Category: Comic Reviews

In our last issue of Avengers… the mansion blew up, Iron Man was in a supposed drunken state, and a whole bunch of Avengers died. In this issue… we try to make sense of what’s been going on, but it’s just the calm before the next big storm to hit next issue, which promises another Avenger death. Oh goodie.

Once we get past the initial She-Hulk battle, things start to pick up as the team begin to question whether all of this stuff happening is just a coincidence or part of a larger part to strike at their lowest point. The team discussing what’s going on while licking their wounds is the thing that keeps me interested in this whole thing. And once you get to the final spread of all the reserve Avengers to provide assistance, it’s just setting the stage for the show’s grand finale.

Once again, David Finch provides some truly superb art and the final spread is a wonderful piece of business. After the first part’s endless barrage of offing Avengers, Part 2 is a nice piece of calm. Sadly, it’s probably not going to last, is it?

Avengers hit its 500th issue – or rather, it’s the 85th issue of the third volume, but we’re reverting to the old numbering because all of a sudden we care about our issue numbers until we eventually don’t – so how do we celebrate this milestone? How about we blow up Avengers Mansion and kill off a couple staple characters for good measure?

The first of four issues comprising the Avengers Dissambled storyarc that is supposed to bring the current Avengers run to a close in order to make way for a new Avengers series by BENDIS’ own hand. Unfortunately, the story starts off in such gruesome fashion that it seems like an excuse for Bendis to kill off a few name characters just to tickle his fancy… and the sad thing is that it isn’t going to end here because this is less about putting together a compelling Avengers story that might please older fans and possibly new fans to jump in… and more about shock value. Kill the Ant Man. Have She-Hulk go berserk and rip Vision apart! Why don’t we kill Cap off while we’re at it?

I’ll admit that I liked some of Bendis’ stuff; his Daredevil run was solid and ballsy, his work on Ultimate Spider-Man is pretty top-notch, and on occasion, he’s managed some stroke of brilliance in the oddball title or two. David Finch does some great artwork that manages to compliment the chaos depicted in the written word, with a talent to make abject horroric scenes seem even more so with some fine detail.

A rather underwhelming start to the final chapter of this Avengers era to make way for the new one, I’m holding out hope that things will look up… unfortunately, I have a feeling that it’s a false hope at best.

You all know that Robin’s being replaced. That’s common knowledge. If you don’t, one only needs to go here and find out.

At the risk of “spoiling” everything, I’m going to tell you that no, Robin doesn’t die. He quits. There you go; no need to buy this comic…

In all seriousness, however, the means of forcing Tim Drake to retire the Robin mantle is rather interesting, but the fact that no one has made an effort to hide what is to come doesn’t help the stock of this issue. I’m guessing the “retirement” of Tim Drake was the big consequence of last issue’s “unveiling”… and even though I haven’t read that last issue, I did read this issue. It peaked my interest even though I knew what was going to happen in a sense, so it worked on that level. The cover is rather bland and doesn’t really relate much to what’s in the issue, but it’s a good thing. The art in this issue is okay, but it really doesn’t do much for me. It’s not that it’s bad, but on the other hand, it’s really uninteresting and it doesn’t try to suck me into the story. Then again, that’s just me.

On the up side however, we’re getting a new Robin… again. And it’s a girl… again. This is the history of the Robin persona, a position that had been filled in by a young kid raised in a circus who had the nasty tendency of saying “Holy-this” and “Holy-that”, a snot-nosed kid whose rebellious nature got him killed by readers, and a “bland, whitebread kid” (thanks, Brian)… Whoever this new kid is (I know who, but I’m not going to “spoil” it for you) has some pretty small shoes to fill, but she should glad that she isn’t going to be wearing those god-awful pixie boots from the early days of the Robin legacy.

