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Powers #10 – Review

Posted on June 2, 2012 by paladinking

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Michael Avon Oeming (art), Nick Filardi (colors), and Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

The Story: The murderer of the Golden Ones reveals his backstory and we learn that there are far, far bigger and nastier things out there than the Golden Ones.

The Review:  Wow…just….wow.  If anything, this issue is proof that when it comes to Powers, Brian Bendis does not hold back.  From the absolute, gut-wrenchingly vivid brutality of the serial god-killer’s backstory to the manner in which Bendis expands his comic’s universe and the stakes of this story, Bendis has basically laughed at the idea of limiting how far Powers can go.  It’s a brave and unflinching performance from Bendis in what is, in my opinion, by far the best issue of Powers since it relaunched.

When reading the murderer tell his story through a confessional tape, it becomes increasingly shocking and downright disturbing to read.  Bendis pulls back the curtain on the Golden Ones for us to see the ugliness and depravity that lurks behind.  They are certainly less than the golden gods they portray themselves at and are, in the case of Damocles at the very least, nothing more the humans that have come into incredible power, only to become twisted and depraved as a result.  I cannot describe how intense this extended scene, and narration, was.  To say that it “hits hard” is putting it lightly.  There is no holding back, no sugar coating, and Powers lives up to its “mature readers” label.  Through words alone, Bendis paints an unfathomably brutal scene that is as appalling as it is haunting, one that feels real, while also highlighting what has become a theme in Powers – that superpowers take the old adage “absolute power corrupts absolutely” to new heights of accuracy.

Spinning out of this, Bendis also really expands the scope of his universe, which really makes it clear why Powers is becoming Powers: FBI; the stakes have been far larger and so have, well, the powers.  What has long been a police procedural involving superpowers has suddenly become a statement on the relationship between god and man.  It almost feels as though Bendis puts a Lovecraftian spin to Powers; in revealing the true nature of the Golden Ones and whether they really are gods, we end up getting an answer that leads to more questions, an answer that tells us of the enormous, unimaginable, ancient powers that lurk behind the workings of the world.  The Golden Ones were small fries compared to these cosmic forces and in violating the threshold between god and man, man pierces the veil between the two just a little bit, and the result is a punishment of biblical proportions.  We end up a hell of a long way away from the safe, old police procedural.  Instead, there’s a sense that Powers, with its cops and criminals, have gone too far, played with powers too far beyond understanding, and the result is Cthulian promises fulfilled.  To hammer home this point, this revelation of the great powers at work behind the scenes of Powers universe is accompanied by a shocking, tragic character death, one that sees polar opposites meet, true and unquestionable representatives of the godly and the human/mundane; suffice it to say, it does not go well.
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Filed under: Marvel Comics, Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

American Vampire #27 – Review

Posted on June 2, 2012 by dfstell

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Riccardo Burchielli (art), Dave McCaig (colors), Jared K. Fletcher (letters), Gregory Lockard (assistant editor) & Mark Doyle (editor)

The Story: Redneck werewolves?

Review: The big take away from this issue was the presence of the “werewolves”.  Last issue kinda hinted at fact that theses guys were “canine”, but didn’t come right out and say “werewolf”.  However, Snyder is quick to instruct us that these are werewolves with a twist: all of these various strains of vampires, and now werewolves and zombies are just different types of what he’s calling “abominations.”  That’s a good take on things, because these folks really wouldn’t know how these critters differed anyway.  This is the 1950s after all and the technology didn’t exist.  In the 1950s, genetics hadn’t really advanced past Gregor Mendel and his wrinkly/smooth peas and the crude concept of “dominant” and “recessive” genes that they still teach in school to ensure that Americans have stupid ideas about genetics.

Having the potential for all of these monsters in a single world opens up a lot of possibilities.  Imagine what kinds of funky things will happen when Snyder and Company get to the Vietnam War era!  Or think of what the Soviets and East German scientists are up to behind the Iron Curtain!  What if he explored the United State’s activities in Central and South America or our meddling with Iran?  Basically, Snyder can continue this series for as long as he wants because he’s made it 100% open ended.

When I first sat down to write this review, my instinct was that this issue was much more direct.  And it is.  But it isn’t direct in the way I was originally thinking.  My first instinct was that Snyder was just doing a horror story in this issue with most of the American History allegory falling to the wayside.  I mean, we have a basic werewolf infestation and they need killing, so the good guys make some silver bullets and shoot the bastards.  My error was in not immediately seeing the historical relevance of a group of white guys in 1950s Alabama who would kidnap black guys and kill them out in the countryside.  Basically, the werewolf pack is the Ku Klux Klan and I was missing it because Snyder is usually a little subtler.  Duh…
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The Walking Dead #98 – Review

Posted on May 31, 2012 by dfstell

By: Robert Kirkman (writer), Charlie Adlard (artist), Cliff Rathburn (grays), Rus Wooton (letters)

The Story: Maybe Rick thought they could take out this new guy without any casualties, but that probably wasn’t realistic.

