Some Accolades for Yours Truly

Apparently, in Sioux City, IA, I am King of Nerdom.  The Sioux City Journal recently did an interview with me that you can read by clicking this link.  It captures me in all my glory with my stash of board games behind me.  It was a semi-proud moment I guess.

My only complaints are a) my wife never said that because my football card collection consists of one binder of Bears cards and b) a lot of the quotes are more like paraphrasing, so they aren’t actual quotes, but that’s not a big deal.  The worst mistake, to me, was that the website address is wrong.  If you add the www part, you won’t get to my site.  Tis a shame!

I’m kind of wish that my board game advocacy would have been covered a bit more, but I guess I’ll just be saving that for another interview.  I’ve got plenty of interviews left in me as long as I can promote being a nerd.  Good day all!

Some Accolades for Yours Truly

Quick Comic Book Reviews–August 19th, 2010

Huge set of reviews here folks!  I’ve got plenty more stuff I’m reading, but boy, having a third kid under the age of 4 really takes away most of your time.  I’m struggling to read all this stuff, let alone write about it.  Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Batman #703 – Written by Fabian Nicieza and Artwork by Cliff Richards.  A Fabian Nicieza issue of Batman! Boy, does that have me stoked, but Fabian has always been one of my favorite writers.  He doesn’t do anything that takes your breath away, but just tells good, solid, interesting stories.  This is the story of Batman losing track of a new Getaway Genius and trying to track this one down.  Of course, Batman doesn’t know it isn’t the original (or does he?) and trying to figure out how to do so.  Well, it also appears that Vicki Vale is getting inside info on where the Genius will strike next.  So Dick Grayson confronts her about the Batman insinuations she has been making recently, trying to expose who Batman and Robin really are.  So there’s some build-up for another big plot down the road.  This is one of those self-contained issues where you read the whole story and you’re pretty much done.  But it’s a really fun story and these are the kind of stories I really enjoy as well.  The artwork doesn’t do much for me.  The facials are pretty good, but Cliff Richards’ style just leaves me cold.  But the story made up for it and the art wasn’t terrible, just not my cup of tea.  This is worth picking up if you’re looking for a comic that you can pick-up and read just to test it out this month.

Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #2 of 4 – Written by Allan Heinberg and Penciled by Jim Cheung.  The supposed spiritual heirs of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are a part of the Young Avengers.  Wiccan and Speed.  They are on a quest to try and find the Scarlet Witch to help Wiccan maintain control of his powers.  However, Magneto also has the same idea.  In this issue, we have a run-in with the New Avengers who believe Magneto is up to no good.  Throw in a guest appearance of Quicksilver and this issue is really pretty interesting.  I managed to completely miss the first issue and I’m kind of sorry I did.  I really like Jim Cheung’s artwork and the big Avengers fight scene is great.  So the art really adds to this issue.  I think, overall, this is an outstanding issue with a purpose.  I’m actually very interested to see what happens next.  This could be a great mini-series!  Check it out!

The Amazing Spider-Man #641 – Written by Joe Quesada and art by Paolo Rivera and also Joe Quesada, Danny Miki, and Richard Isanove.  So we reach the final installment of “One Moment In Time” storyline.  We see what finally happened to drive the relationship apart in this alternate reality.  Well, let me just say this.  This is the most piss poor excuse for a Spider-Man story ever.  Joe hinted that it was a story to bring Mary Jane and Peter back together, but instead, it’s to drive the final wedge into their relationship so that it’s finally over and he can probably get rid of MJ.  The only good thing from this run is that Paolo Rivera is a pretty decent artist.  Quesada’s artwork has been terrible and he’s really just become a hack.  I’m so glad he’s done with the series now so that we can get back to some real stories.  I was excited about this story at first, but man, he took it in a different direction than anyone expected and gave us a very forgettable story.  It wasn’t interesting at all.  The drama was pretty non-existent.  I guess when you’re the Editor in Chief you can push crap out the door and people will tell you it is good.  Hear that Didio and your terrible Outsiders issues?  But anyway, don’t pick this up, don’t waste your time, Quesada shows that he doesn’t connect with the Spider-Man audience.

