The Week In Ink: August 27, 2008

Well, folks… we lost a good one this week.

 

 

But really, a panel where you kick Batman’s head out of the panel so hard that you get blood-red speed lines and an explosion? Now that’s a way to go out.

And it’s also a pretty good way to introduce another round of the Internet’s Most Procrastinatorial Comics Reviews! Here’s what I picked up this week…

 

 

…and here’s what I thought about ’em!

 

Comics

 

Avengers: The Initiative #16: I could waste everyone’s time with a proper review for this one, but here’s the only fact you need to know to inform your purchase: This issue features the mind-blowing cannibalistic return of the Skrull Kill Krew.

For those of you who aren’t familiar, allow me to explain: The Krew–not to be confused with the Crew, the Crewe or the Crüe–is easily one of the craziest ideas Grant Morrison or Mark Millar have ever come up with. Their origin, handily recapped in this issue, goes like this: When Reed Richards gets the bright idea to hypnotize some shape-shifting Skrulls into thinking that they’re cows in the pages of #2, there were two things that he didn’t forsee: a) That said cow Skrulls would later shoot down the Vision, a move of which the ISB wholeheartedly approves, and b) that said Skrull-cows would mistakenly get lumped in with regular cows, be ground into hamburger, and served at McDonald’s, giving a few of the people who ate them–including a fashion model, a punk rock girl and a Neo-Nazi with a claw hammer–a bad case of terminal super-powers.

Even for 1995, that concept was a little out there, and as you might expect, it was quietly turned into a mini-series with the second issue and ended at #5. Still, it’s almost the definition of a rip-snortin’ fun comic, and I’m honestly surprised that it’s taken them this long to show up again, since the only character more well-suited to Secret Invasion is a certain Greatest of the Spaceknights who has a machine that can detect shape-shifters and spent the past two centuries fighting not just Skrulls, but Skrull Witches. For serious.

 

Blue Beetle #30: Back at HeroesCon, one of the bright spots in the otherwise dismal DC Nation panel was getting to hear Matt Sturges talk about his upcoming run on Blue Beetle, which included him telling the crowd how he was planning on doing a scene set at a miniature golf course based around super-heroes that never bothered to update their displays. Well, here we are a few months later, and said scene has finally arrived. Admittedly, it’s not played off quite the way I’d imagined it–you don’t have to shoot around Aquaman’s hook hand–and if I didn’t know what to look for, I might’ve missed the gag, but man. Seeing a cardboard cutout of the late-80s Marv Wolfman Vigilante and his motorcycle blocking a hole had me almost dying.

And here’s the thing: That’s not even the best part of this issue, an honor that clearly goes to Jaime’s post-fight “I did it–with science!” I’ll admit that while I like Sturges and his work on titles like Jack of Fables a heck of a lot, I wasn’t sure about having him on Blue Beetle–mostly because I just loved John Rogers’ run so damn much–but an issue that can bring me both of those… That’s well worth it.

 

ISB BEST OF THE WEEK

 

 

Catwoman #82: Speaking of the DC Nation panel from HeroesCon–and I swear this’ll be the last time I talk about it for a while–that was the one where I got to see Rachelle stand up to ask Dan DiDio what the chances were that we’d get to see any more Will Pfeifer/David Lopez Catwoman, to which the big D responded by (a) seriously flipping out and telling her that books with low sales get canceled (a fact refuted every month by the continued publication of Simon Dark, and (b) telling her that if she wanted more Catwoman, she should pick up Detective Comics, where Catwoman was teaming up with Batman to fight Hush.

There are, as you might imagine, a number of problems with this scenario, and around 80% of them revolve around anyone ever thinking a story that involved fucking Hush would be any good whatsoever. Spoiler Warning! They’re not.