Review (with SPOILERS): 

1. Death of an underused character – So long Abraham!  I kinda like the fact that Kirkman killed our favorite military guy.  For one thing, his character wasn’t serving much purpose.  It seems like Kirkman had been toying with the idea of having Abraham lead a revolt against Rick (from the comments by Abraham’s new girlfriend), but then said, “Screw it.  That’s not going to work.” and killed Abraham instead.  So, let’s look at the fallout.  Abraham’s death does reinforce the “no one is safe” element that TWD was losing.  He’s a solider and a big strong man.  If Abraham can be killed with an arrow to the back of the head, it can happen to anyone.  Second, maybe Rick’s gang is a little complacent?  If you’re just strolling down the street because you’re only worried about zombies, but ignoring the danger from other humans, you can get an arrow to the head pretty easy.  Third, what impact will this have on the women in Abraham’s life?  We’ve seen how Rosita kinda fell apart after being dumped by Abraham.  How will she be now?  How with the new girlfriend be?  With the way these survivors cling to each other and how much solace they MUST find in having a companion, it would be horrible to have your companion die like that.  Fourth, what does this do to Rick’s plans for being the baddest gang in the Arlington area?  Rick wants to start a gang war with what?  He’s got Andrea, Michonne and a bunch of herbivores.  Is that enough?  The only crummy thing about Abraham’s death was the weird way he kept talking with an arrow sticking out of his head!  It was weird, like he didn’t notice the arrow or something.

2. Action! – Besides Abraham, we had a lot of other bad guys get killed in this issue.  Frankly, it was all shooting and chopping and penis biting (thanks Eugene).  This issue didn’t hurt for excitement.

3. Sex = Death? – I can’t say I’m optimistic about the future of the Rick/Andrea relationship.  Think of the couples we’ve seen sexually involved in TWD: Rick/Lori, Dale/Andrea, Tyrese/Carol, Tyrese/Michonne, Michonne/Morgan, Rick/“Arlington Woman”, Abraham/Rosita…  Am I missing anyone?  In all of those relationships, someone has died: shot, suicide by zombies, beheaded, died from wounds, zombie bite, eaten by zombies, arrow to head, cannibalized…  The only stable and happy couple in the series has been Glen and Maggie.  So, who do you think will die by chainsaw?  Rick?  Andrea?
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Wolverine & the X-Men #11 – Review

Posted on May 31, 2012 by paladinking

by Jason Aaron (writer), Nick Bradshaw (pencils & inks), Walden Wong & Norman Lee (inks), and Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

The Story: Going to the X-Men’s aid, Jean Grey School teachers battle Avengers while Logan and Hope are intercepted by a squad of Shi’ar Death Commandos.

The Review:  Two issues in, it’s become clear – AvX has effectively derailed one of Marvel’s best books, and isn’t that the eternal nightmare for comics readers wary of event tie-ins?

The problem is that focusing on Avengers vs. X-Men forces Aaron to move away from much of what’s made the book a rousing success.  We spend far too much time away from the school and from the students.  Indeed, much as the bit with Genesis was last issue’s best moment, this issue’s bits with Kid Gladiator and Kitty’s class’ reaction to Iceman’s fight with Hulk are the highlights, but these portions are far too brief.

No, instead, the bulk of the issue just features mindless action.  Once again, we get to see Avengers and X-Men punching each other in Wakanda/Tabula Rasa/Wundagore/Savage Land, exchanging dialogue that feels completely phoned in, with heroes reiterating their teams’ basic stances.  Most of these characters fighting have no real beef or connection to one another, so the fights really feel meaningless, while other characters have never even played a role in this book prior to this issue (Red Hulk and Doctor Strange, for instance).  Frankly, this “splitting the teams amidst four locations” has been a point I’ve really hated about AvX, as it’s just led to tie-ins like this one, spinning their wheels by filling pages with random heroes punching each other.  Perhaps it would be more forgivable for readers with less extensive pull-lists, but it’s starting to feel like every damned tie-in is doing these “checking in” action scenes; it was lifeless and tiresome to begin with and at this point, it’s simply irritating.
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Filed under: Marvel Comics, Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

FF #18 – Review

Posted on May 31, 2012 by paladinking

by Jonathan Hickman (writer), Nick Dragotta (art), Chris Sotomayor (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story: Johnny takes the class on a field trip to the Negative Zone.

The Review:  For the second straight month, FF proves that Jonathan Hickman has a really solid grasp on comedy.  Unlike the last issue of FF, however, the comedy in this issue isn’t always the direct focus, nor is reliant on big gags with set-up.  Instead, Hickman lets the dialogue bring the laughs, mostly courtesy of Johnny, whose voice Hickman has an excellent handle of.  From his trademark arrogance to his wonderful dynamic with the students, Johnny is really great this month.  I loved the simultaneously affectionate and dismissive stance he takes to the kids and his treating them like the ordinary kids they aren’t leads to some great laughs.

I also really liked the fun spin Hickman put on the insect denizens of the Negative Zone.  They’ve long been seen as the faceless, single-minded swarm, so seeing them rebel for….democracy and self-government (?!) was a brilliant, brilliant twist by Hickman that led to an amusing, but also quite smart issue.  It also leads to a wonderful conclusion however that balances things very well – while the bugs of the Negative Zone may want democracy and self-government, they’re ultimately still bugs from the Negative Zone.  It’s almost a quasi-historical/political statement by Hickman; if you interfere with another culture’s politics and that interference leads to them taking after your own political practices, that may not necessarily mean the erosion of that culture’s inherent beliefs and values.  Despite all the fun and comedy, it’s a nice turn by Hickman and made me wonder if he was at all inspired by the current situation in Egypt, where after rebelling and gaining democracy, they look to be on their way to electing either an Islamist regime or electing to bring back the military-authoritarian regime they just got out of.  Who knew that cosmic insects and the Marvel’s first family could be so relevant?

There’s a lot else to like about this isssue; once again, we get to see Franklin flex his cosmic muscles, which is always a treat.  The final page is also an excellent cliffhanger.  While the twist could perhaps be easily predicted, Hickman does it in a way that at least is guaranteed to get a laugh.
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Batman Annual #1 – Review

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Minhquan Nguyen

By: Scott Snyder & James Tynion IV (story), Jason Fabok (art), Peter Steigerwald (colors)

The Story: An apple a day keeps the doctor away.  Unless that doctor happens to be Mr. Freeze.

