Avengers #31 – Review

By: Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Brandon Peterson & Mike Mayhew (art), Jason Keith (colors), and Cory Petit (letters)

The Story:  In the day after the Phoenix calamity, a lost Avenger triggers her emergency beacon.

The Review:  This review is a tough one to write due to the fact that I could easily come at it from two different angles, one positive and the other negative.  Let’s do the former first.

On the one hand, I really enjoyed the feeling of “the morning after.”  After all the AvX craziness, Bendis does a good job of giving the feeling of a new day having dawned and our heroes relaxing in their own unique ways, finally able to unwind and release tension.  As a reader, reading this, I sort of shared that and reading this issue felt like letting out a giant sigh and getting comfy in readiness for the next thing.  And hey, there’s a Wolverine beer joke, which is always good.  I will also say that Mike Mayhew’s art during these portions also suit that tone perfectly.  His photo-realistic, almost painterly style has that natural lack of tension, that grandiose, relaxed tone that matches Bendis’ script.

Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #3 – Review

by Peter J. Tomasi (writer), Chris Samnee, Mike Mayhew (artists), John Kalisz, Andy Troy (colorist), Pat Brosseau (letterer)

What a jip! 2 stories only?! What the hell?! If DC’s gonna skimp out us on our expected Lantern stories, they could’ve at least given us 2 compelling stories related to the ongoing event; not two character profiles that read like annuals that you can pass on. And what’s with the Directory’s Commentary for Free Comic Book Day’s Blackest Night #0? That’s something I usually expect to find at the end of the trade.

So what are we really getting with Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #3? 2 character histories (Kilowag’s and Arisia’s) that don’t reveal anything new about the characters, just the dead people in their lives– who we can expect to be in the background somewhere when all hell has broken loose and Johns has each respective character battling the ghosts from their pasts. I guess that’s supposed to be the point of these two stories– to expect and know who those Black Lanterns are.

But if you’ve already picked up the first two, you might as well swoop this one. The Kilowog story takes up most of the pages, and I guess I can say it’s all right. In this story, Tomasi gives us the history of how Kilowag came to be the hardass that he is. And although you may know where the story is going by the second page, it’s still somewhat entertaining to witness the half-assed character exploration behind Kilowog and how he got his ball-busting drill sergeant ways from Lantern Ermey (lame Full Metal Jacket reference by the way, Tomasi…). As for the Arisa story, it’s forgettable, unexciting, and reads as if the creative team thought it would be funny to forcefuly run an unfunny gag over and over…

There aren’t a lot of redeeming qualities with Tales of the Corps #3; but since it’s the 3 out of 3, you may as well get it. Read it once, slip it back in the bag and board, and marvel at it for a couple of seconds when you connect all three covers. Then pray that Blackest Night #2 comes out already.

Grade: D

-Ray Hilario