SUPER Quick Comic Reviews - October 28th, 2010

This is a super quick rundown to catch up from last week:

Hits:

Doctor Solar: Man of the Atom #3 - Written by Jim Shooter and Penciled by Roger Robinson. The issue really gets the storyline going.  The introduction of Gail and the reactions of Solar are very good.  They're taking a bit of a different slant on things over the original without being too far away from the source material there.  The use of Pickerel by Moloch is clever stuff as well.  Moloch is a really rotten diety.  But the question we come up with, is he real or is he a creation of Pickerel who envisioned him, perhaps from something he had read.  It's obvious that he allowed him entrance or creation, but which one.  The artwork was just excellent in this issue and I really enjoyed that.  One of the best titles of the month, especially after a somewhat weaker first issue.  I'm enjoying where this is going and I'm wondering how the heck is he going to get out of the mess he's in.

Ragman: Suit of Souls #1 - Written by Christos N. Gage and Art by Stephen Segovia.  This is just a one shot, but boy was the story simply fantastic.  I really like the character and wish DC would do more with him.  Unfortunately, the character isn't that appealing to the vast majority.  Instead he languishes with occasional one-shots and mini-series.  This issue just gives you a ton of fascinating back story on the character that I did not know about.  Finding out some interesting details as far as his father goes and finding out what happened to him was very well done.  There isn't much action in this issue, it is very character driven.  Definitely worth reading!  A really awesome issue!

X-Factor #210 - Written by Peter David and Art by Valentino De Landro. Peter David is one of the best writers in comics and this keeps proving it.  Another great issue that made me wish the next one was available right now.  One of Monet's clients needs help and we see the road Rahne and Rictor dealing with a pregnancy.  I like how they focus on two stories, while there's another story going on in Las Vegas we still have to deal with.  There's just so much going on in the world of X-Factor and the way Peter David juggles it all is amazing.  Great stuff!


Borderline:

Justice League of America #50 - Written by James Robinson and Penciled by Mark Bagley & Pow Rodrix.  I wanted to like this, but I really hate the CSA.  But once again, back to the Crime Syndicate of Amerika crap.  I just despise it when they're bogging down yet ANOTHER issue.  Well, we get that again.  Mark Bagley's style is starting to adapt a little to his new environs and we don't have quite the Spiderbatman that we were getting before.  So that showed improvement and wasn't that bad for once.  Of course, my money might be that Pow helped him with drawing people with actual muscle mass.  There was an interesting twist at the end at least and that alone gives this title some hope.  So here's hoping for a better next issue.  I might have rated this as a buy if I didn't loathe the CSA.

New Mutants #18 - Written by Zeb Wells and Art by Leonard Kirk.  For some reason this title just seemed short.  As much as I thought it was pretty good, most of the issue is a battle scene.  However, it is a pretty interesting and intense battle scene, as far as those go.  The artwork was fine, if not totally grotesque in spots.  I liked seeing these Inferno babies all grown up and demented from what happened to them.  I really like some of these new characters and maybe we'll get a new title out of them!  I can just see it now... "Jim Henson's Inferno Babies".  Wait, wrong genre.  Boy, what a nail biting ending that makes you wonder just what the heck will happen next issue.  However, at the end I wanted just a BIT more meat to it to make it more worthwhile.  VERY, very close one here.  Which is basically why I'm borderline on it.

Legion of Super-Heroes #6 - Written by Paul Levitz and Penciled by Yildiray Cinar.  I debated back and forth on this one.  Paul Levitz has done well and this issue he splits the story into two.  Both are very interesting in their own rights and worth reading.  But I couldn't figure out if this was a true BUY or not.  To me it is, but most people probably don't care for the Legion and the characters involved.  So should that influence my opinion?  Probably not.  The thing that made me downgrade it is the stories we're following are very short and don't seem like very weighty or substantive stuff that we're dealing with.  I did like Earth Man throwing the ring at Brainiac, but I didn't understand how he knew Brainiac had put controls on it to alter him.  But anyway, a very good issue, but I just couldn't pull the trigger on it.

Miss:

Steve Rogers: Super Soldier #4 - Written by Ed Brubaker and Art by Dale Eaglesham.  The last issue of the mini-series and boy is it completely un-fantastic.  My interested in it waned after page two.   Pretty generic stuff here, cookie cutter if you will.  The artwork felt average, everything about this issue felt average.  When I was done, I just didn't really care.  The previous issue had all the interesting parts, but the conclusion was pretty much exactly what you thought it would be.  The attempt of a surprise at the end lost effectiveness because most people probably no longer cared at that point.  Good thing it's over.

