Quick Comic Reviews - October 18th, 2010

Still trying to catch up after the peed on laptop incident.  We're still taking donations or check out some ads and help the recovery fund.  Or don't.  We do appreciate the donations we've gotten.  In the grand scheme of things it seems trivial.  However, to the flat ass broke people out there, pretty big deal.  Anyway, if you like comics (and I know you do) we've got some more fun stuff.

New Avengers #5 - Written by Brian Michael Bendis and Penciled by Stuart Immonen.  The mystery of who is after the Eye of Agamotto continues.  And this issue we have the White Lantern Iron First.  Wait, wrong title.  But Iron Fist in a white outfit is actually pretty decent looking.  In fact, I kind of prefer it, so nice costume change there.  Will he keep it?  Probably not, but nice to see.  So it seems like we're starting to find out who is really after the Eye, and if it is who they're thinking it is, this could be very interesting.  The only problem I had is that it wasn't Strange himself who really figured it out.  I do like the solution they come up with at the end of the issue, it made some weird kind of sense and made it fun.  The artwork was top notch as usual, no complaints here.  The mixture of this team is the most interesting, which makes it one of the best Avengers titles right now.  Having Power First and Doctor Strange in the fore-front makes it even more interesting and the storyline works pretty well.  Worth checking out and a solid issue to pick-up.

Bruce Wayne the Road Home Batgirl #1 - Written by Bryan Q. Miller and Art by Pere Perez.  This issue was much better than I expected.  I honestly thought it would be awful, but at least they kept the same writing team.  This is almost a coming of age issue in which Batgirl is accepted by Bruce and even respected.  You'll see the same thing the whole issue.  You know this guy running around in an uber-powered suit is Bruce.  How he got back?  Well, you see, the whole Return of Bruce Wayne series should be done by now, but whatever delays occured held it back.  So we see the aftermath BEFORE it resolves in the appropriate series.  Which is fine, because Grant Morrison completely dropped the ball on that storyline anyway, so who cares.  I do have a rant about this whole ordeal that I'll publish in a few days.  The story is simple, there's nothing wrong with it.  The artwork is just fine and dandy, no complaints there either.  But we get the same Stephanie we've grown to love and a decent enough story involving Bruce Wayne.  Do you need this issue?  No, but it isn't bad at all.

Booster Gold #37 - Written by J.M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen with Pencils by Chris Batista.  This issue follows Booster and Ted Kord who has been turned into a chipmunk during a break-out attempt of a prison ship that's about to invade Earth.  The hi-jinx are complemented this issue by a super tough prisoner named Estrogina, who is fighting her way to freedom.  Along the way she decides Booster would be a good mate, so she decides to take him with her for... later.  She also decides to eat Blue "Chipmunk", cue hilarity that is bound to follow.  Talk about a fun issue with tons of laughs.  It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but the comedy involved is pretty hilarious stuff.  Everything is just plain absurd and that's what makes it even better.  Giffen and DeMatteis take the characters and just have as much fun with them as humanly possible.  This made it hard for me to decide the best title this week just because it's one of those rare unforgettable issues that will stick with me forever.  I think that alone makes it a must buy if you like crazy comedy and superhero hi-jinx.  Some of the laughs may not appeal to everyone though, but if you like that stuff, I couldn't recommend it more than I am right now.  BUY IT!

Thor #616 - Written by Matt Fraction and Art by Pasqual Ferry.  Ok, cue the theme and story from last issue, except move it nowhere.  Oh, and do nothing but double panel spreads so the comic takes about 5 minutes to read.  I'm not even going into it, besides to say that I'm disappointed with this issue.  I was interested to see what these "World Eaters" would do.  There was barely anything in here to give you the feeling that the issue was moving anywhere.  What you came out with last issue for knowledge, pretty much the same thing here.  There is one poignant panel in the end towards moving the plot forward and that's about it.  This issue is really more character focused, which is fine and all, but for $3.99, you kind of want to feel like you got more out of an issue.  I talked with a friend of mine about this issue and I asked him if it read real fast to him.  He thought about and sure enough, it read in about 5 minutes for him too.  Those two page spreads are nice as far as the artwork goes, but it got old after awhile.  There are 9 two page spreads in this. NINE!  I know Fraction is overworked right now, but we didn't need him for this title.  Bad move by Marvel.  Only buy if you want to feel like you just got $3.99 stolen from you, unless you're buying it just for Pasqual's artwork.

