Category Archives: Reviews
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 5/4/13
May the Fourth be with you, everyone! And not only that, but it’s Free Comic Book Day! And I saw Iron Man 3 yesterday afternoon! What a fantastically nerdy weekend! Sometimes I have to pinch myself to truly appreciate how geeky the world has become. Just think about it: the Iron Man threequel is expected to break box office records. The world loves superhero movies! Back when I was growing up, to even hope for quality superhero movies was a fool’s dream. Now the movies are awesome, and the comics are awesome. These are good days.
This week’s load of comics is a mix of good issues. Not a stinker in the bunch. There are some duds, like the latest issue of Age of Ultron, but that whole series has been a dud so far. I’m much more excited by comics like Hawkeye, Aquaman and All-New X-Men, which I’ve awarded Comic Book of the Week this week. Not for any particular reason, it’s just that out of all the very good comics this week, I decided I liked X-Men the best.
Plus I’m a sucker for adorable hugs. Though maybe I should have given the award to the new issue of Superior Spider-Man, which makes a pretty momentous change – except that the change isn’t nearly the big deal that some fans are making it out to be. It’s more ho-hum, as far as I’m concerned.
Comic Reviews: Age of Ultron #7, All-New X-Men #11, Aquaman #19, Hawkeye #10, Indestructible Hulk #7, and Superior Spider-Man #9.
Review: Iron Man 3
Iron Man has defeated the three movie curse! With a blast of repulsor ray and that signature charm, Robert Downey Jr. and company easily live up to expectations, and deliver on the promise that there are still movies to be made after last year’s The Avengers. Iron Man 3 is a fantastic action film, one built on the shoulders of Downey’s command performance as Tony Stark. Is there any cooler or more popular character in Hollywood right now than Tony Stark?
Iron Man 3: 4/5: Good!
While Iron Man 3 doesn’t match the spectacle of The Avengers, it doesn’t have to. Instead, Iron Man 3 shows us the blueprint for all of these upcoming superhero solo films. It focuses on Tony, the man beneath the armor, and it does an exceptional job. The Avengers went big, so Iron Man 3 gets personal. This is Tony’s movie, and Downey carries it with ease. The rest of the cast do their best to keep up, but Pepper and Rhodey can’t match the excitement and energy of Captain America, Thor and the Hulk. Still, they try, and mostly succeed. Gwyneth Paltrow, especially, steps up in a big way as Pepper Potts. This may be her best of the three films. As for the new characters, they mostly hold their own, but none of them – including the villains – are anything to write home about.
Though the Mandarin is pretty awesome, and not at all what any of us probably expected.
I’m very happy with Iron Man 3. It’s not a perfect film, but whatever complaints I might have are very minor. The first third felt a little mediocre, I suppose. The humor and one-liners weren’t as funny as other Marvel films. The emotional connection wasn’t very strong. And the villains didn’t have a lot of depth. But seriously, these are very minor, almost meaningless gripes.
The Iron Man franchise is as strong as it’s ever been, as is the Marvel Movieverse. Iron Man 3 could serve as the series finale, and I would be perfectly happy with that. But I bet we’ll see an Iron Man 4, and hopefully Robert Downey Jr. will be a part of it.
Join me after the jump for my full review! There will be some SPOILERS, so be warned. Plenty of reviews on the web are spoiler-free, but I’d like to be able to talk about some of the cooler moments in the movie. So please, if you don’t want to be spoiled, stop reading now. It’ll be worth it, trust me.
Review: X-Factor #255
Penultimate chapters usually rock, and X-Factor #255 is no exception. The balance of power has tipped in the Hell on Earth War, and only the raggedy band of mutant heroes we know and love has any chance of saving the world. Writer Peter David does a great job of setting up the final challenge and positioning X-Factor as the last hope for the fate of the planet – minus one of their own! That’s right! A member of X-Factor dies in this issue, and it’s quite sad.
X-Factor #255
The Hell on Earth War has been generally good all along. It’s dragged a little, maybe, and not all of the characters have had meaningful moments, and Madrox has been almost completely absent, but I’ve enjoyed it and I’m ready for the grand finale!
