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
There are likely those that think that the well of ideas for Secret Wars might already be exhausted, between the new material and the inspiration from previous crossovers or other inspirations. If thinking only inside of Marvel, then they might be right, but Red Skull #1 proves that there is still some more distance to go in this massive crossover. Although it draws upon characters from across Battleworld, this series is one which is at home in the heart of the Deadlands, the realm of the crossover title of Marvel Zombies vs. Age of Ultron. The setup is not like anything from Marvel though, as it is essentially a Secret Wars version of the Suicide Squad. This group of supervillains only has one job, to travel to the Deadlands and to prove that the Red Skull died after being exiled there.
