Holy crap! Comic reviews!
Aug. 5th, 2009 02:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
angelophileI promised a few weeks ago to start doing comic reviews again, but, of course, since then I've failed to get to my local comic store to pick up my pull list. HOWEVER, this weekend I finally did and I'm working my way through the pile. So, since things have finally quietened down, it's review time! Slight change, I got fed up with the marks out of 5 system, since I ended up giving so many half points, so this time marks out of 10 for simplicity's sake.
Comics covered this time around:
ULTIMATE INVINCIBLE HARDCOVER VOL. 4
EMPOWERED VOL. 5
CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI 13 #15
TRANSFORMERS: ALL HAIL MEGATRON #13
X-MEN FOREVER #3/#4
NEW MUTANTS #3
Reviews are kept (relatively) spoiler free.
ULTIMATE INVINCIBLE HARDCOVER VOL. 4
Finally the fourth hardcover volume in the Invincible series surfaced, collecting issues #36-#47 of Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley's young superhero series. After the extended gore and tragedy of the last volume, this volume could be considered lighter reading, with more interpersonal drama over blood-and-guts action, something that's the core appeal of the book. Like Brian K. Vaughan's Runaways or Y: The Last Man, this book could be considered one of the most consistently readable books on the market and rarely varies in quality of plotting or character moments. Volume 4 doesn't disappoint as Mark struggles to maintain his civilian life whilst battling foes such as the Viltrumites, the Reanimen and fighting off an invasion attempt by the Sequids from Mars. It's certainly not action free, but there's fewer cataclysmic events as the Angstrom Levy saga in this volume as the storylines build towards issue #50 and so there's time to focus on the personal stuff as Mark struggles in college and to maintain his love-life with the lovely Amber and his feelings for Eve. The latter two storylines are compelling, but the one flaw in the book I found is the abrupt resolution of one of those storylines, which demonstrates the maturity level of the characters involved, but after several issues of build up, the climax feels a little too sudden and subdued.
Otherwise, Kirkman never disappoints with the continuing fond homage to teen superheroes which manages to play the clichés, but do so endearingly, whilst also occasionally managing to subvert the genre. Ottley's art is always fresh and bold, and whether it's when the gore starts flowing or simply talking heads, which there's plenty of, the panels jump off the page. And at about 25 bucks a pop for 12 issues in each volume, complete with many extras like the sketch book stuff, the Invincible hardcovers are worth every penny and terrifically good value.
Invincible is one of those books I don't read on a month to month basis, but when I pick up thise hardcovers I just can't put them down. I read this entire book in a single sitting. Testament indeed.
Rating - 9/10 ★
EMPOWERED VOL. 5
Adam Warren's superhero sex comedy is a little lighter on the sex, a lot lighter on the kink and heavier on the character development and story this time around, following on from Volume 4's more story-centric approach. There's still enough sex and kink to amuse and entertain those drawn to the series by that, but also plenty for those of us who stuck around for the entertaining characters, real heart and drama which is lacking from many superhero books which claim maturity. There's a focus on some of Emp's supporting characters this time around, with Sistah Spooky getting some development, a hilarious (if overlong) interlude involving cosplay, Ninjette and the Caged Demonwolf (who continues to be my favourite character in the whole shebang) although the story with Ocelotina once again verged on uncomfortable territory. And Willy Pete continues to scare the shit out of me. The only flaw is that the focus means that Empowered and Thugboy are slightly neglected this time around and the titular character doesn't get as many moments to shine this time around and often she's a supporting character in her own book.
However, when the book ends on a sombre note as the darker stories from earlier volumes come home to roost, I challenge anyone who reads these books not to love the cast by the time the volume wraps and have their hearts broken as well.
In short, well up to the standard of Volume 4 after a lacklustre Volume 3, Empowered continues to be, along with Invincible, one of the few books I read that still has real heart and soul, sympathetic characters and solid storylines, whilst still managing to be a kinky sex comedy. No mean feat.
Rating - 8/10 ★
CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI 13 #15
Final issue, goddam it. This book's pretty much been a joy throughout and ends on a high as the ever maturing Pete Wisdom's end-game against Dracula and his invading vampiric army reaches a climax. While I miss the hard drinking, shambolic Pete of old, his maturing from Excalibur to X-Force to Wisdom throughout this series has felt an organic development, although he's been stripped of a little of his bloody-minded charm in the process. However, it's hard not to love the lines Cornell gives him, such as: "You see, everyone's been treating this like it's a game of chess. But you only play honourable games if you don't care about the pieces. If lives and nations are at stake--one cheats."
