All-New Ghost Rider #3 – Review

By: Felipe Smith (story), Tradd Moore (art), Val Staples (colors)

The Story: Jacking someone’s car is always a bad idea, especially if it belongs to a vengeful spirit.

The Review: In my line of work—or this hobby so all-consuming that it might as well be work—I’ve run into people who tell me that they’ve outgrown mainstream superhero titles, calling them too juvenile and ridiculous to be taken seriously. It’s true that a lot of mainstream books are incredibly juvenile and ridiculous, but God forgive me, I like a lot of them nonetheless. As someone whose other work—actual, paying work—can be pretty grim on a daily basis, pure, simple escapism can be a very comforting thing.

But there are some titles which make me think, Man, I’m too old for this—stuff. This All-New Ghost Rider seems to be one of those, landing in that awkward position where its subject matter is a bit too sordid for younger readers (with all its senseless violence, pill-popping, and intended rape), but too simplistically presented for grown-ups. We’re already on issue three and you still don’t feel like there’s much substance at work, either from Robbie and his many antagonists.

All-New Ghost Rider #2 – Review

By: Felipe Smith (story), Tradd Moore (art), Val Staples (colors)

The Story: Potential side-effects include: dizziness, shortness of breath, destruction of all you hold dear.

The Review: This just confirms how little I know about Ghost Rider, but it didn’t occur to me until just now that radical as the changes Smith made to the character’s age, race, and background are, equally as radical is the change to his ride. Giving Robbie Reyes a car instead of a cycle flies into the face of decades of continuity, which is comic book speak for tradition, so why do it? If nothing else, a car seems like it’d slow a person down and impede his movement—more so than a cycle, anyway.

At the same time, the bigger size and heft of a car makes it more of a threat by itself, which is not such a bad trade-off for the loss in speed and agility. Johnny Blaze or Danny Ketch barreling towards you on their cycles might not seem so threatening at first if you happen to be in a bigger vehicle, but even soldiers in armed cars have reason to fear the sight of a sleek, black racer heading straight their way. And the way Robbie maneuvers his around, flipping, jumping, rocketing in impossible directions at crazy angles, you certainly don’t notice any loss in speed and agility.

All-New Ghost Rider #1 – Review

By: Felipe Smith (story), Tradd Moore (art), Nelson Daniel & Val Staples (colors)

The Story: A drag race brings Robbie down in hellish flames.

The Review: I felt rather daring picking up this title, considering how I know nothing about Ghost Rider—quite literally nothing. Beyond seeing his image in various places, I don’t even have a passing familiarity with him. I’ve never read any of his comics, never seen him guested in anyone else’s, never saw the movie, never even looked him up on Wikipedia. Fortunately, the “All-New” part of the title absolves me from any of that, letting me take the series on its own merit.

Uncanny X-Men #18 – Review

By: Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Marco Rudy (artist), Val Staples (color artist)

The Story: Cyclops finally starts speaking clearly, just in time for the world around him to stop.

The Review: Brian Michael Bendis’ dialogue seems to come in two general forms, razor-sharp character work or droning back-and-forths, and generally you can tell if you’re reading a good Bendis issue or a bad Bendis issue based on which one you get. Of course, there’s always an exception that proves the rule. This issue is that exception.

You see, despite belonging to the prior category, this issue suffers from a myriad of serious problems. After the dramatic events of the past two issues and the accompanying pruning of the team, Cyclops’ X-Men return home to find the All-New X-Men missing, the result of the “Trial of Jean Grey” storyline in their own title. Seeing as this title has no part in that crossover, and thusly nothing to say about it, Bendis retreats back in time to when the original X-Men arrived at the New Xavier School and, effectively, engages in some house cleaning.

It’s a bizarre choice to flashback only to lead back to the present day. The flashbacks don’t particularly benefit from the context and the jumps through time quickly become dizzying. I could easily imagine a new comic reader getting lost. One of the strangest elements is how much of a retcon this feels like, despite Bendis writing the entire story. The events of this issue are interesting, if only in that way that addictive web surfing is, but they don’t feel like natural additions to the story. It also highlights how irrelevant the O5’s move to Cyclops’ school was.

