Thewry’s Rants, April Fools/First Edition!

Hello, I’m thewry and this… is Thewry’s Rants! Okay, it’s the only semi-witty title I could think of, but for now we’ll just go with it. The titles this week are Sensational She-Hulk one shot, Amazing Spider-Man #627, Prelude to Deadpool Corps, Fantastic Four #577, and X-Force #25 (with a rant about the Necrosha storyline now that it’s over)

Sensational She-Hulk one shot


So the reason for this issue is that it’s been 30 years since She-Hulk has shown up at Marvel. The main story (by Peter David and JonBoy Meyers) talks about She-Hulk turning 30 and not being too happy about it. (So? Spider-Man is going to turn 50 in a few years and you don’t see HIM getting all antsy) They do a Christmas Carol knock-off with ghosts from She-Hulks past, present, and future, with She-Hulk getting cheered up at the end. Good story, with Peter David nicely throwing in the witty comments as he’s done before.

But wait, there’s more! (Better be, this thing’s $5!!) The second story (by Brian Reed and Iban Coello) involves She-Hulk, Ms Marvel, and Spider-Woman. (pre-Secret Invasion. Look out, she’s a skrull!) Anyhoo, this bank robbery turned Hydra base attack story has the three ladies at first misunderstanding each other’s actions and has mini-fights before teaming up and taking out a Hydra base. (It won’t help though, destroy one and two more grow back, that’s what Hydra says anyway) It’s a little by the numbers, but still a good story.

And finally, because Marvel One-Shots always includes a reprint, is an issue of Sensational She-Hulk #40 during John Byrne’s run. Yeah…. not a fan of Byrne’s She-Hulk, plus it’s a reprint. If you liked Byrne’s She-Hulk, then this is a good bonus for you. Otherwise, well, at least this issue as two good stories in it! Recommended for She-Hulk fans, Peter David fans, and female superhero fans.

Amazing Spider-Man #627


Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut! Part one. This three part story (by Roger Stern and Lee Weeks) has high hopes for me, as Stern also wrote that GREAT two part story from Amazing 229-230 with the Juggernaut waaaay back in 1982. I was lucky enough to catch it in reprints in the mid-90s, but if you can find that story somewhere, it’s a must read.

Anyway, the gist of this issue is that a meteor-like thing lands in Central Park, and Spidey notices that it’s Juggernaut all laid out, with his helmet busted. (Please don’t say it was Onslaught, please don’t say it was Onslaught) After watching him get taken away, Spider-Man then notices some weird stuff that had involved a blue and white flying guy, according to witnesses. (Super Smurf!) The blue/white guy is revealed at the end with his mission to slay the Juggernaut (yes, he said “slay”) and so ends part one.

Good start, it’s a three part story, so I wasn’t expecting any huge fight scenes yet. Nothing wrong so far. It’s Spider-Man. Read it.

Prelude to Deadpool Corps #5 (of 5)


This weekly mini-series (by Victor Gischler and various artists) is basically showing how Deadpool rounds up Lady Deadpool, Kid Deadpool, Dogpool, and Zombie Headpool. Issue 5 is their practice cosmic mission before saving the multiverse. Um, yeah. Now I’m a fan of Gischler’s work on Deadpool: Merc with a mouth, and issues 1, 2, and 4 of this series I liked. (Issue 3 with Dogpool is, I’m sorry to say, pretty much a waste of time) Issue 5 was, well, there. Not offensive, but nothing to get excited over. Kyle Baker does the art, which is pretty unique, but for me personally it took me out of it. (Mind you, other people might like his stuff, just not me) This will now start the Deadpool Corps series next month.

This series is an acquired taste. As stated earlier, issues 1, 2, and 4 were enjoyable, but ended on a lukewarm note. Recommended for Deadpool fans, but casual readers might not feel the same.

Fantastic Four #577


These ain’t your granddaddy’s Inhumans! This issue (by Jonathan Hickman and Dale Eaglesham) has the FF going to the blue area of the moon after finding something has landed there. Once they arrive they meet the Inhuman Wayfinder, who was left behind by Black Bolt so he could wait for this event to happen.

The event? Why, four different breeds of Inhumans of course! They are the Centaurians, the Badoon, the Kymellians, and the Dire Wraiths. (Turn undead! Oh wait, that’s a different kind of wraith…) This is basically an introduction to these races and how they’re all gonna hook up with Black Bolt and live on earth. (Who’s dead, by the way, but I don’t think anyone told them yet). This issue is okay, I like the writer and artist. It’s a one-off, so it will be relevant later, but not immediately. Recommended for the sci-fi fans and FF fans.

X-Force #25


Necrosha all comes to an end here (by Craig Kyle/Chris Yost/Clayton Crain) with this issue being the final chapter. It’s Selene vs X-Force! Excited? No? That’s okay. Here X-Force goes up againt Selene and her undead T-O virus overrun mutant slaves on Genosha. Selene wins, taking over the earth and also ending Marvel comics. Or not. Okay, she doesn’t win, and some of her servants/slave escape on their own, no doubt plotting some evil retribution that can only be resolved at a later date. At the end Wolverine goes to Cyclops regarding roster changes, and they say who’s leaving, but I guess regarding new blood we’ll have to wait and see. The only people that should buy this are the ones have been following the Necrosha event. Wait until next issue before starting out this title.

Which leads me to the following:

Thewry’s Rant on Necrosha

Simply put, this was an X-event that we could have done without. Yes, it brought back into existence some characters (Warlock, Blink, etc), but having about 4 issues devoted to each of your X-titles (and not even at the same time, mind you) just left me unimpressed. I’m sure X-fans who have been getting every X-title since the 80’s would have recognized the resurrected dead mutants brought back during the story, but some of them I had no clue who they were.

It doesn’t help when you have an artist like Crain working on this, who by the way I like his work and it really FITS in X-Force. But seeing those dead mutants in the shadows fighting the X-Men, who are also in the shadows, didn’t work for me. Big fights with over a dozen characters involved didn’t look as great as his other stuff, which is a shame.

What also is a shame is seeing Kyle and Yost’s names attached to this project. X-Force started REALLY well with Bastion returning and using the T-O virus bring back all the genocidal X-Villains whose mottos were pretty much ‘kill all mutants’. Since then they’ve told stories leading up to Necrosha (Eli Bard, for example) and mostly left Bastion at the wayside. Until now. The Second Coming event coming to the X-titles (because going two months without an X-event is apparently now illegal) is now involving Bastion, and with it I hope brings us some Kyle/Yost ‘holy crap’ moments that frankly, this poor man’s Marvel mutant version of Blackest Night didn’t bring.