Browsing: Review

Or – “The Question Is Simple: Man or Monster?” Problem is, the answer is difficult and a lot more complicated than it seems. For all my Iron Man bashing, (Hi, Zeke!) even I understand the impetus behind the Illuminati decision to remove the problem of the Hulk from their midst. The Marvel party line for years has been that the Hulk never killed anybody, but that seems to have been left aside for a more “realistic” approach. For his part, The Hulk had found love and acceptance, and blames the Illuminati for the death of his family. With both sides…

Or – “Who’d Have Imagined EGG FU Would EVER Be Intimidating?” The 21st century truly is a place of wonders. The man from Oolong Island, most remembered pre-Crisis for an incredibly offensive accent and lines like “Stupid Amelicans! They might as werr pless a tligger to their own blains!” is not only intimidating, but this issue shows him to be a truly frightening creature, his curiosity unhindered by minor concerns such as compassion or fear of punishment. Chang Tzu proves that no idea is too ridiculous to fix, something we should probably all keep in mind when we (myself included)…

Or – “Brubaker Broke Rule #1: Bucky Stays Dead.” And yet, I enjoy it. I don’t know if it’s the fact that Cap himself is now deceased or if it’s just one of those ideas that is better in the execution than the conception, but so far, the return of James Buchanan Barnes has been very well handled. In the wake of the assassination of Captain America, the entire Marvel Universe looks like a whole new animal, and the Winter Soldier has set his sights on the biggest game of all: Tony Stark, Director of SHIELD. But before he gets…

Or – “With Each Blessing, There Must Come Some Form Of Payment…” There’s a hidden message in that image right there… I don’t think that it will surprise much of anyone, either. Bart Allen’s run as The Flash has been a troubled one, damaged by “stunt-casting” the writer of the all-important first arc, and by having what could have been a fascinating book about a fourth-generation hero turn into standard-issue paint-by-number dullardry. We all know by now that Bart’s book is being cancelled, and if you’ve read the review of JLA #10, you probably figured out why. At this point,…

Or – “We Were All Wrong…” Back in the day, DC had a crossover called Armageddon 2001, wherein one of the heroes of the DCU was revealed to be ready to turn into a totalitarian super-dictator within a few years. Throughout the crossover, all signs pointed to Captain Atom as being the one to turn, but legend has it that the reveal was leaked on the then-nascent internet, and DC changed their minds. Changing the super-secret plot point made the entire series make even less sense than before, and surprised people in a bad way. This issue also throws us…

Or – “Why Sometimes Impulse Buys Are A Good Thing…” There are a lot of things you can say about Namor the Sub-Mariner, but one of the most obvious is that he is the original anti-hero. Whereas Wolverine, The Punisher, and others started a mini-revolution in the past 25 years, Namor was known to be “the best there is at what he does” nearly 70 years ago! With a whole new political climate, an angry foreign potentate is likely to ruffle some feathers, and when the king in question can heft a battleship in his bare hands, I suspect it…

Or – “It’s Always Sad When You Grow Up Faster Than Your Friends…” I’ve always said that the original New Warriors series could be read as a metaphor for young adulthood, the time when we’re figuring out who we are and what we can do to screw up the world as an adult. If we read the Warriors as being like a super-hero college experience, (and if my experience was at all representative, it is even more so then “Freshmen”) then we can view the surviving members of the New Warriors as being roughly age 23 to 25, when the…

Or – “In Every Woman, There Is A Queen…” Generally speaking, my favorite Legionnaires are the ones who are most positive and fun:  Bouncing Boy and Matter-Eater Lad, making up for less-impressive powers by force of personality.  Blok, with his thoughtful, yet upbeat alien nature.  Volume four’s Lightning Lass, with her “all wilts in worry, grows in sunshine” serenity combined with her ability to stay positive while kicking your @$$.  But today’s entrant is a bit different…  Of the seven Legionnaires currently stuck in their past on their mysterious mission of mercy, she is the most esoteric, the one with…

That’s more like it I think everyone has had their fare share of problems with Countdown, whether it be the convoluted introduction of New Earth, the character history that can cause many to easily get lost, or the fact you need to purchase other titles to get the full story. But with issue #46 the story finally calms down enough for readers to fully appreciate it.

Or – “Trying To Separate The Art From The Artist…” When I read a comic (or, honestly, watch a movie, television program, play, or read a book,) I find myself not only enjoying the stories of the characters within the fiction, but the stories of the people behind them.  I am fascinated by the thought that while James Kirk is a stalwart hero, Bill Shatner become known as an ass.  I’m fascinated by Cerebus, but disturbed and a little bit offended by some of the thoughts espoused by his creator.  And then we come to Alex Ross…  Regular Spoilermaniacs will…

Or – “Hulk No Care About Political Infrastructure!” Though every comic company uses the hype machine, Marvel is often considered to be the pinnacle of pre-release hyperbole, dating back to the heady days of Stan Lee. The House of Ideas has been telling the Fearless Front Facers for months that World War Hulk is going to be huge, and that nothing will ever be the same again. Even granted their overuse of that particular turn of phrase, after reading this issue, I’m starting to believe it.

Or – “There Are Some Resurrections That You Just Don’t Complain About…” Normally, I tend to rant about bringing characters back from the dead. It’s a convention that generally doesn’t work, and I think it’s no coincidence that the two forms of entertainment most guilty of using it (Comic Books and Soap Operas) have stigmas attached to their fanbase. But, frankly, Ice’s death was a cheap 90’s sales ploy carrying just about as much emotional weight as a chromium-embossed Bloodshot cover, and as hypocritical as it might make me seem, I’m gonna chalk up her return in the win column.…

Or – “The Big Bombshell Revealed…” Recent conversations with Tom Grice (who is still WRONG, Sir, WRONG!) have made me think that perhaps I’ve been unfair to Marvel lately. The entire Initiative program rubs me the wrong way, and the interlocking nature of the entire dang Marvel Universe right now does color my perceptions of titles like Omega Flight and New Warriors (though I stand by my blatant excoriation of Illuminati #3 and Loners #3.) Thus, I am going to try and give you a more balanced literary criticism of this issue, purportedly the hook upon which Marvel’s new giant…

Or – “It’s Like 24, Only Slightly Less Unbelievable…” The Check/Out crossover has been interesting on a number of levels, but most of all, it’s been interesting to see the character interactions. Rucka and Winick seem to be co-writing each issue, with each of the various character voices staying true to previous depictions, even with a rollercoaster plot full of twists and turns. I was entertained by the interaction between Boomerang, Junior and Mlle. Marie, between Nightwing and The Black Queen, but nothing in the story so far has surprised me more than this issue’s final page…