Category Archives: Comics
Review: Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man #1
About a year ago, for my friend’s wedding, I bought him his first Miles Morales comic (I also bought him a toaster that burns the Spider-Man logo into the middle of the bread, but that’s beside the point). I bought him the hardcover collected edition of Miles’ debut. My friend is a diehard Spider-Man fan, especially Ultimate Spider-Man. He’s also the kind of casual comic book reader who didn’t know in advance that Ultimate Peter Parker was going to die, and when it happened, he felt a real, emotional loss that still stings to this day. The dude loved Spider-Man.
Ultimate Spider-Man #1
He was hesitant to give Miles Morales a try, but he finally got around to reading the comic earlier this year. When he told me he liked it, I told him to keep reading, because it only gets better.
Miles Morales is back, and even though the comic has a new title and a new #1, I’m very happy to say that it’s business as usual for the Web-Slinger.
Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.
Forget everything you know about Cataclsym…mostly. A few of the events from that story, like the death of Captain America and the disappearance of Miles’ dad, play into this new issue, but for the most part, people seem to have moved on from Galactus threatening to destroy the planet. Life goes on. Ultimate Spider-Man goes on, and for that I’m grateful. I said it all the time in the build-up to Cataclysm: Ultimate Spider-Man is too damn good to get caught up in all that other nonsense. But at least when Bendis does get wrapped up into that stuff, he handles it with his standard aplomb.
Miles and the gang are back and up to their old tricks, the major events of the past few weeks barely even registering. Miles is still Spider-Man. He’s still dating Kate Bishop. Ganke is still hanging around. The only real change is that Miles’ dad has taken off. I thought Miles’ reveal to his father during Cataclysm was rushed, and a poor place to insert such an important moment, but it happened and we have to live with it now. And like I said, Bendis handles it superbly. He makes Jefferson’s abandonment a real sticking point for Miles. I’m confident Bendis will turn this into a quality storyline in the future.
Even though Marvel has slapped yet another mouthful of a title on this series, it remains the same Ultimate Spidey we know and love. Though I feel bad for my friend who’s going to have to wade through Cataclysm, Divided We Fall and any other Big Ultimate Events that I’ve forgotten about.
Review: Teen Titans Annual #3
Holy crap, you guys, I actually liked Teen Titans Annual #3! I fully expected an explosion of horror and bad writing. But damn if Scott Lobdell doesn’t pull one out in the end. I would like to think, that over all these long years of me writing Teen Titans reviews, that you readers have come to trust my judgement. Or maybe you’re finding my blog for the first time and don’t know what to believe. Perhaps you, like the rest of us, just wanted to see how the final issue of Lobdell’s Teen Titans would turn out. I’m happy to say–no, ‘happy’ isn’t the right word. I’m…comfortable saying that Teen Titans Annual #3 isn’t the train wreck I thought it was going to be.
Teen Titans Annual #3
In his final issue on the series he introduced to the New 52, Lobdell manages to go out on a high note, so he’s got that going for him, which is nice.
Comic Rating: 6/10 – Pretty Good.
Two things make this final issue pretty good: focus and teenagers. This Annual features the return of Harvest, the villain that technically brought the Teen Titans together at the start of the series. He was a bad character then and he’s a bad character now. But it’s clear from this issue that Lobdell had intended to stretch this story out across several issues. I would bet dollars to donuts that he had always expected to get around to this story, and he never intended it to be only one issue long. But time makes fools of us all, and here is is cramming everything into a single, oversized issue. On the one hand, it sucks, because there are a lot of themes and moments here that would have benefited from a little room to breath, like his attempts to flesh out Harvest’s character and motivation. Predictably, they’re terrible. But maybe Lobdell could have done something more with them. Of course, that’s a big maybe.
On the other hand, forcing Lobdell to rush through this story keeps the focus of the issue tight. I can’t say that the story is all that good, but at least it doesn’t meander and he doesn’t have time for all of his worst traits, like he did in the recent space story. The whole adventure is over and done with in a single issue, and, again, it wasn’t half bad.
