Category Archives: Reviews
Review: Saga #7
Saga is finally back, and it’s…mediocre at best. Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving Saga so far. This epic adventure from writer Brian K. Vaughn and artist Fiona Staples is a fun tale with fascinating characters. But after two months off, this new issue disappoints because not a whole lot happens. And then it cuts off just as it’s getting good. This issue reminds me why I read both Y: The Last Man and Dues Ex, Vaughn’s previous works, in trade paperback form, where there were multiple issues to read through in one sitting. Very little happens in this issue, and especially little to advance the plot.
Saga #7
But at least what does happen is entertaining, as we meet Marko’s parents and they meet their new daughter-in-law and grandchild.
Comic rating: 4/5 Good.
Saga #7 reads like the first section of a larger story, and obviously it is. But that disqualifies it from being a worthwhile single issue. And if I’m going to read Saga in the single issues, I’d like a little more bang for my buck per issue. But again, this is probably just me splitting hairs. I don’t think Saga is meant to be read in the single issues. Those lucky/smart people who are waiting for the trades are in for a treat. Because Saga is just that…a saga. I bet, or at least hope, that this is going to be a great tale overall. But issue by issue, I dunno. I’m still hoping for a little more meat on the bones.
Fortunately, with this issue, Saga does exactly what I hoped it would: it slows down to spend a little more time with its characters. The cliffhanger arrival of Marko’s parents last issue is picked up on almost immediately, and their interactions with their son and his new family are fun, if abrupt. We also get some backstory about Marko growing up, so I suppose that’s nice. We also check in, very briefly, on some of our other characters, though nothing comes of that. This is just a set-up issue for whatever happens next. I just hope it’s more exciting than this.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review! And you can get caught up with my prior review of the first six issues here.
Review: Scarlet Spider #11
Talking about burying the lead. Minimum Carnage was supposed to be a team-up between Scarlet Spider and Venom, as they join forces to take down the super-villain serial killer Carnage. But the two characters haven’t even been in the same room together since the start of the crossover. Instead, this is one big space alien story that just happens to involve Scarlet Spider and Venom on the side. It’s as if writers Christopher Yost and Cullen Bunn were huge fans of the Micronauts back in the day, and Marvel agreed to let them write the ultimate Microverse story, but only if they could slap some existing characters into the tale. Then someone came up with the pun ‘Minimum Carnage’, and they were off!
Scarlet Spider #11
This story is turning out to be a weird, convoluted political tale about characters we’ve either never heard of before or haven’t heard from in decades. No thank you.
Comic rating: 3/5: Alright.
I can’t even be sure if this story has anything to do with the Microverse of the past. I’m only vaguely familiar with the Micronauts, but who is the Redeemer? What is the Enigma Force? Or Marquis Radu? I imagine these are all characters and concepts thought up by Yost and Bunn to tell their story. But none of it has anything to do with Scarlet Spider or Venom, and very little to do with Carnage. They might as well have used any combination of heroes and villains in this story. Nothing that has happened so far, at least as far as I can see, has any direct impact or importance to either hero, especially Scarlet Spider. He is just along for the ride, and doesn’t even particularly want to be there.
The decision to set this tale in the Microverse was the completely wrong decision. Nobody cares about the Microverse anymore. Nobody is interested in that kind of story. A comic where Scarlet Spider and Venom team up to fight Carnage is a good idea for a comic. But Yost and Bunn have instead buried that cool seed of an idea into tainted soil, and as a result, a crummy story has grown. And that’s my metaphor of the month!
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 11/10/12
Marvel NOW! is in full effect with this week’s books, and we get our first looks at the new Iron Man and Deadpool. Sad to say, I wasn’t terribly impressed. Marvel has a big opportunity on their hands with this relaunch. But I have yet to see that potential really come to fruition just yet. Hopefully some of the other upcoming series can really wow me. But at least there are plenty of other good comics still plugging along. I think AvX: Consequences once again seals the Comic of the Week for me. Too bad it’s the final issue of that mini-series.
While a certain Merc with a Mouth earned ‘worst comic’ honors
Weekly Reviews: AvX: Consequences #5, Deadpool #1, Green Lantern #14, Iron Man #1, and Uncanny X-Force #33.
Review: X-Factor #246
I never particularly bought into Pip the Troll being a member of X-Factor. He was often funny, with writer Peter David giving him some of the best zingers in the comic, but what the heck was Pip the Troll doing as receptionist for X-Factor? It just never made much sense to me. Well PAD clearly loves the idea, and so he has devoted an entire issue to the secret life of Pip the Troll. It’s a somewhat entertaining issue, with a surprise finish. But I can’t say that it has relieved my Pip prejudice any. Pip never becomes anything more than PAD’s in-joke to himself.
X-Factory #246
Still, if you’re a fan of Pip the Troll, this issue is probably a hoot.
Comic rating: 3/5: Alright.
This is a ‘day in the life’ issue, fairly common in all types of fiction. What does Pip get up to behind the scenes? Quite a bit, apparently, some of it entertaining, some of it downright funny and some of it more than a little sleazy. I suppose it gives us more about Pip as a character, but the oddness of a cosmic space imp playing receptionist for a very grounded team like X-Factor is still his defining element. It’s a weirdness that I don’t particularly like to see in X-Factor, but that’s a personal taste more than anything. I don’t think Pip ever fit in, but I suppose PAD makes it work.
Still, it’s a fairly entertaining comic, for what it is. Nothing really special about it, unless, like I said, you are a huge Pip the Troll fan. He has an adventure, reveals some funny secrets about himself, and we all move on with PAD’s ongoing story. He’s been building to this big picture story forever and a day. Let’s hope it gets here soon, and let’s hope he really knocks it out of the park!
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review.
Review: Wreck-It Ralph
I knew Wreck-It Ralph was going to be good, but I didn’t know it was going to be this good! I can’t remember a cartoon kiddie movie with this many layers, with this much devastation and with more twists and turns than your average Sugar Rush race track. There were several moments in the film where I was very surprised at the latest turn of events, but also in awe at just how well-structured those events were. Wreck-It Ralph is made with obvious forethought, setting up many plot points and story threads that pay off with delightful glee in the end.
Wreck-It Ralph is the rare kids’ movie that doesn’t hold your hand or soften its blows. And for that, I loved it!
Movie rating: 5/5: Great!
Kids are not idiots. When you’re making entertainment for kids, you don’t need to talk down to them and you don’t need to pander to them. Kids may not understand more complex concepts, but deep down, they understand and can appreciate the difference between comedy and tragedy. Wreck-It Ralph is one of those movies that expects its viewers to think, to understand a character’s complex motivations. Why does Ralph want to be a good guy? What does it mean when he hurts his friend in order to help her? These are not simple matters of good guy and bad guy. Ralph can’t just win a medal and expect everything to work out all hunky-dory. He has to earn his happy ending – and believe me, he does!
The characters are especially fantastic. John C. Reilly as Wreck-It Ralph is a great leading man, who really comes through in the end. Jack McBrayer is a little grating as Fix-It Felix Jr., but then I mostly just feel that way about Jack McBrayer. Alan Tudyk makes a surprising turn as the Candy King, who is a far more complex character than one might think. And the great, glorious Sarah Silverman is beyond adorable as Vanellope the glitch. She has all the cutes. There isn’t a bad character in the bunch.
In a match up between Pixar’s Brave from earlier this summer and Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph, it should be no surprise that the one filled to the brim with video game references is by far the best. Suck it, Pixar.
Join me after the jump for the full review. There will be full SPOILERS!
