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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 6/15/13
This is a big week for Superman. Not only did his super big, important movie come out, but it’s also the launch of the heavily hyped and potentially good Superman Unchained. As you may have seen already, I didn’t care for Man of Steel, but I’m a little warmer towards Superman Unchained, even though it didn’t contain any chains whatsoever. I also enjoyed the first issue of the new Batman: Zero Year storyline. If only DC had put out a new issue of Wonder Woman this week, they would have had strong comics for all three of their major characters.
Though when it comes down to brass tacks, only one of them can come away with the coveted Comic Book of the Week. And even though Superman Unchained had some pretty fancy art, only one comic book this week provided the origin story for Batman’s giant penny. Batman #21 wins!
I apologize for the low number of reviews this week. Between Man of Steel and just a hectic work week at my day job (a double homicide, a single homicide and a missing baby) I ran out of time. Still, all good comics all around.
Comic Reviews: Batman #21, Nightwing #21, Superman Unchained #1 and Wolverine and the X-Men #31.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 5/18/13
It’s taken me long enough, but I think I’m finally going to start using the .5 in my ratings system. My current 5/5 rating is needlessly complex, what with the words and exclamation marks that probably only make sense in my head. I want to clear things up a little and give myself a little more leeway in terms of classifying comics. Because there are a lot of comics this week that were better than ‘alright’ but I wouldn’t say they were particularly ‘good’. And the basic gist of my review scheme is just me thinking about how I would describe a comic’s quality to someone in one word.
1 – Terrible
1.5 – Very Bad
2 – Bad
2.5 – Pretty Bad
3 – Alright
3.5 – Pretty Good
4 – Good
4.5 – Very Good
5 – Great!
I hope this makes a little more sense. If it doesn’t, please let me know. I haven’t heard any complaints about my ratings system yet, but I want you guys and gals to let me know if I’m not making any sense or could do something better. You’re my readers and the best ones available for giving me feedback. So please don’t hesitate to let me know in the comments.
That being said, it’s a pretty good week for comics. There are one or two gems in my pile, and a few that were mostly so-so. A lot of this week’s comics were just moving the story along, getting us through to the next chapter, and that’s fine. But it’s not overly compelling. But then there are also issues like Wolverine and the X-Men #29, which has the most fun I think anyone has ever had designing a possible alternate future for the X-Men. Jason Aaron must have holed up in his office all day just thinking up wacky character references and one-off gags to make, and they’re all a heck of a lot of fun. Wolverine and The X-Men easily wins Comic Book of the Week.
I know some of my readers at Wolverine and the X-Men haters, but for me, this issue really brought back some of the heart and energy that I enjoyed at the start of the series.
Comic Reviews: Age of Ultron #8, Batwoman #20, FF #7, Nightwing #20, Red Hood and the Outlaws #20, Wolverine and the X-Men #29, and Wonder Woman #20.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 4/20/13
I think I have a problem. There’s something definitely wrong with me. I’ve loved superhero comics all my life, but these days I tend to glaze over at long, drawn out fight scenes, and instead love the quirky, humanizing stories. My favorite comics these days are titles like Hawkeye, Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman, where the focus is almost entirely on the characters first, superheroics second. The witty banter, the human emotion, the simple, everyday experiences, this is what I love. You can keep your spandex-clad superhero punching out the latest Nazi clone. I’ll take a scene where Wonder Woman and her friends sit around trying to think up a name for the new baby.
That easily wins Wonder Woman the title of Comic Book of the Week for me. The scene is just so adorable, and uses all of her extending supporting cast to really establish who these people are, why they’re together and what that will mean going forward. There will be action, there will always be action, but what I’ve come to love most about comics is when that action is offset by moments of real character. I hope I’m not alone. And I hope they’re always as good as this.
Good, clean fun
And I hope Orion is OK. Seriously, he’s my favorite character in Wonder Woman so far.
Comic Reviews: Age of Ultron #6, Batwoman #19, Captain Marvel #12, Green Lantern: New Guardians #19, Justice League #19, Nightwing #19, Red Hood and the Outlaws #19, Superior Spider-Man #8 and Wonder Woman #19.
All of My Hopes and Dreams for Injustice: Gods Among Us Are Wiped Out With One Depressing Clip
Regular readers of my blog will know that I’ve been eagerly tracking the character roster for the upcoming DC superhero video game Injustice: Gods Among Us, hoping that my favorite superhero, Robin, would be a playable fighter. I mean, c’mon, am I really the only one who sees the excitement in being able to pit Batman against Robin? It’s the classic story of teacher vs. student, of mentor vs. apprentice! Well the final two characters have been leaked to the Internet, and they are…drum roll please…wait…they’re who? God dammit! Cancel the drum roll!
It’s Killer Frost and Ares. What the freakin’ Hell!?
Grant me the serenity…
Really, Injustice: Gods Among Us? Really? Killer Frost and freakin’ Ares? That’s the best you could come up with? Of all the hundreds of exciting characters in the DC Universe, you give us Killer Frost and Ares? When have they ever been relevant? Killer Frost didn’t even make my list of the Top 6 Snow and Ice-Themed Comic Book Characters, and nobody cares about Ares! Wonder Woman fans probably don’t even care about Ares.
“Oh boy, I can’t wait to buy Injustice: Gods Among Us, so I can play as my favorite DC comic book character: Ares!” SAID NO ONE EVER!
But oh, we’re not done, boys and girls. Not by a long shot. Finalizing the roster with Killer Frost and Ares would be bad enough, but Injustice: Gods Among Us had to go and twist the proverbial knife! Right into my soft, beating heart! Some of you have suggested that I should just be happy that we get to play as Nightwing. He’s kind of like Robin.
But there’s something you need to know about Nightwing…
Yes, hang your head in shame!
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 