Quick Comic Book Reviews - October 31st, 2010

More quick reviews.  Not super quick like the last one, but let me know which format you prefer.  If you kind of like me switching it up here and there, I can do that too.  Just getting harder for me to get much computer time to do all of this.

Justice Society of America #44 - Written by Marc Guggenheim and Art by Scott Kolins.  There's an underlying plot going on with Jay Garrick becoming the Mayor.  But then we flash back a few weeks to when Jay says he's planning on retiring and Alan Scott trying to talk him out of it.  First, we have some ultra tough bad guy pop up.  The battle has very bad results for the JSA.  I thought this issue was really pretty good.  An interesting set-up as I wonder how Jay becomes Mayor.  A mysterious bad guy who takes no prisoners and they think is a terrorist, and then an epic battle.  All-in-all I thought it was good.  Scott Kolins provides from pretty good art in this one as well.  I know a lot of people didn't like this issue, but I'm not sure why.  It isn't a must buy, but it's a good issue that's worth at least checking out.

Detective Comics #870 - Written by David Hine and Penciled by Scott McDaniel.  The Impostor Joker storyline culminates in this issue and boy does it!  We have Batman frantically trying to step the mass hysteria the Imposter Joker has created at the fun park.  Things quickly go from bad to worse to terrible in this issue.  We also finally get an even better sneak behind what's driving Heath (the Impostor) to do what he's doing.  You know that it still isn't a good enough reason, but that with someone who has snapped, it might be a logical conclusion for them.  The entire storyline has been a return to the heart of Batman and gives us a really good tale.  We've also gotten a bold new villian who has purpose and motivation.  Sure, he's a knock-off of Joker, but it's about time we see villians created by the people who are affected by the war between good and evil.  Scott McDaniel's artwork really has a strong cartoony feel, but I like it.  It's simple, yet flows well and fits what we're seeing.  I really thought it was quite excellent.  This is a must buy issue of Detective Comics!

Captain America #611 - Written by Ed Brubaker and Art by Daniel Acuna.  We see the fall-out from Baron Zemo releasing the information that CapBucky was actually the Winter Soldier.  The media frenzy is all over it and it threatens to eat up the Avengers as well.  They try to put a very realistic spin on this and I think it works.  Steve Roger's meeting with the President and his Chiefs of Staff is interesting as well.  It gives readers a good reference point and background info on what happened with Bucky.  We feel like this one is going to be hard to get out of, but have faith!  With Steve Rogers on the case, nothing is as bad as it seems.  However, as much as they talk about Steve Rogers, it's how Bucky reacts to this all that will make or break it.  So a lot of good stuff spotlighted in this issue, it will be interesting to see where they go with it.  Not a big fan of Acuna's artwork.  I think the coloring was way too dark this issue.  We also get a Nomad story in this issue.  Written by Sean McKeever and Art by Filipe Andrade.  Okay, I'm a little bitter Young Allies was canceled before it really had a chance.  But I am glad that McKeever is still going with Nomad for now.  In this one, Black Widows and Nomad team-up.  It is an interesting pairing, but a bit of an odd couple.  A short but sweet story.  The ending of the story I actually did not expect.  So one issue, two pretty good stories.  I'm not saying run out and buy it, but one to keep on your radar if you're out to pick up a good issue in the Mighty Marvel way.

The Amazing Spider-Man #646 - Written by Mark Waid and Art by Paul Azaceta & Matthew Southworth.  Yay!  The last issue with Azaceta who they've teamed up with Soulworth to save the issues from being awful.  The final chapter of The Origin of the Species.  Lizard has the baby that everybody wants and will do anything to get.  Spidey has been going gung-ho on beating up bad guys to find out what happened.  He assumes the baby is dead, but find out from the Chameleon that it isn't so, so now he's off to try and rescue the baby before the Lizard does something very bad to him.  The semi-team-up of Spidey and Doc Ock in this issue is interesting and sometimes amusing.  Some pretty good stuff and interaction between those two.  The final showdown has some really clever stuff involved as well.  I really liked the wrap-up of what has happened and there are some developments that should lead to even more interesting stories down the road.  Mark Waid ended up salvaging a story I thought was terrible at first, but now I like it.  Azaceta's artwork on the first few issues was downright terrible and embarrassing for Marvel.  However, when they teamed him up with an artist, it really salvaged things as far as the art goes.  So the last Waid written issue for awhile is worth picking up to see the storyline come to a conclusion and see what's going on.

