Invincible Iron Man #507 – Review

by Matt Fraction (writer), Salvador Larroca (art), Frank D’Armata (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: Tony discovers unexpected problems while Pepper finds herself faced by both Sasha Hammer’s Hammer Corps and the Worthy-fied Grey Gargoyle.

What’s Good:  Pepper Potts to the rescue!  Really, were it not for her, this would’ve been a pretty drab issue.  But instead, we get lots of Pepper Potts in her Rescue suit playing the superhero, which is always fun.

While seeing her rumble with the Grey Gargoyle and the Hammer Corps would be fun either way, Sasha Hammer’s presence makes it all the juicier.  Matt Fraction does well in drawing upon the history these two have from way back in the very first arc of Invincible Iron Man, reminding us of the fact that Sasha is a big reason why Pepper has a repulsor in her chest to begin with.  Naturally, the two have bad blood with one another and seeing them clash like this is a lot of fun.  Better still is that Fraction looks like he’s going to force the two to team up out of necessity.  It’s an awesome dynamic and it’s always great to see writers make good use of previous material.

On Tony’s end, the strongest element is the lingering spectre of his alcoholism, as he quietly falls deeper down the well.  The last page is haunting stuff that promises dark things to come, as the booze begins to take effect on Tony’s intellect.  Suffice it to say, it appears that we’re moving past the humorous part of drunken Tony.

But really, Pepper is the star of the show here, and if you’re a fan of her (as I imagine everyone reading Fraction’s Invincible Iron Man is), you get some really good stuff here.  Her fight scenes are great and I love how Fraction is turning Sasha into her own personal nemesis.

Oh, and hey, Rescue fighting the Hammer Corps also means that Salvador Larroca gets to do a lot of what he’s best at: drawing robots/machines blowing shit up and beating the piss out of each other.

Secret Warriors #21 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (writer), Mirko Colak & Alessandro Vitti (art), Andres Mossa & IFS (colors), and Dave Lanphear (letters)

The Story: Nick Fury and the kids try to make good their escape and Phobos clashes katanas with Gorgon.

What’s Good: This issue is basically one gigantic action scene or, more accurate, one extended escape attempt.  As such, the book has a fast, frenetic pace that really feels frantic and desperate.  In that sense, it’s a fun, exciting, and easy read.  Don’t expect to have your brain challenged, but this is basically Jonathan Hickman going Michael Bay on us without tumbling cars in the air.

There’s also a really cool sword fight at the end of the issue that is genuinely epic.  The conclusion of it was breath-taking, leading to a really big ending for the issue and a really important event for the series, unless we’re being baited.

Part of the reason this sword fight is so enjoyable is Hickman’s use of Phobos’ prophetic abilities, which also lends a very engaging tone to the entire issue.  Fury’s escape route’s being dictated on the fly by Alex and what he has “seen” was both effective and foreboding.

Ayre Force (Graphic Novel) – Review

By Adam Slutsky and Joseph Phillip Illidge (Writers), Shawn Martinbrough (Artist), and Andrew Dalhouse and Felix Serrano (Colors)

Ayre Force is a unique piece of fiction as the characters are all based on real life professionals from Bodog, an international entertainment company. In this graphic novel, we learn the story of their fictional secret life as agents of “Ayre Force,” Bodog founder Calvin Ayre’s strike team to combat the fictional evil corporation WinterCorp. This book is pure action from cover to cover as these elite agents soon come face to face with the genetically altered children of Janus Winter, owner of WinterCorp.

The book starts out with the makings of a summer action movie, but the introduction of these characters quickly brings in a super-villain element that provides for an interesting “hybrid-genre” story. Imagine if a bunch of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents from Marvel suddenly had to face a threesome of baddies by themselves, all while trying to stop extreme animal cruelty acts of a foreign company, and you’d get rough idea of what this story’s about. Perhaps one thing that I loved about the villains was that the idea behind them instantly reminded me of H.G. Well’s The Island of Doctor Moreau. Being a huge Wells fan myself, writers Adam Slutsky and Joseph Illidge instantly get my admiration for this homage to Dr. Moreau, intentional or not. Shawn Martinbrough’s art brings this high-adrenaline story to life. It can be really easy to make large amounts of action, explosions, and shooting confusing and muddled, but his work is not only clear throughout, but largely contributes to what makes this book so good.

This graphic novel isn’t without its flaws. There are a few instances where who is narrating isn’t made apparent until a few pages later. This forces the reader to turn back a bit to get the full meaning. Also, it appears that someone forgot to turn the sound effects on, as they are absent in the first several pages. The most annoying part is that with such a large cast of good guys introduced so quickly, it’s easy to get characters mixed up in parts, but the characterization that is there is strong. In fact, it might actually help if you read the supplemental material at the end of the book first so you can get a better idea of who is who. Still, these flaws seem minor when compared to sheer fun associated with this book. With all of the action, story, amazing art, and real-world influences, I have just one question: When are we getting a sequel?

