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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 28, 2021 18:13:12 GMT -5
OFF THE RACKS!Fresh Comics reviewed right off the rack each week!  |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 28, 2021 19:12:20 GMT -5
Batman Vs. Bigby #1Written by Bill Willingham Art by Brian Level Summary: A string of deaths connected by animal bites of unusual size lead Batman to think a wolf is stocking Gotham.
Plot: Crossovers between different properties tend to be pretty hit or miss...but this was a much bigger miss than I was anticipating. Willingham gives us very little plot other than there are some weird murders in town, the dialog is incredibly stilted and the characterization of the various Robins are so non-existent that I don't know who the first one we were introduced to even was(other than not Tim because he contacts him on comm)...and the less said about the fight between Bigby and Batman the better. I mean, I've come to expect that the initial fights between heroes before they team up to be slightly nonsensical but like the rest of the book this was especially nonsensical as Batman has zero reason to punch first with only the knowledge that he thinks Bigby might have been following him previously. The worst part though? It's not a one shot. Willingham released so little plot here that there's no hook and with the characterization being non-existent there is literally nothing here to make me want to read more.
Art: To add insult to injury Level's art is just sooo flat and boring which only makes the absence of any real plot seem all the more evident. I mentioned above that there are multiple Robins present, and that other than not being Tim I wasn't sure which Robin was speaking to Batman, well along with zero context or characterization clues present in the story the art is so nondescript and generic that it only compounds that further. It's like Level has some how never actually read a comic with Robin (any Robin) in it and has only seen images of him on merchandise and he just reproduces that generic image here...it's just painful. And the action is even worse, there's no sense of energy to it at all and everything looks like it's so flat so it's difficult to tell exactly where the motion is supposed to be going, is Batman reeling from a blow or dodging a punch? Who knows...and at that stage of the game who cares?
I'm going with the rare 0/10 here...it's that bad folks... |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 28, 2021 21:07:21 GMT -5
Oh dear... I was really looking forward to that....hope I like it better!
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 29, 2021 5:18:07 GMT -5
Oh dear... I was really looking forward to that....hope I like it better! I was looking forward to it too, but man it was just so dry and nonsensical |
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Post by majestic on Sept 29, 2021 14:17:12 GMT -5
Amazing Spider-Man #74/875. Nick Spencer & others.
A 100 page anniversary issue concluding Spencer's 3 year run on this title and setting up a new direction next issue.
Spencer is a big Spidey fan and overall his run has been pretty good. He uses a duel between Mephisto and Dr Strange to undo or erase unpopular stories from the past like "Sins Past". Most of the changes are spelled out except "One More Day". That story is implied that some of it was undone but not all the details. Then there are two other stories...one highlighting what a great man Uncle Ben was (love these uplifting type of stories) and the second one re-introducing Ben Reilly as the new Spider-Man again.
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Post by majestic on Sept 29, 2021 14:25:34 GMT -5
Robin #6. Written by Joshua Williamson. Art by Gleb Melnikov.
After 5 issues the tournament on Lazarus Island finally begins.
This book has been entertaining with a slow burn setting up this concept. I love Melnikov's kinetic cartoony style on this title. I'm hoping to see more of Hawke because I love seeing Damian working with others. Williamson has become DC's go to writer at elevating any series he writes.
One thing that I like about this series is it makes me want to read a team up title starring Damian. His stories with Jon Kent and Dick Grayson and Teen Titans are very entertaining since he is a loner like his Dad and team ups feel awkward in a good way. |
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Post by majestic on Sept 29, 2021 14:31:10 GMT -5
Batman/Superman #22. Written by Gene Luen Yang. Art by Paul Pelletier.
Mr. Mxyzptlk resurrects Calendar Man. A weird pairing that leads to a weird story that barely features Batman & Superman. It also suffers from the lack of Ivan Reis' art. This is the last issue of this current team up title of Batman & Superman. I wish they would have ended this series with a stronger issue.
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Post by majestic on Sept 29, 2021 14:43:23 GMT -5
Thor #17. Written by Donny Cates. Art by Michele Bandini.
The conclusion of the arc where Thor's Mother stages an intervention between Thor & Odin for the sake of Asgard. And at the conclusion Capt America contacts Thor to tell him Mjolnir has been stolen from the Avengers.
