Category Archives: Reviews
Review: X-Factor #239
Forgive me for saying this, oh great comic book gods, but I think X-Factor is starting to show its age. If we take into account the renumbering, this current volume of X-Factor has published roughly 90 issues since 2005, and that’s not including the excellent MadroX miniseries that serves as an introduction. And all 90 issues have been written by the great Peter David. But after 90 issues starring essentially the same team members doing essentially the same thing, I’m starting to think this series is running a bit thin. Why do I say this? Because this one-off issue about Havok and Banshee teaming up to fight a real Banshee doesn’t really offer a whole heck of a lot.
X-Factor #239
Sure there is action and peril, but where is the character depth? Where is the exploration of the relationship between Havok and Banshee? Or more appropriately, where is the heart and soul of the comic?
Comic rating: 3/5: Alright.
Peter David is a master of character work. The early issues of this volume of X-Factor are a glorious examination of the Multiple Man character and the new headspace that David created for him. Not to mention all the twists, turns and relationships of the rest of the cast. Peter David is hailed as a genius for the character work he did with Quicksilver back in the now legendary X-Factor #87 from the 1993. And when Peter David is at the top of his game with this cast, he’s turned out some fantastic single issues. I was in stitches that time Multiple Man took the team to Las Vegas, because it was just such a fun and funny issue.
But after the last few issues, and especially this one, I’m just not feeling it anymore. They’re goods reads, I suppose. I enjoyed myself. But this issue is as bland as bland can get – except for a small scene between Strong Guy and Monet that captures that Peter David genius I’ve been talking about. That scene is stellar. But everything with Havok and Banshee is just boring. Maybe it’s the characters. It’s not like Havok and Banshee have any kind of history to draw on together. But as the writer, it’s Peter David’s job to provide an interesting relationship between these two characters, to make me care about them teaming up like this. And unfortunately, in that regard, he fails.
Full synopsis and more review after the jump!
Review: Avengers vs. X-Men #7
Ugh. Talk about a complete 180-degree turn from the previous issue. Whereas in #6 we actually had some characters debating the merits of this Phoenix-fueled conflict, Avengers vs. X-Men #7 launches straight into a convoluted fight scene, then follows up with page after page of incomprehensible science mumbo jumbo. Plus, I need to stop kidding myself, because Marvel have clearly established the X-Men as the villains of this piece. Now I have no one to root for. Captain America and the Avengers have come off as pig-headed bullies who refuse to even entertain the idea that the X-Men might be right. But because of the nature of the story, the X-Men are most definitely wrong.
Avengers vs. X-Men #7
Which means the pig-headed bullies get to be right by default. And without any moment of compromise or even trying to see the conflict through their opponent’s eyes, Captain American and Wolverine just get to gloat about how they’re awesome, and how Cyclops and the X-Men should have just accepted life under their boot heel.
Comic rating: 3/5: Alright.
I’m not just basing my score on the fact that the team I’ve backed for this entire conflict is being turned into the obvious villains. Even as Marvel tries to keep Cyclops’ intentions pure, the rest of the PhoeniX-Men are turning against him. There’s a scene at the end of the issue between Namor and Emma Frost that makes my blood boil, and if Marvel is really going that route, then shame on them. But the real problem with this issue is that the writing is just dull after last issue’s exciting chapter. The fight scene to start this issue is just a lot of flashy powers and shouting. Then we get several pages of conversation where the Avengers talk nonsense about the powers of the PhoeniX-Five and the Scarlet Witch, as if we the readers or they the writers have any idea how to quantify such cosmically-scaled powers.
And then several pages are wasted on the most idiotic of ruses where we learn that the PhoeniX-Men fear even the mere presence of the Scarlet Witch. But the ruse lasts only a handful of panels, so what was even the point of using it? For page padding? And the cliffhanger to end the issue couldn’t be more boring. Not in the sense that it’s actually ho-hum boring, but in that it promises nothing we haven’t seen before in this series. I’m actually a little surprised that the issue ended where it did considering it’s just another fight.
Continue after the jump for a full synopsis and more review.
Review: The Amazing Spider-Man
Bring on the new trilogy! The Amazing Spider-Man reboots the Spidey franchise with new depth, better action and, most importantly, real dramatic subtlety. This new film by director Mark Webb makes the old Sam Raimi trilogy look like a Saturday Morning Cartoon. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at those old movies the same way again. Especially since lead actors Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone (as Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy) make the old couple, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, look like community theater.
I had my reservations about a rebooted, darker Spider-Man film, but this new movie blew me away. The Amazing Spider-Man may be just a redo of the classic origin story, but it does it so much better than the previous film that it more than justifies the new direction.
Movie rating: 5/5: Great!