Aside from the high action and great story, perhaps the best part of this graphic novel is knowing that all proceeds are going to fighting the real world evils portrayed in this book – mostly helping to fight bear-bile farming in Asia. For those interested, general and purchasing information can be found Ayre Force’s website: http://ayreforce.bodoglife.com/ (Grade: A-)

-M. Staples

Fantastic Four #557 – Review

By Mark Millar (Writer), Bryan Hitch (Pencils and Inks), Andrew Currie (Inks), and Paul Mounts (Colors)

Here we get a fairly satisfying conclusion to Mark Millar’s and Bryan Hitch’s first arc on the FF. At the opening, CAP is still in full destruction mode, but it is Reed Richards who has the master plan to save the day. I don’t want to ruin too much, but it certainly “looked cool” (to quote a bystander) to watch the story come to fruition. Of course, a huge part of this is Hitch’s magnificent art. The action scenes are cinematic and his depiction of Reed’s “plan” is probably the best “gadget” that I have seen yet in FF. Normally, I get bit annoyed when we get several splash pages and/or several pages of art with no dialogue, but in this instance, there was not enough!

We also get a much needed confrontation between Reed and Alyssa, and it serves for another reminder of why Reed and Sue have such a great dynamic as a couple. Further helping this is a scene later on, Millar explains the true reason why Reed had to travel to the other end of the universe, and it clicks perfectly as part of the story. Speaking of romances, we get to see a further progression of Johnny and Psionics’ relationship. This is perhaps what I love so much about Millar’s writing in FF, he gets the characters so well. The characters could so easily get lost in this story of high tech gadgets and world-wide threats, but instead these elements are only the sideshow, the “Four” remain center stage throughout.

Perhaps the only complaint I have about this issue is the lack of resolution of the Nu-World plot. I was really hoping we would get to see why the Earth Trust thinks the Earth is doomed. I still think it’s a sinister group with an “all-for-the-best” façade, but with twelve issues remaining in the Millar/Hitch run, I suppose there is still plenty of time for this plot to be dealt with. There is no way Millar can promise that the “Earth is doomed,” and not follow up on this information. Surely the Marvel Universe will not have to transfer to Nu-World, so either the Earth Trust’s true motive will be revealed, or Reed will find some way to save the world where all else have failed. Either way, I look forward to see where Millar will take this (not to mention the final page cliffhanger!) (Grade: A-)

-M. Staples

World War Hulk TPB – Review

By Greg Pak (Writer), John Romita Jr. (Pencils), Klaus Janson (Inks), and Christina Strain (Colors)

Let me preface by saying that I’ve never been a huge fan of the Hulk, the character, the comics, the movie, even the concept. A guy who gets really angry and turns into a big green smashing machine has always sounded rather silly. That said, there are only three words to describe World War Hulk: insanely friggin’ awesome! This isn’t just a bunch of senseless smashing and fighting, it is a story of revenge, misunderstanding, and disaster combined with an array of epic battles.

The story is extremely well told in many facets. Some of my favorite examples include the effect of destruction. Many times, big superhero fights cause destruction to parts of the city, but this is often left in the background and we as readers really don’t care. Here, the destruction is catastrophic and blatant. Greg Pak and John Romita Jr. make it obvious that WWH is the worst thing New York City has seen since 9/11. I actually cringed every time I saw a building destroyed.

Another great part was the theme of revenge, and its effects. This is the story of how revenge left unbounded can literally ruin everything around you. True, Hulk had credible reasons to be angry, but he lets his anger cloud his judgment and quickly steps onto the path becoming the very thing he is fighting against. The ramifications of this are both tragic and beautiful.

Lastly, and perhaps my favorite part of this series, was the good writing of the Sentry. Don’t get wrong, I like the The Sentry, I like Brian Bendis, and I like Mighty Avengers – but I don’t like the way that Bendis writes The Sentry in Mighty Avengers. This, however, is just as much a perfect Sentry tale as it is a perfect Hulk tale. Events like these are the reason that I like The Sentry in the first place. His character is so complex and frightening here (as he should be), not just a big deus ex machina, like in Mighty Avengers.

Romita’s art is perfect for the story and matches the epic script. I’m not the person who gets insanely fanboy excited when “JR Jr.” is announced as a project’s artist. His art is certainly very good, but I wouldn’t rank him in my top five artists. I’ve really never understood what the buzz around his work was all about. With that out of the way, I loved his work here. His depictions of the action, the fighting, the destruction, are magnificent. I could just stare at the artwork from this book for hours. Truly, I have no complaints about his work, or anything in this book for that matter. I cannot recommend this enough – comic book fans: Read this! (Grade: A)

-M. Staples

The Twelve #5 (of 12) – Review

By J. Michael Straczynski (Writer), Chris Weston (Pencils), Garry Leach (Inks), and Chris Chuckry (Colors)

This issue, while still well told and entertaining, is really just more of the same. We get the origin of The Witness and we see Captain Wonder punch Dynamic Man (finally!), but we really get no movement forward in the story except for the very end. So to anyone not already reading this series, this will likely do very little to convert you should you pick it up.

