Category Archives: Marvel
Review: X-Factor #238
Last issue was a wonderful character-based story where a several members of X-Factor let their hair down, had a good time and settled the darkest demons of their soul. It was great. This issue is very similar, being an entirely character-based story which sees the members of X-Factor acting and interacting like real people instead of superheroes. While definitely a good read, this issue lacks the spark of energy and excitement that the last issue had.
X-Factory #238
Still, any issue where Multiple Man and Strong Guy banter about getting special jackets for their ‘Deathbeaters’ club is a good issue to me!
Comic rating: 4/5: Good!
This is more of a transition issue than anything else, moving characters around to continue with the various stories being told. I wouldn’t say the issue suffers from being a transition issue, it mostly just suffers from mediocre writing and less-than-stellar art. Basically, all of the various members of X-Factor bump into each other and have little chats about what they’re up to and what stories they’re a part of, not all of which are connected. They make jokes, there is some humor, but mostly it’s just light, standard chatter. This issue is another example of why the cast of this book is just too big. With so many people making appearances, they only get a few panels and a few lines to make an impression. It doesn’t work for all of them.
Unfortunately, the art also takes a step back this week with new artist Paul Davidson. The characters are OK, and you can tell them apart thanks to their costumes, but it just looks a little amateurish. The art is just not very good.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more!
Review: Avengers vs. X-Men #6
Following up on last issue’s epic cliffhanger, Avengers vs. X-Men #6 does not disappoint when it comes to scale. Gone is the petty back and forth between the Avengers and the X-Men, replaced by much bigger and better things. Unfortunately, this also looks to be the issue where the story starts to get regrettably predictable. I still have faith that this series will be able to surprise me down the line. But I think it’s obvious to everyone where the story is headed from here on out. Marvel has definitely taken sides over who is right and who is wrong in this battle.
Avengers vs. X-Men #6
Of course, I’m still going to side with the X-Men! Down with the murderous traitor Wolverine and the bull-headed warmonger Captain America!
Comic rating: 5/5: Great.
I have always loved the work of artist Olivier Coipel, and to see him take over the series is a delight. His characters are fantastic, the details are stellar, and the man can draw epic scale like none other. You really get a feel for just how huge this story has become. If only Marvel had been able to organize their entire comic universe to match this story, it would feel stronger. There’d be a lot of other problems to contend with, but at least this story would have the proper weight behind it. Instead, we’re just going to have to deal with Avengers vs. X-Men on its own, and that’s good enough.
But like I said, unless Marvel has some insane sort of awesomeness planned, there’s only one way this story is going to end. And that way sucks.
How do I think it’s going to end? Find out after the jump!
Avengers Prequel
This is from the Internet. I don’t know who made it, but it’s quite awesome!
If you know who made it, let me know in the comments!
Oh, So That’s the Ant-Man Who is Going to Join the Defenders…
Turns out that Ant-Man is going to join the Defenders after all! And based on solicitations for September’s comics, it’s going to be the newly resurrected Scott Lang Ant-Man! And he’s going to be wearing one of my favorite Ant-Man costumes ever!
That’s him in the Ant-Man costume
This isn’t really important comic book news or anything, just something that’s important to me. Writer Matt Fraction recently relaunched The Defenders, and I picked up the first few issues because I saw an ad for the series that included an appearance by Ant-Man. But since he was so tiny in the ad, there was no way of knowing which Ant-Man. There have been three of them.
I assumed it would be the current Ant-Man, Eric O’Grady. I thought he was going to transfer from the Secret Avengers to The Defenders. And O’Grady is a character for whom I’ll buy any book that he’s appearing – which includes Secret Avengers, but did not include his run on the Thunderbolts. But whatever.
Then after several issues without Ant-Man, I stopped buying The Defenders.
Only now we can see that Ant-Man will be joining the team! And it will be the second Ant-Man, Scott Lang. He recently came back to life in a different comic, and it’s good to know that Marvel will be doing something cool with him. Scott is probably my favorite of the three Ant-Men. So I’ll definitely be picking up The Defenders again.
I just thought you’d like to know.
