Wake Up, Wake Up It's Best of the Month: May 2010

Return of Bruce Wayne #1 & #2 by Grant Morrison, Chris Sprouse, and Frazier Irving.
Didn't really expect these to be as good as they are, but Morrison always finds ways of taking a "cool" idea and adding extra layers onto it. Here, the layer is Superman's squad time-hopping around, trying to stop Batman from coming back to the present, which. Issue #2 tackles it mostly and artist Frazier Irving draw Superman as thin and vaguely wimpy, which actually goes along well with the hyper-sincere tone Morrison's adopted for Superman since All Star Superman and Final Crisis.

The first issue is just paced perfectly. With not a lot of dialogue, the story moves along really quickly but somehow keeps you fixated on each and every panel too, like there's caves of meaning in every sequence. And it uses simple comics tricks, like weird colored skys and backgrounds to enhance the time travel element of the story, and make the world of the cavemen seem like it's forever on the verge of violence. Little tricks like reversing expectation and having Bruce Wayne's speech incomprehensible and not the cavemen is subtle and just good, smart comic book stuff.

Issue #2 pumps up the dialogue and almost lost me in the mix a couple of times, but as the issue pushes on it picks up steam. Things become more frenetic for both Superman and Bruce towards the end of the issue and Morrison/Irving do a good job of slowly modulating the pace as it goes on. Throwing in these hints of the Batman/DC history we all know, such as Bruce's familiarity with the cave and Annie's Wonder Woman connection are once again, fun comics nerd things but they also highlight the sad, fleeting connections that this dip through time allows.

Spider-Man Fever #2 by Brendan McCarthy.
A big improvement over the clunky first issue, this issue sheds most of the weak humor of the first issue and replaces it with more intense images that are spooky, bizarre, and even, strangely beautiful. The plot now revealed, McCarthy sinks his teeth into the meat of the story with Spider-Man and Dr. Strange on duel quests in a bizarre magical realm.

The story actually retells Spider-Man's origin as a magical event and not a science-based one--which is actually a pretty ballsy move, even out of continuity. It turns out the spider that bit him is part of the weird spider cult that has abducted him in this magical realm--or something--and he's creepily turning into a giant spider, kind of like the six-armed Spider-Man in the 90s cartoon.

Strange's and Spider-Man story go well together, each having to deal with the inhabitants of this odd territory and both making it work. Strange is obviously in his magical element, but Spider-Man feels oddly at home too, hanging out with spiders and the nomad/wanderer look really works with his character.

Wolverine #900 by Various.
The curiously numbered Wolverine #900 is just Wolverine doing what he does best: one shots. The issue is crammed with 104 pages and a bunch of solid, one-shot stories. There seems to be a never ending stream of sad ass Wolverine one-shots, and this issue dares you to get tired of them, but it's one of those things that only the most obsequious comics nerd gets mad about--too much of a good thing.

The stand out tale is by far the Wells/Rivera "Birthday Boy." Wells' Wolverine has a palpable inner sadness that's in lots of Wolverine stories but is sensitively done here. Wolverine's emotionally locked away, aware of his position in the world as a killer and maybe murderer and struggling with it. Basically, Wolverine gets Spider-Man to hang out with him because Spider-Man's a decent guy and sees the good in Wolverine, and he doesn't want to feel like a shit on this night.

Wolverine and Spider-Man are philosophical opposites--Spider-Man as a young naive "Good Guy" and Wolverine as a proud cynical hard-ass--and as the story progresses, you get glimpses of ways they meet in the middle. That's the emotional tension of the story, but the big reveal, the devastating detail that makes this story so great is Wolverine's last-page reveal as to why he convinced Spidey to come out and hang: It's his birthday.

It's borders on sentimentality, but Wells holds back and lets the reader wonder, and even sympathize with Spiderman's whining, until the end when Spiderman finally gets it and feels bad for giving Wolverine a hard time. Rivera's art is perfect as always, and helps add a bunch of little touches that give this story a subtlety and nuance that makes the entire issue worth the $5 price tag.

Free Comic Book Day:
Weathercraft and other Strange Tales by Jim Woodring.
I'm not a big fan of Woodring's Jim or Frank and things are even kinda similar in Weathercraft, but take out the words and replace cute characters with a weird piggy man and things work out pretty well. The plot is told remarkably well for being silent and the whole thing does a good job of focusing on the main character's spiritual-esque journey. The tale could easily be a scene out of the movie Holy Mountain or something, particularly the comic book transcendent ending in which Weathercraft's absorbed by the space around him. It has the same sort of uncomfortable power of Jodorowsky's film.