X-23 #2 - Written by Marjorie Liu and Penciled by Will Conrad.  I'm looking for something enjoyable about this issue. However they just aren't making her an interesting character.  The art is very mediocre here as well.  I just couldn't get into it.  Tying it in with Wolverine's trip to hell is the only thing it has going for it and so far that crossover isn't even very good.  Wait a second, what the hell was the issue even about?  Not memorable either then.  Check!

Loki #1 - Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Penciled by Sebastian Fiumara.  A mini-series that is apparently taking a look at how Loki envisions things.  It is interesting to see his perspective on it all, but not quite interesting enough.  I found my mind wandering a bit too much at times.  A unique look at Loki if you feel you really need to see a different perspective.  I however did not.  Not much else to talk about.  Pretty bland feeling in the end.

Chaos War #2 - Written by Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente.  The song from "The Wonder Years" with Fred Savage plays through my head here.  And Herc sure needs to have a little help from his friends.  We get Venus being used after Atlas ended, so that's good.  But overall the issue is just him rallying other Gods and not getting very far.  Everyone on Earth who isn't a God is falling asleep.  I felt like I was falling asleep while reading this.  At least it seemed mercifully short.  I just don't care all that much for this series.  Hercules with extra power just isn't a very novel idea to me.  The Chaos God stuff I had hoped we were already done with when Secret Invasion ended, but I guess not.  Don't get me started on what I hated about that artwork.  Makes it look like everything and everyone is shiny.  Blech.  Kind of sad though, I really like both writers, but I'm not really enjoying this one.

So it was a pretty decent week with lots to read.  Sadly, I've still got to read Carnage, Supergirl, and maybe some of the Bruce Wayne stuff, but I might have to skip it for now.  How the hell did I manage to forget to read the latest Green Lantern Corps?  Good grief, you would think I had kids or something!  If you're interested in a title I didn't cover or you know of a title I should start covering, let me know and I'll try to add it to my list.  Any independant publishers can feel free to forward me anything they would like me to review.

SUPER Quick Comic Reviews - October 28th, 2010

Quick Comic Book Reviews–August 27th, 2010

Whew, I’m so close on getting caught-up with reviews.  Tomorrow will be the test as I’ve gotten quite a few more read, but can I get them all out?  Well find out.  Today enjoy a mix of good and bad and the logic defying.

Titans #27 – Written by Eric Wallace and Art by Fabrizio Fiorentino & Cliff Richards.  Another journey into the land of Deathstroke’s Titans or his Anti-Titans, or his Villians for Hire, or… whatever you want to call it.  Deathstroke and his group are trying to break up a Bliss ring and Arsenal finds out that Bliss is made out of kids!  So it’s like soylent green with a buzz, awesome.  Osiris has more visions about his sister and of course, he simply has to bring her back.  Hasn’t the Black Marvel family learned anything?  Man are they obsessed with bringing people back from dead constantly.  It never leads to anything good.  We also have Arsenal dealing with his addictions, so we keep going back down that path.  So the question is, will he even be able to do the right thing in the end?  This is probably the best issue of the new Titans run with Deathstroke, but that doesn’t say a ton.  The addiction issues isn’t a bad story to tell, but we keep getting this with characters who have no redeeming qualities.  Well, we already have Secret Six and they do a much better job of dealing with these types of characters.  Wallace is still trying to find his groove and he’s getting closer, but it still needs a little seasoning.  So this is still not a book worth picking up, but it is slowly making improvements.

Shadowland: Moon Knight #2 – Written by Gregg Hurwitz and Penciled by Bong Dazo.  We see Moon Knight fighting his way through the fortress of Daredevil’s and he encounters Murdock.  Apparently Khonshu know the Beast that possesses Daredevil all too well.  Khonshu also knows exactly what will destroy the Beast, so Moon Knight has a pivotal role to play in the Shadowland saga.  Moon Knight returns home to find Marlene savagely beaten, which is even worse given that she’s pregnant.  She reveals that she was attacked by this new Shadow Knight.  All the while it looks like Khonshu is closer to getting exactly what he wants and that isn’t good news for our hero.  First off, Bong Dazo is awesome.  I just love his art and the feel he’s managed to bring to this title.  The story is worth telling and it is a great crossover title that is also bringing Moon Knight back to prominence.  This story is a bit less confusing than in last issue, so that will help any new readers.  Plus, Marvel always has a great review of what’s going on in their titles, which is something DC needs to do.  I read them just because I usually read so many issues and I want a brief refresher.  Hurwitz does a great job at tying several plots into one seamless offering.  He’s telling stories worth telling and you’ve got to love that.  One of the better titles I’ve read in awhile, so buy it!

