Hey all, X here with his final post of the week. Yes, it's time to take a look at the Best of the Rest! This time with 100% more JT! Yes, mi hermano, JT, will be pitching in this week. Probably to bring the post quality waaaaay down... But at least I'm here to bring some respectability to the proceedings. Huh, it probably wasn't that smart to insult JT right off the bat since he'll be closing this post out, and as such will get the last word... If I was smarter I'd delete the insults... Meh. So here's how it'll work. I'll post my thoughts on a few comics, JT will post his thoughts in a different color, and then JT will close things out. Boom, simple. Like JT!!! HA!!!! *ahem* Anyway, let's get this bad boy rolling.
Daredevil #24: This was actually the high-point of this week's BotR post... Which doesn't bode well as we move forward... Basically DD is inching closer to finding out who the mystery villain who has been putting the screws to him was. Foggy learns that he had a rare type of bone tumor, and the doctors weren't sure if it had spread or not. Yeah, this comic is great, no doubt. Mark Waid has a little something for everybody here. Heroes, villains, secret plots, some drama, AND mutated dogs! What more could one ask for?! Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.
X-Factor #253: We get some escalation in the Hell on Earth war, as the various devils begin to wage war upon each other on Earth. Satana tries to kill Tier(because Satana is frigging AWESOME), but Tier chases her away. Polaris decides the best course of action was to sic Tier on the Hell-Lords, since he can hurt them. And Madrox is a demon thanks to Mephisto. Sadly, this comic didn't really do it for me. I mean it was all right and all, and I LOVE that Peter David showed that other heroes were involved in battling the demons, which you don't often see in a story like this, but the narrative was kind of spread all over the place... We were in Mephisto's hell. And on the streets. And watching demons fight. And in a hotel room. It just didn't gel for me, which is very rare for this series. But hey, I'm sure I'll be heaping praise on the next issue, so one not-so-good issue isn't a big thing. Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.
Saga #11: First things first, I LOVE the hell out of this series!!! With that out of the way, I have to admit, this issue didn't really do it for me. Basically Marco's father helped the group get away from the space baby, but at the cost of his life. Marco and his mom naturally don't take the death well. That's really the extent of the main storyline here. I've got to admit, Marco's dad dying here was a bit disappointing. I thought that character had some legs, and figured he'd slowly fade away as the issues progressed. Instead he popped up a few issues ago and died. If he would have stuck around a bit, the impact of his death probably would have been greater, but sadly, that's not what we got. Even though this wasn't my favorite issue of this great series, it still wasn't bad, which shows you the quality of this title. Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.
Invincible #101: So yeah, Eve is pregnant again. This time though, she has a doctor who specializes in super-human biology, and learns that she can't use her powers while she's pregnant, which you KNOW will come into play down the road. Robot hates Mark, Cecil hates Nolan, and Thragg hates everybody. That about sums this one up. I hate to sound like a broken record, but again, this issue just didn't hit the mark for me... I don't know what the problem was, but I just never connected to this comic. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great... Score: 6 out of 10.
Indestructible Hulk #5: Hulk manages to defeat Attuma with some help from Lemurian rebels. Plus one of the Lemurians makes out with Hulk. Here we go again, you know the song I'm gonna be playing... I never connected with this issue... Yep, again. There was some good here, namely Attuma, who Mark Waid wrote brilliantly, but I never fell into this story. It was okay. But that's all. Score: 6 out of 10.
Dark Avengers #188: Oh boy, this comic... Um, the Dark Avengers are still trapped in an alternate Earth. There's some sort of mystery there concerning AIM(I think...) and the Spider-Man of that world is worshiped as a god by the likes of Shang-Chi and Misty Knight... But he gets killed by Tigra. Oh, and Moonstone died, but came back over the course of this comic. See, now this comic? This comic was bad. Not okay, just bad. I was willing to go along for the ride at first, I've repeatedly stated that I love alternate dimensional tales, but this one simply isn't working for me. Probably because we have like zero character development going on here. Seriously, I have NO reason to care about ANY of the Dark Avengers. We REALLY need to get away from the main story here and shine a light on the characters on this team... Score: 3 out of 10.
DC Universe Presents: Starfire #18: Basically we see Starfire as a slave, then free, then allowing herself to get caught so she can free more people. The former top dog that wanted to free everyone was jealous, so he attacked her and she sliced his hands off with his sword. Upon gaining the chance to free everyone, the slaves were so afraid of Starfire they just wanted her to go, which she did. So... useless story sadly, nothing really happened, if only it showed that Star's a tough S.O.B. and scares people. Sad thing is, Joe Keatinge's last issue that starred Roy Harper was pretty good. Score: 2/10
Captain Marvel #11: Captain Marvel's been diagnosed with a lesion on her brain that expands every time she flies, it's not fatal but if she continues to fly it'll wipe away her memories, so now she's using a hover-bike, which she hates. We find out that she has some mysterious man stalking her, and he's been sending a new Deathbird, dubbed Newbird by Carol to her apartment building. Carol heads off to find Newbird and engages her in a fight in the sky, with her hover-bike of course. This was a pretty good issue, Carol continues to be written likable and fun, and the story of her not being able to fly, after putting so much emphasis on her love of flying throughout the series has been great. Score: 7/10
Justice League #18: The League is looking for new members because a few of them are busy with their cities or ruling Atlantis. Possible recruits are Black Canary (She's on the BoP...), Black Lighting, Blue Demon, Element Woman, Firestorm, Goldrush, Nightwing, Vixen, Zatanna and Platinum of the Metal Men. Platinum goes crazy, predictably, and the League and candidates take her down, with the help of The Atom. By the way, Atom is a Hispanic woman now. The League ends up picking Atom, Firestorm and Element Woman over Vixen, Zatanna and Canary because they're stupid, and Nightwing isn't interested in joining. The issue ends with them finding out their recruitment files have been hacked, so someone has info on all these heroes now. Oops! I was flabbergasted that they didn't pick at least one of the three women I named... but whatever. That aside, this issue was kind of predictable, especially with Platinum's heel turn. Score: 5/10
New Avengers #4: With time running out until Earth crashes into another Earth, the Illuminati decide to go to the other planet and try to use their Infinity Gems to blow it up, since the Illuminati's Gems broke in the last issue. Once they arrive, they see on this planet the Statue of Liberty is replaced by a statue of the Master of Magnet himself, Magneto. They also see Galactus is already about to eat this planet, but instead of counting this as a win, they decide to fight his Thanos-like herald, because why not? This issue was fine and dandy until the weird ending where they decided to fight a villain on a planet that's dying... the same planet they came to destroy. Also, I was expecting more with the fallout of them mind-wiping Captain America but not too much came of that. Score: 6/10
Red Hood and the Outlaws #18: This is Lobdell's last issue of RHATO, and after surprisingly enjoying issue 19, I was looking forward to this issue. Jason came to the realization that the reason he has lashed out at Bruce and the rest of the family is because he was trying to escape his past, but he needs to embrace it instead of run away from it. We also find out his face is going to be fine in the future thanks to Alfred's handiwork. We end things with Jason finally waking up and he's about to apologize but Bruce cuts him off and hugs him as the issue ends. I really enjoyed this issue, Jason finally being welcomed back to the fold is something I've wanted for a while as a Jason Todd fan, so this issue was a huge plus for me. Plus it really made sense for Bruce, after losing Jason once, then losing Damian, I doubt he wants to risk being distant with Jason any longer. The only thing I really had a problem with was this being billed as "Requiem" issue and Damian was never mentioned once. Score: 9/10
And THAT'S how you do a best of the rest post! Not like that farce X did last week. Anyway, I can see this being a weekly thing if mi hermano is up for it, so we can knock out even more books, considering sometimes people want info on books we read but don't review. So, look forward to me guiding X like the giant idiotic man-child he is through these posts on a regular basis. So that's it for me, until my final review of the week tomorrow. So til then, for myself and X, this is JT, signing off!
Showing posts with label New Avengers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Avengers. Show all posts
Monday, March 25, 2013
Monday, May 14, 2012
New Avengers #26
Okay, Bendis gave us some really strange story last issue about a girl with red hair and Iron Fist's mystical city. It all had something to do with the Phoenix(I guess...) so let's see how Bendis ties last issue and this one to the greater AvX event.
New Avengers #26(AvX x-over... Supposedly...):
Story Points:
-I don't even know what to say here... Stuff happens in Iron Fist's mystical city before his time.
-Leonardo Da Vinci is involved for some reason.
-The Phoenix has always had a thing for red heads apparently.
-Da Vinci build something to keep the Phoenix away from the random red head...
-This issue was weird.
Thoughts: That cover? The one on this issue? Ignore it, because neither characters appear in this one... As a matter of fact NO Avengers, New or otherwise showed up here... God does Bendis hurt my brain at times... I have NO idea what to give this issue score-wise... I mean it wasn't terrible, but what the hell did it have to do with AvX?!
Score: 5 out of 10.
New Avengers #26(AvX x-over... Supposedly...):
Story Points:
-I don't even know what to say here... Stuff happens in Iron Fist's mystical city before his time.
-Leonardo Da Vinci is involved for some reason.
-The Phoenix has always had a thing for red heads apparently.
-Da Vinci build something to keep the Phoenix away from the random red head...
-This issue was weird.
Thoughts: That cover? The one on this issue? Ignore it, because neither characters appear in this one... As a matter of fact NO Avengers, New or otherwise showed up here... God does Bendis hurt my brain at times... I have NO idea what to give this issue score-wise... I mean it wasn't terrible, but what the hell did it have to do with AvX?!
Score: 5 out of 10.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Ect... Week of April 25th.
And now for a new feature! We'll see how long this feature actually sticks around, as I have a tendency to get bored with new features rather quickly... Just look through the annals of this blog for proof of THAT fact! First, a bit of a backstory... Recently, due to my abject awesomeness and all, my job offered me more hours AND much higher pay, but for some genuinely sucky hours... I naturally took the promotion, but that's going to lead to less time spent on the blog as well as me possibly altering my blog posting/commenting schedule... It also means that there's NO way I'm going to be able to do more than 14 reviews a week(2 a night)... Hell, I may have to cut back to 7 reviews(a review a night) depending on how things go. Luckily, JT told me if that were to happen, he'd pick up the slack, 'cause he's such a swell guy and all. But we haven't reached that point yet. Anyway, there are some weeks(such as this week) where I pick up MORE than 14 books... For those weeks? There's this new feature. Basically I'll tell you guys what I read, what I thought about it, give the score, post a scan, and move on to the next book. That way if you read the book and want to chime in with something, you can. As with any new feature, I'm more than willing to change the format and listen to any suggestions on how to make this post better. But for now, this is what we have. Now, on with the show!
Uncanny X-Men #11(AvX tie-in):
Thoughts: I have to say, I enjoyed this issue way more than I expected to. Well, allow me to rephrase that... I enjoyed the Jugger-Colossus vs Red Hulk portions of this issue and wasn't all that fond of the rest. I thought the way the Jugger-Colo/Rulk battle ended was smart, and didn't really hurt either character's standing. Jugger-Colo had the upper-hand for most of the battle, especially while he was in full on Juggernaut mode. When he switched to Colossus mode, he was defeated. Plus he WANTED to lose, so again, no gripes about the way that fight went down. I felt Jugger-Colo could beat Rulk, but that Rulk could beat Colossus. The rest of it, especially Cyclops's ridiculous letter? I hated it. What a weird way to end this one... In the end though, this issue did give me some hope(gah, I hate even using that word now!) that these issues of Uncanny won't be all that bad.
Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.
Huh, I'd forgotten that Hope told Wolvie to kill her!
New Avengers #25:
Thoughts: This comic wasn't THAT BAD! That's probably the biggest compliment I can give to an Avengers title, written by Bendis, with this team... Yeah sure, the only member of the Avengers in this book to show up was Iron Fist, and he only popped up on one page, but hey, it didn't suck! I'm not really sure where we're going with the revelation here though... Iron Fist turns on the Avengers to join with the X-Men? But what of Luke Cage??? The Bromance EXPLODES!!! Actually, that could be epic if we get Luke acting like a jilted lover when/if Iron Fist's duplicity is revealed... Eh, regardless of the outcome, at least I can always point to this issue and say, “See that, an issue of New Avengers DID score higher than a 6!”.
Score: 7 out of 10.
???
Avenging Spider-Man #6:
Thoughts: I can't say this issue really got me all hyped up for this Omega Effect storyline... I honestly feel that Punisher should stay FAR AWAY from real heroes such as DD and Spidey due to him being, you know, a criminal and all... Now don't get me wrong, I like Punisher, I just don't like him interacting with a character like Daredevil, who should be trying to take him in on sight. Methinks I chose the wrong issue of Avenging Spider-Man to start collecting the series...
Score: 5 out of 10.
Frank has definitely seen better days... Although in fairness, he's seen worse too...
Daredevil #11:
Thoughts: Ugh, this was pretty bad... So basically, the bottom line here was that we returned to the status quo? DD still has the Omega Drive, Punisher is still on his own, and Spidey is still Spidey... I just don't get the point of it all... On the plus side, at least I didn't waste my money picking up the Punisher issue of this x-over!
Score: 4 out of 10.
Don't worry, this is the nice Punisher, he's not aiming for kill shots!
Uncanny X-Men #11(AvX tie-in):
Thoughts: I have to say, I enjoyed this issue way more than I expected to. Well, allow me to rephrase that... I enjoyed the Jugger-Colossus vs Red Hulk portions of this issue and wasn't all that fond of the rest. I thought the way the Jugger-Colo/Rulk battle ended was smart, and didn't really hurt either character's standing. Jugger-Colo had the upper-hand for most of the battle, especially while he was in full on Juggernaut mode. When he switched to Colossus mode, he was defeated. Plus he WANTED to lose, so again, no gripes about the way that fight went down. I felt Jugger-Colo could beat Rulk, but that Rulk could beat Colossus. The rest of it, especially Cyclops's ridiculous letter? I hated it. What a weird way to end this one... In the end though, this issue did give me some hope(gah, I hate even using that word now!) that these issues of Uncanny won't be all that bad.
Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.
Huh, I'd forgotten that Hope told Wolvie to kill her!
New Avengers #25:
Thoughts: This comic wasn't THAT BAD! That's probably the biggest compliment I can give to an Avengers title, written by Bendis, with this team... Yeah sure, the only member of the Avengers in this book to show up was Iron Fist, and he only popped up on one page, but hey, it didn't suck! I'm not really sure where we're going with the revelation here though... Iron Fist turns on the Avengers to join with the X-Men? But what of Luke Cage??? The Bromance EXPLODES!!! Actually, that could be epic if we get Luke acting like a jilted lover when/if Iron Fist's duplicity is revealed... Eh, regardless of the outcome, at least I can always point to this issue and say, “See that, an issue of New Avengers DID score higher than a 6!”.
Score: 7 out of 10.
???
Avenging Spider-Man #6:
Thoughts: I can't say this issue really got me all hyped up for this Omega Effect storyline... I honestly feel that Punisher should stay FAR AWAY from real heroes such as DD and Spidey due to him being, you know, a criminal and all... Now don't get me wrong, I like Punisher, I just don't like him interacting with a character like Daredevil, who should be trying to take him in on sight. Methinks I chose the wrong issue of Avenging Spider-Man to start collecting the series...
Score: 5 out of 10.
