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Post by thwhtguardian on Jan 2, 2019 9:51:27 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2019 9:58:28 GMT -5
It's going to be a BIG week!
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jan 2, 2019 10:29:18 GMT -5
It's going to be a BIG week! I've only got three this week but I'm really excited for Conan. I might pick up the true believer... Conan books too. |
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Post by hondobrode on Jan 2, 2019 12:11:47 GMT -5
I only got The Terrifics, but it was solid as usual.
Got a question about the Plastic Man segment but I don't want to spoil anything.
I love multiple earths.
That fashion is hideous !
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2019 15:58:36 GMT -5
Project Superpowers: Chapter Three #5.
Written by Rob Williams. Art by Sergio Davila.
The penultimate issue. We get the backstory of the new Spirit of the American Flag. Then back to the present as the Superpowers fight a giant Devil and Pandora. Just when it looks like the Spirit has won the fight Pandora uses his alien tech to lift Earth's cities into space where everyone will die...
As I have said with past issues, Williams was smart to use a smaller cast this time. And he was smart to go in a totally different direction with the alien Pandora instead of magic. Davila's art is decent. I wish we had gotten a longer series since this one concludes next issue.
7/10.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2019 16:04:48 GMT -5
Detective Comics #995.
Script by Peter Tomasi. Art by Doug Mahnke.
Someone is targeting those closest to Batman. First Leslie Tompkins and then Alfred.
You can feel Bruce's tension, frustration, anguish and grief in this issue. Tomasi pulls all those emotions out in this story. Mahnke's gritty art style adds to the gravitas of the story. I like Tomasi's writing. He knows how to show Batman's family and get you to feel terror at what Batman could lose.
7/10.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2019 16:17:41 GMT -5
 Conan the Barbarian #1.Written by Jason Aaron. Art by Mahmud A. Asrar. Wow! Great start! The issue starts with a two page spread of a collage of scenes from the art on Marvel's Conan series from 1970. Then another two page spread summarizing Conan's "origin". Then we jump into the story of how Conan dies. Yeah that has me hooked. Aaron nails it IMO. His Conan is powerful, brutal, violent, selfish. The story is full of violent brutal action. Asrar brings Aaron's scripts to life in equally brutal fashion. It appears Conan is in good hands. My only concern is based on comments on the letters page Marvel may flood the shelves with multiple Conan titles. That would be a quick way to cause "title fatigue" as I call it (when there are too many series about a character that you give up and don't buy any of them). 9/10. My Gold Medal for this week. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2019 16:23:25 GMT -5
Wonder Woman #61.
Script by G Willow Wilson. Art by Xermanico.
OK we have an uptick in the quality of this story. It only took 5 issues - ugh! Wilson has Steve Trevor stumble across Aphrodite who in turns heals him of his gunshot wound. They reunite with Diana and by the end of the issue they go up against Ares.
OK it's still not great but this was the first issue by Wilson I liked and the first that the art was decent and not too cartoony. We will see how the conclusion of this arc goes in 2 weeks.
5/10.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2019 16:30:38 GMT -5
Action Comics #1006.
Story by Brian Michael Bendis. Art by Ryan Sook.
The end of the first arc. And I'm not sure what just happened there on the last few pages. Superman defeats the Red Cloud but she manages to escape. And I guess the next major villain was revealed in those last few pages. I'm not sure what Bendis was doing there. I just felt confused instead of excited for next issue.
This arc started off soooo good but the last 2 issues have been underwhelming. Sook's art is beautiful.
6/10.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2019 16:39:49 GMT -5
The Immortal Hulk #11.
Story by Al Ewing. Art by Joe Bennett.
Well that was a weird creepy issue yet deeply spiritual. Ewing takes us through Hell or at least the Hulk's version of hell. It is weird. Creepy. Disturbing. And yet what nailed it for me was Ewing's narrations. Those gray toned pages where Ewing describes Hell were really well done. Of course Bennett excels at bringing Ewing's visions to life with awesome art that shows the horrifying and grotesque.
This title keeps getting better. I like how Ewing changes direction a little to keep the horror aspect going and not let us become numb to it.
9/10. My Silver Medal for this week.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2019 16:45:44 GMT -5
Archie #702.
