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Post by thwhtguardian on Aug 21, 2019 10:22:30 GMT -5
OFF THE RACKS!Real Readers, Real Reviews  |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Aug 21, 2019 14:17:30 GMT -5
Marvel Comics Presents #8Written by Charles Soule, Ethan Sacks and Emily Lerner Art by Dio Neves, Marco Castiello and Michael Shelfer Summary: Wolverine and his daughter go to Hell, Spider-Woman takes on the menace of "Fake-News" and White Fox gets her groove back.
Plot: I've said it before, with anthologies you invariably run into peaks and valleys when it comes to quality and (for this reader anyway) the last three issues have been solidly in the valley territory but with this issue featuring Spider-Woman(who I only knew from the 90's Marvel Hour cartoon) and White Fox(who I've never heard of at all) the book is back on solid ground. The Wolverine feature continues to be the anchor point, with his descent into Hell to bring the fight to the demon known as Truth we get something that we don't often see in big two superhero comics: real consequences. As the book isn't in continuity Soule can give us a definite end and as he's killed other X-Men previously I have no doubt that the ominous warning that it's "easy to get into Hell but out...?" will bear fruit. The Marvel Age feature with Spider-Woman battling Fake News really worked for me as well, I would have rathered a longer feature to build on who Jessica Drew is so we'd better feel her angst when her impostor ends up getting hit by a car but it certainly does enough to make the premise worth while. On top of that the third feature gave a fun introduction to a character I had never heard of before, giving us a little of her history with some light action beats.
Art: Though the plot is solid here I'm sorely missing the work of Paulo Siqueira on the Wolverine feature, while Neves isn't terrible his more stylized "cartoony" style works against the dark mood of the plot itself. The demons have an almost cute look making their threat level almost non-existent.
Grade:7/10 |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Aug 21, 2019 15:56:58 GMT -5
Hellboy and the BPRD: Saturn Returns #1Written by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie Art by Christopher Mitten Summary: Hellboy investigates a series of grizzly murders in the deep woods of New Hampshire that stretches back for a hundred years.
Plot: These Hellboy and the BPRD books have been a little hit and miss with the monster of the week issues seeming to fair better than the bigger stories which made me a little unsure about this three parter. I'm a little more optimistic after having read this first issue, the plot of Hellboy actually doing some real investigative work is surprising fresh as Big Red usually just stumbles into trouble and punches his way out and the mystery of a mass grave in the woods with bodies stretching back a hundred years sounds like something straight out the X-Files which is fantastic. That said, there is some of the usual baggage that has plagued these books and that's the way they tend to stuff in extra plots in an attempt to add in in more world building. This wouldn't normally be terrible, what I have always loved about Mignola's work has been the way he creates a real sense of a bigger world in his stories but where as in the path he used individual short stories either as back ups or in separate books like Dark Horse Presents to build that sense of an organic world in the back ground of late he's tried integrating them into the books themselves. While adding those tidbits into the main plot still creates that larger sense of being it has come at the expense of the main stories, there are after all only so many pages in a normal book and when you devote some of those to an other wise extraneous plot you are apt to lose out on development of the main thrust which is what we've seen time and again here. The sub plot with Liz escaping the BPRD and facing the world alone is important it takes away from Hellboy's investigation in the woods which is a shame. Who knows how it will play out here though, maybe this is the one that will buck the trend.
Art: Mitten isn't Mignola, but his stylized look is continually one of my favorite additions to the Hellboy universe.
Grade:7/10 |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2019 16:36:54 GMT -5
Circumstances prevented me from getting my books the last few weeks so today I picked up 3 weeks worth of titles. Too many to review but I would like to highlight a few. I know some of these may have come out a few weeks ago but I decided to put them here anyway:  Death Defying Devil #1. Written by Gail Simone. Art by Walter Geovani. Simone is the writer for the Super Powers version of the 40's Lev Gleason Daredevil in this story. It involves a bad neighborhood and a tenement called The Winslow House. The people living there are trying to make it a better place but thugs keep harassing them until DDD shows up. However things don't go as expected and he ends up staying... This version of DDD is slightly different than the DDD in the last Project: Super Powers series (Vol 3). It appears Dynamite is trying a different approach with these heroes as the Black Terror will be back in 2 months in another series set during the 1970's. This issue was mostly all set up and had decent art. I like these characters and was happy to see both DDD and the Black Terror getting new mini series.
