Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Hot Picks! August 18, 2010!



AVENGERS ACADEMY #3 - The first two issues of the Avengers Academy have been surprisingly good. The Academy delivers a solid punch with strong character development and an interesting on-going plot. Avengers Academy #3 also features Luke Cage’s Thunderbolts! Thunderbolts #147 (which guest stars the Avengers Academy) also comes out this week, so you may as well check out both of them!


NEW AVENGERS #3 - The battle of magic in the Marvel Universe continues! Who is the villain who has turned New York into a cesspool of evil? Let me rephrase that, who is the villain who has turned New York into a mystical cesspool of evil?!? Join Dr. Strange, Brother Voodoo, Wolverine, Iron Fist and the rest of the New Avengers and find out!


WOLVERINE WEAPON X #16 - Jason Aaron wraps up the Wolverine: Weapon X series to make up for next month’s Wolverine #1. After the huge Deathlok story arc, how will the series wrap? With Wolverine carrying out Nightcrawler’s last request.


SIXTH GUN #3 - If you didn’t read the Sixth Gun when it came out on Free Comic Book Day, or didn’t pick-up the Sixth Gun #1 & #2 when they came out last month, you’re missing some good stuff. The Sixth Gun combines two genres that can be very difficult to translate to comics: westerns & horror.


BATMAN BEYOND #3 - No doubt most fans of the Batman Beyond animated series had trepidations about this new mini-series. The first two issues have put those to rest. So far the series has been a nice adaptation of the animated series with a sharp-edged, made for comics story that draws nicely on the Batman’s legacy.


Greg’s Pull List

Marvel

AGE OF HEROES #4

AMAZING SPIDERMAN #640

AVENGERS ACADEMY #3

NEW AVENGERS #3

SECRET AVENGERS #4

SHADOWLAND: POWERMAN #1

THUNDERBOLTS #147

UNCANNY X-MEN #527

WOLVERINE WEAPON X #16

DC

BATMAN BEYOND #3

BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM #15

BRIGHTEST DAY #8

DC UNIVERSE: LEGACIES #4 OF 10

SPIRIT #5

Image

CHEW #13 MATURE READERS

Oni Press

SIXTH GUN #3

Check back Monday for reviews of many of these books!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Greg's Pull List (8/11/2010) Review



It was a small week, only 8 titles (5 Marvel, 1 DC and 2 Indies) made it home. In a sparse week, there were a couple disappointments and some super stars and one title (Daredevil) that was surprisingly better than expected.


The Pull List (in Reading Order)

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #29 ★★★★☆

RAWHIDE KID #3 ★★★★☆

ULTIMATE COMICS: AVENGERS 3 #1 ★★☆☆☆

X-MEN #2 ★★☆☆☆

DAREDEVIL #509 ★★★☆☆

SUPERMAN #702 ★★★☆☆


Unread

MARVELMAN FAMILY’S FINEST #2

DUST WARS #3

ROUTE DES MAISONS ROUGES #1


★★★★★ = Really, really good.
★★★★☆ = Better than average.
★★★☆☆ = Average.
★★☆☆☆ = Below average.
★☆☆☆☆ = Not good.

= Unreadable.


Pick of the Week


INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #29

w: Matt Fraction

a: Salvador Larocca


Story: ★★★★☆

Art: ★★★★☆

Cover: ★★★☆☆

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆

The train is back on the track as Stark, Pepper Rhodey and company are making headway towards getting Stark Resilient up on its proverbial feet. Of course, not everything is running on schedule. The team finds itself between the Hammer Girls, the U.S. Government and what’s this? There’s something wrong with the boss.


Fraction & Larroca deliver a character-driven story that has all (most) cylinders firing. There is enough story to go around to give Pepper (Rescue’s back, c’mon, it can’t be that big of surprise, she’s on the cover!), Rhodey, Tony and the bad guys plenty of panel time. There are no less than five interlocking plotlines running through this story-arc. Invincible Iron Man #29 is perhaps a little light on action, but there’s more than enough to keep the reader busy.


And no review of this issue would be complete without mentioning Tony’s tux. Robert Downey Jr. should be very grateful that he has enough star-power to keep this suit off the silver screen! Though, the tux makes perfect sense, in a Tony Stark sort of way!


