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COMIC BOOK DAY! - 07/28/04 - New Astonishing X-Men!
- Thread starter nomoment
- Start date
- Status
Avengers rocked. Great opening act for what looks to be the biggest Avengers story since Avengers #4.
As for Astonishing X-Men... Whedon has already exceeded ALL of my expectations. I love how he manages to naturally incorporate bits of continuity within the story. And his dialogue is amazing! Astonishing looks primed to be just as good as Grant Morrison's New X-Men run.
I still have to read a bunch of other stuff, but I'm already very satisified from the first two books I've picked up.
As for Astonishing X-Men... Whedon has already exceeded ALL of my expectations. I love how he manages to naturally incorporate bits of continuity within the story. And his dialogue is amazing! Astonishing looks primed to be just as good as Grant Morrison's New X-Men run.
I still have to read a bunch of other stuff, but I'm already very satisified from the first two books I've picked up.
I totally need to pick up Grant Morrison's run on New X-Men. I'm guessing that some of the things discussed in Astonishing happened during New X-Men or during other points in X-Men history. Like...I never knew Magneto once taught at Xavier's school and I don't really know what they're talking about when they mention "the New York incident." Mayhaps events that took place in Ultimate X-Men? Doubtful.
I've got a couple of problems with Amazing and Astonishing.
With all the hijinks and such in Millar's Spider-Man and JMS' Amazing, is anybody going to make sense of the crazy identity theft Peter Parker is going through?
And did anybody notice the direct contradiction to the Magneto retcon in Astonishing when Cyclops was talking to Fury? And what the fuck is Fury doing in this shitstorm?
While I love Whedon on X-Men so far, I still think Ord is really weak for a supervillain. And a stupid looking one at that.
With all the hijinks and such in Millar's Spider-Man and JMS' Amazing, is anybody going to make sense of the crazy identity theft Peter Parker is going through?
And did anybody notice the direct contradiction to the Magneto retcon in Astonishing when Cyclops was talking to Fury? And what the fuck is Fury doing in this shitstorm?
While I love Whedon on X-Men so far, I still think Ord is really weak for a supervillain. And a stupid looking one at that.
Alucard said:
I will put stuff in spoilers, but only if you want to be SPOILED. But read Morrison's New X-Men run. It was fantastic, even if it kind of stumbled at the end.
About halfway through Morrison's run we were introduced to Xorn, a mutant that had a sun in his head. Because of this, he wears this metal helmet and you never see his face. The X-Men rescued him and he eventually joined the X-Men and was probably the most popular new creation the X-Men mythos has seen (fuck Fantomex!).
After months of teaching at Xavier's school, in a major shocker, Xorn is revealed to be Magneto! He quickly turns against the X-Men in a Brian DePalma like fashion and manages to kill Jean. He then almost destroys New York City before he is stopped and is only stopped because he becomes a junkie to a drug he slowly got Xavier's kids addicted on as well (through the run, of course).
OF COURSE, SOMEBODY RETCONNED THE WHOLE EVENT IN ANOTHER X-BOOK AND SAID THAT XORN WAS A MAGNETO IMPOSTOR.
After months of teaching at Xavier's school, in a major shocker, Xorn is revealed to be Magneto! He quickly turns against the X-Men in a Brian DePalma like fashion and manages to kill Jean. He then almost destroys New York City before he is stopped and is only stopped because he becomes a junkie to a drug he slowly got Xavier's kids addicted on as well (through the run, of course).
OF COURSE, SOMEBODY RETCONNED THE WHOLE EVENT IN ANOTHER X-BOOK AND SAID THAT XORN WAS A MAGNETO IMPOSTOR.
I think Ord is pretty cool, in an old-school-bad-guy-with-a-bad-temper-and-hidden-agenda sort of way. Plus, I think his actual design is actually somewhat creepy. I almost wanted to laugh when
in issue 2 though.
Bring on issue 4 baby. I'm ready. Next week will bring Ultimate Spider-Man AND Ultimate X-Men. Woo.
he was taken out by LOCKHEED
Bring on issue 4 baby. I'm ready. Next week will bring Ultimate Spider-Man AND Ultimate X-Men. Woo.
