Original Sin #2 – Review

Jason Aaron (Writer), Mike Deodato (Artist), Frank Martin (Color Artist).

The Story: Who holds the eye?

The Review: The answer to the above question has more than one answer, as this issue we learn the identities of a trio of characters who hold one of the Watcher’s eyes. The character reveals are seriously out of left field, certainly not the usual suspects  which is a wonderful change of pace from the usual annual event tradition of recognizable heroes, villains and narrowed focus. Much as I delighted at the oddball team-ups that occurred in the first issue, the villain partnership that is presented in #2 feels incredibly fresh and exciting. The mystery angle of this series is quickly displaying how effective it is at throwing curve balls at, and surprising readers. Lets hope that the remaining six issues continue this trend.

The story’s scope continues to grow with this issue as more heroes become involved, Avengers, X-men, street-level heroes and newer faces like Nova join the manhunt for Uatu’s murderer. Not all of the characters play key roles in the issue but their inclusion does give the series the star power it needs for it’s summer blockbuster status. Where the issue does really shine is when it focuses on Nick Fury, clearly the star of the series, taking on a not-so-Mindless One in his flying car above New York. Aaron writes a fantastic Nick Fury, utilizing an array of outlandish spy gadgets to interrogate and later dispatch of his quarry with Steranko-esque style.

Original Sin #1 – Review

by Jason Aaron (Writer), Mike Deodato (Penciler), Frank Martin (Color Artist).

The Story: Nick Fury comes out of retirement to solve the case of the Watcher’s murder.

The Review: Opening issues to event stories always seem quite difficult to pull off, there is always a hefty amount of set up to achieve and pieces put into play whilst still telling an entertaining story on a larger than normal canvas. Jason Aaron and Mike Deodato manage to achieve all of this and more in the first issue of Original Sin which has been marketed as a cosmic murder mystery, the issue feels very different to either the politics of Civil War or the paranoia of Secret Invasion which helps make the event feel fresh.

The writing in this issue feels a lot more character focused than in a lot of event books, with Nick Fury taking something of a starring role, cast as the ‘retired and tired gumshoe being dragged back for the case of the century’. The diner sequence in this issue is a great way to introduce readers to our protagonist as Nick Fury along with other old soldiers of the Marvel Universe attend their regular ‘meat night’. It’s a great way to show how the history between these characters continues to inform their interactions in the present and feels like a very natural conversation between a very natural grouping of characters.

The opening sequence is also incredibly cinematic, ably rendered by Mike Deodato who could not be more of a perfect fit for this Noir murder mystery tale, the book is appropriately dark and shadowy which helps to really sell the tone and mystery of the story. Deodato frames certain panels with such a striking use of shadow that it can’t help but leave an impression upon the reader; the panel revealing Stephen Strange and also the panel showing the Mindless Ones writing in a warehouse immediately come to mind as some of the best examples of the artist’s use of dramatic lighting to great effect in the issue.

Aside from the mystery of the Watcher’s killer there are multiple other mysteries at play in the issue, the most obvious is Fury’s investigation of ‘the unseen’, its unknown at this point who or what exactly the unseen is but this issue succeeds in building mystery and suspense around the answer. The second mystery at play is somewhat more subtle, on first reading it appears that Fury himself is responsible for recruiting the investigation team consisting of some delightfully oddball groupings, however the way the characters refer to their boss is curiously vague. The only time we see the person directing the teams efforts on panel he is of course draped in shadow, also he is shown to be holding a glowing green object much like the growing shrapnel that is later retrieved from the Watcher’s skull. At this point it’s too early to tell if it’s Fury, someone else or a red herring but it’s a very enjoyable feeling knowing that the creators are confident in the mystery of their story enough to play with the readers, even in the first issue.

New Avengers # 17 – Review

byJonathan Hickman (Writer), Rags Morales (Artist), Frank Martin (Color Artist).

The Story: T’Challa and Namor find common ground admits the destruction of worlds.

The Review: One of the most fascinating aspects of this series has been the continued evolution of the relationship between the Black Panther and the Sub-Mariner in the wake of Atlantis’ attack upon Wakanda in the pages of Avengers V.S X-Men. While Namor has been shown to actively trying to bring further destruction down upon Wakanda during the events of Infinity his relationship with Namor in this issue is equal parts melancholy and camaraderie, two weary warrior kings commiserating over where their paths have led them; as witnesses to the destruction of multiple Earth’s. While Namor’s motives are always suspect, the conversation between the two does contain some moments of bitter-sweet honesty and understanding between two characters who’s dynamic could easily fall into a tiring pattern of constantly being at each others throats in the hands of a lesser writer.

