Dematteis Da Man?

JM DeMatteis recently posted on his blog found over on Amazon that he has finished working on his first Spider-Man story in 10 years. While he wrote an ok Spider-Man during and after the Clone Saga he will always be known for his Kraven's Last Hunt story and so discussion on this announcement has lead to Kraven talk, rather then any of the other Spidey books he wrote.

I have to admit something about this story... I didn't like it that much. I mean it was good and well written but it's one of those stories that are discussed so much and so often that by the time you get it, it can never live up to the hype.

All the twists and turns, all the character insight, everything you want from a good story has already been told to you a thousand times before hand that when you finally read the story, it feels like you are just rereading message boards or reliving comic store discussions.

So I'll be interesting in reading this story just to see if I like DeMatteis' work rather then any sort of legendary status he has gotten.

If you haven’t already Kraven’s Last Hunt do so. I won’t expand on it for obvious reasons.

Be Still My Beating Heart

I haven't got much to say today. That's mostly because I'm working on a blog, which will take a bit of research to finish off, and I didn't want to just pick something to bitch about to fill another post. I've done quiet a bit of bitching so far and I don't think it reflects my experience with comics. I'm hoping when I get my comics this week there will be plenty of things for me to discuss, rather then just attacking a comic subject.

I've also been trying to finish Superman Returns for the X-Box 360 to review it but my one month old 360 has broken... twice.

Anyway, one thing I did want to celebrate was the just announced return of John Romita JR to the Amazing Spider-Man in late 2008.

Apparently he’s one of the new rotating artists and his first arc is set to be Dan Slott.

I’ve been dreaming of this for years. If this is how the new Spider-Man book is going to be all the time with top writers and artists (Except Wells and Bachelo, natch) I think I’m going to be in paradise. I’ll be poor but it’ll be paradise none the less.

One More Month

One More Day

Everybody and their mother seems to have a theory on One More Day so now that we are only a month away I thought I’d throw my 2 cents in and see how it pays off.

My thinking is that via some Doc Strange magic, a favourite device of JMS’, Spider-Man will get to see his future. This future will be the one that we got a glimpse of in #500 where everyone Peter loves is dead and people apparently knew his identity. Why do I think this? Well take a look at the cover, that gloved hand looks a lot like the costume he was wearing in this doomed future.

Peter will make the decision that if Aunt May and Mary Jane are ever going to have happy lives they can’t know he is Spider-Man. Cue a trip to see Loki who grants him the spell he’s owed him since an arc early in JMS’ run.

Aunt May she will still be in his life as she’s his Aunt and only knew his secret for a year or two in Marvel Time. Sadly with Mary Jane Peter has to nullify the whole relationship, as she’s know since before she met him.

As a side effect this also cleans up the unmasking, and would perhaps lead to a subplot of people having a whole in their memories where part of Civil War is concerned.

I don’t know if I’d go with Peter remember or not. If he remembers it doesn’t make those stories pointless, which a lot of people hated in the Clone Sage. On the other hand if he does remember he’ll be in mourning for his marriage and rightfully so… but we got that when Mary Jane died and it sucked.

One More Month.

Three Month Wait

I know it was just days ago I complained that everything is always spoiled 3 months in advance but I’ll admit I still look at the solicitations released from publishers. I need to in order to preorder my comics and receive a 25% discount. So yeah, that's my fault but it's a necessary evil if I'm going to get the most bang out of my buck. Do be warned though, if you don't read solicitations then this column might spoil the premise and plots of upcoming books.

Anyway, I plane to a run down of the titles I'm most excited for every month. So welcome to the first regular column on this blog "Three Month Wait".

We begin with the November 2007 solicitations. We’re out of the Marvel cross over event World War Hulk and while sometimes this is a quiet period, this year it seems we are jumping straight into the next event, the Skrull Invasion. DC on the other hand is busy counting down to Final Crisis with a series and many tie-ins’ no one really seems to care that much about.

Without further ado, here are the comics I really can’t wait three months for!