That said, we do get more delving into the individual characters, which it what this series seems to revolve around. J. Michael Straczynski continues to provide well written characterizations for every single person featured. The Blue Blade’s scene, for example, approaches cheesiness, but this is not due to the way it is written – it is simply the way that Blue Blade would act. So although slightly annoying, it is still acceptable. Similarly, we get several examples of how out-of-place these characters are in our time as we see them interact with some of the nastier aspects. Chris Weston’s art continues to fit like glove for this series. It works so well at maintaining the old comic art flavor that I had to remind myself several times that this story takes place in the modern day. Likewise, he makes these characters just as personal as Straczynski.

Perhaps the best part of the characterization is their interaction with each other, aside from the earlier mentioned fight, we get to see much more development between Dynamic Man and Captain Wonder. And much to my surprise, Dynamic Man actually has an almost plausible reason for being such a jerk. So while this series may not be filled with action and super villains, as always, it is the characters which continue to move the story forward. (Grade: B)

-M. Staples

A Second Opinion

I agree with the review above. This issue is more of the same, but I don’t see this issue as a rehash, but more as a continuance of the story. These characters, in many ways, are their own worst enemies – not because they’re bad people, but because they’re more real and fleshed out a hell of a lot more than the cheap costumes they wear. They’re men out of time that can’t accept the future they’ve been given. I’ve got a bad feeling that those who attempt to embrace it (Dynamic Man, Blue Blade) will eventually run into a horrible end.

There’s little to complain about where this series is concerned. Probably the only thing that’s constantly disappointing is how little we see of the characters in each issue. But there are 12 of them. How can I griped about that? Hopefully, we get more of Black Widow and RockMan next issue.

I’m running out of good things to say about this series. It’s got seven issues to go before it reaches its conclusion and if the creative team can keep the quality at this level, The Twelve will go down as one of the great pieces of comics literature – up there with Watchman and The Dark Knight. I really do not say this lightly, either. The Twelve is not as revolutionary as the aforementioned titles, but it is definitely a redefining of a genre – the reemergence of the Golden Age heroes as complicated, three-dimensional personalities.
(Grade: A)

– J. Montes

Invincible Iron Man #1 – Review

By Matt Fraction (Writer), Salvador Larocca (Pencils and Inks), and Frank D’Armata and Stephane Peru (Colors)

Let the Iron Man over-saturation commence! Counting Secret Invasion, Marvel Adventures, and all the Avengers books, I think Shell-Head’s in about a dozen comics this month – which is funny because personally I’ve found his own book to be rather weak lately. I loved him in the Civil War books and the Mighty Avengers, but let’s face it: Tony’s generally not as interesting without a couple of well-meaning but less intelligent costars to bounce his Type A personality against.

Fortunately, Invincible seems to be an exception to the rule. Other than brief appearances by Maria Hill and War Machine, Iron Man has the book all to himself, and it’s still cool. The story starts in Tanzania, where we get a little lesson in geography and sociology before people start exploding. Ezekiel Stane, working with an A.I.M. splinter group called Advanced Genocide Mechanics, has developed a way to turn people into second-rate Iron Men (In one of several nods to the current movie, they have little glowing blue dials on their chests that they expose just before they blow themselves up). The nature of Ezekiel’s plan isn’t clear, but considering his genealogy it probably isn’t good news for Stark Enterprises.

I liked the way this book was divided equally between action, character study, and philosophical ruminations on the drawbacks of advanced technology. When he’s not sleeping with models, running S.E. and S.H.I.E.L.D., or flattening A.I.M. agents, Tony worries about staying on the cutting edge of weapons innovation. Not only because he wants to keep one step ahead of his enemies but also because he defines himself in large part by being better than everyone else. In one particularly telling passage, Tony basically admits to the reader that he constantly makes sure Rhodey’s War Machine armor isn’t as good as his own.

If I have any complaint about the Invincible Iron Man, it’s that the plot so far bears a suspicious resemblance to the Extremis arc from the first few issues of Iron Man’s regular book, with its focus on bioweaponry. But Ezekiel Stane’s plan seems more complex than simple terrorism, and so far Fraction is doing a good job of building up what promises to be an intriguing story. I look forward to the next issue. (Grade: A)

– Andrew C. Murphy

A Second Opinion

Invincible Iron Man #1 serves one main purpose: to draw in everyone who loved last week’s Iron Man movie, whether they be long time comic readers or someone who has never read a comic. Does it succeed? Maybe. I personally fall into the category of fairly new to comics, knowing only a bit about Iron Man’s character (only that which I’ve read in Avengers and online).