The Review: Mr. Freeze is definitely one of the staples of Batman’s rogues gallery, and ranked among the top-tier of those Gothamite villains.  Not only does he have a power set that borders on the metahuman, which goes a little out of the Bat-family’s comfort zone, but his unfeeling coldness just makes him seem more lethal than, say, the Riddler or Penguin.  He also carries a distinct air of tragedy which sets him apart from his peers and makes him even more intriguing.

The traditional source of this tragedy (i.e. his obsession with finding a way to save his terminally ill, cryogenically preserved wife) has always been effective in making Freeze sympathetic, but its inescapable romanticism often gets played to melodramatic heights.  If Snyder and Tynion wanted to ground Freeze’s backstory, their best bet might’ve been to explore the relationship between Freeze and his wife, to let us understand why Freeze absolutely can’t let her go.
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Incredible Hulk #8 – Review

Posted on May 30, 2012 by paladinking

By: Jason Aaron (writer), Steve Dillon (art), Frank Martin (colors), and Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

The Story:  In order to contain his violent alter-ego, Hulk has to STAY ANGRY.

The Review:  This is an incredibly difficult issue to grade.

On the one hand, there are some huge, huge problems with this book.  First and foremost is Steve Dillon’s art.  The unfortunate thing is that this is actually really, really solid work by Dillon.  The colors by Frank Martin are  fantastic.  I’m used to seeing Dillon’s work colored in a flat, basic colours, but Martin does some really brilliant shading.  Furthermore, Dillon’s work in other places really shines.  His Punisher is as excellent as usual and his take on Jason Aaron’s demented villains is a laugh out loud sight gag.

The problem is his illustration of the Hulk.  Dillon’s style is simply too grounded to deal with drawing the big guy.  Instead of being, well, the Hulk, poor Hulk looks like a bald, shirtless NBA player who painted himself green.  He’s not stocky or thick enough, he’s too human, and he looks almost comedically mundane and not at all intimidating, let alone monstrous.
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WCBR’s Top Picks

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Minhquan Nguyen

Dean’s Top Picks

Best of the past week - Mind Mgmt #1 – Well, that was easy!  I’ve had a few weeks without a standout winner of “Best of the week”.  Those weeks can be like picking which brand of vanilla ice cream is your favorite.  So, it was wonderful that Matt Kindt gave us this gem.  This issue was head and shoulders above everything else I read this week.  The story was clever and interesting: plane full of people develop amnesia mid-flight.  The art was somber and unique.  And the production qualities on the comic were top notch.  It was so nice to see proper, high-quality newsprint in a comic versus all this cheap-ass, glossy paper that the Big 2 shovel at us.  Track it down or find it digitally.

Most anticipated this week:

1). The Walking Dead #98 – After a brief period when I felt like I might be falling out of love with TWD, Kirkman has hooked me back it these last few issues.  Something very bad is going to happen as Rick’s group comes into conflict with this new character.  It’s almost like TWD is going all Mad Max on us.

2). American Vampire #27 – The last issue took us into the 1950′s deep south and showed us both the prejudice that happened to black folks during that time period and a cool new monster with a canine sensibility about him.  So, while Scott Snyder is continuing to explore the history of America in this series, he’s also expanding the scope of his monster story.  And….the art is always gorgeous; even when they get a stand-in artist they’re able to find guys like Roger Cruz.

3). The New Deadwardians #3 – This series has been a huge breath of fresh air as it shows a 1910′s London beset by zombies.  But rather than having a bunch of haggard survivors eating 3-year old cans of pinto beans and living in boarded up houses, this world is all nice and clean because the English chose to protect themselves in a certain fangy way.  This issue promises a closer look at the zombies and I can’t wait to see what other little differences the creators have in store for us.

4). Rachel Rising #8 – Hard to believe that we’re already up to #8 with this series.  It feels like the preamble is just about done and stuff is about to get “real” in Rachel Rising.  I mean….last issue ended with bodies erupting from the ground in the cemetery and landing in the shape of a pentagram.  That’s…..not good, not good at all.  Plus, the art is lovely.  Read it.

5). Glamourpuss #25 – I don’t understand why everyone doesn’t read Glamourpuss.  The art is always “off-the-charts” good and the story is like a double-scoop of insanity.  This lampooning of the fashion-models he’s been doing for the last few months has been wicked.

——-

Alex’s Top Picks

Pick of the Week: Justice League Dark #9 – I’ll be honest: while there were a lot of good reads this past week, there wasn’t one read that blew me away.  That said, JLD was one of the biggest disappointments for me out of the new 52 (possibly only Catwoman disappointed me more) and this issue, Jeff Lemire provides many of the foundational components that were lacking during Milligan’s tenure.  There’s a sense of enthusiasm and energy in the, a clear direction, a plot that’s going somewhere, and an actual team dynamic.  I really like the idea of Constantine really taking charge as team leader as well.  I did, however, find the colors a bit too bright at times and I’m not yet entirely sold on the “Justice League” more Indiana Jones, action-adventure tone the book has taken on.  Even if we’re moving away from horror, I’d prefer Lemire to keep it urban fantasy.

Most Anticipated: Batman Annual #1 – As a kid who grew up watching Paul Dini and Bruce Timm’s Batman: the Animated Series, the Mike Mignola designed Mr. Freeze was my favourite villain.  Aside from looking cool, I loved the brooding, tragic nature of the character.  After what feels like years since reading a Freeze comic, I’m getting one of my childhood favourites introduced into the new 52, red goggles and all, by Scott Snyder, a guy who can do no wrong.  Sold!

