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Post by The Captain on Mar 23, 2018 15:05:48 GMT -5
Doctor Strange #387
The Damnation story continues, with the good Doctor having been crippled at the end of last issue by a demonic Thor (Jane Foster version, not Odinson) due to cheating Mephisto at cards. He feels all is lost, but then he gets a message from Wong, who says a team of soul-challenged heroes (folks like Blade, Elsa Bloodstone, Ghost Rider, and Moon Knight, among others) has been assembled to rescue him and that Stephen needs to wait for a sign, which comes in the form of his former lover Clea. She mends his legs and helps him escape Mephisto's dungeon with the assistance of big guns Scarlet Witch and Loki, who is apparently Stephen's newest and biggest rival (it's a weird dynamic, taking Loki out of the Thor mythos and putting him into this world, but I actually like it). Unfortunately, all is not as it seems, as "Clea" has a secret, one that may prove disastrous to both Stephen and his would-be rescuers...
I am not reading the companion Damnation mini-series, so there are probably things happening there that I am missing, and therefore, this doesn't all make sense. It's not bad, but after having this series dragged into the Hydra-Cap crossover, then connected with its own mini, I'm getting a little tired of having to have knowledge of other books in order to enjoy the few Marvel books that I actually still buy. The one thing I do really like is Niko Henrichon's art, which is different in a good way, like Bachalo's, although I do not like the way he draws eyes, particularly Clea's or Wanda's; they are much too big and much too far apart to look real, and it is a distraction.
5/10 - The parts I can understand are fine, but there are major gaps that probably would be filled from my buying and reading the central mini-series, which ain't going to happen until I can get it out of the $1 bins or pick up a cheap TPB copy.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2018 17:48:01 GMT -5
Aquaman #34I've never been a DC fan, but for some reason, I've really been into the last two Aquaman series. With the last series, there was an instant and marked downward change in quality when the writer changed from Jeff Parker to Cullen Bunn. With this one, however, there has been no such change, as the writer has remained Dan Abnett throughout, so it has been more difficult to detect the decrease in quality but it has most definitely been there. 4/10 - I'm hoping this story ends and something better is around the corner, because I'm getting ready to put this book on pull list life support. I'm betting once this story wraps up here (& in the Mera series) DC will bring in a new creative team. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 23, 2018 18:00:21 GMT -5
Doctor Strange #387The Damnation story continues, with the good Doctor having been crippled at the end of last issue by a demonic Thor (Jane Foster version, not Odinson) due to cheating Mephisto at cards. He feels all is lost, but then he gets a message from Wong, who says a team of soul-challenged heroes (folks like Blade, Elsa Bloodstone, Ghost Rider, and Moon Knight, among others) has been assembled to rescue him and that Stephen needs to wait for a sign, which comes in the form of his former lover Clea. She mends his legs and helps him escape Mephisto's dungeon with the assistance of big guns Scarlet Witch and Loki, who is apparently Stephen's newest and biggest rival (it's a weird dynamic, taking Loki out of the Thor mythos and putting him into this world, but I actually like it). Unfortunately, all is not as it seems, as "Clea" has a secret, one that may prove disastrous to both Stephen and his would-be rescuers... I am not reading the companion Damnation mini-series, so there are probably things happening there that I am missing, and therefore, this doesn't all make sense. It's not bad, but after having this series dragged into the Hydra-Cap crossover, then connected with its own mini, I'm getting a little tired of having to have knowledge of other books in order to enjoy the few Marvel books that I actually still buy. The one thing I do really like is Niko Henrichon's art, which is different in a good way, like Bachalo's, although I do not like the way he draws eyes, particularly Clea's or Wanda's; they are much too big and much too far apart to look real, and it is a distraction. 5/10 - The parts I can understand are fine, but there are major gaps that probably would be filled from my buying and reading the central mini-series, which ain't going to happen until I can get it out of the $1 bins or pick up a cheap TPB copy. I picked up the Damnation chapters and I can honestly say that you aren't really missing anything; heck when I read #386 my biggest complaint was that I felt that it was a drag because nearly everything it did was covered already in Damnation #1 which had come out the prior week. And it's largely the same here, that two page splash page at the beginning that goes over how Wong collected a bunch of supernatural bad asses which does in two pages about as well as Damnation #2 did in 20. So while I felt Damnation #1 was better than Strange #386, the reverse was true here as the splash page was much better than Wong showing up, encountering a hero and recruiting them...over and over, and over again. It was beyond repetitive, so a quick, "Hey, here are all the guys I brought together to save you!" worked much better but even so this was pretty lukewarm for me, so much so that I didn't even muster up the wherewithal to review this book last week and although I bought it Wednesday, I put Damnation #3 at the bottom of my pile. The hydra-cap crossover was what made me drop this book after the Aaron run, it just felt disjointed and full of stuff I had zero interest but I had read(I think from you) that with the start of the Loki story it got pretty good so I went back and picked it up after the Hydra story and I've absolutely loved it right up until this event. The idea is great; Steven's experienced life with out magic for so long that when he get's it back he misuses it in a big way and it has disastrous consequences but with the mini-series in between it feels a little to dragged out at this point. 5/10 for me too |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 23, 2018 19:43:38 GMT -5
Star Wars #45Written by Kieron Gillen Art by Salvador Larroca Summary: Princess Leia sells the Rebel Alliance High Command on her plot to bring new rulership to Mon Cala in order to gain a fleet.
