Journey Into Mystery #652 – Review

By: Kathryn Immonen (Writer) Valerio Schitti (Artist), Jordie Bellaire (Colorist)

The Story: Gaea, one of the All-Mothers of Asgardia, fall prey to a strange sickness and needs to be quarantined away from Earth and Asgardia for the time being.

The Review: It seems that Kathryn Immonen does not want us to see her coming miles away when writing her stories. With her first arc being about Sif beating monsters among other things as she explore her more brutal side with some surprising introspection put in and her one-shot issue being not so much about her, I thought I could potentially see what would be coming in this issue.

As it turns out, I was wrong. Thinking that this would follow a pattern where we’d see some new vision or new twist on the Marvel Asgardian mythology with some nice action thrown in for good measure. Well, we don’t get that here, not even by a long shot, as there’s close to no action to be found.

Nova #4 – Review

By: Jeph Loeb (Writer), Ed McGuinness (Penciler), Dexter Vines (Inker), Marte Gracia (Colorist), Comicraft’s Albert Deschesne (Letterer)

Review: It’s a mystery to me quite how this happened, but Nova is undoubtedly the best cosmic book Marvel currently publish – this issue seals it. I never expected that from Loeb. I thought this’d be a big, dumb, brash piece of fluff – and it is, I guess – but it’s also filled with the fun of sci-fi, of explosions in space, of weird aliens aboard even weirder ships. Guardians of the Galaxy could learn a lot from this.

This issue starts with out with Sam Alexander, AKA Nova, apparently unconscious, left drifting through space at the mercy of the incoming Chitauri armada. Just as they’re about to scoop him up he blasts away with a glib cry (“Suckers!”) and weaves through the Alien hordes before crashing into the mothership: “All I have to do is find the generator or the power core or the thingy thing that runs this beast – and problem solved – Nova style.”

Iron Man #9 – Review

By: Kieron Gillen (Writer), Dale Eaglesham (Artist), Guru eFX (Colorist), VC’s Joe Caramagna (Letterer)

Review: I’d call this issue a return to form if, as has sadly not been the case, any previously appreciable ‘form’ had yet been enjoyed during Gillen’s Iron Man run. It’s just lacked something. Greg Land’s artwork has been a sticking point for many (though I thought some of the criticism was unnecessarily harsh) but really it’s the stories that have failed to ignite. Unlike, say, Matt Fraction’s one-two punch of opening awesome on Invincible Iron Man (with The Five Nightmares followed sharply by World’s Most Wanted), there’s been nothing so far to convincingly set the series’ tone. When part of a new series sees its main character relocated to Space, yet still fails to achieve distinction? That’s when you know there’s a problem.

Iron Man #7 – Review

By: Kieron Gillen (Writer), Greg Land (Penciler), Jay Leisten (Inkers), Guru eFX(Colorist), VC’S Joe Caramagna (Letterer)

The Review: Would you feel cheated to pick up this latest issue of Iron Man only to find that Tony doesn’t once put on the armour? That’s like an issue of Batman where Bruce Wayne just flounces around doing business deals and the odd bit of Batarang sharpening – which is to say, kinda lame. Well, that’s what you get here. Locked up in space awaiting trial for Deicide, Tony spends this issue just being Tony. In Space. This issue bases its defence around the hope that its setting will provide enough variation and excitement to make you forget that there’s otherwise very little of note going on. Does it have a convincing case? On that, your honour, I’ll plead the Fifth.

Secret Invasion: War of Kings – Review

By Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (Writers), Paul Pelletier & Bong Dazo (Pencils), Rick Magyar & Joe Pimentel (Inks), and Wil Quintana & Mike Kelleher (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Guardians of the Galaxy #8 definitely piqued my interest in the War of Kings. In addition, the Inhumans mini-series that tied into the Secret Invasion left me wondering about how Black Bolt and company would carry on in the aftermath of the Skrull’s plot. However, I figured it’d be probably worth checking out seeing as how the War of Kings one-shot is helmed by the creative team behind the excellent Guardians series and tells a story about the Inhumans.

The Story: Secret Invasion: War of Kings takes place in the aftermath of the Skrull invasion. With Black Bolt back as the driving force behind the Inhumans, the Kree science projects decide to finally take the fight to those that have wronged them. The Skrulls, the Kree, and the Shi’ar Empire all get a taste of what’s to come in a one-shot that provides all the action and exposition necessary to get readers ready for the War of Kings.

What’s Good: As cool as the Secret Invasion tie-in was at times (loved the way Black Bolt dispatched of his Skrull torturer), I never really “got” why many consider the Inhumans to be so cool. Now I do. They re-establish themselves in a big way throughout the action-packed (extremely colorful) one-shot and it definitely leaves me wanting more. Long story short, I’ve got to hand it to Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning for getting me hooked on an event I had almost zero interest in less than a month ago.

What’s Not So Good: The Inhuman Crystal’s narration throughout the book comes off as a bit too melodramatic and heavy handed for my taste. While I understand that the new Inhuman status quo is literally shaking the group to its very core, a little bit more subtlety would have been welcome. Also, while the artwork looks quite well-done for the most part, it suffers from an annoying lack of detail from time to time. And that’s something I find quite surprising considering the impressive work most of the team has done on the Guardians of the Galaxy series.

Conclusion: Secret Invasion: War of Kings works as an entertaining, action-packed prologue to the War of Kings event. While it has a few flaws, I really enjoyed my time with it. If you are a fan of the Inhumans or are thinking of investing in the cosmic crossover, consider it a must read.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny

Guardians of the Galaxy #8 – Review

By Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (Writers), Brad Walker (Pencils), Victor Olazaba (Inks), and Wil Quintana (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I knew it was going to happen sooner than later, but I’m still a bit disappointed by the big War of Kings banner on top of the eighth issue of one of my favorites. You see, the Guardians are really the only cosmic characters I have any interest in (though I may check out the new Inhumans series based on the strength of the Secret Invasion story) and I have very little drive to play catch-up with the bigger picture of the space portion of the Marvel universe. Oh, well. I guess I’ll give the Secret Invasion: War of Kings one-shot coming out on Wednesday a read and use that (along with GotG #8) to evaluate whether it will be worth investing in the latest cosmic crossover.

The Story: Star-Lord goes to Hala to evaluate and investigate how the Kree have responded to the Skrull invasion. He ends up trading barbs and fists with Ronan the Accuser, a fight that leads to the predicament seen at the end of the last issue. Meanwhile, the “new” Guardians continue to battle the Badoon and Adam Warlock takes the fight to the Church of Universal Truth with the help of Gamora.

What’s Good: I have to hand it to Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning for really drawing me into the bigger events at play in a corner of the Marvel U. that I am less than familiar with. While I have no investment in (and little knowledge of) the Kree, Blastaar, or the aftermath of either Annihilation event, the efficient, witty dialogue quickly got me up to speed. No small feat considering we’re talking about years of continuity. Also good about Guardians of the Galaxy #8 is the quality artwork and enjoyable characters (but you probably already knew that).

What’s Not So Good: The only thing that took away from my overall enjoyment of the issue (besides some gaps in my knowledge of continuity) is the artwork. While it looks great for the most part, it also looks a bit different from what I am used to. The characters just don’t look as lively or vibrant as they do when drawn by Paul Pelletier and inked by Rick Magyar.

Conclusion: High marks all around for the first GotG tie-in for the War of Kings, especially considering how I initially approached the issue with quite a bit of hesitation. Now, in addition to looking forward to more of the usual Guardians goodness, I find myself more interested in the cosmic War than I had ever thought possible. Not sure if my wallet is particularly happy about that fact…

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny