Browsing: Review

Or – “The Cover That Launched A Thousand Blogs…” The irony of the entire Hentai Controversy is that Heroes for Hire probably needed the press. The adventures of Jean Grey’s ex-roommate, her samurai sidekick, two Spider-Man villains, (one of whom talks to bugs) a new mysterious-tough-girl-in-spandex, and perhaps the greatest character of Marvel’s Bronze Age aren’t exactly burning up the charts, sales-wise. Indeed, orders at the store (Gatekeeper Hobbies, Huntoon & Gage, Topeka! Ask us about our chock-full 3 For A Dollar Bin!) have more than tripled due to the World War Hulk crossover, and there’s a pretty good chance…

Or – “Thank Whatever Supreme Being There Is This Series Isn’t Weekly Anymore…” So. Batman has chosen his team, leaning heavily on experienced and powerful heroes, the ones with the most seasoning, but also those who have worked with him previously. Katana, the Martian Manhunter, Metamorpho and Grace have jumped through his hoops, but Grace and I think that he made at least one mistake in his selection process, and she’s more likely than I am to twist off his World’s Greatest Detective Limbs and beat him about his pointy-cowled head. Batman may be a smart man, but I’m seriously…

Or – “I’d Rather Be With Someone For The Wrong Reasons Than Alone For The Right.” Loners, as a concept, is troublesome. I’ve harped on it before, but having a superhero comic on the premise of NOT BEING a superhero kind of defeats the entire purpose, forcing the writers to jump through all sorts of hoops to give us a good story. Since comic books are, essentially, all second act with no finale (the better to make Batman last for 70 years) the creators of this title has bitten off a pretty big chunk that may not swallow easy. Previous…

Or – “Apparently, They Want To Torture Us For A Couple Of Years…” Okay… I had intended to have this up this a.m. as a morning-of review, but a doctor’s visit for the daughter shot that notion right innaface. Mea culpa. Events in New Avengers and Mighty Avengers have been moving at a glacial pace, with each book managing to different levels of effect to tap-dance around not telling us a dozen different plot points. Add to that the compressed storytelling techniques that mean the last ten months of comics took place in approximately the time it takes me to…

Or – “Don’t You Hate It When People Get A Swelled Head About Themselves?” Man, I hate it when I get behind… It’s virtually impossible to catch up again, and I end up doubling my efforts, which leads to me getting tired, which leads to me taking a day off and getting behind again. Catch-22. Really, it’s very similar to the feeling that MODOK’s minion patrol (aren’t minions small onions?) seems to be encountering in their attempt to knock off a group of quasi-godlike beings called the Infinicide, in which the price of failure is death, and the cost of…

Or – “An Interesting End To An Entertaining Era.” She-Hulk is a character who’s been through a lot of changes in her career, from her earliest incarnation as a savage counterpart to her cousin running about in a slashed-up nightie to her fourth-wall breaking antics in the 90’s, to her current run as super-lawyer, but I’ve never been as sad to see a She-Hulk era end as I am right now.  Dan Slott took a character created to, essentially, protect Marvel’s intellectual property and took an entirely new twist on the character and backstory.  It’s been a little over 3 years…

Or – “Proof That Where Goeth The Legion, There Goeth The DCU.” Over the last few years, the family of Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman, have come forward with a fascinating claim, with which faithful Spoilerites are probably quite familiar.  The gist of it all is that when Jerry and Joe Shuster sold Superman to National Periodical Publications, (now known as DC Comics) they were royally hosed, a fact that seems pretty obvious since DC had made millions upon millions of dollars after only a few years of the character’s stories, while Jerry & Joe were paid a pittance for…

One of the topics that constantly fill up my e-mail box is recommendations for trade collections that readers should be picking up in lieu of individual issues. This post kicks off a brand new series of trades that are high on my reading list, and should be on yours too.

Or – “My Fair Slay-dy…” In a very deeply hidden part of myself, I’ve always harbored a secret love for rogue Slayer Faith.  Maybe it’s the dark eyes, maybe it’s her street-smart and sexy facade, maybe it’s just that I’ve always preferred brunettes to blondes, but somehow Faith has managed to eclipse even Buffy herself as my fave-rave Sunnydale character (though Spike runs a close second.)  Add to that the literary stylings of the awesome Brian K. Vaughan, and we’re looking at an issue that I’ve been looking forward to, even given that the first five were pretty awesome in and…

Or – “The Line Between Hero And Monster…” So far during the WWH crossover, we’ve seen Hulk fighting the United States army, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and successfully taken over the entire island of Manhattan. Nobody questions that his actions are justifiable to himself, and honestly, some of the people he’s put the hurting on richly deserved it (I’m lookin’ at you, Mr. Stark!) but we’ve seen edges of a darker path in his actions. Now that he’s gathered his enemies in one place, Hulk now has to make the decision indulging his basest urges for revenge and living…

Or – “More Secrets, Hints, and Inveiglement.” One of the inherent problems of a title like this is the nature of secrets. The launch of New Warriors was (unusually, for a comic release) kept very mysterious, but the danger is that once the secrets are revealed, people will lose interest. So far we’ve seen the identity of Wondra, Blackwing, and Decibel, and they all have a connection to a certain upstate academy of higher learning with a hyper-sonic jet under the basketball court. Given Marvel’s historical predilection for loading titles with recognizable characters, adding a ‘high-concept’ hook, and seeing if…

Or – “Turn And Face The Strange Ch-Ch-Changes…” One of the pitfalls of a team the size of the Legion is that certain characters tend to fall between the cracks.  Sure, we know all about guys like Mon-El, Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy, and even Andromeda, but the backstories of others (say, Star Boy, Sun Boy, and today’s entrant) have taken literal decades to play out.  One of the most ethereal of Legionnaires, today’s subject is also one of the longest tenured, even serving three tours as Legion leader and several more as deputy.  His costume colors and varying (but always…

Or – “Not Precisely A Retro Review…” A couple of weeks ago when I was blown away by Black Summer #2, I mentioned that if enough people were interested, I’d go back and touch on issue #1.  Due to unprecedented fan response (which means somebody responded…  Thanks, Lou!) and a delay of this week’s comics due to the Labor Day holiday (you’d think after reading the things for decades and working in the industry since ’98 I might get a clue on holiday shipping delays, but alas…) I’ve decided to go back and cover this one.  And while I’m certain…

Do they? Do they really? Last issue was all about cliffhangers, so one would expect a lot of resolution this week with a fair smattering of fisticuffs and humor thrown in to boot. Countdown continues to chug along, but is it just spinning its wheels, or is it the little engine that can make it over the mountain?