The Rest


DAREDEVIL #509

w: Andy Diggle & Anthony Johnston

a: Roberto De La Torre


Story: ★★☆☆☆

Art: ★★★★☆

Cover: ★★☆☆☆

Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆

It’s time to check in with Shadowland. Daredevil, the leader of the Hand is still hard to type and take seriously. In DD #509, much of the “epic” that is supposed the shake the status quo of New York, takes place… in Japan. Go figure.


Overall the story isn’t as bad as you might think. Mind you, it hasn’t really gotten a lot better. Although, the secret behind-the-scenes chicanery of the puppet-master ninja masters orchestrating this whole catastrophe is a little intriguing (not enough to make me want to out and buy many more issues, but intriguing).


The Luke Cage & Iron Fist (the actual New York part) was okay, though whoever dressed Danny when he “rolled out of his crib” needs a good talking to. Someone needs to remind them that it’s one thing to dress in a leotard and run around with the Avengers, but the Eddie Bauer, “urban ghetto” wear is embarrassing billionaire superheroes everywhere. Even Matches Malone can’t bear to look.


De La Torre’s art is a real win and works for the desired theme of Shadowlands.


DD #509 has some redeeming value (it is better than Shadowland #1), but there are some really knuckle-head moments. For example, the super-ninjas having a conversation while sneaking into the ninja-castle just seems ridiculous. Overall, it’s a good enough book to make you not (entirely) regret the $2.99 price tag, but not quite good enough to make the remaining 24 chapters of Shadowland look appealing.




RAWHIDE KID #3

w: Ron Zimmerman

a: Howard Chaykin


Story: ★★★★☆

Art: ★★★★☆

Cover: ★★★★☆

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆


The Kid rounds up the last member of his Sensational Seven and the whole story takes some big step forward. All around the story gets a little bit more serious, we get a betrayal (really?), a back-story and a talking wolf.


Zimmerman and Chaykin continue to put together a classic western laced with (more present-day inspired) tongue-in-cheek innuendo. There are less laughs, but more big grins in the third issue, as moving the plot along takes center stage. While each of the three Rawhide Kid issues that have come out have been good and fun to read, the plot, which meandered through the first two issues, seems to sprint through the third. Overall, you get the feeling that when all is said and done the complete mini-series is going to better than the sum of its parts. And the parts have been fun reads.




ULTIMATE COMICS: AVENGERS 3 #1

w: Mark Millar

a: Steve Dilon


Story: ★★★☆☆

Art: ★★★☆☆

Cover: ★★★☆☆

Overall Rating: ★★☆☆☆


Ultimate Avengers 3 #1 is disappointing. A little bit of the problem is that the actual Avengers only barely appear in the issue. All but the entire issue is consumed introducing Blade, the new Daredevil and setting the stage for the story-arc. The new Daredevil story is okay and reads better than it probably should, but the Blade intro and the whole vampire arc is anemic. Vampires have always been popular, but now-a-days you can’t swing a stick without staking one of these undead bloodsuckers. That being said, a vampire story really needs to bring something to the table to be taken seriously.


Alright there is one big (green) hitch that is kind of interesting, but it doesn’t evolve well in the issue. In fact it is kind of thrown in at the last minute. No doubt this “little hitch” changes the tone of the vampire story enough involve the Ultimate Avengers and it will be interesting to see which “heroes” are assembled for this new team, but all in all as first issues goes this one doesn’t flow well, and underwhelms.


Dillon’s art, while perfect for the Punisher seems out of place in UA3 #1. While there is no question Dillon handles the over-the-top violence well, the characters seem to be more like DC Direct action figures (not vary articulated, in other words not-very-bendy) than superheroes (or vampires) that should be jumping off the page. Now, if you’ve read Dillon before, you know this and it isn’t a problem (say, in the Punisher, Dredd or Preacher), but doesn’t translate as well here.