Anyway, DiDio’s point-missing aside, there’s a darn good reason why Rachelle wants more of Pfeifer and Lopez on Catwoman, and that’s because for the past few years, they’ve put out what is consistently and easily one of the best books on the stands, even if me, her and Dr. K are apparently the only three people on the continent who know that. Still, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s true: They’ve had an incredible run, and the only thing I don’t like about it is that there isn’t any more of it.

As for the issue itself, well, getting to end a book in exactly the way you want to is a luxury that’s pretty much reserved just for Garth Ennis and James Robinson, but Pfeifer–who makes an appearance in the issue getting his XBox 360 on alongside Lopez–makes the best of the apparent plans to resettle Catwoman on the side of the fence for antagonistic anti-heroes by having her essentially mug Batman, have a profound personal revelation, and then carjack the fucking Batmobile in the span of about six pages.

And that is awesome.

 

Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1: All right, let’s get this out of the way up front: Ultramenstruum.

There. Now maybe I can focus on aspects of the book that didn’t make me do a spit-take at work yesterday, but to be honest, there’s just not a lot to talk about. For the first issue, anyway, this is exactly what they said it was: A story where Superman tears ass through a bunch of other dimensions with interdimensional versions of himself–including the suspiciously Dr. Manhattanesque Captain Atom of Earth-4–to learn the Secret Origin of the both the Universe and himself, and even with the fact that it’s dressed up in slightly cryptic prophecies, it’s pretty straightforward, and pretty awesome in its simplicity: Superman exists to protect the world of imaginary stories. Space Cabbie guest-stars.

As to the art, I’ve mentioned before that outside of stories where Frankenstein fights people on mars, I’m not a huge fan of Doug Mahnke’s art, but man, he does a darn good job here. Maybe it’s just the inks by… Hold up, there’s five inkers on this book? Wow. Well, it certainly ended up looking pretty good, which, considering the usual look of books that go through five inkers before they hit the stands, is no mean feat in itself. As to the 3D, well, as much as it’s an imperfect gimmick that gets in the way of the story more often than it enhances it, I’ll admit to having a soft spot for it that probably dates back to a Rocketeer book and tape set that I had when I was a kid. To be honest, though, it would’ve been nice if there was some kind of indication in the book as to when we were supposed to put on the glasses; aside from the scene where Superman “activates his 4-D vision,” there’s no clues like there were in Black Dossier, and since the book actually starts with a 3D sequence that you have to flip past before you even get to where the glasses are bound in, it turns out to be pretty annoying.

Still, though: The very concept of Superman as the protector of fiction itself. That’s rad enough to deal with a little eyestrain.

 

Nova #16: Just a quick note here: In this issue, Nova not only fights Skrulls who have disguised themselves as children, but Skrulls who have disguised themselves as children who are also adorable kitties.

You know, just in case you were wondering why I freakin’ love Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning.

 

Wolverine #68: Okay, folks, confession time: I’ve been reading “Old Man Logan.”

Now, before you get the wrong idea here, yes, I know it’s no good for me, and no, I assure you, I haven’t been trying to hide it by keeping it out of my weekly reviews from embarrassment. I mean, you guys know I get Tarot, and really, this is only slightly less worthwhile. The fact of the matter is that until this issue, I just hadn’t bothered to actually buy any of ’em, because they had yet to get to the point where the story was so aggressively stupid that actually transcended itself to become entertaining.

And brother, is it ever. Originally billed as “the most important Wolverine story of all time” by habitual liar Mark Millar, I think I can sum it up a little better. Have you always wanted to read a gritty story of the future of the Marvel Universe like Days of Future Past or The Last Avengers Story or Future Imperfect or Here Comes Tomorrow or Earth X (and so on), but haven’t had the time? Well, just read Old Man Logan, because it’s everything you can see in those, except that it came out this month and reads like it was filtered through a copy of Con Air.

