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Post by thwhtguardian on Aug 9, 2018 7:44:42 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2018 7:58:05 GMT -5
Supergirl #21 by Marc Andreyko, Kevin Maguire, and Sean Parsons: I dropped the Supergirl title several months ago due to the art and direction, but decided to give the new creative team a try and I was pleasantly surprised. Supergirl is still reeling from what Rogol Zaar has done and learning he was responsible for Krypton's destruction. She has a very nice scene with Superman as she reminds him that technically she is older than he is and she has very vivid memories of Krypton and her life there. Against Superman's wishes, she decides to on a journey to figure all this out and avenge her people. She gets a quick assist from Green Lantern (HAL!) who learns something surprising and Krypto is along for the ride.
This was a very nice starting point for a character that hasn't been that interesting to me since she was revamped with the New 52 mess. I liked the way the new costume she has is explained and love how it is similar to her 1959 debut look. I read that she will be changing looks throughout this story, which reminds me of the early 70s when she changed costumes often.
Maguire's art fits this book and he draws an impressive Supergirl and Krypto. His art lends itself well to alien technology and the tone of the story. I think I will be adding this one to my pull list. Very silver age feel to this issue.....one minor thing about Superman titles in general...while Jonathan is full of spunk, seeing this take on Supergirl makes me miss Conner Kent even more. As I was reading this story, I was thinking he would be perfect to tag along with Supergirl. Maybe Supergirl will run across him on her journey, haha!
8/10
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2018 8:39:53 GMT -5
 Superman #2.Written by Brian Michael Bendis. Art and Cover by Ivan Reis. Flashback to a war between Thanagar and Tamaran with Zaar leading the Thanagarians. Then Superman trying to "hold" the earth together as it "struggles" to exist in the Phantom Zone. J'Onn mentally links the Justice League. Zaar fights the Nuclear Man & destroys him. Flash visits Superman in his new Fortress but acts out of character. Meanwhile Batman reports in saying he has a bowel disturbance. The issue ends with Superman feeling hopeless. The Good: Bendis has Superman's voice & thoughts down PERFECT. His Superman is the hero that other heroes look to as an example. Reis' art is beautiful. Acknowledging the JLA would help in a crisis like this. The Bad: Bendis' conversation quirks are back. Flash & Batman were totally out of character. Pushing Zaar (a generic boring villain) as a worthy foe.
7/10. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Aug 9, 2018 8:49:19 GMT -5
The Sandman Universe  Written by Neil Gaiman, Si Spurrier, Nalo Hopkinson, Dan Watters and Kat Howard Art by Bilquis Evely, Tom Fowler, Domo Stanton and Max and Sebastion Fiumara Summary: Dream of the Endless is missing(...again!) and so Matthew the raven must go out and find him, but outside of the Dreaming he finds many stories other than the one he searches for.
Plot: This is one of those books that didn't make it home from the shop unread, I paid for it and then went straight to my car and read it in the parking lot and never once realized I was sitting in the sweltering heat with out the AC until I had closed the book. Some stories just have that allure, they simply demand to be read immediately and this was certainly one of them and it's very fitting as its core it's a story about stories. And while it was just a primer introducing the new books to come the way it tied them all together never felt anything less than organic; using Matthew's journey to find Dream really was a stroke of genius on Gaiman's part as it allowed us to not only immerse our selves into these new stories but also to jump from one to another with out feeling jarred. While I'm sad we won't actually be seeing new writing from Gaiman in these new entries what glimpses we saw here convince me that the world he created is in good hands.
Art: When the actual books come out we'll better be able to judge the artists, but everything seemed to fit tonally in what we saw here. As for the multitude of covers this book had...well while I like Jae Lee I can't for the life of me figure out why he was the standard cover instead of Dave McKean, I mean when you think Sandman you just see McKean in your head. That said, I really had a difficult time choosing between McKeen and P. Craig Russel, both are beautiful but no way was I buying them both and while in real life I went with McKean's cover here I get the best of both world's as I can use one for the front page and the other here!
Grade:10/10 |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2018 8:50:10 GMT -5
 Amazing Spider-Man #3.Written by Nick Spencer. Art and Cover by Ryan Ottley. Pete & MJ are out bowling. Meanwhile Spidey is fighting the Tri-Sentinel. How? The Isotope Genome Accelerator from last issue split Peter in two. One with powers and one without. Peter loves this once he adjusts to not having powers because he gets to spend more time with MJ. However he discovers from Dr Conners that the animal trials of the IGA are failures. You see Pete has all the sense of responsibility and Spidey has all the power. Without both his lives will unravel. The Good: Spencer is writing an old school style of story. Ottley's art. It's nice to see Peter happy even though we know it will be short lived. The Bad: This is an old Science Fiction trope that we have seen many times in Star Trek and movies.
