Soon to be Obsolete Political Posters! Come get!

Just clearing up a couple posters that are pretty much already past their sell-by date. Here you go.

(Hey, look at it this way; he's got skills to fall back on!)

I really thought Rudy would do better. Ah well, given his rather strange interpration of how democracy works, it's probably for the best. It was fun while it lasted.

Wacky Wednesday Writer's Round-Up

OK, first up: J. Michael Straczynski no longer Marvel Exclusive

Yeah, this one was easy to see coming. After the "One More Day" Fallout, you could see that JMS was really being "farmed out" to the fringes of Marvel just working on a few side projects here and there. Unlike most of the Newsrama comment crowd, I don't think this automatically translates into a DC project; Lest we forget JMS still carries a grudge with Turner Broadcasting and Warner Brothers in general over the termination of "Crusade". Honestly however, I've long since lost interest in Straczynski's writing; the parts that don't feel cribed directly from Harlan Ellison don't seem to inspire or entice me. It seems to me he's still largely living off of his "Babylon 5" appeal, even going so far as to take every given opportunity to remind people he's a "Hollywood writer". But, like with all things Hollywood, it isn't your history; it's your current portfolio, and his is rather sparse, I think.



Next up, Comicbookresources has an interview with Peter David. It's the usual X-Pablum, of which I won't bore you on, but for me the salient details were towards the end where he discusses matters of the WGA and trying to start a similar organization in the comic industry:

I was part of a group some twenty years ago that attempted to form an
organization of comic writers and artists. It wasn’t even about forming a
labor union so much as it was trying to get a sizable enough group together
that would get affordable health care. We couldn’t even manage to get enough
writers and artists together to attain that simple goal; we were greeted
with either suspicion or indifference from the creative base.

Wow. That says a lot to me. And it's sad, because everything you here from the Steve Gerbers on down makes a pretty damning case for these guys to stop living in what amounts to the 1920's labor environment. I guess some people never learn.


Saving the Best for Last, we have ALAN MOORE:

Moore on "HEROES":

Moore: I was persuaded to watch it by people who said it nods to Watchmen
but God, what a load of rubbish! It's a late-70s X-Men at best and full of
terrible ideas and characters who've all been done to death. Beyond death. And
the writing shows such contempt for the viewer. The climax, a man who is going
to explode is carried off into the air by his brother... did anybody bother to
compare the effects of a groundburst with an airburst nuclear explosion? I'll
take the former over the latter, thanks. This is supposed to be the sort of
thing that superhero stories are good at. I tell you, if we are ever threatened
with a scenario like that in real life I hope the superheroes aren't American
because we'll be sunk.

Now, I like HEROES, but I can't blame the man for being absolutely dead-on in his analysis; there is hardly a new idea in the show that a good comic reader couldn't find in 70s and 80s comics.

Moore on Frank Miller

Moore: Frank Miller, I haven't been able to read him for some time. Have
you seen his latest idea? It is - and I can hardly believe this - Batman vs Al
Qaeda. What can you say to an idea as absurd as that? This is our response to
thew Iraq war? Miller's trapped in a teenage world of macho violence. Look at
Sin City. Every woman is a bloodthirsty, semi-naked whore; every man is a
indestructible killing machine. It's nasty, misogynist, Neanderthal Teenage, but
it sells.

Now, at the risk of earning a lynching from the comic blogosphere, I have to point out that Moore's history with well rounded female protagonists is hardly exemplar, with far too many of his female characters being thoroughly cast in the "victim" mode. That said, my god if only we could get that kind of regular dismissal of crap ideas like this in the comic industry, we'd all be much better off.

What If...We Lived in a comic book universe? Part 1

This will be a regular series here (I hope and with much positive feedback).

The Last Year of Smallville in Six Posters

OK, little rushed with a post tonite, because I've some big stuff I'm planning for later to celebrate officially being back. That and a new side project means tonite will be a tad rushed. Don't worry, Things will improve very soon.

So, in the meantime, let me save you hours of pain and a few bucks of buying DVDs and quickly summarize all you need to know about the last year of Smallville:

The Good

The Bad

The WTF?

Enjoy

A Typical Week in the Life of...NAMOR THE SUBMARINER!

With of course, a few tangentially related Posters!

