Category Archives: Reviews
Review: Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #2
The spidery world of Miles Morales grows a little bit bigger in this second issue. Some of it is welcome and exciting, and some of it is too much too soon. But once again writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Sara Pichelli knock one out of the park in terms of character and storytelling. Miles takes a few big steps in this issue and learns some important life lessons – not to mention spider lessons. That the reader gets to go along for the ride is the real treat.
Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #2
The All-New Ultimate Spider-Man is off to a good start. But I don’t think the characters have yet earned the heavy drama in this issue, at least not Miles’ father.
There will be spoilers!
Once again, decompression is the name of the game. Bendis is taking his time introducing us to new star Miles Morales, and he’s also taking the time to introduce Miles to his new spider-powers. We all saw Miles get bitten by the bug last issue. Now it’s time to see what that means. I do not mind the decompression, especially not from Bendis. He practically introduced the concept to the world of comics with the original Ultimate Spider-Man. He writes great dialogue and really delves into the personality of his characters. Unfortunately, we only get a taste of Bendis’ usual snappy banter in this issue. Too much is given over to a long speech by Miles’ father. It’s a nice speech, but we don’t yet know the character enough for it to matter.
At least the rest of the issue is Miles having a goofy, youthful conversation with his dorky friend Ganke.
Comic Reviews: DC Should Have Done a Full Reboot
Another week has come and gone, leaving me with another stack of new DC titles to read and enjoy. So far, my general opinion still hasn’t been changed by what I’m reading. I become more and more convinced each week that DC should have done a hard reboot right from the beginning. They should have set all of their characters back to Square One. None of this crap where some characters have been fully rebooted and some haven’t been touched at all.
I think the fans would accept a full reboot.
Just look at the evidence in sales so far this month. Justice League sold over 200,000 copies and is going back for its fourth reprint. (To you non-comic fans, that’s a big deal). Even books like Hawk and Dove have sold out and are going back for a reprint. People are buying these new DC titles in droves!
"Hey Marvel! Come at us, bro!"
So clearly DC’s strategy of getting people excited for just their revamp/soft reboot has worked. They did a great job over the summer preparing people for the changes. Comic book fans were ready and willing to accept the new continuity. Yes, there have been some grumblers (like me!) who have complained about some of the changes. But we’re still buying the comics. Which leads me to believe that we’d all still be buying the comics if DC had gone for a full reboot. They’re already retelling the origins of Superman and the Justice League in their respective books. But with the second story of each, they’re going to jump ahead five years. It’s a weird storytelling strategy.
They should have done a full Ultimate DC.
Just not this Ultimate DC
Why not retell all the origins of the characters with exciting new twists and focus? Look at the success of Ultimate Spider-Man. Have DC’s best writers plot out the birth of a new DC Universe. Weave characters together from the ground up into the Justice League and into the Teen Titans. Get rid of characters you don’t want anymore. Give new origins to some characters. Do whatever you want, but do it with some consistency.
But this would never work. I don’t know if comic book fans would have the patience to sit through everything again already knowing what’s to come. While I’d be happy with Dick Grayson back as Robin, with DC retelling his origin, I’d constantly be looking ahead for Jason Todd, Tim Drake and Damian Wayne. Plus some comic fans would definitely be bitter about losing all the continuity. I don’t know if they’d be pacified by the idea that all of that was still around and they could reread it whenever they like. Just DC is going forward with some new ideas.
Oh well. What do I know? This is probably why DC hasn’t given me a job yet. Click the jump for my reviews of DC’s Week Three, including Catwoman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Nightwing.
Review: X-Factor #225
X-Factor is my favorite comic book on the stands, mostly because it stars my favorite character: Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man. But it’s also a very fun comic, with great characters, great stories and occasionally great art. So I want to dedicate my blog to giving X-Factor as much love as possible. Writer Peter David has penned nearly 80 issues (!!!) starring the same group of B and C-list mutants from the X-Men franchise. X-Factor doesn’t get a lot of press, rarely does anything to draw attention to itself, but maintains enough fans to keep publishing.
X-Factor #225
X-Factor is the little series that could.
So I’m going to start reviews with the latest issue, X-Factor #225. I should have started with the last issue, X-Factor #224.1, but I couldn’t get around to it that weekend. Such are the distractions of a wealthy, studly, millionaire cowboy/astronaut such as myself. In this issue, the team is still recovering from the last big storyline, which involved the birth of Rahne’s demon baby, as well as the events of the separate series Avengers: Children’s Crusade. X-Factory had a brief but very meaningful cameo in that series, which I’ll get to in a moment. The crux of this new issue is that Madrox and his team are pulled into a murder investigation in Kansas, one that occurred on the farm where Jamie Madrox grew up.
But the victim isn’t as dead as she seems.
Review: X-Men: Schism #4
Finally, the confrontation between Cyclops and Wolverine comes to the breaking point. Or is that the slashing/eye-blasting point? Not only is the rift between them clearly laid out and understandable, but the two heroes actually do come to blows at the climax of this issue. And it’s an awesome fight. X-Men: Schism #4 is an exciting and tense issue, one that thankfully is not bogged down by the ridiculousness of the Hellfire Club Kids. It’s just Cyclops and Wolverine laying it all on the line.
X-Men: Schism #4
And I am completely on Cyclops’ side.
Wolverine comes off like a fool! I understand his reasoning, and I suppose it fits with the character, but in the context of everything we know about the X-Men and in the context of what we’re reading here, Wolverine is a blind, stubborn fool. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like we’re made to root for Wolverine anymore. Both sides are pretty clear and neither one comes off as completely favored over the other. The reader can choose for themselves who is right, and also see that both Cyclops and Wolverine are being more than a little selfish. That’s a plus and definitely helps to better define the titular Schism of the X-Men.
Spoilers after the jump.
Review: Fear Itself #6
I bet if I was reading this story all in one sitting it would be a lot more awesome. Instead, the same disjointed feel is evident everywhere. The penultimate chapter of Fear Itself is written like a big, bombastic movie epic starring my favorite superheroes…it just doesn’t read like one. A lot has happened in both my life and in the world of comics since Fear Itself #5. So, frankly, Fear Itself #6 has a lot to contend with in the battle for my attention. That it falls just short is not its fault. I bet it will read great in collected form.
Fear Itself #6
Shame I won’t be buying it in collected form. Single issues for me.
Everything is still top notch in Fear Itself. The art by Stuart Immonen is clear and beautiful, and the writing by Matt Fraction is well-paced and exciting. The heroes of the Marvel Universe are facing a diabolical threat that’s cutting the world asunder. New York City is in ruins. The heroes are tired and feeling blue. And the villain, The Serpent, is ready to declare his victory. He has but to attack the Norse World Tree with his army of empowered super-villains and the entirety of existence will fall in his name! Only a battle weary but seriously pissed off Captain America stands in his way.
Fortunately for Cap, the cavalry is just around the corner. Thor and Iron Man are gearing up for the last stand.
I like the issue, but as I said, it felt disjointed. There isn’t a feel of where all of the characters are in relation to one another. We know where they are, but it just doesn’t feel connected. The problem, to me, is that everything sounds much more awesome as an idea than what’s actually on the page. The events look like they’re supposed to be epic, they just don’t feel epic. As if the pitch was a lot stronger than the finished product. I think all of it probably sounds really awesome in Matt Fraction’s mind as he’s writing it, and I know he’s having a blast, I’m just not feeling it.
Again, it would probably be better read all in one sitting. Maybe I’ll have to try that some day.
