Thor #606 – Review

by Kieron Guillen (writer), Billy Tan (pencils & inks), Batt (inks), John Raunch & Paul Mounts (colors), and Joe Sabino (letters)

The Story: Thor battles the Doom-controlled Destroyer and Balder ventures into the Latverian dictator’s secret lab.

What’s Good: Guillen has done such a fantastic job in writing a comic so seamlessly linked to Straczynski’s work, if it wasn’t for the name on the cover, it feels like JMS himself actually penned it.  Given that this issue is meant to conclude  JMS’ run and tie up the loose ends, that’s a pretty big compliment.  It feels like an organic point of closure for the series and serves its purpose as a gesture to Thor’s re-integration into the larger stories of the Marvel universe.

Everything feels perfectly paced; I wasn’t left feeling that any of the major players had been brushed over or used merely as means to an end, nor did any scenes, narrative components, or subplots feel stretched or rushed.  Each conflict is more or less resolved in good, if expected, form and there really aren’t any needlessly dangling moments or deus ex machina troubles.

Guillen’s also proven that he can write some damned good bad guys.  Though a little more restrained this month, he continues to write a fantastic Dr. Doom.  Guillen has the balance of inferiority complex and arrogance down perfectly, without letting one overpower the other.  Doom never feels overpowered, nor does he feel like a whiny weakling.  He’s Doom.  Pure and simple.  Even when seemingly outdone, the issue also ends with a bit of a cliffhanger that is the specific kind of awesome that only Doom can deliver.

Loki is also as volatile and inconsistent as ever under Guillen’s hand.  At one moment, he’s working in complete cooperation with his fellow Asgardians, being a team player without being sycophantic.  Then, on the turn of a dime, he’s back to his plotting as one of the Marvel Universe’s key unsavory figures.  This night-and-day approach by Guillen is the perfect method for portraying the deceptive trickster’s nature.

Meanwhile, Balder has perhaps his most sobering moment and decision since Thor’s exile.  Guilt-ridden and increasingly conscious of the weight of the crown and, interestingly, his legacy, Balder is more intriguing a character than ever.  Guillen actually made Balder, a character I’ve at times found rather mediocre, compelling.

Finally, though I can’t remember being much of a fan of Billy Tan’s, his work on this arc has been nothing but stellar, and that remains here.  His action scenes are bombastic and loud, as befits an Asgardian comic and his Destroyer looks fantastic.

Dark Avengers #13 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Mike Deodato (art), Rain Beredo (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: The rather unpleasant back-story of the Sentry is revealed and reviewed.

What’s Good: Character-driven issues always bring a particular set of strengths.  They’re usually a bit of a denser read, and Dark Avengers #13 certainly reflects this trend.

Bendis turns a great deal of attention to the Sentry’s wife, a character largely present in Dark Avengers as an inanimate object.  I do feel that he managed to garner an appropriate amount of sympathy for the character and was able to get some strong emotions out of her.  He almost made me actually care about her, which given her status throughout the series, should be outright impossible.  All told, her narration is solid, carrying an acidic tone that is a pitch-perfect mix of guilt, bitterness, and skepticism.

Of course, the best bit of dialogue is no doubt the back and forth between the Void and Bob.  It’s very well-done, with the Void achieving a sort of malevolent sentience that we’ve not really seen out of Dark Avengers thus far.  Bob’s schizophrenic circumstances are really well realized, with the back and forth between him and the Void being turbulent and violent and the distinction between the two of them being stark and poignant.

It is also worth mentioning that this is some of the best work we’ve seen from Deodato.  He goes all out in some really bombastic superheroic images.  He also makes absolutely fantastic use of lighting and his illustrations really, really help depict the Bob/Void opposition.  The Void, when in control of the Sentry, is a flaming demonic mess, while Bob looks nearly child-like in his innocent facial expressions.

Siege #1 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Olivier Coipel (pencils), Mark Morales (inks), Laura Martin (colors), and Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

The Story: Norman Osborn finds his reason to begin his assault on Asgard.

