[Comics] - Evil Avatar's Weekly Comic Book Reviews - Year 2 - Week 31

[Everlost_MI]

Welcome to week thirty-one of Evil Avatar’s Weekly Comic Book Reviews.

BCBComics (http://www.bcbcomics.com/) is offering a ongoing code of “EVERLOST” to be used give an extra 10% off to Evil Avatar readers. In addition a special page ( https://www.bcbcomics.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=340) has been set up by BCBComics to save money on various comics, TPBs, games and toys related to the comics that are reviewed each week.

If you’re already a BCB subscriber you can add any of these items to your pull list and/or the code to save on shipping.

For those who are in need of a friendly, reliable, discounted source for comics, gaming and toys then look no further than BCBcomics (http://www.bcbcomics.com/). They offer comic book subscriptions (http://www.bcbcomics.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=7
) with many fringe benefits including no hidden costs, 30-35% off of cover price (depending on the publisher), all issues are bagged, boarded and offer cheap* shipping on all orders (*see BCBcomics’ website (http://www.bcbcomics.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=7
) for the details). In addition, the comics featured on BCBcomics home page are 50% off or just $1 if you’re a subscriber.


Remember, these are NOT spoiler-free reviews.


Week Thirty-One:
Evil Avatar's Weekly Comic Book Reviews – Year 2 - Week 31

Ultimate X-Men Vol. 5: Ultimate War TPB
Reviewed by: KefkaTaran (Philip Kollar), Associate Editor / Podcast Host
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Mark Millar
Penciler: Chris Bachalo
Inkers: Tim Townsend with Andy Owens and Aaron Sowd
Colorist: Paul Mounts
Letterer: Chris Eliopoules
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Price: $10.99 US/$12.45 CAN

http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/ultimatexmen5tpb.jpg

As a boon to new comic readers, Marvel has taken careful steps to make sure everything they put out in the Ultimate universe is put into trade almost immediately. This wouldn’t matter too terribly much if not for the fact that they’ve also done a good job of maintaining the overall quality of almost every title they’ve had -- ongoing, mini, or otherwise. Mark Millar, mastermind behind The Ultimates and Civil War, has shaped much of these early years of the Ultimate Universe, including writing the first couple years of the Ultimate X-Men. His run on the series moves up and down pretty frantically, but the Ultimate War mini collected in this volume is a particularly disappointing point.

Ultimate War was published outside of the normal Ultimate X-Men series as a mini that was supposed to bridge some gaps and answer questions from Millar’s The Ultimates. Specifically, it explains and better fleshes out the how and why behind Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver defecting, which is glossed over quickly in The Ultimates. While the book succeeds at this, it fails at pretty much everything else, most noticeably telling a satisfying story.

Millar’s reinvention of the Avengers in The Ultimates has received tons of acclaim from critics and fans for good reason. Unsurprisingly, then, the few scenes with the Ultimates in this volume, especially Iron Man’s bits, absolutely rise above the rest of the book. But overall the soul in main series is missing in action. Part of this may have to do with much of the subtlety vanished – there’s no doubt that the Ultimates are straight-up bad guys in this, capturing the X-Men for all the wrong reasons. This also makes any attempts at politicizing (something Millar loves to do) much more heavy-handed and, honestly, unbearable.

The plot here amounts to the most simplistic ever in an Ultimate book to this point: the Ultimates go after the X-Men, the X-Men go into hiding, the Ultimates find the X-Men, the two groups fight. The end. One important plot point is revealed right before the book finishes, but it’s thrown in just to make the story matter in the over-all X-Men storyline. The art, the writing, hell, even the lettering – everything in this book screams mediocre superhero story. Thank God this isn’t Millar’s norm.

Bottom Line:
If you want all the superhero v. superhero action of Civil War without any of the interesting side stories and characterization, this is your book.

