the mighty thor Archives - Page 9 of 9

Tag Archives: the mighty thor

Comic Book Weekly Reviews – 7/27/11 Part 2

Posted on August 20, 2011 by Brett

I’m still a bit behind in my reviews. Here’s the second part of reviews from releases weeks ago. Hopefully I’ll be caught up this week.

Green Hornet #17 – Phil Hester continues to move this action packed comic forward. It’s some great pulp action that shows how bad the movie was. Too bad quality like this couldn’t represent the Hornet on the big screen. Tons of fun and a definite read for fans of Batman or pulp hero comics.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.25

Incorruptible #20 – This series along with it’s sister title is about taking the villain and hero dynamic and archetypes and breaking them down. What’s interesting with this issue is that so common villain soliloquy is used and of course things go wrong for the bad guy. For a series that makes us rethink about the typical super hero comic, in this issue it falls upon such a common writing tool.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25

Kirby Genesis #2 – This series is for Kirby die-hards. The ideas are very much him and the designs mimic his style quite well, but overall, I give it a big meh. It’s interesting but a bit too much too quickly I think.

Story: 7.5 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.75

The Mighty Thor #4 – Thor vs. Silver Surfer, Odin vs. Galactus, it’s big battles here. But, when does this take place? Pre-Fear Itself it doesn’t make sense, but post may not have a Thor around. So confusing…. but still entertaining.

Story: 8 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8

New Mutants #28 – To me, this is the quality I expect from the series. Faced with doubt and the after affects of everything they’ve been through an outside shrink is brought in to help them deal. It’s a solid story, worth the read. Here’s hoping the quality keeps up.

Story: 8.25 Art: 7.25 Overall: 8

Secret Avengers #15 – An issue that gets very meta discussing “death” in comic books. Even though it has Fear Itself on the cover, it’s more a statement about the recent deaths of comic book characters and the reaction by the public. A very interesting read if you take it that way.

Story: 8.75 Art: 7 Overall: 8.5

Secret Warriors #28 – Not a thing I would change, a perfect ending to the series. There’s so much hope, so much advice, and so much left out there. It’s a shame it couldn’t continue. But a big thanks goes out to the team that brought twenty eight pages of awesome. Bravo.

Story: 10 Art: 9 Overall: 9.75

Uncanny X-Force #12 – Wow, that was certainly interesting. A hell of an issue that really dives deep into the characters and focuses on them instead of the action, and then wham, one hell of an ending. So, so good. The art surrounding Wolverine was a bit off and inconsistent, but otherwise, a solid issue.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8 Overall: 8.25

Venom #5 – After all of the action, all of the swinging around, this issue quiets it down and instead focuses on Flash the man. It’s interesting that the two books in this batch by Rick Remender focused not on the action and instead focused on characters. It’s a solid book about a man who’s haunted by the past which is guiding his present.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5

X-Factor #222 – The issue with Rhane’s unborn child continues. I can’t say I’m too crazy about the plot, but it has it’s moments and a few times the art is really good. There’s a style that sneaks through that’s solid, but overall the art is ok.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7 Overall: 7

X-Men #15 – Overall a decent story arc that introduces a pretty cool villain. It seems a bit odd to have such a solid story before a big event, and it’s a bit choppy with Schism occurring now. But as a whole, I’ll give it high marks.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5

X-Men: Legacy #252 – Legion seeks out Styx with an ending I’m not quite sure I understand, but there’s clearly more going on involving Rogue, so we’ll see where this series goes next.

Story: 7.75 Art: 8 Overall: 7.75

X-Men: Schism #2 – The major shake up to the “X” universe continues as the world reacts to terrorist acts and the X-Men must assemble to take on antiquated Sentinels. Meanwhile the Hellfire Club continues their movies. This is the event us X-Men fans have been waiting for.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5

Around the Tubes – It’s Friday, Friday…

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Brett

So, I care that it’s Friday just because that means I can sleep in tomorrow and attempt to catch up on the lack of sleep from San Diego Comic-Con and also gear up for next week’s Gen Con. While you were slaving away, working for the man, here’s the news you might have missed.

Around the Blogs:

The Mary Sue – The Hard Numbers Say There are Less Female Characters in the DCnU As Well – Some good number crunching.

Comics Alliance – Answering Dan DiDio: The Problem With Having Only 1% Female Creators at DC Comics – While I generally agree with DiDio that you want quality writers and artists no matter their race, age, gender, etc., some of the choices are questionable and DC is in the difficult task to explain themselves and at the same time not diminish the creative teams chosen.

