Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category

Review: Gambit #14

Gambit #14A funny thing happened on the way back to school, Gambit got pulled into the Fairy dimension where the ladies just loved him. I feel my world is complete.

Other stuff happened in this filler issue, such as Remy and Pete Wisdom bro-mancing it up. Seriously, these two are awesome. I want to see a mini-series that is nothing but Remy, Storm, and Pete all together doing some kind of Ocean’s Eleven style mission/heist. Throw in Courier and X-23 and it will be a thing of beauty.

Also liked the beatnik!Remy look, did he steal Cyclops’ sunglasses? I want to say yes. It’s funnier if it’s a yes.

But getting to the bones of the matter, Remy really is having an identity crisis. He’s supposed to be a responsible role model now, but for a man of his background, that’s as alien to him as a human breathing water. And it’s not specifically said, but Rogue, the love of his life, being there probably doesn’t help much either.

With only  a few issues to go… any outcome is fair game for our Cajun hero. Has he truly matured? Or will he revert to what he knows best? Whatever happens, we’ll still love him anyway. Most likely.

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Uncanny Avengers #9So, that happened. Remender ended the previous issue with a bang, literally, then just skips ahead to ‘oh, yeah, we’re good’ and spends the whole issue arguing. Literally, it is nothing but people talking and arguing over the different issues that they face, and not in a decent way either.

The whole M-Word thing, while Bendis wrote is as a civilized discussion, Remender just has Wanda and Rogue bitching each other out. Is this Remender lashing out at his critics?

Everyone is ‘so surprised’ that Logan killed someone. Huh? What part of his catch phrase did they not understand?

It’s all just crappy filler until the big reveal which was spoiled ages ago: The Four Horsemen of the Death. So, yeah, no surprises or, anything, really. 

It’s like Remender doesn’t understand how comic books work…

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All-New X-Men #13Mystique, never change, you are so freaking awesome. I have no idea what your real end-game is but apparently you want to buy a freaking island, Madripoor no less… that’s… that’s… yeah, just don’t change, ever.

In other news that isn’t that surprising, Bendis touches on the M-Word controversy and does a better job with it than Remender did. I do like how Kitty explains the concept of “Mutant and Proud” though not in so many words. This is the kind of discussion that really needs to be done with the idea of the “M-Word” floating out there but Remender isn’t really thinking it through and seems to have just tossed the comments in for the shock factor leaving the rest of the writers to do what he should be doing (and they are doing a great job of it).

It also makes me wonder if when Kitty says that Alex doesn’t speak for her… that maybe it’s Bendis saying Remender doesn’t speak for him.

As for the rest of the story, Lady Mastermind is going to do some damage with her illusion on Jean. Lady M teaming with Mystique really was a great idea… between the two of them, I’m not sure the core X-Men team really have a chance… (though, yeah, the X-Men will win, of course, le sigh).

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Uncanny X-Men #7Have I mentioned Illyana kinda scares the crap out of me?

This issue didn’t do much to levy that fear, though it did pretty much stake her claim in BAMF territory. Not only does she time travel back in time to talk to Dr Strange pre-Avengers, but she basically absorbed Limbo. Something tells me that’s not gonna end well. If anything that’s got to induce some serious heartburn…

The new recruits though had a trial by fire and are going to come out of it worse for wear. They could end up losing some of the team, dunno, but it’s nice to see one of the Stepford Cuckoos actually acting like real human teenage girl for once. And good to see Scott not trying to cover up his power malfunction as well. He admits that they all need new training.

I think the really scary part is that this all might actually work out for them since they are being open and honest with most everything, even if they really don’t want to let anyone leave.

However, one can never be too sure in an X-Men comic where things will actually go from here…

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Review: Morbius #5

Morbius #5So, everything that I was praising about the first four issues… kinda got forgotten in this one.

The wonderfully subtle nature of the rise of the Anti-Hero is replaced with two very big speeches, one by Morbius himself. The speech really comes out of nowhere since previously he’s been more of the strong silent type. As for the speech itself… it’s a speech, and not a particularly stirring one, just kinda makes the pacing of the overall story grind to a halt.

Then The Rose shows up and Morbius doesn’t rip his neck open? What’s up with that? I mean, he was standing there just shooting people when they are down and Morbius decides a friendly chat is required? I don’t understand this…

The whole issue seems really rushed to get Morbius set up into his role as community leader/vigilante. Which kinda sucks because they really had an opportunity here to do some great stuff. Maybe they still will, after all, The Rose is still out there and this can’t be the end of the troubles in Brownsville.

Unfortunately, Morbius hasn’t been doing well in sales so not sure if they will get the chance.

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Review: A+X #8

A+X #8Lockheed has a thing for Spider-woman. Why not?

As for Kitty, that’s a very interesting take on her power, using it to cause brain disruption. I like it when writers think outside the box like that, not only is it new, but it shows progression of a character who’s been around forever. It hints that she might have learned that in one of the titles I don’t read, and now I kinda wish I had.

The second story is one of the most unlikely odd couples I have ever read, that of Deadpool and Hawkeye.  I mean, any time Deadpool is the one to be concerned because “I can walk away from this but you can’t” then you know you got problems. And the hilarity just rolls off of every page as Deadpool takes up shooting arrows and Hawkeye is “always feel bad punching out a literate villain. makes me feel like a bully”.

And, of course, it was all about food.