Frank has definitely seen better days... Although in fairness, he's seen worse too...
Daredevil #11:
Thoughts: Ugh, this was pretty bad... So basically, the bottom line here was that we returned to the status quo? DD still has the Omega Drive, Punisher is still on his own, and Spidey is still Spidey... I just don't get the point of it all... On the plus side, at least I didn't waste my money picking up the Punisher issue of this x-over!
Score: 4 out of 10.
Don't worry, this is the nice Punisher, he's not aiming for kill shots!
Friday, April 13, 2012
New Avengers #24
Okay, I've never hidden my feelings about the New Avengers series... I feel it has NO right being called “Avengers”, because it's basically a team of NON-Avengers, led by a non-Avenger! I mean hell, I like Luke Cage as much as the next guy(unless the next guy is Bendis...), but sorry, I don't see him as an Avengers leader. On the same note, I don't see Wolverine, Spider-Man, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones or Daredevil as Avengers... Heroes for Hire? Sure. Defenders? Maybe. But Avengers? Hell no! But I'm going to put those feelings aside since this issue supposedly ties into the AvX event, and as a completist, I feel compelled to pick this one up. Here's hoping that's not a $4 mistake...
New Avengers #24(AvX tie-in):
Summary: For some reason people are protesting against the Avengers in front of Avengers Mansion... Seriously, they're the goddamn AVENGERS! Fucking ingrates... Anyway, Captain America has ordered the Avengers to not engage the protesters, so Iron Fist decides to head outside to talk to them... But Cap said... Nevermind... As Iron Fist exits the Mansion, we find Luke Cage on camera begging his wife, Jessica Jones, to come back to him with his daughter. Luke talks for a very long time before Jessica wanders over with the baby. The two then go inside to talk... Uh-oh... I have a BAAAAD feeling about this... Luke and Jessica then proceed to talk about NOTHING for FIVE STRAIGHT PAGES!!!!!!! When I die and go to Hell, THIS scene will be the only thing I'll be allowed to read!! It's that bad!!! After the scene from hell ends, Cap calls a meeting(thank GOD!) and tells the gathered Avengers about the Phoenix Force and Hope. Cap wants to take Hope into custody and get her off-world(or something, my mind is pretty much gone by this point), which means heading to Crazy Mutie Island(Utopia). From there, Red Hulk psyches up the team and they head off, at which point we get a replay of the end of AvX #1, which finished this comic off.
Thoughts: Wow. Just wow... Okay, first the good. Red Hulk's two speeches were surprisingly good. The rest? Just horrible... Simply horrible. But instead of me telling you, how about I just end this post by showing you some of what I'm talking about?
Score: 2 out of 10.
ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
New Avengers #24(AvX tie-in):
Summary: For some reason people are protesting against the Avengers in front of Avengers Mansion... Seriously, they're the goddamn AVENGERS! Fucking ingrates... Anyway, Captain America has ordered the Avengers to not engage the protesters, so Iron Fist decides to head outside to talk to them... But Cap said... Nevermind... As Iron Fist exits the Mansion, we find Luke Cage on camera begging his wife, Jessica Jones, to come back to him with his daughter. Luke talks for a very long time before Jessica wanders over with the baby. The two then go inside to talk... Uh-oh... I have a BAAAAD feeling about this... Luke and Jessica then proceed to talk about NOTHING for FIVE STRAIGHT PAGES!!!!!!! When I die and go to Hell, THIS scene will be the only thing I'll be allowed to read!! It's that bad!!! After the scene from hell ends, Cap calls a meeting(thank GOD!) and tells the gathered Avengers about the Phoenix Force and Hope. Cap wants to take Hope into custody and get her off-world(or something, my mind is pretty much gone by this point), which means heading to Crazy Mutie Island(Utopia). From there, Red Hulk psyches up the team and they head off, at which point we get a replay of the end of AvX #1, which finished this comic off.
Thoughts: Wow. Just wow... Okay, first the good. Red Hulk's two speeches were surprisingly good. The rest? Just horrible... Simply horrible. But instead of me telling you, how about I just end this post by showing you some of what I'm talking about?
Score: 2 out of 10.
ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Ghost Rider #2 & New Avengers #15
And I've reached the bottom of this week's comic pile, meaning these were the two comics I was least looking forward to reading. Expect low scores... Very low scores...
Ghost Rider #2(Fear Itself tie-in):
Summary: This issue gets underway with Mephisto telling Johnny Blaze that by allowing the mysterious Adam to take the Ghost Rider curse off of him he had doomed humanity. Johnny is rather skeptical of anything that Mephisto says, since Mephisto IS the devil and all, so Mephisto reveals that if Adam's plans come to fruition(and with his own Ghost Rider, he's well on his way), Adam will save all of humanity from sin. Johnny figures Mephisto is only bitching because if there was no sin, there'd be no need for the devil, but Mephisto tells Johnny that without sin humanity becomes stagnant, uncreative and emotionless, basically a civilization of mindless zombies. Johnny asks exactly what Mephisto wants from him, and Mephisto tells Johnny that he had to rescue the new BAD-ASS Ghost Rider from Adam and get her as far away from Adam as possible. Speaking of BAD-ASS Ghost Rider and Adam, Adam demands that BAD-ASS Ghost Rider kill the people she had been living with in her secluded little temple, since they were full of sin or something. BAD-ASS Ghost Rider won't do it(because as I've established already, she's a BAD-ADD), so Adam attacks her with some weird magic. As for Johnny, Mephisto teleports him to Adam's temple and Johnny enters, shooting Adam in the arm with what looks to be his old hellfire-shooting shotgun(!). One of Adam's disgruntled henchmen, Seeker, decides to help Johnny, shielding him from Adam's more fanatical followers and their automatic rifles. The Seeker tells Johnny to get him near BAD-ASS Ghost Rider since he could power her down. Johnny approaches BAD-ASS Ghost Rider and offers to help her, but she goes all crazy on him and decides that she would wipe the earth clean of sin, starting with Johnny.
Thoughts: Okay, here's the thing. This comic wasn't that bad. Rob Williams did a good job of laying out the story, as well as giving us the motivations of the two major players(Mephisto and Adam). Johnny wasn't written as some sort of brain-dead hick this time around(thank god...), and the art was solid. However, I'm still not sold on the new Ghost Rider... Yes, it pisses me off that Marvel decided to change Ghost Rider's sex as opposed to simply crating a new female character. Yes, I am still pissed that my favorite Ghost Rider, Danny Ketch, hasn't even been mentioned yet. But more importantly, the lead character here, Ghost Rider, just doesn't do anything for me. Her background story isn't particularly interesting(she was raised by Adam in a cult for the express purpose of one of the cult members becoming Ghost Rider one day), and thus far, SHE isn't particularly interesting. And that right there is a pretty major problem... The story can be good, the co-starring characters can be great, the art can be solid, but if you can't connect with the main character, what's the point in reading? So this'll be the last issue of this series I pick up for the foreseeable future. If this series lasts past a dozen issues, and I hear some good things about it, I'll give it another shot. But with me picking up between 50-70 comics every month, I think I'll be able to get by minus this series.
Score: 6 out of 10.
See, she IS a BAD-ASS! I told you!!
New Avengers #15(Fear Itself tie-in):
Summary: This comic was all about Squirrel Girl. Yes really. After she defeated Wolverine, probably the greatest fighter in ALL of Marvel Comics, in hand-to-hand combat, that was all I could stand.
Thoughts: Yeah, this comic sucked. It sucked to the point where I felt like stabbing myself in the brain repeatedly with an icepick to make the pain end. I don't know if Bendis is completely oblivious to the fact, but let me explain something about Squirrel Girl... She's a comedy character. She's always been a comedy character. Trying to write her as a serious character? In a serious comic book? With her fighting(and beating!!!) one of the most serious characters in ALL of comics? No. No, no, no. This was one of the most painful Marvel comic book reading experiences I've had since Secret Invasion. If you value your sanity, please, DO NOT read this comic book!!! I'd have given this comic the full 0 out of 10 imperfect score, but that wouldn't be fair to Mike Deodato, who did a good job on art. So instead, I'll give this one a...
Score: 1 out of 10.
I have nothing non-profane to say here, so let's just move on...
Ghost Rider #2(Fear Itself tie-in):
Summary: This issue gets underway with Mephisto telling Johnny Blaze that by allowing the mysterious Adam to take the Ghost Rider curse off of him he had doomed humanity. Johnny is rather skeptical of anything that Mephisto says, since Mephisto IS the devil and all, so Mephisto reveals that if Adam's plans come to fruition(and with his own Ghost Rider, he's well on his way), Adam will save all of humanity from sin. Johnny figures Mephisto is only bitching because if there was no sin, there'd be no need for the devil, but Mephisto tells Johnny that without sin humanity becomes stagnant, uncreative and emotionless, basically a civilization of mindless zombies. Johnny asks exactly what Mephisto wants from him, and Mephisto tells Johnny that he had to rescue the new BAD-ASS Ghost Rider from Adam and get her as far away from Adam as possible. Speaking of BAD-ASS Ghost Rider and Adam, Adam demands that BAD-ASS Ghost Rider kill the people she had been living with in her secluded little temple, since they were full of sin or something. BAD-ASS Ghost Rider won't do it(because as I've established already, she's a BAD-ADD), so Adam attacks her with some weird magic. As for Johnny, Mephisto teleports him to Adam's temple and Johnny enters, shooting Adam in the arm with what looks to be his old hellfire-shooting shotgun(!). One of Adam's disgruntled henchmen, Seeker, decides to help Johnny, shielding him from Adam's more fanatical followers and their automatic rifles. The Seeker tells Johnny to get him near BAD-ASS Ghost Rider since he could power her down. Johnny approaches BAD-ASS Ghost Rider and offers to help her, but she goes all crazy on him and decides that she would wipe the earth clean of sin, starting with Johnny.
Thoughts: Okay, here's the thing. This comic wasn't that bad. Rob Williams did a good job of laying out the story, as well as giving us the motivations of the two major players(Mephisto and Adam). Johnny wasn't written as some sort of brain-dead hick this time around(thank god...), and the art was solid. However, I'm still not sold on the new Ghost Rider... Yes, it pisses me off that Marvel decided to change Ghost Rider's sex as opposed to simply crating a new female character. Yes, I am still pissed that my favorite Ghost Rider, Danny Ketch, hasn't even been mentioned yet. But more importantly, the lead character here, Ghost Rider, just doesn't do anything for me. Her background story isn't particularly interesting(she was raised by Adam in a cult for the express purpose of one of the cult members becoming Ghost Rider one day), and thus far, SHE isn't particularly interesting. And that right there is a pretty major problem... The story can be good, the co-starring characters can be great, the art can be solid, but if you can't connect with the main character, what's the point in reading? So this'll be the last issue of this series I pick up for the foreseeable future. If this series lasts past a dozen issues, and I hear some good things about it, I'll give it another shot. But with me picking up between 50-70 comics every month, I think I'll be able to get by minus this series.
Score: 6 out of 10.
See, she IS a BAD-ASS! I told you!!
New Avengers #15(Fear Itself tie-in):
Summary: This comic was all about Squirrel Girl. Yes really. After she defeated Wolverine, probably the greatest fighter in ALL of Marvel Comics, in hand-to-hand combat, that was all I could stand.
Thoughts: Yeah, this comic sucked. It sucked to the point where I felt like stabbing myself in the brain repeatedly with an icepick to make the pain end. I don't know if Bendis is completely oblivious to the fact, but let me explain something about Squirrel Girl... She's a comedy character. She's always been a comedy character. Trying to write her as a serious character? In a serious comic book? With her fighting(and beating!!!) one of the most serious characters in ALL of comics? No. No, no, no. This was one of the most painful Marvel comic book reading experiences I've had since Secret Invasion. If you value your sanity, please, DO NOT read this comic book!!! I'd have given this comic the full 0 out of 10 imperfect score, but that wouldn't be fair to Mike Deodato, who did a good job on art. So instead, I'll give this one a...
Score: 1 out of 10.
I have nothing non-profane to say here, so let's just move on...
Saturday, July 16, 2011
New Avengers #14 & Journey Into Mystery #625
Hey all, two more Marvel comics to breeze through today, both of them Fear Itself tie-in books. Before I get to those two comics though, since I actually managed to logically plan out my massive 20 book week, I can tell you exactly which books I'll be reviewing every day until this coming Wednesday! How awesome is that! So unless I get buried under a mountain or something similar, here's the schedule for the rest of the week... Today I'll be reviewing New Avengers #14 & Journey Into Mystery #625, while Sunday brings Ghost Rider #1 & Black Panther #521. Monday I'll be reviewing Teen Titans #97 & Superman #713, which brings us to Tuesday where I'll be scraping the proverbial bottom of the barrel and braving Birds of Prey #14 & FF #6. So there you have it, X-Maniacs, a nice, orderly, set in stone look at the rest of the week! With that out of the way, let's take a look at New Avengers and Journey Into Mystery.
New Avengers #14(Fear Itself tie-in):
Summary: This issue starts with Mockingbird talking... And talking... And talking... Yes my friends, Brian Bendis IS indeed writing this issue! Why do you ask? Blah blah, Mockingbird was given the Infinity Formula, blah blah, it saved her life, blah, blah, blah. From there, Spider-Man announces he was quitting the New Avengers(and who could blame him!! They suck!!!) because Victoria Hand was their liaison, and he hates Norman Osborn and she used to work for Osborn or something. Whatever. Eventually Mockingbird walks in the room and everybody is surprised to see her alive, which gives Wolvie the chance to pull Spidey aside to try to talk him into staying, or leaving, who really knows? Then Sin's Nazis attack New York, and the New Avengers rush into battle. Mockingbird is pleased with her newfound enhanced abilities, and tells us. Again, and again, and again... My god, does Bendis think blithering idiots are reading this?!? Anyway, Mockingbird's happiness with her new abilities turns to sadness when Avengers Tower falls to the forces of Sin. And then Mockingbird talks some more, and this issue ends.
Thoughts: You know, Bendis really impresses me sometimes. I mean just the other day, I gave a comic he wrote a perfect score because I enjoyed it so much. Today? Nope, we won't be getting anywhere CLOSE to a perfect score! First of all, for all I complain about the awful Justice League line-up, THIS New Avengers line-up is pretty damn bad in it's own right! First of all, we have Spider-Man, Thing and Wolverine, who all have responsibilities to other teams/series first. Then there's Ms. Marvel, who I've always hated, Luke Cage, who I hate when he's written by Bendis, Iron Fist, who's there because... Well, I don't know why he gets to be an Avenger, but I guess if Luke can LEAD an Avengers team, why can't Iron Fist be a member, and Mockingbird, who I actually REALLY like, but was written WAY out of character in this issue. I mean she even said it herself, she's a secret agent! She prefers staying in the background! In this issue, she wouldn't shut up!!! What the hell Mockingbird was this?! Bizarro Mockingbird?!? My god, I have to read another comic book quickly to rinse the stain of this comic from my brain! NOW I remember why I never picked this series up!
Score: 1 1/2 out of 10.
Hey look, Mockingbird is talking and talking and talking and talking and......
