Comics that Santa brought me

Batwoman: Elegy
Anticipation: 10/10

I love J.H.Williams' art and layouts so much that I could probably enjoy a comic written by Stephanie Meyer as long as he penciled it. This artist is a real inspiration to me as an artist and it shows that taking the time to master your craft pays off. Unbelievably gorgeous. The current Batwoman ongoing has kind of eluded me because I haven't read Elegy and I hear that it really explains all of the back story that I have missed. I can't wait to read it!

Fables Vol 1: Legends in Exile
Anticipation: 10/10

The only disheartening part about this series is that it's past issue 100 and I loved this trade, so I have quite a few more to catch up on. Now, I may not be a super-experienced critic of writing styles and this may seem like blasphemy to the wider-read comic book aficionado, but this reminded me of Alan Moore's Top 10 books. Just something about how the characters and how they are presented struck the same note. I wish there was Moore Top 10(get it?) to read, but I look forward to getting caught up on Willingham's Fables. I think Willingham is a badass for his interview with himself explaining his Fables and the similarities to the Once Upon a Time tv series. I've read the first trade of Fables and seen every episode of OUaT, and I think Fables is far superior, so really they didn't rip off anything.

The Unwritten Vol 3: Dead Man's Knock
Anticipation: 10/10

The Unwritten has been a masterpiece from page one and on. I really have disliked Mike Carey's last couple of years on X-Men: Legacy, but it's clear that he may be using up all of his creative talents on The Unwritten. It is delightful and intriguing in that special way that only the most well-written comic book can be. He truly demonstrates the unique power of the comic through all channels of the medium. It's amazing that this rather wordy comic can reach out to a person, like myself, who has such a short attention span. It takes me awhile to get through each page, but I find myself excited to see what awaits me at the turn of it. Very gripping and vast in scope. Carey shows us big ideas wrapped up in small focused packages. Love love love it. This is one of those rare books in which I read the first trade, went immediately out and bought the second trade, then started buying single comics and waiting to read them until I was current on the series. I have pulled #30 through 33 without even reading them. that's how invested I am with these books.

Also, I got another Christmas Comic from my friends over at fightforcomics.com in the form of a World War Hulk trade signed by Greg Rucka Pak! Be sure to listen to their podcast! They do a trivia contest each week and give away awesome signed comics! Check them out!






 

Santa also brought me an eBay gift card, so what else did I get?  Runaways vol 2-4!

Upcoming Crappy Movies of 2012

Have you ever noticed that the crappiest sequels don't have numerals? Instead they have ambiguous sub-names.

Resident Evil: Retribution

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

Underworld: Awakening

One of the only exceptions to the rule is Die Hard: With a Vengeance. Also, I have to point out that Under Siege 2: Dark Territory and Speed 2: Cruise Control both have numeric values, they also fall under the crappy sequel label.

Too Often or Not Enough - Episode 1

This is a new segment that I am starting that should appear often at The Negative Zone. Here we are going to delve into the bad habits of comic books in regards to stuff that happens too often or not enough. I was going to call this shtick 'Kicking a Dead Horse', but I feared that I might get some traffic from really strange people then. I want to start with something obvious. So let's board the planetary buffet and gorge ourselves on a giant purple bastard with questionable hat choices. The planet devourer himself, Galactus!

So this asshole shows up and is all like "Get in my belly, Earth!", and the Fantastic Four are all like "Go to hell".

Then he comes back and the FF get him to leave again.

Then he comes back and Thor hits his hat with his hammer and he goes away.

Then later Wolverine has to fight him on some other planet and Galactus is like "Fancy meeting you here."

Then he fights Odin way later.

In between each of these visits he shows up a hundred times, and that's probably not much of an exaggeration. In real time that's about once every couple of years.

Now, let's do what I like to call Galactumath.


Now, considering the amount of comic book time that has passed, (The X-Men were in their teens when Galactus was getting smoked by the FF in the 60's and are now only in their mid-to-late twenties 50 years later) it's really only been about a decade of comic time. This means that since his appearance in FF, he has shown up about ten times a year. Also, it should be noted that the grass in the Northern Hemisphere is always green when our heroes have to face him. So those ten times are concentrated into the spring and summer months.

I'm not a manic depressive, but if that was what I had to look forward to every summer, I'd have offed myself after the second year of Galactus arrivals.

Why is Earth not feeling the stress of this phenomenon?

Also. The. Hat.

All that being said, I really enjoyed the last Galactus written by Matt Fraction in The Mighty Thor. Nothin but love, my friend. I want to see a story in which Galactus is bulimic.

Comic Book Day!

Today I did not go to the comic book store to get my pulls for this week. Instead I got home to see a very special little box waiting for me with my comics for the entire month of November, minus a few that I bought at the store. Here's the list:

Journey Into Mystery #631
Anticipation:   6/10


I really loved the Fear Itself tie-ins of this book. Gillen is killing on story duties. I have been really turned off due to Whilce Portacio's art. I just hate it. Another problem that probably just emphasizes my weaknesses is that these are some wordy bastards. There is alot of text in both narrative and dialogue form, and it's starting to lose me. It's disappointing that these things are hurting the book for readers like me, but I'm not feeling it like I did eight issues ago.

Venom #9
Anticipation:  7/10


I have only read Venom #7, and it was in the middle of an event, but I enjoyed it pretty decently. The art was clean, and Rick Remender just continues to blow me away with his sensitivity to the characters that he writes. I'm hoping this issue will pull me on board more. I may end up buying the first trade if this one rocks.

Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.  #3
Anticipation:  9/10


After the deluge of books that I had to make decisions about in September, Frankenstein is sticking around out of pure fun. There's nothing I need to know to enjoy this book, and that is what I was looking for in the New 52. I was a Marvel guy looking to taste some new books from DC and this one hooked me. I love Alberto Ponticelli's gestural artwork. It's so organic. Jeff Lemire is knocking my socks off with Animal Man, and I can't wait to get caught up on Sweet Tooth. I am discovering that I love the old movie monster genre with this book. I think folklore and fairy tales are perfect for the comic book medium.

Sweet Tooth #27
Anticipation:  --/10


As I mentioned above, I am not caught up with Sweet Tooth.I have read the first trade and I intend to get every trade until I am caught up. This unfortunately means that I refuse to read current issues as to not spoil the series. I have faith in Jeff Lemire and want to support him by buying his comics, even if I can't read them just yet. I guess you could say my anticipation is very high, but I really can't say because I haven't read the last issue yet.

Punisher #2
Anticipation:   5/10

I have never read a Punisher book. Okay, that isn't exactly true. I remember reading a few Punishers back when I was a kid. Something about a war journal and some guy named Jigsaw, probably nothing worth mentioning. Uh huh, I went there. I bet those comics are worth a small fortune now. Anyway, this comic was on special discount from DCBS and I refuse to turn down a 35 cent comic. If it's crap, oh well. If it isn't, then awesome. Punisher should be something that appeals to me because I tend to enjoy self-contained, street level comics. I honestly don't have any expectations, so I don't see how it can be bad.

Daredevil #6
Anticipation:  10/10

Speaking of street-level comics, this iteration of Daredevil has got it all. I think this is the best comic from Marvel that I am reading right now. The artistic presentation of this is so clever and dynamic. I think the best part about the art is that it just looks like a comic, but with those brilliant touches that just push it into greatness. The cover, for instance, is a tribute to DD's father, who was a boxer. It looks like an old fight poster. I love it. Mark Waid is outperforming every writer at Marvel and most other publishers at the moment. He was made for this book. I can't wait to read this, but I will probably save it for last just because I know it will be amazing. What I am dreading is seeing DD as an Avenger in this. Just leave him alone, dammit!

Ruse #1
Anticipation:  4/10

This was another 35 cent comic. I saw some promos for this, but have no idea what this is about other than it's kind of a Sherlock vibe. No expectations really.

Sigil #1
Anticipation:  4/10


Same as above. No idea, but it was 35 cents.

Villains For Hire  POINT 1
Anticipation:   6/10


So, I ordered the second issue of this and didn't realize that this was a dreaded point one issue. Wtf is that Marvel? Why are we still doing this? It's especially confusing when a first issue is a point issue. Anyway, this looked appealing to me simply because it sounds like a Secret Six or Thunderbolts kind of comic. Then I remembered that Marvel already has a Thunderbolts kind of comic. It's called Thunderbolts. I can't believe I used that logic to choose this comic over, well, Thunderbolts. I keep wanting to just on for Thunderbolts, but I somehow always end up cutting it from my pull list. I had the comic shop pull last weeks issue, so I'll get a taste of it.

Batwoman #3
Anticipation:  8/10

What's not to love about this comic? The art is awesome. The story is kind of easy to follow, sometimes. I don't care, it's just beautiful. You can tell I'm getting burnt out on this post. I've never precapped a load of comics this large, and my neighbor has started slamming kitchen cabinets downstairs. I'm losing focus. FIGHT THROUGH IT! DIG DEEP! Gonna speed things up.

Swamp Thing #3
Anticipation 9/10


Love this book.Can't wait to see when it ties into Animal Man. Snyder is rocking it. Should be reading Batman as well. Moving on!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #4
Anticipation:  9/10

This is bringing back memories of my youth. Nostalgic awesomeness. Love love love. Should be reading Ghostbusters and Godzilla. Moving on!

Wolverine and the X-Men #2
Anticipation: 10/10


I think Wolverine took all the fun with him when he left Utopia. Who'da thunk it? It's such a weird switch for Jason Aaron also wrote the super dark, super serious Red Right Hand arc in Wolverine. Then again, Wolverine is pretty funny in his own title now, too. I think Chris Bachalo's art is awesome and I have always liked his whimsical style. This comic is wonderful. I am going to hate it when Bachalo inevitably gets taken off of this book for no reason. I predict he will be moved to Avenging Spiderman after Joe Mad and Greg Land get rotated out. Please keep the art fun on this, Marvel!

Chew Vol 1 Taster's Choice
Anticipation:  9/10


This trade was super-cheap on DCBS (only $5.99). I have heard nothing but positive things about this comic. Can't wait to read it!



Well, that's my entire order. I'd better get to reading them! Now the problem will be choosing what to read first!

*SQUEAL*

Tomorrow, I get my first dcbservice.com order. I'm excited. I get all of my pulls for November in one inexpensive swoop. Don't worry, I am still going to support my local comic shop, Griffon Games and Comics. I would be a bastard if I didn't. I'll save money by getting my monthly pulls from dcbs, and make a pull list for Griffon that has all the extra stuff that I don't read monthly. I will have twice as many comics for the price of...well, 1.5 times as many comics. I don't know. Comics are expensive.