Story by Nick Spencer. Art by Marguerite Sauvage.
This arc is similar to Waid's run on the title but it is a bit "edgier" and "darker" but not at the level of the TV series. The art helps keep it bright and more innocent although the mystery behind the Mantle family feels dark. Also interesting is the twist that Archie started dating Sabrina over the summer. Most of the cast gets decent page time. Spencer seems to have the different cast members voices captured well.
9/10.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2019 16:52:47 GMT -5
Tony Stark: Iron Man #7.
Script by Dan Slott. Art by Valerio Schiti.
The Controller has hacked Tony's new VR game eSCAPE. Tony's biological mother Amanda is trapped in the VR. Tony has to go up against the Controller and play the game to get his mother out...
It took Slott awhile to find his groove on Iron Man but I feel with this arc he has. Some of the "cuteness" Slott was using the first arc to make the title fun has been toned down. And Tony has to rely more on his intellect instead of his armor. The art is decent. Detailed cartoony style.
6/10.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2019 17:03:16 GMT -5
 The Terrifics #11.Written by Jeff Lemire. Art by Viktor Bogdanovic. The Terrifics are no more. With the Dark Matter purged from their systems they are no longer bound to each other. They each go their own way. Phantom Girl returns to her home planet and finds her life is planned out for her and she hates it. Rex is no longer Metamorpho and is living with Sapphire but he can't get a job. He is also unhappy. Plastic Man goes back to visit his ex wife and son and finds they want nothing to do with him. And Mr Terrific searches the multiverse to find Doc Dread (Java) and discovers Java is killing all the different Mr Terrifics on multiple earths. When he finally catches up to Java he finds Java has a new team - the Dreadfuls made up of evil counterparts of the Terrifics. Lemire keeps writing old school silver age feel stories that are fun. I like Bogdanovic's art on this title. 9/10. My Bronze Medal for this week. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2019 20:10:53 GMT -5
Conan the Barbarian #1.Written by Jason Aaron. Art by Mahmud A. Asrar. Wow! Great start! The issue starts with a two page spread of a collage of scenes from the art on Marvel's Conan series from 1970. Then another two page spread summarizing Conan's "origin". Then we jump into the story of how Conan dies. Yeah that has me hooked. Aaron nails it IMO. His Conan is powerful, brutal, violent, selfish. The story is full of violent brutal action. Asrar brings Aaron's scripts to life in equally brutal fashion. It appears Conan is in good hands. My only concern is based on comments on the letters page Marvel may flood the shelves with multiple Conan titles. That would be a quick way to cause "title fatigue" as I call it (when there are too many series about a character that you give up and don't buy any of them). 9/10. My Gold Medal for this week. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I also liked the first chapter of Black Starlight, the serialized all-new prose novel in the back matter. I wasn't aware there was anyone producing new Conan prose, so I will have to check out their website. Aaron was spot on, Asrar was good, but seemed to give Conan "raccoon eyes" with the way his tried to portray shadows around the eyes far too often, but that is my only complaint with his art-it looked like he had dark bags around his eyes in far too many panels. Everything else was solid. But overall it felt like Conan-from the opening page quote of the Nemedian Chronicles with the map of Hoard's Hyborian Age, to the two page montage of previous Conan art spanning his career with the continuation of the the Nemedian Chronicles quote through to the end of the first issue. Aaron is falling back on his old trope of telling stories from different eras of a characters life and tying them together with a lingering common foe that he used to good effect in Thor: God of Thunder with the God Slayer, and it works here too, but it is a device that can get old if one goes to the well with it too often. Too many connections feel contrived and work against verisimilitude at times. If it is limited to this opening arc, it should be fine, but if it continues it might fall flat. Still overall, I liked the issue and it was a strong debut. I'd give it an 8/10 overall with the story being a little stronger than the art, but the art being solid. I also picked up a blank variant for this year's con circuit, and the two True Believer Conan issues that were released this week (reprinting CtB #1, and #4 adapting Tower of the Elephant). -M |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2019 20:16:22 GMT -5
Oh and for those who care about trade dress-the legacy numbering of Conan the Barbarian #276 is listed below the #1 on the cover.
-M
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