Category Archives: Marvel
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 9/14/13
Villains Month continues this week at DC Comics, and I’m enjoying it well enough so far. It’s a marketing stunt, and I’m OK with DC going all out for their marketing stunts. It appears to me like they’re using a few up and coming writers to actually pen the dialogue, so that’s pretty cool. I’m disappointed that Geoff Johns didn’t write out Black Manta #1, but he plotted it, and writer Tony Bedard did well enough.
Speaking of Villains Month, this week was the debut of the new Lobo. Does he live up to the controversy? Read ahead and see.
Comic Book of the Week goes to Mighty Avengers #1. There were some good Villains Month issues, but Mighty Avengers exceeded expectations in ways I did not predict. It might actually turn out to be a pretty good comic. With some pretty fun characters, like this guy…
Comic Reviews: Avengers #19, Black Manta #1, Lobo #1, Mighty Avengers #1, Riddler #1, and X-Men #5.
Everything Wrong With Daredevil Misses the Most Obvious Wrongness
The Cinema Sins people have aimed their mighty guns at Daredevil, but they missed the biggest mistake in the film!
Do you know what it is?
Early in the film, when that rapist is on the stand, Matt sure seems to think it’s a criminal trial and that this scumbag rapist will face justice, but everything about the scene is totally wrong. Matt is not a prosecutor or a District Attorney, yet he is clearly questioning the accused rapist on the stand as if this is a criminal trial. Also, if this were a criminal trial, the victim would not be sitting at Matt’s table. District Attorneys represent ‘the people’, as in ‘the state’, not the actual victims. The only way this trial could make sense would be if it were a civil trial and the victim was suing the rapist. In which case, even if the court found in favor of the plaintiff, the guy wasn’t going to go to jail or anything.
So Matt Murdock’s view of ‘justice’ is suing acquitted criminals after the fact? I realize they probably got off on the actual criminal charges, so why not become a prosecutor and make sure they don’t get off? Or why not be the kind of defense attorney who defends wrongfully charged people? Which, frankly, can’t be all that often. And there are times when defense attorneys are assigned to a case by a judge, so there’s no way he could only get by without defending some guilty people. That’s what lawyers do.
Scarlet Spider is Canceled!
Say it ain’t so, true-believers! The Scarlet Spider series is being cancelled in December! Scarlet Spider #25 is the final issue, and it looks to be a doozy!
I hope he lives
This is bumming me out. I really enjoy Scarlet Spider, enough so to give each issue a major review. I will be very disappointed to see the series leave. I’m not sure why it’s being canceled. I don’t think Marvel has said anything yet. Maybe sales were low? We always knew the series wasn’t exactly star material. It was just a fun comic.
Scarlet Spider is about Kaine, the clone of Spider-Man, who tried and usually failed to be a good person and a good superhero in Houston, TX. Scarlet Spider was heaped in characters and imagery from the Clone Saga, one of the most hated comic book stories of all time. But it’s one of my favorites, so I was completely behind Kaine getting his own series.
But good things don’t last forever. Here’s the solicitation from December:
SCARLET SPIDER #25
CHRIS YOST
DAVID BALDEON (A)
Cover by Ryan Stegman
LAST DEVASTATING ISSUE!
• It’s over. Kaine did his best to be a hero. He failed.
• What about Houston?! Who lives? Who dies? Is there a place for the Scarlet Spider in this world? The answers will surprise you.
• Two years and 25 issues have led to THIS! Guest starring: MEXICO!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99
Kaine failed to be a hero? So I guess in the long run, the series really is going to be about Kaine’s failed attempt to be a superhero. His life has been getting progressively worse since the series started. That’s kind of depressing.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 9/7/13
Welcome to Villains Month! It’s the two-year anniversary of DC’s New 52 reboot, and like every September so far, they have launched a wacky publicity stunt! Unfortunately for DC, I only bought two of the dozen or so villain books. And I wasn’t all that impressed with either one. Fortunately, I liked the first issue of Forever Evil a bit more, so at least DC has that.
Not to be outdone, Marvel Comics isn’t taking Villains Month lying down. They are neck deep in the big Infinity event (yawn), and this week also saw the launch of Battle of the Atom (yay), the new Brian Michael Bendis-penned X-Men crossover. So this week was clearly a huge week in comics – and not just because it’s my 30th birthday too.
Comic Book of the Week goes to both Battle of the Atom #1 and All-New X-Men #16. Marvel and Bendis kicked off Battle of the Atom in style, and I think it’s easily going to be the best Big Event Crossover of the season!
Comic Reviews: Battle of the Atom #1, All-New X-Men #16, Bizarro #1, Deadshot #1, Forever Evil #1, Infinity #2, and Superior Foes of Spider-Man #3.
Review: X-Factor #262
It is with a heavy but triumphant heart that I begin this review of the final issue of X-Factor. Though really, this is more than just a review, this is also a farewell, saying a final goodbye to my favorite comic book series of the past eight years, and goodbye to my favorite comic book character – Multiple Man – who is given a send-off in grand style by writer Peter David. Don’t worry, comic book friends, I will spoil that Jamie Madrox does not die at the end of his series. Nor does he go off into that sweet limbo stuck in demon form, as I had so feared. Instead, Peter David goes out with class, and sends Madrox off into the sunset. Fine show.
X-Factor #262
It’s my 30th birthday tomorrow, and I have yet to decide if the final issue of X-Factor coming out in the same week is simple coincidence or a harsh sign of growing up.
Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.
I have been luke warm about these final issues so far. Some of them were good, like Wolfbane’s, providing a solid, touching goodbye for the character. Others, like Polaris’ and Monet’s aren’t really endings at all. Some of them have explored the character’s time with X-Factor in meaningful ways. Others were just spontaneous adventures. In the end, I suppose I liked them all, the same way I’ve always liked X-Factor, even when it wasn’t very good. My favorite chapter of The End of X-Factor arc would have to be this issue, saying goodbye to Madrox and his wife Layla Miller. PAD ties up a few loose ends and teases his next upcoming project, but he doesn’t do anything too drastic or crazy. We don’t find out the secret of Multiple Man’s powers, nor does Layla ‘know’ one final, insane thing.
Instead, PAD spends some time with Layla and the Demon Madrox, putting their situation into perspective and finding a fun, clever way to resolve it. There was at least one surprise in this issue that I did not see coming, and it made me smile. As did the ending. I liked this issue for its heart and its love of character. This isn’t a big, raucous goodbye or a massive superhero fight to the death. Instead, it’s a quiet, classy bow out, and I definitely approve.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and a glorious goodbye to X-Factor.
Henchman-4-Hire 