comics 20 dec

Deadpool is looking very much like Badger right now. I suppose most people are more familair with Deadpool than with Badger. Badger is a fantastic creation of Mike Baron that was published by First

Comics in the 80s, he suffers from a multiple personality disorder, is a martial artist in reg super-hero tights most of the time and teams up with a druid. So, to all those who would like more of

Deadpool I suggest they buy Badger, which Baron brought back just last month. It's the original zany character. And since Deadpool is about to be cancelled...

In Speak of the Devil, we see Gilbert Hernandez telling us a story about today's youth. It is
surreal. For some reason it reminds me of another middle-aged man, Jack Kirby, featuring youths in 1971's Forever People and New Gods.

Mighty Avengers continues in its experimental trend. Bendis is using thought balloons in a way closer to the way people think. There's the use of character logos appearing in the middle of the story and Frank Cho enjoys himself. His females are gorgeous and have very muscular thighs. This is the true Avengers title.

The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul has been a failure. The bat-titles were very good before but I
expect this crossover to drive readers away. Plus Damian leaves the bat-family. I hope the editors give up on that old idea of making a crossover to increase sales.

I picked up Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin because I'm always interested in seeing classic stories reinterpreted but Joe Casey already messed up with the X-Men and the art is not up to it. Dave Stewart's palette is fine for Conan or Hellboy bot not for super-heroes.

Exiles ends with issue 100. Back in the 70s a few series were cancelled that had Claremont as their writer, a fact that most people don't think about when they consider th eman who created the New X-Men "franchise."

Wolverine Origins 20 concludes the flashback with Captain America and Bucky, the best run of this magazine so far. Daniel Way integrates without a hitch Brubaker's version of Cap and Bucky. To be held as a great Captain America stories.

Captain America: The Chosen has been disappointing. Certainly the art is good but Morrel's script wasn't. It's better this issue, though. We'll see next issue when it concludes.

Justice League 16. Sort of an in-between issue. Prologue to a Tangent crossover. This type of thing has been a tradition for Justice League, so I won't gripe.

Foolkiller 3 is starting the action after two issues of exposition. This is ultra-violence but some
humor would be welcome as well.

Immortal Iron Fist remains a top of the pile book. The flashbacks flesh out the backstory.

Hulk 112 features no Hulk but Amadeus Cho and Hercules on a rampage, with SHIELD, Ares and the Avengers on the pursuit. It seems Angel and Namora are out of the picture but Wonder Man and Black Widow are in. Not quite the Champions but a fun read that weaves mythology in the story.

Red Sonja: hard to believe this sells enough. I generally enjoy to see comics going back to the
themes of my youth (the 70s) but this no Roy Thomas, John Buscema or Frank Thorne. Same comment for Savage Tales.

Superman 671: the new dynamics of Superman with his wife and his son, with the reinroduction and modernization of the Silver Age greatness make it one of teh best superhero titles.

X-Men crossover Messiah Complex includes everything classic element: The Reavers, The Marauders, Reverend Stryker, Sentinels. I guess the feeling of deja vu comes from there.

In She-Hulk Peter David keeps the title interesting by doing a 180 turn. There is a skrull and she's not a spy, apparently. There are also a number of new supporting characters, 3 or 4, depending on who is supposed to come back and maybe one should wonder if one is a skrull.? Anyway, intelligent writing.

Army@love is one of the best comics currently published.

Spider-Man Family present two new stories in a carytoony style: one taken from Walt Simonson's run on Thor in the 80s and the second like a Marvel Team-up story from the 70s. There are then two reprints by Ross Andru, an Amazing Spider-Man story with the Green Goblin and a Christmas Marvel Team-Up story.

Doctor Who Classics present stories from 1979 by Pat Mills, John Wagner and Dave Gibbons. You know you will have quality with such a line-up.

The Twelve #0 previews the new comics series reviving twelved Golden Age heroes. I found JMS and Weston's thinking behind their redesign to be interesting. The Golden Age stories in issue #0 were more curiosities than anything else: the Basil Wolverton art. It was also interesting for Marvel to make use of the 40s hero in modern times. Since Captain America had had more than ten years in the recent era over at Marvel there wasn't much of a culture shock left. This culture shock is worth telling about: I know people who live in sects since the early 90s. They never used internet nor a mobile phone.