Category Archives: Reviews
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 5/23/15
Happy Memorial Day weekend, my fellow Americans! And happy weekend to readers from countries that don’t celebrate Memorial Day this weekend! Whatever the case may be, this is definitely the kick off to summer…at least in those countries that are experiencing summer right now! At the very least, we’re all getting new comics.
With DC Comics buried in Convergence, and Marvel Comics starting to dive into Secret Wars, my pull list is getting pretty small. Fortunately, it gives me more time to focus on publishers other than the Big Two! We’ve got new issues of Bloodshot Reborn and Ninjak from Valiant Comics, and Oni Press’ Kaijumax wins Comic Book of the Week for being delightfully weird.
Took a wrong turn at Tokyo
Being the Marvel fan that I am, I’m not ignoring Secret Wars as completely as I’m ignoring Convergence. So you can check out my review of A-Force #1 over at Word of the Nerd. It’s a solid comic, but it reeks of being just a gimmick. If that creative team was allowed to create a real A-Force in the real Marvel Universe, it would be a hell of a comic!
And if you haven’t yet, you can pre-order Gamer Girl & Vixen on our Kickstarter page! And if any of you readers are fellow reviewers and are willing to give Gamer Girl & Vixen a look see, let me know in the comments!
Comic Reviews: Bloodshot Reborn #2, Kaijumax #2, Ninjak #3, Star Wars #5 and Uncanny X-Men #34.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 5/16/15
If you haven’t seen the news yet, the Gamer Girl & Vixen Kickstarter has officially launched! This is my first self-published comic and my first Kickstarter, so you better believe I’m going to be on pins and needles for the next month! Click on over and check out the Kickstarter, my comic reviews will wait.
Back? Alright, on with the reviews! This was a pretty great week for me, seeing as how we got new issues of both Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel, and both were really good. We also got new issues of Thor, Darth Vader and Silk, three more of my favorite comics. But only one can win Comic Book of the Week, and that would be Captain Marvel #15 as writer Kelly Sue DeConnick signs off ahead of Secret Wars. It’s a very touching, enjoyable issue.
Those faces!
Of course, it’s just my luck that Carol finally returns to Earth just in time to go on hiatus for Secret Wars. But I’m pretty sure the issue where she finally meets Kamala Khan is coming up! Somebody remind me to track that down.
Over at Word of the Nerd, you can read my continuing coverage of Secret Wars. It’s still pretty good so far. And much like Convergence at DC Comics, I really don’t think I’m going to be touching many of the tie-in comics. So honestly, I’m not sure what I’m going to even review for the next few months…so maybe indie comic bonanza!
Comic Reviews: Captain Marvel #15, Darth Vader #5, Ms. Marvel #15, Silk #4 and Thor #8.
Hey, speaking of indie comics, did you hear that I’m running a Kickstarter?
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 5/9/15
Oy, I’m sick. I don’t know if it’s Spring Fever or Just a Fever or what, but I’ve come down with that cough and uggish feeling that’s going around. It’s definitely not dance fever, that’s for darn sure. Fortunately, I had a big stack of my favorite comics to keep me company this week.
We got new issues of Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Ant-Man and Amazing Spider-Man, as well as the only Convergence title I’m reading: The Question. Not surprisingly, seeing Greg Rucka and Cully Hamner reunite for a Renee Montoya comic wins Comic Book of the Week. I need this comic in my life on a full-time basis.
Like they need another smash in the head
If nothing else, Convergence at least allowed Rucka to return to one of his best characters, so I guess I’m grateful for that. The rest of the series blows, from what I’m reading around the web.
Speaking of the web, you can check out my review of Secret Wars #1 over at Word of the Nerd this week. I’d planned to add it to this article as well, but that sickness hit me like a ton of bricks. Sometimes the world just doesn’t want you to write about comic books.
Comic Reviews: Amazing Spider-Man #18, Ant-Man #5, Convergence: The Question #2, Spider-Woman #7 and Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #5.
Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron
Avengers: Age of Ultron is like a new episode of the biggest, most expensive TV show of all time. It’s not the event that the first movie was, and it might not be as Earth-shattering as I expected, but Age of Ultron is nonetheless a fun, exciting and action-packed movie starring all of our favorite superheroes. And therein lies my biggest complaint, which is really a non-complaint.
There’s a familiarity to Age of Ultron that leads to contentment. The movie doesn’t really give us anything new to get excited about, instead delivering just another solid chapter in this ongoing saga.
Movie Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.
I liken Age of Ultron to a TV show because that’s exactly what it felt like while I was watching. I may have been in a packed movie theater, and it’s been three years since the last episode, but Ultron was definitely the ‘monster-of-the-week’ in the latest episode of The Avengers. All of our favorite characters are back, their friendly, comfortable banter is exactly what we’d expect, and everything is more or less tied up in a nice, tidy bow by the end. Lessons are learned, a little romance is slipped in, and now we just sit back and wait for the next episode.
I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way with any movie sequel before. It’s a weird feeling.
But the episodic feel doesn’t keep the movie from being entertaining. It’s an exciting film from beginning to end. In the big picture sense, the movie is amazing. But when you step back and really think about all the moving parts, it’s not without some flaws. Director Joss Whedon juggles a few too many characters, so that some get a lot of attention — like Hawkeye, in some standout moments — while others are little more than props — like Thor, who spends most of his time dropping hints about future movies.
The new characters are a mixed bag. The titular villain, Ultron, is too entertaining to be menacing. That’s an odd way to describe a super villain, but it’s exactly how actor James Spader pulls it off.
I like Age of Ultron, a lot. It’s not as good at the first Avengers film, largely because the spectacle has worn off, but also for a lot of little reasons. Yet overall, it’s another exciting film in my favorite franchise of all time, despite those little reasons.
Join me after the jump for my full, detailed review. And there will be SPOILERS!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 5/2/15
This is a great weekend for comics! Not only is Avengers: Age of Ultron tearing up the box office (expect my review tomorrow), but it’s also Free Comic Book Day! And my own comic, Gamer Girl & Vixen, is only two weeks away from launching on Kickstarter! What a time to be alive, I tell ya!
Due to my seeing Age of Ultron twice in as many days, my review pile is a little light this week. Well, light in terms of number of issues reviewed. For some reason, I went on a real nitpicky exploration of Batman #40. You might want to skip that one if you don’t want to hear me drone on endlessly about why I don’t care for Scott Snyder’s Joker.
And skip right down to Bitch Planet #4, the Comic Book of the Week! That series is starting to pick up steam!
And watch out when she gets going!
Over at Word of the Nerd, you can check out my review of Fantastic Four #645. It’s being hailed as the final Fantastic Four comic ever, but trust me, it’s not. The comic isn’t even written as a finale. The Fantastic Four will be back as soon as Marvel is done having a beef with FOX Studios.
Comic Reviews: Batman #40, Bitch Planet #4, Princess Leia #3 and Silk #3.
Henchman-4-Hire 