Under a different time, the 125th issue of Robin would have been a good book because it has the title character, through circumstances out of his control, forcibly step down from his career as a superhero. That alone would have been an unexpected move. But today, with DC’s own website and Previews basically spoiling the surprise by posting images of future issue covers, this comes off as nothing more than an average book with nothing to sell it on. Whether it’s worth the asking price is up to the customer (as with… everything), but I’d skip this one and wait for the next issue… which has the girl Robin debuting.

In a couple months’ time, there’s a new Spider-Man movie. So naturally, Marvel produced several story-arcs and mini-series that features a newly redesigned Doctor Octopus, who just so happens to be the main villain in the flick. That’s just fine and dandy, but this is Ultimate Spider-Man, where Humberto Ramos’ new Doc Ock (which kicks @$$ by the way) doesn’t make an appearance here, but rather the regular Doc Ock that’s indigenous of the Ultimate line of books. In any case, it’s the same intent.

If the fact that the latest arc in the Ultimate Spider-Man series pits the wall-crawler against Doc Ock isn’t a dead give away that this is another one of those oppurtunities to cash in on the hype of the upcoming Spider-Man movie sequel, then the disappointing plot element of an unauthorized movie being made on Spider-Man will. So Spider-Man gets upset that a movie company is producing a movie about him without his consent or input. Doc Ock gets upset that Spider-Man is getting a movie made about him. Gwen Stacy, still distraught over the recent death of her father due to stupidities in super-heroics, is upset because Spider-Man’s getting a movie. I get upset because the entire storyline revolves around the production of a movie, which is something that should have been a one-shot deal, not necessarily an entire story-arc that could have been good for something else.

I don’t follow the Ultimate Spider-Man series, so I don’t know what has happened before this issue and thus, I can’t really comment on the serial aspect of it. Then again, I really don’t care for serialization to begin with, so that’s a non-factor. The art in this issue is pretty good. Everything is pretty much laid out nicely and everything has a clean look to it. On the other hand, it’s nothing special and certainly nothing that I haven’t seen before.

Of all the Doc Ock-centric stories that are being shot out recently, I’d have to say that this one is a little weak, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad story. If you really need to go out and get something with ol’ Otto, I’d suggest you pick up the Countdown arc in the Spectacular Spider-Man series (or wait for the trade – it’s almost the same thing). You should only pick this up if you’re into Ultimate Spider-Man or don’t mind the “movie” plot, but if you’re somewhat interested in what the arc has to offer, there’s nothing stopping you.

For the uninformed, the strange looking comic series is based on  the latest DC cartoon series. Unlike the previous cartoons that came before it, which had some slick animation and presented  pretty good storylines, Teen Titans had anime-style animation and storylines that seemed way too kiddy. Perhaps you’re not supposed  to take it seriously, since it’s a team of kids, but the bunch of  kids that the series is based on were a tad more serious than what we have here. But we’re not here to look at the cartoon, we’re here to look at the comic.

Of all the issues I could have picked to review, I had to review  the one where the main plotline revolves around Raven getting a pimple. No, you’ve read right. And no, the cover of the issue is real. The whole story revolves around a pimple. This little pimple is the main villain of this story. Granted, it’s an interesting idea that is rarely thought of or implemented, but… oh good god, what am I saying? It’s a zit. For the majority of the book, the other Titans make fun of poor Raven’s zit, which reduces the issue to a poor man’s guide to zit jokes that are not only unfunny, but they really distract from the flow of the book, or lack thereof. The book tries to be humorous, but it doesn’t really work for me.

On a more positive note, the art is actually pretty good and it replicates the anime-style of the cartoon. I was a little reserved  about the show’s choice to forego the regular graphics and go with that form of animation, but on the comic, it works fine. I find it suits the printed format as opposed to the small screen. I could say more, but… it’s a zit.

There isn’t much else I can say about the comic. If you’re a fan of the cartoon and haven’t tried the comic, it doesn’t hurt to  give it a try. If you don’t mind a comic book where half of it contains poorly-executed zit jokes, this is for you. As for the rest of us, I’d take a pass.

