Category Archives: Comics
Review: Scarlet Spider #11
Talking about burying the lead. Minimum Carnage was supposed to be a team-up between Scarlet Spider and Venom, as they join forces to take down the super-villain serial killer Carnage. But the two characters haven’t even been in the same room together since the start of the crossover. Instead, this is one big space alien story that just happens to involve Scarlet Spider and Venom on the side. It’s as if writers Christopher Yost and Cullen Bunn were huge fans of the Micronauts back in the day, and Marvel agreed to let them write the ultimate Microverse story, but only if they could slap some existing characters into the tale. Then someone came up with the pun ‘Minimum Carnage’, and they were off!
Scarlet Spider #11
This story is turning out to be a weird, convoluted political tale about characters we’ve either never heard of before or haven’t heard from in decades. No thank you.
Comic rating: 3/5: Alright.
I can’t even be sure if this story has anything to do with the Microverse of the past. I’m only vaguely familiar with the Micronauts, but who is the Redeemer? What is the Enigma Force? Or Marquis Radu? I imagine these are all characters and concepts thought up by Yost and Bunn to tell their story. But none of it has anything to do with Scarlet Spider or Venom, and very little to do with Carnage. They might as well have used any combination of heroes and villains in this story. Nothing that has happened so far, at least as far as I can see, has any direct impact or importance to either hero, especially Scarlet Spider. He is just along for the ride, and doesn’t even particularly want to be there.
The decision to set this tale in the Microverse was the completely wrong decision. Nobody cares about the Microverse anymore. Nobody is interested in that kind of story. A comic where Scarlet Spider and Venom team up to fight Carnage is a good idea for a comic. But Yost and Bunn have instead buried that cool seed of an idea into tainted soil, and as a result, a crummy story has grown. And that’s my metaphor of the month!
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 11/10/12
Marvel NOW! is in full effect with this week’s books, and we get our first looks at the new Iron Man and Deadpool. Sad to say, I wasn’t terribly impressed. Marvel has a big opportunity on their hands with this relaunch. But I have yet to see that potential really come to fruition just yet. Hopefully some of the other upcoming series can really wow me. But at least there are plenty of other good comics still plugging along. I think AvX: Consequences once again seals the Comic of the Week for me. Too bad it’s the final issue of that mini-series.
While a certain Merc with a Mouth earned ‘worst comic’ honors
Weekly Reviews: AvX: Consequences #5, Deadpool #1, Green Lantern #14, Iron Man #1, and Uncanny X-Force #33.
The New Awesome Cyclops Will Get His Own Awesome Series!
Turns out that Brian Michael Bendis really will be writing a standard X-Men series, and it’s going to star Cyclops and Magneto on their quest to save the new mutants created after Avengers vs. X-Men! I’ve often said that Bendis’ talents might be wasted on this All-New X-Men series, which is going to be about the original five X-Men from the past coming to the present. That’s not a premise I want to read about, let alone one I think can sustain an ongoing series.
Bendis and Marvel revealed details about this new series today. Along with Cyclops and Magneto, there will be Emma Frost and Magik on the team, as well as a few others. And my brother will be happy to hear that Scott and Emma are no longer a couple.
Why has Cyclops never had an ‘X’-shaped visor before?
Bendis gave a full interview today. The interview is fantastic.
This is incredibly exciting news! Readers of my blog know that I have stood by Cyclops’ side all through Avengers vs. X-Men, and I am absolutely loving his characterization in AvX: Consequences. The final issue came out this week, and it’s as amazing as the rest have been. Look for that review in this weekend’s Hench-Sized reviews. So Cyclops is in a great place right now, and if Marvel sticks with how Kieron Gillen has been writing him, I bet this series will be amazing. I have all the faith in the world in Bendis.
Here’s what he had to say about Cyclops:
You will discover in the very first issue of ALL-NEW X-MEN exactly where Scott Summers’ head is at. Of all the X-Men that feel it is their job to further the legacy of Charles Xavier, no one feels it more strongly than Scott Summers. Scott Summers himself is not only trying to save these kids but he is trying to train them and get them ready for what he feels is coming mutant revolution These new students represent his only hope for true redemption. And his only hope to make the world the way he really thinks it should be.
Marvel went ahead and teased this development last week with one of their ‘one-word’ teasers they’ve been doing for Marvel NOW! It had the word ‘Uncanny’ and both Bendis and Bachalo’s names, as well as a red beam to indicate Cyclops.