Journey Into Mystery #625(Fear Itself tie-in):
Summary: Man are these Journey Into Mystery comics hard to review. I'm just going to go with the broad strokes, because a whole mess of stuff happened here. In Hell, Hela and Mephisto are at each other's throats thanks to Loki's chicanery. Mephisto believes Hela was going to throw in with the Serpent, and Hela felt Mephisto was about to unjustly declare war on her. One of Hela's lieutenants tells Hela that Mephisto had the souls of the Disir within his realm, which further inflames the situation. As for who told Hela's lieutenant this news? Loki of course! With the two hell-lords distracted, Loki and Tyr manage to sneak into the Tongue's quarters(the Tongue was sent to Hela by the Serpent to see if she'd ally herself with him), and force him to hand over the documents he had from the Serpent before Tyr kills him. Now holding official evidence of the Serpent's plans, Loki rushes over to Hela and Mephisto and reveals that the Serpent was planning on causing a revolt in Hela's Hel. Hela realizes that she couldn't defeat Mephisto AND quell a revolt at the same time, and Mephisto has no interest in conquering a Hel that was in full revolt. The two hell-lords decide to put aside their differences for the time being and decide to listen to Loki's advice and deal with the Serpent, since he caused so much friction between Hela and Mephisto. To that end, Mephisto sends half of the Disir to Hel to make sure none of Hela's souls attempted a revolt and gives Loki the other half to deal with the Serpent. Hela in turn gives Loki her two top lieutenants, Tyr and Leah, before heading back to Hel to make sure no uprising occurs. Now having gathered more forces against the Serpent, Loki sets his sights on the next part of his plan to defeat the Serpent, a trip to Limbo.
Thoughts: I'll admit, there are times when I'm reading this comic and have NO idea as to what's going on... But then I'll turn the page and love what I was reading... It's weird. This comic was like that. I'd read a page and be completely lost, and then turn the page and find myself enjoying the story. Go figure. As usual, I'm loving young Loki, and enjoying the hell out of the artwork and dialogue. Sure, the story goes over my head at times, but hey, as long as I enjoy the dialogue and art, that's something, right?
Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.
Poor Loki seems to be having some problems here...
New Avengers #14(Fear Itself tie-in):
Summary: This issue starts with Mockingbird talking... And talking... And talking... Yes my friends, Brian Bendis IS indeed writing this issue! Why do you ask? Blah blah, Mockingbird was given the Infinity Formula, blah blah, it saved her life, blah, blah, blah. From there, Spider-Man announces he was quitting the New Avengers(and who could blame him!! They suck!!!) because Victoria Hand was their liaison, and he hates Norman Osborn and she used to work for Osborn or something. Whatever. Eventually Mockingbird walks in the room and everybody is surprised to see her alive, which gives Wolvie the chance to pull Spidey aside to try to talk him into staying, or leaving, who really knows? Then Sin's Nazis attack New York, and the New Avengers rush into battle. Mockingbird is pleased with her newfound enhanced abilities, and tells us. Again, and again, and again... My god, does Bendis think blithering idiots are reading this?!? Anyway, Mockingbird's happiness with her new abilities turns to sadness when Avengers Tower falls to the forces of Sin. And then Mockingbird talks some more, and this issue ends.
Thoughts: You know, Bendis really impresses me sometimes. I mean just the other day, I gave a comic he wrote a perfect score because I enjoyed it so much. Today? Nope, we won't be getting anywhere CLOSE to a perfect score! First of all, for all I complain about the awful Justice League line-up, THIS New Avengers line-up is pretty damn bad in it's own right! First of all, we have Spider-Man, Thing and Wolverine, who all have responsibilities to other teams/series first. Then there's Ms. Marvel, who I've always hated, Luke Cage, who I hate when he's written by Bendis, Iron Fist, who's there because... Well, I don't know why he gets to be an Avenger, but I guess if Luke can LEAD an Avengers team, why can't Iron Fist be a member, and Mockingbird, who I actually REALLY like, but was written WAY out of character in this issue. I mean she even said it herself, she's a secret agent! She prefers staying in the background! In this issue, she wouldn't shut up!!! What the hell Mockingbird was this?! Bizarro Mockingbird?!? My god, I have to read another comic book quickly to rinse the stain of this comic from my brain! NOW I remember why I never picked this series up!
Score: 1 1/2 out of 10.
Hey look, Mockingbird is talking and talking and talking and talking and......Journey Into Mystery #625(Fear Itself tie-in):
Summary: Man are these Journey Into Mystery comics hard to review. I'm just going to go with the broad strokes, because a whole mess of stuff happened here. In Hell, Hela and Mephisto are at each other's throats thanks to Loki's chicanery. Mephisto believes Hela was going to throw in with the Serpent, and Hela felt Mephisto was about to unjustly declare war on her. One of Hela's lieutenants tells Hela that Mephisto had the souls of the Disir within his realm, which further inflames the situation. As for who told Hela's lieutenant this news? Loki of course! With the two hell-lords distracted, Loki and Tyr manage to sneak into the Tongue's quarters(the Tongue was sent to Hela by the Serpent to see if she'd ally herself with him), and force him to hand over the documents he had from the Serpent before Tyr kills him. Now holding official evidence of the Serpent's plans, Loki rushes over to Hela and Mephisto and reveals that the Serpent was planning on causing a revolt in Hela's Hel. Hela realizes that she couldn't defeat Mephisto AND quell a revolt at the same time, and Mephisto has no interest in conquering a Hel that was in full revolt. The two hell-lords decide to put aside their differences for the time being and decide to listen to Loki's advice and deal with the Serpent, since he caused so much friction between Hela and Mephisto. To that end, Mephisto sends half of the Disir to Hel to make sure none of Hela's souls attempted a revolt and gives Loki the other half to deal with the Serpent. Hela in turn gives Loki her two top lieutenants, Tyr and Leah, before heading back to Hel to make sure no uprising occurs. Now having gathered more forces against the Serpent, Loki sets his sights on the next part of his plan to defeat the Serpent, a trip to Limbo.
Thoughts: I'll admit, there are times when I'm reading this comic and have NO idea as to what's going on... But then I'll turn the page and love what I was reading... It's weird. This comic was like that. I'd read a page and be completely lost, and then turn the page and find myself enjoying the story. Go figure. As usual, I'm loving young Loki, and enjoying the hell out of the artwork and dialogue. Sure, the story goes over my head at times, but hey, as long as I enjoy the dialogue and art, that's something, right?
Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.
Poor Loki seems to be having some problems here...
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Avengers: The Initiative #33, Dark Avengers #14, New Avengers #62, Thor #607 & Thunderbolts #141.
Well, with the next few days looking free and clear for me schoolwork-wise, I've got a lot of comic reviews to try to bust out before I wind up getting swamped with homework/papers/exams again... With that said, I'm going to post not one, not two, not even three reviews tonight, I'm going to post a whopping 5(!)reviews, and all 5 are a part of Marvel's latest money-grab... I mean MAJOR CROSSOVER EVENT, Siege!!! No, this isn't going to be a, “Let's bash Marvel post”(or at least I don't think it will be...), so far I've been pleasantly to SHOCKINGLY impressed with Siege so far. While Blackest Night continues to drag along in the DCU, Siege has been a well-paced, fast-moving x-over. And the biggest surprise of all? It's written by BENDIS! I'm sure the other shoe will eventually drop, and this x-over will leave me feeling sad and angry, but thus far, BENDIS has been alarmingly on his game, which is very much unlike him... OK, with all of the warm and fuzzies out of the way, let's see if these x-over comics continue to leave me happy, or will reality finally set in?
Avengers: The Initiative #33: Writer: Christos Gage. Pencils: Jorge Molina.
OK, we have a few different storylines here, so I'm going to tackle them one at a time to keep this review somewhat coherent... Or at least that's the plan. Besides that, it should be noted all of the action here takes place during the events of Siege #2. Osborn and his crew stand triumphant over Thor, which has Taskmaster grinning from ear to ear. Before he can do a happy dance or anything, Osborn disciplines him for attacking Thor against orders and sends him back to Asgard. However, Osborn allows Diamondback to remain, which leaves her wondering if he had managed to figure out she was a double-agent, also working with the Avengers Resistance. Before she discovers why Osborn asked her to stick around though, Maria Hill strikes and rescues Thor, while Constrictor arrives on the scene to spirit Diamondback out of there. After being sent away, Taskmaster battles a few Asgardians, only managing to get away from them after the Asgardians stop to watch what Sentry did to Ares. Away from all of this, at Camp HAMMER, the Avengers Resistance is attacking the undermanned facility, and are doing a pretty good job of making their way into one of Osborn's main bases. Before they manage to gain entrance, the Hood shows up and begins to blast the heroes with magic, rendering them unconscious. Before the Hood can kill anybody, he is attacked by Tigra, who was still looking for revenge against the Hood due to his brutal attack on her several months back. We end this issue with the Hood telling Night Thrasher of the Avengers Resistance(who he had been secretly conspiring with)that if he killed Tigra, the Hood would use his magics to return the original Night Thrasher to life.
You know, I don't know what's going to become of the Avengers titles after Siege, but whatever happens, I REALLY hope Christos gets one of, if not THE main Avengers book, because he's been incredibly solid on this series since he took it over. He did a wonderful job of blending his story into the main Siege storyline, while continuing to move the storylines from this series forward. We're definitely starting these reviews out on the right foot, with this one...
Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.
I'm so glad the Taskmaster is finally getting some respect in the Marvel U.
Dark Avengers: #14: Writer: BENDIS. Artist: Mike Deodato.
This issue actually takes place before Siege gets underway, and yet it has the Siege banner adorning the cover... We kick things off with Osborn's second in command, Victoria Hand, telling Osborn that he should go to see a psychologist to make sure that his Goblin side doesn't re-emerge due to the stress he's been under. Osborn says no, Hand says yes, and after several pages of this, Osborn finally agrees to do as he's told. From there, Hand walks into the Avengers conference room where Moonstone and Bullseye were in the throes of passion and blasts Moonstone with a gun that can even harm Moonstone as a lesson to stop disrespecting Osborn. From there, the Sentry, who is now fully possessed by the Void launches an attack on NYC with tendrils of darkness striking down from the heavens, causing widespread damage. The Dark Avengers hit the streets and try to save as many people as they can, and Osborn heads into the sky to try to talk the Void down. The Void complains about his Sentry side, and the Sentry's wife. The Void then insults Osborn, telling him that Osborn has no way to stop his rampage, but Osborn informs the Sentry that although he can't stop the Void, there are several other heroes who can. That gives the Void pause, and Osborn tells the Void that if he ceases his tantrum, he'd do something that would make the Void quite happy. With that the Void halts his attack on NYC, and this issue ends with Osborn heading into Bullseye's room later that night to inform him that when he gives the word, he wants Bullseye to murder the Sentry's wife.
Although I was annoyed that this issue had NOTHING to do with the Siege storyline, even though the cover clearly states that this was a Siege x-over issue, I have to say, this comic was quite good, which kind of scares me... I mean, whatever happened to BENDIS, the man who I could always count on providing a horrible story? I used to be able to say with confidence, even before I read a BENDIS comic that it would be terrible... However, lately BENDIS has been busting out some of his best work in YEARS! If he keeps this up, I may have to stop calling him by all caps... Now, there were a few dead spots in this comic, such as the LOOONG and boring conversation between Hand and Osborn(sorry, I have NO interest in Hand at all), but for the most part, the story was sound, BENDIS refrained from his usual annoying dialogue(for the most part anyway)and the cliffhanger ending was good. So yeah, as weird as it feels, I have to say that I did like this comic.
Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.
A shiny new penny to the first person who tells me why this comic was a Siege x-over issue!
New Avengers #62: Writer: BENDIS! Pencils: Stuart Immonen.
This issue begins with Spider-Woman trying to kill Spider-Man thanks to the telepathic influence of Mandrill, who is basically a talking monkey-thing... *Sigh* This fight goes on for most of this issue, and eventually ends when Spider-Man somehow gets through to Spider-Woman, freeing her of her mind-control. The two heroes then take care of Mandrill and Griffin. Back at the New Avengers not-so-secret headquarters, Bucky and Steve Rogers manage to take care of some HAMMER agents and the Living Laser with some help from BENDIS'S FAVORITE character, Luke Cage, because in BENDIS-Land, one Luke Cage is WAY better then two Captain Americas... OK, since thinking about this comic is actually starting to piss me off, I'm just going to fast forward to the ending. All of the Avengers meet up at one of Nick Fury's bases and decide to go to Asgard to help Thor... Hey wait, didn't I already see this EXACT scene play out in Siege #2?
Well, this is what I get for complimenting BENDIS... Serves me right I guess. This comic was complete and total rubbish. BENDIS writes a HORRIBLE Spider-Man, probably because he writes mainstream Spidey in the exact same manner he writes teenage Ultimate Spidey. The dialogue was crappy, the story was pointless, and the payoff was something I've already read about in the Siege mini... In other words, reading this comic was a complete and utter waste of time.
Score: 3 out of 10.
No comment...
Thor #607: Writer: Kieron Gillen. Artists: Billy Tan, Bat & Rich Elson.
We open this issue up with the Asgardians chilling(I guess Asgardians chill...)at a big old banquet dinner. While they're all eating and being merry, Fandral and Hogun alert the current king of Asgard, Balder, as to what transpired between the U-Foes and Volstagg at Soldier Field in Chi-Town. The two Asgardians explain to Balder that Volstagg, feeling terrible for the tragedy he was unwittingly a part of had surrendered himself over to the Oklahoma police force. While the Asgardians are discussing how to make matters right, Knut, who can apparently see the future(although he is more often wrong then right)rushes into the banquet hall and warns the Asgardians that Asgard will fall the following morning. Nobody buys Knut's ramblings, and Loki promises to take Knut back to him room, telling the other Asgardians that Knut probably simply had too much to drink. Knut begs Loki to believe him, and to Knut's surprise, Loki tells the old man that he does, after which time Loki kills Knut so he wouldn't be capable of warning the Asgardians to what was to come. The following morning, Loki manages to lock the watchman of Asgard, Heimdall, in some sort of magical nether-dimension, so he would be incapable of warning the Asgardians nor assisting when Osborn's forces attacked. With that, Osborn and company launch their attack, and the Asgardians, caught by surprise begin to mount a defense. Upon hearing about what was transpiring, Volstagg asks the cops who were watching over him to let him speak to the country to offer his forgiveness. The cops allow Volstagg to use a webcam to apologize, while casting doubt on Osborn's story that Volstagg acted alone. Volstagg then leaves the prison to help his fellow Asgardians, but he is met and attacked by Ragnarok(!!!).
This was actually the first Thor comic I've read in probably two years(I stopped reading after they turned Loki into a woman), and I have to say, I really enjoyed it! The story basically gave us some idea of what the Asgardians were going through while Osborn was rallying his forces against them. Plus the inclusion of Ragnarok at the end was VERY welcome. I've been waiting to see Ragnarok pop up again after he left the Initiative series, and it makes perfect sense for him to show up in this book. I know I'm definitely looking forward to a Thor/Ragnarok showdown. All in all, this comic was so good, I'm a little bit tempted to grab a few trades to see just what I've been missing.
Score: 8 out of 10.
Man, I'd forgotten just how awesome Loki could be!
Thunderbolts #141: Writer: Jeff Parker. Artist: Miguel Sepulveda.
