NCBD 10-17-2008: Nick Gregorio’s Comic Book Journal Takes a Sour Turn…A Bad Comics Week

This week I took my money and threw it into a furnace. There were slim pickins on the shelves and I grabbed whatever books caught my eye. Only one of four comics I bought was any good – and it wasn’t even that good. Even now, as I write this introduction for Stack Attack, I can only seem to remember one of the books I read. So, strap in Geekscapist, as I try and whip together another titillating installment of STACK ATTACK!…enthused.

Spider-man: Noir #1

What if? The New Fantastic Four

Mighty Avengers #20

Dark Reign: New Nation

 

If blatant, unintelligent, poorly researched, “socially relevant”, liberal propaganda is your cup of Kool-aid then dive into this shallow snooze-fest. The tale, which spins at a snails pace, puts us in the middle of a 1930’s era, else-world, Marvel Universe. May Parker, Peter’s aunt, is a rallying socialist urging the poor people of New York to revolt against their rich, corrupt oppressors. Norman Osborn, “The Goblin”, runs NY with his money and influence. The reader follows Ben Urich, a Daily Bugle photo journalist who is caught in between the corrupt hierarchy and the poor revolutionaries. Peter is an inspired social reformist influenced by his aunt and, now deceased (Murdered by “The Goblin”), Uncle Ben.

The book paints a bleak picture in black and white; good and bad. The poor are down trodden, bullied martyrs. The rich are power hungry tyrants. There is a complete lack of middle ground. The writers would have you believe BenUrich rest some where in the middle but he obviously sympathizes with the poor. The story is slow and boring. I was slightly intrigued by the design of the character and the “Noir” in the title but I can’t sit through four issues of ham handed subtext.

If you still believe in lumping good guys into one category and bad guys into another and you think biased, one-sided social commentary is responsible story telling, give this rag a read.

If you aren’t familiar with the Infinity Gauntlet or The New Fantastic Four don’t bother buying this book because you will be scratching your head. If you are familiar with the aforementioned concepts don’t bother buying this book because it attempts to condense those story-lines unsuccessfully.

Buy this book for the art. It’s dynamic, fluid, and original. The only problem with Sherberger is that he gets a little sloppy in some panels – Come to think of it: just buy the book for the cover or, better yet, just look at the cover above.

I’m excited for Dark Avengers. Any team led by the new Cap is A’okay in my book. I picked up Mighty because it is the Epilogue for Secret Invasion and the precursor to Dark Avengers.

The Avengers mourn the death of The Wasp (Janet Van Dyne or Pym depending on who you ask) and Hank Pym must come to terms with the death of his wife and the idea of a Skrull Leader impersonating him. Pym ultimately blames the whole thing on Tony Stark. Tony has been the scape-goat lately. (Not to be a spoiler but expect Tony to redeem then martyr himself in the next year.) The story was a nice recap and gave some very iconic, snap-shot, stand alone images of the Marvel U. from the past couple of years.

The art was amazing. Pham nailed every panel. His condensed Marvel “snap-shots” should each be made into posters.

I give myself the Kirsten Dunst Cap of the week for buying this “comic book”. It’s a compilation of, the first five pages of, soon-to-be released Marvel titles. I payed four fucking bucks for this nonsense. I do blame myself for not flipping through it but come on! Don’t waste your time or your money. The new titles blow a big, fat, super sized, Skrull chin.

Oh thank Ares I made it through this week! I hope I didn’t scar anyone with my bitterness. I promise next week will be a helluva lot better… hopefully.

Until next time: Don’t buy comics this week – I’m kidding, but can someone please recommend some new titles for me? We’re in a recession for pete’s sake and I need the best bang for my buck!

-Nick Gregorio