Monday: Invade Surface world, shouting “Imperius Rex!” at the top of my lungs

Tuesday: Change my mind about invading when convinced by a human female (most likely Susan Storm Richards). Betrayed by an unstable power-hungry warlord (Note to self; institute some quality controls in military command structure so I stop promoting these guys) and exiled to the surface world.

Wednesday: Join a superteam that isn’t pissed at me for invading the surface world. Flirt with Susan Richards. Attempt to Join the U.N.

Thursday: Get booted off team for being arrogant/flirting with Sue (No one wants a guy on their team who can get their ass handed to them by Reed Richards) and fail to join the U.N.

Friday: Return to Atlantis, find out that they are about to be enslaved/slaughtered by a warlord who betrayed me

Saturday: Defeat Warlord, reclaim throne

Sunday: Rest, Play with Dolphins, beat up sea monsters, get married to an Atlantean only to have her die for no good reason. Swear vengeance on the Surface world

Huh...ain't that funny? We're right back where we started! Go figure.

Your moment of funny

STATE OF THE INITIATIVE: MADE OF FAIL!

OK, first up on the improved MPM, we'll just do a quick gloss over of the Initiative, Mark Millar's Faboulous contribution to Marvel Comics.

Oh, let's look it over.

-Failure to prevent many female superbeings from being kidnapped for auctioning (Ms. Marvel)
-Failure to protect secret identities of members from a low-level Criminal for use in his scheme to control the superheroes (New Avengers)
-Using portals to the Negative Zone for transport, even knowing it weakens the barriers between universes, possibly threatening all of existence (The Initiative)
-Sentinel Squad O*N*E* aka the Keystone cops of the Marvel Universe Seriously, have they stopped even one threat? Or done a damn thing? (All X-Books to date)
-Failure to protect Captain America, subsequent total failure to investigate or incarcerate any and all individuals involved (Captain America)
- Total failure to prevent even a limited planetary invasion (World War Hulk)
- Total failure to prevent or be prepared for any serious alien Invasion (World War Hulk, upcoming Secret Invasion, and implied in Nova)
-Total Failure of SHIELD to prevent Ultron Attack (Mighty Avengers)
-Multiple Failures of leadership and security and safety at Camp Hammond (Avengers: The Initiative)
-Failure to prevent multiple non-registered beings from escaping to Canada (Alpha Flight)
-Failure to apprehend Daredevil, despite his ID being basically an open Secret (OK, yes, Tony might have some sympathy for Matt, but somehow I doubt that would stop say, Norman Osborne or someone from the gov't from saying "no exceptions, we can't have blind men in red devil outfits running around Hell's Kitchen beating muggers because you feel sorry for them. It's the law".
-Failure to apprehend any member of the outlaw "New Avengers"
-Failure to protect American against Atlantean terrorism, and subsequent failure of SHIELD to contain Atlantis. Failure to prevent Namor/Doom Alliance and Atlantean Sleeper cells from going global. (Sub-Mariner)
-Failure to apprehend Runaways, The New Warriors, and the Loners (who should be considered as in violation of Registration terms as I understand them, if they are even registered).
-Breakout at the Raft, AGAIN (New Avengers - SHIELD BUGGERED UP AGAIN)
-Failure to protect the identity and family of a registered Hero (Tigra, New Avengers)
-Failure to protect nuclear launch codes and government secrets and government properties from a rogue Initiative member (Penance)
-Failure to capture perpetrators of an Alaskan village from Purifiers and Marauders (X-Men: Messiah Complex), which subsequently lead to a cross-country mutant war and the deaths of Sentinel Squad O.N.E., among others. Hell, the fact that the Purifiers (High-tech anti-mutant terrorists) are able to openly recruit kind of high-lights the effectiveness of the Initiative, doesn't it?
-Total Failure at all levels of Camp Hammond, including a Skrull Infiltrator, a Hydra Infiltrator, and God only knows what else (Avengers, the Initiative)
-Failure to prevent Symbiote Bomb (Mighty Avengers)
-Corruption of Initiative and SHIELD resources and allowing Extremis technology to fall into the hands of the Mandarin (Iron man)
-Failure of SHIELD to prevent potential lethal attack on SHIELD director by a prisoner in the Helicarrier (Captain America)
-Failure to reform, capture, or prevent the re-empowerement of Tarantula (Daredevil)
-Failure to prevent Hell's Kitchen from going up in a mad blaze of insanity-causing chemical drug madness. Subsequent failure to detain the Enforcers, Razor Fist, or Mr. Fear (Daredevil).



