Category Archives: X-Men
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 3/28/20
These might be my last batch of comic book reviews for the foreseeable future! Diamond Distributors announced this past week that they’re going to shop distributing comics to retailers, and we don’t yet know if any of the major publishers are going to go digital-only during this virus apocalypse. If they do, I’ll be fine, because I read all my comics digitally. But if Marvel, DC and the like shut down all releases…welp, that’s the whole ball game!
Perhaps I’ll start doing reviews of all the tpbs I’ve been catching up on…
Comic Book of the Week goes to the second issue of Force Works 2020 for being the most entertaining comic this week! A lot of comics were just moving the story along, whereas Force Works 2020 was really fun to read with some solid character work.
Shoot harder!
Meanwhile, speaking of those tpbs, I read through the entire collected edition of Nick Spencer’s Astonishing Ant-Man and it totally held up! Great series. I started on Dennis Hallum’s Cloak and Dagger, and the first tpb was good, solid. But I cannot recommend the latest tpb of Rat Queens, with a whole new creative team. That was a disappointment.
Comic Reviews: Far Sector #5, Force Works 2020 #2, Hellions #1, Legion of Super-Heroes #5, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #49, Wolverine #2 and X-Men #9.
Strong Guy Watch: Everybody’s Partying!
When it comes to comic books, one of my favorite things to do is watch for cameos from my favorite obscure characters. It’s one of the ways I built up my fandom in the 90s: searching out back issues where my favorite characters randomly showed up and had a line or two.
This is the entire basis behind my ongoing Strong Guy Watch series. I’m a big fan of the Strong Guy character, and for the past several years, he’s been making random cameos here and there. It’s fun to keep an eye out for the big lug.
Here he is at the recent Crucible
With Dawn of X bringing back every single mutant character who ever lived, the Watch has quadrupled to include every favorite mutant I’ve ever had! Multiple Man, Maggott, Stacy X, Abyss, Blob, Mimic and so many more! None of them are starring characters in any of the Dawn of X comics, so I’ve got to stay eagle-eyed for when any of them might pop up at any time!
This week’s X-Force #9 features the best yet showcase of a bunch of my favorite characters! Everybody’s hanging out at The Green Lagoon!
Click to enlarge
Obviously we’ve got Strong Guy, who seems to be macking with Selene at the top middle of the picture. We’ve also got a couple Multiple Men hanging out on the bottom. He’s still wearing his classic costume, so the ongoing debate of a new Multiple Man costume remains ongoing. Writer Benjamin Percy continues to be the only Dawn of X creator to use Multiple Man, even if it’s only for quick, wordless cameos. Also, of note: this is the first comic book panel in literal years that features Multiple Man, Strong Guy and Wolfsbane…even though none of them are hanging out together.
This image is also the first reveal of what Blob is doing in Dawn of X: bartending!
I’ve been eagerly anticipating the Blob since his star turn in Age of X-Man last year. Bartending is a fairly good use of the character and I hope to see him get some attention soon.
We’ve also got Maggott canoodling with M at the bar, so that’s neat! And the rest of the scene in the actual comic features quick appearances from Avalanche and Toad!
I love panels like this in Dawn of X. This is a smorgasbord of mutant cameos in a way we’ve never seen in comics before! I hope they keep it up every now and then.
Still no sign of Mimic…
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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 3/14/20
How’s everybody holding up? Coronavirus has yet to hit my little enclave in Upstate New York, but it’s getting closer by the day. I hope all of you are safe, sound and doing your best to get through this!
Thankfully, I read my comics online these days, so no need to go outside! This was a stellar week, with quality issues of The Green Lantern, X-Men, New Mutants and the Comic Book of the Week: Ant-Man #3! This mini-series is just delightful!
Do none of the Avengers cook at home?
Meanwhile, I did get caught up on the first issue of Strange Adventures, so expect that review this week. And I just binged the third season of the Castlevania and it was phenomenal! So dark, so cool, so charming and so action-packed. This series is not one to miss!
Comic Reviews: Ant-Man #3, The Green Lantern #2, New Mutants #9, Strange Adventures #1, Thor #4 and X-Men #8.
Hench-Sized Comic Reviews – 3/7/20
Ugh, what a crummy week. I came down with a cold out of nowhere and just wasn’t feeling very jazzercised to read through a stack of comics. I did make it through some, like Batman, Ms. Marvel and even Marauders! But my thoughts on this week’s comics are probably muddled from the cold.
Comic Book of the Week goes to Doctor Doom #6 because it’s an issue where Doctor Doom and Kang the Conqueror, both in full regalia, go on a cross-country road trip and shoot the breeze about a lot of fun topics.
That’s comics!
Meanwhile, I finally read Spider-Man: Life Story and it was good. I wasn’t blown away, but the story had a lot of really good ideas, and it handled the main plot of Peter Parker aging really well. Solid idea, solid execution, but nothing that’s going to really stick with me in the long run.
Also, I’m only now learning I missed out on Strange Adventures #1! Ugh. I wasn’t even paying attention to when it actually came out. I’ll have to grab it for next week.
Comic Reviews: Batman #90, Doctor Doom #6, Lois Lane #9, Magnificent Ms. Marvel #13 and Marauders #9.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 2/29/20
Howdy ho, everybody! Did you check out my review of the Harley Quinn cartoon earlier this week? That show was great! The first season just wrapped up last week, and season 2 is coming in April! DC really nailed this one!
Speaking of which, I don’t review very many DC comics this week! Really just Far Sector, which remains awesome. Though I do check out stuff like Ant-Man and Force Works from Marvel, as well as a new Power Rangers comic.
Comic Book of the Week goes to X-Men #7 for an issue that might just be exactly what I’ve been waiting for in Dawn of X. This issue is bonkers in all the best ways!
Someone is finally using Apocalypse well
Meanwhile, speaking of Dawn of X, I glanced through the Giant-Sized Jean Grey and Emma Frost issue and it’s fine. It’s one of those totally silent issues, relying on the art to tell a crazy story set in Storm’s mindscape. I’m not a fan of dream settings, but Russell Dauterman’s art is fantastic. Why Marvel hasn’t put him on a main X-Men title yet, I do not know.
Comic Reviews: Ant-Man #2, Far Sector #4, Force Works 2020 #1, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #48, New Mutants #8 and X-Men #7.
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