Posts Tagged ‘ War of Kings ’

Tuesday seems to be developing into the day I post my reviews so…

Batman and Robin #2 – Another good issue, and I know this is being overwhelmingly positively reviewed but…(and you knew there’d be a but)…I really don’t like Damien and that’s souring the whole book for me. I understand that I’m not supposed to, but when there’s very little likable about a character, why bother reading about them?

Batman: Streets of Gotham #1 – Better late than never! A good set up issue, but I need more Hush like I need an axe in the head. I know that he’s become Dini’s pet bad guy over the past year or so, but let it go already. The Manhunter back-up was a good start to Kate’s Gotham adventures, but had very little weight to it.

Gotham City Sirens #1 Nice art, but once again there’s very little of note going on. Catwoman’s weak as a kitten (ho ho) so decides to set up house with Ivy and Harley, because obviously nothing could possibly go wrong with that – and that’s about it. Sure there’s a random bad guy thrown in but…that’s it.

Green Lantern Corps #38 – Good, but underwhelming intro to Blackest Night. The Guardians continue to be bastards, and nobody really seems to mind aside from Kyle and Guy. Suspect that’ll come back to bite them in their little blue asses.

Justice League: Cry for Justice#1 – Nice art, shame about the cliched writing. Every character wants “…Justice!”, which appears to be another way of saying “…Revenge!”. Overwrought, over played, and distressingly unsubtle. Although it does have a talking gorilla, so there’s that.

Agents Of Atlas #7 – I’m teetering on dropping this, as much as I like it. I’m just not sure where it’s going exactly. Right now, it feels oddly directionless – it seems desperate to define itself by reference to its guest stars. Next issue may make it or break it, Gorilla Man or not.

Amazing Spider-Man Family #8 – As good as ever, and per Bleeding Cool, not exactly cancelled, which is good news.

Captain America Reborn #1 – I don’t even have an opinion on this. It reads well, it looks good, it makes some sense…but I need to let it play out a little more before I make a decision one way or the other on the book. Something just feels iffy to me, using time travel as a plot point – even if it was heavily telegraphed in the early days of this volume of Captain America. And if that was Steve pulled out of time, who was buried in his coffin?

Fantastic Four #568 – Splash pages galore as the Marquis of Doom and his hooded disciple knock the team around a bit and then Reed shows him what a real man is. And then Reed gets the crap kicked out of him by a whole bunch of alternate versions of the Torch, the Thing and Sue. What? Ridiculous, borderline incoherent, but a very good looking book.

Invincible Iron Man #15 – Good issue, if a little light on action – but the plot moved forward nicely anyway. It’s the first time that the loss of Tony’s memory and intelligence hit on an emotional level, too, with a simple “Who’s Happy?” showing just how bad things are getting.

Uncanny X-Men #513 – Pointless posturing as Norman Osborn consolidates his power and clumsily muddles through some exposition as he introduces his own team of X-Men, and Cyclops ponders his next move. Honestly, I don’t know how this is the same guy writing this and Iron Man right now.

War Of Kings #5 – Continues to be an example of how to do a crossover right. And, of course, it all seems to boil down to the two leaders duking it out. I’m intrigued for what’s next for these characters, and hope that we get an Inhumans regular series out of it, or at least something starring Ronan and Crystal, who are really the break out stars of the story.

I also picked up Buffy but haven’t a chance to read it, so next week for that. I know, you can’t wait!

An excellent pair of covers which – until I put together this morning’s post – I hadn’t even realized were mirroring each other.

Nova. Still awesome even if it spends too much time on the Corps these days.

Better late than never – and still ahead of this week’s releases, which is good.

Action Comics Annual #12 – A steaming pile of crap. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve read a worse comic in a long time. Where to begin? Perhaps the grating, omniscient third party narration? Perhaps the fact that their origins are contrived? Perhaps the fact that we may know their history but we don’t really know them? If you haven’t bought it, don’t.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #1 - The store I went to didn’t have it. I choose to take this as a sign that it is not destined to be a monthly pull of mine. Alternatively, I may pick it up this week.

