Showing posts with label Nightwing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nightwing. Show all posts

Thursday, December 13, 2007

This week's books (as yet unread)

The thing about the Sinestro Corps war is that it’s in a holding pattern now, just killing time. It was supposed to have been over by now, but DC saw the initial success it had and prevailed upon Johns to stretch it out over a few more months than was originally intended. So, the story remains the same, but we get such wasteful issues as last month’s Green Lantern Corps which featured an issue-long fight between Ion Mark II and Emoboy Prime. And not even a resolution. And we get scattered GLC vs SC battles in nowheresville America before suddenly relocating to New York City. You just KNOW that these elements got no more than a page or two in the original script, but now they’ve been blown out of proportion and the event has begun suffering because of it.

Simon Dark is certainly interesting, but it’s not that good. For one thing, it’s set in a Gotham city unlike any that we’ve ever seen before. What’s the point of setting this book in a shared universe if you’re not even going to take advantage of said universe’s preexisting elements? I’ll read it, because I’m mildly curious, but I’m not excited about it or anything, nor would I strongly recommend it to anyone as anything more than a curiosity.

Astounding Wolf-Man has been moving v e r y s l o w l y. So slowly that I can’t really recommend it to anyone looking to pick up a new book. I love the K-Man, don’t get me wrong, and am therefore reading this book. But it’s more out of loyalty and anticipation than anything else. I’m really just waiting for K-Man to bring the AWM into his shared Invincible Universe. As an agent of The Pentagon (parking in rear).

As for the resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul, there’s one huge problem that keeps coming back to me, and that’s that the ONLY functioning Lazarus pit in THE ENTIRE DCU is SUPPOSED to be IN THE BATCAVE! Recall a few years ago (Ra’s Al Ghul: Year One) when Bats destroyed every single one, only to be confronted with the reanimation of the dead and the refusal of the dying to actually die? And he realized that by destroying all the pits he had disrupted the universal balance? At that point, he figured that the safest place to create a new pit would be in the Batcave, so that’s what he did. Yet, others apparently have sprung into existence since that time, with absolutely no explanation! Continuity IS important, regardless of what others may say, otherwise, each story must need to stand alone in its own microcosm.

Booster Gold is GREAT FUN, but it's not for everyone.

Battlestar Galctica: Origins has nowhere to go. The show is so tightly plotted, with such a tight continuity, that no matter what happens in the series, there’s no possibility of jeopardy, surprise, or, therefore, fun.

Salvation Run has MAJOR PLOT HOLES THAT YOU COULD DRIVE A TRUCK THROUGH. Primarily, if the point was to exile criminals to another planet, WHY send them there in their COSTUMES WITH THEIR WEAPONS??? Makes no sense. Might be fun, but ultimately isn’t worth the read.

Gen13 #14 was AWFUL, so bad that it was tough to read through. Gail ripped the heart out of the series in her last issue, and #14 had the characters acting completely against their previous 13 issues of characterization. I’m NOT going to be continuing to read this series.

The rest of the Wildstorm Armageddon books have been really, really BAD, and I see no reason to believe that the Stormwatch book will be any different.

Captain Carrot has just NOT BEEN FUN.

The problem with Ultimate Iron Man II is that the original series was supposed to tell a complete story, but Orson Scott Card just couldn’t stick to his monthly deadlines and it ended up getting cancelled after FIVE issues! I see no reason to expect any differently THIS time around. This reader is STILL waiting for the long promised conclusion to the Alvin Maker series. Long delays like this make me start to worry that a writer will actually DIE before finishing the story. The Crystal City was published in 2003!!! And no word from Alvin Maker since.

My ongoing problem with New Avengers is that Bendis has been writing The Hood COMPLETELY DIFFERENTLY than he was originally envisioned by BKV. I’d have preferred that he just create a new character, as opposed to butchering the characterization of an already extant one.

Top Cow managed to alienate me completely with its last Marvel crossover issue. That was teh SUCK, and following it I have absolutely NO INTEREST in reading any of their established properties AGAIN.

And is anybody STILL reading Countdown? Why torture yourself? A couple of times since dropping the series I’ve come back for an issue because of somebody else’s online review, and every time, without fail, I’ve found myself hearkening back to the “good old days” of Bruce Jones on Nightwing. That’s how bad it is.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Nightwing #137

Nightwing #137
A mediocre storyline ends and acts as the lead-in to what will certainly be a subpar Vigilante series. I'm fed up with Wolfman on this title. He's done nothing but run it into the ground. He's taken some serious potential and done Absolutely Fuck-All with it.
I'm ready for a change. EH.