So, what did I think? Well, the story opened with a bang (quite literally) in Africa, keeping the international feeling of the film. The opening is also quick to tell us some of the main differences between the movie and current Iron Man continuity: Tony is now director of S.H.I.E.L.D., sober, still a womanizer, and through the Extremis has complete mental control over his Iron Man armor. Rhodes is still Tony’s best friend and has donned the War Machine armor. Pepper is still his personal assistant, and is now very good with computers, and finally, Obadiah Stane is dead, but his son Ezekiel is alive and kicking and has inherited the lack of moral compass. Personally, I already knew all of this, but for someone who had only seen the Iron Man movie, this one issue is pretty darn good at giving a summary without seeming like a summary itself.

Okay, so it’s noob friendly, check. Is it interesting? Well, not wanting to give too much away, it appears that the main villain of this piece has not only improved, but exceeded the current Iron Man technology, much more so than Iron Monger in the film. However, we do not know how he has done this, nor what his plans are and by the end of the issue, Tony is just as worried as we are. So yes, it is interesting.

Finally, is it a good comic? Well, it is fairly well written, there was one part where I had to turn back a page to figure out what was going on, but other than that it flowed smoothly and the characters maintained unique voices. Likewise, the art was very well done. It wasn’t perfect, as there were three minor things that bugged me, but being minor, they weren’t anything to take away from the enjoyment of the storytelling. So overall, not the best of the best when it comes to comics, but certainly very good. As someone fairly new to Iron Man, will I be back? Yes, I will definitely finish out the story arc, but I’ll have to be really impressed to stick with it after it’s over. (Grade: B)

-M. Staples

Daredevil: Blood of the Tarantula – Review

By Ed Brubaker and Ande Parks (Writers), Chris Samnee (Pencils and Inks), and Matt Hollingsworth (Colors)

If you were hoping for Daredevil #107 this month, prepare to wait another 30 grueling days. It’s been replaced by this fill-in issue, which is a bit out of current continuity, but serves as a follow-up to last year’s Daredevil annual featuring the Black Tarantula. This one-shot focuses very tightly on the Tarantula as he struggles with his life as an immigrant and a vigilante.

Daredevil plays a minor role in this book, acting as the Tarantula’s conscience and backup for when things get nasty. As crime on the street begins to pick up once more, the Black Tarantula takes it upon himself to make brutal examples of criminals – stringing them up with chains, stealing their money, and using it bribe cops into looking the other way. Aside from giving the money to cops and charity, it’s subtlety hinted that he uses the drug money to pay for his bills too.

There’s definitely a fine line this character walks, and if we were given more of his situation, I might be more empathetic to his cause. But from the little that Ed Brubaker and Ande Parks gave me on the Tarantula’s background it was hard for me to care about this character at all. Yes, the bad guys he eventually confronts are pretty cruel, but this story felt soulless to me. There’s a reason why the Black Tarantula’s a B-List character and the creative team here hasn’t done enough to elevate his status. All this issue did was make me miss Daredevil. And seeing old horn head in just a supporting role was a bit disappointing. They should have just called this The Black Tarantula – Guest Starring Daredevil! At least I’d know what to expect.

I honestly can’t recommend this book. Ed Brubaker’s an excellent writer, Samnee’s art is fine, and the muted/washed out colors of this book are very reminiscent of the Criminal 2 series, but this book ultimately lacks heart. And without a heart, there’s no life. And that’s what this book was to me: Lifeless. (Grade: D)

– J. Montes

A Second Opinion

This issue is pretty much the sequel to last year’s Daredevil Annual, and therefore a must if you read it. In the annual, Black Tarantula decides to become a vigilante to protect the streets, similar to Daredevil, but he is also ready to kill if necessary. He’s essentially a cross between Daredevil and Punisher and this issue shows him attempting to do what is right before his past comes back to haunt him. When this happens it becomes a fight not only for his life, but for his forgotten, deserted family, and for the safety of the streets of New York. Obviously, since this is a Daredevil title, Black Tarantula goes to Matt Murdock for help.

This issue was a great crime fighting, butt kicking, violence-filled spectacle, and Chris Samnee’s art is perfect in conveying the action. To anyone who was disappointed with the last issue of Daredevil, whether because of the lack of action, or the horrible art, this issue should appease your appetite. Matt Hollingsworth’s colors also maintain the muted tone that has been present in the last several issues of Daredevil, so this feels completely within the core Daredevil storyline. I’m surprised this issue isn’t simply numbered Daredevil #107. (Grade: A-)

-M. Staples