7/10. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2018 9:01:30 GMT -5
 Hawkman #3.Written by Robert Venditti. Art and Cover by Bryan Hitch. Hawkman continues his quest on Dinosaur Island. He is attacked by Feitherans defending the Aerie. After defeating them he finds an elder guarding a cave. The elder fades away and Carter enters the cave and finds alien tech. He starts to remember something and is whisked away across space. He ends up facing another one of his incarnations... Katar Hol of Thanagar. The good: Hitch's art. The Feitherans (from way back in 1946 and revived in Infinity Inc with Northwind). Katar. More pieces of the puzzle. The bad: the story is a bit decompressed. Most of the issue (13 pages) showed Hawkman fighting either dinosaurs or the Feitherans. 7/10. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2018 9:15:53 GMT -5
 Fantastic Four #1.Written by Dan Slott. Art by Sara Pichelli, and Simone Bianchi. Ben is out with Alicia. Johnny is at a Mets game. The FF flare goes off & Johnny thinks the Richards' family has returned. However Johnny discovers some Yancy St youths broke into Ben's apt and stole the gun. Ben confesses to Alicia that he knows the Richards' are dead. She tells him not to give up hope and Ben asks her to marry him. She says yes. When they meet with Johnny to tell them their news Johnny breaks down emotionally and as he accepts the fact that the Richards are gone... a signal appears in the sky as Reed breaks thru from where they are located. In a second story Doom returns to Latveria and takes over again as ruler. The good: Slott obviously is a fan of the FF. He nails all the voices well. He gives us fans everything we wanted to see except the actual reunion. I hope he follows thru with Ben & Alicia getting married. The bad: parts of this story don't make sense with recent events in MTIO. Mostly that Ben & Johnny lost their powers without being in the same universe as Reed & Sue. In this story they have their powers. And I really think after all this time we could have had all 4 of them together by the end of the issue. 8/10. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 9, 2018 9:21:32 GMT -5
Fantastic Four #1.Written by Dan Slott. Art by Sara Pichelli, and Simone Bianchi. Ben is out with Alicia. Johnny is at a Mets game. The FF flare goes off & Johnny thinks the Richards' family has returned. However Johnny discovers some Yancy St youths broke into Ben's apt and stole the gun. Ben confesses to Alicia that he knows the Richards' are dead. She tells him not to give up hope and Ben asks her to marry him. She says yes. When they meet with Johnny to tell them their news Johnny breaks down emotionally and as he accepts the fact that the Richards are gone... a signal appears in the sky as Reed breaks thru from where they are located. In a second story Doom returns to Latveria and takes over again as ruler. The good: Slott obviously is a fan of the FF. He nails all the voices well. He gives us fans everything we wanted to see except the actual reunion. I hope he follows thru with Ben & Alicia getting married. The bad: parts of this story don't make sense with recent events in MTIO. Mostly that Ben & Johnny lost their powers without being in the same universe as Reed & Sue. In this story they have their powers. And I really think after all this time we could have had all 4 of them together by the end of the issue. 8/10. I enjoyed it quite a bit. And I loved the Impossible Man bit at the end which addressed your last sentence. I really loved this panel...  My children said this to my wife on many occasions |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Aug 9, 2018 9:24:14 GMT -5
Darth Vader #19
 Written by Charles Soule Art by Giuseppe Camuncoli Summary: Things have not been so bright for Jedi Master Eeth Koth since the Purge, but with the birth of his daughter that seems about to change...until the shadow of Darth Vader crosses his threshold.
Plot: Although the run has been slightly uneven at times, and the last story dragged on for far too long, when Soule gets Vader right...her really gets him right and in this issue he does just that. Vader isn't a person here: he's the dark shadow that gives you chills when it passes over you, he's a pure, uncaring force of nature...he's the boogey-man and he can't be stopped. That's Vader at his best, he's a presence more than an actual character and he works perfectly that way as he stalks, silently and abruptly like an ill omen into Koth's home just as he's welcoming the birth of his child. I don't know where the rest of this story will go, or what the child snatching will amount too but if Soule can hold onto this old school horror vibe he just might strike gold.
Art: Camuncoli as as solid as he always is, giving Vader weight when he needs it but also an air of insubstantiality as well in the right scenes which really helps craft that feeling that Vader is alomost a supernatural being. That said just look at the cover above and stand in awe...he really out did himself there with that beauty, it really just screams Star Wars. If that were a poster I'd buy it in an instant.
Grade:8/10 |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2018 9:25:56 GMT -5
 Flash #52.Written by Joshua Williamson, Art by Christian Duce. Barry meets with other Flashes from across the Multiverse in the House of Heroes. Meanwhile the Trickster is captured by Para-Angels while being questioned by the police. The Flash tries to intervene but Commander Cold (stuck here from the 25th century) tries to help. The Trickster disappears into a hole in the ground. He reappears as a Hulk like Trickster "buffed up" by the Strength Force. The good: Williamson appears to be exploring the other forces in the multiverse besides the speed force. Having Cold stuck here adds to the story. The scenes with Barry & Iris. The bad: The different forces sort of make sense but it all seems a bit goofy. I miss Wally. The art was just OK.
