Superior Spider-Man #19 – Review

Dan Slott (Writer), Ryan Stegman, Livesay (Artists), Edgar Delgado (Colorist)

The Story: Otto tries to reverse the current damage to the time stream with the people of Horizon Labs as Miguel O’Hara’s fate is revealed.

The Review: Dan Slott is kind of a tease, isn’t he? With the heavy marketing around this book, it seems that he simply has to make sure people try to guess whatever might happen, through whichever way possible. The ”nothing will ever be the same” is especially strong with this series and this writer, which may grate on the nerves of some people as promises are made. It’s enough for the skeptic in all of us lift an eyebrow when looking at all of this in an objective way.

However, it seems that not only is it working in gaining the interest of readers, but most of the time Slot actually do delivers on changing elements and introducing newer ones. This issue is a good example of this, as not only do the writer play with the various elements prior to this volume and the current one, but he also insert new elements into play that makes this series able to deliver on surprising twists.

Something he does in order to bring those changes in an effective manner is that he consolidate much of the plot threads together for the finale, which helps tremendously. With a focus on a particular scene and with all the players gathered together, it makes this issue less jumbled than the previous ones in this arc. With the issue mostly concentrated on Otto’s point-of-view, though not necessarily on all of his actions, the fallouts, the actions and the reactions ends up being much more satisfying to read and experience.

Superior Spider-Man #18 – Review

by Dan Slott (Writer), Ryan Stegman, Livesay (Artists), Edgar Delgado (Colorist)

The Story: Bizarre events in the present cause much trouble for Miguel O’Hara, Tiberius Stone, Horizon Lab and Otto Octavius.

The Review: Ambition and continuity can be great tools for any writers working in super hero comics. When the creative team are looking forward to a vast number of issues in order to tell a story, they need to pace out some of the elements in order for the readers to appreciate the larger pictures. Storylines are teased, some are seeded early on and so forth in order for the title to keep a certain level of excitement. If done well, it can give us some superb stories, but if done incorrectly, it can bring problems like obvious decompression. There’s a fine line between the two and not every writer is able to be on a unique side of the fence for most of their writing careers.

This issue has absolutely no problem in term of decompression, which may sound like a very good point in favor of its quality, yet in this case it isn’t. Simply put, there’s just too many things happening here as the pacing and the focus of the issue suffers quite a bit because of it. Many of these events are of consequences and are things that some readers might have been looking forward to, yet all of them are crammed in this issue without the necessary space to really let it sink in. There are many characters receiving development and panel space, with the people at Horizon Labs, the Goblin King, Miguel O’Hara, Otto and Tiberius Stone all seemingly fighting for relevance in this issue.

Superior Spider-Man #17 – Review

Dan Slott (Writer), Ryan Stegman, Livesay (Artists), Edgar Delgado (Colorist)

The Story: Miguel O’Hara needs to go back in time to stop something from happening in 2013, which may be connected to something Spider-Ock might do.

The Review: Sometimes, a writer may throw around an idea that is simply appealing. A concept that is perhaps simple, yet one that does raise the curiosity and interest of readers enough that they really want to see a situation like this occur. It is something that has occurred many times with close to every company, yet it is an efficacious tactic that always help raise the profile of a book when needed.

The latest use of such a stratagem can be seen in this issue as Slott, being playing with the expectations of readers, teased that he might do a Spider-Man 2099 story. What started as perhaps a bit of a jape went on to become a real thing, as this issue tells the story of such an encounter, or at least try to.

I say try, as any story with such a ludicrous concept cannot simply be simply be shown without at least contextualization as to the various explanation of why and how this is happening. Here, Slott builds up his story before letting the magic of his ideas go wild, which has its share of weaknesses and strengths.

The best about this issue would be the parts dealing with Miguel O’Hara himself, the Spider-Man of the future. Here, Slott brings out some of the most memorable aspects of the Peter David run on Spider-Man 2099, with the bizarre slang used, the strange tech, Alchemax and the general personality of its main character. All of those elements are handled well-enough in order to provide both those who knew the characters and those that didn’t enough of a feel to the character to know more about him.

