Category Archives: Reviews
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 11/1/14
Happy Day-After-Halloween, henchies! Or better yet, Happy All Saints Day! I wonder if anybody in the world actually celebrates All Saints Day. I know I had to Google it to remember what November 1 was actually called. No worries if you don’t celebrate, but hopefully you have plenty of candy to tide you over.
This week was very light on new comics because it’s a Fifth Wednesday week. Comic publishers usually only plan for 4 Wednesdays a month, so when a fifth week comes along, they usually throw out some minor comics. DC put out a couple of annuals that I didn’t bother to read. But I did pick up All-New X-Men and Batman Eternal.
The week’s crowning jewel, however, is the final issue of Brian Azzarello’s Wonder Woman! He’s been telling one ongoing, epic saga since the start of the New 52, and it all comes to an end with this issue, the Comic Book of the Week!
Meanwhile, Marvel put out the first issue of their new Deathlok series. I wrote a pretty thorough review at Word of the Nerd that you can check out.
Comic Reviews: All-New X-Men #33, Batman Eternal #30 and Wonder Woman #35.
Review: Saga #24
When all is said and done, and we’re looking back at Saga in the big picture, this volume is going to be seen as one of transition. People in the future who read Saga in one sitting are going to breeze through this chapter to get to the really good stuff. And that makes this volume – and this issue in particular – kind of an odd duckling. Better literary critics than I will probably be able to explain it better, but for me, this was all just a nice visit with some good friends.
Saga #24
Saga #24 ends the current volume by looking ahead to the future, underlining this whole volume as a tiny bit unnecessary.
Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.
Not that I would ever consider a single issue of Saga ‘unnecessary’ – unless, of course, it got really bad somehow. But after reading this issue, and it’s wild departure from every other issue in this volume, I find myself slightly confused by the whole experience. Writer Brian K. Vaughn shocked us at the end of issue #18 with a jump forward in time, giving us Hazel as a toddler and her family changed. That could have been the start of a great new status quo, and for a little while, it was. But with this issue, everything has changed once again.
Vaughn spent the majority of this volume establishing that new status quo only to rip us away from it at the end. This volume didn’t really take us from Point A to Point B because, like I said, Vaughn pretty much created Point A out of thin air.
But I suppose there’s no real reason to complain. We got some good drama, we met some new characters, and toddler Hazel was something spectacular. Maybe I’m just looking at this from the wrong perspective. Alana and her family are obviously the stars of the book, but the plot in this volume was all about the Robot Kingdom. A lot happened on that front. So it’s possible I don’t have any idea what I’m talking about.
I think Saga really should be read all at once, whenever it’s completed, even if it would mean waiting years.
At least Vaughn brought back Lying Cat in this issue, and effortlessly reminded us why she is Saga‘s breakout character. There is some great Lying Cat in Saga #24!
Review: Constantine: “Non Est Asylum”
Constantine had the best premiere of all the new and old comic book shows this season. The main character easily carries the show, the plot is very engaging and the overall premise looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. Maybe it helps that I’ve never seen an episode of Supernatural, or any of the TV shows that owe their origins to the original Hellblazer comic, but I really enjoyed ‘Non Est Asylum’ and will definitely be tuning in to more Constantine. Of course, maybe it also counts against me that I’ve never read a Hellblazer or Constantine comic, and actually enjoyed the 2005 Keanu Reeves movie, but that should just be water under the bridge at this point, right? Pretty please?
TV Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.
This new show on NBC has some real spooky legs. There’s a certain wicked energy at play here that I like. This pilot episode is half-horror movie, half-supernatural adventure, with a hero who fits into both. That sounds like a solid premise for a TV show to me. Throw in a dash of superhero – even if lead character John Constantine doesn’t exactly fit that definition – and you’ve got the makings of a pretty good show. If Supernatural can last for 10 seasons, surely Constantine can find a way to show them how it’s done. Granted, it doesn’t have a Sam and Dean, but who needs pretty boys when you’ve got a hardass like John Constantine? He’s just about the No. 1 thing this pilot got right!
Join me after the jump for the full review!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 10/25/14
Whatever happened to holiday theme comics? Next week is Halloween, but I don’t know if there are any Halloween comics coming out! Whatever happened to those great comics about fighting giant pumpkin monsters? Or meeting demonic hell spirits? Or what about the greatest Halloween superhero adventure of all time? You henchies remember that one, right? Whatever the case may be, there isn’t nary a Halloween reference in any of this week’s haul!
But we’ve still got a pretty good haul. I picked up new issues of Aquaman and Harley Quinn, while also checking in with the ongoing craziness happening in Axis and Multiversity. One is a little more crazy than the other. I also picked up the first issue of the new Arkham Manor series…but I doubt I’ll be picking up any more. Fortunately, the latest issue in Jonathan Hickman’s ongoing Avengers saga is amazing! Avengers #37 easily scoops of Comic Book of the Week for the high quality, character-based drama!
Some day they’ll laugh about this
You can also check out my coverage of the soon-to-be cancelled She-Hulk over at Word of the Nerd. That title should have survived for the Matt Rocks cameo alone!
Comic Reviews: Aquaman #35, Arkham Manor #1, Avengers #37, Axis #3, Batman Eternal #29, Harley Quinn #11, and Multiversity #3.
Review: Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man #6
It’s issues like this where patience pays off! Brian Michael Bendis has been building to something good, and this is it! This is the battle, these are the confrontations, this is what we’ve been waiting for! Miles Morales vs. the Green Goblin! The truth about Peter Parker! Even more exciting stuff! The last issue was all about transitioning us into this stellar adventure, and I’m all the more glad for it. I’ve almost always been a fan of Bendis’ decompressed storytelling. I like that he takes the time to build a scene, or build up to a moment, because we get pay offs like this issue.
Ultimate Spider-Man #6
Ultimate Spider-Man #6 is one of the richest, most confident and exciting comics in Miles Morales’ short career.
Comic Rating: 10/10 – Fantastic!
Yep, a perfect score. I don’t do that very often, but if I don’t do it for an issue like this one, then what am I saving it for? Ultimate Spider-Man #6 has it all, and almost all of it is satisfyingly good. This is a big moment for Miles and for the series. Our young hero fully embraces his role. He stands tall as a true Spider-Man, and has more than a few great moments, while his predecessor looks on.
Speaking of Peter Parker…could this really be him? Before now, I was pretty sure this was just some storyline Bendis has been working on. Miles voices the obvious option: he’s a clone. But with this issue, Bendis provides a somewhat reasonable explanation for how Peter could be back from the dead. On top of that, what’s to stop Bendis from bringing Ultimate Peter Parker back from the dead? The latest Ultimate Universe relaunch failed spectacularly. Both All New Ultimates and whatever they called the Ultimate Fantastic Four have been cancelled. The Ultimate Universe is probably on its last legs, with only Ultimate Spider-Man really kicking along.
So why not bring Ultimate Peter Parker back from the dead? Why not give him, his family and this series a happy ending? Leave Miles as the one-true Ultimate Spider-Man and just shuffle a resurrected Peter off to the side. It makes about as much sense as any resurrection in comics. And the reason it hasn’t gotten a lot of attention is because nobody really cares about Ultimate Spider-Man anymore.
I think this twist would be pretty awesome. Because considering what Bendis does with Peter Parker and his family in this issue, it would be even more cruel if Peter was revealed to be a fake.
But hey, maybe Bendis is a cruel man.
Join me after the jump for the full synopsis and more review!
Henchman-4-Hire 