Mini-Reviews from @JoshCritic
Guardians of the Galaxy #1:
Or, as people who know how to count might like to consider it, “Guardians of the Galaxy #2.” Amazingly, this “first” issue actually hits the ground running. As a Bendis/McNiven joint on its own terms, it’s not bad, if a little slight. But the real selling point of this new GotG series, to my mind, is the early look at what the Marvel movie cosmic stuff will feel like.
Cause think about it; this is the first time Marvel’s been able to take a property with nothing currently invested in it and make it resemble the movieverse before the movie’s even come out. Just as a minor for-instance: check out the “Council of Galactic Empires”. We’ve seen this kind of thing a lot, but not with this lineup. Right off the bat, Spartax–which has been about as relevant to the MU in recent years as the planet Melmac–now has a front-row seat. Star-Lord even refers to his father as “king of the galaxy”. He’s being flippant, but the issue makes it seem like it’s not that far off. The Brood are also present, which is weird. I can’t imagine, say, the United Federation of Planets ever inviting Xenomorphs to their club. And then there’s Annihilus, who should not only be at the top of every planet’s hit list, but isn’t even technically part of our galaxy. All of which means little except to reinforce my point that Marvel obviously views their cosmic mythology as particularly malleable. If nothing else, I’d wager Spartax will be a major cosmic player in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, akin to the role the Shi’ar usually play.
G.I. Joe #1:
Well, I gave it a look because the movie’s coming out. And that right there should tell you I deserved whatever I got. It wasn’t terrible, but I lost patience with the “GI Joe by way of Youngblood” concept real quick. I mean, like, Page 3 quick. And while someone may have used that “famous/infamous” line before Jonah Jameson, it’s his now, by god. It felt hollow at the end of this. And there isn’t much beyond that. Duke and Shipwreck had a couple good lines. The Sunbow jokes felt forced. Hashtag is ridiculous. The end.
Superior Spider-Man #2-4:
I wonder what it says that I’m finding myself liking Doc Ock as Spider-Man more than Peter. First of all, it’s entertaining as hell to see him react to everything with two different, conflicting sets of memories. Secondly, nearly everything Ghost Peter has been chiding Otto about has made him sound like a ridiculous child.
Uncanny X-Men #2:
I liked it better than the first issue. Bendis’ characterization of Scott and Emma is better than I’d feared. My biggest fear remains Bendis unilaterally deciding, “Hey, Cyclops is crazy. He was totally crazy THE WHOLE TIME, you guys!”
Batman Incorporated #8:
Holy shit, Bat-Cow is gonna be PIIIIIIIISSED.
Batman #17:
Goddamn. That’s how you end a good Joker story right there.
April 4th, 2013 at 4:47 am
I don’t have high hopes for Guardians as it’s by Bendis. I just usually find him to be one of those writers that doesn’t really try to make use of continuity (as in, “if it gets in my way I’ll ignore it”).
April 10th, 2013 at 3:08 pm
I didn’t mind when Bendis said that the DnA incarnation of the Guardians was being revived by him for Marvel NOW. Corporate owned characters. Movie coming out. Even though they brought that team to an AWESOME end in The Thanos Imperative which Bendis negated without explanation, I shrugged. I still had my old comics. Happens all the time.
I didn’t mind when Bendis bragged about how his GotG book would be much more tied to Earth and the MARVEL CONTINUITY META PLOT than it even was before. Again, synergy. Promoting the line. It happens.
-Then- Bendis began talking smack about DnA’s writing skills: “Well, they came up with some kind of, sort of okay SF ideas, I guess, but MY Guardians will be characters you can care about as PEOPLE, so NYAH!”
*teeth clench*
Bendis, you are the LAST person with a right to dis someone over their characterization skills. Mister “Oooh, how can I justify this long-term hero suddenly being evil? I know! They’re CAH-RAZY!”
DnA demonstrated excellent characterization skills in all their many, many projects, Bendis. And you used to…before you went all “Have the Son of Satan chew out innocent bystanders because they’re too lame to understand the Avengers” and the like.
Oh, well. I’m sure the film will be fine.