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Review: X-Men: Blue #4

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Snikt.

It was teased a few issues ago, and it’s official, Wolverine is back… well not that Wolverine, a different one. James Hudson, Wolverine’s “Ultimate Universe” son has made his full debut in the 616 as the X-Men team tracks him down after a hit by Cerebro. There’s some good here and there’s some bad, but overall the issue is an entertaining one.

X-Men Blue #4 has the team flying when Cerebro pings a mutant. The issue with that opening is that it feels a little out of the blue (no pun intended) disconnected from the previous issue’s run in with Bastion and the Sentinels. You’d think this team would be concerned with that or maybe on the hunt for them? There’s not a mention or a focus as they head right into investigating this mysterious mutant. That’s my biggest problem with the issue as they’re presented with a threat but get distracted by something else with no follow-up. Shouldn’t Magneto get called in? Shouldn’t they be on the offensive with this? But I digress…

The team is on the hunt for this mysterious individual and how they come across him and the interaction is pretty paint by numbers. Little ground is broken, but the interaction between the team and their dynamic is really good. That stands out as the strongest thing in the series. Writer Cullen Bunn has the characters down and is building to something nice (ie clearly Jean having a “turn” towards evil or corruption). There’s also a lighthearted tone about it all, again a good thing that fits the teenage spirit of the characters.

The art by Julian Lopez along with inks by José Marzan, Jr. and Walden Wong, and colors by Irma Knivila are all really good and fit the tone of the comic really well. My gripe though is Hudson himself who is given hair that’s straight up Wolverine, a look that feels more like a “come on” than something natural about him. His clean cut look we saw in the Ultimate Universe was something that felt solid in that he stood apart from his dad. Due to just the addition of the haircut, it feels like an attempt to replace or make us forget.

Does the Marvel universe need a third Wolverine? We’ll see, but the end of the issue has me really intrigued as it challenges some assumptions I had about the fate of the Ultimate Universe and its characters. It opens up some possibilities, but also could lead to the mess that was the previous Marvel Universe. We’ll see where Bunn goes from here, but so far, he has me intrigued to see what happens next.

Story: Cullen Bunn Art: Julian Lopez Cover Art: Arthur Adams
Story: 7.75 Art: 7.45 Overall: 7.70 Recommendation: Read

Marvel Weekly Graphic Novel Review: Captain America and Black Panther

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It’s Wednesday which means new comic book day with new releases hitting shelves, both physical and digital, all across the world. We’ve got two new volumes from Marvel featuring Captain America and the Black Panther.

Black Panther Vol. 3 A Nation Under Our Feet featuring issues #9-12 and material from New Avengers (2013) #18, #21, and #24 by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Brian Stelfreeze, Chris Sprouse, Karl Story, Goran Sudzuka, Walden Wong, Robert Poggi, Scott Hanna, Laura Martin, Matti Millia, Larry Molinar, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Paul Mounts.

Captain America: Steve Rogers Vol. 2 The Trial of Maria Hill featuring issues #7-11 by Nick Spencer, Jesus Saiz, Javier Pina, Andres Guinaldo, Ro Stein, Ted Brandt, Kevin Libranda, Scott Hanna, and Rachelle Rosenberg.

Find out about the trade and whether you should grab yourself a copy. You can find both in comic stores April 12 and bookstores April 25.

Get your copies now. To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Black Panther Vol. 3 A Nation Under Our Feet
Amazon/Kindle/comiXology or TFAW

Captain America: Steve Rogers Vol. 2 The Trial of Maria Hill
Amazon/Kindle/comiXology or TFAW

 

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with FREE copies for review
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Review: Robin War #1

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Robin War #1The Robins face the Court of Owls!

In part 1 of this new epic, it’s Robins vs. cops! Robins vs. Robins! Robins vs. Batman! And Robins vs. the Court of Owls?!

Damian Wayne returns to Gotham City, and he is not happy. There are kids all over the city calling themselves Robin, Bruce Wayne is no longer Batman and the GCPD, led by the new, armored-up Batman, is cracking down on anybody wearing the “R.” And things only get worse when Red Hood, Red Robin and Grayson all come back to Gotham City…

When launching an event, especially one that ties in a whole bunch of various series, there’s a tough balance to make it inviting to new readers, but also paying off for long time readers.

