A Whole Nother New World

I'm going to reiterate that Marvel really does have the top artists working for them. Avengers one is absolutely beautiful. I've followed Opena through Ghost Rider and X-Force and he really keeps improving. Another cool thing is that it has a layout similar to Hickman's Image books which is kind of interesting that a writer has his own recognizable visual aesthetic. The script is solid, but pales in comparison to Hickman's creator-owned work. If I'm going to recommend you buy a book that he's writing, it would be Manhattan Projects. 

The last few pages seem somewhat rushed to move along the plot. Although in today's decompressed era it's a little nice to actually move the plot ,so it's not all bad. My biggest concern with this book is that with it's frequent schedule (every other week for this one and Hickman's  New Avengers will also run every other week so that Avengers will essentially be weekly) they are going to need to change artist for every story arc. Marvel will have other top artists working, but I wonder if it will hurt the consistency of the overall tone.


I wasn't much looking forward to this until I flipped through it. Steve Dillon is another top notch artist great with facial expressions, especially when said faces have bullets running through them. And although I find the Punisher to be one of the most boring popular characters Marvel has, there have been three runs in the past decade or so that I really loved. two of them were drawn by Steve Dillon (with scripts by Ennis and Aaron. In case you were wondering, the third run was Remender's).

Unfortunately the script was lacking. There was very little substance and I felt the humor fell flat (although that's more subjective). They wasted the entire first issue with a team recruiting story. The story focuses around Ross and the Punisher. The other vignettes where the other characters are recruited seems unnecessary and forced in just to remind readers that these characters are on the team (which the cover conveys perfectly).




This series has slowed down a lot since the first issue. The second issue was spent entirely with Wolverine's team and the original X-Men while this issue focuses on Cyclops's team. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I can enjoy a nice slow build (especially when we've already had three issues in the past four weeks it's not that long of a wait at all). The two plots converge at the end of this issue. Let's hope the payoff is big when we get to the next one.













Maybe not as funny as two, but still has a lot of laughs. This is the first Marvel Now book that's officially made my list.

A Whole Nother New World

Before starting each individual review this week, I'd first like to mention how spectacular the art is in these particular issues. The scripts were great. Don't get me wrong. But the artist have incalculably elevated these comicbooks. This is the industry's top talent.

And before I start this Hulk review, I'm going to tell an unrelated anecdote that I will forever associate with artist Lenil Yu:

Somewhere around a decade ago, I was hanging around in a comic store that I frequented. A stranger walked in, and we got to discussing comicbooks. We started discussing artists. I mentioned some artist that I liked and he replied, "I like Yu." After a few uncomfortable seconds of  silence he followed up with, "He draws Wolverine." When everyone realized what he meant, we all had a good laugh.

So now to the debut issue of Indestructible Hulk. The Hulk is easily my all-time favorite comicbook character. That being said, it's been nine years since I've bought more than three consecutive issues to any Hulk series. I like that they've tried a lot of different things throughout the years. I just haven't liked anything they've done. I always feel he's best when written to embody Frankenstein and the Wolfman. This comic unfortunately is not that. Fortunately though, it's really good.

The tone of this book seems to take its ques from the Avengers movie. (Which makes me realize that I've never mentioned on this site. I'll have to do something about that.) Mark Waid presents Banner as a genius who treats the Hulk as a condition or handicap to be dealt with. It's a lot lighter than recent years, and looks like it could be a lot of fun action without sacrificing characters and plot. A lot happens in these 20 pages.

And while I have been complaining about decompression and the 20-page format, a lot happens in this book. It goes from the '30s to present day to Dimension Z. John Romita Jr is one of my absolute favorite artists who often works with writes who I really dislike. Rick Remender has worked on some really stellar books and this one's no exception. It's got a very Fear Agent meets Kirby feel to it. If I were to recommend just one Marvel Now book, it's this one.

Deadpool continues to be very funny.

A Whole Nother New World

So now we're really in the thick of the Marvel Now relaunch, and this is the comic that really made me give these new Marvel books a second thought. I'm a pretty big fan of Brian Posehn's standup, and was actually a huge fan of Joe Kelley's run on the original Deadpool series. That being said, the only Deadpool issue I have read in the 13 years since he's left the series was the first issue of Daniel Way's run.

This is a pretty good start. Not hysterical, but I did laugh a few times. Like I mentioned, I haven't read any Deadpool in a while, but the premise and humor seems a little different: SHIELD is using Deadpool as an agent for the messy jobs that would garner bad publicity (which does exist) for the Avengers.

Although the script is good, what really sells it for me is Tony Moore's art. His facial expressions really bring it home. The most memorable part is a detailed two-page splash consisting of partying zombie presidents. My biggest concern with this title is that Moore cannot keep a monthly schedule let alone the twice monthly schedule that Marvel's pushing. I hope the book can sustain quality for the issues he's not drawing. On the optimistic side, Walking Dead has continued to be great throughout the 97 since he left.

