Wednesday Number Ones is a weekly feature here at Comic Pants. We take the books that are premiering a first issue from that week and give a quick opinion on them. From time to time we may also include more than issue number ones in this feature. If a noteworthy one-shot or the first issue of a new story arc is released, we may talk about it in this feature.
This week we will cover Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born Sketchbook, DCU Infinite Christmas Special, Outer Orbit #1 of 4, Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1 of 5, The Spirit #1, Wolverine #49, Wonder Man #1 of 5 and X-23: Target X #1 of 5.
Dave Farabee Read and Thought:
Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #1 of 5 (DC Comics/Vertigo): To answer the obvious question: no, it doesn’t look like this new Sandman miniseries will come anywhere near equaling Matt Wagner’s much-loved (if cult) Sandman Mystery Theatre comics of the 90s. Where Wagner lensed violent 30s pulp stories through a humanist’s eye, John Ney Rieber aims squarely to bring the gas-masked hero into the modern world. It’s a two-tiered tale, one following original Sandman Wesley Dodds as his wife is kidnapped in Afghanistan, the other following a wartime photojournalist who just might be Dodds’ successor. Neither story particularly engages, and I expect to see the new Sandman go over about as well as the new Deadman.
Dark Tower Sketchbook (Marvel Comics): This 16-page freebie’s our first glimpse into Marvel’s upcoming miniseries set in the world of Stephen King’s Gunslinger novels. I’ve never read the books, so new comic stories with the characters won’t do much for me, but for Marvel, Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born promises to be THE event of 2007. Even with my low stake in it, though, I wish they’d chosen a different artist than Jae Lee. His pin-ups of the characters have strong design work, but the sequential stuff looks as stiff and photo-referenced as ever, and I can see he’s still more interested in stylish backgrounds than those that suggest a real setting. Superficially, however, his stuff looks pretty slick, so I suspect he’ll prove a commercial choice if nothing else. Anyway, the sketchbook’s free, so it won’t cost you anything to give ‘er a look-see and decide for yourself.
David Martindale Read and Thought:
Wolverine #49 (Marvel Comics): The art is pretty decent, but the writing and concept fail pretty badly. We start off with a frustrated Wolverine having to do some Christmas shopping which is pretty amusing, but as the book descends into any other “Hey I’m Wolverine, and I’m a badass” story, everything interesting about the book fades out of sight. The book reaches a crescendo of mediocrity on the last page as Wolverines wishes us a “Merry Christmas” and spills his guts out on the floor. Skip it.
Wonder Man #1 of 5 (Marvel Comics): Despite Andrew Currie’s god awful art, Peter David really manages to bring the fun. I’ve never been a Wonder Man fan, so I don’t know how well this less-than-serious take fits or doesn’t fit the character, but I’m still very much enjoying it. Peter David has a pretty good track record of late, but the art really is bad. If you can get past the art, you should give this miniseries a shot.
Nick Budd Read and Thought:
DCU Infinite Holiday Special (DC): Seven Christmas stories, seven high caliber writers and seven talented artists. You’d think that the odds that this book would be something worth taking a look at would be fairly good. As it turns out, not so much. Most of the stories are a bit on the sappy side and some even slip into some murky territory, which seems a bit much for what should be a sort of irreverent Christmas special. Having Batwoman toss batarangs into nameless thugs’ heads to retrieve a stolen menorah sure doesn’t feel like a very Yule-tide thing to do. The only one that was actually any good had the Shadowpact going after a terrorist group gunning for jolly old St. Nick. All in all, for a whopping $4.99 price tag, DCU Infinite Holiday Special doesn’t offer much and can’t achieve the level of fun that the Marvel Holiday Specialwas able to attain.
X-23: Target X #1 of 5 (Marvel): Well X-23 is back, starring in yet another mini-series. This go around we have a story that hearkens back to Barry Windsor-Smith’s Weapon X series, revisiting the female clone of Wolverine during the start of her mission training. It may not contain as much over the top blood meets brutality as that series had, but those aren’t things that writers Craig Kyle and Christ Yost shy away from. Is the story beyond the action/violence something that’s worth taking a look at? It’s toss up, really. If you’ve enjoyed the character before, this further exploration into what made her the way she is now will no doubt provide some good entertainment. If not, then the cliffhanger ending and the paint-y, but nice looking, art that Mike Choi and Sonia Oback dish out might not be enough to make you come back to X-23: Target X for more.