Which–and this is the shocking part–isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sure, it’s goofy as all hell and you’d have to be a remedial third grader to think it had any depth whatsoever or fail to figure out where we’re going with the plot–Wolverine has, naturally, sworn himself to a life of nonviolence and keeping his claws sheathed, which means that the odds of him not only popping his claws but returning home as a total badass, beating up the inbred Hulks and becoming Super Badass King of California are a solid 1:1–but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be fun, and if there’s one thing Millar’s proven himself to be adept at over the past few years, it’s writing the comic book equivalent of Transporter 2.

And that’s what we’ve got here: A big, loud, monumentally stupid fight comic in which an actual story would only get in the way. But hey, it’ll kill five minutes in a pretty enjoyable manner, and really, what more do you want from something with Wolverine in it?

 

Trades

 

Fantastic Four Visionaries: Walt Simonson v.1: Okay, seriously, Marvel: What the hell.

Longtime ISB readers might recall that Walt Simonson’s Fantastic Four–which includes a scene where Mr. Fantastic hooks Thor’s hammer up to Iron Man’s armor and then patches it through his Time Sled so that they can team up with Galactus to fight the Black Celestial holy crap I love comic books–is one of my favorite runs of all time. That being the case, I fully support getting more of it in trade and available to new readers, but this… Man. This thing is just rough.

First of all, the damn thing’s only five issues, which wouldn’t be a huge problem since it’s at a relatively low price point of $14.99, but not only does this thing contain a fill-in issue that Walt Simonson had absolutely nothing to do with, it leads the book with it. That’s right, folks: You go to the store, pick up a book entitled Fantastic Four Visionaries: Walter Simonson, open it up to page one, and get a Danny Fingeroth story about the dangers of playing with fire that, as Bully the Little Stuffed Bull will attest, is just awful.

Under normal circumstances, I could understand including it just for the sake of not busting up the numbering, but seriously: When your book’s based around collecting the work of a particular creator, including an issue that he didn’t work on, that doesn’t tie in with the rest of the run and that’s not very good to begin with just boggles the mind. I mean, would it really have made less sense to cut this and #351 out, put a 24.99 price tag on it and then collect up through the Dr. Doom story, a whopping total of nine Simonson issues? Or am I just being too picky?

 

JLA: Deluxe Edition v.1 HC: Hey, remember that time that they relaunched the JLA and they didn’t sit around a table scrapbooking for five issues and it didn’t suck ass and was actually one of the best comics of the decade? Well, now you can buy it a third time, like I did.

 


 

And on that dubious purchasing habit, I’m done here. As always, feel free to bring up any questions you might have in the section below, unless you’re going to tell me that I’m wrong about the FF trade, because that’s seriously messed up. Instead, why not talk about the great recoloring job on The Origin of Danny Rand or the awesome last page of Superman or how Wolverine: First Class manages to have Wolverine in it and be fun without being stupid?

After all, that’s not an easy trick to pull off.

56 thoughts on “The Week In Ink: August 27, 2008

  1. I’m just glad Van Lente decided to NOT go with the Theresa Child Alcoholic continuity for the story. And instead concentrated on robots stupidly getting between a clawed Canadian and the Stanley Cup final game…

    Also I wonder what year that makes the story. I mean, if Van Lente actually used a real Stanley Cup game…

  2. Now that Superman’s tooling around in the Yellow Submarine, at last we know why Morrison requested that the Monitors’ costumes look like the Sgt. Pepper uniforms (seriously, see the Final Crisis sketchbook). They don’t, and that’s a damn shame, but at least we have the submarine.

  3. I won’t get to a comic shop until tomorrow, and I am living in terror that Superman Beyond 3D will be sold out. Good people of Edinburgh, leave that comic the hell alone! I neeed it. Yes. Having to watch the fitba’ in the pub won’t be the same unless I have it. Though I will bring my own 3D glasses, just in case.

