Wow...it is incredibly hard to believe that I haven't made a post in nearly two years. I was really enjoying doing this blog paired with doing the podcast (The Panel Scanners), but life just appeared and stole away my time. That didn't mean I stopped reading comics; on the contrary I probably have read more comics in the past two years than I read while I was originally doing the blog. In that time, I have narrowed down the books that I intend to review, intend to streamline my posts (one a week instead of upwards of 15), and continue to try to share thoughts and speak to my readers more consistently.
Anyhow, I am going to try this new format for my weekly pulls in where I will name the books that I actually purchased, give a quick blurb about the book and then a general feeling about if the title is worth the time or not. Let me know if this format works well...
Pulls for 6/24/2015:
Doctor Who: New Adventures of the Tenth Doctor #12
Fight Club 2 #2
Uncanny Avengers #5
X-Men '92 #1
Doctor Who: New Adventures of the Tenth Doctor #12
For anyone who is listening to the podcast still, they know how I have been feeling about the Doctor Who books as of late. Considering there are four different comics following four different doctors it is becoming difficult to differentiate at times. That said, Nick Abadzis is telling an interesting story dealing with the temporary concept that is life and the struggle that people go through to prolong it. The Doctor, along with his companion Gabby and her friend Cindy, seem to want to level the world out and do what is best for everyone while trying to keep balance. Abadzis makes the characters feel real and gives you a chance to really try to connect with them. I am not certain where he is taking it, but I intend to stay along for the ride. If you enjoy David Tennant as the doctor, this story feels right, but not perfect. (7 out of 10)
Fight Club 2 #2
When I heard that the sequel to Fight Club was going to be a graphic novel, I got a little concerned. Chuck Palahniuk is a dark and mentally straining writer that, at times, gets so dark that the imagination does a better job painting the picture than a picture ever could. I have always found that to be a fault in the film versions of his books, I always pictured it more vividly (if that makes sense). That said, Fight Club 2 has been an incredibly interesting look into two unstable people trying to live as "normal". The comic takes place ten years after the fist story. Sebastian is now married to Maria and they have had a child together. Of course, Maria is beginning to get bored with the idea of being "normal" and she starts to not medicate her husband properly so that his split personality Tyler can return so she may have an affair with him. Of course, this is not a good idea considering that Tyler becomes the dominate personality and Sebastian doesn't ever remember what happens when Tyler is in control. I really do not want to spoil anything else from this issue, I'll delve into the plot more when issue three comes out next month. Just remember how unstable this couple is and that there is now a child involved. (9 out of 10)
Uncanny Avengers #5
Uncanny Avengers was originally launched after AvX to show regular heroes working together with mutants to show that everyone could co-exist. The book started off great and could arguable be called the best Avengers or X-book at the time. Well, since then a lot has happened and the book just feels too uneven and convoluted to even enjoy to follow. After Infinity, the book took a new direction with a new team that was mostly focused on Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. They learned that Magneto probably was not their father, which led them to Counter-Earth (the High Evolutionary's Earth) to find their real father. After learning that they supposedly discarded imperfections of the High Evolutionary, everything goes a little crazy. Members of the team are separated, they ultimately fight the High Evolutionary together and are able to return home. During this, Vision has a bunch of children (no joke) with Eden, another android (I think), and has to choose between a life with her or his Avenger friends. Vision also learns some information about Wanda and Pietro that he hints at being a big deal and would shatter his ex-wife but the information is never divulged. I set the issue down in a confused state, wondering what happened to the story that Remender started telling back in volume one. I guess it may not matter anyhow. All of this stuff will probably be rewritten in Secret Wars (5 out of 10. Only read if you have read all of the other issues.)
X-Men '92 #1
This is the one Secret Wars book I grabbed this week and I wont lie, I was not expecting a ton. There was a bit of nostalgia of grabbing a book that had the art style of a 90's X-book and the 90's cartoon team on the cover (even if Jubilee was included). After being shocked at the $4.99 cover price and purchasing it anyway hoping that it wasn't a complete waste, I was pleasantly surprised. Let me start by saying, this is by no stretch the best book I have read in a long time. It definitely is not. It opens with the X-Men playing Laser Tag because the world has been at peace for the last few months with no villains in sight due to the X-Men winning the Westchester Wars. Of course, this doesn't last when rogue Sentinels come after the X-Men which they quickly dispose of. There are many, cheesy jokes tossed around and a lot of nods to Jubilee being treated like a little kid (as the books did in the early 90's as well as the show), which brought a smile to my face. With a surprising twist, the Baron of this part of Battleworld (...I will explain Barons in a Secret War review if you are confused), is Robert Kelly and he actually supports the X-Men! Kelly irons out the aggression of Sentinels still attacking and tells the team about an area that is being used to help "evil" mutants exist in the regular world after the war. Of course the X-Men want to check this out which leads them into the second half of the book. The twist at the end isn't super surprising but it is enjoyable and it leads into a continuation that will, sadly, seem to focus around Jubilee. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at the story told and it really felt like a 90's comic. I know the 90's weren't the best time for comics, but in '92 I was seven years old, so I may have enjoyed this with a little bit of nostalgia glasses equipped. (7 out of 10. Fun, but not for everyone).
Well, that covers the four books from this week. I hope the new format is acceptable. I know it is a wall of text but it should be easy to find the little blurb about the book you actually care about if you want to read. I also want to mention that The Panel Scanners podcast is now available on iTunes for free! If you want to give it a listen, the seven or eight most recent episodes seem to be available. I intend to try to figure out what happened to the back catalog but it was a big enough struggle for Darren to even get the podcast up in the first place. Hell, the last few episodes were probably the best ones anyhow. We are finally finding a groove!
That is all for this week! Please leave a comment if you have any questions about ANY books that have been released this week for I should have answers. I am really happy to be back and I hope that you all are happy to have me back! Well, until next week, happy reading comic book fans!
