New Comic Day Review 12/18/13

Greetings and Salutations, welcome back to the GREATBLACK Comic Review. This was a light week for me but this was probably one of my best hauls in a while. So without further ado lets get this review underway.


The Superior Spider-Man #25 (ongoing)
Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Humberto Ramos

I'm a big fan of the Superior Spider-Man run, but as of late the pacing has been all wonky in the books and this issue revs that wonky pacing to the max. Here we see that the Venom Symbiote has attached itself to Spock (Spider-man/Doc Ock), after removing it from Flash Thompson last issue, and Spock declares himself "THE SSSSSSSSSSSSSUPERIOR VENOM". Now here is where things get wonky/rushed. Spock rushes out, attacking Cardiac and Flash and then proceeds to beat up a whole bunch of street level thugs, a couple D-List Villains, and yell at Aunt May (;_;). Oh yeah, and if that wasn't a lot to cram into an issue, The Green Goblin and his Goblin Army are doing stuff too, and Carlie got sprayed with the Goblin Serum... To be honest I think the title is being rushed for some reason or another and Darkest Hour, which in my opinion should have been a two month (4-5 issue arc) has been compressed into 3 issues. Now that may be an editorial complaint but Slott has definitely not dealt with the issue properly and his characterization of Spock has become almost random, and basically forced to fit into whatever he needs it to be rather than keep it consistent. Over all, I feel like this issue has been another step down from the fun that used to be "Spock's Wild Ride".


Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #8 (ongoing)
Writer: Christopher Yost
Artist: Marco Checchetto

As of late this has really been the Superior Superior Spider-Man Comic. Christopher Yost seems to have a better handle on the character of Spock. However, more importantly he has a more consistent depiction of Spock's character, and the changes we do see are logical ones. In this issue we see Spock struggling with having failed in his Superior Six project and nearly destroying New York. He decides that he is an inferior Spider-man and go to the Avengers to find a way to restore Peter Parker to his body. However on the way he meets Earth's Mightiest Scumbag The Submariner Namor. Namor is currently being hunted down by Wakandan assassins. To my, and Spock's surprise Spock actually saves him, and during their face off with the assassins they discover that the assassins are actually robots, robots that are about to EXPLODE! Spock risks his life to save the day and realizes what it means to be Spider-Man, that no matter how bad things get Spider-man will always push through and save the day, and he punches that scumbag Namor in the face. While the story seems a little far-fetched the dialogues between Spock and Namor are what really shines, and along with the other issues of Superior Team-Up we get a cool little window into how Spock thinks, and we get to see him slowly but surely understand what it means to be a hero.


Scarlet Spider #25 ( FINAL)
Writer: Christopher Yost
Artist: David Baldeon

Man these Spider Family books are dropping like flies. Last month it was Venom and this one its Scarlet Spider, both of which were amazing titles that were unfortunately overshadowed by more popular titles. In this issue we see Shathra come to consume Kaine while he struggles with whether or not he is a monster or a hero. However, when the lives of his friends are put at stake he embraces his inner monster to save the day. Although he is run out of Houston as a monster, we see him now in Mexico and despite vowing never to be the hero ever again we still see him saving the day. The charm of Scarlet Spider is really its compelling main character, Kaine. One of the Clone's of Peter Parker made by the Jackal we see Kaine constantly struggling with what he thinks he is, a monster, and what he strives to be, the Scarlet Spider the mantle of his "brother" Ben Reilley, one time Spider-man and the original Scarlet Spider. This is a great story about redemption and I highly recommend picking up the trades, and if you like it fear not The Scarlet Spider will be returning in a few months as a member of the New Warriors.

 
Thunderbolts (Annual)
Writers: Ben Acker and Ben Blacker
Artist: Mateo Lolli

I reviewed Thunderbolts last week and let you guys know how much I liked it and what exactly I liked about it. This issue had more of the same and with a huge face lift. Even though I never had an issue with the art in this it was nice to see a polished version of such a fun book and the story they used for this was a lot of fun. A rogue Dr Strange is forcing everyone to be nice, gang warfare has stopped, Villains are eating ice-cream with heroes, and mobsters are doing charity. Only one team can stop this, the Thunderbolts. After going on various humorous sorties to obtain magical weapons capable of combating Dr Strange and a mind-wiped visit to W.A.N.D, SHIELD's Witchcraft Alchemy and Necromancy Department, they face Dr Strange. However, it is revealed that this isn't Dr Strange but the evil fairy king whose weapon... IS JOY! As the other members of the Thunderbolts succumb to joy all seems to be lost, but what the fairy king doesn't realize is that the Punisher doesn't feel joy and blows his head off. This book had a ton of hilarious panels and a fun story I highly recommend it.