Doom Patrol #4 – Review

The Story: The world’s strangest super-heroes return home to Oolong Island just in time to be attacked by old teammates and lovers under the control of the Black Lanterns.  In the second feature, the Metal Men must contend with the creation of three extremely dangerous – and cranky – new robots.

The Doom Patrol in “Dead Reckoning” by Keith Giffen (writer) Livesay & Justiniano (art)

What’s Good: Although the writing wasn’t much to my liking, Justinano’s artwork fell into the win column for me.  I wasn’t aware that regular artist Matthew Clark was taking a break for this arc, but I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised that was the case.  I’ve never been a fan of Clark’s, but I have been one of Justiano’s.  The artist has a dark, sharp style that suits this tale of zombies and shadows and he was a great choice to fill-in on this issue.  His design of Black Lantern Negative Woman in particular gave me chills.

What’s Not So Good: It was with some trepidation that I picked up this issue of Doom Patrol.  I’d given the new series a chance once already with the first issue, but didn’t find anything enticing enough to make me want to continue collecting the series.  The shadow of the DC juggernaut that is Blackest Night, however, has fallen over many of the publisher’s output this month and I decided to give this comic another try.  I wish I hadn’t bothered.

Giffen certainly tries to take advantage of the opportunity he’s been given as a result of the crossover to interest new readers in the title.  He brings us up to date on the history of the Doom Patrol itself, while simultaneously using that device to inform us as to the identities of the deceased characters that make their return.  It’s a good idea and one that should have worked when it came to eliciting an emotional reaction in the reader when the past and present D.P. members confront each other.  Except that it doesn’t.  Placing what is essentially an info dump at the beginning of the story only served to turn me off from the book.  The Doom Patrol is one of those titles that people usually saddle with being too difficult to get into due to it’s heavy continuity baggage, and this introduction does nothing to combat that criticism.  I appreciate the writer’s ambition in bringing new readers up to speed, but I suspect he would have been better off simply concentrating more on the present.

Another problem with the script is the lack of any emotional reaction from the cast when confronted by the ghosts of their past.  If it weren’t for the fact that we can see what they’re feeling through the eyes of the Black Lanterns, I’d be hard-pressed to guess that they were feeling anything.  If the characters don’t seem to care about who has come back to haunt them, then why should the reader?  To be fair, this might be the fault of the artist, but it’s also reflected in the dialogue, so I assume that it wasn’t because of a miscommunication between the two creators.  Giffen comes close to overcoming this with his last page reveal and Robotman’s reaction, but it falls too late in the story for me to care.

The Metal Men in “The Coming of… The Clique!” by Keith Giffen & J.M. Dematteis (writers) & Kevin Maguire (art)

What’s Good: The first thought that comes to mind when reading Giffen’s & Dematteis’ smart, funny adventure of the Metal Men is “Why isn’t this the lead feature in this comic book?”  When you get a look at the amazing art of Kevin Maguire, the next thought is inevitably, “This NEEDS to be the lead feature of this comic book!”  The writers do in this eight-page back-up what the lead feature didn’t manage to in twenty.  I’m immediately caught up on what and who the Metal Men are, what the story is, and I care about what happens next.  The fact that this is all successfully accomplished when you consider that the stars of the strip only appear in four out of the ten pages is impressive.

What’s Not So Good: There’s not much wrong here, to be honest.  If I were to nitpick about anything, it would be that Maguire’s design for the members of the Clique keeps him from utilizing his greatest strength: facial expressions.  While I understand what he was going for with the mannequin-esque design, I did find it a little underwhelming.

Conclusion: Hopefully someone at DC will realize that this comic book needs to be called Metal Men.  Dematteis and Giffen and Maguire are producing a fun, humorous piece of storytelling that is unfortunately stuck in the back of a comic book not worth buying. It’s a shame, really.

