How were they? ver. 2 SPOILERS

[Jakew]

I've been catching up on the last few issues of Dark Horse's The Goon.

I also picked up some FEAR Agent TPBs, and the Thunderbolts: Caged Angels hardcover (by Warren Ellis and Christos Gage, collects Thunderbolts #116-121, "Thunderbolts: Breaking Point" and "Thunderbolts: International Incident").

Warren Ellis has really made some Marvel characters I had zero interest in (American Eagle, Steel Spider, Green Goblin, Doc Samson, etc) ... interesting with his Thunderbolts run.

[zuludelta]

Punisher #60
Written by: Garth Ennis
Art by: Goran Parlov

What can I say... It's Ennis' last issue on the critically-acclaimed series. It was a great ride, but I knew it would end. I never thought I'd say this about a Punisher comic book, but this one had me with a lump in my throat. Ennis has crafted a sentimental yet intelligent end to his run on the book, and I'm afraid that he's going to be an impossible act to follow.

Here's a quote from the end of the comic (taken from a character's memoirs regarding his brother, killed during the Vietnam War), it's a touching ode to the dead of the Vietnam conflict, while at the same time a subtle commentary on those serving in the conflict in the Middle East:

It's at twilight, or in the early morning that I remember Stevie best. The times he loved. The scent  of transmutation on the breeze. I watch the sky perform its ordinary miracle, and breathe the air so ripe with chance and say my magic words. Just two, over and over.

Valley Forge, Valley Forge
Valley Forge, are you receiving, over?
I say again, do you read, over?
Valley Forge, we lost you, how do you read, over?
Valley Forge--

This is America.
Can you hear us now?
Our lost one hundred-ninety-two.
Our cold, dead sixty thousand.

On your firebases, your hills, in paddy
fields and rainforests, sprinting through
the streets of ruined Hue;

Dozing on the decks of Hueys, tapping
magazines to settle bullets, lighting Marlboros
off precious Zippos, smiling, scared;

Captured in the whirr of Nikons, Leicas,
in muddy footage where the colors seem
to swell and run.

By our words, could we conjure you?

Could we conjure you up, and raise you from
that rich red soil, and bring you back?

To lovers. Sons and daughters. Kin.

To friends grown old without you, puzzled by
the youths beside them in the pictures.

To the porches and stoops
where you belong.

Or will you always be that endless line of
figures clad in green; receding single file
between the sun-drenched trees, swallowed
by gloom and glare in equal measure.

The steady lope of men weighed down by
packs. Ammunition for the sixties X-ed
across the gunners' backs in bandoliers.
Canteens clumsy at your hips.

Humping the boonies forever.

Valley Forge, Valley Forge.

Standing by to receive you.

Over.

[thanoson]

Superman- I liked this issue a lot. Krypto is just as tough as Supes. It was a cool fight against Atlas.

Deadpool #2- Wow, I haven't got a chuckle out of a book in a long time. His 4th wall question to a certain "Rob" was awesome.

[MJB]

Deadpool #2- Wow, I haven't got a chuckle out of a book in a long time. His 4th wall question to a certain "Rob" was awesome.

For those of us who do not read "Deadpool" what was this 4th wall question?

Thanks!!

-MJB

[Previsionary]

"That's why it's good to have lots of spare pouches. The more pouches, the better... right, Rob?"

he says it while training some skrones...clones + skrulls= skrones. COINED. Yeah. I totally coined that.

I'd usually write this in the X-thread with my other sumviews, but I thought the issue was a bit better. Still not "haha-hilarious" or anything. This has been a good week for Way compared to what came prior. *shudder*

[crimsonquill]

Deadpool #2- Wow, I haven't got a chuckle out of a book in a long time. His 4th wall question to a certain "Rob" was awesome.

For those of us who do not read "Deadpool" what was this 4th wall question?

Thanks!!