I don’t care much for Hawkeye, but I will read the hell out of any more Deadpool/Hawkeye team ups if written by Hastings, cause this was something down right magical in how awesome it was.

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Thor: The Dark World: Prelude #1Doing comic book tie-ins are actually a really good idea, as long as they are done well. They’re basically all the extra scenes that got cut out of the movie because they really weren’t needed but would have been nice to see.

That’s pretty much what comprises this particular tie-in.

We know Thor gets to Earth using dark magic and Jane is shipped off to Norway, but here we see it happen.

The best part is the little things, such as Frigga being the one to see that Loki is still alive. I really hope she gets some face time with Loki in Dark World because even if Odin is suspect, she always treated him as her son.

As for Thor himself, he learned that every action has consequences… and this is definitely one of those moments where the bigger picture is about to come crashing down on him.

Just… couldn’t they have done a better cover?

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X-Files: Season 10 #1Okay, so I started this blog intending to mainly focus on X-Men, Marvel, and Fan Fiction, I wasn’t going to review the other stuff I read such as Suicide Squad and Wood’s Star Wars. In fact, I don’t review every Marvel title I read either (why am I still reading Thunderbolts?)… but The X-Files television series is really what shaped me as a writer, how I put things together like plot, pacing, etc. Mulder and Scully were strong characters and when the show was good, it was beyond good. Though, when it was bad, it was beyond bad (I’ll never forgive Chris Carter for that finale).

So when I heard they were doing a Season 10 comic book ala Buffy and Angel, I knew I had to get it. (Actually, I got four of them, I have a compulsion when it comes to variant covers.)

I was… disappointed. But that may just be because I set the pedestal very high.

I’m going to look past the artwork because while it’s not especially good, it’s not terribly bad either. I mean, at least the actors look like themselves and aren’t demonic like in X-Men Legacy. A friend did point out that Scully starts out in a skirt and magically changes into pants when she meets Skinner… suddenly I’m reminded of the Hollywood A.D. episode… anyway, we’ll move past that for now.

It starts out with a typical “Scully in peril” trope from the tv show which is cool, I mean, it’s classic… but the rest of it just kinda slowly goes down hill. Mulder has regressed to his kiddish nature as seen in the pilot episode and throughout the first season. He’s grown a lot since then and it just didn’t seem to fit for him to be that much like a ten year old. And Scully, seeing her cry just didn’t work for me either. I get she was talking about the child they gave up but Scully was never one to express her sorrow so easily, it was usually after a much larger buildup.

Speaking of William… while I like that they are going to address that sore spot of a plot-point in the series, if they don’t handle it properly, it will just make the wound that much more painful.

That being said, it wasn’t a bad comic in and of itself. It didn’t try to drown the reader in exposition and even though it obviously assumes you have seen the tv series it isn’t so riddled with drop-ins as to annoy someone who might be interested in getting into the comic books.

I think mostly I was expecting to open it up and be able to hear Mark Snow’s theme music as I read the pages… and that just didn’t happen. I couldn’t help but put the pedestal to unreachable heights, I can at least acknowledge that.

But I am very much interested in seeing where this goes, and what the Lone Gunman have to do with it… seeing that they’re dead and all (though one can never be too sure).

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X-Men Legacy #11David Haller is just a bit of a prick, isn’t he, but it works to his advantage.

I mean, who else would just stand up to Red Skull after all the stuff he’s done, both in general and personal against David, and just ‘whatevers’. So you’re Red Skull and you stole my dad’s brain, whoop-tee-do. You kinda have to admire that, even if it’s just a bit insane.

Then there is Ruth, running around trying to find someone to help David and the only person who might actually like him other than her she can’t even communicate with (and here I thought everyone could just understand Doop automatically). But she made herself a little team of some decently powerful superheroes… let’s see if they have what it takes to stand up to both Legion and Red Skull.

As for Red Skull… what is his plans with David? Whatever it is, can’t be good.

P.S. can we get a better artist on this title? Davidson and Huat make everyone look so… emaciated and semi-demonic…

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Astonishing X-Men #63Bobby’s kinda lost it… and it’s epic.

It’s good to see that finally everyone has noticed the weather is unnatural and that it could be Bobby’s fault, and that women have started to go missing. Bobby’s ice-clones seem to think they are helping his ex-girlfriends, probably taking them someplace safe for when all ice-hell breaks lose. The thing is, if he has Lorna and Mystique already, then they can do some damage and protect themselves. I wouldn’t underestimate Annie either, ER nurses are a tough lot. But it’s most curious that the clones seemed to have been acting on their own, like they know something is up with Bobby, or the clones just analogues of the part of Bobby that knows what’s happening isn’t right.

Also, Kitty’s conversation with Opal is quite good, especially after Opal’s conversation with Bobby. In only a few short panels Liu manages to really cut to the heart of the jokester Bobby Drake. He’s never been able to keep a girlfriend because he’s always thought he was never good enough for them. His jokes cover a deep depression made worse by being a super-hero.

Then there is the ending, one of the few times that the ‘giant steps on person’ trope actually is funny because it comes out of nowhere and it’s freaking Wolverine he steps on.

But yeah, Bobby has grown immensely with the power of the Death Seed and is now acting out. My local comic book seller had the balls to say “why is this title still going, no one reads it?”… I told him to read the latest arc and that’s exactly why people are reading it. Because Liu is freaking awesome and really knows how to deal with these characters on a more personal basis rather than just as fodder for some grand event.

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