Outsiders #19 – Not bad, not good, just forgettable. The good news is that it has Vandal Savage (who’s always fun, in spite of Morrison’s makeover) and it also has Ra’s Al Ghul. IN A BEAR HEAD-HAT.

Power Girl #2 – Aaand I’m out. Well, that was quick. I’ve been looking forward to this comic since it was announced over a year ago, but I’m done. Two issues in and I get half an issue dedicated to the origin of a villain I don’t care about? Not only that, but the book suffers from serious verbal diarrhea. It’s the opposite of decompressed storytelling – which is fine until you realise that you don’t really care about the story anyway.

Supergirl #42 – Solid issue, with Lois reliably under control mourning her sister’s (apparent) death. It’s funny, but for all the fuss about Supergirl being back on track (and it is), I kind of view this book as the home of the Superman supporting cast right now – Lois, Sam Lane, Lana, Cat Grant; they’re all here. And the book’s the better for it. Oh, and Jamal Igle’s art on here is fantastic. He and Sibal are really working well together.

All-New Savage She-Hulk #3 – A great fun little mini. I find myself liking this more and more, and having the original She-Hulk punch out the Sentry is icing on the cake. Although…who wants more tiny little Normans running around? Sure, Harry’s okay, but the two-whose-name-shall-not-be-spoken weren’t enough? Although…would a Norman/Lyra mix still have his brillo pad hair?

Amazing Spider-Man Family #7 – A Roger Stern-penned Spidey tale is always a must, even if it is about Aunt May and Uncle Ben first getting together – but on the eve of May’s wedding, its a nice little retrospective. Throw in Spider-Girl (still entertaining) and Fred Hembeck’s l’il Peter Parker meeting the Brothers Voodoo, and you’ve got a nice little book.

Cable #15 – The whole Messiah War thing has basically become one big fight scene. Enjoyable fluff, but no depth to it.

Captain Britain And MI 13 #14 – I mentioned how much I liked this last week – but allow me to add this:
Heh.

Dark Reign Fantastic Four #4 – The more I read this book, the more concerned I am with Hickman taking the reigns of the regular title. Reed is back in ‘fix everything’ mode (which is the title of Hickman’s first arc), Ben, Sue and Johnny are supporting characters, and Franklin and Valeria are funny but kind of brattish – and they really shouldn’t be one of the main focuses of the book in my opinion. On the plus side, Norman Osborn is reliably crazy and the end of the issue promises a great smack-down which will, no doubt, not be delivered.

Invincible Iron Man #14 – Apparently I missed last issue which is why , but I’m all caught up now. Fraction handles this book much better than he does Uncanny X-Men. Focused, smart and funny, he’s on fire here, and Sal Larocca’s work is gorgeous. I’m a bit confused about Crimson Dynamo as I thought Dmitri was out of the suit, but that’s not enough to put me off.

Mighty Avengers #26 – Better than last issue, which isn’t saying much. I’m still not entirely on board but I want to see how this plays out. Honestly, though, the book needs a better art team than this.

Punisher #6 – Didn’t pick it up. So its been moved to the trade list!

War Of Kings Ascension #3 – This issue turned the spotlight on Chris Powell as opposed to Darkhawk and was the better for it. The art’s a lot less confusing without the two Darkhawks running around, and I feel like I’m getting to know the protagonist. And the book has finally dovetailed with War of Kings.

X-Men Legacy #225 – A decent enough wrap up to Xavier’s arc, but after a year and a half of him as the central star, I still don’t really care about him. So I suspect that the book’s failed, really, in spite of solid writing on Carey’s behalf. Nice art though.