The T-Bolts get orders from Osborn to sneak into Asgard while Osborn and his forces occupy the Asgardians in order to steal a supremely powerful Asgardian artifact from Asgard's armory called the Spear of Odin. Osborn figures if he were to wield an Asgardian weapon against the Asgardians, he could possibly defeat all of Asgard. With that, the T-Bolts sneak into Asgard, make their way to the armory, fool around a little bit, and eventually discover the Spear. Before they can escape with the Spear, they are confronted by an Asgardian guard, who Mr. X actually manages to kill(!), before they run into the Mighty Avengers, ending this issue.
This was another comic I used to collect before I started reading DC books and had to cut back on my Marvel expenditures, and much like Thor, I was pleasantly surprised by this comic. Having not read it for quite some time, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was into the story from the get go, which means the writer did a good job. Once again, if I have some extra money laying around, I may try to grab a few T-Bolt trades to see what I've been missing.
Score: 8 out of 10.
Wow, I wonder who decided to start using Mr. X... What an utterly obscure character.
Avengers: The Initiative #33: Writer: Christos Gage. Pencils: Jorge Molina.
OK, we have a few different storylines here, so I'm going to tackle them one at a time to keep this review somewhat coherent... Or at least that's the plan. Besides that, it should be noted all of the action here takes place during the events of Siege #2. Osborn and his crew stand triumphant over Thor, which has Taskmaster grinning from ear to ear. Before he can do a happy dance or anything, Osborn disciplines him for attacking Thor against orders and sends him back to Asgard. However, Osborn allows Diamondback to remain, which leaves her wondering if he had managed to figure out she was a double-agent, also working with the Avengers Resistance. Before she discovers why Osborn asked her to stick around though, Maria Hill strikes and rescues Thor, while Constrictor arrives on the scene to spirit Diamondback out of there. After being sent away, Taskmaster battles a few Asgardians, only managing to get away from them after the Asgardians stop to watch what Sentry did to Ares. Away from all of this, at Camp HAMMER, the Avengers Resistance is attacking the undermanned facility, and are doing a pretty good job of making their way into one of Osborn's main bases. Before they manage to gain entrance, the Hood shows up and begins to blast the heroes with magic, rendering them unconscious. Before the Hood can kill anybody, he is attacked by Tigra, who was still looking for revenge against the Hood due to his brutal attack on her several months back. We end this issue with the Hood telling Night Thrasher of the Avengers Resistance(who he had been secretly conspiring with)that if he killed Tigra, the Hood would use his magics to return the original Night Thrasher to life.
You know, I don't know what's going to become of the Avengers titles after Siege, but whatever happens, I REALLY hope Christos gets one of, if not THE main Avengers book, because he's been incredibly solid on this series since he took it over. He did a wonderful job of blending his story into the main Siege storyline, while continuing to move the storylines from this series forward. We're definitely starting these reviews out on the right foot, with this one...
Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.
I'm so glad the Taskmaster is finally getting some respect in the Marvel U.Dark Avengers: #14: Writer: BENDIS. Artist: Mike Deodato.
This issue actually takes place before Siege gets underway, and yet it has the Siege banner adorning the cover... We kick things off with Osborn's second in command, Victoria Hand, telling Osborn that he should go to see a psychologist to make sure that his Goblin side doesn't re-emerge due to the stress he's been under. Osborn says no, Hand says yes, and after several pages of this, Osborn finally agrees to do as he's told. From there, Hand walks into the Avengers conference room where Moonstone and Bullseye were in the throes of passion and blasts Moonstone with a gun that can even harm Moonstone as a lesson to stop disrespecting Osborn. From there, the Sentry, who is now fully possessed by the Void launches an attack on NYC with tendrils of darkness striking down from the heavens, causing widespread damage. The Dark Avengers hit the streets and try to save as many people as they can, and Osborn heads into the sky to try to talk the Void down. The Void complains about his Sentry side, and the Sentry's wife. The Void then insults Osborn, telling him that Osborn has no way to stop his rampage, but Osborn informs the Sentry that although he can't stop the Void, there are several other heroes who can. That gives the Void pause, and Osborn tells the Void that if he ceases his tantrum, he'd do something that would make the Void quite happy. With that the Void halts his attack on NYC, and this issue ends with Osborn heading into Bullseye's room later that night to inform him that when he gives the word, he wants Bullseye to murder the Sentry's wife.
Although I was annoyed that this issue had NOTHING to do with the Siege storyline, even though the cover clearly states that this was a Siege x-over issue, I have to say, this comic was quite good, which kind of scares me... I mean, whatever happened to BENDIS, the man who I could always count on providing a horrible story? I used to be able to say with confidence, even before I read a BENDIS comic that it would be terrible... However, lately BENDIS has been busting out some of his best work in YEARS! If he keeps this up, I may have to stop calling him by all caps... Now, there were a few dead spots in this comic, such as the LOOONG and boring conversation between Hand and Osborn(sorry, I have NO interest in Hand at all), but for the most part, the story was sound, BENDIS refrained from his usual annoying dialogue(for the most part anyway)and the cliffhanger ending was good. So yeah, as weird as it feels, I have to say that I did like this comic.
Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.
A shiny new penny to the first person who tells me why this comic was a Siege x-over issue!New Avengers #62: Writer: BENDIS! Pencils: Stuart Immonen.
This issue begins with Spider-Woman trying to kill Spider-Man thanks to the telepathic influence of Mandrill, who is basically a talking monkey-thing... *Sigh* This fight goes on for most of this issue, and eventually ends when Spider-Man somehow gets through to Spider-Woman, freeing her of her mind-control. The two heroes then take care of Mandrill and Griffin. Back at the New Avengers not-so-secret headquarters, Bucky and Steve Rogers manage to take care of some HAMMER agents and the Living Laser with some help from BENDIS'S FAVORITE character, Luke Cage, because in BENDIS-Land, one Luke Cage is WAY better then two Captain Americas... OK, since thinking about this comic is actually starting to piss me off, I'm just going to fast forward to the ending. All of the Avengers meet up at one of Nick Fury's bases and decide to go to Asgard to help Thor... Hey wait, didn't I already see this EXACT scene play out in Siege #2?
Well, this is what I get for complimenting BENDIS... Serves me right I guess. This comic was complete and total rubbish. BENDIS writes a HORRIBLE Spider-Man, probably because he writes mainstream Spidey in the exact same manner he writes teenage Ultimate Spidey. The dialogue was crappy, the story was pointless, and the payoff was something I've already read about in the Siege mini... In other words, reading this comic was a complete and utter waste of time.
Score: 3 out of 10.
No comment...Thor #607: Writer: Kieron Gillen. Artists: Billy Tan, Bat & Rich Elson.
We open this issue up with the Asgardians chilling(I guess Asgardians chill...)at a big old banquet dinner. While they're all eating and being merry, Fandral and Hogun alert the current king of Asgard, Balder, as to what transpired between the U-Foes and Volstagg at Soldier Field in Chi-Town. The two Asgardians explain to Balder that Volstagg, feeling terrible for the tragedy he was unwittingly a part of had surrendered himself over to the Oklahoma police force. While the Asgardians are discussing how to make matters right, Knut, who can apparently see the future(although he is more often wrong then right)rushes into the banquet hall and warns the Asgardians that Asgard will fall the following morning. Nobody buys Knut's ramblings, and Loki promises to take Knut back to him room, telling the other Asgardians that Knut probably simply had too much to drink. Knut begs Loki to believe him, and to Knut's surprise, Loki tells the old man that he does, after which time Loki kills Knut so he wouldn't be capable of warning the Asgardians to what was to come. The following morning, Loki manages to lock the watchman of Asgard, Heimdall, in some sort of magical nether-dimension, so he would be incapable of warning the Asgardians nor assisting when Osborn's forces attacked. With that, Osborn and company launch their attack, and the Asgardians, caught by surprise begin to mount a defense. Upon hearing about what was transpiring, Volstagg asks the cops who were watching over him to let him speak to the country to offer his forgiveness. The cops allow Volstagg to use a webcam to apologize, while casting doubt on Osborn's story that Volstagg acted alone. Volstagg then leaves the prison to help his fellow Asgardians, but he is met and attacked by Ragnarok(!!!).
This was actually the first Thor comic I've read in probably two years(I stopped reading after they turned Loki into a woman), and I have to say, I really enjoyed it! The story basically gave us some idea of what the Asgardians were going through while Osborn was rallying his forces against them. Plus the inclusion of Ragnarok at the end was VERY welcome. I've been waiting to see Ragnarok pop up again after he left the Initiative series, and it makes perfect sense for him to show up in this book. I know I'm definitely looking forward to a Thor/Ragnarok showdown. All in all, this comic was so good, I'm a little bit tempted to grab a few trades to see just what I've been missing.
Score: 8 out of 10.
Man, I'd forgotten just how awesome Loki could be!Thunderbolts #141: Writer: Jeff Parker. Artist: Miguel Sepulveda.
The T-Bolts get orders from Osborn to sneak into Asgard while Osborn and his forces occupy the Asgardians in order to steal a supremely powerful Asgardian artifact from Asgard's armory called the Spear of Odin. Osborn figures if he were to wield an Asgardian weapon against the Asgardians, he could possibly defeat all of Asgard. With that, the T-Bolts sneak into Asgard, make their way to the armory, fool around a little bit, and eventually discover the Spear. Before they can escape with the Spear, they are confronted by an Asgardian guard, who Mr. X actually manages to kill(!), before they run into the Mighty Avengers, ending this issue.
This was another comic I used to collect before I started reading DC books and had to cut back on my Marvel expenditures, and much like Thor, I was pleasantly surprised by this comic. Having not read it for quite some time, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was into the story from the get go, which means the writer did a good job. Once again, if I have some extra money laying around, I may try to grab a few T-Bolt trades to see what I've been missing.
Score: 8 out of 10.
Wow, I wonder who decided to start using Mr. X... What an utterly obscure character.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Daredevil #504, Mighty Avengers #33, New Avengers #61 & Uncanny X-Men #520.
As promised, I have a few new reviews to post tonight. However, all four comics I'll be writing about are Marvels, so sorry to all of you DC fans! I'll start off with the comic that should be the best of the bunch before things get progressively worse...
Daredevil #504: Writer: Andy Diggle. Artist: Roberto De La Torre.
We get underway with Daredevil ordering one of his Hand minions to begin the construction of a building in Hell's Kitchen called Shadowland. From there, DD is informed that his two good friends, Dakota North and Foggy Nelson have been suffering some professional setbacks, which pisses DD off, since he figured getting away from them would help their careers out. Angered at what he figures is Osborn striking at him through his friends, DD decides to send the Hand into Hell's Kitchen and proclaim it his, hoping to provoke a response from Osborn. From there we head to the Kingpin, who reveals to his second in command, Lady Bullseye, that it wasn't Osborn who was destroying the lives of DD's friends, but that it was actually him(!). Kingpin is counting on DD to confront Osborn, leading to a large confrontation between the two, which should hurt both sides. Kingpin then figured he can use that moment of weakness to continue to re-consolidate his power-base. Osborn gets wind of what DD was planning in the Kitchen, and responds by sending in a battalion of HAMMER agents(exactly as Kingpin had hoped)to the Kitchen, which leads to a massive battle between DD and the Hand and Osborn's HAMMER officers. While this is going on, Dakota and Foggy learn that it was Kingpin behind their recent misfortunes, and they realize that they have to try to get word to DD to alert him to the fact that once again the Kingpin is playing him for a fool. This issue ends with the Hand routing Osborn's forces, capturing them and locking them up in DD's underground lair.
Ah, so Kingpin has been playing both Osborn and DD... Brilliant!!! What an inspired storyline twist, one that I didn't see coming at all. Since Osborn should be out of power in a few short months(after the Siege x-over), everything in this comic is setting up for the Kingpin to once again take his place as DD's deadliest foe, the way it should be. Kudos to Andy(and Ed Brubaker before him)for setting up such a smart and unexpected turn of events.
Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.
This series just keeps on producing some high quality stuff!
Mighty Avengers #33: Writer: Dan Slott. Pencils: Khoi Pham.
Osborn's Dark Avengers and Pym's Mighty Avengers reluctantly join forces to battle the Absorbing Man, who had managed to absorb the powers of a Cosmic Cube. Osborn figures he can end the battle easily by simply sending the Sentry to take down AM, but is shocked as AM uses his newfound reality manipulating abilities to tear the Void from the Sentry, which leads to the two halves of the Sentry attacking each other. Since nobody from either team can damage the nearly godlike AM, Osborn decides to tap into Project PEGASUS(which was where AM was being held), and he learns that the scientists inside were doing an experiment where they were hoping to transfer the powers of the Cosmic Cube into AM's ball and chain. Upon hearing this news and seeing that the process obviously worked, Osborn figures AM's ball and chain is inside the Project, and that it is probably imbued with the near limitless abilities of a Cosmic Cube, so he runs from the battle and enters the Project, hoping to gain possession of the Cosmic ball and chain. Pym, who was eavesdropping through Osborn's two-way radio, races after him. While this is going on, one of Jocasta's bodies in Pym's Infinite Avengers Mansion is taken over by Ultron(!!!). Back at the Project, Osborn and Pym arrive at the Cosmic ball and chain, and Osborn blasts Pym away, leaving nothing between him and godhood. Before Osborn can claim the Cosmic ball and chain though, Pym tricks him into believing that he had already used its powers, which would explain how Osborn had pretty much taken over the Marvel Universe. Osborn hesitates momentarily, which leads to Pym decking him and claiming the Cosmic ball and chain for himself. Pym heads outside, and tries to bring down AM with the Cosmic ball and chain, but meets no success. Inside the Project, Loki appears before Osborn and gives him an Asgardian sword which can undo AM's absorbing powers, thus severing his link with the Cosmic Cube. Osborn rushes outside and strikes AM with the sword, ending his threat, while his adoring public looks on. This issue ends with Pym heading back to the Infinite Mansion after realizing that Loki had a hand in Osborn's victory. Pym ends up finding a camera feed that picked up an image of Loki, and winds up comparing it to something he had on file, getting a 100% match...
OK, first the scene at the end of this issue. I'm going to guess that the 100% match Pym discovered was between Loki and the Scarlet Witch(who Loki was pretending to be as he guided the Mighty Avengers to do his bidding). The main story was all right, but the main thing that caught my eye here was Jocasta getting one of her bodies infiltrated by possibly my favorite Avengers villain, Ultron! The last time Ultron graced the pages of an Avengers comic, BENDIS had transformed him into a her, because BENDIS hates me. I'm hoping that Dan brings back classic Ultron, not BENDIS'S abomination.
Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.
Needless to say, if classic Ultron returns, I'll be doing my happy dance.
New Avengers #61: Writer: BENDIS... Art: Stuart Immonen & Daniel Acuña.
This is going to be less of a review and more of a vague overview, because I just can't stomach doing a full-out review here... The Hood unites his forces and uses his Norn Stones to destroy the Avengers hideout. He then sends various c-list villains after Steve Rogers and Bucky as well as Spider-Woman and Spider-Man. Cap and Bucky manage to barely hold thier own against the losers, while one of the Hood's villains manages to mind control Spider-Woman into attacking Spider-Man, ending this issue.
I'm sorry, but this comic was really bad... All of the things I hate about BENDIS(bad/repeated dialogue, inane storytelling, characters acting out of character)were all present here. If you have enjoyed the last few issues of this series, then chances are you'll like this comic. If you're like me, and you've wanted to wash your eyes out with soap and stick hot pokers in your ears after reading the past couple of issues of this series, then avoid this comic at all costs!
