Two Weeks of Reviews-Part II

Part two of my review posts, this one is (thankfully) shorter than the last post.  Mainly, it is because I was unable to get All New X-Men #2 and Superman #14.  I'm hoping to get them in the next week or two.  However, there were some really good issues to come out this week and, even better, no big spoilers like Amazing Spider-Man #698.

A+X #2

This is the first A+X issue I've gotten and I have to admit, the only reason I got this issue was because Chris Bachalo was doing art on it.  And, boy, was it nice to see.  His story, which he also wrote, has Black Widow team up with Rogue to take down a loose Sentinel.  The Sentinel is set to blow, so Widow gets the idea to shoot it from a distance.  However, since her hand was broken earlier in the fight, Rogue has to do it, obtaining the ability to do so by kissing Widow.  The Sentinel goes boom and the girls enjoy a day at the spa, ignoring their calls to go into action.

The second story has Kitty Pryde, my personal favorite X-Men member, visiting Resilient, a company owned by Tony Stark.  Tony offers Kitty, who is battling her allergies, a job at Resilient, telling her that he plans on eliminating obesity by utilizing Pym Particles.  However, when in the room with said particles, Kitty sneezes, unleashing a hoard of Brood, the things that Kitty was "pregnant" with during Wolverine and the X-Men.  Tony suits up, but the Brood have adopted Kitty's phasing ability, and they attempt to take over Tony's Iron Men suits he has at Resilient.  However, when they get control of the suits, Kitty phases through them, short circuiting and defeating them.  Tony realizes that this would happen all the time with Kitty there, and she politely declines the job offer.

Just like AvX, this was a fun book, mainly as it isn't as serious as other books on the stand.  Sure, there are still drama filled moments, but for the majority, the stories are just fun.  I know that there are a good number of people who absolutely hate the Rogue/Widow kiss, saying it was pointless and it was thrown in there just to appease fanboys.  Maybe that's true, but I didn't care either way.  It was just a funny moment in a funny story, that's all.  Anyways, the plot in both stories was short and sweet, though Peter David's story with Tony and Kitty gets a gold star for acknowledging the Brood storyline from WatXM.  Chris Bachalo actually wrote his section, and for the most part, it was written pretty well.  The art for the book was stupendous.  Both Michael del Mundo and Chris Bachalo's work was spot on and it made the issue that much more enjoyable.

Grade: A

FF #1

The flip side to Fantastic Four #1, we get to see the new Future  Foundation start to form.  The form of the issue is pretty interesting too.  We get shots of the students, saying who they are and giving various information about the Future Foundation, and then the other parts is the actual members of the Fantastic Four recruiting members for the group.  Reed recruits Scott Lang (Ant-Man), Sue recruits Medusa (Black Bolt's wife), Ben recruits She-Hulk, and Johnny takes his girlfriend out to breakfast, as he totally forgets about asking someone to fill in for him (though we know that his girl, Darla, will become Miss Thing). Everyone is thrilled to join, except for Scott.  Seeing that his daughter Cassie in The Children's Crusade at the hands of Fantastic Four villain Doctor Doom, Scott doesn't want to be in charge of more children, afraid that his track record will catch up with him again.  Reed and Scott talk about what happened and how Reed is sick and needs to leave to get cured.  Eventually, Scott agrees to take his place as the head of the FF, asking Val and Franklin to inform him all about the Future Foundation.

Overall, this was a really fun issue.  It was a very nice introduction to the characters and it was cool to see the students view of the Future Foundation.  Matt Fraction, who is overseeing both Fantastic Four and FF, writes a funny story that also has a nice section of seriousness in the form of the Reed/Scott talk.  The one scene that I personally enjoyed was during the Thing/She Hulk conversation.  Ben says what everyone has been thinking whenever Reed talks about being gone for only four minutes: things don't go according to plan for the Fantastic Four.  For whatever reason, that was the line of the book for me, as it foreshadows the terrible events that will be happening to Marvel's First Family.  The art was just fantastic.  Mile Allred returns to Marvel full time and it is a gorgeous thing to see.  The one panel that stuck out to me was during the Sue/Medusa part, where Medusa's hair formed a heart around an image of Black Bolt when the two of them are talking about him.  It's just the little things like that that make me enjoy Mike's work.  Even though I'm still new to Mike's artwork, I can already tell that I'm going to love it.

