Category Archives: Reviews
Review: Cataclysm: Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #3
If you haven’t already heard the good news, it seems that Miles Morales’ life as Spider-Man gets to continue in the Ultimate Universe. He’s not jumping over to the regular Marvel Universe. He’s not dying. Miles gets to live on and continue having adventures, which is fantastic news. I want to keep reading Miles Morales comics for the rest of my natural born life. I want to read Miles as an adult Spider-Man, like normal universe Peter Parker. That’s all I’m about: want, want, want! Unfortunately, I have been denied the excellence of Brian Michael Bendis’ original plans for Miles revealing his identity to his father, and that’s a shame.
Spider-Man Cataclysm #3
The final issue in this 3-parter is a bit of a let down, if only because not much really happens. The emotional confrontation between father and son is short and bittersweet, and the issue ends with just a continuation into the main Cataclysm series. It doesn’t serve as a finale to Ultimate Spider-Man or as much of a finale to this 3-parter.
Comic Rating: 6/10 – Pretty Good.
I don’t know what Bendis originally planned for the moment when Miles reveals his identity to his father, but I can’t imagine it was this. There’s no way Cataclysm was on the table back when Bendis was putting together his plans for Miles. So to have such an important moment wasted in the middle of this big mess is kind of disappointing. The confrontation happens in a logical and reasonable way, but it leaves a lot to be desired, and a lot on the table. That makes sense, considering the story is going to continue, but for a single issue, it’s just disappointing.
And there’s too much going on with Galactus destroying the world for anything else to matter. Everybody, especially Miles, is in crisis mode. Nothing slows down enough to be cherished. It’s all rush, rush, rush in every direction. So while that means the action is cool, all of the potentially important or interesting story beats are lost in the rush. And then, like I said, the end is just a ‘To Be Continued in the Rest of Cataclysm’ thing. So this issue is fine, and it’s well made, but everything is a little too discombobulated by Cataclysm to be really effective.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/11/14
I’m a little embarrassed. There are only four comics on the review slate today, and none of them are Indie titles like I promised last week. But that’s only because I couldn’t settle on one I liked, and most of them were already mid-story. Fortunately, Image just announced a ton of new books coming this year, so maybe I can get in on the ground floor of some of those. But still, only four books this week! What’s wrong with me? Well, for starters, I’ve been a bit under the weather. Blame it on the Polar Vortex!
At any rate, at least we’ve got some good books this week! All-New Marvel NOW! has launched, and we’ve got the first issues of Avengers World and Black Widow, both solid starts. And DC Comics gives us a healthy dose of green, with both Green Arrow and Green Lantern! They should market that somehow. Too bad they already cancelled Green Team.
Comic Book of the Week goes to Green Arrow #27, which continues its so-far amazing The Others storyline – but don’t let the name fool you, it’s far more interesting than that.
That is some very pretty arrow shooting. How is it that both Green Arrow and Hawkeye are such great comic books these days?
Comic Reviews: Avengers World #1, Black Widow #1, Green Arrow #27 and Green Lantern #27.
Review: All-New X-Factor #1
Sometimes you’ve just got to be careful what you wish for. The comic I was most looking forward to in the All-New Marvel NOW! has arrived in the form of All-New X-Factor #1, writer Peter David’s latest revival of his long-standing, moderately popular superhero team. Free of past continuity and characters, PAD has been given free reign to re-invent X-Factor as he sees fit, with a new cast, a new purpose and new momentum. So it really is a shame that this issue fails on every conceivable level.
X-Factor #1
All-New X-Factor #1 is as generic and mediocre a superhero comic as you could get in this day and age. From a boring plot to random characters to a premise that reeks of missed opportunities, every aspect of this comic is uninspired.
Comic Rating: 4/10 – Pretty Bad.
The last time PAD relaunched X-Factor – whether you count the MadroX mini-series or X-Factor #1 – the writer clearly had purpose. Built around the reinvention of the wildly underused Jamie Madrox, PAD’s vision included noir sensibilities, the mysteries of Layla Miller, shadowy villains and a cast of characters with rich histories together. Back then, PAD clearly had ideas. And he had heart.