Justice League of America #49 – Written by James Robinson and Penciled by Pow Rodrix with Robson Rocha.  We join Donna Troy and Jade as they visit San Francisco.  They stop by what I’m guessing is Alcatraz, but anyway, they stop there to check up on the Shadow Thief.  Can you say eventual storyline there?  Anyway, some guy named Bogeyman wants to see them.  He apparently liked to get into children’s dreams and make them dream awful, rotten things.  But really, that’s about all of his powers.  Now, isn’t that what the Boogeyman is?  What the hell is a Bogey-man?  Is this Top Gun?  Do we have a Bogey?  Well, he invades the dreams of a grown-up Donna Troy and Jade somehow and knocks them out.  But all of this is just blah, blah, blah.  The Bogeyman was never a feared enemy of the Teen Titans like they seemed to make up completely.  And even if he was, he can’t really do anything besides give you scary dreams and now, apparently, make you fall asleep.  Why didn’t he ever do this to the guards watching him?  What the heck is going on?  This makes no sense whatsoever!  But hey, it’s better than any issue with Mark Bagley as the artist.  Gotta like that!  Oh, and the sub-plot with Batman and Supergirl isn’t bad at all.  Poor lonely Supergirl.  It’s just a mediocre story with huge gaps in logic, not worth picking up.

Supergirl #56 – Written by Sterling Gates and Penciled by Jamal Igle. So we have Bizarrogirl and Supergirl rocketing through space, heading toward the infamous Bizarro World.  Supergirl is still upset about what she did during the whole New Krypton storyline and is trying to come to terms with it.  She feels responsible for the planet blowing up.  On Bizarro World we meet Bizarro Lex who is the smartest one on the planet, so he almost makes sense.  Some big machine that looks like some sort of space monster that is eating people and is from some “Godship”.  Bizarro soon shows up and explains the situation as best a Bizarro can.  The problem with Bizarro-centric things is that it can get old quick.  What is fun for half the issue, starts bogging down and getting annoying and old.  The worst part is, Bizarro-speak is hard for a writer to keep writing, especially if they’re trying to explain things.  You can lose your reader far too easily if you keep doing opposites on everything.  The artwork is alright, looks pretty decent, not the best artist they’ve put on this title, but it’s fine.  Overall, the issue is fun for awhile, but pretty mediocre and I can’t imagine three issues of this stuff, so you can probably just skip this.

Avengers Academy #4 – Written by Christos Gage and Penciled by Mike McKone.  When last we left off, Hazmat, Veil and Mettle set-up a black-out at the raft to go kill Norman Osborn.  In this issue, we see the results, with Osborn finding a way to weasel his way out of yet another very bad situation.  We also learn some background information on Mettle.  Never would I have guessed that Mettle was just a surfer dude by nature.  We saw most of what happened during the black-out two issues ago in Thunderbolts, so there wasn’t a big surprise there, but there are still some good fight scenes.  I liked how they did the origin of Mettle, it was very fun and interesting.  The question is, if he isn’t a mutant, then how did this happen?  So far they’re hedging around giving us any of those answers, but I’m hoping that eventually we find out.  Gage provides another quality written issue and McKone’s work is still improving.  I really liked how he drew Osborn’s face,  He really does a very good job in this issue!  Once again, Avengers Academy is a winner and worthy of putting in your collection.

Thor #615 – Written by Matt Fraction and Art by Pasqual Ferry.  This is the first issue written by Matt Fraction.  We start with a scientist explaining something to an “unknown” Asgardian about how the Universes are interconnected and eventually comes to the point that with Asgardian leaving it’s basic “plane of existence” it has left a void that has to be filled.  In this issue we get a sense that something is definitely coming to fill that void.  Alfheim gets invaded by some big mean nasties that I can’t recall ever seeing before.  Meanwhile, Thor deals with the mess Asgard is left in and the heroes therein and how they are coping with what happened.  Another interesting thing is that we see Thor talking to Donald Blake, kind of like how Ronald and Professor Stein always talked in Firestorm.  Now, my memory gets foggy quite a bit, but I don’t recall ever seeing this aspect before.  I always thought that Donald Blake was basically subdued into the subconscious and never took an active part.  So this is an interesting take on Thor by Matt Fraction.  I’m not quite sure that I care for that part as it doesn’t seem necessary to me.  But that’s only my opinion, you might quite like it.  The art is pretty well done, the inking isn’t quite as heavy I would like with the coloring style they used, but it isn’t bad either.  An ok first issue by Matt Fraction, this one is a pretty good read, but nothing phenomenal, not a must buy.

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Quick Comic Book Reviews–August 27th, 2010