Grade:  D

-Joe Lopez

Doom Patrol #1 – Review

By Keith Giffen (writer), Matthew Clark (artist), Livesay (inker), Guy Major (colorist)

So is everything old new again, or is everything new old again?  Either way, Doom Patrol is back, and nothing will ever be the same.  Or maybe everything will stay the same.  I don’t know.  I’ll admit that I’m a bit confused as to why DC chose to reactivate this title, but you need to understand that I first read Doom Patrol during Grant Morrison’s run on the title and thought he had done a stellar job telling their story and resolving it.  Then again, with all of the earth-shattering, continuity-raping big event stories DC’s been birthing over the years, maybe Morrison’s Doom Patrol continuity has been erased and rewritten and become obsolete.

In this latest iteration, Keith Giffen uses the traditional team roster, consisting of Elasti-Woman, Negative Man, Robot Man, and team leader Niles Caulder.  There were a few more in there, but they were all as disposable as the guys in Star Trek who wear the red shirts and die as soon as they touch down on that alien planet.  The issue opens with the team already in the middle of a case involving purple, leech-faced humanoids that ends too quickly before it’s ever fully explained.  The other half of the story sees the Doom Patrol returning to Oolong Island, a sovereign, tropical island nation that serves as their new headquarters.  Here amidst the palm trees, the team unwinds and we come to better understand them through the most annoying new character of 2009: Father Leslie, the team’s de facto therapist who seems to have been dumped into the story by Giffen solely for the purpose of trying to make them talk about their feelings.  The pathos that Leslie pushes on each member was incredibly irritating, and my biggest fear is that we’re only going to see more of this tool as the title progresses.

Fortunately, Matthew Clark turns in some solid art, and if there’s any reason to continue reading this, it’s to see more of what he can do.  On a final note, this is the first issue of DC’s new pricing plan that I’ve picked up, and my first impression is that this can really work.  Basically, even though this is Doom Patrol #1, you’re paying $3.99 for 20 pages of Doom Patrol (2 pages less than a typical 22 page comic retailing for $2.99) and 10 pages of a second feature story.  This issue featyred the Metal Men as the backup, which I thought was a ridiculous waste of time as I hate everything about them, but I nonetheless can appreciate that DC is at least offering me more content to justify their price, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for Marvel.  Based on this first issue, I don’t think I’ll stick around to pick up the second, but I may come back to try the graphic novel if and when it’s released.  Buy at your own risk.

Grade:  D

-Tony Rakittke

Guardians of the Galaxy #15 – Review

By Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (writers), Brad Walker (pencils), Victor Olazaba and Livesay (inks) Jay David Ramos (colorist)

The Story: All hell breaks loose as the Guardians find themselves sandwiched between invading forces of Inhuman and Shi’ar while one of their own teammates holds Crystal the Inhuman captive. The team tears out of the malay and separates into a couple different groups, one of which will not return. The excitement really cranks up as Rocky Raccoon and his crew return from their rescue mission of Illandra to face the Shi’ar attackers as they try to steal Knowhere.

What’s Good: As always this is a series that doesn’t take itself all that to seriously, even the characters are always braking form to do something funny, and there are a lot of funny moments in this book. This levity allows the book to go full barrel at times and pick up some kinetic energy that is truly unique in comics today.

The other great thing about this book in general and this issue in particular is the art. Brad Walker can draw just about anything here and with all these character colliding from all areas of the Marvel U, he has a lot to work with. His detail is brazen and clear; tree-men and talking animals look like they could be sitting right next to you.

The thing I liked most about this issue was that it went deep into the heart of War of the Kings, played a major role there, and then stepped back into its original mythos. The writers handled all of this nicely and all the developments seemed natural. Also, any series that has Adam Warlock in it is good with me, but especially when they have such a great take on this unique character. Although he has been downsized from his god-like past as a near invincible and indestructible being (Vulcan took him to town last issue after all), there is more to like about this incarnation of Warlock. It was interesting to see his viciousness as he took apart (literally) some enemies this issue.

