Category Archives: Reviews
Review: Saga #12
It’s about time we checked in again with Prince Robot IV, and it’s a neat little issue that sees him facing off against famed author D. Oswald Heist. The emotional roller coaster of the last few issues has come to an end. And now the time has come for the overall story to move forward, and this makes for a nice little opening chapter. We finally meet Heist, who seems like a pretty cool dude. And Prince Robot IV continues to prove why he is the most villainous out of the main characters. Will he be the actual villain in the end? Maybe. It’s hard to tell at this point. I don’t think anybody is truly evil, but that just makes for a better story overall.
Saga #12
Saga has a lot of story to tell, and it’s hard to believe we’re only at issue #12. So much has happened so far, I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around what might come next. I’m just glad I’ll be along for the ride.
Also, Brian K. Vaughn hits us with another awesome final page cliffhanger.
Comic Rating: 4/5: Good!
The action and excitement of the past few issues is gone, replaced with what amounts to nothing more than an extended conversation between Heist and the Prince. Vaughn is a master of dialogue, and the conversation serves to reveal so much about each character. It’s also just generally entertaining. I can already tell that Heist is going to be a fun character. And Prince Robot takes a step towards diabolical, which only serves to make him a more interesting character too. There is also the promise that he is on the verge of finally confronting Marko and Alana, which should be a pretty big moment.
Fiona Staples’ art is once again simply fantastic. Her characters are clear and well drawn, their emotions obvious, and the weird nature of their bodies made believable. This issue is all about a conversation between a bearded Cyclops and a robot with a TV for a head, yet it comes off as perfectly normal. I love that about her art. Everybody just looks so believable and human, even when they’re walking, talking TV sets or giant mouse people, it’s all so nice and normal. And seriously, the last page of this issue is just badass.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 4/13/13
We’ve got some good and we’ve got some bad this week, sometimes down to the very franchise. I’ve already ranted a lot about my disappointment with Batman and Red Robin, so at least the regular Batman book is good enough. On the Marvel side of things, the Avengers have a mediocre to strong output, whether it’s Age of Ultron, Avengers or Uncanny Avengers. You might even be surprised to learn that some kind of plot finally develops in Age of Ultron! I didn’t see that coming!
But speaking of Avengers, the star this week is Thor, as his series, Thor: God of Thunder, easily hammer-smashes the competition to win Comic Book of the Week! I was disappointed last issue with the weak origin for Gorr. But when Jason Aaron focuses on his various Thors, the comic is gold! It’s also the funniest comic you’ll read all week. Perhaps even the sexiest.
Sounds like my kind of woman!
Comic Reviews: Age of Ultron #5, Avengers #9, Batman #19, Batman and Red Robin #19, Hawkeye #9, Thor: God of Thunder #7, Uncanny Avengers #6, Uncanny X-Men #4.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 4/6/13
This week we explore the dichotomy of Brian Michael Bendis. He is one of the most popular comic book writers of our time, and has helped shaped the modern Marvel Universe in ways we can’t grasp now. He is a living legend in the comic book world. But sometimes he can be a really bad writer. I think I know now why Age of Ultron wasn’t given the hype or push of Civil War or Avengers vs. X-Men. It’s a terrible Big Event comic. If Age of Ultron really does rewrite any part of the Marvel Universe beyond just adding a Spawn character to the comics, I will be very disappointed. This may be Bendis’ worst Big Event comic.
But at the same time, Bendis has turned the X-Men franchise into one of the best comics being published today! His work on All-New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men is some of the best he’s ever written. Almost all of the characters involved are more dynamic than they’ve been in years, and the story itself is one for the history books. It just keeps getting better and better! All-New X-Men #10 easily wins Comic Book of the Week, and I eagerly await the next chapter next week.
Ptui!
Maybe Bendis just drinks a different kind of coffee on the days he’s writing X-Men vs. the days he’s writing Ultron.
Comic Reviews: Age of Ultron #4, All-New X-Men #10, Green Arrow #19, Green Lantern #19, Indestructible Hulk #6 and Superior Spider-Man #7.
Review: Scarlet Spider #15
I was perhaps a bit harsh on The Other last issue. I never read the original storyline, so I suppose I have no room to judge. And it helps when this follow-up issue uses The Other to turn Kaine into an ass-kicking, man-spider-fueled warrior of doom! He pushes his powers to the max in this issue as Kaine takes on the Wolves, and it’s a pretty great fight. Those Wolves have been cruisin’ for a bruisin’ for several issues now, and Kaine delivers.
Scarlet Spider #15
Otherwise, this is a pretty standard issue of Scarlet Spider. Kaine defeats the bad guys, we get a few answers about Aracely and there’s a series of epilogues pointing towards the next few stories. Solid, entertaining issue all around.
Comic Rating: 4/5: Good.
Even the art is better, I think. I haven’t been happy with Khoi Pham’s pencils since he took over, and I still don’t like them, but he does a pretty nice job with this issue. The fight scenes are good, though not as good as the former artist Ryan Stegman. That guy knew how to draw action scenes. Another artist shows up to help out with some of the epilogues, and I like his work a lot too. So the art is just as solid as the story.
I’m not sure how much this issue moves Scarlet Spider forward as both a character and a series. The Other might be here to stay…or it might be over with already. We won’t know until the series continues, the ending could go either way. I think I’d be cool if Kaine had the ability to randomly turn into a man-spider monster when the situation called for it. Definitely a power that Spider-Man doesn’t have.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 3/30/13
The reviews are going to be a little short this week, I’m afraid. The problem with being an amateur blogger is that I’ve still got a day job and car problems to deal with, and it’s just my luck that I’d have to excessively deal with both in the same week. But I still bought my weekly stack of comics, I’m just going to have to cut out some of the usual reviews I would have done just to save time. Still, got a nice crop of comics this week, with some winners, some groaners and some disappointingly mediocre offerings.
Seriously, I could not be more let down by the first issue of Brian Michael Bendis’ Guardians of the Galaxy. I’m super excited for the upcoming movie, but if it’s anything like this first issue, maybe I should lower my expectations. Guardians of the Galaxy is almost exactly like DC’s Threshold, and I hated that series. I doubt I’m going to even bother with more Guardians.
And if that wasn’t the only surprise, I’m going to award Comic Book of the Week to Uncanny Avengers #5! I’ve been picking on the series since it began, but this issue gets all its ducks in a row, including a new artist, and is pretty impressive. Though apparently also very controversial, as I’ll explain in a bit. First, some levity.
FF remains pretty damn awesome.
Comic Reviews: Age of Ultron #3, Batman Incorporated #9, FF#5, Guardians of the Galaxy #1, Talon #6, Uncanny Avengers #5 and Wolverine and the X-Men #27.
