SPOILERS ABOUT GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #15 THE WALKING DEAD 97-102 AND BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA #1 (NO NOT THE MOVIE THE NEW COMIC)
(if you don't get that pic it's for a SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
COVERS THAT LIE TO US:
Being a fanboy there's always something to get excited and happy about as well as having our moments of disappointment and being upset. Well, in this instance I have a little bit of a gripe that I want to talk about in this weeks blog. That would be with covers, not the variants, those have been talked about but this time I mean just regular cover art for the normal issues.
I bring this up because I just finished reading the Guardians of the Galaxy #15 where this is the cover to it.....
Part of the captions that is given to this issue reads, “And now...Captain Marvel”. So take that in, the cover shows Captain Marvel flying in with the team, minus Star Lord, behind her and looking up at her. She has her glowing hands with her powers being used making it look like she is coming to save the day. Add in the past issues where the story has had her go into space to join up with the team and how the team has been separated and taken into custody by different alien races and the conclusion I came to was that this book would be about her being there to start saving the team.
I was very wrong.
At no point does she appear in the pages of this book. NONE! She's only on the cover and that's it. So that's my gripe, covers that basically flat out lie. When reading comics you learn quickly that a cover will mislead and have a scene that is usually not happening in the comic but you also know that the covers convey an idea of what will be happening. Example, Giant Sized Spider-Man #1 came out last week where there are 4 different stories that tell about Peter Parker's/ Spider-Man's first time being a hero and first meetings with Sandman, Vulture, and Doc Ock. Story wise the book wasn't that good, it gives yet another retelling of the same story of Peter getting his powers and a whole lot of repeating the famous phrase of power and responsibility. However, the cover shows Spider-Man on a ledge with Doc Ock creeping up behind him in shadow. Not the exact scene that happens in the book but there is a moment when Doc Ock does creep up on him and Ock is actually in the book.
Having a cover that semi relates to the story with using the same characters that are on the cover is fine, that's what has always been done and matter of fact I rather think it works out best cause who wants to see the same art on the cover and then shown again on a splash page. But, to go so far as showing a character that is not in the book at all and have it captioned with saying that character will be in it, that's just a blatant lie. Sure they do it with variants but a variant cover is a special cover, one that is supposed to be different because it is a variant and made to be different and collected. The main cover, the regular cover, cover A, that's for teasing what's in that particular issue, not to lie about a character that's not going to be in it. Sure she will eventually appear in the book again, maybe with issue #16, but make that one have a cover with her, this one should have been about the team being separated not about someone who's not even in it.
THE WALKING DEAD:
Alright, I've finally started reading the Walking Dead comic again. I finished the first 96 issues that are in the compendiums and read the new story called, “Something to Fear”. I tell you right now Rick has something to fear because if Negan is as bad as he's already been shown then the whole group is in for a lot of pain. Already in the first 3 issues that I read Kirkman does what he does best, shock the reader by killing off not one but 2 of the characters. One of them being a major character that's been with the book since it started and another that's been in it for half it's run (at the point of issue 100 since the book is now at the late 120's).
Even though I did give a spoiler warning at the top I won't say which two characters that are killed only that two of them are and with one it's brutal. If the TV show gets to this point in the book and they do what they did in the book, people will be outraged. Though I got to say I like that Kirkman does this with his book and the characters. Yes it also sucks because I really liked both the characters and want to see more of them, but to have the guts to continue to kill off main characters is a big deal. His book don't bring them back in the same sense as other comics and if he does they are as zombies that have to be killed yet again.
Still, it's refreshing to have a book that will do this with the story so that it doesn't get old. I'm pretty sure no one can say that Kirkman is writing the same stories again and again. Before you say anything let me stop you right there and point this out. Yes, by killing off the characters this is something that's been done but in this world of the undead walking around eating the living there are going to be deaths. Also, the choice of using another villain that seems like past, such as the Governor, might seem similar to Negan, at least right now and in theory, but again, with this kind of world that's going to happen.
This is a world where the dead walk, the meek is not going to inherit this world, hell, even the strong won't, it's going to be the ones that are a combination of evil, strong, and sly. These are the people that will be able to survive in this kind of world because this world is one where people kill and there are going to be evil people killing both the living and dead.
I'm loving this though because the book is keeping me wanting to read it more and more. I'm not sure yet where the plot of Negan being able to make Rick give in to him but I'm looking forward to it. By the covers (lets hope they don't pull what the above topic did) shows me that Negan is going to be around for a few more issues. It also looks like this is going to be a very violent run in the series, which might mean more people are going to get killed off. Well, I'm off to read more, well, after this last topic then I'm off.
BOOKS TO PICK UP:
If you liked the movie Big Trouble in Little China then I think you should pick up the new comic. It just came out so get to your comic shop now to pick it up. The art is pretty decent, but what I liked the most about this first issue was that it picks up directly after the movie ended. So this is not telling some story that will only be related to the movie by the title and main characters, it's actually continuing the movie. So in all regards this is the sequel to the movie and it's started off on a decent foot.
Ok, the writing is mildly good, I think it could have used a little more substance because it's more fun and fluff then anything serious. Then again, the movie was basically similar with it's fun and fluff and very not serious. So in the regards, this book is doing a great job.
Also a few books to check out are all Image books that came out under the Image Firsts. Image has been reprinting some of their titles first issues with a cover price of $1. If you think that they aren't going to be a collector item like the first print of these books you would be wrong. The Walking Dead Image First for a buck came out not too long ago, I missed picking it up, it is now $10 to $15 at comic shops. But at any rate, even if these don't become worth any money, getting to read the first issue for a dollar is a lot better than spending up to hundreds of dollars to get that same issue (granted that's first print), is nice. I got 5 issues today and can't wait to read them, one being a Robert Kirkman book, Theif of Thieves.