Other Picks: Animal Man Annual #1 – It’s a giant-sized issue of Jeff Lemire’s Animal Man, a book that’s easily within my top 3-5 of the new 52.  Not much else you need to know.

Powers #10 – Powers was one of the books responsible for getting me back into comics around 7-8 years ago, so it’ll always have a fond place in my heart.  It really is Bendis and Oeming doing what they do best and feeding off one another like any ideal writer/artist team should.  It’s great to have this series shipping regularly again.

American Vampire #27 – AV may jump time periods quite a lot, but it’s amazingly consistent in its quality.  Frankly, I don’t think there’s ever been a bad issue.  American Vampire is a guaranteed good read and a nice mix of action and horror with great art.  No reason to miss out.

Incredible Hulk #8 – So…Aaron’s last arc wasn’t that great, but the point one issue, apparently, was really good and a huge change of pace.  Similarly, this arc seems to be a bit less ridiculous than the last arc.  If you read PunisherMAX, you’ll remember that it took Aaron an arc or two to find his voice and proper tone for that book as well and that may be the case here too.  So I’m hopeful to see if he’s made the correct adjustments here, as the point one issue seemed to suggest.  Also, it’s a Hulk issue…drawn by Steve Dillon.  That is really, really weird.  It’s either going to be totally fresh, unique, and cool or….a complete disaster.  I’m really, really curious to see how this book ends up looking.

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All-Star Western #9 – Review

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Minhquan Nguyen

By: Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray (story), Moritat (art), Gabriel Bautista (colors)

The Story: Hex sure has had an interesting mix of women in his life, hasn’t he?

The Review: In an era of decompressed storytelling, Palmiotti and Gray’s done-in-two style of narratives is something of a pleasant novelty.  Most of the time, they do a neat job of wrapping up their plots in the couple issues they set out for themselves, but every now and then, it feels like they cut their tale off just before it gets to fully stretch its legs, leaving it slightly unresolved, aimless, or a bit inconsequential.

That’s the feeling you get on this whole “August Seven” affair.  We only just got acquainted with the other four of these highly cultured and bigoted individuals, and before they ever execute another move, Hex and his pals (to use the word loosely) shut them down.  Obviously, the imminent danger to a ship full of immigrants required immediate action, but for all the effort Palmiotti-Gray took to build up the Seven, the Southerners prove rather weak-chinned in a real fight.  And without further ado and little sentiment, Hex and Arkham say so long to their New Orleans companions and go on their own merry way.
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I, Vampire #9 – Review

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Minhquan Nguyen

By: Joshua Hale Fialkov (story), Andrea Sorrentino (art), Marcelo Maiolo (colors)

The Story: Even monster-slaying can’t resist going corporate after all these centuries.

The Review: Now that I’ve had a month to mull upon this series’ most recent events, I must conclude the whole Justice League Dark crossover and the “Rise of the Vampires” were a bit premature.  Since Andrew still hadn’t made peace with his role in the vampire world, for Fialkov to suddenly thrust him into such a major shift in position felt like an almost unintended move, one which neither Andrew nor Fialkov know what to do with from now on.

After all, now that Andrew has this massive army of vampires under his wing, it’s not exactly clear what he plans to do with them all.  He clearly won’t allow them to feed upon actual humans, but he can’t keep them cooped up in a Hooverville out in the Utah desert forever—that weekly shipment of “five hundred head of cattle” will get pretty dear before too long.  It’s an unsustainable situation, a fact Mary points out with some amusement.
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Fables #117 – Review

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Minhquan Nguyen

By: Bill Willingham (story), Mark Buckingham (pencils), Steve Leialoha & Andrew Pepoy (inks), Lee Loughridge (colors)

The Story: On the bright side, Therese, pretend cake is less fattening than actual cake.

The Review: I have to say, it’s a nice change of pace that Willingham has scaled back his multiple storyline format for a more focused, and thus more driven, plot.  In some issues the constant gear-shifts from one Fable’s story to another could get frustrating, especially when they had no connection to each other.  Besides, when you only have so many pages to tell three stories at once, you can’t help feeling each one gets shortchanged a little to make room for the others.

So it’s been a real luxury to spend so much time on just two central characters whose respective plotlines are bound to each other anyway.  Aside from a one-page excursion to the returning citizens to Fabletown (who play right into Spratt’s hands by moving onto her home turf), and your usual dose of Bufkin & Co. (whose tale of revolution grows less captivating every issue, despite Shawn McManus’ charming art), the issue keeps the spotlight on the boldest of Snow White and Bigby’s children.
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Young Justice S02E05 – Review

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Minhquan Nguyen

By: Brandon Vietti (story)

The Story: Who says girl groups are dead?

The Review: Obviously, the biggest difference between this and last season is the team’s roster, which has grown a little bigger and a lot more colorful.  The writers have so far kept the focus on the returning characters, though they’ve wisely given the newbies substantial parts to play, getting us used to their presence.  Now seems the right time to get to know the rookies better, as they do represent the future of the team—unless we get another time jump in season three.

Of all the new members, Blue Beetle is a natural to break out.  His versatile power set, bizarre origin story, and racial and urban appeal make for a potent combination, and thanks to a cult-favorite ongoing and a Smallville appearance, he’s perhaps more familiar to us nowadays than you might expect.  But I’d say the biggest factor in his favor is he gives the show access to a whole realm of stories it’s only just now exploring: the socially relevant.
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Mind Mgmt #1 – Review

Posted on May 28, 2012 by dfstell

By: Matt Kindt (writer, artist, letters, colors)

The Story: Who is behind a series of episodes of collective amnesia?

