Bottom of the Pile - Jan. 21st, 2015

All-New X-Factor

 

I'm pretty sure Danger's entire character arc during this run was about sex.  It'd be creepy if she were a normal female, but since she's an AI it raises all sorts of interesting questions that I'm actually bummed PAD won't get a chance to answer for us.

All-New X-Men

When you're a mutant, one of the most depressing quotes ever has to be "we live in the best of all possible worlds".   And, Laura has a point--Marvel has an upsetting lack of worlds to look at that they could actually aspire to.   Even DC has a couple, but it seems with Marvel it just gets worse the further you look from the main Marvel U.

Amazing Spider-Man

A poignant moment shared between Spider-UK and the Spider-Man of India that discusses the very nature of "expendable characters" in a multiversal crossover such as Spider-Verse.  The truth is, while we're always going to view Peter Parker as The One, True Spider-Man...in-universe, there's certainly no reason to believe such a thing.  

Of course, at the same time it's not like Spider-UK will be around to confirm...

Batman Eternal

The new look for Mob Boss Selina.  A perfect match for those swaggering mafioso-types, yet as elegant as ever.  This might be my favorite new direction for a New 52 version of a character. 

Justice League

Geoff Johns' greatest contribution when it's all said and done just might be the fact that he turned Captain Cold from a Z-List loser into an interesting, and (dare I say it?) "cool" character.

Legendary Star Lord

Logan?  You mean the guy who, for the longest time, was known primarily as "the guy who kills people" on the X-Men?   The guy whose catch phrase was "I'm the best at what I do, and what I do...ain't very nice."   That guy is who we're defending here?   I understand he just died, but that shouldn't suddenly mean murder is okay but theft is a problem. 

Spider-Verse Team-Up

The Spectacular Spider-Ma'am? Spider-Verse has given us so much. I think the only person who hasn't been seen with powers has been Mary Jane. Fortunately, the crossover's not over yet.

 

Supergirl

This might be overthinking things, but...how is Earth so accurately creating weapons from other galaxies?    Real or not, it's kind of a longshot.  

 

Sidenote: Since K. Perkins joined the creative team this book has been pretty good.   The Crucible is a pretty good addition to the outer space portions of the DC Universe, and both Maxima and Captain Comet needed a home in the New 52.  I'm bummed its being cancelled, and more bummed its  probably going to be relaunched, but without the excellent artwork of Emanuela Lupacchino, who's headed over to do Starfire. 

 Superior Iron Man

And so now we come to the core of who Inverted Tony Stark is.   Perception vs. Reality.   It's the same deal you had with Ultimate Captain America.    Everyone naturally believes that a guy like Captain America is a jingoistic, right-wing asshole, who cracks jokes about France being sissies and never questions a single decision made by his government.   But the real Cap is a far more complex character than that.   He was a New Deal democrat.  He once quit the job because he refused to become a mindless government flunkie.   He's a man who believes in the potential of his country, but is fully aware we've a long way to go before actually achieving that potential.

It's the same with Tony Stark.   The perception of Tony Stark is that he's probably like every other rich jerk-off who doesn't realize the large number of breaks they got to get to where they are.  A guy who believes the ultimate form of society will have capitalism at the core of its DNA.   The reality is Tony Stark has always been known as a philanthropist.  He's the guy who realizes what a blessing it is to be richer than god and smarter than the populations of entire cities, and is going to use his money and his intelligence to solve as many of the world's problems as he can--whether that means supplying a ton of people with jobs or creating inexpensive, easily made water purifiers.  But the inversion switched that--perception has become reality, which is why he's spouting all this drivel that's essentially social darwinism.  

It's all very compelling stuff and actually makes him quite different from the last time he went rogue....but it doesn't exactly make him more likable. 

New 52 Futures End

I'm pretty sure it's less that "you have a different opinion" and more that the opinion happens to be "helping a guy who killed one of their friends and was attacking a major metropolitan area".   

And, for what its worth, teleportation technology can definitely do more harm than good.  I mean, it's certainly a Reed Richards is Useless situation here, as a society with teleportation is going to look vastly different from our own, but at the same time I can see the League's point.  You want it?  You make it, because fuck if I'm responsible for giving you something that could get millions killed.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise

Yeaaaahh....Kup, weren't you a member of the Wreckers at one point?  Y'know, the group that took on all the dirty, Black Ops missions no other Autobot would?   Or am I misremembering?   Wait, nope.  Not misremembering at all.  

This book continues to be a bummer, too, as they still haven't gotten the hell away from Earth.  Oh well.  Hopefully the Combiner Wars accomplishes that sooner rather than later. 

Wonder Woman

I want to be excited Donna Troy's back in some form, but she's back here too, and she's far more recognizable.    Can't we just swap them?   No one will notice.

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.