Infinity #6 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Jim Cheung, Dustin Weaver, Mark Morales, Guillermo Ortego, Dave Meikis, John Livesay (Artists), Justin Ponsor, Ive Svorcina (Colorists)

The Story: The fight against Thanos and the Black Order reach its crux as close to every players gets to weigh in on the ongoing action.

The Review: Well, this is it. Many events in Marvel’s history had a rather great premise, yet always failed to deliver on their ending, rushing things along to prepare for the next big status quo or to simply lead to the next big thing. However, with Infinity being rather different in many aspects when compared to the likes of Siege, Secret Invasion and Avengers vs. X-Men, does it actually delivers on the good with every players being in the grand finale against Thanos and his Black Order?

Surprisingly, Infinity goes for the unexpected as it manages to both create new possibilities for stories along with a new status quo, but it also conclude very well on some of its themes. Bringing a sense of evolution and change to some of its key players, the event does fulfill some of the promises that every events bring forth to readers. It doesn’t accomplish this without any sacrifice to some elements of the story, but it is still rather impressive nonetheless.

One of the biggest draw of this issue would be the action, with a good chunk of this book dedicated to the fight against Thanos and his lieutenants in the Cull Obsidian. These scenes, despite them not featuring most of the Avengers, are quite striking as members like Thor, Hyperion, Captain Marvel and other heavy hitters are along for the rather brutal, yet diverse enough slugfest. Other parts of the action are also divided amongst the Illuminati and the group fighting in space, but the main feature is the battle against the Mad Titan.

New Avengers #12 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Mike Deodato (Artist), Frank Martin (Colorist)

*If you follow Infinity, I strongly urge you to read the final issue of the event before reading this issue. You have been warned.*

The Story: Being done with the invasion of Thanos and the war against the builders, the Illuminati returns to their present affairs as they are warned by what might be much more dangerous for their universe.

The Review: With a pretty big event now being done with, it’s the job of New Avengers to provide an epilogue and perhaps a new way to envision what just happened in the Marvel universe. While this series did suffer a bit from some of the threads of Infinity, can it actually provide some form of satisfaction with some of the elements of Hickman’s large story?

In many ways, this issue does actually shows a lot of great stuff, merging some of the events of Infinity with some of the threads of the title. This has the result of making it so what did happen prior all count toward the evolution of the cast as well as the problem they face. Not only does it heighten and bring the focus back on the memorable cast of characters, but it also use the Builders wars and the coming of Thanos to centralize and put in perspective the future battle they might have to face yet.

One of the better scenes, which takes about a third of the issue is one dedicated to perhaps the best duo of conflicted souls in the series: Namor and Black Panther. Putting forth the many problems and sacrifice that T’challa has made in order to protect the world from unknown threats and how he got betrayed unwittingly by Namor, the parables between the two comes forth in a way that makes their antagonism that much more interesting. With the conflict between Wakanda and Atlantis being still going on, the relation between those two characters become that much more interesting considering the new status of these two after the massive events of Infinity.

Infinity #5 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Jerome Opena, Dustin Weaver (Artists), Justin Ponsor (Colorist)

The Story: It’s an Avengers universe, with plenty of planets declaring that those people from Earth are pretty okay in their book. On Earth, things gets a bit more dire though…

The Review: Jonathan Hickman sure do work in ways that are impressively different than other writers. While this could be said of anyone, as Bendis is surely very different than Brubaker and so on, there’s a certain way that Hickman builds concepts and how he use them that makes him the somewhat unique writer that he is. Ambitious is a word that could describe him, full of plans could work as well. However, he does have his share of problems as well, as no writers is perfect.

This issue of Infinity is a pretty complete package of what can make Hickman work or not for readers, as some of his best traits along his worst are on display here. With this being a big event comic, it makes only sense for things to get huge, meaning the analysis of the qualities and negative traits become that more obvious on the pages.

To start on a positive note, some of the concepts on display are simply awe-inspiring, with the ”Avengers World” idea presented at the very beginning of Hickman’s tenure on Avengers getting to a whole new level here. The very idea that the way humanity could be perceived on a universal scale throughout their actions in the war against the Builders is changing is a very sound one. The note on which the whole battle against the alephs ends, when looked upon with the strength of the theme and their presentation makes for a rather satisfying take on things.

New Avengers #10 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Mike Deodato (Artist), Frank Martin (Colorist)

The Story: Black Bolt reunites the Illuminati and reveals the existence and potential location of Thanos son. Meanwhile, Thanos and his Black Order makes their move.

The Review: Last month, we were unfortunately the spectators of one of the downside of huge events: tie-ins that bring the story flow to a lesser quality. While the latest issue of New Avengers wasn’t terrible by any means, it was far off from the brilliance it could attain as Hickman made the conflict on Earth the sole focus as he set some stuff for his longer stakes. However, the Infinity train isn’t losing any steam as the story continues in this month’s issue. Can Hickman return to some of the better aspects of this series while juggling with the big event comic of his own?

