My Comic Picks For 4/1/09

Flash: Rebirth #1 - Geoff Johns works his magic on Flash. If this is half as good as Green Lantern: Rebirth, it will totally be worth it. Also, Ethan Van Sciver on art. I can't wait to see what he does to make each speedster's "speed force" individual.

DC Comics
Geoff Johns & Ethan Van Sciver



Franklin Richards April Fools - This light-hearted book is nice break from the sometimes too serious world of comic books. It's not on a monthly schedule so it doesn't break the bank. This is a perfect book for kids. I don't save these books. I give them to the kids in my class. They love it!!

Marvel Comics
Chris Eliopoulos

New Avengers Reunion #2 of 4 - This mini-series tells us the story of Mockingbird and Hawkeye's reunion. For those of you not in the know, Mockingbird has been dead for oh, maybe 10 years. (But not really as it turns out, I'm not going to get into all of that right now.) I always loved these two characters in West Coast Avengers, so I'm sold on this book. I like Bobbi's new costume too.

Marvel Comics
Jim McCann & David Lopez

Secret Warriors #3- Nick Fury, Hydra, and tons of new characters. Not really things that I look for in a book, but I heard all the buzz and tried it out. It's actually pretty good. I'm still trying to keep the characters' names straight, but pretty good. I'm still trying to wrap my head around this revelation: Shield was a branch of Hydra. What?!

Marvel Comics

Jonathan Hickman, Brian Michael Bendis & Stefano Caselli

War of Kings #2 of 6 - Abnett & Lanning's Annihilation series kicked butt, Abnett & Lanning's Nova series kicks butt, Abnett & Lanning's Guardians of the Galaxy kicks butt, So guess what? Abnett & Lanning's War of Kings mini-series kicks butt.

P.S. If you haven't read Abnett & Lanning's The Legion or Legion Lost from DC you really should!

Marvel Comics

Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, & Paul Pelletier

Lost Thursdays

Yeah, I know it's not Thursday, but I got a little behind in my viewing this week. Here's the basic premise, after I watch Lost on Thursdays (I watch in online) I'll post what I thought about the episode. Please make sure that you comment, so that I know what you think. Here goes:

He's Our You



Last week, when I saw that the title of this episode was going to be "He's Our You". I thought it was going to refer to the Sawyer-Jack switch. Sawyer is in charge taking care of everyone and Jack's life off the island seemed pretty carefree. So I was surprised when this was a Sayid focus episode. No problem, I like Sayid.

Somehow though, I thought this episode was a little boring. I usually like getting the backstory, but it didn't work for me this time. I felt like it stalled the momentum of the storyline they had going. The only question that I thought was answered for me was "How did Sayid go from being Ben's hired assassin to building houses in the Dominican Republic?"

Toward the end, when we were back in the present (well, really the past I guess, but you understand) I enjoyed the episode more. Things seem to be falling apart for Sawyer and his crew. Sayid isn't willing to play along with this charade.

The ending was a shocker. I can't believe that Sayid killed Ben!! This creates a paradox however. Think about it. Sayid killed Ben as a kid. So Ben wouldn't be around to gather the Oceanic 6 to return to the island, so Sayid would never have returned to the island. This is assuming, of course, that Ben really was behind the mercenary who brought Sayid in. I realize there are a lot of other things that couldn't have happened without Ben, but this seemed the easiest example.

So, what did you think of this episode?

Why Kill Carol? Ms. Marvel is Dead...and I Think I Know Why.

Now I don’t have a definite answer, but I have some ideas. Pretty good ideas if I do say so myself.
· Marvel killed off Carol to demonstrate how serious a threat Osborn is. Knowing that a main Avengers character with a solo title can get whacked suddenly ups that ante. Things suddenly seem a little more “Dark”. It makes me worry a little more about Osborn threatening Luke Cage. Hey, Luke!! You better keep a close eye on Jess and that baby!

OR

· I’m also thinking that we haven’t seen the last of Carol. She’s survived some pretty messed up crap in the past; rape, being sucked dry by Rogue, etc. Carol basically exploded in the sky. So, she became a pure energy being…isn’t that what happened to Wonder Man? When the “Dark Reign” is over, Carol coming back to kick Osborn ass is going to rock! So Marvel killed Carol to add some emotional impact to their storyline finale.

OR

· Maybe Moonstone is here to stay. A comic focusing on Moonstone learning what it means to be Ms. Marvel and at the same time dealing with Osborn’s demands sound enticing. Moonstone could really grow as a character and decide to honor Carol’s legacy by actually becoming a hero. I’m not sure how much I really believe this, but it could happen.

OR

· Ms. Marvel sales weren’t that great? They weren’t horrible. Ms. Marvel sold about the same as Wonder Woman every month. (That was the case, but maybe not anymore since Gail Simone is kicking butt!) This change will get some new readers to check out the title that never would have before.

In closing, I think I’m done with Ms. Marvel for right now. I’ve been with the book from #1 and I feel rather betrayed. If I hear that Moonstone as Ms. Marvel rocks, then I’ll come back and check it out.
RIP Carol Danvers

The Issues That Made Me Drop X-Men #1

I am an avid X-Men fan. I always have been. Somehow not being the most popular kid in grade school led me to relate to the X-Men’s struggle for acceptance. Every month I knew I could count on the team to take me on some crazy adventure or explore new depths of my favorite characters.
There have been, however, those issues that were so bad that I just couldn’t buy them. My love for comics had grown exponentially and so did my monthly purchases. So, I began weeding out “the weakest links” to help my money stretch. Now this didn’t start until I hit college and became a more discriminating comic consumer. I usually didn’t stay away for long and there might have been other circumstances in my life that helped cause this, but these issues must have been pretty BAD!!! Below I look back at these offending issues.

#349 “The Crawl” Scott Lobdell & Chris Bachalo
Ok, let me set it up for you. “The X-Men” (Rogue, Gambit, Beast, Joseph, & Trish Tilby) have just returned from outer space and end up in Antarctica at one of Magneto’s old bases where Nanny is giving them a hard time. First off, you know the X-Men are in trouble when Rogue is the headliner. No Cyclops, no Storm, no Jean, no Wolverine, no Prof. X. That’s just sad. We also have Psylocke kicking Maggot’s butt and “sensing great darkness” all over the sub-plot.

The main storyline is Gambit’s past. We’re finally going to find out what Gambit’s “horrible secret” is. Honestly, I decided I didn’t care what it was. Gambit had lost his sheen of newness awhile ago for me. It seemed that Marvel was trying to create another Wolverine and I just wasn’t buying it.
So #349 ends and boasts that #350 will feature the “Trial of Gambit”. So flash forward a month and #350 comes out. This sucker cost $3.99!! Remember, it’s 1997. Books just don’t cost four dollars! Sure it has a foil embossed tri-fold cover, but I’m just not buying it. I’m a freshman in college. I have better things to spend my money on.

So let’s add up these factors:
Joseph
+Maggot
+Trish Tilby
+Gambit’s secret (I don’t care!)
+$3.99
_________________________

Uncanny X-Men is dropped