New Comix! - Week of 6/13/12

This week was a good mix of the good, the bad, and the ugly.  

AvX Versus #3

Okay, c'mon Marvel...I KNOW this title isn't about story or plot, but this series focuses on only 4 characters each issue and only two of them X-Men.  WHY has Colossus been in EVERY Versus issue so far?!?  There are a TON of great X-Men characters.  Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Colossus fan, but let's spread the love a bit!

That's out of my system now.  Let's review the book now...

Again, this title focuses only on the 1 on 1 battles that the main title of this story AvX didn't have the time and space to focus on.  This is a book split into two, each half focusing on a fight between two characters.  At first the Avengers were cleaning house, but in the issue the tide turned.  Black Widow faced off against Magik and Colossus fought the Thing.  Widow really takes it to Magik even when the mutant takes them into her demonic limbo realms.  In fact, in the end, Widow thinks she's won and turns away only to get run through with Magik's Soul Sword, which rendered her unconscious.  The other fight was just what you would expect, a slobberknocker!  Punches all around!  It was fun, but there's not much to describe.  Colossus just out-punched Thing.  

This book is great for what it is.  Mindless violence between superheroes by some of the biggest names in comic art.  Don't overthink this one, just enjoy.

Avengers Assemble #4

What's a nice way to say, "piece of crap in comic book form"?  After issue 3 I swore to cancel my subscription to this one, but my curiosity about Thanos talked me into buying one more issue.  I have since beat my curiosity with a hammer and locked it in the pantry.  This was a waste of my money and I wish Marvel had a buy-back option for disappointed fans.

First, let me explain that this book is intended to be "light reading" for newcomers brought to the comic stores by the best movie in the history of cinema, The Avengers.  Great idea, bad followthrough.  This isn't light reading, it's shallow, boring reading.  I think Bendis let his 6-year-old kid write this or something.  Bendis is capable of great work, but this is the opposite.  It's like a week shadow of what an Avengers comic book should be.  The characters are cliches of their usual selves and Thanos doesn't even fight!  He gets the Avengers to fight the Hulk and his loser underlings go chasing off after the fleeing Black Widow. I'm not going to expand on this story.  I want to forget I read it.  

Hold on, maybe I'm being too harsh.  Yes, this book sucks haggis, but it's probably perfect reading for middle schoolers, so that being said, buy it for your nephew, but dont' read it yourself.  Let it be a spring board for future comic buyers.  Yeah, that's where it belongs.  Seasoned readers should steer clear.

Mark Bagley's art is the only saving grace in this steaming pile.  He does a good job, but I think he's better suited to Spidey than the Avengers...just my opinion.  For him I will give this one more star than it deserves.

The Mighty Thor #15

The lame story of the Mares continues!  Thor has unwittingly unleashed a race of alien dogs into the world who put you to sleep and trap you in a big group nightmare with other victims.  The Mares look cool and are unsettling to look at.  It's just funny because their so tiny!  They are beagle sized!

In this issue the victims of the Mares have to face Thor's greatest nightmare, his daddy issues!  A giant undead Odin attacks and Thor has to face him alone because everyone else who has fallen to the Mares are weaklings for some reason.  Where are the other awesome Asgardian warriors?  Who knows!?!  In the meantime some random goth kid in nearby Broxton, Oklahoma has run away from home...and run INTO the Mares!  He runs away but gets trapped in his truck and falls asleep, thus trapping him in their nightmare world.  When he arrives, some weird man-sized otter monks tell him that he has some cool mind abilites and task him with dreaming up a savior to save them from the nightmare.  About that time Thor and Zombie Odin's fight collapses the huge dream room they were fighting in and they are both crushed in the rubble.  Suddently Thor bursts free from the rocks but he has been changed by the goth kid's imagination and NOW looks like the lame dude on the cover of the kid's garage band's cd!  

Wow...I really like Thor, but this story kinda sucks.  I'm not digging the goth kid or his lame goth Thor creation.  I hope this ends soon so we can forget IT like a bad dream.  Only Thor's personal awesomeness saves this issue from a lower score.

Spider-Men #1

Now we get to the good stuff!