X-MEN #2

w: Victor Gischler

a: Paco Medina


Story: ★★☆☆☆

Art: ★★☆☆☆

Cover: ★★★☆☆

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆


Another day, another vampire story, and look it must be a Marvel comic, because there’s Blade. The second issue of the “Curse of the Mutants” doesn’t have the wow-impact that the first issue did. The story moves along okay, if not a bit predictably. The whole vampire menace seems to be perplexing. On one hand the X-men are taking this whole infestation kind of casually (I know when you save the world every four issues, you can only get so excited about vampires), even when they realize they are apparently surrounded. Me, I think I’d call the Avengers at that point.

One other really irritating thing is having Colossus switch back to human flesh in the middle of the vampire den. Especially while he has the one live one slung over his shoulder. No wonder X-men have such a high mortality rate.


Overall, X-men #2 is a below average set-up story, nothing nearly as interesting as the cool suicide vampire in the first issue. Medina’s artwork starts off well enough, but about (almost exactly) half-way through the issue it begins to look like he has to rush to finish the issue.




SUPERMAN #702

w: J. Michael Straczynski

a: Eddy Barrows


Story: ★★★☆☆

Art: ★★★☆☆

Cover: ★★★☆☆

Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆


Superman continues his Forrest Gump-like walk across America, with pretty lackluster results. Supes participates in a pick-up game of ball (really, this is why you’re walking across the country?!?) and comes across some (headline timely) illegal aliens hiding in plain sight. Both points in the story come off as over-contrived and you are kind of left wondering if there’s going to be more to this long hike.


Mind you, Superman #702 isn’t bad, it just isn’t great. Perhaps the best part is JMS taking a shot at his former employer (and one of the more publicized break-ups in his career), with the “It’s a new day, a BRAND NEW DAY…” line near the end of the issue. Barrows artwork is also okay, but it is interesting how he draw Superman and people of a younger age like… hmmm… Dan Jurgens or Eduardo Barreto, but anyone say older than 40 has an almost Neal Adams-ish look to them.

JMS is a master of developing a story over time, drawing the reader into the longer arc by telling strong episodic stories. Spider-man, Thor and especially Babylon 5 come to mind. His ability to tell a superior single-issue story can be seen in his recent DC work, over in Brave and the Bold. So far, his run on Superman (the two whole issues of it) has demonstrated neither of those qualities. It may be hard to temper expectation with delivery, but when you have a proven talent (JMS) and the biggest franchise in comic history, it’s hard not to have big expectations, and apparently harder to live up to them.


Regardless, this is one of those series you stick out because you still expect it to get better, and it really hasn’t been bad so far.


Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Greg's Pull List (8/4/2010) - Reviews



16 titles (7 Marvel, 5 DC and 4 Indies) made it home this week, including a second trip to the Shop to pick-up some back-issues of the Secret Six. In this week’s haul, two first issues got a try out (Baltimore & Magnus, Robot Fighter) and were good enough comics, but didn’t stand out enough to crack the Pull-List (or even manage a review). But if you take nothing else from this review this week, go pick-up Superman: The Last Family of Krypton. You won’t be disappointed!


The Pull List (in Reading Order)

SECRET SIX 24 ★★★☆☆

BRIGHTEST DAY #7 ★★☆☆☆

AVENGERS PRIME #2 ★★★☆☆

SUPERMAN: LAST FAMILY OF KYRPTON #1 ★★★★★

CAPTAIN AMERICA #608 ★★★★☆

HAWKEYE AND MOCKINGBIRD #3 ★★☆☆☆

AVENGERS ORIGIN #5 ★★★★☆

ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS 2 #6 ★★★★☆

AMAZING SPIDERMAN #639 ★★☆☆☆

HELLBOY: THE STORM #2 ★★★★★


Bonus Coverage

THE SPIRIT #4 ★★★☆☆

SECRET SIX #23 ★★★☆☆

SECRET SIX #15 ★★★☆☆


Reviewed without commentary

BALTIMORE PLAGUE SHIPS #1 ★★★☆☆

MAGNUS ROBOT FIGHTER #1 ★★★☆☆


Unread

MARVELMAN: FAMILY’S FINEST #2

IRREEDEMABLE #16


★★★★★ = Really, really good.
★★★★☆ = Better than average.
★★★☆☆ = Average.
★★☆☆☆ = Below average.
★☆☆☆☆ = Not good.
= Unreadable.


