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COMICS!!!|OT| July 2019 | No, More Mutants!
- Thread starter Messi
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It's usually at sometime between 2am and 3am EST that I get an email saying my pre-ordered comics are available. At that point, the new stuff is all up and searchable, but the complete list under "New Day/Month" heading in the CMX app doesn't pop up until 3.
Thanks - I'll read it with my morning coffee. Too old to stay up late for stuff like this.
I just finished Age of X. Was hoping to finish all of Carey's run by today but life gets in the way. Fun story, even though I am a bit tired of this kind of AU thing.
I just finished Age of X. Was hoping to finish all of Carey's run by today but life gets in the way. Fun story, even though I am a bit tired of this kind of AU thing.
After unlocking Gwen and Miles in MUA 3, I was in the mood for some Spider-Verse stuff. I saw that all of Spider-Geddon was up on Marvel Unlimited decided to check it out, because hey all it would cost me was my time and based on how much I waste here, I clearly don't value it. So over the past couple days I read through the whole thing, tie ins and all and here are my thoughts:
- Edge of Spider-Geddon - This was enjoyable, I liked revisiting the main Spider people from Spider-Verse and seeing what they were up to. I honestly wish Marvel would publish a regular Spider-Verse anthology book that followed this format and had a rotation of different creators exploring the various and sundry Spiders. The only bit I didn't really care for was the Superior Octopus issue since it's basically a retread of the old Venom Lethal Protector concept (Spidey villain moves to San Francisco to be a hero!) and every other attempt Marvel has had at a west coast hero.
- Spider-Force - Easily the worst book of the whole thing. The basic premise was fine, but Priest didn't really deliver on the book and it felt unnecessarily dark. It was also very forgettable and I dunno if I could tell you anything that happened beyond Kaine, Jessica Drew, and some other folks go to the radioactive world and there's a big fight over a crystal containing Solus. Honestly the whole thing was pretty inconsequential in the end and the Solus stuff could have been handled in the main book.
- Spider-Girls - Hands down the best of the tie in books. The Renew Your Vows gang meet up with Mayday and Anya and discover that Annie is integral to grand scheme of Spider people. Annie and Mayday's interactions were great, although Anya was really just along for the ride at times. It's really a shame Jody Houser isn't on bigger titles, because she's a great writer.
- Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider - This was fine, but really was just there to keep Gwen off the board for the majority of the event. McGuire has a good voice for Gwen, but ultimately this really didn't do anything new. Just another version of Gwen goes to a different Earth and meets it's versions of Peter/MJ/Gwen.
- Peter Parker: the Spectacular Spider-Man - Much like Spider-Gwen this was a tie in for the sake of being a tie in and kept Peter off the board for the bulk of the event. Peter fights Morlun again. Cool.
- Spider-Geddon - The main event! It was… ok? It leaned a little too much on Otto for my tastes, but it was nice to see Miles and some of the less prominent Spiders get to shine. The solution to beating the Inheritors was kinda clever, so I'll give Gage that. For an event titled Spider-Geddon, there were really only two prominent Spider deaths (Billy and Noir) which was honestly a surprise. I went into this fully expecting it to be an excuse to thin the herd and kill most of the other Spiders, so that it was a pleasant surprise that was not the case.
InStockTrades Deals of the Week and highlighted Latest Releases. Good week for Marvel Conan fans. Anyone familiar with Kirby able to say whether the new omnibus is very good? I was personally hoping that the new Harrow County Vol. 3 Library Edition would be listed, but, ah well.
Tried to find the most important part of your post while cutiing down the quote text, feel like I did okay honestly
Yea, I think I share your sentiment on this one, although I didn't read nearly as much of it as you. I checked out a few issues of the main series, a few issues of gwen and while nothing was awful, it was worse than that in a lot of ways, by being completely immemorable. You could tell someone up high wanted something to match the movie coming out and I do think it's admirable that they tried to do it without Peter for the most part, and let the others stand in the spotlight. The problem is there was really no hook or idea beyond that. It's not great when you could advocate skipping the event entirely and only reading some of the tie in series that only exist for the event duration hah.
Conversely, I will say that when I bought the book, it was for my kid and he thought it was all kinds of awesome. They threw a bunch of spiders on page and there was punching, it looked good, and that was enough for him. Maybe that has it's place, but I get the feeling comics have long driven themselves to a place where pleasing the ten year old market is not enough.
The spiderverse will always have as much potential as the writer and artist its given too though, and I could definitely get behind a book of creative just having fun little stints based around a specific idea or core subversion. The new series that's coming is more like that at least.
And finished Robinson's Starman. Took around a full month on and off, what a ride it has been.
I loved how the theme of legacies and how strongly the series executes on them through the different groups the story follows, both heroes and villains. Many characters have a mantle they carry with them, usually from their ancestors, and seeing how they each try (or don't) to live up to that mantle in their own ways with varying results makes for a compelling main theme. Jack Knight develops quite naturally as a character, he's definitely different from when he started but his underlying personality is still the same. The supporting cast is also great and likeable (mostly), from the O'Dares to Shade and everyone in-between (although some are definitely more developed than others). They really bring Opal city to life with their love of it and the little different aspects of Opal you discover through them. Shade's arc in particular is well done. The ending is a perfect send-off to the series and its characters as well.
As for my criticisms, while I have somewhat gotten used to Robinson's prose, it was still slightly awkward even towards the end. Having not read much related series, the legacy pass on at the end fell pretty flat for me. The space arc went on too long, and yet still felt as if they crammed too many things into it. Romantic relationships also felt rather underdeveloped, but then again it isn't the main focus at any point so I'm not sure if expecting more of that is fair.
