Category Archives: Comics
Review: X-Men: Schism #5
And so the X-Men are split asunder! Destruction has come to Utopia, but a growing rift between Cyclops and Wolverine has brought the two long-time allies to blows! Who is right? Who is wrong? Can they put aside their differences in time to save the day? Can the X-Men as a family ever recover from that stinging comment about Jean Grey? Can the X-Men defeat one solitary Sentinel? The answer to a lot of those questions is ‘yes’. But as to whether or not the big X-Men split makes any legitimate sense, the answer is most definitely ‘no’.
X-Men: Schism #5
I am not ashamed to say that I completely agree with Cyclops on this one. Wolverine’s decision and his reasoning for breaking the X-Men in half fly in the face of decades of X-Men history! I just don’t buy it.
Comic rating: 3/5: Alright.
That’s not to say this wasn’t an enjoyable issue. The fight between Cyclops and Wolverine came to a great conclusion, and remained epic and brutal throughout. The day was saved in wonderful superhero fashion, and the debate between the two star characters was both respectful and intelligent. They didn’t just part ways flipping each other off, is what I’m saying. The years of respect and camaraderie remained between them, even as they went their separate ways. All in all, I’d definitely say that X-Men: Schism was a worthwhile story. There were some annoying parts, like everything with the new Hellfire Club or Idie, and the character rift wasn’t as clear until issue #4, but now that it’s complete, I think it’s a good story.
But Wolverine’s reasoning is just ridiculous! As much as I may have liked this issue, I had to bring it down a grade for how foolishly stupid and naive Wolverine seems, and how the titular split doesn’t make any sense. Spoilers and more after the jump.
WTF…Heels? Fighting Crime and Abusing Fashion
A common, if cliched argument. Of course, practicality isn’t the point as far as the artists are concerned, and fangirls like me have always looked the other way. Still, it’s always nice to see examples like this, from Aaron Diaz:
Click to enlarge
My DC Rejiggering Retrospective
So the first full month of DC’s revamp has come and gone, and October will bring us all new #2 issues. Sales wise, it’s been great for DC Comics. All 52 new comic series have sold out, with some going back for multiple printings. The hype has paid off, they’ve sold a ton of comic book. Huzzah and kudos.
But what happens with issue #3? Or issue #5? Or #12?
I guess we’re going to find out, DC most of all.
People already seem to dislike the new Superman
They hype isn’t going to last forever. I’m sure DC realizes this and has a plan. Someday the sales of their books are going to drop back down to pre-revamp numbers. The lame, uninteresting titles will get cancelled and they’ll be back to the way things used to be: starting random new series whenever, bringing in new writers on popular titles and changes in art and story abound. Heck, some of the creators on the new books are already switching out. The well of support will dry up. But that’s an article for another today. Now that we’re through the first month, I figure I’d write about how I made it through the DC Rejiggering.
Hit the jump to find out my thoughts on each of the 52 titles.
Last Round of DC Rejiggering Reviews
The final week of all-new #1 issues has come and gone, and the DC Rejiggering stands fully revealed at last! I plan on doing a full retrospective later in the week, so for now I’ll just focus on capsule reviews for the titles I picked up this week. We actually have a pretty good crop, with DC seemingly saving some of the best for last. I also got to finally read Teen Titans, starring my favorite DC character, Tim Drake. And I’m confident in saying that I’m happy with his new status quo. Red Robin as leader of the Teen Titans is a good direction for him, compared to just Red Robin solo hero from before the rejiggering. I like the costume change too.
New costume/Old Costume
But I’ll get to the larger retrospective later. For now, on to the reviews!
Riding the Nudey Train All the Way to Nudesville to Sell DC Comics
Boobs sell comics. I realize this, I’m not a fool. Big, happy hooters have been at the forefront of superhero comics ever since Wonder Woman put on her first gold-emblazoned bustier. I have no problem with nudity and sex in comics. If it’s tasteful and serves a purpose, it can enhance the story or the character. But the extent to which DC Comics is trying to sell a lot of their female characters by putting them in the buff in their new #1 issues is making me feel leery about the whole line.
And the new Voodoo #1 this week may win the prize for the most exploitative.
Just look at that come-hither claw
Two-thirds of this issue take place in a strip club, where the title character is either on stage taking it off or in a private room giving a lap dance to a very sleazy guy. The fact that the guy is some kind of secret agent and the titular Voodoo is a space alien seems almost secondary. This is a comic about a strip club, and I felt as creeped out reading it as I did the last time I went to a strip club and got to sit next to a big, drunk guy who was not only really enjoying the show, but also had to keep telling me about it. DC Comics spends about as much time introducing us to Voodoo and the plot as it does telling us that there’s a good chance she’ll be naked or nearly naked in every issue!
So clearly all us lonely, geeky, basement-dwelling fan boys should buy Voodoo.
Because boobs.
Henchman-4-Hire 