Welcome back, friends of all ages, races, sizes and species! We’ve got a great round-up of comics for you as well as two titles for our book(s) of the week slot. I’d also like to remind you, you can check out our rating system below:
0: Uwe Boll will direct the adaptation of this comic
0.1 – 1: Burn upon touching
1- 1.9: Abysmal
2.0 – 2.9: Art. Writing. Editing. All bad.
3.0 – 3.9: You’d be a masochist to pick this up.
4.0 – 4.9: “I’ll give it another month…but that was not good.”
5.0 – 5.9: “Really? The Watcher? In the face? I guess it was fun.”
6.0 – 6.9: “Hmm. That was decent.”
7.0 – 7.9: Well made but a few problems
8.0 – 8.9: Nearly flawless
9.0 – 9.9: Outstanding
10: Perfection. Issue of the year contender
For those wondering, Pass would be anywhere from 0 to 3.9, Browse would be 4 to 6.9, and Buy would be from 7 to 10. So what are you waiting for? Hop on past the jump and enjoy!
Also, are there any books you’d like to see us review? Let us know in the comments, and one of us will get right on it! We’ll also keep those books in mind for future weeks!
Book Of The Week: Joe the Barbarian #4
Matt’s Thoughts: A book like Joe the Barbarian doesn’t come around too often. I have often been a big fan of stories like the Neverending Story and the Phantom Tollbooth, so to have Morrison come along and tell his own story along those lines is certainly a treat. The idea of a child, in any kind of circumstance, being transported to a magical land of adventure is a story telling trope that I adore, and Morrison’s spin on it is quite brilliant. I really enjoy how Morrison keeps pulling us out of the story to remind us the realism of Joe’s “travels,” and how even though he is the main character of the story and I shouldn’t worry about him, I can’t help but fear for his health with every page turn. Joe doesn’t feel like a “safe” character, and that’s a great twist.
Of course, I get the feeling that this is going to be heading toward a very sad ending. I wouldn’t put that past Morrison, but we’ll have to wait and see. As for now, the high flying adventure of this story is more than welcome, and this is Morrison at his best.
Gil’s Thoughts: What a beautiful book.
This book I picked up due to pressure from the guys when the first issue came out. At first I enjoyed it, mostly for the art, but thought the story was a little muddled, without any real connection between the two worlds we visit in every issue. There was little explanation as to why this was happening, and we mostly just went with it.
Well, in true Morrison fashion, pieces are starting to come together within the story, making it easier to follow and just a blast to look at. Sean Murphy’s art is just amazing, I can’t think of another other way to describe it.
Brandon’s Thoughts: This book is no Average Joe. Yes, I went there. I just want to make sure that everyone reading this understands this is one of the most creatively energetic and fun books being released at this moment in time. This is Grant Morrison telling us his version of a children’s story reminiscent of The Never Ending Story and doing it brilliantly.
Sean Murphy does not slouch here either as this issue he yet again turns in some of the most awe-inspiring pencils within the stapled pages of comicdom. His art propels the story with the ease of Lebron James dunking above the rim. The art is so complex and brilliant but yet is so easy on the eyes that one can almost lose sight of how complex and brilliant it truly is.
Continued belowFor those of you not reading this book I’ll say it just one more time. READ THIS BOOK! It is a masterpiece that is still unfolding. When this book is remembered fondly by generations of readers wouldn’t you like to say you were there as it unfolded? I know I’ll be proud to say I was.
MATT’S REVIEWS
Who Won’t Wield The Shield #1
A little while ago, when the decade was ending, we here at MC broke down all our various favorite things from the past 10 years. One of the topics we had to discuss is who we liked more – DC or Marvel? Sure, we like all the companies, but they’re the big two – we buy the most books from their companies because they’re the biggest. Back when we had that conversation, I sided with Marvel as my favorite – and I wish I had this issue at the time, because this exemplifies my point perfectly.
