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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 11/30/13
Oof. Who knew that comic books take Black Friday so seriously? There were a metric ton of new releases this week, including a lot of my favorite titles. If I wasn’t already broke, this week’s haul would have done a number on my poor bank account. Fortunately for us, my love of comics feels no shame, and I bought a bunch of issues anyway!
And what a great bunch of issues! Superior Spider-Man and FF remain as good as ever. I still feel bad for anyone not reading Superior out of spite. You folks are really missing out on some neat stuff. And issues like FF #14 make me sad that the comic is coming to an end soon. Speaking of endings, this week also saw the finale for Infinity with issue #6! The end has been a long time coming, and it’s…good, but none of my complaints were ever addressed. There’s no big twist resolving everything.
Infinity ends about as well as one could expect, with the good guys winning and the bad guys losing. At least nobody was needlessly sacrificed in the name of cheap thrills. The same can be said for the end of Aquaman – or, at least, Geoff Johns’ run on the character. He wraps up all his big storylines in glorious fashion and doesn’t kill Mera or anyone else just for shock value.
Of course, neither does Hawkeye #14.
Aquaman #25 almost won comic book of the week. It came close. But then I read the adorable, squeeful Hawkeye #14 and there was no other choice.
Comic Reviews: Aquaman #25, FF #14, Hawkeye #14, Indestructible Hulk #16, Infinity #6, New Avengers #12, Red Lanterns #25, Superior Spider-Man #22.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 11/23/13
The biggest draw of this week’s comics would have to be X-Men and Uncanny X-Men. Both are fresh of Battle of the Atom, and both get right down to business of telling entertaining X-Men stories. And the fact that both issues focus on lesser tiered X-Men is just a hoot. Let Wolverine have his solo titles, I want to read about Karima Sharpandar and Benjamin Deeds!
Not that the rest of this week’s comics are anything to scoff at. Avengers started to wrap up Infinity, while Wonder Woman is still in the early stages of her next story arc. One of the biggest issues this week is Batwoman, where new writer Marc Andreyko takes over from the bombastic team of J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman. Unfortunately, Andreyko’s Zero Year tie-in leaves a lot to be desired. But like I said, both X-books are strong. Comic Book of the Week goes to Uncanny X-Men for an issue focusing on new recruit Benjamin Deeds, and his oddly The Graduate-esque team up with Emma Frost.
Comic Reviews: Avengers #23, Batwoman #25, Uncanny X-Men #14, Wonder Woman #25, and X-Men #7.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 11/2/13
I come to you today, my friends, with a heavy heart. This week saw the release of The Sandman Overture #1, a return to that famous character by world-renowned writer Neil Gaiman, with artist J.H. Williams III on pencils. There’s a very good chance, considering the subject matter and the creative team, that The Sandman Overture could be the greatest comic book of the year. Like everyone else in the world, I love Gaiman’s original run on Sandman. But I’m sorry to say that I just couldn’t bring myself to review the new first issue. I bought it. I read it. I enjoyed it, but I am a mere mortal. I have no place bestowing a grade on work such as this. And besides, after reading issue #1, it’s clear to me that this is a ‘read all at once’ kind of story. So maybe at the end I’ll write something
For now, let’s stick with the superhero stuff, shall we?
We’ve got the final chapters of both Lights Out and Battle of the Atom to enjoy, though I found both to be a little underwhelming. Two chapters of Infinity shipped this week, but nothing new there. The only real stand-out – and therefore Comic Book of the Week – was Superior Spider-Man #20, in which writer Dan Slott seems to gleefully start tearing down both the lives of Peter Parker and Otto Octavius. Slott’s overall plotting on Superior Spider-Man has been a master class in comic-bookery. everything he’s set up so far is about to come crashing down, and it’s going to be a real pleasure to read.
As for Moment of the Week, our last visit with the Time Traveling Icemen pulls it off with aplomb.
Comic Reviews: Infinity #5, Avengers #22, Green Lantern Annual #2, Superior Spider-Man #20 and X-Men: Battle of the Atom #2.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 10/19/13
It is with great disappointment that we read comics this week, because the final issue of J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman’s Batwoman has come out. These geniuses were building up a battle between Batwoman and Batman himself, and we get one single issue to tease their story before their famous walk out goes into effect. And the issue is damn good. In fact, Batwoman #24 wins Comic Book of the Week for me because of the skill and fun with which they set up this fight. This is going to rank up with J. Michael Straczynski’s run on Thor in terms of comic book runs that ended too soon. Same with Straczynski’s Supreme Power…man, that guy really can’t seem to finish a comic.
Batwoman sadness aside, we’ve got some good issues of Infinity, Lights Out and Battle of the Atom, since Big Event crossovers are all the rage these days. We’ve also got the return of Hawkeye after a long hiatus, so that’s a plus. But for my money, nothing beats Batwoman this week.
Comic Reviews: Avengers #21, New Avengers #11, Batwoman #24, Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion #1, Green Lantern: New Guardians #24, Hawkeye #13, Uncanny X-Men #13 and Wonder Woman #24.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 10/5/13
Villains Month is over and not a moment too soon, as far as I’m concerned. The sales were apparently amazing for DC Comics, but the comics themselves were mostly garbage, from what I read. They were all over the place with their stories, and when it came to quality writing and art. I can honestly say I didn’t need to read any of those Villains Month issues. None of them really added much of anything to the ongoing story or the villains themselves…though there were a few nice issues.
And it seems I may owe DC an apology about Bizarro…maybe.
Fortunately for us, Forever Evil is back, and it continues to be entertaining. The New 52 as a whole is still a weird fit for a project like this, but I enjoyed the issue. I also enjoyed the continuing chapters of Battle of the Atom and Superior Foes of Spider-Man, which claims Comic Book of the Week. But the second issue of Mighty Avengers really seemed to grind my gears! Find out why in the review below!
Yes, yes he did
Comic Reviews: All-New X-Men #17, Forever Evil #2, Green Lantern #24, MIghty Avengers #2 and Superior Foes of Spider-Man #4.
Henchman-4-Hire 