Next issue the focus is on Throg and then the search for Mjolnir starts...
This Thor series has been so good that this 3 issue arc felt like a fill in. It was also a little padded to stretch the story out a little. Probably to give the regular artist Nic Klein some lead time when he returns with #19.
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Post by majestic on Sept 29, 2021 14:52:53 GMT -5
Superman Son of Kal-El #3. Written by Tom Taylor. Art by John Timms.
Jon is a very different Superman than his Dad and this month Clark leaves Earth to confront Mongul on Warworld. Jon is more "hands on" interfering in different countries policies than his Dad and he ends up in jail (for 45 mins! This scene was very humorous as Clark states Lois has been in jail several times).
Taylor is really setting up a nice contrast between Jon & Clark. I hope DC can keep this direction going for awhile with Jon here and Clark over in Action Comics.
In fact DC should revive the Adventure Comics and Brave & the Bold titles to do this for other DC legacies. So they can feature both the old (for us old farts) & the new (to keep things fresh). |
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Post by The Captain on Sept 29, 2021 15:57:15 GMT -5
Oh dear... I was really looking forward to that....hope I like it better! I was looking forward to it too, but man it was just so dry and nonsensical I made the decision to skip this the moment it was announced. Glad to see my instincts paid off. Hopefully the continuation of Fables doesn't suck, but with how the series petered out in its initial run, I'm content with trade-waiting and making the call on it once the first few issues are out. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 29, 2021 17:57:46 GMT -5
I was looking forward to it too, but man it was just so dry and nonsensical I made the decision to skip this the moment it was announced. Glad to see my instincts paid off. Hopefully the continuation of Fables doesn't suck, but with how the series petered out in its initial run, I'm content with trade-waiting and making the call on it once the first few issues are out. My hopes for the new Fables stories are pretty low at this point. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 29, 2021 19:00:50 GMT -5
Star Wars Adventures: Ghosts of Vader's Castle #2Written by Cavan Scott Art by Francesco Francavilla and Derek Charm Summary: When the Republic declines to search for her brother Milo, Lina Graf receives a dubious name from Princess Leia for help: Jaxxon. Plot: Cavan Scott's spooktacular Star Wars tradition continues this week and it's every bit as fun as the initial offering was. Continuing on with the framing narrative of Vaneé's attempt at resurrecting Darth Vader causing ripples in the Force that are giving various Star Wars denizens terrible nightmares. In this issue the nightmare belongs to none other than our favorite rabbit scoundrel, Jaxxon, and his nightmare is a great mash up 1950's atom age horror and Kaiju tropes which is a fun addition to that galaxy far, far away. It starts with a play on that common 50's trope of terror descending on the heroes when the village taboo is broken (even the Brady Bunch played on that one!) and ends up with Chewie and Jaxxon turning into giants and duking it out on Kashyyk and it ends with Jaxxon waking up after Han Solo joins the fray becoming" as large as his ego!" which was a great line. It's just a fun, campy romp that is a joy to read; if you're a fan of Star Wars( and especially fans of Jaxxon ::cough:: Confessor ::cough: and you aren't reading this book then you're really missing out. I've said it before, but it really bears repeating: the main Star Wars books may be published by Marvel but IDW's books are head and shoulders above them just about every month. Art: Like always, Francavilla's framing sections at the ends of the issue are utterly fantastic! Not only does he really nail Leia and Mon Mothma, but that image of Castle Vader literally eating the young adventurer Milo was just a sight to behold. As for the meat of the issue Derek Charm's work was nothing to sniff at either with his cartoony look pairing really well with Jaxxon's energy. You just can't help but smile at his deceptions of a giant Wookie and a humongous green rabbit having a royal rumble, which is just the way I always felt growing up watching Godzilla. Grade: 8/10 |
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Confessor
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Not Bucky O'Hare!
