Weekly Comic Review for 4/22/15
Yes, I’m actually getting to this. The best laid plans of mice and men and all that…
All-New X-Men #40 – I was actually planning on doing a video blog for this issue but never got the time. With all the spoilers that were posted about this issue, full pages nonetheless, the issue was anti-climactic. Jean approaches Bobby after he comments about how Magik looks and asked why he does that when he’s gay. At first he denies it but then he admits it. That then means that the adult Bobby is gay also despite the fact he’s had relationships with females throughout the years. I really hate retcons, especially one as severe as this. As a friend pointed out that back when the X-Men first appeared, homosexuality wasn’t something they could address in comics. This is very true but it doesn’t change the fact that there is over 5 decades of history that is being called into question. I’m all for gay characters and if this was an alternate universe Iceman, it would be great. But it isn’t. It’s the younger version of the modern, main universe Bobby. I don’t think that this was the best way to do this and I wonder if it will actually mean anything after the universe changing storyline of Secret Wars coming up. (If they do this to boost sales on one issue and drop it, I’ll be even more annoyed than I am now.) I think if they want more gay characters, use new characters or at least ones without quite a cemented history. Also, with characters like Karma, Anole, Northstar, and the Ultimate Colossus, why do we need another gay X-Man? Why not someone in the light elsewhere like the Avengers? Yes, we had Wiccan and Hulkling in the Young Avengers, but they never stay in a title long enough. Plus, with those we have a mutant and an alien. How about more normal every day human gay characters? We’ll have to see how this all pans out but I still definitely have issues with this story.
Now, that’s not all there is to the issue. Some people went to Utopia and found that people are still living there. Among them are Karma, Random, and Boom Boom. Also, Warren and Laura have a moment and talk about his new wings. Since he saw how he turned out in the future, he wanted to do something to change that and gave himself energy wings. I wonder how all this is going to affect the future X-Men or if they are just going to say it created an alternate universe branching off from when the young X-Men left the past. Who really know. I hope they resolve this team before whatever happens to the mutants happens in Secret War.
Convergence #3 of 8 – We pick up on Telos’ world where the heroes of Earth 2 have found Deimos (the bad guy from Warlord’s comic). After fighting off a bunch of Telos’ robots, Deimos takes them down into Skartaris. I can see the domed cities up above ground but how did they end up down below? Not that it isn’t a weird place as it is with a sky but underground. Forget it. I’m not even going to try to figure out comic book mechanics. Let’s move on to Telos who goes after Kandor for not attacking other cities. Since they end up fighting him instead, he destroys the city. Someone is pretty cranky. Meanwhile, back in Skartaris, we find that someone is collecting time travelers including Monarch, Per Degaton, Supernova, Rip Hunter, and more. And back up top, Batman and Dick stayed back. It turns out they were being followed by another Batman’s rogues gallery. Batman sacrifices himself in an explosion to take them out. Dick lives, but so does one other — the Joker. Tho it seems Telos isn’t a fan of him and takes him out saying he is “a plague in every timeline”. I love that line! Of course, Telos really only saved Dick to find out where the others were. This was a pretty eventful issue.
Convergence: Batman and the Outsiders #1 of 2 – This one brought back some good memories. I miss this team. Metamorpho has been replaced by ELement Girl and GeoForce and Halo aren’t even around post-New52. With the dome down, I’m not sure things are all that different. GeoForce is without his powers but is still really strong for whatever reason. Metamorpho is human again with the loss of his abilities. This makes him happy though since he can now be with his girlfriend. Halo, on the other hand, is just in a coma. I guess the dome even negates alien possession. Butthe dome comes downand the powers come back and everyone is happy… except Rex, who was about to have shower sex and ends upb urning Sapphire’s arm. And then OMAC shows up, and people are unhappy again. This book really is a series of ups and downs!
