Creative Team
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Inker: Mark Morales
Colorist: Laura Martin

Story – Siege on Asgard

Review
Brian Bendis last two events, House of M and Secret Invasion, have been very underwhelming. Also Bendis work in the core Marvel Universe over the past couple of years have been average, but his Ultimate Spider-Man even in the relaunch has been spectacular. The biggest reason for Bendis producing average work in the core Marvel Universe is because he has been focusing his attention on writing the Avengers books even though his strength is solo books and not team books with a large set of main characters. Because of all of this I have largely stayed away from all of the Dark Reign titles with the only title that I have read that deal with Dark Reign has been Invincible Iron Man along with one story arc in Amazing Spider-Man (“American Son”) and Diggle current use of Dark Reign backdrop on Daredevil. So coming into Siege I have very low expectations for this event since, unlike Blackest Night, I have not be immersed with all the build up to the Siege.

And after reading Siege #1 I am going to give Bendis credit for making this as new reader friendly as possible as a reader can come in knowing the basics of this event being Norman and Loki teaming up to get Asgard off Earth and understand what is going on. Even though Bendis and Marvel have said that this event has been seven years in the making you don’t get that from this issue which can be seen as both the strength and weakness of this issue.

And I am going to give Bendis credit for writing a very good version of Norman Osborn and Loki. I liked how Bendis wrote both characters in Siege: The Cabal and he continued that here. From the get go we know who the villains of this story are, their motivation, and their endgame all in the first issue. For a event that is only four issues long I am glad Bendis is not wasting time presenting all of these ideas as he has been known to do with most of his titles in the slow burn approach he usually takes. The way he used Norman and Loki was a big factor in this issue being much more faster pace issue as the villains were the focus of this issue and not the heroes.

The problem I did have with how Bendis used Norman and Loki was the narration of the incident at Soldier Field. It was just such a forced event, and I do not mean Norman and Loki orchestrating the incident to happen. I should dislike it for being a blatant copy of how Mark Millar started Civil War but what I hated about this opening scene was Norman and Loki narrating the incident.

Unlike Millar opened Civil War this opening scene in Siege does not feel like it is happening in real time and Bendis does not give any dialogue about Volstagg and him being the sacrificial lamb. Also we do not see any of the people who are killed in this incident so we are just told that many people died instead of seeing it. A big reason that the opening scene in Civil War had such a resonance with me was because we actually saw all the people especially the children that where killed because of Nitro blowing up. And Bendis does not provide such a scene as Norman and Loki prove to be more of a distraction from what happened in Chicago than helping the scene.

Now going beyond the opening scene, like I previously mentioned, I did like how Bendis wrote Norman. Outside of showing his motivation and endgame to make sure he stays in power we also saw that there are plenty of weaknesses in Norman’s plans. Bendis quickly showed that what Norman is doing is not something that is for the better of the country but for himself and for him to keep his power. As we saw the President (Obama?) has no tolerance for Norman. With the meeting the President had with Steve in Who Will Wield the Shield? I am going to guess that somehow the President will help out Steve, secretly, to take down Norman as the President does not like that Norman is doing without his approval.

Also I did like that Bendis had Ares play a semi-big role in this issue. I have always liked Marvel’s version of Ares since the Ares: God of War mini-series from a few years ago. And Bendis used the character very well in this issue by having him lead Norman’s Avengers and the Initiative into battle against all of Asgard. Norman doesn’t have a better man or woman to lead his troops against god-like characters than Ares and I really liked his speech to all of the troops and how he called them Warriors was great.

Now I think the biggest weakness of this issue is the Siege on Asgard, specifically how quickly Norman and the crew he gathered took down Thor. After spending so much time on setting the battle against Thor up in not only this issue but also in Siege: The Cabal Bendis just completely rushed things at the end. While it was cool to see Thor just swat away Sentry like he was nothing it is hard to believe that Norman and a bunch of D-list characters, none of the Dark Avengers where in the scene of the battle Thor, could take Thor out so quickly.

