Phil-In: Stuff I Read and Put Back:
Titans #14 Writer: Eric Wallace Artist: Michael Shoyket
Oh man. I literally did not think anything would ever reference the old mini-series Teen Titans Spotlight: Cyborg, but here ya go. I’m officially completely done with the Titans series. A whole lot of talk about not being a robot, mixed with strange religious undertones, and a random irrelevant bit with Starfire. Mix these all together and what do you get? Terrible, terrible stuff.
Red Robin #1 Writer: Chris Yost Artist: Ramon Bachs
Ha! So I don’t like all the redone Batman titles! This is kind of a mess. I don’t know if the inker and colorist kept changing or what, but the art is two different styles of mediocrity. I’m not sure if it’s just because I don’t really care about Robin at all, or if I don’t like the traveling-around-to-find-Bruce-idea, but I just don’t really like this much at all.
Anna Mercury 2 #1 Writer: Warren Ellis Artist: Facundo Percio
Sometimes Ellis is just not for me, and this is one of those times. The first Anna Mercury wasn’t that much of a “wow” for me, and this is more of the same. The whole jumping to make contact with different realities/universes/whatever is a little too convoluted for me. And her putting on the wig to get into character or something? Nope, not for me at all.
Frank Castle: The Punisher #71 Writer: Victor Gischler Artist: Goran Pavlov
My continuing saga of “never wanting to read anything with the Punisher in it ever again” moves into this title. Moving into the bayou to save random ladies from hillbillies, and it’s to be continued? Oh man; pass. I’m pretty much giving up on the Punisher titles except the Remender one, and I’m getting jaded enough to just not want anything to do with anything Punisher related ever again.
Ender’s Game: Recruiting Valentine one-shot Writer: Jake Black Artist: Timothy Green II
The first piece of original material from the Ender’s Game saga by Marvel, and it’s just not very good. For those of us that know the story really well, this is something we already know all about, and a completely irrelevant story just does not maintain my interest. So much potential wasted, and I just don’t care about it at all.
Buck Rogers #1 Writer: Scott Beatty Artist: Carlos Rafael
For some reason, I expected something universe-shattering here and it was kind of a let-down. It’s just very generic sci-fi stuff that just doesn’t seem to really go anywhere. Kinda has potential to go somewhere, give it a few issues. Couple of things to also note: Evil robot bear = wicked cool. And, if you wanna come up with a good name for a crashing spaceship, Challenger is pretty tasteless.
JSA vs. Kobra #1 (of 6) Writer: Eric S. Trautmann Artist: Don Kramer
For those of you who have read Checkmate, apparently this has ties to some of the stuff that was dealt with in that previous series. For me, it just didn’t click. I had liked how many people were involved in the JSA and how huge the team was, but it’s become a burden now. Too many new recruits to keep track of, and it complicated any story they are involved in. There’s potential here, but the size of the groups really hinders this story.
Wolverine #74 Writers: Jason Aaron and Daniel Way Artist: Adam Kubert and Tommy Lee Edwards
This is not Old Man Logan. The separate stories both have good art attached to them, but neither seems to really pull the trigger story-wise. Way’s is a complicated mess that can’t really work in any way. Aaron’s is the more solid of the two, but something it just isn’t there. I enjoyed the way he wrote Spider-Man into it, but for some reason I just couldn’t get attached to this. This title becomes Dark Wolverine next issue, so watch out for that.
The Veil #1 Writer: El Torres Artist: Gabriel Hernandez
This IDW-published series didn’t quite pull off what it wanted to. A paranormal private investigator has to return to her hometown which she hasn’t been to since her “horrible accident”. If that sounds generic, it’s because it is. Very straightforward stuff, but also very predictable. The art looks a lot like Ben Templesmith, so if that’s your thing, go for it. Otherwise, this gets my big Meh of the Week.
X-men Forever #1 Writer: Chris Claremont Artist: Tom Grummet
I’m surprised I made it all the way through this, because I literally did not care very much. It should be interesting to see where this all goes. It’s an alternate history where basically none of the future stuff (cable, bishop, etc.) has ever happened. I wonder if Claremont will try to shoehorn in his own original creations or take a new journey to get to the same destination. However, right now, it’s just boring. There is potential there, but I’m not getting my hopes up in any way.
“The” Dan Jacka
