Late Buy Pile Report

I need to apologize for only getting this week's report up now, after reading the conclusion to Amazons Attack, I got a little nauseous and had to go to bed. Honestly, I thought the ending to Civil War was bad, but this one takes to cake.

If any of you were waiting to buy Amazons Attack in TPB form, I bow to your wisdom. You needn't spend any money after all. I kept waiting for this event to get better, or at least for something to happen. As the issues went buy, I kept waiting for the moment when it all made sense, and I figured out how DC could green light such a storyline.

But, six issues and several tie-ins later (including some really pointless Wonder Woman issues), no sense has been made, and no grand battle has been drawn. it all just ended with a thud.

Oh, and because I am begging you not to give DC any more money they don't deserve on this storyline, I'll spoil the big twist at the end — "Athena" was really Granny Goodness in disguise. Ooooh, a Countdown tie-in. That gets me interested after all! Wait, strike that, reverse it.

I also need to do a little bitching over Teen Titans #50. I thought the issue was fantastic, another tribute to Bart Allen serving as the thread tying together several fun flashbacks and setting up the next "Titans Tomorrow" arc. BUT, also included in this issue was six pages of last week's Blue Beetle #18. And I mean, identical pages and dialog.

What's the need for this? Since when is crossing over a story so that one title's events lead into another title's such a new idea that we really needed to see this story twice? Part of the fun of comics is that a butterfly flapping his wings in comic 'A' is often felt in comic 'D' or comic 'G'. There is no need for panel-for-panel retelling, especially when the price of a comic is bumped up do to increased pages.

I'd also be remiss this week if I didn't mention the Fantastic Four. FF #549 was the best issue of the title in over a year. While the pacing made a NASCAR race feel like golf, I have never been one that minded a hectic pace in a comic filled with action. Also, you just knew that McDuffie was trying to wrap things up as swiftly as possible for the upcoming 550th issue.

And, Sue's torturing of the Wizard was the most terrifically badass Mrs. Storm-Richards moment in my memory, not counting her days as Malice. It cannot be done justice without you reading it for yourself.

However, the long-awaited Stan Lee Last Story of the Fantastic Four left plenty to be desired. Don't get me wrong, if you're really a fan of Stan the Man's writing and not just a fan of nostalgia, this issue is for you. It's classic Stan. The premise hits you fast and from out of nowhere. The villain is on a grander scale than even Galactus himself. And, the conclusion comes out of nowhere and is fun.

But, for modern comic readers, those are all downsides. The issue really didn't make too much sense if you take it too seriously. Part of me was really hoping that Stan had brought his 'A Game' for his last FF story, but I guess this is as good as his 'A Game' ever got. If you read this issue expecting to get EXACTLY what 1960's FF was, you won't be disappointed.