  4. Feel free to send me all those trades that you’re got multiple copies of. I promise I won’t mind.

  5. I loved the thing where Venom ate the horse.

    Also, Sims, what do you think of the new art on Immortal Iron Fist? The story seems to be a pretty good continuation of what Brubaker and Fraction started, but man, Danny Rand’s legs are so long! And Xtreeme.

  6. Chris, I see you’re not picking up “Teen Titans”. After this week’s cheap shock chiche, that seems wise.

  7. Ultramenstruum = the ‘magic mirror’ from The Invisibles. You probably already know that. Man, I suck.

  8. There’s one more thing in the Blue Beetle issue that you forgot to mention:

    “Possible Theological Implications” is hands down the best warning label on a weapon I’ve ever seen in my life.

  9. Obviously, you haven’t been reading my blog or else you would know I’m another big fan of the now concluded Catwoman comic. I loved it when Brubaker did it and was worried when he left, but Pfeifer has more than met my hopes for the comic. This has been one of the best comics ever that went more than a dozen issues. It has been consistently excellent and that’s not something I can say about many things these days.

  10. The only thing that sucks are Marvel Apologizing douchebags at tHE-ISB and btw:
    Sales disagree with you about JLA, you filthy illegally downloading pirate.

  11. I’m equally curious about your opinion on Skaar. I’ve dropped it after two issues. Just didn’t do anything for me.

    Maybe I wasn’t made for “barbarian” comics, no matter how much I’d like to have been.

  12. I was really pissed at how slim the Walt Simonson volume was. I had to wait that long for four issues of his run, and I’m going to have to wait HOW MUCH longer to get to the really awesome stuff?

    LAME.

  13. Only book I picked up was Last will & Testament, which was pretty cool; not as good as Requiem, but it did make Geo-Force interesting. I figure I’ll hit cons to get the other tie-ins cheap, because they all seem interesting.

    For anybody who wears glasses and picked up Superman Beyond: did you have trouble getting the 3D effect? It never seems to work with me no matter how I wear the shades (by itself, behind my glasses, in front of the glasses).

  14. Believe it or not, I randomly thought of Skrull Kill Krew last week and said, why aren’t they in Secret Invasion?

    Answer: They waited until it would blow my continuity-starved mind.

    Well played, Marvel. Well Played.

  15. The pricing on the Marvel Visionaries books is a joke.

    They did the same thing on Simonson’s Thor (most of which are out of print) and Byrne’s FF.

    It would have been awesome if they went the route that DC did for Kirby’s Fourth World books.

  16. I read all my books wearing the 3D glasses. It improved the experience immensely, I thought.

    I found Catwoman a pretty darn entertaining book too, and am very sad to see it go.

    And Sturges on Blue Beetle is surprisingly awesome. Pacos’ crossdressing little brother was definitely my highlight of the week.

  17. –When I saw the surprise villains in this week’s MA Avengers, I thought, “Wow, if only one of them would have kicked someone in the face, that definitely would have made The Week In Ink this week…”

    –I was disappointed that Venom ate the horse, rather than the suit jumping ship and taking over the horse. Has anyone done a Venom Horse yet? Because that would be great.

    –Another vote for Sims’ Great Outdoor Fight thoughts. The subject matter seems right up your alley, Mr. Sims, but I think you’ve mentioned never getting into Achewood previously…?

    –Is there ever an appropriate time to apply “apologist” to the discussion of comic books?

  18. Jason, I wear the 3D glasses in front of my real glasses. It’s the best I can get it, really. It’s not as awesome as it would be if I had actual working eyes, but that’s the price I pay, I suppose. In addition to all the other prices.

  19. “The ISB: come for the comedy, flee the comments section…cripes…”

    Other than the utter linguistic wreckage of Melter/McFarlane/random numbers guy, I find the comments here match the tone Sims set. Of course, my occasional contributions may be one of the reasons why you run in terror after Sims signs off, I dunno. I’m probably overrating myself there, but you never know.

