Category Archives: Reviews
Review: Scarlet Spider #6
Unfortunately, a discombobulated story and an odd sketchiness to the art finally bring a halt to the so-far fantastic Scarlet Spider series. Not that they make for a bad issue, mind you. But the stellar quality has definitely taken a dip. The villain comes out of nowhere, the supporting characters are a little off and the ending is rather abrupt.
Scarlet Spider #6
Plus this comic has nearly as many epilogues as Return of the King.
Comic rating: 3/5: Alright.
Sadly, this is also artist Ryan Stegman’s last issue of Scarlet Spider! The guy has been fantastic, infusing a lot of energy and style into the book. Sometimes it looked a little cartoonish for the grittier tales that writer Christopher Yost was trying to tell, but the art was clean, detailed and very cool. Stegman had a flair for highly energetic and dynamic action sequences. His fight scenes were awesome.
But for some reason, the art in this issue is a little grainy. The fight is still cool, but there’s just something off about the art…not sure if it’s intentional or not. The same thing could be said for the writing – it’s a little grainy. I’d say this issue feels a little rushed all around. It’s not bad, but it’s definitely a bump in the road.
Review: Superman vs. The Elite
Superman: The Animated Series is back — in DVD form! That’s probably the best way to describe the new straight-to-DVD movie Superman vs. The Elite. Not to say that the old Superman cartoon from the 90s is really back. More along the lines of this new movie feels like a long lost, extended episode of a generic Superman cartoon show. After watching the new 70-minute film this week, I find that my thoughts are exactly the same as when Superman vs. The Elite was first announced back in February: Why bother?
Is this really the best use of the very awesome and very talented people at DC Animation?
Sadly, the whole movie was not like this
Movie rating: 4/5: Good.
That’s not to say Superman vs. The Elite is a bad movie. Far from it. It’s a perfectly fine movie. It’s well drawn, the action is cool, the characters are fun and the voice-acting is good. Honestly, there are very few problems with this film at all. It’s total quality from frame one. There’s also the matter of the rather significant philosophical question it raises about whether or not superheroes should kill, but I don’t think it gives a very definitive answer — though that’s not the movie’s fault. That’s simply the nature of the comic book beast. I think it tackles this question well, with a few stumbling steps. But maybe those same stumbling steps came from the original comic book story from 2001. I don’t know, I didn’t read the comic. So I couldn’t tell you if this is a good adaptation.
Superman vs. The Elite is just a good, solid Superman story put to animation. My problem is that I don’t see the point of these animated movies anymore. But maybe that’s just me looking a gift horse in the mouth.
Review: Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #11
Ultimate Spider-Man is firing on all cylinders, baby! Last issue was absolutely perfect in its tense dialogue and character study, and this issue is absolutely perfect with its fantastic action and excitement. If I haven’t declared it already, this is the issue where Miles Morales is cemented in my mind as a new and exciting Spider-Man. The pain of Peter Parker’s young, unnecessary death still hurts, but writer Brian Michael Bendis is at the top of his game telling a decidedly Spider-Man story with a new, fascinating protagonist.
Ultimate Spider-Man #11
Not that I’m saying Miles should replace Peter everywhere, but for a comic in the Ultimate Universe, this is an absolutely fantastic story.
Comic rating: 5/5: Great!
Everything works in this issue. The dialogue, the art, the action, the energy. This is Miles Morales finally getting into a fight that actually lasts more than a single punch. This is Miles being unable to come up with a good quip in the middle of a brawl. This is Miles actually getting smashed around – though he shrugs it all off fairly well. This kid seems untouchable so far. I suppose that’s one complaint I would have: Miles still hasn’t had any trouble being a superhero. I realize it would be horrible to put a kid so young into a good scrape, but not even his costume gets torn. Peter Parker was put through the ringer. Miles seems almost impervious.
And the teaser cliffhanger at the end is absolutely fantastic! Can’t wait for the next issue! Too bad the Ultimate Universe will be starting another stupid crossover soon. Poor Miles.
Review: Prometheus
I have never seen Alien. So I can’t tell you whether or not Prometheus works as a prequel. But I can tell you that Prometheus absolutely doesn’t work as a stand alone movie. All the hype, all the anticipation, and all we get is a very standard action movie with no surprises, no scares and nothing we haven’t seen before. I don’t care if it’s directed by the legendary Ridley Scott, or that he’s revisiting his most classic sci-fi film. Apparently he’s lost his touch.
Prometheus asks all these big questions about the origins of the human race and where we come from, but then answers them with standard movie violence.
Movie rating: 3/5: Alright.
I can’t bring myself to say that Prometheus is a bad movie. It’s competently made, looks cool and has enough action and Idris Elba to keep someone entertained. But the film has so many plot holes and contrivances that I can’t consider it a good movie. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. I also can’t imagine it answering too many questions about the Alien franchise. Everything we learn about the aliens and the Engineers in this movie is just boring and ho-hum. We don’t learn anything about the origins of the human race. And the big moment where it looks like we might see something new, Scott just inserts more needless, pointless violence.
The characters are paper thin, the designs are dark and murky, the aliens are wildly inconsistent and some of the twists just don’t make any sense. I expected much more from Prometheus, but got so much less.
Spoilers and more after the jump.
Review: X-Factor #237
This! This is what I’ve been talking about! X-Factor #237 is writer Peter David at his finest, writing his characters as people first and superheroes second. Forget the interdimensional super-villains, the Mojoverse and whatever other crazy plots PAD has in store for X-Factor. This is what I want from this comic. The issue starts with a few of his female characters going on a character-building road trip together, and ends with one of them having a huge personal break through. This issue is comic gold.
X-Factor #237
X-Factor doesn’t need costumes, super-villains or an Avengers vs. X-Men tie-in to make for an amazing comic book.
Comic rating: 5/5: Great!
I wish more of PAD’s issues were like this one. But instead he seems to sprinkle these character-based issues throughout his run. They have always been a highlight of X-Factor. And I suppose they’re made all the better because of how rare they are. Plus, having issues like this makes the action issues better, because we come to care more about the characters. Polaris has been a ghost in this series since she joined, so she desperately needed a story like this.
Unfortunately, this issue is far from the best character-based story that PAD has written for X-Factor. After nearly 100 issues writing this volume, his grip on the characters and their personalities is slipping. I chalk this up to having just too many characters and plots to contend with. Back at the beginning he had everything under control. But that’s not to say this issue isn’t great. The dialogue and humor are fun, the characters are written very well and the art is absolutely gorgeous.
And thank the heavens, Polaris has finally changed out of that stupid green costume Thank you for that, PAD!
Henchman-4-Hire 