Justice League: Generation Lost #12 - Written by Judd Winick and Penciled by Fernando Dagnino.  This is a completely Ice centric issue.  We focus on her origin and back story, which hasn't been much delved into anywhere that I've seen.  So that did make for some interesting reading.  She gets into a knock-down and drag-out fight with Fire that is very interesting as well.  Ice seems supercharged now and we see that it was always a possibility, but she was able to maintain control.  With her life being threatened, she has been pushed over the edge.  But is she really the second coming of a Goddess?  There is a lot here to like, but at the same time, the whole flashbacks might not be interesting too you.  The artwork is very mediocre in this one as well.  So, if you're looking for the Max Lord story to advance in this issue, forget it.  It isn't about that, but I do really like this revamping of Ice and making her a much more interesting character.  To me, this is an excellent issue that I'm glad I read and you might feel that same way.  However, I can see a lot of people not like this issue as it is very focused on a character that many don't care for.  So with this issue, your mileage may vary, but I certainly enjoyed it.

Action Comics #894 - Written by Paul Cornell and Art by Pete Woods.  What the hell happened here?  Paul Cornell finally writes a great issue of Action Comics.  In this one, as Luthor is apparently on his deathbed, he is visited by Death herself.  We get some very interesting conversations between the two characters.  Death has a bit of a flippant style and you can see Lex getting very aggravated.  To make matters worse, he's in a situation that he can't control.  Lex hates that!  Pretty good art and an fun little tale that gets into the mind of Lex a bit more and sees someone playing a game with him finally.  I really liked this story.  Next week get our double feature with Jimmy Olsen.  Written by Nick Spencer and Penciled by RB Silva.  The Dalwythians are alien from outerspace that everyone thinks are about to invade.  However, they just wanted to come to Earth and party.  Unfortunately, Jimmy gets selected to help "show them a good time".  It is the last thing Jimmy wants.  Especially when it's revealed that the Dalwythians get intoxicated in our atmosphere.  Worse yet, every planet they party on ends up being destroyed.  I liked that Chloe only played a bit part in this one and wasn't as forced on us as in the previous issue.  The whole story and Jimmy being involved in it is really classic and fun stuff.  As far as a back-up story goes, one of the best ever.  Just so much fun to be had in this issue, pick it up!

Green Lantern Corps #53 - Written by Tony Bedard and Penciled by Tyler Kirkham.  A leftover from last week.  But I would be remiss if I didn't point this issue out.  The Weaponer who made Sinestro's ring has come back for payback.  He goes after Sinestro's daughter, Soranik Natu.  However, he also confronts Kyle Rayner.  Well, let's just say the Weaponer is a total bad ass that you do not want to deal with if you can help it.  He whips up on Kyle and takes the girl.  So now Kyle has to beg for the help of Sinestro.  Easier said than done, with Sinestro usually being a downright bastard.  So um... good luck with that one.  This certainly is an interesting issue and gives us a little more insight as to what went on.  The use of the Weaponer makes sense.  Sinestro owes him, but the question is, what exactly does he owe him at this point?  Anyone who can make weapons as powerful as he does must be a bad dude and this just shows it.  Tyler Kirkham does a decent job with the art, but nothing too great.  I don't care much for his rendition of Sinestro for some reason.  But really, a pretty good issue.  Then again, I'm a big fan of Tony Bedard.  So pick this issue up for a storyline that has the guts to put a "Brightest Day" logo on the issue but nothing in the blue blazes to do with it!

Quick Comic Book Reviews - October 31st, 2010

Quick Comic Book Reviews–October 3rd, 2010

The new releases this week were not on the impressive side.  In all actuality, I was pretty much not excited to do many reviews this week because of the lackluster titles.  Here’s the first batch with two issues from last week’s stuff that I figured I would check out.

