|
Columnist Thunder Mod
Super Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Denver Area, between Asgard and Krypton
Posts: 21,364
|
The Mighty Reviews 9/23/10
Sam Wilson’s Review
Black Widow #6
Marvel Comics
Written by: Duane Swierczynski
Drawn by: Manuel Garcia
Cover by: Travel Foreman
Recently Natasha (Natilia) Romanova has been catapulted to the forefront of the Marvel U. We can thank “Iron Man 2” (and Scarlett Johansson) for that. Personally I’m glad to see my girl get what she’s always had coming to her, “A” lister superhero status in the Marvel U. In the last 10 years we’ve seen a few limited series (my favorite being the Richard K. Morgan/Bill Sienkiewicz series from 2005) and they all featured top talent and excellent stories. Different creative teams have taken different liberties retconing the character (I mean seriously, how old is she?) but for the most part she’s always stayed true to who she was. Deadly, hot and independent Natasha Romanova has always been a heavy hitter in the Marvel U, and with her new ongoing we are finally able to see that on a regular basis.
Issue 6 is the start of a new 3 part storyline “Kiss or Kill” by noted crime novelist Duane Swierczynski. Nick Crane is the son of a rich man, a VP candidate whose father killed himself after being seen with a mysterious redhead who wasn’t his wife. This set Nick on a path to uncover this mysterious redhead. Nick is a hides himself as a crusading journalist but is really just obsessed with finding this mysterious redhead who may or may not be connected to his father’s death. Of course this woman looks like our girl Natshasha, but she isn’t. The woman she really is isn’t to happy that Nick is getting close to find her so she sets a trap to come onto him and hopefully kill him. Unless Natasha can get to Nick first, which she doesn’t but she does arrive shortly after her mysterious doppelganger and thus the adventure begins…
The first arc to this book by Marjorie Liu was pretty good, but this second arc is different. It’s much tighter paced and reads more like a James Bond movie with less spectacle and I’m okay with that. I’m really okay with that. The art is about a c+ but that’s fine, I’ve seen worse. If you are a fan of Natasha, this book is definitely worth your time, I highly recommend it.
Dawg’s Review
Avengers #5
Marvel Comics
Written by: Brian Bendis
Drawn by: John Romita Jr.
Cover by: John Romita, Jr.
Earth’s Mightiest Heroes have themselves caught in quite a pickle. The time-stream has come unraveled and it appears that the more the Avengers race to prevent disaster to the space-time continuum, the more that time seems to find a way to continue to implode on itself.
The team travels to the far-flung future to try and stop Kang, only to find out Kang isn’t really at the heart of the mess. Things get more confusing from here I think. Future versions of characters, Horeseman of Apocalypse, Galactus, Tony Stark exchanging quips with Tony Stark and Spider-Man and Spiderwoman talking about peeing themselves in costume.
Apparently Tony Stark thought that he purged himself of any infection that Ultron inflicted (see early issues of Mighty Avengers from a few years back). The future version of Tony and the Maestro however know, that Ultron is smarter than anyone, and have taken it upon themselves to rid the residual pieces of Ultron from Stark’s body/hardrive.
The rest of the team battle to save whomever they can, and bide time while they wait for Stark and Noh-Varr to hopefully find Kang and set the time-stream right.
Basically this is a knockdown drag out issue where Romita gets to go nuts with battle-scenes and pay off of Bendis’ at times dialogue heavy script. The two work together very well and one can expect that any time travel story will need more verbose explanation than your typical shoot ‘em up tale.
There’s a lot to like about this series. The team selected for this book is a great mix of characters both classic and new and somehow I don’t see the new characters like Spidey, Wolverine, and Spiderwoman as not being Avengers. They are Avengers and have earned the right to fight alongside of classics like Hawkeye and Thor.
As I mentioned before, I am not really big on time travel stories. Nor am I really a huge fan of Kang/Ultron stories in truth, but I imagine this one will be over soon and the next heavy will come along for the team to tackle and it will be awesome. I like this book a lot and I think the Avengers books are among the best Marvel has to offer right now. The art is pure Romita Jr. and if you are a fan you will love it, and if you are not, you will wonder why everyone loves his art so much. Bendis owns the Avengers and it feels like he knows these characters so well that it is effortless for him to characterize them in the limited screen time that each is given. The best example I can give of this is Spider-Man talking to Spiderwoman about having one of “those days” and/or Thor charging off to strike a mighty blow to the head of Galactus.
This is definitely a book worth reading if you want that high drama story featuring the best of the best characters in the Marvel Universe.