Randy Lander Read and Thought:
Outer Orbit #1 of 4 (Dark Horse): Mix Lobo, Judge Dredd and Deadpool together and you get a story that just annoyed the crap out of me. Zach Howard is aiming for funny motormouth with his lead character, and for funny buddy comedy with his surly lawdog counterpart, but mostly I just kept hoping the surly one would blow the talky one’s head off. The plot, about mistaken identities, opportunistic femme fatales and a stolen plot device, is nothing we haven’t seen done better dozens of times before. It’s a shame, because Howard’s art is kind of fun, and the portion of the book illustrated by Sean Murphy (creator of Oni’s Off-Road) is really nice looking. Much as I like Murphy’s work and would follow him almost anywhere, though, I don’t think I’ll be following him to the next three issues of this book.
The Spirit #1 (DC Comics): And competing for favorite single issue of the year with Darwyn Cooke’s Batman/Spirit, we have… Darwyn Cooke’s Spirit. Starting with a witty and clever newscast page before launching into an inspired update on Eisner’s Spirit-ed visual introductions, Cooke’s book puts the fun pedal to the floor and never lets up. An overly ambitious crime reporter gets in over her head with one of Spirit’s colorful and grotesque rogues’ gallery, and the Spirit is in the thick of things, trying to save her from the mobster, his goons and herself. Throw in a nice update of tricky racial stereotype character Ebony, more than a few chuckle-worthy moments and Cooke’s always-gorgeous art, here finished by J. Bone and master colorist Dave Stewart, and you’ve got a fun read from cover to cover. I wasn’t sure I really wanted one of my favorite writer/artists tied to a character I’d never had a real interest in… now I’m not sure I ever want him to leave.
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Having just read the first 24 issues of the old Sandman: Mystery Theatre I was kinda looking forward to the new miniseries. I think that I will still try it out but my expectations have definately been lowered.
On the other side, I didn’t preorder The Spirit but I think I’ll give it a try. Don’t know much about Darwyn Cooke or the character in this series but with a positive review like this you almost can’t ignore this issue
13 Dec 2006 at 4:22 am
QuoteWell the winner of the week’s new stuff is definitely The Spirit, with overall Best of Show likely to go to the final issue of The Escapists (still got a few more books to plow through), but the pleasant surprise of the week is Wonder Man. It’s a lighter tale, but a worthy one, playing off Wonder Man’s various stints at Hollywood fame and dangling the moral question of whether he’s willing to give a villain the same second chance the Avengers once gave him. As to the art, I was put off by how it looked in previews, but really taking it in in the overall context of the story, I was surprisingly pleased with it. It’s pretty heavy on the cartoony side, reminding me of Byrne’s cartoonier stuff or Phil Foglio’s more realistic stuff. Or…have you ever seen Wally Wood’s classic Mad Magazine parody, “Superduperman”, from the 50s? I’m not saying the Wonder Man artist’s in Wood’s league, but it’s got something of that style. I think Currie’s actually quite accomplished - he’s just working a level of exaggeration we’re not used to when it comes to characters from the Avengers. Anyway: nice facial expressions, good kineticism during the action sequences, and I liked the slightly sad-sack look he gives Wonder Man. Guy’s always been down on his luck, and Currie really captures that.
But the cover DID blow. They should’ve gone with a separate cover artist.
13 Dec 2006 at 5:06 am
QuoteThe Wonder Man mini seems very much in line with Gerard Jones’ 1990s series. As that’s the best the character has ever been (they even handled his “sidekick” well), I’m very much looking forward to it.
13 Dec 2006 at 11:26 am
QuoteI’ve never read that Gerard Jones mini, but Wonder Man’s always been one of those second-tier characters I’ve liked. Might need to track down some back issues. Was the artist anyone of note?
