Ultimate Comics Ultimates #22 – Review

By: Sam Humphries (Writer), Joe Bennett (Penciler), Ruy José (Inker), Matt Milla (Colorist), VC’s Clayton Cowles (Letterer)

Review: I have trouble sleeping some nights. It’s this recurring dream I have: every comic writer I’ve ever trashed in print lines up and takes turns kicking me right in the nuts. On and on it goes. Brian Wood’s been getting a few jabs in there lately. Joe Keatinge nearly took ‘em clean off the other week. But even in the grip of deep sleep my body physically convulses when Ultimates writer Sam Humphries steps up to the plate; by Christ, that man must be able to power a Pedalo at an impressive rate of knots with those well-developed calves. And that’s not even the half of it. I always know that at the back of the queue stands Jeph Loeb, a &$@!-eating grin on his face and steel-toed,  rocket-powered boots on his feet. Bring it on Loeb, I’ve had worse; I read Ultimatum…twice.

Avengers Academy #14 – Review

By: Christos Gage (writer), Sean Chen (penciller), Scott Hanna (inker), Jeromy Cox (colorist), John Denning (assistant editor), Bill Rosemann (editor)

The Story: Electro attacks France’s main science institute while most of the full-fledged Avengers are away. The kids need a chance to prove themselves and Electro isn’t the baddest guy in town. When they get there, though, it turns out he ain’t alone. The kids don’t do too bad, though, all things considered.

What’s Good: Gage did one thing every great writer must do. He made the heroes active. They wanted something. They wanted it bad, and we the reader can sympathize: they want to prove themselves. They’re not asking for a free lunch. Just put me in the game coach. I like them already. This situation also creates a lot of tension, because when has any battle plan survived contact with the enemy? I love how well the trainees do against the Sinister Six and I have to say, I really like the ending. For a while, when I saw how they got the bad press and all, I was thinking “Oh great. Another thin persecution story. Seen it.” But Gage tricked me. That wasn’t the end. The end was about stepping up to the plate morally that was the big climax of the book. The fight, for all that it was a great superhero donnybrook, was really just a plot device to get to the personal growth made by a surprising number of people at the end. What am I saying about the writing? Gage was right on target.

And, I have to say, after my first exposure to the Chen-Hanna-Cox team, I’m loving the art. The fine lines leave a lot of room to fill the panels with detail, which I love. The credit page is a pretty good example of this. From top to bottom, the big panel is brimming with the external accoutrements of the Avengers Mansion, the backgrounded and framing characters, the tight line of those arguing, with some intense Giant-Man action thrown in as background. That is visual storytelling! And Cox’ colors are beautiful and clear, with the bright spots attracting the eye to the important parts of the page. I also enjoyed Chen’s slanting camera angles and overlaid panels. His layouts and choices of borders (or not) kept the pages from ever feeling the same. Chen and team made it feel like there was so much action going on that it could only be layered. And a PS: I loved the texture of Reptile and Rhino when they slapped down.

Mighty Avengers #31 – Review

By Dan Slott & Christos Gage (writers), Sean Chen (artist), Yeung & Morales (inkers), John Rauch (colors)

Well, it’s now five months later and the best I can say for this story is that it’s finally over.  Thank. Freaking. God.  With “The Unspoken”, I feel that Mighty Avengers has hit something of a sophomore slump.  I finally gave up on this issue, and the overall storyline, about halfway through when, during a giant-sized fight with the Unspoken, Pym says “You’ve chosen to spend your time wallowing in past mistakes…not learning from them and moving on.”  I thought this was terribly apropos as it’s exactly what Slott and Gage have done.  These are both smart guys and good writers, and yet their sprawling story was exactly the kind of uninspired, MacGuffin-driven nonsense that was in style back in the 70s.  I’d like the think the bar in storytelling has risen considerably higher since those halcyon days, and yet this story utterly failed to become anything more than a less-than-average potboiler.

