Standard Disclaimers: Please set appropriate followups. Recommendation does
not factor in price. Not all books will have arrived in your area this week.
"You know, they make an ointment for that." An archive can be found on my
homepage, http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/Rants
"Other Media" Capsules:
Things that are comics-related but not necessarily comics (i.e.
comics-based movies like Iron Man or Hulk), or that aren't going to be
available via comic shops (like comic pack-ins with DVDs) will go in this
section when I have any to mention. They may not be as timely as comic
reviews, especially if I decide to review novels that take me a week or two
(or ten) to get around to.
I saw Watchmen, and liked it. But no full review on it. :) Maybe I'll
review the DVD when it comes out. I do have some spoilery observations on
one of the differences between the comic and the film up on my Livejournal,
through: http://dvandom.livejournal.com/473440.html
Also, finally got the PS238 RPG today, but since it's months late
already, I'll review it next week.
Comics Capsules:
Short, relatively spoiler-free reviews of books I actually bring home
(as opposed to reading in preview form in the shop or online). If I get a
book late due to distributor foulups or whatever, I'll put it in the Missing
section.
Books of Note (Strongly Recommended or otherwise worthy): PS238 #38
Official Index of the Marvel Universe #3: Marvel - Amazing Spider-Man
#103-146, plus several Giant Size and Specials, making it to mid-1975; Iron
Man #12-65 (end of 1973); X-Men #109-150 (Oct 1981). Next issue will start
covering books I read at the time they came out. :) (My dad brought Iron
Man #98 home for me when I was little, and decades later my brother got me
#100 as a birthday present.) Recommended. $3.99
Invincible Iron Man #11: Marvel - Dark Reign top banner, World's Most
Wanted bottom banner. No Bruce Banner. (Hey, I had to make the joke at
least once.) This one's a mix of stuff. Too much time spent setting up
technobabble (I don't really have a big problem with the lack of technical
accuracy of it, but I do think Fraction spent way too much page space on it,
clearly in love with his own cleverness), and much of the rest used for a
fight scene. About the only good bit was catching up with Henry Hellrung.
Very mildly recommended. $2.99
REBELS #2: DC - Heh. Head!Brainy looks like he may become a supporting
cast member, regardless of Vril's desires on the matter. A lot of Vril being
clever and snarky, which I like. Clarke's art is a bit off in places,
though. Recommended. $2.99
Green Arrow and Black Canary #18: DC - Generally a good build-up to a
moral crisis, with some good bits here and there, but the dialogue also
sometimes thuds dully on the floor. Also, "kill a bunch of characters to
prove how badass the new character is" was getting old during the time period
covered in Marvel Index #3. Mildly recommended. $2.99
Booster Gold #18: DC - Well, still no #17, so we get to see how well I
can follow things with an issue missing, especially in a time travel story.
Still, I get the feeling that the lack of impact this issue has is unrelated
to what I may have missed in #17. The Big Reveal is sorta meh, and the new
angst bomb being dropped feels hollow. Mildly recommended. $2.99
Gen13 v4 #28: DC/Wildstorm - Same case, although without the time travel
angle. I think I can pretty much reconstruct what happened last issue from
this one, though, so it's all good. And the Gen14 survivor shows up to
replace Rainmaker (who wandered off into a subplot last issue, it seems).
The art isn't as genre-inappropriate as the Gen14 issue, but it's still
pretty weak. And the Defile backup makes me wonder why I wasted time reading
yet another part-three-of-four story featuring yet another Wildstorm
character I don't care or know anything about. Feh. Mildly recommended.
$2.99
PS238 #38: Do Gooder Press - I never did get #25 from Diamond. Finally,
an unreservedly good comic this week. It's no Paraball, but the soccer
game's fun nonetheless. :) The backups are better than usual as well.
Strongly recommended. $2.99
Gone Missing:
Stuff that came out some places this week and that I wanted to buy, but
couldn't find for whatever reason, so people don't have to email me asking
"Why didn't you review X?" (If it's neither here nor in the section above,
though, feel free to ask, I might have forgotten about it!)
Current list as of 3/11/09: Official Handbook of the Gold Digger
Universe #22, Transformers Maximum Dinobots #1-3, Transformers Revenge of the
Fallen: Alliance #2, Jersey Gods #1-2, Booster Gold #17, Gen13 v4 #27,
Beanworld volume 1 hardcover, Dynamo5 #20, Cthulhu Tales #12. Add
Transformers All Hail Megatron #8 (should be able to get at newsstand
tomorrow) and Essential Power Man/Iron Fist vol 2. I'm giving up on
Diamond ever shipping Beanworld and ordering it online. I may or may not
have it next week, depending on shipping vagaries.
Awards:
"Forgot to give it an award" Award to Official Index of the Marvel Universe
#3 (also labeled it as #2 in the original Usenet posting, ooops)
"NINETY-SIX THOUSAND FAVORITE SONGS?!" Award to Invincible Iron Man #11
"When Did Bedard Morph Into Furman? Hh." Award to REBELS #2
"Actually, That Should've Been Totally Survivable For Him" Award to Green
Arrow and Black Canary #18
"Eh, Who Gives A Rip?" Award to Booster Gold #18
"Exclusive Cannibalism Is Not A Good Long-Term Strategy" Award to Gen13 v4
#28
"I May Not Know Art, But I Know What Likes Me" Award to PS238 #38 (NOM NOM)
Dave Van Domelen, "Mister Osborn. My name is Lex Luthor. I'm from an
alternate universe." "Given who I work with, I'm going to remain
unsurprised." "Good man." - Luthor and Osborn, Full Frontal Nerdity in PS238
#38
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