Category Archives: Comics
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/25/14
It’s another week of trying to break my wallet, but somehow I managed to hold on, read a bunch of comics and have a generally good week over all. I’m not quite as sick as I was for the past few weeks. That’s a plus, right? But here in Central New York, we’re looking at several straight days of single-digit to sub-zero temperatures. Go winter!
At least there were enough good comics to keep me warm! We’ve got new issues of Black Widow, Harley Quinn and Origin II already, and most of them are pretty darn good! Solid comics like Hawkeye and Wonder Woman are back, and we get the over-sized, over-sad finale of FF! Why do we live in a world where FF comes to an end after only 16 issues!?
Despite all those great comics, Comic Book of the Week has to go to Wolverine and the X-Men #40 because we’re finally getting some forward movement on the Cyclops/Wolverine Schism, and it’s everything I could have asked for.
Bromance renewed? We can only hope.
Comic Reviews: Batman #27, Batwoman #27, Black Widow #2, FF #16, Hawkeye #16, Harley Quinn #2, Origin II #2, Wolverine and the X-Men #40 and Wonder Woman #27.
Why I Don’t Think Nightwing is Going to Die
Things aren’t looking good these days for Dick Grayson, the original Robin. Some fans are even worried that he’s going to be killed off soon. But not me. Despite all of the ominous clues that DC Comics has been dropping, I don’t think they’re going to kill off Nightwing because of one very important detail.
They haven’t announced it in the news media.
That’s just ketchup
In the current Forever Evil storyline, the Crime Syndicate of America has defeated the Justice League and kidnapped Nightwing, exposing his secret identity to the world to show they mean business. They’re keeping him alive for their own twisted reasons, and Batman is already mounting a rescue, but DC has been dropping a few hints lately that the Dark Knight might not succeed, and the original Dynamic Duo will be no more.
The biggest hint came on Tuesday with the release of DC’s solicitations for April. That image I posted above is the cover to Nightwing #30, billed as the “final issue” of the series, because DC is apparently canceling the book. The text for the issue #30 preview reads:
The Bat Family is forced to face the brutal aftermath of FOREVER EVIL, but after everything they’ve been through, can they stand together?
So a cover stained with blood and a broken mask, and a solicitation that mentions “brutal aftermath”. Do you see what I mean? DC is practically screaming at us that Nightwing is toast! That preview couldn’t be more clear!
Except that’s not how DC announces big changes these days.
The big trend for DC and Marvel recently has been to announce all big storylines in the news media before the comics see print. Sometimes this occurs only a day or so before the comic comes out, but recently, they’d been making media announcements ahead of the solicitations. For example, just last week, DC announced via the Associated Press that Lex Luthor was joining the Justice League rather than wait for it to be revealed in the April solicitations. Likewise, Marvel revealed Peter Parker’s return to Amazing Spider-Man before they put out their own previews for April.
And the death of a character with the rich history and public appeal of Dick Grayson is going to make the news. There’s no doubt about it.
The deaths of Spider-Man, Ultimate Spider-Man, Human Torch and Catwoman all made the news, even though Catwoman was actually revealed in the very next issue to be Martian Manhunter, and he wasn’t dead at all.
If DC Comics was really going to kill Dick Grayson at the end of Forever Evil, they would probably have announced it in the media already. They wouldn’t put out a solicitation like the one they did on Tuesday, practically promising a death, without first milking it for national news coverage. That’s just how the comic book industry works these days.
Am I wrong for liking the red more than the blue?
I could be wrong. DC might be waiting until the day or week of the actual death to make headlines. But too many people are talking about Nightwing dying. It’s all over the comic news sites; heck, it’s clearly on my blog, you’re reading my article right now. But knowing what I’ve seen about comic stories announced in the media, I just don’t think DC would leave a story this huge to the minnows in the media pond. Why let minor web sites like mine nibble at the bait when DC could make headlines and get TV time by announcing the death of the original Robin?
Not to mention the fact that Dick Grayson is rumored to appear in the Man of Steel sequel. The character is perched on the edge of a major comeback in mainstream popularity. Killing him now would be silly, but killing him and resurrecting him in less than a year to make it in time for the movie is even sillier.
I don’t know what’s going to happen to Dick Grayson in the next few months. But I’m pretty sure he’s not going to die.
