Journey Into Mystery #650 – Review

By: Kathryn Immonen (Writer), Valerio Schiti (Artist), Jordie Bellaire (Colorist)

The Story: Sif returns to Asgardia with her berserker’s friends, learn some truths about herself, then defend Broxton from a huge threat.

The Review: The conclusions of multi-part storylines in ongoing serials are always difficult to pull, as there can be no true conclusion to a character or a story based in a shared universe. Writers may conclude an arc by teasing the incoming one or by directly leading into the next chapter, but things are never quite over. It would be hard to do something conclusive with close to any character of the Marvel universe, as though Wolverine’s or Captain America’s story is over, we all know they will get a new writer, a cameo or make an appearance in another team book before they continue their daring adventure. There is close to no real thematic conclusion at the end of any arc nowadays.

Journey Into Mystery #648 – Review

By: Kathryn Immonen (Writer), Valerio Schiti (Artist), Jordie Bellaire (Colorist)

The Story: The still-berserk crazed Sif has to confront a giant robot and her desire for violence in the unknown realm her brother Heimdall has banished her to.

The Review: I was a fool. Absolutely unconvinced about the change of writer and lead character on this title, I could not even perceive the potential here. How could Kathryn Immonen make as good a title as Kierron Gillen did with Kid Loki by using Sif the warrior lady? It seems that in my foolhardiness, I could have missed out on a great title. Thankfully, I have been convinced by people in my LCS to try it out.

Thank god I did.

This may seem like some kind of hollow praise, but this title is really something out of the ordinary. It mixes funny moments, violence, badass quotes, mythology and plain silliness in such a way that it creates something unique, a title that is both funny, yet utterly full of awesome action. The script itself lends itself to it, as the fight between Sif and the berserker’s warriors is intense, well laid-out and just plain exciting. The next moment, we get some explanations and great dialogue between the three warriors and Sif that cements the fun and adventurous tone of the series and the issue. Kathryn Immone is having fun here and it shows with the tone she is setting here.

Gears of War #6 – Review

By Joshua Ortega (Writer), Liam Sharp (Artist), and Jonny Rench (Colorist)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: The creative team behind Gears of War has a lot of work to do in issue six if they want me to keep the series on my pull list. To say that last month’s issue disappointed me would be a pretty serious understatement. In fact, I’m fairly certain it earned one of the lowest grades I have ever given out.

The Story: The final chapter of “Hollow” is about Marcus and the gang battling their way out of the Montevado sinkhole. Things do not go smoothly. Especially in Jace’s case…

What’s Good and What’s Not So Good: Liam Sharp and Jonny Rench do a great job of clearly capturing the action, chaos, grit, and violence necessary to make the Montevado sinkhole battle feel like something that carries dramatic weight. And they needed to, because Gears of War #6 is quite forgettable as far as storytelling is concerned. It’s not that the story is poorly executed or written, it’s just that, bottom line, there really isn’t a whole lot of story to tell. What little there is exists merely to stage action scenes and bring some sort of conclusion to the first arc of the series.

I’m at a bit of a loss as to what to say regarding Joshua Ortega’s writing. His plot vehicle, Jace, has a decent amount of depth and a flair for dramatic narration, but it’s that very depth that makes the character feel out of place. Too much time is spent on Jace when everyone knows that it’s really the Marcus Fenix show. While it’s admirable that Ortega opted to expand the cast of the series, it’s questionable whether it was ultimately the right decision when the action-packed comic series feels so shallow. It’s not that I expected something deep, but I did hope that it would expand and add to the videogame mythos a bit more successfully.

Conclusion: While Gears #6 isn’t quite strong enough to stop the series from dropping off my pull list due to the weak storytelling, it’s not really the creative team’s fault. The visuals do the source material justice, the writing is decent enough despite the limits placed on it (considering that the series takes place in between games one and two), and, as a whole, the book proves to be an entertaining piece of sci-fi action. I recommend it to fans of the game, but urge those checking it out to keep expectations realistic.

Grade: C+

-Kyle Posluszny