Iron Man/Thor by Matt Fraction and John Romita Jr.
Just a well characterized, drawn, and composed, team-up of two characters who spend a lot of time in each other's company but don't necessarily interact all that often. They always seem to be fighting and yelling and never just have a conversation. Similar to "Birthday Boy", here are two characters who are really different and nearly opposites just hanging out. Thor's old fashioned and his power comes from an inner strength, while Iron Man basically lives in the future and his power comes from his ability to be on the bleeding-edge of technology.

Although they clash in certain respects, they end up complimenting each other as a team. The story's subtext highlights Thor as a God which is often forgotten or just kinda accepted without comment in the comics. As Thor talks to Iron Man on the moon, Iron Man suddenly realizes that Thor is talking in space and how every once in a while Thor will just do something impossible like that--because he's a God and all. Like Iron Man 2's characterization of Stark/Iron Man, it breaks down his techno-futurist edge and reveals his knowing, child-like sense of wonder.

Others: Orc Stain #3, King City #8, Joe the Barbarian #5.

Comic Adaptation Week: Clint Eastwood's Old Man Logan

Millar and McNiven’s Old Man Logan isn’t about the animal Wolverine, it’s about the man Logan. Leaving his past behind him, Logan becomes a pacifist in a world where the villains have won, until his landlords--the Hulk’s inbred children--threaten to evict him if he can’t come up with his rent. The now blind Avenger Hawkeye offers Logan enough money that he’ll never need to work again in exchange for playing bodyguard on a nationwide road trip, delivering mysterious goods to the rebel party. Even though Logan has left his brawling ways in the past, the money is too good, so he agrees.

Although it has its moments of complete badassery, it’s not a comic about how a tough, aging Wolverine slashes his way through the country. OML is about being old and tired and just wanting to quietly live out the rest of your years, but something is preventing you from doing just that. It’s about being a good person because it’s who you are, even though you may not like it.

Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino plays with similar themes, the 80 year old Eastwood stars as um, an 80 year old man, war-worn, full of good old American racial hate, but also, you know, a good heart. Eastwood’s portrayal of a man who’s lost it all and is just waiting for his time to end struck me as strange, the man you knew for, “You’ve gotta ask yourself a question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya punk?” spends his time just working on his car and garden?

It felt like giving up, but then I realized it’s not giving up, it’s starting again and having the opportunity to really be who you’ve never been able to. By also directing the film, Eastwood would be able to add that sense of grizzled heroism from the movies that he's become known for, revealing the motivations behind a mean old man's actions without forcing pity out of the audience. Eastwood's ability to portray an older man who isn't helpless, but obviously somewhat frail and sick, is what an old Wolverine would need. There also aren't a lot of old men who know they could kick your ass and that's important too.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Big-budget cluster-fuck X-Men Origins: Wolverine comes out today, May 1st. I, like millions of others, watched the leaked prescreener, anxious to see how the movie compared to last year's Iron Man and of course, The Dark Knight. Those two films forever changed comic book movies, Iron Man with it's under the radar political commentary and Downey Jr.'s drunken Tony Stark, The Dark Knight with it's visual effects and the over rated, but still great, Heath Ledger Joker performance.

Comic book movies seem relatively simple to put together, the characters are already established, there are, in cases like these, thousands of story lines you could base your screenplay after, and hundreds of supporting characters you may chose to meet your film's needs. No one expects the movies to follow the same continuity as the comics, but we like hints the director knows what's going on-- little nerd "cameos" that get us excited. Continuity in film is where it starts to get a little tricky, and where Wolverine even has casual viewers asking nerdy continuity questions and sighing loudly.

It's no secret that Marvel has big plans for their "movie-verse" (which it's rumored will get it's own earth number, as in 616, 219, etc.) slowly connecting the films with things like Captain America's shield in Tony Stark's workshop and Nick Fury slowly making contact with the different heroes, for their big Avengers movie, scheduled for 2012. X-Men Origins: Wolverine takes place before the three "X" movies, so when Wolverine meets young mutant Cyclops, it brings up questions about why they didn't know each other as adults? Small things like these seem insignificant, but also are telling of how disorganized the film feels.

