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MotW 7/6/11 - Who Doesn't Dream of Killing?

CrimsondudeCrimsondude Registered User regular
edited July 2011 in Graphic Violence
Actually my moment of the week was Satana inscribing runes onto Ghost so that they all could get into Juggernaut's mind and figure out what the Hell is going on (Hint: He's possessed by a god). It's not just that, though. It's that once inside Cain's mind, Declan Shalvey goes balls-out in depicting the mindscape as a semi-abstract expressionist conception (I think. My art history is pretty rusty) as the gang (minus Songbird) explores his psyche and then gets kicked out by Kuurth, who appears like an amalgam/take on devils in art history, in time for Juggernaut to knock the A team the Hell out.

So the moment is when they are inside and get an idea of what they're facing and how bad it is.

The thread title, however, comes from a scene where the Underbolts are forcibly sent to rest in case they have to be called out. In Mr. Hyde's case, this includes the nanites reverting him to his human form. As Boomerang, Shocker, and Centurius are discussing whether to make a break for it, the good doctor is passed out. So Boomerang makes a joke, "Aw, he's dreaming he's killing." I tweeted at Declan saying that it might have used some twitching motion lines, but then again what the fuck do I know?

I have a crappy scanner again, but I haven't gotten to messing with it yet. So you'll have to make due. But, damn, Thunderbolts is just so much awesomeness.

Crimsondude on

Posts

  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    Karla had some really good lines this issue, and I also liked Shalvey's Egyptian style art scenes, really different and worth another read through:

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    I don't really know how that Howard the Duck mini and Uncanny tie-into all this stuff, or if Parker is even going to try and mix that stuff together here.

    TexiKen on
  • CrimsondudeCrimsondude Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    As I understand the Uncanny tie-in, he's headed for/attacks Utopia/SF? I'm going to assume he makes it past the (Th)Underbolts. The point is "The Journey!"

    Anyway, I love this issue. There are at least five story threads going on and they just weave together perfectly.

    Crimsondude on
  • HadjiQuestHadjiQuest Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    Fear Itself is starting to pick up, although I don't like the idea of the next issue just being a massive fight scene. Then again, that's all issue 3 was, and that was the first issue of the series I liked at all. The stakes just felt so high and right.

    Flashpoint 3 was excellent, as was Flashpoint: Batman 2. Really good week for event books.

    HadjiQuest on
  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    Secret Six #35, so sad it's ending, because this final arc looks to be worth exploring beyond August. Did you know King Shark is a shark?

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    TexiKen on
  • OwenashiOwenashi Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    TexiKen wrote: »
    I don't really know how that Howard the Duck mini and Uncanny tie-into all this stuff, or if Parker is even going to try and mix that stuff together here.

    About the Howard The Duck mini...
    Someone who's read Thunderbolts would know better but I saw in the preview that Man-Thing disappeared after getting the team close enough to Juggernaut. I'm guessing that leads into the mini-series?

    Owenashi on
  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    Owenashi wrote: »
    TexiKen wrote: »
    I don't really know how that Howard the Duck mini and Uncanny tie-into all this stuff, or if Parker is even going to try and mix that stuff together here.

    About the Howard The Duck mini...
    Someone who's read Thunderbolts would know better but I saw in the preview that Man-Thing disappeared after getting the team close enough to Juggernaut. I'm guessing that leads into the mini-series?

    I saw that as being an out for Man-Thing to appear in that mini, but the timeline seems a bit off going by the preview pages of Fearsome Four (I think that's it's name), because it seemed to happen before the Worthy and robot nazis started trashing cities.

    TexiKen on
  • MunchMunch Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    Fearsome Four's garbage, and should (and hopefully will) be ignored. Problem solved!

    Thunderbolts #160 was firing on all cylinders. Opening with Luke just trashing some Nazis, was fantastic, and sets up some interesting stuff, like the implicit challenge for a bunch of reformed villains, to go be heroes during a major crisis, without an Avenger barking orders at them. It also feeds into Fixer's slow-growing resentment and frustration with how his place in the hierarchy has changed, ever since Luke came on board.

