Detective Comics #875: Snyder tells a great story here. The only off-note is the exposition-y confession by Roy Blount at the end. But, the best part is that, even with that confession, Snyder still leaves it unclear if James Gordon, Jr. is a killer or not. Although we're presented reasonable alternative explanations for why Betsy went missing and why the birds in the aviary could've been freed, we're not actually sure at the end of the issue if those explanations are true. Snyder may be in the process of creating the next Joker here, but, if James stays true to form, we may never know for sure.
Fear Itself: Book of the Skull #1: OK, I'm intrigued. You know you're dealing with a nut job when Baron Zemo thinks s/he's insane, as we see here in his reaction to Sin. This issue serves as a prologue to the Fear Itself cross-over event. After "Chaos War," I was a little skeptical that this event could be anything even remotely interesting, but Brubaker piques my interest here. The issue has an Indiana Jones feel to it, with the flashbacks to the Red Skull trying to find a mystical device for the Nazis to use to defeat the Allies (and, natch, Bucky, Cap, and Namor trying to stop him). The hammer-in-the-ice conceit is a little too similar to the hammer-in-the-desert conceit they're using for the Thor movie. But, considering this project was invented explicitly to link Captain America and Thor before this summer's movies, I can't complain too much. At the very least, this issue was fun to read, which is more than I can say for almost any of the "Chaos War" books!
Fear Itself #1: Fraction sets the stage here by showing us a riot in New York (seemingly between the two opposing sides of the "Ground Zero Mosque" controversy), using it to show the tensions and divisions that exist in contemporary American society, clearly a theme of the series. We see Sin become the avatar for Skadi (I'm not sure who that is), who then resurrects the Serpent (I'm also not sure who he is, though he calls himself the "All-Father"). The resurrections freak out Odin, who appears to be alive again (and totally ass-nut crazy). Odin calls all the Norse gods to follow him to Asgard (which appears not to be the destroyed city sitting in a wheat field outside Broxon, Oklahoma, but an island floating in space), while the Serpent calls forth his "Worthy." I'm willing to give Fraction some leeway here in setting up the parameters of the book, but this issue isn't really all that good on its own. I mean, it's fine, but we certainly don't see a catalyzing event like the destruction of Stamford in "Civil War." It's a pretty slow-paced book, with the most notable event being the departure of the Norse gods, which, frankly, felt kind of anti-climatic to me. We'll see where it all goes.
Fear Itself: The Home Front #1: The Speedball story in this issue is the best. I found myself annoyed by the Twitter commentary at the start of the story, but then I realized it's exactly what Gage wanted. Gage really captures that feeling you get when you read ignorant comments posted by angry people on websites, the type of comments that make you to realize that you're sitting at your computer with balled fists because some jackwad has hijacked a thread about the new "Green Lantern" movie to complain about fascists/communists. This sort of universal sense of anger and frustration seems to be at the core of the "Fear Itself" storyline and I feel like Gage actually captures it better here than Fraction did in "Fear Itself" #1. Plus, just like "Uncanny X-Men" #534.1, I'm glad to see someone portraying the repercussions of one of those city-destroying events we so often see in the Marvel Universe. The other stories, to be honest, are pretty disposable.
Uncanny X-Men #534.1: So far, I've been really impressed with these .1 issues. Although a little gimmicky, both the "Captain America" issue and this one really accomplish the goal of introducing a new reader to new characters but also giving older readers a great story. Magneto's interaction with Kate Kildare, the X-Men's public-relations specialist, is classic. From her first appearance, I thought the idea of a public-relations person for the X-Men was clever, and Gillen really makes the concept meet its potential. Kate proves a competent sparring partner for Magneto (which is saying a lot), so much so that I wonder if Gillen himself didn't work in public relations. It's clear with this issue, Gillen's first without Fraction, that the improvement of "Uncanny X-Men" over the last few issues has been thanks to his addition to the title, so I'm excited to see what's in store over the next few months. I also appreciate him mentioning Magneto's actions in New York. As I mention above, so many cities in America have been wantonly destroyed and quickly forgotten over the years (Kang killing everyone in Washington, DC in "Avengers," Bucky annihilating part of Philadelphia in "Captain America") that I appreciate a writer who takes continuity seriously. Two enthusiastic thumbs up, Mr. Gillen.
