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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 6/29/13
This is a week for new comics! I’ve been trying to add some new titles to my weekly review feature, because it’ll get pretty boring if I just review the same comics month after month, and this week definitely delivered on new possibilities.This week also featured pretty much every X-Men comic imaginable – and most of them good. But we’ve also got the first issues of Larfleeze and Batman/Superman, as well as the new creative team on Red Lanterns. Will the new writer finally deliver the Red Lantern series I’ve been waiting for? Time will tell. I also decided to try out Journey Into Mystery, but sadly, the series has already been cancelled, so it won’t benefit from the Henchman Bump.
This week’s definite winner is writer Matt Fraction, who once again delivers two of the best comics in the world: FF and Hawkeye. I’m going to award Comic Book of the Week to Hawkeye #11 for its ability to think outside the box, and tell a story from the perspective of Hawkeye’s dog. It’s a fun issue. Though the moment of the week – possibly the moment of the year – goes to Miss Thing in FF. In the issue, the team have come up with a new, more efficient way for Miss Thing to get into her armor.
Best pop culture reference of all freakin’ time! Matt Fraction has to have been sitting on that line since he first envisioned Miss Thing. Heck, I’m going to declare right now that Miss Thing probably only exists because Fraction wanted to find a way to include that classic line from the insane cartoon Fred and Barney Meet the Thing. The man is a genius.
Comic Reviews: All-New X-Men #13, Batman/Superman #1, FF #8, Hawkeye #11, Journey Into Mystery #653, Larfleeze #1, Red Lanterns #21, X-Men #2.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 6/8/13
It’s a week of fresh starts in comic book land, some good, and some bad. First up is a new #1 issue for Astro City, the brilliant and hugely creative superhero series from writer Kurt Busiek. If you’re not familiar with Astro City, I’ll explain more about it in the actual review, and I consider it one of the crowning achievements of superhero storytelling in the past decade. Astro City isn’t based on any of the well-known heroes like Superman or Spider-Man, instead creating a superhero world all its own, but then taking it to the next level. I’m very excited to see what Busiek does with this new volume, and I might just have to go back and reread the original series.
The other fresh start is the first issue of Green Lantern in the post-Geoff Johns world. The entire Green Lantern franchise has been given new creative teams, and I do not envy these guys. Geoff Johns’ run was legendary, and now they’ve got to somehow keep everyone’s interest in Green Lantern and come up with new and exciting stories. Unfortunately, they’re not off to a great start so far. Astro City easily beats Green Lantern for Comic Book of the Week.
And American Chibi might be the new character find of 2013!
Comic Reviews: Age of Ultron #9, All-New X-Men #12, Astro City #1, Detective Comics #21, Green Lantern #21, Superior Spider-Man #11.
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.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 4/6/13
This week we explore the dichotomy of Brian Michael Bendis. He is one of the most popular comic book writers of our time, and has helped shaped the modern Marvel Universe in ways we can’t grasp now. He is a living legend in the comic book world. But sometimes he can be a really bad writer. I think I know now why Age of Ultron wasn’t given the hype or push of Civil War or Avengers vs. X-Men. It’s a terrible Big Event comic. If Age of Ultron really does rewrite any part of the Marvel Universe beyond just adding a Spawn character to the comics, I will be very disappointed. This may be Bendis’ worst Big Event comic.
But at the same time, Bendis has turned the X-Men franchise into one of the best comics being published today! His work on All-New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men is some of the best he’s ever written. Almost all of the characters involved are more dynamic than they’ve been in years, and the story itself is one for the history books. It just keeps getting better and better! All-New X-Men #10 easily wins Comic Book of the Week, and I eagerly await the next chapter next week.
Ptui!
Maybe Bendis just drinks a different kind of coffee on the days he’s writing X-Men vs. the days he’s writing Ultron.
Comic Reviews: Age of Ultron #4, All-New X-Men #10, Green Arrow #19, Green Lantern #19, Indestructible Hulk #6 and Superior Spider-Man #7.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 3/23/13
Another third week is upon us and once again I find myself reviewing more than a dozen comics! I wish I knew how it worked out that all my favorite comics seem to come out on the same week. It’s like some kind of conspiracy against me and my poor wallet. At least they’re all mostly good comics. Seriously, not a stinker in the bunch…but maybe that’s just because I tend to stop buying comics that I don’t like. I’ve whittled away all the bad comics and am left with a great lineup of quality stories. I can live with that.
Comic Book of the Week was hard to choose because none of these issues rose to real greatness. They’re all just generally good and entertaining. It came down to a battle between the viciousness of Doc Ock in Superior Spider-Man vs. the adorable cheerfulness of Captain Marvel, and I’m happy to say Carol pulled through another win! Captain Marvel is just a fantastic series.
Comic Reviews: All-New X-Men #9, Avengers #8, Batwoman #18, Captain Marvel #11, Green Lantern: New Guardians #18, Indestructible Hulk #5, Justice League #18, Justice League of America #2, New Avengers #4, Nightwing #18, Nova #2, Red Hood and the Outlaws #18, Superior Spider-Man #6 and Wonder Woman #18.
Henchman-4-Hire 