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 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.

Technorati Tags: titans,eric wallace,fabrizio fiorentino,cliff richards,shadowland,moon knight,gregg hurtwitz,bong dazo,justice league of america,james robinson,pow rodrix,robson rocha,supergirl,sterling gates,jamal igle,avengers academy,christos gage,mike mckone,thor,matt fraction,pasqual ferry

Quick Comic Book Reviews–August 27th, 2010

Quick Comic Book Reviews - August 20th, 2010

The Amazing Spider-Man #642 – Written by Mark Waid and Art by Paul Azaceta.  Finally, One Moment in Time is done and we go on with our lives.  Now we have “Origin of the Species: Part 1”.  This episode finds our wall-crawler adapting to life without any money and running into several humorous moments because of it.  Meanwhile, tons of supervillians gather at the behest of some unknown bad guy who wants an “item” of some sort and he’s willing to pay a lot for it.  You have guys ranging from Morbius to Sandman and Electro.  Why they would line-up for this, I’m not sure, but whatever.  Must seem like an easy job.  But this seems to have stolen the old “Rat Race” movie thing of beating everyone else to the object, because boy do they scramble.  It seems a bit out-of-character because I don’t think Mysterio has ever scrambled before in his life.  We eventually find out who the mystery man is and what he’s after and it’s really pretty good stuff.  Mark Waid writes a pretty decent Spidey tale, aside from the villians running out the door to try and outwit each other.  But my big gripe is the awful artwork by Paul Azaceta.  He single-handedly turns this otherwise good issue into utter crap.  He makes Spidey look fat in half his drawings.  He can do decent storytelling with his art, but the fact that everything he does draw looks like junk doesn’t help matters.  A fat Spider-Man?  Really?  Fanatics you can pick this up, but the rest of you skip this until they get a new artist.

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #2 – Written by Peter J. Tomasi and Penciled by Fernando Pasarin.  So Guy Gardner is off to uncharted territory, but not without some help from friends.  Arisa and Kilowog decide they’re going with and off we go.  But first, we need to make a detour, and that detour is spoiled by the arrival of a nasty person.  We also find out that Arisa still believes Sodam Yot is alive after he sacrificed himself.  There is also an introduction of Zardor of Kralok which is probably setting up for future issues.  So we have all this stuff going on in the second issue and it’s not bad at all.  Arisa’s dream is downright creepy.  It’s interesting to see how Kilowog is coping with everything that has happened.  So this issue has a lot of good stuff going on.  Guy’s side journey ends up making total sense for his character and give us a reason to see some of my favorite Lantern Corps color.  The end of the issue totally is given away by the cover too.  I hate when companies do this, but it doesn’t totally ruin the issue.  The issue is solid and the artwork is fine.  Really, just a good issue that could go either way for you.  I’m a huge Green Lantern Corps fan, so I really like it, but if you aren’t you might want to skip it, newer readers might enjoy this though.

The Invincible Iron Man #30 – Written by Matt Fraction and Art by Salvador Larroca.  We start off with Tony driving away with Sasha Hammer from last issue.  But Tony’s interests are anything but romantic.  Tony is trying to figure out what the Hammer women are up to with their current expansion of business.  The trip doesn’t end exactly as planned for anybody.  There’s a weird sexual tension created by Sasha Hammer the whole time as well.  We also get to see the test driving of the new Stark Resilient car.  But Detroit Steel also plans on launching a new application that launches, the giant phallic symbols of DOOM!  Ah yes, be prepared for a scene for giant flying penises on their way to destroy Tony Stark for the cover of next issue.  I hate the design of those things and I often wonder if that’s completely intentional.  The story has an interesting pace and everything is building, then it calms down, and then we get the climatic conclusion of the issue when things go crazy again.  Matt Fraction continues to do an excellent job with his run on Iron Man.  Salvador provides some very good artwork that’s got a realistic feel without being too realistic.  His facial work is some of the best, so it’s easy to tell who the characters are, and that’s important.  So pick up this issue because this is one of the better comics out there today.

Thor #614 – Written by Kieron Gillen and Pencils by Doug Braithwaite.  The climatic conclusion to the Hel versus Disir in Hell saga concludes with this issue and it was worth it.  Part 4 of “The Fine Print” joins our hero Thor calling out the name of the Disir who cannot ignore when their name is called.  So off they go to try and kill Thor.  The Eir-Gram sword is still trapped when Thor calls for them, so will he be able to withdraw it and finish off the Disir and save Hel from a fate worse than Death itself.  To me, this is a great Thor story.  Plenty of drama and the conclusion to it all is pretty amazing stuff.  The way Thor is able to take care of this made sense and was a total “well duh, you’re pretty smart their Thor,” moment.  Kieron is able to capture the mythological aspect of the Thor title well.  Some might be looking more for a super-hero type encounter, but this is something else.  It all is very interesting and well done and it doesn’t feel like the same old stuff people might get bored with.  The artwork is a little sketchier than Salvador Larroca’s but it reminds me a little of his work.  It isn’t quite as polished, but I really thought it was quite good.  There’s a great moment in this comic as we see Asgard and Balder is standing over the map.  On the map is scribbled “Scan of Map of Asgard?”  So apparently nobody put that scan in at all and didn’t manage to erase the words the penciller put in.  Oops!  So look for that little Easter egg.  This is worth picking up!