In this issue, we are given the rebirth of Forbush Man as a villainous tool of the Red Skull (in an obvious parody of Captain America’s opening arc with Winter Soldier). Forbush Man finds himself in a comic book store where Ed Brubaker is signing along with Jason Aaron, and this leads Forbush to read some comics currently being published. One book by Matt Fraction, entitled Doctor America, is a crazy and – dare I say it? – druggy/trippy little book merging psychedelic aspects of Doctor Strange with Captain America involving references to important creators and giant sky kittens. The other, written by Stuart Moore, features the origin and first adventure of the Golden Age Deadpool. All of this leads to Forbush Man getting agitated and killing Bendis and Fraction and editor Steve Wacker and attacking Marvel.
This comic book, which I originally groaned at when I first heard about it, is exactly why I love Marvel. Marvel has such a great group of writers, all of whom are very odd and humorous personalities in their own right, and they love taking shots at themselves. Marvel takes their comics and books very seriously, but they don’t take themselves seriously, and this allows for Jason Aaron, a relative newcomer at Marvel (at least, in the broader “everyone knows his name now” sense), to write an absolutely hilarious story in which everyone and everything about Marvel is poked fun at. While I didn’t overly care for the Golden Age Deadpool story, Fraction’s Doctor America is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve read in quite a while.
As a whole, this book exemplifies the open-ness of Marvel and their innate ability to poke fun at themselves, and as a whole this is why I love the company. While obviously I love the stories they tell, it’s just amazing for me as a fan to be able to read things like this and see that yeah, they get that not everything they do is loved and sometimes it’s over the top, but you know what? Comics are still a fun medium no matter what, and if people like it, they’ll keep making it. If nothing else, it proves they are connected deeply with the reader input, and that’s something that all companies could be as open with.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – Buy
Guardians of the Galaxy #25
And with that, Thanos is back and truly is the Mad Titan once again. The issue heavily revolved along this premise – that Thanos had returned and was not in control of his mind, causing him to rage on the planet, wipe out the Church, and kill Phyla-Vell. This is arguably one of the biggest moments of the comic since it’s inception… and while awesome, it’s a tad underwhelming.
I love Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s easily the best cosmic title, and is consistently amazing. However, since we know that the next big cosmic event is the Thanos Imperative, this “lead-in” issue acts as little more than filler, obviously. It’s been SUCH a build up, and as cool as this issue was, it’s hard for DnA to really craft an issue like this when the event is right around the corner. I’m not saying that the book was bad – far from it. It features the regular and great amount of sass that we’ve all come to know and love from the book, as well as the reunion of all the characters since the end of War Of Kings. Apparently the time stream is somewhat fixed too, so the future can finally stop raging on us which is always nice. But as cool as the action sequences were/are as well as Starlord’s final move, I’m merely left wanting for more Thanos and more story… which I can’t have yet. The issue all in all is not better than past issues of the Guardians, though, and as much as I still am a number one fanboy of the title, it loses points overall for it’s inherent nature.
Continued belowSuffice it to say, everything about this issue is still good and wraps up this arc nicely. There are a lot of open ends, but that will obviously be taken care of soon in the Thanos Imperative. It’s still a very enjoyable issue despite it’s filler-ness, especially compared to other issues like it. I’m glad that Thanos is back and the Guardians are back together, even if Phyla and Moonstone can’t quite seem to get their act together.
Final Verdict 7.9 – Buy
Brave and the Bold #33
DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE COMIC FIRST. If for whatever reason, you didn’t buy this, you need to go out now, buy the issue, and do yourself a favor. With that in mind…
Every once in a while, a book comes along that proves so firmly why comic books are such a celebrated medium with it’s fans. It shows that these comics, these “funny books”, can have just as much an emotional attachment to the reader to illicit reactions from the reader, and that this form of story telling is just as important as any other.
This is one of those issues.
If you heeded my warning and went and read the issue, then you know exactly what I’m talking about. While JMS’ run on Brave and the Bold has been great so far, this issue was really something else. What starts with a simple enough premise and notion quickly takes a turn that I would expect none of us saw coming. At the beginning of the book I said to myself that something was amiss here, but I wouldn’t go so far as to not believe that the issue could simply just be a girl’s night out. I also did not see that ending coming until a few pages before when you begin to realize what the issue had been leading up to, and it was at this point that I literally said outloud, “Oh no.”
