Diary of an up and coming sociopath

Well, i’m not sure what the hell happened, but this week I had 8 comics to buy and I found a Brian Wood graphic novel on sale, so naturally I was compelled to buy. It’s probably time to start getting the Brian Wood back catalogue because in about 3 months his output is going to balloon utterly. DMZ (Ongoing), The Tourist, Supermarket and Local are all out at the end of 2005/start of 2006. I fuly endorse anything this man does. He is without a doubt my most favourite comic creator. I’ll leave the explanations until another day, because for now, I have like 9 hack jobs to do. Don’t be too surprised if some of these get a little short.

Incredible Hulk #84 - At this point, I’m certainly going to say it should’ve been a House of M miniseries. I have to admit I’m disappointed by Peter David’s return to the Hulk. It’s seemed pretty directionless and had some pretty lacklustre stuff in it compared to what he should be capable of. I’m not enjoying this story very much at all, it barely seems to be connected to the previous issue and the art seems a little worse than previously. Or I’m enjoying it less, at least. I mean, technically there are no flaws, it holds together well as a piece of craft, but I’m not appreciating it on any level above that. In recognition of that, I’ll say D+, and that grade’s all about effort rather than achievement.

Daredevil #75: Decalogue, Part 5 - As ever, Bendis and Maleev deliver in spades. This is the 75th issue of the Marvel Knights relaunch of Daredevil and I’m probably going to say it’s been one of the most consistently great comics for most of that run. This whole arc has bordered on horror at times, and this episode really goes for that in some places. Maleev’s art is probably the most perfect choice possible. The payoff for 4 issues of relatively slow discussion and the portrayal of disconnected events is immense. Bendis redeems the disappointing and slow start with what it probably my favourite Daredevil comic in the last year or two. It has some real defining moments for the growth of Daredevil that’s ocurred under Bendis, such as Matt’s speech about what he’s trying to do in Hell’s Kitchen, how he’s trying to save it. It’s given him a unique motivation that fits in perfectly within the established character boundaries, because there’s always been a sense of community around the character of Daredevil and turning him into this urban myth who nonetheless makes his presence felt it an excellent direction which I hope other writers would pay attention to. The worst this about this comic is that it heralds the end of the penultimate Bendis/Maleev arc. A+ for the issue, A- for the arc because the early issues were quite weak, but work a little better with context.

Ultimate Spider-Man #80: Warriors, Part 2 - I can’t pretend I’m interested in Ultimate Moon Knight in the slightest, but I’m slightly more interested in seeing Ultimate Elektra/Kingpin back. There’s an excellent scene where Spidey eats a pizza with the Kinpin who has been forced to go legit until the FBI stop watching him. He gives Peter the information he needs to stop his enemies, who are coincidentally, the Kingpin’s enemies. I still don’t care much for the organised crime angle, but the character interplay is so good that I’m not too bothered by it. At least, not for this issue where it’s kind of sidelined. I keep saying it, but Bendis and Bagley are a great team, and even their bad issues are good. B+

Astonishing X-Men #11: Dangerous, Part 5 - Professor X kicks some serious robot ass and then conversations it to death. My nomination for greatest action scene of the Whedon/Cassaday run. I was kind of surprised the X-Men injuries from last issue were apparantly real and that the characters were saved by a few healers they have at the school. The plot logic follows but as a narrative choice I’m not sure why it was done. They do appear to be planning to address the fact that Danger tried to, but couldn’t actually kill any of them, though the final pages here mean they might not get a chance. A fucking great cliffhanger that left me going “You know, that’s a really good point…” - I’m always glad when someone acknowledges Morrison’s run too, because it’s quite frequently ignored. This whole run so far is textbook X-Men. A.

House of M #4 - There’’s a much better sense of plot emerging now. It took 4 issues, 2 of which seem almost disposable at this point, but the story’s starting to come together nicely. A new character, Layla, is introduced and they’ve been saying big things will be afoot for her in the future. As it is, she remembers how the MU was before it was altered, so she’s clearly quite important for House of M, but afterwards, who knows? Once again there’s some great Wolverine material in here, but it’s also good to see Hawkeye up and about again. Art, writing and plot are all about as good as I ever see them get from superhero comics. A+.

Secrets of the House of M - Remember that “Secret War: From the files of Nick Fury” handbook I tricked myself into buying, despite the fact it was just a bunch of profiles written up by authors unconnected to the main story? Well, I did it again, because I’m a sucker for punishment. In fairness, this is all about characters whose history is different from what I knew, so it’s fun to see what significant might’ve changed in the HoM universe. It reads almost like a sourcebook for any writers who want to do HoM stories so that they’re familiar with the universe outside of published work. For instance, will we really ever see Apocalypse in HoM or is it enough for this profiles book to say he’s ruling Africa? Stuff like that raises some interesting questions. As before though, the nature of this book means it’s Rated E for Exempt.

Marvel Knights Spider-Man #16: Wild Blue Yonder, Part 4 - Given the future of the Spider-Man franchise, I may drop this book after this arc ends until the crossover “The Other” begins. The fake-outs I predicted might be there last month don’t seem to be forthcoming, and instead it turns out Ethan is the first in a new wave of super skrull. I’m not so sure that’s a great direction to go. I’m generally opposed to Spider-Man tackling situations like this, because he’s really a street-level kind of guy, and that’s how I find he works best for me. The farcical nature of Ethan’s attempts to be a hero and conceal his identity in increasingly thin Superman parodies (we’re talking as blatant as “No-one will recognise me with my glasses on..” here) is still quite funny, and the idea of tricking the Absorbing Man into turning into drugs then cutting him up and selling him before he knows what’s going on is definitely one of those “Why does no-one try that?” moments. I’m still enjoying the art, but the writing has taken a slight downturn. B-.

Rising Stars: Voices of the Dead #2 - In true Rising Stars fashion, this comes out a couple of months after the last issue. Given the final page, which seems to layout the plot for this mini, it seems a little like it might be treading water again for this issue, though it’s also likely that Avery is setting up Lionel’s moral compass for future plot reasons. Can’t complain, but it’s also hard to see what the point of this comic is. Rising Stars is over, and this isn’t, at present, telling an especially unique story, or one that contributes to the character or overall themes of Rising Stars in any significant way. It’s more like it was written because they wanted to write something around Lionel’s “seeing the dead” gimmick. B-.

Couscous Express - I found this for a fiver. An utter Bargain. I’ve not read any of Brian Wood’s “Couriers” work and I didn’t realise this was connected to it until I recognised two of the characters from interviews I’ve read. I believe it’s the first Couriers book, in fact. An early example of Wood’s work, it has a few of his pet themes in (family and community) and contains some the action sequences that he uses to great effect. Brett Weldele provides the art which is incredibly loose and sketchy, especially for a big name publisher. It’s not bad at all, but it looks quite rooted in the DIY minicomic ethos and when you get a commercial graphic novel, there’s some expectation for slightly higher production values. Not the worst artwork I’ve seen, but could be far better. I am inspired by this to go seek out the remaining Couriers books. B.