Plot: I said last time that I really liked that Gillen was exploring how the Rebellion went from a group that could barely field a squad of fighters to take on the Death Star in A New Hope to having a fleet large enough to go toe to toe with the Empire's best above Endor, and although I still love that idea and the heist type plot being used to get there this second chapter felt a bit thin. Don't get me wrong, once it got going the heist feel to it was fun, but the problem is that it came in the last five pages; the rest were taken up with a pointless scene with Luke and Han joking about Luke preferring blue milk to alcohol and a scene where Luke meets back up with Wedge that seems to only be there to make a reference to Rebels. Slice of life plots definitely have their place, but heavily front loaded in this issue just didn't flow and made the break in to the prison seemed rushed where it should have focused more on that through the whole issue.
Art: I've talked about my growing hate of Larroca's reliance of photo refrencing in his art, but here I feel it's even worse as he loses his one saving grace: he substitutes his usually lush back grounds empty colorshed back drops occasionally populated by silhouettes. It all feels really phoned in at this point and it really frustrates me as he is a great artist and his work at the start of the Marvel run was phenomenal.
Grade:5/10 |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 23, 2018 20:44:33 GMT -5
 Mighty Thor #705. Written by Jason Aaron. Art and Cover by Russell Dauterman. Jane stops Mangog. And dies. Crap. With modern comics death has no meaning anymore but Aaron did a masterful job tugging at the heartstrings to make me feel sad with Jane's heroic sacrifice. An epic slugfest & brutal fight between Mangog & Jane ends with her death as she saves the day one last time. Next issue the aftermath. My only complaint was the art was a bit off this issue. Best This Week. 9/10. Maybe I'm just too jaded but Jane's death did nothing for me, which has been my fear since it was announced. I've loved Aaron's run since the start, through both Thors, and I really hoped he could pull this off and make it not feel so terribly contrived but it seems like he just couldn't pull it off as rather coming off as important Jane's sacrifice came across as no different than a dozen others. I was glad however that he avoided defeating Mangog with Jane's sense of love and heroism as it really seemed it was going that way half way through the issue and I could really feel my eyes rolling towards the back of my head with each panel. Still, even avoiding that cliche it was still just a slug fest that ended with one hero clutching at the other's lifeless body at the end; and the art didn't due it any favors as it looked just like every other death scene:
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 23, 2018 20:56:15 GMT -5
Super Sons #14.
Written by Peter J. Tomasi. Art by Carlo Barberi and Art Thibert. Cover by Jorge Jimenez.
Talia al Ghul vs Damian. Robin & Superboy try to stop Talia from assassinating Lois Lane. Obviously they succeed at stopping Robin's Mother. This experience causes both of them to realize that Damian is more like his father than he thought. And that increases the bond of friendship even more between Jon & Damian.
A dynamic, fun story that involved both mothers. Tomasi excels at writing these two "families". This series has been a joy to read. I also liked Barberi's art. Like Jimenez he succeeds at drawing children. This title is one of my favorites.
8/10. While the fight between Damian and Talia seemed pretty rote, what made this issue for me were the scenes with Jon and Lois after he beat the ninjas and the conversation between Jon and Damian. Their heavy talk about choices balanced perfectly with their following talk about swords making it seem likely a completely believable conversation between two kids which has really been the highlight all along. The superheroics are fun, but the fact that they both come across as real kids has been what made this book worth reading and I'll really miss it when it's gone. Grade:7/10 |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2018 6:56:21 GMT -5
Mighty Thor #705. Written by Jason Aaron. Art and Cover by Russell Dauterman. Jane stops Mangog. And dies. Crap. With modern comics death has no meaning anymore but Aaron did a masterful job tugging at the heartstrings to make me feel sad with Jane's heroic sacrifice. An epic slugfest & brutal fight between Mangog & Jane ends with her death as she saves the day one last time. Next issue the aftermath. My only complaint was the art was a bit off this issue. Best This Week. 9/10. Maybe I'm just too jaded but Jane's death did nothing for me, which has been my fear since it was announced. I've loved Aaron's run since the start, through both Thors, and I really hoped he could pull this off and make it not feel so terribly contrived but it seems like he just couldn't pull it off as rather coming off as important Jane's sacrifice came across as no different than a dozen others. I was glad however that he avoided defeating Mangog with Jane's sense of love and heroism as it really seemed it was going that way half way through the issue and I could really feel my eyes rolling towards the back of my head with each panel. Still, even avoiding that cliche it was still just a slug fest that ended with one hero clutching at the other's lifeless body at the end; and the art didn't due it any favors as it looked just like every other death scene:
Which just really hammered home the, "been there, done that" feeling of Jane's death.
