You know something that I’m really going to miss about my college town? No, not the obnoxious neighbors. My local comic book store gives students 20% off all purchases. So I figure it would be wrong NOT to buy pretty much what I want from the comic book store here while I still can. So, here’s a quick run-down of what I bought this week. If this becomes a regular column, you’ll start to get an idea of what’s in my pull box and what kind of things tempt me to buy something new. Pay attention, because comic book companies are paying marketing people to figure out how to appeal to this untouched goldmine: fangirls.
Preemptive defense: What I buy is pretty much what I like, so… yeah. That being said, I’m open to new things, and if you have a recommendation, let me know. Oh, and there are a few that I’m currently picking up in trade form: I’m on volume 4 of Fables and one of my friends is loaning me Geoff John’s run on Green Lantern.
Preemptive defense: What I buy is pretty much what I like, so… yeah. That being said, I’m open to new things, and if you have a recommendation, let me know. Oh, and there are a few that I’m currently picking up in trade form: I’m on volume 4 of Fables and one of my friends is loaning me Geoff John’s run on Green Lantern.
On to this week's purchases:
Hawkeye Blindspot #3:
This is a four issue series, written by Jim McCann. It all started with his short lived run on Hawkeye and Mockingbird, which should have lasted way longer in my opinion. I don’t understand why comic book companies spend money creating things like “Girl Comics” when really, all they need to do is market what they’ve got out there now. Seriously, Hawkeye and Mockingbird had it all: spies, romance, action, stellar dialogue, psychological… issues (really, you’d be messed up too if you’d been held captive for an extended period of time by a shape-shifting alien race.) Anyway, after Marvel pulled the plug on that, they released the 4 issue Widowmaker series, staring the aforementioned couple and Black Widow. Spy fun ensues. Next from McCann on the Hawkeye front is this fun little book. This story is crafted to simultaneously bring new readers up to date on Hawkeye’s history and introduce a new status quo for the Marvel Universe’s greatest marksman. Within all of this is a compelling character analysis about what makes a man a hero. Is it his spot on the Avengers roster? Is it his abilities as an archer? His funky purple costume? Who is Clint Barton when you strip away the Hawkeye identity? Besides Jeremy Renner.
This is a four issue series, written by Jim McCann. It all started with his short lived run on Hawkeye and Mockingbird, which should have lasted way longer in my opinion. I don’t understand why comic book companies spend money creating things like “Girl Comics” when really, all they need to do is market what they’ve got out there now. Seriously, Hawkeye and Mockingbird had it all: spies, romance, action, stellar dialogue, psychological… issues (really, you’d be messed up too if you’d been held captive for an extended period of time by a shape-shifting alien race.) Anyway, after Marvel pulled the plug on that, they released the 4 issue Widowmaker series, staring the aforementioned couple and Black Widow. Spy fun ensues. Next from McCann on the Hawkeye front is this fun little book. This story is crafted to simultaneously bring new readers up to date on Hawkeye’s history and introduce a new status quo for the Marvel Universe’s greatest marksman. Within all of this is a compelling character analysis about what makes a man a hero. Is it his spot on the Avengers roster? Is it his abilities as an archer? His funky purple costume? Who is Clint Barton when you strip away the Hawkeye identity? Besides Jeremy Renner.
Deadpool #35...
...also made me nerd out like crazy this week. We all know that Daniel Way is great with humor. I know, I love it too. But I’m even more impressed when he slips in a little bit of Wade Wilson’s darker inner turmoil. This issue was a great blend of all of that. Just a few well placed bits of dialogue adds a whole different dimension to Wade Wilson; one of the reasons why I first started picking up the comic. Sure Deadpool’s hilarious and kicks more butt than just about anyone, but he’s also got some dark issues in that fractured brain of his. It all serves to make him more BA in my opinion. There’s a trade available out there now called Wolverine: Origins-Deadpool. (Not related to the movie). It’s also written by Way and the climax of the story is totally based around Wade’s “insanity”. Heavy stuff, there.
...also made me nerd out like crazy this week. We all know that Daniel Way is great with humor. I know, I love it too. But I’m even more impressed when he slips in a little bit of Wade Wilson’s darker inner turmoil. This issue was a great blend of all of that. Just a few well placed bits of dialogue adds a whole different dimension to Wade Wilson; one of the reasons why I first started picking up the comic. Sure Deadpool’s hilarious and kicks more butt than just about anyone, but he’s also got some dark issues in that fractured brain of his. It all serves to make him more BA in my opinion. There’s a trade available out there now called Wolverine: Origins-Deadpool. (Not related to the movie). It’s also written by Way and the climax of the story is totally based around Wade’s “insanity”. Heavy stuff, there.