Of course, Pete's been as important as the titular character to this book, but he certainly doesn't swamp this final issue and as the forces of darkness led by Dracula attempt their conquest of Britain, each of the cast members gets their moment in the sun. (Although some less than others - Dane Whitman doesn't do a whole lot again as The Black Knight, while the always borderline Mary Sue-ish Fazia gets a moment that some have no doubt seen as evidence of her Sue-ishness. However, unlike most characters who that label is applied to, she's a likable character, so I don't begrudge it.) There's even a chance for a one page splash of a bunch of long forgotten Marvel UK characters to pop up, adding to the squee I already felt when Motormouth and Killpower were part of the arc.
So, the book ends on a high, with Cornell delivering a story arc which has been superbly entertaining on almost every level, set up Dracula as a credible threat in the Marvel universe once more, given some characters a happy ending and embraced national identity in a way that's not seemed cloying or oversentimental whilst still being patriotic from those of us from this side of the pond.
I'm very sad to see it go, but at least I can console myself that the book went out at the top of its game. I hope the characters get picked up down the line with a similar level of love and affection and don't get Alpha Flight-ed.
Rating - 8/10 ★
TRANSFORMERS: ALL HAIL MEGATRON #13
Essentially a filler miniseries of vignette stories relabelled as part of All Hail Megatron, this is the first of three or four issues that follow on from the events of the past 12 issues and link into the upcoming Transformers ongoing from IDW. After countless miniseries and one-shots, I wonder if anyone's really following this stuff any more. Since IDW launched their own continuity, they've launched in so many different directions with so many different plotlines, the whole thing's become a muddled mess. All Hail Megatron managed to be a soft-reboot, originally intened to be an elseworlds story which got absorbed into IDW continuity, but before it bogged down with that, it managed to be the most entertaining and old-school book they'd produced with some great character moments. The hope would be that a book of vignettes, two characters per issue, would deliver even more in the way of character development.
Sadly, the book's a shadow of the cohesive 1-12 issue arc and the two stories, one focusing on the friendship between Prime and Ironhide, the other on Starscream as he's thrust into the leadership role, are essentially filler and, worse, dull. In 11 pages, Furman used to be able to craft an entire, rich story. Now he manages a story with Prime and Ironhide that's a boring retread of the old grizzled warrior and fresh recruit makes good cliché. It's saddled with ugly art from Don Fig, who's developed a new style of skeletal faces and toothy grins for the Transformers which is infinitely inferior to both his former style and Guido's art in previous issues. It's both off-putting and an utter failure as an experimental style.
The art for the second story's more intriguing - reminding me of Mike Collins' classic UK art, somewhere between animation and blocky toy designs in a painted style, but the story telling in the art by Chee Yang Ong is not particularly clear. The script itself, from Mike Costa is bland and fails to follow Starscream's moviations from All Hail Megatron, falling back onto a more clichéd characterisation. It doesn't raise much hope for Costa's work on the ongoing. Both stories add nothing to the mythos.
Frankly, at 4 bucks, this issue failed to be worth picking up and it's unlikely I'll continue to pull the comic based on this.
RATING - 4/10 ★
X-MEN FOREVER #3/#4
I shouldn't really like this series as much as I do, should I? It's Claremont going back to his old X-men stylings, down to using the same narrative quirks and early 90s exposition as he used to, but god help me, this is the first recognizable X-men book I've read in years. I can't help but warm to something that's so unashamedly old-school and isn't Claremont attempting to be new and relevant, like the car-crash of X-treme X-men, but something just purely cheesy and… well, fun. Like the best bits of Claremont's last Uncanny run, it's just guiltily enjoyable. Not a work of genius, but like slipping into comfortable old slippers, a little worn, the sole half out, but that you thought you'd lost years before.
Of course, there's still a few of the annoying quirks of modern Claremont and the writing is severely dated, but that's kind of it charm. It gets tough when characters announce their every action before they take it or the narrative boxes explain the X-men's powers every few panels and the story in parts suddenly jumps without explanation from the events of the early 90s issues this is meant to be following on from (the Jean/Logan/Scott love triangle is abruptly reintroduced, a bunch of active X-men have abruptly disappeared without explanation - Jubilee, Forge, Moira, Banshee, Iceman, Psylocke, Archangel, etc) which proves jarring. In short, the shortcomings of Claremont are still there, but there's plenty who won't mind it and, if the passionate readership of Spider-girl taught me anything, it's there's a readership for verbose and old-fashioned stories.