Willco said:
Magneto imposter? Pfft. That's the one thing that still often frustrates me with all of the comics today...a lack of continuity. Take The Pulse for example (which does actually ROCK)...In issue #4 Peter talks about Gwen Stacey dying at the hands of Norman Osborn and the whole bridge incident. Yet, here I am thinking that The Pulse is taking place in the Ultimate universe where Gwen is still ALIVE...unless Carnage did actually kill her. It would make sense for it to take place in the Ultimate universe too, since Jessica Jones is in the book! Anyways, The Pulse still does kick all kinds of ass (especially the last issue, #4) but I'm just a little confused at its place in the Marvel timeline.
Ryu, what about the agent that appeared out of the shadows at the end of the conversation saying something like "do you think he knows anything?" referring to Cyclops.
Anyways, I seriously can't believe how awesome Astonishing has been so far. The dialogue has gotten better with every issue and the pacing has been utterly perfect.
Anyways, I seriously can't believe how awesome Astonishing has been so far. The dialogue has gotten better with every issue and the pacing has been utterly perfect.
Chesapeake Silt
Member
New Frontier was really good - a couple of those pages really stopped me (if you've read, you know the one's I'm talking about). Cooke is definitely in the top tier of comic artists - I need to track down everything he's ever done. The book's only flaw is that it gets a little preachy sometimes. But, overall, it's gold. Damn it, Darwyn Cooke even makes
work! Incredible!
I probably would have liked Avengers issue better if I knew anything about the Avengers. I'd never really read an issue of the book before today. I knew Ant-Man from Alias, though! I'm going to stick with the book, but I hope it starts to become appealing on a level other than 'massive Avengers continuity shake-up' because I know nothing about Avengers continuity.
I'm fully on board with Astonishing X-Men at this point. It's smart and genuinely funny, which is really more than you can ask for on your average superhero comic book. Cassaday is working out really well on this book.
And after reading Powers... I hope to God that I never get kidney stones. For real. Yowch.
Wonder Woman's Invisible Airplane
I probably would have liked Avengers issue better if I knew anything about the Avengers. I'd never really read an issue of the book before today. I knew Ant-Man from Alias, though! I'm going to stick with the book, but I hope it starts to become appealing on a level other than 'massive Avengers continuity shake-up' because I know nothing about Avengers continuity.
I'm fully on board with Astonishing X-Men at this point. It's smart and genuinely funny, which is really more than you can ask for on your average superhero comic book. Cassaday is working out really well on this book.
And after reading Powers... I hope to God that I never get kidney stones. For real. Yowch.
I think the agent will be appearing, but not so much Fury. It doesn't really matter though. I love how comics can just pull people out of thin air for a storyline to evolve or build the plot. It's always very cool. Kinda like guest star appearances, but only limited by your imagination. I remember when comics used to advertise certain issues by putting a more popular character in them and advertising it on the front cover. Like a Wolverine comic guest starring Captain America or vice versa. 
Alucard said:
Bingo. Fury knows something. And if he's involved, I call bullshit.
I agree. Whedon has done a bang-up job, especially with team interaction, but Ord is still a weak villain. It seems like some kind of character that McFarlane would create for Soul Calibur 3. He's evil... TO THE XTREME!!!
Uh, I swear I've explained Marvel 616 no less than a few weeks ago on this board, but I'll do it again. Basically, Marvel 616 refers to the main Marvel Universe where Spider-Man is Amazing and X-Men are Astonishing.
The Ultimate books exist in an entirely different universe, as do stories like Earth X and such.
And your textbook definition, of course...
Alucard said:
Yes, Daredevil takes place in "616". Pretty much everything you read that doesn't have Ultimate in the title, isn't printed under a small Marvel imprint (like Powers or Supreme Power) or some mini like 1602, takes place in Marvel 616 continuity.
I posted where the term came from right above your post, but I'll just repeat it again and say it came from Excalibur.
