Quick Comic Reviews - October 14th, 2010

With my peed on computer out of commission, I haven't redone the stuff I was working on.  I just don't have the time to go back and fix it all.  I'll keep on trucking with my comic reviews for now.  It just takes me a little more time without Windows Live Writer.  Enjoy the smattering of delicious offerings!

Taskmaster #2 - Written by Fred Van Lente and Art by Jefte Palo.  Fred Van Lente has a wonderful sense of humor and this is a showcase of that.  In this issue we are introduced to the "Don of the Dead" who is dressed up like a crazed marachi singer and a skeleton mask.  We're are treated to several pages of terrific humor as Taskmaster tries to tie pieces of his memory together.  Keep in mind, there's a huge bounty out for our Taskmaster as everyone believes he gave Steve Rogers information on all these secret societies like A.I.M. and Hydra, amongst many others we're introduced to.  The artwork is pretty dead on and gives the issue an added sense of energy.  Sure, this comic probably isn't going to make a huge splash in the Marvel continuity spectrum, but what it does deliver is pure entertainment.  Putting Van Lente in charge of this title was the right move.  Sadly, most comic fans will probably miss this mini-series and they shouldn't be missing out.  This is a must purchase! 

Hawkeye & Mockingbird #5 - Written by Jim McCann and Penciled by David Lopez.  The Final Chapter of Mockingbird's showdown with the Phantom Rider(s) culminates in this issue.  This is your traditional blow-off type issue when you have a major story like this.  Surprises?  There are a few towards the end, but you could almost see them coming.  They were pretty well done though and Hawkeye ends up going slightly overboard and realizing what he's doing.  So there are some great scenes with him in it.  David Lopez does a serviceable job, but some of his action scenes just feel a little stiff.  Like I was saying before though, the scene with Crossfire and Hawkeye (and if you read it, you'll know it when you see it) is a major turning point here.  So overall, a pretty good ending to the story arc and some good twists towards the end to keep you interested with the direction they're going.  I'm still slightly confused at times about all this Phantom Rider stuff, but that doesn't detract from enjoying it.  Once again, another very good issue that's worth checking out and pretty much a must if you're following the story so far!

Justice League: Generation Lost #11 - Written by Judd Winick and Penciled by Aaron Lopresti.  This issue has Fire, Ice and Rocket Red facing off with the Metal Men.  Meanwhile, Booster, Captain Atom and Blue Beetle investigate another site.  I will not lie, I love the Metal Men, so it should be no surprise that I really liked this issue.  No, no.  Loved this issue.  Now keep in mind, the Metal Men don't have their typical banter in this, so if you're looking for it, it isn't really quite here.  But that wasn't the point of it.  There's so much going on here that this issue flew by.  And with the masterful pencils of Aaron Lopresti, this issue just shines.  Everything seemed to work well in this issue.  The only thing I didn't care for was the cover as it kind of ruins a surprise.  I also loved the surprise at the ending, because if there's a character that needs a bit of a redesign, it is this one.  I won't ruin it, but it was needed I think.  So this title has direction, it has hi-jinks and hilarity, along with a solid dose of action and intrigue and... well, it is everything a comic should be.  The best title there is twice a month!  Pick it up, read it, saran wrap it, send it into space for aliens to read and enjoy, because it's great stuff!

Superman #703 - Written by J. Michael Straczynski and Penciled by Eddy Barrows.  After a bit of a delay, we get issue 703 in the "Superman's Walk for the Cure" or whatever they're calling it.  Anyway, in this issue Supes encounters Batman and makes a compelling argument for why he shouldn't be wandering around amongst the normal people.  Certainly he's just inviting disaster.  Cue ominous music and obvious foreshadowing award!  So what happens?  Well, some shards of the planet New Krypton come crashing to Earth and we finally see signs of a plot!  Apparently the stuff makes people Batshit crazy and powerful.  Cue the next 8 months of issues.  It wasn't as bad as I make it seem.  There's a strong play on how super-powered being like Superman would be viewed by normal people.  JMS seems to be riding that out for what it's worth.  Barrows artwork is just ok, nothing note worthy here.  So the issue is ok, it isn't bad, but it doesn't exactly breath new life into Superman.  Still, it's better than most Superman stuff in the past year and a half, but that isn't saying much.  If you skip this, nobody will blame you.

