Dark Reign: The List – X-Men – Review

By Matt Fraction (Writer), Alan Davis (Pencils), Mark Farmer (Inks), and Nathan Fairbairn (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I actually like the concept of The List series quite a bit. It works as a new reader grab and as a compliment to current ongoings. The Daredevil one-shot actually made me interested in following the ongoing series. As for the New Avengers book, it served as a nice compliment to one of the major threads of the series.

The Story: Norman Osborn’s got a secret weapon that he plans to use against Namor and the rest of the Atlantean race.

What’s Good And What’s Not So Good: Thanks to Alan Davis’ solid, kinetic artwork and Matt Fraction’s entertaining, surprisingly funny dialogue (“Ex-wives. What can you do?”), Dark Reign: The List – Namor,..er…X-Men is one of the most fun “X” books I’ve picked up in quite some time. And really, isn’t that what it’s all about sometimes?! The answer to that question is “Yes…yes it is.”

In all honesty, there isn’t really a whole lot to the latest addition to The List one-shot series. Norman Osborn sets loose a raging sea creature that can only sense and feed off Atlanteans. Some of Namor’s people die and, naturally, Namor needs to take action. The X-Men get involved and the creature is dealt with. It’s simple storytelling, but it’s also effective and lends itself well to a one and done comic.

The biggest negative about the latest The List one-shot, outside of the fact that Namor’s signature saying gets interrupted, is that it really isn’t much of a Dark Reign book. In fact, it’s not really much of an X-Men book either. Sure, the X-Men are in it and the creative team makes great use of the characters during the lengthy, well executed action scene (Fastball Special anyone!?), but as a whole it feels as though the team is in the book only because they happen to be associated with Namor, Osborn’s true target. Neither issue is a major flaw as far as the quality of the book is concerned, but readers should be aware of what they are actually buying.

Conclusion: While the latest List one-shot doesn’t really do a whole lot with the concept of the Dark Reign series, it excels as a one and done “X” comic. So, in short, it’s easy to recommend to X-Men/Namor fans, but not so easy to recommend if you’re just looking for something with strong Dark Reign ties.

Grade: C+

-Kyle Posluszny

Dark Avengers #9 – Review

By Brian Michael Bendis (Writer), Mike Deodato (Art), and Rain Beredo (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: With Utopia out of the way, I fully expect Dark Avengers to get back to being a favorite of mine. With a kick-ass cover and the promise of a guest appearance from Jonathan Hickman’s Secret Warriors, it’s a pretty safe bet that Dark Avengers #9 will deliver.

The Story: Ares discovers that his son, Phobos, isn’t exactly heading off to school during the day. Meanwhile, something strange is going on at Avengers Tower while some of the Dark Avengers chat it up about funny heroes.

What’s Good And What’s Not So Good: Before I really get into the review, I have to first toss out a quick suggestion: Do yourself a favor and try to ignore the cool image on the cover of Dark Avengers #9. While Ares goes on a little rampage and some stuff is destroyed, Brian Michael Bendis (I almost want to say, “as usual”) opts to let dialogue do almost all of the work in the latest issue of Dark Avengers. Is this a bad thing? Turns out, it’s not at all.

Bendis’ decision to let words bring resolution to an explosive situation works extremely well because of how the scene plays out. It gives the characters involved a little extra depth and goes a long way towards humanizing a character that, most recently, has been little more than muscle in superhero battles. I do, however, have one major issue with the dialogue in regards to how Phobos is portrayed. Bendis handles him as though he is a normal kid afraid of his father. While that works as far as what’s happening is concerned, Bendis’ take on Phobos seems to go against what Jonathan Hickman is doing with the character. It’s hard to really call what Bendis does a negative, but it is something that must be mentioned.

So the Ares/Fury/Phobos scene is pretty great. Thankfully, the rest of the book doesn’t disappoint. The exchange at Avengers Tower is something really close to hilarious, and the weird stuff happening left me thinking “WTF!?” in a good way. In short, it’s clear that the series is back on track and I really couldn’t be much happier. That said, I do wish that the Dark Avengers would stop being stuck as the supporting characters in their own series. I buy Dark Avengers to read about the Dark Avengers damnit…

The artwork in Dark Avengers #9 is, as expected, moody, gritty, and impressive all around. The unfortunate thing is that there really isn’t a whole lot of ways for Mike Deodato and Rain Beredo to show off given the script. The characters look good and the emotion on display certainly works, but it’s clear that neither artist is really being put to the test.

Conclusion: Dark Avengers fans… it’s safe to come back to the series now.

Grade: B+

-Kyle Posluszny

The Invincible Iron Man #14 (Dark Reign) – Review

By Matt Fraction (Writer), Salvador Larocca (Art), and Frank D’Armata (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Invincible Iron Man is written by the Matt Fraction that made me a fan of Matt Fraction.

The Story: With a mind that’s being deleted cell by cell, Tony Stark encounters the Crimson Dynamo and sees an opportunity. Meanwhile, Pepper Potts gets a checkup and then goes back to being a hero. As for Mariah Hill? She’s contacting a certain assassin for some help…

What’s Good and What’s Not So Good: Another month, another very good issue of Invincible Iron Man that strengthens the argument for “World’s Most Wanted” being one of the best things to come out as a result of the Dark Reign period. The story keeps moving along at a pace that feels just right, pausing long enough for characters to make an impression (like Crimson Dynamo for instance) but never long enough to feel like things are starting to drag. While I’m sure some people will scoff at the logistics of Stark’s “delete my brain” plan, it’s difficult to seriously call it boring or unoriginal.

Creatively, Matt Fraction’s character work continues to be the obvious highlight. He handles his cast so well that you can’t help but get drawn into the world of a mentally deteriorating Tony Stark. In particular, I’d even go as far as to say that Pepper’s transformation into a hero is just as compelling as anything that Stark is going through. It’s the use of (and, almost,  the reliance on) the peripheral character that makes the Dark Reign arc of Invincible Iron Man such an effective piece of work.

I have two complaints about the seventh chapter of “World’s Most Wanted.” The first complaint is that once again Larocca’s art hurts the book whenever there isn’t some technology to show off. The second complaint is that the seventh chapter seems to be all about setting up the rest of the arc as opposed to moving things forward. While the plot definitely advances in interesting ways, it’s clear Fraction is saving the bigger stuff for next month.

Conclusion: Sure it’s a bit slow, but Invincible Iron Man #14 is still a clever, intelligent, and compelling slice of entertainment that’s well worth it’s cover price.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny