Category Archives: Avengers

Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 10/19/13

It is with great disappointment that we read comics this week, because the final issue of J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman’s Batwoman has come out. These geniuses were building up a battle between Batwoman and Batman himself, and we get one single issue to tease their story before their famous walk out goes into effect. And the issue is damn good. In fact, Batwoman #24 wins Comic Book of the Week for me because of the skill and fun with which they set up this fight. This is going to rank up with J. Michael Straczynski’s run on Thor in terms of comic book runs that ended too soon. Same with Straczynski’s Supreme Power…man, that guy really can’t seem to finish a comic.

Batwoman sadness aside, we’ve got some good issues of Infinity, Lights Out and Battle of the Atom, since Big Event crossovers are all the rage these days. We’ve also got the return of Hawkeye after a long hiatus, so that’s a plus. But for my money, nothing beats Batwoman this week.

Comic Reviews: Avengers #21, New Avengers #11, Batwoman #24, Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion #1, Green Lantern: New Guardians #24, Hawkeye #13, Uncanny X-Men #13 and Wonder Woman #24. 

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Marvel Has Got a Mega-Load of New Comics Coming!

I’ve only mentioned All-New X-Factor and New Warriors so far, because I’m a big X-Factor and Scarlet Spider fan. But at New York Comic-Con, Marvel has announced a whole pile of brand new comics they’ll be putting out in the next couple of months! If I was more on the ball – and not playing the new Pokemon X – I would have already posted about all of them. Instead, I decided to just bunch’em all up on our Monday. Sounds like a fun way to start the week to me. A lot of these sound pretty amazing. And of course they’re coming out just when I told myself I was going to lighten my weekly comic book budget.


Silver Surfer

By Dan Slott and Mike Allred

Dan Slott is apparently a huge Silver Surfer fan, and even though she’s been spear-heading Spider-Man for years, he’s now snatched up the Sentinel of the Spaceways. I can definitely identify with someone falling in love with Silver Surfer as a kid, so this might be the perfect time for me to jump back onto the Surfer bandwagon. Mike Allred will be freed up when FF comes to an end soon (dies a little inside), and I think he might be perfect for the Surfer. Apparently Slott’s plot involves Surfer getting a young, female companion and going on adventures. So basically it’s going to be Silver Surfer by way of Doctor Who, which sounds amazing.

Check out an interview with Slott here.


Iron Patriot

By Ales Kot and Garry Brown

In another example of comics following movies, it seems that War Machine is changing to Iron Patriot for reals. I guess he’s been Iron Patriot for a few months now in the pages of Secret Avengers, but now he’s going to get his own solo series. Marvel has tried to publish a War Machine comic several times in the past, so maybe they’ll have some luck with this new coat of paint. According to some interviews, it’s going to be a heavily political book – I think.

Check out an article about the series here.


All-New Ghost Rider

By Felipe Smith and Tradd Moore

GhostRiderNew

Speaking of characters getting multiple comic attempts, there’s going to be a new Ghost Rider! I’m fairly certain the last new Ghost Rider was around only earlier this year, and it was a woman. But that didn’t sell. This time, Smith is creating a new young man named Robbie Reyes to be Ghost Rider. And apparently instead of a motorcycle, he’s going to have a car. That sounds good to me. I’ve always thought Ghost Rider could be expanded by turning any vehicle into a flaming chariot of awesomeness. Ghost Rider should be riding around on a flaming segway. Not that I think anything is really going to make a new Ghost Rider series work. But good luck to all involved.

Check out the interview here.


Loki: Agent of Asgard

By Al Ewing and Lee Garbett

Who could have guessed how huge Loki would become, huh? I thought he was alright in Thor, and I was shocked Marvel would use him again so soon as the chief villain in The Avengers, but casting Tom Hiddleston as Loki was apparently as big a stroke of genius as casting Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark! So it’s no wonder Marvel wants to capitalize on that sexiness as much as possible. So goodbye, Kid Loki! Say hello to Sexy Loki! Ewing and Marvel are going to turn the God of Mischief into a gorram secret agent. I actually kind of love this idea. It’s a neat use of Loki, and could have some real mileage behind it if people actually buy the book.

And again, I found an interview about the series here.


Black Widow

By Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto

Speaking of The Avengers, also spinning out of that film is a new solo series for Black Widow. I really want this one to succeed. Marvel needs a strong female presence, and Black Widow is really their only major female character who isn’t a derivative of a male hero and who isn’t better known as a member of a team. So seeing Black Widow succeed would be nice. Edmondson says the series is going to be a hardcore spy comic, which definitely works for the character, but didn’t really work for Winter Soldier post-Brubaker. So who knows how this one will do.