The second issue of the series dipped after the first and there's considerable flaws with the third and fourth, which make the issues a blend of car-cash, can't-look-away discomfort and genuine enjoyment. It's absurd and silly and overblown and chaotic and barely makes any kind of sense and, dammit. really good fun. If you're not nostalgic for old-style X-men, this book will probably be eye-gouging, but I can't help but warm to it, the nostalgic element giving me a warm glow. It just feels right.
RATING - 7/10 ★
NEW MUTANTS #3
And speaking of unashamed old-school, New Mutants pretty much continues along the path that will please readers of the original, but probably fail to win any new fans. The characters are all well written, but not really reintroduced for new readers and there's plenty of nods to past events and character dynamics, but maybe too many. I just can't make my mind up about this book and I admit to being torn between liking the fact that Zeb Wells isn't soft pedaling it for new readers and finding it tough to follow without that. Legion's not exactly the simplest of character concepts to grasp and being thrown into things feet first has left me struggling to catch up.
That said, the character moments are nice, the plot bubbles along nicely, but there's still a case of some characters being pretty much blank within the pages of the book so far. Amara, Shan and Roberto haven't really shown any individual voice, although Sam, Illyana and Dani have been served better. The characters are familiar from reading (some) of the original New Mutants run, but there's just a certain magic missing which X-men Forever taps into. That's old-school with an old-school voice. New Mutants is familiar enough but has yet to spark nostalgia in the same way for me and there's not been enough so far to draw me into loving the characters, if I didn't already. In fact, I'd go so far to say that Wells' characterization of Cannonball has turned me off the character more than attracted me.
So far I'm just not sure where Wells is going with this. It seems to be a superhero version of "putting the band back together" and repeating old stories but with modern sensibilities. It's nice these characters are active and in a solo title, but it's lacking the freshness that, say, a new spin of the New Mutants acting as mentors to the new generation of mutants might have brought if they'd managed to get all the characters available back when they launched New Mutants Vol 2. As it is, it's the same characters in similar situations without a fresh spin on it and issues #2 and #3 have already started to feel a little repetitious.
That's not really a flaw with the writing, as such, and Zeb Wells is doing a pretty good job so far, but the book doesn't seem quite new enough or nostalgic enough and falls somewhere between the two stools. However, it's been enjoyable enough, just not groundbreaking for me.
RATING - 6/10 ★
Comics covered this time around:
ULTIMATE INVINCIBLE HARDCOVER VOL. 4
EMPOWERED VOL. 5
CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI 13 #15
TRANSFORMERS: ALL HAIL MEGATRON #13
X-MEN FOREVER #3/#4
NEW MUTANTS #3
Reviews are kept (relatively) spoiler free.
ULTIMATE INVINCIBLE HARDCOVER VOL. 4
Finally the fourth hardcover volume in the Invincible series surfaced, collecting issues #36-#47 of Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley's young superhero series. After the extended gore and tragedy of the last volume, this volume could be considered lighter reading, with more interpersonal drama over blood-and-guts action, something that's the core appeal of the book. Like Brian K. Vaughan's Runaways or Y: The Last Man, this book could be considered one of the most consistently readable books on the market and rarely varies in quality of plotting or character moments. Volume 4 doesn't disappoint as Mark struggles to maintain his civilian life whilst battling foes such as the Viltrumites, the Reanimen and fighting off an invasion attempt by the Sequids from Mars. It's certainly not action free, but there's fewer cataclysmic events as the Angstrom Levy saga in this volume as the storylines build towards issue #50 and so there's time to focus on the personal stuff as Mark struggles in college and to maintain his love-life with the lovely Amber and his feelings for Eve. The latter two storylines are compelling, but the one flaw in the book I found is the abrupt resolution of one of those storylines, which demonstrates the maturity level of the characters involved, but after several issues of build up, the climax feels a little too sudden and subdued.
Otherwise, Kirkman never disappoints with the continuing fond homage to teen superheroes which manages to play the clichés, but do so endearingly, whilst also occasionally managing to subvert the genre. Ottley's art is always fresh and bold, and whether it's when the gore starts flowing or simply talking heads, which there's plenty of, the panels jump off the page. And at about 25 bucks a pop for 12 issues in each volume, complete with many extras like the sketch book stuff, the Invincible hardcovers are worth every penny and terrifically good value.