Score: 1 1/2 out of 10.
AVOID THIS COMIC BOOK!!!
Uncanny X-Men #520: Writer: Matt Fraction. Pencils: Greg Land.
This issue gets underway with the undisputed god of the mutant race, Cyclops(who from this point forward shall be referred to as Lord Summers the First), ordering his minions, in this case, Psylocke, Colossus and Wolverine, to go to New York City to see who had sent the Predators to Utopia Island and to deal with the party responsible. The trio head to the Big Apple, and Wolverine picks up the scent of a Predator in the sewers, which is where the team heads. After a quick search, the team learns the Fantomex(!)had beaten them to the Predator and had successfully destroyed it. Wolvie tries to convince Fantomex to help the X-Men track down the people responsible for sending the Predator lose, but Fantomex declines, since he was hired by a third party to kill the Predator, and as such, his job was completed... My god is Fantomex awesome... Back on Utopia, or more accurately under it, Namor, under the direction of Magneto, has created a massive, Atlantian built pillar to support Utopia, thus preventing it from sinking into the Pacific. After thanking Namor, Mags heads to the surface to inform Lord Summers the First of what he had accomplished. Lord Summers the First, upset that Mags hadn't cleared the project with him first, basically tells Mags that NOBODY is allowed to do ANYTHING on Utopia unless Lord Summers the First had allowed it. Mags tells Lord Summers the First that he was only trying to be helpful and gain the Lord's trust, but Lord Summers the First tells Mags that he'll never be trusted. Back in NYC, the trio of X-Men trace the Predator to a location and break in, but the group of individuals who had sent the Predator out seem to be prepared for them. This issue ends with Professor X and Mags making up(awww)before Mags leaves Utopia to "do something good" with his life.
Hey, this issue wasn't half bad! Now I'm actually looking forward to the next issue instead of dreading it! Sure, Lord Summers the First was still acting like an asshat(heh...), but you know what? I expect it now. Sadly, I've finally come to terms with the fact that the character who was at one time amongst my favorites has been mutated into an unrecognizable, and wholly unlikable character. Oh well, hopefully Lord Summers the First will get killed off soon, so he can return in a few months as the character he used to be. The story was OK, I didn't really care too much about the trio of X-Men and their trip to NY, although it was awesome to get to see Fantomex again... If Fantomex was in more Marvel comic books, I think I'd be a slightly happier person. The stuff between Lord Summers the First and Magneto was interesting, especially depending on how Matt decides to play it out. Let's face it, Mags is now responsible for saving Utopia from a watery grave, which could have a major impact on the mutants living there if they discover what Mags had done for them. With Uncanny rapidly approaching issue #525, I'm hoping for a big showdown between Lord Summers the First and Magneto for leadership of Utopia, and I don't think I have to say who I'd be pulling for if such a battle ever did take place...
Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.
If only Mags would kill Lord Summers the First off... He'd automatically become my favorite Marvel character then.
Daredevil #504: Writer: Andy Diggle. Artist: Roberto De La Torre.
We get underway with Daredevil ordering one of his Hand minions to begin the construction of a building in Hell's Kitchen called Shadowland. From there, DD is informed that his two good friends, Dakota North and Foggy Nelson have been suffering some professional setbacks, which pisses DD off, since he figured getting away from them would help their careers out. Angered at what he figures is Osborn striking at him through his friends, DD decides to send the Hand into Hell's Kitchen and proclaim it his, hoping to provoke a response from Osborn. From there we head to the Kingpin, who reveals to his second in command, Lady Bullseye, that it wasn't Osborn who was destroying the lives of DD's friends, but that it was actually him(!). Kingpin is counting on DD to confront Osborn, leading to a large confrontation between the two, which should hurt both sides. Kingpin then figured he can use that moment of weakness to continue to re-consolidate his power-base. Osborn gets wind of what DD was planning in the Kitchen, and responds by sending in a battalion of HAMMER agents(exactly as Kingpin had hoped)to the Kitchen, which leads to a massive battle between DD and the Hand and Osborn's HAMMER officers. While this is going on, Dakota and Foggy learn that it was Kingpin behind their recent misfortunes, and they realize that they have to try to get word to DD to alert him to the fact that once again the Kingpin is playing him for a fool. This issue ends with the Hand routing Osborn's forces, capturing them and locking them up in DD's underground lair.
Ah, so Kingpin has been playing both Osborn and DD... Brilliant!!! What an inspired storyline twist, one that I didn't see coming at all. Since Osborn should be out of power in a few short months(after the Siege x-over), everything in this comic is setting up for the Kingpin to once again take his place as DD's deadliest foe, the way it should be. Kudos to Andy(and Ed Brubaker before him)for setting up such a smart and unexpected turn of events.
Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.
This series just keeps on producing some high quality stuff!Mighty Avengers #33: Writer: Dan Slott. Pencils: Khoi Pham.
Osborn's Dark Avengers and Pym's Mighty Avengers reluctantly join forces to battle the Absorbing Man, who had managed to absorb the powers of a Cosmic Cube. Osborn figures he can end the battle easily by simply sending the Sentry to take down AM, but is shocked as AM uses his newfound reality manipulating abilities to tear the Void from the Sentry, which leads to the two halves of the Sentry attacking each other. Since nobody from either team can damage the nearly godlike AM, Osborn decides to tap into Project PEGASUS(which was where AM was being held), and he learns that the scientists inside were doing an experiment where they were hoping to transfer the powers of the Cosmic Cube into AM's ball and chain. Upon hearing this news and seeing that the process obviously worked, Osborn figures AM's ball and chain is inside the Project, and that it is probably imbued with the near limitless abilities of a Cosmic Cube, so he runs from the battle and enters the Project, hoping to gain possession of the Cosmic ball and chain. Pym, who was eavesdropping through Osborn's two-way radio, races after him. While this is going on, one of Jocasta's bodies in Pym's Infinite Avengers Mansion is taken over by Ultron(!!!). Back at the Project, Osborn and Pym arrive at the Cosmic ball and chain, and Osborn blasts Pym away, leaving nothing between him and godhood. Before Osborn can claim the Cosmic ball and chain though, Pym tricks him into believing that he had already used its powers, which would explain how Osborn had pretty much taken over the Marvel Universe. Osborn hesitates momentarily, which leads to Pym decking him and claiming the Cosmic ball and chain for himself. Pym heads outside, and tries to bring down AM with the Cosmic ball and chain, but meets no success. Inside the Project, Loki appears before Osborn and gives him an Asgardian sword which can undo AM's absorbing powers, thus severing his link with the Cosmic Cube. Osborn rushes outside and strikes AM with the sword, ending his threat, while his adoring public looks on. This issue ends with Pym heading back to the Infinite Mansion after realizing that Loki had a hand in Osborn's victory. Pym ends up finding a camera feed that picked up an image of Loki, and winds up comparing it to something he had on file, getting a 100% match...
OK, first the scene at the end of this issue. I'm going to guess that the 100% match Pym discovered was between Loki and the Scarlet Witch(who Loki was pretending to be as he guided the Mighty Avengers to do his bidding). The main story was all right, but the main thing that caught my eye here was Jocasta getting one of her bodies infiltrated by possibly my favorite Avengers villain, Ultron! The last time Ultron graced the pages of an Avengers comic, BENDIS had transformed him into a her, because BENDIS hates me. I'm hoping that Dan brings back classic Ultron, not BENDIS'S abomination.
Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.
Needless to say, if classic Ultron returns, I'll be doing my happy dance.New Avengers #61: Writer: BENDIS... Art: Stuart Immonen & Daniel Acuña.
This is going to be less of a review and more of a vague overview, because I just can't stomach doing a full-out review here... The Hood unites his forces and uses his Norn Stones to destroy the Avengers hideout. He then sends various c-list villains after Steve Rogers and Bucky as well as Spider-Woman and Spider-Man. Cap and Bucky manage to barely hold thier own against the losers, while one of the Hood's villains manages to mind control Spider-Woman into attacking Spider-Man, ending this issue.
I'm sorry, but this comic was really bad... All of the things I hate about BENDIS(bad/repeated dialogue, inane storytelling, characters acting out of character)were all present here. If you have enjoyed the last few issues of this series, then chances are you'll like this comic. If you're like me, and you've wanted to wash your eyes out with soap and stick hot pokers in your ears after reading the past couple of issues of this series, then avoid this comic at all costs!
Score: 1 1/2 out of 10.
AVOID THIS COMIC BOOK!!!Uncanny X-Men #520: Writer: Matt Fraction. Pencils: Greg Land.
This issue gets underway with the undisputed god of the mutant race, Cyclops(who from this point forward shall be referred to as Lord Summers the First), ordering his minions, in this case, Psylocke, Colossus and Wolverine, to go to New York City to see who had sent the Predators to Utopia Island and to deal with the party responsible. The trio head to the Big Apple, and Wolverine picks up the scent of a Predator in the sewers, which is where the team heads. After a quick search, the team learns the Fantomex(!)had beaten them to the Predator and had successfully destroyed it. Wolvie tries to convince Fantomex to help the X-Men track down the people responsible for sending the Predator lose, but Fantomex declines, since he was hired by a third party to kill the Predator, and as such, his job was completed... My god is Fantomex awesome... Back on Utopia, or more accurately under it, Namor, under the direction of Magneto, has created a massive, Atlantian built pillar to support Utopia, thus preventing it from sinking into the Pacific. After thanking Namor, Mags heads to the surface to inform Lord Summers the First of what he had accomplished. Lord Summers the First, upset that Mags hadn't cleared the project with him first, basically tells Mags that NOBODY is allowed to do ANYTHING on Utopia unless Lord Summers the First had allowed it. Mags tells Lord Summers the First that he was only trying to be helpful and gain the Lord's trust, but Lord Summers the First tells Mags that he'll never be trusted. Back in NYC, the trio of X-Men trace the Predator to a location and break in, but the group of individuals who had sent the Predator out seem to be prepared for them. This issue ends with Professor X and Mags making up(awww)before Mags leaves Utopia to "do something good" with his life.
Hey, this issue wasn't half bad! Now I'm actually looking forward to the next issue instead of dreading it! Sure, Lord Summers the First was still acting like an asshat(heh...), but you know what? I expect it now. Sadly, I've finally come to terms with the fact that the character who was at one time amongst my favorites has been mutated into an unrecognizable, and wholly unlikable character. Oh well, hopefully Lord Summers the First will get killed off soon, so he can return in a few months as the character he used to be. The story was OK, I didn't really care too much about the trio of X-Men and their trip to NY, although it was awesome to get to see Fantomex again... If Fantomex was in more Marvel comic books, I think I'd be a slightly happier person. The stuff between Lord Summers the First and Magneto was interesting, especially depending on how Matt decides to play it out. Let's face it, Mags is now responsible for saving Utopia from a watery grave, which could have a major impact on the mutants living there if they discover what Mags had done for them. With Uncanny rapidly approaching issue #525, I'm hoping for a big showdown between Lord Summers the First and Magneto for leadership of Utopia, and I don't think I have to say who I'd be pulling for if such a battle ever did take place...
Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.
If only Mags would kill Lord Summers the First off... He'd automatically become my favorite Marvel character then.
Friday, January 8, 2010
New Avengers #60, Uncanny X-Men #519 & Wolverine Origins #43
OK, it's time for some quick reviews again, this time from the Marvel side of the fence. Well, let's get this show on the road I guess...
New Avengers #60: Why look, it's ANOTHER spotlight on Luke Cage! The various heroes who helped Luke escape Norman Osborn last issue learn that Osborn planted some kind of device in Luke's heart. The heroes all bicker(as usual)about what to do, and about what the device might be, until Hank Pym arrives. Pym and Dr. Strange venture into Luke's body in order to find out exactly what the device is, and whether or not it would be safe to remove it. In the meantime, Osborn and his Dark Avengers have locked on to Luke's position and are rapidly approaching. Pym and Strange get the device out of Luke's body, and it winds up exploding, just after the New Avengers make their getaway. The Dark Avengers arrive at the scene of the explosion and Osborn realizes that the New Avengers were using one of his houses as their base, which mean Osborn blew up his own home. This issue ends with Luke reconsidering whether he should remain a hero in light of everything that's happened, as well as the Hood retaking control of his gang from Dr. Harrow.
Do I even have to say it? Of course I hated this issue. I really miss the days when I could open an Avengers comic book and read about actual Avengers characters! You know, Captain America(Steve Rogers), Iron Man, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Hank Pym, Black Panther, etc. What a novel idea, Avengers in an Avengers comic! No, instead month after month after month, BENDIS flushes the Avengers proud legacy down the drain as he continues to run roughshod over the Marvel Universe... Very disappointing.
Score: 3 1/2 out of 10.
So on this page we have a grand total of ONE character who isn't a BENDIS Avenger... That's both sad and infuriating at the same time.
Uncanny X-Men #519: This issue opens up with some guy describing an attack on his girlfriend to Fantomex(!). Unfortunately though, that's all we get to see of Fantomex this issue(BOO!!!). From there, Emma and Scott continue their battle against a sliver of the Void, which has taken residence in Scott's psyche. While that is going down, The X-Club(minus Beast)are trying to figure out a way to prevent the X-Men's island home from sinking. Magneto asks Namor to help prop the island up with Atlantian labor, and the two come to some sort of an agreement. Iceman and Beast have a heart to heart, which leads to Beast admitting that he feels out of place on the X-Men's island, while also showing signs that he is still suffering from the torture he underwent at the hands of his evil doppelganger, Dark Beast, a few issues back. Scott manages to defeat the Void and imprison it in his mind, and this issue concludes with Beast approaching Scott and seemingly announcing that he is leaving the X-Men.
I enjoyed all of the non-Cyclops parts of this comic immensely. What can I say, I've gone from being a huge fan of Scott to hating his guts(kind of like Tony Stark...). I can only hope Jean Grey returns soon, because I'm REALLY not feeling the Scott/Emma relationship anymore. Fantomex appearing was great, the stuff with Beast(who has been written fantastically by Matt Fraction during his X-run)was extremely well done, and the scene with Magneto and Namor left a smile on my face. All in all, the positives slightly outweighed the negatives in this one.
Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.
I can totally relate to Beast's frustrations with the current direction the x-comics have gone in.
Wolverine Origins #43: We begin with the Silver Samurai teaching Wolverine how to better wield the deadly Muramasa blade as per their agreement from last issue. After Wolvie's training is complete, he receives word from Cloak that Dagger has been kidnapped by Romulus's right hand man, Victor Hudson. Hudson tries to discover what Wolvie's plans are concerning Romulus, but Dagger has no clue as to what's going on between Wolvie and Romulus. Wolvie and Cloak arrive on the scene and Wolvie slays Hudson with the Muramasa blade, ending his threat. Dagger gets pissed off at Wolvie's murderous actions and attacks him. In the end, Wolvie, Cloak and Dagger all make nice, and this issue finishes up with Wolvie about to break Ruby Thursday(!?!?!)out of prison.
Ruby Thursday?!? Wow, where the hell did Daniel Way pull her out of! I've been very high on this series since its inception many moons ago, but this issue left me feeling a little bit flat. While I'm glad Daniel explained why Wolvie was training with Samurai, it still kind of irked me. Wolvie is as good, if not a better swordsman then Samurai, but at least that part of the story is over and done. I was really let down by how easily Wolvie disposed of Victor Hudson... The guy has been Romulus's right hand for who knows how many years, and Wolvie put an end to him within one page? That seemed extremely anti-climatic to me. You'd have thought Hudson's final battle against Wolvie would have lasted a little bit longer then that, but I'm sure Daniel knows what he's doing, he's done an excellent job with what should have been a terrible storyline(sorry, I still hate the entire Romulus concept), so I definitely trust his judgement in offing Hudson in such an offhanded way.