Fear Itself: Book of the Skull #1: OK, I'm intrigued. You know you're dealing with a nut job when Baron Zemo thinks s/he's insane, as we see here in his reaction to Sin. This issue serves as a prologue to the Fear Itself cross-over event. After "Chaos War," I was a little skeptical that this event could be anything even remotely interesting, but Brubaker piques my interest here. The issue has an Indiana Jones feel to it, with the flashbacks to the Red Skull trying to find a mystical device for the Nazis to use to defeat the Allies (and, natch, Bucky, Cap, and Namor trying to stop him). The hammer-in-the-ice conceit is a little too similar to the hammer-in-the-desert conceit they're using for the Thor movie. But, considering this project was invented explicitly to link Captain America and Thor before this summer's movies, I can't complain too much. At the very least, this issue was fun to read, which is more than I can say for almost any of the "Chaos War" books!
Fear Itself #1: Fraction sets the stage here by showing us a riot in New York (seemingly between the two opposing sides of the "Ground Zero Mosque" controversy), using it to show the tensions and divisions that exist in contemporary American society, clearly a theme of the series. We see Sin become the avatar for Skadi (I'm not sure who that is), who then resurrects the Serpent (I'm also not sure who he is, though he calls himself the "All-Father"). The resurrections freak out Odin, who appears to be alive again (and totally ass-nut crazy). Odin calls all the Norse gods to follow him to Asgard (which appears not to be the destroyed city sitting in a wheat field outside Broxon, Oklahoma, but an island floating in space), while the Serpent calls forth his "Worthy." I'm willing to give Fraction some leeway here in setting up the parameters of the book, but this issue isn't really all that good on its own. I mean, it's fine, but we certainly don't see a catalyzing event like the destruction of Stamford in "Civil War." It's a pretty slow-paced book, with the most notable event being the departure of the Norse gods, which, frankly, felt kind of anti-climatic to me. We'll see where it all goes.
Fear Itself: The Home Front #1: The Speedball story in this issue is the best. I found myself annoyed by the Twitter commentary at the start of the story, but then I realized it's exactly what Gage wanted. Gage really captures that feeling you get when you read ignorant comments posted by angry people on websites, the type of comments that make you to realize that you're sitting at your computer with balled fists because some jackwad has hijacked a thread about the new "Green Lantern" movie to complain about fascists/communists. This sort of universal sense of anger and frustration seems to be at the core of the "Fear Itself" storyline and I feel like Gage actually captures it better here than Fraction did in "Fear Itself" #1. Plus, just like "Uncanny X-Men" #534.1, I'm glad to see someone portraying the repercussions of one of those city-destroying events we so often see in the Marvel Universe. The other stories, to be honest, are pretty disposable.
Uncanny X-Men #534.1: So far, I've been really impressed with these .1 issues. Although a little gimmicky, both the "Captain America" issue and this one really accomplish the goal of introducing a new reader to new characters but also giving older readers a great story. Magneto's interaction with Kate Kildare, the X-Men's public-relations specialist, is classic. From her first appearance, I thought the idea of a public-relations person for the X-Men was clever, and Gillen really makes the concept meet its potential. Kate proves a competent sparring partner for Magneto (which is saying a lot), so much so that I wonder if Gillen himself didn't work in public relations. It's clear with this issue, Gillen's first without Fraction, that the improvement of "Uncanny X-Men" over the last few issues has been thanks to his addition to the title, so I'm excited to see what's in store over the next few months. I also appreciate him mentioning Magneto's actions in New York. As I mention above, so many cities in America have been wantonly destroyed and quickly forgotten over the years (Kang killing everyone in Washington, DC in "Avengers," Bucky annihilating part of Philadelphia in "Captain America") that I appreciate a writer who takes continuity seriously. Two enthusiastic thumbs up, Mr. Gillen.
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