Comic Rating: 4/5: Good!
Hell on Earth War has been generally entertaining. No part has really blown me away, or connected emotionally, but I’ve enjoyed it better than some of PAD’s other big X-Factor stories. Like I mentioned, most of the characters have just been along for the ride, with all of the emotional weight going to Tier, a character who we don’t really know. And my favorite character, Multiple Man, was quickly saddled with that odd demon transformation, taking him out of the fun. But those are just personal gripes. The rest of the story has been good.
The scope and scale of the Hell on Earth War has been very intense, some of the biggest X-Factor has ever seen, and PAD has kept the pacing sharp. The story hasn’t dragged too much, with something interesting happening in every issue. This issue is no exception. Tier gets a proud moment, there’s an epic fight between Strong Guy and Monet, and Mephisto successfully sets himself up for next issue’s boss fight.
Can X-Factor save the day? Or will their cancellation come early? Join me after the jump to find out!
Review: Scarlet Spider #16
I’ve been writing a lot lately about how my favorite comic book stories are the ones that focus on the characters as people first and superheroes second. I want to read about heroes who have real lives to worry about, with real drama, real friends, and who act like real people. Scarlet Spider is a comic that definitely gets it, but at the same time, it makes one crucial mistake: Kaine is the center of his social life, and everyone revolves around him. And considering the character and the story, that shouldn’t be the case at all, and it’s a little weird.
Scarlet Spider #16
Still, Scarlet Spider remains an entertaining comic. Here is a done-in-one story about love and romance, which I very much enjoyed, but which was hampered by terrible art.
Comic Rating: 4/5: Good.
The sooner Khoi Pham is gone from this comic, the better. I’ve disliked his style since he started drawing Scarlet Spider, and this is his worst issue yet. There’s a big, climactic moment towards the end of the issue that writer Chris Yost has been building towards for some time, and Yost nails the scene, but Pham fails to stick the artistic landing. And it’s a real shame too, because I thought the story served the moment very well. At least Pham draws a very good Armadillo.
Anyway, as I was saying, the one problem with Scarlet Spider is that Kaine is the center of his social life. According to the story, Kaine simply arrived in Houston one day, and just happened to meet Wally, Donald and Annabelle over the course of his first few days in the city. That they became friends isn’t the issue, it’s that Wally, Donald and Annabelle don’t seem to have lives outside of Kaine. One would think that they had their own friends and family, and entire lives in Houston before Kaine randomly showed up. Yet everything they do seems to involve Kaine, each other and Aracely. It’s a weird gripe, I know, but it reinforces the fiction of it all.
Still, it always makes for a good comic when your love story involves Scarlet Spider fighting the Armadillo at a rodeo!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 4/27/13
Wanna know a surefire way to eat up an afternoon and sap your will to read and review comics? Have a root canal. Ouch. My tooth is still sore a day later. I do not recommend sitting through one of those if you can help it. Of course, I also highly recommend eating as much candy and junk food as you want. So I guess it’s a double-edged sword. Or that I’m full of bad advice. Either way, the latter half of my week was a little busy, so today’s reviews will be a little shorter than normal, as in I skipped a few books I normally would have reviewed. But I also took this time to try out Young Avengers again, because if you guys and gals have any recommendations you’d like me to try out, and I more than willing to listen.
That doesn’t mean I’ll necessarily enjoy the comic the same way that you do – as you’ll see in my Young Avengers review – but I’m still more than willing to give any comic book a try. Though I will always love my favorites. This week, FF #6 wins Comic Book of the Week for its usual mix of hilarity and awesomeness. Though I think Guardians of the Galaxy wins joke of the week.
Marvel really, really hope Rocket Raccoon will work
I’m still not liking Guardians of the Galaxy very much, but it was legitimately a little bit funny this week.
Comic Reviews: Batman Incorporated #10, FF #6, Guardians of the Galaxy #2, New Avengers #5, Talon #7, Uncanny Avengers #7, Uncanny X-Men #5 and Young Avengers #4.
Henchman-4-Hire 