Justice Society of America #43 – Written by James Robinson, Penciled by Jesus Merino, Inked by Jesse Delperdang. This is the epilogue of the “Dark Things” storyline that was unfolding in JSA and JLA.  To be honest, I didn’t read any of it because Bagley was drawing JLA and I refused to read it because of that.  Things seem to be calm in this issue though as Alan Scott has a heart-to-heart with his son Obsidian.  They mainly discuss what’s going on with the Starheart and how Obsidian can never come in contact with Jade again.  There is some deep thinking and portrays a more human side to these characters.  This issue revolves really around these two, so don’t expect much of anything else.  I think it’s good for writers to sometimes let their own characters take a step back and react to what has happened.  That being said, the build in this issue is a bit different than you would normally see in a comic.  There’s only internal conflict going on here and that can throw you off.  The artwork in here is fantastic and this is about my favorite rendition of Obsidian I’ve seen yet.  I can almost feel Alan Scott’s age in this one, he’s drawn so well.  A great job there!  A pretty good issue, but be prepared for a lot of backstory and no action, so this issue is not for everybody.

The Incredible Hulks: Enigma Force #1 – Written by Scott Reed and Penciled by Miguel Munera.  This title features the Micronauts… or as they’re now known, Enigma Force.  So recently Hulk’s estranged son Kiro-Kala ferreted away a planet from the Microverse that Enigma Verse protects.  The Enigma Force itself is the “living” essence of the Microverse, whatever that means.  Arcturus Rann and his companions are fighting off a Psyklops as we join them.  Bug returns to the crew to help out as they attempt to find Kiro-Kala.  But upon finding the kidnapped planet, Arcturus is cut off from the very source of his powers.  Wow, I expected nothing out of this issue and was blown away.  I never liked the Micronauts stuff back in the days, but this way absolutely great stuff.  You get some good background in here and an explanation for a lot of the things going on in the Hulkverse right now.  It just works!  Plus having Bug join up with them was a really great moment.  The artwork is very consistent and quite good.  I like Marvel utilizing some characters I haven’t seen in awhile and they do a fantastic job of doing the right thing with them here. This issue is definitely worth checking out folks!

Superman/Batman #76 – Written by Judd Winick and Penciled by Marco Rudy.  We have a flashback issue that deals with Superman losing Batman during Final Crisis.  Once Dick Grayson decides that he wants to become Batman to honor him, Supes has some major disagreements and must come to terms with what has happened.  That’s the basic premise, but boy, I did not like it.  The way he reacts to Grayson wearing the cowl just seems very un-Superman-like.  I didn’t enjoy it one bit when he’s ready to blast Dick for wearing it.  I thought it felt pretty contrived.  Don’t even get me started on the inconsistent artwork.  Superman looks different on almost every page.  Not only that, he looks like Joe Average, which isn’t who Superman is.  Just a rotten issue that I couldn’t wait to put down, I hoped for more but got less.

Valkyrie #1 – Written by Bryan J.L. Glass and Art by Phil Winslade.  We take a journey back to see how Valkyrie returned to the Marvel Universe after sacrificing herself to help out during the Ragnarok event.  We see a Hotel employee fall to her death because of a patron who wanted a little too much from room service.  As they start to try to revive her, lightning strike the defibrillator and Valkyrie is reborn.  She starts to remember who she is and now she must try to bring vengeance to the mortal who’s life was taken and who’s body she now inhabits.  I like that Marvel recognized that didn’t explain how she suddenly reappeared and a little something like this goes a long way to fix continuity gaps (which Marvel has plenty of).  I like her conversation with Janet Van Dyne before her unfortunate demise in Secret Invasion.  The whole issue is really just a pretty decent story that tells a good self-contained story.  This is just a one-shot, so it didn’t need to be more than what it was.  But we’re talking continuity and this fixes the breach.  I think that it’s a pretty darned good issue with solid artwork that’s worth checking out since it’s a one-shot and you don’t have to keep buying the title.

