Category Archives: Comics
Review: Scarlet Spider #22
How can you tell that a comic is scheduled for cancellation? The art quality starts to drop. Scarlet Spider is coming to an end in December, and so the art has started to dive-bomb. Three artists are credited on this issue, and it definitely shows. The art is all over the place – fortunately, the story is very solid. It’s the build up to Kaine vs. Kraven and it’s pretty darn cool.
Scarlet Spider #22
I thought Scarlet Spider had staying power. I was wrong. But hopefully Chris Yost (and apparently co-writer Erik Burnham) can give us a grand finale.
Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.
After this, there are only three issues left of Scarlet Spider. One of them will be the final battle against Kraven, but then what? The solicitations seem to point towards a sad ending to Scarlet Spider. That would be disappointing, but it would also be earned. Kaine hasn’t exactly been the best kind of hero. So I’m definitely excited to see how it all ends.
Fortunately, Kaine is the perfect kind of hero to take on Kraven in this issue. It’s been a blast reading his stories all this time, and I’m excited to see Kaine face off with a real villain with real history. Yost no longer has anything to lose. The series is over. So maybe Kaine will cut loose and give in to all the spider madness that Yost has been building so far. I want to see Kaine go wild in a real beat down, drag out knuckleduster.
And this issue is a great start.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 9/28/13
Surprise, surprise, Villains Month isn’t half bad this week! Again, I’m not reading everything, but the few villainous issues I did pick up were actually pretty good. I especially liked the Man-Bat and Ocean Master issues, though Sinestro’s comic was really just a big character recap. So again, Villains Month is a mixed bag of different comic book styles, some of which work, and some of which don’t.
Meanwhile, it feels like forever since Forever Evil #1 came out. Say what you will about Event Comics, but Marvel clearly has a great idea when it comes to publishing them. Both Infinity and Battle of the Atom have had a new chapter every week since they started, and that makes the stories much, much better than having to wait a whole month to find out what the heck is going to happen in Forever Evil.
As such, the new chapter of Battle of the Atom wins Comic Book of the Week hands down. Jason Aaron takes over the story with Wolverine and the X-Men #36, and I think it was the best issue of the crossover to date! So many exciting things happen, with just as many great character moments.
Yes, Deadpool, tell us the future! I want to see Goldballs with a long, storied X-Men career.
Comic Reviews: Avengers #20, Man-Bat #1, Ocean Master #1, Sinestro #1, Trial of the Punisher #1, and Wolverine and the X-Men #36.
The First Hint of the New X-Factor
In the build-up to the New York Comic-Con in a few weeks, Marvel has started releasing some of their typical one-word teasers. You can see a few of them here. I don’t normally post these things, but included among them is the teaser for something ‘Corporate’ by Peter David. This is the first hint at Peter David’s next project since X-Factor was cancelled, and everyone around the Internet seems to think this is also the first hint of the new X-Factor.
We’re all business here
I am inclined to agree.
If you recall the end of X-Factor #260 – the Polaris issue – she was approached by a man named Harrison Snow, who said he was the CEO of a “rather large company”. He offered her the chance to get in on the ground floor of a new X-Factor. Polaris readily took him up on his offer. It’s clear from that scene that the next iteration of X-Factor is going to be corporate in nature.
So with this teaser, coupled with Peter David as the writer, coupled with hints that an X-Factor relaunch was going to be part of the next Marvel NOW! campaign, it might be safe to say we’ll finally get a glimpse of the new comic at New York Comic-Con on Oct. 11!
Too bad Multiple Man probably won’t be involved. But a new X-Factor by Peter David is a new X-Factor by Peter David!
New She-Hulk Comic To Fill Our Need of Superhero Lawyering
Marvel announced today a new She-Hulk comic to debut in February, and to once again focus on her legal career. Writer Charles Soule, one of comics’ up and comers, spoke with USA Today about the project. He’ll be teamed with artist Javier Pulido. I’m pleased to hear about this series. I like She-Hulk well enough, and I love the idea of another comic focusing on her misadventures in the legal profession.
I like the first cover, so there’s that
As many of you may know, the last time She-Hulk had a series, it was written by Dan Slott, and it was all about She-Hulk working for a wacky law firm. I really enjoyed that comic, though I stopped reading towards the end. I enjoyed Slott’s humor and some of the artists. I don’t have enough experience with Soule’s work to know how he’ll do. Apparently he’s also a lawyer, like She-Hulk, so maybe his expertise will really up the quality of the stories. And Pulido was the fill-in artist for Hawkeye, so we know he’s got the chops to bring a realistic series like this to the page.
Says Soule in the interview:
“She-Hulk has always been a title where weird, cool things can happen. She is a strong — very strong — female character, and comics absolutely cannot have too many of those. That hypothetically means I get to do interesting things myself. Plus, she’s brainy, which always appeals to me, but she doesn’t always make the best decisions — and that’s a combination that’s ripe for drama.”
So it basically sounds like a run-of-the-mill She-Hulk series, which I’m all for. We’ll see how it goes!
Review: Saga #14
I’m in Heaven. Reading a book like Saga #14 reminds me why I love comics. It reminds me why I want to be a writer. Saga #14 makes me feel good about myself. And it underlines why I will always value creativity and originality over the reality TV/celebrity adoration schlock that fills the world these days. Saga #14, and Saga the series as a whole, is pure, unadulterated narrative joy. If comics were a drug, Saga would be the greatest high possible.
Saga #14
Saga #14 is still in the middle of the current chapter, but all of the relationships and back stories that Brian K. Vaughn built up at the start of the series are paying off in ways I couldn’t have dreamed possible.
Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great!
The only reason Saga #14 doesn’t have a perfect score is just because I’m still figuring out the criteria for a perfect score. Also, this issue is almost entirely transition. We’re still catching up to Saga #12, and nothing too big storywise happens in this issue. I’m singing Saga #14’s praises almost entirely on the strength of its characters, the dialogue and the scenes that put them together. Vaughn and artist Fiona Staples have created an amazing fictional world and a truly magical cast of characters. I love reading Saga.
This issue also contains the best Lying Cat scene of the series so far. And considering all the great Lying Cat scenes, that’s saying a lot. If the scene doesn’t at least put a smile on your face, you’re a robot.
I have no idea where Saga is going. Is there going to be a battle? Are they going to end the war? Based on little Hazel’s narration, the world stretches far into the future, but I’m sure the series will end long before that. None of the characters or plots are permanent. Prince Robot IV could be killed in the very next issue and I would completely buy that as part of the story. Not even Marko and Alana are safe. That’s a scary proposition, but when the issues are this good, it’s also thrilling.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
Henchman-4-Hire 