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Weekly Comic Book Reviews for 12/23/09

admin — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 08:18:00 +0000

Amazing Spider-Man #616

Creative Team
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Javier Pulido
Colorist: Javier Rodriguez

Story – Keemia’s Castle

Review
Sometimes saving the day does not always mean that the hero and those he or she saved get a happy ending. That is what Fred Van Lente and Javier Pulido reminded us with Amazing Spider-Man #616 that ended this short Sandman arc. It is a refreshing change of pace when a comic can give us this type of ending instead of a cliffhanger type ending that leads into another arc that has become common place during this modern era of comics.

What makes the ending that we get at the end of this issue is that it plays up the old Peter Parker luck. Even when Peter does something good it somehow turns out bad for Peter and making him look bad as himself or as Spider-Man. And I liked what Carlie told Peter after he saved her job in saying that making the tough choices is what makes a person a hero which is a great way for Van Lente to sum up why Spider-Man is amongst the greatest of heroes.

Fred Van Lente did a great job in creating a very fun, classic feeling two-part Sandman story. Sandman, like other classic villains from Spider-Man Rogue Gallery, has been underutilized over the past few years. It is a shame to since Spider-Man has one of the better Rogues Gallery in comics which is why this Gauntlet overarching story arc running through Amazing Spider-Man has been fun to read so far. Van Lente prove that you can take a villain like Sandman and give him a story that as a reader I will remember and still enjoy when I read it again in the future.

Also, Javier Pulido and Javier Rodriguez deserve a lot of credit for this two-part story as well as they combined to deliver some great artwork. I really enjoyed all of the art for the Spider-Man vs. Sandman. The fight was a lot of fun as Pulido and Rodriguez combine to deliver a great looking comic and the art in these two issues is amongst my favorite artwork we have gotten on this title up there with Steve Ditko, John Romita Sr. and Jr., and Marcos Martin.

Issue Rating
Story: 9.5/10 – Fred Van Lente knocks another issue out of the park as he is proving to be one of the better writers on the Spidey Brain Trust.
Art: 8.8/10 – Pulido and Rodriguez combined to deliver a great looking Spider-Man book.
Overall: 9.15/10 – Amazing Spider-Man #616 was another great read in what has become one of the most consistently well written comics on the market. It is great that I am able to say this about Amazing Spider-Man again. I have said it before but I am going to say it again, if you haven’t been picking up Amazing Spider-Man because of all the OMD/BND stuff than you need to come back to this title because it has gone back to being a great title.

Captain America: Who Will Wield the Shield?

Creative Team
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artists: Butch Guice and Luke Ross
Colorist: Dean White

Story – Who Will Wield the Shield?

Review
Before I say anything about this issue let me get this out of the way. Marvel seriously mishandled the return of Steve Rogers. Sure it was obvious that Steve would return in Captain America: Reborn, it is in the freaking title, but that is no excuse for how Marvel spoiled the hell out of the ending of Brubaker’s story before it was even done. And if my memory is correct Reborn has only missed one month since the start and Marvel even added an extra issue to the series meaning the story would end in January. Something like this is known by a publisher for a while which should allow them to tell their writers like Fraction and Bendis, both of who spoiled Reborn’s ending in Invincible Iron Man and Dark Avengers Annual, to tell them to calm down Steve’s return story is still not officially over. Just some common professionalism for both the writer, Brubaker, writing Steve’s return as well as the readers reading the story is all a fan asks for especially when comics are coming out on time with little to no delays. Just a poor management job by Marvel’s editorial team.

Alright, now that mini-rant is done. As for this issue even though the recap page spoiled how the Reborn ends by giving us most of the details of how issue #6 will turn out Brubaker, Guice, and Ross turned in a very good issue with an unexpected twist at the end. Like many I expected Steve to take back the Captain America mantle even though I have like Bucky being Captain America much more than when Steve was in the role. I was glad that didn’t happen as Brubaker gave us a valid reason for why Steve is not ready to take back the role upon his return to the Marvel Universe.

Bucky in many respects is in the same position that Dick Grayson is currently in over on all the Batman titles as he has taken over the role of his mentor. The big question in comics when it comes to sidekick characters has always been when are we going to see them take over for their mentors. But because of how comics work when a sidekick is allowed to grow he usually takes another separate role instead of taking his mentor’s role, like Bucky becoming Winter Soldier and Dick Grayson becoming Nightwing.

Because of that the work Brubaker has done to make Bucky a fully realized character as Winter Soldier and when Bucky took over the role of Captain America is so great. Brubaker has shown that there is a way to allow a former sidekick to actually take over the role of his mentor and make it be an accepted change of the guard to many fans. And that is what Brubaker does a great job in reinforcing Bucky has been doing a great job as Captain America in this issue.

I like that the way Brubaker chose to reinforce this is by having Steve in his Captain America costume watch Bucky, in his Captain America costume, fighting Hyde and his crew. Even though Steve was still trying to recover from the events he just went through you could tell through his inner monologue that he was proud of Bucky, like a father is of a son when the son grows up. Even though Steve did feel weird watching someone else as Captain America he knew that for now it is for the best that Bucky continues being Captain America as it is has become an important part of who Bucky is now.

And I am curious to the image of the future that Steve did see at the end of Captain America: Reborn #6, which has yet to come out. It is clear that it played a part in why Steve didn’t want to resume being Captain America and with his meeting with President Obama I do wonder what kind of role Steve will play in Siege. From the covers to Siege and all the related material to the event I kind of figured Steve would be leading all of the heroes as Captain America in their fight against Norman Osborn but now I am not sure.

Issue Rating
Story: 8/10 – Brubaker provide a great story that showed why Bucky is still going to be Captain America while Steve takes on a different role.
Art: 9/10 – Butch Guice and Luke Ross combined to deliver some excellent artwork that is very similar to their and Eptings work on Captain America. Though I am enjoying Bryan Hitch’s work on Reborn the artwork by Guice and Ross is more of the look I expect now from a Captain America book.
Overall: 8.5/10 – Captain America: Who Will Wield the Shield? was a great read that would have been better if Captain America: Reborn was over before this one-shot came out. But you can chalk it up as another one of Marvel’s editorial screw ups in how they have handled Steve’s return to the Marvel Universe. Still a must read if you are a Captain America fan and have been reading Reborn.

Green Lantern #49

Creative Team
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Ed Benes, Marcos Marz, and Jerry Oroway
Inkers: Ed Benes and Luciana Del Negro
Colorist: Hi-Fi

Story – Sempte Fi; The Birth of Nekron

Review
Aside from a few brief appearances in Green Lantern here and there John Stewart has become the most underutilized member of the Green Lantern Corps post-Sinestro Corps War but finally Geoff Johns gives John some much deserved screen time. This whole issue was a look at what John is up to during Blackest Night as we see him fighting a planet filled with Black Lanterns.

After being neglected for so long Geoff Johns did a very good job writing John Stewarts character and reminding readers why he is a Green Lantern. Even though John was against all the odds facing down a planet filled with Black Lanterns that have even given all of Earth’s heroes and the Lantern Corps trouble he stood up and fought back with a vengeance.

And I really dug the flashback to John’s time in the war was a good way to inform readers unfamiliar with John’s history and show give some background why he creates military constructs with his ring. The final few pages with John creating his own military with his ring and then leaving the planet he is on only to see he is right by Earth was great. This actually has me looking forward to Blackest Night in hopes that Geoff Johns is able to pick up on this plot thread in an effective way.

Ed Benes provided some solid artwork. He did a very good job with showing how powerful John’s will is and I especially like the moment when Jon made his own military corps. And the artwork Marcos Martz provided for the flashback scenes were equally impressive even if there was a noticeable difference in art styles.

The only problem I had was with the back-up feature that was a month to late. The art by Jerry Oroway was good the back-up didn’t do much other than give us a look at something that happened before. Though I am interested to see what role Deadman will play in Blackest Night #6 with his appearance at the end of the back-up.

Issue Rating
Story: 7.6/10 – It was good to see John Stewart’s character gets some attention as he showed why he is a Green Lantern.
Art: 8.1/10 – Even though we have three artists working on this single issue Benes, Martz, and Oroway combined to provide a great looking comic as there were three different stories being told in this issue.
Overall: 7.85/10 – Green Lantern #49 was a nice spotlight issue on John Stewart. And again this Green Lantern issue was a good lead into Blackest Night as there seems to be big things that will be happening in that issue. Now I just hope Geoff Johns can follow up this development and actually deliver with Blackest Night #6.

Wolverine: Weapon X #8

Creative Team
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Yanick Paquette
Inker: Michel Lacombe
Colorist: Nathan Fairbarin

Story – Insane in the Brain

Review
It is a shame that I have not been able to review Weapon X often because Jason Aaron has been doing a spectacular job with this Wolverine series. Aaron has reminded me why as a kid Wolverine was one of my favorite superheroes. What is great about Weapon X is that Aaron is going back to making Wolverine a great character by not being brought down by the whole Wolverine remembers his past that the character has been stuck on since House of M.