Rating: Only if you're a collector of the series/characters. (2 out of 5 EvilEyes)
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/icons/e2.jpg


Daredevil #87 (An ongoing series)
Reviewed by: Everlost_MI (Brian K. Nichols), Editor in Chief
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artists: Michael Lark & Stefano Gaudiano
Colorist: Frank D’Armata
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Editor: Warren Simons
Price: $2.99 US/$4.25 CAN

http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/dd87.jpg

Matt Murdock with the help of the Punisher escape from Ryker’s Island in the midst of a riot that was incited to cover the murder of Matt and the Kingpin. Matt’s first order of business is to confront the individual that’s running around Hell’s Kitchen as Daredevil. It turns out that Danny Rand, Iron Fist, was performing the duties as the Man Without Fear under the premise he was working for the “deceased” Foggy Nelson. It was Alton Lennox, another lawyer who stated he was working with/for Foggy, who was orchestrating the entire facade. Matt takes up the alter-ego of his “brother” Mike Murdock and begins to track down Lennox in an effort to solve this mystery. The issue ends by revealing that Foggy isn’t dead but in a witness protection program with the teasing promise of telling what really happened in the next issue.

Ed Brubaker created an interesting storyline, even with the accidental revelation of Iron Fist being Daredevil in the director’s cut of Civil War #1, chucked full of drama and action. I mean, c’mon the Punisher gets himself thrown into Ryker’s and all hell breaks loose, which was something a fan boy would write. The gritty artwork by Michael Lark and Stefano Gaudiano kept pace with the script’s relentless drama and action and the murky atmosphere was cemented by the moody coloring by Frank D’Armata.

Bottom Line:
Ed Brubaker is doing a phenomenal job with the Man Without Fear as the series consistently gets better with each issue. If you haven’t been following Daredevil I would suggest going back and picking up some of the Brian Michael Bendis trade paperbacks before diving into the recent Brubaker storyline. This issue and series is worth your time and money.

Rating: Worth the money and time. (4 out of 5 EvilEyes).
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/icons/e4.jpg

[Everlost_MI]

Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways #1 of 4
Reviewed by: Everlost_MI (Brian K. Nichols), Editor in Chief
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Zeb Wells
Artist: Stefano Caselli
Color Art: Daniele Rudoni
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Cover: Jim Cheung, John Dell and Justin Ponsor
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Price: $2.99 US/$4.25 CAN

http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/yarunaways1.jpg

The Runaways are dealing with the loss of their team member by trying to relax as they spend time at the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market. Unfortunately, Flag Smasher shows up and causes the Runaways to expose themselves to S.H.I.E.L.D. as unregistered superheroes as they protect the innocent bystanders and the peace. The fracas causes Victor to become seriously damaged in their escape. Meanwhile, the Young Avengers are underground performing monitor duty when they witness the incident with the Runaways and Flag Smasher. One of the news camera caught Victor being damaged and the feedback that Victor created as he was being mangled by S.H.I.E.L.D. was replicated by the Vision, causing him to temporarily overload. The Young Avengers want to help the Runaways and go against Captain America’s orders to stay put. The typical misunderstanding between two superhero teams ensues when the groups meet but the issue ends with the Vision and Victor having their systems overload as they get close to each other.

Zeb Wells did a decent job on the grasping and maintaining the various characters as well as creating excellent dialogue. Unfortunately, the storyline is cookie cutter with the exception of the Vision/Victor connection and so far it doesn’t add much to the Civil War storyline as the other spin-off and related series have done to date. The artwork by Stefano Caselli is good but for those who are used to the regular artwork from the artists of the individual books may be a bit put off by his interpretation of the characters.

Bottom Line:
Aside from the odd Vision/Victor situation there isn’t any new ground here that’s worth the $3.00. So unless you’re a huge Runaways or Young Avengers fan then I would pass on the issue or wait for the trade paperback.

