Thursday, July 21, 2011

Sketch Reviews (July 21 2011)

Holy fuck is it hot. And, right now, the story that I'm most excited about the CM Punk saga over in the WWE. The latest development was him crashing the WWE panel at San Diego to ask a few questions of Triple H and Rey Mysterio. Nothing comics is doing right now has me as excited. I watched Money in the Bank at a movie theatre on Sunday night and, then, pre-ordered the DVD on Monday. That's how good it was -- and I want to reward that quality.

Actually, I'm not 'not excited' by comics. I've been pretty excited this week as I've begun planning for this year's Blogathon. I have a date, a concept, and a charity chosen. I'm just finalising the final list of comics/topics/whatever by consulting with a couple of smart people. I should announce that on Monday.

Today, I picked up an Amazon.ca package from UPS that they tried to deliver on Tuesday (I was out in nature with the girlfriend...). It contained Supergods and Grant Morrison: Talking with Gods. Haven't begun the book yet (comics came first), but Michelle and I watched the documentary. I liked it. Learned a few things, but a lot of it was known to me already. Michelle, on the other hand, had no experience with Grant Morrison beyond knowing that he's a writer I like. So, all of his weird craziness that most of us slowly learned over the years in bits and pieces, she gets dropped on her all at once. Kind of fun to see it in that light...

Avengers #15: Chris Bachalo's art is a lot of fun and crazy here. Bendis's writing left me oddly cold. [***1/4]

The Boys: Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker #1: Huh. I don't know why, but I pictured Butcher having a father he loved and respected. And, yet, this doesn't surprise me completely. A fine first issue, but I'm curious about the whole picture. Nice to see Robertson back drawing the character (besides covers). [***1/2]

Daredevil #1: A rather good first issue. Fun, exciting, inventive in the art... none of it blew my mind completely unfortunately. I'm the sort of negative person who wonders how long Matt can keep up this "I'm not Daredevil" thing and how long it will be before his kooky, over-the-top personality becomes annoying instead of charming. I like this take, but it's easy to see the problems that will be coming if Waid and company aren't careful. I guess there's also the problem of: how long can we sympathise with him denying he's Daredevil when he is? How long before this is just another "Superman is a lying bastard" sort of book? Or is it one already? Gorgeous, gorgeous art. [****]

Flashpoint: The Outsider #2: I like this character, but also find him a bit dull at times. Like he's still too new to be truly entertaining. Also, I wish Kevin Nowlan were drawing the book. [***1/4]

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #9: If this comic returns, I don't think I'll be buying it. This arc has been a big disappointment and I'm done after next issue. [*1/2]

Ultimate Fallout #2: Even Aunt May thinks Captain America is a jerk. Bryan Hitch's bit was nice. I was waiting to see how this series went before adding any of the new Ultimate titles to my pull list, but I think I'll get the Hickman titles. Yeah. Definitely. [***1/4]

Later