Score: 7 out of 10.
I don't have anything left to say except that this is a pretty cool picture!
New Avengers #60: Why look, it's ANOTHER spotlight on Luke Cage! The various heroes who helped Luke escape Norman Osborn last issue learn that Osborn planted some kind of device in Luke's heart. The heroes all bicker(as usual)about what to do, and about what the device might be, until Hank Pym arrives. Pym and Dr. Strange venture into Luke's body in order to find out exactly what the device is, and whether or not it would be safe to remove it. In the meantime, Osborn and his Dark Avengers have locked on to Luke's position and are rapidly approaching. Pym and Strange get the device out of Luke's body, and it winds up exploding, just after the New Avengers make their getaway. The Dark Avengers arrive at the scene of the explosion and Osborn realizes that the New Avengers were using one of his houses as their base, which mean Osborn blew up his own home. This issue ends with Luke reconsidering whether he should remain a hero in light of everything that's happened, as well as the Hood retaking control of his gang from Dr. Harrow.
Do I even have to say it? Of course I hated this issue. I really miss the days when I could open an Avengers comic book and read about actual Avengers characters! You know, Captain America(Steve Rogers), Iron Man, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Hank Pym, Black Panther, etc. What a novel idea, Avengers in an Avengers comic! No, instead month after month after month, BENDIS flushes the Avengers proud legacy down the drain as he continues to run roughshod over the Marvel Universe... Very disappointing.
Score: 3 1/2 out of 10.
So on this page we have a grand total of ONE character who isn't a BENDIS Avenger... That's both sad and infuriating at the same time.Uncanny X-Men #519: This issue opens up with some guy describing an attack on his girlfriend to Fantomex(!). Unfortunately though, that's all we get to see of Fantomex this issue(BOO!!!). From there, Emma and Scott continue their battle against a sliver of the Void, which has taken residence in Scott's psyche. While that is going down, The X-Club(minus Beast)are trying to figure out a way to prevent the X-Men's island home from sinking. Magneto asks Namor to help prop the island up with Atlantian labor, and the two come to some sort of an agreement. Iceman and Beast have a heart to heart, which leads to Beast admitting that he feels out of place on the X-Men's island, while also showing signs that he is still suffering from the torture he underwent at the hands of his evil doppelganger, Dark Beast, a few issues back. Scott manages to defeat the Void and imprison it in his mind, and this issue concludes with Beast approaching Scott and seemingly announcing that he is leaving the X-Men.
I enjoyed all of the non-Cyclops parts of this comic immensely. What can I say, I've gone from being a huge fan of Scott to hating his guts(kind of like Tony Stark...). I can only hope Jean Grey returns soon, because I'm REALLY not feeling the Scott/Emma relationship anymore. Fantomex appearing was great, the stuff with Beast(who has been written fantastically by Matt Fraction during his X-run)was extremely well done, and the scene with Magneto and Namor left a smile on my face. All in all, the positives slightly outweighed the negatives in this one.
Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.
I can totally relate to Beast's frustrations with the current direction the x-comics have gone in.Wolverine Origins #43: We begin with the Silver Samurai teaching Wolverine how to better wield the deadly Muramasa blade as per their agreement from last issue. After Wolvie's training is complete, he receives word from Cloak that Dagger has been kidnapped by Romulus's right hand man, Victor Hudson. Hudson tries to discover what Wolvie's plans are concerning Romulus, but Dagger has no clue as to what's going on between Wolvie and Romulus. Wolvie and Cloak arrive on the scene and Wolvie slays Hudson with the Muramasa blade, ending his threat. Dagger gets pissed off at Wolvie's murderous actions and attacks him. In the end, Wolvie, Cloak and Dagger all make nice, and this issue finishes up with Wolvie about to break Ruby Thursday(!?!?!)out of prison.
Ruby Thursday?!? Wow, where the hell did Daniel Way pull her out of! I've been very high on this series since its inception many moons ago, but this issue left me feeling a little bit flat. While I'm glad Daniel explained why Wolvie was training with Samurai, it still kind of irked me. Wolvie is as good, if not a better swordsman then Samurai, but at least that part of the story is over and done. I was really let down by how easily Wolvie disposed of Victor Hudson... The guy has been Romulus's right hand for who knows how many years, and Wolvie put an end to him within one page? That seemed extremely anti-climatic to me. You'd have thought Hudson's final battle against Wolvie would have lasted a little bit longer then that, but I'm sure Daniel knows what he's doing, he's done an excellent job with what should have been a terrible storyline(sorry, I still hate the entire Romulus concept), so I definitely trust his judgement in offing Hudson in such an offhanded way.
Score: 7 out of 10.
I don't have anything left to say except that this is a pretty cool picture!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
A Quick Look at New Avengers #57
Writer: BENDIS. Pencils: Stewart Immonen.
What Happened: Osborn decides to take Dr. Harrow's deal and Harrow gives Osborn and the Dark Avengers their powers back. Before Osborn can have Spider-Man killed, Mockingbird lands a Quinjet in the street and the New Avengers beat a hasty retreat. Luke Cage is having a heart attack, so the team flies him to the Night Nurse to see if she can help. Meanwhile, Daken managed to get the scent of the Quinjet(???)and manages to lead Osborn and the rest of the Dark Avengers to the Night Nurse's base of operations. Night Nurse explains that since she can't cut into Luke's bulletproof skin there's nothing she can do to help him. The Avengers realize they need Osborn's power dampener in order to dampen Luke's powers. While they're all arguing over which one of them should surrender to Osborn and co, Luke decides that he'll surrender to Osborn himself, which would give the Avengers a chance to escape from Osborn and his crew. Luke walks outside to surrender, but ends up collapsing.
What I thought: Once again, this issue wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting, but that doesn't really change my fundamental problem with BENDIS and this series. First off, BENDIS' dialogue is painfully bad at times, as this issue proved. If you don't believe me, just check out the conversation between Night Nurse and Ms. Marvel. Besides that, I just don't care about this series, these characters or the situations they find themselves in... That's really a sad thing, considering the fact that I grew up reading and loving the Avengers. I can't believe BENDIS has been the driving force behind the Avengers for over five years now... Eh, what else can I say that I haven't said already?
Score: 5 out of 10.
Why the hell do all of the characters in every single one of BENDIS' comic books have to constantly repeat themselves or stutter?!?!
What Happened: Osborn decides to take Dr. Harrow's deal and Harrow gives Osborn and the Dark Avengers their powers back. Before Osborn can have Spider-Man killed, Mockingbird lands a Quinjet in the street and the New Avengers beat a hasty retreat. Luke Cage is having a heart attack, so the team flies him to the Night Nurse to see if she can help. Meanwhile, Daken managed to get the scent of the Quinjet(???)and manages to lead Osborn and the rest of the Dark Avengers to the Night Nurse's base of operations. Night Nurse explains that since she can't cut into Luke's bulletproof skin there's nothing she can do to help him. The Avengers realize they need Osborn's power dampener in order to dampen Luke's powers. While they're all arguing over which one of them should surrender to Osborn and co, Luke decides that he'll surrender to Osborn himself, which would give the Avengers a chance to escape from Osborn and his crew. Luke walks outside to surrender, but ends up collapsing.
What I thought: Once again, this issue wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting, but that doesn't really change my fundamental problem with BENDIS and this series. First off, BENDIS' dialogue is painfully bad at times, as this issue proved. If you don't believe me, just check out the conversation between Night Nurse and Ms. Marvel. Besides that, I just don't care about this series, these characters or the situations they find themselves in... That's really a sad thing, considering the fact that I grew up reading and loving the Avengers. I can't believe BENDIS has been the driving force behind the Avengers for over five years now... Eh, what else can I say that I haven't said already?
Score: 5 out of 10.
Why the hell do all of the characters in every single one of BENDIS' comic books have to constantly repeat themselves or stutter?!?!
A Quick Look at New Avengers #56
Writer: The Dread Lord BENDIS! Pencils: Stuart Immonen.
What Happened: We start out with Mockingbird taking the fight to Chemistro, who managed to down the entire Avengers team last issue. Mock takes out Chemistro, but is defeated by the Wrecking Crew, who arrived after Chemistro's defeat. Clint(I refuse to call him Ronin)Barton attacks the Wrecker, but that goes as well as one would expect. By this time, Norman Osborn and his Dark Avengers arrive and Norman gets contacted by Dr. Harrow, who wants to cut deal with Osborn. When Osborn refuses, Harrow takes away the powers of Osborn and his team, leaving them at the mercy of about 10 c-list villains. Besides that, Loki gives the Asgardian Norn Stones to the Hood because... Well, I'm not sure why, but whatever I guess.
What I thought: Well, I've definitely read a lot worse from the Dread Lord, so that's a plus right there! With that said, this comic was still terrible, but at least it wasn't as mind-numbingly bad as some of the past issues have been. Do we really need 4 pages of dialogue between Osborn and Dr. Harrow? I mean come on, who really buys Harrow as a legitimate threat? Eh, I guess I should just be glad that I still have my sanity and leave it at that.
Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.
Yep, this went on for another several pages!
What Happened: We start out with Mockingbird taking the fight to Chemistro, who managed to down the entire Avengers team last issue. Mock takes out Chemistro, but is defeated by the Wrecking Crew, who arrived after Chemistro's defeat. Clint(I refuse to call him Ronin)Barton attacks the Wrecker, but that goes as well as one would expect. By this time, Norman Osborn and his Dark Avengers arrive and Norman gets contacted by Dr. Harrow, who wants to cut deal with Osborn. When Osborn refuses, Harrow takes away the powers of Osborn and his team, leaving them at the mercy of about 10 c-list villains. Besides that, Loki gives the Asgardian Norn Stones to the Hood because... Well, I'm not sure why, but whatever I guess.
What I thought: Well, I've definitely read a lot worse from the Dread Lord, so that's a plus right there! With that said, this comic was still terrible, but at least it wasn't as mind-numbingly bad as some of the past issues have been. Do we really need 4 pages of dialogue between Osborn and Dr. Harrow? I mean come on, who really buys Harrow as a legitimate threat? Eh, I guess I should just be glad that I still have my sanity and leave it at that.
Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.
Yep, this went on for another several pages!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
To be forewarned is to be forearmed... Or something along those lines.
Since I'm feeling a bit lazy tonight, and there are some essays I should probably begin working on, I won't be posting any reviews tonight. But, and trust me on this one, that's probably a good thing! Why? Looking at my new comics pile tells me it's almost time for my least favorite time of the month, BENDIS-time! I have not one, but two(!)issues of New Avengers to read, one issue of Dark Avengers and an issue of Dark Reign: The List to read, all written by the Dread Lord himself. Reading an issue of New Avengers is akin to getting a root canal, while undergoing electro-shock treatments, all while hundreds of fire ants crawl about my body! What an odd visual... Anyway, I'm sure there are some of you out there asking yourselves, "Why read something that causes you to want to gouge out your own eyes after setting yourself ablaze?". Simply put, as much as I detest, abhor, loathe, despise and hate BENDIS' Avengers work, I can't stop reading about the Avengers. I've spent too much time, energy and money on the Avengers to give up on them, no matter how horrific things get. Yeah, so if you are a fan of the New Avengers series or BENDIS, I'd definitely recommend steering clear of this blog tomorrow night! Now with that bit of ugliness out of the way, just for the heck of it, I'm going to end this post by listing the comics I ordered yesterday and expect to have in my hands sometime later on this week. That's all for now, time to get to work.
Aquaman Vol 3 #10
Avengers The Initiative #28
Batman And Robin #5
Blackest Night Superman #2
Blackest Night Titans #1
Blackest Night Titans #2
Dark Reign The List Part 3 X-Men One Shot
Dark Reign The List Part 4 Secret Warriors
Dark X-Men The Confession One Shot
Flash Vol 2 #107
Gotham City Sirens #4
Green Lantern Vol 3 #111
Green Lantern Vol 3 #112
Green Lantern Vol 3 #113
Green Lantern Vol 3 #114
Green Lantern Vol 3 #129
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 #18
Guy Gardner #27
Guy Gardner #28
Justice League Cry For Justice #4
Justice League Of America Vol 2 #37
Magog #2
Nova Vol 4 #29
REBELS Annual Starro The Conqueror #1
Showcase 94 #7
Showcase 95 #8
Supergirl Vol 5 #45
Superman Secret Origin #1
Superman World Of New Krypton #8
Teen Titans Vol 3 #75
Underworld Unleashed #2
Underworld Unleashed #3
Wednesday Comics #12
Wolverine Old Man Logan Giant-Size #1
Aquaman Vol 3 #10
Avengers The Initiative #28
Batman And Robin #5
Blackest Night Superman #2
Blackest Night Titans #1
Blackest Night Titans #2
Dark Reign The List Part 3 X-Men One Shot
Dark Reign The List Part 4 Secret Warriors
Dark X-Men The Confession One Shot
Flash Vol 2 #107
Gotham City Sirens #4
Green Lantern Vol 3 #111
Green Lantern Vol 3 #112
Green Lantern Vol 3 #113
Green Lantern Vol 3 #114
Green Lantern Vol 3 #129
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 #18
Guy Gardner #27
Guy Gardner #28
Justice League Cry For Justice #4
Justice League Of America Vol 2 #37
Magog #2
Nova Vol 4 #29
REBELS Annual Starro The Conqueror #1
Showcase 94 #7
Showcase 95 #8
Supergirl Vol 5 #45
Superman Secret Origin #1
Superman World Of New Krypton #8
Teen Titans Vol 3 #75
Underworld Unleashed #2
Underworld Unleashed #3
Wednesday Comics #12
Wolverine Old Man Logan Giant-Size #1
Friday, August 7, 2009
My rant against New Avengers #55
Well, this is it. I've been putting off reading this comic all day, but the time has finally come. Now, let's face facts, this is going to be bad. You know it and I know it. The real question is, just how bad is it going to get? Are we talking pounding headache bad or gouging your own eyes out and then drinking hydrochloric acid bad? The only way to find out is to crack this comic open and give it a read. This issue is written by the DREAD LORD BENDIS, with Stuart Immonen providing the pencils.
-We begin by recapping the battle between the Hood and his cronies and the Avengers from issue #50(I think). After the battle the Wrecking Crew bitches at the Hood because... Well, I'm not sure why. Does it really matter? After several pages of the Wrecker and Hood arguing, we move on... Can you believe the first 5 pages of this comic gave us a recap and then the Wrecker and Hood talking about nothing?!?
-From there we find Captain America returning to his apartment and finding it in total disarray. It seems that the New Avengers are pigs... OOOOK...
-Chemistro(an old c-list villain of Luke Cage's)meets with Dr. Harrow(an old c-list villain of Spider-Man)and the two decide to rebuild an old broken down Stark tech power drainer.
-Next up Spidey whines about revealing his secret identity to Jessica Jones.
-The Hood's gang meets up to get paid, but the Hood doesn't show. Dr. Harrow uses this opportunity to tell the villains that he has created a device that Norman Osborn himself would pay dearly to get his hands on.