Rating: Only if you're a collector of the series/characters. (2 1/2 out of 5 EvilEyes)
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/icons/e2_5.jpg

Amazing Spider-Man #534
Reviewed by: Everlost_MI (Brian K. Nichols), Editor in Chief
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Pencils: Ron Garney
Inker: Bill Reinhold
Colorist: Matt Milla
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Editor: Alex Alonso
Price: $2.99 US/$4.25 CAN

http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/amazingspiderman534.jpg

The issue opens with Tony Stark/Iron Man giving a pep talk to his soldiers as Peter Peter/Spider-Man continues to feel guilty for his actions and being involved. As the issue progresses, Peter begins to question his new suit and Tony as to how much information the suit is providing. Especially as Tony knew about the Spider-Sense when no one outside of Mary Jane or Aunt May knew about that ability. Spider-Man ends up facing Steve Rogers/Captain America during an ambush made by a team of anti-registration heroes on a convoy the pro-registration were escorting. Captain America gives him one last chance to come over to the their side and Spider-Man refuses by throwing the first punch. A fight ensues that features Spidey drawing blood with his new suit and trapping Cap's shield in webbing. The fight ends before Cap can retrieve his shield as the other anti-registration heroes needed his help. In honor of Captain America, what his shield stands for and as a message, Spider-Man webbed it in a place that very few, including Cap could retrieve it. The issue ends with Peter truly beginning to question if he made the right decision.

J. Michael Straczynski continues the flesh out the character that has the most to lose in the Civil War series with some of the strongest Spider-Man stories that deal with the very essence of the character. The dialogue and characterizations are superb as is the artwork created by Ron Garney. Garney who used to be the artist on Captain America with Mark Waid continues to show his ability to create excellent action sequences as well as dramatic pieces.

Of note: I was confused why Daredevil was attacking Dagger in one of the splash pages as to the best of my knowledge they were on the same anti-registration side as of Civil War #3.

Bottom Line:
An excellent issue but unless you’re semi-involved with the Civil War series you’ll be a little lost. That being said, the changes and drama of Peter mulling over the biggest choice he’s made in his life is being done very well in the scripting and artwork.

Rating: Worth the time and the money. (4 out of 5 EvilEyes)
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/icons/e4.jpg


What else is worth reading this week…

Everlost’s take:
· Captain America #20 – The Red Skull’s plans being to bear fruit as all hell breaks loose in England.

KefkaTaran’s take:
· Will be back next week!

[Sazime]

I knew it was Iron Fist! I knew it! Mwahaha! ....ahem.

Good to see props on Spidey. I thought it was a great issue myself. Nice to see he's not so sure of himself.

[Deadend]

whhhaaa?!!! Foggy isn't DEAD! I am glad I didn't pick up Daredevil. That pisses me off so much for some reason, and Mike Murdock?! AGHAGHHAHHAHGHHH, I don't care how GOOD it is at this point, I am done for now.

[Savok]

This also makes any attempts at politicizing (something Millar loves to do) much more heavy-handed and, honestly, unbearable.
When it pisses off even Kef.... I kinda wanna read it now, there's a good chance I'll just explode like a Spinal Tap drummer.

[SexualChoc]

Okay, but what about in Civil War #3 when Cap, Hercules, Goliath and Daredevil are at a cafe in there civilan disguises? Didn't they know then that he wasn't Daredevil? Or is Daredevil monthly a bit behind when it comes to Civil War?

[Sazime]

Okay, but what about in Civil War #3 when Cap, Hercules, Goliath and Daredevil are at a cafe in there civilan disguises? Didn't they know then that he wasn't Daredevil? Or is Daredevil monthly a bit behind when it comes to Civil War?
Oh they know, it's just not a concern.

[Heretic Machine]

I gotta disagree with your verdict on Runaways/Young Avengers, I don't read those two series but I thought it was a really solid first issue for their Civil War tie-in. I'm actually a bit interested in reading both books now, so I may have to look into some TPBs.

[agentgray]

Although I think that Amazing Spider-Man is a top-notch title, I think that they took the cheap way out with the fight. I mean, the writers here are really setting the stage for Spidey's crossover.

