angelophile | Comic catchup Reviews

Okay, so I'm about 3 weeks behind with comic reviews. Does anyone even read them anyway? If I get no response I'll stop bothering. But if anyone has an interest in reading my thoughts on comics I'll keep putting reviews up and try and keep more up to date.

Since I have so many reviews to catch up with, I'm gonna do short, one line reviews for most titles this week, and a star mark out of 5. If people'll find a star mark helpful I'll keep it…

Anyway, this month I read:

CATWOMAN #43
A fairly solid issue, but very middle of the road. A tie in the the "Black Mask" stories apparently as Catwoman and Onyx (a character I don't know) team up to defeat Killer Croc. At best, average and worse than the preceding story that got me back on board.
RATING - **

DAREDEVIL #73
About five pages of story stretched to a whole issue. Boring, I'm sorry to say. As much as can be has been done with the art, but it was a dull issue where the slight story stretched over so many pages makes it one of Bendis' poorest issues. Maybe it'll stand out better in the arc.
RATING - *

DISTRICT X #14
A good issue to end the series on, I guess, since from here on in it changes to Mutantopia and then disappears entirely. This was a good, solid, two-parter and if the titled had more of these rather than the drawn out storylines, I would have been happier. As a story focusing on the rather dismal life of some District X mutants it was a success. I won't miss the title but if there had been more stuff like this, I would.
RATING - ****

EXCALIBUR #14
A whacky mind trip that ties into House of M. I guess Claremont figured he stood no chance of resolving any of the stories he had planned with the one issue he had left so Angel, Husk, Dark Beast, Callisto and all the other characters are totally ignored. Hopefully they won't vanish into character limbo - I'm sure a home will be found for Warren, but I was thoroughly enjoying Doc McCoy's appearances. As a story in itself it's just plain confusing and seems to have little to do with Wanda, but rather Xavier himself. A sorry end to the series that never really got off the ground.
RATING - **

GRAVITY #1

A new series about a teen superhero hitting the streets of New York for the first time, the issue focused more on the "small town boy in a big city" aspect. It's a predictable read, but pleasant enough, as "Gravity" has the standard confusion with another superhero, looks wide eyed in lots of touristy spots, has a "wacky" roommate and meets a girl. It's presumably not meant to be anything other than wholly predictable. A nice read but not nice enough to spark my interest to pick up a second issue probably.
RATING - ***

HELLIONS #1
A fun first issue for the Hellions spin-off from Academy X which shows me how much I'll miss the writers on this title. It's not the best book they've written but it's a solid read, Julian's still the Hellion who interests me most and his actions here, veering from total jerk in public to a protective leader with his team, makes him one of the most fully realised of the New X-men characters. And his acceptance speech that starts "Hey jerks…" and goes downhill from there is a great moment.
RATING - ****

HERCULES #2
A retelling of the Greek myths and a modern updating leads Hercules into accepting a modern day version of his Twelve Labors. All for the benefit of TV cameras (a theme also coming up in New Warriors.) There's a couple of funny moments, but it's not really anything special and the fact that we're two issues into a five issue series and Herc hasn't even started his labours yet is not a good sign and the lack of action from Herc himself drags it below average.
RATING - **

HOUSE OF M #1
First issue of Marvel's big summer event and what must be the biggest crossover Marvel have done for ten years. My hatred of all multiple title crossovers puts a dampener on my enjoyment, but as a story it's solid enough. Predictable in the path it treads but the issue rises above the norm because of the one scene with Magneto and Quicksilver which is near perfect. It's still pretty average overall though.
RATING - ***

MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN #15
Apparently this story is going to be a Superman spoof. As the Absorbing Man causes all sorts of hassle, Peter is left to "babysit" a wetnosed reporter from the country, who has a secret identity etc etc etc. It couldn't have been any more obvious a Clark Kent carbon copy and I wonder if someone's gonna get sued. It does mean a fun story though, nice art, the Punisher shows up to cause some havoc.
RATING - ****

NEW WARRIORS #1
Speedball and co are now the stars of a reality TV show, that follows them around the country as they right wrongs. This first issue find Night Thrasher, Nova, Namorita, Speedball and new member Microbe (he talks to germs) going up against Killer Shark and Armadillo, who have been trashing suburbia. The animation style art probably isn't to everyone's tastes, but I love it. As a reader unfamiliar with the characters to any degree, this was a silly, humorous, fun start to the series.
RATING - *****

NEW X-MEN #14
It's the time of the school dance and teenage hormones are running wild. Noriko wants to go to the dance with David, David's weird because of his "vision" and is going with Laurie, Laurie wants to make Josh jealous, Josh is miserable, Magma pops up for a guest appearance, the Blob is in therapy (okay, that's unrelated to teen hormones). All good fun and it's a character packed issue that's sadly lacking in most books. I guess next issue will be the last issue with these characters as they stand.
RATING - *****

PULSE #9
A pretty average issue of what has been a pretty dull story arc. Luke Cage goes missing, Jessica tries to find him, not much happens, Ben Ulrich thinks to look where he should have four issues ago, Wolverine turns up for no reason and acts like a complete nutbar and totally out of character. There is a nice touching moment with Luke and Jessica but this has been a disappointing arc, a tie in to a story that seems to drag forever and eight months to tell this story doesn't seem justified.
RATING - **

RUNAWAYS #4
Probably the weakest issue so far. Chamber gets the best line again, but Excelsior don't really feature much and it's mostly left to the kids. Unfortunately, half an issue of "guess the supervillain" doesn't make for the most riveting reading. Still, an average Runaways issue is still better than most comics out there and Chamber referring to Julie Power as "Rainbow Brite" is worth the cover cost.
RATING - ***

UNCANNY X-MEN #460
The art this issue is by an artist I REALLY hate and it spoils my enjoyment of what is, otherwise, a rather fun issue. Plenty of character stuff this issue that sums up what the X-men are about. It's mainly an issue to catch up with recent events but, unlike Colossus, at least Psylocke gets a chance to be welcomed back by her comrades and you see many of the reunions. I wonder if she's given Brian a call yet? But the deformed arms and changing costumes piss me off and drag the issue down in rating.
RATING - ***

WOLVERINE #28
The resurrected evil zombie Northstar and Wolverine stand off this issue. Wolverine's vendetta against every member of the Hand and Hydra who were involved in his brainwashing apparently excludes Northstar. He has the decency to realise that since he killed the guy he holds some responsibility for him. An action packed issue as Northstar and Wolverine due it out, but there's also the calm before the storm. However, at the end of the day, my disappointment with the previous issue was negated by the sight of Wolverine taking a sentinel for a ride. So cute. ;)
RATING - ****

X-MEN #171
A new story arc after the disappointing Golgotha arc. It wasn't any worse than Chuck Austen's stories but not much better. It's a mixed start to this issue - frankly the characters still seem a little off, but there's plenty of angst packed into this issue. Perhaps too much. My problem continues to be that writer and artist don't seem to be working in unison. This time the new character Foxx has much made of her stunning attractiveness and yet Laroca's first shot of her makes her look more like a dog than a fox.
RATING - **

YOUNG AVENGERS #4
Kang the Conquerer turns up to claim the younger version of himself before ime gets all screwed up and he stops being him and… yeah, time travel, always gloriously complicated. Some of the plot twists don't make sense, but the character stuff does and the art is a pleasure, as always. Not great but still solid.
RATING - ***