Thursday, March 15, 2012

Comic Reviews - March 14, 2012


I became too busy last week and never posted reviews. Maybe I'll review those today. If you reach the end of this post and I haven't reviewed last week's crap, then it's not going to happen and everyone can just deal.

2/5 Butchered English
Ninja Attacks
Avengers #24 - (2/5)
Writer - Brian Michael Bendis
Art - Daniel Acuña

Thank God this Osborn crap is almost over. It sells itself like it's supposed to carry some weight, but it has no real noticeable impact or consequence, outside of ruining the character of Norman Osborn for use in another story. As I said before, he can't be the Green Goblin and he can't pull this crap again. He's just a watered-down Lex Luthor with cornrows. And his new power set is too one-note and over the top. If at all, it works for one big "shock", but that's it. When he turns into a purple Hulk, I yelled at the page. Also, how about he commands a bunch of ninjas to "ATAKKU". It's so goofy and out of character that it killed any chance of this book redeeming itself. With my store pull finally ended and the book now looking to tie-in to the equally pointless AvsX, I think I'm done.

3/5 Hilarious Murder
Sound Effects
Batman & Robin #7 - (3/5)
Writer - Peter Tomasi
Artist - Patrick Gleason

The Nobody story finally wraps up, and while it wasn't horrible, it certainly wasn't anything special. All the "twists" felt forced and the backstory was unnecessarily slowing everything down. And it really bothered me that the character of Damian seems to be progressing backwards from where Morrison had taken him while he was on the book. His actions at the end weren't even a surprise since they've been very clearly telecasted for a while, plus Nobody wasn't really the kind of character that could stick around, with everything he knows. The art was kind of disappointing, as well. A lot of heavy shadows and blacks and some awkward character proportions. The cover especially falls short. Still, the heart in the book, while not reaching where it should, is something I enjoy enough to see it develop. It seems the next issue looks to be an epilogue of sorts, so I may pick it up if the week is slow.

3/5 Noks
Green Lantern #7 - (3/5)
Writer - Geoff Johns
Artist - Doug Mahnke

I was very ready to drop Green Lantern, and was only stuck grabbing this issue because of the way pulls are set up in my shop. The idea of Sinestro as a Lantern, and even the whole reluctant "buddy cop" thing with Hal, originally excited me, but it ultimately wasn't going anywhere. Unfortunately, this issue starts off a story promising to reveal answers about the Indigo Lanterns, and the whole Lantern Mythos was something that genuinely interested me enough to read the series way back when. While the title still has its problems and this issue in no way really shines, the world-building continues to pull me in for at least another issue.

5/5 Chewed Umbilical
Cords
Saga #1 - (5/5)
Writer - Brian K. Vaughan
Artist - Fiona Staples

God damn it. Just...f***in'...god damn it.
I didn't want to love this book. I didn't want to hate it or even dislike it, but I just didn't want to love it. I almost didn't even pick it up, but at 40 pages for $3, I couldn't pass it up. I was hoping I would just like it enough to grab it in trades or read it off of Seth or something, but it's too good. The story was fun and fresh. The artwork is really nice and has a lot of personality. The universe-building is fun and engaging. Every single thing in the book clicks. And for such a large first issue, no pages feel wasted. It's the first new series in a long while that made me wish it was next month already. I want it on my shelf in a nice collection of hardcovers, but I also want to read each chapter every month. The last series that I felt this strongly about off of one issue was The Unwritten, and that's become one of my favorite series of all time. It looks like it has new competition.

3/5 Split Head Soups
The Secret History of D.B. Cooper #1 - (3/5)
Writer / Artist - Brian Churilla

I heard about this new series online and the premise sounded fun enough to give the first issue a look. However, the $4 price tag almost turned me away, and, honestly, I wish it had done a better job. The issue is by no means bad. There are a lot of fun ideas and the artwork's real slick, but there was nothing to really grab me. It's the kind of thing that I'd tune in for the next issue if I could borrow it off a friend, or maybe buy the trade if I find it for cheap, but $4 is a lot to ask when the best I can really say about it is, "So...that was that."




5/5 Melting Words
The Unwritten #35 - (5/5)
Writer - Mike Carey
Art - Peter Gross

I've made it no secret that I absolutely adore The Unwritten with every fiber of my being. This month it came with some tough competition in the form of Saga, and while I think Saga ultimately came out on top, Unwritten didn't disappoint. Like Saga, we got a larger-than-usual issue, but this one came with a $5 price tag. With the conclusion to the "War of the Words" storyline, though, I certainly got my money's worth. Carey has been slowly beginning to show his hand, and this issue contains several good reveals, a strong conclusion to the arc, as well as a shocking twist for the next. The only complaint I have is that I have to wait 2 issues to see where it goes, as the next issue will be another .5 stand-alone (although that's never going to be a bad thing).


