was being used as a joke villain, so discussing the absurdity of her strategy fits, but I'm not big on pointing out those sort of holes in superhero world logic, since it draws me out of the fictional world in question. I udnerstand that yeah, she'd probably make much more by patenting her ideas than by stealing in our world, but I'm willing to set that aside for the characters' world.

We Can Never Get Right To Work

*ABP enters, tosses a suit coat to one side, rolls up sleeves on its shirt, and hops up on the computer table.* Let's go! {Why are you wearing a shirt?} So I can roll up the sleeves. It shows I mean business. {You always mean business.} There are lots of people to hug, no more time to waste! But first. . . *lights cigarette, pours tumbler of brandy* this pricey liquor, and smooth tobacco will help me think. {You're too young for that stuff, give it here!} Awww. {What, have been watching Mad Men or something?}

Bob needs a Hug, because Scourge cut him. I think Scourge needs a Hug, too. Venus' singing made him freak out, and I think he's had a bad time. {Putting it mildly.} The rest of the Agents need Hugs. {I think antidotes would be better.} Dr. Mid-Nite needs a Hug because he got sick, and Power Girl needs a Hug for having to deal with Vartox. Blue Snowman gets a Hug because her day just kept getting worse. Vartox' people need Hugs because they can't have kids anymore. {I want the Ix Negaspike to get a hug, too.} What? No! It ate Blue Snowman! {After she attacked it, which came after it was captured and hauled into an entirely different dimension to be used as part of Vartox' idiotic courtship dance. Then it was frozen and punched into pieces. It just needs love.} Then why don't you hug it? {Not my department. I"m in Suggestions and Sarcasm.} Really? {Yep.} What department am I? {Operations and Optimism.}

Cool. {So you'll give the Ix Negaspike a hug?} No. {Fine. Give Yellow Claw a Bonk.} Why? {He's the one who established the chemical weapons facility the Thunderbolts destroyed.} Oh yeah. Isn't he dead? {Like that stops you. Or maybe it wouldn't stop the old you. Not sure about this new you, who's stingy with the hugs.} I don't care what you say, I'm not hugging Ix Negaspike. {Fine. Then you can finish this without the help of the Department of Suggestions and Sarcasm. Oh yeah, and I'm also the Department of Dictation and Transcription!} What? Come back! You know it's hard for me to type! I don't have my typing wand! Aww, shoot. OK, the Ix Negaspike gets a Hug. Will you come back now? {Sure. What else?} Power Girl earned Applause for helping Dr. Mid-Nite, and those alien yetis get Bonks for making it so Vartox' people can't have kids. {It's a different way of settling things, you have to admit. Nobody was even killed.} It's still wrong to do that. {Oh absolutely, I'm just surprised their solution was something other than a bloody slaughter. It is the DC Universe, you know, where people vomit lava blood as a weapon.}

What I Bought 12/16/09

I'm not a fan of Christmas music. When it's played, you hear it everywhere. It's inescapable if I want to go places. Normally, different businesses would play different stuff, but now, it's all Christmas. I guess people enjoy it, so I'm just a sourpuss. That's probably it. Comics!

Power Girl #7 - Vartox fails to protect his people from a contraceptive bomb, which renders them all sterile. Or infertile. Whichever. Rather than concern himself with his entire planet, Vartox focuses on finding someone for him to get his groove on with, and picks Power Girl. Lucky her. He interrupts her helping Dr. Mid-Nite capture the Blue Snowman, nearly kills Mid-Nite with seduction musk, which doesn't work on Power Girl, then releases an Ix Negaspike, which he plans to fight to impress her. This also fails miserably.

Vartox is quite the putz. He's like a more arrogant and stupid version of Hercules, which is saying something. However, I am intrigued by the glimpses of his homeworld. Chancellor Groovicus Mellow. General Peacemonger. Ghost Poets of Dimension Seven. I don't know whether these are concepts that were already with Vartox, or if Gray, Palmiotti, and Conner came up with them on their own, but either way, I wouldn't mind seeing more. It could be the start of a world-building process, like what Brubaker and Fraction did for Iron Fist. Maybe they could ditch Vartox and join Power Girl's supporting cast? Also, I like the inclusion of Blue Snowman. Pity what happened to her. There aren't enough villains using their stuff to rob banks these days.