See – this is what all comics strive for. That sense of recognition and investment that we’ve been putting in over however many years we’ve all been reading comic books being “rewarded,” as it were. With an ending like this, we are given an “update” to a classic story that we are all more than familiar with, I’m sure. To see it revisited in such a way, as well as changed overtly in such a heart breaking fashion, creates such a phenomenal reaction in the reader that, personally when I finished reading, I wasn’t sure I wanted to read any more comics that afternoon.
A big round of applause to JMS for the writing and to Cliff Chiang for some phenomenal artwork (especially that final heart wrenching splash page). This was not only the true book of the week, but will be in my contending list for book of the year.
Final Verdict: 10 – Buy
DV8 #1
In all reality, I picked up the book with very little knowledge of DV8. I was only buying it because a) David has instilled it in me that anything with Brian Wood’s name on it needs to be bought, b) I know DV8 was a book by Warren Ellis, and c) that cover is phenomenal. My hope was that the book would be accessible enough to a new reader like myself considering that the title hadn’t been around for a decade and the characters were fairly outdated.
Did that pan out? Yes and no. The book reintroduces the characters of DV8 as they somewhat crash land on a primitive planet that hasn’t developed yet. The characters are attacked and left confused, and one by one each character disappears. As we find out, however, each character has gone off to a different section of the planet to rule – as a god. This is where the subtitle of the book comes from (and a line of dialogue in the book). All of these super powered characters are gods to these people and they influence them as such, for better and for worse – and that’s awesome.
Continued belowThe title doesn’t exactly give the new reader like myself a lot of back story to work off of. I’m aware that there is a group of super powered people with code names, but I don’t know much about them from this. However, there is more than enough here for any new reader like myself to jump into the story and enjoy it. And it’s very basic nature, it’s an analysis of the effect that a super powered person has on a culture as well as their influence, and to be quite honest that’s a great story idea that I’m looking forward seeing panned out. The last couple pages do a great job of setting everything up in a nice and neat way for a new reader to look at a character and understand their role in the events to come.
The more I read of him, the more I really begin to dig Brian Wood. He’s got a great voice for storytelling, and in every book I’ve read of his he always manages to bring me in very strongly as a reader. With DV8, his ideas are very clear and, despite me not knowing anything about the characters beforehand, I feel comfortable enough to jump in with this new title – which ultimately is the goal I’d imagine. On top of that, Wood has a habit of working with great artists who always get his vision, and Rebekah Isaacs is no different. With a manga-esque style, Isaacs brings all the characters to life in some very gorgeous visuals, especially that cover. The cover, which captures one of the opening scenes of the book, is what initially caught my eye with the title, and I’m very glad that it did.
So DV8 is a good place to pick up with these characters. The story so far is set up perfectly, and if all goes well DV8 will be a fantastic read when all is said and done.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – Buy
Siege: Spider-Man #1
The Siege brand tie-ins to Siege have been rather hit or miss so far. We’re batting 2-1 right now with two more to go, including today’s entry: Spider-Man. However, my faith is brought by my enjoyment of Brian Reed’s work, and overall he doesn’t disappoint.
In the Spider-Man one-shot, Spidey finally has the chance to wail on Mac Gargan for impersonating him on the Avengers team. To be honest, how people never understood there were two Spider-Man’s in New York is beyond me considering that they have two very different costumes, but that’s neither here nor there. And of course Ms Marvel shows up, because Reed was the writer of the now over Ms Marvel series. It doesn’t feel that out of place though, considering Reed had written Spidey as a prominent character in the previous title, so their interaction doesn’t feel forced but rather organic, and together they get to beat the crap out of Venom, which (as an Eddie Brock fan) I’ve been waiting for for quite some time.