  20. Further, this quote, “Originally billed as “the most important Wolverine story of all time” by habitual liar Mark Millar” is not only the best encapsulation of Millar I’ve ever read (it’s funny because it’s a statment of cold hard fact!), but it made me laugh in the teacher’s lounge I am reading this in. Which would have been awkward had anyone else been in here.

  21. Aye, I think compared to many, many other internet comments sections, the ISB ones are actually pretty good.

    I just like that it’s not full of people calling each other “PhaGgzZ” and saying “no way, Morisson sux man hes on crazy drugs lol Batmans lookin gay”, before giving away huge spoilers.

    Fellow ISB commenters! Feel the love! YES.

  22. I know Bendis books give you hives, but in this week’s issue of Ultimate Spider-Man, Venom eats a horse.

    You know, I actually did read this week’s USM–for the first time in a couple of years–because I was bored and we had a preview copy laying around, and, well… It certainly is a comic book. Pretty art, though.

    Also, Sims, what do you think of the new art on Immortal Iron Fist?

    Pretty much exactly what you said. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Swierczynski’s story, and while the art in this issue was an improvement from the first, it’s still a little lacking. Still, nice to see the Bronx Sucker Punch make a comeback.

    I see you’ve been buying Skarr, Son of Hulk. Is it any good?

    In the last issue, Skaar uppercut a Dragon. So that would be yes. Really, though, it’s just a continuation of Planet Hulk‘s Hulk-As-Conan, but more directly, and I get a pretty big kick out of it.

    “Possible Theological Implications” is hands down the best warning label on a weapon I’ve ever seen in my life.

    Oh man, totally. That was awesome.

    Re: Great Outdoor Fight

    Jesus, did you people see the list? You want me to get through 27 comics and all my trades? Sheesh.

    Anyway, Caleb’s right: Achewood’s been hit or miss for me whenever I check it out online, but once it’s set up as a longform story-arc rather than a strip, I found that I liked it a heck of a lot better. It’s highly entertaining, and I liked all the bonus stuff about the history of the Fight itself, not to mention the rip-roaring conclusion involving a Christian Brothers Molotov Cocktail.

    Still, I do have a question: Why does the dog wear a black thong?

    And finally…

    The only thing that sucks are Marvel Apologizing douchebags at tHE-ISB and btw:
    Sales disagree with you about JLA, you filthy illegally downloading pirate.

    Man, I might just be getting slow in my old age, but it took me forever to realize that the “sales disagree” remark was about my comments on Brad Meltzer’s shitty Justice League of America relaunch and not some sort of commentary on people re-buying the Morrison/Porter run three times.

    Anyway, Mister Five, I’m not really getting your point here. Are you saying that I’m a Marvel Apologist, or that I have an anti-DC bias? Because looking at the list of comics I bought this week, out of the 27 singles, 23 of them are from the Big Two (with the other four coming from Archie or Avatar), and they’re split pretty even: 12 Marvel and 11 DC.

    Heck, even when you get to the actual reviews, where the only things I have negative comments about are a Marvel trade and the unrepentant but enjoyable stupidity of a Marvel comic. So according to my math, you’re mistaken.

    Unless you’re just really into the first few arcs on Justice League, in which case you’re mistaken and fucking stupid, too.

  23. Still, I do have a question: Why does the dog wear a black thong?

    HEY

    HEY

    Ray is a cat.

  24. I can’t believe Wolverine: First Class wasn’t your book of the week. IT was amazing.

  25. An American Curl. That’s supposed to explain the ears. I went through the entire archives without realizing Lyle was supposed to be a tiger. I think there’s probably an origin for the thong but it’s basically because he’s a cat who has a lot of money and little to no common sense.

  26. I can’t believe Wolverine: First Class wasn’t your book of the week. IT was amazing.

    It really was. Almost as good as the Sabretooth issue from a few months back, and yes: I never thought I’d use that sentence either.