   

Lastly we have X-men #14, the first appearance of the Sentinel, and a mini-bust of a Sentinel. I bought this as a gift for a friend and the friendly people at my comic shop were a huge help in picking this out. I told them what my friend liked and they told me about the book, and while one of the clerks went to snag the issue another had produced the mini-bust. They cut me a sweet deal on the two and now I have a radical gift to give my friend. So let this be great reason to go to your local comic shop if you can instead of using an online service or a chain like Newbury Comics.

Well, that's it for my pull list this week. Let me know in the comments if you agree/disagree and I'm always looking for something new to read so make some suggestions as well and I'll try and get my hands on it, and remember to share this on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+ if you want to see more content like this.

New Comic Day Reviews 12/11/13

Greetings and Salutations and with another Wednesday comes this weeks new releases in comics; and with this weeks new releases in comics comes the inaugural GREATBLACK Comic Review! This will essentially be just a review of all the comics I received this week, what I liked about them, and what I didn't. Just a preface to the review, my pull list is quite Marvel-heavy due to my dislike of the New 52, what I've seen as a reboot for the sole purpose of rehashing old stories, however that complaint may end up becoming a blog-post of its own. So lets cut to the chase and get reviewing!


Captain America: Living Legend #4 (of 4)
Story: Andy Diggle
Art: Agustin Alessio

The first comic on my list for this week was the final issue of this Captain America mini-series. This book has been great and I've loved every minute of it. The art is superb and has an almost cinematic feel to it, which made this mini feel really special. The story and writing were also superb throughout. Captain America is written exactly how I've seen him, a war-hero who's unfaltering moral compass and commitment to do the right thing define him. The climax of this story sees Cap face off against a ghost from his past, former Russian soldier and current dark matter manipulating monster Volkov. In the end Captain America manages to win, and also gets some commies to defect to the American way. While, the climax was great the closing panels weren't as gratifying as they should have been, but I think that was the point. In Cap's own words at the end of this issue, "Soldiers don't die, they just get reassigned."

  
Superior Foes of Spider-Man #6 (Ongoing)
Story: Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber
Art: Rachelle Rosenberg

Superior Foes is one of my favorite books this year. Its one of the few Marvel books where entire dimensions, galaxies, universes, civilizations, cities, or even buildings are at stake. Its just about a bunch of C-List villains trying to get by, and more importantly it isn't at all afraid to be silly. The star of this book is Fred Myers, better known as the Boomerang, one of Spider-man's less fearsome villains. This issue focuses' on the aftermath of Boomerang's heist on notorious crime-boss The Owl's hideout. He has left his comrades, "The Sinister Six",  to be interrogated by The Owl. A fate which we saw only just last issue can result in death. Some of the highlights of the issue include Fred going on a date with his bartender and realizing he has met his soul-mate, Doctor Doom asking an artist to paint him like on of his French Girls, and Kawaii Tombstone. This book is definitely one of Marvel's hidden gems and is worth a look if you enjoy silly comic book shenanigans.


Mighty Avengers #4 (Ongoing)
Story:Al Ewing
Art: Greg Land

Mighty Avengers is a standard Marvel team-up book taking some popular and hot heroes, Luke Cage, Blue Marvel, and Spider-Man, and pairing them with newer characters, Power Man, White Tiger and Spectrum, as well as the mysterious Spider Hero, now Ronin, who is definitely NOT (wink wink) going to play a role in the upcoming Inhumanity event... don't mind the cover or the ominous panels of Spider Hero, no hyphen, talking to a guy in a crystal ball. This issue was mostly the introduction of some characters affected by the Terrigen Bomb from the Infinity Event, Jason Quantrell and Quickfire, members of a pharmaceutical company looking to commercialize super powers; as well as setting up some magic stuff with Spider Hero, now Ronin. Oh and Spider-Man is trying to take over the Mighty Avengers. I liked this series enough from the first two issues to pull it but this one had some flaws, one its tried to do way to much in one issue, introducing several new characters, as well as several plot lines. I do like this team a lot, and I hope they don't get lost in an effort to try and push this Inhumanity event.


