You know the drill, here are my books this week. This week I have X-Men: Legacy, Captain America, Amazing Spider-Man, and Chew. The score system is as follows, follow the cut to see what I thought!
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
X-Men Legacy #240
WRITER: MIKE CAREY
PENCILS: Clay Mann
COVER BY: LEINIL FRANCIS YUThe city of Mumbai is coming apart at the seams, torn asunder by freak energy storms…and Rogue and Magneto have finally discovered their source: The Children of the Vault have returned. And the X-Men may not be enough to stop them. But might their “new mutant” tip the scales in their favor?
Ah X-Men Legacy. Possibly the superior of the two series’, even though it’s not the flagship, this story had done what hadn’t been done in a while. It kames the X-Men feel like globetrotting world savers, when they had largely been only involved in Mutant Affairs over the past few years. But now they’re in India for Indra’s wedding to his brother’s arranged wife. But we’re also continuing the story about the third strain of mutants.
While I think that the story is mostly well-written, I’m starting to feel underwhelmed by the importance we’ve placed upon Paras’ story. I’m not overly familiar with his character so I’m not very invested in his conflicts as an Indian man who is forced to marry someone he doesn’t know. I do, however like the plot with Magneto getting kidnapped. I think this other strain of humans is fascinating, even if they’re total dicks.
The art…it’s uneven at best. Sometimes it’s as good as the best Olivier Coipel, others it looks as bad as Khoi Pham’s work on Mighty Avengers. When it’s good it’s good, when it’s bad, it’s BAD.
It’s a really good book, but it suffers from some issues when it comes to relating to characters or weak art. It’s worth buying, but it’s a weak buy.
Final Verdict: 7.0 – Buy
Captain America #610
WRITER: ED BRUBAKER
PENCILS by BUTCH GUICE
COVER MARKO DJURDJEVIC
Nomad Back-Up Story by SEAN MCKEEVER & FILIPE ANDRADEIt’s the grand finale – the showdown between Zemo and Bucky Barnes, and even if Bucky can survive a second trip to Zemo’s island his world will never be the same after what Helmut Zemo has done to it. Plus a NOMAD back-up by Sean McKeever & Filipe Andrade
You know, I feel bad for dogging this arc for the longest time. The final issue made it all come together and made it all make sense. For five issues, it felt like Baron Zemo was simply evil again, trolling Captain America for no reason, but now we know exactly why this is going on and it really made sense for both characters. I loved the moment when Zemo, in defeat, told Bucky exactly why he was doing it, and he made a lot of sense. I actually felt for the guy.
But while I thought the book ended on a high note, I think this is an arc that will definitely read better in trade. Reading it on a serialized basis makes it suffer. The pacing seemed off and it moved slowly and without any discernable motive until the last issue. We could have had better than that.
Continued belowThe lovely thing about the book, however, is the art. Despite the distinctly modern feel of the story, there are some retro panels that made it feel like a WWII comic as well as a flashback TO a modern comic. The Art really save the book itself from complete confusion.
As much as I liked the arc after it’s done, I can’t recommend reading this issue by itself. Pick up the full trade to enjoy it.
Final Verdict: 7.0 — Buy (in trade)
Amazing Spider-Man #644
WRITER: MARK WAID
PENCILS: PAUL AZACETA
COVER: MARKO DJURDJEVICPart 3 of ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES. Plus the SPIDEY SUNDAY FEATURE continues!
Words cannot express how much I dislike this arc. I actually like Mark Waid a lot, even though I think he has a problem with subtlety. His books have never been anything other than blunt force trauma to your brain cells. This arc is no different; but the problem is that here, he hasn’t found a way to make it endearing at all.
I can’t find myself caring about this new offspring of Norman Osborn and Menace. It actually reminded me of the movie Shoot ‘Em Up. There’s no real way this kid would survive all the punishment the poor thing is going through just after being born!
Also, didn’t we just have a Gauntlet type event where his entire rogue’s gallery came at him at once? OH, right, it was called The Gauntlet. Why are we going through it AGAIN? It’s a very been there, done that?
The art too, wtf is this? It’s very rough and ugly. I don’t even enjoy looking at it. This book is just not worth reading at all. Why has Spidey hit such depths? Shame.
Final Verdict: 4.0 – Browse
Chew #14
WRITER: JOHN LAYMAN
ARTIST: ROB GUILLORY
COVER: ROB GUILLORY“JUST DESSERTS,” Part Four
Cibopath showdown!
RETAILER WARNING: NOT SUITABLE FOR ALL AGES
What a strange issue. But that’s what you get when you read Chew. It’s a gloriously twisted issue just like the rest of them. We got to see more into Tony’s past, specifically his last girlfriend. Things did not go well. It’s really obvious why things went south so quickly and possibly why he was so skittish when it came to Amelia. I’m just not sure what to make of this girl Min.
It’s still an brilliant issue, but I feel like it was setting up Min more than following up on the hunt for Savoy. Savoy is still handled excellently, and he is one of my favorite characters. I feel like the Min plot was added to bring some tension between the two characters, in a decidedly Chew-fashion. But will this bring them together after? One can only hope. I like them together.
As for Rob Guillory’s art, there’s nothing new to report. It’s still amazingly cartoony and fits perfectly with the tone of the book. It’s not better it’s not worse, it just is. And I love ever minute of it.
If you’re not reading this book by now…I don’t know what to tell you. It’s awesome and one of Images best books by far.
Final Verdict: 8.0 — Buy