Geez, makes you wonder how badly things would have gone if they hadn't even bothered, huh?

I HAVE RETURNED!

After a long time, and many other interesting things, I have returned to this blog (Also, took me FOREVER to find old account info).

That said, I'm going to be bringing something new in this iteration. In addition to keeping the old stuff, I'm hoping to update frequently, and provide more commentary on comics, politics, science and engineering.

Now first, words of thanks for all those who have encouraged me to return to this. Sanjay Singh, Patricia Cryan, Mario Di Giacomo, and many many others have been very helpful. My thanks to all.

Equal thanks goes out to those whom have inspired this return. Not the least of which is other great bloggers like MightygodKing, Chris Sims, Dave Campell, Dorian, Mike Sterling, Kevin Church, Johanna Draper Carlson, Dennis Perrin, Barry Crimmins, Tom Tomorrow, and way, way more (as you will see on the new sidebar once I get it up and running). I cannot hope to consider myself in such good company. However, I will try to be a diligent and intelligent member of the community. Oh, and lots of snarky posters.

Which will be the new regular feature. Over, the last few years, I've spent a lot of time on this site, constructing a lot of faux motivational posters (thanks not only to some of the material provided by the blogs above, but also Scans_Daily). You'll be seeing a lot of them over our journey together.

Let us begin

God, it's so funny because it's ironic....

I occasionally visit Rush Limbaugh's website. I do this because I find it morbidly fascinating how some Americans use "Liberal" as a swear word, and he seems to be the definition of that type. So, I'm reading, and I catch this little online quote....

"...you'd have to say this is a red county country, not a red state country..."

Why would I find this amusing? A couple reasons;

1) The idea of an Amercian proudly proclaiming his country to be a "Red Country" is funny for a kid who grew up in the waning days of the Cold War.
2) The fact that he's happy about that it's his political viewpoint that is so prevasive that he ignores the notion that a lack of diversity is a VERY BAD thing for a country to have.

Oh, well, on to less serious items....


WHAT IS....ACCESSIBLITY?

Looking at many comic reviews I keep seeing the word "Accessiblity" mentioned as a key issue for comics writing. And I keep wondering how to best quantify that, if it's even possible.

I come at this from a fairly unique viewpoint. One of my earliest comics was an issue of "Uncanny X-Men"; the second to last part of the huge "Inferno" crossover. It was full, and I mean FULL of continuity bits that I had no clue about, as it was my first real exposure to the X-Men beyond an old episode of "Spider-man and his Amazing Friends" in which they guest starred.

Was this confusing for 8 year old me? Yes
Did I buy a huge number of back issues or search the internet to find the backstory? No, because there was no internet, and because I didn't even know you could BUY Back issues.
Did I enjoy the story? HELL YES.

Thus, I wonder if the problem of Accessiblity is somewhat exaggerated. On one hand, I've tried exposing non comics readers to issues of New Invaders and Robbie Morrison's Authority (These people have promptly threatened me to never do it again). On the other hand, there is little problem doing this with Spider-Girl, or Captain America, or even Robin.

I think this is something that warrants further experimentation.
Thoughts and ideas for structure of an experiment are greatly appreciated.


Michael

FINALLY!

Application to Masters School: DONE
Scholarship Applicatons: DONE
Ebay Auctions: DONE
Second Comicbookgalaxy review: DONE

I can finally get back to the business of blogging for awhile without any further real-life distractions.

HOORAY!

Michael Paciocco

Huh....go Figure...

...apparently I'm a critic at Comicbook Galaxy, looking at this, anyway.

Kind of a surprise really; not much of a real background for this sort of thing other than some articles I wrote in my senior year of high school. But it's a nice surprise, none the less.

Working a few other things, announcements soonish....


Michael

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, Between my 25th birthday and some volunteer efforts, I have not been as regular as I should. Next week will see large chunks of blogmeat on comics, politics, technology and more.