Still, as I mentioned, the character work is up to par with the past few issues. Cyclops’ conversation with Kitty is especially raw. It’s a solid scene, if one that really should have played out the first time someone accused Scott of killing Charles Xavier – which reminds me how many times people refer to “Charles Xavier” in this issue. You never called him that when he was alive…

Indestructible Hulk #19 – Review

by Mark Waid (Writer) Jheremy Raapack, Joe Bennett, Ruy Jose, Tom Grummett, Karl Kesel, Andrew Hennessy (Artists), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: Bruce tries to find out just what happened to Jessup as an evil organisation plans for nefarious deeds related to inhumans.

The Review: Some writers are known to surprise readers. It can be an especially nice thing to know that someone is able to circumvent expectations, allowing for twists and turns to be shown at random. To not be able to see where the title could be headed is a blessing for fans, with a untold possibilities being presented in each issues.

However, not all such writers can achieve good results with said approach at all times. For all the praise Mark Waid has received for work such as Kingdom Come, Daredevil and Superman: Birthright, there are some things he did that don’t exactly warrant the same kind of commendation. Unfortunately, his Indestructible Hulk run, for the most part, simply hasn’t been the best of showcase when it comes to the man and his talent, with this issue being a good example.

It’s not that it’s bad, far from it. There are multiple qualities that are quite visible, making the book not a terrible read, but a bit of an unfulfilling one. For one, the characterization of Bruce Banner is not only sound, but also interesting. The use of narration to provide an outlet for his inner thoughts and his more analytical tendencies prove to be a rather apt method to present characterization and contextualization without slowing things down. His rage, his attempts at calming down and his interactions with others prove to be rather amusing, with Waid pushing forth his version of the character in ways that feel natural to the story he’s telling here.

Indestructible Hulk #18 – Review

by Mark Waid (Writer), Jheremy Raapack, Miguel Sepulveda, Tom Grummett (Artists), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: With the effect of the bomb Banner had built now understood, it would be a shame of something horrible were to happen to someone…

The Review: There are always some creators that we care more about than others. It’s a sad fact, but one that is especially true for everyone. Some prefer Jonathan Hickman over Matt Fraction, some prefer Grant Morrison over Alan Moore and other have preferences over some unpopular creators. Subjectivity and personal tastes being the key here, there are simply some creators in which we have quite a lot of faith in.

Mark Waid is one of those for me. Even though not all of his work is especially amazing, the man did produce a superb run on Fantastic Four, wrote some terrific JLA stories, made Kingdom Come and a good lot of other really great things even nowadays. With such a notable amount of work of quality under his name, I have a lot of faith in him as a writer, which can act as a curse sometimes when reading some of the materials of lesser quality even he can produce.

His tenure on Hulk and his stories, while backed by a genuinely good concept and with a really great first batch of issues, hasn’t been nearly as good as some of the previous stuff he did, to be overtly frank. While filled with some very nice ideas, the execution isn’t as good as the very concepts behind them most of the time, which doesn’t make the book the best thing he is writing right now.

This issue, however, does provide some rather interesting ideas and some potent character work from the writer. The way he present Hank Pym and how other scientists and their reaction to the discovery of just what Banner was planning with his bomb makes for some rather good moments, playing quite a bit with super-science as well as the bond between man delving into the subjects all the time. The relationship between those people as well as the quest of Bruce Banner for their respect makes for a rather enjoyable aspect of this issue.

Captain America #15 – Review

by Rick Remender (Writer), Carlos Pacheco, Mariano Taibo (Artists), Rachelle Rosenberg, Rain Beredo, Val Staples (Colorists)

The Story: After the capture of Nuke, Steve Rogers and Marcus Johnson tries to reason with him and understand why all of this happened. Unfortunately, the Iron Nail has other plans.

The Review: We never set out to buy bad comics. Unless someone has some clear enjoyment of really atrocious piece of sequential arts, enthusiasts of this specific art form are always on the lookout for something enjoyable, something a certain level of quality that is always subjective to every specific reader. Looking for familiarity, authors that have impressed us or subjects that interest us, there is always the search for quality and the hope that each subsequent issues in a series turns out to be a good.

It is with that general sentiment that I continued to read Captain America, despite the fact that the arc set after the pretty solid first 10 issues wasn’t nearly as good as the big sci-fi story that opened things up. Rick Remender is usually a writer that is able to bring quality to what he does and Carlos Pacheco is a solid artist, yet there was something missing. With the madness that was imprinted in the story now gone and not replaced, the story in general lost a bit of its luster, which made my patience become a bit thin after a while.

Fortunately, things began to get a bit better in the latest issue, with things staying consistent in terms of quality. With this issue, Remender provides for a couple of neat developments and explanations for some of the concepts he introduced, giving a bit more to his story and the potential direction of the title in doing so.