Overall, a fun series with a strong theme with some ups and downs, although the downs are never outright bad.
I loved how the theme of legacies and how strongly the series executes on them through the different groups the story follows, both heroes and villains. Many characters have a mantle they carry with them, usually from their ancestors, and seeing how they each try (or don't) to live up to that mantle in their own ways with varying results makes for a compelling main theme. Jack Knight develops quite naturally as a character, he's definitely different from when he started but his underlying personality is still the same. The supporting cast is also great and likeable (mostly), from the O'Dares to Shade and everyone in-between (although some are definitely more developed than others). They really bring Opal city to life with their love of it and the little different aspects of Opal you discover through them. Shade's arc in particular is well done. The ending is a perfect send-off to the series and its characters as well.
As for my criticisms, while I have somewhat gotten used to Robinson's prose, it was still slightly awkward even towards the end. Having not read much related series, the legacy pass on at the end fell pretty flat for me. The space arc went on too long, and yet still felt as if they crammed too many things into it. Romantic relationships also felt rather underdeveloped, but then again it isn't the main focus at any point so I'm not sure if expecting more of that is fair.
Overall, a fun series with a strong theme with some ups and downs, although the downs are never outright bad.
Starman is one of my all-time favorites, but the writing style did take me awhile to get used to. Excited for the Cosmic Omnibus, but also worried that they'll cancel Vol. 2. I still have the SCs of V1-2 of the omnibuses just sitting on my shelf. Forever waiting for their cancelled counterparts.
And what's weird is it's only this upcoming October that they're actually doing a proper Miles-centric "Spider-Verse" comic which kind of begs the question why this mini didn't come out last year? lol
They released Spider-Geddon for that purpose. Now we're getting a book this year to because of how popular the movie ended up being.
Man, I forgot about that book. So much good stuff coming out tomorrow.
The New Avengers arc from JMS Spider-Man issue #521 or 522. A skeezy reporter writes up an article that MJ is cheating on her Husband with Tony Stark.
The New Avengers arc from JMS Spider-Man issue #521 or 522. A skeezy reporter writes up an article that MJ is cheating on her Husband with Tony Stark.
The Wicked + The Divine #44
I'll wait until the final issue next month. It will take me a bit to gather my thoughts on the series as a whole.
It feels a bit rushed, if that makes sense. Not quite sure Gillen handled it all in a perfect manner.
Will be interesting to see the final issue, which I'm guessing from the final page and the next cover is set after Laura has been in prison for years.
Will be interesting to see the final issue, which I'm guessing from the final page and the next cover is set after Laura has been in prison for years.
I think there's still something to be said for this though and I think that's part of the reason the movie resonated so well - it didn't overcomplicate things with the story and basked in the glory of seeing multiple spiders rendered stylishly beating up bad guys (thank the spider maker the movie stayed away from the web of life and the Inheritors and all that nonsense). There's been plenty of dumb comics I've read and enjoyed just because they looked good and had characters I liked punching other characters. I think the problem here was that Spider-Geddon didn't play that up enough honestly.
I love Starman so much, I consider it to be one of the best runs in comics, period.
Robinson built such a fleshed out world and really played to the strengths of the old DCU's sense of being lived in. The way he wrote Opal City reminds me a lot of Astro City in the sense that the city itself is a prominent character in the story. Once upon a time, DC had a gentleman's agreement with Robinson where no one else could use Jack Knight in a story, and I always admired that because I don't think anyone else could have really done him justice. This is one of those runs for me that when I see someone pop up from it somewhere else (Ted Knight, Shade, whoever) it almost feels non canon, because to me the Robinson versions were the definitive takes.
If you can find it (the only place I know it's still in print is one of the DC/Dark Horse crossover trades), Robinson and Mignola teamed up for a fun little Batman/Starman/Hellboy crossover where they fight Nazis.
Nice. That's my favorite series ever. I love legacy in comics and I've never seen a series better fulfill that theme than Starman.
I love that Most of the main characters were left alone after the run. I always wish Marvel would have done the same for Maddox after PADs long x-factor run was done
By the time I buy it the trade will cost me what you're paying for one issue.
And I'm good at glossing over most stuff as I pick off stuff from my backlog and wait for trade sales
Works for me! Hell lately I'm discussing 80s spidey!
I think discussing completed runs or arcs long after the dust settles is more interesting than week to week or month to month anyway
Disagree. But it's the same thing as buying a game day one vs. waiting for a sale. You delay gratification for a better price, or you pay the premium and get to soak it in as soon as it's available. There's not really a wrong way to do it.
What's money for, if not stories you'll finish reading in 5-10 minutes and forget about just as quickly!
Oh I never said one way is wrong it's just I purchase a lot of comics so that means a super lengthy backlog to pick from, want to keep my price per issue as down as possible, and I grew tired of the monthly upkeep wheel
Once I broke from it it was great to not feel the new comic upkeep cycle and could just pick up whatever whenever.
And I use this thread to get a fee of reactions for books in trade sales a year from now
Finally finished AoA.
Read some just now. I like what im hearing, if they are true.
Sounds like Hickman has plans for Franklin Richards, which I really hope is the case.
Read some just now. I like what im hearing, if they are true.
Sounds like Hickman has plans for Franklin Richards, which I really hope is the case.
Digital screens can display those comics better than paper ever could. Preferring paper comics is approving of tree murder.
I feel like Marvel has pretty quick turn-around on trades at least. Like they actually want to make sure that you can easily catch up with ongoings and start following monthly. Meanwhile catching up on anything you've missed at DC is stupidly expensive unless there's a sale.
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