Tag Archives: red lanterns

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Rain is pouring, wind is blowing, Sandy is here! Hope all our East coast readers are staying safe and dry and waiting out the storm with some good comics to read.

Around the Blogs

She Knows – Obama or Romney: Can comic books help you vote? – Have these affected your opinion of either if you’ve read them?

Bleeding Cool – USA Luge Team To Dress Like X-O Manowar – Um, k.

 

Around the Tubes Reviews

CBR – Batman Incorporated #4

CBR – The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #13

CBR – Ghost #1

Talking Comics – How I Spent My Summer Invasion #2

Talking Comics – Red Lanterns #13

The Brooklyn Paper – Sailor Twain

Trek Web – Things to Come: Graphic Novel

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The weekend is here, yay! What’s everyone doing this weekend?

Around the Blogs:

Bleeding Cool – What Doesn’t Quite Make Sense In The DC New 52 Timeline – With Help From Rob Liefeld -Oh boy…

 

Around the Tubes Reviews:

Talking Comics – Amazing Spider-Man #694

CBR – Happy! #1

Talking Comics – I, Vampire #0

Talking Comics – Justice League Dark #0

Talking Comics – Red Lanterns #0

Talking Comics  – Talon #0

CBR – Ultimate Comics Ultimates #16

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New comics came out yesterday, what’d everyone pick up? Lots of reviews from yesterday.

Around the Tubes Reviews:

Talking Comics – Axe Cop: President of the World #3

Talking Comics – Captain Marvel #4

Talking Comics – Debris #3

Talking Comics – Gambit #3

ICv2 – Higurashi When They Cry: Massacre Arc Vol. 1 TP

CBR – Talon #0

Examiner – Talon #0

The Herts Advertiser – Ultimate Comics The Ultimates Vol 2

Talking Comics – Winter Soldier #11

MTV Geek – Wolverine and the X-Men #17

Talking Comics – Wolverine & The X-men #17

MTV Geek – DC Zero Month, Week Four Reviews: ‘All-Star Western,’ ‘Aquaman,’ ‘Batman, Incorporated,’ And ‘Batman: The Dark Knight’

MTV Geek – DC Zero Month, Week Four Reviews: ‘The Flash,’ ‘Firestorm,’ ‘I, Vampire,’ And ‘Justice League Dark’

MTV Geek – DC Zero Month, Week Four Reviews: ‘Red Lanterns,’ ‘Hawkman,’ And ‘Superman’

MTV Geek – DC Zero Month, Week Four Reviews: ‘Talon,’ ‘Teen Titans,’ And ‘Voodoo’

Complex – Review: Grant Morrison Makes His Image Comics Debut With The Deliriously Surreal “Happy”

Comic Book (sort of) Weekly Reviews – 4/4/12

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Ok, I slowed down in the whole catching up on my reviews thing… but back to it and hopefully I’ll totally be caught up by the end of June… if not sooner.

Age of Apocalypse #2 – The remaining resistance is on the run and Jean Grey and Sabretooth’s role is still up in the air.  The series is solid and different, with some solid art.  The series is different enough to stand out from the rest of the “X” books.  I missed the original Age of Apocalypse, so this’ll do for me.

Story: 7.75 Art: 8 Overall: 7.75

American Vampire #25 – Scott Snyder’s series is amazing and this issue ties so many threads together.  I can’t wait to see what he does and what he has in store for the series.  I can’t get enough of this series and it absolutely shows off why Snyder is one of the best writers out there.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.5

Animal Man #8 – The battle against the Rot continues as Animal Man and Swamp Thing are going to team up and collide.  The series shows that the Vertigo feel can work and work well in the modern DC universe.  The art is solid on top of it.  This is one of the best series to come out of DC’s relaunch.

Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8

Avengers Academy #28 – The team up with the Runaways continues and there’s a bunch I like, and a lot I don’t.  The series just feels like the B-team for Avengers.  We’ll see where it goes, but hopefully post Avengers Vs. X-Men the series will get a nice shake-up.

Story: 7.25 Art: 7.25 Overall: 7.25

Avengers Vs. X-Men #1 – This is it?  There’s some great build up and tension, but the old quote about sound and fury signifying nothing stands out to me.  It’s just one issue, but I hope there’s more to it all than just this.  The art is pretty solid, but overall, pretty meh so far.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75

Batman: Detective Comics #8 – While the art is pretty decent, I think the story really shows how excellent Snyder’s Batman is compared to this inferior series.

Story: 7 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7

Batwing #8 – We find out the identity of Massacre.  I can’t say I’m shocked.  The ending to the first arc is ok.  It’s not quite the solid series it was when it started, but still a nice addition to the Bat family.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5

Brilliant #3 – A debate rages as to how to handle the discovery as the FBI attempts to put together what happened.  This series feels like a tame Mark Millar series.  Without the swearing and over the top violence.  Not sure if that’s a good thing… either part.

Story: 7.25 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.25

Chew #25 – Tony is captured and this series shows why it’s one of the most creative and original ones out there.  The story is as off the hook as can be expected and art entertaining as usual.  A series that should be on everyone’s pull-list.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25

Danger Club #1 – The adults are away and the children will play.  The adult super heroes might be dead, so the kids have taken over.  The series just has awesome punch to it with solid art.  It’s not totally original, but it’s damn entertaining.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5

Daredevil #10.1 – A great point one that introduces Daredevil to new readers and catches them up on information you know.  I’m loving the Omegadrive story.  Watching the groups after it attempt to get it is beyond entertaining.  Mark Waid is at the top of his game with this series and the art is amazing.

