Category Archives: Reviews
An Incredibly Biased Review of Mimic and the X-Men #2
And lo, the skies parted and the light shone down upon us as the world was gifted with the greatest comic book of all time this week. An event nearly 50 years in the making rode into our lives on a tsunami of awesome and fansanity! For here is an issue that has made my years of being a comic book geek and scouring the back issue bins worth it. Your favorite superhero and mine, the Mimic, has thrown down the gauntlet of mediocrity and declared in one voice that he would not go quiet into the night!
How did Mimic not even make the cover?
The X-Men will never be the same. And we are all blessed for it.
Comic rating: INFINITY/5: Scrumtrulescent!!
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a perfect issue. We spend an inordinate amount of time focused on characters who aren’t Mimic. I don’t know what writer Christos Gage was thinking, but considering the badassery of his treatment of Mimic in this issue, he’s easily forgiven. But there’s a lot to slog through. The comic is called Mimic and the X-Men, after all. I suppose he had to squeeze a few other X-Men in there. Otherwise, what would Mimic have to joi…oop! I don’t want to spoil anything in this opening blurb. That would take away everyone’s fun!
And there is nothing more fun than reading the greatest comic book ever published starring the coolest, most underused superhero to ever grace our eyeballs!
Join me for the glory of the word after the jump, if you can contain your excitement. We’re in for one hell of a ride!
Review: X-Factor #234
In which two members do some soul searching while everyone else enjoys a much deserved group hug. And that’s mostly it. This issue of X-Factor had a few certain story beats it wanted to hit, so it did. Everything else is just kind of fun, generally moving a few different plots along while taking care of the ‘Madrox is back from the dead!’ angle. It’s not the big, emotional scene of awesome I was hoping for, but it’s definitely some good team bonding. We also have Madrox and Havok start butting heads, so that was fun. Though I hope we see some more of this team drama in the issues that come.
X-Factor #234
This issue also featured one of the most adorable superhero group hugs ever.
Comic rating: 4/5: Good.
This issue is also book-ended by the Isolationist’s story, as the mysterious woman is finally revealed in full. But their little segments add absolutely nothing to the overall threat they’re trying to convey, and I find myself rolling my eyes at them even more than last week. They are not threatening, they are not interesting and I have little to no desire in seeing them eventually face off against X-Factor. This book’s greatest strength is when its characters can act like real people, and deal with grounded, street-level adventures. The idea of them facing off against two far-out super-villains seeking world domination just doesn’t interest me in the least.
Fortunately, this issue mostly focuses on the good characters and what their lives are like together. So that’s a plus.
Review: Avengers vs. X-Men #2
And lo, it was on like Donkey Kong! The epic battle of the Avengers vs. the X-Men has begun! Friend against friend! Husband against wife! Hero against hero! And with that, I’ve pretty much summed up the entire comic. The two teams come to blows very quickly in this issue, and it’s a little bit disappointing. I realize all of these characters are superheroes, and so fighting just comes natural to them. But holy cow does every single character just jump straight into a big brawl without a moment’s hesitation. All of the motivation behind the fighting seems to have dried up.
Avengers vs. X-Men #2
This is just a big, dumb fight issue with far too many characters to keep track of any of them. Though this comic tries its hardest. No wonder Marvel is also publishing a spin-off title that is nothing but fights – because none of them actually happen in this issue.
Comic rating: 4/5: Good.
But none of that is to say this was a bad issue. It’s still a very entertaining comic, and the end reveals that maybe we won’t just have 12 issues of boring fisticuffs. Because quite honestly, if this is all we can expect from the fights for this series, then count me out. This’ll be the most boring Big Event comic ever. Very little of the characters’ histories with one another are touched upon when they come to blows, and most of the fights happen off panel – or in that other comic book. And I’m not even sure if that spin-off comic is even out yet.
