Fresh thread for the new year.

Thunderbolts #118
Stuff begins to break down for the T-bolts, all over the place. The big point is that Andreas Strucker (Swordsman) has hatched a big plan to continue in his dad's footsteps and become a new "Baron Strucker", complete with the cueball look. It's a bit confusing, since, as Swordsman, he seemed to be working against his dad and Hydra, about two years ago. But, you could justify this as "he's just bat-shit crazy". With the way this book's been going, I wouldn't be surprised if Strucker and his whole plan fall apart, next issue. Plus, Venom goes off on his own and starts eating people, in a very ALIEN-ish way.

I'm not a fan of the "younger villain becomes his dad" stuff that Marvel's pulled over the decades. Baron Zemo was okay, but I never dug Harry Osborn, and I hated the Richard Fisk as Kingpin crap, circa 1989. Andreas becoming the new "Baron Strucker" reads like that awful Kingpin ascension.

Marvel-wide, it looks as if the whole "post-Civil War/Initiative" stuff is falling apart. I haven't been reading the previews from 3 months away, so lemme' know if I'm grossly incorrect. I'm okay with it, since we kinda' KNEW everything would revert, eventually. Plus, the plots have been flowing naturally and don't seemed forced too much (hiya, DC!).

With the exception of Spider-Man, that is.

EvE! Thanks for the invite, bud. Go figure, my first post here at dWb is in the comix forum. I love it.

As for weekly comic buys, I haven't bought anything yet this year. Tha'll be next week when the next JLA comes out. I might actually pick up last week's Countdown, just to see what happens on Earth-51. I read the spoilers over at CBR and on Newsarama, but every once in a while, I just like to pick up something and see it for myself.


Just so's ya know, about the only mags I pickup now are JLA, JSA, Teen Titans, the current Superman/Legion story arc and occasional other ones. I used to pick up Flash, but after the Bart fiasco, they really havne't done shit with Wally since he came bacck, and the emphasis on their kids is fucking ridiculous. Bah.

Hello, dWb!!!!!! JimBob is amongst you.

ps - I think I might stick with calling you EvE.

;-)

DC hasn't received much support around here, lately. For about 15 years I was primarily into DC. I always have high hopes for their characters, but I've really been turned off since all the Infinite Final Identity Countdown CRISIS stuff has been going on.

But please feel free to keep us informed with the going-ons in DC. I read Nightwing, Batman, Brave & the Bold and Superman/Batman. I wouldn't be opposed to jumping back into DC. Their current stuff just has me disillusioned. Geoff Johns and "Black Lanterns"? WTF!?!

Amazing Spider-Man #546
First installment of the "Brand New Day" ("RESET") Spidey. I'm sure this would've been an ejoyable Spidey yarn in 1982, but with the way they flushed out the last 25 years of character development, a reader should be scared about getting burned again. Why should we care what Spidey's problems are, now? Mephisto or some other demon can come in and make everything right. Grrr..

Anyways: I like the art in this rag. It's from the Guy Who Did Civil War. Harry Osborn seems to be getting a big push, as he's more like the spoiled brat from the movies. They're also teasing that the new "officially sanctioned hero" Jackpot could be Mary Jane. She's a redhead and says "Tiger". Yeah...have fun with that.

The gripes: there's a somewhat condescending "guide to the NEW Spidey status quo" in the back. Biggest thing is "NOBODY knows who Spider-Man is. Not Daredevil, not the Avengers, nobody! A few people seem to recall him unmasking during Civil War, but they can't remember who was under the mask". Peter almost maried MJ, but now he's a swingin' wild n' crazy guy, daddy-o! Oh yeah, external synthetic web-shooters are also back.

Damn... Spidey needs to send Mephisto a frickin' fruit basket. His public identity problem has been resolved and he's no longer married. No divorce papers, alimony or anything...just, POOF, it's gone! Only supposed "down side" is that Harry's back. But Harry is loaded and gives Peter a gi-normous lump of cash in this issue. What a great deal from Your Pal, Mephisto!

Tony Stark: call Mephisto at your earliest convenience. Steve Rogers would appreciate it.

Yeah, I'm really irritated as the One More Day thing was basically a way to erase EVERYTHING that JMS did on Spiderman. While saying he was an awesome writer, to boot.