Invincible is one of those books I don't read on a month to month basis, but when I pick up thise hardcovers I just can't put them down. I read this entire book in a single sitting. Testament indeed.
Rating - 9/10 ★
EMPOWERED VOL. 5
Adam Warren's superhero sex comedy is a little lighter on the sex, a lot lighter on the kink and heavier on the character development and story this time around, following on from Volume 4's more story-centric approach. There's still enough sex and kink to amuse and entertain those drawn to the series by that, but also plenty for those of us who stuck around for the entertaining characters, real heart and drama which is lacking from many superhero books which claim maturity. There's a focus on some of Emp's supporting characters this time around, with Sistah Spooky getting some development, a hilarious (if overlong) interlude involving cosplay, Ninjette and the Caged Demonwolf (who continues to be my favourite character in the whole shebang) although the story with Ocelotina once again verged on uncomfortable territory. And Willy Pete continues to scare the shit out of me. The only flaw is that the focus means that Empowered and Thugboy are slightly neglected this time around and the titular character doesn't get as many moments to shine this time around and often she's a supporting character in her own book.
However, when the book ends on a sombre note as the darker stories from earlier volumes come home to roost, I challenge anyone who reads these books not to love the cast by the time the volume wraps and have their hearts broken as well.
In short, well up to the standard of Volume 4 after a lacklustre Volume 3, Empowered continues to be, along with Invincible, one of the few books I read that still has real heart and soul, sympathetic characters and solid storylines, whilst still managing to be a kinky sex comedy. No mean feat.
Rating - 8/10 ★
CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI 13 #15
Final issue, goddam it. This book's pretty much been a joy throughout and ends on a high as the ever maturing Pete Wisdom's end-game against Dracula and his invading vampiric army reaches a climax. While I miss the hard drinking, shambolic Pete of old, his maturing from Excalibur to X-Force to Wisdom throughout this series has felt an organic development, although he's been stripped of a little of his bloody-minded charm in the process. However, it's hard not to love the lines Cornell gives him, such as: "You see, everyone's been treating this like it's a game of chess. But you only play honourable games if you don't care about the pieces. If lives and nations are at stake--one cheats."
Of course, Pete's been as important as the titular character to this book, but he certainly doesn't swamp this final issue and as the forces of darkness led by Dracula attempt their conquest of Britain, each of the cast members gets their moment in the sun. (Although some less than others - Dane Whitman doesn't do a whole lot again as The Black Knight, while the always borderline Mary Sue-ish Fazia gets a moment that some have no doubt seen as evidence of her Sue-ishness. However, unlike most characters who that label is applied to, she's a likable character, so I don't begrudge it.) There's even a chance for a one page splash of a bunch of long forgotten Marvel UK characters to pop up, adding to the squee I already felt when Motormouth and Killpower were part of the arc.
So, the book ends on a high, with Cornell delivering a story arc which has been superbly entertaining on almost every level, set up Dracula as a credible threat in the Marvel universe once more, given some characters a happy ending and embraced national identity in a way that's not seemed cloying or oversentimental whilst still being patriotic from those of us from this side of the pond.
I'm very sad to see it go, but at least I can console myself that the book went out at the top of its game. I hope the characters get picked up down the line with a similar level of love and affection and don't get Alpha Flight-ed.
Rating - 8/10 ★
TRANSFORMERS: ALL HAIL MEGATRON #13
Essentially a filler miniseries of vignette stories relabelled as part of All Hail Megatron, this is the first of three or four issues that follow on from the events of the past 12 issues and link into the upcoming Transformers ongoing from IDW. After countless miniseries and one-shots, I wonder if anyone's really following this stuff any more. Since IDW launched their own continuity, they've launched in so many different directions with so many different plotlines, the whole thing's become a muddled mess. All Hail Megatron managed to be a soft-reboot, originally intened to be an elseworlds story which got absorbed into IDW continuity, but before it bogged down with that, it managed to be the most entertaining and old-school book they'd produced with some great character moments. The hope would be that a book of vignettes, two characters per issue, would deliver even more in the way of character development.
Sadly, the book's a shadow of the cohesive 1-12 issue arc and the two stories, one focusing on the friendship between Prime and Ironhide, the other on Starscream as he's thrust into the leadership role, are essentially filler and, worse, dull. In 11 pages, Furman used to be able to craft an entire, rich story. Now he manages a story with Prime and Ironhide that's a boring retread of the old grizzled warrior and fresh recruit makes good cliché. It's saddled with ugly art from Don Fig, who's developed a new style of skeletal faces and toothy grins for the Transformers which is infinitely inferior to both his former style and Guido's art in previous issues. It's both off-putting and an utter failure as an experimental style.
