Weekly Comics Haul/Reviews — 21st November 2008
Thursday, November 27th, 2008Well I promised to start reviewing comics starting with last week’s haul. I guess running 6 days late counts as a failure.
But not to worry. I’m going to push on regardless. I promised reviews and reviews I shall deliver.
Thunderbolts #126
The first post-Secret invasion comic released by Marvel is also one the the best comics they’ve released in months. The issue doesn’t give much of the SI storyline away. It reads much like one of the “downtime” issues from the 90’s era X-Men. Except instead of playing baseball, Songbird and Swordsman are moping around and burning their dead, the really evil characters are busy being evil and Norman Osbourne faces up to a government committee hearing on his role during the Skrull invasion.
This issue marks a new creative team: Andy Diggle on words and Roberto De La Torre on pencils. I’d never read any of their previous work so I came in sans preconceptions. It’s a credit to this team that I didn’t actually notice the change in roster until well after I’d finished reading the book. Provided they keep to a regular schedule (something Warren Ellis wasn’t able to do) then this should become a top 20 book.
Uncanny X-Men #504
I’ll say one thing about Matt Fraction. Dude has created some of the best “ohmygod” moments I’ve read in comic form this year. Nikola Telsa fighting a demonic JP Morgan, Iron Fist exploding a train with one punch, and, with this issue, reintroducing the eccentric Dr Nemesis to the Marvel Universe. He of the guns that fire science!
Half the issue consists of Beast and Angel trying to convince Dr Nemesis to join the X-Men, in between fighting off tube-grown supernazis. The rest of the issue has Emma Frost taking a psychic stroll through Cylops’…well, I guess you’d call it his spank bank. A hotel full of X-Women, both past and present. Psylocke; Rogue and two Storms, both classic and mohawked. But strangely no red-heads.
The art, by Terry Dodson, moves along at a cracking pace. Had the issue being “drawn” by Greg Land (the other penciller in the Uncanny X-Men stable, then a lot of the great kinetic interaction between Beast, Angel and Dr Nemesis would’ve been lost.
Complete pull list:
Angel: After the Fall #14
Ex Machina #39
The Flash #246
Trinity #25
Thunderbolts #126
Ultimate Fantastic Four #58
Uncanny X-Men #504
X-Factor #37
X-Men: Legacy #218














