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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 4/26/14

This is the week of zero issues, apparently! All of the cool kids are starting off their new comic books with an issue #0 instead of the traditional #1. Because who needs tradition, amiright? Besides, ‘zero’ starts with a ‘Z’, so that makes it cooler already.

We’ve got both Justice League United #0, the start off the next Justice League spin-off , and Original Sin #0, a prologue to this Summer’s Big Event from Marvel. Original Sin actually makes for a nice little prologue, while this #0 issue of Justice League United actually reads like a #1 issue. I wouldn’t be surprised if Justice League United #1 just picks right up from where #0 left off.

So what was the point?

Beyond those zero books, we’ve got new issues of Aquaman, Fantastic Four and Batman Eternal, which continues its efforts to drive me insane. I also decided to jump back into Red Lanterns, which was a good choice, because Red Lanterns #30 wins Comic Book of the Week! Though, admittedly, there wasn’t much released this week.

Comic Reviews: Aquaman #30, Batman Eternal #3, Fantastic Four #3, Justice League United #0, Original Sin #0 and Red Lanterns #30.

You can also check out my review for Elektra #1 at Word of the Nerd!

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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 3/15/14

Welcome to the Ides of March my friends! Why isn’t this holiday celebrated anymore? You never heard about any other Ides of any other months. I wonder why this one went out of style…oh wait…right. But let’s not dwell on history’s murderous past! Let’s celebrate the present, and all the great comic books its giving us!

First of all, Captain Marvel is back! It was one of my favorite comics from the past year, and I was very excited to see it return…until it started making some startling changes! We’ll see if they’re good changes or bad. Beyond that, we’ve got explosive issues of Batman, Superior Spider-Man and Superman/Wonder Woman, as well as the second issues of X-Force and Fantastic Four. One of those is doing better than the other. And now I’m starting feel like a broken record for declaring Hawkeye #17 the Comic Book of the Week. But with panels like this one, how could I choose anything else?

It only gets better from here

This is a story you’ve got to see to believe.

Comic Reviews: Batman #29, Captain Marvel #1, Fantastic Four #2, Hawkeye #17, Superior Spider-Man #29, Superman/Wonder Woman #6 and X-Force #2.

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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 3/1/14

This week, Aquaman attends his high school reunion. And no, that’s not the set up for a joke. It sounds like one though, when I write it out like that, doesn’t it? But seriously, it’s a legitimate story, and it’s utterly fantastic! I seriously wish more DC comics these days were like Aquaman. Do you hear that, DC superheroes? Be more like Aquaman!

As for Marvel heroes, you need to be more like Hawkeye. Even more seriously, how did we not see Hawkeye coming? I am going to gush about this comic every week that it comes out, because I think Hawkeye is not only the best comic book on the stands today, but it’s also the wave of the future, baby! And it’s just so weird, considering Hawkeye the comic probably got greenlit because of Hawkeye in The Avengers movie, and the two characters couldn’t be more dissimilar!

Hawkeye #15, the epic team-up of the Barton Brothers, easily wins Comic Book of the Week.

And that is why Barney Barton is not a superhero.

Comic Reviews: Aquaman #28, Fantastic Four #1, Hawkeye #15, Superior Spider-Man #28, and Wolverine and the X-Men #42.

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The New Cast of the Fantastic Four!

The new Fantastic Four movie got a little bit closer today with the announced cast: Miles Teller as Mr. Fantastic, Kate Mara as the Invisible Woman, Michael B. Jordan as the Human Torch and Jamie Bell as the Thing. The only one of the four I’m all that familiar with is Kate Mara, and I’ve liked what I’ve seen. I saw Jordan in Chronicle, and Jamie Bell in The Eagle, and I’m pretty sure both were good. So I am definitely confident about this quartet!

From left: Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell

The Hollywood Reporter says they’re all close to closing the deals, so they’re all pretty much a sure thing.

Obviously, of note is the fact that the the new movie is going to make the Human Torch black. But who gives a flying poop? I am no comic book adaptation purist. If the new creative team has some new ideas, then I’m all in favor of trying them out. The only thing that annoys me is when the creative changes miss the point of the characters in the first place, like the altered origin for the Punisher in the Thomas Jane movie.

I am all for cosmetic changes to the Fantastic Four. Look at the first films; did making Jessica Alba a blonde help or hinder the movie? And Reed Richards absolutely does not need those stupid white tufts of hair at his temples. I definitely support creating a younger Fantastic Four for the new reboot.

From left: Human Torch, Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman and the Thing

The director is going to be Josh Trank, who directed Chronicle. That was a fun film, so I have faith enough in him to pull this off. And anyone interested in more of my thoughts can check out this previous List of Six of things I’d like to see in the reboot. The list is more than a year old, though, so some parts of it might not hold up. I think it’s still a solid blueprint for a good reboot, but of course I would think that.

What do you henchpersons think about the new cast? And the reboot itself?

Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/25/14

It’s another week of trying to break my wallet, but somehow I managed to hold on, read a bunch of comics and have a generally good week over all. I’m not quite as sick as I was for the past few weeks. That’s a plus, right? But here in Central New York, we’re looking at several straight days of single-digit to sub-zero temperatures. Go winter!

At least there were enough good comics to keep me warm! We’ve got new issues of Black Widow, Harley Quinn and Origin II already, and most of them are pretty darn good! Solid comics like Hawkeye and Wonder Woman are back, and we get the over-sized, over-sad finale of FF! Why do we live in a world where FF comes to an end after only 16 issues!?

Despite all those great comics, Comic Book of the Week has to go to Wolverine and the X-Men #40 because we’re finally getting some forward movement on the Cyclops/Wolverine Schism, and it’s everything I could have asked for.

Bromance renewed? We can only hope.

Comic Reviews: Batman #27, Batwoman #27, Black Widow #2, FF #16, Hawkeye #16, Harley Quinn #2, Origin II #2, Wolverine and the X-Men #40 and Wonder Woman #27.

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