Pick of the Week


SUPERMAN: LAST FAMILY OF KYRPTON #1 ★★★★★

w: Carey Bates

a: Renato Arlem


Story: ★★★★★

Art: ★★★★★

Cover: ★★★★★

Overall Rating: ★★★★★


Legendary comic scribe Cary Bates returns to the DCU (well sort of… in an Elseworld story anyway). You might think a creator like Bates, who was prolific through the 60’s and 70’s might be stale or out of touch, but with Superman: The Last Family of Krypton, he stands up and delivers a story that re-invents the legacy of the titular dying planet, re-shapes Metropolis and even revisits some otherwise familiar elements in Smallville.


The concept of this mini-series doesn’t sound like a new story, but Bates and Arlem deliver a very unique twist on one of the oldest tales in comics. There have been very, very few Krpton-based stories (Elseworld or otherwise) that have held up respectably. So far, this mini-series is off to a great start.


The Rest


SECRET SIX #24

w: Gail Simone

a: J. Califore


Story: ★★★☆☆

Art: ★★☆☆☆

Cover: ★★★★★

Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆


Every once in a while a title will get enough “buzz”, a Preview blurb might sound interesting or a cover might catch my eye and I’m drawn to pick up an issue of an on-going title that isn’t usually on the Pull-List. Secret Six #24 had all of three of those elements.


A fan of Westerns (and good Western comics), the setting of this issue piqued my curiosity. Yes, the story is set in the “Wild West” (don’t ask me how), and you don’t really need to be caught up on Secret Six continuity to enjoy the tale. It might help, as some characters aren’t clearly identified as anyone I recognized, but my deficit didn’t detract from the enjoyment of the story.


Aside from the actual on-panel sex scene (really… in a mainstream comic? Where have I been?) the issue is pretty good. Califore’s artwork isn’t bad and suits the “Western feel” of the story, but wanders a bit too much in consistency for my taste.


This stand-alone issue was good enough, in fact, for me to make a second trip to the Shop to pick up two more issues of the Secret Six. Check out the reviews for SS #15 and SS#23, both written by one-time great Suicide Squad writer John Ostrander.



BRIGHTEST DAY #7

w: Geoff Johns & Peter Tomasi

a: Ivan Reis, Patrick Gleason, Ardian Syaf, Scott Clark & Joe Pardo


Story: ★☆☆☆☆

Art: ★★★

Cover: ★★★☆☆

Overall Rating: ★★☆☆☆


All of the Brightest Day storylines are featured in this key issue for the series, which finally tries to pull it all together and put some cohesive direction to these otherwise, unrelated story arcs. While that might sound like a good idea, it really isn’t.


The bad stories (Hawkman/Hawkwoman & Aquaman/Mera) get worse, dragging down the sometimes good-sometimes bad story (Deadman/Hawk & Dove) and even the good arcs (Martian Manhunter & Firestorm) with them. In fairness, the “Brightest Day” story actually starts to take shape in the Deadman arc, which really goes from kind of interesting to ridiculous (a cheeseburger, really?).


So far, the whole White Lantern has been a seven issue swing and a miss. Johns & company seem to be torn between telling the “BD” story in the separate plots (with each set of characters) or trying to tell one cohesive story and neither is really working very well. Just when you start to get invested in the separate plots, you get this issue which force-feeds the White Lantern story into current arcs as well as lays out “Lost-like” clairvoyant glimpses into the future that promise to entwine these characters even further.


DC used a similar, “look ahead” spread of pages a few years ago in one of their titles (it was either JSA or JLA, I forget which), that gave a one-panel glimpse of what was in store for each particular character. That was kind of interesting, sort of a preview of things to come. Unfortunately because the groundwork is so fragile for the White Lantern arc, the “look ahead” two-page spread (which has almost nothing to do with the current stories we’ve been reading in these pages) comes off more as lazy storytelling than, foreshadowing.



