Category Archives: Reviews
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 8/8/15
For some odd reason, this was another light week for comics for me. But this time, rather than focusing on DC Comics, it’s Marvel with the two books out that I actually read. Weird. But hey, less work for me to do to review! That’s got to count for something.
Along with the latest issue of Bloodshot Reborn from Valiant Comics, Marvel drops the fun-two punch of Darth Vader and Ms. Marvel, the latter of which easily snags Comic Book of the Week. The fun, touching story of Kamala Khan teaming up with her namesake easily defeats the Dark Lord of the Sith.
Teamwork!
Over at Word of the Nerd, I read and reviewed the third issue of Giant-Size Little Marvel: AvX, and it was a blast! Skottie Young is just having a lot of fun with his tie-in, which is probably the most appropriate way to reference Avengers vs. X-Men from now on.
Comic Reviews: Bloodshot Reborn #5, Darth Vader #8 and Ms. Marvel #17.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 8/1/15
Greetings from nearly the Boston Comic-Con! Since these reviews are being posted on Saturday morning, I’m most likely sitting at my desk at work, plugging away and counting down the minutes until I can slip away. Then I’ll be off to the lovely Boston area to hang out with friends and revel in my comic book geekness! Then on Sunday, I’ll be at the Con, passing out flyers for Gamer Girl & Vixen and hopefully having a blast!
But until then, comics! Unfortunately, since it’s a ‘fifth week’, we’ve got a pretty short stack. Nothing from Marvel, a little dip over at Valiant and then two separate Batgirl books!
Batgirl #42 wins Comic Book of the Week for an awesome team up between father and daughter.
The Bat-Family’s current status quo is awesome!
And over at Word of the Nerd, I took a look at the latest issue of Star Wars, which is a fun little peek into the life of Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine. If you’re a Star Wars fan, it’s a darn good read!
Comic Reviews: Batgirl #42, Batgirl Annual #3 and Ninjak #5.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 7/25/15
Only one week until Boston Comic-Con! That’s my first comic-con of the season, where I’ll be shaking hands and kissing babies in the name of Gamer Girl & Vixen! Anybody else going? I could buy you a hot dog!
As for comics this week, we’ve got some good ones! Cyborg #1 makes its big debut at DC comics, though it’s about four years late. Still, it looks like a good start, though I would have liked more. I also checked out the first issue of Kate Leth’s Power Up and was equally wishing she’d gone just a bit further in her debut issue. Alas.
As for really good comics, we’ve got new issues of Spider-Woman and We Are Robin, both of which are sizzling. And the new issue of Uncanny X-Men is a Goldballs spotlight issue! I’m beside myself with glee.
Comic Book of the Week, however, goes to Grayson #10 for its downright gorgeous artwork and fun style!
Why do we all not live there?
Artist Mikel Janin is going place! Heck, I’m not even sure why DC is keeping him on Grayson when he could be drawing Wonder Woman, Superman or anything else!
Comic Reviews: Cyborg #1, Grayson #10, Power Up #1, Prez #2, Spider-Woman #9, Uncanny X-Men #35 and We Are Robin #2.
Review: Teen Titans #10
Teen Titans #10 is the worst issue of this comic since the start of the New 52, and possibly the worst professionally-published comic book I have ever read. I am in stunned awe at just how terrible this issue is, especially since I’ve generally kind of liked the past few issues by writer Will Pfeifer. But something seems to have broken inside of him. There is no other way to explain just how much this issue fails on every conceivable level. The writing is bad, the characters are bad, the exposition is bad, the flow is bad, the sequence of events are bad, the logic is bad, and guest artist Felipe Watanabe is horrendous.
Teen Titans #10
This will be the first comic to receive my lowest grade since I started reviewing comics on my blog. This grade was supposed to be intended as a joke.
Comic Rating: 0/10 – Abomination.
The insanity begins with the very first panel and just doesn’t let up. Nothing works in this comic. It’s as if Pfeifer has no idea that he’s been writing Teen Titans for a year now. Teen Titans #10 reads like he took several years off between issues, and rather than research the story he’d been writing before, he’s just decided to wing it. Almost every single page contains multiple instances of just straight up illogical events or dialogue. Characters talk about things that never happened. They move their bodies in ways that just don’t make any sense. They react to things with no semblance to what’s actually happening on the page. Teen Titans #10 is a mess.
But it picks up the story exactly where Pfeifer left off, that’s the weirdest thing! We’re still right in the middle of the Teen Titans fighting over Superboy. And that should make for a fun, character-based story! But Pfeifer can’t seem to handle that. Rather than write a story about the Teen Titans struggling with the moral quandry of turning on their friend, Pfeifer appears to have suffered a stroke. He’s clearly not reading the same comic that any of us have been reading the past several months and years.
And when regular artist Kenneth Rocafort is unavailable, apparently DC Comics found somebody even worse to fill in.
I have no idea why this comic is still being published. With DC going through a rather awesome creative revival this Summer, how the hell are they still churning out the pure garbage that is Teen Titans? Hell, Do you know what variant covers DC is offering this month? Teen Titans Go! covers! This is Teen Titans Go! Month! And yet the Teen Titans comic is so terrible!
Join me after the jump if you dare, and maybe you can help me make sense out of any of this.
Review: Ant-Man
Big things come in small packages, and Ant-Man is no exception. I have been waiting for Ant-Man for the better part of a decade, and I’m pleased to say that the latest offering from Marvel Studios is worth the wait. This pint-sized motion picture is fun, energetic and full of superhero charm.
Movie Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.
The only real complaint I have about Ant-Man is that it’s not great enough. In a day and age where we are surrounded by high quality superhero movies and TV shows, especially from Marvel, Ant-Man doesn’t immediately shoulder its way into the top of the pack. But is not being as good as the first Iron Man or Captain America: The Winter Soldier really a complaint?
As a more low key superhero adventure, Ant-Man delivers with humor, action and some pretty amazing special effects. His iconic shrinking super-powers are a sight to behold, and this movie definitely puts the ‘ant’ in Ant-Man. I’m talking insects. They may not be as immediately marketable as the Minions, but the insect armies in Ant-Man are just plain cool.
I kind of wish Ant-Man had taken a little more time to build up the personal relationships between it’s stellar cast — I knew Paul Rudd was perfect for the role! — but perhaps director Peyton Reed was shooting for a tighter movie. He succeeds, because there isn’t an ounce of Age of Ultron bloat in Ant-Man (though some of the Age of Ultron cameos are very exciting!).
Let’s hope the ants go marching one-by-one into the theaters this weekend to make Ant-Man another Marvel hit! Join me after the jump for my full review, which will contain some SPOILERS. So watch out!
Henchman-4-Hire 