Bendis actually took away all of the build-up away and made the first two-thirds of the issue feel like his typical Bendis-speak as Thor should not have been taken down so quickly. And Steve appearance at the end felt so forced. I know that this even is supposed to revolve around the big comeback of Marvel’s Trinity in Tony, Steve, and Thor but that is no excuse for making one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe look like he was nothing. It is almost similar to the way Bendis has been using Sentry in the Avengers books and how DC typically uses Superman in their events by taking out the heaviest hitter the heroes got very quickly in order to convey the threat the villain poses. It is just a weak way to move the story forward that someone of Bendis’s talents should not be using in his big event that he has preach has been building for 7 years since Avengers: Dissassembled. It is just weak writing. I would have preferred seeing the battle extended instead of getting the “bonus” content of Norman’s secret meeting with the Dark Avengers which I did not care for what so ever.

Also I really dislike how Bendis seemingly does not care about what other writers in Marvel have been doing with various characters and just using characters as it benefits his stories. I hated how we saw Steve in his Captain America costume even though Brubaker clearly showed that Steve passed down the mantle of Captain America and the shield to Bucky to wear in Who Will Wield the Shiled. Also he spoiled what is going to happen in Fraction’s “Stark Disassembled.” And with this issue I have actually decided to drop Invincible Iron Man not only because of it being spoiled but because of how slow and boring that story is, as was the previous “World’s Most Wanted,” that I already know that Tony will be waking up in Siege and not at the end of “Stark Disassembled.”

Now as for the art, I am going to say I am a bit disappointed in Oliver Coipel’s artwork in this issue. The first half of this issue looked like he was rushing through his pages and did not have the same epic look as his work on Thor did. I will say that his artwork did get much better in the latter half of the issue. I did like the subtle things that Coipel added to the issue to show Norman is not completely in control like the small bits of sweat on his face and his expressions. It was subtle but a very good addition to the early part of the issue. My favorite part though was his artwork at the end in the battle at Asgard as the fight look, even though it was a brief action scene.

Issue Rating
Story: 5.3/10 – Though Bendis makes this issue new reader friendly and did some nice work with Norman and Loki the flaws in this issue where many compared to the little strengths this issue had. Also his Bendis speak got in the way of this issue that made the last half of this very rushed.
Art: 7.2/10 – The art at the beginning of the issue looked very rushed and not up to the standard of Coipel’s artwork that he set in Thor though the art did get better as the issue went on.
Overall: 6.25/10 – Siege #1 is the example of how not to start an event that is said to be 7 years in the making. The issue was just too rushed. Though the issue had its good parts the flaws of this issue outweighed the strengths the issue had. Still Bendis did an good enough job that because this is only a four part event and now only three issues to go I will stick around to pick up the last three issue of Siege.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #6

Creative Team
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: David Lafuente
Colorist: Justin Ponsor

Story – The New World According to Peter Parker: Part 6

Review
Will you look at that two Bendis issues in one week that I pick up. I don’t remember the last time that happened.

Anyways, this issue ends this first arc of the relaunch of Ultimate Spider-Man and Bendis did a fantastic job yet again on this issue as he has done in every issue of Ultimate Comics Spider-Man and most of his run on Ultimate Spider-Man. And this issue was just some great characterization by Bendis as he has Aunt May’s house basically become the home base of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends with Johnny Storm and Bobby Drake officially moving in and getting secret identities. Aunt May has really become the MVP of the Ultimate Universe and I love how Bendis continues to show that Ultimate Aunt May is a much stronger version of the typical frail 616-version of the character.

I love how Bendis has returned to building Peter’s supporting cast as the best aspect of a Spider-Man book has always been the great supporting cast the character has. The only thing that has really been missing has been Jonah and the cast at the Daily Bugle which I am not bother that we have yet to see in this relaunch though I would like to see them return soon.