In this new, unprecedented story regular Marvel U Spider-Man, Peter Parker gets to meet the brand-new Ultimate Marvel U's Spider-Man, Miles Morales!  This whole issue was a set up to the meeting, but it was a fun read in and of itself.  Brian Bendis is at his BEST writing Spider-man.  It's funny, it's fresh, it's action-packed!  Here's how it happens...

Spidey (Peter Parker) sees a weird flash of light on the outskirts of Manhatten and proceeds to investigate.  He finds Mysterio's lab, but doesn't realize it's not HIS Mysterio, it's the Ultimate Marvel version.  During the ensuing fight, Spidey gets sucked through a portal in Mysterio's lab and he finds himself in the Ultimate Marvel Universe!  As he goes about trying to find out what has happened to him, he talks to several people who tell him that his costume is in poor taste and that it didn't respect the memory of Peter Parker.  Spidey freaks out at the mention of his name and tries to play it cool.  See, in the Ultimate Universe, Peter Parker died defending his family against the Sinister Six after having already sustained an accidental gunshot wound to his abdomen thanks to the Punisher.  After his death, his secret identity became public knowledge.  As Peter takes to the rooftops, he runs smack into Ultimate Spidey...Continued Next Issue!

Like I mentioned, this story is uncharacteristically fun for a crossover story and Bendis is in fine form on the dialog.  Ultimate Spider-man artist Sarah Pichelli is handling the art beautifully.  This is a great start to the story and I can't wait for the next issue.  This will be a nice graphic novel once it's collected.  Pick of the Week!!!

Weekly Comix! - Week of 6-6-12

They say 2 out of 3 ain't bad...that's the case with this week's comix.  Check 'em out!

AvX (Avengers versus X-Men) #5

In the last issue the X-Men and Avengers were facing off yet again, this time on the moon.  Just as they started bumping chests again the dreaded Phoenix Force showed up.

In issue 5 the Avengers brains go to work as Tony Stark (Iron Man) and Hank Pym (Ant/Giant Man) have created an enormous Iron Man suit equipped with weapons designed to disperse the energy of the Phoenix Force.  As the colossal fiery bird swoops down towards Hope, the building-sized Iron Man flies right into it and unleashes it's payload.  The result is a huge explosion of energy that leaves all the heroes temporarily blinded.  As their vision returns Tony Stark asks, "Did we do it?  Did we kill the Phoenix?!?"  The answer is NO.  What DID happen was that the Phoenix was split into 5 parts, each of which inhabited one of the X-Men at the scene.  The "Phoenix 5" (consisting of Cyclops, Emma Frost, Colossus, Namor, and Magik) simply pick up the unconscious Hope Summers and head towards the Earth leaving the Avengers wondering what to do next.

This story is finally getting more interesting than just a bunch of fights.  This Phoenix 5 twist is a surprise and I'm curious to see where the story goes from here.  The art is sufficient, but as I've stated earlier, JRJR's art doesn't seem to fit this story perfectly.  Still, it works.

The Mighty Thor Annual #1

Once a year Marvel likes to put out a barely in-continuity, extra-thick issue of it's main titles and call it an annual.  I was forced to buy it because my comic store automatically pulls "The Mighty Thor" for me and it would be rude to not pay for it after they have based their orders on their customer's pull lists.  Here's what happens...

There are a couple of really vague, insanely powerful cosmic-level players at work here, using such characters as Galactus, Silver Surfer, and Thor for their own ethereal chess games.  Darth Vader wannabe, Scrier, borrows Silver Surfer from Galactus and tricks Thor into helping him fight off an invasion by some vague evil entity called "The Other".  I can't describe what happens because it's so vague and because it's not worth recalling.

This comic was a waste of time, money, and paper.  Just because Thor is in a story doesn't make it good.  I couldn't care less about Scrier or The Other or their power struggle for the universe.  This is generic cosmic garbage with a healthy dose of bland.  It was so boring it took me 3 readings to get through it.  I wouldn't recommend you picking this up from a garage sale, much less a comic book store.  Sorry, Marvel, you've gotta put SOME effort into the story.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #11
Why aren't you reading this title for yourself?  Really?  You don't have $4/month?  As much as I loved Ultimate Peter Parker, Marvel is doing a great job filling the spider-tights with Miles Morales.  It's not the same old Spider-Man.  He got his powers the same way, but his powers are different, his supporting cast is different, his setting is different...so far even his villains are different!  Miles is a good kid, but he's very young so it's interesting to see how he deals with the situations he's put into.