I get that. Sometimes I read a review that is so positive & I wonder did they read the same thing I did because I had the opposite reaction. Part of it could be I jumped onto the Jane/Thor storyline much later than you did. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2018 6:57:21 GMT -5
Super Sons #14.
Written by Peter J. Tomasi. Art by Carlo Barberi and Art Thibert. Cover by Jorge Jimenez.
Talia al Ghul vs Damian. Robin & Superboy try to stop Talia from assassinating Lois Lane. Obviously they succeed at stopping Robin's Mother. This experience causes both of them to realize that Damian is more like his father than he thought. And that increases the bond of friendship even more between Jon & Damian.
A dynamic, fun story that involved both mothers. Tomasi excels at writing these two "families". This series has been a joy to read. I also liked Barberi's art. Like Jimenez he succeeds at drawing children. This title is one of my favorites.
8/10. While the fight between Damian and Talia seemed pretty rote, what made this issue for me were the scenes with Jon and Lois after he beat the ninjas and the conversation between Jon and Damian. Their heavy talk about choices balanced perfectly with their following talk about swords making it seem likely a completely believable conversation between two kids which has really been the highlight all along. The superheroics are fun, but the fact that they both come across as real kids has been what made this book worth reading and I'll really miss it when it's gone. Grade:7/10 Yes it is a great book, unique among the super hero titles from DC & Marvel. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 24, 2018 10:34:54 GMT -5
 Future Quest Presents #8. Written by Jeff Parker. Art by Steve Lieber Mightor shows up for a one-and-done story that gives us a little glimpse into Ty's family life, a quick cameo by Jonny and Hadji, and Mightor being taken to the site of first contact with some aliens who think that Earth will acquiesce to their dominance. This title has been super fun and this issue isn't any exception. It's a nice tight little story the like of which we seldom see any more. And it did the job of putting the spotlight on Mightor and Ty. The only problem is that I really want more. Give the kid his own series...or at least a mini. I'd be down for it. 10/10The family dynamic between Ty and his parents was my favorite part of this issue for me, it was only short but the support they expressed for him as a hero felt genuine and was a great twist on the usual super hero/secret identity relationship. On top of that the action was really bright and fun making this book everything you'd want out of a super hero book. If I had my druthers Jeff Parker would be chief creative talent at DC, because every book should be this good. The family stuff was really amazing. In a short few pages they conveyed that this was a real family that really cares about each other, with all the foibles that go along with that. I'm good with Jeff Parker being in charge. With Darwyn Cooke's passing he's easily the creator that has done the best work for DC. This was, for me, the best issue of the book so far. I liked the Space Ghost story pretty well. And Steve Rude did his usual bang-up job on Birdman. But this was just a win both in story and art. I could see myself sitting down and reading this issue with any of my boys at pretty much any point in their lives. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 24, 2018 18:06:29 GMT -5
The family dynamic between Ty and his parents was my favorite part of this issue for me, it was only short but the support they expressed for him as a hero felt genuine and was a great twist on the usual super hero/secret identity relationship. On top of that the action was really bright and fun making this book everything you'd want out of a super hero book. If I had my druthers Jeff Parker would be chief creative talent at DC, because every book should be this good. The family stuff was really amazing. In a short few pages they conveyed that this was a real family that really cares about each other, with all the foibles that go along with that. I'm good with Jeff Parker being in charge. With Darwyn Cooke's passing he's easily the creator that has done the best work for DC. This was, for me, the best issue of the book so far. I liked the Space Ghost story pretty well. And Steve Rude did his usual bang-up job on Birdman. But this was just a win both in story and art. I could see myself sitting down and reading this issue with any of my boys at pretty much any point in their lives. Yeah, this was definitely the best of the bunch so far which is really saying something with the track record of this title. It was short and sweet and really packed a punch. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 24, 2018 19:36:07 GMT -5
Doctor Strange: Damnation #3 Written by Donny Cates Art by Szymon Kudranski Summary: Mehispto has taken full control of Vegas, the Avengers and now even Doctor Strange, what can Wong and his team do to triumph?