In any case Bendis does a great job making the additions of Johnny and Bobby feel natural and not just forced into the title. The interactions between them and Peter was awesome especially when revealing Johnny and Bobby’s new secret identities of being Peter’s “cousins.” There is a lot of stories that can be explored with these two now added to the supporting cast especially with both characters having to go to a public school which Bendis previously explored, albeit shortly, in the “Superstars” arc in USM. It is actually new ground for both superhero characters and like the addition of Kitty to Peter’s school it will be fun to see where Bendis goes with this idea

The addition of these two characters allows Bendis to show the differences between Peter and the other heroes in the Ultimate Universe. Unlike Peter Johnny and Bobby were in places where they could freely use their powers, Baxter Building and Professor X’s mansion. For Peter he has had to hide his Spider-Man identity from the rest of the school, save for MJ, Gwen, and Kitty. Bendis showed this difference in upbringing for the young heroes with Mysterio’s Spider-Slayer attacking the school with Peter having to tell Johnny and Bobby not to jump in and use their powers in front of the school as they would reveal their identities. This is an interesting situation for Peter to be in as for once Peter will have to take on a leadership type role and show Johnny and Bobby how they have to act in their new surroundings.

And to make things better not only does Bendis do an excellent job with quality character work but he also perfectly mixes in some action to serve as a perfect balance between strong character work and fun action sequences. And I am going to admit that I have always been a fan of the Spider-Slayers and I like that Mysterio has used them to find out who Spider-Man is by using Spider-Man’s DNA and implanted them into the Spider-Slayers to find Spider-Man. The action and destruction the action caused the school was fun.

Also, we finally found out who the Shroud is as we see that it is actually Kitty, which I completely guessed it was going to be. The only thing that I question is how Kitty got super strength because when she saved MJ from some muggers a few issues ago she clearly crushed the car the muggers where in when she jumped down on it. In any case it will be interesting to see how long Kitty will be able to keep this a secret from Peter and their friends.

Again David Lafuente’s manga influenced artwork continues to be a standout of this series. His artwork gives this title a very distinct look that allows the stories that Bendis is telling to feel fresh and new. Lafuente does a great job with both the talking heads and action scenes in this series as well as having a great chemistry with the writing of this issue. The transitions between not only scenes but panels is great as there is a natural flow to the look of the issue.

Issue Rating
Story: 9/10 – Bendis continues to turn in one great issue of UCSM after another that continued his great writing in USM. This opening arc did a great job in building up Peter’s supporting cast for this new relaunched title.
Art: 9.6/10 – Lafuente’s artwork continues to be just awesome. Lafuente makes this issue one of the better and dynamic looking comic books on the stands.
Overall: 9.3/10 – Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #6 was another spectacular issue. Both the writing and artwork continue to be top notch on this series. Ultimate Comics Spider-Man is one of the best comics on the stands right now. I look forward to seeing what happens in this series next month as Takeshi Miyazawa comes in to fill in on the art duties.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Weekly Comic Book Reviews for 1/6/10

Creative Team
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Inker: Mark Morales
Colorist: Laura Martin

Story – Siege on Asgard

Review
Brian Bendis last two events, House of M and Secret Invasion, have been very underwhelming. Also Bendis work in the core Marvel Universe over the past couple of years have been average, but his Ultimate Spider-Man even in the relaunch has been spectacular. The biggest reason for Bendis producing average work in the core Marvel Universe is because he has been focusing his attention on writing the Avengers books even though his strength is solo books and not team books with a large set of main characters. Because of all of this I have largely stayed away from all of the Dark Reign titles with the only title that I have read that deal with Dark Reign has been Invincible Iron Man along with one story arc in Amazing Spider-Man (“American Son”) and Diggle current use of Dark Reign backdrop on Daredevil. So coming into Siege I have very low expectations for this event since, unlike Blackest Night, I have not be immersed with all the build up to the Siege.

And after reading Siege #1 I am going to give Bendis credit for making this as new reader friendly as possible as a reader can come in knowing the basics of this event being Norman and Loki teaming up to get Asgard off Earth and understand what is going on. Even though Bendis and Marvel have said that this event has been seven years in the making you don’t get that from this issue which can be seen as both the strength and weakness of this issue.