The main issue with the movie isn't that it doesn't follow any kind of comic book or movie continuity, it's that Wolverine may be the most popular character Marvel has, and the movie isn't as good as the weekly Wolverine one-shots. The acting is almost on a Star Wars level of poor, it only has slightly better writing going for it, none of the performances stand out as the best because they are all sub-par. Any shocking cameo that would have been exciting have been taken away from us not by the leak, but by the promotional material itself.

The movie wasn't all bad, scenes of Creed (later Sabretooth) and Wolverine battling in the American Civil War and storming the beaches of Normandy during WW2 were visually impressive as well as told a narrative of their friendship before Creed goes "feral". The brotherhood they share (which in the film is literal, the two coming from the same parents) is finally shown, deepening the relationship between the two similarly powered mutants.

"Merc with a Mouth" Deadpool is the second most notable character to Wolverine, the Liefeldian trigger happy Weapon-X survivor is played by Ryan Reynolds, but instead of a terminal cancer patient, he's just a plain old mercenary. Once he actually becomes "Deadpool" he's referred to as "Weapon-XI", and instead of a healing factor, he's given the powers of all mutants, much more like the Dark Reign X-Man Mimic. The only reason this is something of note is the huge push that Deadpool has been getting the past few months, multiple comics, one-shots, and crossovers. Old fans will be disappointed and new fans won't understand the differences between the characters.

There are few scenes in the movie that have you revisiting the ideas behind them, and there is no motivation to see the movie twice. Even as a huge Wolverine fan I had a hard time getting through it, and felt only disappointment afterwards. The only the question that X-Men Origins: Wolverine presents is "How do you fuck up a Wolverine movie?"

What Ever Happened To That Old Man Logan?

Remember when you picked up Wolverine #66 and Logan was this sad farmer who didn't fight anymore and it was great? It seems so long ago that "Old Man Logan" was a slow-paced buddy-road comic. With the latest issue, the story has morphed into something closer to a movie blockbuster than a comic book. A quick summary proves this point. This issue contains: Black Bolt stopping a Venom T-Rex, Emma Frost, Pym Falls, Dr. Doom, and the contents of Hawkeye's secret box.

The series has become more about plot twists and throwaway fan-boy moments than character development. When we get to the double page spread of Pym Falls it's cool and all but that’s about it. There’s no substance to it and it doesn’t really mean anything to the characters when they pass by. It’s just a landmark like passing the world’s largest ball of string.

The first issues in the series were exciting because the events of this villain run future were going on in the background of strong characterization of Logan and his supporting cast. The Hulk Gang was a cool idea but also functioned as part of Wolverine's character. He refuses to fight them and is subservient to them as landlords. The world surrounding Logan has become bland because the world is getting all the attention while Logan and Hawkeye remain in the background. Initially it was Old Man Logan featuring an insane apocalyptic future world but now it’s the complete reverse.

When Emma mentions Logan’s family life, Logan barely reacts. She validates through her mental powers that, yes, Logan is happy but he hasn’t shown it in any way. Millar has been so busy throwing events atop Logan, so he'll have his eventual claw-popping freak-out, that he’s forgotten what made the series so exciting in the first place: Logan's interiority, not the exterior Marvel Universe.

The inventive panel layouts of the first three parts have become stale. One of the best panels from an earlier issue was in #68 when the Spider-Buggy drives through a wall and inside a building. That same layout is reused in issue #71 for a less dynamic effect as the Spider-Buggy's chased by the Venom T-Rex. This sums up what has happened to the series. Its lost its momentum and seems to be just treading the same thematic waters. Logan doesn’t take time to stare at an X-Men button and remember his past. The issues have become too packed with plot and action to be able pause and examine the character closely.

The series took a probably permanent wrong turn last issue when Wolverine’s motivations were revealed. There’s really no reason why we needed to know what specifically broke his spirit. It doesn’t add anything to the story and feels like a cheap revelation.

With any previous knowledge of Wolverine, our mind instantly thinks of some of the most disturbing scenarios possible that led to his not using the claws. Millar certainly picked a really messed-up reason for him but the impact of it is completely taken away by its place in the story. This is something we should find out in last issue, if at all. Imagine Wolverine pops his claws for the first time in years and simultaneously remembers killing the X-Men. I know it’s stupid to play the ‘What If’ game but this series has so much wasted potential you can't help but rewrite it in your head.

