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This is a BIG review and for that sake I am not going to go in depth into the comics like I normally do. Instead, I am just going to give you a cover, a bottom line review, and highlight parts of the books that justify my review. Sorry for this change in format, but next Friday I should be back to normal, somewhat. Enough with that, it’s time to review these bad boys.
Adventure Comics #2 (505)
Bottom Line: Buy
Reasons: The art is amazing, and the story is simple. Simple is not a bad thing here folks, and this comic does it right. Connor is still trying to figure himself out, and Cassie (whose relationship with Connor is great) confronts Connor on his issues. A great issue all around, too bad Johns and Manapul are moving off the title to Flash in a couple months, but not too bad.
The Amazing Spider-man #604
Bottom Line: BUY BUY BUY!
Reasons Why: Ever since issue #600 (the point where I started to read the comic) The Amazing Spider-man has been phenomenal, and this comic continues the trend. The writing is great, and even though the art is somewhat lacking, this is a near weekly book and that is tolerated. My favorite ongoing series right now outside of Incredible Herc.
The Amazing Spider-man #605
Bottom Line: BUY BUY BUY BUY BUY!! Pick of the week.
Reasons why: The art is much better than the last issue, and the writing is still top-notch. The story is great especially if you are like me and don’t necessarily have the best luck with the ladies. The comic is also a great jumping-on point as it is fairly self-contained.
Blackest Night #3
Bottom Line: BUY
Reasons Why: The story is great, and the central plot for the series is starting to take shape. The story is also moving towards that plot. So far it looks like a well made 8 part event, unlike Final Crisis or Secret Invasion. We will know by Issue 5 when the Guardian for the Black Lanterns appears. Also, Indigo tribe does something awesome.
Blackest Night: Batman #2
Bottom Line: BUY
Reasons Why: It’s Batman meets Zombie film. Do you need more? Oh, you do? Well the story is pretty cool for a pointless arc, and the art is not too shabby.
Green Lantern Corps #40:
Bottom Line: Skim through at the store and decide
Reasons Why: Well, the comic is alright but seems to be reactive of the main Blackest Night and Green Lantern Series. There are some interesting things going on, but nothing spectacular. It is decent but not worth the price of admission, at least not for me, though the Bzzd and Guy Gardner fight was pretty cool.
Blackest Night: Superman #1
Bottom Line: BUY
Reasons Why: If Blackest Night Batman is a zombie film, then Blackest Night Superman is a slasher flick. The setup is great, and the build up of suspense is actually quite good. The story is typical slasher fare, but it works here. James Robinson can write a darn good Superman, too bad he can’t seem to do a Justice League.
Captain America Reborn #3
Bottom Line: BUY, but only if you are a Brubaker fan.
Reasons Why: It is a decent comic. The writing is solid as well as the art, problem is that it’s Brubaker and his pacing can be slow for some people. This issue does have some nice pacing, but overall it’s much slower than the average comic. Not that that is a bad thing, it is that some people don’t like that style.
Dark Avengers- Uncanny X-men: Exodus:
Bottom Line: Skim through then decide.
Reasons Why: I know that is a poor review, but this is a comic that only certain people will enjoy. Not sure who, but they will. I found it to be an okay comic and a step up from the last few issues. I will review the series in more depth and as a whole soon, but for this issue, it has decent writing, and the art is great. A decent end to a series that ran off the tracks a few issues back .
Flash Rebirth #4
Bottom Line: BUY
Reasons Why: It somewhat retells the origins of Zoom and the nature of the Speed Force. It also talks about why Barry came back. Zoom should now be considered on the level of Joker and Luthor. Zoom carries a presence that emits pure evil. He is sinister and cruel. A great comic to a good series. I wish it wasn’t always delayed.
G-man: Capes Crisis #2
Bottom Line: BUY
Reasons Why: It is a fun, innocent super hero story. The story is for all ages and well executed to a degree that anyone can read it. If you have young kids or just want to read some pure super hero comics, I recommend G-man to the nth degree.
The Marvels Project #2
Bottom Line: BUY, but only if you are a fan of Brubaker
Reasons Why: Same reasons as Captain America Reborn. The pacing could be too slow for some. I enjoyed it and thought this issue stepped it up from the last one nicely. I am still failing to see how these characters will become related, but then again I am not familiar with my Golden Age heroes. Good stuff, nonetheless.