Thunderbolts #19 (Ongoing)
Story: Charles Soule
Art: Gabriel Hernandez Walta

This is another one of Marvel's hidden gems. One of its greatest assets is its cast featuring some of my favorites Red Hulk, Flash Thompson as Venom, Elektra, The Punisher, and Deadpool; as well as two characters I wasn't familiar with Red Leader and Mercy. While many people criticize the art in this ongoing, I disagree and often find that Thunderbolts has some of the best, if not the best panel movement in comics today. That is to say that not only does every panel make sense but their progression is very reminiscent of cartoons, often adding hilarious twists to serious or macabre events, especially those involving Deadpool. This issue was mostly filler, but it was the good kind of filler, its purpose was to reintroduce readers to one of the lesser known characters, Red Leader, and show off his capabilities. and it did a superb job of it. This is another book I highly recommend giving a chance, especially since I wasn't bored to tears reading it despite it being a filler issue.


Inhumanity The Awakening #1 (of 2)
Story: Matt Kindt
Art: Paul Davidson

This seems to be the continuation of Infinity: The Hunt... one of my least favorite tie-ins in the Infinity event. We have members of the Jean Grey School,  as well as other teenage heroes sorting out the aftermath of the Terrigen Bomb and the subsequent spawning of a plethora of Inhumans. I can't say I was a fan of the "twitter/social media presentation. It felt forced to me and also really broke up the motion of the panels and made it a chore to read. As for the story it was pretty generic, person gets power bullied for being mutant inhuman, bully then receives horrifying power and must be helped, see you in issue 2 so we can see person and bully reconcile. If you're a fan of the Inhuman's and are excited for their push this one is for you, but this was definitely not my cup of tea.


Invincible #107 (Ongoing)
Story: Robert Kirkman
Art: Ryan Ottley

Invincible is the first non-Marvel comic on this review and is also one of my favorites. Invincible is published by Image comic, probably better known for The Walking Dead, however before The Walking Dead hit it big, Invincible was one of Image's marquis titles with amazing writing and impressive art. Despite being a fairly standard "cape-comic", Invincible manages to stand out because of its deep and well fleshed out supporting cast as well as its awareness of the world around it. Unlike most comics where the world is seemingly frozen in time and stuck in a status quo that is always returned to despite cosmic warfare and near cataclysm; we see Invincible and the world around him change and react to the various events that occur around them. While this was a great issue, it isn't exactly the best place to start for those unfamiliar to the series. This issue begins with the metamorphosis of C-List Villain Dr. Seismic into something more sinister, in addition we get an aside that adds more depth to one of my favorite Invincible side stories, that of Monster Girl and Robot Rex's foray into a hostile dimension. However this is cut short by an attack by Seismic with his new found powers. The issue ends with Invincible finally catching the trail of his most fearsome villain, Angstrom Levy.


WWE Superstars #1 (of 4)
Story: Mick Foley
Art: Alitha Martinez

WWE Legend, and best selling Author Mick Foley can now add comic book writer to his long resume. This appears to be a throwback in its tone and art to newspaper crime strips like "The Phantom". As with all great epics we begin in media res, and apparently John Cena has not wonlol. In fact the former cop as we learn, just served a stint for stealing money in the bank (I see what you did there). We also see CM Punk as a loose cannon cop who doesn't follow anyone's rules, and sounding a lot like Rorschach. We also find John Cena's partner Randy Orton has now become a corrupt lawyer now running to become the corrupt district attorney, but one man seems to be standing in his way Daniel Bryan. In addition to these big names we see many others appearing as other detectives, police officers, or hired thugs. Not only was the story telling great, somehow combining preexisting wrestling story-lines with this new comics story allowing the reader to discern past events through their existing knowledge of the characters; it also managed to produce some amazing panels that I would love to blow up and put on my wall as posters


Infinity Gauntlet (Trade)
Story: Jim Starlin
Art: George Perez and Ron Lim

This is among the best in the Marvel Library and a must read for anyone trying to get into Cosmic Marvel and I'm glad I now have a physical copy to throw on my book shelf. I'm not gunna try and review this because there is so much to say and I'm confident someone else has already said it. I will however say that if you have a Marvel Fan in your life that got into the comics via the movies this would be a great holiday gift, just saiyan.

Well, that's it for my pull list this week. Let me know in the comments if you agree/disagree and I'm always looking for something new to read so make some suggestions as well and I'll try and get my hands on it.

EXCELSIOR!

-MB