Convergence: Green Lantern Corps #1 of 2 – Okay. This is officially the most disfunctional of the stories I’ve read. No power equals no powered up power rings. (Why do some scientific things like machinery work but others like the power rings now work? I’m confused.) Guy is watching kids play super-hero during recreation and seeing a therapist when he’s not. John is off being an architect, and Hal has just took off. Turns out Hal disappeared right after his engagement party to Carol. In the middle of Guy confronting him about it, powers come back on and Hal knocks out Guy so he can’t charge up and head off to be a hero. (He blames himself for Guy almost getting killed. So, him taking on a fight without powers is supposed to help him how?) Well, I guess we’ll see what happens and who they fight next issue.
Convergence: Hawkman #1 of 2 – We’re back to the old school Hawkman and Hawkwoman from the old JLA. Most of the issue revolves around a bunch of other Thangarians in the city. It seems to be taking place around the Shadow War of Hawkman mini-series since they keep referencing shadow stuff. Before they get to encounter others from their world, Carter and Shiera have to fight Manhawks, these messed up birds with scary old manfaces. Creepy! The other Thangarians create a new Absorbascon using other Thangarians linked through a machine. One starts talking about the multiverse when the dome comes down. Homestly, it’s one of the more confusing and boring of the Convergence mini-series I’ve read so far.
Convergence: Justice League of America #1 of 2 – The good news is that this time, the JLA is an actual regular team. The bad news is that’s it’s Justice League Detroit. That means we have Gypsy, Vibe, Vixen with the bad hair, and Zatanna with that creepy red thing that looks like a bug on top of her head. (Give me her top hat and tails any day!) While the issue starts off a little slow, it starts ramping up as we start reaching the end of the dome. This messed up mix of heroes will make things interesting as they face off against the Tangent Universe Secret Six. That’s another messed up team so I’m half afraid to even see how the writers are going to fix and match these heroes. I can actually say I’m looking forward to issue 2 of this title.
Convergence: New Teen Titans #1 of 2 – It’s the Teen TItans vs. the Doom Patrol. Well, the Tangent version of the Doom Patrol at least. This really messes with Changeling when he hears the name because he was a member of the Doom Patrol in his universe. Action starts pretty quick in this issue as the dome comes down a few pages in. We get a little lead up learning that Donna is separated from her husband, Kory and Dick are married (At least she accepted after Barabara wouldn’t a couple weeks ago, but their marriage is pretty rocky.), and Kole is wondering if Jericho is gay since he won’t pick up on her hitting on him. There’s enough drama for a soap opera if we didn’t have to deal with the attack too. But it seems like one of the Doom Patrol doesn’t like the way things are lining up with Cyborg becoming a big target for her team because she contacts Nightwing, tho I’m not sure how she knew how to get hold of him.
Convergence: Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #1 of 2 – Superboy is trapped now only in a city but one in the future too. And though powers are off, I guess they can get stuck in “on” mode as Colossal Boy is still big and can’t shrink down. The worst off was Wildstar who fell into the “does the technology work?” trap. He was made of energy and I guess just disolved out into nowhere leaving an empty suit. The issue ends not long after the dome comes down and the Atomic Knights show up we have no idea with they’ll be doing with him. Hald the book seemed to revolve around Superboy and Lightning Lass anyway. I’m honestly not impressed with the art. It’s kinda simple looking and comes off with a half little kid/manga look to it. As a big Legion fan, I have to say I’m disappointed with this book.
Convergence: The Flash #1 of 2 – This time, we’re working with Barry Allen. As much as he whines in this book, I’d rather go to the original Flash comic and see Jay instead. He even talks to Bruce about how he’s getting paced by normal runners. I think he should just worry about his job as a doctor now and help the people with real problems. When the dome comes down and he gets his speed back, he’s finally happy. That is until the Tangent universe Superman shows up. (He seems to have a bit of amnesia so hopefully that will give Barry a little more of a chance though I don’t want the Tangent universe to disappear either.)
Some of the books were flops but there were a few stand-outs. All-New X-Men is on the top 3 just because I think this title needs a close watch with how they handle the announcement that Iceman is gay. Convergence: Batman and the Outsiders also makes the cut. It’s one of the best stories about the characters while under the dome I’ve seen so far. For once, I’m actually interested and not counting the pages until the dome falls. The final one is Convergence: Justice League of America. As I said, the pairing of teams looks like it will be a lot of fun.