Green Lantern #58 - Written by Geoff Johns and Penciled by Doug Mahnke.  We start off with an interesting scene involving Sinestro and Atrocitus as they're hunting down the Rage entity.  We also clean up the stuff involving Carol and the Star Sapphires.  We get a heaping helping of Larfleeze and we get to meet the Blue Lantern entity Adara.  All-in-all, it ends up being a pretty good issue.  We have more great Larfleeze moments, some outstanding Atrocitus stuff, and some background bits that are very interesting.  Mahnke's art is pretty decent this issue, with the exception of the last page when he draws the Flash like an emaciated teenage kid who hasn't eaten in a month.  He must be hanging out with Mark Bagley too much.  They continue to present a lot of characterization, but the main flaw is that we're all over the place and not getting to stay with any one character too long.  Sometimes that can be a blessing, others a curse.  Johns seems to juggle it pretty well this issue, but it does become hard to keep track of what each character is doing.  Geoff has created a lot of interesting characters and not enough pages to fill them with.  That's part of why we're up to 3 Green Lantern titles a month (sometimes more).  A pretty good issue that any Green Lantern fan will want to pick up.

Quick Comic Reviews - October 14th, 2010

Quick Comic Book Reviews–August 12th, 2010

Still playing a game of catch-up!  But I’m getting there!  This batch we have some hits and two major league misses.

The New Avengers #3 – Written by Brian Michael Bendis and Penciled by Stuart Immonen.  Well, we finally get a clue as to what we’re dealing with here and the story continues to be interesting.  But we join this issue with Power Fist in possession of the Eye of Agamotto.  We have ghosts/demon-ish things flooding out of the sky and… Ghostbusters references.  So right away, that scores some high points with me.  The Thing and Spiderman exchange quite the witty banter and just go well together.  I really like this line-up of the Avengers and they continue to make it interesting.  I really like Ms. Hand in this one, she has some of the highlights of this issue for sure.  Just some really great stuff from Bendis in this one.  Check it out!

Justice League: Generation Lost #8 – Written by Judd Winick and Penciled by Aaron Lopresti.  Here’s another great issue full of solid comedic moments and some serious stuff going on in the meantime.  The plot doesn’t move forward a ton, but it sure makes the little bit we get interesting nonetheless.  Winick knows how to execute comedic timing and write these characters to be interesting.  I’m really loving this comic as it seems to really get better as it goes.  But the premise of this issue is simply that our group is caught invading Checkmate while trying to find Max Lord.  Oh, and they’re all dressed up in Rocket Red suits.  So a lot of wacky stuff, mostly solid art through-out and just a damn good time.  Last issue was a tiny letdown, but this issue gives me some moments that I really enjoyed.  Worth looking into because it’s just a fun comic and maintains serious implications on the DC Universe.

Brightest Day #9 – Written by Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi with Artwork by Patrick Gleason, Ivan Reis and Joe Prado.  So, we’ve got some weird guy that Aquaman had a vision about, Deadman having to track down everyone and then some damned story about the forest in Star City.  Sound like fun?  And what the hell happened to Hawkman?  Lord, talk about a whole lot of to-do about nothing.  Uneven artwork, boring and listless storytelling.  This isn’t epic anything besides fail.  The series really is needing to get somewhere and quick, because it sure doesn’t hold any of my interest.  I could care less about what goes on with Mars.  And the whole stuff in the forest is ok, but Martian Manhunter’s stuff was just confusing and annoying.  I didn’t feel like there was much value in any of this.  So my basic thought is, if you want to waste $2.99, you might as well just send it to me.  Seriously, send it this way.  I’m broke.

Hawkeye & Mockingbird #4 – Written by Jim McCann and Penciled by David Lopez.  So we’re off and running trying to backtrack to what happened at the end of last issue.  So you can just guess that the explosion we saw actually took a good 10 minutes before it went off.  I hate that trick, they used to do it in the old serials of the 30’s and 40’s.  You see what happened at the end of last episode and then you rewind and show what happened “in-between” frames basically.  Cheap gimmick and this one was especially not well crafted.  But we’re setting up for the final showdown with Phantom Rider and Crossfire versus Hawkeye and Mockingbird.  Don’t get me wrong, there is still plenty of very good story going on here, but I’m less impressed with David Lopez as we go.  It also seems like McCann has a good first act and then follows it up with a weak second act.  So I pray our third and final act (or our Climax) brings us a great close to this.  A pretty good first four issues, but it’s starting to slip a little already.  I hope McCann can right his ship a little as it’s listing to the side.  I wanted to like this issue more than I did.  It’s just okay.

