I know what you're thinking and you're wrong. I did NOT miss Thursday's Comics! Ironically, I would have because I was sick and couldn't get to the store. With that said, they were not delivered anyway due to a shipping error.
Nevertheless, I am here with what should be a pretty recommendation-heavy post. Simply because this week was pretty good for comics.
People have been asking me to do a Blackest Night retrospective (OUTSIDE OF MY BLOG, MIND YOU! SINCE YOU'RE ALL SO ALLERGIC TO COMMENTING, YOU SCUM!). I will do that as soon as I buy the necessary trade paperbacks, and I will do this when they come out.
For now, let's get to the printed gold that you all come here for (Yes, you all. I will delude myself until proven otherwise).
Deadpool & Cable #25.
No, this is not the 25th issue of ANOTHER Deadpool series. Cable & Deadpool had a self-titled, acclaimed on-going series that surprisingly ran for 50 issues. Its sales were allegedly abominable, but all of those who read it generally seemed to love it.
This, the final issue of Cable's on-going series, co-stars Deadpool. It's kind of a tribute to the unofficial duo I suppose. I was glad, because they are so great together. If you guys and girls haven't ever read an issue of Cable & Deadpool, please go buy the first trade paperback. It's SUCH a great series.
Anyway, this is set during Messiah Complex, the X-Men storyline where Cable kidnapped Hope Summers (Named after) when she was a baby and took her to the future to protect her. It's an unrevealed piece of the story and it actually does fit quite well. It shows how Deadpool helped them escape the Purifiers and hold off their pursuers long enough for Cable to make the jump to light spe...I mean the future.
I bought it because it's a Deadpool appearance, but I'm reviewing it because it's a really decent read. You probably won't appreciate it fully unless you've read and enjoyed Cable & Deadpool (Since this was for us fans of the series, more or less), but you can still get enjoyment from it. It's a pretty stand-alone story, too. I just told you all you need to know about the plot. It's some really decent co-writing from Cable's Duane Swierczynski and Deadpool artist, Paco Medina; the man currently drawing my favourite Deadpool.
Pick it up if you can. It's fun, and Deadpool actually gets to kill a few things while breaking the fourth wall (In a REALLY cool way, I might add)! A rarity!
Deadpool Corps #1.
I've been anticipating this based on curiosity if nothing else.
The Prelude to Deadpool Corps, as I've said, was mostly a pleasant surprise. So, how was the opening issue of Deadpool's latest on-going? Decent.
The Corps get the lowdown on what exactly they're up against...kinda. The Contemplator tells them that there's a gigantic cloud thing (Not unlike Hytherion from Transformers: Alternity) that is going around and devouring consciousness of all things. The Corps, as a result, go off to stop it. They're not told how they can, or why them, but they do so.
The problem I have is that Gischler seems to think everyone has to speak with a humourous tinge, due to it being a Deadpool book. The cosmis entities make jokes etc and it doesn't fit too well. There's a part where they encounter Champion, who insists he test their worth by fighting them, and they trick him. Whilst stranded on the uninhabited moon as a result of The Corps, he begins muttering to himself comedically. It doesn't really work because he's not, to my understanding, a jocular character.
There's a pretty sweet, very well veiled Enter the Dragon reference in that Corps/Champion scene, though. Bruce Lee is one of the ways to my heart, so that gave me a chuckle.
Nothing much happens beyond that, truth be told. They stop off at a Mos Eisley-esque planet to refuel and end up getting into an excellently brutal bar fight. Champion shows up again, after being rescued by Gardener, and the issue ends with Deadpool about to fight him.
The worst thing about this issue is Liefield's art. Again, I can't hate on the man too much because he co-created Deadpool and I enjoyed the way he drew Deadpool in the early '90s. Up until not long ago, he drew my favourite Deadpool. Now, I've sort of realised that his Deadpool is quite shit in the modern day, as are all his characters, and comics are better off without his art.
His backgrounds are utterly DIRE. I believe he's only on the first issue, but I can't be sure. I think he did the cover for the next issue, but if he's the on-going artist then that's gonna knock points off.
Still, early days. There's promise, but I doubt this'll be a GREAT series. It'll probably become what Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth is, especially with that being cancelled and ending after issue #13.
I'll let you know in four or five issues time whether or not this is worth your money and free moments.
Uncanny X-Men #523 (Second Coming: Chapter 2).
Hmm.
Not long ago I was saying how Uncanny X-Men had become very boring and had confirmed everything I suspected about the X-Men titles. Well, in this tie-in to Second Coming, I find myself eating those words.
My review of the first chapter is in the previous week's Thursday's Comics, so go check that out.
Cable and Hope are still on the run and everyone is still after them. I have a feeling this is the tone that'll be set for the first couple of chapters, but it's ok, because it's AWESOME. Fraction writes X-Men, like almost everyone does, poorly. This story is something he's doing a very good job of taking part in, though.
It never feels slow, dull or pointless. Every little interaction reveals something more about the characters involved and you never feel like you want the comic to end. The part where Cable and Hope are discovered by Bastian's goons in the motel is especially tense and well paced.
