Avengers Arena #1 – Review

By: Dennis Hopeless (story), Kev Walker (art), Frank Martin (colors)

The Story: The young heroes of the Marvel U learn there are worse places than high school.

The Review: Since my fellow reviewers have all this Marvel NOW! stuff pretty much covered, I really haven’t had a chance to get in on the fun or make comment about it.  While it’s pretty clear that this whole move is a direct response to the success of the DC relaunch, Marvel’s strategy for revitalizing their line is fascinating because it’s generated a sense of revitalization without actually having to do much reviving.

From what I’ve read, it seems like Marvel is hardly abandoning their overall emphasis on popular brands and titles; nearly all the fresh batch of titles revolve around the Avengers or X-Men (plus the Fantastic Four).  What makes them groundbreaking from the old guard of Avengers and X-series is Marvel has attached their most interesting creative teams to the books and allowed them to execute some very unusual premises.

Age of X: Alpha #1 – Review

By: Mike Carey (writer), Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Carlo Barberi, Paco Diaz, Paul Davidson (pencillers)

Story: Without preamble or explanation, we are thrust into an America where mutants are on the run, all the time, where persecution is legislated and state-supported, and where human rights apply only to non-mutants. Through a series of loosely connected tales, we see what this America is made of.

The Writing: The X-Men have been doing alternate worlds since the classic Days of Future Past in Uncanny 141-142. The charm of these stories is that the writers and artists get to reimagine all the rich character histories and their moral centers. Villains can be inspirational heroes. Heroes can become villains. And we readers get to care because we have so much invested already in our relationships with these people. The strength of this issue and this concept are some of the fates of different heroes (the horrific fate of Cyclops, for example), those who are not quite heroes, but should be (Paige Guthrie), and those who have never been heroes and might be (Toad, for example). Carey hits all the right notes in this issue, and leaves most of the world unexplained. This is smart, because this is also a mystery story; I want to know why things are as they are, and I’ll stick with this story because I love these characters.

The Art: It’s really a grab bag of styles. Some are quite beautiful either in technical draftsmanship or in visual style. The transitions from one art team to another neatly signal the shifts in vignettes, but were a jarring experience for me as a reader. I get accustomed to a certain art team’s style as I read a book, and when they switch, I sometimes feel like I’m starting the process over. I don’t think I’m complaining for nothing, because the art styles are quite different. DC has been doing the same thing with Brightest Day, but usually there are no more than two art styles (sometimes three) to a BD book. As well, the art of the Magneto vignette by Davidson really didn’t work for me. It felt very two-dimensional and perspective or proportion wasn’t doing it. With those two art limitations said, I have no trouble saying that the art was otherwise good.

Conclusion: Mike Carey definitely hooked me in with the opening salvo of Age of X. I want to know where the heck everyone else is (Colossus, Nightcrawler, Xavier, etc). I’m going to be back for more.

Grade: B

-DS Arsenault

Fantastic Four #580 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (writer), Neil Edwards (pencils), Andrew Currie (inks), Paul Mounts (colors), and Rus Wooton (letters)

The Story: Franklin, Leech, and Johnny head to Arcade Toys for “the most impossibly awesome toy event ever.”

What’s Good: With wacky characters like Arcade and Impossible Man and most of the action taking place in a madcap toystore, the book reads like a really fun kids movie or cartoon of the sort that adults can also find enjoyment in.  As a result, there’s a lot of energy and gleeful abandon to the book, making it basically impossible to dislike.  It’s the kind of action that just makes the reader happy and that’s never a bad thing.

Certainly, Arcade and Impossible Man’s larger-than-life presences are more than welcome and make the comic a livelier and more welcoming experience.  Both characters suit the kids movie tone perfectly and give the book a sense of familiarity.  They’re two Saturday morning type characters and as such, they offer a bit of a reprieve from the big ideas that Hickman usually layers his books with.  I do love Hickman for those ideas, but giving us a little break now and then can be refreshing and liberating.  That and Impossible Man, when written well, is always a barrel of fun.

Amidst all the wackiness, there is solid character work as well.  I was pleasantly surprised by Hickman’s writing of Johnny this month, who came across as uncharacteristically paternal, loving, and even, dare I say it, responsible.  His relating to Franklin’s situation and the advice he gives his nephew hit home and provided something of a tender moment between the two.  Basically, Johnny acted like the perfect uncle this month.  All of this was still distinctly Johnny, however, with his characteristic narcissistic remarks peppered throughout.

The final scene, which involves the Future Foundation seeking a cure for Ben’s condition, was intriguing as well.  I found it particularly effective due to bittersweet note it ended on.  What the Future Foundation does for Ben is so limited, yet for Ben, that’s already a miracle.  It’s heartwarming to see something done for Ben, but also sad that it took this long and is so deteriorated in effectiveness as a result.  Hickman struck this balance perfectly.