Batman and Robin #14 – Written by Grant Morrison and Artwork by Frazier Irving.  This is part two of “Batman and Robin Must Die!” and as bizarre and macabre as it is, a wild and fascinating romp.  Robin attempts to take out the Joker, but alas, it was a set-up by the Joker the whole time.  Commissioner Gordon is kidnapped by Pyg’s piglike perps of putridness.  I don’t want to give too much away, but darn is it a wild one folks.  The story flows very fast and reaches a heart pounding pace as the good guys try to outwit the bad guys who are all but stepping on each other.  The artwork in this issue grew on me a bit.  Once again, not a style I liked, but it does portray the rather nightmarish images in a realistic sort of way.  At times, it’s like an insane hallucination frame-by-frame.  As much as I didn’t like it last issue, to me, with Grant Morrison’s crazy writing style, yeah, the art fits.  I’m not crazy about it, but it has a noir feel which I think is really some of the stylization that we’re going for here.  Overall, this issue a roaring romp of a good time, so pick it up!

Secret Six #25 – Written by Gail Simone and Art by J. Calafiore.  So we throw out the storyline from the last issue because apparently it was just a weird thing they decided to do.  So we have our two Secret Six teams out there on their own missions and their paths are about to cross.  Bane and Jeanette are leading up a team that now includes King Shark, Giganta, Lady Vic and Dwarfstar.  Catman’s team consists of Scandal Savage, Ragdoll, Deadshot and Black Alice.  What’s this?  You didn’t know there were two teams either?  Well join the club, because apparently they don’t like each other.  I guess there was something that went on awhile back that happened but it didn’t, but now it did, or… ok… this issue has some great moments, but it is a giant WTF moment.  I have no idea what missions these teams are on, why they’re on them or anything.  I’m completely lost for a second issue in a row.  At least the previous issue some things made sense if we’re just playing pretend in that one.  This however… just ugh!  I love Calafiore’s artwork and he has some key facial expressions that he hits dead on in here.  It is as twisted as always, but also a chaotic mess that leaves you tapping out waiting for some sort of logical explanation.  Poor storytelling and mass confusion makes this a must miss.

Shadowland #3 – Written by Andy Diggle and Pencils by Billy Tan.  The third issue of the soon to be epic.  We get a better glimpse at what Daredevil is truly becoming in this issue as we see things spiraling out of control.  The heroes are turned back and have to make decisions on what to do.  The Punisher returns in his normal form again and Ghost Rider is fully back in business.  The return of the Punisher to his normal form isn’t even recognized or mentioned by the other heroes.  Not even a “I thought you were dead!”  Nope, just, “hey Pun, how you doing.  Shoot anyone lately?”  Tarantula shows deepening concern for affairs here.  Moon Knight is taking on a more active role.  There’s some good spots, but I just don’t get the Punisher part.  Maybe they’ll retcon his death.  This IS Marvel after all and they can do that.  The artwork is pretty decent and is really matching moodiness, but it was a tad brighter overall this issue.  Another really solid issue with one huge gap in logic, but still a good series to read as Matt Murdock’s decent into madness continues.

Batgirl #14 – Written by Bryan Q. Miller and Penciled by Lee Garbett.  In this issue, Supergirl drops in for a guest appearance and wants to hang with our Batgirl, Stephanie Brown, for a day of fun.  What starts as a day of fun quickly goes awry due to a messed up science experiment (do science experiments ever go right in comics?) and we have carnage on our hands.  The experiment manages to create 24 vampires that the girls have to kill.  It’s a crazy and fun romp with some witty zingers and just hilarious dialogue.  Whoever Bryan Q. Miller is, he does some darned good work.  Yeah, the story itself is kind of weak, but it’s made up for by the characters cutting loose and having fun.  It doesn’t take itself seriously, so that helps.  I’ve liked this Batgirl the best so far, plus her costume is probably the best designed one I’ve seen.  Overall, she’s been a great character and her series has been pretty decent.  The artwork by Garbett is great.  He even captures great eye-rolling moments, and captures a great image of a vampire riding a Segue scooter that made me about die laughing.  Awesome job, pick up this campy but fun issue of Batgirl and have some great laughs.