Thunderbolts #139 - It was another small week, this has Parker writing the Agents of Atlas, so what the heck. Osborn sends the Thunderbolts to an Atlas chemical weapons facility in the swamps of Louisiana. They blow it up, Atlas arrives, stomps most of the T'Bolts, until Scourge, who is actually Nuke from Born Again goes nutty and possibly disembowels Bob.

Parker does a good job of getting people who may be unfamiliar with Agents of Atlas up to speed. I think he so, anyway. I was already familiar, so perhaps I'm a poor judge. The fight goes about like it ought to. The Thunderbolts are not only severely outclassed, but they don't work well together. Which is something else Parker did well. I'm not a regular reader, but it was easy to pick up on the various tensions within the group. Ant-Man wants out, and is worried he'll be killed first. Mr. X can barely tolerate his teammates. Headhunter doesn't like Mr. X. Nobody trusts the Ghost unless they have to. Like some of the team, I'm not clear on why Osborn sent them. Scourge thinks it's acceptable losses, but usually for losses to be acceptable, you have accomplish something. At that point, nobody on Atlas was hurt at all, let alone dead. So perhaps Norman is just removing people who outlived their usefulness.

I'm not a fan of the art. The coloring doesn't help, as everything is murky and frequently overshadowed, which seems to make the work less detailed. There are other times where I don't think it's the colors, it really looks as though Sepulveda didn't have a chance to add details, so some of the faces look poorly done. In one panel, I couldn't even tell who the character I was looking at was supposed to be. Duing the fights, there's more posing than any sense of movement to the characters.

It Ends Again, Then Starts Up Again

Normally, I'd do this on December 16, since that's marks the beginning of a new year here at the blog. However, this year the 16th is also New Comics Day, which means a review post. So, we'll celebrate the conclusion of Year 4 here at Reporting on Marvels and Legends, rather than the start of Year 5. Or we can celebrate both simultaneously, if you'd prefer. I'm open that way.

Year 4 had its ups and downs. I had my usual smattering of posts that I was really happy about, as well as the ones that were just me trying to get something posted. I really hate those posts, it feels like I'm being cheap. I feel I have to keep posting, though. I think if I let myself fall of the daily pace (or as close to it as I get), and wait to post only when I'm really inspired, I'd probably stop posting faster than you might think. Maybe it wouldn't turn out like that, but why take chances? Besides, every once and awhile those half-assed posts turn into something decent, assuming I can devote some thought to them, which is nice, but I never know when that's going to happen.

Biggest downer of the year was my computer being infected badly enough it had to be completely wiped. That was a month ago, I still haven't got it all the way back, and I'm wondering if it's even worth the trouble. The computer is about 2 weeks older than this blog, which is fairly old by computer standards, but I'm sentimental when it comes to things that have served me well, even if it's just a chair, a t-shirt, or a computer. My father's packrat sensibilities at work.

Enough of that. Looking to the year ahead, I can't say precisely what will be happening. The Year In Review posts are coming sometime in early January. I have a couple of hypothetical question posts I'm saving for when I travel over the holidays to keep you occupied. There might be some more stories, if the mood takes me. Beyond that, I don't know. I'll play it by ear. That's worked out fairly well so far.

OK, reviews tomorrow. See you then.

Whatever Happened To Zam?

It's an older lingering question I have about Abnett and Lanning's work on Nova. During the Annihilation: Conquest tie-in issues, the Worldmind briefly empowered a Kree officer by the name of Ko-Rel. She was de facto commander of a downed Kree ship, stranded on a distant world. She was needed to protect Richard Rider, who was badly damaged by slamming into the barrier the Phalanx erected around Kree space at faster-than-light speed. Ultimately, Ko-Rel died trying to fight a Phalanx controlled Nova and Gamora*, and the return of her protion of the Nova Force gave Richard and the Worldmind just enough juice to break free of Phalanx control. Apparently, Ko-Rel's memory patterns were stored in the Worldmind, and she's the basis for its current interface, after the last one was corrupted by Ego, the Living Planet.

