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KC Carlson. Art by Keith Wilson
by KC Carlson
Normally, you’d be reading my collective thoughts column for books being published in March ideal here. however the holidays, as well as being away for a week during Christmas, have screwed up the timing for that. enjoy for it next week. I get to talk about Moose und Squirrel… er, Rocky as well as Bullwinkle!
I realized that I don’t really talk that much about reading comics any type of a lot more (mostly since I’ve gotten behind on my reading because of the genuine world interfering), so it’s most likely time to rectify that, particularly considering that I just recently checked out about 75 comics over a long weekend. Here’s what I’m believing about some titles I take pleasure in reading.
THE MADNESS THAT IS MARVEL
Mighty Avengers #8
Currently, I discover marvel Comics to be schizophrenic in its publishing. There is undoubtedly an A-line of their routine books, with top artists as well as writers headlining these books, edited by their top editors. a lot of of the Avengers, X-Men, as well as Spider-Man titles autumn here, as well as all are normally great reads, created by people who have a strong track record for both high quality as well as excitement. However, marvel selects to publish a great deal of books for their two a lot of prominent teams, the X-Men as well as the Avengers, as well as there seems to be a two-tiered publishing plan in these areas. For instance, there are headliner books like Avengers, new Avengers, trick Avengers, Mighty Avengers, as well as the three core solo books: Captain America, Iron Man, as well as Thor: God of Thunder. as well as then there the a lot more experimental Avengers books, including the just recently canceled Avengers Arena, Fearless Defenders, as well as young Avengers, all of which had dynamic as well as alternate storytelling. The result is a different type of superhero book, however they were seemingly just not fascinating sufficient for a mass audience. as well bad. I particularly liked young Avengers as well as hope those characters get a new gig soon.
Avengers #27
It baffles me somewhat that marvel Studios just recently created one of the very best as well as a lot of action-packed as well as comicbooky (in the great way) blockbuster motion pictures in The Avengers, yet their two primary Avengers comic books (Avengers as well as new Avengers) are written by Jonathan Hickman — a writer so evenly-paced as well as cerebral that you can nearly see the wind carefully blowing in the backgrounds of the panels. Don’t get me wrong, Hickman is a skilled writer, as well as I liked his handle the amazing Four, however when I believe of an Avengers comic — particularly in the wake of the most action-y superhero film of 2012 — I want to see bodies crashing though the panel borders as well as the Mansion/Tower getting destroyed every six problems or so. What I’m not so fond of is obscure characters not seen for many years (like Nightmask as well as Starbrand as well as Captain Universe), who just get lost among the lots of other characters. I’m not sure the Avengers as an army is something I want to see constantly.
Infinity
I started reading Infinity in genuine time, week by week, as well as it seemed to step truly slowly early on. Then, I got hectic as well as missed reading for a week or two. Ultimately, I checked out the entire multi-part story in one (long) sitting (re-reading the problems I already read). It was a much much better checked out all at once, although I felt that the event served as mainly a set-up for the next event (the now-delayed Inhumanity). It was great to see Thanos again, as well as I’m delighted to hear that marvel just revealed that Jim Starlin will be returning to the character he produced for a new graphic book in 2014. When the regular reading experience is no longer satisfying, though, with a lot more as well as a lot more writers particularly “writing for the trade paperback”, I have to question why I even bother with the regular “pamphlet” comics. At least I don’t have to wait on the collection when I can make my own reading stacks.
MUTANTS BACK ON TOP
X-Men #12
The X-Men titles have long been the standard-bearers of contemporary marvel Comics, mainly based on the home (X-Mansion?) that Claremont, Cockrum, as well as Byrne built. This lasted for a long time, up until the sheer number of mutant groups as well as titles exceeded typical sense as well as fans’ wallets, to the point where marvel had to sit down as well as come up with a new game plan for the X-books. So they badly restricted the number of spin-off books (not that you’d really notice, this being Marvel’s main cash-cow up until the Avengers got reinvigorated by Brian Michael Bendis), as well as home of M/Decimation/”No a lot more mutants” laid the mutants low for a while to rebuild.
All-New X-Men #24
And rebuild they have, as the recent reclamation jobs by Bendis (All-New X-Men, Uncanny X-Men), Jason Aaron (Wolverine as well as the X-Men, incredible X-Men), as well as Brian wood (X-Men) are based around a basic however dazzling concept (that, when you state it out loud, seems like it’s coming from an extremely ecstatic 12-year-old). “What if the original, teen X-Men got trapped in the present marvel Universe?” This instantaneously returned the fun, excitement, as well as unpredictability of the original Lee/Kirby/Thomas/Claremont/Cockrum/Byrne age with its unusual goofiness as well as ever-changing teen crushes. It had to be done, considering that the original (adult) X-Men were/are nearly unretrievable from previous poor decisions. Scott: Murderer; Jean: Mass-Murderer, dead; Hank: mutations beyond humanity, depression; Bobby: aimless; as well as Warren: SO lots of poor things as well as alternating personalities, likewise sometimes dead.