AVENGERS PRIME #2

w: Brian Michael Bendis

a: Alan Davis (inks: Mark Farmer)


Story: ★★★☆☆

Art: ★★★☆☆

Cover: ★★★☆☆

Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆


Last month, Avengers Prime was the weakest of the Heroic Age Avengers titles. With a $3.99 price tag, even (especially?) a five-issue mini-series has to wow right off the bat and frankly, the first issue didn’t wow. That being said, Prime was one click away from falling off the Pull List.

Avengers Prime #2 is probably not going to be the best Avengers title you read all month, but it was enjoyable. It was fun because the characters were so familiar and the Davis’ art even stepped it up a notch from last month. It is safe to say that the actual plot isn’t getting any better (it’s still kind of a hokey premise), but how the story is told is improving. And that could have something to do with (last issue) having to wedge this story into the beginnings of the Heroic Age, but with this issue Bendis is able to just run with the characters.


Avengers Prime definitely is not on the same level of the amazing Iron Man/Doctor Doom Camelot story of the 80s, but it’s running on a similar track and is showing improvement.



CAPTAIN AMERICA #608

w: Ed Brubaker

a: Butch Guice


Story: ★★★★☆

Art: ★★☆☆☆

Cover: ★★★★☆

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆


The first two issues of Brubaker & Guice’s Baron Zemo story arc were okay, but were disappointing given the caliber of quality of that Captain America has been delivering over the past few years. That changes in Captain America #608 as the plot kicks into high gear, sub-plots take flight and things go from bad to worse for Bucky-Cap.


The one criticism is that Guice’s artwork seems to be rushed and inconsistent throughout the issue. I’ve been a fan of Guice all the way back to his Mirconauts work and this isn’t his best work. Now, it could be the inkers (Rick Magyar & Mark Pennington), regardless the artwork doesn’t live up to expectations.



HAWKEYE AND MOCKINGBIRD #3

w: Jim McCann

a: David Lopez


Story: ★★☆☆☆

Art: ★★★☆☆

Cover: ★★★★☆

Overall Rating: ★★☆☆☆


Mockingbird was gone, prisoner of the Skrulls for (insert duration here)… and has come back and all of a sudden is in charge of a well-stocked, well-established espionage agency that we’ve never heard of before. Okay, that was all established in issue #1, so why bring it up here?

If the rest of the first story arc were better, or if Mockingbird (or any of the supporting cast) were at all likeable, you could over look that first paragraph up there. Unfortunately the Phantom Rider story is kind of blah and while Crossfire is a nice throwback to the 80’s Hawkeye/Mockingbird series, he isn’t very interesting either. And that leaves Hawkeye, who is almost always fun to read.


In some regard it is kind of juxtaposition for the Archer and the Lady Bird, when compared to Green Arrow and Black Canary. While GA is the crusty curmudgeon and the Canary is the “straight man (person)” of the duo, in this case Mockingbird spends most of the last two issues railing at people (mostly Hawkeye).


H&M get one more issue to improve, or they fall off the Pull List.


AVENGERS ORIGIN #5

w: Joe Casey

a: Phil Noto


Story: ★★☆☆☆

Art: ★★★☆☆

Cover: ★★★★☆

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆


This has been a fun mini-series. With this final issue, Casey & Noto deliver a very satisfying re-telling/re-imagining (let’s go with updating) of the Avenger’s Origin.


Noto’s artwork is still the highlight, even though Casey did a good job of stretching the story into five fun-to-read comics. Towards the end of Avengers: The Origin #5, readers are also in for a treat as we get single-panel “look aheads” at classic Avengers moments.


It wouldn’t be a bad thing if Casey and Noto came back to tell another chapter in the Avengers’ history.



ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS 2 #6

w: Mark Millar

a: Leinil Francis Yu


Story: ★★★☆☆

Art: ★★★☆☆

Cover: ★★★☆☆

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆


The whole of Ultimate Comics: Avengers 2 #6 is better than its parts (and definitely better than that long title!). That is to say that the whole Ghost Rider plot was just kind of okay. The real appeal to this series was the introduction of the new Avengers (particularly Cash and surprisingly, the Punisher).


The Ultimates (vol. 1 and vol. 2) were so good, that for many people they became the “face” of the Ultimate universe: more gritty, more like they were real-world heroes. It was hard to remember that the Ultimate Spider-man and X-men had come before, and they were just a “new take” on old comic characters. Not really gritty, not really more “real-world”… kind of like the the Ultimates eventually became under Jeph Loeb’s watch.