Shadowland #4 - Written by Andy Diggle and Penciled by Billy Tan.  Crap starts going down quick in this issue as the heroes launch a major last ditch offensive on Daredevil.  That is the entire issue.  All of it.  So I just talked about how quick Thor read, this one read pretty quick too.  It was moved forward by a lot of action though as well.  So can the heroes stop the resurrection of Bullseye?  I'm not huge on major battle issues, but we all knew this one was coming so it isn't that bad.  The scenes are a little confusing in parts and I dislike how Billy Tan draws the Punisher.  There honestly isn't much memorable in this issue and I'm left feeling like next issue is the important one.  This one just didn't feel important when I got to the end of it.  That's just my feeling though.  I thought Billy Tan's artwork was ok, not all that impressive this issue.  The colors just didn't seem to fit this issue either.  I almost felt like Wolverine's costume was almost glowing in some spots it was such a bright blue.  Ugh!  This is just an ok issue in what has been a pretty good major event so far, take it or leave it.

Quick Comic Reviews - October 18th, 2010

Quick Comic Book Reviews–August 29th, 2010

Well, there are a few titles from last week that I didn’t fit in, I’ll try to squeeze them in next week.  For the most part, all the major titles from last week were read and reviewed.  Hope you find today’s batch useful as well!

Uncanny X-Men #528 – Written by Matt Fraction and Penciled by Whilce Portacio.  We start off visiting Nigeria where we have another new mutant who popped up.  This one apparently controls fire and ice, some I’m going to call her Icy Hot Analgesic Girl.  Good name, eh?  Anyway, Storm and Hope come in to save her after some local people are trying to kill her for what she accidentally did to the town.  We also take a look at what’s going on with Emma Frost hiding Sebastian Shaw in Utopia, Namor deals with his realm, and Kitty Pryde is still in ghost form looking to communicate with Colossus.  The issue isn’t badly written at all, but there’s just something missing.  It still doesn’t have a grand X-Men feel to it.  We kind of wander from one story to the next without one being our real focal point.  Then there was a weird scene with Nekra and Frenzy that I still can’t figure out why it is even in the book.  And the art… well, it’s better this issue, but part of me wonders if the inker didn’t help bail Whilce out on this one.  I still see a lot of shortcuts here.  Pages 6 and 8 have just a ton of white space for no apparent reason.  Readers aren’t paying for blank real estate here Portacio.  But it is better, but still not good by any stretch.  He also uses extreme close-ups of the eyes so that he has to draw less.  Really, just stop having him draw, he isn’t worth paying anymore because it’s clear he doesn’t care about what he’s doing for Marvel.  This issue is ok, mainly because I like the stuff with Hope and the Emma Frost stuff has some promise, but there’s nothing to rave about here.

Fantastic Four #583 – Written by Jonathan Hickman and Art by Steve Epting.  We play witness to a fight breaking out in the former city of the High Evolutionary.  At the same time, Valeria Richards decides to embark on some mischievousness of her own and breaks into her Dad’s workspace where he’s been going back and forth meeting with the many Reed Richards of alternate universes.  Of course, Reed left himself a recording and answer system that tells her all about what’s going on.  What she sees on the other side frightens her to ask for help from none other than Victor Von Doom himself.  For the life of me, I don’t know why the whole thing with the High Evolutionary’s City was even in here, it didn’t make sense.  Hickman then leads us on a story with the League of Mister Fantastics (or the council or whatever you want to call it) that didn’t seem to make much sense.  The issue seemed strangely put together and it didn’t really fit a normal storytelling flow.  Sure we got a big reveal on the last two pages, but everything else before didn’t really have any rising drama to it.  I was just kind of bored and confused by the whole situation.  I’m not quite sure what to make of it.  The artwork by Epting is pretty good and he does capture some amazing facials, so that’s top quality stuff.  However, the story is just lacking and I think you could very well skip this issue and pick up next issue instead and probably come out ahead.  So our “Countdown to Casualty” is a bit of a miss this week, but I’m holding out hope that next issue is better.