This will mark the third ‘Uncanny’ book at Marvel. ‘Uncanny Defenders’ to follow
And while Marvel only confirmed the series today, artist Chris Bachalo offered yesterday some information on his personal blog:
Looks like the cats out of the bag. Its me an Bendis on a new launch of the series. This was a tough one as i was really enjoying my time on WX but Brian asked for me to help him launch the new Uncanny and how do you turn down that offer. Launches are tough as there’s a lot of ground to cover to get things rolling. Characters are re-imagined, writing styles adjusted to, locations established. Its a tough learning curve that typically takes a few issues to figure out and grow comfortable with. We’re still very early into the creative part so hard for me to comment on exactly what to expect. The daring part is that the tone of the book–feels like, its early–will be a little darker. Characters powers have been ‘adjusted” as a result of the Phoenix five fall out and I was asked to redesign costumes for the entire cast. Everyone. Plus, as of today, there are two “new” mutants. Its a big jump that I’m sure will turn a few off but, we’re betting on, that most will welcome and enjoy. One thing that you can count on Is that Brian will always give you something worth reading. He never fails to be interesting. Launch is two issues in February.
I am already in love with this series.
Review: X-Factor #246
I never particularly bought into Pip the Troll being a member of X-Factor. He was often funny, with writer Peter David giving him some of the best zingers in the comic, but what the heck was Pip the Troll doing as receptionist for X-Factor? It just never made much sense to me. Well PAD clearly loves the idea, and so he has devoted an entire issue to the secret life of Pip the Troll. It’s a somewhat entertaining issue, with a surprise finish. But I can’t say that it has relieved my Pip prejudice any. Pip never becomes anything more than PAD’s in-joke to himself.
X-Factory #246
Still, if you’re a fan of Pip the Troll, this issue is probably a hoot.
Comic rating: 3/5: Alright.
This is a ‘day in the life’ issue, fairly common in all types of fiction. What does Pip get up to behind the scenes? Quite a bit, apparently, some of it entertaining, some of it downright funny and some of it more than a little sleazy. I suppose it gives us more about Pip as a character, but the oddness of a cosmic space imp playing receptionist for a very grounded team like X-Factor is still his defining element. It’s a weirdness that I don’t particularly like to see in X-Factor, but that’s a personal taste more than anything. I don’t think Pip ever fit in, but I suppose PAD makes it work.
Still, it’s a fairly entertaining comic, for what it is. Nothing really special about it, unless, like I said, you are a huge Pip the Troll fan. He has an adventure, reveals some funny secrets about himself, and we all move on with PAD’s ongoing story. He’s been building to this big picture story forever and a day. Let’s hope it gets here soon, and let’s hope he really knocks it out of the park!
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review.
The Ladies Are Kicking Ass at Marvel Comics
Some have said that an all-female team comic book could never succeed, but Marvel Comics is going to try anyway with the new Fearless Defenders! It will star Valkyrie, Misty Knight and Danny Moonstar, and supposedly several more cast members to be revealed at a later date! It’s not going to be written by a woman though, which is too bad. Instead, Cullen Bunn is writing and Will Sliney is on art. In random news, Cullen Bunn once followed me on Twitter for like a day. I don’t know why…
Ladies vs. Ninjas!
I think this is a great idea. I’m always in favor of more diversity in comics. What kind of guy doesn’t love a kickass female lead? I’ve heard all sorts of stories in the past about all-female teams getting shot down editorially. I think Gail Simone has been trying to make one happen for years. Somehow Cullen Bunn has done it.
He did an interview with Newsarama. And this is what he said about the book’s premise:
The basic idea of the book is that Valkyrie is choosing a new team of Valkyrior, and she’s been asked to choose all these women from the heroes of Midgard, instead of from Asgard. She has completely failed in this task. Valkyrie has been unable to choose anyone that she feels is worthy to be one of the hosts of the shield maidens. So she just hasn’t done it. She’s dropped the ball.
Because she’s not done what she said she would do, nature — or supernature, as it is — abhors a vacuum. The absence of the Valkyrior has opened the door to something terrible. Something awful is waking, and Valkyrie finds that it’s really her fault that she’s put everything at risk.
Sounds reasonable and maybe fun. I’ll probably check out the first issue and see where it goes.
Henchman-4-Hire 