Posted by Richard Pulfer on Nov 27th, 2007
Okay, I don’t hate them. I’m actually quite partial to the idea - but I’m starting to get irratated by the crossover, or rather, spillover of the zombie craze at Marvel. Not only are many books nowadays being released with “zombie” variants, but in Nova #8Â - forget Annhilation: Conquest, forget the Phalanx-possessed Drax and Gamora on his tail, none of that is mentioned. What is mentioned though is a bunch of zombiefied alien heroes that Nova must fight off with only a supercomputer and a Golden Retriever/Lab mix in a spacesuit. Okay, that last part is cool - and so is a lot of things in Nova, but if I find this is another crossover with the Marvel Zombies franchise, I’m seriously going to hurl.
On the other hand, I can’t say enough good things about Countdown to Mystery #3. When he’s not using the Helmet of Nabu to clean up the slots machine at Las Vegas casinos, Kent V. Nelson is finding the answers reside more in his mind than with magic. The imagery is surreal, and this deconstructionist take on Fate is made all the more interesting considering he gets taken out by one swift kick from a magic store clerk. There hasn’t been one issue that hasn’t left me wanting more. On the other hand, the Eclipso back-up is slowly getting better as Eclipso sets her sights on the Creeper after corrupting Plastic Man, and Crispus Allen seperates from the Spectre to force former Eclipso host Bruce Gordon back into the fold.
Messiah Complex is really starting to heat up. Its doing some things I didn’t would happen until the final issues - the X-Men are gearing up for a fight with the Marauders, the New X-Men may have already lost on of their own, and another player - Lady Deathstrike - is entering the fold. Can’t wait to see how this all shakes out in the next issue.
Batman and the Outsiders may not be the team I always wanted to see (I’m happy to see Catwoman, but wanted to see Captain Boomerang and Aquaman also on the team), but it doesn’t matter - because Chuck Dixon pens a great first issue anyway. The action is concise and easy to follow - and so is the clear-cut dialogue. Given how this one ends, there’s plenty more to look forward to next issue.
She-Hulk #2 turned out okay after a so-so first issue. The sight of Jennifer Walters walking around with a broken neck and using the excuse that she’s “triple-jointed” was just as priceless as She-Hulk knocking Absorbing Man into a Lego castle - and leaving him easy to scatter. The real interesting thing is the end, which finds She-Hulk’s partner is really a Skrull - I’m interested to see how this plays out during the upcoming Secret Invasion.
We can see how Batman and the Outsiders plays out this week, as the comics bi-weekly debut completes with a story that “marks them as Super-Villains in the eyes of the entire world - and that’s exactly what Batman wants.” Leave it to Batman to have a plan, but I’m curious, knowing this book apparently ties into Salvation Run later, how this will play out. Will the team end up shipping to the deathtrap planet as well?
Cable and Deadpool #47 still has no Cable, but is does have Deadpool teaming up with Doctor Strange. Cable is alive, however, as the series is relaunching as just Cable sometime next year after Messiah Complex. Where this will leave Deadpool isn’t known, but I want to see this guy in more X-Books - his humor tempers a lot of the over-the-top drama which hit the X-Titles pre-Messiah Complex.
And speaking of the devil, or the dead in this case, Marvel Zombies 2 #2 ships today. Crossovers aside, I do like this series’ dark and gruesome humor. I also really like the Golden Age cover twist, although I’m a bit skeptical why Marvel is billing it as “Zombie Civil War”. Most of the first comic was zombies fighting over scraps of food - why is this any different?
X-Men #205 kicks off the fifth part of Messiah Complex with quite a lot of interesting angles. What friends become foes, and where is the baby for that matter? Apparently its all answered here - if you’ve missed the last couple of issues, all indications point to this one as the one to get.
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Devin de Gruyl
November 28, 2007 at 12:23 am
Good thing Cable’s coming back and taking back his book - for a while there I was worried he’d be (for you fans of classic newspaper strips) Marvel’s version of Barney Google…
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