Review: All-New X-Factor #2
Nope, I still don’t care for it. I was pretty harsh in my review of All-New X-Factor #1, but I had high hopes that the second issue would alleviate some of my concerns and prove that I’m an idiot. It didn’t. Not even a little. The second issue is just as generic and uninspired as the first. It doesn’t help that writer Peter David spends the whole issue in action mode, pushing what little character and creativity exist into the background.
All-New X-Factor #2
It’s not that All-New X-Factor is a bad comic, per se, it’s that I know PAD can do much, much better. So far, the relaunch is painfully mediocre, and that’s just not good enough.
Comic Rating: 5/10 – Alright.
There is nothing about the second issue of All-New X-Factor that has anything to do with ‘X-Factor’ as a comic or a concept, let alone this new Serval Industries angle. The mission to save a bunch of captured mutants could have been performed by any of the X-Men squads, either of the X-Forces, the New Mutants, the Fallen Angels, the X-Statix; anybody. Any chance PAD had to make this comic specifically about these characters is wasted. Gambit, Polaris and Quicksilver are all in fine superhero form, but nothing they do is particularly unique to them, least of all the dialogue.
Gambit makes a Star Wars reference in this comic that literally anybody in the universe would make. Captain America would make that same reference. I could see Magneto making that reference, it’s so simple.
I think part of the problem is that PAD (or Marvel?) just didn’t pick very interesting characters for this team. Gambit, Polaris and Quicksilver don’t really have anything to do with one another, but they’re all old hats at this concept. They all know what it’s like to randomly be part of a new superhero team, so they’re all familiar with what they’re supposed to be doing. But they’re not really familiar enough with each other to make the banter or interpersonal relationships all that interesting. There’s no wonderment involved in being on this superhero team.
So far, All-New X-Factor is just a group of workman superheroes doing their job, but it’s written as if this is all supposed to be really cool and exciting. Generic superhero comics are a dime a dozen, even at Marvel Comics. X-Factor needs to find a way to stand out and do something new.
Also, if you don’t remember the specific characters and the conclusion to the X-Cell storyline from 2007, you’re a little bit out of luck with this new issue.
My 6 Favorite Teams in Comics
Any superhero will tell you: you ain’t nothing until you join a super team! The Justice League and the Avengers only take the best of the best (usually). The Fantastic Four are practically royalty. And Empowered didn’t get any respect until she joined the Super-Homies! Sort of. Super teams are the bread and butter of the comic book industry. Why just have one superhero to a comic when you can have a dozen? Why not take a couple of solo superheroes and put them into a single movie together and make a billion dollars?
Makes sense to me.
A billion dollars! It still blows my mind!
Being the fully entrenched comic book geek that I am, most of the teams on this list are going to be kind of obscure. That’s on me. But perhaps some of you readers will learn something new about comics! I can only hope my lists do some good for the world. Join me after the jump to see my favorite comic book super-teams. And please don’t hesitate to share your own favorites in the comments!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/18/14
Holy cow, you guys, the Blob is back! The Blob! Not the Age of Apocalypse Blob, or skinny Blob, or powerless Blob, but the real, regular, normal, 616 Blob is back in all his glory in this week’s issue of Uncanny X-Men! With no explanation whatsoever, Brian Michael Bendis just brings back one of my all-time favorite comic book super-villains! And he’s great! Oh man, I hope Bendis has some fun plans for the character!
But the return of the Blob does not win Uncanny X-Men Comic Book of the Week on its own. No sir. Uncanny X-Men wins that title for an absolutely amazing Magneto story, which catapults him to maybe the most badass mutant on the planet these days. If his upcoming solo series is anywhere near as good as this issue, then we’re all in for a treat.
Fortunately, we’ve also got good issues of Thor: God of Thunder, Superior Spider-Man and some other titles this week. I even picked up Skyman #1 by Dark Horse!
But man, I’m so excited for the Blob!
I love the Hawaiian shirt, the sunglasses and the goatee; I love’em!
Comic Reviews: Amazing X-Men #3, Green Lantern Corps #27, Skyman #1, Superior Spider-Man #25, Superman/Wonder Woman #4, Thor: God of Thunder #17 and Uncanny X-Men #16.
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