Batman & Robin #13 – Written by Grant Morrison and Art by Frazier Irving.  I’m a bit behind on my Batman reading so I’m trying to catch up.  Grant Morrison’s run on Batman and Robin has been kind of weird.  I like his portrayal of Damien, but that’s really been about it.  However, the road he’s been going down is starting to make some sort of sense.  We start this issue with the return of Thomas Wayne.  WTF you say?  Yes, Thomas Wayne.  And we get a huge shock I’m not going to spoil, but it’s crazy.  Then we flashback to 3 days prior and we have Batman and Robin talking to the Joker who has turned over a “new leaf”.  Batman finally starts piecing things together about what’s been going on for the past year.  Meanwhile, we get a nice stark visual moment that reminds me of the Joker being in the opposite position he was in during "The Killing Joke”.  Good stuff there.  The artwork has a very noir feel.  Sometimes I like it, sometimes I hate it.  Just depends on the page.  Batman is very realistically rendered, but I don’t buy comics for that bit of realism.  So, to me, the artwork is good, but it detracts from the comic medium.  Especially something like Batman, I just appreciate your “normal” comic art better.  Although it’s still better than Mark Bagley’s SpiderBatman.  Hey, Mark Bagley, Batman is NOT Peter Parker under that suit.  Anyway, the story is heavy but solid stuff.  This might be a really good point to jump on, but the artwork could detract from this for some.

Franken-Castle #20 – Written by Rick Remender and Art by Tony Moore, Paco Diaz and John Lucas.  All the reviews I had been reading about Franken-Castle had cast it in such a spectacular light I had to see what was going on here.  Boy was I disappointed.  In this issue Franken-Castle continues to square off with the man who killed him, Daken.  We have Wolverine in on this too and we have an epic battle of epic epicness.  Need I say more?  The whole thing is over the top, the artwork is over the top, it just doesn’t work for me.  The way things ended up was gross, bizarre, and twisted.  I don’t always mind that, but it just wasn’t what I was looking for with this series.  I expected weird, sure, but not this.  The artwork just looks cheap and downright awful in spots.  I can’t stand the way it all comes together.  However, the preview for next issue has me excited as I’m a big Dan Brereton fan.  I’m not sure if he’s doing the artwork and story for the next issue, but if so, boy will it be fantastic.  And the way thinks are going with Frank Castle, I’m thinking this is right up Brereton’s alley.  Avoid this issue like the plague and let’s see what next issue brings!

Technorati Tags: New Avengers,Justice League: Generation Lost,Justice League,Brightest day,Hawkeye & Mockingbird,Batman & Robin,Franken-Castle,Rick Remender,Tony Moore,Paco Diaz,John Lucas,Daken,Wolverine,Dan Brereton,Mark Bagley,Grant Morrison,Frazier Irving,Jim McCann,David Lopez,Joker,Geoff Johns,Peter Tomasi,Patrick Gleason,Ivan Reis,Joe Prado,Deadman,Hawkman,Martian Manhunter,Judd Winick,Aaron Lopresti,Brian Michael Bendis,Stuart Immonen

Quick Comic Book Reviews–August 12th, 2010

Quick Comic Book Reviews–August 20th, 2010

 

Thanos Imperative #3 – I kind of like these cosmic sagas and this one has been pretty solid so far.  I’ve been a big fan of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning and they continue to provide solid stories that I can always count on liking.  I also like that I don’t have to buy a million tie-in issues to see the full story.  It is all self contained and that has a certain charm to it.  This issue we follow Thanos further into the Cancerverse where Death has died and Nova assembled a strike team to go after Namorita.  The explanation behind why Death doesn’t exist there anymore was ok, a tad weak, but alright.  My main complaint is the artwork.  Miguel Sepulveda does such a poor job that I can’t figure out what’s going on half the time.  Sometimes he makes the story harder to follow than it should be.  I had to go back a re-read to figure out who was saying what because the pictures didn’t seem to tell me well enough.  Just terrible stuff.  The artwork makes me mad.  This should be an issue worth buying and it is just to stay up on what’s going on, but the artwork almost turns me against it.  Buy for the story, not the art.

X-Men #2 – Well, that wasn’t quite as bad as I was expecting.  So in X-Men, we’re still talking about Vampires and their virus they’re unleashing and the want they have to get to the mutants.  But the story gets much better this issue than in last.  It’s still pretty hokey in spots and still hasn’t grabbed my imagination.  There’s a smidge of me that’s really trying to like Victor Gischler’s work, but I don’t.  His story just didn’t seem very imaginative and everything just falls flat for me.  Paco Medina’s artwork was hit and miss.  The early pages I liked pretty well and then it seemed a tad different later on.  His Cyclops just drives me batty, he draws him even more stiff than you would Al Gore.  His mouth on Cyclops looks really weird half the time, I just didn’t care for it.  This series promises to be the big miss of the summer.  And there ain’t no cure for the summertime X-Men #2.  Dah dah dah dunt.  Just skip it, save that money for something else.

