Category Archives: Reviews
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/26/13
What a week, what a week, what a week. Good thing there’s always comics to keep us entertained and excited. And another busy week brings us several different Avengers and X-Men comics – including the second X-Force title – as well as the penultimate chapters of the Third Army story in Green Lantern. Is it living up to all the previous Green Lantern sagas? No…not yet. But it’s still fun! As is the new Young Avengers series, and the latest issue of FF, but then we always knew that series was going to be fun.
Seriously, people, there are a ton of new comics this week. But the coveted Comic Book of the Week has to go to Wolverine and the X-Men #24. It’s cute, it’s fun and it reminds me why I loved this series so much in the beginning.
Iceman knows how to show a girl a good time
Comic Reviews: Avengers #3, Batwoman #16, FF #3, Green Lantern #16, Green Lantern: New Guardians #16, Justice League #16, Nightwing #16, Red Hood and the Outlaws #16, Uncanny Avengers #3, Uncanny X-Force #1, Wolverine and the X-Men #24, Wonder Woman #16, Young Avengers #1.
Review: Saga #9
No Brian K. Vaughn, why would you do this to us? You take two issues to really get the momentum going on Marko, Alana and their family, only to suddenly throw us this curveball with an entire issuing focusing on The Will? What the heck, man? I like The Will as much as the next reader. And Gwendolyn seems cool. But their stories could have waited until you were done rocking our socks off with the real stars of this comic. I was in no rush to watch The Will rescue that little girl from Sextillion. That could have happened at any time. But not in the middle of you delivering some of the best characterization in this series to date.
Saga #9
Saga #9 is a sad disappointment, interrupting a great storyline to bring us only a mediocre one. The Will and Gwendolyn fight a bunch of weird mole people to rescue the little girl from a few issues ago, whose name is apparently ‘Slave Girl’. Please, as if Sextillion isn’t full of underage slave prostitutes.
Comic Rating: 3/5: Alright.
Sagas #7 and #8 were a great two-parter, introducing Marko’s mom and dad and really ingratiating them in the family. Saga #8 was the best issue of the series so far, in my opinion, and I was definitely looking forward to seeing what happens next. So why, oh why, did Vaughn change gears completely and switch to this other story? It’s not like Marko and the gang had reached a natural conclusion. Their stories are still ongoing. We haven’t even caught up to Isabel yet. But nope. Vaugh introduced Gwendolyn at the end of the last issue and he’s apparently very eager to start using her.
I swear, the next issue better not just be about Prince Robot IV.
Anyway, this issue isn’t terrible by any means. The Will is a pretty cool character, and his rescue of Slave Girl is pretty noble. Gwendolyn also needs a chance to grow as a character, though I think she could have benefited from staying in the shadows for a bit. Let her mystique build. But in the end, Vaughn is creating an epic saga, and the story isn’t just about Marko, Alana and Hazel. So I guess it’s warranted to have a few issues starring the other characters. I just think this one came at the worst possible time.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/19/13
This is a great week for loving comic books. So many good and diverse books were released, from the horrific evil in Batman to the giddy happiness of Captain Marvel. Not to mention the return of Stilt-Man. That alone makes this a week to be remembered. This is one of the best and busiest weeks in comics I’ve seen in awhile. Mark Waid has two knockout successes with Indestructible Hulk and Daredevil. Batman’s Death of the Family story continues to rumble along, both for good and for ill, and DC tries to shove Threshold down our throats. It’s just as bad as I thought it might be. Ugh. But at least books like All-New X-Men remain top notch.
The winner of Comic Book of the Week is going to be Batman and Robin #16, giving us one of the best Death of the Family chapters yet. Though that’s not to say Daredevil #22 doesn’t give us one of the greatest lines ever spoken by man.
Oh how sweet it is
Comic Reviews: All-New X-Men #6, Batman #16, Batman and Robin #16, Captain Marvel #9, Daredevil #22, Indestructible Hulk #3, New Avengers #2, Savage Wolverine #1 and Threshold #1.
Review: X-Factor #250
As many of you may have heard, X-Factor writer Peter David suffered a stroke while on vacation with his family in the end of December. From what I understand, he’s been recovering, but I don’t think there has been any word yet on what will happen to X-Factor. I’m sure he’s already got several scripts in the can ready to publish. Peter David is a fantastic guy. I had the pleasure of meeting him at the New York Comic-Con a few years ago, where he politely entertained by stumbling declarations that I loved his work on X-Factor. I’m glad I brought my brother along because he had far more substantial questions to ask. To help support PAD’s hospital bills, everyone is being encouraged to buy some of his ebooks and comics online, which you can do at his website. His wife Kathleen also gave an update on his condition this week.
X-Factor #250
Considering Peter David is almost single-handedly responsible for turning Multiple Man into my favorite comic book character, you better believe we here at Henchman-4-Hire wish him a speedy recovery.
Especially since he’s kicking total ass with the Hell on Earth War so far!
Comic rating: 4/5: Good!
The second issue in and this story is pretty awesome. PAD is hitting the heroes hard and fast with the action, trying up a lot of his ongoing stories as he launches this brand new one. There are a lot of questions still about what has caused all of his hellfire and brimstone, but PAD is definitely keeping the story exciting. X-Factor is thrust right into the heart of the conflict with this issue, and all of it seems to be focused around Tier, the son of Wolfsbane. I’ve never been all that interested in this certain story, but really it’s just a reason for X-Factor to be awesome and face off against villains from Earth and Hell alike. Leonard Kirk’s art remains just as strong as it’s always been, making this story a definite winner so far.
If I had one complaint it would be that none of the action really seems to affect the characters on any sort of personal level. They’re all just kind of there, reacting as the adventure unfolds. Even when a certain character makes his dramatic return, nobody seems all that affected. Hopefully PAD can add to the oomph level in coming issues.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review.
Review: Scarlet Spider #13
What a difference the art makes. Khoi Pham is still drawing Scarlet Spider, and either his talents have gone completely downhill, or the inker and colorist have done a terrible job, because the art in Scarlet Spider #13 is atrocious. Sketchy, awkward, off-model, it brings the whole issue down. This might actually be a good issue of Scarlet Spider, but the bad art is just so distracting. It doesn’t help either that the villains are generic werewolf people. And that Pham can’t draw werewolves to save his life.
Scarlet Spider #13
We’re finally getting answers about Aracely, but whatever impact those answers might have is completely lost due to horrendous art. I hope this is just a bump in the road. A switch to bad art is always a sign that a series is nearing its cancellation.
Comic rating: 2/5: Bad.
The mysteries of Aracely have never been that big of a deal to me. She’s definitely come into her own in this series, and was a standout in the last issue. But I haven’t particularly cared where she came from. Still, writer Christopher Yost was definitely going to get around to it eventually. And it seems like he’s tying it deeply into Mexican folklore and more. I’ve never particularly cared about Mexican folklore either, but maybe he can win me over. Yost definitely does a fine job detailing how Kaine uncomfortably fits into this scenario. I think it will be a fun adventure for our hero. He’s already an outsider in the normal world, now he’s even more so. That should be good for him.
But like I said, the art is terrible. And the villains could use a big boost to make them interesting. Right now, they’re just generic evil werewolf criminals. How boring. Here’s an idea: why not make them were-something else? Why is it always wolves? There’s a lot of talk in this issue about ‘coyotes’, which are what they call the people who transport Mexicans over the border for a fee. Why not make them werecoyotes? That would be interesting and cool!
Instead, all we get is mostly bland.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
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