Panel Discussion: The Week in Comic Book Scans

Most Awesomest Historical Figure Turned Supervillain - Zombie-Robot Gustave Eiffel, Umbrella Academy #1
What would the designer of the Eiffel Tower and structural engineer of New York's Statue of Liberty say if he knew he was being re-envisioned as a zombie robot in a comic book? "Maudit enfants!" ("damn kids!") probably sums it up.

Hit the jump for some motivation from Eclipso, harsh words from Bucky, Wii confessions from the Black Fox, and more!

Best Motivational Speaker - Eclipso, Countdown to Mystery #1Eclipso's latest plot is to become the Tony Robbins of the DC universe.

Most Unpleasant Title Page - World War Hulk #4What's the point here? Though it has some panels from last ish, it's way too vague to work as a recap for someone that didn' t read last issue. The weird Photoshoppy blood (click to see the full res where you'll see the blood is rockin' a PS bezel) plus the weird Photoshop sketch of Strange drinking Zomjuice (which two out of three readers I informally polled in a dream thought was Tony Stark boozing) makes the whole thing seem very amateurish, like a fan wallpaper cobbled together from Romita's panels.

Best Comeback - Winter Soldier, Capitan America #30
"Know me? You don't know jack, Fatty!" I love that Bucky, though now an out of control outlaw vigilante, still uses insults from his child-sidekick days.

Movie Moment - Penance: Relentless #1
This illustration of Penance's Stamford guilt is a direct homage to the most terrifying scene in Terminator 2. Remember, the one where Sarah Conner dreams she's looking at a playground through a chain link fence, and after a moment a nuke goes off and everyone is burned alive? That scared the shit out of me when I was a kid, but you can watch it now if you'd like to compare it to the page above, and if you don't mind having a few nuclear dreams of your own.

Satisfying Conclusion to a Running Gag - Black Fox's Wii Theft Confession, Irredeemable Ant-Man #12
If you haven't been following this saga, first we saw Ant-Man and the Black Fox enjoying some Wii time, then the Black Fox snuck in during World War Hulk to steal the sexy white console, and now, after Ant-Man has thrown Fox to the S.H.I.E.L.D. wolves to save his own ass, Fox confesses. Hopefully the Black Fox can escape from the helicarrier in time to play Super Mario Galaxy on launch day.

Check out our past Panel Discussions while you're at it!

Snap Judgements: Blue Beetle, Thunderbolts, and The Boys

Today on Snap Judgements, three spoiler-free quickie reviews of comics out today, June 27.

Blue Beetle #16 - The Return of Brainstomp Demonface!

Everyone's favorite wife-killer/vengeance god Jean "Eclipso" Loring is through with all that "orbiting the sun" bullshit...now she's back on earth, stealing magic babies! It's a DC book alright! But what does this have to do with Blue Beetle? Well, not a lot. This book deals more with Traci 13 (who?), the issue's true protagonist. She does allow Jaime to tag along for the big fight, but he's really just there to flirt with.

The verdict on Blue Beetle plus reviews of Thunderbolts #115 and The Boys #8 after the jump.


This issue's biggest miss is the constant Wheadonesque teen-snark-speak, which is usually delivered with a much keener ear by writer John Rogers. But the book is saved by some funny touches involving the always ironic rules of magic, and some very touching (though possibility invented) continuity concerning the link between Eclipso and Traci 13 (who?).

Jean "Brain Stomp" Loring + Cheesey Teen Speak = C+


Thunderbolts #115 - Smashy Smashy II

Last week, this book gave us a big long street fight that was incredibly boring, featured a bunch of bland splash pages, and generally felt like Warren Ellis decided to take a snooze in the backseat and left artist Rain Beredo to drive for a while. This week's issue at first seemed to be more of the same - the 'Bolts are still fighting some unregistered Superheroes, aaand.....they fight. BUT - in this issue, the characters say interesting things to each other while they fight, the action is much more fluid and exciting, and there are some big plot-changing reveals. Still a few too many bulked-out Venom splash panels, but at least there's some dismemberment to show for it.

Bullseye Bein' Crazy + Whiny Penance + Dismemberment = B+


The Boys #8 - Not That There's Anything Wrong With That...

From the start, this series has played fast and loose with attitudes of misogyny and homophobia. Even for a comic book. But when the TPB was released earlier this month, I gave it a chance and found that it was too funny and engaging to write-off as shock-schlock. And though last month's issue made me cringe with a page discussed here, the lead male protagonist's attitudes towards gay men are discussed directly in this issue, as our anti-heroes investigate the murder of a gay teen. As the issue begins, it seems that nice-guy Hughie has a more accepting attitude than epithet-spewing manly man Butcher, but as events move forward we're shown that the way they actually act around gay people tells a different story. All the lead characters still treat gayness as something to be tolerated and not necessarily accepted, but I suspect that since this arc will last until at least issue #10, these issues will continue to be explored. The plotting and dialogue is spot-on as always, make sure you read Butcher's dialogue like Michael Caine for maximum effect.

Casual Prejudice + Meta Commentary + Realism? - Easy Answers = B


Tune in Friday for PANEL DISCUSSION, to find out which comic panel wins the Geekanerd Award for Best Acting, Greatest Hit, and the coveted Banana Randomizer Award For Achievement in WTF.