Alright before I begin I will have to say I have been a John Byrne fan since I have been a itty pitty comic book reader. I love his stuff. John’s art work is what started me even looking at comic books. I have followed John from book to book over  his career.  John’s work on the The Uncanny X-Men, The Fantastic Four, Alphas Flight,Avengers and Avenger West Coast and so many others got me reading and collecting comics. S0 I am not going to write about what I did not like about this comic or loved. Well because it is JOHN FREAKING BYRNES and I love all his shit. So I do not care what your think, it is my blog, so there.  PHFFFTT.                          

So in another title in the Marvel Now line is the relaunch of the Fantastic Four. The splash page shows the Richards family and Ben Grimm in trouble, one year in the future. The only real evidence of anything different is Ben Grimm is human again. The next page shows the present and Franklin Richards is screaming himself awake. Now the funny part for me is when the mombots come running into the room instead of Sue. The first thing that popped into my head was another young man abandoned by his mom. Years from now Franklin is seeing a shrink telling the shrink how his mom was never around. Always saving the world or battle Galactus but was never there to see him in the school play. Think Marvel may want to use this in a future story?  Another interesting part was Johnny Storm giving his girlfriend, Darla Deering his real phone number because he likes her likes her. Awww.  While underneath their floating pod is a war is ranging, how romantic. After finding out that his cells are molecules are breaking down and fears the rest of the Fantastic Four are effected, Reed decides it is time for a road trip. Reed tells the rest of the group about his road trip adventure with everyone, including the kids. Umm…. where have I heard this one before, oh yeah. Remember the TV show, Lost in Space. I will let you decide who plays whom.  I did like reading this book, it was a fun read. Writer Matt Fraction made reading the book enjoyable and the art by Mark Bagley was good. So was it fun, yeah. Fun enough for me to pick up a couple more issues of Lost in Space….sorry, Fantastic Four.

Remember comics are to be enjoyed, not destroyed.

LLAP

So I decided to pick up the first issue of The Superior Spider-Man to see what the all the news was about. So Doctor Octopus was dying and found away to swap minds with his greatest enemy, Peter Parker.  I have not read a Spider-Man books in a few years. I did read The Amazing Spider-Man in the days when Todd McFarlane was drawing that book and later when he started Spider-Man.  I am not going to waste your time, so to the point. The book was fun read but other than that, really nothing special. Sure seeing how Dr. Oct handles being the new Spider-Man and reacting to the situations that he encounters as Spider-Man and the people around him is interesting….but?  The first think that caught my attention was how no one seem to notice how he was a dick. Not a lot of panels show this but it is there. Are Peter Parker and Dr Oct more alike then we think?  The arrival of the new Sinister Six did really nothing for me. Oh the same old Sinister Six but with different villains how special….NOT.  The thing why I will not to continue reading this book is the ghostly return of Peter Parker. Come on now, if you want to have this book really interesting DO NOT have you last few panels show that Peter Parker will be returning. Make it more interesting by not showing Peter Parker at all. No hint at all. I may have continued to read to see how thinks developed for Dr Oct as Spider-Man but not now.

So in the end was the book fun, yeah. Fun enough to continue reading, No.

That’s the way I see it anyway.

LLAP

Over the last little while I have been reading the first issues of a few of the free @Valiant issues of Bloodshot, Harbinger, XO Manowar I have be able to download for free from comixology.com.I not going to tell you my thought on the stories because this is about the different medias. I will say reading the issues have been fun but also at times just a pain. First of all I am reading them on my Iphone so that is  not the best device to read them on. Seeing the pages is not easy and you have to double tap at times just so you can read the pages is not that fun . Moving from panel to panel is neat but it wears out fast.  I have to say being old school and collecting for 25 years or more I still love the feel of having  the book in my hand. Flipping through the pages, seeing and feeling the book in my hands and at times the smell is best part to the collecting. The way the art was meant to be seen. Yes I know most to the pages drawn today are done on Mac’s or some other device. Holding the book and seeing the art that was hand drawn on page and not a screen to me is still the best and only way. I know I have not gone into great details about my views on book vs digital but I think you can see that I still love the having the books. Come on are you going to stack up a bunch of flash drive and show them off. “Hey want to see my collection of Spiderman I have on this flash drive?” is not a comment I want to hear from a collector wanting me to see his collection. In this case old school is the best school. That’s the way I see it anyway.

LLAP

The Numbskull Nerd