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Nightwing #135

Nightwing #135
Since Infinite Crisis this has easily been the worst of the Bat books. The quality improved slightly when Jones got kicked off the title, but Wolfman has been continually pushing these storylines that just don't matter! And now, he's made up a backstory of the woman who took Dick's virginity, the boss of a gang he ran with for a short time when he was sixteen...seventeen...whatever, and he expects it to make an emotional impact when he "brings them back" into Dick's life. It doesn't. I don't care about them whatsoever.
However...
The new Vigilante is definitely an intriguing character, even if it does turn out to be the other gang member who became a priest. Since Wolfman's Vigilante series a decade or so ago, there has been a Vigilante void. By bringing in a new Vigilante character, Wolfman is finally doing something right with this title. I still don't care about the larger story, but the Vigilante plot has piqued my interest. So, OKAY, I'll definitely read the next issue.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Nightwing #133

Nightwing #133
When was Dick with this girl named Liu? Am I supposed to remember her? Whatever. Otherwise, it's an eh issue. But merely the inclusion of Vigilante raises it a grade to OKAY!

Monday, May 21, 2007

52+ fixes

Scipio Garling of the Absorbascon posted a list of 42 (then 43) items which need to be addressed by DC in order to completely fix the stupidities they've perpetrated over the years, not to mention conflicting origins, timeline errors, misinterpreted characters, bad writing, and awful storylines. You can find his list here.
He issued a challenge to his readers to come up with 10 (then 9) additional elements that require changing by the DC PTB's.
I've expanded the list to 58.

Here are my additions:
44. Get rid of Millennium.
45. Get rid of Zero Hour too.
46. Get rid of Argent's Teen Titans.
47. Get rid of saying that Mxyzptlk comes every 90 days. That's just stupid, and it continually throws the timeline into flux. Just let him come whenever he wants to.
48. Get rid of anything Bruce Jones has ever written. And don't let him write anything in the main DCU ever again.
49. Get rid of Superman Red/Blue and Electric Superman.

50. I like the portrayal of many of Batman's rogues gallery as individuals having a difficult time keeping their hands clean, as opposed to homicidal psychopaths. Keep Ivy (not to mention Woodrue) the champion of mother nature, no matter the costs. Keep Harley out on her own. Let the Penguin continue to operate his enterprises just the other side of shady. Let Two-Face be a district attorney who occasionally resorts to dirty tactics to get convictions. And please, please, please, let Riddler remain the celebrity detective he was born to be.

51. Evil Batgirl has got to go.
52. Likewise, Identity Crisis has got to go...while we're at it, how about forbidding Meltzer from writing anything for the DCU ever again?
53. Anything beyond the initial arc in Superman/Batman has got to go. [Edit: Oh, all right, you can keep Kara if you really want to.]
54. DC should get rid of Bart becoming the Flash. He's just not ready, and neither are we. Bart needs to be a kid. That's part of his charm.
55. The Steve Niles creeper needs immediate erasure.
56. Likewise the "New Skrull on the Block". J'onn is too rich a character to relegate to second rate stupid plots.

57. Speaking of J'onn, figure out his origin already, for God's sake! I'm going with Ostrander's. Make fire for J'onn sort of like yellow for Green Lanterns - dangerous, but only if he cannot overcome his fear of it.

58. And one more thing: undo War Games so that we can have Stephanie back. She was, like, my favorite Robin...ever!

Notes on Scipio's list and associated comments:
2. ...if Jason must be around. Otherwise, let him stay dead. Better yet, erase him altogether.
8. ...but Barbara should remain in a wheelchair, or at least a chair. She's indisposable as Oracle.
9. Emperor Joker did have its moments. It was a cute story.
39. Firestorm hasn't been as good since Dan Jolley left the new title.
43. Of course there's a Doctor Polaris, he's Grant Emerson's "uncle"!

Constantine and Swamp Thing aren't denizens of the DCU proper any more? What? Why? Does that mean that we've lost Constantine's relationship with Zatanna as well? Noooo!

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Nightwing #132 (unread)

Nightwing #132
I had such high hopes when Marv Wolfman came on board this series. Nobody could be as bad a Bruce Jones, I figured. And after the first issue, I thought we were on track to getting a slew of great Dick Grayson stories. And then something happened. I'm not quite sure what. Perhaps DC editorial pressed Wolfman to leave the Monitors out of this series. Initially, it had seemed like Wolfman's run would at least begin with an examination of Dick's place in the DC universe. Why he was still alive when he was supposed to have died. But apparently not. Instead, what followed was a lame and nearly unreadable story. And what followed that was this present storyline which hasn't interested me in the slightest. So I'm skipping it. When Marv decides to focus on Dick's life and relationships again, I'll be back. But for now, I'm no longer reading this title.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

New Releases for 3/7/7

Geez, I can't believe it's been nearly a month since my last post. I guess Adrian Watts was right...but, c'mon, February's such a short month...