...or else they are setting us up for something even bigger. I don't know. I've never trusted Tony as a character, even though he is a hero. His whole look is one of "let's make a deal."

After CW3 it looks like Captain's team is really becoming the underdog and you know that Peter has been one his whole life.

[digitalErich]

I gotta disagree with your verdict on Runaways/Young Avengers, I don't read those two series but I thought it was a really solid first issue for their Civil War tie-in. I'm actually a bit interested in reading both books now, so I may have to look into some TPBs.
Pick up the Runaways Vol 1 hardcover. You can find it for less than $24 online. If you are a fan of comics, you should own this book. Also, while nothing groundbreaking, I think Young Avengers is Marvel's best team book right now. They just finished the first "season" so now is a good time to read through that to be ready when the book comes back later this year. Both are excellent series - I can't say enough good things about either.

[JazGalaxy]

Wow. You're review of Ultimate War is so off it's ridiculous. I suppose it doesn't matter since the series is so old, at this point, that it doesn't matter, but it would be nice if you were more on target in your comments.

Ultimate War is FAR more an Xmen book than it is an Ultimates book. The idea that the Ultimates are clearly the badguys, though, is purely your interpretation of events and has nothing to do with their role in the actual story. As far as they are concerned, and rightly so, The Xmen and Charles Xavier are enemies of the state due to their outright betrayal of the United States Government. They basically kept from justice the biggest mass murderer the world has ever known. It would be like if you were hiding Osama Bin Laden in your basement, and then when people find out, you claim that they're clearly the badguys for hunting you down.

Moreover, the story is an absolute direct result of elements that were building in the Ultimate Universe for years. It didn't need to have a story because it was a natrual extention of the Human/Superhuman conflict that was not only the cause for the ultimates being created in the first place, but also the running thread in Ultimate Spiderman, Ultimate Teamup, and Ultimate Xmen.

[DocOblivion]

Especially as Tony knew about the Spider-Sense when no one outside of Mary Jane or Aunt May knew about that ability.

I've been wondering about this ever since I read the issue... Have I been incorrect in assuming that Spiderman's "Spider-Senses" are somewhat common knowledge amongst the capes and cowls? He's always mentioning it during his combat chatter... Heh, maybe he mumbles when he gets to the bit about Spider-sense? And I seem to recall villains exposing him to gas specifically for the purposes of numbing his Spider-senses... Not even going to bring up the fact that I can almost recall him explaining it to other heroes...

Am I just crazy? Or did all that just get ret-conned at some point?

[Everlost_MI]

I've been wondering about this ever since I read the issue... Have I been incorrect in assuming that Spiderman's "Spider-Senses" are somewhat common knowledge amongst the capes and cowls? He's always mentioning it during his combat chatter... Heh, maybe he mumbles when he gets to the bit about Spider-sense? And I seem to recall villains exposing him to gas specifically for the purposes of numbing his Spider-senses... Not even going to bring up the fact that I can almost recall him explaining it to other heroes...

Am I just crazy? Or did all that just get ret-conned at some point?

No you bring a very valid point, prehaps they used that as a stepping stone to increase/start Peter's paranoia about the suit. It's not like he's had good luck with suits, Venom anyone?, aside from his standard red and blue threads.

[Sazime]

No you bring a very valid point, prehaps they used that as a stepping stone to increase/start Peter's paranoia about the suit. It's not like he's had good luck with suits, Venom anyone?, aside from his standard red and blue threads.
And that's all we need to see in the next issue of CW or ASM. Peter showing up in front of Tony in the red and blue. Message would be received loud and clear.

[JazGalaxy]

I, too, remember Peter talking about his spider sense on a regular basis to anyone who would listen. Most specifically I think I remember him explaining it to people in New Avengers.

[MosBen]

Alright, now that the bar exam is over, it's review time baby!