The big reveal in this issue, I guess, is that it's finally revealed to the other X-Men that Cyclops had secretly formed X-Force as a wetworks team. I'm interested to see how this changes their view of the moral leader, and how that effects their ability in the field.
Second Coming is seemingly doing a COMPLETE 180 on my correct perceptions of the X-books. Every team, every squad seems to have a part to play, and all parts seem to matter. The next chapter is New Mutants #12, and if that continues the trend then I will be pleasantly surprised. It feels, like I said previously, like an old-school '90s X-Men story. The kind where all the tie-ins were actually good and had a purpose.
Not to mention that Adi Granov is REALLY knocking these cover art pieces out of the park. The first one was excellent, this is excellent and the cover to New Mutants #12 is suitably epic and solid in every good way.
The pitfall of this kind of multiple-writer arc is that if one writer sucks, it brings the whole feeling down. Let's hope whoever's writing New Mutants is good.
It's out next week, so join me.
S.H.I.E.L.D. #1.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
THIS...is promising. THIS...is something I am DEFINITELY excited about. This series tickles my geek fancy on numerous levels, so let me tell you why.
I have always been a major history buff, I've always had a mind and love for science. Not necessarily because of academic (Although I excelled in both), but because I just appreciate things like that.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s premise is, to summarise: The organisation has existed for longer than we know. It goes back as far as Third Dynasty Egypt, so we're talking 2700 B.C. here.
A young man named Leonid, in 1953, is invited to join The Shield. What is The Shield? It's what S.H.I.E.L.D. began as. The story is told to Leonid through flashbacks, so it works especially well for the reader.
Back in Third Dynasty Egypt, the Egyptian pharoah known as Imhotep fought and defeated an invading alien threat. This alien threat was The Brood, known throughout Marvel as a bug-like alien race.
Throughout the ages many great legends have been defenders against off-planet threads, members of this secret group. From Galileo to Leonardo da Vinci, all were secret defenders of civilisation. Dedicated to ensuring the world did not meet its end before its time. In a nutshell: All of these dudes were the superheroes of their day, in their own way, and many of Marvel's cosmic entities had visited Earth long before we were aware.
The repeated line that they all share in their scenes is: "This is not how the world ends.".
There's a great scene where Da Vinci is working on his flying machine, but it actually turns out to be a suit with wings. Seeing him soar through the sky in a steampunk precursor to what Iron Man has today...it's wonderful.
My favourite part, though, was an amazing scene wherein Galileo is adjusting a machine. THE machine, you all know which. His assistant says: "How do you know your machine will stop it?", or something to that effect. You're wondering what IT he's referring to, then he steps out onto a balcony and you see Galactus in the distance, towering over the city.
The art is just...it's truly befitting a comic of this style. The sheer amount of saliva I am losing over the prospect of where this series could go...I can't even tell you.
Leonid's father, known as The Night Machine, returns to him after being missing for so long, clad in a technologically advanced armour, and leads his son to an attic containing all kinds of devices. Just as he gets into a fight with Howard Stark and Nathaniel Richards (I totally geeked out, man), he locks the door behind his son. The comic closes with Leonid wandering around this epic, caverous observatory-esque room, until he is told to "ring the bell" and "wake the watch".
Standing there is Leonardo Da Vinci, apparantly having time travelled to the 20th century. He states that he possesses that which will save all things, and the issue comes to a close.
I was floored not so much by the issue alone, but by how mouth-watering of a concept this is, and what possibilities could arise from it. It's not really going to fuck with continuity either, because nobody has really suggested that the Marvel Universe goes that far back, with a few exceptions (Apocalypse was a born mutant from First Dynasty Egypt).
What's curious is that Galileo states that how the world ends is a true secret, as if they all know how it'll happen, as if there's some kind of destined way that it's supposed to come about and that's why they must stop it happening prematurely. Very cryptic, I love it. I think that's what they all mean when they say the quote.
I have a variant (Not the cover shown here), but I am not entirely sure that was the best option. It's entirely sketched in black and white, as is the comic itself. I don't know if that's the point of the variant or not, but if the actual comic was meant to be in colour then get that. I will, probably. Though, having the sketched, pre-inked version gives it a nice kind of blueprint feel. It actually makes the series seem more authentic.
Definitely keep your eyes peeled for my continued reviews of this, or better yet, go buy the first issue!
---
Daredevil Month will begin on SUNDAY, due to this post coming a day late, but it will be in full swing from then on. That is, of course, barring any circumstances in which I can't post.
Now, I hear you all wondering what the special announcement is? Well, I am very, VERY pleased to announce that I will be having none other than Mr. Andy Diggle on Welcome to the Mast!
The current writer of Daredevil's on-going will be gracing this blog with a text interview in the coming month! This is tremendous and very exciting to me, being that he WRITES DAREDEVIL AND EVERYTHING! He told me to mail him the questions when I have them, so I'll be doing that soon and as soon as he gets back to me, the interview will be up!
Pretty sweet, huh? I come through with the exclusives, don't mess.
That's about all I've got time for I'm afraid. So come by on Sunday to see what I've got in store!
Until then, peace.
-The Mast.
