by Chooch on May 22, 2011, 09:07:51 PM
The Quick Fix 05/18/11
by darthfoley
 Zatanna #13 - A cat with an eyeball that tells the future shows up and clues Zatanna in on a possible confrontation soon to come with the Spectre. Zee goes to confront the big white dude, only to have him more or less piss on her and fly away. Meanwhile, we find out Brother Night just might be the proud papa of Zee's favorite local detective. Kind of a down issue in a good series. 
Jennifer Blood #2 - Which my comic shop finally got in, a couple weeks after #3. Jennifer kills her way along the family tree, this time by handcuffing her aunt and uncle to the bow of their ship and sinking it in water just deep enough for them to drown and be seen by the rest of the crew. At my LCS they had these bagged/boarded with a little sticker on the shelf proclaiming it 'NOT FOR PEOPLE!'. Which is pretty spot on, unless you're a sick monkey like Ennis and me, I guess. 
 GI Joe #166 - Destro and Baroness take their leave of Broca Beach, but the Commander doesn't trust them and launches Morays to teach them a lesson. Conveniently, the Joes are present in the Killer WHALE and so wouldn't ya know it, a large sea battle breaks out. In the end, COBRA is defeated, Destro leaves the Joes to their own devices, and the Commander is left holding the short end as usual.
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by Chooch
I'm going to do a price/page count comparison on this week's purchases because I was kind of surprised at the results.
 Avengers #13
$4/21 pages - 19 cents/page
If you've been digging Bendis' text backups you'll like this issue as it's mostly that in an illustrated format. After two mediocre arcs Bendis returns to his strength, telling the emotional impact of stories around the big stories.
Avengers Academy #14 - Disaster Response
$3/20 pages - 15 cents/page
Everyone gets played for chumps. This is the Empire Strikes Back of the series.
 The Amazing Spider-Man #661 - The Substitute pt. 1/Just Another Day
$4/30 pages (22 regular plus 8 backup) - 13 cents/page
I picked this up since Christos Gage was guest-writing and bringing the Avengers Academy along with him. Gage still makes this a Spidey book (with the kids as guest stars) and he manages to embrace continuity. Spidey as a member of the FF, the Avengers, and as a man with a personal life are all touched upon in service to the story. Reilly Brown has gotten better with time or Victor Olazaba is a perfect inker for him. Probably both. The backup is fun and it's always nice to see Javier Pulido's art.
Herc #3 - Fear Itself
$3/20 pages - 15 cents/page
The fun and magic of this title have returned!
 Hawkeye: Blindspot #4 - The Beginning
$3/22 pages - 14 cents/page
This completely failed to live up to the previous Hawkeye & Mockingbird series. What happened? 
Thunderbolts #157
$3/20 pages - 15 cents/page
Kev Walker and Declan Shalvey are both good artists, but alternating between them is jarring. Parker seems to put the brakes on what he's doing to fit in a Fear Itself tie-in and then starts another story. Good stuff, but Parker's tendency to start and stop stories mid-issue seems unsatisfying in some way.
 Cable & Deadpool #36 - Unfinished Business pt. 1
N/A - Included with Marvel Universe toys
Deadpool versus the Taskmaster with his hands bound! I really loved this run because Deadpool was somewhat loveable.
Wolverine Origins #42 - 7 The Hard Way pt. 2
N/A - Included with Marvel Universe toys
Apparently there was a miscommunication somewhere. The package on the toys and the cover of the comic shows Wolverine #2 from 1988. Inside you get Wolverine Origins #42 from 2010. Fortunately it's still a Wolverine/Silver Samurai story, but Wolvie's in his current costume (which oddly hasn't had a toy yet). You get some nice Ron Garney art (complete with several up-nose shots), but the story is unsatisfying on its own. What a strange choice.
 Booster Gold #44 - Turbulence pt. 1
$3/20 pages - 15 cents/page
Jurgens returns with pretty much an all expository issue to serve new readers coming along for Flashpoint, but bringing regular readers up to speed on Flashpoint.
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #166
$4/22 pages - 18 cents/page
Hama puts in another military procedural, this time on the open seas. This was fun because it was kind of like what a kid would have setup back in the day. All of the water-themed Joes and Cobras duking it out.
 Snake Eyes #1
$4/22 pages - 18 cents/page
Snake is out for revenge and brings Helix, Alpine, and Frostbite along for the ride. Up a mountain. Old-school goodness abounds.
Transformers #19 - Space Opera pt. 1: The Stars my Destination
$4/22 pages - 18 cents/page
Always great to see Guido Guidi on art chores. In addition to drawing kicking robots, he can do the organics justice as well. Here we get Hot Rod looking for redemption finding a crazy Wheelie along they way.
 G.I. Joe: Special Missions TPB Vol. 1-3
The Special Missions issues were a bit of a strange beast. Hama apparently wasn't required to include Cobra or sell a toy in each issue, so he has an opportunity to explore other things. Hama's love of soldiers and disdain for policy makers comes in loud and clear in more real-world situations. The enemies are often stand-ins for Communist countries of the 80's, but Hama has a certain amount of respect for them as well, especially the soldiers. Seems no matter what military you're in the rank and file get the short stick.
Price-wise, Marvel comes out the big loser here. Most of their $3 titles have been dropped to 20 pages, which they chided DC for doing only a few months ago, and Avengers, arguably their flagship book, can't even muster 22 pages for $4. For shame, Marvel.
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