What a week, what a week! I got slammed at work this week, which is never fun. But I did manage to squeeze in some comic book reading, with titles like Avengers: Twilight and Duke.

Comic Book of the Week goes to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #117 because I liked what I saw in this issue.

Meanwhile, I watched the live action Avatar: The Last Airbender this past week and it’s…fine to not good. I don’t know if I’ll do a full review or not. Nothing that happened in the live action first season is better than the animated version, so it calls into question why even have a live action version. Honestly, it’s made me question why we have live action adaptations at all, especially if you’re just going to recreate the cartoon over again.

Comic Reviews: Avengers: Twilight: Book 3, Duke #3 and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #117.

Avengers: Twilight: Book 3
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Daniel Acuna
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna

Still going strong.

Captain America breaks into the Raft to free the head of Tony Stark, which his son is keeping in a jar. Steve gets some help from Bullseye, who we met last issue, and who coincidentally uses a bow and arrow, so Steve dubs her ‘Hawkeye’ instead. When they try to escape, they get stopped by James Stark in his own suit of armor, and it’s a nasty fight that’s all about moral high ground and one man’s worth. Then Ms. Marvel shows up to save everybody who was sinking, and then Thor shows up to help ensure the escape.

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

As with a lot of comics, I am of two minds on Avengers: Twilight. On the one hand, it’s a good comic. It’s written well, with strong characters, and some great art. It’s telling a strong, engaging story, with a great use of classic characters in a classic dystopian setting. That Thor arrival? Awesome! Bullseye switching sides? Pretty neat! She becomes Hawkeye instead? Kinda…lame. And there’s my second mind: this comic isn’t doing anything very new or original with the Big Brother Dystopia concept, or the future Avengers. I’m sure there’s a good answer for why Thor hasn’t been around. But, like, turning this original Bullseye character into Hawkeye just to fit the mold? Eh. Beyond that, Cap just fights a bad guy and gives some moral lessons on why he shouldn’t be a bad guy. It’s all engaging, it’s just mostly not very exciting or fresh.

TL;DR: Action-packed, engaging issue that still hasn’t come up with anything new or unique to say about the premise.

Duke #3
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Tom Reilly
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Rus Wooton

I think I’m enjoying both Duke and Cobra Commander about equally.

Destro hires Major Bludd to go to the Pit and grab Duke, who is busy fending off suggestions from the Baroness that they work together to escape. Duke wants to do this right and explain himself to Hawk. But Bludd arrives with his henchmen and starts wrecking up the place, and soon everybody is fighting for their lives. Bludd has Duke at gunpoint, but Baroness shoots Bludd in the head and then she puts Duke at gunpoint, eager to collect on that bounty.

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

This is a good, engaging action issue that is actually telling its own story. This is definitely not what I would expect from a G.I. Joe comic, and that newness is pretty interesting. I like seeing familiar characters pop in and out, though they’re showing up fairly quickly. That’s not necessarily a problem, I suppose. It’s just a little jarring that, with everything else going on, Major Bludd just gets dropped in (and then killed off, perhaps?). Still, Duke remains a strong central character, who is both great at action and good on character interactions. Baroness plays off him well.

I like Duke’s unflinching duty, how he’s willing to let himself be arrested just so he can believe in the system. I like the idea of putting together a ragtag team of Joes — though not if a couple of them are gonna die ahead of time! Rock ‘n Roll is already fun. I’d like some Joes who aren’t jolly white dudes. Not that I don’t enjoy jolly white dudes, being one myself.

TL;DR: Good action and very strong characters make for a continually fun series.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #117
Writer: Melissa Flores
Artists: Simona Di Gianfelice, with Marco Renna
Colorists: Raul Angulo, with assistance by Jose Enrique Fernandez
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire

Somehow, this story keeps going.

The fight goes on, with Dark Specter having become so powerful that he infects the Morphin Gird just by being near it. So when he goes to a planet — such as Aquitar — and the Rangers on planet morph to fight him, they’re instantly infected. So things are bad! But the Rangers on Earth hatch the eggs and are able to turn them into a localized, independent Morphin Grid. So Earth is safe, and the Hyperforce Rangers head out into the stars to recruit random Rangers to Earth. When Dark Specter learns of this safe haven, he blames Rita and smashes her sidekick, Alpha-Xi, to teach her a lesson. The only lesson she learns is that Dark Specter sucks, so she decides to betray him and recruits Tommy to her side.

Meanwhile, Ranger Slayer returns from her journey, and Jason is on Earth helping train some civilians to be troopers, including Bulk and Skull.

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

As much as I’m enjoying the current Power Rangers comic, I also think it has gotten lost in the weeds. There are so many locations, so many Rangers (and this issue just adds even more), and so much going on that I’m a bit lost, to be honest. The writing is still strong, and there are big enough moments that I can cling to those, but this has gotten wildly out of hand. I’m no Power Rangers expert. I can’t look at a post-Mighty Morphin costume and just know who the Rangers is and what they mean. But once again, this comic just piles more into the story. It’s not like multi-Ranger stories haven’t been done in the comics before. Every big crossover is about this exact thing. But I’m probably rambling at this point.

So at least I was largely able to understand this issue and what was happening and how the battle was changing. It wasn’t too out of control. And when I understood what was happening, I enjoyed the character moments, especially between the characters I knew. I understood how the battle was coalescing around Earth. And hopefully that means we’re building to a climax. There were some bits I didn’t care for. I don’t like how it seems Dark Specter is going to be defeated because he’s the sort of asshole bad guy who doesn’t respect his minions. So much time was spent setting up Mistress Vile as this total badass, only for her to get disrespected, and then that disrespect leads to her turning against him. Seems just…too cliche, I guess.

Also, this is a very very minor nitpick, but did Bulk and Skull really not notice the special treatment that Jason was getting at the Power Rangers training facility? Just sayin’.

TL;DR: Even though this story has been going on for quite some time and only keeps expanding, the writing is strong enough and the scenes are clear enough that it’s still an entertaining read.

The comics I review in my Hench-Sized reviews are just the usual comics I grab from Comixology any given week, along with a few impulse buys I might try on a whim. So if there are any comics or series you’d like me to review each week, let me know in the comments.

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