As it turns out he can, as he manages to play with both the previously established elements while playing with the new ones, as the political and power plays with the Illuminati continues while Thanos and his Black Order brings chaos to Earth. Bringing the Illuminati back together instead of skipping from scenes to scenes with each of them, Hickman focus his narrative in a much more solid manner, as the interactions with each members is brought back to show the potential of this cast.

New Avengers #9 – Review

Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Mike Deodato (Artist), Frank Martin (Colorist)

The Story: The Black Order arrives to Earth as each member of the Illuminati tries to deal with them in their own way.

The Review: With Infinity still in its debut, we have already seen most of what the Builders are doing as we have seen a bit of what threat looms over Earth with the Black Order and Thanos. Since there are multiple threats and the other title by Hickman covers what happens in space, this one covers the Earth as the big response team is gone. Does this title uses this big threat in an original and entertaining way, though?

For the most part, it does show the scope and the motivation behind the attack as the Black Order is shown in action. Considering they are all new characters, Hickman does well in showing their capacities in action as each of them try to attack a member of the Illuminati, with Black Dwarf against Black Panther, The Ebony Maw against Doctor Strange and so on. We get the kind of threat they can be, yet they are still mysterious in some ways as to pique the interest of the readers. However, we don’t get nearly enough characterization for them to be compelling just yet as it is an area where they are mostly vague. Perhaps they’ll become incredibly memorable after this event, yet for now they are much more a threat than actual characters.

Part of this problem comes out of another issue the book has: pacing. It is by no mean a jarring and devastating problem, yet the issue jumps from scene to scene quite rapidly, leaving some of them without much room to breathe and develop. An obvious one would be the Wakandian conflict with Black Dwarf as Black Panther deals with the intruder, showing him as competent and full of bravado against a foe so large. However, the next scene we see shows the foe beaten and retreating, leaving the readers to wonder just how T’Challa did vanquish him. There are some other scenes which have that kind of trouble, setting up some the conflicts between other characters yet does not continue it, making sure there would be something left for the other issues tying into the event. It is fun to see what might happen, yet it only hurt the pacing to see two pages of Doctor Strange without us seeing any payoff or the character again for the rest of the issue.

New Avengers #8 – Review

Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Mike Deodato (Artist), Frank Martin (Colorist)

The Story: Black Bolt prepares for the inevitable future of the Inhumans, Reed and Tony share some disturbing information between each other as Namor receive a surprise that will shake him to his core.

The Review: How do you continue a book that has its sight on something large? How does one can prolong the fun and intrigue of a book that has dealt with huge concepts and with characters that are familiar with such concepts?

The answer, if Jonathan Hickman is to be believed, is to go even bigger and personal. Just a couple of issues after the incursion events, the fact that the multiverse was in turmoil and that the Illuminati would need to make difficult choices to preserve their Earth, Hickman goes right in and provide some more problems as Infinity looms in.

What is actually quite solid in the book, so far, is the fact that the writer seems able to juggle with multiple plots, with each of them starring one or two characters, making him use close to each of his characters effectively, with a few exceptions (sadly, there is no Beast and close to no Doctor Strange in this issue). Each of these plots either advance in a way that is interesting in the long term, or is vague enough to let us theorize about just what this all might mean.

New Avengers #7 – Review

By: Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Mike Deodato (Artist), Frank D’Armata, Rain Beredo (Colorists)

The Story: We catch up on what the Illuminati are doing one month later as a possible open war between Wakanda and Atlantis might emerge.

The Review: Transition issues can be unsatisfactory. Many readers will know what I’m talking about, when a writer knows that he needs to pad out some issues before he can get to the next storyline in order to converge with something the company is doing. It can be frustrating to see some of the subplots take precedence while the main plot is tossed aside, alongside some of the main characters.

Thank god then that the writer here is Jonathan Hickman and that the convergence is an event of his own creation, meaning that he knows full well what he is doing here. A transition issue this might be, yet it has a huge weight and continues several elements of what makes this series great to begin with.

New Avengers #6 – Review

By: Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Steve Epting, Rick Magyar (Artists), Frank D’Armata (Colorist)

The Story: Another Earth is set to collide on the main Marvel Earth, appearing above Latveria. The Illuminati, in the domain of Doom, needs to act against this new type of intrusion to their universe.

The Review: If there’s one thing that Jonathan Hickman knows how to do, it’s building up a conflict or a situation in a way that can makes us readers feel invested. The stakes are getting higher, the many elements are explained to us in ways that feel expensive and full of potentials, it’s great. However, as much as building can be great, it is another matter entirely to properly capitalize on what was constructed.

New Avengers #5 – Review

Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Steve Epting, Rick Magyar (Artists), Frank D’Armata (Colorist)

The Story: The Illuminati returns from the colliding Earth as they recruits Black Swan, who proceeds to explain a lot of things about just what may be happening with the multiversal problem.

The Review: Here we are, back at the incredibly dense and tense read that is New Avengers, a book that focus on the much darker side on the type of conflicts superheroes must deal with. Universes dying, being destroyed one against another as the group cannot seem to trust one another, yet must in order to make sure their universe survives, that is the kind of thing superheroes exists for, yet nothing is so simple.

This should probably be the very motto for this book in general, as Jonathan Hickman goes very far in the conceptual end of the comic stories spectrum, where most of the things explained here could be further developed with years of stories. In many ways, this issue does something that should not work at all, bombarding us with tons of information, giving us lengthy scenes of heavy exposition while the characters merely talk to each other, giving us mostly a ‘’talking head’’ issue. It should not work, yet the ideas thrown here are so interesting and shown in such a dynamic way that it kinds of transcend the potential problem it may cause and gives us something to ponder about instead. Here, we are given a big great hint toward the true cause behind the multiversal imbalance; just who and what are the Black Swans, what the team might be able to do to save their universe and so on. It’s griping stuff and it makes the exposition truly enjoyable.

However, there is another reason why the comic is so enjoyable and that would be the characters themselves. Hickman seems to get just how they act and most of their history together, creating some kind of tensions between each others. There are sub-groups within the Illuminati, like Black Panther and Reed Richards, or Namor and Doctor Strange, which shows that the history between each of these characters shall be referenced and even become important to the plot. How characters react to the tale told by Black Swan, a fascinating character in her own right, is spot-on, like Namor telling her not to beat around the bush with tales, or how T’Challa and his distrust of many things she says. It’s pretty interesting to see how even in the face of such radical things being explained to each other, these men still have their own quirks coming out from time to time to peppers the plot a bit.

Age of Ultron #3 – Review

By: Brian Michael Bendis (Writer), Bryan Hitch (Penciler), Paul Neary (Inker), Paul Mounts (Colorist), VC’s Cory Petit (Letterer)

Review: This issue should hopefully pacify some of the haters. If you’re among the impatient few that felt that Age of Ultron #1 and #2 plodded along at an unbearably slow pace you should find that #3 delivers a relative bullet-train of forward momentum. Ultron doesn’t get his ass handed to him or anything, but the fight back begins here. Characters die, the conflict expands and a fairly massive twist rears its head (or torso, to be precise). Conversely, there are also a few things that happen that prove we perhaps shouldn’t take any of this series too seriously, as well as a couple of possible blunders in execution that remove you from the fiction in small but noticeable increments.

New Avengers #4 – Review

By: Jonathan Hickman (Writer) Steve Epting, Rick Magyar (Artists), Frank D’Armata (Colorist)

The Story: The Illuminati each tries in various ways to find a solution to the colliding Earths problem as they venture into the other Earth.

The Review: How can you top the last issue? That was the very first thought that occurred to me as I opened up this month’s issue. The previous issue had ton major events in them which helped ground the title and proclaim how serious it was in its agenda. It was big, catastrophic and ripe with so much potential for the whole of the Marvel universe, it was clearly impossible for Hickman to even come close to this level.

Unfortunately, it seems I was right in that assumption.

Now, this may seems that I will bash the book because it did not keep the same level of drama and importance that was shown previously, but that would be a serious error. There are several things to like, even love in this issue, starting with the voice Hickman has found within each of the characters. While they may all be optimistic characters or people clearly used to having huge responsibilities, we can see in each scene how this kind of event affects each of them. He gets how these characters think, with the ever so noble, yet utterly prepared and dangerous Doctor Strange, the arrogant Namor to Beast who seems out of his league in such a group. Things are big, dangerous and it seems there are close to no right answers for the group considering what the noble thing to do is.

New Avengers #3 – Review

By Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Steve Epting (Artist), Frank D’Armata (Colorist)

The Story: The Illuminati gains a new member and tries to use the Infinity gems to deal with the incoming problem that plague their universe.

The Review: Jonathan Hickman was not kidding at all when he said this book would be the dark counterpart to his lighter and more optimistic Avengers title. Even though he promised big threats and big things in both his runs, I never thought he’d actually go this far with three mere issues in. This is something I absolutely commend and I have only one thing to say about these developments and twists: congratulations.

Of course, this would not be much of a review if I stopped here. Something that works very well in the issue, just like the latest one, is the tension. Here, though, it is tension created with the relations between each character, not only by the situation. Hickman does not let us forget what is at stake, yet he is capable of adding the past relationships between characters in several key moments, be it with a snippet of dialogue or a simple action. People who have followed some of these characters for years will easily recognize that Hickman truly manage to capture the essence of each of the Illuminati quite easily, even in such situations and in such a tone.

