Some Quick House Keeping Stuff

Hello,

Pencil Rogue and I hope to make this blog more consistent in the near future. Consider it goal numero uno.

That being said, I (Sushi), will be visiting Emerald City Comic Con in a few weeks, for Friday and Saturday only. (29th and the 30th I believe). Sunday, unfortunately, is not an option. Curse you college.

At an rate, I'll be activating my stalker powers. I'll post pictures here and via Twitter. For those of you interested, our twitter is here: Follow Us!

Feel free to email us (thecbkpanel@gmail.com) at anytime. Or tweet us. I'm working on getting a Facebook page up at the end of the night.

---Sushi

Edit: The Facebook page is up. It's skin and bones, but it's there. The link should be somewhere to your right. Or here. More to come, sometime after exams. (Curse you college.)

Uncanny X-Men #1

Creative:

Art: Chris Bachalo, Tim Townsend +

Written: Brian Michael Bendis

Price: $3.99

I was waiting with barely abated anticipation for this comic to come out.  I peeled into my local comic shop Galactic Quest [WUDDUP], shot out of the car, and paced the “New Release Section”- not unlike a seething Sith Warrior- hunting for it.  My eyes finally locked onto it and guess what?  It was the last issue.

All that build up being said, I was pretty disappointed with the first issue.

The story takes place from a different, narrative perspective: Magneto (whom I had pegged instantly as this “nameless stranger” they attempt to keep undiscovered until the very end) approaches Maria Hill with information regarding Cyclops, the seemingly menacing face of the mutant revolution.  The story takes place in a prolonged flashback that depicts Cyclops and his new team of mutant revolutionaries aiding a newly realized mutant.

Rodney King for mutants.

Of course this new mutant would get jumped without due process by the police.  Of course Maria Hill thinks Cyclops a terrorist, and of course the public loves him.  This is why we love the ever-evolving tales of mutants, right?  The social stigmatisms; the media and government induced moral panic; the warring ideologies behind the meanings of Justice; and the empathy that we as readers may or may not associate given the circumstances…beneath the colors and inks and artwork there is something deeper than just the cooler stage of human evolution, and we can feel that, because we know it so well.

Speaking of Artwork…

"I’m-a firin’ mah laser!"

Chris Bachalo (Uncanny X-Men, New X-Men, throw a dart at an “X” title and see if it lands on his name), reprising his Uncanny X role, has done a stellar job drawing out the first issue.  His characters remain rugged with this fluidity about them, and the establishing team-shot of Cyclops and his posse actually had me inspired to sit down and draw long after I had put the book down.  Thought admittedly, my main beef would be that the narrative feels forced and too one-dimensional, singularly purposed for the moment leading to Magneto telling (and Bachalo showing) that Cyclops has no control over his powers.  As I had previously mentioned, Magneto is telling the story to us, and as I was reading a visual medium in this instance and not McTeague or a textbook, having to read Magneto’s overlaying narrative when speaking to Hill really took me out of the “present” moment with the other mutants.  He is nice enough, however, to introduce all of the team and their powers: There’s Magik, Tempus, “a young man who hasn’t picked his mutant name yet”, and Emma Frost.

And Emma Frost?  There are very few things I detest more than Emma Frost but this, this was just offensive to me.

Who is that?

She might as well have said: “Gee Magnus, yew might ‘uff been able to wrastle that critter into quite a pickle back un your day!”  I find this incredibly bothersome, because this is not the Emma Frost I know and detest.  Emma Frost and I have always had this complicated, hate-filled relationship - I’m a Virgo, and she’s a bitch.  Ever since she made it her mission to torment X-23 when Wolverine brought the forlorn clone to the mansion I’ve detested that broad.  Yet I’ve always regarded her with amusement that borders respect, in much the similar manner one would a hated rival with whom you share mutual understandings.  So not hearing the snarky, prim and proper White Witch that I’m accustomed to has wounded me.  And then on top of that, Magneto basically told her to shut up and there was nary a retort in sight!  And that costume?