Alright, that's it. Also, hey, check out my daily sketches on Tumblr.

I'm not doing last week's because I'm lazy

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Reviews and other things

I was going to write a post earlier this week, but nothing was really hitting right. Plus, Tuesday was my birthday, so I decided that not writing would be my gift to myself. Well, that and the Xbox Kinect I bought, but that's another story.

Also, I went through some of my old art stuff and came across some old sketchbooks that, aside from a few pages here and there, are virtually blank. One of them had like 10 or so pages with sketches that didn't start until like 5 pages in, which I thought was weird.

Anyway, I decided to start doing a doodle a day. I've been posting them both on Twitter and on Tumblr, if you're interested.

Here's today's:


Now...Onward to Reviews for February 29, 2012!



2/5 Luthers with
Ginger Cornrows
Avengers #23 - 2/5
Writer - Brian Michael Bendis
Artist - Daniel Acuña

Man, I just can not get into this whole Osborn thing. There are some interesting ideas and it's certainly not the worst story ever, but there's still a lot of stupid going on. It also doesn't help that everything since Dark Reign has damaged Norman Osborn (as a character) forever, in the sense that, without some serious retconning, he can never go back to the character he used to be. He can't go back to being the Green Goblin, and, if he did, One More Day removed any impact or motivation the character had. He's now basically the watered-down Lex Luther of the Marvel universe.
 Also, if two books come out in the same week that take place in a certain chronological order, let the reader know. You have that recap page - use it. Put a blurb on there that says, "This issue takes place before/after 'Other Series' #whatever." While it doesn't ruin anything, Avengers sets up some events that happen in New Avengers this week, and I unwittingly read them in the wrong order.

3/5 People hate Osborn
more than Spider-Man,
apparently
New Avengers #22 - 3/5
Writer - Brian Michael Bendis
Artists - Michael Deodato & Will Conrad

More Osborn shenanigans, but this is ultimately a more enjoyable book. Despite all written in the same snarky one-liner voice of Spider-Man, this team is more fun to read than the "core" Avengers team, and I'm more invested in their story. The story still tends to me a little too strawman-y, and I still can't figure out why Luke Cage has a stronger vendetta against Osborn than Spider-Man, much like how Hawkeye wanted Osborn more than Pete in Dark Reign. The murder of your girlfriend isn't something you eventually "mellow out" about. Still, the book is fun and the artwork by Deodato is nice, with the exception of his obviously-Tommy-Lee-Jones Osborn. The last page cliffhanger was also an interest surprise that I'm interested to learn more about.

1/5 Terrible jokes about
the Flash being fast
Justice League #6 - 1/5
Writer - Geoff Johns
Artist - Jim Lee

This continues to be such an incredibly stupid book. I really wish I had the willpower to drop a series mid-story-arc, because the completionist in me just needed to waste money. The story makes little sense and exists just so that Jim Lee can draw big action, and the pacing is absolutely terrible. The dialogue is atrocious as well. How about this line is spoken: "You're the world's greatest super-humans!" It was followed by, "What's your hurry, Flash?" Someone actually f***ing wrote those. Also, apparently Batman's bat-symbol disappears if he takes his cape and cowl off (what?) and Darkseid still looks like someone dropped him. There's also a back-up that features Pandora that guest-stars the Phantom Stranger, so this gets a pity-point just for him.
God, what a f***ing stupid book.

4.5/5.5 Giant Story-Fish
The Unwritten #34.5 - 4.5/5.5
Writer - Mike Carey
Co-creator - Peter Gross
Artist - Gary Erskine

The .5 issues of The Unwritten have actually been some of my favorites of the series. They're all self-contained one-and-done tales that give us some backstory on a particular secondary character from the series proper, and they've all been really fun. This one focuses on Tom's father Wilson and how he first encounters the power of storytelling. It's a well-written and interesting story, but I have to admit that it didn't hit me as well as the previous .5 issues. It felt more low-key and didn't really reveal any new information outside of some specific event details. Overall a good issue, but not as stunning as the others. But I'll hardly complain about getting two Unwrittens a month.


Well, that's all I've got. See you next week.

And watch Awake tonight on NBC!