The first thing he does right here is deepen and actually cement his handle on characterization, with characters like Steve Rogers, Nuke and even the Iron Nail being a tad more defined and interesting in this issue. Giving a more nuanced approach to both Nuke and the Iron Nail, they become more interesting as not everything is as black and white around them, with the motivations and actions of the Iron Nail gaining a bit in credibility thanks to his manifesto, or the fact that Nuke tried to mimic Captain America in his own way in Viet-Nam makes their general action and reactions either a bit more tragic or much more understandable.

Indestructible Hulk #17 – Review

by Mark Waid (Writer), Clay Mann, Seth Mann, Miguel Sepulveda (Artists), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: The top scientists of the world are trying to solve the terrigenesis problem. It’s a pity that Bruce Banner does not want to play ball…

The Review: I have a lot of respect for Mark Waid. As a writer, he has done and participated in many books I have enjoyed, some that I even love. Kingdom Come, Superman: Birthright, 52 and many other of his work are stuff I re-read even to this day and his modern stuff, like his Daredevil run, are definitely very enjoyable. However, his run on Indestructible Hulk has been somewhat inconsistent. Very enjoyable at times and merely decent at times, it seems that this title fits the titular character quite well in term of mood swings. However, with the new arc dealing with Inhumanity properly starting, does Mark Waid provide readers with an issue more associated with quality than missed opportunities?

It’s a mixed result, for the most part, as some of the very best elements of the book are showcased, while some of the weaker one are present as well. Mark Waid has a particular style that can adapt itself to many heroes and concepts, but it does seem like he is struggling a bit on this particular title.

Deadpool #20 – Review

by Brian Posehn, Gerry Duggan (Writers), Scott Koblish (Artist), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: As it turns out, Deadpool went on some very trippy adventures in the 60’s.

The Review: I have a big affection for what some might call the Marvel age of comics, better known as the 60’s. Titles like the old Fantastic Four from Lee and Kirby, or Amazing Spider-Man by Lee and Ditko were full of imagination, with a certain detail for fun that isn’t always present in every comics on the stand. A lot of what we currently enjoy in the Marvel universe comes from these times, which makes them something to be enjoyed.

However, while I do enjoy them tremendously, I can still see a lot of what is wrong with them when being more analytic with modern eyes. A lot of their stories are set in a cold war mindset that pits evil communists as foes, most of the women characters are either useless or damsels to be saved, logic is usually pretty optional. Most of them are rather silly when looked upon.* This, of course, make them rather ripe when it comes to satire, with so many things to make fun of that perhaps a whole mini-series could be dedicated to the subject.

This, of course, is exactly why this issue is, on a basic level, utterly disappointing as both Duggan and Posehn simply don’t seem to understand a lot of the potential for comedy here. A Jack Kirby inspired issue of Deadpool could very well be something beautiful, like an homage and a parody at the same time that could hit all the right notes. However, this issue has but too many flaws to actually be entertaining.

Indestructible Hulk #16 – Review

by Mark Waid (Writer), Mahmud Asrar (Artist), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: While trying to bring up the next greatest invention in the world for S.H.I.E.L.D., Bruce Banner gets to know and bond a bit with one of his assistants.

The Review: The concept behind this whole series by Mark Waid is one that was rather sound when it had been first been told to readers. Bruce Banner as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., getting funds and a team of assistant to finally be the genius he knew he was meant to be, letting them use Hulk a few times in exchange. The series began in a really strong manner, being both playful and allowing for big action and fun to merge together to create something that worked with the character. Ever-changing, the book had no problem experimenting in order to provide entertainment, something that is commendable.

However, with the numerous changes came a certain problem that is unfortunately apparent with this book: the lack of a stable cast of characters alongside a status quo. Sure, Maria Hill is a constant here, but most of the lab assistants haven’t received much of anything in terms of development or actual focus, with a small number of them being active in the Thor time-travelling story.

Indestructible Hulk #15 – Review

by Mark Waid (Writer), Kim Jacinto (Artist), Val Staples, Lee Loughridge (Colorists)

The Story: With the birth of the Uberhulk, Bruce Banner begins to understand the machination of the chronarchists as he makes a big decision in hope to vanquish them.

The Review: Mark Waid is someone who understand the potential that super hero comics possess. While some of his stories may have ludicrous premises, he is a writer that is able to bring out the very basic concepts that could make them work in the first place. The fact that Daredevil can have a crossover with Hulk or Silver Surfer in his award-winning Daredevil series in a way that works is a testament to that.

