New Avengers #1
Not to sound racist, but Black Panther is one of my least favorite comic book characters. He isn’t really interesting for the same reason Aquaman is of no real significance. He has no real distinguishing attributes besides ruling over some lame fake ass kingdom. Sure Panther is cooler than Aquaman because he is one quarter Batman on his mother’s side, but I just can’t generate any intrigue for the character no matter how well he is being written. “Aquaman” is under the helm of Geoff Johns and, while he is my favorite DC writer this side of Scott Snyder, I just don’t care. I don’t consider either character to be a joke, but I can’t help but roll my eyes at any appearance they make.
Jonathan Hickman opens his “New Avengers” run with a prologue that mostly concerns Panther and said fake ass kingdom. To be honest I thought the issue was completely awesome even though I was bored. It wasn’t awesome so much of what the issue itself contained, but of what it opened the series up to. If anything, Hickman’s run on “New Avengers” can be summed up in one word. Intensity. That was the feeling I got as this first issue went through the motions and proclaimed itself the most in your face Hickman has ever been. This only showed me that Hickman is not messing around, and my excitement almost boiled over.
Another thing that tickled me was remembering Hickman’s latter run on “Fantastic Four”/“FF.” There seemed to be a rising story line just over the horizon, but it was something he never got to finish. This comic seems to be almost a continuation of that story in certain regards. I’m sure, at the very least, that some of Hickman’s ideas from “FF” will make their way into “New Avengers.” I have little doubt that this series will do very well under Hickman’s pen because he is such an amazing talent. Who knows? Maybe he can even make Black Panther exciting to read about.
Previews
Every month Diamond Comic Distributors puts out a fat book detailing just about everything comic book related that is coming out a few months from now. It’s like a crystal ball made out of paper. Granted the publishers have been known to make last minute delays in many things previewed in this book, but it is still a helpful guide to keep updated on the ever changing comic book world. Here are some key printings that I noticed and wanted to share with my fellow Basement nerds.
Age of Ultron (10 Issue Series)
I honestly don’t know what this is. Is this a major event or just some kind of alternative universe thing where a writer vents by killing off a bunch of characters? The whole thing just seems to be coming out of left field and I don’t know what to make of it. There are about five pages of black and white preview art, but not much else. A number of tie-ins were also mentioned, but all I really know for sure is that Brian Michael Bendis is writing a giant book about Ultron. Hopefully we’ll learn more in the coming months.
Wolverine #1
How many books does Wolverine need? There must be clones of him or something because Wolverine lands himself in every other Marvel book. It’s been written by a writer I’m not too familiar with, Paul Cornell, but the art looks interesting. Might be worth checking out, but they couldn’t even get through the preview without using the “Best at what I do” tagline.
X-Termination #1
It’s a crossover comic involving several third-tier X-men comics. Fans of the Age of Apocalypse should keep an eye of this one. Everyone else probably won’t care.
Sledgehammer 44 #1
The creator of “Hellboy”, Mike Mignola, brings us another uber creative comic for the Dark Horse Comics line up. Mignola has always had a certain style that was completely his own and it’s nice to see his awesome talent at character creation at work again.
Action Comics #18
Andy Diggle (The Losers, Thunderbolts) takes over writing duties in the place of Grant Morrison (…really?). I’ll try it out, but I might end up going somewhere else for my Superman fix.
Batgirl #18
Uggh… I’m still upset that Gail Simone was kicked off this comic. Don’t talk to me about it.
Constantine #1
Constantine has been doing well for himself since people forgot his character was used for a Keanu Reeves movie. I thought his return to mainstream comics might have been jeopardized when they brought him back just before the reboot. But plans to keep him around continued with such second tier comics like “Justice League Dark.” Now our favorite chain smoker is getting his own ongoing written by Robert Venditti (The Surrogates, a.k.a. the comic that was the basis for that Bruce Willis android movie). It looks interesting, but it’s probably going to end up being one of those comics that I want to read but never really get a chance to.
Punk Rock Jesus TP
Sean Murphy made the most waves last year with this Vertigo story about a clone of Jesus starring in a punk rock band. Now it’s collected in a trade paperback for those who missed it. I’m using my smartphone to order my copy right now.
East of West
Jonathan Hickman’s newest original comic for Image is a cyberpunk western that defies explanation. Just read it if you know what’s good for you.
Also, in a shameless plug to myself, check out Bruce Osborne on Facebook. I post/link all my stuff there, including chapters on a book I’m working on. Feel free to hit the ‘Like’ button as if you’re an addict.
I also write publish works of fiction on my Bruce Osborne Blog. Feel free to read, follow, or even hate my stuff. I don’t care if people like it, only that they read it.
There are too many movies for me to review in full, so I created a twitter account to give brief opinions on the many movies I view. If you wish to read my smart ass remarks, follow M.O.V.I.E. Reviewer @MutantOpossum.
 New Avengers $20.00
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 Avengers Lanyard – … $6.50
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 Avengers Custom Sug… $40.00
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 Avengers/Superhero … $75.00
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 U is for Ultron Mar… $6.00
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 Retro X-Men Movie P… $18.00
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 Superman Action Com… $45.00
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 Hell Demon from &qu… $5.00
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