13 Dec 2006 at 1:54 pm
QuoteThe Gerard Jones series was an ongoing, and I really liked it at the time (don’t know how it holds up). It was a light-hearted and fun counterpoint to the grim and gritty stuff on the shelves. Good supporting cast, team-ups with Beast, goofy villains like Splice and Gamma Burn. I think the artist was Jeff Johnson (?) who went on to do Way of the Rat.
13 Dec 2006 at 4:56 pm
QuoteThe early issues of Wonder Man were the last good Gerard Jones books before his slide into mediocrity.
I got X-23 just for that art. Wow, Choi and Oback are really good! BOO for that bolted on cliffhanger (c’mon, how they gonna explain that when she’s been an X-Man for so long and those two haven’t noticed?)
13 Dec 2006 at 5:52 pm
QuoteWell the winner of the week’s new stuff is definitely The Spirit
This I will agree with. I will actually become British for just a moment and call this book: Bloody Brilliant.
On Wonder Man: As to the art, I was put off by how it looked in previews, but really taking it in in the overall context of the story, I was surprisingly pleased with it.
I actually thought the art was okay on Wonder Man…Nothing great, but capable. My only dig with it, is that much of the backgrounds felt flat. There are a couple of nice ones, but there were a bunch that just had some muted colors and that was it.
For the rest of the week, I will agree that The Escapists ended nicely but Ex Machina was the surprise of the week for me. I always enjoy the title but this one-shot that focuses on Bradbury was fantastic.
13 Dec 2006 at 9:43 pm
QuoteGhost Rider #6 this week had Lucifer breaking GR’s leg off at the knee and beating him silly with it.
Which would be awesome in and of itself, but RICHARD FUCKING CORBEN DREW IT.
And it’s officially One of the Greatest Comics Ever Made.
14 Dec 2006 at 12:29 am
QuoteI’ll have to check that out. Loves me some Corben, which reminds me: folks with even a middling interest in the Punisher should pick up the Punisher hardcover that came out today. Among the three Ennis one-shots reprinted, all of ‘em excellent, is the Corben-drawn Punisher: The End. Some of the best apocalyptic comic art ever, and there’s just something nihilistically cathartic about that story. I love it.
14 Dec 2006 at 2:30 am
QuoteI never thought I’d cry at the end of a Punisher story, but The End proved me wrong.
14 Dec 2006 at 2:22 pm
QuoteOK a few thoughts on the number ones I read this week, as a fan of Wagner’s Sandman Mystery Theater, I share Dave’s disappointment on the new Sandman book, the story simply failed to grab me, this is one I’m not likely to follow past this issue.
On the other hand I enjoyed Wonder Man, fun story definitely reminiscent of the 90’s, but with a more current approach, all in all the first issue was good stuff and I’ll be staying on for the ride. As a side note while the character probably wouldn’t jump to mind if someone asked me to pick all time favorites, but I’ve always liked Wonder Man ever since I first ran into the character as a kid, it was an Avengers story and I think Kang brought him back from the dead to fight the Avengers, and to my child mind that green costume with the squiggly lines was just all kinds of cool, go figure. I was also glad to see they’ve toned down the look of the ionic form thing some, which one of things I didn’t like from Buisek’s run.
After not caring much for the Batman/Spirit book, great art, stupid story. I wasn’t expecting to feel much different about the first issue of the new series but I figured I’d give it a try and it turns out I sorta did like it.
The art was spot on great, which is what carried it for me, Cooke rules as sequential artist, as a writer well… it was better than Jeph Loeb’s on Batman/Sprit, but in the end it was just OK, honestly I think folks get a little blinded by Cooke’s stellar visual presentation and give him a pass on the story side, but since I seem to be in the minority maybe it just me not vibing with Cooke’s writing style. I’ll stay on board with this one, though it one of the rare cases for me where it’s mostly the art keeping on.
14 Dec 2006 at 2:46 pm
QuoteI REALLY did not like Batman Spirt at all. A team up does mean evrey character both heroes ever met ends up in same room!