This story more or less seems to have been hatched for no other reason than to bring the various Avengers teams together for the upcoming ‘Siege’ storyline.  There is some value to this decision, as it was truly entertaining to see characters from the Initiative, New, and Mighty Avengers interacting with each other.  However, considering what a non-threat the Unspoken turned out to be, (which was a shame considering how much time the writers spent building him up to be a Serious Villain) and the disappointing way the Xerogen gas was finally resolved (really, Pym?  That was your great solution?  Kind of a buzzkill for the guy Eternity named Earth’s Scientist Supreme), I almost wish Pym would have called up the other teams and invited them over for beers and Xbox since it would have achieved the same goal, been just as entertaining, and taken up a fraction of the issues.

Despite an incredibly uninteresting, disappointing storyline, culminating in this issue that proved to be too little too late, I nonetheless feel like this book is headed in a direction that’s going to pay off in a big way down the road. Of the crop of Avengers books being published right now, this is the one that keeps me coming back month after month because I believe in its potential, even when the comic doesn’t live up to it.

Grade: D

-Tony Rakittke

 



Avengers: The Initiative #25 (Dark Reign) – Capsule Review

By Christos N. Gage (Writer), Humberto Ramos (Art), and Edgar Delgado (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I’ve been enjoying the transition that’s taken place as Avengers: The Initiative heads full force into Dark Reign. That said, I’m pretty glad that the latest issue of the series finally marks the end of the transition…it’ll be interesting to see how the series fares with a new status quo.

The Story: The Initiative program is reborn under Norman Osborn. The new bosses? They aren’t the same as the old ones! Avengers: The Initiative #25 is all about establishing the future, if there is a future, for many of the regular Initiative cast members.

What’s Good And What’s Not So Good: The latest issue of The Initiative, while a bit slow and wordy, packs more of an emotional punch than I had expected. And that’s because of the tricky situations the Initiative members find themselves in. Thanks to the strong handle that Christos N. Gage has on the various personalities that make up his large cast though, Avengers: The Initiative #25 reads very well for a comic that’s so heavy on text. Norman Osborn’s scenes (one of which could be seen as very controversial) are a particular highlight as the character’s chilling dialogue is written in a way that feels just right.

As for the artwork, Edgar Delgado’s muted color choices go a long way towards helping Humberto Ramos’ lively, animated style fit the story being told. Considering the tone of most of Gage’s script, Ramos’ work could have easily come across as completely inappropriate. Instead, the visuals in Avengers: The Initiative #25, while not perfect, work far better than you might think.

Conclusion: The creative team behind The Initiative handles a necessary transition in a natural, entertaining, and surprisingly emotional manner.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny

Avengers: The Initiative #23 (Dark Reign) – Review

By Christos N. Gage (Writer), Humberto Ramos (Art), and Edgar Delgado (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Avengers: The Initiative is almost always a sure thing as far as quality is concerned. Nearly every issue feels like a trip to a giant Marvel sandbox filled with all sorts of different characters. While recent issues have not been all that new reader friendly, the series is strong enough that I have no problem saying that it’s well worth taking the time to catch up with things if you are at all interested in jumping on board.

The Story: Camp Hammond is under fire as controversy rages. With the cover-up of Michael Van Patrick’s death now out in the open and part of a major city in shambles, the Initiative’s future looks shaky. Meanwhile, the Shadow Initiative finds Hydra operating in Madripoor and soon learns that things are more serious than initially believed.

What’s Good: Avengers: The Initiative #23 scores big points for simultaneously dealing with both the past and the future in a successful manner. It ties up loose plot threads that have been lingering for quite some time, while dragging the Initiative fully into the Dark Reign period of the Marvel universe. Fans of the series, both new and old, should find something a lot to like.

Christos N. Gage’s writing is very good throughout the issue. He effectively captures the transition of the Initiative through some fantastic character work. As for the artwork, Humberto Ramos and Edgar Delgado do a very nice job capturing the tone of the time and the emotional ride the various cast members are going through.

