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

Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1 Review [In 4-D]

"Superman Beyond"
Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy

I didn't get it. That is the review there. It starts off simply enough with a flashforward then following up on the Final Crisis storyline in which Superman gets recruited by the Monitor lady to help save the universe from something. I enjoyed Morrison's vision of the Multiverse as a living entity and all part of the body. That was a very neat twisit. One minor thing is if Morrison continues to use German regulary he should have translations somewhere. I believe he is saying something important but I won't ever know. The issue makes sense at the end as you learn that the thing that attacked them is the Dark Monitor and Superman has to go toe to toe with it. This does deliever on what Morrison promised of expanding the scope of Final Crisis to include the Multiverse because Final Crisis has been contained within New Earth. The vampire Monitor moment threw me off and I felt bad for Nazi Superman whose cousin died over in the original Final Crisis and the he gets vamped so the lady monitor can do something. It still seems fuzzy to me for some reason even though I understood everything that happened within the issue to a certain extent. The book of infinity for example was a very difficult reading to understand what exactly it was saying. Superman saying Great Kyrpton every couple of words seemed was really campy and everytime he said that I couldn't help buy groan. I trust Morrison though so I believe he is capable of making this mini series great and the 3-D was pretty balling. Morrison has been hyping this up for a while now and states that this will bring to the Multiverse into the fold. I liked the use of Captain Marvel and the throwback to the Limbo that all superheroes go to when creators don't have stories for them. The last page was pretty awesome with Ultraman going fucking crazy holding the book and the Dark Monitor getting ready to waste everything.

Art: BALLIN (The 3-D was awesome but it felt like a cheap gimmick)
Story: GET IT

Next review is Meltzer's Last Will and Testment....

Quick Hits

JBL Award Winner- Lil Batman

Moon Knight #21- Batman R.I.P. ripoff, setup issue,
SKIM IT

Guardians of the Galaxy #4- Looks awesome, stories awesome, special comic,
OWN IT

X-Factor: Layla Miller #1- Took to long to come out, generic 1985 future, Messiah Complex needs resolution,
SKIM IT



Amazing Spider-man #568- Nothing original here, Eddie Brock's story ended during back in black, no need to keep him as Venom, New Ways to Die= Generic 1970 Spider-man, Anti-Venom=Carnage,
FUCK IT

Captain America #41- Flipping amazing,
OWN IT

Superman/Batman #51- Hypes true, funny story, Goshdarn Batman,
OWN IT

Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #1- Didn't get into it, Art's nice,
SKIM IT

Action Comics #868 Review

Writer: Geoff Johns
Art: Gary Frank

Ok so I haven't done a review in like 2 or 3 weeks. Anyways, I love Geoff Johns and i absolutely love this Brainiac arc. It feels like such a big deal, and Johns (again) does a great job with his characters. Let me comment on that first. He writes a very good Superman, but he writes great supporting characters, particularly Ma and Pa Kent. You really feel their love for their son, and it really comes through. The scenes at the Daily Planet were great too with the various characters. Johns said he wants to reintroduce Supergirl to an extent, and I feel like he is starting to come through on that end. Johns, who is also a master plotter, puts in peices of the issue that is for future use. When Clark saw Kandor, that was a direct reference to his future Kandor story, which should be great as well. Brainiac comes off as a huge threat. He is a smart villain who will manipulate Superman to add to his knowledge. Superman gets an out for losing to Brainiac because he doesn't have his sun to give him his power, so he retains some heat there. I can't wait until the next issue, because the frightening Brainiac ship is coming for Earth. A part I loved, and credit goes to Gary Frank for this, is the look on Supergirl's face when she saw Brainiac. It is the same look in the last issue, when she said that Brainiac destroyed her home. Those little things make this issue near perfect for me, as well as this story.

OWN IT