Secret Identity (Busiek)
This book is quite literally like reading excerpts from Superman's diary throughout several periods in his life, starting when he develops power in his teens until he reaches old age. If I had to pick one book as an example of my theory that there are no boring characters, only bad writers, this would be the book. The reason people don't like Superman is because people don't often write stories like this with the character. Rather than reading a story about Supes from the outside in, never pushing past that bullet proof skin, this story pushes from the inside out. We see the world through Superman's eyes and get a chance to see the conflicted, troubled, and thoroughly normal guy that he really is. It's not the powers that make comic characters interesting, it's how much they still remain like us despite their powers and here we see more of the "man" and less of the "super", which is criminally uncommon.

Green Arrow: The Archer's Quest (Meltzer)
The short review of this is: If you love Identity Crisis as much as I do, this is the book for you. Kevin Smith brought Green Arrow back just before this collection and his run on the book was great. The dialog was sharp and Smith managed to make a walking anachronism like Queen relevant to the modern reader. Meltzer takes that great start and makes Green Arrow real. In Smith's run Oliver Queen came back from the dead and after the brief adventures that followed is only now dealing with the implications of his resurrection. This book succeeds in exactly the way IC did: in looking back to the past it doesn't rewrite the history of the universe to make things interesting, it sheds a light on things we didn't know about which changes the way we think about the things we did know. Just as with Secret Identity, it's not the spandex outfits or trick arrows that make this an interesting story, it's that we can all relate to Oliver's struggle to prepare for his own death.

[MosBen]

Supreme Power: High Command (Stracynski)
Truth be told, given the unusually high quality of stuff that I’ve come across lately, the fact that this book is just “good” is kind of a let down. Marvel continues their “what if the DCU happened in the real universe” story and while it’s interesting, I can’t help but think that, if you’re not following in individual issues, you’re better off waiting for the nice big hard cover volumes that give you a more full story arc. As it is, this volume addresses some threads that have been building for a little while but feels more like it’s a volume that builds things up more than it really pays them off. After a few more trades come out I’m sure I’ll appreciate it more, but I just wish I had that next one now.

Sleeper: Out In The Cold (Brubaker)
I know next to nothing about the Wildstorm Universe. I bought a few W.I.L.D.C.A.T.S. issues back when I was in high school and even at 16 I thought it was awfully juvenile. Given that history, you can imagine how surprised I was to find that this book is actually good. Well, I wasn’t *that* surprised because I’ve heard nothing but gushing about Ed Brubaker. Still, this book centers on a super powered government agent who has gone deep undercover within a super powered criminal organization. We’re not talking the Legion of Doom here. These guys are extremely organized and they play a long game of manipulation that even the resident superhero teams don’t see being played out. Brubaker gives us a rare insight into the villains’ side of the fence. Like so many great movies or TV shows about criminals it’s really great to catch yourself picking characters that you like from a group composed solely of killers and criminals.

Invincible Vol. 2 (Hardcover)
I think this book falls into what I call “The Success Problem”. So often in entertainment the creators don’t know if what they’re doing is going to be embraced by the audience so, even though they have big ideas for whatever story/movie/comic/whatever, when they get the green light to put something out they pare it all down to a nicely succinct story that ends on some nice closure. That way, if the trilogy of movies in their head never gets made or their comic gets cancelled after a dozen issues they can feel like they ended the project without too much ambiguity or hanging threads. Of course, as often happens these projects do take off and you’ve got to make sequels or making a second season of the TV show. Suddenly, though the Death Star is blown up we’ve got this new Emperor character to make things menacing. While sometimes this process of exploding the series back into vitality is a relatively seamless process, it’s a tough needle to thread and can often go wrong. There’s an afterward by Robert Kirkman in this volume that basically acknowledges that this is a series of stories that builds things up more than it pays them off. I’m sure that once we get past this portion of the book and things start cooking again I’ll be right back on board, but for now this set of stories doesn’t go much of anywhere, at least not that we’ll be able to see for a little while.

I've actually got even more books to read, so I'll probably have more reviews up in the Comics Day Thread.

