Staring Into the Abyss

First off I have to share to this video that I first found through the Marvel AR while reading F4 this week. It is about Matt Fraction's family and how it is similar to the F4 and how family influences his writing, but also how being a writer influences his parenting. What that means is you get to see inside his and Kelly Sue Deconnick's life a little and meet their kids. It is adorable. You can watch it here at MTV Geek.

Okay, now on to the comics and shows I've watched this week.

Fantastic Four #4 - This was a perfect Valentine's issue. I realize that I may be the only person who likes Reed Richards, but the way Hickman and now Fraction write him I really do like him and his relationship with Sue. It's not perfect and he is a very flawed man, but I get him and I like seeing a relationship that does require work, but that is also deep and built on love. This issue is basically a love letter from Reed to Sue and we see their first meeting in his recollections, which has been tweaked to age her up (thankfully!) since the last time Marvel showed it. Anyway, there is a beautiful twist in the issue where we discover that the cave paintings they find were actually done by Reed having gone back in time to paint them as a reminder to himself not to take Sue or his family for granted. He even paints a heart around her! I'm glad that it seems like Reed is about to tell her the truth about their trip and it only took four issues and a slightly stern face from her to get him there. This is an improvement!

Secret Avengers #1 - I didn't like this comic. It was well written and set up what could be a really interesting plot...but it was done in a way that made me uncomfortable. The issue got good reviews and focused on Hawkeye and Nat which meant I wanted to like it...but...
All the mind wiping as a function of the job made me uncomfortable to start with especially since the tech was introduced to Clint and Nat before they gave their permission. And lets just take a moment here to ask why Marvel must continue messing with Nat's head? Okay, then the big spoiler at the end? That Fury Jr. shot Clint and set him up to be interrogated via torture, telepath, etc. just so Maria could make sure that SHIELD's new mind wipe tech works under stress? That made me mad and uncomfortable as fuck. Basically if this comic turns out to be about Clint and Nat finding out what is going on and bringing the program down I will happily go back and read it, but right now I just don't like what I am seeing. Also I am a bit apprehensive about what this tech could mean for SHIELD's activities across all lines in the future.

Uncanny X-Men #1 This book goes hand in hand with All New X-Men so I picked it up as well. I am glad I did cause as I mention below, I love Cyclops and I love seeing all this plot revolve around him. He really does hurt so pretty. But OMG, the last page... Magneto is working with Maria Hill to discredit Cyclops?! This is going to be so good. Epic even.

All New X-Men #1-7 - I finally caved and read these after hearing such good things. I like Cyclops and love that he is getting some really meaty well developed fascinating stories to work with and this book has TWO Scotts running around! And both of them hurt so pretty! Beyond just Scott, there really is a lot of delicious character focused story telling because of bringing that first X-Men team forward in time. I am very much looking forward to seeing where this one goes over time.

Arrow - This was a fabulous episode and if the Slade/Ollie fic doesn't start getting written (and to a lesser extent the Dig/Felicity) then I just don't understand fandom. I really loved how focused this episode was on the island with only a few flashes to the present. Every scene in both places felt real and necessary to the story in a way that isn't always true of this show. Slade was fabulous both in the fights and just interacting with Ollie and I really hope we keep him on the show for a very long time.

Supernatural - When the show has both me and my mom cheering for Sam and telling him how awesome he is you know its a good episode. I mean we both like him, but usually that only happens with Dean and Cas in my house. I am very, very excited about the direction the show is taking with his character and can't wait to see how it plays out. I'm worried about Kevin and his nosebleeds and those pills Dean gave him though...

Elementary - Of course Sherlock knew about Joan. There was no way he didn't, but I am glad it is out in the open and their new working relationship has been defined. I continue to love the emotion that we see in this version of Sherlock. I love that he wants her to be safe and instead of the usual and sexist tropes of either trying to protect her himself or turning her away for her own good he just wants to make sure she is trained. I approve. I'm also glad that we got to see more of Bell's life and the place he holds in Sherlock's world.

So what do you all think? What have you been reading/watching?