All Star Superman #12 Review

Episode 12
Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Frank Quitely and Jamie Grant

Grant Morrison has often said that nobody wants to read about a weak Superman. Superman is meant to be strong and as such he always be written as a strong man instead of as a weak individual and he really follows through in All Star Superman. It is very beautifully written. When you read some comics you can feel the structure and how robotic it is but this one flows very nicely. The art is also a compliment to the writing. One of my favorite scenes in the book was when Luthor started crying after understanding how Superman sees things. Being the ultimate human, Luthor never bothered to look into how others see things or even considered the thought of it. Superman paying it forward to Luthor was also sweet street justice by repaying the whole turning him into radiation by forcing his metabolism to speed up with shortened his life. Like I said, street justice. It seems a bit dense that they still can't figure out Clark is Superman or if they did I must have missed it but the supporting cast did galavanize around him which is nice because it isn't that often the supporting cast of Superman gets involved. The strongest part of the book is definitely the ending. Superman gets his power from the sun and ends up using that power to save the sun. Everything came full circle that the sun which poisoned him gets poisoned and he has to save it. You also get the beautiful ending of Superman actually managing to inspire the people to become better. They are working on a project to create a better person which is what Superman is all about. The ideal that you can be, will be, and should be better. I enjoy this title more than Johns' Action Comics because this story has a purpose and a goal, by making it a limited series you are allowed to do stuff that you wouldn't see in the mainstream continuation series and I enjoyed watching Morrison flex that freedom. The abscense of other superheroes made Lex's hatred make more sense in the sense that he becomes more compelling since he isn't surrounded in a world with a bunch of metahumans where it doesn't make sense to be xenophobic but rather stands for the all the people who are scared to let one person with power like Superman have all that power. While I'm not sure it is the Superman defining story of our era, it sure is a damn good one.

ART: PHENOM
Overall: OWN IT

Invincible Iron Man #5 Review

Writer: Matt Fraction
Art: Salvador Larroca

I totally trust Matt Fraction with this book. In the first 5 issues, I feel like we have received a well-thought out story that seems like a big deal. I was worried that Iron Man, as a franchise, would suffer in the long term after the Knaufs left the book. While these 2 titles are very different, Fraction's book does seem like a big deal, and I am looking forward to what the man has in store for us. Fraction's Stark is all over the place. It feels like he totally has a grasp on what is happening around him, and he comes off as a James Bond like character in this book. It is totally different from the complex and cool Tony in the DOS title. For better or worse, its something to work with. What is really nice about this book is a villain who is smart and has logical character motivation to go after Tony. Stane is a jealous man that wants to be Tony, but he feels like there can't be 2 Tony's, so he has to get rid of the original. What we get is a nice rendition of a copycat character, and the fight with Tony at the end legitimized him as a threat. He did take out a lot of people, but not Tony. A lot of villains can do that, but they eventually falter against he babyface superhero who romps them in the end in search of revenge. Not this time. Fraction puts Stane over, and the reader is left to wonder the fate of Tony going into issue 6. I think this is a nice opening arc for Fraction, and I look for this title to be near the Captain America level in a year or so. I am not a huge fan of the realistic art style, but I guess it is ok for this book.

ART: BALLIN
OVERALL: GET IT

Green Lantern #34 Review

"Secret Origin"
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Ivan Reis and Oclair Albert

Geoff Johns has been slowly building up towards the next great Green Lantern war story and I stress slowly. I have a bit of Secret Origin fatigue and I just want to start Rage of the Red Lanterns already ironically enough at the point where Secret Origin starts to pick up. That aside, this issue reads very well. You can see Johns introducing elements such as Sinestro not believing that Hal affected yellow. You also get William Hand getting the device that may or may not turn him into Black Hand. Johns is such a technically sound writer that continues to put out good issue after good issue. I thought the pocket dimension was a bit of a cop out to how they would win the fight. If they can do that then why didn't they do it during the war? Ivan Reis continues to put out some great art and makes Green Lantern on of the most visually pleasing comics on the market. This is a great comic and Johns just spoils the reader because you know it only gets better so it makes hard to stay in the present day.

Art: BALLIN
Overall: GET IT

Avengers Review

The strength of Secret Invasion has been in it's tie-ins and those have been mostly miss for me. I like having all the fill ins which is kind of cool but lately they have been focusing on events and characters that I don't care about. I figure that I'd review both of them since they are tie-ins and it would be a waste of time to treat them separately.

New Avengers #44: Between the two of them this was the better of the tie ins. I really liked this one since it does explain a hell of a lot more than any of the previous tie ins. It also answers the fundamental question of how the Skrulls managed to stay hidden and undetectable. Outside the last pages that explained this I really don't think this issue is worth a look. The worst part about the tie ins is the lack of plot advancement in Secret Invasion. Another thing that the tie ins fail to accomplish to is to get you to understand the Skrulls point of view. Going off all the interviews and the information that Marvel has put out this event should be a bit more complex than they made it. The experiment was really cool and I liked how they ran simulations to try to use Reed Richards own intelligence to create a great war plan but that puts a lot of plotholes about the extent of the Skrull intelligence. If they can cure Earth of all its problem then why in the blue hell do they need Richards to do their fucking job? This tie-in would have benefited if it had came out a bit earlier. The art is solid and at times really shines during the interrogation scene.

