Amazing Spider-Man #662 – Review

Main story by: Christos Gage (writer), Reilly Brown (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), John Rauch (colors), Joe Caramagna (letters), Ellie Pyle (assistant editor) & Stephen Wacker (editor)

Infested Part 3 by: Dan Slott (writer), Emma Rios (art), Rodriguez (inks), Edgar Delgado (colors) & Caramagna (letters)

Magnetic Man back up by: Frank Tieri (writer), Javier Rodriguez (art), Caramagna (letters)

The Story: Spider-Man and the Avengers Academy kids team up to against the Psycho Man.  Will Spidey be asked to substitute teach ever again?

What’s Good: Well, it is fun and fast paced.  I’ll say that for this issue.  It was a lot of enjoyable watching Spidey team up with the Avengers Academy kids because Spidey is kinda the king of team-ups and the kids are fun (and everyone should be reading their series)!

It’s going to sound like I’m banging on this issue when we get to the next section and I really don’t mean for it to sound that way because there is nothing that is “bad” about this issue.  There are fun little Spider-Man snappy banter moments and all the kids get to do their thing.  Reilly Brown’s art is perfectly fine too.  Not “great” art, but it is perfectly fine.

Amazing Spider-Man #661 – Review

By: Christos Gage (writer), Reilly Brown (art), Victor Olazaba (inks), John Rauch (colors), Joe Caramagna (letters), Ellie Pyle (assistant editor) & Stephen Wacker (editor)

The Story: Spider-Man guest lectures at the Avengers Academy.

What’s Good: You know how sometimes Spider-Man, despite being well established as a very powerful superhero, member of the Avengers, etc. turns into a bumbling dumb ass?  Well, I like to think that is his Peter Parker showing through the uniform and this is what’s on full display in this issue.  So, if you like a Spidey that only has things marginally in control, you’ll enjoy this issue.
Christos Gage guest writes this issue and takes the chance to smear Spidey together with Gage’s outstanding Avenger’s Academy series by having Spidey agree to be a guest lecturer (remembering that Peter Parker used to be a bona fide teacher) at the Academy.  Spidey has always kinda been about team-ups and anything that helps expose people to Avenger’s Academy is good because that series is tragically overlooked.  The makings of the scene where Spidey gets invited to teach are pretty funny as Spidey is originally insulted that Hank asks The Thing to guest lecture, so Spidey has to whip out the fact that he has a bona fide teacher’s license and used to teach for a living.  That’s pretty classic Spidey: The man has an Avenger’s card in his wallet, but still has the whole inferiority complex going to the extent that he has to pseudo-tout his teacher’s license.  LOL!
Of course, once he is in class, things don’t go well and hilarity and danger ensue as Spidey takes the kids out on patrol.  Gage does a great job of introducing us to all the Academy kids; as expected since they’re his creations.
Reilly Brown does a nice job with the linework.  The storytelling is always spot-on and the characters are well drawn.

Amazing Spider-Man #653 – Review

By: Dan Slott (plot), Fred Van Lente (script), Stefano Caselli (art), Edgar Delgado (colors), Joe Caramanga (letters) & Stephen Wacker (editor)

Power-Man back-up by: Van Lente (writer), Reilly Brown (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), Andres Mossa (colors), Caramanga (letters) & Wacker (editor)

The Story: Spidey needs a little help to foil the plans of the Spider-Slayer.

What’s Good: Lots of cool guest stars in this issue of Amazing Spider-Man as the New Avengers show up as well as a certain uber-bad guy.  You know what?  The Avengers SHOULD show up sometimes in Amazing Spider-Man since Spidey is an Avenger.  This is the kind of story-making that makes the Marvel Universe feel like a universe where everything is touching and interconnected.  And, their appearance is done is such a way that you don’t need to read New Avengers to understand things.  Sure, there is an inside joke or two that you might miss if you aren’t aware of the distinction between New Avengers and plain old Avengers, but this is a case of interconnectivity being a plus.  We need more of this kind of thing in Marvel comics.

The writing in this issue is really smooth.  The credits indicate that the script is actually by Fred Van Lente and that’s never a bad thing.  His writing style and sensibilities aren’t that different than Dan Slott, so it isn’t a jarring change.  If you follow Van Lente on Twitter or read some of his creator-owned projects (Action Philosophers or Comic Book Comics) you’d realize that he’s a really bright and well read guy and that intelligence really shows through in everything that he writes.  2011 should be a big year for Van Lente.

Also, I love Peter Parker’s boss and that they’re writing him like he’s actually intelligent.  Ya know….smart people would start to figure out that Peter might be Spider-Man so this story angle makes a lot of sense.

The art is overall quite good.  The layouts and storytelling are all very strong and I like how his Spider-Man looks like a man wearing a mask where you can see jaw muscles and the like under the mask.  He also draws a really good Squirrel Girl.  I’m sure Caselli isn’t going to put “esteemed Squirrel Girl artist” on his business cards, but he does draw her really well.