Captain America #610 – Written by Ed Brubaker and Penciled by Butch Guice.  Bucky Cap finds himself on Zemo’s father’s island where Bucky was presumably killed years back.  Rogers figures out where he’s going on races to the aid of Barnes.  In the meantime, Bucky Cap gets tossed from a plane and then has to forge his way towards the inevitable trap Zemo has placed for him.  A pretty good battle ensues and we have some moments that seem stolen right from a James Bond movie.  When Zemo gets the upperhand, he tries to take Bucky out the “old fashioned” way.  This was a strictly by the numbers type of issue.  I never felt that Bucky was ever in any real jeopardy or that any of this would ultimately affect… anything really.  Nothing really special that makes it stand out, nothing that makes it really awful.  It just IS.  The artwork by Guice is a bit off in this issue, some scenes have overshadowing going on from the inker, some have over coloring going on, it just made for an uneven experience and I don’t think Guice is necessarily to blame for that.  But I can’t be sure on that either.  Next, we have the Nomad back-up story.  Written by Sean McKeever and Art by Filipe Andrade.  Rikki has to make a final decision on whether to go back under Steve Rogers’ wing or not.  We have some pretty good “moments” in here that were really fun and good stuff.  Andrade’s work seems a bit rushed in spots but isn’t bad or anything.  Just a decent little addition to the book.  Unfortunately, the rest of this issue is high on the “meh” scale and wouldn’t be worth buying if I wasn’t a Nomad fan.

Wonder Woman #603 – Written by J. Michael Straczynski and Penciled by Don Kramer, Eduardo Pansica and Allan Goldman.  We follow the Amazons’ travel through the desert to relative safety.  However, the Turkish guides they hired are found slaughtered with no sign as to how they die.  Only Diana can see the Keres, which are apparently some demonic women ghasts from Hell.  Diana loses her battle, but then the battle is only just beginning.  So we have an interesting premise that just seems a little randomly thrown in here.  For the life of me, I can’t figure out why they did it, but I’m guessing they’re just doing a mythology type tone to this.  However, the mix of mythology and modern warfare makes an odd combo.  I want to like this latest reinvention of Wonder Woman, but it doesn’t feel all that compelling now.  In fact, after this issue, I’m considering skipping these completely in the future.  With three sets of pencils, this issue’s art is even a mess.  I think the JMS experiment has collapsed.  There’s nothing here that makes me want to come back for more.  This issue’s journey into the absurd would take your typical reader right out of their seat.  It isn’t a smart move to put something in that holds no value to the series overall.  We waste several pages on it.  It seems like a filler plot device that JMS might use in a TV show.  However, that format doesn’t work here.  If you’re looking for something interesting, you’ve come to the wrong place, go elsewhere this week.

Action Comics #893- Written by Paul Cornell and Penciled by Sean Chen. This week Lex Luthor travels to the Uganda in search of another Black Ring energy field.  However, his good buddy Gorilla Grodd has his own intentions for it.  The two former allies become enemies trying to outsmart each other.  Ok, well, I don’t buy it.  I would have figured Grodd would have tried to work out a deal or something with Luthor.  It doesn’t seem to fit in the best interest of Grodd to attempt to kill Lex.  So this just doesn’t work and it makes a leap that we won’t think so.  I really like Sean Chen’s artwork and he isn’t desperately trying to make Luthor look like his Smallville TV Series version.  So there’s a mixed bag in this one, art is great, the story still isn’t catching.  At least in this issue I can figure out what’s going on because Chen is a fabulous storyteller with his art.  Then we have our back-up story for Jimmy Olsen.  Written by Nick Spencer and Penciled by RB Silva.  Olsen tells a tale of of him outsmarting a genie using morse code to call Superman.  However, his love life takes a turn for the worse when Chloe Sullivan dumps him.  To make matters worse, he then sees her wife Sebastien Mallory, an up-and-comer for Lex Corp and pompous jerk in general.  So this pretty much exists just to introduce Chloe of Smallville fame into the DC Continuity.  It isn’t a far stretch really and doesn’t take much work to add her into the story.  What are they going to use for her background is a good question, but I’m thinking they’re just saying she’s a reporter and leaving it at that.  At least, I hope they are.  This isn’t a bad little tale, just not terribly interesting.  The artwork by RB isn’t fantastic, but it does ok, but I think it might be better with a different colorist who isn’t so big into over shading things.  That made everything way too dark around the edges and I don’t care for that.  In fact, I don’t care for this whole issue, so strike this one from the records Judge!