And this “Insane in the Brain” arc is something new for the character as I never expected Wolverine to end up in the type of setting Aaron puts him in. It is a great idea placing him in an insane asylum. Aaron is doing a lot of quality character work as he is exploring the characters psyche in these past three issues.

And he has really created some interesting characters in this setting that are as awesome as they are creepy. Aaron shows he has the creative mind to create some new characters in a story and instantly make them a threat. It is always good to see a writer take time to create new villains with depth and that challenges the title’s hero in a new way instead of the usual villain that gives the hero something else to fight (cough*Rulk*cough).

Yanick Paquette provided some excellent artwork in this issue as he has throughout this arc. This is some of Paquette best artwork. He does a great job putting a lot of detail into the issue and with this arc being mostly talking heads and very little action he has done a great job with all of the characters facial expressions. He does an especially great job with the doctor’s lab in making it just a creepy mad science lab.

Issue Rating
Story: 9.6/10 – Aaron continues to prove that he was born to write Wolverine and that he is still able to find new stories to tell with the character.
Art: 9/10 – Paquette again provided some spectacular artwork especially for a story that has been mostly talking heads.
Overall: 9.3/10 – Wolverine: Weapon X #8 was another great read. Weapon X is one of the better comics on the market and if you are interested in reading stories about Wolverine than pick this title because it has been great. Aaron is telling some of the best Wolverine stories that I have read in a long time.

Weekly Comic Book Reviews for 12/23/09

admin — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 08:18:00 +0000

Amazing Spider-Man #616

Creative Team
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Javier Pulido
Colorist: Javier Rodriguez

Story – Keemia’s Castle

Captain America: Who Will Wield the Shield?

Creative Team
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artists: Butch Guice and Luke Ross
Colorist: Dean White

Story – Who Will Wield the Shield?

Green Lantern #49

Creative Team
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Ed Benes, Marcos Marz, and Jerry Oroway
Inkers: Ed Benes and Luciana Del Negro
Colorist: Hi-Fi

Story – Sempte Fi; The Birth of Nekron

Wolverine: Weapon X #8

Creative Team
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Yanick Paquette
Inker: Michel Lacombe
Colorist: Nathan Fairbarin

Story – Insane in the Brain

Weekly Comic Book Reviews for 12/16/09

admin — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:51:00 +0000

Amazing Spider-Man #615

Creative Team
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Javier Pulido
Colorist: Javier Rodriguez

Story – Keemia’s Castle

Review
Amazing Spider-Man #615 was another solid issue from this series that has been very consistent in providing good reads almost all of 2009. There have been very few times I have been disappointed by an issue of Amazing Spider-Man which is great for me as a Spider-Man fan. And what I like about this issue in particular is that Fred Van Lente reminded the reader that Peter does have a science background with Peter using his brain to figure out the mystery of this issue, creating some new web fluid to fight Sandman. Also it was cool seeing Spider-Man using the web parachute that I haven’t seen used in a while.

Though the mystery of this story arc is pretty obvious of who did the crime’s and is setting up Carlie to take the fall Van Lente did provide a good mystery for Peter having to use his brain instead of just going into different places and punching people to get answers. It has become rare to see Peter actually solving a mystery using his science background and Van Lente did a solid job showing that Peter is a guy with a master’s degree in bio-chemistry. I especially liked him using specific web fluid to battle Sandman as it is something that I am surprised is not used more often in all the different situations he is in as Spider-Man.

Also I liked how he Van Lente wrote the various interactions of Peter and his supporting cast in this issue whether he was working or as Spider-Man. The interaction between Spider-Man and Betty as an interesting little development seems to be happening with Betty and her starting her own “newspaper” by using a her own blog and using Bugle old information data banks. It will be interesting to see where this is taken in the long-term for Betty as a character as I originally thought she was just going to join Peter by working at the Frontlines but I am digging this new development for her character.

My favorite interaction for this issue was between JJJ and Robbie. These two always have great interactions with one another and it is always great to see them have scenes together. Van Lente did a solid job in the scene between these two in the aftermath of the Daily Bugle being destroyed.

Javier Pulido provided some very good stylized artwork in this issue. The issue had a more old school look to it with the issue being drawn in a similar style to the early Amazing Spider-Man issues. I especially liked Pulido drawing Spider-Man wearing some winter clothes because of the time of the year. It was a very nice touch to set up the time of the year the story is taken place in.

Issue Rating
Story: 9/10 – Van Lente provided a solid mystery to re-introduce Sandman into the series as well as providing some great character interaction.
Art: 7.7/10 – Pulido gave some very good artwork with this issue having an old-school Amazing Spider-Man look to it.
Overall: 8.45/10 – Amazing Spider-Man #615 was another solid issue of this consistently fun series. If you’re an Spider-Man fan this Gauntlet story arc is a great way to get back into the series as the Spidey Brain Trust are doing a solid job so far introducing characters like MJ, Black Cat, Electro, and Sandman back onto the Spider-Man universe.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #7

Creative Team
Writers: Paul Dini and Marc Andreyko
Artists: Dustin Nguyen and Cliff Richards
Inkers: Derik Fridolfs and Art Thibert
Colorists: John Kalisz and Nick Filardi

Story – The Bleak Midwinter; Face Off

Review
Paul Dini returns with this issue after Chris Yost filled in with a good filler two-part story and Dini continues what he was doing with the first story arc by continuing the story arc with Zsasz and the man in the trench coat. Dini just continues to provide his excellent characterization in this issue with Batman (Dick Grayson) and the cast of this series.

And what is shocking about Streets of Gotham is how much emotion is out into this issue. This was a very emotional issue with the scene we get between Batman, Robin, and Humpty. That scene was very touching and revealed a side of Damian we have not seen before. I will even say that Dini gives us the best version of Damian out there.

As has been the case since Dick became Batman the interaction between him and Damian continues to be the standout of every issue where both characters are together on the pages as Batman and Robin. Though the relationship is suppose to have a mentor and protégé feel I like that Dini is adding the fact that both of these characters are brothers and is portraying Damian as the snobby younger brother while Dick is the more experienced and educated big brother. And the scene with Humpty’s “orphanage” was great in developing both characters and humanizing Damian especially.

Dustin Nguyen provided some great artwork. While I am not a big fan of Nguyen style I have started to come around and am enjoying his art style on this title much more than I did in the first issue. He does a great job capturing the mood of this title and I especially like how he drew the last few pages that lead up to a very horror-esque image of Zsasz.

The Manhunter back-up to the issue continues the solid job that Marc Andreyko and Cliff Richards have been providing throughout Streets of Gotham. The battle between Manhunter and Two-Face was good and I will be interested to see how Batman and Robin factor into the story.

Issue Rating
Story: 8.6/10 – Dini returns to provide another good issue of Streets of Gotham. Andreyko was also a solid back-up to Dini’s story.
Art: 8.1/10 – Nguyen artwork in this issue was great and perfectly captures the mood of the story Dini is writing.
Overall: 8.35/10 – Batman: Streets of Gotham #7 was another great read. If you haven’t picked up Streets of Gotham yet than do yourself a favor and pick this series up if you are interested in reading a Batman title as it is the best one on the stands right now.

Daredevil #503

Creative Team
Writer: Andy Diggle
Artist: Roberto De La Torre
Inker: Marco Checchetto
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth

Story – The Devil Laid Low Part 3

Review
For the past year I couldn’t think of an ongoing title that has been better than Daredevil. And Andy Diggle is continuing the work done by Smith, Bendis, and Brubaker on this title and just continuously progressing the character to his limits both physically and mentally. Diggle’s work so far on this title has been very impressive so far and issue #503 continues that strong start from the previous two issues.

What I am enjoying the most that Diggle is doing is how he is taken a slow burn approach in order to show us the new status quo of Matt. Daredevil is one of those titles you do not need a bunch of action at the beginning and Diggle understands this. Everything he is doing on this title is setting things up for future stories where we will no doubt get a lot of action. And as a long time fan of Daredevil I really appreciate this approach from the new creative team as the changes that have happened to Matt and his whole supporting cast are huge and they need to take time to develop everything.

These first three issues specifically have been a great study of Matt’s mentality as he is continuously questioned by those around him how far he is willing to go as the leader of The Hand. Tarantula and White Tiger do a great job presenting both sides of the argument for what Matt should do and you can see that at times being The Hand’s leader is taken its toll on Matt. It is great thing to question as it is still unclear where everything is going to go which adds a great suspense to what is going on that does not exist on many titles.

And as always the standout scene of this issue is between Matt and Master Izo. Izo is has really become the standout character of this series as his ominous words to Matt are always great to read. He is a character that you never know what side he is on as he could be manipulating every character in the series and we will not know until the end of the story.

The scene in Kingpin’s place was perfect. It is just awesome to see how Wilson Fisk is getting back his empire by manipulating the current situation of Norman Osborn being in control to his gain. Wilson is really going to be a character to watch after Siege because it really seems that Diggle is setting up the character to have a much bigger presence within the Marvel Universe after Dark Reign ends.

