wolverine & the x-men: alpha and omega Archives

Tag Archives: wolverine & the x-men: alpha and omega

Around the Tubes

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Brett

Everyone is still buzzing over the amazing debut of The Avengers, what does everyone think of it’s record setting weekend?

Around the Blogs:

The ComiChron – Full April 2012 comics sales estimates online – Some good news.

The Washington Post – ‘The Avengers’: Good, evil and politics – An interesting read.

The Mary Sue – Terminally Illin’: A Graphic Novel About a 20-Something Battling Cancer – Go and support this!

The Mary Sue – The Pentagon Snubbed The Avengers Because They Didn’t Know Who Was in Charge — Them or S.H.I.E.L.D. – I was wondering about this.

Comicsgirl – Alison Bechdel at Politics & Prose – I should of gone, but midnight Avengers was calling my name.

Around the Tubes Reviews:

CBR – Animal Man #9

CBR – Wolverine & The X-Men: Alpha & Omega #5

MTV Geek – Free Comic Book Day Reviews: Buffy, The Guild, DC’s New 52, and Way More

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

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Brett

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 – 2/8/12

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Brett

Getting closer to catching up with reviews.

Batgirl #6 – The best part of the issue is the quiet moments where Barbara reflects on her being Batgirl and her relationship with Batman. Other than that, the bad guy isn’t as fleshed out as she should be, but hopefully we’ll get some of that in the future. The best moments really are when the characters are shown their humanity to the point we can relate.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.5

Batman and Robin #6 – The twist is predictable, but Bruce’s emotion when it comes to Damian is something that’s nice to see. The series is interesting and has it’s place in the rather large amount of Batman books on the market.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75

Battle Scars #4 – We’re all buying this comic for the same reason. Doesn’t mean it’s all that good. Sigh.

Story: 6.75 Art: 7 Overall: 6.75

Batwoman #6 – The art is solid as usual, but the story is still off. Something just isn’t clicking for me when it comes to the plot. It’s really a comic that survives for the art alone and that’s sad with such amazing characters.

Story: 7 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.5

The Bionic Man #6 – Lots of fighting, sadly not much more. But, somehow the comic is still very fun. This is a great first arc for the series and makes me interested in a character I’ve never been interested in.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.5

Black Panther: The Most Dangerous Man Alive #529 – That’s a wrap for the series that to few people checked out. The art bounced around a bit towards the end, but the series played out like an entertaining chess game. It’s a shame a solid series such as this didn’t find an audience.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25

Captain America #8 – Yet another story where Cap loses his powers. It’s cool to see the Reborn mini-series matter, the story itself is just not the quality we’ve seen in the past. Something is off from the previous magic.

Story: 7 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7

Daken: Dark Wolverine #21 – Daken is dying and he’s decided to go out with a bang. Another series that was pretty solid at times and there’s times it showed brilliance. Sadly it also never quite caught on with the audience it should of. Daken was more than a Wolverine knock-off, more people just never found out how much of an individual he was.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.75

Green Hornet Annual #2 – The Green Hornet takes on slave traders. I really wish more was shown, but there’s some great stuff in this annual just the same quality of the series. Usually annuals mean crap, this is the exception to that.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.75

Green Lantern #6 – Sinestro is on a mission and Hal is trying to have a normal life. Sadly Hal trying to live his life doesn’t get a chance to really explore that before he’s pulled back into being Green Lantern. Not as solid as it was pre-52 relaunch, but still an entertaining series.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75

Journey Into Mystery #634 – We now know who the baddie is and what he’s up to. There’s so much that’s solid here and this is a series that’s growing on me more and more. There’s a lot of text and the writing is so good, it’s well worth the lengthy (compared to most comics) read. Just beyond entertaining.

Story: 8.75 Art: 8.75 Overall: 8.75

Mega Man #10 – Mega Man takes on a few more robot masters as he gets pulled into the dark side and let the power go to his head again. On top of that, he’s taking a beating. You can feel the pressure building in what is a great adaptation of the video game and the perfect comic for the entire family.

Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8

New Mutants #37 – Amara has her date with the devil and a story I went into rolling my eyes at I came out of with a smile on my face. It was very cute and well done. There’s some great humor, writing and entertaining logic throughout. This version of the devil is pretty fun and entertaining. I’m actually hoping to see more of him in the series.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75

Resurrection Man #6 – Wow, so good. Resurrection Man is in Arkham and no one believes him when he says he has to die. But, he also stands in the way of a break out and the inmates making it back into Gotham. So much is so good in this issue. When of the best to come out of the DC relaunch.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5

Scarlet Spider #2 – I’ve never been a huge fan of Spider-Man, but there’s something about this series that draws me in. Maybe it’s the conflicted person at the center, the solid art of entertaining writing. The combo of the three is great and this is a series that has me interested in what it’ll bring in the future.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25

Secret Avengers #22 – Huh, an interesting bad guy and can’t say I’ve seen them before, but that ending has me wanting to see more of them. The new squad has a better focus and a more interesting dynamic. Here’s hoping Remender’s run is as solid as some of his others.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75

Suicide Squad #6 – Harley Quinn is on the run and the Suicide Squad is after her. There’s some I like here, but a lot I didn’t. Quinn’s origin is fleshed out a bit, but not enough yet to give her motivation or much as far as character. We’ll see how this goes, but it’s no Secret Six.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Superboy #6 – Superboy meets Supergirl and there’s the expected fighting. Lots of questions are raised too. The art is off a bit and something about the story isn’t clicking for me. But I’ll stick with it to see the growth of the character I expect and you just know he’ll become a Teen Titan at some point.

Story: 7 Art: 6.75 Overall: 7

Thief of Thieves #1 – There’s a lot of series this year so far that have had a lot of hype around them and this series is one of the few that’s lived up to it all. A thief has to juggle his career and personal life in a series that’s just fantastic on all levels. That ending is fantastic and the build up and character interaction is just solid. Can’t wait to see where the series goes.

Story: 9 Art: 8.5 Overall: 9

Venom #13.1 – Some I liked with this issue but a bunch I didn’t. The usual result of having some event or crossover derailing a solid issue continues. The idea of Venom being caught up in a battle with Hell just doesn’t fit the character and there’s some much better material to mine.

Story: 6.75 Art: 6.75 Overall: 6.75

Wolverine and the X-Men #5 – The art seems to be off a bit with this issue, but it’s really entertaining mixing some great concepts together. The series has thrown out the serious tone that’s plagued the X-Men for quite some time, replacing them with fantastical concepts and a great amount of humor. One of the best “X” books on the market.

Story: 8 Art: 7.5 Overall: 8

Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha & Omega #2 – Wolverine stuck in the virtual reality thing is entertaining up to a point, but just not quite sure the point or need of the mini-series. It hasn’t added much to the overall dynamics and we’re not seeing anything new or shocking.

Story: 6.75 Art: 6.5 Overall: 6.75

X-Men #24 – Jubilee deals with her vampire side, while the X-Men search for her. What’s up with the art?!

Story: 6.5 Art: 6.5 Overall: 6.5

Around the Tubes

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Brett

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

Around the Blogs:

ArtsBeat – Belgian Court Refuses to Ban ‘Tintin in the Congo’ – If you’re pro-free speech, got to support this decision, no matter of your opinion of the material.

CBLDF – Political Cartoonist Charged with Treason in India – Jesus…

Spandexless – Iranian Cartoonist in Exile Delivers Message in A Graphic Novel – I’ll need to check this out.

CBR – “The Walking Dead” Devours Basic Cable Records – The first episode was so good.

Bleeding Cool – Snippets from ComicsPro Annual Meeting 2012 – Oh how I wish I had been a fly on the wall…

Around the Tubes Reviews:

CBR – Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #6

CBR – Punishermax #22

CBR – Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha and Omega #2

Publishers Weekly – Comics Reviews February 2012

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

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Brett

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