In this issue Miles is blackmailed by his criminal uncle, The Prowler, into helping him take out a rival villain, The Scorpion.  This is NOT your dad's Scorpion folks.  This guys is more like a Mexican Luke Cage with an affinity for using a chain with a spike on the end as his weapon.  He really strong and really hard to hurt.  Together Spidey and Prowler ARE able to hurt him though.  Miles finally knocks him out in the street just as the NYPD show up.  They try to arrest Miles as well, but of course, that doesn't work.  The issue ends with Prowler texting his nephew who is back at his dorm room (he's in a charter middle school with dorms) that this is just the beginning.  Miles texts back, "No, I'm done."  Prowler replies, "Oh, really?  Do you want me to tell your dad about this Spidey thing?"  Miles is in a bad spot!

Great artwork.  Great story.  Not QUITE good enough to get 5 stars from me, but very close.  PICK OF THE WEEK!

New Comix! - Week of 5-30-12

Aaaaand I'm addicted to a new series.  Here's what happened...

I was at the comic store and didn't have ANY comics that I'm following.  I heard in passing though that one of my all-time favorite characters, Doop, was making reoccurring appearances at Wolverine's new mutant school as an adjunct teacher!  I had to know more.  The series is "Wolverine and the X-Men" and follows the little, canadian mutant as he has broken away from Cyclops's group on the island of Utopia out of philisophical differences.  This series is only 11 issues long, so I decided to try to catch up!  Unfortunately, this is a VERY popular series and back issues are scarce.  Between 2 comic shops and 2 online stores, I have been able to get them all except for issues 3 and 10.  The search continues.

Why do I love this title?  It's fun.  Wolverine wears dress clothes and teaches class to a hilarious group of mutant students.  Beast has accidentally opened a portal to a dimension full of miniature Nightcrawler-type gremlins who are running amuck on campus and causing all kinds of havoc.  The classic X-Men villain Krakoa, the living island, is now a mainstay on the campus and helps protect the grounds!  Toad, the former evil mutant, is now serving as the disgruntled janitor!  Kitty, Wolverine's original teen sidekick, is serving as his vice-principal!  And DOOP is back!!!  This title is fun, funny, clever, and the 2 rotating artists have been great.  I love it when comics are actually fun to read and not all soap opera drama!

I don't have the energy to review all of the previous issues, so I'll just start with #11 and we'll go from there as new ones come out.

Wolverine and the X-Men #11

This issue gets tied up in the AvX blah blah blah that's going on across all the Avengers and X-books.  The important thing is that this issue falls between AvX issues 4 and 5 when Wolverine is with Hope and they are trying to reach the moon so Hope can try to intercept and control the Phoenix and Wolverine can kill her if she can't.  In the meantime, the Shi'ar Empire has sent out it's assassin group "Death Commandos" to kill the Phoenix host and any who try to protect her.  Wolverine and Hope get attacked by the Commandos and barely come out alive, but during the fight Wolverine experiences flashbacks of when Jean asked him to kill her to save her from the Phoenix and he realizes that he can't kill Hope.  He doesn't have it in him.  When she's not looking, he contacts the Avengers to tell him where they are headed.

This was a filler issue that moved the AvX plot along, but the art was solid and there were some great character moments.  Not bad all-in-all, but not amazing.  This series as a whole is still awesome, so I'm not worried about it.

New Comix! - Week of 5/23/12

Just one comic came home with me this week.

The Mighty Thor #14
I'm catching up on 6 weeks of comic reviews and I actually don't remember much about this issue.  That's not a good thing.  Here's what I DO remember.

Thor has accidentally let a group of monsters loose on Asgardia called the "Mares".  These little alien dog monster guys put you to sleep upon contact and keep you locked in a dream world.  Thor was the first to be trapped in the dream world, but other citizens of Asgardia and nearby Broxton, Oklahoma soon join him.

In the meantime, Dr. Don Blake has gone to the Enchantress to seek her help.  He has realized that he's not real.  He was create by Odin to be a vessel for his son when Thor was sent to earth to learn humility.  Now they are separate (when did this happen?  I have no idea!)  and he has no identity or memories before his college years.  He feels empty and used and wants desperately to be a "god" again.  Enchantress agrees to help him, but knowing her, it won't go as Blake hopes.