Story: 9 Art: 9 Overall: 9

Fairest #2 – The art is fantastic and story solid in this spin-off from Fables.  Two issues in and you can see the series falls more into the fantasy end of things, picking up on some threads left from the main series.  It’s only two issues, but it’s two solid issues.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.25

Fear Itself: The Fearless #12 – So, Hellstrom is a bad guy in this book, but a good guy in Circle of Four and Journey?  Get the characters straight!!!  There’s some interesting stuff set up here, but overall, this twelve part series was a mess.

Story: 6 Art: 6.75 Overall: 6.25

New Mutants #40 – Douglock fights Ani-Matter and I yawn…

Story: 6.5 Art: 6.5 Overall: 6.5

Red Lanterns #8 – Take this story and switch the color to a different Corps… does it make a difference?  No, not really and that’s where the story fails for me.  Red Lanterns should have an animalistic feel to them and here they just come off like a bland version of Yellow or Green.

Story: 6.75 Art: 7.5 Overall: 6.75

Secret Avengers #24 – A cool story still with the team taking on various cyborg like beings in the Marvel universe that have come together.  It’s a somewhat original story, and the art is pretty solid.  I think the series is finally finding it’s footing.

Story: 7 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7

Stormwatch #8 – The team takes on a pretty huge threat and Midnighter makes a hell of a decision.  The series is finally getting good for me, and hopefully it continues on this pace.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75

Swamp Thing #8 – A series that’s been more Vertigo and horror than superhero swings the superhero way as Swamp Thing goes after the Rot in the beginning of a hell of a battle.  Compared to past issues, the issue is just ok, but it’s one piece of a much bigger and excellent story.

Story: 7 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7

Thunderbolts #172 – The renegade Thunderbolts fight the original Thunderbolts in a pretty typical battle issue.  There’s some potential here, but so far it’s pretty average but still somewhat entertaining.

Story: 7 Art: 7.25 Overall: 7

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #9 – Miles meets the police and his uncle comes calling when he runs into trouble.  The series continues it’s excellence as a new Spider-Man still gets his act together.  The art is great and story solid.

Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8

Venom #15 – Flash must deal with the last few weeks and his getting up and heading to Vegas.  His personal life is unraveling while he deals with having been attached to Venom so long.  The series is getting back into the swing of things focusing on Flash’s personal life as much as the superhero.  That’s when it’s great.

Story: 8.25 Art: 7.5 Overall: 8.25

Wolverine and the X-Men #8 – The kids head off to find God (not really) while Wolverine deals with his getting beaten down at the Casino.  Meanwhile the Hellfire Club hires Sabretooth to give them some tips which leads to Sabretooth fighting Beast in an awesome fight.  The issue is all over the place and pure amazing.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5

Comic Book (sort of) Weekly Reviews – 3/7/12

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That’s three week’s of reviews taken care of this week.  Getting closer to catching up.

Age of Apocalypse #1 – It’s the last remaining humans versus Weapon Omega and a world full of mutants.  It’s the reverse of the 616 in a way and while I missed the Age of Apocalypse the first time around, the writing style, voice and art have me wanting to come back for more.

Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8

Animal Man #7 – The battle along with Swamp Thing is growing nearer as the Rot continues to hunt Animal Man and his family.  The story is solid as expected and it’s the fright along with the quiet moments that makes this series great.  Vertigo has come to DC and damn is it good.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5

Avengers Academy #27 – Part one of the Runaways’ visit to Avengers Academy starts with a stereotypical fight and looks like the second part will be one too…. sigh.

Story: 7.25 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.25

Avengers: the Children’s Crusade #9 – After so much build-up.  After so many delays, the final issue of this mini-series is kind of a let down.  Not much really happens other than events being set into motion concerning Iron Lad and what happens to Vision, but really it’s all to neat and tidy when the vents leading up to it and depicted during were anything but.

Story: 6.75 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7

Batman: Detective Comics #7 – The story involving Penguin’s Casino is over and I’m all mixed up as to what the hell is going on.  Too many Batman comics with not enough distinction.  The stories seem to blur together a bit and that’s not a good thing.

Story: 7 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7

Batwing #7 – We find out the horrific thing the Kingdom did and really, it’s impact just didn’t hit me.  But.. the fight heads to Gotham.  What’s it say that Batwing has to run to the other “white” Batman and friends to solve his issue?  Doesn’t really make the character stand on his own….

Story: 7 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7

the Defenders #4 – The first arc is over, but that doesn’t mean the story is over.  There’s a dream machine and Strange doesn’t know what it does and how it works.  The issue really focuses on Strange and his history and a lot of potential of what the story could be.  Lots of hints of excellence, but it doesn’t quite work for me.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Fairest #1 – Spinning out of Fables, what ever happened to Sleeping Beauty?  Ali Baba is the Prince of Thieves in search of treasure and this first issue harkens back to the quality of early Fables comics.  So good.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5

Hell Yeah #1 – It’s the last generation of heroes and there was a lot of buzz about this book and there’s a reason.  It’s so good, Hell Yeah lives up to it’s name.  The comic has great art and the story has me very interested.  Such a solid first issue that shows why Image is one of the most buzzed about publishers.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5

The Manhattan Projects #1 – Jonathan Hickman’s latest series is so interesting involving the Manhattan Project and how that was really a front.  The ideas are so out there as expected, Hickman knocks it out of the park with this first issue.  The art is interesting and not quite to my liking, but overall the series is a great read and absolute buy.

