The Bill September 1, 2010

It was another pretty solid week this week. Solid. Not outstanding, not terrible, just solid. Which is almost kind of disappointing (I'm hard to please, I know). So instead of just going on and on about how great Hawk and Mock was, how much fun Prince of Power was, or how surprising good Spider-Girl was (I'll write a separate review later, I owe it to her), I'm going to prattle on about the books that didn't quite sit right with me.

Sound good? Good. Let's get to it.




Least-Most Disappointing of the Week
FrankenCastle #20
Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: Tony Moore, Paco Diaz, and John Lucas.


Methinks there was some last minute changes on this one. I can't quite put my finger on it, but the super rushed Paco Diaz and John Lucas art is a bit of a tip off. Maybe it's the realization that FrankenCastle is ending (NOOOOOO!!!!),but something seemed off about this issue.

Don't get me wrong, it's totally what you would expect the final issue of a four issue fight scene to be: Lots of crazy action, some wobbly plot elements, and a resetting of the status quo. And I have got to admit that the twist to defeat Daken was really clever. It just wasn't what I wanted it to be, I guess.

Again, it wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. It's just kind of there and that's not what I expect from a book like FrankenCastle that brings it every time out of the gate.

Just color me underwhelmed, I guess. And depressed. Only one more issue until it's all over...




The Most Disappointing of the Week
Avengers: Children's Crusade
Writer: Allen Heinberg
Artist: Jim Cheung


I think I've said this before, but let me say it again for posterity: I really like the Young Avengers. Of all the young teams introduced over the past few years, the Young Avengers are the best realized and the best utilized. But not here.

This book fails on a few levels for me.

First off, I can't figure out when it takes place. I try not to be one of those fans, but this book really bothers me. Steve's in the Cap outfit and Tony's in his Extremis Armor, but then Magneto is living with the X-Men. Meanwhile Stature and Vision are back on the team with no mention of their time on the Mighty Avengers. Or how she ditched the group to be in the Initiative.

Speaking of weird character things, Wolverine is just baffling in this. I get that he wanted to kill Wanda as soon as she went crazy, and probably harbors some kind of grudge against her, but he just comes off as down-right villainous in this. What kind of hero wants gut not only a defenseless woman, but the lost child trying to find her. It just felt really out of character.

Let me say this right now: I will totally rescind these remarks if somehow this story is being influenced by the non-existant Chaos magics. If these Avengers turn out to be some kind of creation of Wiccan's to subconsciously keep him from his goal, I would accept everything in the story thus far. I might even call it a genius move.

Finally, the twist at the end feels like it came outta left field. Without giving it away, it feels like a copout and just a way to get a guest star next issue. Said guest star has no real reason to do what he did, it just all feels so arbitrary...

Whatever. I just hope that after this is all done, we can finally get the Young Avengers ongoing that we've been denied for far too long.




That's all she wrote. Come back next week where I complain about all my books being too damned good all the time. In the meantime, I think I might head back to the store and try to find something different. Suggestions welcome.