Decent artwork, but i'm getting bored with this "mares" story really quick.  Curious to see what happens to Blake.  I would only recommend this issue if you were already buying Thor. It's a filler.  Not bad, but not great.

New Comix! - Week of 5/16/12

Well, I've gotten 6 weeks behind in posting comic reviews, but i'm determined to catch up without missing any of the past weeks.  Here goes!

AvX #4
In the last issue Cap kicked Wolverine out of an airplane over the antarctic to keep him from killing Hope, the girl destined to be the next host for the Phoenix.  Cap wants to save the girl and somehow shield her from the Phoenix Force.  Wolverine believes (from past experience) that the only way to save the girl and the world is to kill her before she becomes something awful.  In this issue he is picked up in the frozen wasteland by the girl herself, Hope.  Both the X-men and the Avengers are searching the world for her and she is in the least likely place, with Wolverine, her would-be executioner.


Hope makes Wolverine a deal.  She wants to try to control the Phoenix and use it for good.  If she can't control it, she wants Wolverine there to put her down, if necessary.  To protect the Earth they hijack an A.I.M. (lame Marvel Universe terrorist organization) spaceship and head for the moon so she can meet the Phoenix before it gets to our planet.  When they get there they find the Avengers waiting for them.  Wolverine searched his soul and decided even HE didn't have what it took to kill a teenage girl in cold blood so he contacted the Avengers for help.  And then the X-Men show up via teleportation (thanks to Colossus's mutant sister, Magik) to take Hope back home.  And THEN the Thor rudely interrupts the ensuing argument by landing unconscious in a crater on the surface of the moon (he and a squad of Avengers were sent to outer space to try to slow down or stop the Phoenix)...The Phoenix has arrived.


While not the most exciting issue, it wasn't boring either and moved the story along nicely.  There were some really great character moments between Hope and Wolverine also.  I still question John Romita Jr. handling the art duties on this title.  I like his art, but on more of a smaller-scale project.  I LOVED it when he drew monthly Spider-Man stories.  These grander-scale projects don't seem ideal for his style though, in my opinion.


All in all a good issue in an increasingly interesting story.  I thought this storyline would be just a string of nonsensical fights, but it's shaping up to be better than I expected.

AvX Versus #2


This title is for the aformentioned nonsensical fights.  That being said, it's fun, which was the point.


This issue features fights between Captain America vs. Gambit, and Spider-Man vs. Colossus.  


In the Cap-V-Gambit fight, Cap fights someone distractedly until Gambit charges his uniform and makes it explode.  Cap then turns his full attention to the cajun mutant and knocks him out with one punch!  


In Spidey-V-Colossus, Spidey is severely outmatched.  Spider-Man is actually one of the stronger heroes in the Marvel Universe, but Colossus is stronger usually...and NOW he is also empowered with the powers of the Juggernaut....SOOO...Spidey loses.  In true Spidey fashion, he prepares to fight to the end, but Daredevil shows up and tells him that Hope isn't at that location so they just leave.  


The art in the Spidey section was good, but the art in the Captain America section was drawn by superstar artist, Steve McNiven, and was phenomenal.  McNiven is in my top 5 favorite artists.  I love everything he does.  Period.


This was a fun comic, though I think it's ridiculous that Colossus has been fighting in EVERY  Versus issue that has come out.  Really?  The X-Men don't have any other tough guys?!?


Meh story.  Great art.  Fun reading.

Saga #3


Winner.  This story is awesome and win everything, in my book.  Check it out.


At the end of issue 2, the two main characters were about to be taken down by a dangerous bounty hunter (both sides of the war want them dead because they are in a Romeo/Juliet situation and if the story of their love got out it could demoralize the centuries-old war) when the legendary ghosts of the forest (called the Horrors) show up and scare the bounty hunter away.  The ghosts are all children.  Creepy, huh?


With Marko wounded and unconscious, Alana is desperate to defend him against the creepy kid ghosts that are rumored to kill any living they find.  Instead one of the ghosts (Izabel) befriends the couple and promises to help heal Marko if Alana will agree to one condition.  She wants to be bonded to Hazel (their newborn baby) so she can leave the haunted forest and the world were she and her family were killed in the war.  Alana reluctantly agrees and they set off to save Marko.  As they are traveling Marko mutters from within his fever dreams that he is worried about Gwendolyn...his WIFE!  The last scene ends with Alana's frozen, horrified face.


