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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 11, 2020 19:11:02 GMT -5
OFF THE RACKS!Real reviews by real readers  |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 11, 2020 19:34:38 GMT -5
Bounty Hunters #1Written by Ethan Sacks Art by Paolo Villanelli Summary: Years ago a group of bounty hunters took a job on Corellia and when it went self they split up, but now fate has drawn them back together.
Plot: Star Wars comics have always been a little hit or miss, and that's especially true since Marvel got the books back, but every once in a while you get something really worth reading and I think this story has the potential to be one of those books. The reintroduction of Valance is something that just shouldn't have worked, the original story in the old Marvel run was just a whole lot of fun, but heck the character in general shouldn't work as even though I loved his original story it was clear from the get go that he was just a stand in for Vader but he grew into so much more and since coming back into continuity he's continued on that track. He has a real sense of depth and when ever he shows up I just can't help but wonder what happens next. I don't know if this book is just a mini or an ongoing vehicle for Vance but it'll be fun to see where it goes.
Art: About the only thing holding this book back is the art. It's not bad per say, the ships and characters look how they're supposed and there is a good amount of detail to the back grounds...but there's nothing special that makes you really stop and take notice. It's like a traditional Star Wars house style, it's serviceable for sure but a little bland.
Grade: 7/10 |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 12, 2020 9:37:55 GMT -5
Decorum #1Written by Johnathan Hickman Art by Mike Huddleston Summary: In the far future a courier named Neha gets entangled in a war between two crime syndicates.
Plot: While I usually find that Hickman drops the ball half way through his stories(I don't remember the last time I actually stuck with one of his books till the end) his ideas are always fascinating so I seldom miss them when they come out so of course I picked this up. While full of those weird info dump text pages that Hickman seems to love of late the world he introduces is interesting, a sprawling galactic empire fallen into disrepair where outlaws rule is always going to appeal to me. The plot itself is a little thin so far, most of the issue seemed intent on building the world with only the last few pages introducing us to the actual characters at the heart of the story; a female assassin and an unlucky courier who gets wrapped up in the gang war. I'm not sure if this will be the story where Hickman gets me to stay on for the whole ride.
Art: Huddleston's art is probably my favorite element of this book so far, the combination of the cool alien designs and the attention to detail in the characters clothes really draws me into the world.
Grade:8/10 |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2020 22:35:07 GMT -5
 Marvel Snapshots Sub-Mariner. Written by Alan Brennert and Kurt Busiek. Art and Cover by Jerry Ordway. 1946. Europe is rebuilding from WWII and America is eager to return to "normal". However some find they haven't left the battlefields behind. This story is told from the perspective of reporter Betty Dean who doesn't understand her brothers and the PTSD they are dealing with. She gets to reunite with Namor for an outing at Palisades Park. As usual their time is interrupted and a fight ensues as Namor deals with flashbacks from the war (of concentration camps) as he deals with a super villain. The All Winners Squad also make an appearance. Brennert is an awesome writer who really "gets" these characters and what makes them appealing. He gives them personalities and makes them 3 dimensional and complex. He shows how Namor can be both arrogant and caring at the same time. And Ordway is a master at great old school storytelling that I feel is lacking today. This was just a beautifully illustrated story that was a perfect blend of writing, art, concept and character. Finally Namor got a decent story. And Brennert did a good job briefly touching on what the soldiers had to deal with trying to return to a "normal" life. 9/10. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 13, 2020 8:12:48 GMT -5
Immortal Hulk #32Written by Al Ewing Art by Joe Bennett Summary: Xenu continues his mental domination of Earth but there are some cracks appearing.
Plot: While much of this issue was just a slight repeat expanding on what we already saw at the end of the last issue there was one scene which I really loved: the conversation between Doc Samson and Charlene. I kind of rolled my eyes at first with the way Ewing dropped that Charlene was Trans, it just seemed like Ewing trying to check a diversity box which is often annoying but as the conversation went on it became clear that it was more than that. Not only did it give the reader what I assume is a realistic view of how people with gender dysphoria develop their sense of identity and not only was that conversation powerful but it was also relevant to the plot as Charlene's struggle to divide her sense of self from societal expectations made her mind resilient to Xenu's mind control. Yeah I know, that last bit is a little bit silly but it does make her coming out make sense story wise.