The one-word review thing got tired (mainly because I didn’t want to repeat words over and over again) so instead, I’m going to be trying to do a very quick review of books I picked up this week.

Only no grading, because I could never do that consistently anyway.

Action Comics #878 – Four issues in to the new status quo and I’m still not sold. The only reason I’m still here is because (a) it’s got Lois, and (b) it’s going to loop back around to the other Superman books in a few months.

Batman #687 – You really have to tilt your head and squint to make this fit in with Battle for the Cowl – presumably because it fit in with writer Judd Winick’s scrapped version – but it’s not bad. Dick’s a bit mopey but it sets up the new status quo nicely enough, plus we get a scene where Dick and Alfred learn of Bruce’s death – which should probably have been shown sooner. Not a bad start.

Booster Gold #21 – It feels like this book’s got a kick in the ass after the last lackluster arc. Jurgens delivers the goods with what looks to be the start of a showdown with the time-traveling Black Beetle and some nice interplay between Booster and the new Batman. Wonder what happened to Booster’s ancestor, the second Supernova, though? The back-up – sorry, second feature – with Blue Beetle was fun but disposable. Good to see Paco and Brenda again, but the story felt like something more suited to Gail Simone’s old All-New Atom title as opposed to Beetle. Maybe it’s just me.

Flash: Rebirth #3 – A third slow issue about the fastest man alive. Huh. On the plus side, nice art, a last page reveal that makes the first page make sense, the return of two heroes – even if one of them appears to get wiped out again immediately – and one good line from Barry to Superman almost make the issue good. Honestly, though, if this is a big a deal as everyone makes it out to be, it should be a more interesting read.

Green Lantern Corps #37 – There’s an awful lot going on here: Sodam Yat’s so-obviously-not-final sacrifice, Arisia rallying the Daxamite population against Mongul, riots on Oa and rogue Guardian Scar generally raising hell and causing big, big problems. Tomasi, Gleason and co pack a lot in, but not so much that it’s unreadable. Although, seriously: Arisia, guerilla leader? Come on.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #5 – I’m not sure what’s going on with the art here. The character work is great, but the space battles look rushed. Story-wise, things move on a little bit, Vril Dox plots away and we finally see the real Starro. I kind of liked the big starfish version myself but whatever. It’s a quick read that may be better served in trade format.

Red Robin #1 – I’m on the fence here. On the plus side, I’m not as down on Tim and Dick’s interaction as everyone else seems to be – I didn’t read this as Tim being forced out of the Batfamily by any means. Similarly, I like that he has a clearly defined mission – find Bruce Wayne – that’s sending him globe-trotting across the, er, globe. I also liked the appearance of a certain Bat-foe, and I thought that Yost and Bachs make a pretty good creative team. On the minus side, I am a little worried that Tim – one of the most optimistic DC characters at one point – is now going all dark and moody, and that one of the character’s great assets in the past was his non-super supporting cast which are now all gone. Also, this paragraph is way too long.

Amazing Spider-Man #597 – I think for such a ‘big’ storyline, team Spidey could have assigned one penciller. Chechetto’s work here is actually very good, so good that I don’t think we needed Phil Jimenez on part one of the arc. Kelly’s story is tight and sharp, and full of nice moments as Spidey tries – and fails – to masquerade as bad-ass Venom in amongst the Dark Avengers. Good stuff. And two pages teasing the return of a classic villain in #600 made me realize just how much I’ve missed him. Good issue.

Deadpool #11 – Crazily good fun. I haven’t always been a fan of Daniel Way’s work, but this is just great – and Paco Medina’s art here is perfect for the madcap main character. Bullseye and Deadpool go at it, and neither really want it to end – and neither do I.

Fantastic Four #567 – The only reasons I’m still buying this right now are because I’ll be damned if I let this crappy run kick me off the book, the run’s almost over, and more importantly I hold out the teeniest, tiniest hope that it’s going to end with Doom coming back and kicking seven shades of shit out of his so-called Master. Also, I’m assuming that the guy’s permanently-shadowed apprentice is an alternate Reed Richards. Or Wolverine, because that’s just how Millar rolls.