Con Coverage:

The Beat – Comic-Con 2011: Perception vs. Reality

The Beat – SDCC, A Look Back: The Beat

The Beat – The Comic-Con Virgin Diaries: Ali C. — Final Report

Around the Tubes Reviews:

IGN – Action Comics #903

IGN – The Amazing Spider-Man #666

IGN – American Vampire #17

IGN – Avengers Academy #16

IGN – Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing #2

IGN – Captain America and Bucky #620

IGN – Criminal: The Last of the Innocent #2

IGN – DC Retroactive: Justice League of America – The 70’s #1

IGN – DC Retroactive: Superman – The 70’s #1

IGN – Detective Comics #880

IGN – Fear Itself: The Worthy #1

IGN – FF #7

IGN – Flashpoint: Hal Jordan #2

IGN – Flashpoint: Kid Flash – Lost #2

IGN – Flashpoint: Lois Lane and the Resistance #2

IGN – Flashpoint: Project Superman #2

IGN – Green Arrow #14

IGN – Green Lantern Corps #62

IGN – Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #12

IGN – The Incredible Hulks #633

IGN – Intrepids #5

IGN – Invincible #81

IGN – Justice Society of America #53

IGN – Last Mortal #3

IGN – The Mighty Thor #4

IGN – Nordguard Book One: Across Thin Ice

IGN – Secret Avengers #15

IGN – Ultimate Comics: Fallout #3

IGN – Uncanny X-Force #12

IGN – Venom #5

IGN – Wolverine/Deadpool: The Decoy #1

IGN – Wonder Woman #613

IGN – X-Men Legacy #252

IGN – X-Men: Schism #2

IGN – Comic Book Reviews for 7/27/11

Comic Book Weekly Reviews – 5/25/11

Posted on June 4, 2011 by Brett

It was a long weekend and week and I took my time with last week’s reviews. It was a pretty thick stack of books though. Here’s what was worth the purchase and what should have been left on the shelf. Expect another edition this Sunday for this week’s releases.

American Vampire #15 – The battle against the new breed of vampires rages on in this excellent war meets vampire story arc. What’s the secret of the island and why are these vampires so different? We’re slowly learning the secrets in this excellently paced comic story.

Story: 9 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.75

Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine #6 – The story didn’t always make sense, but at the same time it was a hell of a lot of fun. Spider-Man and Wolverine’s adventure through time is over in a rather convoluted sort of way. It was definitely fun and an entertaining read. Here’s hoping we get a second volume of this.

Story: 7.75 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8

Booster Gold #44 – There was a lot of buzz about this comic book that came out last week. It was definitely entertaining and I can understand why folks enjoyed it, but generally the humor wasn’t for me. But I see this being the sleeper of the the entire Flashpoint storyline.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.75

Captain America #618 – The mystery of why Bucky has been sent to Russia deepens as it turns out to be a bigger conspiracy than expected. There’s rumors swirling as to what will happen to Bucky and it’s clear Steve Rogers is returning to the red, white and blue, and this leads up to it all. A new cap series launches soon with this one switching it’s focus. An interesting ride so far.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5

Daken: Dark Wolverine #9.1 – Daken has been a character who lives in the shadow of his father Wolverine. That’s true in the story and in the eyes of comic book fans. This point one comic gives him a fresh start wrapping up the previous arc and charting him on his unique path. The character has so much potential and hopefully we’re finally seeing it. No matter what though, this is a fantastic comic.

Story: 9 Art: 9 Overall: 9

Deadpool #37 – Deadpool is on a mission to get killed and the action is over the top and missing the usual that makes Deadpool so much fun. This series has dipped quite a bit, falling more into the slapstick end of things. Give me the depiction in X-Force any day, it’s far superior.

Story: 6.5 Art: 7 Overall: 6.75

FF #4 – While the council still decides what to do with the Reeds, Susan, Spider-Man and Alex head to the other Atlantis. Hickman has had a vision that’s still ongoing and I have no idea what the end game is going to be. The series is solid, and deserves the renewed attention it’s gotten.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25

G.I. Joe: Cobra #1 – Another G.I. Joe comic debuts and like the previous two, it ties into the search for a new Cobra Commander, this time from Cobra’s perspective. Like the previous two, the first issue is beyond solid and makes me wish I had been following all the lead up.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5

Green Lantern #66 – It’s part seven of the War of the Green Lanterns and Jordan and Gardner are having some issues as the corrupted guardians run amok.