5. Robin #168, Nightwing #138, Detective Comics #838 and Batman #671

That's right, one pick in and I'm already cheating by listing four comics as one. While DC are hyping Final Crisis to be their next big crossover they don't seem mind having lots of mini crossovers in the meantime. With Countdown I'm skipping all the tie-ins’ I don't care about (That being 95% of them) and the other crossovers between titles I'm just ignoring altogether. However with the Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul I am making an exception. The reason I'm making this exception is because Robin is easily one of my favourite DC characters, if not my favourite (I'll leave defining that list for a future blog) and I love the Batman family almost as much.

4. Heroes Hardcover

Yes, I've read all of the chapters before but still I think they were well written and the art was great. I'm a big fan of the show so I'll be getting this for sure. I think the online comic tie-ins were great and gave people an extra insight into the show and its’ characters. I'd like to believe this will bring new people into the comic store but with them being free on the Internet, I doubt it.

3. Illumanti #5

As I've made clear I am very interested into the Skrull Invasion, especially the part with the heroes mistrusting of each other. I also enjoy the Illuminati even if they apparently haven't done anything of use, ever. This issue promises to reveal a member or members of the group as Skrulls. I can't wait to see whom!

2. Angel: After The Fall #1

Let's get this out here, as it's a good a place as any. I love Joss Whedon. I'll admit I got into the game late when it comes to his work but I will never leave his world now. He has me in his grasp and he can do with me what he wishes. The only reason the follow up to Angel Season 5 isn't #1 is because of the hefty $3.99 IDW price tag. I still can't justify paying a $1 more for better paper quality, especially when the last 4 or 6 pages are adverts for their other books. Still I can't wait; Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 has been excellent.

1. Amazing Spider-Man #545 and Marvel Masterworks Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 9

Yup, I'm cheating again. There is a reason though. As we know very little about #545 apart from rumours and speculations, all I can say I am interested in is the apparent fallout, which leads to the thrice a month Spidey book. It's not enough to give it the full #1 spot. Hopefully I’ll enjoy the first three parts but I won’t know until I get them in my hands.

Marvel Masterworks Spider-Man Vol. 9 is here because I love the classic Spider-Man stuff with Stan Lee, Steve Ditko and John Romita. If I'm honest, I prefer it more then the legendary Fantastic Four run from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. I've been waiting for this a long time. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

So that's it for this run down of my top picks from the November Solicitations. We'll see in 3 months if I've picked wrong and end up disappointed.

I'm a Skrull, He's a Skrull, She's a Skrull, Cause We're All Skrulls!

I’ll admit that when the shocking ending of Elektra being a Skrull in

New Avengers #31 hit, I wasn’t that interested. I’ve never been one for cosmic comics, and tend to prefer the more grounded heroes such as Spider-Man, Batman and Robin.

Then issue #32 hit and saw the entire team do nothing but sit on a plane and accuse each other of been a shape shifting infiltrator. Some people hated that issue as it was nothing but talking heads but I loved it. This made the Skrull Invasion for me, seeing all the heroes begin to suspect the others could all is against him, In a medium predominately filled with people who hide behind masks, this is such a simple idea with the potential to be a classic.

We’ve been promised that the Skrull reveals won’t just be C and D Listers and some big names in the Marvel Universe aren’t quiet what they seem. Armed with this information I’m using this post to make my judgment call of which heroes I think are and aren’t Skrulls in the Marvel Universe.

After or during the event, depending on out in unfolds, I will follow up on my picks and show how far off I really was.

It’ll also be interesting to see if these apparent big name reveals were just hype and we’re left with the Human Fly and The Spot being revealed to be Skrulls.

Skrull Invaders:

Jessica Jones Baby – Yeah. I don’t understand how on earth that would work… if they kidnapped the baby sometime after birth or somehow Jessica was impregnated with a shape-shifting foetus.

The end of New Avengers #31 showed his green eyes opening wide, so he either is or it’s a red herring. That’s entirely possible of course, seeing as everyone who isn’t a main character in the New Avengers seem to have

green eyes now just to toy with the reader’s imagination.

Doctor Strange – It seems likely we have a traitor in New Avengers and the Illuminati apparently have one as well. My money is on Doctor Strange. He used a spell to figure out if anyone on the New Avengers was untrustworthy and everyone passed… but who tests the tester?

