Guest raptor Report post Posted July 12, 2002 This week’s soundtrack: Our Lady Peace, Gravity. BEST. ALBUM. EVER. X-Treme X-Men #15 (Final Gambit) Creators : Chris Claremont, Salvador Larroca Auxiliary Facts: N/A Plot: The X-Treme Team makes a final effort to save their captured leader, Storm from the clutches of intersteller despot, Kahn. Rogue realizes Vargas’ true mission, and Gambit seemingly makes the ultimate sacrifice. Comments: On many occasions, I have said that I enjoy X-Treme X-Men because it reminds me of why I loved the X-Men. That’s a double edged sword however, as it also reminds me off what I dislike about Claremont: his horrible pacing. This seems to be a total throw-away issue, and the few neccesary scenes could have been condensed into previous issues. Those scenes are fantastic, though, as two of my favorite characters (Gambit and Rogue) finally kick off their stagnation and show some definitive character growth. It was also good to finally see Vargas’ motivation for attacking the X-Men.**1/2 Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Willow and Tara Wilderness #1 (of 2) Creators : Amber Benson, Christopher Golden, AJ Auxiliary Facts: 1st: Jack, Wood Sprites Plot: Willow and Tara take Dawn on a road trip and end up being drawn into the mysterious occurences in the woods of Northern California. Comments: Man, Amber Benson is multi-talented. She can act (obviousley), sing (as shown on the Buffy episode Once More, With Feeling and on Anthony Stewart Head’s album Music for Elevators), and she writes an enjoyable comic. I’m sure Christopher Golden helped polish it up, but this was a fun read from cover to cover. Icould do without some of the cutesy dialogue, but I expected it since we are dealing with Tara and Willow, the ultimate in cutesy relationships. *** Howard the Duck #6 (of 6, Creator’s Rights) Uber-Book of the Week Creators : Steve Gerber, Phil Winslade Auxiliary Facts: N/A Plot: Howard goes to hell, talks to god, and learns all there is to know about existance. Comments: Steve Gerber is an angry little man. If you haven’t read a Howard the Duck comic, the concept is pretty simple. Howard is Gerber’s voice, all the cynical jargon that Howard spouts is actually Gerber’s. I’ve never read such a raging inditement of religion before. I think every person, religious or not, owes it to themselves to read this book. It displays a viewpoint that isn’t taken very often, and does it in an eloquent manner, albeit with just enough raging insincerity to keep long time fans happy. ***** Sabretooth: Mary Shelley Overdrive #2 (of 4) Creators : Dan Jolley, Greg Scott Auxiliary Facts:IR: Bonnie Plot: Sabretooth continues to protect the enigmatic Bonnie from her ni-invulnerable would-be captors, and finally learns her horrifying secret... Comments: Last time I reviewed this book, I said that I was hoping for it to be a retutn to the old Sabretooth. You know, the guy with no morals who would rip your head off if you looked at him funny. Well, we’re almost there. Jolley leaves room for Creed’s violent personality to shine, but the role he as placed him in, as the protector of a seemingly innocent girl leaves little room for his ultimate villain to come out.*** Fables #1 (Old Tales Revisited) AND Fables #2 (The Unusual Suspects) Creators : Bill Willingham, Lan Medina Auxiliary Facts:N/A Plot: Rose Red has mysteriousley vanished, and her sister Snow White and Bigby (as in Big Bad) Wolf are determined to find her abductor. Or worst case scenario, her killer. Comments: I decided to pick this up due to Areacode’s constent pimping of the title. Plus, issue one was free online. What I got was a new series that has impressed me a great deal, and shows some great characters that give it wheels that could keep rolling for a great amount of time. Bigby Wolf is a likeable lead, and Snow White manages to be sympathetic, even though she is a total bitch. That’s a hard dichotomy to make work, but Willingham does so with flying colors. ****1/2 The Ultimates #5 (Act One Part V of VI, Hulk Does Manhattan) Creators : Mark Millar, Brian Hitch Auxiliary Facts: J: Thor Plot: The Ultimates face their first challenge: The Hulk. Thor finally arrives, and promptly gets his ass handed to him. Comments: Perhaps the wait was a factor, but this issue is the worst of the series thus far. We were sold on a blow-away action sequence by Brian Hitch, and although very good, the rendering is off, especially when compared to other recent action issues, like over in Powers. There was a lot of good, though. Thor’s appearance was welcome, and the way Millar brought him on the team was humorous, and within his defined character. Plus, horny Hulk rules. *** Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest SuperTonyJaymz Report post Posted July 12, 2002 This week’s soundtrack: Our Lady Peace, Gravity. BEST. ALBUM. EVER. I agree with you so much. Best cd i've bought in the last year. Whats your fav. song? I cant remeber the name but IMO track 4 rules the school. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest raptor Report post Posted July 13, 2002 Track 4 is "Innocent", and it is indeed my favorite track. Good Taste. I'm also partial to A Story About A Girl and Sorry. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest starvenger Report post Posted July 13, 2002 >Track 4 is "Innocent", and it is indeed my favorite track. Good Taste. I'm also partial to A Story About A Girl and Sorry. I was kinda hoping for "Whatever" as a hidden track, but you can't win 'em all, I guess... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vyce Report post Posted July 13, 2002 To get back to the comic talks.... Ultimates. I actually liked the art, as I imagine that Hitch's action sequence art looked very similar to what we'd see on the big screen should this book be a movie instead of a comic. But I gotta ask this question, for those of you who've read the series since the beginning - any of you pulling for Banner / Hulk? I was. The Ultimates are PRICKS. Just about every one of them (except for Thor, who wasn't there, and Cap, who was a block of ice for a time) treated Banner like shit. Giant-Man, Wasp, Fury, Iron Man, even Cap to an extent - NONE of them are particularly likeable, IMO. So I cheered Hulk on. Perfect ending would have been for him to eat FP Jr., but alas, we don't always get what we want. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest raptor Report post Posted July 13, 2002 I was pulling for the Hulk as well. He just seemed to want to help Banner (I'm not a Hulk fan, so I don't know if his detatchment from Banner was common). I did enjoy some of the Ultimate's moments though, like all of Cap's scenes, and Thor's hilariously unproductive appearance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Flyboy Report post Posted July 14, 2002 Wow... many people like the Ultimates. Some reason I just never liked them.. *shrugs* Different tastes, I presume. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest The Son of Sting Report post Posted July 14, 2002 Thor is the only one i like. I wanted a longer fight between him and Hulk. Anyone else pick up Transformers-Armada? That comic rocked. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest raptor Report post Posted July 15, 2002 Wow... many people like the Ultimates. Some reason I just never liked them.. *shrugs* I didn't really like the series until Issue #3: 20th Century Boy. It reintroduced Captain America in a believable way, and has one of my favorite final pages in comics history. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