Story: 9 Art: 8 Overall: 9

Night Force #1 – What the fuck did I just read?  This is really only for hardcore fans of whatever came before.

Story: 6 Art: 7.25 Overall: 6.25

Rachel Rising #6 – Wow.  A slow burn of a horror series that seems to only get better with each issue.  I really wish more people were praising the series because it deserves the mass exposure a certain other horror comic series is getting.

Story: 9 Art: 8.5 Overall: 9

Ralph Wiggum Comics #1 – The things that come out of Ralph’s mouth are some of the best things ever said on The Simpsons.  He’s easily one of my favorite characters.  I was giddy when I heard about this series and it’s as funny and innocent as I expected.  I had a smile on my face the entire time and was laughing out loud.  So much potential, so much fun.

Story: 9 Art: 8 Overall: 8.75

Red Lanterns #7 – Atrocitus still searches for Krona so Bleez decides to take the Red Lanterns on a mission.  Then there’s the Red Lantern of Earth, who of course lashes out and fights Guy Gardner.  For all good there is, there’s also so much bad…

Story: 7 Art: 8 Overall: 7

Stormwatch #7 – The series is so close to being something great, but it just doesn’t quite do it for me.  I’m still reading hoping it’ll get there.  It shows improvement, but still not there yet.

Story: 9 Art: 8.5 Overall: 9

Swamp Thing #7 – The Green is under assault by the Rot and Alec must choose what he’ll do.  Does he become the Swamp Thing or does he let the Rot win.  Here’s what we’ve been waiting for… the decision.

Story: 8.75 Art: 8.75 Overall: 8.75

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #8 – Miles and his uncle have a talk while the Scorpion is after the Prowler.  Miles is still dealing with his new role as others are adjusting to the news of a new Spider-Man.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.25

Uncanny X-Men #8 – The Tabula Rasa story is over and I’m sure that’s not the last we’ll see of it.  Overall a poor follow up to X-Force’s story that created it, but interesting concepts.  The art is still very uneven.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.25

Venom #14 – The battle in Vegas is over thankfully… such a bad story arc.  Here’s hoping the series gets back on track.

Story: 6.5 Art: 6.75 Overall: 6.5

Villains for Hire #4 – And with that, a good concept comes to an end.  So sad as the Heroes and Villains concept had a ton of potential and the Heroes version was a lot of fun.  This ending was a bit convoluted, but still entertaining.  We’ll see if there’s any lasting impact to this all.  I hope there is.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Winter Soldier #3 – Not as quite good as Cap stories of the past, the series is slowly finding it’s own voice and coming together.  Bucky and Widow have to break into the Latverian Embassy to have a chat with Von Doom after figuring out who is behind all the activity they’re tracking.  There’s a lot of action here, but the comic stands out when it slows down and focuses on the characters.

Story: 7.5 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.5

Wolverine #302 – Wolverine struggles against mind control, what a shock.  His battle with the Hand continues and gets noticed by the Hand’s leader Wilson Fisk…  The story is ok, but the art is sub-par.

Story: 7.5 Art: 6.75 Overall: 7.25

Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha & Omega #3 – And the point to this miniseries is?  I really need to learn to not buy these.

Story: 6.75 Art: 6.75 Overall: 6.75

X-Men #26 – Wow is the art bad in this issue.  Storm looks anorexic in the majority of panels.  The story is so-so, but really, I kind of hoped someone would stake Jubilee and get this story arc over with.

Story: 7 Art: 6 Overall: 6.75

Comic Book (sort of) Weekly Reviews – 2/1/12

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The goal is to get two more weeks reviewed by Sunday….

Animal Man #6 – A very impressive issue that slows the weirdness down a bit and instead focuses on a movie staring a super hero and his family.  The story is so good and really reflects well on Animal Man and his superheroing with this family.  Words just can’t reflect how good this is, but it’s up there as one of the best issues of the year.

Story: 9 Art: 8.5 Overall: 9

Avengers Academy #25 – The kids battle Hybrid and there’s enough here to make me interested.  But the series still feels like it’s a bit “B” level compared to the regulars Avengers “A” game.  Still, entertaining in it’s own ways.

Story: 7.25 Art: 7.25 Overall: 7.25

Avengers X-Sanction #3 – Bits I’ve liked, others not so much.  It’s a prelude, but a prelude that could have been done in a one shot oversized comic instead of being dragged out over four issues.

Story: 7.25 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.25

Batman: Detective Comics #6 – So there’s a lot of Batman comics it seems, and that’s getting me a bit confused as to what’s going on in which.  That’s also hurting my enjoyment a bit, particularly of this series which I think is the weakest of the bunch.  Overall, a mess due to too much monthly Batman.

Story: 6.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 6.75

Batwing #6 – We get a hint as to Massacre might be, though that’s too simple really.  It also looks like the story is shifting back to Gotham.  It’s six issues in and it kind of feels like this story should of wrapped up already.  I do like the filling in of history, but the main story has dragged on for quite a bit and not a lot of resolution.

Story: 7 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.25

the Defenders #3 – Um, entertaining, but rather abrupt ending.  With such build up a bad guy really shouldn’t be defeated so easily.  Overall, I don’t expect this series to last very long.

Story: 6.75 Art: 7 Overall: 6.75

the Punisher #8 – Not the strongest issue in a while, it’s a bit jumbled and choppy for me.  The series generally has been great and the art is fantastic.  I’m not letting one issue get me down, and maybe as a slice of the bigger story it’s better than it stands as a solo issue.