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Post by Confessor on Sept 29, 2021 19:24:10 GMT -5
Star Wars Adventures: Ghosts of Vader's Castle #2Written by Cavan Scott Art by Francesco Francavilla and Derek Charm Summary: When the Republic declines to search for her brother Milo, Lina Graf receives a dubious name from Princess Leia for help: Jaxxon. Plot: Cavan Scott's spooktacular Star Wars tradition continues this week and it's every bit as fun as the initial offering was. Continuing on with the framing narrative of Vaneé's attempt at resurrecting Darth Vader causing ripples in the Force that are giving various Star Wars denizens terrible nightmares. In this issue the nightmare belongs to none other than our favorite rabbit scoundrel, Jaxxon, and his nightmare is a great mash up 1950's atom age horror and Kaiju tropes which is a fun addition to that galaxy far, far away. It starts with a play on that common 50's trope of terror descending on the heroes when the village taboo is broken (even the Brady Bunch played on that one!) and ends up with Chewie and Jaxxon turning into giants and duking it out on Kashyyk and it ends with Jaxxon waking up after Han Solo joins the fray becoming" as large as his ego!" which was a great line. It's just a fun, campy romp that is a joy to read; if you're a fan of Star Wars( and especially fans of Jaxxon ::cough:: Confessor ::cough: and you aren't reading this book then you're really missing out. I've said it before, but it really bears repeating: the main Star Wars books may be published by Marvel but IDW's books are head and shoulders above them just about every month. Art: Like always, Francavilla's framing sections at the ends of the issue are utterly fantastic! Not only does he really nail Leia and Mon Mothma, but that image of Castle Vader literally eating the young adventurer Milo was just a sight to behold. As for the meat of the issue Derek Charm's work was nothing to sniff at either with his cartoony look pairing really well with Jaxxon's energy. You just can't help but smile at his deceptions of a giant Wookie and a humongous green rabbit having a royal rumble, which is just the way I always felt growing up watching Godzilla. Grade: 8/10 I really need to read some of these recent Jaxxon appearances. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 30, 2021 6:31:13 GMT -5
I'm definitely going to buy the singles for Fables, because I want to give it a chance, but I'm concerned too... it doesn't often go well when writers come back to a property they're famous for... lightning doesn't seem to be able to strike twice.
I'm mostly curious WHAT the new Fables will focus on.. will he go back to the 'main' characters (The Bigby/Batman crossover would indiciate it's likely).. or will it focus on the Ever After cast, or both, or new Fables? There's so much ground that could be in there... kinda what makes it exciting.. but if Willingham is doing it as more a cash grab/nostaliglia than that he had a great story to tell, it could be bad.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2021 8:26:25 GMT -5
Deathstroke Inc. #1 by Williamson/Porter  So I committed a rarity, I added an ongoing serialized super-hero book from one of the big 2 to my pull list (the last time was the Hawkman series from DC that ended last year). This time was another DC book, Deathstroke Inc. Normally I am not a big Deathstroke fan, but a) Black Canary, a character I do like a lot, is the co-star, b) Howard Porter's new art style and inking himself is intriguing, c) Joshua Williamson is a writer I have heard a lot about but read very little of, and d) I'm a sucker for secret organizations with acronyms, so I wanted to see what T.R.U.S.T. was about, so I took a flyer on this book. Read the first issue last night... I have mixed feelings about it. I enjoyed it for the most part and there were things I liked. But there were things I didn't. Deathstroke was being Deathstroke, doing the big gun big explosion thing, which was to be expected. What they gave me on T.R.U.S.T. was interesting, but there wasn't enough established. There was one flashback to something in another book that I hadn't read but it was only alluded to, not explained, so I felt like I was missing a piece of the puzzle a bit. Black Canary was there being a bad-ass fighter, but there wasn't a lot of depth to her characterization. Some hints of things that look interesting, but again, not there yet. A mention of Cameron Chase and the DEO, so hopefully that is something that will play in the book as well, but again a hint and an allusion, not anything actually there. What was there was a somewhat bland action set piece with lots of guns and explosions. So, I am going to give the book a chance and get a few more issues, not because of what was in issue #1, but because of what was hinted at and alluded to. So it feels like the book could have some promise, but it didn't actually deliver that much in and of itself (which is my problem with a lot of big 2 books in general). I'll stay for the first arc most likely, but it will have to deliver on those hints and promises during that arc if I am going to stick with it. The art was good, the story meh, the set up promising. Overall I'd give this a 6/10 with a failed to reach its potential, but has a chance to improve comment appended on it. -M |
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and you aren't reading this book then you're really missing out. I've said it before, but it really bears repeating: the main Star Wars books may be published by Marvel but IDW's books are head and shoulders above them just about every month.