Amazing Spider-Man #652 – Review

By: Dan Slott (writer), Stefano Caselli (art), Edgar Delgado (colors), Joe Caramanga (letters) & Stephen Wacker (editor)

Power Man back-up by: Fred Van Lente (writer), Reilly Brown (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), Andres Mossa (colors), Caramanga (letters) & Wacker (editor)

The Story: Peter Parker settles into his nice, happy life and some arthropod-themed villains have a grudge against J. Jonah Jameson.  Imagine that…

What’s Good: I like seeing happy Peter Parker.  It’s amazing that it was only a couple of story arcs back that his roommate, Michelle, had sold all of his clothes (except for one ugly sweater) to help pay the rent.  How luck can change!  Here we see a Peter who is at ease, enjoying spending time with his family and new girlfriend, Carlie Cooper, while enjoying a dream job that rewards his creativity.  I guess all of these elements were in play during Slott’s first arc of his run on this title, but they didn’t quite sink in as much because of the mayhem going on with the Hobgoblin.  Even though this happiness is certainly temporary, it is well earned.

Peter’s love life has always been an important facet of any Spidey story and Carlie has really grown on me.  Step back to January 2010 with MJ back in town, Peter having drunken hook-ups with his hot roommate and even flirting with Betty Brant and I wasn’t too enthused about him “picking” Carlie, but she is really the perfect match for Peter.  She’s smart, funny and way more comfortable in her own skin than MJ has ever been.  And I even like MJ in this “special friend” role where she can be a sounding board for Peter because she knows everything.

But, ASM is not only a slice-of-life comic, so Slott also brings the action in the form of Spider-Slayer and the new/old Scorpion.  This leads to an great action scene that ends with Jonah making a very surprising request of Spidey.  The crazy thing about Spidey and Jonah’s relationship is that Peter/Spidey is close with just about everyone in Jonah’s world, except for Jonah.

ASM has had awesome art for the last hundred issues or so.  It is really amazing how they are able to shuffle artists due to the frequent release schedule and maintain a high level of quality.  Caselli keeps the ball rolling with some great work here, but I especially like how he draws Carlie and MJ.  IMHO, Carlie needed to be made a little more attractive than she had been drawn.  I mean, Peter picked her over some pretty hot women and the way Caselli draws Carlie helps you understand his decision.  [Note to the kids at home: I’m certainly not implying that looks are everything, but they had to at least get Carlie into the same ballpark with the other ladies.]

Chaos War: Alpha Flight #1 – Review

By: Jim McCann (writer), Reilly Brown & Terry Pallot (art), Val Staples (colors) & Dave Sharpe (letters)

The Story: A resurrected Alpha Flight gets summoned into the war with the Chaos King.

What’s Good: This is going to be a “must read” for fans of Alpha Flight because it feels an awful lot like those early 1980’s John Bryne Alpha Flight issues that a lot of comic fans are so nutso about.  It isn’t the best comic book story ever, but it hits the appropriate notes, explains who the various characters are and uses the “great beasts” mythology of Alpha Flight in a way that makes sense with Chaos War.

In some ways, it is actually hard to review this comic on its stand-alone merits because McCann leaves the team in a pretty tantalizing place: Marvel could totally bring this team back if they wanted to.  Considering the number of “meh” characters/teams that they’ve tried to give ongoing series to, why not just have Fred Van Lente write an Alpha Flight ongoing now that his time with Hercules is wrapping up?  I know Agents of Atlas is probably a bad example since it got canceled, but Alpha Flight would have to sell better than Atlas, right?

The art is serviceable and captures all the characters looking as they are supposed to.  The only quibble was that in a few panels Guardian looked a little too short and squat, but that’s a minor quibble.  Overall, I liked the art.

Incredible Hercules #136 – Review

By Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Reilly Brown (artist), Nelson DeCastro (inker), Guillem Mari & Ulises Areola (colorists)

The Story: As Queen Alfyse prepares to lead her kingdom to war against Asgard, the epic saga of Thorcules and Hercuthor ends the only way it can, with the bad boys of polytheism throwing down and giving each other the gift of battle!

The Good: This latest storyline is easily one of the finest crafted by Pak and Van Lente, and that’s high praise for a book that is telling consistently good stories month after month.  Part of what makes this comic, and this storyline in particular; so successful is that for the time being at least both Hercules and Thor have the benefit of being kept at a relatively safe distance from the mainstream Marvel universe.  Since neither character is currently mired in continuity they are both free to enjoy a certain degree of latitude, which the creative team takes full advantage of to great effect.  This issue sees the delightfully absurd premise of Hercules pretending to be Thor taken to its logical extreme as Thor does unto Herc what’s already been done to him.  Presumably this is done in order to somehow stem the tide of Queen Alfyse’s impending war, but we know the real reason is simply to give the guys a chance to beat on each other while wearing each other’s clothes, and oddly enough I am so okay with that.  The battle royal between Herc and Thor is as much a raucous comedy as it is an epic, glorious brawl, and you’ll find it hard not to chuckle as each champion resorts to a string of dirty tricks to best the other.  The best part is that you can still pick up this issue without having read the previous ones and still follow along just fine, and in my opinion that is one of the hallmarks of some great storytelling.  I would of course be remiss if I didn’t compliment Brown and the art team for brilliant rendering this tale of balderdash and bravura, as their efforts made every page a pleasure to take in and enjoy.

