Batman!

Batman Inc. should be interesting.  But the “plot” is erratic and does not seem to have a focus.  While the “flashback” “dream” or whatever the middle story was supposed to be was interesting.  Frankly I do not know how much longer I will continue to read this book.

Batman the Dark Knight number 14 is a good issue, just some action and moving on.  None of that badly acted “fear” dreams.  I am not sure how many more “Super Fear Poisons” the Scarecrow can really keep making.  Batman is just immune at this point and that might include all of Gotham City as well.

Catching up

X-Treme X-men #7 was entertaining, robots disassembled by the dozens.  Not really sure what the point was to all the drama.  It was just an OK issue compared to previous stories in this series.

Issue number two of the All New X-men was an improvement over issue number one.  Much less whining and moaning.  This is the issue where they decide what to do and get to the future!  Still not sold on how this book is playing out versus how it was sold.

And this ends last week’s Marvel Comics.  I'm falling behind again.

more comics

Got distracted falling behind in reading a posting about last weeks comics.

Once again Thor God of Thunder was excellent.  I was concerned that issue #2 would not be as good as the first issue.  But the story telling continues to be interesting, the writing flows.  I am not completely sold on seeing the story told as the Thor at three different ages.  But so far it is working.  Good stuff.

Wolverine Max #2 was interesting, Wolverine is an old classic character and having a bit of story with him solo is cool.  I’m a little tired of the only way people are finding to make new Wolverine stories is to have him lose his memory.  I mean seriously the man can regenerated from a few remnant cells.  But for some reason his brain does not retain information until needed by the plot.

New Comics!

New Comic books!  Once again A+X was great!  With issue #2 again there was two short team-up stories in the style of the classic Marvel Team-Up.  First was a Rogue and Black Widow story with some interesting action.  The Iron Man and Kitty Pride story was a little more meh – if for no other reason than the writer seemed to have been told his story could not actually change anything with the main storylines.  

Ugh, Uncanny Avengers is a pathetic whiny childish waste of print time and money.  Issue #2 confirms that I made the right choice in avoiding the whole A vs. X event.  Stupid.  I guess that means I am no longer the target age for the X-men comics.

Gaming Dilemma

I’m conflicted; I have been running 1st Edition GammaWorld at DunDraCon for years and years now.  I love playing GammaWorld and keep hoping to inspire others to also run the game.  I am probably the GammaWorld expert at this convention.  Every year at least one person claims they will run next year for sure so that I can enjoy myself as a player, but they never do.  I am tired of running GammaWorld each year and having to come up with a new adventure each time (I get repeat players).  Most years I have to turn players away - one year I turned away 20 people.  I am thinking about running a Cyberpunk 2020 game this year instead – I love the setting and really enjoy the few games I get to play at DunDraCon each year.  The problem I am having is in confidence; I am far from the expert in the game system and several of the regulars have been playing and running CP for years.  I am conflicted do I work in my comfort zone and play a game I’m growing tired of or do I take a chance on going down in flames as a convention GM with a new system?

Comic Books!

I am going to cover four Marvel Comics here.  First up is Captain Marvel #7, this issue is an improvement over the last story line that was just a little over the top time travel silly.  Most of this issue is mostly story and character development between the current Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) and a previous Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau).  Their dialog is witty and well written.  The artwork for this issue was excellent and the underwater scenes were properly creepy.  I was happy to see the Monica Captain Marvel return as she was the first Captain Marvel I really remember from the pages of the Avengers.  I am looking forward to the next issue more than the previous story line.

Next was Hawkeye #4, this issue had a decidedly more serious turn in the story.  Though I am not sure if the writer wants Hawkeye to become the next Deadpool or Wolverine with this story, I still have issues with trying to take Hawkeye seriously as some super assassin.  I am happy with the story but will avoid a spoiler filled summary.  I still have problems with the artwork for this Comic Book.  I realize that they are going for a “style” but comics are supposed to be four colors and I would like to be able to tell the characters apart.  The cover is very different from a traditional comic and at first I thought it was a variant cover issue.

Then comes along the Indestructible Hulk!  I was somewhat dreading what was going to happen to the much misused Incredible Hulk.  Turns out that this reboot was well thought out and written, I even liked the art.  Not a fan with the Hulk’s haircut but can’t have everything.  I had enjoyed the previous attempts to make the Hulk smart or at least make Bruce Banner non-whiny.  So as I read I liked this story more and more.  (Spoilers)!

The Hulk or at least Puny Banner working with S.H.I.E.L.D. has great potential.  Quickly deploying the Hulk against security threats could be a great way to solve a problem if you do not wish to learn more of the villains after the fight. 

(End Spoilers) - So I am very interested in seeing how this comic turns out in future issues.

Then finally comes the comic Captain America #1 another in the string of Marvel Reboots.  We see that Steve Rogers comes from a broken house.  Then we jump in time for a short story.  Then we get the main story that has Captain jump dimensions.  This comic is weak; the story is stupid so far.  The artwork is good.   Disappointed and not looking forward to what is going to happen next.

More Comics!

The All New X-Men #1 sucked.  I just finished reading the issue and well the art was good.  Really I feel ripped off for spending money on this comic.  Note to Marvel Comics, the DC comics reboot worked because they wrote good stories.  It was also a true reboot and not just the aftermath of this year’s big cross over event.  What happens next year?  Another bunch of #1 comic reboots?

Next I read Fantastic Four #1, now that was an interesting comic. The Fantastic Four was one of the first comics I bought regularly.  So I was amused to see Johnny Storm the Human Torch is alive again.  I am not sure how that did not make the news at all.  Then the Thing was defeated by the Yancy Street Gang, again.  Seriously I am amazed that after all these years the Yancy Street Gang is a threat to the Thing.  The Thing can and has gone head to head against the Hulk for goodness sake.  Anyway we shall see where this story line heads.