What’s Not So Good: I was expecting to see the Guardians foray into the WOK to be a little longer and I was looking for them to be part of the final throw down. Alas, that doesn’t seem to be the case. My other complaint is that the cast has gotten a little too crowded. I’m not sure how many is too many personalities before the cast starts to weigh down a comic, but I think Guardians of the Galaxy has reached that threshold. There are too many comedic foils, too many cunning and ruthless warriors, and too many altitudes. Especially when taken into account that there is a great secondary cast of characters that live on Knowhere.

Conclusion: All in all this is another solid installment in Guardians of the Galaxy. If you were expecting major revelations here for WOK, then you will be let down, but shame on you for thinking that a tie-in series would be seriously revealing. However, if you are a fan of this series and are excited for the lingering and building plot threads of past installments, than you will be psyched for things to come.

Personally, I am not a regular reader to this series although I am just on the cusp of adding it to my stack. If more elements of the Starlin’esque take on Marvel cosmos like the Death and Chaos and all that, or if the creative team brought in the Eternals, than I would be sold on this title. For some reason, these second stringers don’t call out to me, regardless of how excellent their story is being told.

Grade: B

-Rob G.

Ms. Marvel #37 (Dark Reign) – Review

By Brian Reed (Writer), Patrick Oliffe (Pencils), Serge LaPointe and Livesay (Inks), and Chris Sotomayor (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I’ve been a fan of the Ms. Marvel series for a while now, but the “Ascension” arc has left me pretty disappointed. It started off rather strong, but it quickly became unnecessarily convoluted as the twists and turns piled up. I still have hope for a strong finish however, so let me just get to the review.

The Story: Carol Danvers, using the powers that could be killing her, confronts a super-powered Ghazi Rashid to end things once and for all. And it does not end well. Dark Reign indeed.

What’s Good: I’m now glad that I stuck with the series despite my growing frustration with the current arc. The fight between Danvers and Rashid is suitably epic, features some strong character work, and ends in a fairly surprising manner. On top of that, the twists and turns surrounding “Ascension” manage to wrap up in a satisfying, somewhat incomplete, manner.

What’s Not So Good: It really bothers me when a good comic is held back by artwork that just doesn’t seem suitable for the action or story it features. The visuals in Ms. Marvel #37 just aren’t up to the task of revealing Carol Danvers’ fate. At times sloppy, at times rushed, and at times just plain inadequate, the character (and series) deserves better. That said, Oliffe and his team do a pretty good job when things slow down, so it’s not all negative.

Conclusion: With some good and some bad, the latest issue of Ms. Marvel stays above average thanks to a fairly surprising event and effective character work. I can’t help but wonder how much better things might have been with a different art team at the helm…but what can you do? It will be interesting to see where the series will go from here.

Grade:  C+

-Kyle Posluszny

Legion of Super-Heroes #39

By Jim Shooter (writer), Francis Manapul (pencils), Livesay (inks), Jo Smith (colors)

The Legion is reeling after barely winning the battle on Triton last issue. The win has come at a high cost. The team is completely fragmented with problems galore piling up. Even the most mundane of chores has become hazardous for the team. And from the looks of it, things are about to become much worse before they get better.

For one, the press is having a field day with the Legion on Triton, blaming the property damage on the team’s “incompetence”. Projectra is a princess without a homeworld. Her anguish has done little to improve her image as she’s gone into severe debt, losing everything she owns. Even a small rat infestation goes awry for Colossal Boy has he gets owned by a bunch of biker thugs. On top of all this, someone’s infiltrated the Legion’s headquarters and is closely monitoring this chain of events.

With all the bad stuff going on, it was kind of hard to enjoy this issue. Sure, there are a few moments like Projectra scaring some looters away and Ultra Boy landing some big punches, but much like the team, this issue feels a little disjointed. I think the team is just in too many places at once and because of this, we’re not getting as much as we should. Hopefully, next issue’s story will be more centralized.

My biggest beef with this issue is the constant displaying of headquarter’s computer screen. It’s in way too many pages. After the second time I had had enough and just skipped over it whenever it showed up. Francis Manapul’s art is excellent, once again, and he does the best he can with the script he’s given. Just stop making him draw computer screens! Enough’s enough!  (Grade: C)

– J. Montes