I have a feeling Ord is a front for another X-Men villain who is really pulling the strings. Just my suspicions, though. Whedon seems to be going to a classical X-Men tone, and the insertion of a goofy (designed by Cassaday no less!) X-villain seems really out of place.Willco said:
Alucard: Regarding New X-Men, I'd save up and buy all of the hardcovers, vols 1-3. If you have the money, they're really worth it -- easily the best X-Men stories in the past 10 years.
nomoment said:
I sure hope so, because it really looks like Cassaday went to McFarlane's house and stole Soul Calibur 3 designs drawn on napkins and made them reality! It scares my eyes.
Also, I really want to say this...
WHAT THE FUCK IS MILLIGAN DOING ON VENOM vs CARNAGE?
That shit was awful. I really feel like dropping Human Target in protest. I'm dead serious -- Milligan is going to Hell. God casts you out of Heaven for this kind of shit.
Buyer beware, as I said before.Willco said:
But really, maybe he did Venom vs Carnage as a big FU to Venom and Carnage fans, ala Frank Miller on DKSA. Well, probably not. I don't know.
For the life of me, I can't figure out why Milligan did Venom vs Carnage AND Wolverine/Punisher. It's just not his style. My best guess is that the big wigs imposed a few Marvel-standard titles onto him before they gave him the keys to the X-Men kingdom. And maybe, just maybe, Milligan didn't feel up to showing off his best work in these... editorially mandated jobs.
Milligan is a talented guy -- easily the top ten in the biz when he feels like it. Let's just not talk about Venom vs Carnage. It never happened!
nomoment said:
Here's what bother me. He tries to force Milligan dialogue on them, but then mixes it up with OMG AWESOME XTREME DIALOGUE CARNAGE CALLS VENOM DADDY LOL AM I RITE?
One moment they're speaking in Shakespearean tongue and the next they fighting mid-air saying stuff like, "I HATE YOU DADDY!"
What the hell?
The whole book makes no sense and the Venom continuity is completely fucking whacked. I hear Eddie Brock is dying in Spectacular, yet in Venom's solo book there might be TWO Venom's (which is still hopping hosts), we've got a new one in MK Spider-Man and here is he is fighting Carnage like it's some 1990's SNES/Genesis arcade game.
R-E-T-A-R-D-E-D.
I picked up, oh, two weeks worth of comics last night. Here are some brief, non-spoiler reviews:
Wonder Woman #206 - I have to say, this issue was a distinct improvement over the last few. Not great, mind you, but good enough that I'll probably stick around through this story arc and see how things go.
Wolverine #17 - This continues to be perfectly solid, though the decompression was taken a bit far this time around. Still, anything that postpones Millar's run on the title is fine by me.
Birds of Prey #70 - The bi-weekly arc continues, and the cultists aren't quite as goofy as I'd feared. And, yes, the interplay between Black Canary and Oracle is definately more interesting than whatever Huntress happens to be up to. However, I have enough faith in Gail Simone that I'm willing to sit back and see how things turn out, and enjoy the cheesecake in the meantime.
Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #11 - Speaking of cheesecake, this particular issue of TSTT just wallows in it. And, hey, when Art Adams is involved I'm all for it. On the flip side, Bruce Timm's short was lame (though the 50's exotica lounge bit at the end was nice), and the Young Tom Strong installment, while not too shabby, wasn't too exciting either - though it was nice to see Andrew Pepoy getting work inking that installment. So, yeah, this is definately a fans-only issue.
X-Statix #25 - And that just about wraps it up for X-Statix. I believe there's an epilogue issue after this, and then the darkness of cancellation. Fortunatly, a cover where a green blob is threatening Thor with a broken glass bottle is a sure sign that the series is going out on a high note, and I wasn't disappointed.
Dork Tower #28 - More rock solid RPG humor, with a long-running storyline for the regular readers and plenty of stand alone strips for everyone else. If you've got a dice-rolling habit that doesn't involve gambling, try tracking down the massive issue #25 and see how you like it.
The Walking Dead #9 - Wherein all manner of bad shit goes down. I'm afraid Kirkman is going to completely burn out after writing fully half of Marvel's output in September; with luck, that won't affect this title, which is freakin' awesome.