Going back and re-reading the first issue it’s crafted really well. This is something that happens in a lot of series. They start to lose their main thesis and momentum. Whether it is the deadlines of producing issue after issue, meddling editors, or just a problem with the creators, it’s kind of something that needs to be figured out in comics...too many series' just fall apart.

Wolverine Turns 35 in Comic Years

In 2009 Wolverine turns 35 years old, and to commemorate this occasion a bunch of Marvel books are coming out with variant covers drawn by different artists. All of the covers pay homage not just to Wolverine, but also artists and art styles from throughout time. The idea was presented to the artists as a "What If?" style project, no one knowing how long Wolverine's been around, who knows who he's met and who would have captured him with their art? Here are the covers:

Edward Gorey

Alphonse Mucha

Gustav Klimt

Vincent Van Gogh

Cave Paintings

C.M. Coolidge

Roy Lichenstein

Pablo Picasso

Sunday Cartoon Strips

Salvador Dali

Wyeth

Rene Magritte

Andy Warhol

Edvard Munch

Japanese Woodblock

Where My Money Went: December 10th

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


I hate Superman. He just doesn't do it for me, but in the few stories I do enjoy (Birthright, For All Seasons, a few others) are about him as a sad character, not a hero. I don't want to see him as this cry baby all the time, just the dude is possibly immortal, will out live everyone he loves, and has to save the world five times a week and still hold up a day job. I have a hard time doing anything productive with my free time and I don't even try that hard at my job. I want to see his humanity over his super-humanity.

Last issue Supes finds a boy he thought he had saved from Vampiredom stealing plasma from a hospital. Feeling a debt to the boy (and I'm sure himself) Superman takes him to Dr. Langstrom (aka the Man-Bat) to try and extract the Vampire genes inside him. While there, Werewolves attack and Langstrom does the unthinkable, becoming Man-Bat again by taking an experimental batch of his serum. Superman fights off the Werewolves, but since he's vulnerable to their attacks, isn't much use unless he kills the Werewolves, but Superman isn't a killer, he's a hero.

Man-Bat rips flesh and throws the Werewolves around, proud of each kill and eager for more. Superman can only fend off the monsters long enough to wait for an opening to throw them to his ally. He could never bring himself to kill the beasts but knows what needed to be done, despite his farm boy morals, aiding in their deaths. Feeling guilty, he gives Langstrom the antidote and returns his attention to the boy, someone he can save instead of kill. These are times I like Superman.


This comic was $3.99 for what you could have figured out from last page of Secret Invasion #8, a bunch of ads (including two double pager spreads!), and three previews. The art is awful, quite frankly worse than last week's What If: House of M bullshit, I mean come on, Namor a jewish guy with a receding hair line? With a five o'clock shadow? I'm basically this Marvel stooge but even I couldn't get into this one. What a waste of money.


Speaking of poorly drawn Marvel comics, let's get into What If?: Fallen Son. Marvel is just allowing amateurs to do the current run of What If? books, which is the only explanation for how terrible this comic looks. The pages are full of incomplete faces, bodies and limbs, hidden or drawn only in part with bad coloring for cover up. At least Rob Leifeld drew faces and chests, there are twenty one feet in this issue, but only four of which make sense.


In Batman Confidential: "Do You Understand These Rights?" we're given The Joker and Batman at their best. The Joker is a murdering unknown psychopath who can't be trusted with anything from a peanut to a pillow, making jokes and laughing while killing everyone around him. Batman is in the shadows and wearing disguises, exchanging notes with Gordon who is still unsure of the new masked vigilante.

Joker is declared guilty, and shortly after kills another with a banana peel. Taken to a Psychiatric Hospital where he will no doubt escape, he manages to look dangerous with that smile and hair. Gordon takes a bullet from a cop who is sick of the super-crime freaks in his city, just adding another case to Batman's plate.

The colors are classic, as in 1987 comic vibrant, Joker jumping off the page while Batman stays in the back, Gordon and other "normal people" making a perfect middle ground. It's writing is light enough for anyone but keeps you at an arm's length, never giving you too much information about where the series is going while still keeping you interested. It's everything a comic should be.