Art: After a looong Bennet gets to do some more of his exquisitely gross body horror art as he depicts how Xenu's whole body essentially cracks open and turns into a meat processing machine. It was not as gross out graphic as his depictions of the Hulk's transformations in earlier issues but it was great to see him back in that vain again.
Grade:8/10 |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 14, 2020 18:32:50 GMT -5
Marvel Snapshots Sub-Mariner. Written by Alan Brennert and Kurt Busiek. Art and Cover by Jerry Ordway. 1946. Europe is rebuilding from WWII and America is eager to return to "normal". However some find they haven't left the battlefields behind. This story is told from the perspective of reporter Betty Dean who doesn't understand her brothers and the PTSD they are dealing with. She gets to reunite with Namor for an outing at Palisades Park. As usual their time is interrupted and a fight ensues as Namor deals with flashbacks from the war (of concentration camps) as he deals with a super villain. The All Winners Squad also make an appearance. Brennert is an awesome writer who really "gets" these characters and what makes them appealing. He gives them personalities and makes them 3 dimensional and complex. He shows how Namor can be both arrogant and caring at the same time. And Ordway is a master at great old school storytelling that I feel is lacking today. This was just a beautifully illustrated story that was a perfect blend of writing, art, concept and character. Finally Namor got a decent story. And Brennert did a good job briefly touching on what the soldiers had to deal with trying to return to a "normal" life. 9/10. Man, this was just a great book from start to finish. I initially passed over this as Namor is usually more miss than hit with me, but after reading your review I gave it a shot and I'm glad I did. I think that for me Namor just works better as a period piece, the WWII and post war setting just gives him a reasonable justification for acting the way he does that a modern setting just lacks. You can really get where he's coming from here and sympathize with his mercurial mood swings and on top of that you can use them to highlight the troubles that other mere mortals were going through at the time which is a great story telling device. I also loved seeing Ordway on art, I've always loved his style and it fit perfectly here. 10/10 |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2020 17:47:28 GMT -5
Marvel Snapshots Sub-Mariner. Written by Alan Brennert and Kurt Busiek. Art and Cover by Jerry Ordway. Man, this was just a great book from start to finish. I initially passed over this as Namor is usually more miss than hit with me, but after reading your review I gave it a shot and I'm glad I did. I think that for me Namor just works better as a period piece, the WWII and post war setting just gives him a reasonable justification for acting the way he does that a modern setting just lacks. You can really get where he's coming from here and sympathize with his mercurial mood swings and on top of that you can use them to highlight the troubles that other mere mortals were going through at the time which is a great story telling device. I also loved seeing Ordway on art, I've always loved his style and it fit perfectly here. 10/10So glad you enjoyed it. I agree some characters work better set in the time they first appeared. Namor seems to be better in the 40's. I also think the JSA works better in the 40's & 50's. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 15, 2020 18:28:37 GMT -5
Man, this was just a great book from start to finish. I initially passed over this as Namor is usually more miss than hit with me, but after reading your review I gave it a shot and I'm glad I did. I think that for me Namor just works better as a period piece, the WWII and post war setting just gives him a reasonable justification for acting the way he does that a modern setting just lacks. You can really get where he's coming from here and sympathize with his mercurial mood swings and on top of that you can use them to highlight the troubles that other mere mortals were going through at the time which is a great story telling device. I also loved seeing Ordway on art, I've always loved his style and it fit perfectly here. 10/10So glad you enjoyed it. I agree some characters work better set in the time they first appeared. Namor seems to be better in the 40's. I also think the JSA works better in the 40's & 50's. Yeah, the JSA generally do work better set apart from the modern day though I did enjoy the run from the 2000's set in the modern universe. One thing I noticed in re-reading this left me wondering though; that Cap and Bucky weren't Steve and James or were they? |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2020 18:43:41 GMT -5
One thing I noticed in re-reading this left me wondering though; that Cap and Bucky weren't Steve and James or were they? It wasn't stated but according to the MCU canon Cap would have been Jeff Mace (since William Naslund was killed spring 1946). Bucky would have been Fred Davis. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 18, 2020 6:47:42 GMT -5
One thing I noticed in re-reading this left me wondering though; that Cap and Bucky weren't Steve and James or were they? It wasn't stated but according to the MCU canon Cap would have been Jeff Mace (since William Naslund was killed spring 1946). Bucky would have been Fred Davis. I kind of wish Namor had used that as a barb against him, "You aren't even the real Captain America" |
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