And I am going to give Bendis credit for writing a very good version of Norman Osborn and Loki. I liked how Bendis wrote both characters in Siege: The Cabal and he continued that here. From the get go we know who the villains of this story are, their motivation, and their endgame all in the first issue. For a event that is only four issues long I am glad Bendis is not wasting time presenting all of these ideas as he has been known to do with most of his titles in the slow burn approach he usually takes. The way he used Norman and Loki was a big factor in this issue being much more faster pace issue as the villains were the focus of this issue and not the heroes.

The problem I did have with how Bendis used Norman and Loki was the narration of the incident at Soldier Field. It was just such a forced event, and I do not mean Norman and Loki orchestrating the incident to happen. I should dislike it for being a blatant copy of how Mark Millar started Civil War but what I hated about this opening scene was Norman and Loki narrating the incident.

Unlike Millar opened Civil War this opening scene in Siege does not feel like it is happening in real time and Bendis does not give any dialogue about Volstagg and him being the sacrificial lamb. Also we do not see any of the people who are killed in this incident so we are just told that many people died instead of seeing it. A big reason that the opening scene in Civil War had such a resonance with me was because we actually saw all the people especially the children that where killed because of Nitro blowing up. And Bendis does not provide such a scene as Norman and Loki prove to be more of a distraction from what happened in Chicago than helping the scene.

Now going beyond the opening scene, like I previously mentioned, I did like how Bendis wrote Norman. Outside of showing his motivation and endgame to make sure he stays in power we also saw that there are plenty of weaknesses in Norman’s plans. Bendis quickly showed that what Norman is doing is not something that is for the better of the country but for himself and for him to keep his power. As we saw the President (Obama?) has no tolerance for Norman. With the meeting the President had with Steve in Who Will Wield the Shield? I am going to guess that somehow the President will help out Steve, secretly, to take down Norman as the President does not like that Norman is doing without his approval.

Also I did like that Bendis had Ares play a semi-big role in this issue. I have always liked Marvel’s version of Ares since the Ares: God of War mini-series from a few years ago. And Bendis used the character very well in this issue by having him lead Norman’s Avengers and the Initiative into battle against all of Asgard. Norman doesn’t have a better man or woman to lead his troops against god-like characters than Ares and I really liked his speech to all of the troops and how he called them Warriors was great.

Now I think the biggest weakness of this issue is the Siege on Asgard, specifically how quickly Norman and the crew he gathered took down Thor. After spending so much time on setting the battle against Thor up in not only this issue but also in Siege: The Cabal Bendis just completely rushed things at the end. While it was cool to see Thor just swat away Sentry like he was nothing it is hard to believe that Norman and a bunch of D-list characters, none of the Dark Avengers where in the scene of the battle Thor, could take Thor out so quickly.

Bendis actually took away all of the build-up away and made the first two-thirds of the issue feel like his typical Bendis-speak as Thor should not have been taken down so quickly. And Steve appearance at the end felt so forced. I know that this even is supposed to revolve around the big comeback of Marvel’s Trinity in Tony, Steve, and Thor but that is no excuse for making one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe look like he was nothing. It is almost similar to the way Bendis has been using Sentry in the Avengers books and how DC typically uses Superman in their events by taking out the heaviest hitter the heroes got very quickly in order to convey the threat the villain poses. It is just a weak way to move the story forward that someone of Bendis’s talents should not be using in his big event that he has preach has been building for 7 years since Avengers: Dissassembled. It is just weak writing. I would have preferred seeing the battle extended instead of getting the “bonus” content of Norman’s secret meeting with the Dark Avengers which I did not care for what so ever.

Also I really dislike how Bendis seemingly does not care about what other writers in Marvel have been doing with various characters and just using characters as it benefits his stories. I hated how we saw Steve in his Captain America costume even though Brubaker clearly showed that Steve passed down the mantle of Captain America and the shield to Bucky to wear in Who Will Wield the Shiled. Also he spoiled what is going to happen in Fraction’s “Stark Disassembled.” And with this issue I have actually decided to drop Invincible Iron Man not only because of it being spoiled but because of how slow and boring that story is, as was the previous “World’s Most Wanted,” that I already know that Tony will be waking up in Siege and not at the end of “Stark Disassembled.”

