This Week’s Funnybooks

I’ve been reading the Avengers/Invaders mash-up this past decade or so (actually, it has only seemed that long with the ponderous and meandering storyline that Writer Jim Kruger has been trowling about. Seriously, after all this time, nothing of note has occurred (OK there were two minor linchpins that get pulled out at the end, but seriously, This whole thing could have been told in a Giant-Sized special, and told much better.

By comparison, let me tell you that I sat through two hours and 42 minutes of Transformers which had way less storyline than did Avengers/Invaders, but seemed to take up way less of my time. No I realize that it my not be fair to compare the two, but seriously, A/I (which contained characters that I love), just seemed interminable while Transformers (about which I care not in the least), was really enjoyable. The only thing that i can think of was that Kruger had a point to make and then decided what size sledge hammer he needed to pound it in, while Michael Bay simply wanted to entertain me.

Needless to say, I hate Norman Osborn with the whit-hot passion of an exploding sun (hate hate hate), yet I've been reading Dark Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis (who I consider to be a very talented hack — no offense Brian) but is certainly writing the Hell out of this series, and actually is making me care about Osborn as a person (and I totally hate Bendis for doing this. I want to hate Osborn, but for the first time in like 40 years, I actually feel sorry fo the guy — Osborn not Bendis)

Now that is seriously good writing!

Ms. Marvel is a hit-and-miss character for me, but the last couple of Spidey appearances in her book (#40 being the most recent) have been pretty decent, and I’m enjoying her storyine as we wind through the Dark Reign scenario. (Oh, can anyone tell me if the Moonstone/Ms. Marvel we’ve been seeing in the Thunderbolts/Dark Avengers is the same Moonstone from back in the day who was the bald chippie in the Avengers during the Celestial Madonna storyline? Just wondering.)

I want to see what’s up in Captain America (Yeah the Steve Rogers is back hype got to me, and while I still think that Marvel missed a way-cool opportunity to put Sam Wilson in the suit, I still want to be there when Cap comes back.

Also, while I’m still on the fence about the whole Timestorm thing, I can’t help but to point out that the 2099 Universe into which Spidey and Wolverine have been pulled isn’t the same one from way back when. Not sure if I’m liking this, but it isn’t entirely bad, and I want to see where they go with it (Plus it is way better than A/I)

Haven’t read the Sinister Spider-Man (staring Scorpion/Venom) or Mr. Negative minis yet, and well, I’m still POed about BND, but with #600 of ASM coming up, I’m hoping that they will put the whole thing to rest (Still, I’m not afraid that they are going to wait until #666 to put a fork in it, which will seriously wind my clock.

OK, time to get back to (paying) work.

Avengers/Invaders Redux

So, I’ve been (suffering through) reading the Avengers Invaders endless limited series and well, quite frankly, enjoying it less and less with each passing issue. I received a wonderful treat this month, in Marvel Adventures: Avengers. It seems that the two teams got together there as well, only, not only was the entire story contained in a single issue, but it was actually enjoyable to read.

It was fun, entertaining, and well, not padded out for 12 issues.

I couldn’t have asked for more.

I am seriously bored to tears with writers who feel that they need to pile everything and the kitchen sink into an issue. Just tell me the story and make it good.

Is that too much to ask?

Avengers/Invaders the endless war

I don’t know about you folks, but I’ve been reading this whole Avengers/Invaders year-long crossover that has been going on since it seems forever, but I am having a hard time following (or, well, carrying) about it. I mean no disrespect to either Alex Ross of Jim Krueger, both of whose work I really like, I’m just not connecting to the story, the characters, or, well, pretty much the reasoning behind what is going on in this series.

Truth to tell, it all seems like a warm-up for the Dynamite Superpowers series, which may be unfair, but well, that series seems to be covering the same ground in a lot of ways, especially when this series seems to wrapping up, then keeps sliding off in another direction. Now I’ve read a couple of these Avengers/Invaders mash-ups in the past and they have been dismissed in the course of a single (over-sized) issue or annual. I honestly don’t understand why this story had to be stretched out (and yes, it does seem as if Krueger is padding the story to force it to 12 issues when it probably could have been (should have been) taken care of in half the space.

I’m sure that there are some fans out there enjoying this, I’m just not one of them. Plus, as a friend of mine has pointed out a couple of times, the payoff for this series is (in all probability) a way to bring Steve Rogers back into the present and put him back into the Captain America red white and blues. Obviously there has been no confirmation or denial of this from Marvel, but, well, it totally makes sense.