Anyways, speaking on tomorrow's releases:

I'm looking forward to Atom #9.

I had been under the impression that the Dark Tower series was comprised of new material, so you can imagine my disappointment when I found out that it's a collation of Roland's backstory pulled from the various books of the series.

Fantastic Four: The End has been entertaining so far, albeit a tad nonsensical. I'm interested in seeing how it wraps up.

Wasn't Helmet of Fate supposed to be coming out weekly? Why the delays?
I've been half surprised and half disappointed with this series. Detective Chimp was EXCELLENT. Ibis was likewise VERY GOOD. But I had such high hopes for Black Alice, and it really wasn't any good. It was actually CRAP. It and Sargon - which sucked ASS - didn't even have anything really to do with furthering the fate story. I'm very disappointed in Simone and Niles.

Incredible Hulk has been a lot of fun lately. And it was nice to see Bruce Banner get some in #103.

Justice League of America continues to meander towards the "end" of an arc...which I really can't see as being any sort of conclusion whatsoever. Even Bendis isn't THIS decompressed.

Of course, Justice League Unlimited!

And Manhunter! My LCBS guy told me this is ending with issue 30. Boo hoo. Blue Beetle just came back, Shaw is on course to be the next Azrael (wonder if he'll want Kate's gauntlets?), and Kate still hasn't gotten together with her cousin Jack Knight. There's so much more that this book could do. I really don't want to see it end. I love this book. It's EXCELLENT.

Marv Wolfman's Nightwing has been extremely disappointing so far. He teased us with the spectre of the Monitors, and then took the book way out into left field. And now he's got this new villainous couple? I couldn't be less interested. Heck, I'm more interested in Outsiders, and that book sucks.

Mighty Avengers will probably be just as bad as most of Civil War. So unless one of you deems it worthwhile, I'm not even going to bother.

Yay! More Planetary Brigade! How lucky are we to get an issue of this AND Hero Squared IN THE SAME month! Now I just have to get my comic shop to carry it.

Superman/Batman - Fuck you, Verheiden, for taking a promising title and turning it to CRAP.

I'm interested in reading the Transformers Prequel merely to get a sense of whether or not the movie will suck.

I'm wondering where Bendis is going to take Ultimate Spider-Man now. But Ultimate Vision is soooo freaking lame. And the concept is just unbearably stupid. Truly AWFUL.

I'll read Uncle Sam because I'm hoping for some Ray Terrill. Who else wants him back in the JLA???

And, of course, Welcome to Tranquility. It's a GOOD fun book to read.

Friday, January 05, 2007

Nightwing #128

Nightwing #128
Well, Marv Wolfman's first arc comes to a close. I would have much preferred a more cosmic, Monitor related story, especially to tie up the plot thread wherein Nightwing heard a voice saying "you should have died". Instead, he's been fighting guys in armor suits for the past four issues, getting buried alive (which is pretty stupid - seriously, kill him first), hunting someone who was killing scientists, and getting his own tech guy. Until this issue, we actually had no idea why any of this was happening! Expository dialogue in the issue explains that when Luthorcorp went bankrupt, the project heads of the Raptor project took it, along with some other projects, to set themselves up privately. But one of the heads is very morally corrupt, so he hired a contract killer to murder all the scientists who knew that he was the project head, and added Nightwing to the list for some unexplained reason. And then, as field testing, he has the man in the armor go on a rampage in New York. Yeah, that's a good idea! And there's apparently a radiation core leak in the suit, so anyone using it gets cooked. And then, it turns out that this project's "client" was none other than Luthor himself, who says "nobody steals from Lex Luthor" and explodes the floors they're on, killing everyone. I was thinking okay, but now that I've written it out, it's really more of an EH. I expected more from Wolfman, although, I was recently reading some Titans issues from the 80's and 90's, and they really weren't very good at all! So I suppose that I should have known better. I hope it gets better, but judging from the next issue solicitations, it appears that it will get worse first. Whatever, it certainly can't be as bad as Bruce Jones' stuff, can it? Can it? Gee, the more I think of it, the more I wan't to say that this issue was crap...