The Amazing Spider-Man #644 – Written by Mark Waid and “Art” by Paul Azaceta.  Spidey continues to try and get Menace’s baby to safety while fighting off hoards of villians. Carlie Cooper also draws the attention of Tombstone and that’s never a good thing.  That’s a quick synopsis and there is a good surprise at the end that I liked.  The story still seems a little off and far fetched.  Now onto my favorite part, the artwork.  An Azaceta tried posting a comment on my blog about how I didn’t know art, blah blah blah.  Well, this may be art, but that doesn’t make it good.  I’m sure that outside of a super-hero setting, Paul’s artwork makes sense.  But here, it’s very out of place and I guarantee has turned away some readers.  The artwork he does has improved in this issue as we have no Fat Spider-man scenes.  He’s good at storytelling and everything he does makes sense.  His just his style comes across poorly in this title.  For a supposed flagship title, Marvel sure makes some poor choices with this one!  The issue is just ok, but loses some points for the artistic stylings of Azaceta, and I’m just glad the madness ends soon.  Skip it for the art style alone!

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Quick Comic Book Reviews–October 3rd, 2010

Quick Comic Book Reviews–August 13th, 2010

More catching up and more fun today!  This time around we have some pretty good stuff and only a few duds.  Also, in Friday’s Sioux City Journal there will be an interview with me, so check that out!  On with the show!  (I just did an old comic book thing, put exclamation points at the end of everything!  Again!  Wow!  Ok, just stop.)

Captain America #609 – Written by Ed Brubaker and Penciled by Butch Guice.  We continue to see what’s going down with Baron Zemo’s master plan of revenge on Bucky Cap.  And this time Zemo leaves a message for Bucky and he’s off, knowing that he’s probably walking straight into a trap.  It kind of has an old movie feel to it where the villian tries to play a head game with the hero and sets up traps.  So the cat and mouse game comes to bear this issue.  The artwork is pretty solid with this issue and the story works pretty well.  Nothing groundbreaking here, but it’s pretty decent.  We also have a back-up Nomad story as well.  Written by Sean McKeever and Art by Filipe Andrade.  Nomad mulls over starting training with Steve Rogers and joining him.  Of course, this could have profound implications for the Young Allies team.  Very appropriate that Sean McKeever is the writer in that case.  A lot of inner turmoil going on here and Steve Rogers helping out.  This is a good back-up story.  Overall, pretty solid issue, nothing spectacular but very solid.

Batman #702 – Written by Grant Morrison and Art by Tony Daniel.  Well, leave it to DC to come out with an issue that deals with how they’re going to explain-away the eventual turn of Bruce Wayne.  And they do owe that much to the fans.  The explanation I find lacking though.  Grant Morrison has been hit and miss with me.  While I’m a huge fan of his Animal Man and Doom Patrol work, this explanation leaves me feeling completely unexcited about the return of Bruce Wayne.  DC has pretty much always let it be known that eventually Bruce Wayne would be back and it was just a matter of time.  They continue to handle it a lot like how Captain America was handled by Marvel.  Neither time did I buy it, but the end result of Steve Rogers returning in a different role was good.  I’m hoping this pans out along those lines as well.  The artwork has a very sketchy feel to it and it wasn’t too bad.  There were spots where it was excellent, actually.  I think this might be a good issue if you don’t know what happened to Bruce Wayne and want to find out what occurred, otherwise the story isn’t anything interesting.

Curse of the Mutants: Storm & Gambit #1 – Written by Chuck Kim and Penciled by Chris Bachalo.  This issue in the crossover event of… whatever, brings us to the adventures of… guess who!  Storm and Gambit, just like the cover states!  This one-shot gives us the tale of the quest for Dracula’s body.  And guess what?  The story is actually pretty interesting!  Storm and Gambit form an interesting team that I didn’t think would be all the good, but it was.  Despite the artwork being a tad too “manga” for my taste, I couldn’t deny that the artwork also helped with the ebb and flow of the issue.  In some aspects, “manga” style sometimes leads to some simpler but more fluid artwork, and it really worked well here.  There are a few “mystery” pages where it looked like they were just suddenly scribbled together.  I’m not sure if that was entirely intentional or not.  I loved seeing Storm have to rely on something other than her weather manipulation powers, it was a pleasure to see.  Some hard choices have to be made this issue as well.  The best book in the Curse of the Mutants crossover yet.  That may not be saying much, but this is a very good issue and enjoyable!

