MOTW 10-19-11: How I Love Killing Waynes

TexiKen

Batman #2 is packed with story, lots of panels by Capullo, and is able to be mainly an out of costume story but still having some excellent action. It's everything you want from a comic:

Green Lantern Corps #2, Isamot has a terrible, no good, very bad day:

Those are willpower ninja guys who I call "Meltzers" because they act like Deathstroke in Identity Crisis in that they stand up to a GL's willpower until Guy and John go Super Sayan on them

Antimatter

holy cow those batman pages

Magna Inferno

Ultimate Hawkeye

ULTIMATE XORN!

Justice League 2, was a lot better than JL 1. The fight scene I think was done pretty well. I really like the intro splash page because Batman just straight uses almost everything he has left in his belt against superman.

Crimsondude

JIM 629. Kieron Gillen sums it all up.

But gods do not have history. They have story. And that is something a writer always has the prerogative to twist.

Then we had a nice back and forth on Twitter about moi. :P

Matev

Seriously, Batman had an awesome issue this month.

Arivia

I really thought Supergirl

punching Superman through four trees at once was going to be my MOTW, then...

she punched him through four curves of the Great Wall of China at once.

I'd post the latter panel, but I don't have access to a scanner.

Crimsondude

Camera phone.

Arivia

Ooo, right.

http://grab.by/b5QR

Golden Yak

TexiKen wrote:

Green Lantern Corps #2, Isamot has a terrible, no good, very bad day:

Dammit, they've given him Healing Factor syndrome.

Soon as a character gets a healing factor, they toss him into a woodchipper every chance they get because 'hey, doesn't matter!'.

Soon as we learn Isamot can grow limbs back, he's gotta have them all messily stripped off.

WiseManTobes

Does the dude Isamot gave his legs to that one time still exist in the New U? and if so, what's he up to?

HadjiQuest

WiseManTobes wrote:

Does the dude Isamot gave his legs to that one time still exist in the New U? and if so, what's he up to?

He almost certainly does, but we haven't seen him on a regular basis in the longest time. I was hoping he'd be in the cast here, but no dice so far.

Solar

So I really enjoyed Captain Atom this week

Seems like he is insanely powerful, which is pretty cool

I think this story is going to be about a guy trying to learn how to live with what he can do, which should be fun. I'm hoping for a few cameos from other characters, because they are always fun, but so far, good stuff from JT Krul.

farbekrieg

Arivia wrote:

Ooo, right.

http://grab.by/b5QR

that will learn me to be slow on my motw

posting anyways

anyways any time supes get smacked around i get a warm happy

Arivia

ack, you did it much better

you're right, the wall punch isn't as good without the windup from the trees first

Delduwath

So, I actually found myself a little confused by this week's Journey into Mystery, and was hoping you guys could help me out. Ducking into a spoiler to ask my questions.

So, like, what happened? Here's what I got: Loki used Twilight's shadow to re-write the Serpent's biography, and therefore his past (which is an absolutely awesome idea, as Crimsondude said before). The thing he added to the Serpent's past is a mysterious girl who took care of him after he got messed up by those giants. Presumably, he developed a crush on this girl (whom he never saw again). OK, I'm following so far.

Now. I guess that crush gave the Serpent a weakness? And that weakness - though it wasn't physical - is what let Thor successfully stab the Serpent in the face? Is that right? How does that follow? Are we saying that because gods are entirely metaphysical constructs, there's no difference between a "physical" weakness and an emotional one, that they're all the same?

Why is the prophecy a best-case scenario? Why does the prophecy describe what could happen, and require people to work hard towards it? I thought the whole point of a prophecy was that it was a defined point in the future, that no matter what people do, they'll arrive to that point. Loki is saying the reverse: that unless they work really hard to get to that point, they'll miss it.

Also, what was the deal with those steps? There was a whole thing about how, when they were leaving Dark Asgard, Loki's Eleven made a total of eight steps. I think Thor's prophecy was that he'd kill the Serpent, walk nine steps, and then die. So... why was so much emphasis put on Loki's team walking eight steps? What did I miss?

Also, boy, did

Thor die

in Fear Itself with little fanfare.

Wildcat

I think my moment of the week is seeing Rich Johnston commentate* on news on the BBC website. Double-u. Tee. Eff.

Edit: * badly

Solar

W-What did he say? What was he commenting on?

Crimsondude

The girl was Leah.

Delduwath

Crimsondude wrote:

The girl was Leah.

Right, I saw that much. But, again, what does that mean? Does it make any difference that it was her rather than some anonymous girl? Did

Loki write her into the past just because he seems to maybe possibly be a bit infatuated with her, or was it crucial to the plan that it be her?

Wildcat

Solar wrote:

W-What did he say? What was he commenting on?

He was incurring the wrath of Anonymous via V for Vendetta.

Tobaggan

Arivia wrote:

I really thought Supergirl

punching Superman through four trees at once was going to be my MOTW, then...

she punched him through four curves of the Great Wall of China at once.

I'd post the latter panel, but I don't have access to a scanner.

Yeah absolutely. I loved that panel with the Great Wall and I'm a huge sucker for that sort of fight sequence.

Caveman Paws

Batman #2 was the Book of the Week hands down. The writing is keeping up with the art and the scans kindly provided by Texi says it all.

