Category Archives: Spider-Man
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 5/4/13
May the Fourth be with you, everyone! And not only that, but it’s Free Comic Book Day! And I saw Iron Man 3 yesterday afternoon! What a fantastically nerdy weekend! Sometimes I have to pinch myself to truly appreciate how geeky the world has become. Just think about it: the Iron Man threequel is expected to break box office records. The world loves superhero movies! Back when I was growing up, to even hope for quality superhero movies was a fool’s dream. Now the movies are awesome, and the comics are awesome. These are good days.
This week’s load of comics is a mix of good issues. Not a stinker in the bunch. There are some duds, like the latest issue of Age of Ultron, but that whole series has been a dud so far. I’m much more excited by comics like Hawkeye, Aquaman and All-New X-Men, which I’ve awarded Comic Book of the Week this week. Not for any particular reason, it’s just that out of all the very good comics this week, I decided I liked X-Men the best.
Plus I’m a sucker for adorable hugs. Though maybe I should have given the award to the new issue of Superior Spider-Man, which makes a pretty momentous change – except that the change isn’t nearly the big deal that some fans are making it out to be. It’s more ho-hum, as far as I’m concerned.
Comic Reviews: Age of Ultron #7, All-New X-Men #11, Aquaman #19, Hawkeye #10, Indestructible Hulk #7, and Superior Spider-Man #9.
What is Marvel Going to do About Their Cuddly, Wuddly Wolverine?
Can anybody remember why Wolverine became so popular in the first place? Back in the day, Wolverine was the bad boy, the loner who rebelled against authority. He was the guy who referred to Charles Xavier as ‘Chuck’ and we loved him for it. We always knew he secretly had a heart of gold, but Wolverine was the guy who would get in your face, disobey orders and run off whenever he felt like it. He’d smoke cigars, pound back the beers and chase skirts.
It feels good to be a bad role model
But nowadays, Wolverine has become the exact authority he used to rebel against.
He has replaced Xavier as the headmaster of the School for Higher Learning, where he’s directly responsible for dozens of young mutant students. He’s a leader among the X-Men, and has served on more X-squads than anyone else, including when he was leader of X-Force. He’s also one of the most active and respected members of the Avengers, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Wolverine is one of the greatest superheroes on Earth.
So when is Marvel going to come along and take all of that away from him?
Join me after the jump!
Review: Scarlet Spider #16
I’ve been writing a lot lately about how my favorite comic book stories are the ones that focus on the characters as people first and superheroes second. I want to read about heroes who have real lives to worry about, with real drama, real friends, and who act like real people. Scarlet Spider is a comic that definitely gets it, but at the same time, it makes one crucial mistake: Kaine is the center of his social life, and everyone revolves around him. And considering the character and the story, that shouldn’t be the case at all, and it’s a little weird.
Scarlet Spider #16
Still, Scarlet Spider remains an entertaining comic. Here is a done-in-one story about love and romance, which I very much enjoyed, but which was hampered by terrible art.
Comic Rating: 4/5: Good.
The sooner Khoi Pham is gone from this comic, the better. I’ve disliked his style since he started drawing Scarlet Spider, and this is his worst issue yet. There’s a big, climactic moment towards the end of the issue that writer Chris Yost has been building towards for some time, and Yost nails the scene, but Pham fails to stick the artistic landing. And it’s a real shame too, because I thought the story served the moment very well. At least Pham draws a very good Armadillo.
Anyway, as I was saying, the one problem with Scarlet Spider is that Kaine is the center of his social life. According to the story, Kaine simply arrived in Houston one day, and just happened to meet Wally, Donald and Annabelle over the course of his first few days in the city. That they became friends isn’t the issue, it’s that Wally, Donald and Annabelle don’t seem to have lives outside of Kaine. One would think that they had their own friends and family, and entire lives in Houston before Kaine randomly showed up. Yet everything they do seems to involve Kaine, each other and Aracely. It’s a weird gripe, I know, but it reinforces the fiction of it all.
Still, it always makes for a good comic when your love story involves Scarlet Spider fighting the Armadillo at a rodeo!
Review: Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #22
Oh Miles. Poor, poor Miles. In this issue, our young hero finally learns the price of being Spider-Man. And it’s not just a dead uncle. Miles learns the hard way that Spider-Man can’t save everyone. That no matter the power or the responsibility, you’re going to let people down, and that not everything is under your control. And that there will always be giant rampaging monsters to contend with. They never go away. Writer Brian Michael Bendis gives us the most emotionally devastating issue of the new Ultimate Spider-Man yet, and it’s as powerful as you’d expect from such a great comic.
Ultimate Spider-Man #22
I’m saddened by both the actual loss and pain Miles goes through, and the loss of potential that I don’t think this series managed to sufficiently explore. Still, amazing issue nonetheless.
Comic Rating: 5/5: Great.
I’m not going to spoil the big moment just yet. I’ll save that for the synopsis. Suffice to say, it’s a doozy, and I’m excited to see what it does for Miles’ growth as a hero. Granted, that sounds a little morbid, but you’ll see what I mean when we get to it. I’m also disappointed in what this moment takes away from the series. Some people might say this moment was inevitable, but at 22 issues into the series, I didn’t think anything was inevitable. And even when the previews started hinting that something bad was going to happen, I definitely didn’t imagine this.
I read somewhere that this might be the end of the unofficial Act 1 for Miles’ superhero career, and I can believe it. Bendis has been telling a fantastic story over the course of these 22 issues. Miles has been an incredible hero, from humble beginnings, through a lot of highs in his superhero career, and with the occasional lows. I definitely look forward to seeing what comes next.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 4/20/13
I think I have a problem. There’s something definitely wrong with me. I’ve loved superhero comics all my life, but these days I tend to glaze over at long, drawn out fight scenes, and instead love the quirky, humanizing stories. My favorite comics these days are titles like Hawkeye, Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman, where the focus is almost entirely on the characters first, superheroics second. The witty banter, the human emotion, the simple, everyday experiences, this is what I love. You can keep your spandex-clad superhero punching out the latest Nazi clone. I’ll take a scene where Wonder Woman and her friends sit around trying to think up a name for the new baby.
That easily wins Wonder Woman the title of Comic Book of the Week for me. The scene is just so adorable, and uses all of her extending supporting cast to really establish who these people are, why they’re together and what that will mean going forward. There will be action, there will always be action, but what I’ve come to love most about comics is when that action is offset by moments of real character. I hope I’m not alone. And I hope they’re always as good as this.
Good, clean fun
And I hope Orion is OK. Seriously, he’s my favorite character in Wonder Woman so far.
Comic Reviews: Age of Ultron #6, Batwoman #19, Captain Marvel #12, Green Lantern: New Guardians #19, Justice League #19, Nightwing #19, Red Hood and the Outlaws #19, Superior Spider-Man #8 and Wonder Woman #19.
Henchman-4-Hire 