Story: 7.75 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.75

Green Lantern Corps. #60 – I’ve been waiting for that holy shit moment and it’s the eighth part of the War of the Green Lanterns that delivers it. Rayner and Stewart are on a mission to stop Mogo and what’s done to achieve that is shocking.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #10 – The battle and War of the Green Lanterns continues. With the impending shift at DC, it’ll be interesting to see how much of this remains vital, what’s used and what’s disregarded.

Story: 8 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8

Hellraiser #2 – Unless you’re familiar with the Hellraiser series, it’s hard to care about or figure out what’s going on. I’m not familiar with the characters and the story is ok, but not enough to make me want to continue as a new reader. Please, please, please explain more in upcoming issues.

Story: 6.75 Art: 7.25 Overall: 6.75

Incorruptible #18 – Max continues his road to redemption and attempts to recruit a politician to help, but as you’d expect things aren’t exactly as they seem. Meanwhile others conspire to gain control of the damaged city as it attempts to rebuild. The ending is a bit predictable, but it still doesn’t hurt the issue overall. Mark Waid has done amazing things with this series and it’s sister comic Incorruptible.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75

Iron Man 2.0 #5 – A Fear Itself tie-in that is all set up and little substance. Sadly, I have a feeling this side step and distraction of an event is going to kill the great momentum the series had. The story is blah and art so-so.

Story: 6.5 Art: 6.75 Overall: 6.5

Kirby: Genesis #0 – I liked the beginning of the issue and overall this is a tribute to Jack Kirby’s genius. It’s familiar and riffs off of all the work he’s known for and some that didn’t see the light of day. It’s impressive his style can be copied and the issue feels like Kirby did it himself. Overall though, the issue is for those who appreciate the legend.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25

The Mighty Thor #2 – A certain cosmic being is headed towards Asgard and Thor versus him should be pretty damn interesting. The issue is all lead up and setting up what’s to come, but it’s pretty decent.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.25

Namor: The First Mutant #10 – The series still is struggling to find it’s foot hold. Instead of just focusing on Namor’s rule and separatists/terrorists, we get distractions of time travel and other crap. Keep it simple and the series would be excellent.

Story: 6.5 Art: 7.25 Overall: 6.75

Onslaught Unleashed #4 – An interesting ending and I’m not quite sure what to think. Mostly because I’m not sure exactly what it means. The art continues it’s interesting style as the battle against Onslaught concludes. I can’t imagine this is the end, and hopefully someone picks up the story from here.

Story: 8 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8

Planet of the Apes #2 – Much like Hellraiser the series is written for those familiar with the material, but broken down, the story is really a search for an assassin, not much more. Sadly, overall the issue isn’t as inviting to new readers not familiar with the material as you’d hope it’d be.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Power Man and Iron Fist #5 – Wait, what!? What started as a great C-list exploitation comic turned into a nonsensical story. Seriously, what the hell did I read?

Story: 5.5 Art: 7 Overall: 5.75

Secret Avengers #13 – A Fear Itself tie-in that tries to tell a decent story focused on a member of Congress, but overall the story makes no sense and falls so short. There’s some interesting moments, but as a whole, wtf?! It was kind of cool to see a comic artist’s take on where I live though.

Story: 6 Art: 7 Overall: 6

Secret Warriors #27 – Hickman brings in back to the politics and shows us again how much of a badass Nick Fury is. Such a good comic, it’s sad to see there’s only one issue left. Here’s hoping we’ll get more of this in the future.

Story: 9 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.75

Uncanny X-Men #537 – The Breakworld story continues and I roll my eyes. I’m just not into this story at all. It’s not bad, but as I haven’t read the lead up, I just don’t care.

Story: 7 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.25

Venom #3 – The fight continues as Venom’s adventure in the Savage Land continues. The series is a pleasant surprise, but there’s somethings in this issue I wish was kept for a later date. Still, it’s very entertaining.

Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8

The Walking Dead #85 – So where can writer Robert Kirkman take this series that he hasn’t so far? We get a look at the long term and begin to ponder what a new civilization would be like. As usual, the comic is more about the emotional impact and human interactions than the zombies.

Story: 9 Art: 8.5 Overall: 9

Wolverine #9 – The silliness of this issue just gets out of hand. Guns that can shoot through the planet? A gun fight for what seems to be no reason whatsoever? Wow has this series just crapped out.

Story: 6.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 6.75

X-Men: Legacy #249 – It’s impressive how much a series can bounce back with one issue. This is the prelude to the new team the series will focus on and it looks like it’s going to be really interesting.