What’s Good: This is some really impressive, massive work by Coipel and Martin.  The art here is gorgeous and some of the best stuff I’ve seen from Coipel.  The assault on Asgard, with its horde of fighter jets, is truly impressive and the mandatory explosions look great.  The book is maintains the “high budget” feel a book like this requires.

Perhaps unexpectedly, the most enjoyably written character in this first issue is actually Ares.  His disagreement with Osborn and the generally badass way Coipel illustrates is a blast (he rides into battle on a fighter jet, bent on one knee).  It’s clear Bendis wants this to be a war comic, and he’s placed Ares in the General position.  The result is a nice fusion of modern combat and ye olde fantasy heroism (the obligatory motivational speech in front of a horde of cheering warriors).  Seeing Ares lead modern HAMMER troops and superheroes as though they were Camelot’s finest is a lot of fun.

Beyond that, Bendis seems to want to make this issue, and this event, as straightforward as possible.  At the very least, you’re guaranteed not to get the sort of convoluted mess that other recent events have devolved into.

Thor #605 – Review

by Kieron Guillen (writer), Billy Tan (pencils), Batt (inks), Christina Strain, Emily Warren, & Paul Mounts (colors), and Joe Sabino (letters)

The Story: Thor confronts Doom, only to discover the Latverian dictator’s pet project.

What’s Good: Billy Tan is putting out the work of his life on this comic.  I’ve never really been a big fan of his, but this is fantastic, cinematic stuff with a really slick, “high budget” feel.  There’s a lot of detail, a lot of big, flashy images, and Doom’s creations look all kinds of awesome.  Also, while it’s thanks to a combined effort by Tan, Batt, Strain, Warren, and Mounts, the issue does wondrous things in its combinations of light and dark.  The team does “night in Latveria” really well.  Everything feels inky black, navy blue at best, while Thor’s flashes of lightning and the torrential rain really sets the mood and only highlights Tan’s already impressive work.  Tan also draws a deceptively “nice guy” Loki.  It’s a joy just to flip through this book.

Dark Avengers #12 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Mike Deodato & Greg Horn (art), Rain Beredo (colors), and Cory Petit (letters)

The Story: Victoria Hand tries to negotiate with Molecule Man.

What’s Good: Much of what made last month’s issue good is furthered this month.  Molecule Man in particular continues to be written well by Bendis.  He’s a bizarre concoction of social ineptitude that ends up sounding oddly child-like.  At times, he sounds innocent in his inability to converse, and at other times, he’s violently petulant.

Once again though, the real star is Victoria Hand. Bendis has made the most of what may appear to be a “filler arc” by using it to make a fully developed character out of her.  Bendis thrusts her into the middle of the action this month and we see her slowly settling into a leadership role and using her natural intelligence to get by.  Nonetheless, Bendis makes it clear that this is new territory for the character; she stutters during her negotiations with Reese, despite her tactics being sound.  The real moment this month for Hand, though, comes with her finally standing up to Osborn and asserting herself.  She makes demands of Osborn and becomes the first character to actually force Osborn to face up to his limitations and his history.  The fact that Bendis has given the up till now characterless Hand the personality to make this  believable in just a couple of issues is testament to his success with the character this month.

Thor #604 – Review

by Kieron Gillen (writer), Billy Tan (pencils), Batt (inks), Christina Strain (colors), and Joe Sabino (letters)

The Story: Balder begins his war with Doom, as the Latverian dictator’s experiments stand revealed.

What’s Good: Gillen and Tan have a very unenviable task in following one of the greatest Thor runs of all time.  Thankfully, Gillen tries his best to work in the spirit of JMS’ final few issues.   There are no problematic shifts in character voices.  Balder and Loki in particular remain just as sound as ever.  If anything, Loki seems a little less sinister and a little sleazier under Gillen’s hand.  His manipulations are just a little more blunt and obvious, but for the time being, it works given the circumstances.

Gillen also gets the award for writing the most arrogant and pompous Doom of the month.  At times it’s a little over-the-top, but ultimately, Gillen successfully straddles the line between badass and campy. Gillen’s Doom is a vibrant, scenery-chewing read and really dominates every page he appears on.