It is not only the characters that Hickman manages to capture, as he also manages to make the problem seems even bigger in this issue with a single moment that tells a lot of the scope he wants to write in this series. This moment, which I will not spoil, is impossibly big and important. Unlike the latest issue which was mostly talking, there are some very big moments, notably two of them, another one at the very end of the issue, that push the title in a very interesting direction. Those moments seems even surreal in their scope, breaking the taboo of what we could potentially think would happen in this series. Like I always say about Hickman, he has a plan and so far, it is a fascinating one considering the problem and the trouble that goes along with it. Let’s just say that those interested in the Marvel universe as a whole must read this issue. No kidding.

New Avengers #2 – Review

By: Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Steve Epting, Rick Magyar (Artists), Frank D’Armata (Colorist)

The Story: The Illuminati gathers in the dead city of Wakanda to discuss a particular threat to their universe discovered by Black Panther.

The Review: Double-shipping on books can be both a blessing and a curse. It permits people to get the complete stories by the authors that much faster, but it has a cost that goes beyond the pockets of the customers. Sometimes, it makes the artist or the author much too rushed in their work, creating small missteps in the writing or the art. It can also lower the general quality of a book and the appreciation of the customers when such things happen, especially when the only reason that can be perceived by them is to get more money out of them. However, there are some exceptions, as sometimes it is to create momentum and give a general idea of what the series will be about in a quicker fashion than usual.

New Avengers #1 – Review

By: Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Steve Epting (Artist), Frank D’Armata (colorist)

The Story: Black Panther travels to a different dimension and encounters a threat that is so big he has to call the Illuminati for help.

The Review: Jonathan Hickman is a man with a plan. In close to every long-term series that he has written, he has shown us that he does things meticulously, with an attention to detail that is sometime uncanny. It has leaded us to incredible stories during his tenure on Fantastic Four and FF. This kind of plotting can be very interesting to follow, with every hints and tease dropped with each subsequent chapter that manage to create a larger direction and narrative throughout the story. It can also, unfortunately, create cryptic chapter or things that make close to no sense until later in the book, creating a sense of incompleteness in a particular issue.

It is unfortunately the latter with the opening issue of this very promising series, with much that is teased, yet never truly explained or absolutely shown to us readers. There are a lot of interesting elements presented to us in this issue, mind you, but none of them are explained in context. Putting readers in the shadow and in doubt can produce various degrees of interest in a storyline, but here it is just confusing. What is the place where Black Panther has landed? Who are these people he is fighting? What does the machine that strange woman is holding? We need some proper context if we are to truly enjoy the issue and understand the action and significance of them.

Avengers Vs X-Men: Consequences #5

By: Kieron Gillen (wrirer), Gabriel Hernandez Walta (art), Jim Charalampidis (Colors)

The Story: Sigh…there’s a Prison break.

SPOILERS AHEAD

The Review: Well, so much for “consequences.”  What were the consequences of Avengers vs X-Men exactly, as defined by this series? We got a lot of Cyclops in prison…which is now a moot point. Hope looking for Cable (he finds her, and leaves).  And…what? The only person to have any real consequences as a result of AvX is the Black Panther, and we only saw him for one panel in issue one. Hell, he didn’t even get any dialogue. Cyclops facing the consequences and changing? That would have been nice. Instead he just wants to be the new Wolverine. Logan has the school? Fine, Scott will be the one to do what is necessary. The bottom line from all of this is that Scott Summers DIDN’T LEARN A !@#$%^& THING!!! Wolverine telling him that he tries to emulate Scott when running the school? Not enough. Tony Stark revealing that he figured out how to use Wanda and Hope to restart the mutant race? Whatever. The little matter of Scott killing them man he saw as a father–NOTHING! It takes someone nearly sociopathic  to be able to go through so much and not change in the slightest. Which are basically the people he aligns himself with: Magneto, Magik, and Danger. So, on one side we have Captain America having this epiphany that he’s treated the mutant race in a hypocritical way (he’d do anything to save humans, or Americans, but ignored the struggles of mutants). And Scott, having kept his species alive long enough to become stable again, goes back to being the same person. Is he so jaded that he can’t acknowledge the miracle that happened for his people to come back from the brink? What happened to being a political prisoner?

Avengers Vs X-Men Consequences #1

Written by Kieron Gillen, Art by Tom Raney, Colors by Jim Charalampidis

The Story: Mutants are back, baby! Cyclops has fallen. Everyone needs a mission.