X-men Forever #7
Bottom Line: PASS
Reasons Why: Simple, poor editing and art direction. This more or less has to do with the series, but the complaint does ruin this comic. I am all for new costumes. It usually sets a new era or staff when they change costumes, but please make your mind up. In X-men Forever #6, Gambit looked like Gambit. In X-men Forever #7, he looks like Daredevil mixed with Pete Wisdom. Then there is the amazing changing Kitty Pryde and Kurt’s changing designs. Also Beast switching from just trunks to pants, back and forth for the series. All I ask is they get things together and set a design to stick with for the series. Now for the issue itself, it is alright. It is Claremont writing what feels to be a filler issue explaining some background. Not bad, but not great. The bad art ruins the comic though.
X-men Legacy Annual #1
Bottom Line: PASS
Reasons Why: Despite promising a brand new direction, the X-men are just off of mainland United States. Nothing too different. The story is interesting and the art is alright, but some characters look dumb. Wolverine is the silliest looking character of the lot. It does have a backup about Gambit detonating the Omega Machine. We see him revert to his horseman state for a bit, but that doesn’t last. Overall, it is underwhelming. Uncanny X-men #500, which was the Bold New Direction last year after Messiah Complex, was much superior to this comic. Not much happens. Emplate does return. That is cool.
Thanks for reading. Hopefully next week I will return back to normal and post reviews on Fridays and in the old format. Unless people prefer this new style. Feel free to email or comment below about this new style of reviews and see you all Monday when I have some article up.
This week I had some unexpected expenses come up (having to buy a new phone). I also had some expected ones: The Beatles remastered albums (I bought the White Album. Great stuff.) and my brother’s birthday (which is today, September 11th.). Also, I didn’t get the chance to sell plasma earlier this week (Which cuts my weekly income in half). So I just don’t have the funds to buy about 12 comics this week. I will be purchasing the comics tomorrow and have a review up, hopefully, by Sunday. Just don’t hold me to it. Remember, I am not a professional reviewer. I don’t get access to previews or review copies, I am just an amateur reviewer. I am sorry I couldn’t post the reviews today. I screwed up. If it is anything to you all, the Beatles Remastered Albums sound great if “The White Album” is any indicator. I still have to listen to the older albums to make a judgment.
Thanks for reading and have a good day. Join us tomorrow for another Amalgam Saturdays! I have already saw what it is, and let me tell you, it’s fantastic.
This week’s release is a break for me. For the past month or so, I have been buying, reading, and reviewing ten to thirteen comics a week. This takes a toll on the wallet, especially if you are like me and don’t have a real job. So I breathed a sigh of relief when I only pulled two new comics this week. Enough with the introduction and on to the review.
To kick things off for us we have
Batman #690
Credits:
Writer: Judd Winick
Pencils: Mark Bagley
Inks: Rob Hunter and Jack Purcell
Colors: Pete Pantazis
Starting with the cover it is your basic falling down fighting pose. There is no real background to it, and the proportions on Batman look off for some reason and are an eyesore. Not a horrible cover but just bland.
The story of the comic is basically Two Face’s plan to take down the New Batman is entering the next stage. Meanwhile, the Penquin has sent Clayface and Lyle Blanco to take Batman off his trail. The story isn’t bad and sets up future storylines with Dick as Batman. I have enjoyed this arc so far, but it is the weakest story arc out of all of the Batfamily titles.
The writing is decent, at best. The interaction between Dick and Alfred is top notch, but everything else is just run of the mill. The narration from Dick is irritating, the banter between Dick and the villains is non-existent (though this could be because he is the gosh darn Batman), Two Face’s motives, while crazy, don’t match his usual ticks (Things relating to the number 2), and the lack of any real detective work from Dick.
Sadly, the writing isn’t the worst part about this comic. The worst part is the art, specifically the coloring. The colors are murky, too “shiny” (where there are highlights on parts of the face there shouldn’t be), too flat (Don’t ask how that is possible with the too shiny as I am bewildered by this), and the friggin’ sky is blood red. It looks like Final Crisis is about to happen but no, it is just a random bloody looking sky. Unless this was explained last issue, it doesn’t make sense.
Bottom line: DON’T BUY. This series is easily the weakest of the Batfamily titles, and the art is hideous. I recommend Batman and Robin, Batgirl, or Detective comics in its place. All of them have far superior art and writing.
And to finish up this week we have :
Justice League: Cry for Justice #3
Credits:
Writer: James Robinson
Art & Cover: Mauro Cascioli
The cover is just…wow. I love it. From the drool on Prometheus’s chin to the red glowing eye on Supergirl everything is amazing. You ever hear the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover”? Well that phrase applies to this whole series.
