Posts Tagged ‘comics’

Review: X-Men Legacy #21

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , on January 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »

X-Men Legacy #21And now we’re starting to drag a bit.

This entire issue seems to be one long diatribe about how the escaped part of David’s mind is bad news in that it’s slowly eating away at the very fabric of, well, everything. Yes, we kinda figured this out in the last two issues which seemed to explain the exact same thing as a way to legitimize what was done to David.

Ruth doesn’t seem to like what’s happening, she feels this is all self-fulfilling and David is just setting himself up to destroy the world or be destroyed by her. Frankly, I’d listen to her, but at the same time, how are they going to stop the Xavier wannabe?

In the end, this is just way to much of a needless filler that was getting us to the main event, if we’ll even get the main event in the next issue.

This title really has a lot of highs and lows…

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Review: Uncanny Avengers #14

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , on January 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Uncanny Avengers #14Well, that was pointless.

Rick Remember has been described as a ‘shock jock’ writer. Basically, he jumps out with a whole bunch of ‘shocking moments’ where people are killed or put into other high stress moments just for the shock value alone. Of the three (maybe four) people who likely died in this issue, it’s a toss up as to how many will actually be dead which makes all these deaths pointless. The ones who live are obviously not dead, yawn+cop-out. And the one (ones) who actually die will have their deaths marginalized by the sure scope of the moment. It’s so freaking annoying because Remender doing this wastes so much time and panel space when he could be doing proper character and plot development which could be then used to create truly emotionally satisfying moments.

Basically these shock deaths are a cheap trick and sign of a crappy writer… but it’s eaten up by this new generation of fanboys (and fangirls) who seem to think that death=real and real=good. In reality, a well-written-death=good, and just killing people off for the shock value is almost never a well-written-death.

Then you have everything else in this issue, the total mis-characterization of Rogue continues. Wolverine’s seemingly ‘about face’ regarding Wanda in a ‘I said she had to be stopped but duh I didn’t mean kill her’. Seriously Wolvie? And Sunfire is continued to just be window dressing. Still not sure about Wanda’s relationship with Wonder Man in regards to her previously established relationship with Cap.

I’ve actually cancelled my subscription to this title, but I’ll likely pick up a few extra to see how this arc ends. I’ve never actually cancelled a subscription to any title, I almost always just ride them out, but I felt that I needed to do this because this title is just rife with the worst possible problems of everything from bad writing to sexism. I’ll pick up the next few issues to finish the arc and then that’s it. I don’t think Remender can do anything at this point to win back my subscription (not that my subscriptions matters to anyone but me but it makes me feel better).

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Review: All-New X-Men #19

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , on January 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »

All-New X-Men #19Mutants are analogues, this has always been true.

The X-Men are also no strangers to religious intolerance, it’s the unfortunate reality of human nature. So it’s no real surprise that the X-Men are once again coming up against religious zealots who believe it is god’s will to destroy all mutants. The parallels to modern minorities is obvious here but not overbearing and I will never deny a comic’s attempt at social commentary as long as it’s done well or at least tastefully.

However, all we get here is very little, few comments from Angel, and it’s mostly just an excuse for people to punch each other and chase after X-23. I got nothing against some beat ’em ups too, but I hate it when potential is teased then just ignored.

Otherwise, this feels like a filler episode, just something to get us to the big X-23 reveal…

Somehow I feel this can’t end well…

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Review: Wolverine and the X-Men #38

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , on January 1, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Wolverine and the X-Men #38Broo is awesome and anyone who disagrees can personally be eaten by Krakoa.

Finally getting back to school matters since the end of the Battle of the Atom crossover, we have the introduction of two new students. Through them, we get a glimpse of the school and learn that it’s pretty much like every school ever, just super powered. You have all the cliques that one would expect to see in a Mean Girls-esque setting.

To make things more intersting, apparently Bobby isn’t taking the break up with Kitty all that well (which seems a little odd against all the stuff that happened in Astonishing X-Men but that’s pretty on par with how these comics run, continuity wise).

Everyone is still bitching at each other for trying to cause the destruction of the world, again, as that seems to be the default setting for everyone right now. Just as punching and stabbing things is Wolverine’s default setting.

And Mystique is still pretending to be Dazzler (did they ever explain if the real Dazzler is dead or just being held someplace?) and up to no good, per usual. Our two new students seem to be spies. I’m sure they will wreck havoc and possibly do so with the aid of the former Hellfire Club members they have brought to the school.

Being a teenager in the X-Men universe really does have its moments, doesn’t it…

 

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Review: Deadpool Annual #1

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , , on December 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Deadpool Annual #1Well, that solves that then.

Way’s introduction of Deadpool’s White Thought Box is one of the more controversial aspects of his run on the title. Was it the natural progression of Deadpool’s psychosis or just a way of reducing Deadpool further down into a joke? Regardless, when Way’s run ended and Poshen took over the White Box disappeared without so much of an explanation… until now.

Deadpool runs into Madcap, a character who has been around since the 80’s. Madcap is himself insane after losing his family and being mixed with a compound that makes him as immortal as Deadpool. Deadpool is just trying to kill Daredevil when Madcap shows up and interrupts him. Then Daredevil shows up, then Thor (who was getting a latte), and the whole thing goes sideways and both characters are reduced to ash by Thor.

That ash then reforms into one individual, the body of Deadpool with Madcap hanging out in his mind.

Yeah, sounds about right.

I’m not entirely sure what I want to think about this pseudo-retcon of the White Box. What does this mean for all the interactions between Deadpool, the Yellow Box, and the White Box? How does this affect Deadpool’s character development?

Will the comics bother to address this?

Probably not.