After all my Marvel hate this week, it's only fair I review Wolverine: Flies to a Spider. A new Wolverine comic comes out every week, but not all of them are worth it, this one being exceptional. Even for being the "best at what he does", Wolverine still has a heart, especially around the holidays, the issue taking place on New Year's Eve. Wolverine walks into biker gang "Road Dogs" regular bar, takes out everyone wearing colors, and sits down. No matter how many people they send in, he takes them out quick and easy, not uttering a word. The gang's leader calls in for a favor from the man they run drugs for, a big time Mob Boss who is currently paying off local law enforcement to cover up the death of a young girl caused by the Road Dogs.

Wolverine goes through all the muscle sent after him while being kept company by an old drunk trucker, the uncle of the young girl killed, who is just happy to see someone fighting for the right thing. Not even remembering the murdered girl's name, the boss blows Wolverine off as another tough guy and decides to come out with the big guns to take care of him. Logan turns the dead gang's bikes into bombs with their gasoline and flares, killing all the hired muscle and badmen who came for him. Standing over the dying Mob Boss' body, he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a newspaper article, uttering his only words in the comic "Her name was Ruthie Jordan."

Wolverine: Origins

I'm one of the few people I know who hasn't seen The Dark Knight, even though I'm a bigger fan of the comic books than most of the people around me. It's not that I don't want to watch it, it's just that after seeing the initial artwork and stills for two years, the hype was gone for me. Hellboy 2: The Golden Army came out around the same time and had few ads and trailers, making the movie experience new and exciting when you went into the theater. I wanted to see it more because I had less on hand about it.

Wolverine: Origins comes out in five months and Marvel has kept it quiet. They've already revealed Sabretooth, Deadpool, The Blob, Gambit, and a few others I'll let the nerds sort out, but I'm sure that's just the beginning of Wolverine's Rouge's Gallery appearances. Seeing Logan and Creed storm the beaches and argue over soldier politics is exactly what this movie should be, and not just Wolverine cutting up ninjas (not that that wouldn't be cool).

From the looks of it, a good portion of the film will be pre-claws, but there's no indication as to whether or not they'll be taking it back to his childhood. I'm hoping to see Wolverine in his orange and brown costume, and not just the black leather they've decided is cool.

Here are a few stills that were released to make up for the bad quality of the video:

Wolverine #69: "Old Man Logan"

The devolution of Mark Millar's "Old Man Logan" began last issue when instead of the road-movie at a rapid pace feeling of the series, readers got an unnecessary detour, spending all of issue #68 stuck at the "new" Kingpin's headquarters. It was presumably, an issue that further outlined Millar's fun-disturbing version of the Marvel universe without heroes, that also gave Hawkeye some back-story, but it slowed the series down, and replaced the series' hard-assed tone with out-and-out cynicism.

The hook of the issue and what was intended to be shocking and emotional, was Hawkeye's attempt to save his daughter Spider-Girl from all of this. Instead, upon saving, she mutters played-out Millar-isms about taking over Kingpin's turf and uh, next, taking aim at her dad. Throw a really silly arena fight and you've got a series that was already on shaky ground and seemed tumbling towards this weird, self-congratulatory misanthropy.

This isn't the first time Millar's writing has gotten distracted or morphed into self-parody in three issues. Earlier this year, the complex emotions mixed with fun ultra-violence and meta-commentary on ultra-violence in Kick-Ass from #1 and #2 just became goofy violence and stuff like having a little girl say "cunt" in #3.

Before that point, the comic was good enough that Millar's uncomfortable misreading of crime, race, and American city-living was excusable, just as before Part Three of "Old Man Logan", the weird white-trashploitation of it all rolled off my reading back because, it was on some real road movie, two dudes past their prime emotionality shit mixed with uber comic nerd revisionism. And McNiven's art was awesome and still is, but not good enough to keep reading.

As Jesse discussed in his (positive) review of the last issue, Millar noted about the series' success: "I really think we've stumbled onto something very iconic here.” But the previous issue and especially this month's issue--both of which really, should've been edited into one issue-- feel more like Millar trying to make something "iconic" than stumbling upon something iconic. Millar's in Frank Miller "Dark Knight Returns" territory which is probably a positive to every comic reader except for me.