Review: Issue of the week!  Ding, ding, ding!  We have a winner!  As regular readers of WCBR know, we do a weekly “best of the week” feature and there are many weeks where no issue seems to want it.  In those weeks, you just hand out the “award” to the comic that was best, but you don’t feel very good about it.  Mind Mgmt #1 is of the same caliber as Saga #1 from a few months ago: interesting concept, great art, well told, etc.  These are the kinds of issues that make reading comics enjoyable.

The primary attraction to this issue is the brilliance that is Matt Kindt.  If you haven’t been exposed to his OGNs (Three Story, Super Spy and Revolver), you should remedy that as soon as possible.  Kindt has shown in those works that he is a master of thoughtful storytelling and compelling art.  His stories always work both on the surface level – where they’re enjoyable to read the first time – and at a deeper level if you want to keep scratching.  Balancing “complex” with “accessible” is very difficult, but Kindt makes it look easy.

The basic plot of Mind Mgmt #1 revolves around an airline flight where everyone loses their memory mid-flight.  That’s right, they all just blink their eyes and suddenly have no concept of who they are, where they are or anything.  When they land, they don’t know their families, their jobs or anything.  So, you can imagine what a sad story this is.  Kindt’s art is perfect for this sort of sadness.  But, the story isn’t all mopey crap…. We quickly fall in with one of the victims who wants to get to the bottom of the mystery and figure out what happened.  There are implications that some nasty government agency might be behind events, but Kindt is too clever of a storyteller for that to be the whole truth.  I’m so eager to see how this turns out.
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Justice League Dark #9 – Review

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Minhquan Nguyen

By: Jeff Lemire (story), Mikel Janín (art), Ulises Arreola (colors)

The Story: Once again, we learn that only horrible things happen in the jungle.

The Review: Considering the excitement I had when this series first launched, it felt almost painful when I ultimately decided to drop it.  Not to rehash old grievances, but the series at the time lacked focus, plain and simple.  Most of the cast had little to nothing to do, and the plot often wandered erratically.  Peter Milligan seemed so focused on fulfilling some abstract conception of “darkness” that he neglected character work and story development entirely.

While Lemire has been slightly overshadowed by his brother-in-arms at DC, Scott Snyder, no one can deny he is just as responsible for the new creative life coursing through the publisher’s veins at the moment.  From both Animal Man and Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E., we know he never lets tone or theme dictate the substance of his stories.  He builds his characters and plot first, and eventually, overarching motifs reveal themselves, giving the series unity.
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Amazing Spider-Man #686 – Review

Posted on May 26, 2012 by dfstell

By: Dan Slott (writer), Stefano Caselli (art), Frank Martin, Jr. (colors), Joe Caramagna (letters), Ellie Pyle (assistant editor) & Stephen Wacker (editor)

The Story: The plot twists always hit in the penultimate act.

Review (with SPOILERS): Pretty hot issue guys!  Honestly, I thought the first couple of issues of this Spidey-event were a little tepid.  Things seemed a little contrived, but the middle two issues righted the ship and now it looks like Dan Slott is ready to bring it home in a big way.

Let’s start with a couple of the plot twists…  Seeing Mysterio tricking Spidey into doing things never gets old, because we always have that moment when Spidey says, “Wait a minute….this makes no sense.”  I like that Slott treats these guys as if they’ve been fighting each other for 50 years and are almost like old frenemies.  Slott doesn’t insult our intelligence by acting like Mysterio and Chameleon might actually kill Spidey and Black Widow.  We just know that won’t happen because we’ve seen these guys fight a bajillion times before.  Mysterio and Chameleon simply don’t have the goods to take out Spidey, so it’s nice  that Slott doesn’t approach the story as if these baddies have suddenly gotten new powers OR that they’re more motivated.  We readers wouldn’t buy that story, but we can totally accept that Mysterio and Chameleon are capable of slowing Spider-Man down and thereby allowing Doc Ock to execute his plan.

Speaking of Ock, he’s the one villain in this whole bunch who feels like a real threat to Spider-Man.  Even though we’ve seen Ock and Spidey battle a ton of times too (with Spidey always winning), the evolution of Ock’s character over the last ~90 issues makes us believe that he might actually be threatening to Spidey.  Look, the dude is desperate.  He’s dying.  And he’d like nothing better than to kill his arch-enemy before he dies.  I can accept that and I’m looking forward to seeing an Ock that isn’t concerned with escaping to fight another day and is hence committed to killing Spidey.  I swear, I’m going to be so disappointed when Ock transplants his mind into a new, cloned body and all this history is rubbed out.
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Captain America #12 – Review

Posted on May 26, 2012 by paladinking

by Ed Brubaker (writer), Patrick Zircher (art), Paul Mounts (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: The identity of Scourge, and the man pulling his strings, are revealed.

The Review:  With this second issue, this arc is really starting to seem a like a “righting of the ship” of Captain America since the relaunch.  Really, it feels like Brubaker going back to doing what he does best with Cap and much of what’s made his run such a wild success.  What with HYDRA looming in the background, undercover villains, and secrets aplenty, this is a return by Brubaker to that cloak-and-dagger, espionage style that has served him so well in past Cap runs.  The old school, more bombastic, though perhaps generic, superheroics of the last couple of arcs has been abandoned for a more grounded, shadowy, winding comic that is much more in line with the best loved Brubaker Cap comics.  It’s a story of a serial killer and government secrets, not a time-travel hullabaloo and, as such, it’s much more in Brubaker’s wheelhouse and this comic is slowly but surely feeling revitalized as a result.

