Bottom of the Pile - April 30th, 2014

Two down, one to go.

All-New X-Men

 

Yeah, my head hurts too, Jean.  The things you guys are doing in the present legit don't make any sense.  In fact, if time weren't already broken I'm pretty sure what's happening with you guys would break it.

 Amazing Spider-Man

With Peter's return, the wacky hijinx that obviously had to vanish during Doc Ock's run also make a reappearance.  ...Although these hijinx are a little more...risque than I'm used to, I'll admit. 

Avengers

"See a god, punch a god..."  Hulk: the only superhero who hates gods.  All of them.  More seriously though, given what's happened in Waid's Hulk, I'm guessing this places Hickman's run firmly before all that.

 Avengers A.I.

 

So, can someone tell me why he thought attacking the creator of existence itself directly would be a solid idea?  Also, just to frame this properly: This is Marvel's new "Ultron", who's wearing an old version of Tony Stark's Iron Man armor, riding the head of Galactus into what could best be described as "heaven".   Yep, glad to know superhero comics haven't lost their insanity.  Carry on.

 Avengers World

Knowing Bruce has an anger problem is comic book 101.  But who would've thought he was old man cranky?   Between this and the "why haven't we bombed this yet" (you'd think a man with his problem would be more wary of bombs), he's one comment about "Lords of Warcraft" away from sounding like Frank Miller.   Well, not really.   He's got a ton of anger issues but he's not insane...

Batman Eternal

Well, isn't this an interesting little alteration to Stephanie's continuity.  Stephanie Brown, a.k.a., Spoiler, was originally introduced by Chuck Dixon somewhere in a 90's Bat-comic.  Her father the Cluemaster, a fairly low-level Batman rogue that was essentially a shitty version of the Riddler, leaving clues at the scene of every crime he committed.  Her mother, however?  Well, she was just a civilian, who initially had a drug problem but--just before the reboot--had cleaned herself up and was actually working a job as a nurse for a hospital in Gotham while her daughter attended Gotham University.

Now it seems (again proving that this is definitely a "reboot" and not a "reorganizing" or whatever line DC's feeding fans at cons), she's actually in cahoots with her ex-husband, who's now apart of some kind of massive conspiracy to kill Batman and "burn Gotham".   I'm not precisely sure how I feel about this change, save to say that initial opinion is not positive.  But I may be the wrong person to talk to--I thought Steph was doing a fantastic job as Batgirl.

Forever Evil Aftermath: Batman vs. Bane

Seriously I think this is all Bane is known for, at this point. 

Can someone tell me who, exactly, asked for Carol/Kyle to be a thing?   And why, other than DC's continued devotion to making their largest reason for their reboot be "we didn't like that this person was dating that person".  Carol/Hal.  Clark/Lois (though meh to this one).  Wally/Iris.  Hell, even Kate/Renee.  The only relationship you left intact was Arthur/Mera, but then I'm not even sure who you'd pair Aquaman with besides her.

 New Avengers

You're supposed to notice the commentary here.  How the brave, pure heroes with their Silver Age values, put in an impossible situation, aren't up to the task in the way that "our" more morally adaptable ones are.  Me, I'm just wondering why they're trying to push this T'Challa/Namor bromance.  Don't they hate each other?

Silver Surfer

 

First off, how do you kill a concept?  Secondly, I feel it's my duty to say that although this is meant to be all artsy and creative, when you put that many fake words together in a sentence, it just sounds like gibberish.  Never-will, almost-was, blah blah blah.  

 Fuck this scene.  Fuck it...fuck it.  Seriously, there's no way it slipped past DC that they made Wally into a criminal and a black kid in the same book.  There's no way.

 Transformers: More than Meets the Eye

I love pretty much everything about this panel.  Megatron being on a psychiatrist's "couch".  Rung's first "question". The stereotypical positions.  The fact that next to Rung is what appears to be Energon juice and Energon "snacks".   And I love how bold they're being about this.  They're outright going to reform one of the biggest bad guys ever created in the past 30+ years, and they're not shying away from that. 

The issue itself isn't bad either: complaints about Dark Cybertron as an event aside, it's safe to say that More Than Meets the Eye is back.  From the perfectly-timed comedy to the tense drama and superb character moments, this book is firing on all cylinders once again. 


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 pile, thus being the best as I've always been a proponent of "saving the best for last".   Since bog standard reviews can be found literally anywhere, coverage 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.