Me Geek, You Geek

This issue wasn't necessary.

Those are the first words I thought after reading the last panel.

This issue wasn't necessary.

I have been a big fan of this series and a big fan of what Marvel and Bendis are doing across the line if you start including the tie ins such as New Avengers, Mighty Avengers and on and on.

The reveals have been pretty cool.  The art has been top notch (and is again in this issue) and the writing has been powerful.

But this issue seemed like a filler issue, which shouldn't be happening in an 8 issue mini series.

The first 8 pages are completely useless in regards to moving the plot forward.  It's just a fight scene and some rehashing of what has come before.  Nick Fury is back and shooting first, taking names later.  The fight scene with the commandos doesn't even seem to be a fight scene.  It just seems like a big staging event, as if they characters are simply posing in the shot.  There is so little transition between panels it's hard to get the picture that people are fighting.  Ugh.  The Sentry is meandering about out in space (for almost a whole page!)

Like I said, we really get no more new information from this issue.

Oh wait.  We do.  We find out that between Natasha Romanova (a kick ass Russian spy) and Wolverine (a kick ass boy named James) they have come up with a "word", a code word if you will: Carrot Sticks.

I know.  Technically that's two words.  But what do you do?  She's Russian.  Maybe something get's lost in the translation.

All I know is Carrot Sticks is my new favorite saying.

Just today my wife asked me what I wanted as a side for dinner.  I yelled Carrot Sticks and ran out the door.  So I got Carrot Sticks as a side.

Carrot Sticks!

My biggest complaint of this issue though is not Carrot Stickish (but really...carrot sticks as a code term?!). 

It has to do with the humor being used.  Let me give you some examples:

Okay.  Imagine if you will, your a new superhero named Stonewall and you were not only fighting one of your first fights, but a secret Skrull invasion fight.  Would this be the conversation you would be having?

And if you had nice silky hair and you were fighting in the middle of a secret Skrull invasion would you be telling the Skrulls (or anyone else for that matter) to be "watching the 'do"?

How about if you were a little kid? Really?  You would say this in a fight of this magnitude, this conversation would happen?

Bendis does this a lot and it irks me.  When I'm reading a book like this and you have usually non humorous characters being humorous it takes me out of the story.  And I don't have a problem with humor.  If it was Spidey saying some of these lines it would be perfect.

Now to be fair there are some plot points that come out.  But you saw most of them coming.  They have to do with Iron Man (the whole is he a Skrull or isn't a Skrull seems to be put to rest).  There are villains in this issue that make a decision. 

And two major characters in the MU show up at the end.  It's as if Marvel got to the end of this issue and decided that people might drop the book so they said, "Hey, we have to get people to pick up issue #5, so put <big character #1> and <big character #2> on the last page!"  As if these characters would have waited this long to engage the Skrulls?  What...were they on the crapper?  Finishing their bath?

Now I have always claimed that Bendis' work should be read in it's entire format in one sitting.  That's when his stories work the best.  If these 20-something pages were smack dab in the middle of a trade paperback you wouldn't notice they were lame.  But the finality of the issues at the end of every month and having to wait another 30 days for the next issue, makes us all a little more critical.

So pick it up just to be a completist...but don't fool yourself into thinking it's going to be some great issue.

It's issue #4.  Hopefully we have been going up hill for the first half of this arc.  Starting with issue #5 we should start going downhill and gain some momentum!

C'mon Bendis!  We're counting on you!

Carrot Sticks!

Please give me your comments so I know what you are all thinking!  Am I way off in my analysis?  Being too picky?  Not picky enough?  Talk to me...

Labels: Comic Book Reviews, Marvel Comics

Posted by Jon on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 7:52 AM | Permalink