For starters, the story doesn’t make any real sense. A brief plot synopsis: The informal JUSTICE! league meet up in the city and interrogate Prometheus. Meanwhile, the Blue man and Golden Ape–this is a mythological world, anything can happen, I guess–fly to confront the killer of their friends. We also learn Prometheus is stealing all this science– that is the actual phrase used–to do something bad to the future, or something. That is the comic series in a nutshell, and there are four more issues to go. It feels like a bad Silver Age comic, but instead of being short and in twelve pages we get seven issues devoted to this mess.
The writing is out of character most of the time, or at least it appears to be for most of the cast. This book’s cast makes the Justice League Detroit look like A-list heroes, and given this obscurity of the characters I am not entirely sure if they are in character or not. Hal Jordan is written like a jerk and much like that of Sinestro by permitting TORTURE! You know one of the things that Hal is against. The only character that seems to be written correctly is the Green Arrow, but he still has his moments of stupidity, such as being on this team. The absolute worst part of the writing is the overuse of the word, JUSTICE!. The first issue was full of it, the second issue had next to none, but this one we are greeted to the phrase on the first page. At least we get the word Vengeance thrown around to break up the monotony of JUSTICE!
The art is great. I don’t have much to say about it other than it is beautiful, and it’s a shame such lazy writing is coupled with it.
Bottom line: DON’T BUY. The art is not enough to save this book from horrendous plotting and writing. Buy Kingdom Come if you want amazing art with a decent story. There is one interesting thing in this book. It actually references New Krypton, and I applaud that.
That does it for this week. Check the site out tomorrow when we will have a new feature done by the site’s new Partner. Thanks for reading and have a good day.
Yeah, I apologize in advance for this being in a text format. I just didn’t want anyone to suffer through bad quality video.
Kicking things off,
Green Lantern #45:
Credits:
Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Doug Mahnke
Inks: Christian Alamy, Doug Mahnke, & Tom Nguyen
Color: Randy Mayor
First off, I enjoyed the cover. It promises things to come and isn’t really too busy. To me a cover is something that is meant to grab the buyer and showcase what is inside the comic. This cover does such a thing, and I like that. Now to the actual meat of the book. The story takes place all over the universe showing different sides of the War Of Light and the beginning of the Blackest Night. Remember: despite being almost 3 months into the story we are only about an hour into the event in comic time. This is why we are still seeing black rings being spread across the universe and the War of Light raging. That means there are not as many Black Lantern fights in this comic as in other Blackest Night tie-ins, but instead, the book focuses on Sinestro leading a group of his men to save his lanterns that were captured by the Star Sapphires. Sinestro is confronted by Carrol Ferris, who does a decent job defending the Star Sapphire home world of Zamaran from the universe’s most dangerous Lantern.
Like I said, the book focuses on their conflict the most, but it does show some other sections of the universe under attack from the Black Rings themselves. Such incidents are much like the Orange Lantern’s, Larfleeze’s, own cave being swarmed by the Black Rings. This resurrects all of those who have fallen at the Orange Lantern’s hand. This leaves Larfleeze in a sticky predicament. Other incidents include Abin Sur (with a gang of Black Lanterns) interrupting Sinestro’s and Star Sapphire’s fight and Ysmalt, the home of the Red Lanterns, being assaulted by several rings. Overall, the writing was great for this issue. The dialogue flowed well, and the action was paced superbly.
The art is on a grand scale, like always. It manages to include a great deal of characters in each panel and at great detail. This has become a staple of the Green Lantern series, and I love that. It suits the titles because of sheer size of the cast.
In the end, I tell everyone to BUY this book. It is just solid.
Next we have Dark Avengers #8
Credits:
Writer: Matt Fraction
Pencils: Luke Ross
Ink: Rick Magyar, Mark Pennington, & Luke Ross
Colors: Dean White
The cover for this book is alright. It is really confusing as towhat is going on though. It has Daken and X-23 taking swipes at each other. It is just too close to get a clear image of what is freaking going on. It doesn’t help that the cover is framed by the Utopia Banner. It irritates me to no end how bad this cover looks.
Moving on to the actual comic itself, it is just bland. This event has disappointed me. Utopia #1 was an amazing one shot and Chapter 2 and 3 were equally great. Ever since Chapter 4, though, the book has been just forgettable. Nothing stands out in the past two issues. This comic does end on a pretty high note and makes a big reveal which might change the dichotomy of the X-titles for a year, but to see it in such a bland book infuriates me. The writing is a big “meh”. Fraction seems to keep getting Weapon Omega’s personality wrong, which is a shame. There has been zero focus on Mimic, who is the most interesting Dark X-man, and the book overlooks what was the original threat, the Bio-sentinels.