This arc focusing on Hulk and Bruce Banner as they try to fix the broken timeline has been a perfect example of this, with Hulk fighting dinosaurs in the old west, or helping the knights of the round table while trying to find the chronarchists. It was something very enjoyable, yet does Waid provide for a satisfying conclusion to this over-the-top super hero adventure?

Unfortunately, he does not really close in the same way that he opened up his tale, as the story lets go of a lot of elements that made it fun to begin with. Letting go of the more unbelievable elements in order to explain a great many things, Waid does not provide the bang needed, offering instead a whimper.

Deadpool #14 – Review

Gerry Duggan, Brian Posehn (Writers), Scott Koblish (Artist), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: The White Man comes back from to this era to enact revenge against Power Man, Iron Fist and Deadpool. Chaos ensues.

The Review: It’s always fun to see a writer try to come up with strange ideas, seeing them try to follow it up as their stories goes on. Innovation is hard to come by as well as clean fun sometimes as a lot (though not all) of writers goes for the easy road when it comes to conflict or setting up threats.

However, while it’s nice to see new things, those can fail just as much as older and more familiar ones if not handled right. Unfortunately for this comic, the White Man and pretty much everything that entails that characters soon becomes rather boring, verging on the annoying at times.

What makes the issue disappointing isn’t mainly the villain, but rather the fact that it tries too hard at some points and not enough in others. The way Duggan and Posehn tries to show the difference between the 70’s and today through the characters, the comic itself and how the comic is written is admirable, yet it never do enough with the concept. It’s funny to see the difference with how people see media nowadays and how communication methods changed through the years, yet the characters themselves merely mention it with close to no humour or focus on that simple fact.

Deadpool #13 – Review

Gerry Duggan, Brian Posehn (Writers), Scott Koblish (Artist), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: Deadpool ”works” with Heroes for Hire in order to fight the White Man.

The Review: As we prepare for the next arc, we have the chance to read another ”inventory issue”, featuring a satirical look on a whole generation and age of comic. Like the issue making fun of the 80’s, this one give us a vision that is both filled with humor, yet also with an interesting point-of-view of how the era was in terms of comics and popular culture. With this issue focusing on the 70’s, there is a lot for the duo of writers to cover, however do they manage to strike gold like they did in issue 7?

In some minor ways, they don’t really give us a tale as complete and satisfying as the last ”inventory issue”, yet they do manage to cover a lot of ground on how comics in the seventies were written, complete with a plethora of in-jokes and fourth wall comments.

On the comedic front of things, a lot of what is presented here works rather well, as both Duggan and Posehn use a lot of the blacksploitation that was the butt of the joke and the common theme used in Luke Cage, Hero for Hire. Here though, they amp it up to eleven as a lot of the jokes involve racism, the comic code authority, the disco era along with what was popular in the 70’s. With jokes like Deadpimp, the way Iron Fist used his power, the enemy being literally called ”The White Man” and many more, it’s really a diverse selection of comedy gold we have here. However, there are some small weaknesses here and there on that front as some of the jokes are used perhaps too much, like how Luke Cage keeps denying Deadpool the satisfaction of being in his business, the joke about the name of the villain and the fact that some writers usually took way too much time describing how Iron Fist used his powers. It’s all fine, yet it lowers the effectiveness of these jokes in the process.

Deadpool #11 – Review

By: Gerry Duggan, Brian Posehn (Writers), Mike Hawthorne (Artist), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: Deadpool tries to kill another person on Vetis list, who is a shapeshifter. While he does so, he encounters other super beings from New York, mainly from Daredevil’s corner.

The Review: Well, this escalated quickly. As the last issue was unfortunately lacking in the charm that had been established in the series so far by giving us less focus on the story, both writers did so once more in this issue. This time, however, a lot of the humor fall a little flat as the writers just don’t really take full advantage of each situation they are in, trying to rush through many characters and jokes possible without letting the reader settle into the humor or the situation.

That’s not to say all the jokes are bad here, as there are some comedy gems, like how Daredevil perceives Deadpool in a way that parodies Mark Waid take on the blind superhero or how Deadpool has to fight a man that misunderstand how the merc with a mouth interpret who he is chasing. There are some moments that genuinely made me laugh and that were both referential to other works or to the general spirit of today.