Ultimate Fantastic Four #9 - Even if it didn't say "Warren Ellis" in the credits, I'd know exactly who was writing this issue. That's not a bad thing, mind you, just a sign that someone could probably use a break from reading Gizmodo compulsively. Another good issue.
Sleeper Vol. 2, #2 - However, this I had trouble getting into. I dunno if it was my massive stack of comics starting to get to me, but I just wasn't really feeling the story for most of the issue. Thinks pick up nicely at the end, though, so hopefully I'll be happier with the next issue.
Powers Vol. 2, #2 - Holy shit! Anger management, indeed. And, for the long time readers, a terrific plot twist. Bendis may be overworked, but thankfully it doesn't show here. And, as a special bonus, the Powers Personals continue to be painfully funny or funnily painful, take your pick.
Planetary #20 - Beautiful, impressive stuff, though I'd probably have gotten more out of it had I remembered exactly what was happening in the last issue. Ellis walks a fine line between having our fragile human heroes be unable to properly express the strange things happening and technobabble that slides over the line into the ludicrous, but for the most part it's terrific.
Seaguy #3 - WHEN YOU LIVE! WHEN YOU DIE! HERE COMES MICKEY EYE!
DC: The New Frontier #5 (of 6) - And The New Frontier builds to a suitably epic finale. This issue was non-stop, wall-to-wall awesome. Fashion Tips from King Faraday! The Invisible Jet done right! Lovecraftian horror meets children's books! GREEN LANTERN! Don't wait, buy now, thank me later.
Finally, I was pleased to see this at the shop...and less pleased that I had to break down and buy it:
Finder: Mystery Date - As ya'll already know, I'm a raging fan of Carla "Speed" McNeil. Her regular series, Finder, is a stunning bit of SF, chock full of world building, sociology, and storytelling that's just as good as her art - and that's saying something. However, much as I love Finder, I love her Mystery Date side stories even more. This volume collects the three Mystery Date issues so far...and throws in a ton of new material that I didn't even know existed. Sigh. I sucked it up and picked up the trade, working with the theory that I could at least loan it out to folks and spread the word. As part of the process, I'm plugging it here: Mystery Date is the best damn SF comic you'll ever read about a university student training to be a prostitute who has a hang up on two professors, one of which looks like a velociraptor and the other of which is human, cranky as hell, blind, and has the wildest prosthetic legs you'll ever see. Oh, and our heroine sings "The Surrey With The Fringe On Top" and offers indiginous dance lessons to the confused. It's amazing stuff; if nothing else, flip through it on the stands and admire the artwork.
Alas, Samurai Executioner didn't ship this week, so I'll have to wait a bit longer for my early 70s samurai manga fix. And, while I thought they'd been added to my pull list, I managed to walk out of the store without Astonishing X-Men #3 and Ex Machina #2. I'll swing by another shop during work to get my fix.
I'm also tempted by the Bendis Avengers kick-off. Survey says?
FnordChan
Wonder Woman #206 - I have to say, this issue was a distinct improvement over the last few. Not great, mind you, but good enough that I'll probably stick around through this story arc and see how things go.
Wolverine #17 - This continues to be perfectly solid, though the decompression was taken a bit far this time around. Still, anything that postpones Millar's run on the title is fine by me.
Birds of Prey #70 - The bi-weekly arc continues, and the cultists aren't quite as goofy as I'd feared. And, yes, the interplay between Black Canary and Oracle is definately more interesting than whatever Huntress happens to be up to. However, I have enough faith in Gail Simone that I'm willing to sit back and see how things turn out, and enjoy the cheesecake in the meantime.
Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #11 - Speaking of cheesecake, this particular issue of TSTT just wallows in it. And, hey, when Art Adams is involved I'm all for it. On the flip side, Bruce Timm's short was lame (though the 50's exotica lounge bit at the end was nice), and the Young Tom Strong installment, while not too shabby, wasn't too exciting either - though it was nice to see Andrew Pepoy getting work inking that installment. So, yeah, this is definately a fans-only issue.
