Category Archives: Comics
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 12/1/18
Both Aquaman and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse are getting great word-of-mouth ahead of their upcoming releases. That is both crazy and awesome! I’m really excited for these movies now!
But we’re not here to talk movies! That’s just my way of opening up this article with some general superhero chatter. We’re here to talk comics, and this week is a doozy! We’ve got Superman, Spider-Man, X-Men, Wonder Woman, Booster Gold and more! Comic Book of the Week goes to Fantastic Four #4, for an issue that I hope is a solid example of what we’re going to see going forward.
There are now two flat, stretchy superheroes in the Marvel Universe
Meanwhile, I got a request to review the finale to the Drowned Earth storyline in Justice League. I dropped the main comic awhile ago, so I had a lot of catching up to do. I liked the first couple of issues, but big team-focused comics aren’t my cup of tea these days, so I faded from the series. But I take my review requests seriously, so you best believe I have reviewed the Drowned Earth finale below!
Comic Reviews: Action Comics #1005, Amazing Spider-Man #10, Aquaman/Justice League – Drowned Earth #1, Fantastic Four #4, Heroes in Crisis #3, Uncanny X-Men #3 and Wonder Woman #59.
My 6 Favorite “Sixth” Members
The Green Ranger is the best Power Ranger. It’s indisputable. He was the coolest, had the best costume and was just plain awesome. And ever since I saw him karate kick his way onto my weekday afternoon television screen, I have loved the “Sixth” Member of teams. On TV Tropes, this trope is actually called the “Sixth Ranger” specifically because of the Green Ranger, but I didn’t want anybody to think this was a list only about sixth Power Rangers.
I know this is the Gold Ranger, but he’s a strong runner-up
The trope is that you take an established group or team of characters, and then some time later, you add an extra member to the roster. Sometimes it’s a bad guy turned good. Sometimes it’s a new member. Sometimes it’s just a hanger-on. But whatever the case, this is one of my favorite character tropes and I wanted to share!
So join me after the jump for some of my favorite fictional characters, almost entirely because they’re the “Sixth” member of an established group. It’s a pretty reliable thing for me.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 11/24/18
Happy Thanksgiving, Henchies! As well as to you international readers, you’re welcome at Thanksgiving too! I had a nice time with my family, then woke up the next morning to below zero temperatures and a flat tire, so I guess I have plenty to be thankful for!
Definitely a lot of comics to be thankful for, like more Batman, more Uncanny X-Men and more Iron Man! Comic Book of the Week goes to the latest issue of Mr. & Mrs. X for being nicely romantic.
It’s too late now, Rogue!
Meanwhile, is anybody reading Infinity Warps? I’m curious about it, because of my love of the Amalgam Universe, but I still don’t want to buy into Marvel’s Big Event comics anymore.
Comic Reviews: Batman #59, Mr. & Mrs. X #5, Tony Stark – Iron Man #6, Uncanny X-Men #2 and West Coast Avengers #4.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 11/17/18
Oh boy, this must be some kind of record! I’ve got 10 — count ’em, 10! — reviews for you henchies this week! The combination of a day off from work on Wednesday, and plenty of time to write these up, allowed me to really enjoy comics this week. I even skipped some titles to spare my sanity, so there could have been even more!
We’ve got G. Willow Wilson’s debut on Wonder Woman, which I enjoyed. We’ve got the much-hyped Uncanny X-Men #1, which was meh. We’ve got the long-delayed new issue of Fantastic Four, which was good. And a ton of others!
Comic Book of the Week goes to the final issue of Mister Miracle for a pretty momentous epilogue issue. It remains as mind-boggling as the rest of the series.
R.I.P. Funky Flashman
I skipped a bunch of comics this week. Ms. Marvel was nice, but was a pretty weird tangent. I think I’m going to stop reviewing Rainbow Brite after only that first issue. The second one lost me. I skipped the new Domino purely because there were so many comics this week. And I’m still not caught up on Thor! Why do all my favorite comics come out in a single week?!
Comic Reviews: Amazing Spider-Man #9, Captain America #5, Catwoman #5, Fantastic Four #3, Go Go Power Rangers #14, Mister Miracle #12, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #38, Uncanny X-Men #1, Unstoppable Wasp #2 and Wonder Woman #58.
Good News, Everybody! Stingray Isn’t Dead After All!
I was worried for a minute there. But we can rest easy, folks.
Stingray is probably my all-time favorite Avenger. It’s all in the costume. That is one damn cool superhero costume. And I love his reserve status, this ordinary dude who sometimes helps out the Avengers when it comes to watery stuff. I love that he designed his suit for his job as an oceanographer, and first and foremost, he’s an oceanographer, but will help out as a superhero when necessary.
And should Marvel Comics ever come calling, I have a tight 5 to 6 issue Stingray pitch to offer. Seriously, call me.
He flies through the seas with the greatest of ease
Last month, it appeared that his longtime ally, Namor the Submariner, killed Stingray in Avengers #9, by writer Jason Aaron. I was devastated. It’s been a rough year for me and having my favorite superheroes killed.
The issue opens with a really awesome scene of Stingray fighting Tiger Shark, drawn by David Marquez.
Brothers-in-law
But then a new evil Namor shows up, having once again declared war on the surface world, or some such. When Stingray balks at kissing Namor’s ring, Namor beats him within an inch of his life and orders his war sharks to kill Stingray. It’s pretty brutal.
Namor is dead to me
And that looked to be the end. Stingray is a minor character, and having him killed to kick off some big Namor storyline in Avengers is a perfectly reasonable use of a minor character. That’s what happens to minor characters.
And fans of such minor characters, like me, just have to deal with that fact.
But then the follow up issue, Avengers #10, came out this week. Captain America seems to reassure me personally that everything is OK and the world isn’t as dark and horrible as I’d feared.
Are there two more beautiful words than “damn near”?
Stingray doesn’t actually appear in the new issue, but that comment from Cap is good enough for me! He lives! Stingray lives!
For now…
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