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!