Green Lantern Corps #52 – Written by Tony Bedard and Penciled by Ardian Syaf.  We learn the fate of Boodikka in this issue and the Lanterns take it to Cyborg Superman and his Alpha Lanterns.  A titanic battle ensues in which the inhabitants of the planet Grenda rise-up for a cause.  That’s really about as much of a synopsis as one needs.  The pace of this issue is fast as we can see they’re trying to move the story along and give us a pretty good battle to boot.  I liked how Boodikka got the final laugh in this one.  It was a great scene to see!  Truly a fitting conclusion to this for now.  The issue works well with the parts it has set-up and makes you feel satisfied with the conclusion.  Unfortunately the issues leading up to this weren’t anything special.  This one feels like a decent bit of story and some pretty good artwork mixed together.  It helps that I’m a huge Green Lantern fan, but to most people, this issue was nothing to write home about.  I really like Cyborg Superman, but at the end of the day, this didn’t feel like it moved any particular plot along much.  The only good thing is figuring out what happened with the Alpha Lanterns.  That being said, a decent issue with some good artwork, but nothing you would feel sorry about not buying a few months down the road.

Justice League: Generation Lost #10 – Written by Judd Winick and Penciled by Joe Bennett.  We are shown events from the Kingdom Come series from several years ago in a smaller form.  At least, this is the vision that Maxwell Lord has, so the White Ring or Entity wants him to stop this from ever occurring in our reality.  However, at the end of last episode Magog had been brought on to help Max, so we’re left to wonder and perhaps assume what is going on here.  We also find out that Skeets was able to find out about 4 dormant Checkmate cells came back online upon Lord’s return.  In fact, Skeets downloaded pretty much everything he could.  Fire & Ice have a heart warming-ish moment as well.  There is a very interesting scene where Batman starts realizing something is up with Max Lord and Power Girl is also starting to believe there’s a conspiracy.  Just as quickly as they put it all together, their memory of it all vanishes again.  The end of the issue reveals one of my favorite groups of all time.  I don’t want to spoil everything, but wow.  Ok, I just wrote a lot about this issue, but damn was it a great read!  Is Lord using Magog and planning to destroy him with the help of the Justice League?  Is Max trying to work against the White Lantern’s entity?  Will the other heroes ever remember Maxwell Lord?  So many questions and a great story every issue.  Judd Winick has hit his stride and made this a hit.  My only complaint is that the art was pretty bland.  Joe Bennett just didn’t do it for me.  He’s ok, but I never felt pulled in by it and there’s a scene with Max Lord saying “Ooh-rah,” that’s just plain bad.  But the writing is there and fantastic, the art varies from issue to issue because of the changing artists, but that doesn’t affect my end opinion.  You need to be buying this series, because it is flat out DC comics at it’s best!

The Avengers #5 – Written by Brian Michael Bendis and Penciled by John Romita Jr.  The Avengers left in our time are trying to figure out what exactly to do in all of the chaos.  It isn’t an easy task either, because of all the innocents involved from the past and future who are being sucked into our timeline.  Also, Thor tries to take Galactus down a few sizes, which is always a difficult task.  In the future Tony Stark learns the future version of himself attacked him.  Kang wants to keep putting groups together to defeat Ultron, but in the end, he’s unraveling time by doing it.  There are just some weird leaps in logic in this issue, but some might say that’s Bendis’ style.  When they get teleported back in time how do they take the place of themselves?  Would they be there alongside themselves?  Although, when you put it in terms of the “Groundhog Day” reference, it does make a tad bit of sense, just not much.  The story feels like it should take a few more steps forward than it did, but still not bad.  I just didn’t care for the explanations going on by Future Stark.  Not some of Bendis’ better writing, but I did think the issue was still entertaining.  Romita is Romita, I don’t need to say much else.  Despite being entertaining, it isn’t enough to make me recommend it to you unless you’ve been following this storyline, if so, you might as well.

