Category Archives: Comics
I Read X-Men for the Babes
In a pretty awesome movie in terms of reaching out to female comic fans, Marvel is going to relaunch their adjectiveless X-Men series in April with an all-female cast. This is pretty awesome news because I am definitely in favor of more female-led comics. Some of my best friends are lady comic book geeks.
I bet someone really, really wanted to call it ‘X-Women’
The series will be written by Brian Wood, with whom I have very little reading experience, and drawn by Olivier Copiel, one of the greatest comic book artists working today. Copiel is an amazing talent, and to see him put on this book is truly awesome. Marvel is clealry taking this book seriously. Copiel’s issues of Avengers vs. X-Men were some of the best drawn of that whole series.
As you can tell from that cover, the book will star Storm, Rogue, Kitty Pryde, Psylocke, Marvel Girl and Jubilee. My only concern is that almost all of those characters, with the exception of Jubilee, are already starring in some of the other X-Men comics. If you don’t know, the X-Men franchise these days is filled to the brim with comics. And a lot of the characters are appearing in multiple books. It’s a huge hodge podge of characters and teams. So on the one hand, it’s a great idea for a book like X-Men to have such a unique premise. On the other hand, it’ll be a huge continuity headache to figure out why all of these heroines suddenly hang out together in their own separate comic, as opposed to the various comics in which they already appear.
But that’s only a headache if you let it be a headache. I’m sure I can get over it if the comic is awesome.
“I feel like as far as the X-Men go, the women are the X-Men,” Wood explains. “Cyclops and Wolverine are big names, but taken as a whole, the women kind of rule the franchise. If you look at the entire world as a whole, it’s the females that really dominate and are the most interesting and cool to look at. When you have a great artist drawing them, they look so amazing and always have.”
According to Wood, the star of the series will be Jubilee, which is cool with me. I’ve always been a Jubilee fan, at least since I was introduced to her in the animated series in the 90s. I can only hope he’ll work to fix some of her crazier continuity in the past few years. Jubilee went from losing her powers on M-Day to becoming a technology-powered hero in New Warriors to then becoming a vampire when Marvel tried unsuccessfully to tap into the Twilight craze. Yeah, that was ill-planned.
As for stories, Wood says Jubilee will be a big focus when she finds a baby who may be the key to the future of mutants. He also says the villain Sublime (from the Grant Morrison days) will come to the X-Men seeking help. There will also be Sentinels, aliens and a return to the X-Men’s soap opera roots, all of which sounds pretty awesome to me.
Review: Scarlet Spider #13
What a difference the art makes. Khoi Pham is still drawing Scarlet Spider, and either his talents have gone completely downhill, or the inker and colorist have done a terrible job, because the art in Scarlet Spider #13 is atrocious. Sketchy, awkward, off-model, it brings the whole issue down. This might actually be a good issue of Scarlet Spider, but the bad art is just so distracting. It doesn’t help either that the villains are generic werewolf people. And that Pham can’t draw werewolves to save his life.
Scarlet Spider #13
We’re finally getting answers about Aracely, but whatever impact those answers might have is completely lost due to horrendous art. I hope this is just a bump in the road. A switch to bad art is always a sign that a series is nearing its cancellation.
Comic rating: 2/5: Bad.
The mysteries of Aracely have never been that big of a deal to me. She’s definitely come into her own in this series, and was a standout in the last issue. But I haven’t particularly cared where she came from. Still, writer Christopher Yost was definitely going to get around to it eventually. And it seems like he’s tying it deeply into Mexican folklore and more. I’ve never particularly cared about Mexican folklore either, but maybe he can win me over. Yost definitely does a fine job detailing how Kaine uncomfortably fits into this scenario. I think it will be a fun adventure for our hero. He’s already an outsider in the normal world, now he’s even more so. That should be good for him.
But like I said, the art is terrible. And the villains could use a big boost to make them interesting. Right now, they’re just generic evil werewolf criminals. How boring. Here’s an idea: why not make them were-something else? Why is it always wolves? There’s a lot of talk in this issue about ‘coyotes’, which are what they call the people who transport Mexicans over the border for a fee. Why not make them werecoyotes? That would be interesting and cool!
Instead, all we get is mostly bland.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/12/13
This week’s reviews include possibly the worst comic I have reviewed to date. It’s deplorable, it’s terrible and it makes me fear for the quality of a new DC series soon to arrive. If Green Lantern: New Guardians Annual #1 is any indication of the quality of writer Keith Giffen’s upcoming Threshold series then count me out. I could not believe how terrible this Annual issue was. It lacks any redeeming qualities. It is the antithesis of entertainment.