Teen Titans #86 – Written by Felicia D. Henderson and Penciled by Jose Luis.  Well, we continue from last issue and the Wyld creature or whatever it is.  It possesses Miss Martian and is attempting to kill off Raven.  So we see the whole Titans team trying to take care of business and rescue her.  I’m not exactly sure what all is going on in this issue, but it has some moments.  Garth’s overzealousness to rescue Raven shines through as we know about his feelings for her.  Wonder Girl and Superboy continue their romance (yawn already) and the only character that I really like, Kid Flash has like one line I think.  But anyway, this story does show that this comic can and may be turning around.  We then have the Coven of Three back-up feature.  Written by Rex Ogle and Art by Ted Naifeh.  I’m not big on this whole Coven of Three, but I was a tad surprised with this one.  Enchantress isn’t quite like I remember her either, but that’s ok.  So our heroes (?) are trying to find their three avatars to supposedly fend off impending doom.  So the search begins to find them, but just when everything looks good, things go awry.  But it has an interesting surprise at the end that got a chuckle out of me.  A mostly “meh” issue, but nothing deplorable, just slightly below average, certainly not worth rushing out to get.

Daredevil #510 – Written by Andy Diggle and Anthony Johnston and Art by Marco Checchetto.  Foggy Nelson and Dakota North try to play it safe and fail miserably.  Meanwhile the city is going crazy and insane things are happening.  Tarantula falls even further from grace and questions the unhinged and possessed Murdock.  The artwork here is fantastic and really captures the essence of everything going on.  It’s kept dark enough, but it isn’t quite the sketchy art in the last few issues and that’s ok, because this works.  I love this story as Daredevil is one bad brother who is hell-bent on his style of justice and nothing else will do.  However, I just feel like we all know how this one ends.  He’ll be exorcised and then run off for a year or something because he feels bad for all that he’s done, yadda yadda.  But they could surprise me and Diggle would be just the kind of guy who would throw you a curveball and set you down swinging.  But this issue is excellent.  One of the best issues yet!  If you haven’t been reading the Shadowland stuff, this is the issue to buy and buy now!

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Quick Comic Book Reviews–August 19th, 2010

Comic Movie Review–Batman: Under the Red Hood

I first read the story of Jason Todd (the 2nd Robin) years ago.  I found a Batman issue at my local pharmacy in the small town I grew up in.  On it, depicted the bloody face of the Boy Wonder with apparent rubble behind his head.  I knew that issue had to be a monumental issue given the name “A Death in the Family”.  What happened there rocked the comic world.

Fast forward about 15-20 years later and DC decided to unleash a story about someone named the Red Hood.  The first time it ended with a red herring. Then they did a second story about the Red Hood and it turned into what people had wanted from the first go at it.  Now DC is bringing that story and part of the Death in the Family story to life in an all new animated movie on DVD and Blu-Ray.
So what did I think of the new movie based on these events?
Well, the story is simply about Batman trying to find out who the Red Hood is and then, ultimately, stop him.  The Red Hood styles himself a good guy who is willing to go to extremes to get the job done, including bankrolling himself through criminals and collecting from them.  He’s like the mafia of the mafia, but just one man.  The Red Hood also tries to draw the attention of Batman and the reasons (if you haven’t read the comics) is going to surprise you.
This is the epitome of a great story brought to life via animation.  This story would never have gotten told in live action, but here we see everything take form.  The animation style is excellent and it helps you forget that you’re watching animation at times.  The voice acting isn’t bad at all, some if down right excellent.  Bruce Greenwood does his usual spot-on Dark Knight approach.  Jensen Ackles does an effective Red Hood.  My favorite though is Neil Patrick Harris as Nightwing.  So the voice acting is very good here.
The story is very closely told to the comics with some minor modifications.  The time of year and place that Robin died at was different and the way he was brought back was altered.  But the changes made sense and made it more effective for the format it was presented in.  In fact, condensing the story down to make it accessible really brought home some key points.
Some of my favorite scenes are the flashback sequences.  The way those were done were amazing.  And the final one was something a good movie can only hope to have as it’s final “lump-in-the-throat” moment.  But there were plenty of other things that made this great.
The sheer brutality of this makes this movie not for young kids.  Probably more like teens on up.  It is very grim and dark in most of the tone. 
What we had was a lot of storytelling and plenty of action to keep you entertained as well.  The story had a lot of exciting fight scenes that were also well done and the animation very smooth.  Judd Winick wrote this and did an excellent job of lovingly taking the material and transferring it to a different medium.  So hats off to DC and everyone involved.

