Category Archives: Marvel
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 3/2/13
Robin Week comes to a close with my official review of Batman Incorporated #8. It’s actually a very good comic, so it’s great to see Damian go out at the height of his awesomeness and popularity; kind of like Seinfeld or Calvin & Hobbes. I would even be tempted to give Damian’s demise the Comic Book of the Week, but that award has to go to Hawkeye #8. Writer Matt Fraction had an amazing week, delivering the one-two romantic punch of Hawkeye and FF, two amazing comics that reinforce why I love the medium in the first place. If you’re not reading either book then you’re definitely missing out.
Who would have thought that coming out of the big The Avengers movie last summer, the two characters with the best comics would be Hawkeye and Thor? Speaking of which, why doesn’t the Black Widow have her own comic series? That seems like it would be a no-brainer, especially for Marvel NOW! Oh well, this is why Marvel is not paying me the big bucks.
Comic Reviews: Aquaman #17, Batman Incorporated #8, FF #4, Hawkeye #8, Talon #5, Uncanny Avengers #4, Uncanny X-Force #2, Uncanny X-Men #2 and Young Avengers #2.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 2/23/13
It’s weeks like this that make me regret ever starting this Hench-Sized review column! Oy vey! Somehow, the Marvel and DC scheduling system is perfectly tailored to my reading habits so that the books I actually buy and read all come out on the same darn week! Last week I only had four comics in the Hench-Sized reviews. This week there’s more than a dozen! And it doesn’t help that I’m broke…
But enough whining, let’s get to some comics! This has proven to be an absolutely stellar week of books! I enjoyed all of the comics I bought this week, with more than a few of them rising to perfect scores. And you want to talk gender equality? How about the fact that the two best comics this week both star female leads. It’s an absolute shame that more people aren’t buying Captain Marvel. That book is absolutely amazing! But it’s surpassed just a little by Batwoman, which wins Comic Book of the Week for its fantastic climactic issue and surprise romantic ending!
Though Captain Marvel’s sheer adorableness was hard to beat.
Comic Reviews: Avengers #6, Batwoman #17, Captain Marvel #10, Green Lantern #17, Green Lantern: New Guardians #17, Indestructible Hulk #4, Justice League #17, Justice League of America #1, Nightwing #17, Nova #1, Red Hood and the Outlaws #17, Superior Spider-Man #4, Thor: God of Thunder #5, Vibe #1, Wonder Woman #17.
New Marvel Heroes Trailer Lessens Expectations
Huh. Does anybody else get an ‘Ultimate Alliance’ vibe from that gameplay footage? I’m probably still going to get the game, but something about that gameplay footages makes me think this Marvel MMO is going to be far more generic than we’re being led to believe. Is it just going to be yet another game where Marvel superheroes team up and fight endless waves of henchmen? Because we’ve been there and done that…several times now.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 2/16/13
Do you like Batman and the X-Men? Because those are the only comics that came out this week! Or at least, they’re the only comics on my pull list this week (if we don’t count Scarlet Spider). But wow, what a great week for Batman and the X-Men! Death of the Family ends in Batman, with a sort-of epilogue in Batman and Robin. The Internet is crowing about the finale of Scott Snyder’s Joker story…but I just don’t get it. Sorry. I guess it went right over my head. Still entertaining though.
The real treasure this week is the first issue of Brian Michael Bendis’ Uncanny X-Men, debuting Cyclop’s new team of mutant revolutionaries! I have very much been looking forward to this comic, and it does not disappoint! Uncanny X-Men #1 easily wins Comic Book of the Week!
Pax Utopia
Comic Reviews: Batman #17, Batman and Robin #17, Uncanny X-Men #1, Wolverine and the X-Men #25.
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!
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