[Kefkataran]

When it pisses off even Kef.... I kinda wanna read it now, there's a good chance I'll just explode like a Spinal Tap drummer.

It didn't piss me off, it just reeked of obviousness, and that made it super-boring to me.

I gotta disagree with your verdict on Runaways/Young Avengers, I don't read those two series but I thought it was a really solid first issue for their Civil War tie-in. I'm actually a bit interested in reading both books now, so I may have to look into some TPBs.

I hear Young Avengers is fantastic, but I haven't read it yet. That said, I MUST echo the sentiments expressed by Erich: PICK UP the Runaways hardcover. The whole first 16-issue run, and it's SO good and very cheap.

Ultimate War is FAR more an Xmen book than it is an Ultimates book. The idea that the Ultimates are clearly the badguys, though, is purely your interpretation of events and has nothing to do with their role in the actual story. As far as they are concerned, and rightly so, The Xmen and Charles Xavier are enemies of the state due to their outright betrayal of the United States Government. They basically kept from justice the biggest mass murderer the world has ever known. It would be like if you were hiding Osama Bin Laden in your basement, and then when people find out, you claim that they're clearly the badguys for hunting you down.

I'm off target because I disagree with you? Right. I realize this is more an X-Men book than an Ultimates book (thus being, you know, an ULTIMATE X-MEN trade), but there there are still a lot of scenes with the Ultimates here. Unfortunately, because we do get more X-Men scenes and are given the X-Men as the good guys, the Ultimates are presented in a very bad light with much less sublety than what goes on in the actual Ultimates title. I mean what you're saying is right, but because the readers are let in on the "truth" and know how misled the Ultimates are, they're just very plainly laid out as wrong. I can certainly see how you'd take the Ultimates side, but you can tell that's not the side Millar wants you to take. And I don't see how the fact that it had been building in all the previous Ultimate stuff (almost all of which I've already read and know what you're talking about) is any excuse for this book not having a worthwhile plot.

I love Millar and I even love most of his Ultimate X-Men run (in fact, I'd say Volume 6, the volume following this, is one of my fave X-Men stories I've read). But the fact is that NOTHING HAPPENS IN THIS BOOK. It's like a dumb summer action movie -- some cool fights and explosions, but completely forgettable in the end. Some people might find that worth their money, but I felt let down.

I picked up DMZ Vol. 1 on a whim today because I saw it cheap on the "Employee's Choice" rack of the bookstore I was at. I read the first issue and really loved it. Planning to review it for next week, I think.

[thecrazyd]

I've been meaning to check out DMZ. Maybe I will grab it if the shop has it next week. I wasn't able to go this week because there was this huge gay pride parade in Hillcrest, and wouldn't you know it, that is where my comic shop is. Damnit.

[Kefkataran]

Gays hate you, the d.

I think you'd get into DMZ. I need to read the rest, but parts of the first issue had a really thin (but nice) Transmet vibe. Otheriwse, just wait for my review and see how the whole trade pans out.

[TrackZero]

I've been meaning to check out DMZ. Maybe I will grab it if the shop has it next week. I wasn't able to go this week because there was this huge gay pride parade in Hillcrest, and wouldn't you know it, that is where my comic shop is. Damnit.

Heh, actually it was only a little while back I ventured over to my preferred comic store here in T.O. (One Million Comix, wooo!). Which, as it happens is directly in the path of the annual "Pride" parade. Not putting two and two together, I went to the store on my day off work to get the new Civil War and wondered why so many people were in the streets on a weekday. Then I saw the assless chaps and remembered the festival was in full swing. Fun times.

[thecrazyd]

Heh, actually it was only a little while back I ventured over to my preferred comic store here in T.O. (One Million Comix, wooo!). Which, as it happens is directly in the path of the annual "Pride" parade. Not putting two and two together, I went to the store on my day off work to get the new Civil War and wondered why so many people were in the streets on a weekday. Then I saw the assless chaps and remembered the festival was in full swing. Fun times.
It is impossible to miss the SD pride festival. I was walking to the shop thinking, "wow, there are a lot of street vendors out today," then "wow, there are a lot of rainbow flags hanging out today." Then I saw the blockades on the road, and thought "damnit, not again." Couldn't even get within 5 blocks of the shop.