Ok I’m done.  (For now)

Ah.  I see the conundrum there.  Magneto just told Emma Frost to shut up during their fight with the Sentinels, but he’s the one in confinement spilling his guts to Maria Hill.  There’s a simple explanation for that:

Magneto is a snitch.

What’s that thing about stitches?

Now personally my theory is that Magneto could be working undercover for Cyclops, despite the advertisements of a traitor within the group.  It would stand to reason that the first issue could be too early to reveal a traitor and there would be much deeper motives at work here…

But then again, my money was on Cyclops being the turncoat.                                       

Pencil Rogue’s rating: 3.5/5  Worth the read to see how it develops further.

Justice League 16: Throne of Atlantis Part Three

Creative:

Art: Ivan Reis and Joe Prado

Written: Geoff Johns

Price: $2.99

Double Feature [part 2]

New 52 started once upon a time.  There was this event called Court of Owls, and it was bone-chilling, mindboggling, and it killed me every month to see what Scott Snyder was cooking up for Greg Capullo to render with his aggressively dark art style.  Throne of Atlantis isn’t as awesome or gripping as Court of Owls but it is the second event to capture my attention – Oh I lied.  Death in the Family.  But that’s borderline bias (borderline).  Anytime something goes down in Gotham you’re going to be instantly hooked.  Either because you’re an onlooker mesmerized by the sheer atrocity of the violence you’ve been asked to witness, or because you’re about to be brutally murdered by a clown who’s wearing his own face as a mask.

Business time.  Aquaman put his hands on Batman.  On such a fragile foundation as the newly formed Justice League, that was by far the stupidest thing one could ever do.  Batman’s natural reaction is defensive gadgetry that pisses Aquaman off enough to punch Superman into the next page.  Failed peacekeeper?  Check.

Aquaman and Wonder Woman get into it.  I wouldn’t want to fight with a lasso wound around my neck, but Aquaman seems to take it pretty swimmingly.  Wonder Woman admonishes Aquaman for fighting against the League and adamantly makes her position clear: “If it was the amazons coming ashore to destroy the city I’d be fighting against them.”  Then tells him she would fight against the Atlanteans until her dying breath.  Have you seen that lady fight before?  I believe her.  Wonder Woman's morals at odds with Aquaman's: Check? Then this happens:

“WHATEVER!” Bellowed the belligerent Batman fan after her fourth beer.  “It’s not like you broke his back or anything!" 

Ivan Reis shows us [me] why he’s amazing at what he does with this two page splash depicting the Atlantean army rising from the sea to crush the vile air-breathers for hating the sea-dwellers so.  And damn is it sexy.

"My trident is bigger than yours, little brother."

 There was an astounding amount of beautiful artwork, splash pages in this issue, all in attempts to bring the arc to its full tension (notice a trending theme here?).  It all worked wonderfully well, from the flashback pieces, to Cyborg’s spiderweb of contacts he refers to as reinforcements.  While I don’t entirely feel that anyone is in real trouble, even I think backup would be a good idea at this juncture.

"This milk isn't working anymore!"

“Sins, little man,” says the slovenly sin accompanying Dr. Sivana.  “There are many of us.”  Mull over the implications of that rhetoric next time you’re eating a donut.  The Shazam backup feature has been the only awesome backup I’ve taken pleasure in enjoying since the reboot, especially since I have no choice when I take my money pre-packaged product and my dollars to the counter.  And while everyone is calling to give Billy his own title, I disagree currently due to the timing.  I do hope they move things along just a little faster, though.  Obviously they intend on making him a Leaguer in the very near future, and his role in the Trinity War will be larger than any other part-timer, so a solo title could easily spring from any of those planes.  The recognizance of his limitations despite his newfound abilities is evident on Billy’s face when Black Adam shows up to clean his magical clock, and it has certainly put our relationship with Billy in perspective with how he is about to perceive himself come February 20^th when Justice League 17 releases.