For some reason the main villain in the series is ignored and is essentially a foot note. It is a great idea using Bio-sentinels, but Fraction doesn’t want to talk about them. Instead, he focuses on the contrived and bland Dark X-men team and the unsurprising triple cross that occurs. We see more of the Dark X-men than any of the other cast members, and yet we learn nothing about them other than they are at odds with the Dark Avengers. With such a focus on the Dark X-men, there was no need for Dark X-men the Beginning mini series. We should have been granted some back story of the team in the book. I actually would rather read about the Dark Avengers, and I hate that team. At least they have some conflict and tension rather than the nothingness that is presented by the Dark X-men. This has been the worst thing I have read by Matt Fraction, and I regret hyping this series. I hope the conclusion saves the series.
I am going to take a brief moment to talk about the art. It sucks. It looks murky and is just ugly to look at. The lines are too bold and whenever there is a close up to a character’s face, it is just embarrassing.
Overall, I am telling you to Pass on this book. There is nothing big in it worth reading. Only things to mention are Asteroid M and Moonstar is going to be a Valkyrie again. That is all you need to know.
Next up
Blackest Night Titans #1:
Credits:
Writer: J.T. Krul
Pencils: Ed Benes
Inks: Rob Hunter, Jon Sibal, & JP Mayer
Colors: Hi-fi Design
The cover for this book is just freaky and a little sickening. It properly describes this book. There are some scenes in here that actually weirded me out a bit, and I liked it.
Truthfully, the comic itself is pretty damn good. The writing is superb. We see the characters mourning their fallen comrades as they were in Blackest Night #1. The book focuses, in part, on Terra. If you don’t know who Terra is, she is basically a Traitor to the Titans, but still has a statue in Titans Tower alongside the fallen. Starfire questions why there is still a statue dedicated to her if her brother knows the truth. While we are never given a clear answer, it seems to be there due to Beast Boy wanting to remember her as a hero. Just like the rest of the Blackest Night stories, the dead rise from the graves to feed. Terra is no exception. Instead of looking like a zombie, however, she is in a normal appearance. Garth sees her and, after a brief discussion, begins to kiss her, only to find out that she is still dead and a Black Lantern. This freaks out Garth, and the plot thread ends there.
The book then shifts to the other plot thread featuring Hawk and Dove. We see them bickering about the previous Hawk and over trivial things. This continues until they are attacked by the Black Lantern Hawk. The fight rages on most of the issue and is actually split up by the Terra plot thread. It is a great example of breaking up the action and building intensity. This is probably the first Blackest Night tie-in that I have read to actually feel like a Zombie movie. It is fantastic.
The art also helps the mood. Benes makes great use of dark environment and fog to set the mood. Despite Dove’s mask looking silly, the art is pretty good overall. Well-done action scenes and a surprising use of nontraditional panel work on some pages makes this book a buy. I do have to note that Starfire is actually a little thick looking, which isn’t bad at all. It actually makes her appear to be a normal person. I felt the need of pointing this out because you usually see Starfire drawn with a sleek hourglass figure with a tiny waist. She actually looks like what a normal woman would look like. I applaud that.
Overall I say BUY this book. You don’t have to be a Titan fan to appreciate this title.
Next on the docket is:
Batman and Robin #3
Credits:
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Frank Quitely
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
The cover does not fully capture what is inside this book. It is still a great cover nonetheless. We have Batman and Robin in the distance fighting a sea of those creepy human dolls. I liked the coloring on the cover. Great break from the dark Black and Red covers.
Now the actual comic. Sweet Christmas this book is fricking weird! I know Grant Morrison is a strange man, but damn. This book just weirded me out to no end. The main reason is Professor Pyg. That guy gives the Joker a run for his money. He is just messed up in the head and does some sick things. He is also wearing a pig mask, and we don’t ever see his face. Just that infernal pig mask. That character is going to haunt my dreams for the next week. It is plain disturbing. Another reason is Quitely does such an impressive job on the human doll mask it looks painful to wear. There is this little girl with one stuck on her face, and it freaks me the heck out. There is a myriad of creepy things going on in this book; I could sit here all day listing them. However, I should talk about the actual writing rather than the feeling I had reading this book.
The writing is Grant Morrison folks. Take it that he is a little more in check, but you should know what he does. If you don’t let me tell you (people who don’t care scroll a little below). Grant Morrison is really eccentric. His writing style tends to pace the action much like how it would in real life. His dialogue can be either direct or cryptic. This depends greatly on the cast of characters. He can get into some serious metaphysical material and make you think about life itself. He is a great writer but tends to be polarizing. That is what you expect in every Grant Morrison comic.