X-23 #1 – Written by Marjorie Liu and Art by Will Conrad.  This issue deals with X-23 the dilemmas of her being involved with the X-Force project that everyone now knows about.  Her involvement seems counter productive to getting rid of the idea of her being reversing her descent into a killing machine.  So now things have to be dealt with and Laura isn’t having an easy time of it all.  So this issue mainly deals with feelings and that may not appeal to everyone.  I’m not sure where this title is going to go, but for a first issue this is just ok.  At the end they do include a history of X-23 which was really interesting and helpful to me, as I had not known much about X-23 prior to this issue.  Will Conrad’s art isn’t very good though.  I don’t care for how he draws Laura and half of the other characters.  His characters look very robotic and the main facial expression is a glare.  Everything just seems a little off with Conrad’s art and it’s enough to turn me off from this issue.  A good issue to pick-up for a history of X-23, but the artwork will really detract from what would otherwise be a solid issue.

X-Men #3 – Written by Victor Gischler and Penciled by Paco Medina.  Namor has recovered the head, Storm and Gambit have the body.  Dracula is alive again and the ramifications could be huge.  Wolverine is sent out to find Jubilee and rescue her from the big bad vamps.  So we flash back and forth between Wolvie’s journey and the conversation the X-Men have with Dracula.  This is probably the best issue of the series so far.  Wolverine’s battles seem a tad random, but the stuff at the end was very good.  I like the interaction Xarus and his Royal Court with Jubilee.  I felt that Dracula acted like he probably should.  Paco Medina’s artwork really shined in this issue and has improved quite a bit.  I think he improved enough to where his art makes this issue better than it might be otherwise.  I didn’t like his work in th first issue, but here it looks like he’s adapting to the X-Men well.  I’m still not completely sold on the storyline, but the story here was okay.  Still, not a X-Men title that I particularly like, but this one was actually ok.  If you want to see what’s going on with the “Curse of the X-Men” storyline, this would be the issue to check out, but still slightly skippable. 

X-Men: Legacy #239 – Written by Mike Carey and Penciled by Clay Mann.  While in India the X-Men run into a new Mutant on the run and a Sentinel close behind.  Of course, we aren’t quite sure that she IS a Mutant, we’re just assuming that the Sentinel is after one.  Paras also has to deal with his future bride who he has never met before.  Gotta love pre-arranged weddings!  Our new character Luisa also has some interesting secrets that start to unravel here as well.  So our story is a pretty decent one.  There’s lots of action and interesting things going on here to keep the reader compelled and that’s always a good thing.  Magneto and Rogue are still bickering as Rogue completely does not trust Magneto.  I like Paras’ pre-arranged wedding and having to deal with that and the interactions with his parents.  The art work is not quite there yet.  I see some styling of an early Whilce Portacio here, but Whilce was better at having his drawings tell a story.  Clay is not quite there yet.  The first few pages are very confusing and I had to go back and look at them several times just to tell what the hell was going on.  That’s not a good thing when a reader has to do that.  If he can just work on his facial details and storytelling through his art, he has the potential to be a very good artist.  An okay issue, but nothing too special, you can probably skip it.

Zatanna #5 – Written by Paul Dini and Penciled by Chad Hardin.  We have fire demons trying to take out Zatanna as we saw in last issue.  She also has to deal with her Cousin Zach feeling underappreciated by her and she promises to make his show tonight.  Well, those are always famous last words when you’re a busy magician who’s wanted by the Great Mammon.  We get introduced to our big bad demon of hell and also find out what his game is.  And since we’re in Vegas, things all kind of just make sense here.  So a trap is set and Zatanna has troubles resisting this one!  Another pretty fantastic issue as I love the way Zatanna deals with the fire demons.  Is she lucky? Sure, but it was still ingenious.  Mammon’s motivation seems to be somewhat logical.  As logical as something in this series will ever be I guess.  Zach’s disappointment is pretty interesting as well.  The final several pages are just fantastic stuff that you don’t want to miss.  Chad Hardin’s pencils are solid, nothing wrong there at all.  Paul Dini continues to make an underrated character into a solid hit for me.  I’ve said it before, I never thought I would like this character, but Dini has made me a fan.  That has to count for something.  Pick up an issue and get instantly hooked!

Technorati Tags: amazing spider-man,mark waid,paul azaceta,green lantern,emerald warriors,peter j. tomasi,fernando pasarin,invincible iron man,matt fraction,salvador larroca,thor,kieron gillen,doug braithwaite,x-23,marjorie liu,will conrad,x-men,victor gischler,paco medina,x-men legacy,mike carey,clay mann,zatanna,paul dini,chard hardin

Quick Comic Book Reviews - August 20th, 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