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Review: A+X #14

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , on December 29, 2013| 2 Comments »

A+X #14I’m catching a theme here… everyone is making fun of the Superior Spider-Man…

Seriously, everything I’ve seen with the Superior Spider-Man that isn’t actually the SSM comics, the characters always somehow poke fun at Doc Oct. They conveniently find a way to discuss either Doc Oct or villains like him, and in doing so say things that would cause Doc Oct to hold his tongue lest give away the game. It’s getting kind of annoying because while yes, we know about Doc Oct, the characters (except Deadpool because, well, Deadpool) have no idea. I know, it’s a little thing, but it pisses me off because it takes away from the story itself.

Instead of some interesting team up between Magneto and Doc OctSpidey we’re treated to a long dialogue about what it means to be a villain.

And instead of that being really interesting and thought provoking, most of it is spent trying to get a rise out of Doc Oct.

Thank you for that.

The second team up is another installment of Cap and Scott running around, sniping at each other while trying to figure this Skrull thing out. And that’s pretty much it, a lot of back and forth bitching while destroying Doom Bots. And man, Victor von Doom is a bit of a jerk. What else is new?

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Review: X-Men Legacy #20

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , on December 29, 2013| Leave a Comment »

X-Men Legacy #20This week… on A&E’s Intervention…

Apparently this wasn’t so much an execution as it was these guys helping David by knocking him down a notch. This actually makes a scary lot of sense. David has been running around a bit high and mighty which was in direct contradiction to him being afraid of his own powers and just how dangerous he can be. He needed a good sit down but your standard intervention wasn’t going to work… cue the dramatics.

But will all this backfire on them? Basically they just gave David the key to his own powers and being able to do even more damage than he already has. It’s like giving armaments to one country to fight another, only in a decade or two finding those guns pointed back at you. The way Ruth was reacting, it seems this is pretty much what’s going to happen, eventually.

Why is it whenever an Xavier is involved it is always going to end badly?

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Review: X-Men #7

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , on December 29, 2013| Leave a Comment »

X-Men #7So… we’re just going to ignore the fact that Rogue isn’t there anymore?

Okay, so the real story is all about the fact that Lady Deathstrike is back (sorta) and both Karima and Monet are back as well. Some rich girl in Columbia decides to have herself ‘infected’ with Lady Deathstrike’s conscious because, I dunno, because she can? Wood doesn’t really make that clear. Both Ana and LD seem to be interested in more mods and so they want the tech inside of Karima and plan one of the stupidest assaults on the school to date.  Karima and Monet had to be outside jogging or else the plot would have gotten really screwy by the fact LD would have had her butt handed to her even worse than she just did.

I’m also still a bit annoyed that so far this all-female team is getting nothing but female baddies to fight against…

And I have no idea what to make of the Jubilee and Roxy sub-plot at the moment, will have to see where that one goes.

But lastly, even though I haven’t gotten to the Uncanny Avengers issue I know that Rogue gets skewered and is apparently ‘dead’, so I guess at the moment they are just ignoring her absence post-Battle of the Atom until ‘all is made clear’ once Shock-Jock-Remender gets done with his plot arc.

Sometimes it’s the little things that really annoy me.

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Review: Uncanny X-Men #14

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , on December 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Uncanny X-Men #14Emma Frost hasn’t lost her touch but Scott Summers is still a bit of a jerk.

While Scott is right, they all need to learn self-defense and stuff, he’s not actually the nicest of teachers about it. It’s all a little too paramilitary and he’s doing his reputation no favors. Emma, on the other hand, is downright sneaky and manipulative. She knows there is something more to Ben’s powers and she was going to get it out of him one way or another. 

The hard thing about creating new characters that are mutants is coming up with new powers. Ideally, you want stuff that hasn’t been done before to make them unique. Ben is a ‘transmorph’ or some such. He takes on a pleasing, safe, image and gives off some kind of chemical hormone which together makes people like him. It’s like Gambit’s ‘charm’ ability, or a ‘reverse empathy’ ability, only it has a physical aspect. It’s kinda cool and allows the artists to have a little fun with the whole thing.

Ben is also gay, something we learn in this issue, and it’s treated quite well. Emma just wants him to work on his powers, she couldn’t care less about his sexual preferences as it doesn’t define him as a mutant. And since mutants can easily be used as an analogue for homosexuals, the parallels are there. It’s also good to be learning more about these new characters, it allows us to get invested in them.

I just hope we’re not getting invested in them just to see them get killed off later down the line.

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Review: Deadpool #19

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , on December 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Deadpool #19Never underestimate Deadpool’s intelligence or cleverness.

Posehn really hit it out of the park in this story arc, showing us a real depth to Deadpool’s character and how damaged he is. But even though Deadpool has very good reason to be insane, he shows his strength by the simple fact that refuses to truly be insane. Deadpool is not impulsive in this issue, he manages to calmly bide his time till he can get to Butler. He observes the world around him and discovers something he can use to his advantage. Of course, he impulsively kills Butler once he has him but it’s kind of hard to blame him.

The situation with his daughter is left open but I really hope that one day he finds her and she doesn’t  hate him. They could decide to make her hate him and that would just give him another reason to hate himself, but I really hope they don’t. He’s lived such a horribly sad life that needs some ray of sunshine in there.

I do like how in the end Wolverine and Cap treat him with respect, you had this feeling through the arc that they considered him a friend but here at the end they pretty much nail it. They understand that Deadpool is not a joke, he’s a survivor.

While Posehn’s run may have started out a bit strange and odd and verily WTF, this has been one of the best arcs since Kelly’s run I’d wager. If this didn’t give you Deadpool feels then I don’t know what will.

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