Art: BALLIN
OVERALL: SKIM IT









Mighty Avengers #17: This issue has a fundamental flaw of being of no relevance to anything. To sum it up, a Skrull who is currently stepping in for Pymn realizes that the plan won't work and attempts to explain that to his superior Skrull buddy who blows him off and tries to kill him without ever listenign to what he has to say or getting into any type of dialog. It doesn't make sense that this issue relates to invasion at all. To state again if the Skrulls did not manipulate events to there advantage then there is no relevancy of showing their actions during major events. This issue pretty much was terrible, there isn't anything of value here so don't bother.





Art: HIT AND QUIT IT
OVERALL: FORGET IT

Wolverine #68 Review

Writer: Mark Millar
Art: Steve McNiven

If you can buy into the world Millar is selling, then this story is very good. If you can't, it is still damn entertaining. Logan is still out there, doing his thing (which is not doing much), but Hawkeye was the real star of this issue. Peter Parker's kid is a real badass, as he brutally murders some villains. I just loved how brutal this issue was. The Kingpin scene was just excellent, as he let Daredevil and Punisher get slaughtered in a gladiatior-like arena. This scene fits the theme of this chaotic time, as the citizens are bloodthirsty. There is really no good in this world, and Millar does an excellent job conveying that. I do have a problem with how pathetic Logan is in this issue. I really liked the idea in issue 1, but there is really no progression as we are in issue 3. He won't fight, I get it. We are led to believe Spider-Bitch (don't like the name) is the leader of some resistance at first, which was cool. You can understand why Hawkeye would go after her. The way he stormed in and slaughtered people was just awesome. But what was really awesome was how Spider-Bitch killed Kingpin, and then Hawkeye, and took over the territory. The world Millar has created is really compelling, and you can totally see why someone would like to rise to the ranks. McNiven is just excellent. This is easily the best looking comic this week, as the level of detail is spectacular (especially that shot of Logan on the last page). I look forward to seeing Logan unleash in the next issue, as I would assume that is the character climax.

Art: Phenom
Story: GET IT

Daredevil #110 Review

Writer: Ed Brubaker
Art: Michael Lark

I have enjoyed the current arc, but this was clearly the weakest issue of the bunch. Of course, since no one ever dies in comics, Becky decides to live after being shot. Yeah. Didn't see that coming. I really don't have a problem with the characters in this story, it was just that it felt too rushed. There needs to be a slightly drawn out conclusion to story arcs, and this one got resolved in the final 6 pages. Basically what happened was that Matt found a lackey, and beat him into submission until he spoke. He said that Donovan didn't decapitate the kids. Big shock there. Seriously. I hope you can sense my sarcasm. Bottom line: Donovan saw his son, and he decided to tell the truth. Ok? The booking was a little weak here, and I was definitely looking for more. I felt the first 2 chapters were very strong, and the last couple were just ok. Overall, I was fine with it. I am still a huge Brubaker fan, and loves the way he writes Matt. I felt that Michael Lark really captures the essense of Daredevil's hood. It really does feel gritty. I love the technical aspects of this story, but I felt that the resolution could have been better. It was told as well as it could have been told for that parameter, but I felt it could have been a blowaway story when I read it. This one will get lost in the shuffle.

BALLIN'
SKIM IT

DC Universe: Last Will and Testament Review

Conversion
Written by Brad Meltzer
Art and covers by Adam Kubert and John Dell

No matter how dark Meltzer's storylines are there is always a silver lining to them and this comic is no exception. The way he writes is very subtle and quiet, I imagine if it was a movie there will be no sound. I enjoyed how much of this was character driven. Geo-Force really worked as the central character of this issue. The premise was really interesting since in comics the big events happen and things the heroes get caught up in the flow and at the end of the day they reflect on what happened, but here it is different. The sky breaks one day, Clark says the end of the world is coming, so what do you do now? There isn't anything to punch, no giant group of villains asking for it, and there isn't thing for you to do. Geo-Force's storyline is compelling particularly his relationship with Deathstroke. It is a tough decision to decide to kill someone right before the rapture starts since pretty much everyone else is going to be dead along with you. One fundamental problem that some readers may have is where this issue fits in relation to Final Crisis and honestly it doesn't at all, doesn't fit into continuity in the slightest. I don't mind that since this issue was so well written. Seeing what the various characters do right before the world ends. There are a lot of little things that shine in this issue. You notice the change of Robin's demeanor when Nightwing enters into the picture. There is also Starfire who misinterpreted the situation pretty bad. The ending though was special because it really shows the hero mentality. A lot of things went into it making really good. The sky is pitch black and Hal Jordan glowing green flying. The dialogue is also nice as he says it doesn't matter what happens that they will do this again because they are meant to. It would have been easy to end on the scene with Geo-Force and Deathstroke but there has to be some hope and the Hal scene captures that hope. The art is solid nothing spectacular here and is disappointing since I imagined it would be like Kubert's Batman.

Art: HIT IT AND QUIT IT
OVERALL: OWN IT

Next up some New and Mighty Avengers