Category Archives: Comics
Review: Saga #15
Saga #15 is a kind of fill-in issue, but that’s not a bad thing. Not every issue of Saga can be a mind-meltingly amazing experience. Sometimes Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples just have to take a step back and move the story along on an issue-by-issue basis. We’ve got plot, we’ve got sub-plot, we’ve got a few fun character moments, and most importantly, we’ve got another good issue of Saga. The story is moving along at a nice little pace, so there’s no harm in Vaughn taking a break to enjoy his world for a moment.
Saga #15
Saga #15 is kind of a way station in the ongoing story. Marko, Alana and the gang are enjoying their time in Heist’s lighthouse, while The Will and his team have their own concerns. The larger narrative takes a step back this issue so that we can enjoy the little things in life.
Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.
I read both of Vaughn’s previous comics – Y: The Last Man and Ex Machina – in tpb form, and that was an excellent way to read each series. Vaughn is a man who writes to the bigger picture. His comics aren’t the typical, never-ending superhero dramas. They have beginnings, middles, and, most importantly, endings. So I’m fairly certain Vaughn already knows the general strokes of where Saga is going and how it’s going to end. So maybe the best time to read Saga is when it’s all over, like a novel. But because I’m such a fan of his work, I decided to go issue-by-issue, and while I’m not disappointed, it does lead to issue like this one.
Again, this is in no way a bad issue. It’s Saga‘s usual greatness. But we’re still no closer to the cliffhanger at the end of Saga #12, which I’m really excited to see resolved. Instead, we pause for some R&R. It’s good, enjoyable R&R, but it’s rest and relaxation nonetheless. I’m also a little surprised/confused by the developments for The Will’s team. I’ll get to it in the synopsis, but for now, I’m just not sure what it means for the story as a whole. The Will deserves his own stories, but is this an example of Vaughn writing for the single issues? Or is this new twist part of the larger narrative?
Read on and we shall see!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 11/2/13
I come to you today, my friends, with a heavy heart. This week saw the release of The Sandman Overture #1, a return to that famous character by world-renowned writer Neil Gaiman, with artist J.H. Williams III on pencils. There’s a very good chance, considering the subject matter and the creative team, that The Sandman Overture could be the greatest comic book of the year. Like everyone else in the world, I love Gaiman’s original run on Sandman. But I’m sorry to say that I just couldn’t bring myself to review the new first issue. I bought it. I read it. I enjoyed it, but I am a mere mortal. I have no place bestowing a grade on work such as this. And besides, after reading issue #1, it’s clear to me that this is a ‘read all at once’ kind of story. So maybe at the end I’ll write something
For now, let’s stick with the superhero stuff, shall we?
We’ve got the final chapters of both Lights Out and Battle of the Atom to enjoy, though I found both to be a little underwhelming. Two chapters of Infinity shipped this week, but nothing new there. The only real stand-out – and therefore Comic Book of the Week – was Superior Spider-Man #20, in which writer Dan Slott seems to gleefully start tearing down both the lives of Peter Parker and Otto Octavius. Slott’s overall plotting on Superior Spider-Man has been a master class in comic-bookery. everything he’s set up so far is about to come crashing down, and it’s going to be a real pleasure to read.
As for Moment of the Week, our last visit with the Time Traveling Icemen pulls it off with aplomb.
Comic Reviews: Infinity #5, Avengers #22, Green Lantern Annual #2, Superior Spider-Man #20 and X-Men: Battle of the Atom #2.
Review: Teen Titans Annual #2
According to the infinite wisdom of DC Comics, the Superboy we’ve been getting to know all along in the New 52 is going to die. Though I don’t know for sure, because I’m not reading the Superboy series or any of the Superman comics, for that matter. And because I don’t read those, Scott Lobdell hates me. At least that’s the impression I get reading Teen Titans Annual #2. Almost everything that happens in this issue ties closely to the events of Superboy and whatever strange concoction of clones and time travel Lobdell and DC have been building over there.
Teen Titans Annual #2
Not that it really matters, in the end, because Teen Titans Superboy is barely a character in the first place. Just like Teen Titans is barely readable.
Comic Rating: 3/10 – Bad.
I have always felt that the decision-making in the New 52 is haphazard at best. DC changes directions on characters and series at the drop of a hat. If something isn’t working, they will go to extreme lengths to try something else and just kind of hope it all works out in the end. No thought is being given to the bigger picture or the long run, and nowhere is that clearer than in the fate of Superboy. Lobdell said at a recent comic convention that Superboy is going to die. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t joking. Instead, DC are going to forge ahead with someone named Jon Kent, the future son of Superman and Lois Lane. It seems the Superboy we’ve been reading about in Teen Titans is a clone of this Jon Kent fella. Again, I think this is all covered in the Superboy series, but I understand that comic is generally unreadable, so I haven’t bothered.
But it’s apparently required reading if you want to try and understand Teen Titans. I would complain more, but then Teen Titans has always been a dumping ground for tenuous connections to other comics. Multiple storylines and characters from Teen Titans have been shuffled off to other comics for no explicable reason; just another example of why Teen Titans is a terrible comic book.
Teen Titans Annual #2 is the issue where Jon Kent replaces Superboy on the Teen Titans. The switch involves time travel, an editor’s note to read Action Comics Annual, and the Teen Titans being played for chumps. So all-in-all, it’s your typical issue of Teen Titans in the New 52. It’s bland, the characters are wafer thin and more effort is put into exposition and clunky dialogue than actual character building.
I would say that it’s sad to see Superboy go, but it’s really not. The character has been as dull as a brick since Teen Titans began, and his recent hook-up with Wonder Girl was the exact opposite direction I wanted the story to go. So see you later, Superboy! You existed, and that’s probably all that can ever be said about you.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review.
Happy Halloween from Supergirl and Batgirl!
If artist Mike Maihack spends the rest of his days drawing adorable, holiday-themed Supergirl and Batgirl comics, it will be a life well spent. Comics need more adorableness in their pages in this day and age.
The Greatest Superhero Halloween Adventure of All Time!
Gather ’round, boys and ghouls, and let me tell you the tale of a spooky battle between good and evil that took place on a Halloween night, much like this one. No, it’s not Batman’s Long Halloween. It’s not even Hellboy vs. the Boogeyman. The greatest comic book Halloween adventure of all time is X-Men Unlimited #21 from the extra terrifying year 1998, when Strong Guy, Multiple Man, Wolfsbane and the Beast defeated an army of demons and saved a wedding with the help of a flaming toupee.
I kid you not. It is just as amazing as it sounds.
Any 90s era comic is pretty scary
For Halloween this year, I’m going to share with you my all-time favorite superhero Halloween story. You can keep your Batmen and Sandmen and Hellchildren, there isn’t anything better than a couple of B and C-list X-Men on a wacky adventure in a tertiary anthology comic! It’s got action, it’s got comedy, it’s got angst, and it’s got more nicknames for manly hairpieces than you can shake a witch’s broom at.
So join me after the jump – if you dare! Moohahahahaha!
Henchman-4-Hire 