This story is epic, weird, and addicting.  The artwork is equally weird but SO good.  Please note that this title is for MATURE readers and every issue has included at least one swear word and one bare breast.  That being said, it's one of the best, most original series I'm following right now.  If you're able to get bast the "mature" stuff, I would highly recommend getting on the SAGA bandwagon!

- Pick of the week!

Wonder Woman #9


I've been really enjoying this new take on Wonder Woman, making her much less of a "superhero" and much more a "mythical" character.  That being said, the story is getting weird and a little off-topic.


In this issue WW and her greek mythology friends head off to Hell to rescue her friend Zola from Hades.  They succeed, but not before Hades shoots one of Eros's (Cupid's) guns (instead of arrows...clever, huh?) and strikes WW in the heart.  He then lets the rest of the group go and keeps Diana to be his wife.  This is extra creepy when you realize that she is Zeus's daughter, making Hades her uncle.


The issue ends with Hades questioning Diana's love for him.  He asks her to prove it by putting her Lasso of Truth around her next as a noose, so she can't lie about it.


The art is still good.  The story is getting lame quick.  I want to see WW take on evil, spiteful Hera, not mucking around in Hell with Hades, dealing with his abandonment issues!  I'm hanging on for a few more issues, but it needs to pick up the pace and inject some excitement.

New Comix! - Week of 5/9/12

Only came home with 2 comics last week.  One was great and the other one should have stayed at the store.  Let's get to it.

Avenging Spider-Man #7
Avenging Spidey is basically a team-up book pairing Spiderman with various heroes on random missions.  In this one Spidey teams with one of my favorite heroins, SheHulk as they foil a museum heist and end up fighting an Egyptian god.

The story starts off with Spidey and SheHulk teaming up against a monster that has been plaguing the New York sewers.  After wrapping up the monster (literally) SheHulk says she has to rush off to an event her Law Firm is hosting at the museum.  Spidey tries to accompany her but she turns him down.  He ends up following her there anyway.  No sooner has SheHulk arrived than the two heros foil a robbery by two Egyptian god worshippers trying to free their deity from a cat statue.  The robbers are caught but not before awakening the statue.  It picks SheHulk to be it's champion and she grows a cat tail, much to the delight of Peter Parker.  The museum is suddenly overrun with cats who come together and form a 50-foot-tall cat deity out in the street.  SheHulk readies to fight the god thing when Spider-Man (who has spent all issue talking about how much he loves Egyptian mythology) shows up wearing a bull head.  He says he's the servant of some greater Egyptian god and that everything is under control in modern day New York City and that the Cat God can go back to where it came from.  The Cat god concedes to the more powerful god's wishes and disappears.  Spider-man then continues to pick on SheHulk's cat tail even though it has vanished.

This book is so fun.  Most fun I've had reading regular Marvel U Spider-Man in years.  I've really been enjoying these team-ups but him with SheHulk is top notch.  She's usually pretty snarky herself but around Spidey she's got nothin'.  He pretty much cracked wise the whole time and she pretty much threatened his life through the whole ordeal.  Very funny dialog.  Great artwork.  Great job.

 - Pick of the Week!

Avengers Assemble #3
And then there's this.  This book features the creative team behind most of the fantastic Ultimate Spider-Man series so it should be a great book.  But it's not.  The purpose of this book was to be an easy jumping-on point for new or returning comic readers brought into the comic shops by the mind-blowingly awesome Avengers movie.  Knowing this I expected the plot and dialog to be dumbed down but...C'MON BENDIS!  Here's what happened.

A group of lame no-name villains have been given enormous powers based on the signs of the Zodiac.  In the first 2 issues the Avengers had a few run-ins with this group and were outmatched for the most part.  Now the entire Zodiac group has shown up at the Helicarrier and it's fight time.  They fight a lot and there's a lot of lame dialog and then Tony Stark realizes that the villain's powers are being sent to them like a broadcast.  He shoots a gun that shuts down the transfer of power and the Zodiac's are depowered immediately.  Suddenly a huge figure touches down, revealing the power behind this lame super villain group, Thanos.  I was about to get my hopes up about this story when he started talking.  What Thanos says is some of the lamest excuse for SuperVillain dialog I've ever heard.  Something like, "You have angered the Mad Titan, warrior of death.  For this I will kill your planet."  Ugh...

