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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 – 3/9/13
This week kicks off Marvel’s new Big Event comic the Age of Ultron…but it’s kind of a slow build so far. We’ll have to see if it picks up in the second issue, which comes out next week. Talk about accelerated shipping. Beyond the big stuff, we’ve got a good collection of quality comics. I think I liked every single issue I read this week, everything from the important titles like Avengers and All-New X-Men down to the smaller stuff like Green Arrow and Winter Soldier. Though now that I think about it, I need to buy more independent titles. Seriously, can anyone recommend any good comics that aren’t Marvel or DC?
But until then, I’m going to stick with the big guns, and it actually surprises me to say that Comic Book of the Week goes to Avengers #7! Where did that come from? I have really had it in for this series since issue #1, but Jonathan Hickman really knocked it out of the park this week. He actually made me interested in the New Universe.
They look just as surprised as I am
Let’s hope he can finally write a solid superhero story.
Comic Reviews: Age of Ultron #1, All-New X-Men #8, Avengers #7, Green Arrow #18, Green Lantern #18, Superior Spider-Man #5, Winter Soldier #16.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 2/23/13
It’s weeks like this that make me regret ever starting this Hench-Sized review column! Oy vey! Somehow, the Marvel and DC scheduling system is perfectly tailored to my reading habits so that the books I actually buy and read all come out on the same darn week! Last week I only had four comics in the Hench-Sized reviews. This week there’s more than a dozen! And it doesn’t help that I’m broke…
But enough whining, let’s get to some comics! This has proven to be an absolutely stellar week of books! I enjoyed all of the comics I bought this week, with more than a few of them rising to perfect scores. And you want to talk gender equality? How about the fact that the two best comics this week both star female leads. It’s an absolute shame that more people aren’t buying Captain Marvel. That book is absolutely amazing! But it’s surpassed just a little by Batwoman, which wins Comic Book of the Week for its fantastic climactic issue and surprise romantic ending!
Though Captain Marvel’s sheer adorableness was hard to beat.
Comic Reviews: Avengers #6, Batwoman #17, Captain Marvel #10, Green Lantern #17, Green Lantern: New Guardians #17, Indestructible Hulk #4, Justice League #17, Justice League of America #1, Nightwing #17, Nova #1, Red Hood and the Outlaws #17, Superior Spider-Man #4, Thor: God of Thunder #5, Vibe #1, Wonder Woman #17.
Larfleeze to Get His Own Series By Writer I Don’t Want Writing Larfleeze
DC Comics announced today the new creative teams that would be taking over the Green Lantern franchise in June. It seems that Geoff Johns is finally handing over the reigns of the franchise he single-handedly raised to A-list level, and he’s taking all of his fellow writers and artists with him. This is too bad for a series like Green Lantern, where Johns only just introduced Simon Baz, but it’s great news for a series like Red Lanterns, which has been terrible under writer Pete Milligan.
You can read all of the new creative lineups at Mtv Geek, because apparently for some insane reason, DC is turning to Mtv to announce things like this. Does any self-respecting comic book geek actually watch Mtv?
Anyway, the new teams are nobody I’ve ever heard of before. Good for them, but it’s nothing to get excited about. You can also check out Mtv Geek for interviews with the teams.
But tucked away within this announcement is the revelation that Larfleeze the Orange Lantern will get his own ongoing series! This is great news, because I’m a huge Larfleeze fan, and I think he’s one of the coolest new characters in the past 10 years!
Agent Orange, if you’re nasty
The horrible news is that the series will be written by Keith Giffen, the writer behind the current Threshold series, which has Larfleeze back-up features. Words cannot express how much I have absolutely hated Keith Giffen’s recent Green Lantern work, or the first issue of Threshold. His Larfleeze is absolutely terrible. Giffen turns Larfleeze into a one-note joke who is more annoying than entertaining. Jeez, I just…this is really frustrating.
But I suppose the problem is probably me. I have this picture in my mind for what kind of character Larfleeze could be…but nobody actually writing the character wants him to be like that. They all want Larfleeze to be a one-dimensional Looney Tune who rants and raves and cries a lot. Personally, I don’t think Larfleeze should have his own series. He should be a character in the Green Lantern stable, a wildcard who shows up now and again when you least suspect him.
But that’s just me. And clearly I just don’t get the character.
I’m also still looking for a Larfleeze action figure if anybody knows a guy. And he’s going to appear in an upcoming episode of Green Lantern: The Animated Series. I really need to watch that show.
Toy Fair is a Place I Want To Be
I’ve been to several Comic-Cons, but never Toy Fair, the toys and collectibles trade show that’s held…I actually don’t know with what regularity they hold Toy Fair. Anybody? Well it was definitely held this past weekend, and like some kind of dream, it featured a ton of new toys I absolutely want to buy. But knowing the market for really awesome action figures these days, there’s very little chance I’ll ever actually see any of these in my local Wal-Mart. But I can dream.
I mean, check out this awesome Puck action figure!
He’s Canadian!
As fans of my blog know, I have a big ‘Geek Wall’ in my apartment (which the ladies love, I assure you…right, ladies?). And I’m always looking for awesome new action figures to add to the wall. Besides Puck, what about this fantastic Scarlet Spider! As one of the comics I regularly review, I’ve got to buy this Scarlet Spider action figure. It’s now a life mission.
This is the sort of thing that completely justifies an action figure collection
Join me after the jump for more awesome Toy Fair action figures!