Also, Quesada did an interview with Yahoo where he basically says that Spiderman is less interesting with Parker married, which is ironic as the only reason I got so into it is BECAUSE he got married

Seriously, if they ever, EVER thought to do something like this to Superman, I would never buy another comic again as long as I live.

I'll keep ya posted on the DC stuff. I'm kinda looking forward to it cuz there's been rumors that Kal-L, Connor and Bart might make the Black Lantern roster. Funny how there hasn't been any mention of Barry, tho. Hmmmmmmmm, he's still alive?

Switched my subscription over to Captain America. Funny thing, I got to issues of Spiderman in the mail at the SAME DAMN TIME, before I could get my subscription switched. I'm a little pissed.

Speaking of subscription, who do you order thru? I've never done it before. I still kinda get a kick out of traveling to the comic shop every week. (OLD SKOOL!) Do they show up on the day they're released? What's the cost?
Just curious is all.

I went straight through Marvel. I tried getting a subscription through Amazon once, and it burned me. Never saw an issue. This way I know who I'm dealing with, and I got offered the chance to switch the subscription once OMD ended.

Do you receive them on Wednesdays then?

I got two issues of Amazing Spiderman today. I haven't really noticed consistency in when they arrive

Marvel is decent with subs. You'll get one here and there that has been totally destroyed but that happens rarely. DC, on the other hand, is awful. Marvel might be a little late with some books but you tend to get books early. With DC I was getting some books 4-8 weeks after the release date and they wouldn't deal with me at all when my sub was running out and had my money so to speak. Also they fucked my Teen Titans sub up by giving me Teen Titans Go which made no sense considering the price point is different for both books.

How soon we forget "Man of Steel" :)

I found a cheap eBay subscription dealer, which is how I've been getting "Amazing Spider-Man", since about May. It took 3 months to get the subscription started, but it was worth it. My subscription ended up being processed through Marvel, so I get all the Marvel notices and stuff. Same thing as if I had gone though Marvel, directly. The same guy/store also sells FF, Ultimate Spidey, Wolverine and a few others. No DC stuff, though.

I paid with my PayPal credit of crap I had sold on eBay. So basically, I was trading some Heroclix trash and old Archie comics for 12 issues of Spider-Man.

I think I'll stick to my trip to the comic store. it's only four mintues away. As for the "Man Of Steel" thingy, I was talking aobut if they ever did the OMD/wiping out the marriage with Supes/Lois. Doomsday/Electric-Red Supes/Mullet Superman bs aside.

I go to the shop every week, too. Usually via bike, but the weather's been too bad for that, lately.

With the Spidey Brand New Day crap, they've basically pulled a DC "CRISIS effect" on the character. Sure, that stuff is always subject to happen to any hero in comics, but it's still weak. I can't think of one hero who hasn't been subject to ret-cons and revisions over the past 30 years. Aside from worthless guys like Frogman or Ballistic, that is.

-Batman's Joe Chill (an awful character) was wiped away, then brought back for no good reason in "Infinite CRISIS".

-The whole JLA "Wonder Woman, no Black Canary, no Wonder Woman again" thing.

-Pa Kent was dead for about 10 years until they wanted to bring him back in "Man of Steel". Plus the whole Superboy mess (wiping out his presence in "Legion" and stating that Clark was never Superboy).

-Luthor now being ret-conned into Superman's Smallville days to coincide with a teeny bopper TV show.

-Iron Man was "updated" so that now his origin takes place in Afghanistan instead of Vietnam.

-Aunt May dying, twice before (circa Spidey #200, then Spidey #400), then being brought back because writers like the old coot. Keeping with the pattern, I fully expect her to "die" around Spidey 600.

-Marvel's AWFUL "soul power" reset of Black Panther in 2004. This one pissed me off more than anything. No explanation; just that Radioactive Man is suddenly Russian, Black Knight is a Vatican super-soldier, Captain America was in Wakanda in WW2, and Klaw is completely different. Screwing around with not only Panther history, but Avengers history.

Basically, the writers are given WAY too much power in modern comics. They all want to "do a version of this hero that's never been done before". Then the next regime wants to revert things to a 1982 status quo. Or a writer reads a random back issue and thinks: "hey, why don't we bring THIS back?!" So they keep flip-flopping the characters around, never really going anywhere, in their own sick Cosmic Treadmill effect.

I just raided my local comic shops. I'm still using a gift card from Christmas at Walden's, so I'm saving a bit of money, though there are a couple of small shops near my apartment that I like supporting too. Here's what I picked up today.