Smashing everyone togather and watiching the fun worked in “new fontier” but not here but I will try the new series (reviews at howcomics.com uh soon)
On another note i’m dying to love Wolverine again. It should be that hard for them to make me
PS also this weekend at howcomics a LONG review of Esential Defenders 2
14 Dec 2006 at 3:57 pm
QuoteDan Coyle said:
And it’s officially One of the Greatest Comics Ever Made.
I’m afraid that if you give this title to a comic written by Daniel Way, it might be a sign of the apocalypse. Corben art or no.
Gray Pumpkin said:
After not caring much for the Batman/Spirit book, great art, stupid story. I wasn’t expecting to feel much different about the first issue of the new series but I figured I’d give it a try and it turns out I sorta did like it.
The art was spot on great, which is what carried it for me, Cooke rules as sequential artist, as a writer well… it was better than Jeph Loeb’s on Batman/Sprit, but in the end it was just OK, honestly I think folks get a little blinded by Cooke’s stellar visual presentation and give him a pass on the story side, but since I seem to be in the minority maybe it just me not vibing with Cooke’s writing style. I’ll stay on board with this one, though it one of the rare cases for me where it’s mostly the art keeping on.
I think it’s a tonal disconnect, rather than a failing of Cooke’s writing. Cooke’s authorial voice is very different from anything else out there, more fun and old school while still retaining a little bit of that modern darkness that the kids seem to love. It’s a voice that resonates very well with me, but I’m the guy who can’t stand Civil War, 52 and most everything else with hundreds of thousands of readers.
If more comics were like Batman/Spirit and Spirit #1, I’d be considerably less cranky about comics.
So if anyone’s in the minority on this one, I think it’s me… just not on this particular site.
Rob said:
I REALLY did not like Batman Spirt at all. A team up does mean evrey character both heroes ever met ends up in same room!
Smashing everyone togather and watiching the fun worked in “new fontier” but not here but I will try the new series (reviews at howcomics.com uh soon)
Wow, *shameless* plug there, Rob.
As for your take on Batman/Spirit… I think you’re off the mark. I don’t think New Frontier was about “smashing everyone together and watching the fun,” it had a lot more complexity than that, and I certainly didn’t think there were too many villains or cast members running around in Batman/Spirit. I won’t deny that some folks can overcrowd (see every Batman sequel made, for example), but Loeb and Cooke did a good job of mixing together a wide and varied cast and using them sparingly for good moments.
Let’s keep in mind, this wasn’t a normal team-up… we’re not going to see Batman and Spirit teaming up a lot again, so that you should hold characters in reserve. This is probably about it, unless they decide to do a sequel down the line, and so if you have an idea for a cool interaction between those two characters and their worlds, you’d better work it into your story now.
Great week for me. Spirit was one of my favorite issues of the year, Escapists ended very well, The Damned from Oni keeps getting better with each issue, there’s a great standalone of Ex Machina, DMZ has a terrific second issue of the new story arc, Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four was a really fun one-off and that Punisher HC was fantastic.
14 Dec 2006 at 4:09 pm
QuoteYeah Batman/Sprit was a bit of a mash-up wasn’t it? I’m a fan of old school fun, and I do think Loeb was trying to emulate Eisner some, but the story was just too silly, the villain’s were a characterized as nothing more than walking clichés of themselves with no real motivation other than just being dastardly bad guys. It was like the characters were serving the plot regardless of anything else… I don’t know, but it read more like a first pass at a story than something that should have seen print, but again the art was great. Thankfully the Sprit book is better, I’m not jumping up and down over it, but I don’t feel ripped off which I sorta did with Batman/sprit.
14 Dec 2006 at 4:23 pm
QuoteI did’nt mean New Frontier did’nt a plot i’m saying they had lots of starange mixes that were fun becuse they were stange.
This felt like “doing Batman with the Spirit” Sure Batman bad guys team all the time and all live in the nuthouse. But i’ve never seen Spirt foes so chummy.
id rather it had just used Joker and Octopus.