So it’s a good thing Jason Aaron comes along to deliver the next issue of Thor: God of Thunder, which picks up another Comic Book of the Week win!
Typical Thor
But then, considering the character that Aaron brings back in this week’s Wolverine and the X-Men, I’m tempted to take away all of his previous awards. How could you do this to us, Aaron? What sick game are you playing at?
Comic Reviews: Green Lantern: New Guardians Annual #1, Thor: God of Thunder #4, Wolverine and the X-Men #23.
Review: Superior Spider-Man #1
I’m in. I take back almost all of the negative or indifferent comments I’ve made about Superior Spider-Man. Writer Dan Slott knocked the first issue of the new series out of the park, and I am completely on board with this big, insane plan of his. Because after reading this issue (and a few other hints around the Internet) it’s become clear that this is all one big scheme. This is a long story, and Marvel has just decided to gussy it up with a new name and a new #1 issue. Does Doctor Octopus taking over Peter Parker’s body warrant all this fanfare? I suppose. It would have probably still worked as Amazing Spider-Man #701, but that’s not how comic book marketing works these days.
Superior Spider-Man #1
If you really think Doc Ock is here to stay and that Peter Parker is never coming back, then I have a couple of homemade web-shooters to sell you. They really work too! But if you’re a Spider-Man fan and ready to put some real dedication into your comics, then Superior Spider-Man should be right up your alley.
Comic rating: 5/5: Great.
I’ve written before about my thoughts on this big status quo change, with the villainous Doctor Octopus taking over Peter Parker’s body (killing Peter in the process), and using it as a puppet to try and be a better Peter Parker and a superior Spider-Man. I never thought it was a bad idea, nor did I think it was in any way permanent. I just didn’t think I would be all that interested. It felt like Marvel and Slott were going to force us into a year of placeholder stories until they eventually got around to bringing Peter back to life. Placeholder stories that, I felt, turned all of Peter’s friends and loved ones into victims, hoodwinked by the sinister Doc Ock. Especially Mary Jane. I know some people don’t like Mary Jane Watson, but I’m a big fan, especially of her and Peter. And the idea of Doc Ock romancing and even sleeping with Mary Jane while using Peter’s body is downright creepy.
And if that’s the case, then I’m out. But after reading issue #1, I definitely approve of what Dan Slott is doing. It’s a very fun issue, with Doc Ock at his most pompous. He even dresses like Doctor Horrible! You really get a sense of the kind of fun Slott has in store for us. Couple that with a last page twist that I never saw coming and I am definitely excited to see where Slott goes from here.
Marvel has started teasing upcoming stories and ideas for Superior Spider-Man. And if what I think might happen is actually going to happen, then I do not want to miss Superior Spider-Man. First of all, Marvel released this teaser image this week, where it appears that the Superior Spider-Man is going to be fired from the Avengers. Second, blogger Graeme McMillan theorized at Newsarama that all of this is one big Spider-Man reboot. The ‘superior’ in the name is a misnomer, and Doc Ock is actually going to be a terrible Spider-Man. So terrible, in fact, that he drags Spider-Man’s good name through the mud. For the past few years, Spider-Man has been a big hero. He’s a proud member of the Avengers, he’s helped saved the world, he’s beloved by the NYPD…but that’s not the classic hard luck Spider-Man we all know and love.
Where’s the Spider-Man who can’t catch a break? Who’s hated by the people of New York even though he’s just trying to do good?
Dan Slott is bringing him back.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review, and learn the last page surprise!
My 6 Most Anticipated Comic Book Movies of 2013
Every year, it seems like more and more superhero movies are coming out. Can anyone even remember the cold, bitter years of the 90s, when we didn’t have this glorious glut of comic book films? Those were dark days indeed. But are we reaching some kind of superhero movie zenith? When are we going to reach the peak and then start coming down again? It’s going to happen someday, could it be 2013? Because there are enough superhero and comic book movies coming out this year that I was able to make a list! And can any of them even possibly live up to The Avengers or The Dark Knight trilogy?
Especially considering at least three of the films are almost direct sequels or pseudo-continuations?
Avengers vs. JLA? Maybe someday…
When researching this list, I didn’t even know or remember that half of these films are even coming out this year. I try to stay abreast of such developments, but there are so many superhero movies being made or expected to be made that I just lose track. I can still remember when we marked our calendars to expect the next big comic book movie. Now I’m just going to relax and let them come as they will. I mean, we’re pretty set for new films and sequels for the next two to three years at least. For good or ill. But this year looks like it might have more winners than losers.
Henchman-4-Hire 