Grade: A

Thor: God of Thunder #2

This issue mostly centers around young, brash Thor, though we get a little bit of story with present day Thor and two panels of ancient Thor.  The issue starts with Thor trying to get Mjolnir, but he is not worthy enough for it yet.  Now in the Baltic Sea, Thor is leading a group of warriors to a battle when a figure is shown stalking the boats.  The figure is revealed to be Gorr, the God Butcher.  While in the middle of the battle, the horse of the locals god arrives, bloody and without a rider.  Thor leaves the battle with the steed, and eventually runs into Gorr for the first time.  Though Thor gives a decent fight, Gorr still puts a whooping on him.  The only way Thor survives the fight is when he calls upon lightning, shocking Gorr literally and metaphorically.  Back in present day, Thor has defeated the "guard dog" that attacked him last issue.  Thor swears to avenge the slain gods, stating that he will finish what he started years ago before flying off, with the final shot of the issue being young Thor in a crater, looking defeated for the time being.

I really enjoyed the first issue of Thor: God of Thunder and this issue, while not as strong as the first issue, was still really good.  I liked how we actually got a story involving just one of the Thor's for the first time, and it leaves a nice cliffhanger for when we see young Thor again.  I am a little disappointed that we didn't get to see a lot of ancient Thor this issue, but his story seems to be front and center in a couple of issues.  However, that was my only major gripe.  Everything else in the issue was fine.  I know that some people think that Gorr looks like Voldemort from Harry Potter, and while I thought of that at first, it really doesn't bother me that much.

Grade: A-

Venom #27.1

The first issue post "Minimum Carnage" shows Flash struggling.  Not with the outcome of "Minimum Carnage", but with the symbiote.  In the beginning we see Flash taking out some punks that Daimon Hellstrom sent him after.  Flash loses control sort of during the fight and then again when talking to Daimon, smashing the glass.  We then see Flash, Peter (who is still Peter Parker at the time), and Flash's sister and mom checking out a room at a Center of Wellness for Flash's mom.  Flash mentally acknowledges that the reason that his mom is moving is because she is hiding from him, from Venom.  Peter and Flash talk for a bit, and Peter brings up that someone from high school has moved back into the city; A.J. Patton, someone who Flash bullied back in the day.  Flash goes and meets A.J. and apologizes for bullying him so much.  When A.J. leaves to talk to his husband, he says that he sees Flash as a wash-out now, which Flash can hear loud and clear.  Later, Flash wakes up from the dead of sleep to call for the suit.  He then goes and interrogates one of the punks from the previous night, but is shown to be possessed by the demon that lies inside of him.  Demon Venom then goes to the Center of Wellness, where he waits outside Flash's mom's room, freaking her out.  The next day, Flash and Peter have another talk, where Flash tells Peter that he is leaving New York for good.

This was a pretty good issue.  First and foremost, I loved the parallel between Peter and Flash when it came to the suit.  Just like when Peter first had the black suit, it would latch to him and they would go out fighting crime.  This time, there is a bit of a twist, as it is the demon that wants to go out, and uses the Venom suit to do just that.  I do kind of wish that Flash and Peter would learn each other's identity, but we may never get that, depending on what happens post-Amazing Spider-Man #700.  I do think the scenes with A.J. were a little pointless, as it really didn't do much for the story.  Besides that, though, the issue was pretty good.  Cullen Bunn does another good issue writing, especially the conversation at the end between Peter and Flash.  I also really like the twist with the demon using the Venom suit to do it's own terrifying tasks, including the creepy scene with Flash's mom.  The star of the issue, though, was Marco Checchetto.  This guy needs to be put on a Marvel book ASAP, because he is way too good to not be doing anything for them.  I would definitely love it if he was put onto some kind of Spider-Man related project, but he should be on something.

Grade: B+

Alright, that's it for this week.  Next week is going to be another fun week, with Avengers #1, All New X-Men #3, and Amazing Spider-Man #699, among others, coming out.  Not sure when I'll have reviews posted, as next week is when my finals start.  I'm aiming for either Saturday or Sunday being the dates, but I'm not sure.  It could be earlier than that for all I know.  Just keep a weather eye on the horizon.

Thanks for reading!

The Spider and the Bat

Guess what time it is? Review time!  Thankfully, I only had two comics on my pull list this week so this review post won't be as long as the past two have been.

