Sinestro #2 (REVIEW)

I was really excited to get into this series this month because of the sheer magic that is Cullen Bunn’s writing on Magneto’s solo series for Marvel. Perhaps my background to Cullen’s writing there was not a great thing for me to have. It has definitely dictated my experience of this book more than it should. Just the same, I do think that Bunn’s approach to Sinestro is extremely intriguing. Bunn seems to be able to write these villain solo titles unlike anyone else. The art is also very impressive. There were a few panels that threw me for a loop, but it the following panels cleared up any confusions.

I really love the approach to this book. That is, I think framing this book in terms of legends and stories, which Sinestro hopes his life becomes, allows for an approach to this villain that allows for some relatablity with the reader. Sinestro’s consistent interest in stories and legends points to the way in which he views his own life and his own importance. I’m interested to see where some things in this story goes: the motif of stories and legends, the relationship between Sinestro and his daughter, and the “church of anti-emotion” story. There is a lot that Bunn has in play here, and he is doing a nice job so far of balancing it all and telling the story.

I give this book 4.5/5.

the-league-of-assassins:

All of the corps - Matthew Waite 

http://waitedesigns.deviantart.com/

These are pretty sweet.

Batman Eternal #7 (REVIEW)

I’m actually really glad that we’re seeing more of the crime boss battles in this book. Eternal #4, 5, and 6 were all really jumpy, but this seems to be continuing on that crime war story a little more. I do wish we were getting something about Gordon here, but I also understand some of the reasons why it is being withheld at the moment. There are a lot of threads to this story in the seven issues, and I’m not sure that they’re being held together very well. We have the crime war, the story with Gordon, Vicki Vale’s reporting, and the sick children Red Robin is trying to take care of. These are all starting to strain on the title as a whole I think. Thus, it makes each issue seem more taxing when we’re not hearing about each of those issues. At the same moment, it seems that if you brought up all of those stories in one issue it would be too much. I guess, all in all, this issue was decent as a stand alone, but given the series as a whole, it is lacking and was doomed to have flaws because of the multiple stories set up thus far. I feel like all of these stories have potential, but the overlap is too much for the audience.

I give this book a 3/5, keeping in mind that most of my problems stem from the entire series.

Magneto #4 (REVIEW)

I don’t even really know what to say about this book. It continually exceeds my wildest expectations. Cullen Bunn’s writing is so phenomenal. His interior monologue of Magneto brings us face to face with the harsh reality of Magneto’s history. We are forced to confront the same pain as Magneto. Thus, Bunn, without explicitly stating it, creates tension in the reader as he or she faces the actions of Magneto in the face of the scars of his past. Bunn is almost daring us to disagree with Magneto’s actions, and much of the time I’m not sure that I want to do so. This issue I think has some of the most quotable lines and really starts to help us understand the bigger picture for Magneto at this moment. The art, this time by Javier Fernandez, is still superb, but the real character and feeling of this book comes from the talent of Jordie Bellaire as Color Artist. Bellaire absolutely sets the tone for the book, providing a path that Bunn’s writing can fallow and push further. This is still easily my favorite title being printed right now. Not much else comes close.

I give this book a 5/5.

Shutter #2 and Captain Marvel #3 (REVIEWS)

I’m still working on getting caught up on quite a few series, but in a rush to prep for new comic book day tomorrow here are two quick reviews.

Shutter #2, and #1 for that matter since I read both this week, is a super fun book. The art alone is worth the buy. The world of this books is packed with details. The art and colors are really breathtaking. The story is good, but I’m still really confused about the world overall. I wish there were more explanation. Where are we? Earth. But when? Why are so many different species and aliens around? We just need more set up for the world we’re in, more grounding, and we’re not really getting that either in this or the second issue. The story is still fun, the dialogue is great, and I really enjoyed the book overall.

I’d give this book a 4/5.

Captain Marvel #3, like the rest of this series, is so fun. I am loving the art and DeConnick’s writing is superb. The characters really propel this book forward, which I think is why I like it so much. It’s not all about plot plot plot, but we get those moments with Marvel and her cat or Marvel talking with Star-Lord about the planet. In this issue, I particularly enjoyed the encounter between Marvel and the leader of Tic’s world. The interaction there started to shed light on this complex problem that Carol is facing here, and it did so through character interaction rather than simply letting the plot propel the story. I enjoyed this decision. This book is a must read/buy. Get on it.