In the meantime, there’s a rather humorous Fantastic Four cameo in the book that got a smile out of me and I actually felt Gillen’s Balder to be an improvement over JMS’ portrayal of the character over the past few issues.  While still a far cry from Reed Richards, Balder actually isn’t a dumbass under Gillen’s pen, despite maintaining his standard heroic shtick.

On art, this is some of the best work I’ve seen Billy Tan produce in some time and is head and shoulders over his recent New Avengers work.  It’s clear that Tan put absolutely everything he had into this issue.  It is easily up to the standard that Coipell and Djurdjevic have set for the series.  It’s very detailed, while maintaining a dark and epic atmosphere and mystique.  Tan’s effort is close to faultless and superior to Djurdjevic’s rushed work last week.  Despite my concern, if Tan can maintain the quality he showed this month, he was definitely the right man for the job.  Also, his illustrations of Doom’s “experiments” are fantastic.

What’s Not So Good: I was nothing less than irate over Gillen’s treatment of one of JMS’ original characters.  In my review of last week’s finale, I stated that JMS’ massive change in direction for this character was perhaps the most interesting strand he left open at the end of his run.  Gillen, however, seemed to have nothing for the character and so, decides to kill said character off.  He basically took one of the most interesting dangling plots that JMS left behind and completely snuffed it out.  The fact that he does this in literally the very first scene of the book is nothing less than insulting.

Even if the character isn’t dead, it doesn’t change the fact that Gillen has placed the character in a passive position of distress, in need of being saved.  This would be a massive step backward from the terrifyingly pro-active state JMS left the character in.

Other than that, Doom, while enjoyable, does refer to himself in the third person a little too much.  Also, there’s a bit of dialogue where Donald Blake essentially out-thinks Reed Richards.  That Reed would not be able to figure out a basic line of reasoning, especially one related to technology, is ridiculous.

Finally, in an effort to convey Jane’s shadowed surroundings, colorist Christina Strain somehow manages to change poor Jane’s ethnicity.  I had no idea Dr. Foster was Hispanic.

Conclusion: It’s far from the horrific drop-off some predicted, but there are some small glitches and the character death is absolutely unforgivable.

Grade: C+

-Alex Evans

Siege: The Cabal #1 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Michael Lark (pencils), Stefano Gaudiano (inks), Matt Hollingsworth (colors), and Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

The Story: The Cabal implodes and lines are drawn.

What’s Good: The issue’s strongest point is its characterization.  Dr. Doom is written well by Bendis.  He’s the same absurd bad guy who insists on referring to himself in the third person. but, as usual, Doom backs all that egotism up in a big way.  In this issue, his self-righteousness and arrogance actually make him feel somewhat jarring as a character, unrealistic even, yet Bendis’ display of Doom’s power validates it.  Doom feels like he doesn’t belong because he doesn’t; he functions on a different level from Osborn.  He’s the all powerful, cackling old school villain while Osborn is something more convoluted and modern and Bendis’ depiction of this collision is well-played.

Speaking of Osborn, Bendis does a fantastic job on him as well.  Compared to Doom, Osborn actually sounds realistic; a scary thing, when Bendis essentially cements this month that Osborn’s sanity is bound to implode any day now.  The fact that Osborn’s fear of the Asgardians is based largely on advice from the Green freaking Goblin is evidence of that, and it also makes for a fantastically written conversation.

Overall though, this issues functions just as it should, truly feeling like the beginning of a slow collapse, as Norman’s finally confronted by limitations to his power. Publically, he’s reminded that he isn’t the President of the United States.  Privately, he’s bitten off more than he can chew with Doom.  And he seems to be in denial on both these points.  In probably the most beautiful bit of dialogue in the issue, he accosts Doom for making a “huge, dumb, arrogant mistake.”  When I first read that line, I thought Osborn was speaking of himself and apologizing to Victor.

Art-wise, there’s absolutely nothing to complain here.  With his signature dark, scratchy feel, Lark ably captures the action and the tense conversations with ease.  It’s a good looking book, and I couldn’t expect much more.

What’s Not So Good: For the start of Marvel’s last major event for the foreseeable future, I expected the start to have a bit more of a bang to it.  A character death perhaps, or at least a major event that leaves some sort of irreparable damage.  That I didn’t get either was a bit disappointing.