Uncanny X-Men #300. I've been looking for this one for a long time, and it's finally mine.

X-Men Omega: This was the one shot blow-off to the Age of Apocalypse saga. I never had it, because when it was released, I was a young whipper-snapper, and could only go where my parents went. And the only place I could get comics was at the grocery store, and they didn't want to see one-shots (a grudge to which I hold to this day). But now, it's finally mine.

X-Factor #25: This is chapter 3 in Messiah Complex, and I missed out on it during it's first printing, so I have the variant edition. Still, I could care less about that, I just want the whole story (without buying the TPB, of course).

Astonishing X-Men #24: It's about goddamn time this fucker came out and the X-Men in space story can finally conclude.

New X-Men #46.

Immortal Iron Fist #12.

Wolverine Origins #21.

Umbrella Academy #5

X-Factor #27.

X-Men #207

Really...the foil-covered one from about 1993? It's funny... people say that comics from 1992-1996 are a dime a dozen and easily found, but some of that stuff is simply hard to find, when you want it.

It took me YEARS to find the Avengers issues from that era (specifically the awful "Taking AIM" issues, circa issue 385 or so).

No, when it comes to finding X-Men comics from that era, the basic, nothing special issues are pretty much a dime a dozen. But when it comes to big one shots or special issues like #300, then it's a pain in the ass. I think I might've had a chance to get #300 at a convention last year, but they wanted a lot of money for it, and I only paid $8 for my copy yesterday.

Huh...I've always seen #300 as another run-of-the-mill issue. Usually not more than a few bucks. I never knew it was a premium issue. Aside from the wacky foil-cover, that is.

The "Alpha" and "Omega" books have usually maintained their price-- around 5-12 bucks since they came out in 1995.

How's your X-men collection from around issue 244 to 285? I have a few of those laying around.

Aside from the cover, yeah, #300 isn't anything special as an issue itself. It's just been hard for me to find.

And as far as 244-285 goes, those issues are from before I started buying comics (I was only ages 4-7 during that era, so even if I had bought them, they'd be in shit condition anyhow).

Every now and then I pick up back issues, so I have #'s 248, 253, 260, 262, 278, and 281. Also have Annual #15.

If you're ever jones-ing for some issues from around that time, drop me a line. They're fairly cheap, so I'd cut you a good deal.

Noted, I'll keep that in mind :).

And by the way, what was that online comic inventory site you posted a while back? I joined it, but lost the link when I got the new computer.

Think this was it:
ComicBookDB.com

Glad you reminded me. I forgot about it and I absolutely NEED to index my collection. Might take until June 2018, though.

I'm just going by memory, working my way through the letter B.
http://www.comicbookdb.com/collection.php?ID=7938

http://www.comicbookdb.com/collection.php

It's a work in progress.

Try it again, Rowe. You'll need a unique "ID" at the end of that URL.

Or, roundabout way: under the "Hello" menu on the left, click "myComicBookDB". Once you're on that page, click the link over on the right that says: "View SamoaRowe's collection". The resulting page is what you'll want to link to.

One thing that I'd like to see available is a "subscribe me to this title" button. That way, when new issues of certain titles come out, they're automatically added to your collection. It'd save you from having to log-in and update new issues or current titles, manually.

But, that'd prevent someone from logging-in and possible click-through revenue for the site. So I can understand their business model. They want people to keep coming back.

http://www.comicbookdb.com/collection.php?ID=7940

Alright, this is more of a "comic comment that doesn't warrant a thread", but since you're an X-men fan, I think it's relevant. Anyways, is it true that the X-men have all "aged", at real time, over the past two years or so?

Some schmuck was telling me how Cyclops is now in his late 50's, Kitty's in her late 20's, etc. He was saying it was so wonderful and clever and how they've been doing this "gradually over the past decade". That their ages now line up to how old the original comics were. I asked him if he was talking about "Ultimate X-men", but he said it was the mainstream Marvel X-men.

Huh?

I kinda' got the sense that this guy was a complete doorknob, but is there any truth to that?

No, they are doing a fine job keeping the aging process slowed down. Stuff like "M-Day" is still only a few months ago, etc. Cyclops is in his mid to late 20's and Kitty Pryde is probably around 19, or 20 now.

