Category Archives: Comics
Review: Scarlet Spider #14
Apparently, not only is Scarlet Spider going to be steeped in Clone Saga lore, but writer Chris Yost is also going to cover another mostly hated Spider-Man story: The Other. Why? Who knows. Seems like a silly course of action to take on a series like this. I don’t know the numbers that Scarlet Spider is pulling in, but I have to imagine any series starring Kaine is in constant danger of being canceled. So why try something so risky as to have Kaine tap into his inner spider from The Other? It’s a weird story choice, but this is an alright issue.
Scarlet Spider #14
Scarlet Spider #14 also features possibly the first in-panel appearance of Ben Reilly in, like, a million years. That’s got to count for something, right?
Comic Rating: 3/5: Alright.
I’m just not sold on this exploration of Kaine’s inner-spider. When writer J. Michael Straczynski first introduced the idea of Peter Parker having some kind of totemic connection with arachnids, it was a neat idea that led to some really good stories. Then the writers took it a little too far with The Other, which featured Peter Parker dying, his body being turned into a cocoon and all manner of other strange transformations. It was intended to give Peter some new powers…but the writers immediately moved on and ignored all of those new powers almost completely. Nobody particularly liked The Other and it had no lasting effects.
Until Scarlet Spider came along. I realize that Kaine pretty much has all the powers that Peter did in the wake of The Other, but that doesn’t mean The Other was a good story or needs to be revisited. Especially not so early into Scarlet Spider’s run. I’d rather see him being an awesome hero at this point, not having an existential crisis of person.
But this is probably neither here nor there. Personally I’m against the whole general idea, but Yost hasn’t steered us wrong yet with Scarlet Spider, so I should definitely give him a shot. At least the art is better in this issue.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
Is Damian Wayne Going to Die?
Is DC Comics going to kill Robin in an upcoming issue of Batman Incorporated?
There’s no official word yet. This is all just speculation. But if you read the signs, read between some lines and maybe jump to a few conclusions, it looks to me like DC plans to kill a 10-year-old boy!
Though he is kind of a jerk
Damian Wayne is the son of Bruce Wayne and his enemy Talia al Ghul. He was created by superstar writer Grant Morrison and introduced in Batman #655 in 2006. Talia raised the boy in secret and trained him in the ways of the League of Shadows. But when Damian finally met his father for the first time, he switched sides and became the new Robin. You know, of Batman and Robin fame? Damian had a lot of rough edges, but he made for a compelling protagonist. Here’s a kid who was raised to be a killer, but he wants so badly to do good and make his father proud as Robin.
But is he now doomed?
I’ve never been particularly happy with Damian as Robin. He stole the mantle from the previous Robin, Tim Drake, who is one of my favorite comic book characters. But Damian has grown on me. He’s had a lot of good stories and he’s definitely been coming into his own lately as the Boy Wonder. Still, the evidence is pretty strong. Join me after the jump to see for yourself.
Review: Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #20
I’ve always been a big fan of Venom. Even when the character was over-exposed in the 90s, I still loved him. Heck, I even like Topher Grace’s Venom from Spider-Man 3. He’s just a cool character and a cool concept, where the super-character’s costume itself is the super-power. Plus he’s big, he’s colored black and he’s a pretty badass level of ruthless. So Venom has always been cool. And when Brian Michael Bendis introduced Venom into the Ultimate Universe, he made him even cooler. So it’s exciting to see Venom come back, though it looks like he might be a new character.
Ultimate Spider-Man #20
Miles faces off against Venom with his father caught in the middle. That is some absolutely perfect drama for Ultimate Spider-Man.
Comic Rating: 5/5: Great.
This issue has it all! Action, adventure, comedy and desperately high stakes. There’s absolutely no guarantee that Miles’ father is safe. Peter Parker’s whole career started with the death of his Uncle Ben. Just because Jefferson has survived this long does not mean he’s going to stick around forever. So when Jefferson involves himself in the fight against Venom, it’s bad news for everybody. But good news for us, because this story has real power behind it. Not to mention it’s incredibly entertaining. The fight is one of the best Miles has been in, with Venom more than a match for this novice hero.
The dialogue is especially great. Miles remains funny in his own special way. He’s not the quip-a-minute Peter Parker, but he’s still quite humorous. And Venom is fantastic. He’s not a mindless monster, no matter how he looks, and his deadpan lines are especially cool. All of the characters are fantastic in this issue, and with the action and drama attached, it’s a great chapter of Ultimate Spider-Man.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 2/9/13
Welcome to a week of interesting firsts! We’ve got the first issue of Fearless Defenders, Marvel’s new all-girl team of heroes. We’ve got the first issue of Winter Soldier written by incoming writer Jason Latour, who’s taking over for the legendary Ed Brubaker, the man who resurrected Bucky in the first place. Those are some mighty big shoes to fill. Brubaker wrote a nice letter at the end of his final issue of the series, about how humbling it was to go from trying to convince his editor that resurrecting Bucky would be a good idea to finding out that the ‘Winter Soldier’ would be the title of the second Captain America film. I hope that happens to me someday.
We’ll also see the first issue of Jeff Lemire’s take on Green Arrow. As well as the first times I’m actually happy with Avengers and New Avengers. In fact, New Avengers #3 wins Comic Book of the Week!
Comic Reviews: All-New X-Men #7, Avengers #5, Fearless Defenders #1, Green Arrow #17, New Avengers #3, Superior Spider-Man #3 and Winter Soldier #15.
Review: X-Factor #251
I take back any bad thing I ever said about the Hell on Earth War. I can’t believe I ever doubted Peter David. This story has been fantastic so far. PAD is writing it at such a fast pace that the story never slows down, it never lingers. I thought all of his previous high-concept mythical stories had that problem. They stretched on forever until their impact no longer mattered. But so far, PAD and this story are on a roll.
X-Factor #251
Though if I’m being entirely honest, when PAD explains the motivation behind the Hell on Earth War in this issue, it’s a far-fetched and arbitrary. But I’m comfortable with it.
Comic Rating: 4/5: Good!
The justification for this war is kind of silly. There’s no way around it. The idea of all of Marvel’s various hell lords getting into a fight is a cool one. It definitely has potential. But PAD comes up with a very arbitrary reason for their fight. At least he ties it into the X-Factor story in a neat way. That’s a definite strength of the story so far. All of the storylines PAD has been crafting over the past few years are coming together in a smooth way, from the birth of Tier to the corruption of Strong Guy. And while it’s sad to see Strong Guy as such a villain, it’s definitely adding to the personal feel of the story. This is X-Factor’s story and they are at the heart of the action.
Any story can be about the devil fighting a bunch of other devils for the rulership of Hell. And any story can feature superheroes beating up bad guys. But you’re not going to have a good story unless you’ve got good characters, and unless the reader actually cares about the characters. Well PAD has got things down pat, and the Hell on Earth War is burning up!
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review.
Henchman-4-Hire 