I give this book a 5/5, obviously.

Now get excited; tomorrow is new comic book day!

Superman: DOOMED (Review)

This review will cover the first three installments of Superman: DOOMED, which appear in Superman: DOOMED #1, Action Comics #31, and Superman Wonder Woman #8.

Superman Doomed #1 was a great start to this crossover. It’s a nice revisioning of the Superman Doomsday rivalry. The art is great and the story is extremely fun. My biggest complaint with this book is that, in the new 52, Doomsday himself is painted as something so much more difficult to fight, having grown into his powers. However, Superman’s fight with him, while amazingly choreographed and drawn on the page, starts and ends rather quickly. it seems shockingly convenient for the month long crossover event to have Doomsday be easily defeated. Perhaps they will return to this, but it seems a bit too convenient for me.

Action Comics #31 starts the really great part of the stories here. Superman’s worries about saving the human race that arose in the face of Doomsday in Superman: Doomed #1 become even more pronounced in this issue. Greg Pak does a great job of really pushing the man of steel to think about his identity in the face of his role as a protector of humanity. He is not human, and that is what sets him apart. All of this comes to a fore as he is infected.

Finally, Superman Wonder Woman #8 really highlights Wonder Woman and the amount that she cares for Superman. This story follows her as she tries to relocate Superman, and it shows the problems in their relationship, even if those problems aren’t in the open yet. Some of the dialogue in this issue is somewhat stilted and cheesy, especially when Superman is Doomsday.

I give Superman:Doomed #1 a 4/5.
I give Action Comics #31 a 4/5.
I give Superman Wonder Woman #8 a 3.5/5.

I give the event overall thus far a 4/5.

Nightcrawler #2 (REVIEW)

This book is really fun, and I am having a good time reading and seeing how Kurt is reconnecting with those in the land of the living. The art is really nice. Todd Nauck (art) and Rachelle Rosenberg (color) do a nice job of making this story look connected to Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness’s Amazing X-Men. I think the idea for this solo series at this precise moment is really brilliant. Especially with Nightcrawler’s devotion to religion, this is a great venue to allow him to struggle with those questions he is bound to have after his experience in heaven.

However, I don’t think the story is probing in that direction much yet. There are a few moments when some characters will say things to Kurt that I think will send him off into thoughts about those questions, but it never happens. It seems there is a more personal psychology that Claremont could be exploring in this book that he’s not. At least, not yet.

Right now, though the book is fun, there really is not any substance to it. It’s a fun read, but I don’t find myself actively searching this book out so far. There’s time for that to change, but I think that lies in the psychological realms of Kurt’s mind. There just seems to be so much there for exploration that’s getting left out. Furthermore, the writing between Kurt and Amanda is really strange and stilted. I’m not sure why this is, but these scenes are really uncomfortable to read right now.

I guess, boiled down, my main complaint with this book and series thus far (though I know we are barely in it) is that, as a solo series, there seems to be shockingly little of Nightcrawler’s own story and thoughts being expressed on the page. It’s all Nightcralwer as he relates to others, but there is definitely more to his character than we are getting thus far. Hopefully the book deepens in character development rather than continuing to widen out to encompass more characters in the story.

Overall I give this book a 2/5. I like it, but it doesn’t seem that necessary given the story that is actually being told.

comicsfacts:

"Amazonium", the metal from which Wonder Woman’s bracelets are made, was renamed "Feminum" in the 70’s tv series.

Good timing for that change.

Batman Eternal #6 (REVIEW)

This issue opens in the middle of a battle between Batwing and Gentleman Ghost. While I am glad to finally see Gentleman Ghost in the new 52, it drops us in the middle of this fight without rhyme or reason as to why the fight is happening. And it never returns to explain that. Hopefully we’ll come back here.

