Category Archives: Reviews
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 11/9/13
Welcome back to another round of reviews, Henchboys and Henchgirls! We’ve got a pretty standard week of books, though personal favorite Captain Marvel makes a big return after months of being buried in crossovers and tie-ins. Of course, now the comic goes on hiatus for four months, because, as always, we can’t have nice things.
But at least Forever Evil, Green Lantern and Mighty Avengers are all pretty entertaining, and we’ve got the debut of Amazing X-Men #1! No doubt Nightcrawler fans are bursting at the seams to see him come back from the dead. Personally, I’m just wondering why this story needed a whole new superfluous X-Men book.
Comic Book of the Week goes to the pretty great Captain Marvel #17. Don’t stay gone for too long, Carol!
Everybody loves a good butt joke
Comic Reviews: Amazing X-Men #1, Captain Marvel #17, Forever Evil #3, Green Lantern #25 and Mighty Avengers #3.
Review: Batman: Arkham Origins
He is the terror that flaps in the night! He is the hang nail that annoys the finger of crime! He! Is! Batman! And wouldn’t you know it, he’s back for a threequel prequel in the Batman: Arkham series, which I think is safe to call the greatest superhero video game series of all time. Batman: Arkham Origins once again puts us deep into the mind and fists of the Dark Knight with an awesome story, a bigger playground and even a new multiplayer mode. But things are a little different this third time around. Original series developer Rocksteady is gone, replaced by Warner Bros. Montreal. The change isn’t noticeable, though, because Warner Bros. Montreal does not fix what isn’t broken – for good or ill.
Batman: Arkham Origins doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it just gives us more of that awesome Arkham action we love.
Game Rating: 9/10 – Great!
Batman: Arkham Origins has been our for two weeks now, and I know my review is late to the game, but I wanted to get my thoughts down anyway. This gives me the opportunity to reflect on what other reviewers are saying, and a lot of them are complaining that Arkham Origins doesn’t do anything new to move the series forward in any significant way. I completely agree with that statement, but I don’t think that makes for a bad game. Far from it. Warner Bros. Montreal took everything that worked in the previous two games – Arkham Asylum and Arkham City – and just keeps the ball rolling.
Batman: Arkham Origins follows the same fun rules of sequels to superhero movies. The first games established the world and the mechanics, and Arkham Origins gets to play around in them. And considering how much fun it is to play around in the Arkham games, what more could we really ask for? How does one improve upon perfection? Just throw a new coat of paint on it, add in a few neat Easter Eggs, and it’s off to the punchfest!
Join me after the jump for my full review. There will be plenty of SPOILERS for the game’s storyline, which, personally, I consider to be the best of the series so far.
Review: Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #28
I apologize for the lateness of this review. These are busy days and I am nothing if not a horrible procrastinator. I picked a bad issue to be late on though because this is the last issue of Ultimate Spider-Man! They say that very thing in the letters page. As we all know by now, Cataclysm begins in a month or so, possibly bringing about the end of the Ultimate Universe. We don’t yet know what’s to come of our hero, Miles Morales, but it’s not looking good. I’ve said before that I don’t want to see him brought over to the normal Marvel Universe, but obviously the decision is out of my hands. All I can do is enjoy the final issue of Ultimate Spider-Man for what it is: a fun superhero romp.
Ultimate Spider-Man #28
The last issue of Ultimate Spider-Man sees an end to the threat of Roxxon in playful fashion. It also reaffirms Miles as Spider-Man – while answering a few questions about his origin – just in time to close the book.
Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it until the end of time: Miles Morales worked, at least creatively. It was a bold move for Marvel to kill off Ultimate Peter Parker and replace him with a brand new character, but writer Brian Michael Bendis made the absolute most of it. Miles lives up to the ideals and character we expect from Spider-Man, but he’s a different sort of man than Peter Parker. He’s quieter, for one. And sometimes it feels like he has a lot more responsibility resting on his shoulders. But he’s as entertaining as Spider-Man has ever been. I would happily read about Miles from now until that very end of time. I want to read about him growing up. I want to read about Miles as an adult Spider-Man. I want him to have the life Ultimate Peter Parker never did.