The art is just beautiful. I love Frank Quitely’s work, and here is no exception. He draws Professor Pyg with unique mannerisms and actions that tell you a lot about the character, without actually reading the dialogue balloons. To me that is a sign of great art. If you can tell a story without words, you have perfected sequential art.
Overall, the comic is a great comic and a strong BUY. It was a fun ride.
Forget the segues.
Batman: The Widening Gyre #1
Credits:
Writer: Kevin Smith
Artist: Walt Flanagan
Inker: Art Thibert
Colorist: Art Lyon
This isn’t the cover I bought. I bought this crazy cover that would make a Christian faint with a pentagram and wolves. The cover above I find to be better. The art style is nice. The colors add depth to the cover, and the use of green in the cover accents the use of dark tones. Just a great cover.
Now the comic. The story starts off with Batman and Robin (Bruce and Dick, by the way) busting Baron Blitzkrieg and the Atomic Skull’s attack on a Jewish Temple. This part is very campy and silver age Batman. The team busts the Baron, and Robin is the one to land the knockout blow. He takes pride in this. The story then flash forwards a few years to Batman and Nightwing stopping some skin-heads from building what they believe to be a bomb. It turns out to be the Baron’s armor, and Batman swiftly defeats him. Dick takes Batman to the morgue to show him a man that died from what appears to be an attack by Poison Ivy. Batman leaves Blüdhaven and heads to the batcave before going to Arkham Asylum to confront Ivy. He switches from the boat to the car and heads to the loony bin. On his way there, the vegetation gets thicker and thicker till he reaches his destination.
Batman enters the building to find the inmates still in their cells or tangled up. He smells the increased pheromones in the air as Ivy is emitting them. Bruce confronts Ivy finally but is attacked by Killer Croc who is high on the pheromones and is being aggressive towards Batman. Bruce defeats Croc but is captured by Ivy, who then tries to have relations with him. They are interrupted by Etirgan who wants Ivy dead. They try to fend them off but are saved by a new hero.
Alright, I will put this out there. I didn’t like this book. I am a Kevin Smith fan, and I did NOT like this book. It felt silly and just wrong. Smith put his usual spin on the dialogue, which wasn’t bad, but he used this inner monologue that became annoying fast. He started saying stuff that isn’t very Batman like. The writing isn’t necessarily bad but just irritating and uncharacteristic of Batman.
The art was great though. They did some unique frame work on the panels once they entered into Ivy’s fortress. There were some moments that the facial expressions were goofy, but that wasn’t too bad. Overall, I liked it.
In the end, Batman: The Widening Gyre isn’t bad, but I didn’t like it. I can’t recommend a solid buy, but I can recommend that you Skim through it at the shop. Skim through the book and read some of the dialogue. Judge for yourself if you will like it.
Detective Comics #856
Credits:
Writer: Greg Rucka
Artist: JH Williams
Colorist: Dave Stewart
This cover is just amazing! Actually, the past few issues of this comic have had great covers. This is a perfect example of the interior artwork. Well-done cover.
Now for the actual book, Rucka does a fantastic job on writing Kate (Batwoman) as a strong character. Many writers would have taken the fact she is a lesbian and drove it into the ground. Rucka makes it more subtle. She is a normal person who just happens to be a lesbian and fight crime dressed as a bat. This issue we learn more about Kate’s social life after surviving being drugged by Alice. The main bulk of the story is actually about the charity auction that Kate has to attend. There she meets a girl, and they dance. They share some of their life story before she is pulled away by a true believer in the Crime Bible. Kate learns that her father, the Commanding officer at a military base, is at risk, and we end the issue with Alice being taken to Kate’s Dad’s base.
I loved the writing in this comic. The interactions seem natural and not forced. Everything is subtle and not BOOM! in your face. It is a well done comic and the best of the Bat titles out right now. That is saying something.
I couldn’t end this review without mentioning the art . While this issue’s art is more tame and mainstream, it still looks amazing. Williams’ pencils are complemented by Stewart’s amazing color work. If you are looking for a reason to buy the Batwoman run on Detective Comics, this is it. The art alone makes this book amazing, but the writing just sweetens the deal.
Bottom line: Buy! this comic. It is one of the week’s best and worth every penny.
Booster Gold #23
Credit:
Writer/Artist: Dan Jurgens
Finished Inks: Norm Rapmund
Colorist: HI-FI
There are some people that don’t like this cover because it is a photo cover. Well, photo covers tend to be lame and can ruin a good book, though this one isn’t too bad. It’s not like some random screen shot from a tv show; it’s an actual posed picture. The main reason for having Blair Butler (awesome lady by the way) wear this shirt is to promote a new product that is coming out. I might buy the shirt, so the cover succeeds in accomplishing its goal. The only drawback with the cover is the shirt, while featured in the comic, is only shown once. I liked this cover.