Shadowland: Daughters of the Shadow #2 – Written by Jason Henderson and Art by Ivan Rodriguez.  Former Bounty Hunter Colleen Wing takes her place as leader of the Nail.  The Nail is a sect of female assassins for the hand.  We get a first hand taste of them right away in this issue as they rescue a truck full of girls headed towards being enslaved.  Colleen considers herself a Samurai, because unlike ninja, samurai adhere to codes and principles.  Colleen talks to Murdock and mentions once again that her mother used to lead the Nail.  Colleen intends to lead the Nail into an attack on a Massage Parlor that uses these enslaved women.  However, when the person behind the trafficking scheme is somebody her friend Tig is working for, things go south.  An interesting tale of trying to play a middle line when there’s not much of one to play.  She walks the thin line while the other female characters don’t subscribe to it.  Most of them are downright nasty, especially Black Lotus who doesn’t exactly see eye-to-eye with Colleen’s style.  It’s not excellently written or anything, but there is a fun kind of appeal to this.  The artwork isn’t great, kind of stiff in spots, the colors make this thing tolerable, but I have a feeling if everything wasn’t blended and gradiented out, it would look worse.  If you like “Kill Bill” type movies, this might be an enjoyable read, otherwise it has limited appeal.

Legion of Super-Heroes #5 – Written by Paul Levitz and Penciled by Yildiray Cinar & Francis Portela.  A transport that was supposed to take Titan refugees to their new home, instead crashes on their camp. While the Legion is dealing with that, Earth Force shows up to perhaps vanquish what’s left of the refugees.  Meanwhile on Naltor, we see the search for the new wearer of the Green Lantern ring continue.  Earth-Man bails out his fellow leaguers as well and Brainiac disobeys an order.  Just a lot of interesting things going on with the main story being the Earth Force vs. Xeno’s story and Earth-Man’s part in it all.  Once again, a lot of characters to juggle, but Levitz handles with extremely well.  The only disappointing part was no Saturn Girl follow-up yet.  But with so much going on, it’s hard to get back to some things.  It makes me wish the issues were longer so we could find out more and slow the pace a tad.  On the plus side, we have Timber Wolf quite a bit in this issue and he’s been all but unseen in these first four issues.  Hopefully we see more of him going forward.  The Durlan sub-plot is also getting interesting and I want to know where that is going.  The art is pretty superb in this issue as well, so I found no problems with it.  The only issue I have anymore is that too many characters, not enough time for them all, which is almost a shame really.  Lots of interesting characters and pretty superb writing his made Legion a can’t miss monthly epic.

Technorati Tags: uncanny x-men,matt fraction,whilce portacio,fantastic four,jonathan hickman,steve epting,green lantern corps,tony bedard,ardian syaf,justice league: generation lost,judd winick,joe bennett,avengers,brian michael bendis,john romita jr.,shadowland: daughters of the shadow,jason henderson,ivan rodriguez,legion of super-heroes,paul levitz,yildiray cinar,francis portela

Quick Comic Book Reviews–August 29th, 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

Quick Comic Book Reviews – August 3rd, 2010

Once again, just a quick series of reviews.  I’m finding it easier to do these quick reviews due to lack of time to breakdown each issue separately.  Plus this way I get more read, so kind of a win-win.  This should help you figure out if an issue might be worth picking up.  But then again, my opinion is just that, and my opinion might just be lousy.  Utilize at your own risk.  :-)

New Avengers #2 – Here is a series that continues on with the same New Avengers we had gotten to know.  Spiderman, Wolverine, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Thing, Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye and Mockingbird.  So we’ve seen this team-up, not much NEW about it really besides The Thing.  However, in the second issue of the New New series, we start figuring out some things that are happening with Damien Hellstrom, Doctor Strange and Brother Voodoo.  We’re still figuring out who wants the Eye of Aga-what’s-his-face.  We still get the great banter from Wolverine and Spiderman that we come to expect, including Spidey getting a baby monitor to take into battle so he doesn’t miss anything.  Lots of good little things, solid artwork, make this a good comic.  If you liked em before, you’ll like em again, even with the mystical hocus pocus stuff.  Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen cook up a good one.  Solid buy!

