Category: Comic Reviews

I guess you can consider this a quick comic review, since I haven’t a format to put up a full review. In fact, it’s the first time in years that I’m reviewing a comic book in any form… much less five.

So the crossover series Marvel Zombies vs. Army Of Darkness is coming out soon and I thought I take the time to talk about the original five-part miniseries that was put out some time last year. For those who don’t know, Marvel Zombies is an alternate-universe miniseries in which all the superheroes are turned into flesh-eating zombies. The concept is pretty stupid, but it somehow works. The whole thing is set up so that the heroes are aware of their zombie status, but really can’t do anything about it. It’s certainly different from most zombie stories, where the zombies are depicted as mindless one-track idiots.

Marvel Zombie’s art is gruesome, as it should be. There’s a bit more gore in this story than most Marvel tales of this type and it’s almost appropriate considering what we’re dealing with. Some of the imagery is almost unsettling to a point, but it isn’t anything offensive if you know what you’re getting into. It’s not like anybody’s “little buddy” and spider-balls are hanging out in public.

All in all, this is a fairly entertaining miniseries that’s good for a laugh or two. If at all possible, track this one down (either the issues or a trade paperback if one’s available)

Recommended.

Todd McFarlane made a name for himself drawing Spider-Man in a fresh take that remains somewhat to this day. After a long stint on Amazing Spider-Man, Todd wanted to stretch his limbs and give this writing thing a shot. So Marvel gave the dude his own (adjectiveless) Spider-Man book and I’ll never forget the cover of that first issue; Spidey in that one pose amid a background of webbing, which came in either metallic silver, metallic bronze, or full-color varieties. The full-color one (pictured) was kinda lame, but the silver and bronze variants were pretty cool and perfectly matched the tone of the book’s first major arc; a five-issue story called Torment.

Anyone familiar with McFarlane’s art should know what to expect; lots of nice little setpieces that sometimes gets a bit chaotic for its own good compounded with a lot of faces that look to have been molded from Playdoh. It’s an acquired taste and a style that fit the time it was produced in. Sadly, the same can be said for the story; serviceable for the time, but not something that holds up over time. A shame too, because the premise is actually interesting, with Spider-Man having to deal with an infection of sorts, as well as a more primal Lizard compared to what had been presented before and another sinister force with ties to an old foe who has left this proverbial plane of existence. Although to be fair, I do like the little moments between Peter and MJ; those are nice.

One thing is for certain; Torment would be a learning curve for McFarlane, who would go on to produce the comic series Spawn and essentially create a merchandising empire for himself. Not one of the guy’s best efforts and in terms of quality Spider-Man stories, there are certainly better ones, but for a pilot effort, it got the table set and is certainly worth a read as a period piece.

When I first heard about this miniseries and its premise, my first question was simply “Why?” I mean, is there a critical necessity to restore the pre-Rayner status quo, bringing everyone back to life and continue on as if nothing has ever happened? I never really cared for the Hal Jordan character, simply because he never seemed all that interesting a character until he went “whacko”. Of course, there are those who disagree with me… so here’s the mini that brings him back to the role he’s familiar with and returns everything back to the way things were.

Questionable intentions aside, the one thing that isn’t questionable is the fact that the Rebirth miniseries has been a fairly entertaining and pretty good read thus far and really, isn’t that the only thing that matters in the long run? Although this fourth issue does advance the story a little further somewhat, it wasn’t as fulfilling as the previous issue, which had some nifty plotpoints such as the reasoning behind the old GL rings’ yellow impurity and why Rayner’s ring doesn’t have it. But who’s complaining?

The bit where Green Arrow strains himself to shoot an arrow with the power ring was a nice touch, going to show how much of a toll it takes to use the ring to create things as simplistic as a mere arrow and that it’s not easy to bear it. Of course, no one’s ever had a problem with this sort of thing before, but those were “special” cases for lack of a better excuse. Visually, the art’s consistently good as the three issues before this one. The choice of coloring and darker shades goes well with the book and really emphasizes the overall tone of the series.

Other than that, there’s not much else to say that you’ve probably haven’t heard elsewhere. Simply put, Rebirth, so far, is good stuff, regardless of your preferred ringbearer. Of course, if you’re patient, you’ll probably wait for the inevitable TPB that’ll come out in a few scant months, but why bother? Just read it now.

(2025 Update: I’m using the banner from the Marvel Zombies series review that was written later down the road for the sake of convenience.)

“It started with a flash in the sky and a ripple in the clouds. The hunger is what brought it here – and feed it did, until the Marvel Heroes were no more. They were replaced with soulless monsters, driven only with an insatiable hunger for human flesh. This is no world of Marvel Heroes. This is the world of Marvel Zombies!”