Amazing X-Men #5
I’m not sure who precisely came up with this wondrous concept (Bendis reports that it had been floating around the X-offices for awhile, however he was the one to act on it), however for me, the (relative) lightheartedness that came with the teens’ return really started earlier. That mindset was very first showed in the introduce of the incredibly strange as well as downright goofy Wolverine as well as the X-Men by Jason Aaron as well as (originally) Chris Bachalo, which is currently wrapping up its run (and then instantaneously restarting with a new primary — with a different innovative team — as is Marvel’s wont there days). Aaron has moved over the the similarly fun incredible X-Men, where he was enabled to resurrect Nightcrawler as well as make him a blue furry swashbuckler again. I’m in.
I AM GROOT
Guardians of the Galaxy #10
Also truly worth your time as well as hard-earned money are Marvel’s new “space” books, the revived Guardians of the Galaxy as well as Nova. The former is treading gently, as the previous incarnations of this series are cherished by fans. Written by Brian Michael Bendis as well as with art by Steve McNiven as well as Sara Picchelli, the series has been not just filling out the tricks considering that the last area event (but not all of them) however likewise intriguingly introducing a character from one more company. That’s Angela, originally produced by Neil Gaiman as well as Todd McFarlane as a recurring character in Spawn. Gaiman ultimately won full rights to the Angela character, which he subsequently offered to Marvel. The title is likewise introducing the Guardian characters to a broader audience for their motion picture debut, currently arranged for August 2014, which will lead directly into the next Avengers movie, Avengers: Age of Ultron in 2015.
Nova #10
Nova, at first by Jeph Loeb, Ed McGuinness, as well as Dexter Vines, tells the adventures of a brand-new character, teenager Sam Alexander, the kid of one more Nova soldier (Jesse Alexander) who has mysteriously disappeared. He is to replace the long-missing as well as presumed dead original Nova (Richard Rider), who supposedly sacrificed his life to save Earth. (The Nova soldiers are approximately the marvel equivalent of the eco-friendly lantern Corps.) This new series is extremely kid-centric as well as fast-paced, balancing Sam’s challenging life on earth (aren’t all kids’ lives complicated?) with his training to be a member of the Nova Corps in outer space. In the double-sized problem #10 by Zeb Wells as well as five artists (which was likewise the 100th problem of Nova throughout the different series over the years), Speedball as well as Justice from the new Warriors attempt to talk Sam into joining up in a story so heartwarming that it even made the Watcher smile.
Other excellent marvel books include the Doc Ock remarkable Spidey titles (which look like they’re about to get shook-up genuine great in the near future), Daredevil (about to be re-launched with the exact same innovative team), Hawkeye, as well as the unpredictable Indestructible Hulk as written by mark Waid.
52 PICK-UP
So what about DC’s new 52 books? Sorry, however I have nothing much beneficial to state about them, since I just recently (finally?) stopped getting as well as reading them. I believe the last two straws for me (besides a lot of of the books being either ultra-depressing or unintelligible) were the realizations that DC is now a lot more thinking about selling shiny covers than stories, as well as that their continuous treatment of long-time devoted creators, a few of whom are good friends of mine, is horrible. Can’t wait to rave about Kevin Maguire on Guardians of the Galaxy!
Astro City #10
I still checked out as well as take pleasure in a number of DC Comics projects, though, including Astro City, Batman ‘66, Sandman: Overture (assuming we ultimately see problem #2), the just recently completed Batman: Black & White as well as Batman: L’il Gotham,as well as Scooby-Doo Team-Up — now with a lot more Bat-Mite! likewise looking ahead to the new Black Canary/Zatanna: Bloodspell GN by Paul Dini as well as Joe Quinones, hoping it’s not locked down to any type of certain continuity. a lot more about which next week.
Scooby-Doo Team-Up #3
I do have to state that it’s excellent that DC has obviously been able to draw in a new, younger readership to their core books. Although, who’s to state for sure, as lots of of those younger visitors are most likely embracing the fairly recent advancement of digital comics — of which sales are — so far — top secret! (Which is one of the huge reasons that publishers like digital so much!)
I assumption I can now associate to those old-time golden Age fans who were so outraged when DC Comics very first introduced the new Julie Schwartz-edited Flash, eco-friendly Lantern, as well as Justice league of America titles in the late 1950s as well as early 1960, displacing the golden Age versions!
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KC CARLSON SEZ: now desires that DC truly had rebooted the DC world in 1986, after dilemma on limitless Earths, instead of a few of the half-hearted remakes that rolled out over the next few years, eventually triggering much of the damage that led to the new 52! Jeepers! Where’s my Cosmic Treadmill?
Do not drink as well as drive or checked out comics while doing either! delighted new Year!
WESTFIELD COMICS is not accountable for the silly things that KC says. particularly that thing that truly irritated you.