Patrick Zircher’s art also recalls the prime of Brubaker’s run, as his idea of a Captain America comic clearly falls in line with the aesthetic Steve Epting established for Captain America.  Zircher’s work is also shadowy with a constant sense of tension and mystery and thus, it falls perfectly in line with Brubaker’s script.

My main criticism of the previous issue was that the plot was overly basic.  This is somewhat addressed this issue, as Brubaker does complicate things a bit.  Rather than have it simply be a case of HYDRA manipulating and pulling the new Scourge’s strings, Brubaker instead inserts a “middle man” between the two, a character with significant name value but who certainly isn’t someone you’d expect to see in a  Captain America comic, which piques interest significantly, particularly given that his being a pawn of HYDRA seems not to be his choice.  Overall, Brubaker does a good job this issue in giving us clear answers that only lead to more questions.
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Fantastic Four #606 – Review

Posted on May 26, 2012 by paladinking

by Jonathan Hickman (writer), Ron Garney (art), Jason Keith (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story: The Fantastic Four go on a mission in a strange environment to save the life of an old friend.

The Review:  I think Hickman came into this with a good idea, but due to comics being just as much of a visual medium as a literary one, if not moreso, that idea just cannot be executed.

The problem is that so much of the issue hinges on the big twist at the end.  Hickman does his level bet to keep it mysterious as to where exactly the Fantastic Four actually are and what their mission is.  The whole issues is meant to tease you and keep you guessing as to their mission and location, only to shock you with its genius at issue’s end.  The problem, however, is due to the fact that we can actually SEE their surroundings means that we already know what the twist is just few pages into the comic.  So we’re left with Hickman playing coy with us for an entire issue, acting like he’s one step ahead of us when, actually, we’ve figured out the ruse long ago.

All of this teasing and coyness that’s so focused on keeping things a secret (when we’ve already figured it out), also leads to some really lifeless dialogue.  In fact, I’d say it’s the most lifeless, drab dialogue of Hickman’s entire run, who usually is able to communicate so much heart and significance in very few words.  Here, it’s just a bevy of science-talk at best.  None of the dialogue really carries any emotion or character and it feels like the characters are just going through the motions.
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The Mighty Thor #14 – Review

Posted on May 26, 2012 by paladinking

by Matt Fraction (writer), Pepe Larraz (art), Frank D’Armata (colors), and Joe Sabino (letters)

The Story:  Thor finds himself trapped in his own nightmare, while Enchantress takes more pounds of flesh from Donald Blake than he expected.

The Review:  It’s always an annoying situation when you get issues like this that are divided into two separate plots, with one of the plots being much more interesting than the other.

Don’t get me wrong, the other plot (Thor stuck in a “collective dream”) isn’t at all bad.  However, it’s not especially remarkable either.  The idea of Thor ordering no one to think of anything was humorous and, certainly, the setting has loads of potential, where things are constantly changing and unpredictable and determined by no one’s person psyche.  We’ve seen plenty of stories with characters lost in their dreams, but the idea of a “collective dream,” an amalgamation of the psychology of several dreamers’ dreams, all of whom are lost in the same location, is fresh and promising.  It also leads to a great moment; the dwarfs worst nightmare, as pre-eminent builders, was a great touch by Fraction.  That said, the Mares still don’t quite make sense to me.  So…they kill you just to send you to a their dreamworld, which is of your making?  Or do you just get sent to dreamworld if they render you unconscious?  And what’s the purpose of this, given that it seems like an awfully roundabout way of dealing with your enemies?  Some of the details are a bit befuddling if you spend to much time thinking about them, which has been something that has plagued Fraction’s run on Thor.

The problem is, however, that the other story involving Blake and Amora is much better.  It feels smarter, more brooding and psychological.  Fraction’s Enchantress oozes malevolence and is great to read while Blake seems just a little unhinged, just enough that it’s compelling, without ever going over the top.  Admittedly, there are similarities to Jason Aaron’s recent arc on Incredible Hulk, but this is a much more ominous, tighter narrative, without Aaron’s excesses.  Blake and Amora have a strong dynamic, with Enchantress being a great black hat, and Blake being nutty enough to be ominous while still being sympathetic.
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Secret Avengers #27 – Review

Posted on May 26, 2012 by paladinking

by Rick Remender (writer), Renato Guedes (art), Bettie Breitweiser & Matthew Wilson (colors), and Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

The Story: Mar-Vell, Noh-Varr, and Ms. Marvel deliver a beatdown on a Hala gone mad.

The Review: This is an issue where in many respects, the script plays second-fiddle to the art.  Much as was the case last month, Renato Guedes is cranking out some of the best work of his career here.  Seriously, this is miles above the work he put out on Wolverine not too long ago.  It’s clear that Guedes excels at drawing outlandish, alien, science fiction environments and narratives.  His work is incredibly detailed, almost uncomfortably so.  His work on Secret Avengers has felt almost as much a comic as some kind of European sci-fi artbook.  Bettie Breitweiser and Matthew Wilson really do a lot to enhance this feel, with a very unique palette that furthers the European aesthetic.  This is particularly impressive in the case of Breitweiser, who has clearly completely changed up her game for this series.

Unfortunately, unlike last month, this issue feels somewhat forgettable insofar as the plot.  I love the fact that Remender is telling a cosmic story, but I’m sort of non-plussed that we’re ultimately just getting yet another “mind control” story in a comic.  It always feels like an “out” when writers do this, a way to cheat by having heroes double-cross each other or do bad things, without having to deal with the consequences or ramifications, without Marvel actually having to commit to the swerve.  It leads to stories and characterization that doesn’t really have he significance that it would otherwise have.