The Not So Good:  You’ll notice soon that the brawl between Hercules and Thor devolves into a series of progressively infantile jokes and will either find them to be thoroughly amusing or just a tad too juvenile and out of character.  You wouldn’t be wrong either way though, just be forewarned that this is not your typical superhero battle.  Then again, maybe that’s a good thing.

Conclusion:  Wow, what a damn good comic!  You can’t go wrong with picking up Incredible Hercules 136 this week.  Not to be missed!

Grade:  A

-Tony Rakittke

Incredible Hercules #134 – Review

By Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Reilly Brown (artist), Nelson DeCastro (inker), Guillem Mari (colors)

The Story: The Mighty Thorcules and his child-father Zeus continue their excellent adventure through the realms of Asgard, stopping along the way to give the gift of battle to a band of trolls, share double entendres with the queen of the dark elves, and find yet more ridiculously amusing ways to ruin their best laid plans.

The Good: Everything, I kid you not, but especially the fine folks making this comic.  With the addition of the art team of Brown, DeCastro, and Mari, I feel like Incredible Hercules has finally found the quality of talent it needs to bring to life the light-hearted kinds of stories Pak and Van Lente are knocking out of the ballpark month after month.  If every single person producing this book hasn’t yet been offered an exclusive contract, then Marvel is making a huge mistake, since they have the right people for this book. I’d love to see them all stay on it for as long as possible. That said, this continues to be a very funny comic, and while the rest of the Marvel Universe seems to be drowning in a sea of grim melodrama, I really appreciate that I can turn to this book to escape all the bleakness and simply have some fun.

The Not So Good: The only thing that slightly annoyed me with this issue was DeCastro’s heavy-handed inks, especially the way he seemed to outline characters thick, black lines.  This approach often made pages look like they were animation cels, which in turn made the overall story a little too cute and a little light-hearted at times.  If DeCastro would ease up a little on the ink, this would easily be corrected.  Even if he doesn’t though, I didn’t find it to be a big enough problem to detract from the story.

Conclusion: Incredible Hercules is a great book made even better with a  stellar creative team now firmly in place.  Longtime fans of the character, and anyone familiar with his rivalry with Thor, will surely bust a gut laughing throughout storyline. And judging from the last page, I’d say things are about to become funnier than ever.

Grade:  B+

-Tony Rakittke

Hulk Vs. Hercules: When Titans Clash #1 – Review

By Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Khoi Pham, Paul Neary, Dennis Calero, Eric Nguyen, Reilly Brown, Carlos Guevas, Terry Pallot, Chris Sotomayor, Bob Layton, and Guru EFX (artists)

I’m always wary of annuals, “Giant-Size” issues, and “One-Shots”. Usually if a story ends up in an annual it’s because it has no clear place in continuity, and can usually be safely ignored. (The exception is weddings. For some reason superheroes love to get married in annuals.) Plus the publishers usually pad the book out with reprints so they can charge a higher cover price. So I always think twice before I pick one up.

The Hulk Vs. Hercules one-shot seems to exist to serve as a sort of a bridge of the “Incredible” book from Hulk to Hercules. It starts with Amadeus Cho, Hercules, and Athena in a diner somewhere in the mid-west. When Hercules leaves the table to buy some beer, Athena asks Cho why he stopped helping the Hulk and now follows Hercules. Cho replies, “Because regular Hulk readers would buy the book by default, thereby increasing sales.” Just kidding! Cho’s answer is that during World War Hulk he recognized the Hulk’s true savagery and decided to switch his allegiance to someone more deserving of his friendship. This launches Athena into a rambling tale designed to show that Hercules is not the teddy bear he sometimes seems to be. Her story begins at the dawn of time, with the war between the Titans and the Olympians, moves to the recent past, with the Hulk fighting the Avengers, then on to a wresting match between Hercules and the Thing (nicely illustrated by Bob Layton), and culminates in a chaotic battle involving Hercules, the Hulk, the Olympians, the Titans, and a primal uber-god known as Demogorge, the God-Eater. Things get nasty, and Hercules gets a chance to demonstrate his inner barbarian. He may be better than the Hulk, Athena says, but Hercules can still be a monster.

All in all, it’s a decent story, but certainly not a turning point in the lives of any of the characters involved. So should you buy it (along with the Tales to Astonish reprint that fills the remaining pages)? Offhand, I’d say no, but a “special preview” insert seems to indicate that Demigorge (whom old-timers may remember from Thor Annual #10) will be coming back soon, so the story might be an important part of continuity after all. (Grade: C+)

– Andrew C. Murphy