Birds of Prey #11:
As you may have guessed, I’m mostly a marvel kind of girl. However, I do dip into DC every so often. I started picking up Birds of Prey with the first issue of this run. I’m not going to lie, part of it was because I was looking for a comic with strong female characters that I could sort of relate to. This book has consistently delivered. The women are not just there for little boy readers to drool over. Their relationships feel very real and organic. This book is written by Gail Simone, one of the few prominent female comic book writers out there, so it feels very genuine. This issue focused on Helena Bertinelli AKA Huntress, with some fun glances at the rest of her team. So far, Huntress is one of my favorites in this book. She’s a little bit more… morally grey than the others. Interestingly enough, she also has a strong sense of faith and runs around with a cross necklace under her costume. She’s complex and completely awesome. This issue in particular had a few cheesy lines, which is surprising if you follow Gail Simone on twitter. I also don’t know the Catman back story very well, so maybe that’s why I found some of the internal monologue a bit unnatural. But despite all of that, this issue is pretty solid. It’s a great example of a high-octane, character driven book that would definitely pull more girls into comic book stores if anyone knew anything about marketing and advertising to girls. And if that doesn’t do the trick, then Catman’s abs will.
Those were the major highlights. Since I raved about the first three comics, I’ll shorten the rest to about a sentence or two.
The Amazing Spider-Man #658: Fun with the Future Foundation! New Costumes! Meta-Science! Yeah. And I still think that that Carlie Cooper is boring. Maybe that’s because just last week (or was it two weeks ago?) I read an awesome short (by Jim McCann actually) taking place in an alternate universe were Pete and MJ were married and expecting a daughter. It was at the end of Age of X: The Avengers if you’re interested.
New Avengers: The art for the flashbacks annoys me, but Bendis’ writing is great (as usual). The present story line is gripping and SPOILER ALERT: I will be so upset if they kill Mockingbird right after I started liking her character.
Anyway, I’ve been told that if a blog is over a certain length, people are less likely to read it. So I’ll cut it off here. Is there a final summary for this week? Sure: strong, complex characters make for awesome comics. And I think that Huntress’ bow/gun thingie is really cool.
Oh. Here’s a really cool picture. It doesn’t really need a reason.
As you may have guessed, I’m mostly a marvel kind of girl. However, I do dip into DC every so often. I started picking up Birds of Prey with the first issue of this run. I’m not going to lie, part of it was because I was looking for a comic with strong female characters that I could sort of relate to. This book has consistently delivered. The women are not just there for little boy readers to drool over. Their relationships feel very real and organic. This book is written by Gail Simone, one of the few prominent female comic book writers out there, so it feels very genuine. This issue focused on Helena Bertinelli AKA Huntress, with some fun glances at the rest of her team. So far, Huntress is one of my favorites in this book. She’s a little bit more… morally grey than the others. Interestingly enough, she also has a strong sense of faith and runs around with a cross necklace under her costume. She’s complex and completely awesome. This issue in particular had a few cheesy lines, which is surprising if you follow Gail Simone on twitter. I also don’t know the Catman back story very well, so maybe that’s why I found some of the internal monologue a bit unnatural. But despite all of that, this issue is pretty solid. It’s a great example of a high-octane, character driven book that would definitely pull more girls into comic book stores if anyone knew anything about marketing and advertising to girls. And if that doesn’t do the trick, then Catman’s abs will.
Those were the major highlights. Since I raved about the first three comics, I’ll shorten the rest to about a sentence or two.
The Amazing Spider-Man #658: Fun with the Future Foundation! New Costumes! Meta-Science! Yeah. And I still think that that Carlie Cooper is boring. Maybe that’s because just last week (or was it two weeks ago?) I read an awesome short (by Jim McCann actually) taking place in an alternate universe were Pete and MJ were married and expecting a daughter. It was at the end of Age of X: The Avengers if you’re interested.
New Avengers: The art for the flashbacks annoys me, but Bendis’ writing is great (as usual). The present story line is gripping and SPOILER ALERT: I will be so upset if they kill Mockingbird right after I started liking her character.
Anyway, I’ve been told that if a blog is over a certain length, people are less likely to read it. So I’ll cut it off here. Is there a final summary for this week? Sure: strong, complex characters make for awesome comics. And I think that Huntress’ bow/gun thingie is really cool.
Oh. Here’s a really cool picture. It doesn’t really need a reason.