Anyway, one of the things we learned about Ko-Rel was she had a son back in the hub of the Kree Empire named Zam. What she really wanted was to get back to him. Obviously, that didn't happen, what with her dying. Since then, nothing about Zam, and I'm left wondering. Did he survive the Phalanx occupation? Was he on one of the worlds Vulcan destroyed? What's he doing these days? We never learned anything about who he was staying with, a dad, a grandparent, some sort of government established set-up for the children of Kree soldiers. Let's assume Zam's staying with his dad, and they both survived. Aren't they curious about where she is? She'd been missing for over a year even before she became a Nova. Seems to me Richard owes it to her to seek out her family, if they've survived, and give them closure.

Granted, he'd need a spare minute to do that, but they could fit that in. Actually, I'm a little surprised the Ko-Rel Worldmind hasn't been using its abilities to access Kree databases and seek out information on Zam. You could always use something like that to stir a little conflict between the Nova Corps and the Inhumans. The Corps ought to be concerned about the Inhumans. They made a weapon that blew a hole in the universe, which clearly marks them as a threat to peace.

* I still contend killing Ko-Rel was a mistake. She'd make a nice contrast to Richard, and nothing says she would have to remain a Nova permanently. She could have retired after the recent recruiting drive. Mostly, I think she'd have been an interesting presence during Conquest, since Nova was across the universe for most of it.

Couldn't I Have A Short Break Before The Next Fight?

Last time I complained about a feature of video games, it was lousy wingmen A.I. in flight combat games. Today, it's the consecutive boss battles with no save point.

It came up last night as I tried once again to beat what I think is the final boss of Genji: Dawn of the Samurai. From my last save point, I march down the hall and reach Evil Leader Kiyomori, who has a really powerful Amahagane (special mystical item), and once he kills me, he's gonna take mine and make his even more powerful. I beat him, but he makes a portal and escapes. I give chase and find he's combined his already awesome Amahagane with that of his 2nd-in-command, Kagekiyo, to make an even awesomer Amahagane. Except, oh no, Kagekiyo takes it for himself, kills Kiyomori, turns into a shiny gold guy, and I'm into another boss fight. Unfortunately, I exhausted most of my health recovery items fighting Kiyomori, and I was summarily stomped.

I understand the idea behind following the first boss fight with another, even harder boss fight. In the game world, the events are happening in rapid succession. There wouldn't be an opportunity for whatever saving the game represents in their world. Except, if we take that to its logical conclusion, there isn't sufficient time for the wounds my character sustained to heal, as they had by the time I started battling Kagekiyo. I'm not complaining about that, mind you, it probably bought me another couple minutes of life in the battle, but it doesn't jibe with the "no saving" issue.

The worst one of these had to be the conclusion to Phantom Dust. You face a copy of yourself (Fight 1). Then, your former best friend and his girlfriend (sort of) simultaneously, without having healed from the previous fight (Fight 2). Your health will replenish after this battle, which is nice, since the happy couple combine into a 3-story tall, half-mechanical, half-arthropod monstrosity (with 3 separate hearts, each one whose health you must exhaust) you fight as you run up a spiral staircase (Fight 3). Having beaten that form, you're faced with some sort of dark angel thing, which you have to defeat (Fight 4). If you're killed in Fight 4, you start over at Fight 3, rather than Fight 1, but there's no saving. You have to make it through all four fights in one sitting.

That's what bothers me about those scenarios. I like to beat games by consistently making a little progress. It's a nice thing about Thief: Deadly Shadows, because you can save whenever you wish. With the boss battles stacked one on top of the other, you either make a lot of progress, or you make no progress. It's more all or nothing than I like. I guess you're supposed to feel a major sense of accomplishment, but I usually just feel relieved that I made it through. Lots of big sighs and "Finally!"s coming from me when I succeed.

That Would Have To Be Perturbing

This week's Secret Six. While they were all at the club, do you think Bane noticed the exotic dancer wearing a variation of his costume? If so, what do you think his reaction was?

We didn't see any reaction, so we might assume he either didn't notice, or doesn't care, but perhaps they went back inside to keep chatting after they agreed to let Alice join. Maybe he noticed then. Or maybe he saw the lady the first time around, and was able to hide his reaction. That doesn't mean he didn't have one.

I'm thinking he'd be perhaps mildly disappointed in the young lady's profession, and maybe a little annoyed to see his costume in such a place. He broke Batman after all. Doesn't that call for a little respect?

Thinking about it, I really wish Ragdoll had noticed. He surely would have made comments, and those might have garnered a more obvious reaction from Bane.