-The Avengers meet and everyone talks over each other(because this is a BENDIS book!). Cap repeatedly tries to make a point, but the team just ignores him. Then to piss me off some more, Clint Barton tells the team he is all for murdering Norman Osborn. Spidey is shocked and Luke Cage tells Clint there will be no killing on the Avengers... This conversation goes on for 4 pages before Cap gets word of a super-villain running amok in Times Square.
-The team arrives in Times Square and watch as Chemistro destroys stuff. They talk about it for a while, and decide to jump in with no semblance of a plan... Of course they did... Chemistro then shoots some kind of smoke and the entire team becomes ill and falls at the feet of Chemistro, ending this issue. Wait, did I just type the entire team fell at the feet of Chemistro??? Yes, sadly it seems I did...
This issue managed to piss me off about as badly as any comic book I've read in quite some time. As a longtime fan of the Avengers, reading this crap actually hurts. Jeez, where do I even begin? I guess first off I have to question why Cap is even in this comic. If I was Ed Brubaker I would do EVERYTHING in my power to get him out of this comic. I've never made a secret of the fact that the original Captain America is one of my all-time favorite comic book characters, or that Ed Brubaker's current run on Captain America is one of my all-time favorite runs on Cap ever. With that said, it's a travesty how BENDIS is treating Cap here. Is he respected or revered? No, of course not. He's universally disrespected by everyone! I loved the way the ENTIRE team completely ignored Cap when he tried making a point at the meeting. "Oh, Captain America wants to say something? Too bad!".
Then there is Clint Barton. The man formerly known as Hawkeye. Clint Barton, Mr. Avenger, the guy who has been a member of the team longer than any other current Avenger, has to be told by Spider-Man and Luke Cage that Avengers don't kill?!?!? Are you frigging kidding me??? Yeah, sure Clint has always been a bit hot-headed, but can somebody tell me when he began to advocate murder? Spider-Man explaining how to act heroically to Clint has got to be one of the all-time low-lights in an Avengers comic book ever. As a big-time fan of Hawkeye, his mischaracterization in this comic book is really unforgivable. I mean, come on, Clint once separated from his wife after she allowed the Phantom Rider(a man who raped her)to fall to his death. Clint couldn't forgive Mockingbird for not saving her rapist, but he would happily murder Osborn? Get the hell out of here.
Then, the cherry on top of this pile of crap is the fact that Chemistro, a third-rate loser from the old Luke Cage comics, manages to defeat the ENTIRE team! For real? If I don't end this review now, I'll probably go stark raving mad. For a score, this abortion earns a 1 1/2 out of 10, easily one of my lowest scores ever. The story was garbage, and the dialogue consisted of everybody arguing and talking over each other(as usual). Ugh... I need a drink.
Spider-Man lecturing longtime Avenger Clint Barton(Hawkeye)on being a super-hero... Are you kidding me BENDIS?
-We begin by recapping the battle between the Hood and his cronies and the Avengers from issue #50(I think). After the battle the Wrecking Crew bitches at the Hood because... Well, I'm not sure why. Does it really matter? After several pages of the Wrecker and Hood arguing, we move on... Can you believe the first 5 pages of this comic gave us a recap and then the Wrecker and Hood talking about nothing?!?
-From there we find Captain America returning to his apartment and finding it in total disarray. It seems that the New Avengers are pigs... OOOOK...
-Chemistro(an old c-list villain of Luke Cage's)meets with Dr. Harrow(an old c-list villain of Spider-Man)and the two decide to rebuild an old broken down Stark tech power drainer.
-Next up Spidey whines about revealing his secret identity to Jessica Jones.
-The Hood's gang meets up to get paid, but the Hood doesn't show. Dr. Harrow uses this opportunity to tell the villains that he has created a device that Norman Osborn himself would pay dearly to get his hands on.
-The Avengers meet and everyone talks over each other(because this is a BENDIS book!). Cap repeatedly tries to make a point, but the team just ignores him. Then to piss me off some more, Clint Barton tells the team he is all for murdering Norman Osborn. Spidey is shocked and Luke Cage tells Clint there will be no killing on the Avengers... This conversation goes on for 4 pages before Cap gets word of a super-villain running amok in Times Square.
-The team arrives in Times Square and watch as Chemistro destroys stuff. They talk about it for a while, and decide to jump in with no semblance of a plan... Of course they did... Chemistro then shoots some kind of smoke and the entire team becomes ill and falls at the feet of Chemistro, ending this issue. Wait, did I just type the entire team fell at the feet of Chemistro??? Yes, sadly it seems I did...
This issue managed to piss me off about as badly as any comic book I've read in quite some time. As a longtime fan of the Avengers, reading this crap actually hurts. Jeez, where do I even begin? I guess first off I have to question why Cap is even in this comic. If I was Ed Brubaker I would do EVERYTHING in my power to get him out of this comic. I've never made a secret of the fact that the original Captain America is one of my all-time favorite comic book characters, or that Ed Brubaker's current run on Captain America is one of my all-time favorite runs on Cap ever. With that said, it's a travesty how BENDIS is treating Cap here. Is he respected or revered? No, of course not. He's universally disrespected by everyone! I loved the way the ENTIRE team completely ignored Cap when he tried making a point at the meeting. "Oh, Captain America wants to say something? Too bad!".
Then there is Clint Barton. The man formerly known as Hawkeye. Clint Barton, Mr. Avenger, the guy who has been a member of the team longer than any other current Avenger, has to be told by Spider-Man and Luke Cage that Avengers don't kill?!?!? Are you frigging kidding me??? Yeah, sure Clint has always been a bit hot-headed, but can somebody tell me when he began to advocate murder? Spider-Man explaining how to act heroically to Clint has got to be one of the all-time low-lights in an Avengers comic book ever. As a big-time fan of Hawkeye, his mischaracterization in this comic book is really unforgivable. I mean, come on, Clint once separated from his wife after she allowed the Phantom Rider(a man who raped her)to fall to his death. Clint couldn't forgive Mockingbird for not saving her rapist, but he would happily murder Osborn? Get the hell out of here.
Then, the cherry on top of this pile of crap is the fact that Chemistro, a third-rate loser from the old Luke Cage comics, manages to defeat the ENTIRE team! For real? If I don't end this review now, I'll probably go stark raving mad. For a score, this abortion earns a 1 1/2 out of 10, easily one of my lowest scores ever. The story was garbage, and the dialogue consisted of everybody arguing and talking over each other(as usual). Ugh... I need a drink.
Spider-Man lecturing longtime Avenger Clint Barton(Hawkeye)on being a super-hero... Are you kidding me BENDIS?
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
New Avengers #54
This is the final BENDIS written comic I'll be reading tonight. So far, I've got to admit that I've been enjoying my mini BENDIS-athon. I know, it's crazy!!! I'm confident that this issue will herald the return of the evil DREAD LORD BENDIS, whose stories regularly drive me to the brink of madness.
-Brother Voodoo(who is inexplicably the new Sorcerer Supreme), Dr. Strange and Daimon Hellstrom decide to join forces to exercise the spirit that has taken possession of the Hood. Oh, and the New Avengers are there as well. The three sorcerers combine powers and reveal that it is Dormammu behind the possession of the Hood. After trapping Dormammu in a magical circle the trio is able to force him to return to his home, the Dark Dimension.
-The Avengers then clean up the mess, and hand the Hood and his accomplice Madame Masque over to the authorities. Before leaving, Hawkeye(or Ronin if you prefer)gets on camera and tells the world that he's sure Osborn will allow Masque and Hood to slip through the cracks and remain free, stating that Hood and Masque are secretly working for Osborn.
-This issue ends with Hawkeye returning home and catching the tail end of Osborn's LOOOONG interview from Dark Avengers #5. Clint is shocked that the media seems to be taking Osborn's side of the story, so Clint decides the only way left to stop Osborn and his Dark Reign is to kill Osborn... WHAT?!?!?
Wait, Clint Barton, the man who wouldn't forgive his own wife when she allowed her rapist to fall to his death is advocating murder? No, no, no... No frigging way. I'm not going to go too crazy yet, let's just say Clint was so upset he wasn't thinking about what he was saying. Yeah, that must be it, because Clinton Francis Barton DOES NOT KILL.
I still don't get/like the fact that Brother Voodoo is the new Sorcerer Supreme, but I think I made my feelings on that subject very well known during my review of New Avengers #53, so I'm not going to get into that again. This was a mediocre comic that I doubt I'll even remember come tomorrow morning. For a score, I'll go with a 5 out of 10.
-Brother Voodoo(who is inexplicably the new Sorcerer Supreme), Dr. Strange and Daimon Hellstrom decide to join forces to exercise the spirit that has taken possession of the Hood. Oh, and the New Avengers are there as well. The three sorcerers combine powers and reveal that it is Dormammu behind the possession of the Hood. After trapping Dormammu in a magical circle the trio is able to force him to return to his home, the Dark Dimension.
-The Avengers then clean up the mess, and hand the Hood and his accomplice Madame Masque over to the authorities. Before leaving, Hawkeye(or Ronin if you prefer)gets on camera and tells the world that he's sure Osborn will allow Masque and Hood to slip through the cracks and remain free, stating that Hood and Masque are secretly working for Osborn.
-This issue ends with Hawkeye returning home and catching the tail end of Osborn's LOOOONG interview from Dark Avengers #5. Clint is shocked that the media seems to be taking Osborn's side of the story, so Clint decides the only way left to stop Osborn and his Dark Reign is to kill Osborn... WHAT?!?!?
Wait, Clint Barton, the man who wouldn't forgive his own wife when she allowed her rapist to fall to his death is advocating murder? No, no, no... No frigging way. I'm not going to go too crazy yet, let's just say Clint was so upset he wasn't thinking about what he was saying. Yeah, that must be it, because Clinton Francis Barton DOES NOT KILL.
I still don't get/like the fact that Brother Voodoo is the new Sorcerer Supreme, but I think I made my feelings on that subject very well known during my review of New Avengers #53, so I'm not going to get into that again. This was a mediocre comic that I doubt I'll even remember come tomorrow morning. For a score, I'll go with a 5 out of 10.
Monday, June 8, 2009
NEW Avengers #53!
(sigh)It's time to stop avoiding this comic... OK, my mind is clear, and I'm ready(but not really willing)to give this a read. The DREAD LORD BENDIS has decided for some inexplicable reason to "disassemble"(that's codeword for DESTROY)Dr. Strange. May God have mercy on you Stephen Strange, for the DREAD LORD will have none... With the niceties out of the way, on with the review!
-Where do I even begin? I know, I'll start with the beginning! The Avengers(the NEW Avengers that is)are flying in a Quinjet over New Orleans in search of Daimon Hellstrom, who Dr. Strange(AKA that dude the DREAD LORD neutered)figures might be next in line to become the next Sorcerer Supreme.
-While the Avengers are bickering(it's a BENDIS written comic book, OF COURSE there's bickering!)in the plane, the Eye of Agamotto decides its had enough of the annoying dialogue and leaves. Dr. Strange(being neutered)sits there and weakly says he doesn't know why the Eye took off like that. Cause it hates you Doc. THAT'S why it left!
-From a nearby rooftop Madame Masque strikes the Quinjet with a rocket from a rocket launcher, doing hardly any damage. Wow, that Quinjet is tough! Wolvie and Spidey leap from the plane to get her, but MM whips out a machine gun and proceeds to turn Wolvie into Swiss cheese. Spidey takes Wolvie to safety and MM fires another rocket at the Quinjet. Dr. Strange manages to disassemble the rocket with magic before it hits the jet... Well if he can do that, why the hell can't he just capture Masque?
-As Spider-Woman jumps out of the jet, MM tosses a couple of smoke bombs around in order to obscure SW's vision. SW and MM fight hand-to-hand in the smoke until MM pulls out handgun and prepares to shoot SW in the head. Cap tosses his shield and knocks the gun out of MM's hand(through the smoke?!?)and SW knocks MM off the roof. Of course when the NEW Avengers look off the roof for MM, she's gone. Come on Spider-Woman you NEVER knock the villain off of a roof! They ALWAYS vanish when you do!
-While all this is going on Daimon and the Hood are having a meeting of the minds. Over a span of 2 pages, Daimon calls Hood a "jerk off", a "bitch", and tells Hood to "####" off... What the hell??? Has the DREAD LORD ever read a comic book with Daimon in it? Wait, don't answer that, I already know the answer... Daimon has always been a cool, intellectual character, one who is almost scornful towards common mortals. Not the screaming, adolescent punk that appears in this comic.
-Eventually, after Daimon is done hurling childish insults, the two battle, and before you know it they wind up on the street.
-Meanwhile, MM has grabbed a woman on the street and is holding her at gunpoint. Ms. Marvel and Spidey approach the situation and the three of them posture for a bit. Cap finally has enough and shoots MM in the head. Well, thank you Cap! Don't worry though, MM was just knocked out by the shot. By the way, where the hell was MM hiding all of those weapons?
-By this point, Luke Cage and Dr. Strange have joined with Daimon to battle the Hood. They fight for a while and Strange begins to wonder where the Eye of Agamotto has gone. On que, Brother Voodoo shows up sporting the Eye.
Oh god... Please don't tell me the DREAD LORD is going to make Brother Voodoo the new Sorcerer Supreme. Brother Voodoo, the quintessential d-lister, a character who has NEVER even had his own series, even though he's been around FOREVER, is the Sorcerer Supreme now??? Guess what, Brother Voodoo is just not a very interesting character. Never was, never will be.
There are SO many other ways BENDIS could have gone here. Jennifer Kale, Wiccan, Doom or Loki, or of course Wanda Maximoff would have all been much better choices. Personally, I'd have gone with Wiccan. He's a somewhat established character, and being as young as he is, Dr. Strange could have become his mentor. From there, you could have Wiccan(along with Doc Strange)dealing with all of the magical threats in the Marvel U such as Doom and Dormammu. Plus there's his connection with Wanda which would have been fun to investigate. But no, we get Brother Voodoo... Hurrah...
What more is there to say? Once again, the DREAD LORD has proven to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that he shouldn't be allowed within 100 yards of any type of writing apparatus. Brother Voodoo... The Sorcerer Supreme... HaHaHa!!! If it wasn't so absurd, it would be hilarious. For a score, I'll give this comic a 3 out of 10 before I put it away deep in my comic book collection, where it will never see the light of day again.
-Where do I even begin? I know, I'll start with the beginning! The Avengers(the NEW Avengers that is)are flying in a Quinjet over New Orleans in search of Daimon Hellstrom, who Dr. Strange(AKA that dude the DREAD LORD neutered)figures might be next in line to become the next Sorcerer Supreme.
-While the Avengers are bickering(it's a BENDIS written comic book, OF COURSE there's bickering!)in the plane, the Eye of Agamotto decides its had enough of the annoying dialogue and leaves. Dr. Strange(being neutered)sits there and weakly says he doesn't know why the Eye took off like that. Cause it hates you Doc. THAT'S why it left!
-From a nearby rooftop Madame Masque strikes the Quinjet with a rocket from a rocket launcher, doing hardly any damage. Wow, that Quinjet is tough! Wolvie and Spidey leap from the plane to get her, but MM whips out a machine gun and proceeds to turn Wolvie into Swiss cheese. Spidey takes Wolvie to safety and MM fires another rocket at the Quinjet. Dr. Strange manages to disassemble the rocket with magic before it hits the jet... Well if he can do that, why the hell can't he just capture Masque?