Black Bolt – I have a hard time buying that the Hulk can kick his ass off panel and he puts up with his brother stealing his wife and throne from under him in Silent War. He either has a really big chin, or he’s lost his backbone.

Jarvis – Trust me.

Not a Skrull:

Spider-Woman – This would make her a New Avenger placed in the team as an undercover Hydra agent, secretly working for Nick Fury but she’s really a Skrull invader. This Quadruple agent gig has to be a red herring. She’s not a Skrull.

Iron Man – People may not agree with Tony’s means to met his ends but I think he’s acting in character. He’s acting a complete and utter tool to his friends but still his character.

Spider-Man – They’ve learnt from the Clone saga… I hope.

Wolverine – I don’t know how they’d explain away his memories in Wolverine Origins if he was a Skrull.

Echo – She killed Elektra, unveiling this sleeper agent situation. Unless its some brilliant master plan by the Skrulls to plant Echo further into the New Avengers, she isn’t green.

Ms. Marvel – A lot of people suspect she is a Skrull thanks to a weird transformation in Ms. Marvel. I think this was some double bluff and she is sharing her form with some other cosmic being.

A Once In A Lifetime Conversation

The title says it all. The confrontation between J. Jonah Jameson and Spider-Man… scratch that, Peter Parker has been 44 years in the making.

Spider-Man has always been my favourite character. He is one of the few characters who are so complex that you can tell any type of story be it drama, action, comedy etc. and it fits. The only other example I can think of is Batman, although I would argue comedy stories with him have been a no-no since the 80’s and The Dark Knight Returns.

While a lot of fans where outraged with the unmasking, I was quiet happy. With any type of fiction if you set up something, it has to happen. If the action hero says he doesn’t like guns, you can bet 9 times out 10 he will get a gun and blow the hell out the villain by the end of the movie.

It’s the same with Spider-Man and his mask. At some point someone was going to take that mask off and show us the reactions of his supporting cast. I always expected it to be covered up later and with One More Day it appears I could be right but I digress.

One of the reactions I most wanted to see was J. Jonah Jameson. When Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man #23 hit this week we finally got that once in a lifetime conversation and we got it with one of my favourite writers Peter David at the helm.

Yet, I was under whelmed.

Now before you complain, hear me out. I think PAD did great in the issue. They went straight to the root of the Spider-Man/Jonah feud and questioned why it exists. In the end it wrapped up. It did what is said on the tin and it did well.

But remember what I said, this is once in a life time and it has been building up for 44 years. There was so much for the two to discuss but they didn’t and it is likely we will never get to see them discuss this again.

The villains Jonah helped create were but a throw away line.

John Jameson being “outed” as Spider-Man to Jonah by Peter was never mentioned.

Jameson’s connection to Peter was never mentioned. He’s a hard ass but he’s always felt close to Peter, he even secretly paid for his lawyer when he was framed for murder.

Jonah never question the times he saw Peter standing right next to Spider-Man (with Ben Reilly, The Prowler or someone in the suit).

The topic of Captain Stacy and Gwen Stacy’s death was barely touched.

They never mentioned Norman Osborn.

Those are just the major points, there are so many more. Now I can’t blame Peter David for this. I think he did a great job with the page count he had and I’m sure I’ll reread this issue a lot in time to come but I can’t help but think Marvel screwed up.

At the very least this should have been a double sized issue.

Instead we end up with an issue that sums up the entire unmasking. We see reactions only very briefly because we have to hurry up for the next event. In fact, that sums up Spider-Man at the minute. Avengers, The Other, Civil Way, Unmasking, Back in Black, One More Day. We aren’t getting enough time to let the stories breathe and tell them selves. Instead we jump from one event to the next, forgetting the infinitely more interesting fallout. My only hope is that with the book coming out thrice monthly we’ll get this time.

This issue did mark PAD’s departure from the book so I would like to say I’ve enjoyed his return to Spider verse very much. Just like he is doing over in X-Factor, he seems to be the only writer who is really making an effort to tackle dangling plot lines and he handles them well. PAD is most likely more of the finest writers at his craft and his ability to weave an interesting yarn at the same time as dealing with things he might not want to or choose to is a truly rare talent.