They're going to have to do something with Magneto's character history at some point too. He could only have been a Holocaust survivor for so long as time keeps going by. At this point, they are suggesting he was a very young child when it happened.

A smart writer should never have to adjust Magneto's age. Magento was de-aged to an INFANT in the 70's by the Stranger...plus he died once or twice since then. it's very fuzzy, and open to interpretation, on how many years Maggie has skipped. So if they actually pay attention to his past, they should know that Magneto has had an "age escape clause" built into him for over 30 years now. He can be a kid in the Holocaust and remain that way for the next 50 years. Unlike Ben Grimm and Reed Richards who were originally WWII vets!

I remembered that the doorknob also told me that Kitty is "running for mayor of Chicago". So I Googled "Kitty Pryde Mayor"...and it looks like this dumbshit was talking about 2004's "X-men: The End". An alternate reality/timeline mini-series.

What a tool. I asked him if he was talking about the real/mainstream/Marvel U X-men. I specifically asked: "this isn't some alternate reality special, one-shot or anything like that, right? It's the same X-men who might run into Spider-Man and the Avengers... right?! The guys who are on issue 500 or something, right?" He swore it was and that it was the coolest thing he had ever read.

I've always maintained that that's one of the big problems with Marvel's "Ultimate" line and other divergent crap. It confuses the hell out of the casual fan who hadn't heard of X-men before the movies, or the 90's FOX carton. So this guy had all the enthusiasm in the world for the franchise...but he thinks his lil' mini-series is the real deal and that it coincides with all the other X-men books that have been published since 1963.

Retard. He's a single guy who goes to gaming conventions by himself and gets his picture taken with booth bimbos. Then emails it to everyone, cuz' he thinks they want the picture in their "spank bank". He also maintains that X-men comics are better than porno. He's older than me.....

:lol: Nice, nice. And good call on Magneto, I forgot all about him being reduced to infancy.

Superman/Batman #45
They decided to round up all the Kryptonite on Earth....and place it in one big ass vault. If you can't see the inevitable climax of this, you just haven't read comics. Aquaman objects to them stealing a big chunk from the bottom of the ocean. Y'see, ancient Atlantean structures are encased by it (of course, the Kryptonite could only have been there maybe 30 years, but it's Logic in Comics).

The JLA pitches in and it's supposedly tough getting heroes to "work" on a Sunday. Oh, that's right...DC likes to believe that all superheroes punch a clock and spend five days a week, 9 to 5, doing hero stuff. Silly me.

Batman & The Outsiders #3
Big fight with a captured OMAC and some more JLA guys show up. There's a tiff about Geo-Force being "transferred" to the Outsiders. More of that 9 to 5, clock punching crap. So when does somebody get pissed and try to form a union to pay off the health bills of retured superheroes?

GI Joe: America's Elite #31
Everytime I add another entry to my GI Joe Comic Index, my enjoyment of the current series falls down another notch. It's supposedly "World War 3"... but the Joes are too busy playing tag with the new Plague Troopers. Yeah, I've always wanted a big global war between GI Joe and Cobra... with everyone playing tag. Cobra Commander also recruits Dela Eden, of the Red Shadows, to go after Destro and the Baroness. Nice to see that they haven't forgotten the Shadows, but I'm not thrilled at seeing more of them. At least they brought in the most interesting one: Dela Eden.

Thunderbolts: Breaking Point #1 (one shot)
Fills in the blanks for some of the issues Songbird has. Her mom makes an appearance, hoping to butter up Songbird for exclusive book rights. Then it's reiterated that Norman Osborne is a scumbag. This is really only worth reading if you've followed the old Thunderbolts. There's also some quick fisticuffs with a loon named "Brother Nature" and the old (shitty) Spidey villains, the Jury.

I switched my subscription to Captain America and they STILL sent me SpiderMan.

Lots of updates today. And tough luck on your subscription, Swiggy, I know that I stopped buying Spider-Man myself.

I sat LongBox #1 in front of me over the weekend and tried to index everything. I started getting worn out when I had to enter all the information for "All-American Men of War". I even indexed all my fricking ALF comics. Made it about 2/3 of the way into it,-- around "All-Star Squadron"-- then quit. This thing will take me years.


Oh yeah, remember I was whining about how it'd be nice to "subscribe" to a title on there? They have an option that says "add to my pull list" that does exactly what I was talking about. You can also export all your crap to a CSV file for use in spreadsheet programs. So far, I'm really liking this site. Haven't looked into the "sell" feature, yet.