This is definitely a Spider-Man film. Despite most of the action taking place at night, giving the film a much darker look than its predecessors, The Amazing Spider-Man hits all the right notes to capture Spidey on the big screen. It’s got humor, it’s got costumed action, it’s got the overwhelming sense of responsibility and guilt, and it’s got a wonderful juxtaposition between Peter Parker living an ordinary life with his Aunt May vs. flying through the city in a blue and red costume.
But this is first and foremost Peter Parker’s movie. The focus is on how Peter grows as a man and becomes the hero we all love, and that may be my favorite part of the movie.
Peter doesn’t just become the heroic Spider-Man after Uncle Ben is killed. There are gradual stages that he goes through that change him from an angry, guilt-ridden teenager into the hero who saves New York. That’s the subtlety I mentioned above. Following that path and seeing the growth in Peter’s character made for a wonderful film. By the end, Spidey is a hero, the bad guy is defeated and we have ourselves a new franchise! I can’t wait for more!
Spoilers and more review after the jump!
Review: Teen Titans #10
Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it. I’ve been demanding an issue like this since the very beginning of the new Teen Titans series. And now that I have it, the issue doesn’t live up to its potential. After finally ending the N.O.W.H.E.R.E. story arc, the Teen Titans get a chance to kick up their feet, relax and interact with one another on a personal level. They finally get some down time, and writer Scott Lobdell tries his darndest to write an issue where the characters act like real people first and superheroes second. But considering how wobbly and breakneck the series has been up to this point, he just can’t pull it off.
Teen Titans #10
This reads like a case of a 40-something white guy whose spent his career writing superhero comics trying to write teenagers being teenagers. The fact that they’re dressed in colorful costumes and hanging out on an island filled with dinosaurs doesn’t help.
Comic rating: 3/5: Alright!
The biggest problem with this issue is that I just don’t care about the characters as people yet. They’ve been glued to their superhero identities for the entire series so far, attached at the hip to that ridiculous N.O.W.H.E.R.E. storyline. Now that they’re almost free of it and trying to be normal, it just doesn’t feel natural. Lobdell gives it the old college try, and for that it’s not a bad issue, but the emotional resonance that’s supposed to be behind all these scenes just isn’t there. When Kid Flash and Solstice share an adorable moment together, I was wondering when Kid Flash and Solstice were ever an item? When Superboy hugs the Titans like old friends, I asked myself when did that happen? When one character appears to die in the end, I just couldn’t care. The Titans on the page sure looked all broken up, but the series hasn’t spent enough time with these characters to make me care about them as characters.
So I guess this issue is just going to have to be a step in the right direction. Give me more like this, and maybe I’ll start caring. Though for the first time, the art of Brett Booth doesn’t work for me. His style has been a great fit for this series, but his colorful flashiness robs some of the down-to-Earth nature of some of the scenes.
Perhaps I’m just a big old curmudgeon, unhappy even when Teen Titans tries to give me exactly what I asked for. Oh well. Synopsis and more after the jump!
Review: Brave
Pixar’s Brave is a beautifully-rendered tale about a mother and daughter that has a lot of heart, but then takes a few missteps that keep it from achieving true greatness. The kids will love this film due to an overreliance on slapstick comedy. But I’m not a fan, so a lot of the comedy was just a drag to me. Fortunately, the drama is very well done, as is the emotional story between Princess Merida and her mother the Queen. And along with the depth of character, a wonderful visual style, the cornucopia of Scottish accents, and all around skilled craftsmanship, Brave is another fine addition to Pixar’s library.
Unfortunately, what starts out as a pretty great film suddenly veers into absurdism about a third of the way through. But this change is so integral to the story of Brave that the entire experience suffers. I am willing to accept that everybody else may love what happens, but I found it to be incredibly silly.
Movie rating: 4/5: Good!
There will be SPOILERS in my review, so I don’t want to give away what this change is in this opening segment. But it’s just so ridiculous that I think it detracts from the very point of the film. The plot is about Merida and her mother coming to understand one another, but the story of how they get there actually takes away from the overall film. It’s weird. I feel like the people at Pixar should have been able to do a better job in telling the story. I don’t think expecting greatness from Pixar is out of the question. They’re Pixar, for crying out loud! And there are hints at greatness throughout Brave. As if someone, somewhere wrote an amazing mother/daughter story set in ancient Scotland…only for somebody else to come along to throw a bunch of weirdness and slapstick comedy into the mix.
I would expect this kind of thing from Laika Entertainment, but not from Pixar. That link takes you to the trailer for Paranorman, one that the theater aired before Brave. I can’t remember a more pathetic, unfunny, by-the-numbers movie trailer. They wish they were as good as Pixar.
Also, I saw the film (reluctantly) in 3D. It neither adds nor detracts from the overall experience. Another pointless use of the gimmick.
