Here we are again. Another Wednesday looms ahead. Colored leaflets for everyone. Join in the fun. Just a few items this go-round, so let’s crack ‘em open and start the show already. Lollygaggers need a late pass.

Marvel 1985 #5: I like it. Mark Millar tells stories I enjoy. So far, this is one of them, and it’s almost over, so it’s ramping up. Will it ever intersect with current Marvel continuity? No comment. Good times.

Captain America #42: This is the final issue in the years-long Winter Soldier/Death of Cap/New Cap storyline, and I bet it’ll go out with a bang. Which character will ultimately carry on as Captain America is still unclear…sort of. I mean, it could go one way, or some other way I haven’t thought of. That’s at least two ways it could go. There may be a third. I’m no math-a-tician.

New Avengers #45: So…this looks to be another one of these “fill in the backstory” issues that have pervaded Bendis’ Secret Invasion saga. Basically, we’ll get to see what part, if any, the Skrull invaders played during the whole House of M affair (a few years back now). Which also means that this issue may begin and end in familiar and well-trodden territory without advancing the timeline of the Secret Invasion story by even a second. I guess they won’t put this kind of revelatory material, which shines a new light on past continuity, into the main SI book, because recent readers might be unfamiliar with the original (and now re-interpreted) events. But it means some of these tie-in issues just stall the momentum of the main tale. Whatever.

Ultimates 3 #5: I wouldn’t be buying this if I didn’t have all the others. I loved the first two volumes of Ultimates. This is an entirely different animal, one that I feel is unworthy of its name. Joe Mad’s artwork (which divides enough opinions as it is) aside, the story and the characters were, well, kind of lame…compared to the previous volumes, compared to the regular Marvel Universe, compared to an elementary school play about superheroes who also promote good dental hygiene through the medium of song. Just…ugh. Go read the first two volumes again instead.

OK, there’s a couple other things I might take a look at. There’s a new issue of Daredevil coming out, but that book’s best days may be behind it. They’re introducing a new villain (always a dicey prospect), whose name is…Lady Bullseye? Uh, I may hafta pass. Also dropping is the second issue of Terry Moore’s run on Runaways, the first of which was not to my liking. Maybe I’ll flip through it. Who can say?

Alrighty, then, time to be out. I hope you’ve been suitably underwhelmed. To pick up your spirits, why not try the oddly uncomfortable and often hilarious documentaries Monster Camp and Darkon, both of which are about LARPing? If you don’t know what that is, look it up…at which point you may wish you had just stayed blissfully ignorant. Wanna gauge how geek-tastic you really are? Compare yourself to the fun-loving folks in these flicks. I bet you come out looking like the fuckin’ Fonz. Try it. And with that, I take my leave. Until next week…

Keep it bagged and boarded,

Grip

Posted by Grip Grand on Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008 at 12:29 pm.