Welcome back to this blog place, and let me hit you with some knowledge, LaFleur.
Thursday's Comics has been moved to Friday! It will still be called Thursday's Comics, as that's what they are. The move, however, gives me an entire day to processes the comics, read them through and form my opinions on them. I don't feel as crammed.
This may mean shorter reviews, but more succinct ones. Unless, of course, I desire to talk in depth.
Thursday's Comics.
Daredevil #511.
By now, you all know how I feel about Daredevil's current stories, so I won't tread the waters of familiarity. If my guest post isn't approved for Weekly Crisis, I'll post it here, as said.
Another month and another issue of DAREDEVIL'S on-going series, tying into DAREDEVIL'S first major crossover, Shadowland. This would be great in any other situation. Why isn't it? Well...because, ladies and gentlemen, like the window of the Texas School Book Depository, the guy who is supposed to be there, isn't.
Shadowland was meant to be the ultimate fall from grace for our hero, and it was to culminate, dramatically, with his first ever Marvel death (Now we know). A total balls-up and this issue does nothing to change that.
The issue tells the tale of how Hell's Kitchen is going to shit and how people are "handling" it. Seriously. That's it. Daredevil isn't in it until the last few pages, and those pages would've been ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING had this entire arc not been fucked more than Annabel Chong. It ends with Foggy Nelson CLIMBING INTO SHADOWLAND (Yes, Foggy Nelson. Daredevil's erstwhile best friend and chubby law firm partner) to talk him out of his dark stupor, hopefully. Daredevil basically stops White Tiger from executing him, only to dramatically proclaim that this "whiney maggot" will be killed by him.
What? We're meant to be shocked by that? Matt's being controlled. You've fucked it.
The art is, as always, breathtaking. De la Torre's artwork combined with Diggle's earlier runs? Mmm! Now? It's just...depressing.
I was hoping this could be something, overall, that I'd cite as one of the best watermarks and most important eras in Daredevil's soon to be 512 issue history...but it's not. I'm almost relieved they're ending it at the next issue, really. OH! Not to fear! In January, Black Panther: The Man without Fear #...513 comes out! YES! Oh man.
Moving on, before gaskets are blown.
Carnage #1 of 5.
After the Carnage symbiote was ripped apart by The Sentry in The New Avengers #2 Vol. 1, it was a matter of time before they brought him back. In fairness, it's been over half a decade. That's...a hefty amount of time for someone that has been historically well-liked.
I don't mind Carnage. I've always thought that he was unnecessary, or that he would've been if they'd just kept Venom as a full-on villain. Still, Zeb Wells is a good enough writer and Clayton Crain is a great artist. What the Hell, right? Give it a whirl.
What a terrific, edgy start! Spider-Man's doppleganger...Doppleganger, is chasing after this van and Iron Man gives chase. The issue revolves around him and Spidey tracking it down, grinding it to a halt and stopping Doppleganger. Two rather inexperienced new characters, like BRAND new, show up; Royal Blue and Firebrick (I can't decide if those are boring or good). They cause some irresponsible, but well-intentioned ruckus etc and things are settled down.
It's revealed that the Carnage symbiote has been returned to Earth under heavy security and containment, hence Doppleganger chasing it. In the van (To my memory it was the van), we see Shriek who is viewing the contained symbiote with some fear.
It's all left very murky, but lets you want way more. This could be a very nice, exciting arc in the same vein as the brilliant Maximum Carnage story (READ IT, CHRIST!). It has all the same, or similar, players and a great duo heading it up. Wells gets the characters, he writes them well and Clayton Crain's art serves up a gritty sense of violence to it all, of which Wells has promised more of.
Unfortunatly, it's once-a-month! Darn!
Cletus Kasady doesn't appear, and that's a testament to build-up. They're probably gonna make us wait to see the symbiote and its most famous wearer re-united.
This is one to keep an eye on, folks.
A quick piece of funny irony, though! I thought the cover was odd. Why would Carnage not be on the cover if it's HIS series? I thought the Carnage variants were more fitting. The comedy is, he isn't in it yet! Carnage being on the cover would've been misleading. Just goes to show, never judge a comic by its variants!
Haunt #10.
Shit's getting GOOD.
After being captured, we see Daniel Kilgore getting a BRUTAL, BRUTAL beating. There's a close-up of his face during this scene, with Mr. Hurg talking shit, and it's BRILLIANT. It's so disturbingly violent. The way his eyes and cheeks are swollen, ugh. Such nice artwork.
For some unknown reason, Kurt separated from his brother, effectively disabling Haunt and allowing them to get caught. Regardless, they soon re-bond and escape, tackling Hurg out of the building and plummeting to the ground below. It's such a well-paced issue. Almost Kirby-esque during his run on Daredevil. Quick, but not rushed.
Haunt calls in the reinforcements and The Agency takes both him AND Hurg back to H.Q. Fear not, though, the story hasn't blown its wad that early. Hurg cockily taunts his interrogators and before you know it, these hulking great beasts burst through the wall. Mutated soldiers, it seems.
The big reveal being that this is what they wanted Shillinger's notes for. Now you've got an army of mega-dangerous brutes about to bust this guy out of jail, and Haunt isn't exactly in the greatest shape.
Kirkman really does know how to do a lot with a little, I'll tell you that much. He really has all his genre bases covered. Between this, Invincible and The Walking Dead, he's just above covering everything a comic fan could want, and covering it brilliantly.
Haunt is definitely going to go unnoticed by many, I think, so DO NOT sleep on this series.
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That's about all for today. The Loki mini-series kicked off this week, too. Another brilliant issue that I think you should get. I may update this with a review of that, provided Comic Vine get off their asses and upload the artwork!
Thanks for reading, people. I very much appreciate it.
Until next time, peace.
-The Mast
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