In the meantime, check out my latest batch of comics for sale on eBay.

Thanks,

Michael

A lot of interesting Space news today.

The big story is that Spaceship One just barely got in the first of two qualifying flights for winning the X-Prize. I've got to hand it to Mike Melvill for pulling out of a generally creepy roll in the ascent. The Right Stuff indeed.

Another story that is getting a lot of coverage here in Canada is whether or not we want to sign on to the US missile Defense Sheild Project. Personally, I'm against it for the following reasons:

1) There are more viable ways to spend taxpayer money on defense than a systems that has not been shown to work effectively.
2) Missiles from current or future "rogue states" aren't the problem; it is terrorists who would smuggle WMDs into a North America via cargo transport
3) I find the science of the system to be nebulous, and that's not a good sign.
4) Very few countries can afford a ballistic missile program, and it's very resource intensive, requiring a lot of men, materials, and time. These things can be found more easily on the ground then trying to shoot them once in the air. The means of using WMDs mentioned in 2) above is a lot more likely, and far more scary.

Just my thoughts,

Michael

Well, this sucks....



Looks like Burt Rutan has all but sewn up the X-Prize (Go here for all the info). While I'm not that surprised, I'm a little sad. For a short while, it really looked like the Canadian team had a real shot at beating Rutan in a David Vs. Goliath manner. I mean, the DaVinci Project was an underfunded team, even when they got the big sponsorship from Golden Palace. I mean, Rutan has one of the MicroSoft founders as his patron for this. Despite how this might sound, I'm not complaining. Anything that gets people into space again, and can be proven to do so cheaply, is ultimately of benefit to the rest of us, no matter the country. And if you have to get beat, it might as well be to a guy like Rutan.

Still, it would have been nice to put Canada on the Aerospace History map again....

Michael

Better Late than Never

Something from the Comicbookgalaxy Blog that I just caught right now. A Challenge for bloggers to name their favorite "Brilliant but Cancelled" comic series. I'm going to do him one better; not only will I name my "brilliant but Cancelled" Series, I will also include "Brilliant but will be cancelled soon" series, and "Absolutely horrible and should be cancelled now" series (For the sake of not having this section go on too long, I'm sticking with series that which have not exceeded 12 issues at this time).

Let's begin

BRILLIANT BUT CANCELLED

The Establishment - OK, I know next to nothing about all the English pop-culture references scattered throughout this series, but even I know an astonishingly good comic when I see one.

Mr. Majestic - This one already got covered here, but I want to add on to what was said here. It is important to note that before Alan Moore got his hands on him (and later, Joe Casey), this character was an incredibly vain ripoff of Superman with no interesting features whatsover (Kind of like the current superman, only more so). While Moore started to bring some depth, it was Casey who decided to go to the distance (along with Ed McGuiness) and make some comics that you could look at today and see how much damage the concepts of "widescreen" and "decompressed storytelling" have done to take the joy out of superhero comics.

The "MC2" line - More good fun here to be had, courtesy of Tom DeFalco. First, let me say that I find it very weird to defend this guy, because of the fact that I HATED his run on Fantastic Four during the 90s. However, I can forgive him for churning out a whole lot of really readable comics that while a corny, would sell very well in trade. ANEXT in particular, is a fantastic take on a second-generation group of Avengers that clearly shows a love of the Roy Thomas and Roger Stern Eras of the title. You can find these issues real cheap if you take the time to look, and I highly recommend that you do.

Stormwatch: Team Achilles - Despite what you may think of Micah Wright (I know the controversy has caused some division, and I understand and can sympathise, especially with those who blindly defended Micah) his work here was very impressive for a first time comic writer. Had this been marketed correctly, it would have been called "G.I. Joe for grown ups" and might have sold very well indeed. Say what you will about his politics or his regretful lapse in judgement, the comics were good, and should be respected as such.

Alan Moore's Supreme (Honourable Mention) - while not technically "cancelled" (on infinite postponement, until Alan Moore dies and Rob Liefeld decides to capitalize on it by 'releasing these lost works', if I were to guess), it is certainly unfinished. If the current superman books were anywere near as interesting as this comic or Mr. Majestic, well, they'd be selling again, wouldn't they? Moore took (yet another) lackluster Superman riff and showed us what a 21st century superhero comic should look like. Very good reading, and I recommend you either get the issues on Ebay or try and get the recently-released trades from Checker Book Publishing.

