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–September 6th, 2010

Wow, I’m even more behind than usual with my supposedly quick reviews.  But we just had a new baby born and leading up that I didn’t have as much free time as I normally do.  I’ll keep working on updating everything, but I’m lagging behind.

Shadowland: Moon Knight #1 – Written by Gregg Hurwitz and Penciled by Bong Dazo.  First of all, wow, what a name.  Bong?  The artist is named Bong?  If that’s a real name, poor choice.  If that’s a nickname, once again, poor choice.  I would legally be changing that if I had that name.  But anyway, he does a very good job here.  His artwork is different, it has a certain feel to it where everything is very rounded and has a fluid-like feel to it.  Kind of like everything is melted a little bit.  The story is pretty decent and does a good job of reacquainting readers with Moon Knight.  His story is a bit confusing at times, so it isn’t a bad idea to do this.  The story isn’t super interesting, but it gets there towards the end.  It wraps in very well to what is going on in Shadowland and makes sense.  Really a lot of stuff going on, but this is a bigger issue than normal.  I thought it made me want to see what happens next.  I really think they want to make Moon Knight relevant again and they’re doing a pretty decent job.  This is an issue worth checking out if you want to get back on the Moon Knight train!

X-Men: Curse of the Mutants – Blade #1 – Written by Duane Swierczynski and Penciled by Tim Green.  Ah yes, the epic saga of the “Curse of the Mutant” continues on!  First of all, how the hell does Blade carry his sword with him in an airport and not get stopped?  I mean, he’s a vampire yeah, so pretty crazy anyway, but let’s take all realism away.  Another one of those pointless cross-over issues that made me yawn.  So this just explains some background story.  But really, it isn’t all that important as background story anyway.  They assume we want the story of how Blade knows it when they could have summed it up in a 5 panel exposition in one of the already awful X-Men issues.  Anybody want to hold a turd in there hand?  If you do, pick this up, if you don’t, buy War Bonds.

Fantastic Four #582 – Written by Jonathan Hickman and Penciled by Neil Edwards.  I have a feeling something big is happening here, but this issue left me wanting to figure out what the heck was going on.  The best part of a story is if at the end, you want to keep reading and finding out what’s going on.  Jonathan Hickman does a wonderful job of setting up what may very well be an epic story.  This has been the summer of Hickman as he has stepped up his game with some wonderful storytelling.  Here we wrap-up the battle of the Nathaniel Richards’ battling it out.  We get a wonderful look at another timeline’s Doctor Doom.  Don’t know why I like that so much.  But we have a big set-up going on to see how the lives of the Fantastic Four are about to radically change.  I’ve got a feeling this is going to be a good one, so pick this issue up so you can’t say you were left out!

Justice League: Generation Lost #7 – Written by Judd Winick and Penciled by Joe Bennett.  The main question in this issue… where the hell did they find the extra Rocket Red outfits?  Ok, so this issue is about infiltrating Checkmate HQ to get to Max Lord.  Wait, what’s that?  Who’s Max Lord?  You’ve never heard of him either?  NO!!!!!!  Um… anyway, sorry about that.  For an infiltration mission, this ends up about like I would suspect.  But the story is fun and entertaining the entire time.  And guess what?  Going after Max Lord might just be a very bad idea in more ways than one.  Hilarious lines with Rocket Red and everyone trying to emulate him.  Just good stuff.  The artwork is solid throughout and helped hold my attention, so a good job there.  There are a few spots where I couldn’t quite figure out how they all joined up at the end, but that might be because the writer didn’t leave a way for the artist to really visualize it well.  Plus, with everyone wearing the same outfit, there’s bound to be a little confusion.  Other than that, I’m a big fan!  Must buy this issue, this is what good comics are all about!

Adventure Comics #517 – Written by Paul Levitz and Penciled by Kevin Sharpe and Marlo Alquiza.  The artwork in this issue is erratic.  Some spots it looks pretty good and then in other spots it looks very awkward.  I wonder if the reason there are two artists is to clean-up the work of the other one.  The story, however, is based on the Legion during it’s founding day when there were only 3 Legionnaires.  The story itself is just ok, with some moments that seem a bit out of place.  It’s like Paul Levitz is putting his best stuff in the new Legion of Superhoes comic, but not the Adventure Comics.  I think he’s trying to keep it simple, but the stories so far haven’t been that entertaining.  Weird how one writer can be night and day different with the same team.  I think we all know which series he’s putting his heart into right now.  The back-up story has the Atom!  Written by Jeff Lemire and Penciled by Mahmud Asrar.  I’m liking Mahmud’s work here!  The story does what it can with a limited amount of pages.  The problem is, it goes by a bit too quick and felt like it wasn’t very worthwhile.  Jeff tries to explain things about the Atom’s power that he probably just shouldn’t bother trying to do.  So it doesn’t add much value to this issue.  Overall, Adventure Comics is once again another miss for me!

Action Comics #892 – Written by Paul Cornell and Penciled by Pete Woods with Pere Perez.  I’ve liked a lot of Paul Cornell’s writing, but boy was this story disjointed.  What if… I wrote every… sentence like this?  Well, that’s how this story reads.  A lot of people stammering around thoughts and that just doesn’t make for good reading.  So Lex is out after the Black Ring energy.  That’s about the story in general and it doesn’t evolve too much from there.  The artwork is the best part and we’ll leave it at that.  Blech!  We get an extra story with Superboy.  Written by Jeff Lemire and Penciled by Pier Gallo.  This is just a weird set-up for Superboy #1 and frankly it doesn’t impress me, nor does it make me want to checkout that issue when it does come out.  Smallville has some dirt golems come to life and attack, but I have no idea why, nor did I really care at that point.  For being a second feature, it was more like a long advertisement.  Didn’t add much value, but at least it was better than the main story this issue.  Not saying much though.  This one is a turd folks, skip it.

Technorati Tags: Shadowland,moon knight,gregg hurwitz,bong dazo,x-men,curse of the mutants,blade,duane swierczynski,tim green,fantastic four,jonathan hickman,neil edwards,justice league,generation lost,judd winick,joe bennett,adventure comics,paul levitz,kevin sharpe,marlo alquiza,action comics,paul cornell,pete woods,pere perez

Quick Comic Book Reviews–September 6th, 2010