Posted by Richard Pulfer on Mar 17th, 2009
Well, I finally made it to the comic book store to spend a birthday gift certificate, and I came back with tons of loot!
The crossover “War of Kings” is plowing full speed ahead and including an element not usually found in high-impact crossovers – humor. In particular, Vulcan finally gets his due under the pens of Abnett and Lanning. For years, Marvel taunted us with the presence of the third Summers child, but I was a little underwhelmed when Marvel introduced Vulcan – an extremely powerful mutant playing the same “I’ve-got-a-grudge” card we’ve heard nine times over.
But when “War of Kings” opens, Vulcan is in charge of the Shi’ar empire, hot on the trail of former empress Lilandra – who is taking refuge in Kree space to attend the wedding of Ronan the Accuser and the Inhuman Crystal. Here Vulcan is written as crazy as Emperor Nero – and just as fun to watch. While the Imperial Guard pledge their allegiance, Vulcan interrupts one to ask “Did I kill you already?” He is told this is the new guy to replace the dead teammate he slaughtered last. Vulcan carries on for a little bit – but quickly gets bored and walks away. Finally, Vulcan seems like a villain we love to hate and love to watch.
I also bought the second issue of IDW’s relaunch of GI Joe. The series is getting stronger, with the revelation that Snake Eyes is AWOL, Scarlett still in communication with him and Duke afraid both are heading straight for a court martial. This explains the tension which seemed so ambigious last issue. The problem is IDW released an “issue #0″ for the series and clearly expects readers to buy the “issue #0″ – and like an episode of Lost or 24 – if you don’t you’re in a fog. That’s not how Issue #0 work.
I did pick up a good Issue #0 in the former of Berserker, a comic book produced by Top Cow and Milo Ventimigila’s Divide Pictures. A grizly story of a soldier suffering PTSD, the issue has plenty of language, blood, gore and even a dash of humor, but the Issue #0 doesn’t act as a must-read issue in and of itself – instead, it’s an optional taste of what’s to come. And that’s how it should be.
On the Dark Reign side, I’m one behind in New Avengers – the last one I picked up was #49, which has Luke Cage making a deal with Norman Osborn to save his daughter’s life – and then going back on his deal and busting up Venom and Bullseye with the Wrecker’s crowbar. I also got Agents of Atlas – which tells of a team of 1950′s superheroes posing as supervillains to take down Dark Reign from within. It’s a good comic book with a heck of an interesting line-up – including a robot, an Atlantean, a gorilla and a Roman goddess – but there’s far too many flashbacks in the issue for my taste.
To see what’s cooking in Marvel this week, click on Page 2.
Related posts:
- A Comic Rundown Green With Envy (and some Evil)
- Comic Rundown: Will the Crossovers Never End?!
- Comic Rundown: Cliffhanger Culture
- Comic Rundown: Peter Parker, Paparzzi?
- Comic Rundown: Holy Bat-Bullets
Related posts:
- A Comic Rundown Green With Envy (and some Evil)
- Comic Rundown: Will the Crossovers Never End?!
- Comic Rundown: Cliffhanger Culture
- Comic Rundown: Peter Parker, Paparzzi?
- Comic Rundown: Holy Bat-Bullets
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Has there ever been a good Issue 0? I can’t think of any off the top of my head, and in fact the whole gimmick just makes me think of the train wreck that was Zero Hour.
There is only one silver lining with Amazing Spider-Girl‘s cancellation–Marvel virtually never abandons a character even if their book gets killed. Hell, even the 2099-verse is making a comeback shortly! I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see May pop up somewhere else – if not in MC2 (is there anything left of it now?), then maybe she gets unceremoniously dumped into, say, the Ultimates line, or (dare I hope?) even good old 616. The way these books are going lately, the mainstream Marvelverses could use Spider-Girl and her high spirits, the same way the X-Men needed Kitty or Jubilee back in the day to lighten the otherwise grim atmosphere around them. (Let’s face it, when even She-Hulk finds it hard to crack a smile…)
Hey Devin,
Looks like you weren’t far off – Marvel just announced there will be a digital series done by Tom DeFalco – and the comic will appear in print in at least one issue as well.
http://www.majorspoilers.com/archives/12144.htm/