Story: 8.75 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.5

Around the Tubes

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Brett

The weekend is almost here, and even better it’s a long weekend. As usual there’s a long list of reviews for this week’s comics as well as other news you might have missed while you saw The Hangover 2.

Around the Blogs:

MTV Geek – Space Invaders Chair Looks Like A Geek Throne – I want. I want. I want.

The Mary Sue – Disney Will Not Trademark “SEAL Team 6″ – Reason wins for once.

Comics Alliance – 8 of the Best Noir Comics: Crime Does Pay – I love me a good noir comic.

The Mary Sue – There Are Fully Eight Directors in the Running for The Wolverine – I could pull this off…

Around the Tubes Reviews:

IGN – Action Comics #901

IGN – Amazing Spider-Man #662

IGN – American Vampire #15

IGN – Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine #6

IGN – Captain America #618

IGN – Detective Comics #877

IGN – Ducktales #1

Comic Book Resources – FF #4

IGN – FF #4

IGN – G.I. Joe: Cobra #1

IGN – Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #3

IGN – Green Lantern #66

IGN – Green Lantern Corps. #60

IGN – Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #10

IGN – Hack/Slash #4

IGN – The Incredible Hulks #629

IGN – InFamous #6

IGN – Iron Man 2.0 #5

IGN – Kirby: Genesis #0

The Herts Advertiser 24 – Marvel Platinum: The Definite Thor

IGN – The Mighty Thor #2

IGN – Planet of the Apes #2

IGN – Secret Avengers #13

IGN – Secret Warriors #27

IGN – Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Lost Command #5

IGN – Strange Adventures #1

IGN – The Tattered Man

IGN – Uncanny X-Men #537

IGN – Venom #3

IGN – The Walking Dead #85

IGN – Wolverine #9

IGN – X-Men: Legacy #249

Comicvine – Comic Book Reviews For The Week of 5/25/11

IGN – Comic Book Reviews for 5/15/11

Comic Book Weekly Reviews – 4/27/11

Posted on May 1, 2011 by Brett

It’s a thick stack of books this week and a lot of quality. What should you grab and what should you skip? Find out below!

Monthly Comics

Age of X Universe #2 – The first issue of this event spin off I thought was a bit weak, but this second issue bounces back with a hell of a statement about following orders. The second story featuring Doc Strange and Dazzler is also good, even keeping me on my toes.

Story: 8.25 Art: 7.75 Overall: 8

American Vampire #14 – The platoon moves on to find the Japanese Vampire infested camp, but what does one look like? Skinner also continues to play his game. This is a great mix of a “war” comic and a “vampire” comic, one I highly recommend picking up. There’s a great feel to the issue, it’s atmosphere and pacing are both done really well. letPlease someone make this into a television series.

Story: 8.75 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.75

The Avengers #12.1 – The Avengers have to rescue Spider Woman who plays the damsel in distress. A villain from the past returns and there’s a lot of foreshadowing. Overall it’s a decent issue and will have greater implications than the actual quality of the issue.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75

Brightest Day #24 – It’s the end of this maxi-series and as a whole it just feels like a convoluted way to get even more characters back into the DC universe. Swamp Thing isn’t the only person to make their debut. The art, story, it all was definitely not as solid as the launch of the series. A bit of a let down.

Story: 7.25 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.25

Captain America #617 – Bucky is playing gladiator in a Russian prison, while his friends scramble in an attempt to get him out alive. This direction is pretty entertaining as we keep getting Steve Rogers’ return to the uniform foreshadowed.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25

Deadpool #36 – Deadpool is back on Earth and has realized his friends dislike him. He comes to other realizations as well. The series seems to be missing something lately, swinging to far into the slapstick. It does best when it’s well balanced between that, solid story and good action. Hopefully it gets back on track soon.

Story: 7 Art: 7.25 Overall: 7

FF #2 – Doom’s got some brain damage. The FF must help him. Why they’d help a dangerous man, because Reed’s daughter says so. It’s not the strongest of plots and certainly Doom hasn’t acted lately like he’s missing something (see Namor’s comic as an example), but I guess we’ll see where the series goes.

Story: 7.75 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.75

The Flash #11 – It’s all a lead up to Flashpoint and we get a better idea as to the cause of the world changing event. The series is interesting and not quite as solid as previous arcs, but the build up has been entertaining.

Story: 7.5 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.5

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #9 – John, Kyle, Guy and Hal must decide how best to complete their mission and there’s some dissension in the ranks. The War of the Green Lanterns continues and it’s still pretty entertaining.