Wktf’s Reviews
Thor #615
Marvel Comics
Written by: Matt Fraction
Drawn by: Pasqual Ferry
Covers by: Pasqual Ferry and Joe Quesada
Thor has had a really impressive run since after Mjolnir dropped to Earth way back in the Civil War era Fantastic Four #536. JMS did simply fantastic work with the character and Kieron Gillen’s run afterwards carried the glory of that run forward seemingly without missing a beat. Now Matt Fraction, who showed us he could write a barbaric Thor tale of yore with his Ages of Thunder trilogy as well as a more modern take on Thor in the Secret Invasion Thor issues and the Thor God Sized Special #1, has taken control of the book. Fraction’s a terrific writer who’s churned out great work on Iron Fist, Iron Man and X-Men. But, like Superman, Thor is a character who’s more often written badly than well (with respectful nods to Stan Lee, Walt Simonson and, as noted, the back-to-back efforts of JMS and Gillen), so Thor fans have to be cut some slack for wringing their hands a bit after two writers in a row hit gold with a new writer coming on board. Can we be so lucky a third time in a row?
Unfortunately, this issue doesn’t bode well. To start, Thor’s voice and character just doesn’t seem familiar at all. Rude to Sif, short with Fandrall and all but hostile to his half-brother Baldar and his alter ego, Blake (really, is Thor a character who says “Shut Up!” at all much less three times in the same issue?), this isn’t a modern Thunder God I recognize after more than 40 years of reading. And, all of this seems to be brought on, or at least initialized by his melancholy over Loki’s death. Prior to Thor and Tyr’s going to Hel in the last arc, Thor gave a eulogy that felt absolutely spot on. Sure, maybe he’s continuing to harbor those same feelings here but, in Fraction’s hands, somehow Thor’s sadness for the step-brother that sought nothing but his death just doesn’t sit right. There is a plot element, however, that certainly offers possibilities. It seems it was not only Osborn and Loki who had a problem with Asgard’s being on Earth. As a slightly befuddled but legitimately worried quantum cosmologist tries to explain to an unknown (until the end of the issue) audience, nature abhors a vacuum. With Asgard’s vacating its space in the Nine Worlds it’s created an imbalance that something on the evil and destructive level of the Dark Gods appears to be coming to fill. We get a taste of what that something is here and, despite crossing from the mythological into what looks more like science fiction, it certainly looks pretty nasty.
The other new element here is Pasqual Ferry’s art, which has a totally different look and feel than what’s come before it. The meticulous detail and rich dark elements of Coipel, Djurdjevic and even Tan’s art now has been replaced by a far more cartoony, simplistic and pastelly bright to the point of being neon in tone. I’m afraid for the mood this book has set thus far, this new look really doesn’t work. At least not yet, anyway. Unfortunately, this comic book is no longer one I feel comfortable with. It just doesn’t feel like the same book any more. Because of my love of the character and his cast, I’m going to hang on for at least a few more issue but if I continue to feel as alienated from this title as I do now I may have to consider dropping it.
Dracula: The Company of Monsters #2
Boom! Studios
Created and Story by: Kurt Busiek
Written by: Daryl Gregory
Drawn by: Scott Godlewski
Cover by: Ron Salas
The first issue of this title took its meticulous time in setting up this story, recounting not only how Vlad Dracula plotted his ascention to become a vampire after his death but also in how the executives at Barrington Industries, or one CEO in particular named Conrad, located Dracula’s body in hopes of resurrecting it so that the vampire lord could be manipulated in the company’s own, assumed, hostile interests. My expectation was that the plot would move forward from here, the motivating elements that drove Conrad to such a powerful and desperate act would be revealed, and that we would begin to see how Dracula must, inevitably, turn this situation to his own advantage and toward his own objectives.
None of this was to be found in this issue. We still have no idea why Foster wants Dracula back and toward what purposed he wants to direct the vampire. It’s not at all clear who the company’s enemy’s are and what situation could be so dire that Foster would go to such outlandish measures. Most of this issue, rather, is dedicated to our lead character’s misgivings about his participation in this whole affair. Evan’s mother, actually, is the chairman of the board and when Even goes to his mother’s house to out this project but finds Even there we begin to get a better feel for Evan’s smarts, instincts and conniving ways. But still really have no clue as to what’s going on here.
With art that’s passable at best, my hope is that Busiek, Gregory and Godlewski deliver a third issue that actually moves the plot and story forward in a meaningful way and give me a reason to come back to this title.
Superman/Batman #76
DC Comics
Written by: Judd Winick
Drawn by: Marco Rudy
Cover by: Nick Klein
Okay, well, some disclaimer’s in order here. When I saw this issue’s cover with Superman bent down holding Batman’s skeletal body it was pretty clear this issue was going to revisit what, in my opinion, was one of the worst (if not THE worst) superhero event stories in recent or even past years. And, when I saw Judd Winick was the writer, and Winick’s a writer I like only marginally more than Gran Morrison whom I repeatedly slam), I nearly kept right on walking. But, with Dick Grayson’s Batman in the background and remembering an article about how this issue is supposed to be about Clark’s and Dick’s both coming to terms with Bruce’s death and Clark’s initial reaction to Dick’s taking up Batman’s mantle, I bit my lip, thought “Okay, what the hell” and picked it up. I shouldn’t have, given how much I don’t like Final Crisis or Winick’s writing, but I did.