Aquaman 15: Throne of Atlantis Part Two

Creative:

Art: Paul Pelletier & Art Thibert

Written: Geoff Johns

 Price: $2.99

Double Feature [part 1]

Because catching up sucks but can be creative, and double features are always nifty.  But only if they’re awesome.  You know how sometimes you go to the movies or to Fry’s, and you see the ever-tantalizing trap-term “Double Feature” in bold red followed by the title of your favorite movie, only to be chased [in significantly smaller font] by last year’s B-list film?  Not even good enough to be considered a passable combo, like Ocean’s 12/13 Bluray combo pack, because Ocean’s 13 isn’t terrible even if you’re sober.  Nobody wants to sit through This Means War just to see Zero Dark Thirty, amiright?

See.  That's legit work right there.

I like art.  This may or may not be obvious by now, and while I’m unfamiliar with Paul Pelletier’s pencilwork I enjoyed what he did during his introductory splash this issue.  His Batman was particularly scowl-y, and his aptitude for illustrating expressions is so amazing that you can understand most of the story without the speech, which is cool if you wanted to just flip through and look at the art (see Mera’s panels).  

My only quip would be the minor inconsistencies in Aquaman’s face renderings in some panels over others.  I would like how he looks young but experienced in one, and then suddenly aged or overly-jawed, like Ripjaws from Ben 10 (I bet he could still command that though).  Then there’s Art Thibert (X-Men, Ultimate X-Men, Trinity).  There’s a time in every young comic reader’s life -it doesn’t matter when/where you start out- where there’s always a handful of names you see everywhere and on everything.  Thibert’s one of those fellas for me, and thus far the man has yet to disappoint me.  Throw Rod Reis in there and what do you have?  Geoff Johns’ go-to team for part two of Throne of Atlantis.  That was obvious. 

All of the aforementioned tension (see JL 15 review) is being ramped up to an all-time high.  We have the introduction of a new character named Vulko, essentially an Atlantean defector on his quest to assist “King Arthur” with his sibling rivalry issue.  The Batman versus Aquaman front still isn’t going well, especially since Aquaman’s brother just drowned a good number of his people.  There’s this touching scene in the batplane where Aquaman, in an explosion of rage, exposes to Batman just exactly how much this conflict between the surface world and Atlantis is actually more internal than external.

Who said touching?  Silly me.

Then the batplane explodes, because in Aquaman’s war plans he knew Batman would pose a threat.  What does that lead to?  More assassination plots obviously, because riding a giant seahorse is synonymous with being a coup-plotting badass.  Orm has surfaced, threatening fisherman along the coast, and “The Big 3” give Aquaman one chance to bring his brother in peacefully as he pleads for amicable measures.  This pretext establishes a very key element in future Justice League stories: Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman as the dominating figureheads of the Justice League.  Even though Cyborg would refer to and be in constant communication with Batman on all things Justice League, a group consensus had never been reached about a leader or co-operative leadership.  Consider Johns’ moves: GL is nowhere to undermine Batman’s authority for sport; Superman steps up and is proactive in a League matter; and using the conflict of adopted world versus home world that would make Aquaman’s struggle relatable to Wonder Woman (everyone knows where she would stand if the Amazons decided to invade tomorrow based on how Johns has written JL), Johns has put Aquaman in the position of potentially failing as international peacekeeper.  This would ultimately result in the loss of power amongst his teammates and establish The Big 3 as our Trinity for our future event (get excited).  Following those presumptions, it would be up to the pre-52 Trinity to keep everything together once whatever happens happens.  Wait did I say potentially failing?

You’ve got a BIG pair of barnacles on you, Buster.

Pencil Rogue Says: An easy 4.5/5.  Waiting for the balloon to pop.