Story: 7.75 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.75

Incorruptible #17 – At some point you need to start rebuilding the city, but has Max accepted his role in that? The villain must decide what role he’ll really play in the new paradigm of his city and the world.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75

The Mighty Thor #1 – Just in time for the movie, a new Thor comic book. The World Tree is hurt and Sif and Thor must head out to protect it. Back on Earth the debate rages on what it means in Gods walk among men. It’s an interesting first issue that picks up where the last series left off.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.25

Namor: The First Mutant #9 – The latest arc has Namor struggling with the rule of his kingdom as a break off faction of Atlantis challenges his authority. The story is decent, but doesn’t blow me way. I’ll give this arc a try, but if it doesn’t improve, I think it’ll be my last one for the series.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7 Overall: 7.25

New Mutants #24 – And with a blink the Age of X is over, but the ramifications will continue. The story was pretty cool, but not quite as epic as some other events. If anything I was a bit disappointed at the somewhat predictable cause. The big thing though will be how this carries out throughout the year as the reverberations from it trickle out.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8 Overall: 8.25

The New York Five #4 – And thus ends Brian Wood’s second volume of his look at four college students comes to an end. The series is fantastic as I’d expect of his writing. Underneath it all, it’s also a love letter to New York City, one that after reading, you can’t help you were a part of it.

Story: 9 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.75

Osborn #5 – I think this series shows off why I like Norman Osborn so much. He’s a villain many moves ahead of us, thinking of the big picture. It’s kind of hard to not like someone so Machiavellian in their actions. Here’s hoping we get more of this.

Story: 8.75 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.75

Planet of the Apes #1 – For fans of the movies, humans and apes now live in an uneasy world together and after an assassination that truce might end. The first issue is decent enough, hopefully the series kicks up, but as far as setting the tone and up a story, this issues does that quite well.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75

Power Man and Iron Fist #4 – All kinds of craziness is going in what feels like a cheesy “B” movie in comic form. But it’s a fun read. The dynamic between the new Power Man and Iron Fist is entertaining. As a whole a decent, but flawed read.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Secret Avengers #12 – We learn more about John Steele’s past and are hinted at what the Shadow Council is about. I think we’ve got some new big baddies, hopefully they live up to their reputation and how they’ve been set up.

Story: 8 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8

Secret Avengers #12.1 – Steve Rogers takes on Wikileaks and actually makes a pretty solid case in his argument.

Story: 8.75 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.75

Uncanny X-Men #536 – I wasn’t a big fan of the first Breakworld storyline, so this follow up isn’t quite doing it for me either. I’m just waiting for the fireworks to really hit later this year.

Story: 7.5 Art: 8 Overall: 7.75

The Walking Dead #84 – It’s always after the darkest moments we see a glimmer of hope. Everyone is at their darkest in this issue, with things looking completely over, but then there’s the hope. After 84 issues, is that what writer Robert Kirkman has been trying to instill in us? That no matter how bad it all seems, there’s always hope?

Story: 9 Art: 8.75 Overall: 9

Venom #2 – Venom takes on Kraven on a mission to destroy some vibranium. The second issue continues the set up in what still seems like it’ll be a promising series.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75

X-Men #10 – The X-Men continue to battle Dark Beast. There’s a lot I liked and a lot I didn’t. It was a fun arc, but not a memorable one that’ll keep me talking for a while. But still, a few good issues.

Story: 7.75 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.75

X-23 – Daken and X-23 chat and deal with someone trying to start up a new Weapon X program. The issue with this mini-crossover isn’t the lack of fireworks, but too many double crosses and zig zags. It does get old after a bit.

Story: 7.25 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.25

Around the Tubes

Posted on April 29, 2011 by Brett

It was an interesting news day in the comic industry. The right went apeshit over the latest issue of Action Comics (more on that later) and I wound up in a twitter fight about piracy and torrents, sigh… all in a day. I’m sure you were glued to the twitter back and forth and might have missed a lot, here’s the news and reviews of the last 24 hours or so.

Around the Blogs:

MTV Geek – Marvel Series’ Hit Netflix Instant Streaming April 29th! – As if you needed more of a reason to get Netflix.

Around the Tubes Reviews:

IGN – Age of X: Universe #2

IGN – American Vampire #14

IGN – The Amazing Spider-Man #659

IGN – Batman Incorporated #5

IGN – Brightest Day #24

IGN – Captain America #617

Bleeding Cool – Danger Girl And Army Of Darkness #1 and Amazing Spider-Man #659

IGN – Detective Comics #876

IGN – FF #2