Wonder Woman #1&2 was so good, I'm glad I picked it up (thanks Arivia!). The new 52 take on her has my full attention, and that is a first for a WW book imo.

Blue Beetle #2 & Captain Atom #2: They both improved over their "meh" first issues, but not enough to warrant keeping up with them.

Captain Atom #2 hosptial scene = either a huge mistake or a setup to something (hopefully) thought provoking and interesting.

Justice League #2: GL and Flash acting like Blue Beetle and Booster Gold = great fun. Superman acting the way he did = very dissapointing/lazy hack writing. That reasoning for heroes fighting heroes was stale before I was born.

Nightwing #1&2: Like Wonder Woman I never was very interested in Nightwing, but the direction they are taking him seems pretty neat.

$23.00+ in comics means I have to justify the expense by talking about every issue on the internet!

HadjiQuest

Caveman Paws wrote:

$23.00+ in comics means I have to justify the expense by talking about every issue on the internet!

I have been there. $35 means I will spend the next two weeks talking about how bad my Marvel titles were, how disappointed I am by Blue Beetle, and how I sort of wish I had picked up Captain Atom 2.

But my MotW was probably the entire issue of Wonder Woman. I wasn't totally convinced of this take by the first issue, but the second did wonders (no pun intended), and I am really looking forward to the future of this book.

Drakeon

I dunno, Wonder Woman seemed like a light read to me, like I finished it super fast and it wasn't really worth the money. It wasn't bad, but I just felt like it was over too soon. JL#1 kinda felt that way too, but 2 was better. Bendis also happens to do this a lot.

Really enjoyed Batman, Justice League, and even Red Hood & the Outlaws.

Crimsondude

Delduwath wrote:

Crimsondude wrote:

The girl was Leah.

Right, I saw that much. But, again, what does that mean? Does it make any difference that it was her rather than some anonymous girl? Did

Loki write her into the past just because he seems to maybe possibly be a bit infatuated with her, or was it crucial to the plan that it be her?

Well, if he ends up in Hel (which I assume is the case since to my knowledge it's either Hel or Valhalla for Asgardians, and he ain't getting into Valhalla) then there is going to be a pretty rough conflict between Hel and Mephisto's dominion. As far as I can tell, she represents the subconscious desire for death and descent into Hel that would help fulfill the prophecy that he would otherwise have overcome.

"...the price for getting what you want, is getting what once you wanted."—Dream, in SANDMAN #19: "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

This would also explain her comment about the bloodletting she does for Loki to rewrite The Serpent's story in her blood is but a drop of what she will soon have to endure.

CJG

I agree with Delduwath about Leah.

On a related note about outstanding issues from JIM/FI -

What happened to Surtur after the fight?

Crimsondude

They are both attracted to each other.

Surtur is out in the wild again, and I assume will be a major part of the next arc since Mephisto let it be known that Loki freed him.

Oh, and how awesome was it when Surtur appeared in Dark Asgard? I loved that. He was promised Asgard, not Odin's Asgard. Seriously, this book is amazing.

Delduwath

Gillen does a fantastic job of setting up the rules of how magic works (if you make a pact, you have to stick by it), and then showing how Loki manages to sidestep those rules (which is exactly what you'd expect him to do).

Crimsondude

http://gillen.cream.org/wordpress_html/?p=2050

The other half is using stuff which make sense to people already. Even then, you want to put that on the table. The one magical rite that’s been in play is that of the magical promise. Loki makes Hel-Wolf swear something. Hel-Wolf swears it, but does so in a way which allows him to ignore the oath. We know about that kind of faustian deal, so that kind of oath is something we kinda know about. Even so, if you didn’t, the way we use it also introduces it as a concept. HERE IS A PROMISE/HERE IS WHAT I’VE ACTUALLY SWORN/HERE IS THE RESULT. After that scene, magical promises are in our box of magical tricks that work in our fictional universe. It’s not a magic solution which works on a single problem. It’s a general tool you can expect to see used again.

Undead Scottsman

Arivia wrote:

Ooo, right.

http://grab.by/b5QR

KOOM

Wishpig

All of Batman #2 is the MOTW.

CJG

But... Surtur was in Dark Asgard which presumably crashed in spitting distance of Broxton and the World Tree (not hard to spot). Plus there are a lot of Asgardians roaming around on the ground. Surtur just left? Not enough rage for a good game of whack-an-asgardian?

Crimsondude

Again, it goes back to the events in JIM apparently not being referenced in FI #7. That seems especially strange since Loki's actions are why Dark Asgard suddenly exploded and crashed to Earth.

WiseManTobes

!!!!, Just got a supes vs spidey for 10$ at a garage sale! Maybe scanner'll decide to work again for this awesomeness! ( the 76' one, I didn't even know a spidey vs supes existed, so there might be others)

Gustav

Greg Capullo is the bees god damned knees. Man, he killed the art on Batman #2.

Also got the first volume of the Lil' Abner Archives, real pretty volume of hillbilly awesomeness.

mts

WiseManTobes wrote:

!!!!, Just got a supes vs spidey for 10$ at a garage sale! Maybe scanner'll decide to work again for this awesomeness! ( the 76' one, I didn't even know a spidey vs supes existed, so there might be others)

actually just saw one of these at the Andy Warhol museum this past weekend. they have an alex ross exhibit right now