Category Archives: Comics
Review: Saga #23
Leave it to writer Brian K. Vaughn to break my heart several issues ago, then pull out a comic like Saga #23 and TOTALLY REDEEM HIMSELF!
Saga #23
I knew to trust Vaughn with his story. I knew he wouldn’t lead us too far astray, that everything was being done for a reason. I held out hope that he was going somewhere important with all of this, and finally, in Saga #23, we start to see what he’s got planned. And, as expected, it’s completely unexpected.
That’s the great thing about Saga: I have no idea what’s going to happen next, and I love it!
Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.
Mostly, I love it. I’m a sucker for always falling in love with characters and not wanting anything bad to happen to them, whereas Vaughn understands that bad things have to happen to characters; that’s what makes a story a story. It’s too his credit that he’s created such an amazing cast. I’ve just got to suck it up and keep trusting him to write one hell of an adventure. But man, some of the events of this issue are probably going to be heart-breaking all over again.
After several issues of scenery building, setting up the Circuit, Marko’s flirtations, and The Crazy Janitor, Saga #23 starts crashing all of them together in the usual glorious ways. Vaughn plays with our expectations in a way that proves he knew exactly what he was doing, and the ending hits us simultaneously with joy and fear. With an extra dash of excitement and mystery, of course.
It’s no Saga #19, but wait until you see how Vaughn twists our assumptions about that issue as well. This volume has been a bit low key in the grand scheme of things, but Vaughn is no less a master of his craft.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
The 6 Best Bird Superheroes
That’s right, it’s come to this: bird-themed superheroes. Everybody loves birds, right? They can fly, so that puts them one-up on us puny humans. They’ve got feathers, which are pretty neat. They poop everywhere. And I do mean everywhere. Birds. They’re…well they’re birds.
And apparently they make for solid superhero inspiration!
I should just stop right now, list complete
I’ve already tackled sports, fire, ice, cats and Canandians in my Lists of Six, why not birds? Cats eat birds, so it kind of comes full circle. And if jetpacks are never invented, some kind of bird-harness would be our next best bet for flying – though I’m sure our arms will get tired! Zing! Anyway, bird superheroes are a thing, and at least six of them are better than all the rest!
Review: Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man #5
Curse you, transition issues, you are the bane of my comic book reviewing existence! Writer Brian Michael Bendis delivers another stellar chapter in Miles Morales’ current superhero woes, but it’s the sort of chapter that takes us from Point A to Point B instead of delivering any really great story moments of its own! And those it does deliver are obvious cliffhangers! It’s so frustrating, but only because the comic is still oh so good!
Ultimate Spider-Man #5
Ultimate Spider-Man #5 is a perfect example of why some comics should be read in the trade! I don’t know if I can wait for the next issue! Exclamation!
Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.
But I’m going to have to wait. I’m a big boy, I can suck it up and deal. Bendis and superstar artist David Marquez are at the top of their game here, telling a tightly packed, vivid story. I would probably even go out on a limb and say their Spider-Man comic is better than the regular Spider-Man comic. Ultimate Spider-Man is just so much more involved, so much more epic. Dan Slott might be dealing with classic Peter Parker and his big supporting cast, but Bendis is telling such a grounded, long-lasting saga here. These characters all have history, they have agency, and that just makes for a stronger story.
I only wish I wasn’t reading it one issue at a time, but that’s no one’s fault or choice but my own.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 9/20/14
I don’t know what happened this week, henchies, but I’ve got a pretty light pile. It helps that I’m not reading Futures End, but more on that later. I had a pretty busy week. I’ve got some projects in the pipeline that I’ll tell you guys and gals about someday. But nothing stops me from reading comics! Nothing!
This week was…alright. Solid week. No real complaints from me. Actually, this seemed to be the week for alternate versions of characters. Both Multiversity and Edge of Spider-Verse told alternate reality stories, and the new Avengers event is set 8 months into a possible future. So neat! Way to create an unintentional theme, comic books!
Comic Book of the Week goes to…um…tough call. I think I’ll give it to Multiversity #2 for a pretty darn fun alternate reality comic. Though, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, Batman Eternal was close to winning!
Not always, I don’t
If Batman Eternal transitioned into Spoiler: The Comic, I would be so happy.
Over at Word of the Nerd, I took a gander at another Deadpool comic. Regular readers might know how much I dislike Deadpool’s sense of humor these days, but the cameo revival of no less than Brute Force brought me back!
Never heard of Brute Force? You should pay a visit to Linkara.
Comic Reviews: Avengers #35, Batman Eternal #24, Edge of Spider-Verse #2, Multiversity #2 and Uncanny X-Men #26.
Robin Watch: Robin of the Future!
Late last year, there was a bit of a kerfuffle on the Internet about the possibility of a black Robin, based on preview art drawn by Sean Murphy for Batman #27. I didn’t write about it at the time because the drawing was a single image for an ‘imaginary future’, and didn’t hold any importance to canon.
Or so I thought at the time! Looks like I’m eating crow now!
Check out Robin from the Futures End issue of Batman and Robin, which came out this week.
He’s definitely got the ‘Robin is a badass’ part down
Set five years in the future, the issue is about Batman battling Heretic to see if he is indeed a clone of Damian Wayne. Batman has Alfred send the new Robin out on various crime-fighting errands to keep him from interfering (and possibly dying at Heretic’s hands), but Alfred eventually disobeys orders and sends Robin to rescue Batman when the Dark Knight gets his butt whooped. It’s a pretty cool Robin story.
But is it just pretend?
Even though these Futures End comics are also just ‘imaginary futures’, there’s still the possibility that a kernel of truth exists in what we’re reading. The writer of the issue, Ray Fawkes, gave an interview to Newsarama where they asked him if this new Robin is part of the current Batman plans, considering Fawkes is also part of the creative team on Batman Eternal.
His answer?
Obviously he can’t go into more detail than that, but clearly this future Robin might be more of a reality than any of us yet realize.
Fists of sidekick justice!
The Robin in question is Duke Thomas, the kid that helped Batman during the Zero Year. Remember him? Duke made a very brief appearance, having sheltered Batman while he recovered from his injuries. Then he spent the rest of his time trying to come up with a riddle to defeat the Riddler.
I do not, sorry. My crossword skills have never been strong
It was such a small role, and I was actually a little surprised that nothing more was done with the kid. He gives Batman a hand, wishes him good luck, and then we don’t see him again for the rest of Zero Year.
Perhaps because that appearance was only supposed to introduce him. His story wasn’t going to be told in Zero Year, because Duke Thomas’ story will be told elsewhere.
Duke was about 10 or so in Zero Year, wouldn’t you say? And Zero Year took place 5-6 years prior to present-day Batman comics, which would make Duke a teenager today, the perfect age to become Robin. Except in Futures End, set 5 years into the future, Duke says he only became Robin “two years ago”, which wouldn’t link up to Bruce picking Duke in the present day. Not that that timeframe matters all that much.
I don’t know if any of this is true, or if any of it will go anywhere. But clearly there’s a new, awesome candidate for the new Robin in 2015!
If it’s not clear yet, I would love a Duke Thomas Robin!
Though I’m not a big fan of the Iron Robin armor, personally.
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