The Review: This certainly is one of those “set the stage” issues. We get a lot of introductions to the stories that will be told in Consequences, but nothing that is entirely concrete yet. Individually, each of these setups are pretty good, but when compiled into one comic, it gets a little tedious. So what are these setups? Well, we have what happens to Wakanda, and if Storm and Black Panther can ever patch things up (doesn’t look too hopeful). It also shows how screwed over T’Challa was in AvX. He actually wanted to remain neutral in issues 6 and 7, and then the Avengers brought an X-prisoner to his country, prompting Emma to prompt Namor to attack. Now his country is in ruins because of a war he wanted no part in, and he blames the mutants. I’m not sure if that is reasonable or not, but considering what happened to the poor guy, I think it’s better that we don’t see him rationalize everything. Who actually could? This shouldn’t be a debate about who he blames, we should just see a man who had something terrible happen to him and his country, and that’s what we get.

The next story has Cyclops in prison, which gets the most development in this issue. And it’s probably the story you will roll your eyes at the most. Basically, some organization is already trying to exploit the mutant phenomenon and want to test their technology on Scott Summers. And we’re back to the X-Men stories of old. It’s also really similar to the Osborn mini a couple years back. The only difference is that Osborn was an actual villain. Scott might need to be detained, but why SHIELD and the Avengers would send him to a privately owned prison who are clearly anti-mutant is completely unbelievable. At first it seems Cap and the others don’t know, but he sends Wolverine to to talk to Scott. Cap doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who would send someone like Cyclops to a place like this. I think this is only thee to set up Wolverine and Cyclops teaming up again and taking the mutant-hating warden down. If that’s the case, this is very heavy-handed.

As for Hope’s part, it’s simply one of the best parts of this issue, since Gillen writes her so well. Duane Swierzcynsky deserves a lot of credit for everything he did to develop the character of Hope, and Gillen deserves equal credit for expanding and developing that character to the next stage. Now that she’s fulfilled her destiny, what’s next? This is what I am most interested in reading about, as we get hints of Cable, which is always nice.

Fantastic Four #608 – Review

By: Jonathan Hickman (writer), Giuseppe Camuncoli (breakdowns), Karl Kesel (finishes), Paul Mounts (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story:  Black Panther accepts a new mantle in order to defend Wakanda from the undead threat.

The Review:  I imagine that there are going to be many readers that are thrilled about this comic simply because it’s essentially a Black Panther/Wakanda comic with Sue and Reed as guest stars.  In some ways, I can understand that appeal; there really should be a monthly Wakanda book and Hickman, Camuncoli, and Kesel do a solid job of immersing us in that pseudo-African, myth-heavy world in all of its exotic (and possibly exoticist?) splender.

Avengers vs. X-Men #8 – Review

By: Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Adam Kubert (penciler), John Dell (inker), Laura Martin & Larry Molinar (colorists), and Chris Eliopoulos (letterer)

The Story:  The Avengers try to stop Namor from burning Wakanda to the ground.

The Review:  One word describes this issue:  fun.

I’ll admit, I’m not one easily wowed by superhero punch-ups, but somehow, seeing Namor battle heavyhitters like Red Hulk, Thing, and Thor was pure, gleeful, comics bliss.  There was just something magical about seeing these heavy-hitters throw down (with one particularly brutal panel that particularly sticks out – that’s a pun that’ll make sense when you read the issue).  The fight was wonderful fun that had me really enjoying myself and flipping the pages, with the issue never dragging or boring me one bit.

The Defenders #7 – Review

by Matt Fraction (writer), Terry Dodson (penciller), Rachel Dodson (inker), Sonia Oback (colorist), and Clayton Cowles (letterer)

The Story: Black Cat gets recruited by weirdoes to steal weird stuff; the Defenders take their hunt for John Aman to Wakanda.

The Review:  As my top picks for this week can attest, I was looking forward to this issue, but this actually managed to exceed expectations.  Suffice to say, should Marvel ever consider a solo Black Cat series, Matt Fraction would definitely be on my short-list for the book.

Fraction’s has a naturally strong handle of Black Cat and her particular voice and he wisely has her narration the portions of the book in which she appears, allowing him to show off his understanding and clear love of the character.  Felicia Hardy is just as she should be: sassy, living on the edge, thrill-seeking, and cocky.  She leaps off the page and showcases everything that makes her a fan favourite.  Put simply, it’s impossible not to like Fraction’s Black Cat.  The way she’s introduced is also a stroke of genius: we get to see Felicia working an office job, which is comedy gold.  It also, of course, helps to have the Dodsons on art.  While their work overall on the issue is beautiful, as expected, having them draw Cat is a natural choice, given that drawing good-looking women has become one of their trademarks, having published several sketchbooks dedicated solely to doing just that.

