Weekly Comic Review for 11/4/15
OK. Time to start catching up.
Bat-Mite #6 of 6 – Yes, it’s the big finale of the mess that Bat-Mite is making of things. He’s really going overboard by this point. He changed Mount Rushmore to look like him, Batman, Robin, and Batgirl. He made the Statue of Liberty look like Wonder Woman. He created rides out of the Grand Canyon and Washington Monument for GL and Aquaman. He gives new looks looks to Hillary and Bernie but makes a crack about not being a miracle worker when he gets to Trump. He then runs across Gridlock who captures him and starts making him watch Galaxy Trek. Bat-Mite grants Gridlock his dream by making him part of the show’s universe and leaves him there. He is then confronted by the 3 cloaked figures who judged him before. It turns out they are mite versions of Aquaman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. He rejoins the team, leaves Earth, and goes off on new adventures. I’m honestly not sure what to make of all of this series. It’s cute, weird, and just leaves you with a feeling of “Huh?”
Doctor Strange #2 – We have more of the annoying confusing art leading to Doctor Strange’s home being a mess of lost corridors and doorways where everything seems to be a trap, including just opening the refrigerator. This was never what the place was like. This whole take on Doctor Strange is really getting annoying. Zelma gets lost in the house and ends up finding Stephen floating and reading books apparently not caring about what happened to her. Then he summons the mind maggots into himself. (Mind maggots? Really? This is a 2 issue enemy for a guy who took on Dormamu and Baron Mordo? UGH!!!) Zelma goes on her way and we get a one page reminder of the big arc about someone trying to destroy magic. I’m honestly disappointed in this book. As much as the art is what would normally push me away from a comic like this, the plot and scripting are even worse. I love Doctor Strange. I want to like this. I’m not sure how much of a chance I can give this though. I want back the Stephen Strange from the previous and long running title.
Extraordinary X-Men #1 – I wonder when they are going to run out of adjectives for these books… Well, the mutant thing is pretty bad in the world so Storm pulls together a team to deal with stuff. It’s her, Iceman, Magic, and Colossus so far. Colossus has a new haircut and a beard. Other than the fact that his metal form looks a little odd because of the beard, I approve. (I usually approve of beards, especially on big guys like Peter, but that’s beside the point.) Storm and Bobby try to recruit Jean now that she’s not hanging with the young X-Men team, but she just wants a life of her own. Nightcrawler gets captured by Ares and some misfits I don’t know after spouting Bible verses. (Please don’t make him this religion oriented. I know he was a priest but I don’t remember sections of his dialogue being this dedicated to the Bible. This isn’t some Christian faith comic.) Then the team tracks down “Old Man Logan” who appears to be in this reality after Secret Wars. (I wish someone would explain what is going on here and why certain things are popping up here and there. Maybe the final issue of the mini-series that spawned all this would help!) I’ve been away from most of the X-titles for a while but I might give this a chance given that a lot of the characters I like are in it. We’ve got Bobby who will have to come to terms with his sexuality which I hope they won’t drop. I’ve always like Magik and Colossus too. (I really need to read up on the current Magik though because when I last had much to do with her, there were questions on if she was Illyana, Darkchylde, or something else.)
Green Arrow #46 – It’s more of Tarantula and the Skulls as Ollie tries to find George. After Green Arrow and Tarantula get caught, Catalina betrays Oliver to save her sister instead. Things are just all sorts of bad for Green Arrow right now.
Green Lantern #46 – Hal drags the unconscious Black Hand off to the Source Wall where Relic is studying a fissure. When Black Hand comes to, Hal fights him again and ends up hitting him into the Source Wall which absorbs him. The fissure heals up and we’re apparently rid of Black Hand at least for now. Then we have a one page set-up for something that’s going to happen in Coast City. This title is actually getting pretty boring and predictable. Even the interactions between Hal’s 2 travel companions is nothing of interest. This title may be on it’s way out for me.
Hangman #1 – This is another Dark Circle revamp of a Red Circle character. I’m really getting sick of them taking everything and making it so dark. (The Fox is the only one who has avoided that.) All we really know about this Handman is that he’s some sort of urban legend who turns out to be real. When a killer takes someone out to the pier to kill him slowly (He gets eaten by rats.), the Hangman appears in his car and takes him out. It’s all ghost story horror stuff, not the super-hero stuff the character originally came from. I really think it’s time to just forget the Dark Circle line even exists and hopefully it won’t soon.
