Bottom of the Pile: Jan. 14th, 2015

Amazing X-Men

This is why you don't let the swashbuckling adventurer lead your team.  Dude's all "But, adventure...!" and you're trying to stop the coming of a god bent on death and destruction.   The goal here is to have a boring day, not an exciting one.

Astro City

"Time travel.  It messes everything up."  The very first lesson Astro City hero Quarrel learns: No one likes time travel, and yet the second you wear a mask and start doing things for the greater good of society, chances are you're going to get involved in it. 

Avengers

Avengers ends on a somber note as Namor finally pays for his crimes from Avengers vs. X-Men and Infinity.   What we're finding out over the course of Time Runs Out is that no matter how high the stakes have been raised, some people--on all sides--have vendettas so personal that they will not be put to rest for the sake of the "greater good". 

Batgirl

Speaking of darkness, Batgirl's gotten to the other side of Barbara's new turn as a "fun" superhero.  Her irresponsibility in this issue is going to cause her problems going forward, but fortunately the creative team knew where to draw the line in order to keep the series from veering back into the dark territory it only left a few months ago, or worse--veering back there and then pretending like it shouldn't completely change the tone of the book from then on.    She wrecks a shop, but as mentioned, doesn't actually harm anyone. 

They also finally gave a believable reason for Babs moving in the first place--essentially that she "deserves" some fun.  It's simple, but logical for the character as far as moving forward, and I'm looking forward to seeing them explore that in the issues to come. 

Batman Eternal

At one point, Tim Drake would arguably have been the best person to give this speech to Batman Eternal's Mary Sue, Harper Row.   The member of the Bat-family who had the longest experience with "normal" life--it was his choice to don the costume at all that lead to him having his family stolen from him.  His mother went insane, and his dad was murdered by Captain Boomerang...then later on, he even lost his best friends (Kon-El and Bart).  Still and all, even with his new origin the speech still works--as a kid who was forced to leave his parents in order to keep his family safe...but you know she's just going to ignore it anyway. 

 Grayson

Midnighter is basically Wildstorm's version of Batman, only gay and with some slight superpowers.  So uhhh...did no one perhaps think this was a little strange, considering Bats' is basically Dick Grayson's dad?   I realize this is a bit of a stretch, but you can still see the connecting lines just fine.  No?   Okay then. 

Justice League United

The Legion of Superheroes are supposed to be one of the few examples of a bright, shining future--not just in superhero comics, but in fiction in general.   They're a group inspired by the principles of Superman to protect the future and inspire all races to work together.  

And yet, with an almost disgusting regularity, the future is somehow wrecked, as if everyone is simply incapable of ignoring their desires to tell dystopian tales.   It's cyclical too; the team forms, the team expands as it establishes itself, something happens to wreck everything, they "save" what's left, and then everything is rebooted.   It's kind of depressing; The Legion is the only group that can actually experience growth and change as it's not tied to the rest of the DCU like that, and yet for some reason they've been going around in circles since the late 80's.

Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man

Gee, who knew the idea of "slavery" would piss the black guy in your group off, Kingpin? 

New 52: Futures End

"I'm moving to Gotham where it's safe!" are the last words that guy heard before, months later, he was killed in the crossfire of a random gang war or offed by some random villain from the rogues' gallery.   Go figure. 

Nightcrawler

I'm sorry, what?  So, between the two psychics, they choose the guy who's got little-to-no experience with "astral plane fighting" (which sounds like an old-school platforming action title) to do the work?   Chris Claremont's work on this title has been fairly decent so far, but this issue had a few misses in terms of logic.  I'm still trying to work out how Kurt managed to spit game to a chick on Earth and a different girl in Heaven in the same twenty-two pages.

Spider-Verse

Dan Slott got no mercy.  You killed the Marvel vs. Capcom Spider-Man?   The sad thing about this is, given the rights issues that are going on right now, there could never be another MvC title, meaning this would end up being permanent.

Also, how ridiculous would this have to be as a kid in the real world?  You're playing at the arcade and suddenly some random character, who you've never seen before, shrugs off all your combos, and gets a perfect with ONE hit.   You never see him again, and you can't even choose Spider-Man anymore. 

Author's Note: Bottom of the Pile is a weekly column (or at least, my attempt at said) in which I cover the comics that found their way to the bottom of my reading stack, thus being the "best".   Since bog standard reviews can be found literally anywhere, coverage here can range from mini-reviews to funny comments to commentary on a creator's run or comics as a whole, depending on a wide range of factors including the comic itself, the amount of time I have, and my general mood.