Diary of an up and coming sociopath

This week’s big star is Volume 2 of Genshiken. It feels like I’ve been waiting years for this. When we went to Forbidden Planet at Lunchtime they hadn’t actually put it oun the shelves, so after work finished I went back and got it because I couldn’t take the strain of waiting another day. However, i’m not going to examine Genshiken because I wait so long for the next volume that I can’t actually bring myself to read it all in one go. I’m reading one chapter a week, which isn’t a huge amount but is a complete enough narrative to live in that format. It’ll last me 6 weeks, if all goes well, which means about six weeks after that the next volume will come out. Manga can be good value, but the glacial release pace makes the format somewhat frustrating, and this is only for pre-existing work. If, like Excel Saga, the translations catch up to the originators, you’re looking at a seriously painful wait between volumes. It’s best not to think about it.

Giant Size Spider-Woman #1 - I’m enjoying the return of this format. It reminds me somewhat of Marvel UK/Panini’s tendancy to reprint a “current” US story alongside a bunch of classics. I love reading older comics but I’m not attracted by the low quality of the “Essentials” phonebook reprints or the high price point of the masterworks hardbacks. This way is a happy enough medium for me. For Spider-Woman’s first Giant Size issue, the big draw is probably an 8-pager by Bendis and Rick Mays, which sheds a little more light on some New Avengers plotlines. Rick Mays has a nice clean art style and if he was doing a monthly Spider-Woman (I’m sure it’s in the works) I’d be glad to buy it. The backup stories are Spider-Woman’s first appearance (Marvel Spotlight #32) and her first issue, along with an X-Men guest star 2-parter that introduced Siryn, Banshee’s daughter (Spider-Woman #1, #37, #38) They’re all good stories, however, they cover a bit of the same material. In that 3 of them explain her origin in an extended sequence. Before I read this I had no idea how she got her powers and stuff. Now I’ve read it enough times that I’m almost certain it’s actually too convoluted to bother about. I have no further complaints than that, so while it’s not quite as good as the X-Men one from the other week, it’s definitely worth buying. A-, but only if you’re a fan of reprints.

X-Men #173: Bizarre Love Triangle, Part 3 - I enjoyed this less than the last issue. Milligan has left it ambiguous as to what actually happened after last issue’s end, and indeed, what Mystique’s motivations are. They’re laid out last issue, then changed, then that change is revealed to be cover for teh truth, or something. There’s no way to tell which is the genuine reason. It’s an issue where very little is explained and very little happens. The potential status quo changes for Gambit and Rogue doesn’t feel believable because it’s been done before, so until the arc’s over I’m reserving judgement. Rogue’s angry with Gambit, but she’s still referring to him as “my man” at the end of the issue, so it’s unclear what she’s thinking too. Even the Havok/Iceman/Polaris subplot is unclear. I dunno. As the penultimate issue of the arc it’s naturally feeling like it treads water a little, I’m expecting big things of the final issue given the overall attention to character this arc has played, but so far the quality has been quite uneven. B-.

The Pulse #10 - I love Michael Lark’s art. For a moment it almost seemed like Gaydos was back. Which he will be soon! Can’t complain about lark’s work, but I’m very glad to see Gaydos come back to a regular gig, even if it is bi-monthly. This issue gives a human-level look at what’s going on in the House of M universe, and more interestingly, shows that Hawkeye is able to see through the illusions as a result of meeting Layla. I’m not sure if this is a stand alone issue, but I suspect it might be. If it is, then it’s a bit cheap because it’ll end up as essentially a trailer to a larger event. If not, then it’ll feel like it’s a bit big a story to happen in a tie-in. Either way, though, this issue remains a nice character piece for the Bugle reporter, and an good examination of Hawkeye, the character no-one liked until he died. I just wish the Pulse would get back to its own story though, the previous arc was a secret war tie-in and it’s getting hard to remember what the hell was going on before that. B+.

The Pulse House of M Special Edition - This is a great gimmick. A comic-sized issue of the Pulse newspaper (printed on genuine newspaper!) for the House of M universe. At 35p ($0.50) I couldn’t turn down buying this. It’s a gimmick and will almost certainly contain nothing of import, but at least it shows some innovation and an attempt as cross-promotion which, as a business, Marvel can occasionally screw up. Exempt from ratings, but worth buying.