The Rest of the Stack for the Week of 11-4-09

Deadpool Team-Up #899

By Fred Van Lente (Writer) and Dalibor Talajic (Art)

The Story: Deadpool and Hercules, both plagued by nightmares, find themselves trapped in a strange labyrinth created by villains Nightmare and Arcade.

The Good And The Bad: The first issue of Deadpool’s new series delivers everything I want from a comic featuring a team-up between Deadpool and Hercules. Fred Van Lente’s script is funny, action-packed, and surprisingly clever. And since the writer manages to find a sweet spot between what a Deadpool comic is like and what a Hercules comic is like to great effect, Deadpool Team-Up #899 is filled with all the violence, wacky comedy, and mythology you could ever want from a team-up between Wade Wilson and the Lion of Olympus. The only real downside to Van Lente’s script is that it follows a fairly predictable team-up formula. The heroes meet, they fight, they team, and they win out in the end. You’ve seen it before.

Dalibor Talajic’s work in Deadpool Team-Up #899 is impressive all around. His action scenes are dynamic and brutal, his character work is solid (I especially like how accurate his Hercules looks), and his storytelling compliments the script extremely well. My only real complaint about his work is that a few scenes look slightly “off.” Bodies look either disproportionate or awkward at times.

Grade: B

Assault on New Olympus #1

“Assault on New Olympus Prologue” by Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (Writers), Rodney Buschemi (Art), and Guillem Mari (Colors)

“Godmarked” by Jeff Parker (Writer), Gabriel Hardman (Artist), Elizabeth Breitweiser (Colors)

The Story: “Assault on New Olympus” begins with a reveal about what the mysterious Continuum project is and a fight between Hercules and Spider-Man over the affections of Hercule’s wife Hebe. In “Godmarked,” the Agents of Atlas take on the god Phorcys in order to save Venus.

The Good And The Bad: While previews make the plot of Assault on New Olympus sound fairly promising, there really isn’t a whole lot to the first part of the Incredible Hercules event. Sure, the Continuum reveal is interesting, the confrontation between Herc and Spidey is fun, and the visuals by Rodney Buschemi and Guillem Mari are very nice, but, as a whole, it’s clear that Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente are saving the most interesting stuff for later.

The strongest part of the Assault on New Olympus prologue is the Agents of Atlas backup story. Thanks Jeff Parker’s entertaining dialogue and Gabriel Hardman’s outstanding visuals (I seriously think Hardman’s Phorcys attack is one of the coolest scenes of the year), I wouldn’t be surprised if “Godmarked” ends up being one of the year’s best surprises.

Grade: C+

Psylocke #1

“Kill Matsu’o” by Chris Yost (Writer), Harvey Talibao (Pencils), Paul Neary (Inks), and Ulises Arreola w/ Brian Reber (Colors)

“A Girl Called Hope” by Duane Swierczynski (Writer), Steve Dillon (Art), and Matt Hollingsworth (Colors)

The Story: Psylocke heads to Japan and finds out that her past isn’t as far behind as she thought. In the backup story, Hope deals with a wound and Cable deals with a sniper.

The Good And The Bad: The story that begins in Psylocke #1 isn’t all that inviting to people new to the title character, but Chris Yost deserves credit for attempting to make sense of her twisted continuity regardless. Yost does a fine job of letting Psylocke’s somewhat cold personality come through in the dialogue and it goes a long way towards helping make up for the inaccessible nature of Yost’s continuity heavy story. The artwork throughout the book is pretty slick (thanks, largely to the impressive color work), but it’s also obnoxiously heavy on T’n’A fan-service and posing. Also, it must be noted that Harvey Talibao has a problem keeping Psylocke’s face looking consistent. She looks like a completely different character in a more than a few panels.

The backup story about Cable and Hope is an effective character piece that establishes the relationship the characters share for those that haven’t been following the Cable series. There isn’t much to Swierczynski’s tale, but Steve Dillon’s visual storytelling more than makes up for that. One odd thing about the backup story is that it makes Hope seem younger than I believe she is supposed to be at this point. I could be wrong through, so if I am, feel free to correct me in the comment area.

Grade: C+

Haunt #2

By Robert Kirkman (Writer), Greg Capullo (Layouts), Ryan Ottley (Pencils), Todd McFarlane (Inks), and FCO Plascencia (Colors)

The Story: Daniel Kilgore finds himself getting pulled deeper into his brother’s former life as he learns to adjust to his new powers.

The Good And The Bad: In all honesty, Haunt #2 is only a tiny bit better than the first issue of the series. In other words, it’s a pretty bad comic. Alex covered all that’s wrong about the series in his review of Haunt #1, so instead of repeating everything he said, I’ll just say that the only thing Haunt has going for it is a somewhat interesting story. A nugget of potential exists somewhere within the plot Kirkman and McFarlane are developing. I’m sure of it. It needs to reveal itself soon though or else Haunt is going to be remembered as nothing more than a failed vanity project.

Grade: D

-Kyle Posluszny