The art for the second story's more intriguing - reminding me of Mike Collins' classic UK art, somewhere between animation and blocky toy designs in a painted style, but the story telling in the art by Chee Yang Ong is not particularly clear. The script itself, from Mike Costa is bland and fails to follow Starscream's moviations from All Hail Megatron, falling back onto a more clichéd characterisation. It doesn't raise much hope for Costa's work on the ongoing. Both stories add nothing to the mythos.
Frankly, at 4 bucks, this issue failed to be worth picking up and it's unlikely I'll continue to pull the comic based on this.
RATING - 4/10 ★
X-MEN FOREVER #3/#4
I shouldn't really like this series as much as I do, should I? It's Claremont going back to his old X-men stylings, down to using the same narrative quirks and early 90s exposition as he used to, but god help me, this is the first recognizable X-men book I've read in years. I can't help but warm to something that's so unashamedly old-school and isn't Claremont attempting to be new and relevant, like the car-crash of X-treme X-men, but something just purely cheesy and… well, fun. Like the best bits of Claremont's last Uncanny run, it's just guiltily enjoyable. Not a work of genius, but like slipping into comfortable old slippers, a little worn, the sole half out, but that you thought you'd lost years before.
Of course, there's still a few of the annoying quirks of modern Claremont and the writing is severely dated, but that's kind of it charm. It gets tough when characters announce their every action before they take it or the narrative boxes explain the X-men's powers every few panels and the story in parts suddenly jumps without explanation from the events of the early 90s issues this is meant to be following on from (the Jean/Logan/Scott love triangle is abruptly reintroduced, a bunch of active X-men have abruptly disappeared without explanation - Jubilee, Forge, Moira, Banshee, Iceman, Psylocke, Archangel, etc) which proves jarring. In short, the shortcomings of Claremont are still there, but there's plenty who won't mind it and, if the passionate readership of Spider-girl taught me anything, it's there's a readership for verbose and old-fashioned stories.
The second issue of the series dipped after the first and there's considerable flaws with the third and fourth, which make the issues a blend of car-cash, can't-look-away discomfort and genuine enjoyment. It's absurd and silly and overblown and chaotic and barely makes any kind of sense and, dammit. really good fun. If you're not nostalgic for old-style X-men, this book will probably be eye-gouging, but I can't help but warm to it, the nostalgic element giving me a warm glow. It just feels right.
RATING - 7/10 ★
NEW MUTANTS #3
And speaking of unashamed old-school, New Mutants pretty much continues along the path that will please readers of the original, but probably fail to win any new fans. The characters are all well written, but not really reintroduced for new readers and there's plenty of nods to past events and character dynamics, but maybe too many. I just can't make my mind up about this book and I admit to being torn between liking the fact that Zeb Wells isn't soft pedaling it for new readers and finding it tough to follow without that. Legion's not exactly the simplest of character concepts to grasp and being thrown into things feet first has left me struggling to catch up.
That said, the character moments are nice, the plot bubbles along nicely, but there's still a case of some characters being pretty much blank within the pages of the book so far. Amara, Shan and Roberto haven't really shown any individual voice, although Sam, Illyana and Dani have been served better. The characters are familiar from reading (some) of the original New Mutants run, but there's just a certain magic missing which X-men Forever taps into. That's old-school with an old-school voice. New Mutants is familiar enough but has yet to spark nostalgia in the same way for me and there's not been enough so far to draw me into loving the characters, if I didn't already. In fact, I'd go so far to say that Wells' characterization of Cannonball has turned me off the character more than attracted me.
So far I'm just not sure where Wells is going with this. It seems to be a superhero version of "putting the band back together" and repeating old stories but with modern sensibilities. It's nice these characters are active and in a solo title, but it's lacking the freshness that, say, a new spin of the New Mutants acting as mentors to the new generation of mutants might have brought if they'd managed to get all the characters available back when they launched New Mutants Vol 2. As it is, it's the same characters in similar situations without a fresh spin on it and issues #2 and #3 have already started to feel a little repetitious.
That's not really a flaw with the writing, as such, and Zeb Wells is doing a pretty good job so far, but the book doesn't seem quite new enough or nostalgic enough and falls somewhere between the two stools. However, it's been enjoyable enough, just not groundbreaking for me.
RATING - 6/10 ★