Legion of Superheroes #3 – Paul Levitz is back with a vengeance and boy is it a fun ride so far!  I’m going to give Levitz huge praise, because he is one of the few writers who can efficiently handle a ton of heroes and keep them all interesting and make them feel important.  Geoff Johns should take notes for Brightest Day.  Paul keeps giving us more and more questions and surprises.  Making Earth Boy a Green Lantern seems to be a red herring, but more importantly, the way Earth Boy is in an uncomfortable alliance with the Legion is excellent.  There is more storyline packed in these pages than you could hope for in most comics now days and the artwork backs it all up.  Terrific storytelling in all aspects and makes this a MUST BUY!  I simply do not want to miss an issue and boy, the end of this one really has me excited!  Gotta run and get it!

Justice League: Generation Lost #5 – The title seems to be hitting its stride now.  The new Blue Beetle is utilized well, Rocket Red is a bit of a hypocrite, but at least they explain it.  The artwork is decent enough stuff, nothing bad nor terrible.  In this issue Max Lord makes a proposition to everyone that they can take or leave.  But what will it be?  Captain Atom has to make a big decision and Aaron Lopresti’s pencils do a tremendous job of capturing a superb moment of drama.  The interplay of the team is solid as they try and figure out what to do.  I’m intrigued to see where it is all going as Max Lord is a downright bastard.  Well paced issue, the team is starting to gel more and the story is starting to unfold well.  Buy if you love the characters, might be a near miss otherwise.

Superman #701 – JMS brings his take to Superman and so far so good.  We don’t have him battle big bad monster of the week.  This is Superman’s effort to step back into his role with Earth as the protector of it.  But he finds himself looking to help the common people a bit more.  I like it, it has a good feel with Superman getting more touch with his human side and right now with the way things are in the world, this is a good thing.  To see him interacting with normal people and realizing their struggles reconnects Superman with his own human side, I think that’s important.  Superheroes sometime have to reflect what’s going on in their world and right now there are lots of people out there in need, people who have problems that are fairly ordinary.  It is fun to think, what if Superman could help you?  I like it so far.  Buy if you’re looking for a different kind of Superman story.

Green Arrow #2 – First off, did I waste my time reading that or what?  I actually thought the first issue was alright, but the follow-up seemed to have little purpose and was quite short.  It didn’t feel right all around.  The artwork was weak, especially considering the guy couldn’t even draw the Green Lantern symbol correctly, and the story was worse.  And btw, if your Green Lantern ring loses its power in the forest, wouldn’t that mean that the costume disappears too?  Ugh, just ugh.  We’re no closer to solving the mystery of the forest and the “shocker” at the end seems just out of the blue.  So much so that I don’t even care what next issue brings to Oliver Queen.  Really just plain awful.  Don’t waste your money!

Green Lantern #56 – Does Hal Jordan always wear a shiny outfit?  I didn’t think so, but Doug Mahnke sure thinks so and I don’t care for his rendition.  Usually I like his artwork, it just never seemed to feel in place during this issue.  Geoff John’s writing even seemed particularly hokey in this one.  I had been a little curious about this storyline, but less so after this issue.  First I have to sit through a joke about a Pink Flamingo.  Did that joke survive the 80’s?  We have Hector Hammond rumbling on about some mystery we don’t really no much about.  There is an overlying story about the entities in the lanterns and that just didn’t grab me.  The only decent part was with The Question being put back to rest.  Other than that, a veritable ick-fest.  I love a good Green Lantern story and this is not it.  Skip it!

Green Lantern Corps #50 – Wow, 50th issues are usually monumental type issues, this one, not so much.  Tony Bedard is one of my favorite writers and the stories he has been writing have been moving along fairly well.  This issue however is a near miss. Ardian Syaf does a fine job with the artwork in this issue and his Hank Henshaw, Cyborg Superman whatever you want to call him is spot-on.  The issue flies by and you’re really mostly left with a flashback/where Cyborg Superman has been issue.  The amount of things that actually happened could have probably been done in about 2-4 pages.  That’s disappointing when you’re spending money on it.  So you’re basically learning what happened to Cyborg Superman when everyone thought he was dead.  Really nothing too interesting when it boils down to it.  Can’t recommend this one.

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Quick Comic Book Reviews – August 3rd, 2010

Quick Comic Reviews – July 31st, 2010

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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Quick Comic Reviews – July 31st, 2010