X-Statix #25 - And that just about wraps it up for X-Statix. I believe there's an epilogue issue after this, and then the darkness of cancellation. Fortunatly, a cover where a green blob is threatening Thor with a broken glass bottle is a sure sign that the series is going out on a high note, and I wasn't disappointed.
Dork Tower #28 - More rock solid RPG humor, with a long-running storyline for the regular readers and plenty of stand alone strips for everyone else. If you've got a dice-rolling habit that doesn't involve gambling, try tracking down the massive issue #25 and see how you like it.
The Walking Dead #9 - Wherein all manner of bad shit goes down. I'm afraid Kirkman is going to completely burn out after writing fully half of Marvel's output in September; with luck, that won't affect this title, which is freakin' awesome.
Ultimate Fantastic Four #9 - Even if it didn't say "Warren Ellis" in the credits, I'd know exactly who was writing this issue. That's not a bad thing, mind you, just a sign that someone could probably use a break from reading Gizmodo compulsively. Another good issue.
Sleeper Vol. 2, #2 - However, this I had trouble getting into. I dunno if it was my massive stack of comics starting to get to me, but I just wasn't really feeling the story for most of the issue. Thinks pick up nicely at the end, though, so hopefully I'll be happier with the next issue.
Powers Vol. 2, #2 - Holy shit! Anger management, indeed. And, for the long time readers, a terrific plot twist. Bendis may be overworked, but thankfully it doesn't show here. And, as a special bonus, the Powers Personals continue to be painfully funny or funnily painful, take your pick.
Planetary #20 - Beautiful, impressive stuff, though I'd probably have gotten more out of it had I remembered exactly what was happening in the last issue. Ellis walks a fine line between having our fragile human heroes be unable to properly express the strange things happening and technobabble that slides over the line into the ludicrous, but for the most part it's terrific.
Seaguy #3 - WHEN YOU LIVE! WHEN YOU DIE! HERE COMES MICKEY EYE!
DC: The New Frontier #5 (of 6) - And The New Frontier builds to a suitably epic finale. This issue was non-stop, wall-to-wall awesome. Fashion Tips from King Faraday! The Invisible Jet done right! Lovecraftian horror meets children's books! GREEN LANTERN! Don't wait, buy now, thank me later.
Finally, I was pleased to see this at the shop...and less pleased that I had to break down and buy it:
Finder: Mystery Date - As ya'll already know, I'm a raging fan of Carla "Speed" McNeil. Her regular series, Finder, is a stunning bit of SF, chock full of world building, sociology, and storytelling that's just as good as her art - and that's saying something. However, much as I love Finder, I love her Mystery Date side stories even more. This volume collects the three Mystery Date issues so far...and throws in a ton of new material that I didn't even know existed. Sigh. I sucked it up and picked up the trade, working with the theory that I could at least loan it out to folks and spread the word. As part of the process, I'm plugging it here: Mystery Date is the best damn SF comic you'll ever read about a university student training to be a prostitute who has a hang up on two professors, one of which looks like a velociraptor and the other of which is human, cranky as hell, blind, and has the wildest prosthetic legs you'll ever see. Oh, and our heroine sings "The Surrey With The Fringe On Top" and offers indiginous dance lessons to the confused. It's amazing stuff; if nothing else, flip through it on the stands and admire the artwork.
Alas, Samurai Executioner didn't ship this week, so I'll have to wait a bit longer for my early 70s samurai manga fix. And, while I thought they'd been added to my pull list, I managed to walk out of the store without Astonishing X-Men #3 and Ex Machina #2. I'll swing by another shop during work to get my fix.
I'm also tempted by the Bendis Avengers kick-off. Survey says?
FnordChan
nomoment said:
And on that recommendation I just got back from the comic shop with Avengers #500, along with Astonishing X-Men #3 and Ex Machina #2. Woo! And I still have the new Finder material, plus the past two volumes of Maison Ikkoku to catch up on. Ah, the joy of comics.
FnordChan
SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING SPOILER WARNING
Astonishing X-Men #4, five page preview: http://www.milehighcomics.com/firstlook/marvel/astonishxmen4/
Don't click on the link unless you've read Astonishing #3.