Roberto De La Torre artwork continues to improve with each issue. De La Torre is perfectly capturing the noir aspect of this title and Daredevil has never looked better. He is just able to breathe so much life into each scene, whether it is outside in a pier, in Kingpin’s office, or The Hand’s secret lair, it all looks great.

Issue Rating
Story: 9.4/10 – Diggle continues to be a great follow up to all of his predecessors. The story of Matt being in control of The Hand feels original and fresh while still having the same noir this title has had for a very long time.
Art: 9/10 – De La Torre artwork is just freaking awesome. His art style is just a perfect fit for Daredevil.
Overall: 9.2/10 – Daredevil #503 was another phenomenal read. Diggle and De La Torre continue to make Daredevil one of the best comics on the market. If you haven’t given this title a try yet do yourself a favor and pick up this title from #501 as there are some great stories being told on this title.

Green Lantern Corps #43

Creative Team
Writer: Peter Tomasi
Artist: Patrick Gleason
Inkers: Rebecca Buchman and Tom Nguyen
Colorist: Randy Mayor

Story – Red Badge of Rage

Review
As has been the case with Green Lantern Corps for the past year this issue continues to explore the concept of the War of Lights and Blackest Night much better than the main title and the main event. In everything Geoff Johns has failed to do with Blackest Night, the main mini-series, Peter Tomasi is able to do with Green Lantern Corps. Reading this issue gives me a great sense of how big this event is and how far it reaches where Blackest Night only makes you believe the even affects the Earth.

Tomasi’s continues just to show that characters like Kyle, Guy, Soranik, and others are just so much more interesting than Barry, Mera, Atom, and all the other DCU heroes that are dominating Blackest Night. Guy’s transformation into a Red Lantern would have been an awesome moment within the event and Tomasi proves that this development is much more interesting than anything we have gotten over in Blackest Night so far. Seeing Guy tear up the Black Lanterns and the Sinestro Corp member was insanely fun to read and watch. A lot of credit has to go to Patrick Gleason for that scene as it just felt like an epic moment.

And though it feels like it was too quick to bring back Kyle I am glad he is back to lead the charge of all the secondary Lantern Corps members from the other Corps. His return also helps to further validate his relationship with Soranik is not just a quick fling but is a real relationship. I just hope that his return does not mean Guy will not be a Red Lantern anymore as it was a very interesting development and no character better fits in with the Red Lanterns than Guy.

Issue Rating
Story: 9/10 – I don’t know what else I can say about Tomasi’s writing on GLC that I have not said before. Tomasi is just telling the story of Blackest Night in a far superior way than the main mini-series.
Art: 8.8/10 – Gleason’s artwork continues to be superb. He does a good job capturing the big event feel of Blackest Night.
Overall: 8.9/10 – Green Lantern Corps #43 was a phenomenal read. If you are reading Blackest Night GLC is a must read. It has been far superior than the main mini-series that everyone should be reading the great work Tomasi and Gleason are doing on this title.

Realm of Kings: Inhumans #2

Creative Team
Writer: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Artist: Pablo Raimondi
Inker: Andrew Hennessy
Colorist: Adriano Lucas

Story – High and Mighty

Review
Though I have been mixed on Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard I loved the first issue of Realm of Kings: Inhumans. This second issue of Inhumans continues the fantastic story DnA started in the first issue. DnA just understand how the Inhumans tick and giving us a great look at the politics behind the Kree and Inhumans post War of Kings and Black Bolt’s disappearance.

And what is great about DnA’s writing is that unlike most other writers who become intimidated with a large cast of heroes DnA relish in it and even bring in more heroes to write into their stories. Even though I am not reading Mighty Avengers DnA did a very good job catching me up on why they are in this issue. Having the Avengers appear also help to give the reader a new point of view to show that the Inhumans are not the Inhumans of old. Instead they are a race of powerful people that have more power and control of their lives than they have ever had.

Hercules and Gorgon’s interaction at the beginning of the issue in the big brawl did an effective job showing this. Hercules barely recognized Gorgon even pointing out that Gorgon seemed different. And It was fun seeing the two characters busting heads of the attackers of the Kree homeworld.

Another great interaction in this issue was between Crystal and Pietro. The scenes with them added a nice closure to the relationship of the two and showed that Crystal is much happier being with Ronan. It also helps to reinforce the fact that Crystal is not the shy scared woman she used to be and is now a very brave and strong woman. I am interested to see what Luna has to say about her mother as she seemed to want to speak up when she saw her mom and dad talking.

But yet again the standout character of the issue is Medusa. DnA have been doing a great job writing Medusa showing that she is a very powerful and imposing figure. Her interaction with Hank Pym showed that she is not messing around anymore and that Black Bolt’s disappearance has affected her in becoming a much more cold character than she was before. Medusa is really becoming my favorite among the Inhumans as she has a lot of things going on in her head than just the cold stare she has been giving everyone. It will be interesting to see her interaction when she finds out the Kree have found a sign that Black Bolt may still be alive in the Fault.

Issue Rating
Story: 9.2/10 –DnA continue to weave an excellent story filled with action, strong characterization, and politics. They are really building up the Inhumans into great A-list feeling characters with the empire they have built for themselves.
Art: 8/10 – Pablo Raimondi artwork was very good in this issue. He provides very consistent art and does a great job with both the action and the talking head moments in this issue.
Overall: 8.6/10 – Realm of Kings: Inhumans #2 was another great read. This title is doing a great job in the aftermath of War of Kings. If you have been enjoying the Marvel cosmic titles than pick this issue up as DnA continue to work their magic on the cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe.

Weekly Comic Book Reviews for 12/16/09

admin — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:51:00 +0000

Amazing Spider-Man #615

Creative Team
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Javier Pulido
Colorist: Javier Rodriguez

Story – Keemia’s Castle

Batman: Streets of Gotham #7

Creative Team
Writers: Paul Dini and Marc Andreyko
Artists: Dustin Nguyen and Cliff Richards
Inkers: Derik Fridolfs and Art Thibert
Colorists: John Kalisz and Nick Filardi

Story – The Bleak Midwinter; Face Off

Daredevil #503

Creative Team
Writer: Andy Diggle
Artist: Roberto De La Torre
Inker: Marco Checchetto
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth

Story – The Devil Laid Low Part 3

Green Lantern Corps #43

Creative Team
Writer: Peter Tomasi
Artist: Patrick Gleason
Inkers: Rebecca Buchman and Tom Nguyen
Colorist: Randy Mayor

Story – Red Badge of Rage

Realm of Kings: Inhumans #2

Creative Team
Writer: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Artist: Pablo Raimondi
Inker: Andrew Hennessy
Colorist: Adriano Lucas

Story – High and Mighty

Weekly Comic Book Reviews for 9/16/09

admin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:15:00 +0000

I already reviewed Batman and Robin #4 over at Rokk’s Comic Book Revolution so be sure to read so check out my review. Now time for the rest of this week’s review.

Amazing Spider-Man #606

Creative Team
Writer: Fred Van Lente (Story 1 and 2); Brian Reed (story 3)
Artists: Javier Pulido (Story 1); Luke Ross (Story 2); Yanick Paquentte (Story 3)
Inkers: Rick Magyar (Story 2); Mark Framer (Story 3)
Colorists: Javier Rodriguez (Story 1); Rob Schwager (Story 2); Nathan Fairbairn (Story 3)

Stories – The Girl (Story 1); Models Stink (Story 2); Match.Con (Story 3)

Review
If I were to sum up Amazing Spider-Man #606 in a few words it would be that this is just another solid issue of Amazing Spider-Man. I know that a lot of Spider-Man fans were turned off by the whole One More Day and Brand New Day thing, but I am here to say that it is time to forgive Marvel for those two storylines and return to this title. Amazing Spider-Man has really returned to the form it once was back when I first started reading this title as it continues to turn in one good read after another. I would even say that for the past 6 months I have not read one issue of this series that I did not like.

This issue was a nice epilogue to what Fred Van Lente did with The Red Headed Stranger. Van Lente tied up some loose ends with this issue, mainly Peter’s relationship with Michele, in the second story which was a nice story of Peter trying to ignore Michele the entire time. I will say that when Peter revealed that it was Chameleon, who was impersonating Peter at the time, that Michele actually made out with was very funny. And it was interesting that Van Lente left the relationship open between the two so that they may end up going out later on.

Also while the Raptor story in this issue was interesting I will say I am going to pass on the “Who is Ben Reilly?” arc that is going to happen after the Black Cat arc since I am not too interested in revisiting the Clone Saga again. And this is one of the nice things about this series right now as I am sure that I can skip this story and pick it up again for the Deadpool one-shot story and The Gauntlet.

The first story also did a nice job with answering some of the questions of what happened between Peter and MJ and what lead to them breaking up. I am glad that the Van Lente showed it wasn’t simply the deal Mephesto that broke them up but that it was Peter continuing his life as Spider-Man that was the cause of them breaking up. By doing this it helps make the break up between the two more grounded and realistic as it is belivable that MJ would be frustrated by keeping Peter’s secret of being Spider-Man and unable to deal with the constant worry of Peter’s disappearances.