And it’s not like Bendis didn’t have his opportunities, he just seemed hell-bent on holding himself back.  Take for example the attack on Avenger’s Tower, which basically sparks off the Siege event.  There’s a beautiful illustration by Michael Lark that makes it look as though the Tower itself is on the verge of collapse, as though it were being eaten away.  I loved the idea of the Tower being destroyed.  I mean, damn, that is a way to start an event!  Of course, a couple pages later, and Norman’s back in his office and the Tower is just fine.

Well, at least Bendis can fulfill the promises Marvel has laid out in its ads and solicitations for this issue by revealing his secret partner, right?  Of course not.  Instead, we just get some glowy, vaguely humanoid shape letting loose with a couple of energy blasts with no major hint as to his/her/its identity. Great…

Bendis puts all the characters where he wants them and does what he needs to do to get an event started, but he just doesn’t bother to shoot any higher.

Conclusion: It’s an entertaining issue with very solid character work, but it could’ve been more.

Grade: B –

-Alex Evans

Thor: Defining Moments Review

by J. Michael Straczynski (writer), Marko Djurdjevic (pencils & inks), Danny Miki & Allen Martinez (inks), Christina Strain (colors), and Joe  Sabino (letters)

The Story: Bill’s final fate is determined while Sif and the Warriors Three battle the doombots.

What’s Good: If you approach this book as just another 22-page issue of JMS’ run on Thor, it really is pretty solid and is consistent with the series’ quality as of late, at least as far as the writing is concerned.  It’s also got a couple of moments that’ll have you saying “hell yeah.”

Chief among these scenes is one involving a very angry and very naked Volstagg that is a perfect combination of comedy and pure awesome.  It is, of course, that same combination that defines the character himself.  The sequence is outrageously badass, but maintains Volstagg’s characteristic charm.  Oh, and Hogun and Fandral are absolutely on fire this month with the fat jokes.

Most readers are probably coming to this issue most concerned about the fate of Bill.  At first, it’s hard not to be a little disappointed.  That said, if you expected him to scream “I HAVE THE POWER,” turn into a god, and battle Doom, you’ll be sorely disappointed, but really, such an ending would be just a little stupid.

Instead, Bill’s ending is the best he can manage by just being Bill, and so Straczynski maintains the integrity of the character and his sub-plot.  Make no mistake, he is a hero and, ultimately, he is accepted as an Asgardian, but he does so without abandoning his humble roots or acquiring superhuman powers.  Bill’s tale has always been about being a mortal, a little guy in a world suddenly populated by the very large.  Bill’s fate is only so poignant because JMS retains this theme; Bill remains that little guy, but even so, he manages become a hero among the biggest of the bigs.

Meanwhile, JMS leaves us hanging regarding Kelda.  I think we all suspected she was more powerful than she let on, and now we’re going to see that in action.

What’s Not So Good: It’s hard not to be a little underwhelmed by this issue.  JMS’ run has had such an epic quality, that it’s hard not to expect his final issue to be grander.  What we get isn’t really any sort of massive flourish or cataclysmic ending.  Rather, we just get another solid JMS issue that simply lives up to the quality of his previous issues, no more and no less.   This final issue really has no feeling of closure and though the cover may say “finale,” that’s not what we’ve gotten.  That said, the issue also didn’t contain the sort of “hot potato” landmark shift in status quo that writers often leave off their runs with.  Ultimately, this feels like the last issue of a story arc, but certainly not the last issue of a run.

Finally, this may be the worst looking issue of Thor that Djurdjevic has drawn.  While the art is by no means unbearable, it’s weak by the standards Djurdjevic and Coipel have set for the series.  It reeks of an artist desperately trying to make a deadline.  The level of detail continually falters, with many of the more zoomed out shots and smaller panels suffering a great deal.  There are also a few panels where Donald Blake looks like a substantially younger version of himself.  Having three different inkers on the book also certainly didn’t help, making the book feel even messier with its details even more in question.  It makes the book feel sloppy, chaotic even.

Conclusion: It’s a strong issue of Thor, but it’s not the “finale” it claims itself to be.

Grade: B

-Alex Evans