The Comic Book Thread (spoilers)

[Boulder]

Well, Bruce wasn't really ever meant to be dead. I don't remember Darkseid's exact words from Final Crisis #6, but he said something about putting Batman in a trap. If that wasn't enough, they showed he was lost in time two weeks later in Final Crisis #7. I don't really consider this a typical comic book death in that sense. As far as Bruce's role when he comes back, why jump to conclusions? Sure, someday he'll be Batman again, just like someday Steve Rogers will be Captain America again, but I don't see Grant Morrison immediately throwing away the interesting Dick/Damien dynamic he's established.

[Johnny Latino Heat]

Oh yeah, I have a question regarding the Avengers and Spider-Man.

Does anybody know if Spider-Man will be on an Avengers team after Siege? At first, I didn't like the idea of him being on a team, being a loner and all, but now, I grew to like it and love his interactions with his teammates.

[Boulder]

Yeah, he's been confirmed for the new New Avengers that starts in June.

[Johnny Latino Heat]

Great. So I suppose that New Avengers will keep going on as a sort of street-level team, Avengers deal with the big guns, and Secret is kinda like X-Force, meaning the Avengers' Black Ops team?

Nice.

[edcq]

Just read "X-Men: Second Coming" and I liked it. I'm really excited to see what they're going to do with Hope. It kinda reminds me of The Matrix, where they're banking on Hope being the one that saves their species.

[Boulder]

Yeah, Second Coming was fun. I loved the balls-out, non-stop action of Messiah Complex and I'm expecting more of the same here. Given the weekly (or near weekly) release schedule, it should be a wild ride. Granted, I'm not that huge into Bastion, but I enjoyed the Cable series, so seeing its resolution should more than make up for it.

[Johnny Latino Heat]

What'cha gonna do, Sinestro, when Hulkamania runs wild on you?

[Mr. X]

I am a little out of the loop when it comes to comics.

Has Marvel ended the Ultimate universe or have they just cut some of the books that weren't selling as well?

[Johnny Latino Heat]

They did a whole re-launch of sorts of the thing. They had the Ultimatum event (by Jeph Loeb, which I'd think would give you some clue as to its quality. You can see the summary here) and now the only books are Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, Ultimate Comics X, Ultimate Avengers, and New Ultimates. I think.

EDIT: After reading Cable 25, I have to say... GET DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI WRITING DEADPOOL, NOW!

Edited April 8, 2010 by Johnny Latino Heat

[Johnny Latino Heat]

OK, sorry to double post, but I figured this kinda warrantees it. According to Newsarama, Marvel's starting with teasers for the new X-Men lineup, kinda like they've been doing with the Avengers teams. And there's something really strange about the first one.

Errrm, what? Since when is Spider-Man a mutant? Plus, he's already on the New Avengers. (Yeah, I know, Wolverine's also on every team in the Marvel Universe, but still.) I dunno, it just seems really strange to think of Spider-Man as an X-Man.

Thoughts?

[Avenged Probably]

OK, sorry to double post, but I figured this kinda warrantees it. According to Newsarama, Marvel's starting with teasers for the new X-Men lineup, kinda like they've been doing with the Avengers teams. And there's something really strange about the first one.

Errrm, what? Since when is Spider-Man a mutant? Plus, he's already on the New Avengers. (Yeah, I know, Wolverine's also on every team in the Marvel Universe, but still.) I dunno, it just seems really strange to think of Spider-Man as an X-Man.

Thoughts?

It does seem somewhat odd, and if it does happen I can't see it staying that way for too long. It would add an interesting dynamic to the team because the X-Men have never really had a place for witty banter and the such, it's always been more serious. Of course that all depends on the settings post Second Coming. I'm not against it, after all I thought the idea of Spidey and Wolverine becoming Avengers was insane and that turned out great.

Also on recent comics; X-Men Second Coming and Chapter 2 in Uncanny X-Men are really good. If they continue the pace like this (I think there's an issue every week) then we're going to have another Messiah CompleX quality crossover on our hands (instead of a Messiah War quality one).

Wolverine: Weapon X continues to be all kinds of awesome, definitly the best Wolverine book out at the minute.

I also picked up the first S.H.I.E.L.D issue today and was pleasantly surprised. For a book that features no core characters and have nothing direcetly to do with modern day Marvel (it's set in the past too) it's a damn fine read. It puts across sme pretty ludacris ideas too but the writings good enough that you can believe it. Highly recommended.

[Boulder]

I would almost wager money that this is an advertisement for a sequel to Christos Gage's Spider-Man and the X-Men miniseries from last year. I remember hearing that they were doing another one, and Marvel does stuff like that a lot. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but that was the feeling I got when I saw the ad.

EDIT: And considering the ads that have come out in the past couple of days, I am apparently quite wrong.