Also I liked that MJ got have a heroic moment in this issue as she showed she wasn’t just some damsel in distress and was the one to save her then boyfriend. It was cool how Van Lente parallel MJ keeping Peter’s secret with her boyfriend asking to keep his addiction to MGH a secret from the cops which lead her to breaking up with him.

The final story was my favorite out of the three. Brian Reed, in his first job as part of the Spider-Man Brain Trust, did a fantastic job mixing some great drama, comedy, and action in this series. And it actually was not an easy thing to do since the final story was yet another story about Peter and Harry’s friendship and them trying to get some dates which has been told plenty of times the past year.

What made the story stand out was that it was more of a Peter Parker story than a Spider-Man one as the Spider-Man part of the story played a small part and used to inject some action into the story. It was great seeing Peter luck not working for him as he struggles to get a girlfriend, which nicely parallels his break-up with Michele. Also this nicely sets-up Black Cat’s return as she is sure to cause even more trouble in Peter’s love life.

Also I got to give Javier Pulido, Luke Ross, Yanick Paquentte for each providing some great artwork for each story. Javier Pulido had a nice Marcos Martin look to his artwork while Luke Ross art felt similar Phil Jimenez Spider-Man artwork. Though the stand out of the three is Paquentte who provide some of the best artwork I have seen from him. It was just great and kudos for all the great artwork the three provided.

Issue Rating
Story: 8.5/10 – Van Lente and Reed did a great job with the writing for their stories. The writing was a great mix of the drama, comedy, and action you expect from an Amazing Spider-Man issue.
Art: 8.8/10 – Pulido, Ross, and Paquentte all provide some great artwork that fit the feel of each story. Hopefully each one of these artist are given an Amazing Spider-Man arc in the future as they are a great fit for this series.
Overall: 8.65/10 – Amazing Spider-Man #606 was another solid read. If you have yet to give Amazing Spider-Man a try I highly recommend picking up this series up as this series has been solid for the past six or so months.

Batgirl #2

Creative Team
Writer: Bryan Q. Miller
Artist: Lee Garbett
Inkers: Trevor Scott and Sandra Hope
Colorist: Guy Major

Story – Batgirl Rising: Point of New Origin Part Two

Review
Just like Red Robin I want to like this series. But unlike Red Robin this Batgirl is not a badly written series. Bryan Q. Miller has a good handle of all the characters involved especially Stephanie. The problem with this series is that the story is just average and it doesn’t feel like much is going to happen other than Stephanie becoming and being accepted as the new Batgirl.

Even though Miller tries to show that Stephanie can carry her own series I just don’t think Stephanie is that type of characters as she is more of a supporting character than a star of a series. Miller did do a good job trying to give Steph a supporting cast but so far none of them seem to be characters that will stick around.

Also I didn’t like that Steph went in not asking any questions after her friend was given spiked punch. Instead Steph just took out her torn up Batgirl costume and took out the guy she thought was the one who drugged her friend without any serious backing to prove he was the person. Instead we see that she was completely wrong and it was Scarecrow who provided the drug. Steph needs to develop more detective skills as she is seriously lacking in that department.

The thing I did like about this issue was Steph and Barbara’s conversations throughout the issue. I am starting to like the idea that Barbara has to mentor Steph even though she may not want to risk the life of another teenager. It puts Barbara in an interesting parallel to Dick’s current situation with Damian as they both have to mentor someone who does not want to be mentored. I hope that as the series progresses Barbara starts letting people in as this whole distancing herself from people can get annoying, that is if I stay on this title long enough to see it.

Issue Rating
Story: 6.3/10 – Miller provided some solid dialogue but it was nothing that convinced me of the longevity of this series.
Art: 6.7/10 – Lee Garnett provided some good artwork, though it was inconsistent in certain points of the issue.
Overall: 6.5/10 – Batgirl #2 was an average read. While fans of Batgirl and Stephanie specifically will enjoy this issue I am not sure this series has enough to draw in your casual fan yet.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #4

Creative Team
Writer: Paul Dini
Artist: Dustin Nguyen
Inker: Derek Fridolfs
Colorist: John Kalisz

Story – Business

Review
Paul Dini is really showing to be one of the best Batman writers as he has made Streets of Gotham the best out of all the Batman books currently published. Which is what makes it sad that Chris Yost will be filling in with the writing duties in the next issue as it feels like it kills the momentum of this series. But thankfully Dini will be back in December.

As for this issue this was my favorite comic book of the week. Dini continues to show that Batman does not have to be around the whole issue to make a Batman issue interesting. Like Morrison pointed out in this week’s Batman and Robin Gotham City is a living, breathing city were something is always happening somewhere in the city. And Dini does a great job exploring this issue as he gives focus to Hush, The Great White Shark, Zsasz, and a new character in The Broker.

Even though Dick did not appear until the end of the issue as Batman it made his appearance in the issue feel more special and keeps to the whole keeping in the shadows thing Batman has going. It was great seeing Batman at the end of the issue to beat the snot out of The Broker to make him know that Batman knows what he is up to. Very good scene to show that Dick is becoming adopting more of the aggressive ways of doing things like Bruce used to do while also making him a different Batman than Bruce was.

All the villain scenes in this issue were great and I especially loved Hush part of the story with the Creeper watching him. They had a great interaction with one another. The only thing I wished was that we got to see Zsasz vision again.

The only real weak part of this issue was the Manhunter back-up. After the last back-up showed that the story had promise I thought this one was just average. I am still hopeful this back-up will get better.

Issue Rating
Story: 9/10 – Paul Dini gave us another excellent issue of Streets of Gotham. Dini does a great job showing the challenges Dick faces now that he is Batman.
Art: 8.2/10 – While I am not a big fan of Dustin Nguyen I have to say he did do a very good job with the main story of this issue. His art did a nice job fleshing out this issue that was mostly a talking heads issue.
Overall: 8.6/10 – Batman: Streets of Gotham #4 was another phenomenal read in what is the best Batman title on the market. If you have yet to pick up this series I recommend picking up this initial arc on trade paperback.

Captain America: Reborn #3

Creative Team
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Bryan Hitch and Butch Guice
Colorist: Paul Mounts

Story – Reborn part 3

Review
This is the first issue in this mini-series that I actually enjoyed. The first two issue have been okay but they have never been up to the quality that an Ed Brubaker written Captain America. While this issue wasn’t at that level yet is was still a fun issue.

What made this issue better than the first two is that was the first time were I felt for Steve and his predicament. I am actually starting to wonder what Steve will do once he reaches the point when he is arrested and is taken to court. It will be an interesting choice that Steve will have to make most likely in the next issue.

Also I really liked everything that happened with Bucky in this issue. They were some nice scenes. I especially liked how Ant-Man got involved. And with the ending things should get interesting for Steve and Bucky.

What made this a good issue was how Brubaker explored some of the major events in Captain America’s life during his life as part of the Avengers. What made these scenes great was Bryan Hitch’s artwork which was the best it has been in this series. It was just phenomenal artwork that we got in this issue. This issue makes me hope that whenever Marvel has their next big event that they consider Hitch to be the artist as he provided some great artwork for the big Avengers events.

Credit also has to go to Butch Guice who helped give this issue a similar grounded look that Captain America has had throughout Brubaker’s run. This issue makes me hope that whenever Marvel has their next big event that they consider Hitch to be the artist as he provided some great artwork for the big Avengers events.

Issue Rating
Story: 7.3/10 – While still having some rough moments Brubaker delivered a much better read in this issue. All the dialogue was really solid in this issue.
Art: 9.5/10 – Hitch and Guice combined to deliver some incredible artwork in this issue. They are giving this mini-series a big event feel to it even though Marvel is saying it isn’t.
Overall: 8.4/10 – Captain America: Reborn #3 was a very good issue as the story begins to move and sets things up for the final two issues to be great.

Ultimate Comics Armor Wars #1

Creative Team
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Steve Kurth
Inker: Jeff Huet
Colorist: Guru eFX

Story – Ultimate Armor Wars Part 1

Review
Just as Warren Ellis showed in the Extremis storyline a few years ago he writes a great Tony Stark. And with everything going on with the 616 version of the character it is great to read the Tony I have been reading since I was kid. This is the Tony that is most interesting. I just don’t know why 616 Tony can’t be like Ultimate Tony because this is the version of the character everyone should be reading.

Now this first issue of the newest Ultimate Comics series, though just a mini-series, was mostly a set-up issue. But Ellis does a fantastic job setting up all the pieces for the story to make this mini-series a fun action packed series. What I liked most about this issue is how Ellis gives this series feel like I am reading a big budget movie and is almost Bond-esque in how it is set-up. We meet the love interest, an enemy is quickly shown, an important artifact is stolen and our hero will save the day while having a drinking martini.

Steve Kurth provides some great artwork in this issue and he makes this feel like an Iron Man book as he does a great job drawing all the tech and the various characters involved in this series. And with this being the first time I see Kurth’s artwork he really impressed me with how well he drew everything and am wondering why I’ve never seen his artwork before. Also credit to his inker and colorist Jeff Huet and Guru eFX, respectively, for giving his artwork a nice clean look to it.

