Another pretty small stack for me this week, I really need to branch out a little... It may be short, but there are some really good comics out this week, including the first part of the Venom mini-event and part two of Action Comics' prelude/side-story which began last month. Oh yeh, and a little title starting this month called Winter Soldier! Read on after the jump for my fore-thoughts on these and (a couple) more comics that I am getting this week!
Fear Itself: The Fearless #8
I didn't really like last month's issue - this had been a pretty solid limited series, but last month it seemed like nothing much happened. OK, yeah, there were some pretty good fight scenes and an 'unforseen' betrayal, but the issue just seemed to lack any sort of impact.
I have no idea who this 'Daimon' guy is, though it was told that he is 'the son of the devil' and training to be the new Sorcerer Supreme, but that means very little to me!
He orchestrated the biggest shift in power of the series so far, and he has been in the series for an entirety of 6-10 panels! It was just a bit frustrating is all...
Plus, the flashbacks seem to mean less and less as the series goes on. I get that they're supposed to be character development for Valkyrie, but lately they've just seemed tacked on to the beginning of each issue.
Hopefully this was just a stumble for this series as, like I said, I've been quite enjoying it so far; maybe this issue will make up for the last one.
The Punisher #8
Another comic in which not a lot happened last issue, but Punisher did it much, much better! The Punisher wasn't even in the issue, bar flashbacks, and yet it said much more about him than I think the previous issues had combined. The gist was that Frank Castle will kill who he thinks deserves killing, no matter what anyone else thinks, going so far as to compromise police investigations, because he has already made his mind up; for anyone who jumped onto Punisher with the recent #1 this was a great piece of exposition/character development.
The issue also went a long way to telling how good a detective 'Ozzy' is, showing that he knew all about the 'informant' that Frank has in the police, and having him tell just the right story to get the wayward detective back on his side.
I wasn't enjoying this book particularly at first, but I'm starting to appreciate the more subtle storytelling that this series is bringing to the table, so I just might like this week's issue first-time-round for a change.
Venom #13
I've been looking forward to this event since it was announced before Christmas; Venom has been one of my favourite books since I started collecting (the ASM Point One issue with the Venom prelude was actually the first comic I bought), and this event is really going to make or break the series I think.
Having only collected comics religiously for around a year, I had not read an arc in which a character hits 'rock bottom' yet, but in the last Venom Flash Thompson truly got there (note: pretty big Venom spoilers coming for the sake of proving this point): on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D. and the U.S. Army; he has well and truly been taken over by the Venom symbiote; he stole another symbiote for Crimemaster; broke up with Betty over the phone after saving her life; he is now living on the streets of Las Vegas swigging alcohol from a paperbag, with Red Hulk still after him - doesn't get much more 'bottom' than that...
But this is clearly all to make Flash's rise from the ashes that much more spectacular (presumably culminating in his joining of the Secret Avengers). This event is about some kind of apocalypse, I have purposely stayed away from information about this event as I want to go in truly 'unspoilered', though I'm sure you could find some things out if you look.
What I do know is that Flash will be joined by Red Hulk, Alejandra's femme-Ghost Rider, and X-23, a character I know literally nothing about, but am hoping is summarised a little in the event.
I believe the issues for this event are coming out on a weekly basis for the next five weeks or so, so I'm going to have to be on my game to keep up with this, though I'm sure it'll be worth it!
Winter Soldier #1
I have only been exposed to Bucky in the Fear Itself event and in the Captain America movie, but even these two appearances (along with much explanation from my good friend Scott all about Gulags and other such things..) have left a pretty good impression on me, so it was quite the no-brainer whether or not I was going to be getting this series.
(Fear Itself spoilers)
At the end of Fear Itself, Bucky was presumed dead by pretty much everyone in the Marvel U, even all-time-BFF Steve Rogers believed without a shadow of a doubt that his partner/successor was dead. But in one of the Fear Itself epilogues it was revealed that Bucky had in fact not died (or had died and been brought back to life, I'm a little hazy on the details), and was ready to become Nick Fury's super-Secret Agent, and virtually no-one would be aware of his existence (though how long that will last I don't know).
He will be joined by Black Widow as they attempt to take down HYDRA, or whatever bad-guy organisation is next on Fury's list, whatever; all I care is that this is super-secret black-ops with awesome stealthies and badassery. Likely? I hope so.
Action Comics #6
I was a little confused last month when I opened my Action Comics and found out that the issue was essentially from a spaceships point of view, but, surprisingly, it worked really well.
We have been exposed to countless origin stories for Superman, but this was one of the best - it was very simple, went over everything you needed to know, didn't deviate wildly from previous tellings of how Kal-El got to Earth; and it had a baddass super-dog called Krypto (I hope he comes back, I'm a sucker for cool dogs!).
But anyway, this two-parter is about what happened to this incarnation of Superman, his cape and his rocket-crib before Clark went to Metropolis. Normally I would have groaned at a deviation from the main arc, especially when it had just got to such a cliffhanger, but the quality of the story (and the book in general) meant I really did not mind learning of the 2-issue sidetrack.
Detective Comics #6
Every issue of Detective Comics makes the series ever closer and closer to being dropped from my stack; it is nowhere near as bad as the abomination that is Batman: The Dark Knight, but it is a fairly poor comic, especially when compared to the Batman and Batman and Robin series. The first arc was fairly lackluster despite some (surely to become) iconic scenes and images, and it never lived up to the fantastic final page of issue one.
Last issue was no help either, with the backup story of Hugo Strange's son and Catwoman's hustling of a mob's poker game much better than the Batman section, which I can't even particularly remember...
I think I'm going to put this series on probation - get better soon or you're getting the can! I'll b getting Batman Inc. when that drops in April/May, so that could be the perfect replacement for this series..
Also out this week:
Marvel
Avengers X-Sanction #3
Defenders #3
Hulk #48
Uncanny X-Men #6
DC Comics
Animal Man #6
Batwing #6
Green Arrow #6
Justice League International #6
Red Lanterns #6
Swamp Thing #6
Dish Out!
Dish's Stack is where i talk about the comics i will be buying this week! Judge my taste all you like, but that's what this is! I will normally focus on my thoughts of previous issues and possible developments, but nevertheless be wary of minor (or possibly major) spoilers if you do not keep very up-to-date with series or previews, but I'll do my best not to reveal anything too surprising
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