Bottom of the Pile - Oct. 22nd, 2014

Amazing X-Men

 People keep wondering how these heroes can still be going after decades of stories about them.  Here's a simple solution that isn't the "it's just comics" one: they aren't strictly "human" anymore.  Their physiologies are so frequently improved, altered, upgraded and/or fucked with, that there's no WAY they experience cellular degeneration the same way we do.    At some point you've bent the human form too far, and either you fall apart altogether (not happening here clearly) or you "fix" whatever it is that makes us age in the first place.

Avengers & X-Men: Axis

 Couple thoughts here:  So, we're continuing the whole Avengers vs. X-Men fight from 2012?  That's sort of cool, only I think they're just using this as an excuse to make the X-Men be the bad guys this time.    Second, ouch at that, "Falcon" line.   It's not quite the "The last time you inspired anyone was when you were dead", but that was a far better crossover with much better preparation beforehand, so there you go. 

Lastly, Storm makes a lot of sense--the X-Men have an embarrassment of riches in terms of ridiculously powerful, Omega-level telepaths.  Keeping Red Skull knocked out should be FAR easier with them than in Avengers Tower.

 Axis: Hobgoblin

Hobgoblin of Wall Street.   I think it's a bit weird to release Axis spin-offs about inverted characters when we haven't even seen the inversion in the crossover yet, but hey.  Apparently they just had to fill out that release schedule.

Batman Eternal

 "Enigma" with a "y".   Really.  The passcode to this complicated-ass code...was the Riddler's name?  No wonder Bruce catches him all the time.    Riddler is a fucking imbecile.

Cyclops

....I'm almost positive this would bring a tear to the eyes of Adult Scott, if he could've seen it.

Earth 2: World's End

Is this really going to be a thing? Please say no.  All these Earth 2 characters were just starting to grow on me, in spite of all the horrible things that keep happening and the mediocre stories.   What do you get out of killing them all off?  

Multiversity - The Just

I miss the white stripe.   Still and all, it makes me happy to know there's one Earth where Kyle's the One, True Green Lantern.  HEAT can get over themselves.

New 52 - Futures End

If Brainiac being "god" doesn't set right with you and sounds like some utter BS...well.  It might not be.  Last month in Booster Gold: Futures End, Brainiac forced Booster to tell him the location of Vanishing Point, a place outside of time and space.  Who knows what a guy with his intellect could do with some control over time?

This whole thing is heading towards an event that has the "real" Brainiac as it's villain, so let's hold off on calling this stupid...for a little bit.

Secret Origins

One of the many, many things I dislike about the Azzarello/Chiang run on Wonder Woman: the stupid designs for the Greek gods.   I'm the god of wisdom, and I can choose to look like ANYTHING I want...but for some reason, I resemble a freaking humanoid owl?  Why?!

The Flash

Why do Flashes always end up dying, somehow?   First Barry, now Wally.  

Transformers: Primacy

Lest everyone get too into More than Meets the Eye, Transformers: Primacy presents a significantly less cuddly Megatron, back when he was head of the Decepticon army, near the dawn of the war.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise

The downside to this issue is that it works best if you've kept current with IDW's Transformers books.   It's "understandable" if you just walk into it, but this was filled with a ton of previously unknown lore about the history of Cybertron, plus one cool guest star characters that 90's kids might love.   It's all set-up for the Combiner Wars in 2015, but if they keep this up it's going to go over far better than Dark Cybertron ever did--it all felt so organic, as if this was something they always meant to tell us.

I won't lie, as a Super Sentai/Power Rangers fan, the combining/gestalt aspect of Transformers was always one of my favorites.    Defensor.  Superion.  Computron.  Heck, even Predaking.   Yeah, they had some goofy names, but the concepts behind them were pretty awesome and fleshed out the G1 cartoons more than the normal Transformers ever could, so I'm ecstatic to see how they change the landscape of the Post-War IDW verse.

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.