Next is Iron Man which I enjoyed. The plot was solid. The characterization was spot on. The art looked great. The only thing this book was lacking is a uniqueness. It's a perfect book in the post Iron Man film Marvel universe, but really didn't seem all that different from what I've read of Fraction's or Ellis's runs. The only thing that really seems all that new is the armor's color. There is room for plenty of interesting directions to play out in the arc, but after a single issue, it seems to be a bit generic.

A Whole Nother New World

Marvel (who's used to being on top) has been having a little trouble keeping up with DC this past year since their line-wide relaunch. They do have a plan though. So first let me recap.

While DC lowered the page count to drop prices a dollar, Marvel followed. Only they just dropped the page count and left prices. They know that comic fans will complain about anything but will never stop buying.

Next thing, they cancelled any books that weren't Avengers, X-Men, or Spider-Man related. And all minis. Some got cancelled before they were finished, and some solicited books were cancelled before an issue came out. Then they started double-shipping most of their top selling books. 

Next is the big one. They needed a blockbuster. So they really brought out the think-tank for this one. I'm sure the meeting went something like this: 

What sells big? Crossovers. What do comic fans love? Superheroes fighting each other. Who are biggest superheroes? Avengers and X-Men. What do we call it? Avengers Vs X-Men. Brilliant. We'll double-ship it and it'll end in a line-wide relaunch.

And they promise that it's a relaunch and not a reboot whatever that means. And it's a slow relaunch. They say over twenty titles in four months. Marvel pretty much always relaunches titles, sometimes there's not even a change in creative team. So really what's the big deal with that?

While DC expanded their universe and tried to bring diversity (They gave some fringe books a chance. Some caught on. Some didn't.), Marvel's essentially playing musical chairs with their top books and top talent.

And that's not entirely a bad thing. People were pretty skeptical about DC's relaunch, but I think after its debut most people would agree that they're putting out a lot of quality stuff. A year ago I was buying no DC books, now I buy seven monthly titles. Right now I buy no Marvel books. Maybe they'll put something out worth buying. A lot of them seem interesting. They have only announced about half of the new titles so far, but as of now these are the ones I'm looking forward to:

Thor
Jason Aaron on Thor. If you don't realize how badass Jason Aaron is, perhaps you should look at this beard:

Hulk
I've loved the Hulk since I was a wee lad and he scared me on the TV lookee box. Although it's been nine years since I've read more than three consecutive issues, I always check it out whenever there's a writer change. Besides I bought Hulk #1 last year, I bought Hulk #1 in 2008, and I bought Hulk #1 in 1999.

Deadpool
Brian Posehn writing any comic and I'm there. Deadpool should be particularly awesome.

Top 10

So I recently made my 2010 top 10 list for Chunklet staff picks.  Since that's just a list, I figured I'd expand a little.  To build tension, I'm going to add numbers, pictures, and make a countdown.  I'm like VH1.  Here we go:

10. Brian Posehn-Fart & Wiener Jokes (Relapse)
I didn't just put this on my list to suck up to Henry.  This is obviously hilarious.  I mean, even if you don't have a CD player, you could just spend the hour laughing at the cover.  He's been telling a lot of these jokes for a while now, but they're still awesome.








9. VRSA-Old Man Gray (Last Bastion)
This is a band from CT that sent me their album sometime this summer.  It's pretty cool.  I think they like a lot of the same bands that I like.

8. Tom Jones-Praise and Blame (Sound Recorders) This is kind of a weird album of gospel music, but whatever.  It's Tom Jones.  I fucking rules.

7. High on Fire-Snakes For the Divine (E1)
A lot of people criticize this album for being more accessible, but I was never really that impressed with High On Fire until I heard this.  So fuck them.  This album's more badass than Rambo with a chainsaw gun.







6. MF Doom-MF Borat
This EP was recorded in 2006 when Sacha Baron Cohen was promoting the Borat movie.  Nothing was done with it, so Doom put it out on the internet earlier in the year.  The music's sampled from old soul songs.  It's great.  Should be easily available.  If not, let me know.  I'll put it up or something.

5. Mugison-Ítrekun

Ítrekun is Icelandic for live album.  Maybe.  I don't really know.  I speak American.  But I do know this live album is better than most studio albums I got this year.

4. Mondo Cane
Mike Patton performing old Italian pop songs with an orchestra.

3. (the) Melvins-The Bride Screamed Murder (Ipecac)
If anyone was reading any of the three websites that I write on in early June, you're probably wondering why this isn't number one.  I think because I'm still in my honeymoon stage with these next two albums.












2. Kylesa-Spiral Shadow (Season of Mist)
Perhaps the only band that I've written more about this year than The Mevins.  This album really pushes everything they've been doing.

1. Foetus-HIDE (Entopic Ents)
This is a perfect album from start to finish.  It incorporates some Steroid Maximus elements into Foetus.  Everyone should get this.  Go, Team Venture!