7/10. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2019 16:44:32 GMT -5
 Jughead's Time Police #3. Written by Sina Grace. Art and Cover by Derek Charm. Jughead meets Jughead. The mystery deepens as the "classic" Jughead meets the New Riverdale version of Jughead. And the classic Jughead appears to be up to no good? The current Jughead starts jumping around in time to figure out what is happening. I love this series. I miss having a Jughead series to read and this fits perfectly. It highlights Jughead's quirky traits and makes it different from the main Archie title. Plus having Charm back on art is great! 9/10. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2019 16:51:54 GMT -5
 Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #2. Written by Matt Fraction. Art by Steve Lieber. If you had told me 3 months ago one of my favorite titles would be a Jimmy Olsen book I would have laughed. But yet here it is. And I loved the second issue. It has several short tales interspersed with the ongoing subplot of Jimmy in Gotham City. Fraction chooses to let Lieber show the absurd side of Jimmy in a 2 page spread with no dialog and it works! 8/10. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2019 17:01:05 GMT -5
 Fantastic Four #13. Written by Dan Slott. Art by Sean Izaakse. The Hulk (controlled by the Puppet Master) attacks the Thing while he is on his honeymoon. Slott really captures the heart of Ben & Alicia's relationship. Ben overcomes the Hulk to protect Alicia. But it comes at a cost. He misses his one week window when he is in human form as Ben Grimm because he is in a coma recovering from the brutal fight. And the Hulk pays the Puppet Master a visit and breaks his hands so he can not make any more puppets. This was a pretty satisfying issue. A brutal Hulk/Thing fight. The Puppet Master. Ben & Alicia. Some heart break as it is revealed that Ben & Alicia want children. It took Slott awhile to find his "voice" on this title but he has Ben & Alicia's relationship down perfect. 8/10. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Aug 21, 2019 18:38:08 GMT -5
Strayed #1
 Written by Carlos Giffoni Art by Juan Doe Summary: When Kiara creates a device that allows humans to talk to animals she learns her cat Lou can astral project and the government decides to put it use. Plot: I'm not going to lie I bought this one based purely on the cover art. It's a little known fact but even more than I love Hellboy I love cats so this psychedelic feline cover drew me right in and I'm glad it did. Set in the future where humanity is combing the vast reaches of space for resources to fuel its growth a scientist discovers how to talk to less developed species ... and at the same time learns that her cat Lou can astral project. It's a great mash up of science fiction tropes; space imperialism, the untapped powers of the mind and communication with new creatures. All of them have the makings for great science fiction on their own but mashed together they make for a very intriguing premise and with the "humanizing" affect of the cat and human bond it's even better. On top of that Giffoni also seems to be a skilled musician as there's a great soundtrack he posted that's a great compliment to the book. Art: When one of your leads is an animal and the setting demands realism it can be difficult to create an emotional bond with the audience with out resorting to anthropomorphizing the animal. I mean sure, the cat can talk so it's humanized to a degree but if it starts emoting facially like a human it would pull the book into more of fantasy feel than hard sci-fi, but here Doe keeps Lou definitely feline by using real feline characteristics so the ruse isn't broken. Grade:10/10 |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2019 18:50:28 GMT -5
 Hawkman #15. Written by Robert Venditti. Art by Pat Olliffe and Tom Palmer. The Shadow Thief has stolen Hawkman's shadow. Carter Hall needs help and he gets it from the Shade. Wow after the first year on this title Venditti turns his attention to some classic villains from the Golden Age and the Silver Age! And this looks to be an epic arc. And Oliffe does a great job on art turning in some great scenes. Year Two on Hawkman is off to a great start! 8/10. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2019 19:05:45 GMT -5
Aquaman #51. Written by Kelly Sue DeConnick. Art by Robson Rocha and Daniel Henriques. Aquaman "rebuilds" his life Amnesty Bay. Aqualad II helps as he seeks to be Aquaman's protégé. Mera does everything she can to delay her wedding to Vulko. And Black Manta returns. DeConnick stumbled in the middle of her first arc but she seems to have settled into being comfortable writing this title. Rocha's art looks a bit more "polished" than the first arc. Aquaman has been "refreshed" with some much needed changes. 7/10. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2019 19:22:14 GMT -5
