Category Archives: Comics
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 6/1/13
Are there any comic book readers who get legitimately excited when a main character is suddenly killed? After all of the deaths and resurrections in comics over the past few years, is there anybody who doesn’t just roll their eyes when a writer suddenly decides to kill a major character? A big one bites the dust at the end of Justice League of America #4 this week, and I can’t help but throw up my hands in exasperation. Even if it turns out next issue that it was all just a ruse, I still think it’s a weak storytelling crutch that comic book writers need to lay off for awhile. That Geoff Johns is responsible makes it even worse. I spoke of you so highly this week, Geoff! C’mon!
At any rate, I’ve pretty much given up on Justice League of America anyway, so a stunt like this might just be the final nail in its coffin for me. Thankfully, Marvel Comics is at the top of their game, with fun issues of New Avengers, Indestructible Hulk and the brand new X-Men. I’ve been looking forward to this series since it was first announced, both because of the all-girl experiment and for Olivier Copiel’s art. Neither one disappoints in the Comic Book of the Week.
Doop loves babies, but the feeling is clearly not mutual
Comic Reviews: Indestructible Hulk #8, Justice League of America #4, New Avengers #6, Red Hood and the Outlaws Annual #1, Wolverine and the X-Men #30 and X-Men #1.
My 6 Favorite Things from Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern Mythos
Geoff Johns’ final issue of Green Lantern came out last week, and what better way to say goodbye than by praising his awesomeness? I barely knew anything about Green Lantern before I decided to give Johns’ comics a try, and now the franchise is easily one of my all-time favorites. I wish I was as creative as Johns. His ideas are the kind that nobody else thought of, but once he puts them on the page, you can’t help but recognize their obvious brilliance. And I’m sure he has other good qualities too. Like, maybe he rescues orphaned puppies or something. I don’t know, I’m really only interested in the comics.
Does anybody call it ‘outer space’ anymore?
It’s hard to explain to non-comics fans just how momentous Johns’ Green Lantern series truly was. The best comparison I can think of would be to the rise in Iron Man’s popularity when his first movie came out. Before that film, nobody knew Iron Man. He was a character from the comics, nothing more nothing less. But after the movie, after Robert Downey Jr.’s performance, Iron Man is a household name, and he has headlined three other multi-million dollar movies.
Geoff Johns did the same thing for Green Lantern, at least as far as the comics are concerned. He did it by taking the core Green Lantern concept and expanding it a thousandfold with new ideas and new characters that redefined the franchise. There is so much to love about Johns’ ideas, and here are my 6 favorite.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 5/25/13
It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to DC writer Geoff Johns. Oh sure, he’s still going to be writing Aquaman, and a couple Justice League comics, but DC won’t be the same now that Johns is leaving Green Lantern after nearly 10 years on the title. This is a truly sad moment, because none of his other comic work as been as good as his stories on Green Lantern. And he has told some remarkable stories. Green Lantern was a minor character at best before Johns came along. This one guy with his brilliant ideas almost single-handedly made Green Lantern popular enough to warrant a live action big screen movie, in a world where DC only makes Batman and Superman movies. Johns made Green Lantern so popular that he was one of only two superheroes to remain unchanged in the New 52 reboot.
Johns work on Green Lantern is nothing short of spectacular. It’s no wonder DC eventually promoted him to DC’s head of creativity. The guy definitely made me a believer in the awesomeness of Green Lantern.
Fortunately for us all, Johns’ final issue on the series is as good as any other he’s written. Green Lantern #20 easily wins Comic Book of the Week for it’s sheer awesome audacity. Johns threw out all the stops with his final issue, bringing everything his fevered mind could think up to the final party.
Just look at that picture and tell me you don’t love everything about it.
Comic Reviews: Green Lantern #20, Justice League #20, Superior Spider-Man #10, Talon #8, and Uncanny X-Men #6.
Review: Teen Titans #20
Teen Titans attempts to break up the crumminess of the recent storyline by giving us an issue devoted to Raven’s origin. That’s all well and good, I suppose, and now is probably as good a time as any to let us know what the heck Raven is doing in this series, but it doesn’t raise the quality of the comic, and it kind of makes Raven worse than she was before. I’m fairly certain this origin sticks closely to Raven’s pre-reboot origin, but honestly? She has one messed up origin.
Teen Titans #20
The cover is a total lie. Evil Red Robin doesn’t even show up in this issue (thank God). Instead, it’s just Trigon narrating the long, complicated origin of Raven.
Comic Rating: 2.5/5 – Pretty Bad.
To an extent, I realize that my dislike of Teen Titans stems almost completely from the comic diverging from what I want to see, or what I think could be done better. Trigon is definitely one of those things, and now we can add Raven to that list as well. I’ve pretty much disliked everything we’ve seen from Trigon so far, and this issue adds even more garbage to his story. However, I’ve rather liked what we’ve seen of Raven. I like her new costume, and I kind of liked the life being built for her. But after this issue, she’s a complicated, pointless mess of a character. Oh well. She was fun while she lasted.
Pretty much nothing else happens in the rest of the issue. The origin is book-ended by short scenes with the Titans, and they don’t do much of anything. Definitely nothing about Red Robin being ‘reborn’ as the cover would indicate. This story can’t end fast enough.
Review: Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #23
Wow. Forget everything you thought you knew about Miles Morales. When that kid tore up his Spider-Man costume at the end of last issue and declared “No more!” he really meant it. On the very first page of this new issue, Miles hasn’t been Spider-Man for an entire year! And now everything is different! I guess writer Brian Michael Bendis may have spoiled this in some interviews, but I had no idea that Ultimate Spider-Man was going to jump ahead one year. It was a complete surprise – and a glorious one at that.
Ultimate Spider-Man #23
The one-year jump is always a risky maneuver in fiction, but Bendis sticks the landing with ease, giving us a more mature, young adult Miles Morales, and successfully taking us into this new chapter of his life.
Comic Rating: 4.5/5: Very Good.
I am in awe at the skill from both Bendis and artist David Marquez in showing the passage of time, and how it has changed Miles and his supporting cast. Miles clearly went through a growth spurt sometime in the past year, and is clearly in the harsh grips of puberty. Ganke too. Both of them look a little taller. Their faces, the way they carry themselves – everything about them looks a little more mature, but just enough that they still look like teenagers. Ganke is still pudgy, but his body is definitely growing into his weight. He’s not the chubby-faced little kid he was just one issue ago. Their dialogue is different too, at least with Miles. He’s not a different person, but like another reviewer said, you can practically hear his deeper voice. The change in these characters is a marvel to behold.
The story this issue is basically just a tour of Miles’ new status quo, with visits to his father, Gwen Stacy, Spider-Woman and even his new girlfriend! As we all could have guessed, that cute girl with the colorful hair who was eyeing Miles in class is now his girlfriend, and she’s Kate Bishop from the Young Avengers! How fun. With the exception of some cliffhanger action at the end, this issue is all talking heads, which is Bendis’ specialty, and he is at the top of the game. The conversations are full of character and do an excellent job of getting us situated in Miles’ new world. I love a good talking heads issue.
I also have to agree with Bendis that we probably didn’t need to see the days, weeks and months after Miles’ mother died. It was probably just filled with grief, horror and tough reconciliation. This is definitely a much stronger footing to start the next chapter in Miles’ life.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
Henchman-4-Hire