The art is really strong and consistent in this issue. Trevor McCarthy (art) and Guy Major (color) do a nice job of making this issue fit into the overall feel of the series. It doesn’t feel like an outlier at all. The one thing that I found a little problematic was the use, and I consider it overuse, of the kind of radial style panel organization. Like this:

I like the use of a less often used panel arrangement here, but I think that having pages like this upwards of 6 or 7 times in one 23 page issue is overkill. I would have liked to see this used more sparingly I think. But that could be personal preference for sure.

Finally, I think the last three issues (4 , 5, and 6) are all much more jumpy and less cohesive than the first three, which focused mainly on the Gordon storyline. It seems that the book is trying to balance a few too many storylines in just the six issues that we’ve gotten so far. I also think there might be too many characters included thus far, but I know some people would highly disagree with me on that.
Overall I give this book a 2.5/5 and I think this is the weakest of all of the Batman Eternal books released thus far.

The Flash - Extended Trailer

Link: The Flash - Extended Trailer

Here’s the new trailer for The Flash coming this fall on the CW.

It looks very much like a CW production to me. The effects aren’t bad and the acting seems pretty decent, but overall the writing seems rather cheesy. I don’t know about this one.

I’ll definitely try it out, and I really hope it exceeds my expectations.

Reviews on books coming later today.

uncannypanels:

Moon Knight #3 by Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey, and Jordie Bellaire

New Releases for 05/14/2014

comics:

Marvel

• All-New Ghost Rider (Vol. 1) #3


• All-New Ultimates (Vol. 1) #2


• All-New X-Men (Vol. 1) #27


• Avengers (Vol. 5) #29


• Avengers Undercover (Vol. 1) #4


• Captain America (Vol. 7) #20


• Captain Marvel (Vol. 7) #3


• Deadly Hands of Kung Fu (Vol. 1) #1


• Deadpool (Vol. 4) #28


• Fantastic Four (Vol. 5) #4


• Iron Man (Vol. 5) #25


• Kick-Ass 3 (Vol. 1) #8


• Marvel Universe Avengers Assemble (Vol. 1) #8


• New Avengers (Vol. 3) #18


• Nightcrawler (Vol. 2) #2


• Secret Avengers (Vol. 2) #19


• Secret Avengers (Vol. 3) #3


• Superior Spider-Man Team-Up (Vol. 1) #14


• The United States of Murder Inc. (2014 - Present) (Vol. 1) #1


• United States Of Murder Inc (Vol. 1) #1


• Wolverine (Vol. 6) #6


• X-Force (Vol. 3) #5

DC Comics

• Action Comics (Vol. 2) #31


• Batgirl (Vol. 1) #31


• Batman Eternal (Vol. 1) #6


• Constantine (Vol. 1) #14


• DC Comics Presents The Demon Driven Out (Vol. 1) #1


• FBP Federal Bureau Of Physics (Vol. 1) #10


• Fables (Vol. 1) #140


• Green Lantern Corps (Vol. 3) #31


• Justice League United (Vol. 1) #1


• New 52 Futures End (Vol. 1) #2


• Royals Masters of War (Vol. 1) #4


• Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? (Vol. 1) #45


• Smallville Season 11 Lantern (Vol. 1) #2


• Superboy (Vol. 2) #31


• Superman Doomed (Vol. 1) #1


• Superman Wonder Woman (Vol. 1) #8


• Worlds’ Finest (Vol. 2) #23

Image

• Bounce (Vol. 1) #12


• Field (Vol. 1) #2


• Krampus (Vol. 1) #5


• Mice Templar IV Legend (Vol. 1) #10


• Minimum Wage (Vol. 2) #5


• Shutter (Vol. 1) #2


• Starlight (Vol. 1) #3


• Stray Bullets Killers (Vol. 1) #3


• Think Tank Fun With PTSD (Vol. 1) #1


• Walking Dead (Vol. 1) #127

Plus 148 more issues from 18 more publishers coming out today!

Read More

Comics from 5/7/2014

I’m still trying to catch up on quite a few series, but I have been getting back into reading comics more lately because the semester is over. I’m going back and reading some awesome storylines from the past (currently looking at X-Men Necrosha and Second Coming). Even so, I am working on getting into the now with comics.

