Category Archives: Reviews
Review: Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #10
For an issue that’s almost entirely talking heads, writer Brian Michael Bendis knocks it out of the park. But that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Bendis is a master of dialogue, and of crafting characters and conflicts through that dialogue. He does more for Ultimate Prowler in this one issue than he’s done in the entire series so far. And star Miles Morales has some fantastic moments as well, making decisions that will define him as a superhero and provide fascinating stories for us readers.
Ultimate Spider-Man #10
Bendis is basically writing a Masters Course on superhero comics with this series.
Comic rating: 5/5: Great.
Seriously, this issue is almost entirely talking. It’s a chat between Miles and his Uncle Aaron, only now they are both dressed in their respective superhero/villain costumes, and standing on a rooftop. The oddness of such an exchange is not lost on the characters either. But rather than let the 13-year-old Miles get bowled over by his adult uncle, Miles holds his own in the exchange, revealing true growth for the kid. He’s finally no longer beating up losers like Omega Red or the Ringer. It’s time for Miles to get a dose of the real world, courtesy of someone he thought he respected and idolized.
Uncle Aaron, meanwhile, reveals several new layers to his character during this rooftop chat. He’s not just some scumbag super-villain. He’s a thief, and he’s a smart thief. And he also, to some extent, has an eye out for his nephew. So even though he wants Miles’ help with nefarious things, and even threatens to blackmail the kid, Aaron still wants the best for the boy.
That’s some fascinating character work in what is another great issue of the Miles Morales saga.
Review: X-Factor #235
Now this is the kind of character-based drama I love to see in my comics, especially X-Factor! Peter David finally gives us some real tension between series star Jamie Madrox and his beleaguered usurper Alex Summers, otherwise known as Multiple Man and Havok. I’ve been waiting for this tension to hit for several issues now, and it feels good to finally have something meaty to sink our teeth into at X-Factor Investigations. That coupled with a new and possible entertaining case leads to a damn good issue of X-Factor.
X-Factor #235
This is exactly the kind of comic I want X-Factor to be – minus the blue-skinned, big gun-wielding space maniac.
Comic rating: 4/5: Good!
For the first time in a long while, X-Factor is finally dealing with something on their level again. No interdimensional journeys, no time-traveling duplicates and no evil Reed Richardses. Yes, I realize the Isolationist and his hot demon girlfriend are behind it all, but they thankfully don’t appear in this issue. I also realize that this is an entirely biased sentiment, that I shouldn’t judge a comic book based on what I want it to be, as opposed to what it actually is. And I’m not. The ‘good’ rating isn’t based on my being pleased with the plot. It’s based on the quality of the comic. Trust me.
We have here some Grade A character-based drama, some great scenes with the team, and a fairly unique and compelling mystery to solve. Not to mention the promise of uncovering a mystery that has been around in the X-franchise for decades: just who or what are Shatterstar and Longshot?
And solving those kinds of mysteries involving B and C-list comic book characters is exactly what X-Factor is for!
Review: The Avengers
The Avengers was phenomenal. It was amazing. It was deliriously wicked. It was the perfect blend of mind-blowing action and heart-tugging giddiness. I could wear out the Thesaurus with the ways in which The Avengers movie lived up to everything I had hoped, and shined in ways I could not have imagined. We comic book geeks have been waiting for this movie our entire lives (and more specifically, since 2008), and Marvel Comics and director Joss Whedon have delivered a superhero extravaganza!
The new kings and queen of Hollywood
The Avengers is not only now the definitive superhero movie, it has raised the bar for all Hollywood blockbusters that will ever be made from this day forth.
Rating: 5/5: Great!
With The Avengers, this grand, long-gestating experiment by the Marvel movie people has come to glorious fruition. I always had faith that they could pull it off. Iron Man in 2008 was a brilliant film, and when Samuel L. Jackson appeared at the very end and teased ‘The Avengers Initiative’, I knew there was hope. Then The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, all came along over the past few years, each one exciting and highly entertaining. I’m a fan of all of these films. But could Marvel really pull off The Avengers? Could they not only bring all of these major characters together into one film, but have it make sense and live up to the overwhelming hype?
I should be ashamed for even including those questions in my review. The answer is so incredibly ‘HELLS YES!!’ that I’m almost afraid of having my Internet License revoked.
Every Avenger gets a moment (or more) to shine. The humor is legitimately funny and delightful. The fights and action scenes are clear and exciting, with no blurring or over-editing. The Avengers are people first, action stars second; with a lot of character-based drama. Loki as the villain is far better here than he was in Thor, and easily carries the antagonist role. The climax was sufficiently chilling and climactic.
And the Hulk absolutely steals the show, smashing his way into our hearts. I could not be more pleased with this movie.
Some **SPOILERS** to follow.
Review: Avengers vs. X-Men #3
Now that the big brawl is over, it seems like the real fun is going to begin. I really enjoyed this issue of Avengers vs. X-Men, as the story moves from the rather sudden, impromptu fight of last issue to some downtime that raises the pacing of the series even higher. I’m glad that this series isn’t just going to be a big brawl to end it all, because that would have become real boring real fast. Instead it seems there’s going to be more to Avengers vs. X-Men than just fight scenes. This issue contains strong dialogue, some excellent character moments and what I consider to be a real exciting shift forward.
AvX #3
And with Captain America’s actions this issue, I’m confident that siding with the X-Men is the right call. Cap kind of crosses a few lines here. He almost seems out of character.
Comic rating: 4/5: Good!
This issue starts with some great dialogue between Captain America and Iron Man as they try to assess the consequences of their actions. I really liked how it felt, especially coming from Iron Man. Then the X-Men pull a fantastic twist, and the story jumps into a whole new gear. This series is 12 issues long and now I have no idea what to expect. Avengers vs. X-Men is definitely keeping my attention, though the issue doesn’t end as strongly as it started. Still, I like what I’m seeing. The story is told very clearly, the events are ramping up and getting more exciting and I don’t feel lost when it comes to the central conflict. This event feels as important as it should feel.
Even though some of the individual players are a little off, it still makes sense for these two heroic teams to come to blows. And best yet: I don’t have any complaints about the art this issue! So we’re looking at another solid chapter of Avengers vs. X-Men. Nothing to blow me out of the water with excitement yet, but maybe we’re getting there.
Review: Teen Titans #8
So everybody gets new Tron-inspired costumes! That’s got to count for something, right? Why do they get Tron-inspired costumes? Who knows! But apparently that’s what NOWHERE does when it captures young metahumans. So if nothing else, I can at least stop complaining about how lame NOWHERE is as the bad guy. They finally step up their game in this issue to reveal some pretty nasty goings ons.
Teen Titans #8
Unfortunately, that doesn’t make for a good issue. But at least it’s not as terrible as last month.
Comics rating: 2/5: Bad.
At the end of the last issue, the Teen Titans were grabbed by the evil Harvest and NOWHERE. This issue gets pretty freaky. NOWHERE has some people who can warp reality, so the Titans are put through some really weird, sometimes confusing torture shenanigans. The idea is to break the Titans by revealing their inner most secrets, except that nobody has very interesting secrets. We get little vignettes about each character, but none of them really build the characters up at all. At the very least it puts the Titans in a precarious situation as they gear up for the big crossover event with Superboy and Legion Lost (for some reason).
Though somebody get guest artist Ig Guara away from superhero comics immediately. Ig Guara is a good artist, but holy cow do some of his characters absolutely suck. When your costumed superhero looks like a kid wearing big, uncomfortable pajamas, you were not destined to draw superhero comics.
