Weekly Comics for 1408.06
Writing has been happening, and by writing, I mean, FICTION writing. Fulfilling a promise I made about a year ago, I have been devoted to daily fiction writing in the hopes of completing something that can be shared in this big online world. Though I have many projects (read: novels) in the works, I have been mainly devoted to two during this burst of creative activity: a comic book parody and an epic of what I hope will be a series that blends cyberpunk and sword-and-sorcery. The latter is more of a thing I am noodling around and making decisions about the overall shape of the thing (which I have to commit to recorded form, IE. write down). It's the parody, which is called POP!, that I have been making actual words per day progress on.
So, that's a happy thing for me. Happy progress that may stall or even cease unless I am disciplined as work and school ramps up to full throttle in the next two weeks. However, I am hoping to secure at least fifteen minutes a day to make forward progress on at least POP! as forward progress on this story is relatively easy. Writing is all about momentum. If I can keep work and school and life from bleeding into everything and blotting out the mental time and the wherewithal to write even a paragraph a day, then I will be more successful than I was last semester. My greatest problem is compartmentalizing. I have trouble feeling relaxed about writing with eight other things hanging over my head. And yet, I also would like to be writing about March comics this March. I am not optimistic enough to think that I can catch up much faster than that, though, maybe...
In other news, I finished another books, Visitors by Orson Scott Card, which I may review at some point, though a brief note is posted to Good Reads. I am catching up on missed Welcome to Night Vale podcasts and then on to Feet of Clay, the 19th Discworld book by Terry Pratchett. I am still slogging through Accelerando by Charles Stross, which is slow going but is interesting nonetheless. I liked the first third best, so far. This middle third is killing me. And today is David Bowie's birthday, so I posted this video, which I will include here as this blog takes its name from a Bowie song from Heroes.
David Bowie - Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)
But I am not listening to that now, actually, I am listening to this:
Stephan Mathieu and David Sylvian - The Farther Away I Am (Minus 30 Degrees) - Wandermüde (2012)
Because I am random like that...
On to comics.
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SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
RE: SPOILERS: I don't have to explain that you read at your own risk, right?
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Here's the links I have been using lately for refreshers, as I am now writing about August 2014 comics in January of 2015, so I need something to consult as the actual comics are not easy to find. After one tries to set aside comics for each week for a few weeks, eventually there's too many weeks. Right now, I am staring down the pipe of being just a mere 22 weeks behind. Though I have been catching up, that is still a lot of weeks.
IGN FOR 1408.06
CBR FOR 1408.06
In addition to the IGN pages and the much more all inclusive CBR, I found a cool new site for reviews from Glasgow, Scotland.
BIG GLASGOW COMICS PAGE - LAZARUS 10 REVIEW
But it's not Lazarus taking the top slot this week, it's Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man #004 followed by Kick Ass 3 #8.
I was surprised by the lack of regard for Kick Ass 3 #8. First of all, IGN was the sole reviewer and gave it a 6.9 out of 10. But I am surprised that the comic did not receive more reviews, at least not collected by CBR. So maybe it's CBR's bias against Kick Ass 3 #8. I enjoyed the Kick Ass series quite a bit. I liked the concept of the boy who decides to be a costumed hero. The Big Daddy and Hit Girl characters were fun and inventive. Perhaps my criteria for high ranking differs from that of others. I like a comic if the art is exceptionally good (in this case, as I have made clear on these pages, I LOVE John Romita, Jr), if the story is engaging and entertaining, and especially if I expect the comic to be a fast and compelling read. Kick Ass 3 #8 has all of those things.The IGN reviewer seemed to have preconceived notions that maybe were unjustly applied to Kick Ass, which purports to be about "real world" super-heroes but clearly is not because there's no such thing. Not that I would argue that this comic deserves a 10/10, but I think the reviewer is extra harsh. My thumbs up in the comic book store also raised some eyebrows. Come on people. Kick Ass was F - U - N!! Yeah, with capitals. I am sad to see the series end as I was enjoying it quite a lot. As you can see it takes second ranking over Lazarus, Moon Knight, and Alex + Ada, all books that I have
given a top ranking to before or lauded ardently on these pages.
Even more fun is this little Easter egg I found on line:
KICK ASS STORY THEORY.