    I was also happy to see Dennis, Man-Thing's keeper, come back. I love seeing supporting characters like that pop up every now and then, because it really adds to the feeling that the characters exist in a real world.

    The Underbolts were brilliant in their little two-page cameo, especially Boomerang. I love the idea that he realizes yeah, he's not that bright. So, he's going to listen to the only super-genius he knows, and hope for the best.

    Also, Moonstone referring to Mach-V as "Pimp-Five," is great. Though, after someone here on the forums mistyped his name as Mack-V, I can't help but think that would have been more apropos. Speaking of Moonstone, I love that I can't tell, when she's giving her big speech to Juggernaut, whether she really means it, or is just playing her usual psychological mindgames.

    On top of all that, Declan Shalvey's work looks amazing in this issue. That little dreamscape sequence was brilliant enough (kudos to Albert Deschesne on those word balloons, by the way), but with this issue, he really seemed to come into his own. He's being a little more selective about where he slaps down big swaths of ink, leaving more open space for colorist Frank Martin to play around in. That leads to some really great little panels, like the panel of Ghost on page three, or that amazing panel where Juggernaut finally lifts his hammer, and the negative space creates almost a freeze-frame effect, building anticipation and dread until you turn the page.

    Really, if you're not reading this book, you're fucking up.

    Irredeemable #27 was pretty good, opening up with a character who has clouds of tachyons surrounding his fists, allowing him to punch people backwards through times. That leads to a neat little time-travel bit, the kind of thing you can only really pull off well in comics.

    Spider-Girl #8 ends in anti-climax. Spider-Girl gets spider-powers back due to the events of Spider Island, the mysterious organization that was never seen before this series, and will never be seen after, is dismantled, and people talk about power and responsibility. Standard stuff, really.

    There is one neat bit, where it's hinted that Spider-Girl may come out of Spider Island, with powers that are different from Spider-Man's. That has some interesting possibilities, that I hope Tobin runs with.

    Secret Six #35 wasn't great. I've said it before, but it seems like, after being allowed to basically do what she wanted for most of the series, Simone's now forced to wedge Bane into a role that's counter to what she's been doing with him until now. That leads to him coming off like a generic supervillain jackass. Throw in a whole mess of plotlines that you know won't be adequately resolved before the September relaunch, and this issue was pretty underwhelming. Great cover, though.

    I don't really have anything to say about 15 Love #2. It's good slice-of-life teen comics, but nothing really stands out about this issue.

    Chew #19 was fantastic, pairing Tony Chu of the FDA, with his sister, Toni Chu of NASA, to work a case together. It's a pretty great Odd Couple kind of concept, with the two siblings, polar opposites in most every way, still finding a way to work really well together. This setup, and the idea that there exists both tension and a lot of love between the Chu siblings, actually leads to a really touching, well-executed moment near the end. Throw in some neat narrative tricks, like opening with an important character being shot in the face, with the captions [This never happens.], and then finding out why it never happens, and what that scene meant, and you've got yet another great comic from Layman and Guillory.

    Also? Anyone looking for a way to tell an ongoing story, which also has really fulfilling single-issue installments, need look no further than Chew. Almost every single issue works as a stand-alone story, while also feeding into both the arc, and the series-long plot.

    I really can't recommend Chew enough.

    Munch on
  • cr0wcr0w Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
    edited July 2011
    My MotW was pretty much the entirety of Batman: Knight of Vengeance #2. Some seriously dark and twisted shit in there, and upon reaching the ending, my jaw was on the ground. Spoilers ahoy.
    So Joker kidnapped Dent's twins, and Gordon and Batman are trying to track them down. Gordon goes to see Oracle, who is actually Selina Kyle, apparently paralyzed by Joker. In this world, Gordon never married or had kids.