For the art, alone, I’d caution others not to do as I did and just leave this comic on the shelf. Rudy’s art, while dark, moody and expressive, just doesn’t capture Superman properly at all. In fact, I’d say he’s drawing Tom Welling’s character from “Smallville” more than he’s drawing DC’s Superman. It’s really just an awful rendition of Superman, especially later in the book when Clark’s having a heart-to-heart with Wonder Woman when, interestingly, Superman shares a fear that’s plaguing him, one that Batman’s death brings to the surface. And this actually is a telling moment for the Man of Steel, one Winick deserves a little credit for exploring, however briefly, here. And the final moment, a confrontation of sorts, when Superman and Dick confront each other over whether or not Dick should carry on Bruce’s legacy, also makes for a nice simultaneous exploratory of the two men and their personal grief, as well as their understanding of what drove Bruce to become The Batman.
So, I have to give Winick his props while also bemoaning the choice of Rudy for the art chores. In the end the art kills the story for me, even if the story’s really pretty good.
Wktf’s Trade Review
When I walked into my lcs this week, the newly published Marvel Premier HC of Avengers Under Siege was staring me in the face from the shelf by the cash register. I absolutely love this story and reviewed the tpb packaging of it a while ago. However, to convince as many of you as possible to go out now and pick up this beautiful new HC, I’m representing that review here.
Avengers Under Siege Marvel Premier Classic HC
Marvel Comics
Written by: Roger Stern
Drawn by: John Buscema and Tom Palmer
Cover by: John Buscema and Tom Palmer
In “Avengers Finale,” the closing chapter to Bendis’ mediocre “Avengers Disassembled” arc, Hank Pym turns to Tony Stark to ask him what he thought was the team’s “best moment.” This precipitates a trip down Avengers memory lane as this issue’s assemblage recounts some truly significant stories from Avengers history. Edwin Jarvis, the team’s butler and dear friend, speaks of the “Avengers Under Siege” story, Avengers # 270 – 277, which now is packaged in a “Marvel’s Premier Classic” hardcover format.
Bendis did his homework. No other story could have the same personal impact on Jarvis as this one. Back in the 1980s as Walt Simonson, John Byrne, and Frank Miller were making Thor, FF, and DD history, respectively, Roger Stern was quietly creating some of the best Avengers and Amazing Spider-Man stories ever published. You have to wonder why Marvel hasn’t given this guy his own line of “Visionary” trades beyond a single Spider-Man tpb. While I haven’t created a Top 5 list, I am confident that this particular Avengers story would be in my top 5 comics stories ever published from any publisher. I clearly remember reading these Avengers issues when they first were published, how shocked, horrified and thrilled I was and that I knew, at that time, that I was reading something historically ground-breaking. This thought is validated in Stern’s 1998 introduction to the book in which he says, “We received a flood of mail at the time, and – even now – whenever I run into longtime AVENGERS fans, [this] storyline is the one most often mentioned.”
The Avengers have battled nearly every cosmic menace imaginable from Thanos, to the Kree-Skrull War, to Korvac/Michael. This story, though, is a shockingly brutal street fight taken straight to them that brings the entire team to its knees and nearly succeeds in being the true “Avengers Disassembled” story. Baron Zemo, out for revenge against Captain America and Cap’s Avengers family for the death of his father during Cap’s earliest days with the team, has assembled the most powerful and brutal Masters of Evil team ever formed. They include the Wrecking Crew, Goliath/Power Man, Mr. Hyde, Tiger Shark, the Absorbing Man, and Titania. Also present are Blackout, the Fixer, Moonstone, and the Grey Gargoyle, among others. For a seven issue story, Zemo’s recruitment process and the build up to the Master’s assault against the Avengers takes a full three issues! Talk about tension!
Despite the power in the Avengers numbers, which included Hercules, Thor and the Captain Marvel/Photon, this Masters of Evil team is superior in numbers and strength. Zemo organizes this group of headstrong villains, keeps them in check, and achieves the unthinkable: he divides and conquers the Avengers by preying on their emotional or physical weaknesses (for example, Hercules’ resentment of the Wasp’s leadership, the Black Knight’s jealousy of the Wasp’s affection for Paladin, or Captain Marvel’s inability to cope against Blackout’s “Darkforce”), attacks and defeats Avengers individually, and through sheer brute force breaks into the mansion through the front door and takes over the place. The mansion then is destroyed from the inside. Hercules is drugged and brutally beaten into a coma and Mr. Hyde pummels both the Black Knight and poor Jarvis nearly to death. Captain America is captured, bound and forced to witness both Jarvis’ beating as well as endure Zemo and Hyde’s emotional torture as they destroy pictures of Bucky, his mother and his original shield. How the Avengers (and, in particular, Cap and the Wasp) deal with these defeats, come back to win, and cope with their losses is some of the best graphic story telling in comics history.
Buy this book. You won’t regret it. Now, if only Marvel would package the follow-up story where Zeus strikes back at the Avengers for the indignities and harm the Masters of Evil inflicted on Hercules. One can only hope they will.
|