But the world is unfair and Ultimate Spider-Man as we know it is probably over. This is why we can’t have nice things.
This final issue is a good one. Spider-Man and his amazing friends team up to take down Roxxon, and they make fine work of it. The story isn’t written like an ending. By all accounts, it seems like Bendis is more than ready to keep going. The villains at Roxxon don’t put up much of a challenge at all for our little team, which isn’t too bad. Climactic fights are fun, but I’m a man who likes words and dialogue more than punches, and this issue is good on those. This victory means more to the heroes than the villains. And, of course, it’s all drawn spectacularly by Dave Marquez. The man is a dream artist. I would read Bendis and Marquez on Miles Morales well into the afterlife.
But I can’t, because this may very well be it. Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
Review: Saga #15
Saga #15 is a kind of fill-in issue, but that’s not a bad thing. Not every issue of Saga can be a mind-meltingly amazing experience. Sometimes Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples just have to take a step back and move the story along on an issue-by-issue basis. We’ve got plot, we’ve got sub-plot, we’ve got a few fun character moments, and most importantly, we’ve got another good issue of Saga. The story is moving along at a nice little pace, so there’s no harm in Vaughn taking a break to enjoy his world for a moment.
Saga #15
Saga #15 is kind of a way station in the ongoing story. Marko, Alana and the gang are enjoying their time in Heist’s lighthouse, while The Will and his team have their own concerns. The larger narrative takes a step back this issue so that we can enjoy the little things in life.
Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.
I read both of Vaughn’s previous comics – Y: The Last Man and Ex Machina – in tpb form, and that was an excellent way to read each series. Vaughn is a man who writes to the bigger picture. His comics aren’t the typical, never-ending superhero dramas. They have beginnings, middles, and, most importantly, endings. So I’m fairly certain Vaughn already knows the general strokes of where Saga is going and how it’s going to end. So maybe the best time to read Saga is when it’s all over, like a novel. But because I’m such a fan of his work, I decided to go issue-by-issue, and while I’m not disappointed, it does lead to issue like this one.
Again, this is in no way a bad issue. It’s Saga‘s usual greatness. But we’re still no closer to the cliffhanger at the end of Saga #12, which I’m really excited to see resolved. Instead, we pause for some R&R. It’s good, enjoyable R&R, but it’s rest and relaxation nonetheless. I’m also a little surprised/confused by the developments for The Will’s team. I’ll get to it in the synopsis, but for now, I’m just not sure what it means for the story as a whole. The Will deserves his own stories, but is this an example of Vaughn writing for the single issues? Or is this new twist part of the larger narrative?
Read on and we shall see!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 11/2/13
I come to you today, my friends, with a heavy heart. This week saw the release of The Sandman Overture #1, a return to that famous character by world-renowned writer Neil Gaiman, with artist J.H. Williams III on pencils. There’s a very good chance, considering the subject matter and the creative team, that The Sandman Overture could be the greatest comic book of the year. Like everyone else in the world, I love Gaiman’s original run on Sandman. But I’m sorry to say that I just couldn’t bring myself to review the new first issue. I bought it. I read it. I enjoyed it, but I am a mere mortal. I have no place bestowing a grade on work such as this. And besides, after reading issue #1, it’s clear to me that this is a ‘read all at once’ kind of story. So maybe at the end I’ll write something
For now, let’s stick with the superhero stuff, shall we?
We’ve got the final chapters of both Lights Out and Battle of the Atom to enjoy, though I found both to be a little underwhelming. Two chapters of Infinity shipped this week, but nothing new there. The only real stand-out – and therefore Comic Book of the Week – was Superior Spider-Man #20, in which writer Dan Slott seems to gleefully start tearing down both the lives of Peter Parker and Otto Octavius. Slott’s overall plotting on Superior Spider-Man has been a master class in comic-bookery. everything he’s set up so far is about to come crashing down, and it’s going to be a real pleasure to read.
As for Moment of the Week, our last visit with the Time Traveling Icemen pulls it off with aplomb.
Comic Reviews: Infinity #5, Avengers #22, Green Lantern Annual #2, Superior Spider-Man #20 and X-Men: Battle of the Atom #2.
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