I made a nice little find today and picked up Uncanny X-Men #127.

Mighty Avengers #8
Once again, there's a big massive menace. Once again, they whip a secret formula that saves the day. Buncha' random punching in between. This title's been on a steady nosedive since its debut.

Batman #673
Batman's hallucinating after getting blasted in the chest, last issue. He thinks back (?) to Joe Chill. It's implied that Batman gave Chill a gun and Chill, filled with guilt and fear, shot himself. Great... explain to me again why so many people missed this worthless character? Post-hallucination, Batman wakes up tied to a chair in front of that goofy Anti-Bat from the past few months. These are getting tougher to read....

Nightwing #....oh fuck it, whatever the issue was that came out last week
Tthe biggest pile of horsecrap of any Nighwing comic I've read, yet it may also be one of the worst DC Comics I've read. That's saying a lot.

Nightw...err, excuse me, DICK meets Superman. Supes is working on a grave robber case and wants to compare notes with Dick. Yay. Then a buncha' other heroes come over to Dick's new museum and help him move in. Tee hee. Then Dick hops on a hang-glider and flies by Batm...err, excuse me, BRUCE's limo and tells him thanks for all the financial help.

That's your comic. $2.99, please.

It's depressing that this type of shlop is being eaten up by DC's fanbase. Fans apparently want to see all the heroes hanging out and being pals as if they're all in some labor union. That might be okay if it happened once a year in a team book...but to have it, every other month, across all of DC's books?! Horsecrap.

Do I have any constructive criticism? Sure... DC should look at their mid to late 90's comics. Heroes worked their respective cases and if they happened to cross paths with other heroes, great. But they weren't calling each other up every half hour like a buncha' teenaged broads who wanna' talk about Justin Timberlake and ponies. They weren't assholes to each other, despite what DC wants you to believe. Batman, supposedly the biggest jerk of the 90's was very helpful with other heroes-- even young dolts like Aztek, Connor Hawke or Arsenal (Roy Harper). Most importantly, they didn't use their real names so casually. Villains weren't all on one team and neither were the heroes. The pages were usually filled with ACTION...not this fraternity bullshit that DC loves.

I'm trying to weather this storm with DC. But ever since "Identity Crisis"-- now almost 4 years ago-- all of their comics have been pissing me off. 4 years of garbage should be enough...but I'm dumb. I keep buying thinking that maybe the next issue will be fun.

Uncanny X-Men #495.

I was hoping to find out what became of Bishop after Messiah Complex wrapped up, but hopefully that will be addressed in one of the other X-titles. Otherwise, this was a transistion issue, as Emma and Scott are on vacation in the Savage Land and Wolverine, Colossus, and Nightcrawler are in Europe. Enjoyable read.

Lots of more updates. I'm getting near the end of my collection, I think. It's not too bad considering that I took eight years off from buying them and I'm only 23.

New buys, haven't read any yet:

Fantastic Four #554
X-Force #1
Wolverine Origins #22
Wolverine #62
Umbrella Academy #6
X-Factor #28

Hulk #1 (2008)
The new "Red Hulk" series. Doc Samon (with short hair, despite his concurrent appearance with a ponytail in "Thunderbolts") and She-Hulk play a little gamma forensics, as they try to figure out why the Hulk would've beaten the crap out of the Abomination...and then whipped out a GUN to blow him away. The "Winter Guard" (formerly the Soviet Super-Soldiers) show up for a little brouhaha. Bruce Banner is safely locked up below Gamma Base, so they've got three big mysteries: why is Hulk red, who or what is this new Hulk and why is he using a gun?

Seems interesting...but with Hulk you just know that within a year he'll be back to the ol' green "Hulk Smash" persona. I think the challenge with Hulk would be to tell an interesting story about "Hulk Smash" Hulk...not always rely on changes in physical appearances to make him interesting.

New Avengers #37
Ooops...look like I missed "New Avengers Annual #2", where they had a big fight with the Hood and Dr. Strange was de-powered. So this issue is about Jessica Jones splitting with Luke Cage and taking their baby to live in (mighty) Avengers Tower. The two teams meet up ..and once again it's "we'll let you walk this time-- but NEXT time we're taking you in!.". Wow, how many times has Marvel used that tactic over the past year?