Now as for the art, I am going to say I am a bit disappointed in Oliver Coipel’s artwork in this issue. The first half of this issue looked like he was rushing through his pages and did not have the same epic look as his work on Thor did. I will say that his artwork did get much better in the latter half of the issue. I did like the subtle things that Coipel added to the issue to show Norman is not completely in control like the small bits of sweat on his face and his expressions. It was subtle but a very good addition to the early part of the issue. My favorite part though was his artwork at the end in the battle at Asgard as the fight look, even though it was a brief action scene.

Issue Rating
Story: 5.3/10 – Though Bendis makes this issue new reader friendly and did some nice work with Norman and Loki the flaws in this issue where many compared to the little strengths this issue had. Also his Bendis speak got in the way of this issue that made the last half of this very rushed.
Art: 7.2/10 – The art at the beginning of the issue looked very rushed and not up to the standard of Coipel’s artwork that he set in Thor though the art did get better as the issue went on.
Overall: 6.25/10 – Siege #1 is the example of how not to start an event that is said to be 7 years in the making. The issue was just too rushed. Though the issue had its good parts the flaws of this issue outweighed the strengths the issue had. Still Bendis did an good enough job that because this is only a four part event and now only three issues to go I will stick around to pick up the last three issue of Siege.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #6

Creative Team
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: David Lafuente
Colorist: Justin Ponsor

Story – The New World According to Peter Parker: Part 6

Review
Will you look at that two Bendis issues in one week that I pick up. I don’t remember the last time that happened.

Anyways, this issue ends this first arc of the relaunch of Ultimate Spider-Man and Bendis did a fantastic job yet again on this issue as he has done in every issue of Ultimate Comics Spider-Man and most of his run on Ultimate Spider-Man. And this issue was just some great characterization by Bendis as he has Aunt May’s house basically become the home base of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends with Johnny Storm and Bobby Drake officially moving in and getting secret identities. Aunt May has really become the MVP of the Ultimate Universe and I love how Bendis continues to show that Ultimate Aunt May is a much stronger version of the typical frail 616-version of the character.

I love how Bendis has returned to building Peter’s supporting cast as the best aspect of a Spider-Man book has always been the great supporting cast the character has. The only thing that has really been missing has been Jonah and the cast at the Daily Bugle which I am not bother that we have yet to see in this relaunch though I would like to see them return soon.

In any case Bendis does a great job making the additions of Johnny and Bobby feel natural and not just forced into the title. The interactions between them and Peter was awesome especially when revealing Johnny and Bobby’s new secret identities of being Peter’s “cousins.” There is a lot of stories that can be explored with these two now added to the supporting cast especially with both characters having to go to a public school which Bendis previously explored, albeit shortly, in the “Superstars” arc in USM. It is actually new ground for both superhero characters and like the addition of Kitty to Peter’s school it will be fun to see where Bendis goes with this idea

The addition of these two characters allows Bendis to show the differences between Peter and the other heroes in the Ultimate Universe. Unlike Peter Johnny and Bobby were in places where they could freely use their powers, Baxter Building and Professor X’s mansion. For Peter he has had to hide his Spider-Man identity from the rest of the school, save for MJ, Gwen, and Kitty. Bendis showed this difference in upbringing for the young heroes with Mysterio’s Spider-Slayer attacking the school with Peter having to tell Johnny and Bobby not to jump in and use their powers in front of the school as they would reveal their identities. This is an interesting situation for Peter to be in as for once Peter will have to take on a leadership type role and show Johnny and Bobby how they have to act in their new surroundings.

And to make things better not only does Bendis do an excellent job with quality character work but he also perfectly mixes in some action to serve as a perfect balance between strong character work and fun action sequences. And I am going to admit that I have always been a fan of the Spider-Slayers and I like that Mysterio has used them to find out who Spider-Man is by using Spider-Man’s DNA and implanted them into the Spider-Slayers to find Spider-Man. The action and destruction the action caused the school was fun.