Story: 7 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7

Rachel Rising #5 – The series is creepy, beyond creepy.  A dead girl and another with a demon friend.  Some great horror right here and two female leads.  This is a definite recommend for the horror fans as I imagine not too many of you are picking it up and missing out on a great series.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25

Red Lanterns #6 – So many issues with this series.  The issue focuses on the new human Red Lantern and like that Corps., it’s all rage and little depth.  The issue suffers from the concept, but the series is shifting to give us more, it’s just taking a while.

Story: 7.25 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.25

Stormwatch #6 – The series has a lot going for it and it’s been six issues and it’s just getting going it feels like.  I really feel like a lot of this could have been settled in the first arc, instead the series has tried to be too smart and instead continues to be a jumbled mess.  It’s getting better though.

Story: 7 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7

Swamp Thing #6 – Scott Snyder is one of the best writers out there right now and combined  with art from Marco Rudy, this series continues to show why it’s one of the best in DC’s relaunch and best on the market.  It’s creepy, gross, haunting and just fantastic.  The build up has been coming, and the story is about to explode.

Story: 8.75 Art: 8.75 Overall: 8.75

The Twelve #9 – The limited series WAS fantastic, but too much time has passed and I can’t say I remember enough to care.  I still want to see how it all ends, but that’s more because the delay makes me fascinated to see what might have been.

Story: 6.75 Art: 8 Overall: 7

Uncanny X-Force #21 – The art is off, story a bit jumbled and big reveal at the end had no impact on me.  Wow did this issue slip in quality.  Oh well, hopefully it’ll bounce back.

Story: 6.75 Art: 7 Overall: 6.75

Uncanny X-Men #6 – Great to see some issues from Uncanny X-Force dealt with, but boy is this bad.  Something isn’t clicking for me.

Story: 6.75 Art: 7 Overall: 6.75

Venom #13 – The Circle of Four kicks off here with the heroes gathering to fight demons.  The art isn’t as solid as it usually is and the story is meh.  Not a good story to a pretty high profile story arc.

Story: 6.75 Art: 6.75 Overall: 6.75

Villains for Hire #3 – It’s Misty Knight in control, so the villains turn on her, but is there more to this all.  The end I paused and said, wtf!?  The limited series has been great four three issues, lets hope the fourth doesn’t disappoint.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Winter Soldier #1 – The first issue of the series is interesting and to a point it tries to be smarter than it really needs to be.  The series follows the Winter Soldier/Bucky and Black Widow as they deal with other sleeper agents.  A great premise that could lead to some great spy/noir storytelling, but too much is crammed in and the series instead feels like a cheap action comic.

Story: 7 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.25

X-Factor #231 – We find out more about the world Madrox wound up in and it’s pretty interesting.  I imagine we’ll see it again the future.  Madrox hops to another world.  It’s all supposedly concluded next issue.  Thankfully.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Comic Book (not so) Weekly Reviews – 1/4/12

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Catching up slowly with reviews….

Animal Man #5 – The rot is spreading and Animal Man and his family must fight it.  The series art has dipped a little, but story is Vertigo meets mainstream DC.  Solid work and I can’t wait to see where it goes….

Story: 8 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.75

The Avengers Annual #1 – Remember when Wonder Man and a team attacked the Avengers mansion?  Yeah… so if you wondered whatever happened to that story, it gets wrapped up in this issue.  It’s interesting and sets up a lot of potential, but it’s been so long since that first part you have to wonder why it’s taken so damn long.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75

Avengers Academy #24 – Hmm, kind of torn on this issue.  The art is just ok, and the time travel/traitor story has been done, but there’s something interesting about it all.  It’s not “A” level, but getting better than it’s been.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Avengers: X-Sanction #2 – Cable continues to fight the Avengers as more hints towards the why are given.  Cable slips between the present and future in decent story telling, the art I’m iffy on over it.  The story is intriguing, just not totally sold.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7 Overall: 7.5

Batman: Detective Comics #5 – The main story is ok, Batman chases some guy as people protest Batman.  The back-up story is a jumble of a mess.  I’d rather have a longer main story or something else, cause the quality is just not good.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Batwing #5 – Anyone else think it’s odd that Batwing has to call in the white Batman to help?  No message there?  The issue is decent and has some character depth added for Batwing and the art is fantastic.  The series is one of the bright spots for the DC relaunch.

Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8

The Defenders #2 – The series second issue is a bit better than the first.  There’s a tone and pacing that’s different and entertaining to it.  The blurbs at the bottom are interesting too.  I can’t say this is a huge hit and must read series, but it’s getting better in my opinion.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Fatale #1 – So much hype surrounding the series and while it’s interesting, it’s not as good as Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ previous work.  The noir meets Lovecraft series is not as good as what they’ve done, but that makes it better than most everything else.  My gut says the series will be a better read in one sitting instead of individual issues.

Story: 7.5 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.5

Fear Itself: The Fearless #6 – What happened to Crossbone’s new ability?  That seemed to go away… The event spin-off hasn’t gotten much better and I’m not seeing the point.  I’m reading it in hopes it leads to something.

Story: 6.5 Art: 7 Overall: 6.5

The Punisher #7 – I really liked this issue.  On the way to the massacre from the last issue, two detectives talk about the Punisher and what he does and how that differs from what the police and law do.  I solid issue that really gets you to think about justice and who decides and dispenses it.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25

Rachel Rising #4 – The state of Rachel is starting to be noticed as more bodies are dumped.  The series is weird and a very slow creepy burn to it.  It’s so good though showing why horror was my pick of genre of the year last year.

Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8

Red Lanterns #5 – A bunch of the Lanterns get smarter as they look for Krona.  Earth gets it’s own Red Lantern.  Overall an ok story that’s getting somewhere, just not sure where.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5

Stormwatch #5 – Um, what the hell did I read?  I am so confused by this series.  There’s a bunch I like and then again, this is just not a friendly series for new readers. What. The. Hell?

Story: 7 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.25

Swamp Thing #5 – The rot continues to get stronger while the green attempts to fight back.  The series is colliding with Animal Man and damn it’s good.  There’s just this great horror feel to it all and it’s easy to get into, even with such material that’s come before.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25

Thunderbolts #168 – Luke Cage is going after escaped convicts from the Raft as Mockingbird and Mach V deal with the committe that oversees the program.  At the same time the other Thunderbolts are on the run still and did Ghost reach them?  Lots going on here in an interesting issue that’s pretty solid.  Not bade, but not great either.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.5

Uncanny X-Force #19.1 – We get a preview of what to expect when the Age of Apocalypse comes back as an ongoing series.  The preview is crazy and entertaining, but I wonder what the big game plan it is for the series.  There has to be something.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8 Overall: 8.5

Uncanny X-Men #4 – A story of the Phalanx and it’s interesting.  There’s a slight tie-in with Sinister which seems a bit stretched.  A lot I like and some I don’t.  Pretty decent read though.

Story: 7.5 Art: 8 Overall: 7.5

Villains for Hire #2 – Purple Man is on the move to find his rival and it’s a shocker as to who it is, but that ending just made my jaw drop.  I have no idea what is happening next, but this series is very entertaining.  I can’t wait to see what it leads to.

Story: 8 Art: 7.25 Overall: 7.75

X-Men #23 – Yay, we get a semi-mission/point for this team, other than leaving weapons of mass destruction lying around.  What an anti-climatic ending to the story…

Story: 7 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7

Wolverine & the X-Men: Alpha & Omega #1 – Quentin Quire decides to get his revenge on Wolverine for sending him to Westchester.  Sadly, the story isn’t needed and really adds nothing so far.  The art is just ok and doesn’t live up to the cool cover.  Overall, no idea why this is being done.

Story: 6.75 Art: 6.75 Overall: 6.75

X-23 #20 – Laura and Jubilee have a night out and Laura gets an offer as to where she should go next.  The story is ok, but really could have had a much more emotional impact.  The sub-par art didn’t help at all as well.

Story: 6.5 Art: 6.5 Overall: 6.5

Comic Book Weekly Reviews – 12/7/11

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It’s a think stack of books this week as we head into the last month of the year.  What company is going out with a bang and making the case to be the publisher of year?  Find out below!

Animal Man #4 – We learn what the Rot is and what they want, sort of.  It’s also laid out as to what’s been pretty obvious, we’ll be getting a crossover pretty soon with Swamp Thing, because nothing says simplifying a comic universe like interconnected stories and crossovers.

Story: 8 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.25

Avenging Spider-Man #2 – Lots of action, great art and enough to get me to laugh quite a few times.  This series is exactly what comics should be, fun and easy to get into.  So entertaining, I highly recommend it, and this is from someone who has never been a big Spider-Man fan.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5

Batman: Detective Comics #4 – Batman continues to fight the Dollmaker to a rather unsatisfying conclusion.  Really, nothing is resolved here and it all gets pushed off for another story arc.  This is definitely the weakest of the Batman books.

Story: 7.5 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.5

Batwing #4 – We get the origin of Batwing and while there’s so much to mine, the fact it’s told so quickly without much depth makes it all shallow.  There’s a lot here to work with, but the first steps just doesn’t go into the depth it deserves.

Story: 7.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 7.5

Chew #22 – Tony is on a mission to find his daughter as he winds up getting into trouble himself.  The issue isn’t as solid as the series usually is, but was still entertaining.  An even ok issue of Chew is better than the majority of books out there.

Story: 8 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8

the Defenders #1 – The team is gathered by Hulk to take on the Breaker of Worlds, and I yawn, a lot.  The series first issue just didn’t do it for me at all.

Story: 6.75 Art: 7.25 Overall: 6.75

Fear Itself: the Fearless #4 – The Fear Itself follow up is as bad as the series that it’s spun out of.  Someone needs to go and see what blood looks like in water and the story is just plodding and boring.  Get to the action quicker, because this race to get all of the hammers is pretty damn boring.

Story: 6 Art: 6.75 Overall: 6

Jennifer Blood #7 – After Jennifer has taken care of her targets, I’ve been wondering where the series would go from here, but we now get an idea.  The over the top violently funny series continues it’s depraved streak as various new plot threads are weaved that all promise to continue the entertaining sickness of the series.  This “female Punisher” looks like it’s finally getting an identity of it’s own.

Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8

Mega Man #8 – Mega Man’s second battle with Dr. Wiley comes to an end and the comic is still great for all ages.  It’s a lot of similar events as the first one with some small twists here and there, but hopefully the third story arc will transcend the predictable plot of the video game it’s based on.

Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8

Moon Knight #8 – Lots of Moon Knight and Echo action here as they take on Count Nefaria and Moon Knight as deals with a certain detective.  The series is fantastic, not just in it’s writing, but also the art.  This is easily one of the best comic book series Marvel is putting out and one of the best out there period.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.75 Overall: 8.5

the Punisher #6 – Frank and Rachel meet as they both go after their targets.  There’s a very interesting dual narrative going on, one with a white motif and the other black.  A lot is working for the comic, in it’s simple execution it’s actually pretty damn deep.  The art is a little off, but overall, the execution is solid.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8 Overall: 8.25

Red Lanterns #4 – Writer Peter Milligan continues to shuffle up these one note characters.  Depth is attempting to be given and it’s working only a little.  There’s a pretty big hurtle that he has to overcome in getting this series to really justify it existing on it’s own and it’s getting there, just very slowly.

Story: 7.5 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.5

Stormwatch #4 – Hmmm, I’m still torn on the series and it’s not until this issue it starts to really find it’s voice and not seem so jumbled.  The art is decent and characters interesting, but still something doesn’t totally click.  I’ll keep going for now, but the series teeters on the edge of being dropped by me.

Story: 7.5 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.5

Swamp Thing #4 – And we get the Green’s take on the battle with the Rot.  The series is great with it’s companion series Animal Man and like that series stands on it’s own, but I can’t help but think how complicated a story the two are telling when part of the point of the DCnU was to simplify it all.  Overall though, the two put together a compelling tale.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles: Micro-Series Raphael – A pretty decent one-shot that adds to the main TMNT comic book series.  Raphael is out on patrol with Casey Jones and meets a new mutated creature.  Some pretty cool stuff that will leave fans of the cartoon or previous comic iterations with a smile on their face.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.25

Venom #10 – Some old acquaintances come calling for Venom as Captain America comes to shut the program down.  It’s an interesting start to the post Spider-Island direction.  I liked the series before, so here’s hoping it quickly gets back on it’s feet and gives us the same quality as before.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75

Villains for Hire #1 – Huh, not what I was expecting but very good.  It looks like this is a bridge from Heroes for Hire into something else, and I can’t wait to see what.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8 Overall: 8.5

X-Club #1 – And the point of this limited series is?

Story: 6.5 Art: 7 Overall: 6.5

X-Factor #228 – Interesting.  Now we know the secret between Layla and Guido.  Not sure I particularly like that revelation, but interesting.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5

X-Men #22 – This team of X-Men have a lot of Sentinels to take on.  The story is interesting and art has it’s moments, but the series is still fresh and doesn’t have enough yet to really stand out on it’s own.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.5

X-23 #18 – Amazing art but schizophrenic story.

Story: 6.75 Art: 8.5 Overall: 7

52 Reviews, Part 2

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So, for the fun of it, I’m going to be collecting all 52 DC #1 issues. And I’m going to review them all. Keep in mind, though, that I’m generally a Marvel fan and, while I’m working may way through DC’s recent big events, I’m only up through the middle of Countdown and I haven’t read any of DC’s non-event comics in a long time, so I’m coming at these stories with a bit of a disadvantage in terms of chronology and character knowledge. Since DC is certainly trying to attract new readers, though, this makes me come at them with a perspective similar to their hypothetical new fans…

Batman and Robin #1 (DC) – This one starts and ends with heavy action and has a good amount of character development in between. It all works. I’m in.

Story: 9 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.75

Batwoman #1 (DC) – I’m relatively new to the character of Kate Kane, but I have to say I like what I see so far. The creative team on this one appears to be top-notch and this is a comic I’ll definitely keep reading.

Story: 9 Art: 10 Overall: 9.5

Deathstroke #1 (DC) – I’m pretty conflicted about this one. It looks great and the story does a good job of establishing the horrible person that Deathstroke is while also showing that he’s a total badass. But there aren’t any characters here I want to root for (well, at least not by the last page) and I’m not enough of a fan of the character to follow him along as bad as he is here. The comic is well-done, it’s just not my type of thing. I’ll probably read issue #2, though, because of the quality of this issue.

Story: 7 Art: 8 Overall: 7.5

Demon Knights #1 (DC) – I’m really not a fan of the fantasy premise behind this one. It’s not a bad premise, it’s just not one I want to read a lot of. I won’t read any more of this series, but it’s not because of a lack of quality.

Story: 7 Art: 8 Overall: 7.5

Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #1 (DC) – I was totally unprepared for how much I liked this story. It is totally not at all the type of thing I would have expected to like and yet it was one of my favorite reads of week 2 of the New 52. It doesn’t break any new ground and it is incredibly similar to the recent Frankencastle run in Punisher or Hellboy, but the execution is so good, it’s a great comic. I’m definitely coming back for more.

Story: 9 Art: 9.5 Overall: 9.25

Green Lantern #1 (DC) – There is a reason why Geoff Johns is where he is today and this issue is a great example of his success. The story is entertaining, including action, intrigue and humor in a perfect balance. You have compelling characters and plotlines that require the reader to tune in next month, which I will definitely do.

Story: 9.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 9

Grifter #1 (DC) – Not knowing anything about this character before this issue, I’m not sure what the point is. I don’t particularly like him after reading this comic and nothing here made me interested in finding out more.

Story: 6 Art: 7 Overall: 6.5

Legion Lost #1 (DC) – This comic does a good job of juggling a big cast without making them all clones and while getting across a story that is intriguing. I’m not completely sold on the comic or the concept, and I don’t like the cartoonish art much, but I’m at least coming back for the next few issues.