-As Spider-Woman jumps out of the jet, MM tosses a couple of smoke bombs around in order to obscure SW's vision. SW and MM fight hand-to-hand in the smoke until MM pulls out handgun and prepares to shoot SW in the head. Cap tosses his shield and knocks the gun out of MM's hand(through the smoke?!?)and SW knocks MM off the roof. Of course when the NEW Avengers look off the roof for MM, she's gone. Come on Spider-Woman you NEVER knock the villain off of a roof! They ALWAYS vanish when you do!
-While all this is going on Daimon and the Hood are having a meeting of the minds. Over a span of 2 pages, Daimon calls Hood a "jerk off", a "bitch", and tells Hood to "####" off... What the hell??? Has the DREAD LORD ever read a comic book with Daimon in it? Wait, don't answer that, I already know the answer... Daimon has always been a cool, intellectual character, one who is almost scornful towards common mortals. Not the screaming, adolescent punk that appears in this comic.
-Eventually, after Daimon is done hurling childish insults, the two battle, and before you know it they wind up on the street.
-Meanwhile, MM has grabbed a woman on the street and is holding her at gunpoint. Ms. Marvel and Spidey approach the situation and the three of them posture for a bit. Cap finally has enough and shoots MM in the head. Well, thank you Cap! Don't worry though, MM was just knocked out by the shot. By the way, where the hell was MM hiding all of those weapons?
-By this point, Luke Cage and Dr. Strange have joined with Daimon to battle the Hood. They fight for a while and Strange begins to wonder where the Eye of Agamotto has gone. On que, Brother Voodoo shows up sporting the Eye.
Oh god... Please don't tell me the DREAD LORD is going to make Brother Voodoo the new Sorcerer Supreme. Brother Voodoo, the quintessential d-lister, a character who has NEVER even had his own series, even though he's been around FOREVER, is the Sorcerer Supreme now??? Guess what, Brother Voodoo is just not a very interesting character. Never was, never will be.
There are SO many other ways BENDIS could have gone here. Jennifer Kale, Wiccan, Doom or Loki, or of course Wanda Maximoff would have all been much better choices. Personally, I'd have gone with Wiccan. He's a somewhat established character, and being as young as he is, Dr. Strange could have become his mentor. From there, you could have Wiccan(along with Doc Strange)dealing with all of the magical threats in the Marvel U such as Doom and Dormammu. Plus there's his connection with Wanda which would have been fun to investigate. But no, we get Brother Voodoo... Hurrah...
What more is there to say? Once again, the DREAD LORD has proven to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that he shouldn't be allowed within 100 yards of any type of writing apparatus. Brother Voodoo... The Sorcerer Supreme... HaHaHa!!! If it wasn't so absurd, it would be hilarious. For a score, I'll give this comic a 3 out of 10 before I put it away deep in my comic book collection, where it will never see the light of day again.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
New Avengers #52
Oh no, it's a new issue of New Avengers, written by the DREAD LORD himself! I'm sure this is going to be horrible. Well, I might as well get this review over with...
-This is going to be brief, because I can only spend so much time thinking about the work of LORD BENDIS before I go insane.
-Dr. Strange(who for some reason is no longer the Sorcerer Supreme)meets up with the New Avengers to catch his breath after battling the Hood. The Hood is now more powerful than Strange because he's possessed by a demon or something... You know, I could have sworn BENDIS revealed Dormammu to be the power behind the Hood's powers. Wouldn't Strange sense Dormammu as the power behind Hood?
-After Strange spends 10(!!!)pages recapping last issue and talking to the Avengers, the team decides to help Strange find the new Sorcerer Supreme.
-Meanwhile, the Hood goes crazy, screams for a while, makes out with Madame Masque and decides to hunt down the people who could possibly be the next Sorcerer Supreme.
-The Avengers head to New Orleans to see if Damian Hellstrom is the new Sorcerer Supreme, but Hood gets there first and attacks Damian.
UGH... Where do I begin? I guess I'll start at the beginning. Was it really necessary to dedicate 10 pages to what was basically filler? The first 10 pages of this comic(not counting advertisements)recapped what we already knew and then had the Avengers and Strange talk about pretty much nothing. For a comic that Marvel is pricing at $3.99, I would hope for A LOT more than what we were given here.
Then there was the inclusion of Damian Hellstrom... The Son of Satan is one of those fringe characters that I've always been partial to, so the fact that BENDIS has decided to use him is awful news for me and any other long time Marvel fans. In the few pages Damian appeared in this comic book, he was totally mis-written, which I guess is par for the course when it comes to BENDIS. The DREAD LORD BENDIS mis-writes everyone else, so why would I expect him to write Damian properly?
Well, I'm glad I got this mess out of the way. Now I won't have to suffer through another issue of New Avengers for a month. For a score I'll go with a 4 out of 10. I wonder what character BENDIS will decide to screw up next month???
-This is going to be brief, because I can only spend so much time thinking about the work of LORD BENDIS before I go insane.
-Dr. Strange(who for some reason is no longer the Sorcerer Supreme)meets up with the New Avengers to catch his breath after battling the Hood. The Hood is now more powerful than Strange because he's possessed by a demon or something... You know, I could have sworn BENDIS revealed Dormammu to be the power behind the Hood's powers. Wouldn't Strange sense Dormammu as the power behind Hood?
-After Strange spends 10(!!!)pages recapping last issue and talking to the Avengers, the team decides to help Strange find the new Sorcerer Supreme.
-Meanwhile, the Hood goes crazy, screams for a while, makes out with Madame Masque and decides to hunt down the people who could possibly be the next Sorcerer Supreme.
-The Avengers head to New Orleans to see if Damian Hellstrom is the new Sorcerer Supreme, but Hood gets there first and attacks Damian.
UGH... Where do I begin? I guess I'll start at the beginning. Was it really necessary to dedicate 10 pages to what was basically filler? The first 10 pages of this comic(not counting advertisements)recapped what we already knew and then had the Avengers and Strange talk about pretty much nothing. For a comic that Marvel is pricing at $3.99, I would hope for A LOT more than what we were given here.
Then there was the inclusion of Damian Hellstrom... The Son of Satan is one of those fringe characters that I've always been partial to, so the fact that BENDIS has decided to use him is awful news for me and any other long time Marvel fans. In the few pages Damian appeared in this comic book, he was totally mis-written, which I guess is par for the course when it comes to BENDIS. The DREAD LORD BENDIS mis-writes everyone else, so why would I expect him to write Damian properly?
Well, I'm glad I got this mess out of the way. Now I won't have to suffer through another issue of New Avengers for a month. For a score I'll go with a 4 out of 10. I wonder what character BENDIS will decide to screw up next month???
Sunday, April 26, 2009
New Avengers #51!
Yeah, I know, this review is about a month old. That shows just how behind I am in my comic book reading(plus this was written by the DREAD LORD BENDIS, so I wasn't exactly in a rush to read it!). Anyway this is about Dr. Strange or something... Why is Dr. Strange in an Avengers title anyway? Oh yeah, the DREAD LORD is the writer, so nothing makes any sense!
-The Good: Um, hmm... Um, oh yeah, Wiccan of the Young Avengers popped up. I really enjoyed that comic book. The Young Avengers... Oh, but I'm supposed to be talking about THIS comic book aren't I? Well, that's pretty much the only good thing that happened in this comic.
-The Bad: Pretty much everything else! This comic had a 4 page conversation between Jessica Jones(WHY is she even in this comic???)and Spider-Man(for that matter, why is HE in this comic?!?). That's right, they spoke about going to High School together for 4 pages! That's 21 panels of complete BS. The conversation between Peter and Jessica was everything I hate about LORD BENDIS in a nutshell. Their conversation added NOTHING to this comic. It added NOTHING to either character. It was a total waste of time.
-Besides that, this issue was about Dr. Strange looking for the next Sorcerer Supreme. While he was searching for his eventual replacement he is jumped by The Hood, who wipes the floor with Doc Strange, which sends the good doctor running to the Avengers for help... REALLY??? The frigging Hood spanked Dr. Strange?!? What's next, Toad will beat down the Hulk? How about the Vulture takes out Thor? Why not! My God, reading LORD BENDIS' work makes me want to get sloppy drunk, and I don't even drink!
What more can I say? This was yet another train wreck brought to us by the DREAD LORD BENDIS. Clint "Why is he still Ronin" Barton seems to be getting a larger role in this comic book. I guess that's a good thing, even though since Clint is one of my favorite characters, I'm afraid to see what the DREAD LORD has in store for Clint. Hey, then again, the DREAD LORD has already killed Clint off twice over the course of a year, so maybe he'll leave Clint alone for a while... Probably not though. Well, if nothing else, writing this review down was kind of cathartic for me. Now I can put this comic away and NEVER open it again. For a score, I'll give this issue a 3 out of 10. Why a 3? Why not. Please Joe Quesada, take LORD BENDIS the hell off the Avengers titles already!!! ARRRRGH!!!
-The Good: Um, hmm... Um, oh yeah, Wiccan of the Young Avengers popped up. I really enjoyed that comic book. The Young Avengers... Oh, but I'm supposed to be talking about THIS comic book aren't I? Well, that's pretty much the only good thing that happened in this comic.
-The Bad: Pretty much everything else! This comic had a 4 page conversation between Jessica Jones(WHY is she even in this comic???)and Spider-Man(for that matter, why is HE in this comic?!?). That's right, they spoke about going to High School together for 4 pages! That's 21 panels of complete BS. The conversation between Peter and Jessica was everything I hate about LORD BENDIS in a nutshell. Their conversation added NOTHING to this comic. It added NOTHING to either character. It was a total waste of time.
-Besides that, this issue was about Dr. Strange looking for the next Sorcerer Supreme. While he was searching for his eventual replacement he is jumped by The Hood, who wipes the floor with Doc Strange, which sends the good doctor running to the Avengers for help... REALLY??? The frigging Hood spanked Dr. Strange?!? What's next, Toad will beat down the Hulk? How about the Vulture takes out Thor? Why not! My God, reading LORD BENDIS' work makes me want to get sloppy drunk, and I don't even drink!
What more can I say? This was yet another train wreck brought to us by the DREAD LORD BENDIS. Clint "Why is he still Ronin" Barton seems to be getting a larger role in this comic book. I guess that's a good thing, even though since Clint is one of my favorite characters, I'm afraid to see what the DREAD LORD has in store for Clint. Hey, then again, the DREAD LORD has already killed Clint off twice over the course of a year, so maybe he'll leave Clint alone for a while... Probably not though. Well, if nothing else, writing this review down was kind of cathartic for me. Now I can put this comic away and NEVER open it again. For a score, I'll give this issue a 3 out of 10. Why a 3? Why not. Please Joe Quesada, take LORD BENDIS the hell off the Avengers titles already!!! ARRRRGH!!!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Just some random complaints.
I just figured I'd post a few complaints tonight. Why am I complaining you might ask? The simple answer is, Daylight Savings. I'm sure there is a reason for Daylight Savings. I know I learned about it in school way back when. It has something to do with farmers right? Anyway, one of my favorite pastimes is sleeping. Yes, I know that's kind of pathetic, but I really enjoy sleeping. While at my last job, I had to get up at 4:30-5:00am to catch the bus at 5:15-5:30am. To cope with waking up at that ungodly hour, I'd be in bed by 8:30pm. I'll say this much about going to sleep at 8:30, it's a great way to save money! You might have no life, but you save money! This whole spring forward, and lose an hour of sleep crap really bothers me. I'm just saying.
Speaking about things that bothered me, this week's episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold also really bugged me. First of all, Cartoon Network put it on at 8:30 instead of 8:00 like they advertised. If you say the show is on at 8, put it on at 8, not 8:30! Anyway, besides that slight annoyance, this week's show featured Batman teaming up with the Joker... Yes, that's right, the frigging Joker. Now, I understand that the cartoon Joker hadn't beat Jason Todd to death with a crowbar, or crippled Barbara Gordon, but still, the cartoon establishes(through a series of flashbacks)that the Joker is a real bad guy. I'm sorry, but Batman and the Joker teaming up is a big no-no for me. On top of the idiotic idea of a Batman-Joker team-up, the voice acting for the Joker was just horrible! I could swear that Joker was speaking with a slight British accent. In my mind, the Joker will always sound like he did in the Batman: The Animated Series. THAT is how the Joker should sound. Not like a high-society snob. This episode just totally fell flat for me.
While I'm in full out complaint mode, allow me to express my shock at the price of this month's New Avengers comic. I kind of touched on it at the end of my review for New Avengers #50(which you can read here if you want), but the cover price for that comic was $4.99! Damn, when I first started collecting comics, I could buy 3 comics for that price and still have 50 cents left over to buy a candy bar! I understand that prices rise over time, etc, etc, but jeez, $5 for a 48 page comic book is kind of crazy Marvel. The price didn't effect me since I get New Avengers in the mail through Marvel's subscription service, but I can't imagine anyone except for the most ardent BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS fans shelling out $5 bucks for that comic.
OK, so what did we learn from this post? I hate Daylight Savings, this week's Batman:tBatB sucked, and the people running Marvel Comics are insane. You know, this was probably one of the strangest posts I've ever published... It really served no purpose. If you actually managed to read this entire post, then all I can say is good for you, I don't know how you did it, but I appreciate it! And now just to end this post in the most bizarre way possible, LONG LIVE THE LEGION!!!
Speaking about things that bothered me, this week's episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold also really bugged me. First of all, Cartoon Network put it on at 8:30 instead of 8:00 like they advertised. If you say the show is on at 8, put it on at 8, not 8:30! Anyway, besides that slight annoyance, this week's show featured Batman teaming up with the Joker... Yes, that's right, the frigging Joker. Now, I understand that the cartoon Joker hadn't beat Jason Todd to death with a crowbar, or crippled Barbara Gordon, but still, the cartoon establishes(through a series of flashbacks)that the Joker is a real bad guy. I'm sorry, but Batman and the Joker teaming up is a big no-no for me. On top of the idiotic idea of a Batman-Joker team-up, the voice acting for the Joker was just horrible! I could swear that Joker was speaking with a slight British accent. In my mind, the Joker will always sound like he did in the Batman: The Animated Series. THAT is how the Joker should sound. Not like a high-society snob. This episode just totally fell flat for me.
While I'm in full out complaint mode, allow me to express my shock at the price of this month's New Avengers comic. I kind of touched on it at the end of my review for New Avengers #50(which you can read here if you want), but the cover price for that comic was $4.99! Damn, when I first started collecting comics, I could buy 3 comics for that price and still have 50 cents left over to buy a candy bar! I understand that prices rise over time, etc, etc, but jeez, $5 for a 48 page comic book is kind of crazy Marvel. The price didn't effect me since I get New Avengers in the mail through Marvel's subscription service, but I can't imagine anyone except for the most ardent BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS fans shelling out $5 bucks for that comic.
OK, so what did we learn from this post? I hate Daylight Savings, this week's Batman:tBatB sucked, and the people running Marvel Comics are insane. You know, this was probably one of the strangest posts I've ever published... It really served no purpose. If you actually managed to read this entire post, then all I can say is good for you, I don't know how you did it, but I appreciate it! And now just to end this post in the most bizarre way possible, LONG LIVE THE LEGION!!!
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