That said I understand the impulse to say “now’s our chance cover EVERYTHING!! That’s fun if you’re a fan writting your dream story but as I was just curious it left me sort of “meh
14 Dec 2006 at 5:04 pm
QuotePunisher: The End is indeed excellent. Of the “The End” books I’ve, read I think that’s the only one that I’d call genuinely good. Then again, I only got 3 issues into X-Men: The End so maybe Claremont managed to turn it around somewhere in the remaining 192 issues.
14 Dec 2006 at 11:22 pm
QuoteThe quality the various “The End” series from Marvel is inversely proportional to their length. Check it:
*Single Issue outings Punisher: The End and Hulk: The End are excellent.
*Miniseries outings like FF: The End and Wolverine: The End are mediocre to weak.
*Maxiseries offerings like X-Men: The End will sap your soul.
In other words, check out the Hulk one if you get the chance. It’s the only other one that’s worth your time.
14 Dec 2006 at 11:31 pm
QuoteWolverine: The End wasn’t even really an ending; it was a stupid idea spun out of a throwaway line from Origin.
X-Men: The End was one of the most depressing experiences of all time. Does anyone know what the hell it was about? Why waste Sean Chen’s considerable talents like that? Why reduce all the racism debates that fueled Claremont’s passions during the majority of his work on the characters to a stacked deck subplot involving Kitty running for mayor of Chicago?
God, I want to cry just thinking about it. And what if Claremont’s health problems had been worse? “Gee, maybe we should get out of the mansion, and humans are jerks” is what he would have signed off on? 30 years leading up to that?
14 Dec 2006 at 11:59 pm
QuoteI’ll add my own kudos to [i]Punisher: The End[/i]. I admit I haven’t read a lot of Ennis’ work, but this is one of my favorite Garth Ennis comics
As for [i]X-Men: The End[/i]… I wouldn’t call it one of the most depressing experiences of all time, but I agree that it missed the mark. The “mutants as a racial metaphor” theme should have been front and center, even though Claremont’s attempt to make a story that ties up as many dangling plots was possible (and the X-Men have quite a few) was admirable. The results weren’t the best, but the effort definitely shows.
Nice to see [i]The Spirit[/i] #1 on all four members of the “panteon’s” (*nyuk* *nyuk*) Top Five lists. I enjoyed [i]Batman/Spirit[/i] and am a big fan of Darwyn Cooke’s stuff, so I’m definitely picking this issue up.
15 Dec 2006 at 12:55 am
QuoteHmm… the “Panteon.” I think I like that better than “Pantsers” as a group nickname.
Btw, we’re having minor site issues as I type this. None of us is able to log in to write anything, edit anything or publish anything. We’re working on it, but the podcast will probably be delayed. Don’t panic if there’s no updates… we haven’t gone away, just having slight technical difficulties of a random nature.
15 Dec 2006 at 2:29 am
QuoteI like “Panteon” as well, although it makes me think of Bill Willingham’s Pantheon first. Can anyone explain to me why that hasn’t been collected in a trade?
15 Dec 2006 at 10:26 am
QuoteIt’s on the way in 2007, I know… just took a little time to get collected.
15 Dec 2006 at 12:58 pm
QuoteGood. I’m usually no fan of Willingham…. But I liked Pantheon.
15 Dec 2006 at 4:29 pm
QuoteIronically, now I realize that Pantheon contained the scene that made me a har-core Willingham Hata 4 Life, yo. I can’t reveal what it is without spoilers, but it confirmed a sinking feeling I had about him that’s less overt in stuff like Fables but enough to make it difficult for me to read him.
That said, it’s an overall good series.
15 Dec 2006 at 5:55 pm
QuoteIf you want to drop spoilers without having the show up publicly just use our handy dandy new spoiler tag.
Just surround your spoiler like so:
[spoiler]this gets hidden[/spoiler]You’ll get this:
Show ▼
15 Dec 2006 at 10:35 pm
QuoteMartindale wrote:
Wonder Man #1 of 5 (Marvel Comics): Despite Andrew Currie’s god awful art, Peter David really manages to bring the fun. I’ve never been a Wonder Man fan, so I don’t know how well this less-than-serious take fits or doesn’t fit the character, but I’m still very much enjoying it.