Hercules #1 – Pro: Herc is back in his shirtless costume tho he has pants now instead of the cloth wrapped around his waist. Con: The man bun. Why is that even a thing? Well, Hercules is back to trying to improve his reputation as a drunken joker. (I didn’t even know he has one like that.) Now he has business cards and everything. It seems there is enough big creature issues that need someone like him for this to be worth it as he takes on a shadow creature that was possessing the boyfriend of his client’s sister. It’s interesting how Hercules is using more modern day weapons in his fights too. To add a little levity to the book (which always seems to follows Herc’s stories), we have Gilgamesh crashing on his couch. This is post Secret Wars so who knows what’s happened but last I knew, Gilgamesh died back in the original Avengers title. I’m sure they’d find some way to avoid continuity to explain it though. We also have Herc’s landlady who wants to help him get cleaned up but really doesn’t like Gilgamesh. Yeah, this is going to be interesting. It definitely seems like it’s going to be a fun book tho.
Justice League: The Darkseid War: Flash #1 – Flash was possessed by the Black Racer, the New Gods’ version of Death. He doesn’t want to be this so he fights to avoid it. He escapes the Racer and runs while the Racer chases him and tries to convince him to stay one with the spirit. Things go back and forth. In the end, of course, Barry has joined with the Racer so that we have something to resolve with all these new “gods” back in the main storyline. This definitely wasn’t one of the stronger one-shots.
Justice League: The Darkseid War: Superman #1 – This issue can be summed up by the following: “I am Superman so I can do what I want and don’t need any of you.” Yes, we get to watch the Superman powered up by Apokolips become a total asshole and almost let everyone is Metropolis die while he stands there just to prove he doesn’t need anyone. Honestly, I’d have to say this was pretty much a waste.
Lobo #12 – Lobo has a mission to take back a drug base. Being who he is, he doesn’t care that his client wants things intact and lets stuff get destroyed. Maybe he should have been a little more customer oriented because he lets loose some of the drug which infects him and makes him delusional. He even almost kills his boss thinking she is someone else. His next target: Hal Jordan.
Midnighter #6 – We start out with Midnighter vs. Multiplex who our hero said is one of his favorites since he can keep making so many guys to beat up. Gotta love it. Then Midnighter goes off with Matt to see his father who was attacked. Being the good boyfriend he is, Midnighter goes off to beat people up til he finds out who did it. Upon coming back, he points out very dramatically that that isn’t actually Matt’s dad by punching his head off. He then comforts mat who returns the favor by stabbing him in the gut. Yes, even Matt isn’t who he said he was. This is sad because I was really liking what he was to Midnighter. To make things worse, in the last panel, we find out he is actually Prometheus. Yes, this is the guy who (pre-New 52) took down the Justice League and chopped off Arsenal’s arm. This could be a tough one even for Midnighter. On top of that, we need to find Midnighter a new boyfriend now. Any volunteers?
Uncanny X-Men #600 – What better way to start things off than with the last issue of a series. Yeah, leave it to Marvel. This issue is made to wrap up a lot of loose ends, most of it happening between scenes of an intervention with the older Beast for all the stuff he’s done including bringing the young X-Men to the present and not being able to put them back in the past. The best part of it is about Jean and both Bobbys where the older Iceman finally admits he is gay but didn’t want to be more of a freak than he was just by being a mutant. There’s also a backup reprint story of Iceman in just black and white.
Vision #1 – OK. Any hopes I had for this are 100% gone. This book is honestly horrible. It’s about the Vision building a wife, son, and daughter to have a family in the suburbs. He works at the White House as a representative of the Avengers reporting to the President. He looks ludicrous walking around in a shirt and pants. The family is a bit dysfunctional as they don’t have many real experiences. The kids really don’t fit in in school and the neighbors only seem to want pics with an Avenger instead of treating them like normal neighbors. On top of that, Grim Reaper came to take his standard revenge regarding Vision having his brother Simon’s brain wave pattern and his wife may have killed him. The whole story is uncomfortable to read with how no one really knows how to react.
There’s 13 books and only 3 I would really recommend so it’s lucky I just do a top 3. The titles for the week are Hercules, Midnighter, and Uncanny X-Men.