Also, we finally found out who the Shroud is as we see that it is actually Kitty, which I completely guessed it was going to be. The only thing that I question is how Kitty got super strength because when she saved MJ from some muggers a few issues ago she clearly crushed the car the muggers where in when she jumped down on it. In any case it will be interesting to see how long Kitty will be able to keep this a secret from Peter and their friends.

Again David Lafuente’s manga influenced artwork continues to be a standout of this series. His artwork gives this title a very distinct look that allows the stories that Bendis is telling to feel fresh and new. Lafuente does a great job with both the talking heads and action scenes in this series as well as having a great chemistry with the writing of this issue. The transitions between not only scenes but panels is great as there is a natural flow to the look of the issue.

Issue Rating
Story: 9/10 – Bendis continues to turn in one great issue of UCSM after another that continued his great writing in USM. This opening arc did a great job in building up Peter’s supporting cast for this new relaunched title.
Art: 9.6/10 – Lafuente’s artwork continues to be just awesome. Lafuente makes this issue one of the better and dynamic looking comic books on the stands.
Overall: 9.3/10 – Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #6 was another spectacular issue. Both the writing and artwork continue to be top notch on this series. Ultimate Comics Spider-Man is one of the best comics on the stands right now. I look forward to seeing what happens in this series next month as Takeshi Miyazawa comes in to fill in on the art duties.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Weekly Comic Book Reviews for 1/6/10

Comics
Invincible Iron Man #17 – So far “World’s Most Wanted” has been a mixed bag with the storyline going back and for between good and bad issues. With only two issues left in this arc before starting the “Tony Stark Disassembled” arc I am hoping that Fraction can deliver a good ending to this story arc.

Oz: The Wonderful Wizard of OZ Hardcover – I got to give Marvel a lot of credit as their adaptions of books have been great does far and Oz: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz id no exception. While I have all the issues for this mini-series I have to recommend this to everyone to pick up this hardcover. This was a spectacular mini-series by Eric Shanowner and Skottie Young. If you aren’t interested in OZ I have to say that Young’s artwork alone is phenomenal. I look forward to The Wonderful Land of Oz in November.

Spider-Man: Sinister Six Premier Hardcover – I enjoyed this Sinister Six storyline from Amazing Spider-Man #334-339 and it was one of the first comic book stories I read as a kid. While I will probably wait a couple weeks to get this hardcover this is definitely one of my favorite Spider-Man stories.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #2 – I loved the first issue of the relaunch to one of my favorite series in the past decade in USM. Though I don’t like the whole Peter/Gwen hook-up Bendis has built up my trust with the great work with this series. Also I loved LaFuentes artwork as it gives this title a new distinct look.

Manga
Bleach Volume #28 – This is one of my favorite current mangas and I have been enjoying this Arrancar arc as it has been much better than the Soul Society. What is interesting to note about this series is that the anime has caught up to where the manga is now here in the US. It will be interesting to see if Viz starts releasing more of the manga volumes at greater speeds like they have done with Naruto. Still, I am interested to seeing how Tite Kudo continues this great Arrancar arc with our heroes in Hueco Mundo, the world of the Hollows.

Video Games
Soul Caliber: Broken Destiny – Soul Caliber is one of my favorite fighting games and this PSP release is great as it adds a game to my thin PSP Game collection. And while I can say how great this game will be and my love for the characters there is really only one reason why this is a must buy for my PSP: Kratos. The God of War, along with the sequel, is one of my favorite video games and God of War III is one of my most anticipated video games for next year. I want to see how Kratos matches up with the Soul Caliber characters.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Previewing this Week’s Releases: 8/31/09 – 9/6/09

Now it looks like my pull list for this week is dominated by Marvel as I won’t be getting any DC titles this week. This isn’t anything for me new as other the Batman and Green Lantern franchises there isn’t any other titles/project to be excited about that DC is publishing right now. At the same time Marvel just seems to want all my money until I am broke as they publish more titles and projects that peek my interest. What a difference in approaches between the two companies right now. Hmmm!