[Heretic Machine]

Man, Richards had Peter under a microscope for like... ever, along with Tony Stark during that whole "Evolve or Die" story. How the fuck could they not know about his spider sense? Unless it is hooked in with the hokey mystical side of the character, in which case I want it to be retconned out so we can forget it forever.

[MosBen]

I read the first DMZ trade a month or so ago and really liked it, other than that I can't get used to the name "Matty". Still, very interesting stuff and I can't wait to see where they take it.

[Spigot]

Good reviews this week, fellas.

Couple of points.

First off, isn't Daredevil the Man Without Fear, not the Man Of Fear?

Secondly, I still recall the Ultimate War TPB as one of my favourite UXM books. Granted, I read it a year or so ago when I was just getting back into comics and had just discovered the Ultimate universe and therefore my sophisticated comic palette had not yet become the refined instrument that it is today. HOWEVER, I will have to go back and get it from the library again and see if it's as by-the-numbers and uninspired as you claim or if my memory is correct and it's actually enjoyable.

Thirdly, if you read Amazing Spiderman #534 you've basically read this week's Fantastic Four. Same story, slightly different take on the events with the focus more on the anti-registration side than the pro-reg angle Amazing Spidey had. Both were great issues, it's just that they basically told the same story.

Fourthly, I quite enjoyed the Young Avengers/Runaways tie-in. I've never read either book and I am sufficiently intrigued to start bothering the library to see if they can get some Runaways trades in if possible. I still say that Machine Man from NextWave needs to stop in and visit his son, Victor and patch him up :)

Ok. NOW I'm going to stop talking about comics and go play some games. So much for my self-imposed exile. This is what going camping for 2+ days with no gadgets whatsoever will do to a person's resolve!

[Everlost_MI]

First off, isn't Daredevil the Man Without Fear, not the Man Of Fear?

Fourthly, I quite enjoyed the Young Avengers/Runaways tie-in. I've never read either book and I am sufficiently intrigued to start bothering the library to see if they can get some Runaways trades in if possible. I still say that Machine Man from NextWave needs to stop in and visit his son, Victor and patch him up :)


You are correct about DD, thanks for catching that. It's now fixed. Uh...Victor's Dad is Ultron not Machine Man...if I remember right?

[Spigot]

I was being sarcastic about Machine Man being Victor's dad... From the CW crossover though, I just thought it would be a great team-up. Machine Man would be the father Victor never wanted.

[Kefkataran]

Secondly, I still recall the Ultimate War TPB as one of my favourite UXM books. Granted, I read it a year or so ago when I was just getting back into comics and had just discovered the Ultimate universe and therefore my sophisticated comic palette had not yet become the refined instrument that it is today. HOWEVER, I will have to go back and get it from the library again and see if it's as by-the-numbers and uninspired as you claim or if my memory is correct and it's actually enjoyable.

As always with comics, taste and mileage may vary, but compared to some of Millar's other work on UXM (such as Vol. 6, Return of the King, which rocked really hard), I just didn't think this was anything special at all. Not bad, I guess, if you just want a quick, dirty X-Men story, but... meh.

[Sazime]

Thirdly, if you read Amazing Spiderman #534 you've basically read this week's Fantastic Four. Same story, slightly different take on the events with the focus more on the anti-registration side than the pro-reg angle Amazing Spidey had. Both were great issues, it's just that they basically told the same story.
Yes, the same story, but the FF version included some very enlightening details on what was going on, as well as an ending with a lot more impact.
You are correct about DD, thanks for catching that. It's now fixed. Uh...Victor's Dad is Ultron not Machine Man...if I remember right?
You are correct sir. Machine Man is Aaron Stack, whom we all know and love from Nextwave. Not tied to Runaways at all.