BRILLIANT BUT SOON TO BE CANCELLED

Captain America and the Falcon - it is becoming clear to me that Christopher Priest must have angered all the wrong gods. He comes out with a vital and complex look at this 60 year old comic character that is unbelievably entertaining, but is then handicapped by his artist for the first storyline. To make matters worse, the "Main" Captain America title is about to be relaunched and will be getting a much bigger marketing push due to the fact that Ed Brubaker is at the helm. This one's doomed folks. But then, it's a Priest title, so you should have already known that already.

Runaways - Oh, I know there is supposed to be a new "Season" coming out soon. Excuse my pessimism here. Of all the titles on this list, this is the one I want to be wrong about the most. However, when you consider that Marvel isn't making the best push for this book while Vaughn is simultaneously being courted to take over a lot of the "big name" projects, you can see why I might think that it doesn't have a chance.

Fallen Angel - Peter David has pimped for this book like no comic he has ever done, which is saying quite a bit for a man with a 20-plus year career in this field. However, the fact is David's track record when he pushes this hard speaks for itself. This title will probably last the longest of the ones on this list, but I don't expect it to crack issue 30.

Birds of Prey - Gail Simone has gone out of her way to make this an accessible, fun, and entertaining read (This is currently just about the ONLY main DC title I pay any attention to, so that it is saying something). Again, DC won't push it, and it'll likely die out too damn soon. Shame for that.

ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE AND SHOULD BE CANCELLED RIGHT AWAY

Invaders - Scroll down to see my review of the first issue, and why I think it qualifies as one of the worst comics of 2004. The premise and nature of this comic are so dead set against gaining new readership that if it makes it to 12 issues, it would be nothing short of a miracle.

Amazing Fantasy - Serves no conceivable purpose save to try and destroy the Spider-Girl comic, and by all industry reports, is failing to do even that.

Superman/Batman - Souless dreck that tries to appeal to your sense of nostalgia while beating you to death with sheer senselessness.

X-Force - Cannot possibly be worth the money you spend on it, and if you are buying it, then lord help you when you look back on yourself in about 5 years.

Michael C. Paciocco

Fair Warning: ANGRY RANT BELOW

I'm sick of it. Really.

Looking at the big events (and I mean looking, I don't buy event comics, but I check out the Newsrama previews and check in at a lot of fan forums to get all the spoilers) at Marvel (Avengers Disassembled) and DC (Identity Crisis and the Jim Lee drawn Superman) I have to admit, that well, who the hell wants to read this?

At the risk of sounding like an old man here, the comics I read as a kid involved superheroes (I won't say they were brightly coloured; I was a child of the late 80s/early 90s, when pretty damn near all superheroes wore black) actually, you know DOING THINGS about the various disasters happening all around them. Now, I look at these two examples which are being held up to the media and what do I see? A bunch of grown men (in tights and out) seeing disasters happening all around them and bitching about how helpless and ineffective they are. Who the hell wants to read comics like that? Actually, I take that back. I can see where there could be a dramatic need to tell that type of story, but this is way too much, and it's over the top.

Now, the prevailing logic is that the reason these stories are as somber as they are is because they reflect the feeling of powerlessness the world felt on that day which need not be mentioned (I'm sorry, but in an election year, politicians of all stripes have used and abused that day so much that it is begining to lose meaning, so I choose not to mention it by name). Well, you know what? That's entirely ass-backwards. On that day, and the many days since, we have seen many feats of heroism of a very human nature, and in some ways, a superhuman nature. Whether it was at the site of disaster, or a soldier on a battlefield (while I'm against some of the wars currently being waged, it is because I doubt the sincerity and reasoning of the leaders who lead to war, not the soldiers), or any decent act of charity (and that oh so brief feeling of global unity), THAT IS HEROISM. THAT DESERVES TO BE CELEBRATED.

I don't want to look back at the comics made in the first decade of the 21st century and say it was the age of "Shock and Cynicism". We deserve better. All of us. Demand it.


Michael Paciocco

Toronto, Turbines, and Tomato Sauce

Got back from my week long trip in Toronto, in summary:

-Thank you John and Meagan for having me to your place and being so generous. God Bless.