Interview can be found here.


Elektra

By Zeb Wells and Mike Del Mundo

Elektra has had a few solo series in the past, and for good reason. She’s a badass ninja assassin, and sexy to boot. She’s as solid an idea for a female protagonist as any. According to the creators, she’s going to be on a mission to take out a league of assassins, while taking some ‘me’ time and not worrying about Daredevil. But I’m pretty sure Elektra hasn’t been linked to Daredevil in years, right?

Did somebody say interview? Check it out here.


Punisher

By Nathan Edmondson and Mitch Gerads

Where did this Edmondson guy come from? He’s doing Black Widow and Punisher? Sounds like a dream job. But he’s not Garth Ennis, so already he’s at a disadvantage as far as I’m concerned. He’s also not a big name writer like Greg Rucka. So this seems like a basic, straight forward Punisher series written by a new up-and-coming writer. Everybody’s gotta start somewhere. The story will involve Punisher heading to LA to take out some big time criminal, while also dealing with a government group set on taking him down. Could be…something, I suppose.

More information can be found right about here.


Avengers World

By Jonathan Hickman, Nick Spencer and Stefano Caselli

This comic is just an expansion/continuation of Hickman’s Avengers, which I’m lukewarm about. I mostly just wanted to post that stunning picture.

Interview, they have one here!


I’m sure I’m missing one or two comics, but Marvel announced so many! I would have posted some new DC titles, but there weren’t too many notable announcements. I think they’re going to give us a weekly Batman series because DC doesn’t think they put out enough Batman. What do you guys and gals think of these new titles? Anything float your particular boats? I’ll definitely be picking up Silver Surfer, Avengers World and Black Widow, and maybe even Iron Patriot and Loki: Agent of Asgard, depending on my mood on those particular days.

Still, sounds like it was an awesome Comic-Con!

Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 10/5/13

Villains Month is over and not a moment too soon, as far as I’m concerned. The sales were apparently amazing for DC Comics, but the comics themselves were mostly garbage, from what I read. They were all over the place with their stories, and when it came to quality writing and art. I can honestly say I didn’t need to read any of those Villains Month issues. None of them really added much of anything to the ongoing story or the villains themselves…though there were a few nice issues.

And it seems I may owe DC an apology about Bizarro…maybe.

Fortunately for us, Forever Evil is back, and it continues to be entertaining. The New 52 as a whole is still a weird fit for a project like this, but I enjoyed the issue. I also enjoyed the continuing chapters of Battle of the Atom and Superior Foes of Spider-Man, which claims Comic Book of the Week. But the second issue of Mighty Avengers really seemed to grind my gears! Find out why in the review below!

Yes, yes he did

Comic Reviews: All-New X-Men #17, Forever Evil #2, Green Lantern #24, MIghty Avengers #2 and Superior Foes of Spider-Man #4.

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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 9/28/13

Surprise, surprise, Villains Month isn’t half bad this week! Again, I’m not reading everything, but the few villainous issues I did pick up were actually pretty good. I especially liked the Man-Bat and Ocean Master issues, though Sinestro’s comic was really just a big character recap. So again, Villains Month is a mixed bag of different comic book styles, some of which work, and some of which don’t.

Meanwhile, it feels like forever since Forever Evil #1 came out. Say what you will about Event Comics, but Marvel clearly has a great idea when it comes to publishing them. Both Infinity and Battle of the Atom have had a new chapter every week since they started, and that makes the stories much, much better than having to wait a whole month to find out what the heck is going to happen in Forever Evil.

As such, the new chapter of Battle of the Atom wins Comic Book of the Week hands down. Jason Aaron takes over the story with Wolverine and the X-Men #36, and I think it was the best issue of the crossover to date! So many exciting things happen, with just as many great character moments.

Yes, Deadpool, tell us the future! I want to see Goldballs with a long, storied X-Men career.

Comic Reviews: Avengers #20, Man-Bat #1, Ocean Master #1, Sinestro #1, Trial of the Punisher #1, and Wolverine and the X-Men #36.

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Debuts Tonight!

I think we can all agree that when writing the title of this show, we don’t have to also type the word ‘Marvel’s’. I know and love the company, but it’s rather silly to add that to the front of everything they do. I’ve never called it ‘Marvel’s The Avengers’, so I’m not about to start now. Also, there’s no way anybody is going to write all those punctuations in the word ‘SHIELD’. Just not gonna happen.  Still, how exciting is it that we finally get to see the show?

I’ll get around to watching the first episode at some point this week, then I’ll be sure to have a review up before the end of the week. I’ve very excited to see what it’s like!