I enjoy Reed’s writing a lot, and this issue is a good example of why. Reed has a good handling on Spider-Man and his quirky nature, and the book acts as a good way to flesh out the continuity of that mini Reed did starring Venom for Dark Reign. I’m glad to see that it’s being kept in continuity, even if it is just Reed doing it on his own. On top of that, I’m glad he had the chance to put Marvel and Spidey back together one more time, because their story clearly hadn’t ended and is one that can hopefully be developed a bit more in the future because, as much as the power sets don’t match, I imagine it might do Spidey good to actually date a hero for a little while.
Marco Santucci really brings it with the issue, though. There’s a lot of great things visually in this, wether you’re looking at the symbiote Marvel or just little things in the background. Santucci is a really good artist for bringing a world to life and giving his characters a realistic feel, sort of like Deodato in a way. The action sequences are drawn wonderfully and very clearly, giving a good sense of the battle that is raging between the three characters. It’s very concise and easy to follow visually, and there are some real kick-ass scenes in here (like Spidey flat out ripping Venom’s tongue out – always cool!).
Continued belowFeel free to add this book to your collection. It’s definitely a good read and, if you have Ms Marvel and Sinister Spider-Man, it’s a nice tie-up to storylines from both books, and who doesn’t like happy endings?
Final Verdict: 8.0 – Buy
Ultimate Comics Avengers #6
You know, I never really know what to expect from Mark Millar anymore. There was a time when I would praise everything the man does, but lately I feel that I’m a little bit worn thin on him. Maybe it’s not just him though – maybe it’s the Ultimate universe as a whole. Nevertheless, when the first arc of Avengers is all said and done, I’m definitely left wanting.
With this issue, the Red Skull beats down on everyone. Not just a regular beat down either – this is a cosmic cube beat down, and that means some mass emotional and physical devastation. The Red Skull shows off his dark side and he puts the new Wasp through the ringer, taunts the new Hulk, and basically tries to break Hawkeye down into a sobbing mess (and succeeds to an extent). Before long, Captain America shows up to save the day, and “all is made well.” My basic problem with this though is that the ending doesn’t really make sense. I mean that in both a literal and figurative sense. In the literal side, I have no idea how Captain America actually defeated the Red Skull – it’s a very unclear scene. Somehow his ship crashes, and then teleports in the middle of the Red Skull? Something to that extent? And in the figurative side, the ending is very … uneven. After all this death and destruction, the Red Skull did everything because he has daddy issues? THIS is how Millar chooses to reimagine Cap’s greatest enemy to the Ultimate Universe? As a one arc character who is basically a stereotypical teenage girl?
I don’t have anything against Millar in the grand sense of his work. I like his ideas and creative ways of tackling stories in unusual ways. The end of this arc just leaves me rather empty though. There’s a lot of unresolved ideas and notions, and this new Avengers team isn’t really worth anything – at least, not in the way that the Ultimates were after their first arc. That was a tremendous story of heroes getting together, and in comparing that story with this I’m left tossing these into a long box and going back to the Ultimates. The Ultimates was a crown achievement for Millar, so why – with his return to the Ultimate Universe – can’t he channel that again?
I do have to mention that Carlos Pacheco’s art is absolutely fantastic though. While my expectations for the book were of Ultiamtes variety, Pacheco does well enough in his own right to not warrant a comparison to Hitch. The Red Skull’s ass kicking in this book looks phenomenal, and the book is worth it for the art alone. Pacheco’s attention to some of the smaller details make for some enticing visuals and he manages to capture Millar’s mad visions very well.
So the first run of Millar’s return to the Ultimate world is done, and I’m ultimately underwhelmed. I want to like it more, and I want to like this issue more, but I’m not really drawn in yet. It all felt a tad bit rushed, to be honest, and I’m hoping that Millar brings his A-game back with the next arc… but I don’t have my hopes up.
Final Verdict: 6.7 – Browse
GIL’S REVIEWS
Batman: Streets of Gotham #11
Ever since Grant Morrison took over the eponymous Batman title, it feels as if Paul Dini, who had been writing the terrific Detective Comics at the same time, was overlooked in favor of the trippy storytelling styles of the sharp-featured Scotsman. I always preferred the Dini book myself, and his series Streets of Gotham, proves how good of a Batman storyteller he is.
