There’s no need to repeat my love for Peter David’s X-Factor and its valiant leader, Jamie Madrox; I’ve said it all before. But X-Factor #32, once again proves to the world just why it is Jamie and the rest of X-Factor make for one of the best comics being produced at the moment.
That being said, this issue did provide me with one frustration, which we’ll get to at the very end.
Or - “Can You Catch The Same Lightning In A Different Bottle?”
Here in the halls of Stately Spoilers Manor, we operate pretty much independently. So, as I was writing this, I was unaware that Josh was writing a review of the same issue. But, seeing as how it’s already written, (and I kind of don’t have time to write another just this instant) I figured, what the heck, why not see how we BOTH felt about the issue, and then probably never do this again. Heh… In 1984, or so the story goes, DC Comics was in dire straits. The company was bleeding money, very few of their iconic characters seemed very relavant, and there were, apparently, rumors that DC would be no more within months… Then, Marv Wolfman and George Perez launched ‘The New Teen Titans,’ a book that took DC’s kid sidekicks, added a dash of X-Men-style plotting, and managed to generate a bona fide classic (and, some say, bringing DC back from the brink.) 25 or so years later, those issues are remembered fondly by everyone, and every few years, it is decided that it’s time to get the band back together and see if the Titans can, once again, become the 600 pound gorilla of comics. Is Judd Winick the man to reignite the fires of Titan-mania?
I’m not sure anyone reviewed Titans #2 here at Major Spoilers (probably for the best), as there was a lot of ill-feeling towards the second issue in this, DC’s attempt to reunite its ‘80’s classic. Subsequently, there is a certain measure of slack that can be cut considering that DC is starting off telling a new story from page one (for a given value of “new story”).
Challenge of the super friends
Oh boy! Another weekly series from DC! While that exclamation may send shivers up and down the spines of those who struggled through Countdown (to Final Crisis), I have higher hopes for Trinity. Busiek has proven he can tell brilliant super hero stories, and Bagley’s art is always top notch, but does the second issue hold up to the first?
Or - Yo, ‘ho! A Pirates Life for Me
When I first saw the solicitation for The Voyages of She Buccaneer, I put it on my list because a) the art looked really good, and b) the art looked really good. When it arrived on my doorstep last week, I really thought this was going to be porn for pre-teens, but after flipping through the book a couple of times, I found a story that could have put Jack Sparrow to shame.
Or - “These Days, The Government Agencies Always Go Bad…”
Back in the day, the government agent was someone you could trust… Dick Tracy. Nick Fury. King Faraday. James Bond. The spies were always honest, and they stopped those with ignoble or antisocial points of view, for the good of America and/or Mother Britain. In this, the age of irony, we have seen a paradigm shift, where even Nick Fury has admitted that he’s engaged in monstrous behaviors, engaging wars, setting up innocents to be killed, and generally being a jerk. For a couple of years now, Invincible has been working for Cecil Steadman, a government spook who literally has the influence to do whatever is necessary in the name of truth, justice, and the American way. There’s no way that *HE*, too is an amoral buttmonkey, right?
…
Right?
Or - “Manhunter!”
It’s been a while since we’ve been treated to the adventures of Kate Spencer and her extended family. Mark Andreyko’s Manhunter has actually escaped cancellation yet AGAIN, and now the armored Bird of Prey returns to active duty, with a new artist and a slightly new attitude. But, what new wrinkles are in store for the best book you probably never bought the first two times it was cancelled?
Or - “He Ducked Back Down The Alley With Some Roly Poly Little Bat-Faced Girl…”
For roughly eleven hundred years now, Justice Society of America has been foreshadowing something wicked that may this way come. This issue, finally, we get past the preliminary “Ooooh, scary stuff, kids” and delve into the meat of the tale… But, is it Prime Rib, or that weird rubbery blue stuff you get out of airport sammich machines? And speaking of meat and meat by-products, why is Black Adam roasting that cadaver? Answers after the clicky!
Or - “Comics Move Pretty Fast. If Ya Don’t Slow Down Once In A While, You Could Miss ‘Em.“
So, how YOU doin? When I joined the intrepid staff here at Stately Spoilers Manor, I was a carefree young lad, temping at a dog food company and literally finding myself with hours at work to stare into space. Ahh, those were the heady days of cafeteria food and three-a-day reviews. Now that I have a *real* job, my first in several years, I’m horrified to find that I have to spend 8 or 9 hours per day ACTUALLY WORKING. Uncool, to say the least. But, the faithful Spoilerites continue to call their siren call, and the review pile continues to expand like the waistline of an Atlantic City call girl (those all-you-can-eat buffets can really add up.) Thus, I bring you another episode of… RAPID FIRE REVIEWS!
Or - “In Which Several Relationships Come To Unpleasant Ends…”
In her relatively short life, Buffy Summers has dated a lot of inappropriate people. Parker, the jackass frat boy. Riley, the useless super-soldier with no personality what-so-fricking-ever. Angel, a former mass murdering vampire. Spike, a… completely different former mass-murdering vampire. (Y’know, for a while there, it seemed she thought her hereditary title was “Vampire LAYER,” nudge nudge, wink wink, know what I mean? Eh? Eh?) So, I don’t understand why anyone is troubled by Buffy’s latest choice of paramour… After all, it’s not as though she’s known for being romantically level-headed. In this issue, choices are made, lives are changed, and the issue of whether or not her sapphic tryst was just a one-night-stand is finally put to rest.
Or - “Sheena? Shanna? Shawna? Shanaynay? Shirley?”
The Secret Invasion is on, which means that, until further notice, every story in the Marvel Universe is going to be a maddening vignette that will only make sense in retrospect, AFTER the rest of the limited series is printed in six or eight months. Or, as I call it: Marvel Comics in the summer. You have been warned…
I really get the distinct impression that Paul Dini has a collection of favorite Batman characters; Zatanna, Batman, and the Riddler, as this issue features another appearance by the criminal turned good guy trying to out smart one of the most brilliant minds in the DCU.
I was actually looking forward to this comic, the second installation in the Rann-Thanagar Holy War series. I’m a science fiction nerd at heart, and whenever you get guys flying around with ray-guns and rocket packs, I’m a happy man.
And this issue was just as good as the last one, with a story that really has me interested by Jim Starlin.
Together forever…
In last week’s review of Robin #174, I wondered what was going to happen with the Tim/Stephanie/Robin/Spoiler relationship now that Stephanie has returned to Gotham City from her sojourn in Africa. The Robin/Spoiler special released this past week from DC Comics clears up some of those unanswered questions.
Or - “Colonel Nick Fury And I Have Sompin’ To Say… ‘We’re Baaaack!!!’ “
So. My cable internet was initially supposed to be on last Friday. It wasn’t, due to an error on MY part. So, they scheduled a hookup for Monday… which didn’t happen. I was, needless to say, less than pleased. But, I was assured, Wednesday morning I would have internet access. Wednesday night I returned home to find… nothing. I cursed my carrier and made a couple of calls. I explained that the cable drop was running through two different splitters and some sort of black box from the satellite network, and the next morning I had a technician on site who rewired it. And that night, another technician was supposed to kill a neighbor’s cable access, and shut mine back off. My wife (who is not to be trifled with) called them, and read them the full riot act with three part harmony and the 23 8×10 glossy photographs with the circles and the arrows and the paragraph on the back describing each one, and fully explained to them the displeasure of the Peterson household.
My cable is back on. I have five additional cable hookups, at no charge. I have a pretty sizable credit on my account, as well as free installation. But best of all? My comic reviews are back! WHOOO!
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