Issue Rating
Story: 8.6/10 – Ellis did a fantastic job setting up the pieces for his story. He writes one of the best Tony Starks around and he really nails the character in this series.
Art: 8.8/10 – Kurth did a great job on the artwork for this issue as he gives this mini-series a big blockbuster feel to it.
Overall: 8.7/10 – Ultimate Comics Armor Wars #1 was a great read. I highly recommend picking this four issue mini-series up as it looks to be a highly entertaining mini-series. Now if only Invincible Iron Man could be this good.

Previewing the Week’s Releases for 9/14/09 – 9/20/09

admin — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:49:00 +0000

Comics
Amazing Spider-Man #605 – For the past few months Amazing Spider-Man has been turning in one solid arc after another. The Red Headed Stranger was an above average arc. Fred Van Lente did a solid job with his first arc on this title. Though this is supposed to be an epilogue issue to The Red Headed Stranger but we already got an epilogue at the end of the last issue. Should be interesting what happens in this issue especially with Black Cat around the corner.

Batgirl #2 – The first issue with Stephanie as the new Batgirl was an okay start. I’m still not sold that Stephanie can carry her own ongoing series and if this series belongs on my permanent pull list. But I am willing to see if Bryan Q. Miller can prove me wrong and turn in a good second issue.

Batman and Robin #4 – Morrison has been doing a fantastic job with Batman and Robin so far. This is the most fun I have had with reading a Morrison penned series. I’m interested to see what Morrison has in store for Batman and Robin with the Red Hood making an appearance.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #4 – This has been the best out of all the Batman titles. Dini has been doing a fantastic job with this series. Though I’m sad that he will hand over the writing duties to Chris Yost for the next arc I am glad that he is returning in the arc after that, as Matt Ampersand from Weekly Crisis reported. Looking forward to seeing how Dini ends this Zsaz and Hush arc and if Hush actually believes Dick will go through with his threat from last issue.

Blackest Night #3 – I have been one of the biggest critics of Geoff Johns work on Blackest Night, much to the hate of everyone who is loving this series. While I don’t want to give too much away from my review for Green Lantern Corps #40, which should be up tomorrow, I do want to say that I am already sick off the Black Lantern Corps. At this point I have seen more than enough of the Black Lantern Corps but hopefully Johns can work his magic on this third issue and make me start to like this book.

Captain America: Reborn #3 – This has been one strange mini-series involving the return of Steve Rogers. Brubaker is using a lot of sci-fi elements to bring back the character which goes against the more grounded approach this series has been known for. I am hopeful that Brubaker can recover with issue and turn in a quality read.

Dark Reign: The List – Daredevil #1 – Originally I was only going to get the Spider-Man and Wolverine issue of Dark Reign: The List but after Daredevil #500 I decided to give this one-shot a try as it suppose to serve as a continuation of Matt being the leader of The Hand. I’m interest to learn what Andy Diggle has in store for Daredevil with the new status quo for the character Brubaker has left him.

Invincible Iron Man #18 – The last issue of Invincible Iron Man was very disappointing. As an Iron Man fan I am still optimistic that Fraction can turn in a good end to this arc. Hopefully we see these final two parts turns up the action as these past few issues have been lacking any sort of action.

Ultimate Comics Armor Wars #1 – Warren Ellis + Iron Man = More money for Marvel from me. Ellis is always money when it comes to writing Iron Man. And I have enjoyed most of Ellis work so I sure to love this mini-series involving Ultimate Iron Man.

DVD/Blu-rays
Dragon Ball: Season One – While this anime has sort of become a joke within anime fans, specifically DBZ and DBGT, I will admit that Dragon Ball is the series that introduced me to the world of anime and manga. While I did not like the later parts of DBZ I really enjoyed the original Dragon Ball were we followed a young Goku around in his search, along with Bulma and others, for the Dragon Balls. While I would like to get this box set right away I will probably wait a while till I get some more money to buy it. Still if you are a Dragon Ball fan this is a DVD you should pick up.

The Big Bang Theory: Season Two – The Big Bang Theory is one of my favorite shows on TV. This is just an awesome TV show. If you haven’t given it a try then do yourselves a favor and pick this show up as it is hilarious nerd comedy.

X-Men: Volume 3 and 4 – While Spider-Man and Batman were the first comic book characters I was exposed to it is the X-Men that started my fanaticism with comics and made me go to the comic shop every week. And the reason for that is the 90s cartoon of the X-Men. For me this was my favorite cartoon as a kid because it had so many interesting characters that I could relate to. This series captured everything that was great about the X-Men and made me want to hunt down every issue of the X-Men, along with Spider-Man and Batman comics, that I could find as I wanted to learn more about these characters. These two DVDs are a must for any fan of this series and the X-Men in general. Personally, I’m looking forward to watching the “Dark Phoenix Saga” again as it was one of my favorite episodes of the series.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine – This first movie of Wolverine was a good action summer blockbuster. But nothing more. For the most part this movie while centered around Wolverine was mostly used as a catalyst to start a bunch of X-Men related movies. Will probably get it since I already have the first three X-Men movies. Damn me and my completist nature.

Movies
The Informant – I’ve always like Matt Damon’s movie and this new movie looks like it could be a good one. It should be interesting to see Matt Damon in a comedy role as he has done a lot more series action roles than comedic ones.

Video Games
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 – I enjoyed the first Ultimate Alliance game. I am unsure about this second one though. It looks like it could be a fun game with all the Fusion abilities to play around with but I will probably rent it before buying it just to see how it is.

Weekly Comic Book Reviews for 9/10/09

admin — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:18:00 +0000

Sorry for my lack of updates the past few weeks. I have been getting back into school mode as my summer ended three weeks ago. But now that I am back to getting my school work load in order I should be updating my blog more often. Though my reviews will probably start coming out on Fridays or Saturdays with the Legen—wait for it—dary Comic Book Highlights going back to being posted on the Wednesday after the comics are released. I will try to post them sooner but don’t hold me to that. Also be sure to catch my reviews over on Rokk’s Comic Book Revolution like my Batman #690 and Invincible Iron #17 reviews from this past week. Now time to get on to this week’s comic book reviews.

Amazing Spider-Man #604

Creative Team
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Barry Kitson
Inkers: Rick Ketcham and Barry Kitson
Colorist: Jeromy Cox and Antovio Fabela

Story – Red-Headed Stranger: The Ancient Gallery

Review
While this storyline isn’t as good as the previous two stories we have gotten on Amazing Spider-Man with American Son and Amazing Spider-Man #600 this was still a very entertaining Spider-Man stories. It is stories like Red-Headed Stranger why even though how much I hate how Marvel executed the “reboot” to Spider-Man with One More Day/Brand New Day I have accepted the new status quo. This is just a fun Spider-Man story that we probably wouldn’t have gotten if Marvel didn’t have the balls to change things up with their biggest character.

What I like about this issue is all of the character work Van Lente did in this issue. And it is really a credit to Van Lente’s writing in this arc that I was looking forward more to Peter’s reaction to what Chameleon did to his personal life last issue than the big superhero vs. supervillain fight. Even though I did want to see Spider-Man take Chameleon I am glad we didn’t get it as Van Lente has made Chameleon, a very underrated villain, cool again and the truth is the conclusion of Chameleon’s plan wasn’t the greatest.

And it is great that Spider-Man did not catch Chameleon and that the character will be appearing in the near future as part of The Gauntlet. It helps build interest for the next big Spider-Man story following American Son. As we saw in the preview of things to come for the next half year to year in Amazing Spider-Man one of the things we know is that some of Spider-Man’s villains will be hunting down Spider-Man and/or themselves. This small build up helps to show that even though there is a rotating team of writers that the Spider-Man Brain Trust does have long term plans for the character and his supporting cast.

I loved how Peter discovered all the things Chameleon did to his life while Chameleon took his identity. I thought it was hilarious seeing Peter think how he should hire Chameleon to be him more often only to learn he is now in a relationship with Michelle. Peter’s reaction, along with what he said to Michelle when entering his apartment and what she was wearing, was very funny.

Also I like that we finally got the “big” conversation between Peter and MJ. Van Lente did a very good job with the execution of the first conversation between the two. I like that Van Lente didn’t go all melodramatic on us with the two finally meeting and showed us that these two are in much better terms than we originally thought and that MJ does in fact know Peter is Spider-Man. Though I did get the feeling the reason they aren’t together is because of Peter spending too much time as Spider-Man. Just a feeling.

The only thing I didn’t dig to much was Harry moving in to Aunt May’s house. After everything that has happened to Harry the past year I would have liked to see Van Lente use the opportunity of Harry being at such a low point to take him off the table to give more attention to the rest of the supporting cast. I am just kind of bored of the character and I really don’t want to see more of Harry’s problem with alcohol and drugs which has been hinted at because of what happened in American Son.