As a result, when you see Ms. Marvel and Mar-Vell romancing and rekindling a flame and taking their relationship to a new level, should we really care?  What could be a significant moment for the two characters is undercut by the fact that it’s probably not for real and could very well just be part of their being mind controlled.
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Journey into Mystery #638 – Review

Posted on May 26, 2012 by paladinking

by Kieron Gillen, Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Carmine Di Giandomenico (art), Chris Sotomayor (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story: As they run wild, we learn that everything we thought we knew about the history of the Disir is wrong.

The Review:  While Journey into Mystery is one of favourite books, I’ll admit that I’ve not been too high on Exiled as of yet.  However, after the genius twist at the end of last week’s issue of New Mutants, things are definitely coming together with this issue.  As the Disir cause mayhem, it seems that the prior issues were only awkward because it was Gillen and DnA getting the pieces in place so that we could get to the story that is told this month.

This issue’s big reveal is, basically, that everything we thought we knew about the Disir is wrong.  Frankly, I love it when writers pull things like this, particularly given that Gillen created the Disir anyway.  The best part is that this sudden reveal about the Disir’s true history makes them far more sympathetic, which completes a slow-burn effort Gillen has been working towards throughout his run; since his run on Thor, the Disir have gradually become more sympathetic and this reveal is all of that reaching its fruition.  It’s a lot more tragic and it makes a lot more sense than a bunch of women randomly deciding to take up cannibalism in a cave.  It’s a great story by Gillen that serves to truly flesh out the Disir, putting the reader in the odd position of feeling a bit bad for the monsters as they rage around and tear the city up.

Quite honestly, that flashback tale/retelling carries the issue and it alone makes this by far the best issue of Exiled thus far.  There are other things to like, however.  Dani Moonstar really shines this month as the souped-up Valkyrie action hero, courtesy of Hela.  The last page is also a pretty bold move by Gillen and DnA, bringing back a very, very powerful character who is suddenly extremely relevant to this story.
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The Flash #9 – Review

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Minhquan Nguyen

By: Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato (story and art)

The Story: For God’s sake, Barry, don’t do anything stupid like quote Planet of the Apes around here.

The Review: The Silver Age of comics might have superficially drawn upon an ever-growing understand of science to tell stories, but that did nothing to stem the tide of totally illogical and bizarre ideas and storylines upon which comics fed.  The Flash (Barry Allen flavor), perhaps as a resulting byproduct of that era, thus comes attached with some seriously wacky history, probably epitomized by his completely random relationship with gorillas.

It’s always been hard to take DC’s gorilla villains seriously—and yes, I use the plural because DC actually has at least two reputable villains of simian persuasion.  If you’ve watched Young Justice, you might know Monsieur Mallah, a hyper-intelligent gorilla who wears a beret, speaks French, and is a mutually reciprocated romance with an out-of-body brain.  Gorilla Grodd thus seems plausible by comparison, a hyper-intelligent, telepathic ape who feeds on brains to increase his mental power, but he’s still just too goofy to be considered a legitimate threat.
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Aquaman #9 – Review

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Minhquan Nguyen

By: Geoff Johns (story), Ivan Reis (pencils), Joe Prado, Oclair Albert, Andy Lanning (inks), Rod Reis (colors)

The Story: All those years of PTSD therapy, undone by one super-villain attack.

The Review: As I read through this issue, it struck me that I haven’t been giving Johns enough credit for what he’s been doing on the title.  In many ways, Johns has had to reintroduce Aquaman like a brand-new hero, giving him a fresh mythos for a new generation of readers.  At the same time, Johns has not only been preserving the essentials of Aquaman’s lore, he’s been portraying Aquaman as a hero who comes with a rich history already attached.

The Others represent this strange mixture of new and old in Aquaman’s current continuity.  Though I still think it an unusual choice for Johns to spend so much time establishing a whole other set of characters when his star still has a long way to go in the development department, he’s been doing a remarkably good job at it.  The opening with Prisoner-Of-War shows Johns’ writing at its best: largely stripped at dialogue, yet incredibly informative and emotionally stirring.  I will happily accept any number of Others if Johns can write them all like this.
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Batman Incorporated #1 – Review

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Minhquan Nguyen

By: Grant Morrison (story), Chris Burnham (art), Nathan Fairbairn (colors)

The Story: Bat-Cow, greatest hero since Spider-Pig.

The Review: This title has had a troubled publishing history, hasn’t it?  It had the unfortunate circumstance of getting put on hiatus when it was still enormously popular and when its storyline was only beginning to take epic shape.  Then you had Leviathan Strikes, a commendable attempt to wrap up its first arc and put to rest its continuity from the former DCU.  And here it returns to a brave new world, where detail it uses may be setting precedent for future storytellers.

This series has the distinction of being one of the few titles allowed to pick up where it left off in the previous universe, meaning we can assume that nearly every character or plot point it’s established up to this point still applies.  For example, even though characters like Stephanie Brown, Wally West, and the whole of the Justice Society are nowhere to be seen—at least, on this Earth—it seems the Outsiders are alive and well, despite getting caught in an explosion in space last time we saw them.  Even Freight Train is seen eating some deviled eggs in Batcave West.  So this means the Outsiders not only exist, they remain a part of the Batman mythos.
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The Unwritten #37 – Review

Posted on May 24, 2012 by dfstell

By: Mike Carey & Peter Gross (creators), Chris Chuckry (colors), Todd Klein (letters), Yuko Shimizu (covers), Joe Hughes (assistant editor) & Shelly Bond (editor)

The Story: How are people reacting to Tommy Taylor down under?