Lockjaw And The Pet Avengers #2 – Severely, severely awesome. Pick this up.

Uncanny X-Men #511 – What a clusterfuck. Land’s art has people posing all over the place in confused fight scenes and Fraction’s script seems to assume that you just don’t care if a story makes sense. This whole Red Queen thing feels like it was just to get Psylocke back, and it’s been tortuous getting there. The book needs new blood, stat.

War Of Kings Savage World Of Skaar – Gorgon and Starbolt play Enemy Mine. Or, you know ‘Skaar, when the walls fell’ (bonus points for getting the misquoted reference!). Pointless and predictable, with merely adequate artwork and script, but oddly engaging all the same.

Wolverine #74 – Er, haven’t read it yet as I want to dig up #73 and read both in one sitting. But it sure looks pretty.

X-Men Forever #1 – I…okay, I can’t honestly say that this was a good book, but I can say I enjoyed it for what it was – a nice, nostalgic look at what might have been, complete with modern take on the corner box. Grummet’s artwork is as solid as ever (except for the oddly static cover) and there’s a sense that things will be different this time out – I fully expect the death of an established X-Man to prove a point in the first few issues. But ‘Remy Picard’? Seriously? I’d guess this is a fake name as LeBeau hadn’t been revealed as Gambit’s name at the time X-Men #3 shipped, and Jean Luc LeBeau hadn’t been…Jean Luc…Picard…oh. I’ll get my coat.

Angel: Blood & Trenches #4 – This has been an enjoyable throwaway series with gorgeous pencils by John Byrne. And I mean gorgeous. Unfortunately, the last issue here is a little rushed, and the final two page denouement feels completely unnecessary – honestly, there are some things that just feel a little bit off, and having Angel save Hitler is one of them. Otherwise, a decent read.

I can’t say how much I enjoyed Secret Invasion Inhumans – it really seemed to raise the Inhumans up to major players in the Marvel U – and showed the normally nonentity Black Bolt to be a real bad ass…

I’m not sure why I don’t like the Eternals too much as a concept but am so fond of the Inhumans – it must just be the characters. More than anything, I think this miniseries has solidified them as a family and as rulers of their people. It also dates back to Crystal’s time with both the FF and the Avengers. I’ve always liked the character, and to see her actually standing up for herself and her family is pretty satisfying.

I’m looking forward to War of Kings now…dammit…

Okay, I didn’t see that coming.

Darkhawk’s getting a solo book – granted, it’s a two-issue mini tied into War of Kings, but, hey, from those kind of acorns we got the great trees of the current Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy books.

As WAR OF KINGS approaches, the ascension of Darkhawk begins! New Warrior…Avenger…Intergalactic destroyer?! Chris Powell has been many things over his young life, but now he’s stepping up with a new life on the East Coast and a serious job at Project: P.E.G.A.S.U.S. But when his past comes back to haunt him and new information about his amulet and its legacy are violently brought to light, Darkhawk realizes he may have to face a much darker destiny that he ever realized. All this, plus the return of the Loners…and a reprint of DARKHAWK #1! You know how ANNIHILATION made you look twice at Nova (now star of a critically acclaimed series)? This is where Darkhawk takes off!

I have to admit, I thought that we might get some books out of this new event, but my money was on another Inhumans mini, not Darkhawk.

Or maybe a Wendell Vaughan mini.

One thing I do like, though, is the mention of the New Warriors front and center. With the current incarnation of that book going the way of the Dodo, Nova flying high, and survivors of the original team – presumably meaning, Counter Force (stupid name) – returning to the pages of Avengers: The Initiative, I can’t help but feel a little hopeful of a real New Warriors book sometime before the decade is up.

Hey, I can dream can’t I?