Avenging Spider-Man #1 – Written by Zeb Wells and Art by Joe Madureira. There was a lot to like about this issue. Just to see them acknowledge that Spidey is on a ton of teams and has to juggle things was nice to see. There was plenty of action and great one-liners in this one too. I laughed several times during this issue. The basic story is that Spider-Man is out of New York City helping out the Avengers. When he gets to New York, he finds the NYC Marathon being invaded by Moloids (mole people) who are running amok. So an exciting fast paced story here. The art by Joe Mad is GREAT! He does a great job of telling a story for the most part and the scenes were excellently drawn. I felt like this was a good comic for him to be a part of. However, the nitpicks. Was this issue really as short as it felt? I was done with the issue way too quick and left wanting more. Also, isn’t the Hulk like King of the Moloids right now too? Continuity hasn’t been a strong point for Marvel recently and this shows why. Just some minor nitpicks, but this is definitely a highly fun series so far. Hope it keeps going like this!Rating -
8/10
Uncanny X-Force #17 – Written by Rick Remender and Art by Jerome Opeña. The Dark Angel Saga is running full speed here. I’m remiss to say that this Saga really would have been better as a crossover because you would think it would affect the entire “X Universe”. The fact that only X-Force is dealing with it makes it seem less important, when really, this should be a huge event that was really in the making ever since they had Angel become Archangel. Boy, does this issue got hot and heavy. As Archangel tries to kill off all humanity on Earth, Fantomex brings a surprise of his own to play. Psylocke has to try and fight off becoming an angel of death as well. Next month we will get the conclusion and I must say, I find it gripping! There is a lot of history being used here in this comic and Remender does a great job of putting together a lot of X-History. Remender has done great with his run on this so far and now we get to see exactly what he can do with an 8 issue blow-off. Should be a good one. As far as Opeña’s art goes, very sleek, very deep stuff. With as many lines as he uses, it can’t be all that easy for him to ink. Yet, he gets it out every month. The way he uses so many lines gives it a deeper and darker feel, which works well with the story being told. The only thing that’s getting tiring is Fantomex constantly creating illusions. It’s getting to the point where you just start assuming any time it looks like he’s going to die is just an illusion. So, maybe a bit of overkill. Otherwise, a really good issue here!Rating -
8/10
Battle Scars #1 – Story by Chris Yost, Cullen Bunn & Matt Fraction, Script by Chris Yost, Pencils by Scott Eaton and Inks by Andrew Hennessy. This story is based on the events that occurred during “Fear Itself” and focuses on Major Marcus Johnson. Marcus comes back from Afghanistan when his mother is found dead, apparently killed during rioting. Of course, nothing is that simple in the comic book world. The Taskmaster, who is supposedly in Canada helping Alpha Flight at the same time, makes a guest appearance here. Sorry, but continuity police need to arrest some folks at Marvel. Anyway, the artwork isn’t all that great. The beginning sequences in Afghanistan are just damned confusing. I’m not sure, but I think some of the Taliban are also trained ninjas from what I saw. Maybe I’m confused. The art got better as we went along, but nothing all that good really. Not so sure about the story, but at least it’s more interesting than DC’s Men of War comics that have ruined Sgt. Rock. So that being said, I’m pretty meh about this issue. I’m slightly interested in what goes on with this character. Not so much because of the issue, but because Marvel swears that he’s going to be a major character. Of course, that doesn’t mean much if the story continues to be mediocre with mediocre art. Not too impressed, but it could be worse.Rating -
5/10
Avengers Origins: Vision #1 of 1 – Written by Kyle Higgins & Alec Siegel and Art by Stephane Perger. So, I think Marvel is doing this to get people updated on the origins of some of the lesser known Avengers. Which then makes me think, what the hell is Vision doing here? Okay, he was dead and then came back during Chaos War and blew himself up and now he’s back again with no explanation that I’ve seen. Confusing much? Marvel needs to do a better job of making sure that we know how characters suddenly came back from death. But anyway, the Vision has his origin story where he was created by Ultron and then turns against him when the Vision feels empathy for the humans. Such a classic story and it’s really whittled down to the bare essentials. The art itself is a poor man’s Alex Ross really. Which is still pretty decent, but nonetheless. It felt more like a “prestige” title with really pretty pictures and not a whole lot of content. Could it be worth it if you’re interested in Vision’s origin? Sure, absolutely. So if you’re not one of the 30 people out there interested in this origin, you’ll probably past. Otherwise you could probably just read the Wiki page on him and be done with it. Honestly, with so much other stuff out here, why are we wasting our time with this? Good call Marvel. Most should probably just skip it.Rating -
3/10
Magneto: Not a Hero #1 – Written by Skottie Young, Penciled by Clay Mann, and Inked by Seth Mann with Norman Lee. So Magneto goes ballistic on some redneck mutant haters and kills a bunch right? And Magneto is supposed to be a good guy now, right? Ok, so you can see where this is going. It’s a Who Framed Roger Rabbit set-up here. Now the ending of the issue brings back someone who will probably bring some groans from some fans. Others might not mind it. I’m more on the lame side. The issue was ok as far as story goes. Having Captain America and Iron Man in it was alright and of course, Magneto doesn’t like Tony Stark. Go figure. The pencils of Clay Mann were better than I thought they were in Legacy. Sometimes I felt like he left spots feeling incomplete or feeling empty. This issue was really some of his better work. Overall, there weren’t enough bright spots in this one for me. It’s okay, just nothing really special that says I need to buy this comic. That alone can be a problem for a new title and possibly a harmful one. We’ll see what next issue brings.Rating -
5/10Technorati Tags: magneto: not a hero,clay mann,skottie young,seth mann,norman lee,avengers origins,vision,kyle higgeins,alec siegel,stephane perger,matt fraction,chris yost,scott eaton,andrew hennessy,battle scars,cullen bunn,uncanny x-force,rick remender,jerome Opeña,avenging spider-man,zeb wells,joe madureira