As for Barry Kitson’s artwork, I did enjoy most of his artwork for this issue. Kitson style is a very good fit for a character like Spider-Man. The only thing about his artwork for this issue was that there were some inconsistencies in a few panels, but that is the only negative to his artwork.

Issue Rating
Story: 8.6/10 – With some solid character work and nice action Fred Van Lente did a very good job in his first arc on this title.
Art: 8/10 – Minor inconsistencies aside Barry Kitson did a fine job with the artwork in this issue.
Overall: 8.3/10 – The Red Headed Stranger ends with a very solid issue. This is a fun Spider-Man story that takes the character and his supporting cast back to basics with the story having an old school Spider-Man story feel to it. I recommend picking this up for any Spider-Man looking for a fun Spider-Man story.

Blackest Night: Batman #2

Creative Team
Writer: Peter Tomasi
Artist: Ardian Syaf
Inker: Vicente Cifuentes
Colorist: Nei Ruffino

Story – Who Burns Who

Review
I really enjoyed the first issue of this three issue mini-series. Peter Tomasi just knocked it out of the park with the first issue of Blackest Night: Batman. Which would be surprising in the hands of any other writer trying to tie-in all of the street level characters that encompasses the Batman universe but this is Tomasi and he just understands this universe especially Dick Grayson.

This issue continued were Tomasi left of in the last issue and it was just a blast to read. Tomasi has a great understanding of these characters. I love how he shows that Dick, along with the rest of the Batcharacters, is still adjusting to his new role and just how much Dick has to juggle in the beginning of his career as Batman. With having to deal with Hush impersonating Bruce, a new Black Mask trying a mass takeover the gangs in Gotham, Two-Face, and Red Hood the addition of him having to deal with the Black Lanterns only adds to the pressures of the mountain of problems he has had to deal with.

And what I liked about it is that even with the knowledge of all the dead rising from the dead and knowing his parents would be members of the Black Lanterns, Dick was able to push through it and only think of what his, Damian, and Tim’s next move should be. This helps to show that Dick is even in the face of all the problems he has to deal with is showing us that he is not crumbling under all of the problems he has to face and is the right person to take the mantle of the Batman. A good example of this is the difference in reaction between Dick and Tim when they each saw their parents. For Tim he became completely stunned at seeing his parents while Dick was only worried about what they should do next and decided to crash the Batplane in order to escape being killed by the Black Lantern Drakes and Graysons.

I also liked how Tomasi wrote Dick’s relationship with Damian and how he is still learning things about his new protégé. Damian has shown to be a handful as Robin for Dick. And I like that slowly Damian is slowly showing respect to Dick since before he only showed respect to his father and would careless about anyone else’s opinions.

The only thing I hope that we get in the final issue is to get Deadman involved more in it. As he showed in this issue and the first Deadman is a nice source of comedy for what is a very dark story involving the Black Lanterns. Hopefully we see more of him and more information of why his body did rise from the grave even though his soul is not a part of his Black Lantern counterpart.

Issue Rating
Story: 9.4/10 – Tomasi knocks it out of the park again. He does a very good job integrating Batman’s world into Blackest Night.
Art: 8.7/10 – Adrian Syaf does a solid job with the artwork as he gives this issue the creepy vibe that Blackest Night has had with all the dead rising from the grave. The dark look of his artwork, much credit to his inker and colorist, to go along with what is going on in the story.
Overall: 9.05/10 – Blackest Night: Batman #2 was another great read. So far I have been enjoying all of the tie-in work much more than the actual series so far. And this issue is just a fun read as we see Batman go up against zombie versions of dead characters from all of Batman’s history.

Red Robin #4

Creative Team
Writer: Chris Yost
Artist: Ramon Bachs
Colorist: Guy Major

Story – The Grail: Conclusion

Review
The most frustrating thing about reading Red Robin is that series really does have a lot of potential to be a very good comic book. I really do want to like this series as I grew up with Tim being Robin and really like the character, though Dick Grayson is my favorite Robin. But sadly the execution of the story from both a writing and artistic perspective is just horrible. And this fourth issue of the series is the same as the previous three.

While I have been asking for an answer to why Tim thinks Bruce is alive the way Yost chooses to make Tim’s feelings right is just sloppy storytelling that you can read from a fanfiction. Instead of showing us different clues and/or hints to why Tim feels that Bruce is alive we go straight to the caves we saw Bruce drawing the Batsymbol on. Even though as a reader we know that Bruce is the one that drew them we are never told why Tim believes it is Bruce and not just some random drawing. And if we are suppose to believe that Tim is the great detective he has shown himself to be than just one drawing should be the only thing he discovers to confirm his feeling for Bruce being alive.

Also it does not help that Tim went through a similar thing when Connor and Bart died. All of this having Tim dealing with his grief in the wrong way is just getting old. It has been such a long time since we have seen more of the character that was supposed to be the next Batman that the Tim we are getting now is a shell of himself. And how he continues to push people away, as shown by his confrontation with Dick in this issue, is very boring and Tim almost becomes unlikable with how paranoid he is with thinking that Dick, Stephanie, Cassie, the JLA, and everyone he knew are against him. I really hope all of this leads to something that will be positive development with the character other than Tim going to everyone and basically saying “You all thought I was crazy? Who is the crazy one now?”

And all the flashbacks just kill any momentum we may get in the issue. I will say that I did like moments like Dick and Tim’s confrontation and the final few pages with a new villain but they did not carry much impact as the flashbacks kill all of these moments. The constant shifts in the past and present is done horribly and very amateurish.

Issue Rating
Story: 4.1/10 – Yost does a very sloppy job with the storytelling in this issue. Yost isn’t moving the plot much and the revelation in this issue felt very forced
Art: 5/10 – Ramon Bachs artwork continues to be very inconsistent and rushed. His artwork only makes this issue story even more dull than the writing was already making this to series to be.
Overall: 4.55/10 – Red Robin #4was another disappointing read. All of the constant flashbacks give the story a very uneven read. Even the revelation of Tim finding a clue to Bruce being alive is horribly done. Hopefully this improves in the next issue as I do want to like this series.

The Marvels Project #2

Creative Team
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Steve Epting
Colorist: Dave Stewart

Story – Chapter Two

Review
As I said in my previews for this issue the first issue was not a great read but it did a nice job capturing my interest in this mini-series. The main problem with the last issue was a very slow and methodical approach Brubaker took with the issue was a bit boring. And even though this second issue does carry the same slow and methodical approach Brubaker usually takes with his books this was a very enjoyable issue with a lot of depth.

I think one of the greatest things about this mini-series is that it feels like an organic story that has grown from Brubaker and Epting’s run on Captain America. Even though I know how this story will turn out in the end it is funny learning more about the history of the Marvel Universe in comic book form. It was one of the fun things about Captain America as Brubaker and Eptings as they showed us some of the past history of Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. And here we are learning much more about those flashback scenes and learning more about the characters that shaped the current Marvel Universe with the original Angel and Human Torch, Nick Fury, and Dr. Ersktine.

What makes this story a much more layered read is that it has a real world feel with the setting being in WWII. The use of historical figures along with the Marvel characters is very well done and does not feel forced like it sometimes does when Marvel tries to use real world examples in their books.

Steve Eptings artwork adds much more to this story. No one draws dark and gritty stories like Epting as he perfectly captures the mood of the time with his artwork. Epting’s artwork also makes him a perfect fit for this series and makes this story much more importance as it connects to the story being told in Captain America and Captain America: Reborn.

Issue Rating
Story: 8/10 – Brubaker methodical approach to this series makes this a very textured read as he develops characters that I never knew much about like the original Angel and Human Torch into very interesting characters along with long time characters like Nick Fury.
Art: 9/10 – Eptings artwork continues to be phenomenal as his style is a perfect fit for this mini-series.
Overall: 8.5/10 – The Marvels Project was a very good issue that has me hooked to see what Brubaker and Eptings have in store for this story, while predictable in the ending. Though if you have not picked up these first two issues I recommend getting this mini-series when it comes out in trade paperback as it will read even better in TPB form.

Ultimate Comics Avengers #2

Creative Team
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Carlos Pacheco
Inkers: Danny Miki, Dexter Vines, Crime Lab Studios, Martinez and Olazaba, and Chism
Colorist: Justin Ponsor

Story – The Next Generation Part 2 of 6

Review
Just like the first issue Ultimate Comics Avengers #2 was just a blast to read. Even though I can question if the price jump to $3.99 as being the right thing to do especially since Marvel does not increase the page count Millar just knows how to make the reader feel they got their money’s worth. Just like his Ultimates 1 and 2 this series is just some high-octane action/adventure blockbuster movie that gives you characters to love.

Millar does an awesome job balancing quality character work with some great action. The best of his character work is with Captain America. He does a fantastic job showing that this is not the 616 version of the character as he has a much more take no shit attitude than his 616-counterpart. This Cap is much more of an badass as he does what he thinks is right and does not allow anyone get in his way. And I like how Millar shows that Cap is constantly learning and that he truly is one of the most dangerous person in the world.