-Thanks go out to my uncles and aunts and cousins who were so generous with their time and transportation, especially Uncle Nick

-Checked out the local Chapters, The Sci-Fi Superstore (the comic selection was a little on the light side, but still a decent place overall) and Planet X comic shop.

The bulk of my time was spent with my grandparents and great uncles and aunts preparing the Tomatoes to be made into pasta sauce. I honestly think my generation is woefully unprepared for the amount of WORK that will need to be done preserve their traditions into the next century when they finally leave us. Having spent a goodly number of hours with them, I am continuely amazed by my grandparent's energy entering their 80s that would astound those in their 40s.

Of course, the main reason for my excursion was to talk to professors at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS, see the link). Overall, I think it was a positive experience, as it really opened a lot of possibilities I had not considered. Going in, I would have told you that I wanted to do Computational fluid modelling for aerodynamic design, but looking at the research that these guys are doing, I find there is a lot more out there that I could do. Here's what happened:

DAY 1: The first professor I met told me that he wouldn't likely have funding for me until next year, but he deluged me with research papers and a lot of other info and suggestions. Good guy, despite the fact that as I skimmed those papers I realize that what he's doing isn't really for me. The second guy is doing some fascinating research that would take advantage of my ergonomics and systems modelling training, but again, no likely openings until september. Professor #3, however, is a different story. He entices me with every hook (Lots of industry interest in his research, that he's had experience with Systems Design grads and thinks the world of them, possiblity of a job waiting for me after I get my Masters, etc), but what really struck me was that his research had applications beyond those of aerospace, including a lot of fields that could use a broad based systems person like myself. What can I say, he buttered me up. I left there feeling really good....

DAY 2: ...until I met #4. #4 did something I never thought I would see a professor do: He basically spent 30 minutes telling me how little anyone thinks of his research, how no one cares, and how he is basically riding it out until he retires. NOT A GREAT SALES PITCH. #5 and I hit it off fairly well, not just on the research, but on the fact that we have the same general interests, and that we are both huge followers of the X-Prize and the new private space race. We are both believers in space flight...and that's when I realized something....

I am a bit of a living stereotype. I'm the small town boy influenced by his father's science fiction (one of my earliest memories is at 3 years old watching "The Doomsday Machine" episode of Star Trek the original series) and inspired by the hometown hero astronaut whom the hometown threw a tickertape parade and named streets and buildings after (This being of course, Dr. Roberta Bondar). Sadly, we both realized that with today's culture, I might truly be the last of my breed. I hope not, and I will spend my life fighting against that sadness to prevent that prediction.

So there you have it. Now, here's the sticky part: Do I choose the prof with the better research or the one that I like better as a person?


Michael Paciocco

Creepy thoughts...

In the Gym yesterday, and heard "PYT (Pretty Young Thing)" by Michael Jackson. I think we can all now look back on that song as a clear cry for help. I'm not advocating banning it or anything, but man, now I can't listen to that song without laughing at it.

Another really creepy song? "If I was invisible" by that Clay Aiken guy. Is it just me, or does it sound like a stalker's theme song? Seriously, listen to the words. And this guy is supposed to be the clean-cut all-American singer who got chosen by American Idol folks? Yeesh.

Michael Paciocco

Paying the Piper
I'm trying to raise a little extra cash to pay for public transit (and kick in some gas money to my relatives who will be helping me get about town) on my little Toronto trip next week, hence my EBAY auctions here

Thanks, it's appreciated....

News, Reviews, and other Sundry

Well, sorry about the increased delay...I'm still trying to get comments and the links list to work. If you can be of any help, please contact infinite_horizon@hotmail.com

Let's see, as for news:

-Heading down to Toronto at the beginning of September on a mostly business venture to try and get work and/or some support and information on doing a Master's degree at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies.

-Support Comic Book Galaxy: Apparently, they could use your support. Alan David Doane and company have been the first and last word on critical comic thinking, and deserve anything you can do to help them. And if you doubt the caliber of these people as serious comic thinkers, go read Alan's interview with ALAN MOORE.