Oh well! Enough of my small rant for this week now onto this week’s releases:

Comics
Amazing Spider-Man #601 – For the past few months Amazing Spider-Man has actually been providing some very good stories. And after the huge anniversary issue two weeks ago with issue #600 it seems as though this title is going to provide us with some great stories these next year. With this issue bringing back MJ back this issue and story arc should be very interesting as she interacts with both Peter and Spider-Man. Hopefully the supporting cast that the Spider-Man Brain Trust have built up still plays a large role in this issue and is not pushed aside because of MJ’s return. I also look forward to Mario Alberti’s artwork as I was a huge fan of his work on the X-Men/Spider-Man mini-series from last year.

Captain America: Reborn #2 – The first issue of Steve Rogers return was a lack luster return of the character. Even though I did not like the way Ed Brubaker revealed that Steve is still alive I still have faith that he and Hitch can deliver a much better story with this second issue.

Invincible Iron Man #16 – So far I have been mixed with “World’s Most Wanted” arc going on in this title. Matt Fraction has done a good job with building the problems facing Tony and Maria Hill but his execution sometimes makes this story arc read too much like other Iron Man stories from the past. Though with the announcement at SDCC of issue #19 being the final showdown between Tony and Norman I am hopeful Fraction can turn things around and start providing more solid reads on a consistent basis till then.

War of Kings #6 – I can’t believe the final issue is finally here. Time sure flies by when an event comes out on time doesn’t it? DnA and Paul Pelletier have been doing a fantastic good showing all current and future writers and artists of big events should execute big events. War of Kings has done an excellent job in both being a fast paced and methodical read as it has built up to the big confrontation between Black Bolt and Vulcan. And this should be one hell of a final issue as DnA and Pelletier have yet to disappoint with War of Kings. I can’t wait to read this issue.

Movies
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra – Though at first I was very hesitant about this movie being any good, but the more I see of this movie through the commercials and trailers the more I think this won’t be half as bad as I originally thought. If anything I going to go into the movie theater with the same mentality I went in with for Transformers 2: this should be a fun action packed summer blockbuster movie. As long as the movie can deliver with the entertainment like Transformers 2 I will look past the flaws in the story.

Copyright © 2009 Good Books

Previewing this Week’s Releases: 8/3/09 – 8/9/09

Creative Team
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Frank Quietly
Colorist: Alex Sinclair

Story – The Circus of Strange

Review
After a great first issue this second issue to the new flagship title of the Batman franchise was another fun read. Even though this issue wasn’t as good as the first this was still a fun read. After going through Morrison’s Batman RIP and Final Crisis it is good to see that Morrison is still able to tell a fun and interesting tale that does not become too convoluted for the reader to follow. What Morrison is doing with Batman and Robin is a great showcase of how talented he is as a writer when he lets loose with all the great ideas he has in his head.

Even though Morrison did not write Dick Grayson’s character at all during his run on Batman until Batman RIP he is clearly having fun writing all of Dick’s dialogue in and out of the cowl. In these first two issues he is doing a great job showing an evolution of Dick’s character as he tries to adjust to his new role as Batman. Unlike the first go around as Batman this time around Dick thinks Bruce is dead and is not coming back. Because of that fact there is more of an adjustment as Dick wants to keep Bruce’s legacy alive and doing it in his own style at the same time. It will be interesting to see how long Dick adjust to his new role as Batman and really claims the mantle for himself and not just because he is Bruce’s heir.

Also I continue to like the interaction of between Dick and Damien. It is interesting seeing how the roles of Batman and Robin have flipped. It makes things interesting as it is Dick who is trying to get Damien to accept him as Batman and that they have to work as a team and not the other way around. Even though I still find Damien annoying something about having Dick around allows for scenes with Damien to be more balance than his scene’s with Bruce and Tim.