Also Millar does a great job with his characterization of Nick Fury and Hawkeye. Both these characters are very well written and remind me why these characters were so awesome during his run on Ultimates. And I love the addition of Tony’s older brother, who isn’t as nice as his younger brother, and a new Black Widow. It will be interesting to learn more about these new characters and how Nick will use them in his Project: Avengers.

Maybe the best character work by Millar in this issue is Ultimate Red Skull. He just does a fantastic job wasting no time showing us the origin of the character and makes him into a badass villain and a viable threat for Cap and the rest of the Avengers to face. And I am glad that Ultimate Red Skull is Steve’s son who is a mercenary for hire than just a Nazi villain. It is a nice change to the character to breathe new life into the character. I look forward to seeing more of the character and seeing how the father vs. son angle goes down between Cap and Red Skull.

Carlos Pachico artwork is fantastic in this issue though his artwork suffers from having an inker by committee that gives the issue a bit of an inconsistent look. But just as a fan of Pachico I am glad to see Marvel properly use Pacheco and not just let him do a bunch of covers like he was in DC. When given the opportunity Pacheco is one of the best out there and it is great to see him get some high profile work to show why he is so great.

Issue Rating
Story: 8.8/10 – Millar does a fantastic job with all of the character work in this issue and I am glad that Miller wasted no time in telling us the origin of the Ultimate Red Skull.
Art: 7.6/10 – Carlos Pachico does a fine job with the artwork for this issue though his artwork does suffer from having an inker by committee set-up in this issue.
Overall: 8.2/10 – Ultimate Comics Avengers #2 was just a blast to read. Millar and Pacheco combine to deliver a comic that has a big blockbuster movie type feel that will not disappoint in how much you should enjoy it. If you can spare the $3.99 price tag this series has I definitely recommend picking this issue and series up.

Previewing this Week’s Releases: 9/7/09 – 9/13/09

admin — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Comics
Adventure Comics #2 – Geoff Johns impressed me with the first issue of this new series starring Superboy. Even though I not a big Superboy fan Johns does seem to have a good handle of the character as he finally takes the character and makes him much more likable than he was back as a Teen Titan. Though, Johns will need to do a better job with the back-up as the Legion story was a weak. As someone new to the Legion I did not get anything out of story or who the characters are other than their names and powers.

Amazing Spider-Man #604 – So far the Red Headed Stranger has been a solid story though it has not blown me away especially after the great “American Son” arc and Amazing Spider-Man #600 issue. Hopefully Fred Van Lente can provide a good showdown between Spider-Man and Chameleon as well as some aftermath from Chameleon ruining some of Peter’s personal relationships.

Blackest Night: Batman #2 – I really liked the first issue of this mini-series as Peter Tomasi proved yet again to be one of the best Batman writers, especially when it comes to writing Dick Grayson. The first issue made a strong case for Tomasi to actually write one of the Batman series with Dick as Batman once this mini-series is over. He just understands the character and the Batman universe. I actually would like it if he got to take over Batman to give him a main stream title to take him out of Geoff Johns shadow.

Green Lantern Corps #40 – Just like Blackest Night: Batman the first issue that tied into this Blackest Night for this series did a very good job giving a grander scope to the event than the main book. Tomasi has done a spectacular job on GLC that this title has actually eclipse Green Lantern by Geoff Johns as the best Green Lantern title. And I am definitely looking forward to seeing how the rest of the Green Lantern Corps does against the Black Lanterns especially Kyle vs. Black Lantern Jade.

Red Robin #4 – Red Robin has been the weak link out of all the Batman titles. Chris Yost has not done a very good job convincing me that Tim’s mission to find Bruce is actually worth reading. The whole characterization of Tim post-Battle for the Cowl has been horrible and just seems to have come out of knowhere. I am hopeful that with this fourth issue that Yost can convince me to keep reading this title past this arc.

The Marvel Projects #2 – While the first issue did not blow me away Brubaker and Epting did the job of getting me into this mini-series about the Golden Age of the Marvel Universe’s history. I am interested to learn more about the Marvel Universe’s past as before this series I only have some working knowledge of.

Ultimate Comics Avengers #2 – The first issue of Ultimate Comics Avengers was just a fun comic to read. It was like Miller never left the Ultimate Universe. I look forward to learning more about the Ultimate Red Skull and see what he has planned after the revelation of being the son of Steve Rogers. But honestly I just want to see more kick butt action from Ultimate Captain America who is just a badass in this universe along with some of the other Avengers.

War of Kings: Who Will Rule? One-Shot – This is the issue I am most looking forward to reading this week. War of Kings was a spectacular mini-series event and one of the best comic book events I have read. Though we have seen some of the aftermath of War of Kings in Guardians of the Galaxy and Nova I am interested in seeing how DnA set up the various characters in the Marvel Universe cosmic corner. DnA definitely have a lot of toys to play with in this one-shot to set up Realm of Kings.

DVD/Blu-ray
Bleach: Diamond Dust Rebellion – I am a big fan of the Bleach anime and I really enjoyed the first movie of this series. The first movie was a solid story that mixed every element that makes this series so fun. Though the second movie looks to have a much darker story that will involve the whole Soul Society, and not just Ichigo, as Captain of the 10^th Squad Toshiro Hitsugaya will be hunted down by the Soul Society. This movie definitely speaks to the popularity of Toshiro, a secondary character in the manga and anime, as he has a whole movie centered around him. Look forward to seeing some great action this series has been known for.

The Office Season 5 – One of my favorite TV series is no doubt The Office. Though the show has lost some steam in these past two seasons this is still an excellent comedy with plenty of laughs. Season 5 had a lot of funny moments that this series has been known for. I am really looking forward to the six season of this series and this box set should tie me over until the new season begins.

Movies
9 – What a coincidence that this movie is being released on 09/09/09, or 9/9/9? Sarcasm aside, I will admit that like many people I loved The Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s one of my favorite movies of all time. Sadly I have not liked any of Tim Burton’s movies since The Nightmare Before Christmas. Though I was hesistent at first if “9″ was going to be any good, as I did not know much about it, after seeing a few trailers and TV spots this actually looks like it may capture the magic of The Nightmare Before Christmas. I can hope can’t I?

Weekly Comic Book Reviews for 8/19/09

admin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 07:23:00 +0000

Before starting this week’s reviews I got to mention the biggest news of the week: The PS3 Slim. Finally after months of rumors that the system would come out Sony finally unveiled the 120GB PS3 Slim at GamesCon. Even better the system will be $299. To say I am excited about this would be an understatement. I am freaking psyched about this as I am finally able to afford getting a next gen system. I’m already thinking off what games I should get when I buy the PS3 Slim next month, though hopefully I won’t have to get into too many fights to get one. Right now I know I am going to get Madden 10 and Batman: Arkham Asylum and if any of you have some suggestion for some great games on the PS3 let me know.

Also be sure to catch my reviews for Batgirl #1 and Daredevil #500 that I will be posting later this week over at Rokk’s Comic Book Revolution. Alright time to get to this week’s reviews.

Amazing Spider-Man #603

Creative Team
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Robert Atkins
Inker: Victor Olazaba
Colorist: Jeromy Cox

Story – Red-Headed Stranger: Deconstructing Peter

Review
After two issues of average issues in this “Red-Headed Stranger” arc Van Lente finally picks things up with a great third part to this story arc. Amazing Spider-Man #603 is the best issue so far in this story arc that has so far been average.

While it felt as though Chameleon was able to get away with BS his way through acting like Peter Parker to easily it was a lot of fun seeing how he was able to mess Peter’s life up more than it already was. From doing it with Michele to calling Flash puny to showing MJ a picture of Gwen it was all great way to mess with Peter’s life in a subtle way for Van Lente give this series more drama in Peter’s life when he beats Chameleon and returns to his life. The best part was how he pointed out that Peter hangs around a bunch of gorgeous woman. It is something we have all noticed and it was nice seeing someone outside of Peter’s circle pointing this out.

Though I wish that we would finally get to see an actual Peter and MJ meeting. So far Van Lente has been able to get away with having the two actually having a conversation but I hope we see them have a conversation in person so that we can get an answer to the question left unanswered.

Still Van Lente did a nice job with the meeting between “Peter” and MJ in this issue as we see that not all things were pleasant in that relation. It actually makes me wonder even more what happened between the two and if MJ really does know Peter is Spider-Man.

As for the art in this issue, it was some solid artwork provided by Robert Atkins. It was nothing spectacular but for a talking heads issue it was still good artwork. Though I wish Amazing Spider-Man could get one artist working on an arc instead of changing in each issue.

