Comics I bought this week

This week was another slow week for me. I tried looking around for anything that might catch my eye, but the only thing that ever does are large hardcover collections and I don't have the money or time for those right now. This week I purchases Godzilla:Kingdom of Monsters #11, Daken:Dark Wolverine #20, X-Men Legacy #261, and The Walking Dead #93.
     I'll start with Godzilla:Kingdom of Monsters because this seems to be the penultimate issue in a series that has quickly gone downhill. The first few issues seemed to have a direct purpose and an interconnected story between numerous characters. This issue is nearly incoherent. A huge battle has happened between our strongest monsters and now a couple of the lesser monsters have come to try and control Godzilla while he is weakened. They charge him up with a nuclear explosion, but instead of being grateful he takes them out and we end almost where we began: with a bunch of monsters knocked out and lying around. It's pretty lame. The fight scenes don't make much sense thanks to Victor Santos' rushed looking art. Victor Santos has been a poor choice of artist on this book. It just doesn't play to his strengths at all. I'm very ready for this title to end. It's too bad really because the other miniseries that have spun off from it, gangsters and goliaths and legends, have been strong stories and fun to read. OH, and Eric Powell, the guy who was the selling point of the series, didn't even write this issue. Lame
     Daken:Dark Wolverine #20 is the final issue of this series. I feel ok knowing that this was it. I know some people don't like the character for numerous reasons, but I thought he was very intriguing. However, this series has gone a direction that didn't much interest me for the last 10 issues. This issue finishes that up and gets the character ready to be put on the shelf for a while; ready to make cameo appearances whenever needed(or not needed). Writer Rob Williams has tried to further our sociopathic lead by making him mortal(getting rid of his healing factor at least for the time being) and having him (basically) fall in love with someone. Sadly, the love story was very rushed (due, in part, to the books cancellation) and we can already tell that his healing factor will be back. This doesn't do much to make him a stronger character because he gets his heart(?) broken and becomes a grumpy thug again by the last page. Sad. This series could have been so much better.
     X-Men Legacy #261 brings back the villain Exodus in a story that seems organic. It's a decent story with good characterization. Exodus has come back to reunify the X-Men one way or another. He wants Mutants to survive and thinks Wolverine's team made a mistake leaving Utopia. They battle and Rogue gets to have a stand out moment by taking Kid Gladiator's powers so she can throw down with Exodus on his level. They stop and finally talk about it and Exodus reads everyone's minds and notices their motivations for leaving Cyclops. Exodus agrees that they did the right thing. Then he says something about knowing what he must do and flies away. Rogue looks at Wolverine and asks "um... Did we just get Cyclops killed?" Wolverine replies "Damn it" as they all charge off together after Exodus. It's a truly funny moment that feels right for the book. This issue is a good mix of fun, excitement with a good amount of drama and tension. A really good read.
     finally, The Walking Dead #93. This is the first part in the "A Larger World" story arc that will likely lead us to whatever huge event Robert Kirkman has planned for issue #100. This book is always good. You should read it regardless of what I say about it. A man has shown up explaining that he comes from a large group that trades and barters with other large groups. He offers Rick and our group a chance to join up with them as another part of a large community. Rick, of course, ties him up and puts everyone on alert that someone might invade. He then goes in search of this group believing the worst about them. Given his history with other groups of people we are sympathetic to his point of view. However, Andrea, believes that this might not be bad. She challenges Rick (nicely) and gets him thinking. By the end of the issue Rick is pontificating about a larger world that maybe they should be a part of...or at least take everything from this world and leave them for dead. It's a truly chilling moment. Partly because you almost thought Rick had turned back into old Rick in a moment that seemed a lot like the hope he saw in the Prison when they found it, but then we quickly see the Rick he's become since losing most of his family and friends to murderers and zombies. Again, it's good stuff, you should read it.
     That's it for this week. Let me know if you agree or disagree or if you have no idea what i'm talking about. Later!
PS don't forget to support your local comic shop. Go inside, look around, buy some stuff, you might be happy you did.

First Rant about comics

Hello and welcome to my blog. I’ve been told numerous times by friends that I needed to start one of these, so now I’m finally doing it. I want to say, up front, that I don’t always have perfect grammar and I know my wife will loathe me posting anything that isn’t perfect, but it’s going to happen. I’m going to screw up.  Expect run-on sentences, comma-splices, poorly worded sentences, and all of it written in a conversational style. I hope this won’t detract from what I’m saying or drive anyone away. So, without further ado…

Lately I’ve been reading a number of back-issues of Marvel Comics Presents. I noticed a lot of talented creators getting their start in those pages as well as some established creators doing some nice work. People like Joe Madureira, Jae Lee, Sam Keith, Peter David, Tim Truman, etc… I started thinking about how there isn’t a good anthology book on the newsstand today. Scratch that…Dark Horse has revived Dark Horse Presents which is attracting a lot of great talent. However, it stands alone and I have no idea how well it’s doing in terms of sales. I picked up a recent issue because it had a Ricardo Delgado story; A new Age of Reptiles tale. It was great.

            I started thinking about the state of comics today. They don’t sell as well as they used to, but they also seem to be more in the public consciousness. We’ve seen a number of comic book based movies do very well at the box-office lately. So, how is Marvel welcoming new readers that might want to check out an Avengers comic once they see the upcoming movie? They can go to their local comic shop and find…Avengers, New Avengers, Secret Avengers, Avengers Academy…wait…what the hell? How the hell is that a good thing for a new reader to find? X-men comics are known for having many different titles since the late 1980s. X-Men: First Class fans can go to their local comic shop and soon find 8 different X-titles to choose from. Not to mention one-shots or mini-series that may be out there.

            What if they could have one book called Avengers and one book called X-Men? They could have a back-up feature that would showcase stories of the other teams. Make the issues have a higher page count. Hell, make it a double sized book containing two complete issues. My other idea is that you could have an anthology book outside of the main title. You could have an Avengers ‘family’ anthology. It could contain stories of the Secret Avengers, the Avengers Academy, and the New Avengers. Deadlines could easily be met by the authors and the artists because they are only doing eight pages or so every month! You could do a special issue every now and then that might focus more on one of the particular titles. Do the same thing with the X-family of books. Fans of the movies can go to the store and find the Avengers comic or the X-Men comic and not feel daunted by the thought of 8 different titles from which to choose.

            It just seems strange, to me, that with comic books selling less and less that the big companies are putting out more and more titles. Where is the promotion? Where are the commercials on Saturday mornings? Where are the banners and ads on the internet? The only places I see comic books promoted are on comic book websites. Do you know where I see promotions for pills, anti-aging creams, cat litter, mops and brooms, etc…? They are EVERYWHERE online. I see them when I look at the weather, video game news, world news or just silly videos. I see ads for all the things previously listed and more. Where are the comic book ads? Comic books try and sell more books by bagging them or having variant covers, but the only people who are buying those gimmicks are the people buying comics in the first place and that pool is quickly drying.

            I bought my first comic book at the E-Z Mart gas station by my house. It was the last chapter in a story arc. I loved it. I bought more. I was a little confused by things, but I made my way through it and bought more. I still buy comics today because of that issue. I wish companies would put comics back in front of children. Distribute them to places people go; the grocery store and the convenience store. I also wish comic book companies would quit rebooting things and putting out new number one issues to try and get new readers. It didn’t matter to me that my first issue wasn’t a number one. Trust your creators to be able to make an interesting story that will entice readers whether it’s the first chapter or the last chapter of a story. If people know about it, they will buy it. If it’s good, people will continue to buy it.