 The Immortal Hulk #22. Written by Al Ewing. Art by Joe Bennett. This issue mostly focused on the supporting cast. Betty. Rick. McGee. Gamma Flight. Shadow Base. Joe Fixit gets some "screen time" in the body of Bruce Banner. The Hulk doesn't appear until the last page. These types of issues are needed in a title like this to allow the story some "breathing room" so when the action starts again it feels more intense. I like that the recent Thing/Hulk fight in this month's FF was referenced. 8/10. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Aug 21, 2019 21:03:24 GMT -5
I'm not going to do a full review as it's not a real story in the traditional sense but I did enjoy History of the Marvel Universe #2. One thing that surprised me though was that they kept Doctor Strange's origin as happening in the late 60's, I guess magic could explain why he isn't ancient in the current period but it seemed a little weird that they didn't slide him further along the time line. Likewise they moved the fantastic four and Doctor Doom out of the 50's which is needed...but they only bumped them up to the 70's. Maybe they got stuck in the phantom zone and only escaped recently as other wise it would be strange that they were so young unless you hand wave it away with cosmic rays instead?
Two without plausible explanations would be Frank Castle and Rhodey being active in Vietnam, I get that the period is important to the Punisher...but he's just a regular guy so magic or cosmic rays can't explain why he doesn't look like a 60 year old man in the current day and the same goes with Rhodey. I mean if you wanted them to be older than your average hero I would think the first Gulf War would be more realistic.
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Post by BigPapaJoe on Aug 22, 2019 6:47:20 GMT -5
Teen Titans #33 Written by Adam Glass Penciled by Sean Chen  This issue picks up a month after the defeat of Lobo, and it's essentially Robin having some self reflecting commentary regarding the current status of the team. With the revelation of Robin's little prison operation out in the open and the fate of Deathstroke, things aren't very chipper with the squad. Robin suspects a traitor, and Emiko deciding to quit the team after she felt she crossed a line. Also, regarding Robin's little operation he had going, there was an interesting I guess "compromise" I thought was interesting. Perhaps it's the best one could hope to ask for with Robin's attitude on organized crime. Just when this book looks like it will go into a lull, it at the very least treads water even if it isn't make a splash. Sean Chen was a guest artist for Bernard Chang this round, and it steps up to the task quite well. I still prefer Chang, but wouldn't mind seeing Chen again. |
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Post by BigPapaJoe on Aug 22, 2019 6:56:02 GMT -5
Powers of X #3 Written by Johnathan Hickman Penciled/inked by R.B. Silva  This was the fastest read of the new X issues by far. Amazing how things fly when the world building exposition takes a back seat. I had a feeling things would pop off here, and it does. Seems like Hickman realized it was time to pick up the pace a little bit, and actually move the narrative along a little quicker. I mean, at the end of the day these are still stories with the premise of heroes with amazing powers dressing up and saving the world. We get back to that here, but it's not just mindless due to the groundwork Hickman already setup. I do find myself questioning the endgame of all of this though, and if I'm going to care about the ultimate fate with characters in one of the time hops that Hickman has depicted. We shall see. R.B. Silva continues to put in a ton of quality panels in this book also. I'm really liking his backgrounds. PSA: Nimrod is a dirt bag. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Aug 22, 2019 10:25:36 GMT -5
The Immortal Hulk #22. Written by Al Ewing. Art by Joe Bennett. This issue mostly focused on the supporting cast. Betty. Rick. McGee. Gamma Flight. Shadow Base. Joe Fixit gets some "screen time" in the body of Bruce Banner. The Hulk doesn't appear until the last page. These types of issues are needed in a title like this to allow the story some "breathing room" so when the action starts again it feels more intense. I like that the recent Thing/Hulk fight in this month's FF was referenced. 8/10. Breathing room is sometimes needed, and I like where things are going from what we saw at the end. |
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