AVENGER'S MOVIE SPOILER ALERT BELOW!!!

The dialog was WAY dumbed down.  The art was similarly uninspired.  The Villains were beyond lame.  The ONLY reason I MIGHT pick up the next issue is because I'm interested in learning more about Thanos since watching the Avenger's movie (stay through the credits).  His dialog was so lame in his one panel appearance though, I can't imagine it will be any good.  Maybe I'll feel less blah about this title in 4 weeks and I'll give it a shot for the sake of the villain.  Maybe.

  - This was not good.  The only reason it got 2 stars is because the Avengers are awesome even in a terrible story.

New Comix! - Week of 5/2/12

Just bought two new comics this week and I'm almost a week late with the reviews so let's get to it!

 Avengers vs X-Men #3

To get caught up on the AvX backstory read last week’s posting about AvX Versus #1.  That’ll help.  Some additional info you’ll need before I can review this issue is that, as the Avengers and X-Men were fighting all over the island home of the X-Men, Wolverine snuck in the back way and attempted to murder the girl who the Phoenix is coming for.  He believes there’s only one way to save the Earth from the destructive Phoenix and that is to kill the host while they still can.  As he attacks, Hope is filled with some of the Phoenix’s power (due to it getting so close to Earth) and she fries Wolverine in the air and runs away from the island.

At the start of issue #3, Wolverine is waking up from regrowing his flesh and Spider-Man is there to quickly hand him some pants.  As he runs outside he discovers that the X-Men had tricked the Avengers with an illusion and were already gone, gaining a head-start in the hunt for Hope.  The Avengers whittle down her possible locations to 5 different areas and split up into teams.  Cap insists that Wolverine come with his team to the Savage Land in Antarctica.  As they fly south, Cap takes Wolverine into a storage room in the back of the jet to explain how he will not allow Wolverine to murder the girl.  Wolverine says there’s no other way and so Cap decides to force the issue and they start brawling.  This fight seems pretty silly to me.  Why are these “heroes” always punching each other?!?  That being said, Captain America vs Wolverine is the fight I never knew that I needed to see!  Silly or not, this was a great fight!  They go round and round with neither one gaining the edge, until Giant man joins in and kicks Logan out the back of the plain where he falls a few thousand feet and lands in the snow.  The last image of the issue shows Logan rising from the snow, his face shadowed and breath foggy in the air as he says, “Well, alright then.  I guess it’s up to me.”  Check it out!

This issue wasn’t the best storytelling I’ve read in the comic world, but it had what this entire series is all about…awesome hero on hero fighting.  I can’t help it!  It was fun!  Gosh!  Props to John Romita Jr. for some pretty nice artwork as well.  I mostly like him on Spider-Man exclusively, but there were some really nice moments art-wise in this issue.  Especially that Wolvie in the snow bit.

 – Book of the week!

 Ultimate Spider-Man #10

So, the new Spider-Man, Mile Morales, got his powers from a test tube spider that hitched a ride out of OzCorp with this Uncle Aaron, who happens to be a world-class thief.  Aaron wasn’t even after the spider, but he knows how Peter Parker got his powers, so it doesn’t take him long to figure out who the new little Spidey is swinging around town.  In this issue, Aaron asks Miles to meet him on the roof of a high-rise downtown.  Most of this issue is them talking, but it was still fun to read.  Uncle Aaron  (a.k.a. The Prowler) is trying to force Miles into teaming up with him.  After going round and round on the issue, he tells Miles that the Scorpion is in town and is a real villain that needs to be taken down and that they could do it together.  He doesn’t tell Miles that the Scorpion came up from Mexico with his gang chasing after The Prowler!  At the end of the issue Miles texts his uncle and says, “I’m in.”. 

This is an interesting spin.  Miles is only 13 years old and is having a hard time telling his favorite uncle “no” even though he now knows that he’s a criminal.  I’m curious to see how this goes down and how Miles is going to get away from the bad influence of his uncle.

Not terribly exciting, but a solid issue with continued character building for the young Spiderman.  Quality storytelling and good artwork.