-MJB

Deadpool is leading a training class for a group of new super-skrulls that are made from Wade's DNA mix.. so he is teaching them how to have hand-to-hand combat without having hands. So he has them slice off their hands and then says..
(I'll hide the joke behind a spoiler)
[spoiler]"Hey, losing body parts is part of the job... Get used to it. Best thing to do is pick up what you can and hope you can get it re-attached before the flies show up. That's why is good to have alot of spare pouches. The more pouches the better. Right, Rob?"[/spoiler]

Edit: Awww.. Ninja posted by Prev..  :ph34r:

[GhostMachine]

Batman #680

Spewed forth (I refuse to call this crap `writing') by Grant Morrison
Pencilled by Tony Daniel
Inked by Sandu Florea

Part of the Batman R.I.P. storyline. If you haven't been reading Batman R.I.P., consider yourself lucky. If you have been reading it, this issue is the one that will most likely make you want Morrison's head on a pike, like myself, if you don't already. Fortunately, this crap is over with next issue, and better have one heck of a twist ending. The Joker is in this issue, and that's one the problems, as the way he's portrayed is beyond awful, and the cliffhanger ending is a very bad `WTF?' type deal.

Whenever Morrison leaves or is kicked off the book, he should NEVER be let anywhere near Batman ever again.

(Go read my latest post in the Batman R.I.P. thread - and I left it out of a spoiler box on purpose to let people know just how bad this garbage is)

Captain America #42

Written by Ed Brubaker
Pencils by Steve Epting with Luke Ross
Inked by Rick Magyar, Steve Epting and Fabio Laguna

Part 6 of The Man Who Bought America storyarc (which is Act 3 of The Death of Captain America). Bucky America and Sharon Carter both kick some butt this issue (not together, mind you, but acting seperately). If you've been sick of the Red Skull\General Lukin deal, this is the issue that will make you happy. Bru's writing has been top notch since I started reading this series (back in the teens or very early 20s), and this issue delivers. The ONLY thing I have a problem with is Bucky being romantically involved with the Black Widow; it just doesn't work for me. Falcon is in the issue but doesn't do much, and despite being on the cover Dr. Faustus is not in it. (He more or less betrayed the Red Skull, shaved off his beard for a disguise and left an issue or two back)

The cliffhanger ending is a hoot. (Make sure you're not eating or drinking when you turn to the last page. Seriously)

(Only other book that came in this week was Shonen Jump, and I don't feel like posting reviews of the books I got in last time, but I will say this: If you're not reading Wonder Woman or Justice Society of America, you should be - ESPECIALLY if you were a fan of Kingdom Come as far as the JSA series goes)

[Jakew]

I got the Punisher MAX: Valley Forge, Valley Forge TPB and The Boys: Good For The Soul TPB

Punisher MAX is easily the best thing I've ever read from Garth Ennis.

The Boys really just makes me laugh due to its over-the-top violence and crudeness, but the third TPB is actually really interesting due to Ennis' obvious loathing of the commercial sector of the military industrial complex. I also think the Frenchman is my favourite "Boy", for some reason.

[murs47]

Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns:

First off, this has nothing to do with Final Crisis. Just forget that it's in the title. It mentions that it takes place between issues #1 and #2. I don't see how that's relevant to the story, or to Final Crisis' story.

Caution: Spoiler Intensive.

The story starts out on Ysmault with Atrocitus explaining the internal effects of becoming a Red Lantern. Followed by the recital of the Red Lantern oath. A very cool opening scene reminiscent of the opening sequence in the Sinestro Corps event.

To sum the rest up, Sinestro is sentenced to death and Guardians want him to be executed on Korugar. A squad of GL's are made to escort him there. On the way, they're ambushed by members of the Sinestro Corps. To make matters worse, both corps are ambushed by the Red Lanterns. A gory battle ensues...many GL and SC members are killed. Laira, former GL,and now a Red Lantern, attempts to kill Hal.
His power ring drains to 0%. He stares at his power ring and suddenly a blue symbol begins to burn itself onto it. A voice is heard by Hal and his power ring energizes to 200%. The owner of the voice reveals himself as Saint Walker, single member of the Blue Lanterns. He explains to Hal that Sinestro must be saved so the universe can survive The Blackest Night. End.