What’s Not So Good: As a long time fan of the series, I couldn’t be much happier with issue 23. That said, the comic isn’t perfect. A few of the scenes suffer from awkward visuals and, in some ways, the Shadow Initiative storyline seems sort of shoehorned into the plot until the last few pages. It seems like it might have been better off in another issue because both storylines in the issue suffer from breaks in momentum as the focus shifts back and forth.

Conclusion: Avengers: The Initiative #23 is just an extremely solid comic book all around. I highly recommend it, especially if you have been a fan of the series for a while.

Grade: B+

-Kyle Posluszny

Avengers: The Initiative #20 (Dark Reign) – Review

By Dan Slott & Christos N. Gage (Writers), Steve Kurth (Pencils), Drew Hennessey (Inks), and Matt Milla (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Avengers: The Initiative #20 marks the end of Dan Slott’s run with the series. While it’s a bit sad to see him go considering how consistently entertaining the series has been since the very beginning, I have no doubt that Slott’s writing partner, Christos Gage, will effortlessly continue to carry the torch as The Initiative heads into Dark Reign. Time to find out if Slott leaves the series with a bang or a whimper.

The Story: The twentieth issue of Avengers: The Initiative is all about setting a course for the future while addressing a few things from the past. Translation? There is a hell of a lot going on at Camp Hammond. Here is just a taste of some of the plot points dealt with in the book: Hank Pym confronts the loss of his wife and his absence head on, the Shadow Initiative gets a new mission and a new leader as the identity of Mutant Zero is finally revealed, the Skrull Kill Krew deals with the consequences of its actions, and Ant-Man gets something of a promotion. There are a few more plot points as well, but I don’t want to mention everything in order to avoid spoilers.

What’s Good: As usual, Dan Slott and Christos Gage do a fantastic job juggling a cast of dozens without missing a beat. I could go on and on about the character work, but if you have been following the series (or have read another of my reviews for the series), you know how good the writers can be. And they are at the top of their game in this one. Couple all that good stuff with several intriguing plot developments and you have one heck of a good read.

What’s Not So Good: There are only two things about the issue that I consider to be a negative. The first is that the reveal of Mutant Zero’s identity is a bit of a letdown, especially considering that the character isn’t exactly a major player (or at least hasn’t been for a while). The second is that the artwork, while fine enough and totally serviceable, isn’t exactly noteworthy in any way, shape, or form.

Conclusion: Avengers: The Initiative #20 is a prime example of why I consider the series to be one of the best that Marvel puts out. If you haven’t checked it out already or bailed during Secret Invasion, now would be a great time to get on board. The character work is fantastic, the artwork is almost always strong, the storylines are compelling, and the impressive size of the rotating cast always keeps the series feeling incredibly fresh and unpredictable.

Grade: B+

-Kyle Posluszny

Hulk #8 – Review

By Jeph Loeb (Writer) Art Adams & Frank Cho (Artists) Walden Wong (Inker) Albert Deschesne (Letters) Peter Steigerwald (Colours)

The story: For the time being, at least until Ed McGuinness returns, Hulk Has been split into two separate stories with Art Adams and Frank Cho taking up the artistic duties on green and red Hulk respectively. The story. “What there is of it” seems to be written to match the artists strengths, so Art gets to draw slavering hordes of Wendigo’s and Cho gets to draw lots of ass and giant breasts as She- Hulk along with her Lady Liberators take on Rulk.

What’s Good: Unfortunately very little, to be honest the only reason that anyone would buy this dross would be for the art which I really cannot fault.

What’s not so good: Dear me, where do I begin? It seems to me that Jeph Loeb has completely lost the plot. The story makes no sense at all with random characters thrown in for no apparent reason like Moon Knight and Joe Fixit– two characters that behave in no way like they do in their own monthly titles which makes it even worse. This comic would be insulting for a five year old, nevermind the adults.

Conclusion: I remember reading a while ago how series artist Ed McGuinness claimed that he had waited years for the chance to draw Hulk, how dissapointed he must feel to have been stuck with this dud of a comic book. Shame on you Jeph Loeb, and Marvel in particular, for allowing this travesty to continue.

Grade: D

– C.Flanigan