Your teeup convinced me to pick up this first issue — much to my dismay.
If you’ve seen my review of the issue over on Eye on Comics, you’ll know what I thought. It seems as though David had the germ of an idea for a super-hero reformation story that got overinflated into this limited series.
15 Dec 2006 at 11:06 pm
QuotePwned!
Actually, I’m curious now to re-read the issue, as my own reaction (as posted above) was even more positive than David Martindale’s. I’m kind of a geek for Wonder Man, so I might’ve been swayed by his mere presence, but we’ll see.
Whatever the case, I also want to use this post to brag about my super-swank new Tom Beland sketch of Wonder Man hangin’ out with his old-school Avengers bud, The Beast. I’m giddy with fannish glee for it!
Dig:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a40/tombelandtsstg/beastwonderman.gif
(love that red jacket!)
16 Dec 2006 at 2:28 am
QuoteHmm, I wonder if this is the same issue that I recently noticed creeping into my beloved Fables (as commented on in the Fables podcast). I almost don’t want to know. I want to think the patterns I’m seeing are a fluke and not a genuine reason to be uncomfortable with a book I otherwise love…
16 Dec 2006 at 3:27 am
QuoteJust re-read Wonder Man. Still like it quite a bit, so I’m gonna cross-post this over at Eye on Comics.
Don, I saw that you thought Wonder Man read as a cypher, and while he’s never had the deepest personality, I didn’t see that at all. What I saw was a character with a laid back nature, a character who still harbors the confidence issues I liked about him from when I first chanced across him in the early 80s, whose criminal origins dovetail logically into a fixation on redemption, and who seems just the slightist bit thickheaded and manipulable (as his bodybuilder visual might suggest). Seems pretty specific to me!
On the art…pretty subjective area, and there’s not a lot I can say beyond the fact that I dug it more than you. I’ve enjoyed high levels of cartooniness in serious comics ranging from The Maxx to Usagi Yojimbo to True Story Swear To God . And where I look at artists like McFarlane and cringe at the blobby exaggeration on his faces, with Currie I see a deeper knowledge informing the exaggeration. I see an understanding of bone structure that McFarlane’s only vaguely acquainted with and I see distortions born of real anatomy. I can understand the visual jolt - we’re not used to nearly Mad Magazine level cartooniness in superhero stories - but at worst, that means Currie was an artist ill-suited to this project, not that he’s a bad artist. And I don’t think he IS ill-suited to it, for that matter. David’s playing it a little fast and loose with reality to cook up a fun plot - why shouldn’t the art reflect that? ‘Sides, I think Currie nailed the sad-sack nature that sometimes crops up in Wonder Man’s personality - that counts for a lot. As noted, Wonder Man’s not the deepest of personalities, so bringing out his confidence issues visually is a real virtue in my book.
Flaws? A few. I agree that Ladykiller’s design is pretty “eh”, and while I really liked the energy of the action sequences for the most part, I thought there were one or two weak storytelling bits when the book switches to action mode. Pretty minor issues for me. Easily outweighed by the novelty of a fun, new artist.
As to Ladykiller’s “anionic” energy weapons, I might be willing to roll with the coincidence if the intent behind it was that the energy is a little like adamantium - rare, but not so rare that a scene would never arise with rival parties wielding it (like Wolverine vs. Ultron or adantium-skeletoned Bullseye). BUT…I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that the coincidence isn’t a coincidence; that Wonder Man’s manager staged the fight to set up the show or Simon’s brother, the Grim Reaper, is out there manipulating events. Surely the fact that Reaper wields a scythe and Ladykiller’s Japanese weapon is a variant on a scythe might hold some portent.
Mostly, though, I just had fun with the book. David’s humor sometimes flops for me, but here for whatever reason it just clicked. Wonder Man’s Hollywood aspirations have often been treated with tongue-in-cheek (remember the Letterman outing?), so maybe I’m just more amenable to some goofing when it comes to that aspect of his life. Hey, Hollywood’s funny! I liked that the humor was incidental, too, mostly based on environment and supporting characters, but never stooping to knocks on Wonder Man himself.