As for the teenagers, Lobdell actually takes the time to treat his characters like real people. The first half of the issue, or at least the first few pages, are the Titans out of costume talking to one another about the future of the team and their duty to try and stop Harvest. This was the #1 thing lacking from Lobdell’s Teen Titans: real, human interaction. Had this series regularly contained even an iota of what we see in this issue, maybe it would have been good. Of course, this is still Lobdell’s Teen Titans, and we quickly leave that human stuff behind, but while it’s there, it’s enjoyable. I can say that with conviction.
We also get our first look at what Kenneth Rocafort will be like on art duties. There are times it looks good and times it looks bad, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what he really brings to the table.
Teen Titans Annual #3 finally brings to an end Scott Lobdell’s horrendous comic. It was all mostly bad, but in his final issue, he wraps the comic up nicely, fixes a few mistakes and hopefully hands the thing off to some much better creators. Join me after the jump to finally put a cork in this sucker.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 5/3/14
What a week to be a Spider-Man fan! Not only is Amazing Spider-Man 2 in theaters right now, but Amazing Spider-Man #1 hit the stands this very week! If I didn’t know any better, I’d say someone planned it that way. That was pretty clever of them.
I’ll get my movie review posted on Sunday, and for now, lets take a trip to our local comic book shop. Amazing Spider-Man #1 wins Comic Book of the Week. It’s a fun issue, and it’s great to have the real Peter Parker back, but Marvel overloaded the thing with back-up material. That would have weighed the comic down too much for my liking, but one of the back-ups is an epilogue to Scarlet Spider, so that pleased me greatly. Other comics this week include a new Silver Surfer, my return to All-New X-Men and the long-awaited conclusion to J.H. Williams III’s Batwoman story. I also picked up The Flash Annual for the heck of it, but I was not pleased.
At least Spider-Man is still a ton of fun.
Panda-Mania: the best new character find of 2014!
Comic Reviews: All-New X-Men #26, Amazing Spider-Man #1, Batman Eternal #4, Batwoman Annual #1, Flash Annual #3 and Silver Surfer #2.
Storm Gets Her Own Solo Series!
I know at least one of my readers is going to love this news, having called it months ago! The X-Man Storm is going to get her own solo series in July! Written by Greg Pak and drawn by Victor Ibanez, Storm is going to be used on a global scale. She does control the world’s weather, after all.
Still rocking the mohawk
The series was announced today via USA Today. Pak says he’s going to take Storm around the world, while also dealing with problems at home at the Jean Grey School, considering Wolverine is going to be dead this fall.
Said Pak:
“We’re going to see Storm cutting loose with all the brass and fierceness that comes from having the power to control every aspect of the Earth’s weather and atmosphere,” Pak says. “And we’re going to delve deep into the experiences and perspective that lead her to make decisions no other X-Man would — to tear through walls that no one else may have even realized are there.”
“Storm fights for those who most need her, no matter what the cost,” he says. “There’s a ton of drama and story in exploring how she makes those decisions and what kind of trouble that will create for herself and everyone she loves.”
Apparently this is a passion project from Pak, who grew up reading and admiring Storm. That sounds fantastic.
I think she’s particularly proud of her shoulder blades
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Robin Watch: Have We Already Seen the New Robin in Action?
It was barely a week and a half ago that I was telling you about Robin Rising: Omega, the start of a new story that will see a Robin return to Batman’s side after more than a year. Well now I’m here to tell you about Robin Rising: Alpha, the issue that DC promises will introduce the world to the new Robin. Announced at the C2E2 comic book convention in Chicago this weekend, Batman will have a new Robin this December!
Meaning Robin will now be the first sign of winter.
Good thing they have those silvery winter variant costumes
Of course, the comic con panel didn’t reveal who that new Robin is going to be. It could even be a resurrected Damian Wayne for all I know.
However, considering writer Peter J. Tomasi will be penning the story, and it will take place mostly in his Batman and Robin series, there’s now a greater than ever chance that the new Robin will be his candidate: Carrie Kelley. I don’t think Carrie has appeared all of that often in Tomasi’s series, but he introduced her in the wake of Damian’s death and has been having her try to support Bruce Wayne as a civilian.
Personally, I don’t like the idea of Carrie Kelley as Robin, but I think she could grow on me.
And I think we’ve already seen her in action!
Follow me after the jump to see my new theory!
Henchman-4-Hire