A five star excellent adaptation.  A must for any comic book fan!  One of the best animated films I’ve seen yet and I hope for more just like this!

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Comic Movie Review–Batman: Under the Red Hood

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.

Technorati Tags: captain america,batman,curse of the mutants,storm,gambit,new mutants,wolverine,wonder woman,taskmaster,shadowlands,elektra,zeb wells,emma rios,fred van lente,jefte palo,jason aaron,renato guedes,silver samurai,j. michael straczynski,don kramer,eduardo pansica,leonard kirk,chuck kim,chris bachalo,grant morrison,tony daniel,sean mckeever,nomad,steve rogers,filipe andrade,ed brubaker,butch guice

Quick Comic Book Reviews–August 13th, 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 10th, 2010

Working on catching up, about a month behind on some titles, but I’m getting there.  Should have another set of reviews out tomorrow and hopefully on Sunday as well.

Titans #26 – Written by Eric Wallace with Artwork by Fabrizio Fiorentino & Cliff Richards.   Titans has been transformed, as of late, into Deathstroke and Co’s title.  The title has a much darker feel and has, in my opinion, not made any strides.  Fiorentino and Richards provide a very sketchy but interesting feel to the comic.  It reflects the dark and grim nature of what we’re dealing with.  But the problem is simple, this comic has no soul.  The writer doesn’t believe what he’s trying to sell and seems to wander around aimlessly trying to make pieces fit together.  In this issue, Arsenal appears and is about the only interesting character in the series right now.  However, I just don’t feel really drawn into his character.  I’m not sure what questions I’m supposed to be asking with this title, besides what the hell is this all about anyway.  Osiris is supposedly a focal point with the Brightest Day tie-in, but how will that break down?  I guess we’ll find out.  Titans is still a dud.

Thor #613 – Written by Kieron Gillen and Penciled and Inked by Richard Elson.  So Thor has to traverse Hell and find the sword Eir-Gram as Hela is trying to fend off the Disir in the part of Hell Loki brokered for her to have.  What a weird story when you think about it, but very interesting as far as that goes.  A spectacular story and fantastic art in this issue.  We see some truly epic battles and plots and sub-plots going into motion and it all weaves an amazing story.  This feels like a story that just IS a Thor comic.  You have plenty of drama that’s all leading to a climax, everything works right.  Richard Elson’s art seems to make this really seem even more epic.  Maybe it is simply the right combination at the right time.  Whatever it is, Kieron takes this plot and makes it work.  Definitely worth picking up!

Green Arrow #3 – Written by J.T. Krul and Penciled by Diogenes Neves.  So we continue to learn the mysteries of the forest that popped up in Star City.  It seems like we’re finally making some headway here.  This is the best issue of the series so far, but that’s not necessarily saying too much.  We encounter Galahad and some of the miracles the forest is capable of.  The peaks into the background of Ollie Queen were ok, but not really the most interesting stuff.  I liked seeing the stark contrast of the forest with a city in ruins.  Parts of this story are still pretty weak, but they’re getting better.  The artwork was much more consistent in this issue as well. So we made some strides, but I can only give it a weak recommendation based on the fact that it’s moving forward some of the Brightest Day storyline finally.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #20 – Written by Tony Bedard and Penciled by Claude St. Aubin.  This issue has Lobo coming to help out Vril Dox as he attempted to stop the original Brainiac from taking over Colu.  I’ve been a big fan of Bedard’s writing so far, but this was a bit weak.  I think my main problem is using Lobo.  Lobo just never fits in well with the rest of the DC Universe and he continues to be an almost problematic character for writers when he does show up.  Nobody truly seems to know how to write him and weave him into what is going on.  The resolution to this whole Brainiacs story arc is extremely weak as well.  I’m not going to give anything away, but it’s not a good sign when you figure it out and have nothing to say besides lame.  Lame is an understatement.  But hey, the artwork by Claude St. Aubin is excellent, so you can’t go wrong with that.  This issue is a giant disappointment considering how great this series usually is.  You can well skip this one, sadly.