While I think there is a place for the psychedelic leanings of Morrison (in fact, I think it’s necessary), Dini does know how to keep Batman gritty and still fun to read. He’s done it since the early 90’s with the Batman animated series and it continues today. The arc has been incredibly brutal, with it centering on the serial killer Mr. Zsasz and his kidnapping of several children to fight in gladiator style arenas. It’s been really dark, and really awesome.
But the story wouldn’t have had as much impact if it weren’t for the fantastic art provided by Dustin Nguyen. Every since he worked with Dini on ‘Tec, it’s been like magic. His pencils bring the perfect level of grittiness that Dini is trying to convey.
Overall, while I got into this story a little late, it’s definitely worth picking up.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – Buy
Green Lantern #53
Now that the Blackest Night is over, and we’re moving into the Brightest Day, we get a LOT of set up for the next year or so of stories. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing. We meet a new antagonist in the book as well as new alliances being formed alongside new schisms opening up
This book is actually quite similar to Brightest Day #0 as it is mostly setting up new books like Guy Gardner’s new book as well as Green Lantern Corps with Ganthet, who seems to be continuing his struggle against the Guardians while appealing to Atrocitus to not attack the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians while they investigate…something. You’ll just have to read all these books to find out!
While the book is mostly set-up, Geoff Johns write in such a way that felt pretty organic, shuffling a relatively large cast expertly and telling a sprawling plot like a true pro. But can you expect anything else? And what can be said about Doug Mahnke’s art other than it’s utterly gorgeous? My God, if he’s not on the short-list of best artists in the game, I don’t know what I would do. If Blackest Night was a tribute to Ivan Reis, then this book is a tribute to Dough Mahnke.
Overall, this book was a lot of fun, and while it did mostly set up other books, it was a solid jumping on point for any new fans of the Emerald Avenger. Check it out.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – Buy
X-Factor #204
Review pending, check back soon!
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #9
Every time I read a book with mutants in it, I can’t help but notice how much things get worse. This time it’s focused on Kitty Pryde getting snitched on for being a mutant in a time when it’s not a good time to be a mutant. Peter tries to help her, but it may not work out of the best.
But that’s just one of the stories interwoven within this issue, written by Brian Michael Bendis. Our favorite wannabe lothario is now smitten with a new girl in his life, Jessica Drew, the Spider-Woman, which disturbs Peter to no end, for unmentioned, but obvious reasons.
But to be honest, most of the issue felt like filler until the final few pages. This happened, and that happened, but nothing really of consequence occurred, except Peter getting a haircut. Yeah. That’s about it.
It’s a good issue if you’re a fan, but it doesn’t do much for the series as a whole.
Final Verdict: 6.5 – Browse
BRANDON’S REVIEWS
X-Men Legacy #235
Second Coming continues on and continues to succeed by telling a high paced and high stakes adventure. This installment jumps into X-Men : Legacy and Mike Carey and Greg Land take a shot at keeping the momentum going. They do a fine job of it as well.
Typically Greg Land is not one of my favorite artists. His overly cheesecake art with its WWE style pose offs tends to turn me off. This issue to me though seemed to be a much more toned down version of his famous style. While keeping the pros of his art and dropping most of the negative. Gone were the overly posed and overly smiley characters. Instead we were treated to Greg Land 2.0 and I found my self impressed and interested to see more of this type of Greg Land art. Hopefully he will keep it up.
This issue also supplied us with a twist in the Cable and Hope relationship as we see the two split up for the first time since Messiah War. This time might be permanent as I feel Cable will not survive Second Coming. The swerve on the traitor story element from the last issue was done well and made plenty of sense. I was happy to see this happen as opposed to yet another evil X-Man setup like we got with Bishop in Messiah Complex.
Overall, this was an enjoyable issue for both it’s story and art. It also kept the momentum at a great pace for Second Coming. So far so good for this event.
Final Verdict: 8.0 Buy it!
American Vampire #2
Sometimes sequels are just as good if not better than the first. This is rarely the case but sometimes it happens. This is one of those occasions. As much as I truly enjoyed issue one this issue just felt better. Perhaps because it’s the second issue and we are getting deeper into the story but either way this issue was great.