Story: 8.5 Art: 6 Overall: 7.5

Mr. Terrific #1 (DC) – I had high hopes for this book, having recently discovered the character and liking him quite a bit, but I felt this was a bit of a letdown. The art wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great, despite some great sequences. The story also starts out solid before going off on a strange tangent at the end that didn’t seem to fit. Some of the things going on were a bit confusing, too. Hopefully future issues will perfect it. I’ll hang around to find out.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Red Lanterns #1 (DC) – This is my first time reading any of the extended Laterns material and I’m going to say that it grabbed me. The art is at times brilliant and the story maintained a good balance of exposition and action that I liked a lot. It had some ridiculous moments, most notably with a cat, but I can let that slide.

Story: 8 Art: 9 Overall: 8.5

Resurrection Man #1 (DC) – Not a great comic, this one was just good enough that I’ll check out #2, but I’m skeptical. The art was pretty weak in places and I just didn’t get enough from the story that’d hook me. The premise is one I like though, so I might hang around to see where it goes.

Story: 7.5 Art: 6.5 Overall: 7

Suicide Squad #1 (DC) – Reading this issue as a noob, I loved it. The villains and the scenario were great, the horror of it was engrossing, the characters were varied and I wanted to know more about them. It was both violent and funny and the ending was a nice little shocker. I’ve never heard of Amanda Waller before, though, and was unfamiliar with the character. It seems she used to be a much larger and more reserved woman and she’s been slimmed down and sexualized. That’s a shame because that one arbitrary panel brings down an otherwise excellent issue.

Story: 10 Art: 9 Overall: 9.5

Superboy #1 (DC) – Another comic I really like. This is very different than your usual Superman comics. You don’t really know who is good or bad or what they are capable and it’s very difficult to predict what is going to happen next. That’s all great and on top of that, you get some very good art.

Story: 9 Art: 9 Overall: 9

Comic Book Weekly Reviews – 9/14/11

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It’s a thick stack of books this week with DC still releasing their number one books.  What’s worth it?  What should be skipped?  Find out below!

Alpha Flight #4 – The team is on the run from the government who has been taken over through an overly complex plan.  There’s a lot I like about the series, but also so much that just seems blah.  Overall it’s getting much better, but there’s definitely some things strange things that don’t jive.  The brutality of one particular character just doesn’t fit in with the relative niceness of Alpha Flight.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest #4 – It’s the second to last issue of this series that  delves into the myths of the vampires.  It adds a bit to the world and the story is really entertaining, but as usual you have to question why the bad guys just don’t kill the good guys right away.  That’s about the only flaw I find, for what’s turned out to be a hell of a limited series.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25

Batman and Robin #1 – The good here is Damian’s depiction.  The mysterious bad guy also has me intrigued.  The bad is the story itself which just seems silly to me.  Also, how old is Batman supposed to be in the DC revamp/reboot/relaunch?  If Damian is still around, he obviously can’t be younger than he was in the previous world.  I’m a bit confused about that part.

Story: 7.5 Art: 8 Overall: 7.75

Batwoman #1 – A beautiful comic book, the art alone is enough to get me to come back for more.  The story on the other hand is a bit week, but still intriguing enough to get me to overlook it.  What is very strong, like the art is the characterization.  The various characters in the comic are well written and there’s some great female leads.  It’s been a long wait for this first issue, and while I can’t say it blew me away, I’ll definitely be back for the second issue.

Story: 7.75 Art: 9 Overall: 8

Black Panther: The Man Without Fear #523 – Out of all of the Fear Itself tie-ins this one is the best, though it’s competition isn’t that great.  As a whole though, I really like the American Panther storyline.  There was a solid ending to it, and a great mystery left at the end that seems like it’ll lead to something more interesting going forward.  With the next issue, it’ll get a new subtitle, the series is quality and a definite recommendation to make a monthly read.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25

Criminal: The Last of the Innocent #4 – Wow, that was one hell of an ending.  This is a crime story of the best caliber.  Brubaker’s story telling seems to get better and better and this one’s ending is just amazing.  Another fantastic volume in the best noir on the market.  I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Story: 9 Art: 9 Overall: 9

Daken: Dark Wolverine #14 – What the hell did I read.  The heat part is great as usual, but the art seems to have taken a dip and it won’t be until next issue that’ll I’ll truly understand what’s going on.  This is one part of a bigger story and by itself the issue doesn’t make too much sense or keep my interest.  Hopefully the next issue will do it some justice as the “set up” issue.

Story: 6.75 Art: 7 Overall: 6.75

Daredevil #3 – Some great pulp fun as Daredevil fights Klaw and helps a man in court.  The entertaining ending is a nice end cap for the first story arc and this issue sets up a bigger bad guy that’s only hinted at.  The action is good and there’s some great writing in the issue.  Mark Waid has returned Daredevil to his roots and it’s fantastic so far.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5

Deadpool #43 – Deadpool is on the loose as he’s escaped from the mental institution, though how he’s done that isn’t really explained very well.  There’s also some other plot points that seem to have been dropped.  The issue is entertaining enough, but falls into the campy end of things way too much.

Story: 7 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7

Deathstroke #1 – Wow, that was a hell of a start.  The issue feels more A-Team than anything else, but then that ending throws you for a spin.  Pretty impressive as it gives you a good idea as to who Deathstroke is and does it all in a self-contained issue.  Really solid beginning.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5

Demon Knights #1 – I appreciate what DC is doing here, taking some of their characters and throwing them into a world similar to one you’d find in a D&D campaign.  The story is ok, but I’m not really one for straight up fantasy.  My concern that it stars Etrigan and his speaking habit was not founded as that seems to have gone away, which is odd, since that was something that made the character very unique.  It’s not a bad comic, but can’t say I really look forward to the second issue.