The Ultimate: Avengers still aren’t “that”, they are still (more) gritty and have (more of) a real-world feel to them. The short plot and revolving cast distract from that theme a bit, but overall this is still the kind of Ultimate comic that I prefer.



AMAZING SPIDERMAN #639

w: Mark Millar

a: Leinil Francis Yu


Story: ★☆☆☆☆

Art: ★★★☆☆

Cover: ★★☆☆☆

Overall Rating: ★★☆☆☆


There is a lot of talking and not in a good “Bendis-way” in Amazing Spider-Man #639. The plot of “One Moment in Time” is not well executed. It is so poorly put together it is hard to follow (in a “Lost” sort of way, but worse).


To make matters worse, One Moment in Time goes back and re-hashes probably one of the worst Spider-man decisions ever and the absolute worst thing Joe Queseda has done since beginning his tenure as Editor-in-Chief, “One More Day”.


It would be hard to argue with the product (the very long “Brand New Day”) of One More Day. The (mostly) weekly re-launch of Spider-man was, for the most part, wildly entertaining and sometimes brilliant. But you could make the argument (and I would) that Joey Q didn’t need to go and wreck what already was to fix what was wrong.


And that brings us to One Moment in Time, which is at best, confusing and at worst, pointless. And if it undoes “One More Day”… oy vey.



HELLBOY: THE STORM #2

w: Mike Mignola

a: Duncan Fegredo


Story: ★★★★☆

Art: ★★★★☆

Cover: ★★★★☆

Overall Rating: ★★★★★


Hellboy: The Storm is the real deal, Hellboy at his best. The story is nice and complicated and steeped in a mythology or two. The monster-bad guy of issue #2 looks like something right out of the Lord of the Rings (visually that is, not derivatively). Good stuff!


THE SPIRIT #4

w: David Hines

a: Moritat


Story: ★★★☆☆

Art: ★★★☆☆

Cover: ★★★☆☆

Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆


The Spirit’s second story-arc begins, Hines takes over the writing duties for Mark Schultz and Moritat stays on to handle the art chores – though you might be hard pressed to notice that. One of the most attractive things about the first three-issue story arc was Moritat’s Miller-esque rendering of the Spirit and his world. Moritat’s still around, but his art style is different. Good, but different.


Hines’ “Frostbite” story arc is less-pulp style and a slightly more “modern” feel to it. All-in-all, while I enjoyed Schultz work, Hines’ story is a little easier to follow.



SECRET SIX #23

w: John Ostrander

a: RB Silva


Story: ★★★☆☆

Art: ★★★☆☆

Cover: ★★★☆☆

Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆


The plot isn’t new, you’ve seen before on the big screen in movies like “the Dangerous Game” and “Hard Target”, but the execution of the story is admirable. Ostrander returns to the “Suicide Squad” re-branded as the Secret Six for this special stand-alone issue.


The familiar story is set-up nicely and moves quickly (maybe too quickly) through to the inevitable conclusion. If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if men with way more money than sense got to try to hunt down super villains on a very cool sounding island, this is the book you’ve been waiting for.


As a stand-alone, if you’re looking for an intro into the Six, this probably isn’t it. This isn’t a bad book, and it is better than Secret Six #24 (which was good enough to get me to go back and look for more issues). But if you’re looking for a “hook” to draw you into sinking more cash into the Secret Six, this is not the sample you’re looking for.


SECRET SIX #15

w: John Ostrander

a: J. Calafiore

Story: ★★★★☆

Art: ★★★☆☆

Cover: ★★★★★

Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆


Take a walk through the dead of a Gotham night with Deadshot and his reverend. Ostrander and Calafiore deliver a very “Rescue Me” (spiraling out of control) peek into the psyche of Deadshot.

This is an interesting way to look at Deadshot, as a character, through his origin and his connection to the Batman. The one-shot, character-centric story is also linked to a very specific event in the current DC universe, that gives the story a very relevant background to be playing-out in.


This really a Deadshot book, as none of the other Six appear in the issue, but seriously, you won’t miss them.