New Mutants #16 – Written by Zeb Wells and Art by Leonard Kirk.  A quick word of warning, this issue does not feature the actual New Mutants at all.  Instead, it focuses on General Ulysses and the history of his group in Limbo.  So we see a lot of weird stuff going on here and why Ulysses is so peeved right now.  It’s more of a military viewpoint and really, some interesting stuff.  I like the fact that Zeb Wells is willing to basically make this a New Mutants free issue of New Mutants.  He understands that the backstory does have to be told for everyone to understand what is driving this General.  And better yet, there are some mysteries that could come from all of this.  There is a great surprise at the end of this issue as well and boy was I stoked to see it.  I liked what I saw, I won’t ruin the surprise though.  The artwork by Leonard Kirk was solid as always and he drew some very interesting scenes quite well.  I’m not sure a lot of artists would have taken this task on quite so well.  Zeb really is doing a fantastic job of setting major things up!  Honestly, this is a pretty great issue and if you’re a "Marvel Mutants” fan, this is an issue I highly recommend.

Wonder Woman #602- Written by J. Michael Straczynski and Penciled by Don Kramer with Eduardo Pansica.  Well, our second full JMS issue of Wonder Woman and we’re treated to Wonder Woman returning to help save the Amazons from the terrible invading army that’s trying to kill them.  I can’t quite figure out why the soldiers are so hell bent on killing the Amazons, but whatever.  We get a glimpse at some back story and some moral issues that Diana must face.  So what do we really get?  Well, you get to see Wonder Woman kick some butt and wax about the choices she must make.  Nothing too spectacular.  I honestly get tired of always having to see what the Amazons are up to.  I would rather JMS have just ditched the Amazonians and made Diana deal with the world we live in and integrate more into that.  He, however, just keeps bringing us back to this.  The Amazonians are the reason I never found Wonder Woman that interesting.  It kind of continues to be that way, so I guess, nothing has changed.  It is alright for what it is, but nothing very special going on here.

Wolverine #1 – Written by Jason Aaron and Penciled by Renato Guedes.  When I first heard the concept of Wolverine going to hell, I was skeptical.  We have vampires going on over in the normal X-Men series and now we have this to boot?  Well, I was wrong about this one.  We start off with Wolverine visiting Wraith and them talking about things like faith.  We then end up seeing a much different Wolverine and apparently some minions from Hell going after Wolvie’s girlfriend.  I’m really interested in knowing what exactly happened to Wolverine and the implications this has.  The only thing I’m disappointed in is the continuity that Marvel has.  When I say that, all the other X-issues will probably have Wolverine acting normal and everything and never even mention that this happened.  That gets annoying in a shared universe how nothing ever ties into anything else until it’s time for the big crossovers.  However, I did like this issue and the artwork is very well done.  The back-up story with Silver Samurai wasn’t very entertaining though.  Worth checking out and seeing what the heck is happening with the world’s favorite mutant.

Taskmaster #1 – Written by Fred Van Lente and Art by Jefte Palo.  The Taskmaster finds the repercussions of his recent actions come bearing down on him.  He has managed to anger the entire underworld of evil henchmen, like Hydra, A.I.M., and Secret Empire.  Boy do things go downhill for our non-hero fast!  I’ve been a real fan of Taskmaster as of late.  Van Lente seems to know how to write him well too.  The character has been really interesting and I like that they gave him a mini-series.  I really like how the explore how his memory works as well.  This can only lead to bad things though.  The artwork is pretty solid and fits in well with what’s going on.  I might not have liked it so much if not for the spectacular color job on it.  It was also interesting to have a dossier at the end of the book that told about these teams like Hydra, so it’s a pretty decent jumping on point.  I really thought this was some great stuff, check it out!

Shadowlands: Elektra #1 – Written by Zeb Wells and Art by Emma Rios.  Two issues I’m reviewing this time that were done by Zeb Wells.  This time we see some background on Elektra and her past involvement with the Hand. She has these half-hallucinations going on through-out.  Honestly, where Zeb Wells hits homerun with New Mutants, here he fails miserably.  I think that has more to do with the material requested of him than anything else.  Listen Marvel, there is no reason to even publish this issue besides trying to make more money off the tie-in.  The story isn’t terrible, it’s just completely unnecessary and useless.  Couple that with the fact that I wasn’t interested in the least by this and you’ve got a real dog.  The artwork was just kind of bland and Elektra looked like she might have taken Anime meth or something.  Add this one up and this issue is better off being sent in to the recycling center than anything.