Legion of Super-Heroes #4 – Written by Pau Levitz and Artwork by Yildiray Cinar, Francis Portela & Wayne Faucher.  This issue has a bit of a tribute to Darkseid in it.  Quite literally!  But Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad continue to trek to find where their children disappeared to.  We also have more drama with Earth-Man and his suspect loyalties.  We also have a few subplots going on, including what happened and what is going to happen with the Green Lanterns in the future.  The typical stuff you expect out of Paul Levitz.  This issue seems a bit like a red herring to me though with the whole Darkseid thing and it just feels like a tad bit of a letdown in the end.  The Earth-Man stuff is still pretty interesting, as is a glimpse at the inner politics once again of the Legion as they question the leadership of Cosmic Boy.  Not a stellar issue by any means, just a decent fair.  The artwork in some spots is very strong and then kind of weak in others.  I guess that happens when you have three artists working on an issue.  So this issue is good stuff, but not a must buy.

Outsiders #32 – Written by Dan Didio and Penciled by Philip Tan.  What happens when you get an issue, can’t quite figure out what’s going on and by the end, don’t care at all?  Well, you get an issue of the Outsiders.  By all accounts, Dan Didio has no direction with this team and it shows.  The Outsiders had been getting interesting when they were performing missions for Alfred after Bruce Wayne died/disappeared.  Didio shows no clue how to write these characters, it’s like he’s obligated to write something so he is.  This plot is very heavy on the Creeper and that isn’t a good thing.  I’ve never been a big fan of his character and this episode involved some demon chick trying to molest him.  ‘Nuff said!  Terrible stuff really, just bloody awful.  Philip Tan does a decent job in this issue, but too bad he has to draw for such a crappy story.  Although apparently he helped dream this off, so he doesn’t get off Scot free on this one.  It could be worse though, but I wasn’t impressed.  Two thumbs down on this bad boy!

Avengers #4 – Written by Brian Michael Bendis and Penciled by John Romita Jr.  In this issue, time starts going all kinds of crazy.  We’ve got scenes from War of the Worlds going on in NYC.  My question, in the Marvel Universe, why would you ever live in NYC?  That’s completely the worst idea anyone could ever have.  I’m pretty sure it’s invaded on a weekly, if not daily basis.  Seriously.  Not much is truly learned this issue as things are going haywire.  We’ve got one group of the Avengers traveling into the future, but we’re certainly left with a lot of questions.  It was a quick but still entertaining issue, but there just wasn’t enough there for me to really like this one.  There’s still not much progress in the overall story.  Sorry, but $3.99 for about 5 minutes of story isn’t that great of a deal no matter how you slice it.  Sure, there’s the constant section on Avenger history, but I honestly skip that over as I’ve been there and done that many a time.  But for newer readers it might be worthwhile.  To me, decent issue, could have been much better though.

Technorati Tags: titans,thor,green arrow,r.e.b.e.l.s,legion of super-heroes,outsiders,avengers,brian michael bendis,john romita jr.,paul levitz,yildiray cinar,francis portela,wayne faucher,tony bedard,claude st. aubin,j.t. krul,diogenes neves,kieron gillen,richard elson,eric wallace,fabrizio fiorentino,cliff richards

Quick Comic Book Reviews–August 10th, 2010

Mark's Everything Blog of Goodness: How to Play Heroclix with Kids (or Awesome Fun Tim...

Mark's Everything Blog of Goodness: How to Play Heroclix with Kids (or Awesome Fun Tim...: "My boys love super heroes and they love action figure. So I figured why not try to play something with my 3 year old that combines the two?..."

Mark's Everything Blog of Goodness: How to Play Heroclix with Kids (or Awesome Fun Tim...