So basically what we get here are a few very short vignettes about fights that don’t happen in this comic, and then a medium-sized twist for the ending to catapult us into next issue. Cyclops and Captain America have another discussion during the fighting, but it’s not as good as the one last issue that kicked off the fight. But then this comic has a new scripter, so that could explain it.
That would also explain the silly purple prose found throughout the issue…Join me after the jump for a full synopsis, spoilers and more hot Avenger on X -Men action!
Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Promise, Part 1
Hey Aang Gangers, did you remember that Dark Horse Comics was going to publish a direct sequel comic book to Avatar: The Last Airbender? I had forgotten all about it, until I randomly saw it mentioned online about a week ago. Well the first chapter was released all the way back in January, and I’ve finally gotten my hands on a copy! We all know that Legend of Korra started this past weekend (I haven’t seen it, don’t spoil it for me!), but this comic book The Promise, is all about our favorite characters from the original series. It’s set one year after Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai, and it’s about the work that must be done to bring peace back to the land.
The Promise: Part 1
And so far, it’s fantastic! All the characters are back, and almost all of them are growing from where we last saw them at the end of the cartoon. This isn’t just the continuing adventures of Avatar Aang and his friends, this is real, in-continuity growth and exploration of their world. This is everything you could want in a direct Avatar: The Last Airbender sequel.
Comic rating: 4/5: Good!
Written by Gene Yang, the titular ‘Promise’ is one that the new Fire Lord Zuko asks of Avatar Aang, and it drives this first graphic novel. As Fire Lord, Zuko is dealing with an incredible amount of pressure to try and end the machinations of the 100 Years War. Fighting a bad guy is easy, governing in his place once he’s gone is hard. So the comic has a lot of nice political issues to deal with, while giving Aang a challenge that can’t be fought physically. The cartoon series was all about preparing Aang for the showdown with Ozai. But now that the fight is over, Aang has to get to the real task of maintaining peace. That can be much harder, with far more complications.
So the story is quite fascinating, and it’s great to revisit the characters. Though one complaint I have is that some of them don’t seem to have grown or changed at all. I realize that it has only been one year since victory, but I would have liked a bit more depth in exploring these familiar characters. I suppose keeping them the same will make it easier for younger readers, but I wanted more.
Especially since Zuko seems to be regressing very very quickly.
A lot of the comic is definitely very light on plot and character development. This book is geared towards the younger set. But it’s still a good read. Click the jump to read a full synopsis of The Promise, in case you can’t get a copy for yourself! The next two parts are due out in May and September, and I’ll definitely be checking those out as well!
Review: Scarlet Spider #4
What could have been a mediocre fight issue gets knocked up a notch in the climax, reminding the readers why the Scarlet Spider is not just a copy of Spider-Man. He’s tougher, he’s more badass and he can be excitingly brutal. Writer Christopher Yost uses that to great effect to elevate an already OK story into something more by the end.We’re also, possibly, seeing an expansion of Scarlet Spider’s rogues gallery, which is only going to help. And his supporting cast continues to develop.
Scarlet Spider #4
The only problem is that Scarlet Spider has yet to do anything that really wows me. But the series is still young.
Comic rating: 4/5: Good.
Let me first say that the Assassin’s Guild is an odd choice of antagonist for Kaine, especially in only his fourth issue. They are primarily a Gambit-related group, so I have no clue why someone thought they’d be a good fit for Scarlet Spider. Unless someone at Marvel tried to think of what existing villains could have a reason for being in Houston, Texas. They wanted someone familiar for Kaine to fight. The problem is, I have no clue if any of the Guild members in this issue have ever appeared before, other than their leader, Belladonna. They may all be brand new characters created for just this issue, in which case they are just nameless, pointless opponents for Kaine to fight.
And that doesn’t make for a good rogue’s gallery. Unless they stick around as villains Still, the art is fantastic and the big fight is a lot of fun. And like I said, Yost uses Kaine’s darker nature to add some fun twists to the story.