Almost everyone in some capacity has heard of “X-Men”. The name is just familiar to the average joe as it is the comic joe. If they’ve not seen the comic, they must have heard of the movie, or the cartoon… or the action figures and collectables. But let’s stay with the subject: this is a review on New X-Men #123, now featuring a new penciller and a new painted cover. Although I rather liked the art in preceding issues, this isn’t much of a bad thing.

The deal with New X-Men is that it is continuity-conscious. In other words, you need to the book regularly in order to keep up with what’s going on. This is a standard of the modern-day comic, but it’s not like you have to read every book in the genre of a book every week in order to follow. New X-Men have their own self-contained  continuity and it’ll be interesting to see how long this keeps up. In terms of the writing, it’s a good read. The issue takes a break from the usual fighting evil mutants or anti-mutant groups and presents us with a first step to building a world where both normal humans and mutants can co-exist, something that is rarely seen in an X-Men book. Of course, the art is pretty good in this issue too.

To be honest with you, I can’t really find anything wrong with the issue. It’s not a perfect book (no matter how many times such a claim is made, you’ll find a few people saying otherwise), but is actually a great read. Again, the series has a continuity of its own, so anybody just jumping in or anyone who took a hiatus in collecting comics for the reading may get a little lost. To those people, I say you should check out some of the previous issues if you want to know what’s going on.

Again, New X-Men 123 is a good read. If you’re into X-Men, chances are you would obviously want to get the book. If you want a book just for the hell of it, this is also a good choice. But if you’re one who wants to get into the series, you should get the issues that precede this one because if you don’t, you’ll probably be lost… Worth your cash.

There’s a new Star Wars movie coming out in May… but you already knew that, didn’t you? And you probably know that with a new Star Wars, comes tie-in material such as a novel, toys, and comics. One of the comics includes a one-shot featuring Jango Fett, one of the new characters introduced in “Attack of the Clones” and apparently the guy whose son will make life a living hell for the Rebels in the original Star Wars trilogy. Although I like to say that the set-up is similar to the Boba Fett one-shots, that isn’t the case… there are some things that set this apart from that group.

Most of the Star Wars comics that comes from Dark Horse tend to be well done and this one is no exceptions. It’s hard to tell whether the characters are accurately portrayed compared to “Attack of the Clones” since the movie isn’t out yet, but considering Dark Horse’s track record for SW comics that are true to the films, it’s a safe bet that’s what we might see in the movie. The book features both Jango Fett the bounty hunter-for-hire and Jango Fett the father to his son, Boba. It shows that the elder Fett does have a soft side when it comes to family and the writer does a good job of showing this side. It’s something that sets it apart from the Boba Fett one-shots where the guy’s all business. You don’t see Boba’s family life, you don’t see Boba in his spare time, you don’t even see his face. With Jango, it’s not all business. The guy has a life outside of being a hardass and has a son to care for.

The artwork and paints are alright, considering everything looks the way they’re supposed to, although it’s nothing to brag about. There are nice color choices that nicely depict the environments and the bar fight looked good, but again, it’s not the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen. It’s the typical quality that goes with that art style.

There isn’t really much to hate about this book. You can’t go wrong with a guy who gets paid to kill people, steal stuff, and blow everything up. If there is only one thing I have to complain about, it’s the fact that the book focuses on a character that precedes a popular character (Boba Fett) of the Star Wars mythos. It doesn’t really seem to a good reason to do a one-shot solo on a guy we haven’t even seen in a full movie, so it’s hard to tell if a character’s been portrayed accurately from the source. This is only a minor complaint and may be irrelevant when “Attack of the Clones” come out.

I can’t really say that there is anything that could be considered potential spoilers to “Attack of the Clones.” Since I don’t check into those sites with the possible spoilers; and since half of them are BS anyway, there’s no real way for me to know. Star Wars: Jango Fett serves as a prelude to “Attack of the Clones” and does a good job to give us something to expect from “Episode II”. It’s a good addition to anyone who enjoys Star Wars or sci-fi comics in general.