    Gordon eventually tracks the kids to Wayne Manor, where Joker is keeping them. He turns a corner and sees Joker holding his guns on one of the kids and opens fire. Turns out, it was the little girl that Joker had dressed up like himself, and Gordon shot her square in the chest. As he runs in to check on her, Joker sneaks up behind him and slits his throat.

    Batman arrives to find the kid and Gordon bleeding out on the floor, while Joker has been going on about the pain of losing a child and how it can drive you mad.

    At this point, Thomas screams, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE THIS TIME, MARTHA?!"

    Turns out, Joker is Martha Wayne, and she's been abducting and killing children after being driven insane by the loss of Bruce.

    Like I said, easily one of the darkest fucking Batman books I've ever read.

    cr0w on
  • HadjiQuestHadjiQuest Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    Flashpoint 3 and Batman 2 were both so good. FP: Batman definitely was the better of the two, but it's weird to me just how much more exciting and entertaining I'm finding Flashpoint compared to Fear Itself.

    I guess I have more to say about that, but I will carry it over to the bitching thread even though it's not really bitching?

    HadjiQuest on
  • CrimsondudeCrimsondude Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    Tachyon punches sounds amazing.

    I was looking at the Unwritten trades and Chew, and I haven't read so many good things in so long I don't even know where to start (I may have to steal my friend's copies of Secret Six but I got today's).

    The Flashpoint: Batman twist ... uh ... Holy cow.

    Crimsondude on
  • GankGank Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    I'm was surprised to find that I hated Fearsome Four while enjoying the Iron Man 2.0 tie in much, much more. Mostly because of how bad the FF story seems to be and how purdy the art is in IM 2.0 by comparison.

    And I'm surprised, Munch. Did you read Heroes 4 Hire this week? Cos looks like you may have called something a little while back...
    Munch wrote: »

    1) Purple Man acts like a dick, and either tries to rape a female character, or mind-control Luke Cage.

    2) Luke Cage caves his face in, and Purple Man goes back to jail.

    3) Purple Man will escape again.

    4) See 1).

    The order may be a touch off, but:

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    Note the female character in the panel.

    Gank on
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  • SolarSolar Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    I love those T-Bolts pages sooooo much

    T-Bolts really is great right now

    Solar on
  • MunchMunch Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    Gank wrote: »
    And I'm surprised, Munch. Did you read Heroes 4 Hire this week? Cos looks like you may have called something a little while back...
    Nope! I was going to buy it, since I like Kyle Hotz and the Gargoyle a lot, but by the time I got to the store, it had slipped my mind.

    Knowing that character shows up, I'm pretty glad I didn't pick it up.

    Munch on
  • CrimsondudeCrimsondude Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    Oh, thanks for posting those, BTW.

    Declan said the mindscape stuff was both Abstract Expressionism and classic Expressionism. I was going to post his twitter response to me, but this is cooler: "@NextChamp Jeff suggested abstract/expressionist 40's German painting, so i looked at a lot of Kandinski paintings and woodblock prints."

    Crimsondude on
  • wirehead26wirehead26 Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    Holy FUCK I didn't realize the Dark Horse Avatar: TLA: The Lost Adventures had already come out. I thought it wasn't till December. And I won't be able to read it till the end of the month dammit.

    Edit: Apparently both Amazon AND Dark Horse changed the release date to December/January a few weeks ago but then changed them back at the last minute.

    wirehead26 on
    I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!!!
  • Golden YakGolden Yak Burnished Bovine The sunny beaches of CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited July 2011
    The thread title may be a joke, but I think that would be perfect as a creepy line for someone like Bullseye.

    Golden Yak on
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  • TairuTairu Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    I really liked the appearance Superman in Flashpoint. Wish he actually did more than get an eyebeam off.

    Tairu on
  • CrimsondudeCrimsondude Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    To be fair, I don't ever seem to succeed in killing anyone in my dreams (That I know of). I wonder if that says anything about me as a man.

    Crimsondude on
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