Recent comics, Mel Brooks references, toys I'm not buying; all over the map today:

In case you missed it last week, X-Men: Manifest Destiny: Nightcrawler came out, and I liked it. Now, over at If Destroyed, Still True there's a more objective review, but this issue strongly exceeded my expectations. Well, that's damning with faint praise, since my expectations--based on the solicit for this issue as "Quitting Time"--were pretty damn low. Lower. I was expecting the whole issue to be moping and flashbacks, possibly set to Boys II Men "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday."

Not a pretty mental picture, huh? Fortunately, writer James Asmus skips a lot of that nonsense: Kurt is out the X-door by page four, on his way to Winzeldorf, Germany, to check out the Nightcrawler Museum. It's a good hook, and the rest of the issue doesn't quite rise to that level, it's still fun. And it's not like Nightcrawler gets center stage in the regular X-books ever.

Last week also had the new issue of Deadpool, which has been a little disappointing:

OK, that's not bad, and I'm sure I'm not the only one that's going to be able to work that line into conversation; but the issue feels a bit stalled. Deadpool's seeking revenge on Norman Osborn, who stole Pool's Skrull info, enabling him to kill the Skrull Queen and become America's sweetheart; more importantly, it cost Pool a huge payday from Nick Fury. So, Pool attacks Avengers Tower, which would be a terrible idea even if the building wasn't closed for remodeling, or Norman was actually there, or if Pool wasn't hallucinating something fierce. Wade fights some remote controlled Green Goblin junk and trips out until the Thunderbolts show up, setting up the crossover in Thunderbolts #130.

There's a couple funny bits, yeah, but a sequence with Norman Osborn as a giant stinkyhead...giant while Pool climbs the beanstalk (actually the elevator shaft, not a metaphor for anything...) goes on for too long, and seems to be killing time until the next chapter. Right this second, it doesn't feel like this needed four parts, and I don't know if I'll pick up the Thunderbolts issues. Disappointing, especially since early issues of Deadpool showed more promise. Or at least cheap, funny gags:

Yeah, anytime you can swipe from Young Frankenstein, you should. For example:

(From The Incredible Hulk Annual #16, "Quality of Mercy" Written by Peter David, pencils by Angel Medina, inks by Larry Mahlstedt. Part Three of "Lifeform," but pretty damn entertaining.)

I just wanted to throw those last two out there, since I don't know if I ever mentioned it before, but Young Frankenstein is one of the first movies I can remember ever seeing in the theatre. While I don't think it scared the hell out of me, ala Homer Simpson; I know it was probably many years before I saw it again and fully realized it was actually a comedy. I was pretty little, yeah.

Nightcrawler panel written by James Asmus, art by Jorge Molina and Adrian Syaf with inks by Victor Olazaba and Vicente Cifuentes. I think Molina did the stronger first end of the book.

Deadpool panels from issues #4 and #8, written by Daniel Way, art by Carlo Barberi (#4 only) and Paco Medina, inks by Juan Vlasco. Minus the big hallucination sequence, I really like the art, but it is going to clash something fierce with the Thunderbolts issues.

Two more Deadpool related notes: in anticipation of Pool's big screen debut in Wolverine: Origins, Marvel is starting to grind out a pretty respectable amount of spinoff and one-shots for Pool. And I still don't know if I'm going to front the money for any of them, although some of them could be perfectly fine. Just not sure yet.

Also, Deadpool gets a new figure in the Wolverine: Origins line. There will doubtless be a crappity movie one, but there's a sharp looking comic one in the three-and-three/quarter inch scale. Check out this link from MWC Toys and see for yourself, since I don't think I'm going to drop $8.44 at Wal-Mart for it. If I see it cheaper, maybe. But until then...