And with that begins a miniseries that spun off from a Ultimate Fantastic Four storyline called Crossover, which teased the crossover between the Ultimate universe and the Marvel universe but gave us a world of zombies instead. One has to wonder why no such Earth existed in DC’s own Multiverse (before the whole Crisis thing came about… uh, forget it), but after one whiff of this, it’s pretty easy to see why.

In this world of Marvel Zombies, the zombified heroes have pretty much ate up most (if not all) of the human population, leaving behind only the super-powered zombies who either search for food or contemplate their means. Unlike the traditional idiot zombies of the past who scream “braaaaaaaaains”, these zombies maintain their intelligence, though their virtues have been replaced with a hunger for flesh.

Unfortunately, this potentially exciting set of consequences and series of events is marred by a fairly slow pace. The first issue opened up with a living Magneto holding his own against the zombies in a fairly good fight before becoming food, but from there, the series slows to a crawl as heroes contemplate how to cure or kill themselves, or where to find more food. Nothing particularly exciting, but the Silver Surfer showing up and the zombies about to go after would have led to a decent fight to open up the next issue. Instead, we get more of the same inactivity that plagued the second half of the first issue. Somewhere, this seems more than fine to some people, but this isn’t doing much for me. Yeah, the subtle lightness added (if you want to call it that) helps a bit, but not by much.

The book is visually adequate; the choice of dark tones and colors, as well as the grotesque appearances of the undead heroes really suit the subject matter at; much more so than those depicted in UFF. The amount of gore presented in this issue is plentiful despite the T+ rating the book’s been slapped with. You’d often wonder how much of this stuff got published, but really, stuff like this has happened before. Some people might be turned off by it, but considering I sat through the first two issues without so much a squeal, I’m sure there are those who find the gore tolerable or even hilarious.

Marvel Zombies, as a whole, is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it’s differs from all the other zombie-centric stuff in that the undead aren’t mindless, stupid creatures craving brains and so it offers something different. On the other hand, the undead are just intelligent, super-powered creatures craving brains and yet doesn’t make the storyline any different enough from your typical zombie storyline. If you’re a fan of horror stories or zombie stories in particular, then this is a good addition to your collection. If the Ultimate Fantastic Four: Crossover storyarc had somehow piqued your interest enough to see where the zombie angle goes from there, you can’t really go wrong. But for anyone else looking for something different or for an engaging storyline, you won’t find it here.

This is it. The final chapter of Avengers Disassembled. The end of an era in the storied saga of the Avengers… or at least, the end of this volume. We still have Avengers Finale to close the chapter proper, but this is where we end our Avengers journey and… well… for what it’s worth, the ending hits all the right notes.

The revelation of Wanda as the cause of all this mayhem, the debate on whether she would actually be capable of such a thing, and that one bit of exposition – paired up with a wonderful montage of various past comic book covers and panels depicting Wanda’s darker side over the years – fits in so perfectly that it makes absolute sense. And then when the Avengers confront Wanda and we get another battle… which ends as it does and features a cameo appearance that makes sense within the context of this particular story, but not so much in the wider universe considering the stuff happening in the New X-Men book… but whatever, I don’t care. The story is over. It ended on what I feel is a strong note. There’s a finale that serves more as an epilogue to this current version of the Avengers so that we can make way for the new version of the Avengers, which I’m actually looking forward to.

Congratulations, Bendis. You actually made me care about the Avengers for the first time… ever. Here’s a cookie.

(2025 Update: It  just occurred to me that, in redoing banners for this thing, I misspelled Bendis’ name in all four banners… I’d go back and change it, but I’m far too lazy.)

I’ve been a bit late on these reviews as of late, so before posting my thoughts on the final issue of this arc, we should probably cover Part 3.

In our previous issue, a bunch of reserve Avengers show in time for a massive alien spaceship to start dropping alien troops to fight off every Avengers. The whole issue is nothing but one big action setpiece with some highlights here and there. There’s even room for a couple Spider-Man quips here and there.

But then the big heroic sacrifice happens and while I roll my eyes at the tease of another major character death – these things almost NEVER last long with VERY few exceptions – the way this death is treated is done rather well. We know it’s coming, we know it’s teased, and unlike some of the other deaths featured in this arc so far, this death feels dignified and worthwhile… whether it sticks is another story.

And then there’s the Dr. Strange cameo that teases the potential identity of who is truly behind all this gruesome demise. As soon as as there was mention of the [REDACTED] being abused and the reaction to that statement followed… well, I’d be lying if I said that I was surprised because whoever it is has had turns in the dark side in the past, but it kinda, sorta makes sense and I’m amazed that they’re actually going in this direction.

I was a bit iffy on Disassembled at first, but now, headed towards its final issue, I’m actually looking forward to seeing how it ends.