Quartermaster - Why I Buy These Comics

Quartermaster will be a monthly column that I’ll post once a month when solicitations come out on the net, explaining, if any, the changes to my pull list. November’s solicits have just come out, so I thought, for my first quartermaster post, I’d explain briefly why I’m getting each comic (and a few I’m not getting anymore, and why).

Ongoing

X-Factor
X-Factor is my version of the nostalgia book. I restarted getting comics at the end of 2005, and the first book I bought was issue one of Peter David’s new X-Factor. It’s a book I’d probably keep getting even if I wasn’t enjoying it, but thankfully I’ve enjoyed every issue so far, even though Messiah CompleX derailed the storylines for a while. The book’s recently shifted its location from New York to Detroit. The only thing I know about Detroit is that it’s in the state of Michigan. I’ve seen some pretty pictures of places in Michigan, which I’m pretty sure has more coastline along the Great Lakes than any other state, so its fine by me.

Latest previews have X-Factor investigating something called the Karma organization who seem to be involved with Darwin’s disappearance, whilst trying to fend off Val Cooper who wants X-Factor to work for the government. This sounds like a parallel to the early days of investigating Singularity whist trying to hold a separate identity from the X-Men teams, so it seems X-Factor is returning to its noir detective-agency roots, which was what made it so cool to begin with.

Uncanny X-Men
This is my paying-my-dues book. I want to know what the X-Men are doing, therefore I must buy Uncanny. Ed Brubaker’s had an up and down run. I considered dropping Uncanny after Messiah Complex, but the preview artwork by Michael Choi and colours by Sonia Oback just looked so awesome I had to get it. And after that it was issue #500, so I had to get that. I foresee this sort of trend continuing. Here’s hoping Brubaker and Fraction’s work on Uncanny is as good it was on Iron Fist. Its off to a good start with Pixie joining up.

(With X-Factor in Detroit and Uncanny moving to San Francisco, it means that I’m not getting any comics that are set in New York. Its quite refreshing.)

Missing in Action: X-Men: Legacy
I picked up Legacy because it was about Professor X. And I like Professor X. I’d also heard lots of good things about Mike Carey too. I enjoyed the first two arcs with its probe into why the Prof really started the X-Men, and why he is who he is. So why did I drop it? Cause it’s crossing over with Wolverine: Origins and I couldn’t care less about Daken or why Wolverine really joined the X-Men. Maybe afterwards I’ll pick it up again if Carey continues with the Professor X stuff, though he’s strongly hinted that he may go for a Rogue and Gambit storyline instead, so we’ll see.

Missing in Action: Young X-Men
I put Young X-Men on my pull list cause I thought it was a continuation of New X-Men. As soon as I realized it wasn’t, I took it off again. I don’t care for anyone on the line up, except possibly rockslide, who was only good playing off Mercury or Anole. None of my favourite New X-Men (Surge, X-23, Mercury, Pixie, Trance) are in this book.

Missing in Action: Thor
I love Norse Mythology. I love comics. So, on paper, I’d love the Thor comic. I really wanted to. It had its moments, like Thor splitting a plain in half in some random African country to stop a civil war with a uncrossable canyon, the Warriors Three crashing the community meeting and asking for cake. But…I just wasn’t enjoying it. I’m still not sure why. Perhaps it was because I don’t know Thor’s Marvel history well enough, or because I knew I was spending too much money on comics, or because it wasn’t a team book. So I dropped it.

Guardians of the Galaxy
This is my I get it cause I love it book. I wanted to pick up a Marvel sci-fi book, cause I’ve always been a big sci-fi fan, but I wasn’t really keen on Nova. So when Guardian’s of the Galaxy came out, I snapped it up. And it is awesome. It’s completely ridiculous if you think about it – a talking raccoon with big guns, a plant from Planet X, a telepathic Russian cosmonautdog, a guy called Major Victory - but somehow Abnett and Lanning make it work. Latest preview teases a new lineup in the aftermath of Secret Invasion, but we’ve met all of the characters in the ‘new’ lineup already and they’re all awesome (and ridiculous).

Mini-Series

X-Men: Manifest Destiny
I put this on my pull list cause I thought it was going to be more substantial than ‘Iceman travels to San Francisco’. Its Mike Carey, and I don’t have any good Iceman stories, so I’ll keep it on the list. And there are backups by Cebulski, Young and Yost, who are all good writers.

Civil War: House of M
Magneto. Taking over the World. Prof X. Namor. Black Bolt. Bucky. House of M. I think that says it all.

Solomon Kane
This will be my first non-Marvel comic. And I’m getting it for the simplest of reasons – I love Robert E. Howard’s Solomon Kane stories (the few that there are). For those of you that have never heard of him, he’s one of Howard’s lesser known creations (his most well-known one being Conan), and is a Puritan who leaves Europe for various reason and goes trekking through Darkest Africa meeting nasty monsters and evil magicians along the way. I think this mini series, based on the Castle of the Devil story, takes place in Europe just before he leaves for Africa.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars
While I was getting Kane from Dark Horse, I thought I’d try some Star Wars. My sister is really the Star Wars fan, but I enjoyed all the clone wars novels, so with the movie coming out (only in September here *sigh*), why not? If I decide I enjoy Star Wars comics, I think I might get Star Wars: Dark Times when it returns.