There are a few things I just never truly get into and two of those are vampires and westerns. This title is both those genres and yet I can’t get enough of this book. A true testament to a form of entertainment, not just a comic, is to make the audience love something they don’t normally have an affinity for. This book does that for me. It has enough excellent art and solid storytelling to move beyond the usual vampire and western genres and into something entirely different. To roughly paraphrase Skinner Sweet this is something different. This is Ev-O-lution!
Outside of the excellent storytelling is Raphael Albuquerque’s art. It is absolutely phenomenal. The way he switches art styles between the two stories is a true testament to his ability and skill. I am an avid horror fan who really appreciates a gruesome scene and Albuquerque delivers with the opening of this book. The sight of Pearl wandering the desert with chunks of her body missing and looking like a walking corpse is really a horrifyingly delightful sight.
The story here is getting better which says a lot considering the first issue was excellent. I found myself at the end of this issue feeing sorry for myself that there weren’t more pages. I can’t wait for next issue and I can’t wait to learn more about Pearl and Skinner’s new style of vampire. No…seriously I can’t wait! Someone get me the next issue!
Final Verdict: 9.0 Buy it!
Sif #1
Last week I reviewed Siege: Captain America and I argued that it was a character piece that did nothing for the event it was attached and even as a character piece it didn’t accomplish much. This issue does the character piece correct. The best part is it is standalone and ties into nothing. So I was doubly pleased with this title.
For those of you familiar with JMS’ run on Thor you are also familiar with Loki using Sif as a skin costume. Creepy when you really think about it and it is presented as the fearful experience it truly would be in this issue. Writer Kelly Sue Decconick does an excellent job at presenting us the internal fallout Sif struggles with after said event. Something that we never really got to see much of after it happened in Thor itself. Decconick presents us with a strong goddess who is beaten and broken and finds her inner strength again by battling both the possession of fear and the possession of an alien force in a great way that mirrors one another.
Continued belowThe story in general is a great exercise a great example of doing a character piece of value. Sif starts in one place in her life and by the end finds she has gone through a full force hero’s journey in the span of one comic. It is yet another great example of how strong these Women of Marvel one-shots have been. I hope to see more one-shots like this focused not only on the women but all Marvel characters that don’t necessarily see much face time in any current monthly.
Also, Beta Ray Bill is in this baby! Extra points!
Final Verdict: 7.5 Buy it!
Justice League of America #44
“It goes without saying things could be much worse than this”. This is how the book opens. Talk about setting yourself up. That line pretty much describes my feeling about this issue. It isn’t terrible but it is a long way from being good. The art is by far the best part of this issue.
Some of the problems I had with this issue stemmed from continuity errors, which seem to occur a lot n Robinson’s books as of late, that may be part of editorials problem and less something Robinson himself is to blame for. All the same it is irritating to see this takes place after the current Fourth Reich story in JSA that has been really good. Now we know that at the end of the arc Obsidian rejoins the JSA and Alan Scott is laid up hurt. While this doesn’t blow anything huge per se it is still a pain in the ass. I admit this is a fanman gripe and probably should be ignored.
If the continuity errors were the only problem this title would still have its flaws. I really felt the heavy exposition to explain the team member’s powers came across as extremely forced and ridiculous. That scene in general was a sticking point for me. On top of the ridiculous exposition we are shown this team battling what amounts to a danger room full of big time baddies. We are TOLD that, “the danger here is only limited to our imaginations”. Yet we are SHOWN the current Justice Leaguers imaginations must be pretty weak if they have such an assortment of hardcore villains such as Black Adam, Joker, Bizarro, and Deathstroke attacking them and yet have no problem dispatching them as a group of four while giving their oral autobiographies.
I want to like this title as the team looks good on paper and the concept of having all these great B to C list characters stepping up and into the shoes of JLA greats is fantastic. The problem is the execution just isn’t there. This is the third time since Robinson took over that i’ve picked this book up thinking maybe it would have gotten better to find it, unfortunately, hasn’t.
Final Verdict: 4.5 Pass
