Where My Money Went - Nov. 5th

Every Wednesday I push the limits of my budget for my comic addiction. This is where my money went this week:


Being a sucker for anything with Captain America in it, I probably would have bought this no matter what. After opening it and seeing Daredevil try to beat a man to death, I bought it. Once I got home, I found out it's an older European story written by a guy who did Euro-verse Disney stories, and the artist did a ton of Dylan Dogg covers. The two characters follow the same villain for different reasons, Daredevil to save a Hell's Kitchen's mother's son, and Captain America on a mission from Nick Fury himself. Classic Captain America, Classic Daredevil, and a Classic Villain. It's another one of the Euro comics Marvel has brought over that they plaster a huge "MATURE CONTENT" warning label on, but unlike the others this one has hardly any violence or language. I really can't understand why it's there, is Marvel just freaked out by these comics makers or something?It's worth the $4.99 price point, if it were DC Comics it would have been prestige format, but what are you going to do?


I have had a lot of conversations about where this comic is going and no one can agree. Is Namor going to show up or will it all be a hoax? Is the dude just seeing things or is Namor alive in their world? Who killed that entire crew? All the stories they believe become creatures they fear when the men reaches the last under water facility before they are lead into the depths to find Atlantis, or uh, not find it, proving it doesn't exist.


Machine Man gets what he came for, and discovers the Kingpin is in power and somehow has been keeping people in check and has managed to keep a human bride. Marvel Zombies 3 is the best MZ book to date. More on this soon!!


Magneto stories always feel so sad because he's so misguided. He goes about everything in the worst way possible and in Civil War: House of M he even has Charles Xavier's friendship and guidance to help him lead but still manages to make choices that end up just hurting Genosha and mutants in general. He uses Sabretooth as a weapon, which is what the humans fear about mutants, and doesn't understand allying with other nations does not mean rallying troops. Even when everything goes his way Magneto acts childish and kills Creed thinking it will help the cause. Bucky is sent in wearing Winter Soldier style clothes but a Captain America shield by Trask leading a strike team made up of Nuke and Mimic. House of M just translates to "What If...." stories that are mini series, allowing writers to do whatever they want with the characters. It's a good look.


After the surprise at the end of the last issue (there are fucking monkeys in Vietnam, what?) we get a few answers and learn the monkeys aren't just pure savages but are extremely human. The only bummer about the book is that it's $5.99 and I had to pay rent today, and then David Ford drops "It ends up being this $54 mini series." That is insane when you think about it. That being said, this issue was added so many Sci-Fi elements, and has already tricked everyone into reading a completely different story than what they bought. Also, it has a letters section which is a dying comics staple form yesteryear that just can't survive because of the internet. Why would someone want to put a letters section in their comic when people just use blogs and message boards? Reading old issues of comics and seeing the month to month theories on characters and story lines was incredible. Generally this is true with Pin-Ups as well, but they are making a comeback, and Guerillas has them as well. Also, one of the apes is named Goliath


First Class books (along with Marvel Adventures stories) are slept on by most comics readers due to the fact that they are directed at an "all ages" group which for real means children. Weapon-X: First Class is a retelling of Wolverine's time with Xavier trying to figure out his past and where he came from, discovering things like Weapon-X and former loves for the first time. Well, second time. No matter the progress he makes it seems like Wolverine is always one step behind himself. The art is really similar to the Wolverine: Saudade guy Phillippe Bouchet's work, to the point that some facial expressions were uh... referenced exactly. Some of the memories are redrawn panels from classic Wolverine stories, like the first part of Windsor Smith's Weapon X where Logan gets abducted is redrawn to show the event, which is awesome. This, however, is where the first issue ends. There's also a short Sabretooth story where Xavier tries to recruit Creed for his team to no avail. It has awesome art by Tim Seeley and Katie Desouza, with Sabretooth in a classic costume eating raw steak, you can't ask for much more.