Morbius The Living Vampire #2 – Review

By: Joe Keatinge (Writer), Richard Elson (Artist), Antonio Fabela (Colorist), Clayton Cowles (Letterer)

The Review: If it seems like a long time since the first issue of Morbius: The Living Vampire came out that’s because…well, it was. The most conspicuously late shipping book on Marvel’s slate at the moment is (of course) Uncanny Avengers, but Morbius has probably just nabbed second place – #2 has arrived just under two months since the title’s launch. And right now, that’s probably the most interesting thing about it…

Which is a shame.  Morbius, much like X-Men: Legacy, has positioned its minor league hero in a interesting place; a largely self-contained corner of the Marvel Universe where the character can develop at his own pace, carve a successful niche and, hopefully, garner a loyal critical and commercial following in the process. Instead it’s floundering, and floundering hard. With a fairly glum and uninteresting story, a cut-out cast of characters and a bland, detached art style it is, quite possibly, the worst book to yet come out of Marvel NOW.

Morbius The Living Vampire #1 – Review

By: Joe Keatinge (Writer), Richard Elson (Artist), Antonio Fabela (Colorist)

The Story: Morbius gets to Brownsville and try to explain his choice to himself while he gets in big trouble with the locals there.

The Review: Suspension of disbelief is a wonderful thing in comics. It is something that makes us forget the fact that most things we see in superheroes adventures are impossible, making us enjoy the sheer concepts and thoughts behind them. It can also make us forgive some small plot holes in favor of how some situations or characters could develop. Truly, it is a marvelous thing. However, there are some times when the suspension of disbelief of readers can be stretched too much, leading to severe plot holes or inconsistency in character or continuity which can hinder the work done by a creative team on some book.

This is unfortunately the case in the first issue of Morbius’ adventures, as there are several actions done by the main character and his entourage that makes absolutely no sense at all considering the background of Morbius the living vampire.

Amazing Spider-Man #698 – Review

By: Dan Slott (writer), Richard Elson (art), Antonio Fabela (colors), Chris Eliopoulos (letters), Ellie Pyle (assistant editor) & Stephen Wacker (editor)

The Story: It’s like Freaky Friday except that one of the bodies isn’t very healthy.

Review (with SPOILER): This issue troubles me as a comic fan/reader/reviewer.  It’s no secret that I’ve been drifting away from the Big 2 superhero comics for a period of time because I get sick of the sameness of it all.  It’s like watching a dog chasing its tail most of the time.  Yet, when a comic does something new as in this issue, I kinda yawn and say, “Big deal….”

1). This is something new. – Has a super-villain ever swapped consciousnesses with Peter Parker before?  Not only does it raise questions about Peter and when precisely did this happen, but it is interesting from the perspective of Doc Ock.  His downward spiral over the last 3-4 years of comics has been interesting to watch.  In an era where there are way too many 6-issue story arcs that have nothing to do with each other, it’s kinda refreshing to see a 100+ issues of comics have a coherent story thread.  This is what we say we want.

Journey Into Mystery #634

Written by Kieron Gillen, Art by Richard Elson, Colored by Jessica Kholinne

The Story: So where did all that fear stuff go when the serpent died? Why, into Loki’s head of course!

The Writing: Kieron Gillen might just be Marvel’s best writer. Might be a bold statement, but anyone reading Journey Into Mystery and not feeling that way needs to question why they read comics in the first place. While I don’t agree with every choice he’s made in Uncanny X-Men, he’s still one of the best. Journey is simply the best place to see his talent unfold. This particular issue is brimming with awesomeness. From the conflict between Loki and Son of Satan to the journey through Loki’s nightmare–and even Thori gets a wonderful scene. What sets Journey apart from every other comic is that it doesn’t feel like any other comic out there. I think the closed is Unwritten, With this issue, he uses the comic’s own unique voice to set it apart from even its own series. Gillen gets really creative in this issue, but it never comes off as gimmicky. In fact, when Loki is telling the captions to shut up, instead of coming off silly, you really feel like this is completely natural in Loki’s nightmare and must stop.  The series so far is–well, it’s like Crime and Punishment. Crime and Punishment is divided into 6 parts. The crime takes place in part 1. The next 5 parts are all punishment. Well, so far we’re 4 or 5 issues after his actions in Fear Itself have concluded, and he’s still having to deal with all the choices he made–and this punishment doesn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon. There’s the coming crossover Exiled with New Mutants in May, and there’s that little matter of Sutur being freed. It’s like watching a “kid playing hero” learning that there is more work to do after saving the day. Hopefully this series has a long, healthy life, Loki and Gillen deserve it.

Journey Into Mystery #630 – Review

By: Kieron Gillen (writer), Richard Elson (artist), Jessica Kholinne of IFS (colors), John Denning (assistant editor), Lauren Sankovitch (editor)

The Story: As the great battle event Fear Itself played across the Marvel Universe, Volstagg seemed to be MIA. Where was he? This issue tells us and gives a bit of emotional perspective on the Fear Itself event from a couple of key participants.

The Review: This issue is half buddy picture (Loki and Volstagg) and half Asgardian Uncle Buck (Volstagg) played by John Candy at his best. Heimdall opens the book saying “Asgard’s greatest weapon, the missing Destroyer, is brought back by its thieves.” Who would do that? Enter Loki and Volstagg, playing the classic fat-guy/skinny-guy dynamic with the secrets they both have to hide after the death of Thor and the end of Fear Itself. The amount of personality in the writing and in the art between these two is awesome. Loki is a natural scene stealer (aren’t most trickster gods?) and his efforts to get Volstagg out of a hole are heroically comic. And streetwise, affable Volstagg gets to be the responsible one of the two and deliver some great emotional moments that readers need to ease out of the Fear Itself event. However powerful that first scene, it is Volstagg’s homecoming which ends up stealing the heart of the issue, with what he tells his children, his wife and himself about what has happened. Multiple reveals. Multiple emotional hits for the reader. Multiple moments of growth for different characters. Good story-telling