Hopefully I will soon be up to date on the following runs: Batman/Superman, Superman/Wonder Woman, All New X-Men, Alex + Ada, Batman Eternal, Batman, Ms. Marvel, Guardians of the Galaxy, She-Hulk, and Black Widow. Some of these I’ll be caught up really quickly, others I’m going to have to rush through. (Note: most of these are just the runs that had books come out these week that I am reading).

I was able to read Magneto #3, Original Sin #1, Cyclops #1, Moon Knight #3 and Nailbiter #1.

Magneto #3 (Cullen Bunn, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, and Jordi Bellaire) was incredible. The story continued on and, though it remains unclear what is coming next, we got to see some killer sequences in this issue. The art was great, also. Overall, I would have to say this is my favorite of Marvel’s new titles. One this for sure, Magneto has some clever uses for paperclips. :-)

I give this book 4.5/5.

Original Sin #1 also hit the shelves this week and this was another book that I really enjoyed. After the incredible 0-issue by Mark Waid, this first installment in the main story-arch by Jason Aaron with art by Mike Deodato and coloring by Frank Martin is exactly what I was hoping for. It’s a little confusing right now with the plethora of names and characters that we see in the story, but I’m sure that will be cleared up in no time. The old school murder mystery style of this book is really exciting and intriguing (any guesses as to who has the Watcher’s eyes…or why?). Though I really enjoyed this issue, it did feel like it was simply a smattering of characters rather than much of a story. I understand this is exposition for the event, so hopefully issue 2 will move beyond this. Overall, super enjoyable book.

I’d give this book a 4/5.

Being an X-Men junkie, I was really excited for Cyclopes to have his own series, but this first-issue was a bit of a let down for me. The art and coloring (Russell Dauterman and Chris Sotomayor) were well done fore the most part, though there were some moments when I felt like the height differentiation between Cyke and Corsair fluctuated. However, the story (Greg Rucka) was pretty lack-luster for me. I know this is about Cyke getting to know his dad and about Corsair learning to be a father, but the issue overall seemed to drag a bit. There really wasn’t much of anything happening. Also, the only character development we get from Corsair is that he doesn’t think he knows how to be a father, but shouldn’t there have been a little more. I know it’s only 20 pages. but it still seemed pretty lacking to me. I’m going to stick with this book for a while because I am such a huge X-Men fan, but I hope it takes a turn in issue #2.

I’d give this issue a 3/5.

Moon Knight is definitely in my top 3 of favorite new Marvel titles. This is a really amazing approach to the character and I love that we are getting to see multiple sides of Spector’s personality. The creative team is really making this book a blast to read. Ellis’s stories are amazing, and when you pair that with the art of Declan Shalvey and the coloring of Jordie Bellaire, what more can one say? I know there have been a few complaints about the self-contained nature of these first three issues, but I think that’s what makes them so endearing to me. It’s just such a fun read overall, and I don’t have to get caught up in remembering a plot from issue to issue, which is nice. Furthermore, I think the brilliance of the stories themselves really help one to feel like the issues are full stories and don’t need more development. Basically, Ellis is awesome. Also, Moon Knight punches a ghost. What more can you ask for?

I give this issue a 4.5/5.

Finally, I did get to read Nailbiter #1 (Joshua Williamson, Mike Henderson, Adam Guzowski) this week, and I’m really excited for what’s coming up in this book. There were some moments when I was confused as to how the characters came to certain conclusions, and neither the art nor the story clarified those logical movements. However, I do like the setup of this first issue and I think the idea is really ingenious. In this issue it was the little things that really drew me in: focusing on a bee falling in the water, seeing a bell ding over an opening door, seeing a heart on a table with (you guessed it) a bee flying nearby. It’s this attention to the little things that could easily be overlooked that I loved so much in this first issue. And who knows, maybe those little things will turn out to be not so little in the future (I’m sure they will).
I’m giving this first issue a 4/5, with the hope of reading more issues in the near future.

This week’s post was long and ran as one because I am just now getting back into posting about these comics and because I am cutting it close to new comic book day. However, starting this week, with comics released on 5/14, I’ll try to start throwing out some individual posts devoted to reviews of specific books. We’ll see how things go.

That’s all for this week.