  27. Whenever I find those Simonson FF back issues anywhere, I buy ’em. Just on the off chance I’ve lost an issue. I’m pretty sure I’ve got two complete runs of this thing by now, and I’m still tempted by the collection.

  28. I bought the whole run of Simonson written/drawn FF issues last year (and the Art Adams-drawn issues); there’s no way that cost me anywhere near $15 total, let alone $25. Come on kids, your trade-waiting doesn’t always work to your advantage.

    I tried reading Catwoman last year on the advice of one of the reviewers at “Comics Should Be Good”. I picked up the first 3 or 4 issues post-OYL. I couldn’t get past the writing, which seemed to bold words in every word balloon or caption totally at random, thus giving everybody the same speaking mannerisms/personality and seeming as if they had Tourette’s and spitting and grunting their words out. Also, the artwork didn’t seem as good once they stopped printing on Baxter paper and switch to that glossy stuff mid-way through the issues I bought.

  29. You really are going to shit all over Wolverine, and not mention the shotgun decapitation or even that it has the BEST art in comics right now? Stop being such a DC apologist. Final Crisis is a worse idea than Greedo Shooting first. You are fucking clown shoes.

  30. On the subject of Wolverine: First Class, though not the one Chris got this week.

    Looking through this month’s Previews, I saw solicitation for Weapon X: First Class, which promises to explore the darkest era of Wolverine’s history. The solicitation text did not sound at all fun nor light-hearted. Both it and November’s Wolverine: First Class were rated A, for Adult, I presume (as All Ages books actually say All Ages instead of a letter). X-Men: First Class was nowhere to be found. Is Marvel changing the direction of the First Class books? Shall I plan my disappointment now?

  31. I don’t read DC. I just don’t. Never got into the characters that much.

    But I do have a complete run of Catwoman. I jumped on with issue #1 on a whim – and stuck around until this week.

    It’s been a great ride and it pains me to know that Selina will become just another poorly-used Bat-background character.

    And no, I won’t be switching over to Detective Comics …

  32. Both it and November’s Wolverine: First Class were rated A, for Adult, I presume (as All Ages books actually say All Ages instead of a letter).

    A does not actually stand for Adult. It stands for All Ages…but to a … lesser degree than the ones that explicitly have the words written out. Basically the rating system breaks down like this:

    All Ages: Rated G
    A: Rated PG
    T+: PG-13
    Parental Advisory: Somewhere between PG-13 and “soft” R
    MAX/Explicit Content: Hard R

  33. You know you’re the man, Chris, but I really can’t get with some of your pet peeves. I thoroughly agree with your hatred of Bendis; I think the guy should die a painful death, but I just don’t get the comments you make about guys like Mark Millar and Geoff Johns.
    Sure, Millar is writing a lot of dumb comics these days, but he’s had a lot of great work over the years. And Johns apart from Infinite Crisis has been on a winning streak with Action Comics, Green Lantern, Booster Gold, etc

  34. You know you’re the man, Chris,

    Yes, I do.

    but I really can’t get with some of your pet peeves.

    Well, that would seem to be more your problem than mine, but go on.

    I thoroughly agree with your hatred of Bendis; I think the guy should die a painful death, but I just don’t get the comments you make about guys like Mark Millar and Geoff Johns.

    So you’re saying Brian Bendis should “die a painful death” while attempting to be the voice of reason. Okay, with you so far.

    Sure, Millar is writing a lot of dumb comics these days, but he’s had a lot of great work over the years.

    I’ll be the first to agree that Mark Millar’s an extremely talented guy, and anyone who hasn’t read his run on Superman Adventures is missing out on some of the absolute best stories with the character in seventy years, no joke. But here’s the thing: That was ten motherfucking years ago. When was the last time that he actually wrote something that was good instead of just being fun? Swamp Thing? And don’t say Red Son, because while I’d agree with you, he wrote that shit back in the ’90s too, and it just didn’t get published ’til later.

