Browsing: Review

Or – “Proof That Not Every Licensed Property Is A License To Print Money… It’s the 4th of July, American Independence Day, and here at Stately Spoilers Manor East, I’m preparing for a campout, purchasing sparklers for young Molly, and wondering if the 231st Anniversary is celebrated with Adamantium or Prometheum. 25 years ago this month, give or take a few days, I was on a boy scout campout, and my ever-awesome cousin Elwood had brought with him a comic book he picked up at the local Duckwalls. G.I. Joe had recently been a HUGE hit for Marvel, followed quickly…

Or – “This One Should Be Mighty Interesting…” I’ve long been a Garth Ennis fan, dating back to his run on Hellblazer, a cornerstone of my pull list for nearly 20 years now.  I’m approaching today’s recap with trepidation (and not a small sense of excitement) simply because of the fact that most of what I enjoy about Garth’s work is his unerring sense of where the line of propriety is drawn.  ‘Course, he matches that with a boundless joy of not only crossing the line, but gleefully finding that point so far beyond good taste that it almost crosses…

Sean Wang Scores a Hit It seems the more I work, the further I get behind. A month or two ago, Sean Wang sent me a copy of his Runners: Bad Goods trade paperback. I’m just now getting the chance to sit down and review this awesome trade, and can’t recommend it enough.

Or – “The First Real Moments Of The New Legion Era…” I admit it… Like many nostalgia buffs, I’m terrible about change. I got a new car recently, and have been complaining about it steadily ever since, even though the previous vehicle hasn’t run in over a year. They added a channel to my movie tier six months ago, and I’m still getting used to the addition. So, when a writer I love AND an artist whose work has defined the Threeboot Legion to date have left the title, I can’t be sure how much of my response is coming…

Or – “More Than Just Another Pretty Face…” As I continue with these Hero Histories, I find two things to be true… First, the dang things seem to get longer every time, no matter how much I try to limit myself or edit (and trust me, each one feels like I’ve slashed it to the bone! Lord help me when I get to Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl, who’ve appeared in 85% of the Legion stories to date.) Second, I’m always amazed at how consistent the characters have stayed, even after decades of stories. Today’s subject has always…

Or – “Where it all began…” This week Major Spoilers celebrates its first birthday! Woohoo! While Major Spoilers may be one year old this week, my love of comics began way back 1981. We were on a family vacation – you know the kind of vacation where you pack everyone into a camper and travel the highways and byways of this great country seeing the sites. I believe it was the summer we did the old west tour of Deadwood, Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Tetons, and of course Frontier Days in Cheyenne. It was on one of the many…

Or – “How To Juggle A Dozen Plots And Make It Look Easy…” The petite brunette there in the middle is Jennifer Walters, formerly known as the She-Hulk, proving she can still ‘bring it,’ as The Rock would say. Tom Grice recently took me to task for my adversarial stance during my review of Avengers: The Initiative #3, needling me about my “Dan Slott better bring his A-game” snotty remarks, saying that I was unnecessarily hard on that book. Tom is (say it with me, Spoilerites!) WRONG, Sir! WRONG! My defense is threefold: First, The Initiative is relying on a…

Now we’re cooking I can’t believe Countdown has been such a slow burn in getting to the action, but finally, finally, Countdown 44 begins to deliver on the goods that make a great story. As hard as I have been on the series to date, I think everyone – writers, editors, artists, and most importantly the readers are finally starting to settle down and get comfortable with the series. Issue #45 received four stars, how will issue #44 fare?

Or – “Sinestro Apparently Offers Great Benefits, Pension, And A Hefty Signing Bonus.” When I picked up my comics this week, I asked my co-workers Jim and Jason (if the store were the Legion of Super-Heroes, and Tom Grice were Lightning Lad, they’d be the equivalent of Ultra Boy and Element Lad. [I’d probably be Star Boy, always around, but seldom the focus of the main story.]) about getting a copy of X-Men #200 to review, they both loudly told me that the REAL gem of the week was right here in Sinestro Corps. We’ve all seen the buildup to…

Jumping on point for the new peoples Okay, I admit this review of Countdown is late – really late. But hey, better late than never, right? Riiighhht? Anyway, can you blame me for being busy these last couple of days? Yes, I am one of those kinds of dads. Anyhoo, this issue of Countdown offered a smack down drag out fight that we’ve been waiting for, a summary of Kirby, and a weird continuity error or two. Let’s get this quick review underway, shall we?

Or – “First Superman, Now The X-Men… I’ve Totally Gone Mainstream.” I admit it… I was once a huge X-Men fan, enamored of Wolverine and Colossus and company. I remember totally marking out when Juggernaut and Colossus destroyed an entire pub for no real reason, and Wolverine just let them fight to teach Colossus a lesson. I enjoyed Longshot’s return, I still love X-Men Annual #11, I even felt bad when they died in Dallas… In my “personal continuity” (the term I use for my mental belief in how the stories SHOULD have gone) they never returned from that mission,…

Or – “Final Proof That We’re Not Supposed To Be Supporting The Protagonists.” Thunderbolts is one of those titles that I’m always torn about. I’ve gone from hating the art to finding it appropriately unpleasant, from being irritated at the story to thinking I get it to being lost again. The only thing I can say for certain: it evokes a response. Even if that response is a gut-level, lizard-brain hatred for most of the membership (and yes, that includes Venom) it’s getting me talking and thinking every issue. These are some of Marvel’s most horrible villains, doing things that…

Or – “A Case Where Even I Recognize That A Crossover Can’t Hurt…” I’ve been reading Heroes For Hire on the appeal of the former Deadly Hands of Kung Fu castmembers Shang-Chi and the Daughters of the Dragon, and very much enjoying it’s retro feel. It’s a book that’s out-of-step with the rest of the Marvel Universe, adventuring in a more classic mode with actual supervillains and an old-school vibe. In spite of that (or, more likely, BECAUSE of that) the sales haven’t been as impressive as I would have hoped. This week, for the first time ever, H4H has…

Or – “In The Interests of Verisimilitude And Historical Significance…” Here at Stately Spoilers Manor, we like to keep abreast of the latest and greatest in comic excellence, as well as moments that are unique. Action Comics, the book that pretty much started the whole superhero genre back in ’38, hits a milestone with this issue, the first comic to reach number 850. Of course, it may have cheated a little bit, having been weekly for eight or nine months in the late 80’s, but it’s still an impressive achievement and worth noting. This issue also features a guest gig…