Avengers Prime #2 – I like the word “meh” for some reason and it kind of describes this issue.  The issue isn’t terrible actually and there are some fun moments.  There are just weird things that I didn’t care for.  Are the troll-like dudes who talked to Tony Stark hard on hearing?  One moment he’s shouting about being friends with Thor and then ignore him.  The next time he talks about it, they say “Our lord Thor?”  Well, duh, can’t you hear?  I hate gaps in logic like that.  The final reveal towards the end wasn’t too awfully shocking and I found myself saying, “Who even cares?”  This is not the best work Brian Michael Bendis has done.  But since we’re going crazy on Avengers EVERYTHING, might as well pile on more issues to cash in on the future movie and build up interest.  I can’t say that I blame them.  There are far worse issues you could buy, but this is mostly meh.

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #1 - Peter Tomasi has been doing a fine job with his Green Lantern Corp runs and he stumbles a tad out of the gates, but still tells me a story I’m interested in and entertained by.  I’m interested in seeing how things play out between Atrocitus/Gardner/Ganthet.  Also there seems to be more things working in the background.  I guess I’m a bit biased because the Green Lanter Corps stuff has always been some of my favorite stuff and if they can get back to just telling some good stories, I’m a happy man.  Still, I’m not sure what the heck of the first 10 pages of this issue is even there for besides filler.  It gets better towards the end though.  The artwork is well detailed and there’s a wall of skulls and some scenes in this issue that are just fantastic.  The artist Fernando Pasarin is doing some pretty good stuff here and I’m interested in seeing more of it.  The storyline isn’t the best, but like I said, picks up steam.  If you like the Green Lantern Corp stuff Tomasi did, this isn’t quite there yet, so time will see.  As for this issue, not a must buy, just ok.

The Amazing Spider-man #639 – Joe Quesada cannot write revisionist history worth a lick.  This issue was a mangle of rewind, half-rewind, present, rewind, blah.  His story just doesn’t seem to be adding up as to why MJ and Peter didn’t get married.  And then he takes a total wimp-out in several spots and you’re left wondering what the hell is going on with this storyline.  It feels like he decided he was going to do it overnight and then threw out a script that would last several issues.  There really isn’t anything going on here that’s very interesting at all.  I’m not fond of Joe Quesada’s hybrid art on his pages because he draws Peter to look like a mutant elf.  Hmmm… come to think of it, he does resemble Nightcrawler in these.  Paolo Rivera has some decent “throwback” artwork going on and that’s where the real storytelling happens.  He is the only bright spot in this pile of poop.  Skip it, maybe something will happen next issue but don’t bank on it.

Hawkeye and Mockingbird #3 – Jim McCann can write and this series keeps up a pretty steady pace.  This issue is high on action and the artwork of David Lopez captures it all and does it justice.  So in this issue Mockingbird goes after Crossfire after what he did to her mother.  A pretty straightforward issue with backstory still moving along.  The relationship between Clint and Bobbi, still having their disagreements, is good stuff as well.  But really, a LOT of action in this issue and it is done fairly well, so I can’t complain when there a GOOD action sequences, because that’s part of what makes comic great.  This is a fantastic series and this is a solid issue. Not quite as good as #1 & 2, but pick it up and enjoy!

The Invincible Iron Man #29 – We further our storyline involving Stark Resilient getting up and running, Pepper get the repulsor tech put back in her, and the Hammer girls running roughshod.  A lot of storylines working well together and giving us another good story.  This issue has a few more dull spots than others, like the argument with Maria Hill and Stark just wasn’t particularly well done.  Then we have these weird giant launchable flying penises is the only way to describe them.  Apparently they’re Detroit Steel’s flying penises, but boy were they poorly designed and the whole concept of them (okay, they aren’t REALLY penises, they just look like them) is really quite lame.  Download an app and fly them?  Really?  Have they actually seen the limitations of cell phone technology?  It just came off flat.  Everything else in the issue after that is pretty decent, but the first several pages were groaners.  It did finish strong though and may be worth picking up for one hilarious scene with Tony and Pepper.  Salvador Larroca gives this series a unique feel with his artwork, but he loses points for the flying penises.  Matt Fraction’s writing is once again good like I said, except for the first several pages.  Buy if you’re already elbow deep in the series, otherwise not a must buy.

Technorati Tags: X-men,Avengers Prime,Brian Michael Bendis,vampires,green lantern,emerald warriors,Peter Tomasi,Miguel Sepulveda,Amazing Spider-man,Thanos Imperative,Dan Abnett,Andy Lanning,Namorita,Nova,Joe Quesada,Fernando Pasarin,Hawkeye,Mockingbird,Jim McCann,David Lopez,Paolo Rivera,Matt Fraction,Invincible Iron Man,Salvador Larroca,Victor Gischler,Paco Medina

Quick Comic Book Reviews–August 20th, 2010