Fifteen Minutes of Geek
I've been toying with the idea of creating another blog (the fourth that I would be associated with), that would serve as a weekly opportunity to review the best comic books I read in a week. I haven't made up my mind about that, but since I have nothing to talk about in this space, I thought I would give it a trial run here. So, here are two issues I enjoyed this week (Note: I am flying without a net here, as the issues in question are actually at home. Forgive any minor errors.) (Note Two: Spoilers Ahead)
Justice League of America #7
This was hailed as the issue that would finally pull the league together, and it delivered on that promise. The cast was solidified, although without surprise if you had been reading the previous six issues. This was a missed opportunity in my opinion, since it is always good to do something unexpected in the era of the internet where there are no more surprises. A member that they have been building up (such as Red Tornado) choosing not to join would have created some drama and given the new League something to prove in a sense, as Reddy would serve as the voice of the naysayers on the message boards. Also in this issue, the league gets a new headquarters, which I'm partially happy with. The JLA will be stationed in the brand new Hall of Justice (looking exactly like it did in the old Super Friends cartoon). However, not all is as it seems. Apparently there is a teleporter set up at one door that transports the JLA to a satellite orbitting 22,300 miles above the earth. The exact mileage is an homage to the satellite era JLA, which is cool, but the satellite itself looks like the one featured in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon, which is not cool in my books. It is a pet peeve of mine when the comics are adjusted to make them fit in better with the popular media (Spider-Man being put back in his black suit to match up with the upcoming movie is another example of this). Finally, the issue introduced some future storylines to us, as Geo-Force has reappeared, more than a little nuts and with the power of his dead sister, T.O. Morrow is being chased by a Starro proxy, and the revelation that Trident is apparently Karate Kid from a version of the Legion of Super Heroes that ceased to exist twenty years ago. That is alot to fit into a comic book, and it was handled very well.
Avengers: The Innitiative #1
Just to keep things fair, I will look at a Marvel book as well. The Innitiative is another of the books that follows the fallout of the recent Civil War in the Marvel Universe. In this series, we find out that a training camp has been built on the grounds of the recently destroyed school in Stamford, CT, and all the newly registered heroes are sent there to learn how to be real super heroes. We are quickly, but adeptly, introduced to a ton of new heroes, including Armory, whose weapon arm can take the form of any weapon, Cloud Nine, who can fly using her mastery of a gas of unknown content, and MVP, a "Captain America Jr." whose heightened strength and reflexes stem from being the great grandson of the guy who made Steve Roger's super soldier serum. There are countless others, but these guys are most important in this issue. There is a really great use of humor in this opening issue, as each character is allowed to bounce off one another and develop their personality. The humor, however, is just a set up, as one of our new recruits will be tragically killed and one recruit will wash out of the program!
Okay, thanks for indulging me this week. Let me know what you think of a weekly review blog, and chime in with reviews of your own.
Justice League of America #7
This was hailed as the issue that would finally pull the league together, and it delivered on that promise. The cast was solidified, although without surprise if you had been reading the previous six issues. This was a missed opportunity in my opinion, since it is always good to do something unexpected in the era of the internet where there are no more surprises. A member that they have been building up (such as Red Tornado) choosing not to join would have created some drama and given the new League something to prove in a sense, as Reddy would serve as the voice of the naysayers on the message boards. Also in this issue, the league gets a new headquarters, which I'm partially happy with. The JLA will be stationed in the brand new Hall of Justice (looking exactly like it did in the old Super Friends cartoon). However, not all is as it seems. Apparently there is a teleporter set up at one door that transports the JLA to a satellite orbitting 22,300 miles above the earth. The exact mileage is an homage to the satellite era JLA, which is cool, but the satellite itself looks like the one featured in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon, which is not cool in my books. It is a pet peeve of mine when the comics are adjusted to make them fit in better with the popular media (Spider-Man being put back in his black suit to match up with the upcoming movie is another example of this). Finally, the issue introduced some future storylines to us, as Geo-Force has reappeared, more than a little nuts and with the power of his dead sister, T.O. Morrow is being chased by a Starro proxy, and the revelation that Trident is apparently Karate Kid from a version of the Legion of Super Heroes that ceased to exist twenty years ago. That is alot to fit into a comic book, and it was handled very well.
Avengers: The Innitiative #1Just to keep things fair, I will look at a Marvel book as well. The Innitiative is another of the books that follows the fallout of the recent Civil War in the Marvel Universe. In this series, we find out that a training camp has been built on the grounds of the recently destroyed school in Stamford, CT, and all the newly registered heroes are sent there to learn how to be real super heroes. We are quickly, but adeptly, introduced to a ton of new heroes, including Armory, whose weapon arm can take the form of any weapon, Cloud Nine, who can fly using her mastery of a gas of unknown content, and MVP, a "Captain America Jr." whose heightened strength and reflexes stem from being the great grandson of the guy who made Steve Roger's super soldier serum. There are countless others, but these guys are most important in this issue. There is a really great use of humor in this opening issue, as each character is allowed to bounce off one another and develop their personality. The humor, however, is just a set up, as one of our new recruits will be tragically killed and one recruit will wash out of the program!
Okay, thanks for indulging me this week. Let me know what you think of a weekly review blog, and chime in with reviews of your own.
posted by Phylemon at 2:08 PM
4 Comments:
I thought JLA was good. Not as good as any of the other issues were, but it was entertaining. I'm interested to see where they are going with Geo-Force. I think changing Roy to Red Arrow was uneccessary, but not really that big a deal.
I thought they way Red Tornado was handled was cool. His "cage" as it were is being a super-hero.
I have not read The Initaive, so I can't really comment on that one. Except to say that Tony Stark is a jerk. I did read Fallen Son. It was interesting.
Oh, and why not just discuss comments on mortgame? It's very comic oriented already.
I guess the Mort Game could be the outlet for my comics musings, but it seems that this would take away from the game environment. What do the rest of you think?
I think you have enough blogs -- just add this to one of your existing blogs. A blog can be about a lot of things; you don't need a new blog for each new idea.
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