Taking the Defenders to Wakanda is also a nice touch.  I’m really enjoying Fraction’s using this book not only as a way to spotlight disparate, B to C list characters, but also as a way to visit the far-flung corners of the Marvel Universe.  It adds a sense of vibrance and diversity to the book that makes it rather trippy, setting it apart from Marvel’s line.  I also cannot emphasize enough how much I loved the way Fraction introduced Wakanda itself: as the Defender’s land, they’re accompanied by narration that sounds like a voice-over from a cheesy old adventure movie or travelogue; it’s so amusing, that it’s guaranteed to have you hearing it in your head.

Quick Hit Reviews – Week of April 13, 2011

Try as we might, we can’t always do full reviews for every comic on the stands.  Thus, the Quick Hit Reviews….

Steve Rogers: Super Soldier Annual #1 – Leaving aside the awkwardness of having an Annual for a title that was a 4-issue miniseries that wrapped up ~6 months ago (silly editors!), this was a pretty hot issue.  This is Part 2 of the Escape from the Negative Zone that is mostly an X-Men story.  In the Uncanny X-Men Annual a couple weeks ago, we saw Cyclops, Hope, Namor and Dr. Nemesis get sucked into the Negative Zone and come into conflict with Blastaar.  As you might guess, in this issue Steve Rodgers goes in to save them and fun ensues.  This issue (written by James Asmus) is just packed full of Steve kicking ass, Cyclops and Hope kicking ass, Namor being really well written (not too haughty) and Nemesis being 100% smart-ass fun.   Ibraim Roberson & Jim Charalampidis combine to give the book a very pretty, painted look.  I (personally) like to see a little more inking in my comic art, but I know some people just go bat shit for this painted stuff and this issue is really well done and beautiful.  Grade: A-

Incredible Hulks #626 – Even though I dropped Incredible Hulks during that boring Dark Son story arc ~8 issues ago, I had recently reread the Planet Hulk story and said, “THAT was awesome.  Maybe I should be reading Incredible Hulks again!?!”  This is a fun story that sends Banner off to track down Betsy.  Betsy and he aren’t getting along and she has fallen in with a bad crowd, but the real problem is that her continual use of her Hulk powers is threatening to get her stuck in Hulk form.  OH NO!!!   Banner wants to stop that, but to find her he has to go to a black-tie affair in Italy.  Of course, not everything goes smoothly and thanks to some unstable molecules, you get to see Banner transform into the Hulk without ripping up his tuxedo (which was pretty awesome).  This is a worthwhile Hulk story and Grummett’s art is very much the old-school, superhero art that I like.  Looks like I’m back on Hulk for a while!  Grade: B

Black Panther #517 – It is not a good thing when you sit down to do the Quick Hit Reviews, look at Black Panther #517 and think, “What was that about?  I remember that Francesco Francavilla’s art was gorgeous, but other than the title nominally being about Black Panther dealing with eastern European gangsters in Hell’s Kitchen, I don’t remember anything about the plot.”  While that is surely a sign that Dean gets too many comics, it also means that this story has run its course.  Like many Marvel story-arcs: It would make a snappy 3-4 issues story, but just doesn’t have the meat to be 6 issues.  Never really understand stretching out stories so that they make better trade paperbacks.  BP is probably selling ~30K units in the direct market, so Marvel will mess up a good story (by stretching it out) only  to have 6 issues to collect into a trade paperback that will probably sell a combined 1,000 units between the direct market and everywhere else.  That’s smart right there! </sarcasm>  I usually don’t pick on covers, but I will here: The cover text promises Black Panther vs. Luke Cage (because we all know that the kiddies love black-on-black fights), yet the cover seems to show Black Panther with his hands around the throat of some white guy.  Bad coloring!  Oh….and SPOILERS….there really isn’t that much to the BP vs. LC fight anyway.  Grade: C (good art, story getting long in the tooth)

Quick Hit Reviews – Week of March 30, 2011

What a strong week for comics!  Almost everything last week was at least “pretty good” and that makes us happy at WCBR.  Even though we’ll do out duty and tell you when a comic SUCKS, we don’t take any pleasure in doing so and it’s a LOT more fun to talk about what was good.  However, even though we review a TON of books in-full, there are always a few stragglers that get lost in the shuffle.  Thus, the Quick Hit Reviews….