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Quick Comic Book Reviews–August 13th, 2010

Quick Comic Reviews – July 31st, 2010

Just a quick rundown of some things that are recent that I’ve been reading the past few weeks.  Maybe you’ll find this helpful if you’re looking to buy some of these new titles.

Shadowland #1 – So now we see what’s going on with the Daredevil after he’s taken a break in the Marvel Universe.  First off, he’s got a new costume which looks pretty appropriate and he’s taken of the Hand.  The heroes of the Marvel Universe are starting to worry about Matt Murdock’s state of mind as well.  In this issue we see Daredevil eventually square off with Bullseye and we see exactly what Murdock is now capable of.  The artwork is alright but inconsistent in spots.  The problem with the issue is the content seems to go way too fast.  For what you pay, you feel like you just got started and it is over.  But an interesting but not totally necessary issue.  Decent, not a buy for me.

 

Daredevil #508 – A bit stronger in story than in the first issue of Shadowland and fantastic artwork.  Wow, everything is so grim and moody and the artwork of Roberto De Le Torre is right on spot here.  I feel that perpetual rain and feeling of something foreboding in the air.  Excellent issue as things pick up a bit and we have a few plot twists involved and some questions to be answered.  We all know eventually Matt Murdock will pull free of this, but part of me likes him more as this dark vigilante who is maintaining the peace with an unwavering hand.  Definite Buy! 

 

Captain America #607 – First, I can’t tell whether the inker or the penciller is being way too lazy on some pages or what.  Sometimes Cap looks like he was drawn by an 8 year old and inked in by the same 8 year old.  I can’t figure it out.  Then some pages are very strong, so I’m not sure I get it.  The story was ok as we get more involved with Baron Zemo’s master manipulations.  Common fair, get tired of the Nazi stuff after awhile, but whatever.  Then we also get a back-up story involving Nomad.  This isn’t as strong a follow-up to the story in last issue, but it’s decent fair with good artwork and bright vivid colors.  If you’re a fan of the Young Allies, this is a must.  Otherwise, it is decent, but not quite there.

The Avengers #3 – At first I wasn’t sure about John Romita as the artist for the Avengers.  I take it back, I’m starting to enjoy it.  He’s got kind of a sketchy style without being overly detailed and it’s the kind of artwork that’s sometimes missing in comics today.  Simple artwork, good crisp colors, with him and Bendis, it feels like a true Avengers comic.  The last few years the Avengers have been at the low point in their history and it’s nice to see we can get back to Heroes being Heroes again.  I really liked this issue for some reason.  It was fun, had a fast paced story and had a lot of good moments and the artwork did a splendid job.  If you like the old Avengers, I feel this is a must buy!

The Flash #4 – So far, Geoff Johns is writing a pretty good series here.  This book is a bit quicker of a read then I would like.  You have a sequence that should only take up 2 pages take up several and it feels like that is probably just so they can have a reveal at the end.  That can be a problem now days with the main writers doing several stories every month in different titles.  In a way, you can’t blame them for it.  However, with the price of comics, I hate these lazy habits.  So other than that little rant, a decent story, some facts (or are they?) revealed and the story continues on.  Due to the several page gimmick though, we don’t feel like we got very far in the issue and that is disappointing.  Buy if you’re a Flash fan, otherwise you can probably skip it. 

Young Allies #1 – I’m a sucke r for the newer Nomad and her sad story of being without a world and really, without a home.  Gravity is a character that really interests me and seeing just what exactly he is capable of.  Firestar has always been a solid character, so a chance at a new fun team title, I figure why not.  We see right away that they’re going to be dealing with those nasty Bastards of Evil.  A good first arch-team to face-off with.  We get an interesting new character in Toro and the now powerless Arana is back.  A decent little title with great artwork!  In fact, some very excellent artwork that has bright and bold colors and doesn’t feel dark and dreary.  Has some very interesting scenes in it and an interesting ending that makes me want to dive into the next one and see how they handle this!  Definite buy!

 

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Quick Comic Reviews – July 31st, 2010