Review (with minor SPOILERS): If you were looking for The Unwritten to return to the regularly scheduled story with a BANG, you might be disappointed with this issue.  That was probably an unrealistic expectation for a methodical and thought provoking book like The Unwritten anyway, but coming off the War of the Words story arc where events happened in rapid-fire (at least rapid-fire for this series), it was a little jarring to go back into slow mode.

There are those who take issues like this one as evidence that The Unwritten “reads better in trade”.  And….it might be more satisfying in some ways.  But, even with the slowness of the story, something is lost when you consume 5 issues in one sitting.  The Unwritten is still a good story to carry in your mind from month-to-month.  What do stories really mean?

The story choice here is interesting.  For one thing, Tom Taylor doesn’t make an appearance.  Except for the “special issues” of The Unwritten, I’m not sure if Tom has ever failed to appear.  But, the other thing is that we bounce the story all the way to Australia where we see the Australian police investigating a cult that is causing people to disappear.  The cult is a pretty interesting place too.  Their leader (who I’m 99% sure has been appearing in the series since early on as a bit character) is upset over the fact that stories are ending.  That concept of the “end of stories” was the big take away from last month’s issue #36 featuring our favorite, foul-mouthed bunny rabbit.
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WCBR’s Top Picks

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Minhquan Nguyen

Dean’s Top Picks

Best of the past week: Fantastic Four #605.1 – I probably should give this to Saga #3 and can’t believe that I’m giving any honors to an issue with art by Mike Choi (because his art was very pedestrian in this issue), but Jonathan Hickman did enough to get it over the hump.  The story is basically an alternate history that shows Germany winning World War II and what a Nazi Fantastic Four would look like…..only to see that this story was really about one of the many Reed Richards from the Council of Reeds.  Very clever.

Top 5 this week:

1). The Unwritten #37 – I can’t wait to see what this story does next.  We’ve finished the “War of the Words” storyline that had all kinds of big events for the characters.  Last issue we had one of those done-in-one issues featuring that foul-mouthed bunny rabbit.  So, this issue will finally show us where the main story will go.  Lots was accomplished in the finale of “War of the Words” and I’m very curious to see if this series acts like it is going to wrap up OR if it will settle into another long story cycle.

2). Prophet #25 – If you’re looking for trippy science fiction storytelling, Prophet is the place to be.  We’ve now moved beyond our “wasteland Earth” setting of the first 3 issues into more of a space opera.  The storytelling and art have both been wonderful in this series so far.

3). Mind Mgmt #1 – Matt Kindt doing a monthly comic series?!?  Sign me up.  This is the guy who gave us the excellent OGN’s Super Spy, Revolver, and 3 Story, as well as the art on the OGN The Tooth–and did that great fill-in arc on Sweet Tooth a few months ago.  I don’t even really care what this is about.  I’m just excited to see how Kindt does with a monthly comic (much the same way I was eager to see how Jeff Lemire would do with Sweet Tooth when it launched a few years ago).

4). Elephantmen #39 – Last issue brought in a character I never thought I’d see in the contemporary Elephantmen storylines: Yvette!  And, that’s after years of seeing her character in these old flashbacks about “the war”.  Elephantmen never disappoints….it’s always interesting, the art is always pretty and the production values are unparalleled.

5). Hero Comics 2012 – An original TMNT story by Kevin Eastman?  An original Elephantmen story by Richard Starkings with art by Dave Sim?  With a J. Scott Campbell cover?  Plus, lots of other goodies from name creators and all the profits benefit the Hero Initiative?  These Hero comics are always good and the money goes to a great cause.

——-

Alex’s Top Picks

Pick of the Week: The Manhattan Projects #3 – It was between this and Saga, but ultimately, the awesome, European, Heavy Metal style artwork totally won me over.  Top this with ridiculously kooky characters, and you have a winner.  However, what made this issue special was that Jonathan Hickman actually made the bombing of Hiroshima comedic.  Seriously.  That alone is a massive achievement.  It was certainly irreverent, which can be said about this series in general, but not at all tasteless.  Between this and that FF done-in-one with  Spidey and Johnny as room-mates, Hickman is showing himself to have a surprisingly great handle on comedy.

Picks:  First up would have to be Justice League Dark #9.  Next to Catwoman, JLD was the biggest disappointment of the new 52 for me.  I loved the concept, the characters, and the art, but the book just wasn’t clicking for me, much that  having to do with the glacial pacing.  Now Jeff Lemire, a guy on my “buy anything he writes list” is taking over.  JLD is a winning concept and Lemire should be the man for the job.

Next up would be Fantastic Four #606.  With his major story wrapped up, Hickman seems to be spending the rest of his run with done-in-ones, each with a clear creative idea.  This week takes the team to Wakanda and if the done-in-ones last month were any indication, this should be fun.

Secret Avengers #27 continues what is so far my favourite AvX tie-in.  It’s last-stand heroism, the return of Mar-Vell, cosmic adventuring/politics, double-crosses, and Renato Guedes putting out some of the best work of his career.

Batman Incorporated #1 seems like a bit of an outsider these days, as Scott Snyder has so firmly taken control of the Bat-verse.  Still, it’s Grant Morrison doing his thing, which should provide a nice counter-point to Snyder’s Batman and provide a high-quality bat-book sans owls.

Finally, while I said that Justice League Dark was among the disappointments of the new 52, The Flash has been one of the nicest surprises of the relaunch.  It’s been nothing but lush artwork and old school gleefulness from Manapul and Buccellato.  The Flash #9 sees the Flash end up in Gorilla City, which is just the sort of wacky, old school “comics” thing that this creative team seems to dig.  Better still, it’ll mean Grodd, a sentimental favourite of mine.

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