And I like the redemption theme. A lot. David seems all too happy to ignore reality to throw Ladykiller in Wonder Man’s custody, realism and legality be damned, and that’s just fine by me. First off, I don’t mind bending reality to suit a fun idea in a superhero story. Second, the reality show hook is a lighter one in general, so I can’t get too worked up that David allowed for a contrivance to set it up. Frankly, I’m just enjoying a superhero comic based on the humanistic notion of redemption rather than some murder mystery, world-shaking threat, or dark secret. Who knows how it’ll play out (that intro sequence actually WAS pretty dark), but for the moment, I like its hopeful, slightly comic tone.
Oh, and I’m looking forward to the Beast/Ms. Marvel guest stars.
Ironically, I found this week’s X-Factor (also Peter David) really schticky and annoying
16 Dec 2006 at 4:29 am
Quote“(love that red jacket!)”
It’s the only reason I’m even considering picking up Mighty Avengers.
16 Dec 2006 at 4:52 am
QuoteDave Farabee wrote:
As to Ladykiller’s “anionic” energy weapons … I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that the coincidence isn’t a coincidence; that Wonder Man’s manager staged the fight to set up the show or Simon’s brother, the Grim Reaper, is out there manipulating events. Surely the fact that Reaper wields a scythe and Ladykiller’s Japanese weapon is a variant on a scythe might hold some portent.
The Grim Reaper theory’s a valid one, but I still don’t care for the notion that Wonder Man himself doesn’t question the coincidence. Even if some “plausible” explanation arises later in the series, I won’t be around to learn of it because I just didn’t care for any aspect of the book.
16 Dec 2006 at 8:38 am
QuoteFarabee said:
Ironically, I found this week’s X-Factor (also Peter David) really schticky and annoying
This week’s X-Factor was just barely edged out as my Pick o’ da Week by the Punisher HC. It isn’t groundbreaking or anything, but it is the best X-book running and the best Peter David book running.
16 Dec 2006 at 10:10 am
QuoteD3 said:
This week’s X-Factor was just barely edged out as my Pick o’ da Week by the Punisher HC. It isn’t groundbreaking or anything, but it is the best X-book running and the best Peter David book running.
I completely agree with you, D3. It’s true that X-Factor isn’t groundbreaking, but what it is, is a template on how a book can still be good even when there isn’t a ton of action happening. It’s character driven amusement and for some reason I’m really getting a kick out of the Madrox/Siryn/Monet debacle. I guess I can see how Dave thought it was schticky in some ways, but I’m laughing at it none the less, and if I laugh at a book it normally means that I’ve enjoyed it. Also, I think we can all agree that Pablo Raimondi’s art kicks ass. I liked his work on the Madrox mini-series but it seems to have gotten better.
16 Dec 2006 at 11:16 am
QuoteNow if they would only publish a vol 1 TPB…
This “PHC first, then 6 months later you might get to see a paperback” crap is getting old. Seriously, I should be able to pick up the first trade before the fourth or fifth arc starts.
16 Dec 2006 at 11:25 am
QuoteWell, humor’s definitely a personal thing, and a gag either works on a gut level for someone or it doesn’t.
So I can’t help it if y’all just have innately bad taste in humor
16 Dec 2006 at 1:23 pm
QuoteMartindale wrote:
(X-Factor) isn’t groundbreaking or anything, but it is the best X-book running and the best Peter David book running.
Though X-Factor wouldn’t be my pick of the week or anything, David, we do agree on the strength of David’s work on that title.
Now if they would only publish a vol 1 TPB
If you mean Peter David’s stories from X-Factor v.1, there are TPBs. X-Factor Visionaries: Peter David Vol. 1 is available, and Amazon has a Vol. 2 available for pre-order as well.
16 Dec 2006 at 1:29 pm
QuoteYeah, I’m impatiently waiting for a volume 1 in TPB for the current series.
16 Dec 2006 at 1:46 pm
Quotehey guys the long promised review spirt 1 is up at http://www.howcomics.com
23 Dec 2006 at 9:33 pm
Quote