But all of that is missing in All-New X-Factor #1.
The new relaunch falls victim to Marvel’s recent trend of just piling a bunch of random superheroes together and calling them a team. Again and again, Marvel has done this, whether it’s some new Avengers spin-off or multiple versions of X-Force. And maybe if one of your favorite characters is on that team, you’ll love the comic. But most of these books are just generic superhero stories starring random superheroes, and that’s exactly how the new X-Factor reads. Even the interesting new premise, that X-Factor is now the first corporately-owned superhero team in the Marvel Universe, is painfully generic.
The potential for some interesting ideas or styles is present, but time and again, PAD either skips right over them or doesn’t play them up nearly enough. He could get so much about of All-New X-Factor, but PAD and Marvel seem fine with settling for mediocrity.
I don’t give this comic a year.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/4/14
Welcome to the new year, Henchmen and Henchwomen! I can officially say I’ve been doing these weekly reviews for more than a year. I probably should have gone back through all the reviews and picked out the best issues of the 2013, but I’ve been sick all week, and have better things to do (coughing and video games). So we’re stuck just reviewing this week’s titles, which, thanks to New Year’s Day, were short once again.
Fortunately for us, Marvel and DC put out some good titles. Hey…there’s a good New Year’s Resolution! I should start adding at least one non-Big Two comic to the pile each week. Stuff from Image, Dark Horse and all the rest. Sounds like a plan. If any of you have any suggestions, let me know in the comments. It doesn’t have to be a superhero comic either. I want to expand my horizons.
But for now, I’m more than happy for another delightful issue of Superior Foes of Spider-Man, the Comic Book of the Week! Behold, the secret origin of the new Beetle!
Comic Reviews: Aquaman #26, Batwoman #26, New Avengers #13, Superior Foes of Spider-Man #7 and Talon #14.
Review: Teen Titans #26
Any Bart Allen fans holding out hope, after all this time, that the character and his origins were still somehow in tact, can go ahead and despair with the new issue of Teen Titans. Just like Wonder Girl, Superboy and Red Robin, Kid Flash’s origin is completely re-written for the New 52. Nothing of the original Bart, short of the time travel, remains. There was never any Impulse and there is clearly no connection to Barry Allen or the Flash. Writer Scott Lobdell lays out Kid Flash’s origin in this issue, from how he got his speed powers to how he ended up in the 21st century. And as is expected from Teen Titans, none of it is particularly interesting.
Teen Titans #26
When it comes to a space-age character origin, I can’t really say Bart’s story is very bad. It’s fine, perhaps even a little interesting. As for an origin to Kid Flash, and his place in the Teen Titans and DCU, it’s definitely worse than from before the reboot.
Comic Rating: 3/10 – Bad.
I feel bad for any Bart Allen fans who still had hope, but then, were there any left? Was anybody still expecting him to be the grandson of Barry Allen delivered from the future? That, at least, had a connection to the Flash mythos. That provided meaning and importance to the character, making him a part of the Flash legacy. But nope, not anymore. Everything you knew about Bart Allen is gone. Now, instead, he’s Bar Torr, a freedom fighter turned traitor from far into the future. There are a ton of questions and plot holes in this new origin, and parts of it that just don’t make any sense. And what any of this has to do with the DC Universe as a whole is beyond my understanding.
Wait until you see how he gets super speed. It’s…disappointing, to say the least. There are a lot of disappointing parts to Bart’s origin. I wonder if this was Lobdell and DC’s plan from the beginning. Have they just been sitting on this origin, waiting for he chance to tell it? Or was Lobdell just making it up as he went along when writing this issue? Because the plot holes are so huge you could fit Titans Tower through them. And the leap from Bar Torr to Kid Flash comes out of nowhere.
So strap in, Bart Allen fans, and prepare to have everything you ever loved about the character stripped away.
Henchman-4-Hire 