Red She-Hulk #66 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (Writer), Carlo Pagulayan, Patrick Olliffe, Joe Bennett, Ruy Jose (Artists), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: Betty should really know better than to try to harm Man-Thing. Seriously, the dude pretty much is the protector of various other realities.

The Review: This seems to be some kind of habit at some point. As awesome a writer as he is, capable of bringing enough care and development to characters that would never receive any, it seems he’s always the unlucky one that never has enough readership to maintain a book for a proper period of time.

Case in point, Red She-Hulk, who will see its last issue next month, has to make a point for the long-term storyline that had been running since the title and protagonist switch that happened when Betty Ross took a hold of the book. Despite the care he tried to give to this book, it seems that this book never really took off in a way that made it connect to a larger audience. Is it perhaps the lack of marketing, or maybe the sad fact that most female-lead books aren’t as hot sellers as other books in the superhero industry?

Deadpool #10 – Review

By: Brian Posehn, Gerry Duggan (Writers), Mike Hawtorne (Artist), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: As Michael makes his way in hell, Deadpool teams-up with the Superior Spider-Man to take out the next person on Vetis list.

The Review: On the review of the latest issue of Deadpool, I had said that the duo of Posehn and Duggan had made something quite unusual for a comic featuring the Merc with a mouth. Indeed, they had toned down the humor significantly in order to make their plot progress in a faster pace as they explored the titular character a bit further than usual. It was unexpected, yet it did lead to a quality comic.

Here, though, their approach is the exact opposite, as the humor takes precedence to the plot in this issue featuring a team-up of some sort to Spider-Ock. While we do get some tidbits of progression in the story, the focus is clearly on the jokes even with all the action set up here. However, does that make this issue a bad comic?

Deadpool #9 – Review

By: Gerry Duggan, Brian Posehn (Writers), Mike Hawtorne (Artist), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: Deadpool tries his very best to help Michael as he has to deal with Vetis and the fact that he has to kill several people for him.

The Review: Color me surprised. I was not expecting so serious an issue of this title, one that had always managed to balance the funny and serious bits in a way that made sense with the titular character himself. We could always expect a good number of jokes during the more serious moments, which were not the most striking moment, to lower down some of the more dramatic tone of the story and the character itself.

Red She-Hulk #65 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (Writer), Carlo Pagulayan, Ray-Anthony Height, Wellington Alves (Artists), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: Betty and Aaron have to fight several villains on Mount Rushmore in order to access another part of the great machine.

The Review: I think this title has an unfortunate curse, one that makes it unable to be consistent in terms of quality, despite the best effort of the team working on it. Either they balance their action and development well-enough to give us a rewarding read, or something gets in the way of our enjoyment.

Here, what seems to be causing a bit of disappointment would be the setting of a routine of some sort in the book. Sure, Jeff Parker bring some good and original ideas in the mix, but somehow the plot of most issues so far seems to be ‘’exotic locale, fight bad guys, look at the machine’’, which then continues like this. We are sometime treated to the development of other situations, like the original She-Hulk meeting General Fortean or the Mad Thinker and his schemes.

Deadpool #8 – Review

By: Brian Posehn, Gerry Duggan (Writer), Mike Hawtorne (Artist), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: Deadpool deals with Agent Preston presence in his mind as he needs to save Michael the necromancer from a deal he made with the devil.

The Review: This issue marks the beginning of the second arc for this title, along with a change in artist, as Tony Moore was only there for the six first issues. With the zombie presidents threat being gone along with that superstar artist, does it mean that this title is dropping in quality?

Red She-Hulk #64 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (Writer), Carlo Pagulayan, Wellington Alves (Artists), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: Both Betty and Aaron gets underground as they meet the Mole Monster who has some monsters for them to fight and some information to share.

The Review: Now this is the Jeff Parker I remember liking in the first place, the man who dared gives some absurd concepts their chance at shining, using them to his advantage to write quality stories. In short, the writer who could manage to give some deeper characterization and bring some fun to any characters if he was granted the chance to do so.

Deadpool #7 – Review

By: Gerry Duggan, Brian Posehn (Writers), Scott Koblish (Artist), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: We get an ‘’inventory issue’’ where Deadpool makes a deal with the devil to make sure Iron Man drink, all of this during the bronze age of comics!