Issue Rating
Story: 8.6/10 – Morrison did a great job handling Dick, Damien, Alfred and Gordon’s characters and I look forward to seeing how he handles the various relationships between the characters.
Art: 8.5/10 – Frank Quietly art looked as good as always though I he went a little over board with his inking in this issue.
Overall: 8.55/10 – Batman and Robin #2 was another solid issue to the flagship title to the Batman universe. There is plenty for both new and old readers to like about these first two issues.

Captain America: Reborn #1

Creative Team
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artists: Bryan Hitch & Butch Guice
Colorist: Paul Mounts

Story – Reborn

Review
With all the build up that Marvel put into this series I had high expectations for this issue especially with the creative team behind this series. Ed Brubaker has shown to have a great handle of the Captain America franchise and both Bryan Hitch and Butch Guice are great artist with Hitch having always giving his art a blockbuster movie type feel to it. But just like Flash: Rebirth this series looks to be a disappointing return of a fan favorite character: Steve Rogers.

The logic used by Brubaker to bring back Steve feels like a DCU idea and not an idea that fits with the Marvel Universe. The logic Brubaker used in this issue kind of gives this series and the return of Steve’s character a rushed feel. It has only been two years since Steve’s death and it feels like Marvel just wanted him back in time for the Captain America movie to come out.

Even though Brubaker did a solid job with all of the dialogue in this issue it just feels like this story came to quick and we still could have gotten more stories out of Bucky as the new Captain America. I have even come to enjoy Bucky as Captain America much more than when Steve was in the role.

The big positive that this issue does have going for it is that this is an extremely new reader friendly issue. Brubaker provides plenty of back story for new readers to get into this series and what he has been doing with Captain America. So I’m sure readers who are only getting into Captain America because of this series will enjoy this issue much more than readers who have been reading Captain America for the past few years.

Issue Rating
Story: 5.3/10 – Brubaker does a solid job with his writing though the story falls flat with the logic used to bring back the first Captain America.
Art: 9/10 – As always Hitch provides plenty of great looking artwork and his artwork, with the help of Butch Guice, helps to distract from all of the weaknesses of this issue.
Overall: 7.15/10 – Captain America: Reborn #1 was a disappointing start to a book that got as much hype as Marvel has given it over the past few weeks. Hopefully Brubaker, Hitch, and Guice can deliver in with future issues as there is potential for this story to be a good read.

Invincible Iron Man #15

Creative Team
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artist: Salvador Larroca
Colorist: Frank D’Armata

Story – The Danger We’re All In

Review
So far “World’s Most Wanted” has been a mixed bag for me as there have been both good and bad things about this story. For the most part Fraction has only been mixing different plot lines from other Iron Man stories and has not introduced anything new to Tony that he has not faced before in past. The only thing he has added is that Tony is losing his intelligence which can only be taken so far before it becomes dull. Also it has not helped that Salvador Larroca’s art continues to look way to shiny for its own good, though he has been improving.

Also I have not liked what Fraction has done with Pepper. She has become such an annoying character since the beginning of the series that I really do not care what happens to her and just wished she would disappear.

Though I will give Fraction credit for making me like Maria Hill much more than I did before this story. And with her teaming up with Black Widow it is her part of the story that I am finding to be most interested in.

Also I did like that Fraction finally decided to build up a villain for Tony to face as Madame Masque actually looked like a credible villain. I was actually surprised that Fraction provide some good character dialogue for Madame Masque and it will be interesting to see how Tony gets out of the situation he is in.

Issue Rating
Story: 6.7/10 – When not writing Pepper I thought Fraction did a solid job with the dialogue though he has to do this on a more constant basis before I start giving him a higher rating.
Art: 6.2/10 – Larroca’s art has been improving as this story has been moving though I am still not a big fan of his artwork.
Overall: 6.45/10 – Invincible Iron Man #15 was an improvement over the last issue. Hopefully Fraction can build off this improvement and deliver back-to-back quality reads which he has yet to do.

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Weekly Comic Book Reviews for 7/1/09