Issue Rating
Story: 8.4/10 – Fred Van Lente did a great with having Chameleon live Peter’s life and mess Peter’s life up even more. The developments in this issue should lead to some interesting conversation for Peter once he takes his life back from Chameleon.
Art: 7.8/10 – Atkins provided some solid artwork for an issue that was mostly talking heads.
Overall: 8.2/10 – Amazing Spider-Man #602 was a step up from the average issues that we have gotten so far from “The Red-Headed Stranger.” Look forward to seeing how Spider-Man and Chameleon’s confrontation ends in the next issue.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #3

Creative Team
Writers: Paul Dini (main story); Marc Andreyko (back-up)
Artists: Dustin Nguyen (main story); George Jeanty (back-up)
Inkers: Derek Fridolfs (main story); Karl Story and Jack Purcell (back-up)
Colorists: John Kalisz (main story); Nick Filardi (back-up)

Story – Hush Money (main story); Under My Skin (back-up)

Review
Paul Dini continues to show why Batman: Streets of Gotham is currently the strongest out of the Bat-titles right now. Even though this third issue isn’t as strong as the second issue of this series overall Dini has been doing a fantastic job with what life without Bruce around actually looks like.

What is most enjoyable about this issue, and this series so far, is that we get to see how much the deck is stacked against Dick Grayson as his transition into being Batman is being met with plenty of challenges. Though I haven’t been the biggest fan of Hush, Loeb’s Hush story was good but didn’t like the Heart of Hush story arc, I like the new role of him posing as Bruce Wayne as it gives Dick a more personal challenge to face as he sees some stealing his father’s identity right in front of him. I loved how Dr. Elliot used some of the Wayne fortune to buy the factory that turned Joker into what he is, and as Elliot told Batman and Robin, it does a nice job giving a middle finger to the Wayne legacy.

I didn’t really like that Dick used his allies to intimidate Dr. Elliot to stop messing with his father legacy. It just to easy for Elliot to call Dick out on his bluff as it is hard to believe that all of the superheroes would rotate shifts just to keep an eye on what Elliot does as Bruce Wayne.

Still what I did like about this is we see the difference between Dick and Bruce as Batman as Dick has always been seen as the second most trusted hero in the DCU next to Superman. So it is in-character, and it is unsurprising, that unlike Bruce that Dick would call in his friends from the superhero community for some help. Though I wish we would have seen Dick interact a bit with some of the heroes he called in as we have yet to really see him interact with them since becoming Batman.

I liked the meeting between Black Mask and Zsasz. I love seeing how Zsasz saw the people in Penguin’s place as a bunch of dead bodies. It reaffirms him as a deadly character especially since it has been a while since I read a story with him in it. I will be interested to see how Dick as Batman handles the threat of Zsasz in the next issue as it will be one of his first test against the Batman rogue gallery.

Still I can’t say I am enjoying Black Mask involvement in the gang war. I just don’t find the character to be very interesting. Even though Dini tried his best to make Black Mask sound like a credible villain I just have never liked the character and find him to be on the lower end of Batman’s rogue gallery.

Also while Dustin Nguyen does a good job giving this series a dark and gritty feel that Batman should have I am just not a fan of his work. At times the art comes of as a bit flat. And I just don’t like how Nguyen draws Black Mask as he looks. Also he draws Damian to look a bit to much like Tim as Damian looks like he 16 or 17 and not 12 as he should be.

The Manhunter back-up continues to be average though this issues back-up was much better than the previous two installments. There really isn’t anything wrong with the story but I did like the horror movie chase feel Andreyko gave to the confrontation between Kate and Jane Doe. What hurt the story was Jeanty’s artwork as it was really inconsistent at times with some facial expressions that just did not look right.

Issue Rating
Story: 8.5/10 – Dini continues to tell a great story as he does a nice job balancing the troubles Dick is facing both personally and as Batman.
Art: 7.5/10 – While not a fan of Nguyen artwork he continues to do a good job showing how Gotham continues to take a dark turn without Bruce around.
Overall: 8/10 – Batman: Streets of Gotham #3 was another great read. Though I had a couple problems with the issue overall this was still a very well written issue that continues to make this series the best title out of the current Batbooks.

Wolverine: Weapon X #4

Creative Team
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Ron Garney
Colorist: Jason Keith

Story – The Adamantium Men Part 4

Review
Wow! Just wow! I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a Wolverine as much as I enjoyed Wolverine: Weapon X #4. This was just a fun issue to read. Jason Aaron and Ron Garney are just kicking ass with this series. Reading issues like this one is want reminds me why Wolverine is such the big star he is now.

The great thing that Aaron has been able to do in this first arc is to build up a new threat for Wolverine to face that is a great addition to what has become a very small rogue’s gallery for one of comics most famous characters. Chief Executive is just your typical evil CEO that Aaron does a great job making you hate the character because he is evil and not because he is dull like many new villains come off when a writer wants to introduce someone new to a heroes rogue gallery. And the Adamantium Men are also a great addition as his henchmen and challenge for Wolverine.

What I also liked about this issue is the addition of Maverick and HAMMER into the story. HAMMER actually doesn’t come off as evil bastards that work for Norman but just people doing their jobs to protect the country. And it was cool how Maverick used one of the agents to get information in order to help out Wolverine.

Were this issue kicks ass is the fight between Wolverine and one of the Adamantim Men. The fight between the two was just plain awesome that was beautifully drawn by Ron Garney. Wolverine and the guy he was fighting come off as complete badasses. Garney does a heck of a job telling the story with his artwork alone during the fight as it is just one brutal fight.

Issue Rating
Story: 9.6/10 – Aaron just knows how to write a great Wolverine story. He does an excellent job building a new threat for him to face that actually come off as viable villains for Wolverine to face.
Art: 9/10 – This was some of the best work I’ve seen from Garney. His artwork for the fight we get in this issue was just plain awesome.
Overall: 9.3/10 – Wolverine: Weapon X #4 was just a spectacular read. If you have not given this series a try I definitely recommend getting it as this is a comic that is a blast to read.

Previewing this Week’s Releases: 8/10/09 – 8/16/09

admin — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 02:28:00 +0000

This is a big week in comics for me as I am getting 2 times the amount of comics this week with 10 new titles along with getting War of Kings #6 that did not ship to any comic shop here in Las Vegas. I think my wallet will be crying when I go to my LCS this week. While this week looks to be a great week I kind of wish that Marvel and DC would have spread the love a bit over the other weeks in August as I don’t I am getting more than 10 titles the next few weeks. Oh well, enough of my bitching lets what’s out this week.

Comics
Adventure Comics #1 – While I have questioned the return of Connor I have to say I am interested in seeing what Geoff Johns will do with the character. Though the main attraction for me in getting this title is Francis Manapul’ artwork that looks incredible in the preview we got for this issue.

Amazing Spider-Man #602 – The last issue of Amazing Spider-Man was a good, not great, start to the new arc that brings back MJ to Peter’s world. This time around though Fred Van Lente will be handling this issue, and the rest of the arc. The last time Van Lente was on Amazing Spider-Man he did an excellent one and done story involving the Spot. I am interested to see how he handles Spider-Man and his supporting characters in a full arc.

Batman #689 – So far I have been enjoying Winnick’s run on Batman. Winnick’s work hasn’t been as good as Batman and Robin or Streets of Gotham but he still has done a good job handling Dick’s new role as Batman and with Two-Face being involved in this story arc it will be interesting to see how Winnick handles the rivalry between the two.

Blackest Night #2 – While I enjoyed the first issue of Blackest Night for the most part I was disappointed with a couple aspects of the issue. Hopefully Johns can fix the problems with the last issue and make this series live up to the high expectations that have been set for this DCU event.

Blackest Night: Batman #1 – Though I have my reservations about having the Batfamily involved in Blackest Night but I would be lying if I didn’t say that I am interested to see Dick Grayson fighting/meeting his parents.

Green Lantern Corps #39 – While I have been mixed with the work Geoff Johns has been doing with Green Lantern and Blackest Night I have love all the work Peter Tomasi has been doing on Green Lantern Corps. He did a great job with “Emerald Twilight” and it seems that even though this issue and future issues will tie-in Blackest Night it doesn’t look like the event will slow down what Tomasi and Gleason have been doing on this title.

The Marvels Project #1 – This is a series I am not sure if I should get it on a monthly basis or in TPB. While I do like the team of Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting this series sounds like it will be much better in TPB though I will try out this first issue to see what Brubaker and Epting are going to do with this story of revisiting Marvel’s Golden Age characters before making my decision.

Red Robin #3 – So far I have been really disappointed with the work Chris Yost has done with Tim Drake and his new role as Red Robin. Still Tim is one of my favorite DCU characters and I can only hope that Yost improves with this issue and stops giving us this emo Tim he has been giving us the first two issues.

Ultimate Comics Avengers #1 – I am really excited to see what Mark Millar has in store for his return to the Ultimate Universe. And the concept of this title having a black-opts team has me even more interested to see what crazy story has in store for these characters and the introduction of Ultimate Red Skull.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1 – This is probably the book I am most looking forward to reading out of this crop of new titles we are getting this week. Bendis is just money when it comes to writing Ultimate Spider-Man and I look forward to seeing what he has in store for Peter and his supporting cast, new and old.

DVD/Blu-ray
I Love You, Man – This was probably the funniest comedy movie we have got this year though I may wait a couple weeks before purchasing this movie on DVD.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Blu-ray) – Ah, TMNT! These were the movies I grew up with as a kid. So there is no doubt I will be getting these movies that include the three live action movies and the recent CGI TMNT movie from a couple years ago.