7/10. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Aug 9, 2018 9:31:55 GMT -5
Supergirl #21 by Marc Andreyko, Kevin Maguire, and Sean Parsons: I dropped the Supergirl title several months ago due to the art and direction, but decided to give the new creative team a try and I was pleasantly surprised. Supergirl is still reeling from what Rogol Zaar has done and learning he was responsible for Krypton's destruction. She has a very nice scene with Superman as she reminds him that technically she is older than he is and she has very vivid memories of Krypton and her life there. Against Superman's wishes, she decides to on a journey to figure all this out and avenge her people. She gets a quick assist from Green Lantern (HAL!) who learns something surprising and Krypto is along for the ride. This was a very nice starting point for a character that hasn't been that interesting to me since she was revamped with the New 52 mess. I liked the way the new costume she has is explained and love how it is similar to her 1959 debut look. I read that she will be changing looks throughout this story, which reminds me of the early 70s when she changed costumes often. Maguire's art fits this book and he draws an impressive Supergirl and Krypto. His art lends itself well to alien technology and the tone of the story. I think I will be adding this one to my pull list. Very silver age feel to this issue.....one minor thing about Superman titles in general...while Jonathan is full of spunk, seeing this take on Supergirl makes me miss Conner Kent even more. As I was reading this story, I was thinking he would be perfect to tag along with Supergirl. Maybe Supergirl will run across him on her journey, haha! 8/10 I'm usually the guy who bemoans the sea of new number ones flooding the market, but to me, I feel like it would have been warranted here. This isn't just a new creative team telling another story...it's an entirely new direction for the title...a title that last saw and issue published in April. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2018 9:34:05 GMT -5
 Daredevil #606.Written by Charles Soule. Art and Cover by Phil Noto. DD goes up against Hammerhead. He enlists some help from an Inhuman agent. Also Mike Murdock returns but it is NOT DD. The two of them come face to face on the last page and DD is shocked. The good: Soule switches gears as DD looks at the long game to bring Fisk down. The bad: not sure about the return of Mike Murdock. Even though Noto is a great artist I'm not sure I like this practice of a new artist with each new arc. 7/10. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2018 9:39:45 GMT -5
 Plastic Man #3.Written by Gail Simone. Art by Adriana Melo. Cover by Alex Ross. Plas rescues the kid from last issue. Man-Bat helps him. I'm not sure what happened this issue. It felt like Simone put the plot from #1-2 on the back burner to take the story in a different direction. Melo's art is fun & captures Plas' well. 5/10. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Aug 9, 2018 10:00:06 GMT -5
Fantastic Four #1.Written by Dan Slott. Art by Sara Pichelli, and Simone Bianchi. Ben is out with Alicia. Johnny is at a Mets game. The FF flare goes off & Johnny thinks the Richards' family has returned. However Johnny discovers some Yancy St youths broke into Ben's apt and stole the gun. Ben confesses to Alicia that he knows the Richards' are dead. She tells him not to give up hope and Ben asks her to marry him. She says yes. When they meet with Johnny to tell them their news Johnny breaks down emotionally and as he accepts the fact that the Richards are gone... a signal appears in the sky as Reed breaks thru from where they are located. In a second story Doom returns to Latveria and takes over again as ruler. The good: Slott obviously is a fan of the FF. He nails all the voices well. He gives us fans everything we wanted to see except the actual reunion. I hope he follows thru with Ben & Alicia getting married. The bad: parts of this story don't make sense with recent events in MTIO. Mostly that Ben & Johnny lost their powers without being in the same universe as Reed & Sue. In this story they have their powers. And I really think after all this time we could have had all 4 of them together by the end of the issue. 8/10. I enjoyed it quite a bit. And I loved the Impossible Man bit at the end which addressed your last sentence. I really loved this panel... My children said this to my wife on many occasions It really did capture that family feel pretty darn well, which is a great sign for a FF book. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Aug 9, 2018 11:50:21 GMT -5
BPRD #156 Written by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie Art by Laurence Campbell Summary: As the BPRD starts to close in on Varvara they find a very literal Hell on Earth in Manhattan.
Plot: It's been an incredibly slow pace these last eight issues as Mignola and Allie have been meticulously been laying down the bones of battle to end all battles but with this issue things look to be picking up. Make no mistake, though the last issues have been slow at moving the plot along a lot of important events occurred but here we get a better balance between forward momentum, action and important character moments and with that balance comes a much better read. By far my favorite part though is that Hellboy isn't just back but he's back to his old self which is fantastic to see. When your main character is the son of the devil the story of the end times is really a forgone conclusion when it comes to a finale but Mignola is a master of playing off expectation so I'm excited to see what he does.
Art: Campbell does a fantastic job as always with not only the small character moments and action set pieces but also in giving his art a real sense of place and mood. His images of a destroyed and Hellish Manhattan are truly haunting, not just with their destroyed buildings but also in the layers of smoke that drape over everything obscuring the finer details and causing your imagination to run wild with what horrors might be lurking around the corner. On top of that just feast your eyes on the cover by Sebastian Fiumara; I love his Hellboy and although he's gotten to draw a young Hellboy his take on the older version in action is stunning so much much so that it's a pitty he hasn't done a full story yet.
Grade:8/10 |
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