This one-shot was not as good as the opening Sinestro Corps one-shot. But, I was still amazed. Geoff John's has really turned Green Lantern around, making it the best DC has to offer. My initial thoughts on different corps was that it was overkill. But no, Johns fleshes out the Red Lanterns just as well as the Sinestro and GL corps. The rest of this arc will continued in Green Lantern and I cannot wait for the next issue. :)

Standard Prev-O-Meter: 5 out of 5

[murs47]

I got the Punisher MAX: Valley Forge, Valley Forge TPB and The Boys: Good For The Soul TPB

Punisher MAX is easily the best thing I've ever read from Garth Ennis.

I've been hearing great things about Punisher MAX. I've never been a big Punisher fan myself so I kind of just brushed off the praise it was receiving. But, I was never a Cpt. America or Iron Fist fan until Brubaker and Fraction got their hands on them. Now I love those two titles. I'm gonna have to give it a try. I'll let you know what I think when I get around to reading it.

Would you say it's on par with Ennis' Preacher, or better?

[Jakew]

Hmmm, tricky comparison.

Ennis did a Marvel Knights Punisher run that was more similar in tone to Preacher ... the same mix of violence, seriousness and absurdity. He's doing a Punisher:Warzone one-shot like this, out soon.

Punisher MAX is Ennis writing wayyyyy more seriously about different kinds of crime, the Vietnam war, the US military industrial complex, etc. The humour is pitch black.

Anyway, to answer your question, I liked his run on Punisher MAX a little more than Preacher. The entire run is one long storyline with characters popping in and out, so if you want to pick it up, I recommend start with: Born (Frank in Vietnam), In The Beginning (the official beginning of the huge story), or From First To Last (three different one-shots ... The Tyger is the best work Ennis has ever done). Then read all the books in order.

[thanoson]

A question about Secret Invasion. WHy exactly did Spider Woman/Queen of Skrulls turn the body of Skrullektra over to Tony Stark? If your whole scheme is to plant yourselves into all super teams and suprise your foe, why would you let them know? I mean, wouldn't it be much more effective if the invasion came and bam!! Teamates suddenly turned into skrulls? And I would think that SS Black Bolt would be in on this, so why would he freak out so bad when they were gonna find out how they fooled us?

[the_ultimate_evil]

A question about Secret Invasion. WHy exactly did Spider Woman/Queen of Skrulls turn the body of Skrullektra over to Tony Stark? If your whole scheme is to plant yourselves into all super teams and suprise your foe, why would you let them know? I mean, wouldn't it be much more effective if the invasion came and bam!! Teamates suddenly turned into skrulls? And I would think that SS Black Bolt would be in on this, so why would he freak out so bad when they were gonna find out how they fooled us?

plot holes thy name is bendis

[Podmark]

A question about Secret Invasion. WHy exactly did Spider Woman/Queen of Skrulls turn the body of Skrullektra over to Tony Stark? If your whole scheme is to plant yourselves into all super teams and suprise your foe, why would you let them know? I mean, wouldn't it be much more effective if the invasion came and bam!! Teamates suddenly turned into skrulls? And I would think that SS Black Bolt would be in on this, so why would he freak out so bad when they were gonna find out how they fooled us?

A potential explanation is that they did it purposely so that people would start to doubt each other (which was the shtick of this event).

[murs47]

The Tyger is the best work Ennis has ever done.

Yes. A million times, yes.

I picked this up a week or two back and finally got around to reading it. The Tyger is a must read, Punisher fan or not. It looks like my wallet's gonna start hating me even more 'cause I'm gonna start picking up the series (TPB form).

[Jakew]

Yes. A million times, yes.

I picked this up a week or two back and finally got around to reading it. The Tyger is a must read, Punisher fan or not.

Agreed  :thumbup: You'll like the MAX run.

[detourne_me]

ASM #580
Another GREAT spidey story from Roger Stern.  This is a really nice done-in-one that builds from past continuity (like 20 years ago) sets up a potential sympathetic enemy, has great snappy banter, and a classic feel good peter and may battle of the wits.
but my favourite panel has to be when Spidey gets some help from a turbaned taxi driver and Spider-man's thought bubble says "Nice to run into someone who doesn't act like I'm public enemy number 1"