Amazing Spider-Man #686

The spectacular Spider-Man summer event continues in dramatic fashion.  We start with Silver Sable's homeland, Symkaria, being blown to smithereens.  Peter tries to console her but Black Widow tells him that there is still work to be done.  Spidey goes and tries to save some of the still living people but Widow stops him again, stating that they must hunt down Doctor Octopus so the rest of the world doesn't end up like Symkaria.  After a quick check in with the Horizon gang, we see Mysterio and Chameleon plotting and revealing that the real Symkaria is safe and that this is all a set up, planned by Mysterio.  Chameleon dons a Doc Ock suit and takes off to Symkaria in order to slow down Spider-Man, Sable, and Black Widow.  After Octavius does another world-wide broadcast, he sees what Mysterio is doing and is outraged by the master of illusion's plan.  Silver Sable attacks the Doc Ock puppet while Spidey determines that it really isn't Octavius in the suit, thanks to the real Octavius taking over the suit.  After Spider-Man uses magnetic webbing on the robot, Black Widow talks to Chameleon, stating that she knows the secret of his true face.  After Chameleon stands down, Spidey talks directly to Mysterio and eventually persuades the villain into turning against Doc Ock.  After seeing what MJ and the Jameson's are up to, we return to the heroes, in progress to Guatemala and Octavius' secret lair.  Ock reveals that he has taken over the Avengers, turning them into a new version of the Sinister Six.  As Spidey tries to figure out a plan on taking down the Sinister Avengers, he realizes that Octavius has been using the tech that he has developed at Horizon against him.

Another strong issue of Amazing Spider-Man, showing that it is THE best book that Marvel is putting out right now.  I loved the way that this event has been built up and the pay-off has been well worth the wait.    Dan Slott and Stefano Caselli (with the aid of Humberto Ramos) have made this event one of the best in recent memory.  I love the interactions Spidey had with Sable and Widow this issue, but the star of the issue was Mysterio.  Seeing as Mysterio is my favorite villain, I was happy to see him play such a prominent role in this issue (and, presumably, the finale).  And, even though we knew the Avengers were being taken over, I liked how it was revealed in the issue.  However, I do have a couple gripes about the issue.  The first one I had was with J. Jonah Jameson.  The dude has been a douche this entire arc, just because his son was almost killed.  Yeah, that's the good parenting in him, but still, to try to shut down Horizon AND being a jerk to his dad when the world is going to end is a little extreme, even for him.  The other issue I had was the end revelation, with Peter discovering that Ock is using his tech against him and freaks out about how all of this is his fault.  Yes, Octavius used tech that is similar to Peter's but that doesn't mean that the doctor purposely used that tech because he knew about Peter's secret (or does he?).    Despite those two minor issues, I thoroughly enjoyed this issue, as I always do when reading this book.  Look for an "Ends of the Earth" arc review when the arc is over, seeing as I have only reviewed one of the issues so far.

Grade: A


Batman Incorporated #1

We open this chapter with Bruce being arrested after telling Alfred that all the madness with Batman is over.  We then jump back one month and see Bruce and Daimon hunting down goat men.  While Batman and Robin fight the goat men, people are shown eating around the table while someone apparently from Leviathan is talking to them.  We continue to see Bats and Robin take down the goats while getting an internal monologue from an assassin, who is aiming at Daimon.  After defeating the goat men, Daimon saves a cow, claiming it to be Bat Cow.  A member from the Leviathan dinner, a mob boss possibly, is shown to have eaten his brother during the meal and man bats are approaching him.  For the next few pages, we split between a car chase between Batman and Robin and a truck and  the man from the dinner, up until the two meet, showing that Talia is behind it all.  After seeing some of the other members of Batman Incorporated, we have another sequence of the assassin taking aim at Daimon, who takes down a group of thugs while Bruce tries to stop the sniper, which may have not worked.

Though it has been a while since I read Batman Incorporated, I was happy to see the title return during the second wave of the New 52.  Continuing the storyline from the initial launch of the book, I'm looking forward to what Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham will put the Dynamic Duo through with Leviathan.  Possibly my favorite scene (as well as many other's favorite) had to be Daimon declaring that he was a vegetarian after the slaughterhouse fight and declaring that the cow they saved was now Bat Cow.  That was so funny, despite the overall tone of the issue.  The only problem I had with the issue was that although it was a #1 issue, it really wasn't a new reader friendly book.  Even for someone like me who has read Inc. before, I still have to go refresh myself on everything because the issue did not give much back story at all.

Grade: A-


Alright, this delightfully short review session is now over.  Another review post will be coming next week as well as an overview of the Legend of Korra, probably my favorite TV show that is airing right now.

Thanks for reading!