Reviews: Trying to catch up on comics I've been reading....either in paper form or digital (via the free sites)

GEM OF THE WEEK:

Invaders #1 - Should be bought, preserved, and analysed as a text book example of how NOT to do a number 1 issue of a comic. This book is SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT. and if you doubt it, go read it yourself here. I checked it out because I liked C.P. Smith's artwork from Stormwatch: Team Achilles and figured that his sensiblities would be put to adequate use here. I was wrong.

For those of you whom lack the stomach to actually read through this pigeon dropping, let me give you the cliff notes as best I can:

- Do you have a lot of old World War Two comics? Did you catch the 'story' that introduced all these characters in Avengers? No? Then you and I have something in common, because I have no Fucking clue whom 90% of these characters are, although I do remember John Walker as the right wing psycho Captain America from Mark Gruewald's run. Looks like the dumbass still hasn't learned his lesson. Oh, and I know who Namor is too.

-I thought Jim Hammond was blond, or graying....but here he has brown hair. It could be the horrible colouring here...help needed.

-I really wish I knew who the man-sized robo-insects were, or why they were being fought, or how the action was being depicted, because it just isn't clear. Does Jim Hammond (The original Human Torch for those of you who never bought the Thunderbolts or doesn't have a 1984 Handbook to the Marvel Universe handy) have pyrokinesis now? Heat vision? Who cares?

-Again, who are these people and why are they a team? To defend Democracy? That falls apart when you have "King of the Seas" Namor on your team. Head hurting. At least the Union Jack character seems just as fucking confused as me. Even though he doesn't talk like any Englishman I have ever heard or seen on TV or met....

-Page 13: Funniest/Stupidest part of the issue here. Walker (Calling himself "US Agent" according to caption box, even though the duds look like a cross between the medeval Captain America costume from Busiek's first storyline and Ultimate Cap) rams his shield marked with the names "of American lives lost ...to Terrorist scum like you! Show Some Respect!" into a bug man bot. Okay, apparently in the Marvel Universe, Sept 11, 2001, the World Trade Center was attacked and brought down by ray-gun weilding insect bots. Nevermind that the trivialisation of a Real World tragedy in this comic is done in such a ridiculous manner (Seriously, someone at editorial should get FIRED for something this insensitive and stupid).

-Ok, now the fights over, and of course, instead of acting like a military and securing the area, the characters decide to start bitching at each other. Oh, and am I supposed to find it creepy or just ham-fisted the "What is this, equal rights for synthetics?" line coming from an American hero who's supposed to stand for...equality?

-The rest of this issue is talking heads that really explains...well...nothing, except that there is a lot of rampant sexism and possibly racism inherent in the characters. And the twist at the end leaves going "Who the fuck cares?"

And with that spleen venting accomplished, on to better things

Other Reviews:

Sleeper Season Two #1-2: Come on, you shouldn't need ME to recommend this to you. It's good. Really good. Very dark and disturbed, but good.

Invincible #13 - Not the best jumping on point...If I were you and new to this title, I'd go fish out the trades (or at the very least, issue #9) to start off. That being said, this is a good book, and it wraps things up fine while setting up a new status quo.

Fantastic Four #514-516 - Surprisingly, it looks like Waid's and Kesel's styles seem to clash in this one, which is odd given the similar approach the two of them have when dealing with superheroes. If you are familiar with the writers, you can probably tell whom contributed what, although I would also suspect that there was some editorial edicts that forced some of this plot. To be honest, I found this new Frightful Four arc to be a little darker than I would have liked, given that the Lee/Kirby era used these villains more for cheap laughs than anything else. However, a bad arc with this team is still a thousand times better than this book has been since the days of Walt Simonson.

Ex-Machina #2 - Hmm....I'm still not sure this is for me. While the premise is enticing, there is a not so subtle slam of superheroics being present throughout here, as it seems to me that Vaughn is implying that the character's career as a "superhero" was basically one long screw-up. The politics presented are bad, but they are entirely exciting. Great art by Harris, however.

Planetary #20 - The Real gem of the week, as not only are we dealing with the undiluted beauty of artwork provided by Cassaday, but we are actually given the impression that THE PLOT IS MOVING FORWARD. After two years and a handful of issues, this is very important. If you aren't reading this, well, you are missing out on the best comic since WATCHMEN.

That's all for now, later.


Michael Paciocco