Definitely worth checking out if you ever read Kick Ass, saw the movies, or may wish to read Kick Ass.
But as fun as I think Kick Ass is, it cannot beat out the sheer joy of what comics have always meant to me from childhood on: the joy of a real superhero story told right, which we find here in Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man #004, especially since it features a Spider-Man vs. Spider-Man cover.
But that's not what it's about. Check this out.
The more frightening portrayal of the Green Goblin in the Ultimate series is a very good improvement over the Goblin of the regular Marvel universe.
So, in this issue, we have the return of "Peter Parker" and the Green Goblin. A huge battle ensues outside the Parker home, the site of Peter's death, an event caused by this same, presumed dead, Green Goblin. Readers are still not sure at this juncture if the returned Spider-Man is actually the real, original Peter Parker, or a clone, someone alternate reality doppelganger, or a twin brother raised in secret that no one knew about.
Nevertheless, the action sequence is stunning. And I am happy to see at least one reviewer (link posted below) compare it to the lame end of the Superior Spider-Man saga that I railed about over HERE: COMICS FOR 1404.16. And while I am doing links, and all here's two more:
Comics for 1404.02
T-shirt #105 - Ultimate Spider-Man
If all that was not enough, there's a side plot following on Miles' confession to his girl friend. I wish this text showed up better in this next image. If you copy the image, you can expand it After Miles Morales confessed to his girl friend Katie Bishop that he is Spider-Man, she distraughtly confesses, through tears, to her sister what she has learned. Her sister cautions her that she can never tell her parents, apparently, because they work for HYDRA.
This the other great plot point of this issue.
Here's one of the better reviews from a special Spider-Man web site called Superior Spider Talk.
SUPERIOR SPIDER TALK REVIEW
Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man #004 is one of the single best straight-up super hero books being published today, and it's certainly the best of the lot with young star characters.
Many of the remaining comics from this week are worth text time, but in the interests of catching up to the present, I am restricting myself to expanded comments about only two. I have written about many of the other excellent titles before, such as Moon Knight, Lazarus, Alex + Ada, Clone, Grayson, Black Widow, and Uber. These are titles I promote in the comic shop and when I am talking comics with people who like comics.In my skimming of reviews, I found that many Internet writers feel as I do that Aquaman and the Others deserves attention. I love the way in which the Aquaman history and cat of characters has been expanded and now supports two titles, kind of like the old Batman and the Outsiders comic from the 1980s. This title often finds its way higher in the stack, where it would be if it had not been displaced by so many other excellent titles.
Even though this week's Moon Knight is the last issue in this run by Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey, I do not feel the compunction to add to the fan love-in that are the reviews for this book. My snark is a reaction to the popular opinion as I tend to go the other way when faced with popular opinion. I love Ellis' work, and i have written before about this book, but I have felt some disappointment with it, too, which is why it has dropped to fourth in this week's ranks.
I wrote before of my enjoyment of the Original Sin: Hulk vs. Iron Man, and this final issue is a good conclusion to the mini-series, which drew me mainly because of Mark Bagley's art and kept me riveted with the secret role Tony Stark played in the gamma bomb explosion that created the Hulk.
Other comics that have received text time on this blog are due for full-size reviews such as Uber, Clone, Alex + Ada, and Lazarus. Even some of the last place books have moved up in future weeks and I can say I enjoyed them very much, such as Punisher, She-Hulk, and Green Lantern. But sadly, despite my love for the character, I continue to be very disappointed with Iron Fist: The Living Weapon, so much so that it has literally fallen to last place in this current week here in January of 2015.
For now, that's all. Here's the list and some of the cool covers.
Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man #004
Kick Ass 3 #8
Lazarus #10
Moon Knight #006
Original Sin: Hulk vs. Iron Man #4
Alex + Ada #8
Black Widow #009
Aquaman and the Others #5
Green Arrow #34
Grayson #2
Clone #19
The New 52: Future's End #14
New Avengers #022
Iron Fist: The Living Weapon #005
Uber #16
Batman: Detective Comics #34
Punisher #009
She-Hulk #007
Green Lantern #34
Batman Eternal #18
BACK LOG
New Warriors #008
Earth 2 #26
Superman: Action Comics #34
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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1501.09 - 8:12
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