Astonishing X-Men #4, five page preview: http://www.milehighcomics.com/firstlook/marvel/astonishxmen4/
Don't click on the link unless you've read Astonishing #3.
Based on incredibly positive word of mouth, I picked up PLASTIC MAN #8 yesterday, and gave it a read.
And it was hilarious! I know I was pimping the series pretty heavily before the first issue came out, but the series seems to have finally hit its stride. I too, gave up on the series around #4, but based on the strength of this one issue alone, the book has found it's way back onto my pull list.
For those who didn't enjoy the earlier issues of the series, I offer an explanation -- the first 4 issues of Plastic Man were originally intended to be published as an OGN, which explains why the first four issues (later padded into six) seemed awkward. Kyle Baker's original vision for the series was for the stories to be mostly one parters and two parters, which he was not able to start doing until he got the prerequisite first, "safe" arc out of the way. In any case, #8 is crazy -- not just humorwise, but pacing wise. Highly recommended for anyone who likes to laugh every now and then.
Cover and solicitation information for those who care:
And it was hilarious! I know I was pimping the series pretty heavily before the first issue came out, but the series seems to have finally hit its stride. I too, gave up on the series around #4, but based on the strength of this one issue alone, the book has found it's way back onto my pull list.
For those who didn't enjoy the earlier issues of the series, I offer an explanation -- the first 4 issues of Plastic Man were originally intended to be published as an OGN, which explains why the first four issues (later padded into six) seemed awkward. Kyle Baker's original vision for the series was for the stories to be mostly one parters and two parters, which he was not able to start doing until he got the prerequisite first, "safe" arc out of the way. In any case, #8 is crazy -- not just humorwise, but pacing wise. Highly recommended for anyone who likes to laugh every now and then.
Cover and solicitation information for those who care:
Yes, Astonishing X-Men is good. Really, really good.Spike said:
And nope, you don't need to read any other X-titles to follow the story in Astonishing -- it's stand alone. In fact, I'm pretty sure you could follow the title even if you've never read an X-Men book in your life.
I snagged the 24 One Shot. It's not bad by any means, they do a good job of capturing the atmosphere of the show and really nail the characters. The story itself isn't that bad, but it isn't good either - the main problem is that 24 is all about pacing, and they pace it like the TV show - it really feels like a "best of season 0" kind of thing. It's worth picking up if you're a Bauer fan, otherwise it's not essential reading.
jecclr2003
Banned
picked up my week stuff... but one problem
NO AVENGERS #500!!!!!!! THEY DID NOT ORDER ENOUGH!
ARRRRRRRRRGH........
Ok... must calm down... still plenty to read
Astonishing X-Men, Ult FF, GL, Wizard, and a few others.
NO AVENGERS #500!!!!!!! THEY DID NOT ORDER ENOUGH!
ARRRRRRRRRGH........
Ok... must calm down... still plenty to read
Astonishing X-Men, Ult FF, GL, Wizard, and a few others.
Here are a few more impressions:
Avengers #500 - I'm not quite ready to add this to my pull list, but I'll be picking it up off the shelf to see where Bendis goes with it. I'm not completely enthusiastic about the latest bold new direction that I expect to last, oh, two years.
Astonishing X-Men #3 - This, however, is terrific stuff, with the title getting better with every issue. If you read only one X-book then this should definately be it - besides, with X-Statix about to end, it's not as if the rest are particularly worth your time...
Ex Machina #2 - Freakin' awesome, 'nuff said.
FnordChan
Avengers #500 - I'm not quite ready to add this to my pull list, but I'll be picking it up off the shelf to see where Bendis goes with it. I'm not completely enthusiastic about the latest bold new direction that I expect to last, oh, two years.
Astonishing X-Men #3 - This, however, is terrific stuff, with the title getting better with every issue. If you read only one X-book then this should definately be it - besides, with X-Statix about to end, it's not as if the rest are particularly worth your time...
Ex Machina #2 - Freakin' awesome, 'nuff said.
FnordChan
Spike Spiegel
Member
Avengers #500 = Eh.
Conan #6 = Good.
Conan #6 = Good.
- Status