Category Archives: Reviews
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/24/15
Time to ease off the massive reviews, finally! We’ve just got a few comics this week – or at least the few comics I was in the mood to buy and read – and they’re all Batman and Spider-Man comics! How cool is that? Those two are arguably my two favorite mainstream superheroes, so this is kind of a big deal.
Comic Book of the Week goes to Amazing Spider-Man #13 for another entertaining chapter of Spider-Verse, though it’s not necessarily a spectacular standout. This is still just a Big Event I enjoy reading.
I’ve missed you, Superior Spider-Man!
We’ve also got the Spider-Verse tie-in that is Scarlet Spiders, as well as new issues of Batman Eternal and Batman and Robin. In fact, I didn’t hate this week’s Batman Eternal for once! I would say this is a solidly cool week.
Comic Reviews: Amazing Spider-Man #13, Batman and Robin #38, Batman Eternal #42 and Scarlet Spiders #3.
Review: Teen Titans #6
Let’s all welcome the new Power Girl to the Teen Titans! Hooray! Good, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get back to talking about Manchester Black. What’s that? You’d rather talk more about the interesting new Power Girl and how she might fit in the Teen Titans? I don’t know…Manchester Black is Manchester Black. He’s got a lot of really interesting stuff going on, and writer Will Pfeifer is pretty sure we should focus on Manchester Black.
Teen Titans #6
The new Power Girl is going to have to wait, everybody, because Pfeifer really really needs to write another giant Manchester Black monologue.
Comic Rating: 4/10 – Pretty Bad.
How badly does Pfeifer need to talk about Manchester Black? He literally has Black just pop in and interrupt the new Power Girl’s introductory scene. After that, Power Girl becomes nothing more than a background character. And that’s almost a perfect summation of Pfeifer’s short run on Teen Titans so far.
But I will give the man credit: there’s a glimmer of evidence about where Pfeifer might be going with all of this, and if I’m right, then he may be forgiven.
What remains unforgivable, though, is how little Pfeifer actually seems to care about the Teen Titans. Every opportunity he has in this issue to explore the Titans and their lives is interrupted. He’s constantly cutting himself off instead of staying with a scene or a moment. Pfefier actually starts several conversations exploring the Titans’ living situations and motivations, but then he cuts himself off to move on, usually towards Manchester Black. What he does write is actually pretty good, and I was prepared to give this issue a higher score, but then Pfeifer just flatlines in the entire second half of the issue.
At least Scott Hepburn is still around on art. He’s weird and funky, and I like him.
Join me after the jump for the full synopsis and more review!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/17/15
Something is definitely wrong with me these days, henchies. I am definitely not living up to the ‘hench-sized’ decree in the title of this column! From last week to this one, it seems like I have a whole heck of a lot to talk about with comic books! I try to keep these reviews short and easily digestible, but sometimes when I get going, I really get going!
It helps that this week sees the debut of Star Wars #1. There’s definitely a lot to talk about with that comic! I was a little hesitant about diving in, but Marvel does not let me down. This is quality comics! Star Wars #1 captures Comic Book of the Week because it could be a pretty historic book.
If it was up to me, though, Captain Marvel would win because the newest issue is just that damn good! Captain Marvel #11 gets the first perfect score of the new year! Check the review to find out why! We’ve also got new issues of Batgirl and SHIELD, both of which deserve a lot of attention. And Batman Eternal finally brings us an issue focused on Red Robin and Harper Row, the only thing I still like about that comic.
Over at Word of the Nerd, you can check out my take on Amazing X-Men #15. Why does a comic like that still get published in the very crowded X-franchise? Find out in my review!
Comic Reviews: Batgirl #38, Batman Eternal #41, Captain Marvel #11, SHIELD #2, Silver Surfer #8 and Star Wars #1.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/10/15
Prepare for some reading, my friends. We’ve got a very interesting stack of comics this week, and I was apparently in a wordy mood. I wrote a little more in depth than usual, especially for the first issue of the new Ant-Man series. What can I say? After that great first trailer, and all the other neat Ant-Man stuff coming out this week, I was really in the mood to dive in.
Ant-Man #1 captures Comic Book of the Week for its funny, heartfelt introduction. It’s clear from this first issue that Marvel really wants to do right by Ant-Man ahead of his movie. This isn’t just a cheap movie tie-in, this is a legitimately interesting comic.
Stiff competition came in the form of the first issue of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1, one of the funniest comics I’ve read in a long time. I’ve included some choice moments in my review. We’ve also got a new Amazing Spider-Man, the second issue of Angela: Asgard’s Assassin, and another crummy Batman Eternal.
You can also check out my review of Peggy Carter’s new Operation S.I.N. #1 over at Word of the Nerd. Much like the Agent Carter TV show, the comic is quite entertaining.
Comic Reviews: Amazing Spider-Man #12, Angela: Asgard’s Assassin #2, Ant-Man #1, Batman Eternal #40 and Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/3/2015
Holy New Year, comic book fans! Not only were there five Wednesdays in December, but the last one fell on New Year’s Eve, which apparently means that both DC and Marvel decided that nobody was going to bother buying comics. Both companies released less than a handful of comics this week, knocking my review pile down to a total of two comics!
The first is the latest issue of Batman Eternal, because DC decided to keep to that weekly schedule of theirs. It’s not as bad as previous issues, but it’s still not the breakthrough we’re all hoping for here at the end. Marvel released the first issue of their new SHIELD series, introducing characters from the TV show into the comic book Marvel Universe. It’s actually very good, and wins Comic Book of the Week with ease!
Since it’s such a slow week, I also decided to finally read and review The Valiant #1 from a few weeks ago. Some of you have no doubt heard of Valiant Comics. It’s always been in the back of my mind, and someone recently recommended to me that I start picking up some of their comics. I’m always trying to stretch beyond Marvel and DC, so why not?
But was it worth the cost? Read on!
Comic Reviews: Batman Eternal #39, SHIELD #1 and The Valiant #1.