[Johnny Latino Heat]

Regarding the X-Men thing:

Further teasers show

Gambit with Elektra, Hope with Blade, Magneto with Lyra, and X-Man with a vampire Jubilee. The theme of mutant/non-mutant continues. I'm still scratching my head, though, as I don't really imagine where this is going.

And the lineup for the Secret Avengers has been revealed as well.

Just to clarify: Steve Rogers, Moon Knight, War Machine, Beast, Valkyrie and Nova. An interesting lineup... Let's see what they do with it.

Edited April 15, 2010 by Johnny Latino Heat

[Boulder]

Very psyched about the Secret Avengers line-up. One of my favorite writers is handling my two all-time favorite comic characters (Nova and Steve Rogers). Add on the fact that Beast and War Machine are also great, and I'm sold. It'll be interesting to see how such a motley team gets assembled, but I'll trust Brubaker to handle it well.

[TGC]

I would almost wager money that this is an advertisement for a sequel to Christos Gage's Spider-Man and the X-Men miniseries from last year. I remember hearing that they were doing another one, and Marvel does stuff like that a lot. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but that was the feeling I got when I saw the ad.

EDIT: And considering the ads that have come out in the past couple of days, I am apparently quite wrong.

Yes you are wrong.

It is The X-Men vs. Vampires. And Mark Millar is pissed off about it since that is the theme for his next big Ultimates Arc.

[RoyWill Rumble]

Anyone and everyone ought to be reading Secret Six right now. I never thought I could care about Catman (yes, fucking Catman), but I do because of Secret Six. Also, just read the Brightest Day Issue #0, and I surprisingly liked it. I'm not usually big on intro-type comics, but it was rad. Blackest Night, too, was awesome. Clusterfucky, but all types of fun.

As for what I'm reading now...

Spidey: Quality changes from writer to writer, but I loved Issue 626 with the two Rhinos. The Gauntlet in general has been balls and I fucking DESPISED the art style for a while. As I said, I loved the Rhino issues, though. The recent Juggernaut one was... eh. I dunno, I don't buy the issues, to be honest. They're not good enough to justify, and quality is all over the place, really. Yet, I still keep reading. I've only been blown away once or twice, and I've only downright hated an issue once or twice in the recent run from a few months before The Gauntlet. I think I'm only reading it now out of habit since Spidey was my first comic book hero. I'm hoping for one groundbreaking arc for him, and I'm also hoping his run with Avengers will be rad. I've also been reading Ultimate Spidey since its reboot, and... I dunno, I don't like it as much as old Ultimate Spidey. It's also not outright bad, but to be honest, lately issues (Jesus Christ especially the latest) have felt like complete filler, and honestly wastes of time.

I second the Second Coming stuff. I wasn't sold at first on the whole thing, and I had mixed feelings on Messiah Complex, but for once I actually wanna follow X-Men. I've always loved them, but found their stuff hard to follow if it's not in tradeback.

Grant Morrison's run on Batman and Robin is getting good, and that makes me happy. Batman in general has been kind of inconsistent too, but I've been trying to keep up with it since the whole Battle for the Cowl debacle. I suppose I'll put this in spoilers, but you all ought to know it by now.

I'm liking Dick Grayson as Batman more and more with each issue. It was grating at first to see Batman and 'hear' Dick Grayson's 'voice' and his wise-cracking, but it was acknowledged by characters in the comics, which really grounded things for me. I'm adjusting to him being Batman just like he is, and I rather like it.

And, previously mentioned Secret Six. I've just recently got into it and have a few issues backlogged to read. I'm also considering reading The Flash reboot. I've heard good things.

Though I'm not keeping up to tabs on Captain America and reading every issue, I'm trying to keep up because I love Brubaker.

Last issue was boring... until, of course, fake Cap threatens to blow up the fucking Hoover Dam. I am intrigued, I'll admit.

Sticking with Brubaker, he's writing Secret Avengers? I'm sold.

[edcq]

The Flash reboot is really good. It's something that a new reader can just jump into and "get it". They also have a background and history guide on the back of the issue so you know who you're gonna see in the upcoming issues, which is a nice plus.

[edcq]

Double post.

I've also been reading a new comic called "Sparta USA" It's published by Wildstorm, and it's pretty good.

I just finished the latest Batman & Robin issue and it's continuing the roll they are on. Great issue and I'm eagerly anticipating the next one.

[TGC]

Bru is sticking with Captain America, and adding two new books: Secret Avengers and

Steve Rogers: Super Soldier

I love Bru's writing, but I am not sold on the last two concepts yet. Especially the character design work I have seen.

[Boulder]

Bru is sticking with Captain America, and adding two new books: Secret Avengers and

Steve Rogers: Super Soldier

I love Bru's writing, but I am not sold on the last two concepts yet. Especially the character design work I have seen.

According to an interview up at Newsarama, Steve Rogers: Super Soldier is only a four-issue miniseries. Disappointing, as I'd read Brubaker-on-Rogers every month until the end of time.