Scarlet #5 – I can see people having two very different sets of thoughts on this title.  If you’re a police officer or otherwise a general believer of the benevolence of the government, you’re going to really hate this comic.  On the other hand, if you’re a more of a free will, distrust of the “man” type of person I can’t see how this doesn’t scratch a Libertarian itch.  I’m in the latter camp and just love Scarlet.  This issue represents the ending of the first story arc that has seen the titular Scarlet go from meting out some justice against dirty cops, to being the sudden leader of a political movements.  All of a sudden she’s Che Guevara, but she isn’t sure that’s what she wants to be OR if she even can be the leader her “people” want.  Meanwhile we are also introduced to some possibly sympathetic heroes within the power structure and that’s good too.  I know some people decry Alex Maleev’s art as “tracing”, but I don’t care.  Even if he is tracing (and he swears he isn’t in interviews), I like the way he’s using it.  He’s just creating art differently than more traditional artists and it is hard to argue with the stylish results.  Grade: A-   — Dean Stell

Captain America #616 – Well, here’s a comic that’ll earn your $4.99, with a main feature and no less than five back-ups.  Better still, for the most part, it’s all pretty good stuff and there are absolutely no reprints or picture galleries to bulk out the package.  This meaty package is all story content and that immediately earns it some points.  The main feature, written by Brubaker and featuring Bucky in a nasty Russian prison, is really dark stuff and a surprising component to an anniversary issue.  That said, if anything, it functions as an effective teaser for what’s to come.  Dark and nasty as it is, it lets Brubaker shine, somehow melding gritty prison drama with giant killer bear deathmatches.  It’s desperate, dire stuff but also a lot of fun and it brings the hard-hitting drama and excitement back to Bucky after a couple of fairly ho-hum arcs.  I hope the actual Gulag story arc keeps this up.  With five back-up features, you know you’re going to get a mixed bag, but Cap #616 actually delivers the goods for the most part.  While the stories by Kyle Higgins/Alec Siegel and Mike Benson/Paul Grist are fairly forgettable, they have the decency to at least look good.  Meanwhile, the Howard Chaykin and Frank Tieri/Paul Azeceta stories are rock solid, really effectively ruminating upon, and making use of, the sense of “history” that is such a big part of who and what Captain America is.  The real barn-burner, however, is the masterpiece delivered by Cullen Bunn and Jason LaTour.  Tremendous artwork and writing deliver a story that not only focuses upon the importance of Captain America, but does so in a manner that relates it to contemporary times and issues in a manner that doesn’t feel preachy or forced.  Bunn and LaTour paint a picture of a troubled modern America that needs a Captain America more than ever.  And it still finds room for AIM spider robots.  It’s the kind of story that has me very intrigued regarding Bunn’s future Marvel work.  Grade: B+   — Alex Evans

Quick Hit Reviews: Week of February 9, 2011

 

Yeesh… What a lot of comics last week, huh?  Especially after the preceding week being so light that we didn’t even need to do a “quick hits” feature.  That’s randomness for you!  But, the upshot of this weekly feature is that all of the writing staff at WCBR have pretty extensive pull lists and despite our best efforts, some issues don’t get a full review.  Thus, we bring you “quick hit reviews”

Black Panther: Man without Fear #515 – Good and bad with this issue and story.  The good: Francesco Francavilla’s art is just incredibly good.  He’s a real master of dark, moody and atmospheric art.  A bonus is that he colors his own work, so there is a very clear sense of lighting.  I’m also enjoying the story by David Liss of a depowered Black Panther fighting eastern European gangsters.  My only quibbles are that the script is a little verbose and that I don’t understand why Marvel doesn’t just let Francavilla do the cover also.  Really?  A Simone Bianchi cover on a Francavilla book?  There is nothing similar about their styles.  Grade: B — Dean Stell

Osborn #3 – What a sneaky good book this is!!!  Ms. DeConnick writes a very creepy and chilling Norman Osborn: Composed and methodical one moment and a frenzied psycho the next.  This is basically the story of how Osborn busts out of federal custody where he has been since the days of Siege.  Emma Rios’ art is a show stealer.  She is really, really talented and gets to draw all sorts of cool detailed stuff in this issue (including a bad ass riot at the super-villain prison).  Grade: B — Dean Stell

Carnage #3 – Zeb Wells spins a really good symbiote story and Clayton Crain sells how creepy the Carnage symbiote is.  The whole story is just hopping along with the symbiote having taken a new host (that kinda made sense) and busted out of his holding cell before running across town to find a BIG SURPRISE!  This is a well-paced and enjoyable comic.  Even though I enjoyed it and am giving it a good grade, I’m going to throw a rock (or two).  Why does Carnage have to come back this way?  Why can’t a C-list character like him have a new chapter with the lady host?  That would have been more interesting (I think).  And I am really warming to Crain’s art, but wish that he wouldn’t darken the panel every time there is action.  I want to see what is going on!  Grade: B-   — Dean Stell

Tyrannosaurus Rex One-Shot – This was a fun romp.  Not much in the way of story: Caveman village getting repeatedly ruined by a T. Rex.  Village chieftain offers his comely daughter to any many brave enough to slay the beastie.  One randy young man decides to give it a try.  Lots of really good dinosaurs in this comic by Jeff Zornow (including adding the feathers that scientists are now pretty certain they possessed).  The only bummer is that it would have been nice to see a little more of the comely daughter.  Grade: C+ — Dean Stell