Plot: What started out as a story that seemed poised to further explore the concept of using one's powers responsibly has turned into total slog. What's worse than the pacing issues however is the fact that the team of supernatural bad asses that I was excited to see interact is a real mess, no one has any real personality and the interactions feel completely meaningless. There was a lot of potential here but it really seems lost at this point, especially with the ending with how Ghost Rider was so easily dispatched; who thought that was a dramatic use of the character? I don't know, at this point I might skip the ending.
Art: While I like Kudranski's scratchy line work the coloring and inking by Dan Brown really makes it all come across as looking really flat. It reminds me of the cell shading in A Scanner Darkly, it just seems really cheap looking and drains the energy from the piece.
Grade:4/10 |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 25, 2018 10:19:10 GMT -5
Green Lantern: Earth One Written by Gabriel Hardman and Corinna Bechko Art by Gabriel Hardman Summary: A bold new beginning for Hal Jordan and the Green Lanterns Plot:This newest chapter in the Earth One line is probably the best entry to date with the creators really trying to fundamentally rethink the characters and the universe in which they operate in order to create a fresh and modern story. Gone is the 1960's test pilot, and in his place a blue collar astronaut in the not too distant future simply trying to earn a few bucks while mining an asteroid. It's gritty and real, but without being dark which makes for a very relate-able character in Hal Jordan. Still, that said like all of DC's prior Earth One books, Green Lanterndoes struggle with pacing as it becomes evident once again that the graphic novel format simply isn't ideal to contain the stories these creators are trying to tell. While it starts out strong the issues that arise when shoe horning this plot into a one and done graphic novel become evident in third act which feels very rushed and truncated. Characters that feel like they should have been important and more developed drop out of the story abruptly and others are introduced with out being given their full due. As effective an overhaul as this Earth One revamp is, it's hard not to wonder how much it could be improved with a longer page count or by being converted to a limited series. None of this is to say you can't have a series of graphic novels, Mike Mignola has had great success of late in telling a series of stories as stand alone graphic novels, but rather it's a case that this story in particular seems ill fitted for the medium. Art: More than anything else Hardman's artwork is responsible for truly giving this book its unique feel as Green Lantern: Earth One takes a drastically different visual approach the world of the Lanterns. Hal Jordan isn't the sleek, muscular hero wearing a skin-tight costume and many of the franchises more colorful trappings have been toned down. Hardman's art brings a harsher edge and a more moody sensibility to the page. Grade: 7/10 |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2018 21:13:31 GMT -5
Slam_Bradley & thwhtguardian ... Future Quest Presents #8 ... Featuring Mightor is a rare Modern Book that I really enjoyed reading and matter of fact it was Slam Bradley and Thwhtguardian's write up that causes me to check it out and my dear friend stopped by today and gave me a sample issue Future Quest Present #8 and I loved the artwork and the story itself. Along with Archie that @mrjupiter & md62 enjoying and @strider suggestion of getting Batman 66 meets Archie ... my pull list went from ZERO to THREE in one mighty stroke! Sorry about the multiple tags here ... and this one rare post for me in the Modern Section of this forum.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 28, 2018 8:40:00 GMT -5
Slam_Bradley & thwhtguardian ... Future Quest Presents #8 ... Featuring Mightor is a rare Modern Book that I really enjoyed reading and matter of fact it was Slam Bradley and Thwhtguardian's write up that causes me to check it out and my dear friend stopped by today and gave me a sample issue Future Quest Present #8 and I loved the artwork and the story itself. Along with Archie that @mrjupiter & md62 enjoying and @strider suggestion of getting Batman 66 meets Archie ... my pull list went from ZERO to THREE in one mighty stroke! Sorry about the multiple tags here ... and this one rare post for me in the Modern Section of this forum. Glad you liked it Mech, and you should totally pick up the previous issues as well because they're simply fantastic. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2018 11:07:11 GMT -5
Slam_Bradley & thwhtguardian ... Future Quest Presents #8 ... Featuring Mightor is a rare Modern Book that I really enjoyed reading and matter of fact it was Slam Bradley and Thwhtguardian's write up that causes me to check it out and my dear friend stopped by today and gave me a sample issue Future Quest Present #8 and I loved the artwork and the story itself. Along with Archie that @mrjupiter & md62 enjoying and @strider suggestion of getting Batman 66 meets Archie ... my pull list went from ZERO to THREE in one mighty stroke! Sorry about the multiple tags here ... and this one rare post for me in the Modern Section of this forum. Glad you liked it Mech, and you should totally pick up the previous issues as well because they're simply fantastic. I'm picking them up next Monday ...  |
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