Getting to the actual book, it’s not bad. I haven’t read Booster Gold since issue 1 (not by choice by the way), so I was lost. The book though did a great job in keeping me in, and I figured things out pretty fast. So well done, Jurgens. I was successfully captivated mid-storyline. The writing is pretty damn good. Booster is, well, Booster Gold. He is arrogant and cocky. Though he has matured since 52. The story is pretty gosh darn good as well. It is basically the Black Beetle screwing up the time stream, allowing Trigon to take over. Pretty cool story and very Marvel “What If”.
Now the art is equally fun. The only real complaint I have is Trigon. He doesn’t look very evil, just a disgruntled red man with moose antlers. Other than that I can’t complain about the art, though there isn’t much of a background as it is a post-apocalyptic world, and it’s never sunny.
I give this a solid BUY; the book is fun and enjoyable for everyone. I had no trouble getting into the story despite not having read the past two installments. You just have to know who Booster Gold and Rip Hunter are, and you will be set.
Dark X-men: The Beginning #3
Credits:
Hidden Depths:
Writer: Paul Cornell
Artist: Leonard Kirk
Colorist: Brian Reber
Get Mystique (Slight Return):
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Jock
Colorist: Dave Stewart
The One Who Got Away:
Writer: Simon Spurrier
Artist: Paul Davidson
Colorist: Rain Berredo
The covers for the Dark X-men: The Beginning mini series have been great. Each and every one I have loved. I even got the first cover as a poster. Not much to say, but I just love the attitude that Emma Frost and Norman Osborn seem to be carrying.
The comic itself is an anthology comic. I have disliked the series so far (except for a couple stories) because it has either been really bad or just pointless. This issue turns things around. Each of the stories are strong stories. Here is a brief plot synopsis on each story. Hidden Depths is basically Emma and Namor exploring his mind trying to figure out why he joined the team. Great story and nice to see Namor’s softer side. Get Mystique (Slight Return) explains why Mystique is still alive (considering she was left for dead by Wolverine in Get mystique last year) and why she joined Norman. Not the best story out of the bunch, but it is nice to get some explanation. The One Who Got Away is about how Aurora avoided joining the team. She beats up Norman Osborn at the end. Not the best writing, but I loved every panel of it.
The art for each story is different. The best art is in Get Mystique (Slight Return); too bad I don’t much about Jock, but he is a great artist. Dave Stewart’s colors make it even better. I don’t typically follow colorists, but Stewart’s work keeps popping up and impressing me. The rest of the art is not too bad either. It is better than the past two issues of this comic.
Final judgment is to BUY this comic. The title is an anthology series, so the previous two issues are not necessary. The stories presented in this comic either add depth to the characters or are just a fun read. Most people should enjoy it.
Fantastic Four #570
Credits:
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Dale Eaglesham
Colorist: Paul Mounts
This cover is not too bad. It has the full cast of of the Fantastic family. It has a new masthead for the series which is simple and effective. Now here are its flaws. Ben’s eyes look odd and in the print version aren’t blue. Also, what is going on with Valarie’s lips? She looks like a mini-Angelina Jolie with those massive lips. The characters have bland facial expressions, and the pose is a generic cookie cutter pose. Still, it isn’t a bad cover and there have been far worse Fantastic Four covers. At least they have returned the Masthead to the freaking top of the comic.
Now the comic is meant to be a jumping on point after the year or so stint Millar had on the title, and it does its job well. It keeps the additions Millar made to the franchise, which is nice. At least it doesn’t truly retcon the whole Millar Run, but it is definitely a different tone compared to Millar’s. Enough with the comparisons and on to the actual comic itself. The plot is basically Reed coming to terms with the fact that he can’t answer everything, but he tries. In doing so he opens a dimensional gate in which more Alternate Reed Richards come out and take him to a nexus point (somewhat like the Mighty Avengers Mansion) where Main Reed meets the rest of the Reed League. The Reed League (unofficial title by the way) is a large group of Reed Richards that put their minds together to prevent disasters and problems. It is lead by Three Reeds that all posses an Infinity Gauntlet. Overall, a very sci-fi story, and I enjoyed it. This might put some people off though.
The art for this book is sufficient. Eaglesham appears to have difficulty showing different facial expressions. Almost all the characters keep the same one throughout the book, and the moments where it changes don’t look right to the eye. I do like the new more buff look to Reed. Other than that the art is just passable. Hopefully it will improve as the run continues.