In Robin War #1, writer Tom King does the impressive task of doing both. King does that in a few ways in the comic. For new readers, the comic explains what’s going on quite well in the narrative itself without the need for a quick recap page. King also uses many societal issues going on today, such as violence by police and citizens standing up, in the story itself which makes it something we can easily relate to (at least if you watch the news and don’t live in a cave). Even the enforcer for the establishment, mecha-Batman, is given enough to make his involvement be in a gray area and the character to have depth. It’s a one two punch when combined that makes this comic an easy introduction for new readers, and it’s impressive.

For long time readers, this is the first time that many of these elements have come together. The Robins, Damian, Red Hood, Red Robin, Grayson, mecha-Batman, and the Court of Owls, are all together for this event that looks to have everything explode. For me, two of the best additions to the Batman mythological world is the Court of Owls and the Robins in We Are Robin. One is a great villain that really feels like it can give the Bat-family a run for its money, and the latter is a creation to feels like it speaks to some of today’s issues. Just the idea of the Court of Owls going up against the Robins has me excited.

The story, especially King’s writing is fantastic. Absolutely hands down how a first issue should be.

But, it’s not all perfect. A varied group of artists handle that duty and there the comic slips. While the writing is solid, the art is a mixed bag with some being amazing and some far from it. In fact I’d say the fantastic art enhances the art that is less so in a negative way, partially because you go from one to the other without a clear chapter break. None of the art is horrible, some is just better than others and the switch in styles took me out of the story briefly. The comic would have been much stronger with one artist the entire way. And remember, art is subjective so this might not be as much of an issue for you.

As a whole, this is a fantastic first issue that brings together a lot of characters in a way that’s welcoming to new readers and should excite ones who have been around for a while, it got me excited. I can’t wait to see where this event goes, hopefully it continues this first issue’s excellence.

Story: Tom King Art: Khary Randolph, Alain Mauricet, Jorge Corona, Andres Guinaldo, Walden Wong
Story: 8.7 Art: 7.4 Overall: 8.3 Recommendation: Buy

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Review: Earth-2 #29 and World’s End #9

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earth 2 - covWhen DC Comics announced that it was launching the new 52, it did so under the auspices of trying something new, and made it known that it was time for a new wave of creativity, hoping to fabricate their own version of a new age of comics.  While this relaunch has been successful to varying degrees, the question about whether anything new came of the relaunch is a bigger question.  In most cases the only new change was a different roster for a team or a new costume for a character.  If fans truly wanted something different, one series rapidly became known for its unconventional approach to its story and that was Earth-2.  Here DC’s Trinity has died, and a succession of heroes have taken their spots, with such unconventional casting as with Lois Lane being the new Red Tornado, this is clearly the place to come to at DC for something different.

Despite this approach to the characters, readers have barely had a chance to catch their breath in the ongoing stories, most of which have to do with an attack on Earth, first by Steppenwolf and then by Apokolips itself.  With so many story lines running concurrently it became a necessity to spill the stories over into an ongoing weekly series labeled World’s End, which at times takes on a feel of the series 52, weaving parallel but separate stories together, until we get to a point of congruence for the characters to deal with a crisis, only to separate again.  This is where the combined series have stood since the launch of the World’s End weekly, and for the first time, these two issues coming out in a single week act as an ongoing story, each tying directly into the other in a non-stop narrative.  The cover and most of the story for the monthly Earth-2 title features Barbara Grayson and focuses on some of the commonalities of a post-apocalyptic world, notably the cults that begin to worship death and the coming apocalypse.  This story in itself was engaging, but it too carried over into the weekly earth 2 we - covseries for its resolution, making reading both a necessity. While the monthly focused on the Graysons, the weekly gives each of the ongoing story lines some attention, though still focused on Apokolips’s Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

On the whole, this is a series that has not really ever stopped for a break, at least not after a relatively slow build in to the ongoing war that consumes the majority of the focus of the series.  The creative team has done well across the run so far to keep the momentum going, and it doesn’t seem like there will be soon an issue where the characters are sitting on the beach relaxing.  Equally though, the entire series will appear to be convoluted and overly complicated to someone interested in any particular issue.  These two issues stand alongside the others, not as the best of the series, and to be honest, probably not even as good as a lot of the issues, but it keeps the story moving and pushes the characters closer to their next crisis point.

Story: Marguerite Bennet, Mike Johnson and Daniel H. Wilson Art: Andy Smith, Tyler Kirkham, John Livesay, Stephen Segovia, Jason Paz, Robson Rocha Guillermo Ortego, Eduardo Pansica and Walden Wong
Story: 8.1 Art: 8.1 Overall: 8.1 Recommendation: Read

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