    You don’t get a pass because you used to be good. I like the Dark Phoenix Saga and Man of Steel as much as everybody, but I don’t read Claremont and Byrne’s books now because they’re pretty fucking awful, and if I’m not going to give those guys a pass after all they’ve done, I’m sure as hell not giving one to Mark Millar.

    (Excepted from this rule, by the way, is Walt Simonson, who always gets a chance because his run on Thor is the second best comic book ever fucking produced, and six issues of Hawkgirl can’t change that.)

    All that said, Millar does tend to write fun comics, and–the bottomlessly terrible Kick-Ass aside–I enjoy his work. I’m just not mistaking “enjoyable” for “quality.”

    And Johns apart from Infinite Crisis

    …the biggest thing he’s written in the past five years, which is the very symbol of the company’s faith they have in him as a writer, and which turned out to be fucking unreadable…

    has been on a winning streak with Action Comics,

    I’ll admit that Superman and the Legion, as reviewed a few weeks ago, was solid enough to get me interested in the Brainiac story, which I’ll get in trade, and LO3W was just flat-out radical. We’ll see if anybody gets their arm ripped off with an Evil-Deadish bloodspray, though.

    Green Lantern,

    …sucks, is stupid and I hate it…

    Booster Gold,

    Had a cowriter in Jeff Katz, which I always take pains to mention because who knows how much of the work he’s doing? Not that I mind, it’s a great book and if more people are picking it up because of Johns’ name on the cover, more power to him.

    etc

    …by which I assume you mean Justice Society of America, hands-down the most masturbatory comic since One-Fisted Tales, and an upcoming Flash series about Barry Allen that will likely be based around a) the inability for anyone to accept that sometimes the things they liked when they were kids aren’t as good as the things we have now, and b) the mistaken desire that what made Barry Allen a boring character was that people didn’t know about Police Science, which has changed because of CSI. Because that’s what I want to see a guy who can run at the speed of light doing: Math. That’ll be great.

    Short Version: I don’t like things because they’re stupid, they suck, and I hate them.

  35. I think it undercuts a lot of your points, Sims, that you have to make such a meek, self-deprecating introduction about reading Old Man Logan. People bitch so much about comics being shit and not fun anymore and here you are cap in hand saying, “please sir, I just read it because it’s an enjoyable funny book!”

  36. I’m not sure that I’ve ever said that comics aren’t fun anymore. Regardless, the mea culpa of the Wolverine review was more along the lines of addressing both my earlier comments and acknowledging that there’s nothing that’s done in “Old Man Logan” that hasn’t been done elsewhere.

  37. Hey, I wasn’t trying to be the voice of reason. Ok, maybe I exagerated about that whole “bendis should die a painful death” thing, but at least I’d like for him to stop being Marvel’s golden boy and writing so many Big Event comics.

    As for the rest, I have to agree with you with most things. Millar’s last great work for me was the Ultimates (also, I think he’s gotten cocky after his movie deal)

    Regarding Johns, I’m not holding my breath for his Flash project, but I still like his Green Lantern. You really thought that the Sinestro Corps War sucked, Chris?

    As a final note, I completely agree with your Walt Simonson rule, especially because I’m one of the few who enjoys the World of Warcraft comic (and was blown away by his Thor run)

  38. You really thought that the Sinestro Corps War sucked, Chris?

    Yes. I really did. I’ve said it four or five times already, but I just can’t see how you guys thought it was any good. I mean, it’s fine that you did and all, who am I to tell you not to enjoy something, but man. Rough stuff.

  39. Why would anyone be bothered if Chris’ “peeves” are different from their own? I enjoy his acerbic comments, including those I don’t agree with.

    I’m here for The Show; and The Show is always good.

  40. PS

    The new Love and Rockets contains a story where Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis slaughter an army of aliens with their bare hands.

    Quite the change from Jerry’s old DC series.