The Review: There was a particular issue in the older volume of Deadpool Adventure, written by Joe Kelly, where Deadpool voyaged through an older issue of Amazing Spider-Man with his friend Blind Al, giving wild commentaries on the way the comic was written. It was a particularly hilarious issue that brought to light just how comics were written back in the days, comparing it to the comics of those years with snarky comments. I’m mentioning such a thing because this very issue is very close in spirit to this issue in particular (Deadpool #11 of volume 1 if you must know), with some good clean fun with the bronze age of comics.

Deadpool #6 – Review

By: Brian Posehn, Gerry Duggan (Writers), Tony Moore (Artist), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: Deadpool needs to bring the fight to the last presidents remaining to save America, but also to avenge agent Preston.

The Review: Color me impressed. If there was one title I was planning initially to completely skip in the Marvel Now! initiative, it was Deadpool.* Sure, there was Tony Moore on art, but there also was two unknown author bringing some kind of zombie president story that did not interest me in the slightest. Six issues later, I’d be hard pressed not to say how much I enjoy it. To me, this is one of the best take on Deadpool since a long time, for many reasons.

The first one is very simple: they treat him like a character. Handling the finale of the latest issue with panache, we can see that Deadpool is actually sad and angry about Preston’s death, the one agent of S.H.I.E.L.D who believed that he could do the job. Here, most of the action is motivated by his desire to honor what happened to her. Sure, it does not mean he stops the unending barrage of jokes, but there is a certain dramatic tension present here that is pleasant to read. There is more purpose here than money, both for the plot and the character, which gives us more of the Deadpool I grew up to love, the Kelly/Remender/Priest version that just wanted to belong, to be appreciated.

Red She-Hulk #63 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (Writer), Carlo Pagulayan, Wellington Alves (Artists), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: Betty and Aaron are on the run as S.H.I.E.L.D is trying to get them.

The Review: This title is a little bit infuriating. One second we think we’re going to have some more moment with our titular character and delve into who she is and what she wants, the next we get sidetracked with dozens of side characters that advances the plot without our heroine.

This does not mean it is a bad title or a bad issue, but it is annoying to see that Betty Ross does not necessarily have a great impact in her own book. So far, there seems to be more focus on the threat, Aaron Stack and the side characters than on Red She-Hulk. While there seems to be more characterization on her part, it still does not make her such an important or integral character to the plot. It even seems like they could have replaced her, so far, with a whole plethora of other characters and it would not have made any difference.

Deadpool #5 – Review

Brian Posehn, Gerry Duggan (Writer), Tony Moore (Artist), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: Deadpool needs to go in space to kill zombie Ronald Wilson Reagan who is planning to launch nukes on the entire Earth. Seems like sky was not the actual limit.

The Review: Well, this was a crazy issue. Enraged Russian chimps, a zombie Reagan, cultural references, jokes, gore, action scenes, Mexican food, magic and a whole lot of shenanigans, what’s not to like here?

Well, since this is a mostly humorous book, there can be flat jokes, which the series has unfortunately seen its share of. Here, however, there are a lot less of those, with some great gems that are quite hilarious (the first two pages alone are very funny indeed). There are some stinkers here, but overall, the humor has greatly improved.

What has improved, in an actually surprising way, would also be the plot as in the middle of the issue, the jokes takes a second seat as the story gets front and center, focusing on what is happening with the zombie presidents and how the relation between Deadpool, Agent Preston and Michael is now. This was something a bit unexpected and frankly, it was also more than welcome. A little dramatic twist here and there truly does help the book liven up a bit, showing that there is a character here under all those references and jokes.

Red She-Hulk #62 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (Writer), Carlo Pagulayan, Wellington Alves (Artists), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: Betty explains how she got so much information on the potential disaster of military meta-humans and also encounters a cell of metahumans out to get her.

The Review: This is more like it. Although the series had suffered a bit with the absence of the titular character in the first issues of the re-titling of this book, the previous issue had remedied this problem a bit. This issue does it even further, giving us more of Betty Ross as a character.

Indeed, Machine Man is pushed a bit aside for this issue as most of the action and dialogue are centered on Betty Ross, both as her human person and as the Red She-Hulk. As the first page opens us on a scene explaining just how Betty met Nikola Tesla (the same one from S.H.I.E.L.D), we get much more characterization from her. Taking some part of Matt Fraction and Greg Pak previous versions of the character, Jeff Parker adds some more layers to her and what could make her go angry. It would make some sense of course that she’d become much more headstrong now that she knows she has the power of a Hulk, considering how much she had suffered with all the things people with that kind of power has done to her. Jeff Parker version of the character plays her like this, while still making her a good and interesting heroine, which is something I commend him for.