Overall, I give this a Skim through it at the shop. The lack of facial expression will turn people away as will the sci-fi story. I suggest reading a couple of the middle pages and decide from there. I hope this run goes well as I want a good Fantastic Four series.
The Incredible Hercules #133
Credits:
Story: Fred Van Lente & Greg Pak
Art: Rodney Buchemi
Colors: Emily Warren
The cover for this particular issue is great. It does everything right. The fact there are floating brains on the cover makes you want to at least thumb through it.
The comic itself tells the story of Amadeus Cho as he investigates the death of his family and tries to find his sister. He enters Excello, a city where the soap company named Cho the 7th smartest person in the world, looking for answers. On his way to the city he recaps on past events by comparing them to a book on Mythology. Once he arrives in the city he notices something isn’t right, and he runs into the agent that warned him that his house was going to explode. Turns out things are not as they appear, and Cho must find a way out of town where Math is not the same.
The writing was great. The bulk of the story is in Internal Monologue and text from the mythology book. Cho carries himself like a rebellious teenager and not really a “know it all”. He is a unique character whose mind gives him a superpower. This makes his stories a lot more than they should be.
The art is nice. The artist can illustrate a myriad of facial expressions and poses. This makes each page a blast to just look at, let alone read.
Overall, the comic is a fun read. I give it a solid BUY. It would function as a great jumping on point as it recaps the last 2 years of the Incredible Hercules in the first few pages.
The Pick of the week is:
X-men Forever #6
Credits:
Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: Paul Smith
Inker: Terry Austin
Colorist: Moose Baumann
The covers for this series have been very reminiscent of the covers from the 90’s. A simple picture of something that happens in the comic and a random piece of Text that would lure you in. I hate that Marvel.com doesn’t include the text on their previews but oh well. This is a nice cover for a series that is a throwback.
The story follows young Storm (Don’t ask as we don’t know yet) as she tries to use her powers and watches as the others clean up from the last story arc. It’s a nice simple issue with not much going on but still advances the plot.
The writing is Claremont at his finest. It felt just like reading the first few years of his run on X-men. It is much better then Issue 3 and 4 of this series. Claremont is keeping himself in check and not making any major changes to this big what if. He also continues making Kitty a strong female lead and I like that. It is nice to see the character given a bigger part. Overall the writing is fantastic
The Art. Well, its hit and miss. Some things look great but there are a couple panels where the features of the character don’t seem right. The major turn off of this issue is the art. It is a little cartoony, and some people don’t like the cartoony style of art in their superhero books. Other than that, not much to complain about.
Overall, I recommend a BUY. It is the pick of the week solely for the writing. Claremont has stepped up and seems to be in his old groove. It is refreshing to read and a blast. Also, in this issue the Claremont style of the characters pointing out what the art says isn’t really that prevalent here, but if you continue to buy the series expect it to show up now and then. The issue also serves as an excellent jumping on point for the series.
Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend and check the site out on Sunday for an announcement concerning the next “In Defense Of”
It has been a really crazy week for us at CBO Productions. In Defense of Superboy Prime has increased our traffic, we were named Awesome Blog of the week over at tgwtg, and we grew by the addition of our new content editor. Well, we have another thing to add. Last night around 10 pm est, In Defense of Superboy Prime was named Best of Blogs over at http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/
This, of course i,s a big deal as it means the article is now on the front page of the site. Go ahead and look if you haven’t already. The site averages over 1000 people online at once, and most of the site know about Superboy Prime from Linkara’s countdown videos (you can watch them over at this link http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html ). This will probably translate to increased traffic on the site, which is great. I am not sure what the criteria are for best of blogs, but apparently In Defense of Superboy Prime met them. The funny thing about the article is that I wrote it and didn’t feel it was strong enough to garner any attention. I even questioned posting it. I had no direction till the last minute, and I cranked it out in the timespan of a couple hours. Amazing how that works. Well, if you are visiting from Tgwtg.com expect more “In Defense” in the coming weeks.
In other news, the pull list has changed, yet again. Third week in a row where it has changed. Oh well no use in crying over missing books. Here are the changes to the pull list for this week.
Missing from the pull list is:
Flash Rebirth #4- figures the series I have been waiting for would get damage. It wasn’t the only title destroyed this week but still sucks.
In addition to the Pull List:
Booster Gold #23- Was going to buy it when it came out, but the store sold out before I could. I back ordered a copy, and it came in this week. I think I almost have all my back orders in finally.
Dark X-men Beginning #3- I forgot to add it to the pull list previews. This book is the last of the series and from thumbing through it, I am kinda excited. Will probably receive the greatest disappointment of the week from it though. Not sure just yet.
I also changed the site’s theme and header last night. Tell me what you think.
Well, that is does it for today. Join me tomorrow when I will review the new comics. Just a reminder it will be a text review.
Earlier I said “In Defense of Superboy Prime” was a hit and getting love over at www.thatguywiththeglasses.com. I didn’t really go into detail about the big love I got. I am unsure if you are aware of Angry Joe of the Angry Joe Show, but he picked me for his blog of the week over at TGWTG.com. This is a big honor for me for a lot of reasons. One being that it could give me the push I need to go over and garner more fans, thus reach more people. Another reason is that I was picked out of a sea of blogs for this honor. The last reason is that Angry Joe picked it. Like him or not, it is something when a talent over at TGWTG.com picks your blog for their awesome blog of the week. As I said earlier, it is a tremendous honor. Here is the link to the podcast by the way http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/podcasts/tranmission-awesome/10807-taep31 In Defense of Superboy Prime is mentioned about an hour into the podcast. It is towards the end. The podcast itself is pretty funny.
While this doesn’t guarantee a lot of things immediately it does give me the confidence to push In Defense into a weekly blog series. I have about 40 ideas planned so far and only need a few more to guarantee a solid 52 weeks. I won’t be divulging all of the ideas right away, but as soon as I get a schedule written up I will post it. I can tell you that the article will permanently go up on Wednesdays once I get several written up. The other articles and reviews will likely be moved to Saturday (as I have been meaning to do a weekend update of sorts).
Also, you may have noticed the new tab at the top of the site. It is In Defense. Since “In Defense” is going to be my first weekly article, I have decided to give the article its own page. There you will find links to all past articles and a schedule for the new ones. It also functions as a place where you can suggest various clients for me to defend. So feel free to suggest. I am always looking for clients.
Now in other news:
New Comic Book Review this week will likely be a text version. This is due to my editing software’s trial running out the day I usually shoot and edit. So that means I either have to film a really bad quality version with my webcam or upload an out of sync video with my digital camera. So to avoid any complications I will be writing it as a text review. It will be more in depth and will feature samples of the art. I have been pondering whether or not to just do text reviews as it will be the quickest, easiest, and probably the best version for the time being. It actually might become Text review in the end if the response is much higher than the videos.
As I stated earlier, the other reviews and articles will be moved to Saturday. Making the site have an update schedule of M/W/F/S. Nothing new really just making it aware.
Well, that does it for the newsbreak. I just wanted to tell you all about the new page and about the Awesome Blog of the week title thing. Thanks for reading.
There has been some changes to the pull list this week. Read here for more info on the changes.
Been throwing this idea around, would people prefer if I did the new comic reviews in a text format? Considering the time frame for these reviews it is almost easier for me to just do it as a Text review. Well unless I found someone else to help me do the videos. It is just a pain when I write, film and edit (minor but still) all in one day. I guess I could move the reviews to Saturday.
Oh well, I hope you enjoy this video and I hope to have a day set for “In Defense Of” here soon. Till then enjoy the articles and videos.
This week is a really big week for me at CBO. Besides celebrating my birthday (which I share with Marvel comics and Jim Lee) I got around 11 titles. Truth is I bought more and some that didn’t come in. I am going to put this out front, I am waiting to Review Wednesday Comics for a bit. Not sure how to do so. I also had to do some college work which made this review stressed for time. I still got it down, though I had to miss out on Rifftrax live. Anything for my readers though.
So other then that mess here is the review, presented in Two Parts due to length.
Part One:
Part Two:
For your ease here is what each video covers:
Part One:
Ultimate Comics: Spider-man #1
Ultimate Comics: Avengers #1
Green Lantern Corps #39
Blackest Night #2
Blackest Night: Batman #1
Batman #689
Part Two:
Uncanny X-men #514
Uncanny X-men: First Class #2
The Amazing Spider-man #602
The Marvels Project #1
The Incredible Hercules #132
Thanks for watching guys. Like I said in the video, if you have any questions or comments post them below or send them to comicbookoverkill@gmail.com I am very prompt with emails usually.
New Comic book review time. This week I tackle Cry for Justice, Spider-man, and Captain America. Sit back and enjoy. Also sorry for any sound issues.
Sorry in advance for the sound quality. Had to use an alternate camera when the mic for my webcam went on the fritz. Should be back to normal next week.
Reviews of the newest comics:
In this episode I cover: The Amazing Spider-man 600, Dark X-men: The Beginning #2, X-men Forever#4, and Dective Comics #855. I forget to get Wonder Woman at the shop. Expect a review on it next week. Also for those wondering I will review Wednesday Comics at the end of the run.
Comic Book Overkill 