What’s this? One minute, I see Batman has hit number 600 and all of a sudden, it has hit number 768… oh, I’m sorry. This is Detective Comics #768… For a second there, I thought I was being paranoid. In all seriousness, this review is about Detective Comics #768 and no, Batman didn’t skip a hundred-sixty seven issues… Of course, now that Detective Comics is presented in FULL COLOR as opposed to the limited palette they would use since No Man’s Land ended, the two series seem similar…

This issue of Detective Comics has Batman on the streets dealing with heroin dealers, while the Gotham Police Department attempt to track down the fugitive Bruce Wayne, who has “fled” the country… The fools! Little do they know their wanted fugitive is right under their noses… It’ll be interesting to see where this angle of Batman “shutting out” Bruce Wayne will go and how long it will last. I’m hoping it’ll be for quite a long time. The art is nothing too spectacular, but the locations and characters are recognizable at the very least, so I’m guessing that’s a good thing. The story and writing is typical Batman flair; there isn’t really nothing wrong with that.

If there is one complaint I would have to make about Detective Comics #768, it would have to be the use of full color. All I have to say is… WHY?! Mind you, Detective Comics was a full-colored book up until No Man’s Land was finished, but the limited use of colors was something that made Detective a unique book. It was a contributing factor to setting the mood of the book, because this is a book about a dark & corrupt city and its hero. Such an environment should not be represented with all these bright and fancy colors. Without the limited palette of the previous issues, Detective Comics may as well rename itself to Batman Series II, because the two series seem similar if you neglect the art. I guess the back-up story can get away with it, but most certainly not the main story. At least they didn’t bring back Robin 🙂

Detective 768 isn’t an amazing issue, but it’s not exactly a bad one, either. Because the limited palette normally associated with Detective Comics has been ditched, it is simply a decent book. Nevertheless, anyone who has been following Batman comics shouldn’t pass this one up. And if you want to “jump in”, I suggest you begin with Batman: The 10 Cent Adventure, and get the follow-ups to get up to speed. Worth your money.

When I picked up this book, I had assumed that this Taskmaster character was someone new, because I practically never seen this guy before in any other Marvel comic, despite another comic site stating he was a villain in Avengers. Considering I don’t normally follow Avengers, that’s somewhat understandable. However, when I flipped through some old comics I had, a Spider-Man issue (not sure which one) had the character name Taskmaster, but this particular Taskmaster didn’t really resemble the one in the new series. So this guy probably changed costumes for reasons unknown and now has his own mini-series.

Taskmaster is one of those series where it focuses on a no-good, mercenary-for-hire rather than the goody-goody hero. Although there are some of those types around, they aren’t really that plentiful. Since the main character is also seemingly a mercenary-for-hire, the whole plot seems rather intriguing, if not overdone. It’s not a kiddy book and it’s not that hard to follow the story. Taskmaster’s strong point has to be the art. It is drawn with somewhat of an anime-influence and the CG modeled backgrounds for certain panels are a nice touch.

I’m not too crazy about the title character. Here is a guy who could mimic any action he observes, assume the shape of any person, or replicate anyone’s voice without fraudulence, yet he carries a sword and gun? Surely, to fight guys like Iron Man, these abilities are more than sufficient. Only guys who are typical humans in a world of super-powered characters would such weapons. The other problem with the book is the story. I did say that it has an intriguing story because of the perspective, but quite honestly, this whole backstabbing scenario has been done one time too many already. Maybe over the course of the mini, things might end being different, but until then, the only thing that comes to mind is, “Where have I seen this before?”

For someone who enjoys reading these multi-part storyarcs or mini-series, Taskmaster is a good read. If you’re someone who enjoys a book with good art, this is also a nice book for you. However, those of you expecting the typical hero versus villain bash will be disappointed (there is a fight, but not much). If you can look past that, Taskmaster is alright.