This Week's Comics

A series of decisions have been made by me, Captain Elias, to mobilize this "growing up" process I hear so much about. Do not mistake me; in no way do I intend to admit that buying, reading, collecting, discussing, and generally enjoying superhero comics is in any way a childish pursuit (nonsense.) Rather, the motivation for aforementioned decisions is primarily financial.

It's long past time to admit that most comics cost far too much, and that I have an unfortunately self-destructive tendency to disregard dollar signs and weekly pick up comics that I know either don't truly appeal to me or aren't written/drawn that well.

Thus Captain Elias, king of a small floating world, becomes his own purser and transforms himself into a responsible, budget-following adult. Well, up to a point.

The following is my pull list for the week of November 2nd, 2011.

BOOM! Studios


Irredeemable #31: I've been a faithful follower of this book since I found out about it. Mark Waid is a genius, the premise is fun and the tone is appropriately grim. However, I rarely recall the intricate plot events of the previous month, so if there's any title that would benefit from waiting for Trade Paperback collection it's this one. Sorry Mark.

DC
Considering my dissatisfaction with "The New 52" it should come as no surprise that my sweeping budget reforms have all but obliterated DC products from my list. A few will certainly persist--Snyder's Batman is actually all that comes to mind at the moment, with even Teen Titans, the only title featuring my personal favorite Tim Drake, most likely getting the axe for being such a stupendously awful book.

Action Comics #3:  Rarely am I a Morrison fan. I quite loved his time on the X-Men, but his Batman titles never hit my sweetspot (didn't stop me from shelling out cash for each one though) and having him on Superman, a character I'm not terribly invested in, does not excite me at all. I tried the first two and have little memory of them, and his new, youthful jeans-wearing Superman bores me completely. I suppose I'll see Supes in Justice League, but that's it.

Detective Comics #3:  It's about time I admit I strongly dislike Tony Daniels' work as a Batman writer, and his aesthetically pleasing pencils are no longer reason enough to keep buying his work. Adios Tony.

Stormwatch #3 (?):  This is one I'm frankly a bit torn about. I have no recollection of the first two issues (not a good sign) BUT I have faith in Paul Cornell and this issue will hopefully feature more Apollo and Midnighter. It's hard for a gay comic nerd like myself to not buy an comic about an alternate Superman and Batman who are lovers. I may have to let this one into the stack.

MARVEL


Amazing Spider-Man #673:  Spider Island is over and, while it was fun, that's it for me. I hope MJ comes back into Peter's life in big, romantic way, and if she does, I'll look into Trades at a later date. Until then, despite Dan Slott's obvious joy as a writer, no more Spidey comics for me. But he's on plenty of Avengers teams, so I'll still get my deadpan-Parker fix.

Avengers Academy #21:  This one I'm sticking with, as it's emotional, well-written, well-drawn, and original. I'm particularly excited, as a fan of Avengers history, to see the school reopen in the old West Coast Avengers compound. However, the new cast of students/young heroes looks a bit iffy to me, featuring not only characters I don't love but several I don't know at all. It stays for now, but it's on probation.

Fear Itself #7.1 (?):  Fear Itself was utterly disappointing (how, exactly, did Thor die?), money-sucking, and sporadically insulting, and I have no intention of buying all their follow-ups. That being said, this issue features Captain America mourning his murdered best friend Bucky, and reading Steve Rogers open up and struggle writing a eulogy is the kind of stuff I love in comics. I'll have to give it a sneaky in-store flip through (NO READING!) and see how I feel tomorrow.

Fear Itself: The Fearless #2 of 12:  I'm not sure how 12 titles is in any way a "mini series" considering many titles get canceled within a year, but that's besides the point. The point is, Valkyrie is a stale, wooden character, and I have no interest in pursuit of the scattered Asgardian hammers, the collection/protection of which should have happened in the actual main event. No chance.

New Mutants #33: I won't let this one go until they cancel it. DnA on New Mutants, despite a shaky Fear Itself storyline, is a dream come true. Apparently, despite staying with Cyclops after the Schism, the team will be getting it's own digs in city proper. Could be very cool, though Utopia is gonna be seriously empty.

Uncanny X-Men #1: Yet another fixture of the pull list, this is also an exciting start, as Gillen counter's Jason Aaron's recent Wolverine and the X-Men #1 with his new Cyclops-led direction. Featuring Sinister, the debut of Scott's X-tinction team, and Storm. If Storm's in it, I'm buying.

Villains for Hire #0.1:  It is well documented how much I love Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning as writers, but Heroes for Hire plummeted in quality after three issues, so I will no longer be following Misty Knight in her attempts to reboot the franchise. Maybe in Trades.


Astonishing X-Men #20:  This book by Gischler has been surprisingly entertaining, and the premise of it being the main title where X-Men interact with other heroes of the Marvel Universe is a great one. This month we get War Machine (not my favorite) teaming-up with Storm, so we get to see what will probably be Storm's team in the new post-Schism Utopia lineup. And, as I said, Storm's in it.

So there it is. Four definite titles, and 2 possible ones. That's a pretty huge drop for a guy who can unload 40 bucks a week without thinking about it. It also means my cherished Wednesday after-work comic reading time will be distinctly shorter, but I imagine I'll find something else to do. Something that hopefully doesn't cost any money.