Story: 7 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.25

Fear Itself #6 – There’s lots of dramatic moments and some big speeches in the second to last issue of Marvel’s disappointing summer event.  There’s some great moments and a lot of characters manning up, but overall this feels like that “big moment” that’s a few issues too late for me to really care or save this event from smelling like a stinker.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Fear Itself: Hulk vs. Dracula #1 – Not quite sure what the point of this limited series is as it doesn’t add a whole lot so far to the overall event.  Also, isn’t the Hulk fighting in a few other places and against a few other heroes?  Fear Itself has been a mess of an event, and this is another example of that.

Story: 6.75 Art: 7 Overall: 6.75

Fear Itself: The Monkey King – A decent enough issue, but again, it doesn’t add anything to the Fear Itself storyline.  I’d of much rather seen a three issue limited series come out of this than this one-shot that’s not really needed.  But, even though it doesn’t add anything to Fear Itself, it’s still a good comic and hopefully we see more of this character than this one-shot.

Story: 8 Art: 7.75 Overall: 8

Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #1 – A Hellboy wannabe I figured this was what to expect of the series after seeing it’s Flashpoint tie-in.  It’s not the story is is bad, I think Hellboy is better in every sense, so there’s nothing new or interesting to keep me coming back for more.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Green Lantern #1 – Sinestro has a green ring again and Hal Jordan must go back to a normal life.  Just when you think there isn’t anything more creative Geoff Johns can do with Green Lantern, this comes along.  A great new start that’s fresh and interesting.  The series has had some issues of late, but this first issue breathes new life into the series and again has me excited.

Story: 8.75 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.75

Grifter #1 – Huh!?  Where’s the Grifter I came to know and love from Wildcats?  What is this crap?!

Story: 6.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 6.75

John Carter: A Princess of Mars #1 – With Roger Langridge’s name on the comic I had to pick it up knowing nothing about this beloved story.  Can’t say I’ll be coming back for the second issue.  It’s not Langridge’s fault, the story just doesn’t interest me at all.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Legion Lost #1 – Hmm, a lot is interesting here, but the story is too much tied up in mystery and the action too choppy to get me to want to come back for more.  I was never a Legion fan before, and can’t say this series has done anything to get me to change my mind.

Story: 6.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 6.75

Mister Terrific #1 – The beginning of the comic was interesting enough, but that ending made me not at all interested in the second issue.  It was too abrupt and comes out of nowhere.  There’s also the very blatant playing off that Mr. Terrific is a black hero and there’s event a rather stereotypical issue of his interest in a white woman.  I’m sure the series will find it’s pace and feet after a bit, but I don’t think I’m sticking around for it.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Mystery Men #5 – A ho-hum ending to the series that attempts to mix real life events with a comic book and doesn’t pull it off too well.  The series was ok, and probably will read better as a trade paperback, but the finale isn’t anything special.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

The New Avengers #16 – We get to see what Daredevil was up to during Fear Itself and the issue is actually really solid.  I like the interview aspect of the issues and the story in this one is really good too.  It’s Daredevil’s acceptance into the crew and it’ll be interesting to see how that goes considering his recent past.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5

Red Lanterns #1 – In short, this is DC’s version of Ghost Rider.  It has potential, and I’ll stick around to see what that is, but the characters kind of started off as a one note gimmick and adding a bit to them will be a tough task.  We’ll see how it all goes though, but so far it’s pretty decent.

Story: 7.5 Art: 8 Overall: 7.75

Resurrection Man #1 – A lot I really liked here.  I can’t say I know a lot about the character and this first issue gives you a hint about him.  There’s enough here that will get me to come back.  The issue though is it seems like I’ve seen this all before in a movie or television show.  Heaven and hell after one man’s soul, it seems too familiar.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25

Suicide Squad #1 – So much I like and at the same time it makes me miss Secret Six.  There’s so many costume changes that are so unnecessary too.  Still, there’s more than enough to get me to come back for the next few issues and see where it goes from here.

Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8

Superboy #1 – More than enough here to get me to come back for the second issue.  The story is interesting and unique enough to stand out from Superman and there’s enough mystery here with numerous characters to keep me intrigued.  This might be the first “Supes” comic I get into.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8 Overall: 8.25

Supreme Power #4 – Just one piece of a bigger puzzle.  By itself the actions of folks makes me scratch my head, but this seems to be the end of the middle chapter of a three act play.  Interesting, but it doesn’t blow me away as much as that first issue did.

Story: 7 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1 – An origin story that’d normally have taken an issue to get through looks like it’ll be spread out a bit.  But there’s a lot here that makes Mile Morales stand out from Peter Parker.  Bendis has made some interesting choices here and it’ll be interesting to see where he goes.  I’ve never been an Ultimate Comics fan, but this relaunch of the line has gotten me very interested.

Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8

Uncanny X-Force #15 – The team is trying their best to take on Archangel and his new horsemen before they transform the world.  Deathlok has also lost his shit in the process.  The trio of Deadpool, Fantomex and Deathlok is a team I want more of.  So wrong yet so right.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.25

The Unwritten #29 – The story of Wilson the the Tinker grows deeper and that ending kind of came out of nowhere.  The story is s bit easier to understand but no less interesting.  This is one of those sleeper series more people should be reading.  It challenges you in every way.  Solid as usual.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25

X-Men: Legacy #255 – Magneto attempts to bring a peace between the two warring armies while Rogue takes over command of a familiar bunch.  The story is really just a way to get Havok, Polaris and Rachel back into the fold, the stroy I could do without.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7


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