The series began as being all about minor events that slowly built to something bigger in terms of character development and presumably some interesting pay-off, but in issue #69 we've got Wolverine crashing through a building, stumbling into a Moloid-created earthquake, and then, a series of Marvel in-joke shockers--Loki crushed by a skyscraper, the symbiote spying on them from the mountains, Red Skull on Mt. Rushmore--that were "Woah" in the first two parts but now seem forced into a series that doesn't even need them anymore. Granted, the Red Skull one is pretty cool and especially effective as a two-page spread, but it's also the one that has a context besides cute in-joke.

The issue ends on the now-pacifist Wolverine coming super-close to losing it and rushing outside, upset both by his actions and the messed-up memories it brought back, and teasing us with exactly why violence now freaks him out so much. It's a weird cliff-hanger because it assumes readers really care why Wolverine's gone pacifist when there's so many bigger questions readers are asking, and shows how deep into its own myth-making "Old Man Logan" has fallen.

As I said before as an aside, this issue and last could've been cut down here and there and turned into one fairly successful issue. Skimming back through the issues, notice how again, in typical road movie style, events were underplayed and given five or so brilliantly concise pages and compare it to all the time wasted on the Spider-Girl sub-plot. This issue's pacing is better, but with no rewards, another cliffhanger, and the extra month to wait, "Old Man Logan" seems to have bought into it's own purposefully sorta silly mythology.

I think it's especially interesting in lieu of Cable's continued, kinda inexplicable brilliance. What Cable has going for it more than anything else is consistency. It's been a slow burn since the first issue, but one crammed with enough weirdness and interesting characterization and the right kind of cliffhangers--the kind that doesn't seem to promise too much or end up as a boner-kill--that reward constant readers and don't alienate new ones.

Where My Money Went - Nov. 12th

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


Karen actually started picking up Avengers Fairy Tales and I pretty much shat all over it. After reading the first three I bought the fourth and final installment "for Karen", a story about She-Hulk getting knocked out by Whirlwind, and awakening in the World of Oz. The best part of the Fairy Tale books is that the characters aren't always easy to figure out. The casting choices are obvious Cap as the Cowardly Lion, Thor as The Scarecrow and Iron Man as Tin Man. It's fucked up to look just a little closer though and realize that without his Bravery Captain America is just a strong dude, Thor without his brain is just another viking but with you know, lightning and Iron Man without a heart is...well alright, Iron Man needs a heart.


Superman and Batman Vs. Vampires and Werewolves knows exactly how stupid it is, and that's it's strength. Batman screams the words "Superman, NO--you don't understand! It's--MAGIC" and then a giant snail monster knocks Supes into a building with one of his tentacles. Batman investigates and Superman punches Vampires and Werewolves while Werewolves and Vampires eat people. Then Green Arrow saves the day. This comic rules.


A Magneto origin story cleverly masks this powerful Holocaust historical narrative. Trying to protect his family, young Magneto becomes a smuggler and attempts to save his family but pushes them closer and closer to the camps. I have a hard time reading this comic because as much as I want his powers to manifest in that issue, once I start reading I only worry about his well being.


Without a doubt in my mind The Joker in Batman Confidential:Do You Understand These Rights? is based on the Mark Hamill Joker from The Batman Animated Series. He never speaks straight and is in love with Batman's polar opposite insanity, plays with puns and is a total mystery to everyone around him. On his way to his trial, Joker manages to steal a pen and kills the correctional officers driving him to the court house and steals the armored car. Being an upstanding citizen, Joker drives himself his hearing. One-faced Harvey Dent stands for all Joker has killed as a sad public defender attempts to make sense of the most nonsensical dude ever. Oh, and Joker kills the judge with a peanut.


After all the delays I'm so excited this book wasn't shitty. Wolverine #69 picks right up where #68 left off, not missing a beat. Wolverine saves Hawkeye, the two weirdos riding in the Spider-Mobile being chased by dudes on dinosaurs. Seriously, dinosaurs!! We see the Mole People's true nature, eating the flesh off of bodies that have fallen into their huge holes. The most messed up thing about the comic isn't even the story, it's the backgrounds. A hundred foot tall Loki in the middle of North Dakota (renamed Electroville) lies as a skeleton crushed by a Manhattan skyscraper. Think about that, North Dakota, Manhattan. Who the hell threw that building at Loki? Mount Rushmore has a new face mounted on it, Red Skulls thin layer of skin over his jagged bone head sits right next to Abe. The issue ends with Wolverine finally opening up to Hawkeye about what changed him, one page after the most powerful Wolverine panel ever. It's not often you see Wolverine cry.

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.