Posts Tagged ‘comics’

Review: Deadpool #10

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , , , on May 30, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Deadpool #10Ever have one of those moments where you’re not sure if you should love something or loath it? That is Deadpool #10.

On the face of it, this issue is nothing but one big fan service, specifically, the Spideypool fandom. If you don’t know what Spideypool is, it’s just as it sounds, the idea that Spider-Man and Deadpool are a meant-to-be OTP. This is also by no means a small fandom and you could spend a lifetime just wading through the Spideypool tag on tumblr. So, yeah, there are tons of references to this in this team-up issue where Deadpool and Superior Spider-Man have a run in.

Here’s the thing though, it’s not Peter Parker anymore but Doc Oc… and Deadpool knows this. He makes several references to how Spidey isn’t acting like himself and also purposely bashed Doc Oc just to get a reaction. So does Deadpool know the truth because, well, he’s Deadpool and breaks the fourth wall all the time, or because Deadpool just knows Spider-Man that well, something that apparently is lacking in Spidey’s own comic.

Not being opposed of Spideypool, but also not being a fan of it, I find it hard to gage this issue. Spideypool fans could love it or really, they could hate it, same for non-Spideypool fans. It could be either read as an acknowledgement or as a piss-take. Not being deep on either side of the field I just don’t know where it falls.

It is pretty hilarious though, with some lovely moments of comedic timing. Though I am kinda disappointed in the concept of hell being pretty much Crowley’s hell from Supernatural (though, granted, it has been done before but very recently in Supernatural).

In the end, I’m just going to call this one a wash. I am so not getting into the middle of this…

Read Full Post »

Review: Uncanny Avengers #8

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , on May 30, 2013| 2 Comments »

Uncanny Avengers #8So there was some talking… some explosions… more talking… a fight… more talking… and oh, talking… lots and lots of talking… but mostly by the writer instead of actual dialogue…

Not to get caught up in the old debate of ‘comics are just fancy picture books’ but there is something to be said about the fact that a comic book can be too wordy. It is especially true for action sequences. Someone, anyone, please tell Remender this. Or at least give him an editor that is willing to just cut crap out and slim things down.

I seriously have no idea what happened in half of this issue because of the constant drivel.

I think everyone died at the end… dunno… maybe… not likely though… so kind of waste of a cliffhanger…

Read Full Post »

Review: X-Termination: Conclusion

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , , , , on May 30, 2013| Leave a Comment »

X-Termination #2X-Termination #2, or Conclusion, caps out the end of two short run titles: X-Treme X-Men and Age of Apocalypse. It is also sucks.

Seriously, the only characters who escape ‘unscathed’ are the Astonishing X-Men crew which was the only title that didn’t get cancelled. Everyone else, because their titles were cancelled, seemed to be free game for the slaughter. Pretty much everyone from AoA is killed off and half the X-Treme team was already killed off as well.

Even the budding romance between Blaire and Alt-Cyclops is also ignored and dropped, which is annoying to no end. I thought they made a good couple, or at least one with lots of potential…

The only thing good that can be said about this cross-over is that it does live up to its name ‘X-Termination’ because pretty much everything is terminated, permanently.

Big fail of an ending there, Marvel, you basically just crap on all the people who actually did spend money on these titles. I know we weren’t many, but seriously? I shake my head at you…

Read Full Post »

Review: X-Men #1

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 29, 2013| 4 Comments »

X-Men #1 - Skottie Young variantI’m annoyed, my retailer didn’t have the Skottie Young variant… I always buy the Skottie Young variant!

Anyway, as for the comic itself, it’s… interesting.

Instead of layering the reader with a lot of backstory, we get two pages of light poetic exposition then we’re dumped ‘in media res’. Jubilee is heading ‘home’ with a baby she ‘adopted’ but is being followed so she calls her X-Men friends to lend a hand. John Sublime shows up at the school just in time to warn everyone about five minutes too late that he has a psychotic sister who is apparently much worse than he is.

I kinda can’t help being a little disappointed that the all-female X-Men team is going to be fighting a female for their first enemy. It seems to be a trend lately that in female team books they have to go after a female villain. Such as Le Fey and the Doomaidens in Fearless Defenders. I don’t read any of the current female solo books so I don’t know if they have the same issue so it could just be the team books. In any case, I would have much rather seen the gang fight Sublime himself than creating a ‘sister’, basically the equivalent of a “Lady Sublime”, instead.

That being said, the writing is very well done. Often writers, when trying to make strong female characters or a female team, go too much out of their way to say ‘this is a strong character/team’ instead of just letting them exist organically. With the exception of Jubilee who has perfect characterization to be where she is with adopting the orphan, all the other women are were they are simply because they are. No muss and no fuss about it.

Characterizations are quiet good as well, no one is acting out of character or even worthy of a raised brow moment. I was worried that Wood might put Rogue in line with how Remender is writing her but thankfully Wood has Rogue as sassy (note: not bitchy) as always. Though the train part I didn’t quite understand, I mean, if she trashed the first three sections wouldn’t the back half still keep going towards the other train? Did she move the sections with the people off the track? I have no idea but apparently the day was saved so I’ll go with that.

This title has a lot of expectations on it being that it’s from Wood, an all female cast, and has some heavy hitters in it who carry a large fanbase. It was a good, solid opening act… we’ll see where it leads from here.

Read Full Post »

Review: Gambit #13

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

Gambit #13Gambit is just one of those guys who can’t seem to win for loosing.

First Joelle bites it in the last issue and now Fence has something under his sleeve that probably won’t come back to bite Remy very hard seeing as there is only four issues left, but it’s possible it could have consequences in other parts of the Marvel ‘verse (was it me or did that look a like a silhouette of Red Skull?).

As for this ‘filler’ issue, it was definitely a great concept, Remy robbing Iron Man and actually getting into the suit, but it just fell a little flat. Asmus gets a little too serious with Gambit and this is the moment for the breather, to have a laugh between somber moment.

It’s still a good issue and I do like Asmus thinking outside the box on Gambit’s mutant abilities. Using his powers like a fuse and powering the Iron Man suit himself. This kind of stuff is really great and should be explored, just perhaps on a larger scale.

But now we’re coming down to the wire, the last arc until the end… let’s see where this Cajun takes us…

Read Full Post »

Review: Deadpool #9

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

Deadpool #9Never let it be said that Wade Wilson isn’t… complicated. He’s not a one-trick joke, he really does have serious issues which he hides behind a facade. This is something a lot of people tend to forget, including his writers.

But at the beginning of this issue we get a further look into Deadpool’s mind. Behind a closed door in the outward looking play house of Deadpool’s conscious is something both beautiful and terrible. Unfortunately we only get a tease at this, though it’s good to know that Posehn is at least thinking about the depth of Deadpool as a character and will be coming back to it, Preston almost guarantees it.

Speaking of Preston, she has some measure of control over Deadpool’s body, this should be interesting to see what Posehn will do with this.

As for the rest of the story, poor Michael… though he did kinda have it coming. It’s a really morally ambiguous things Deadpool did and you have to wonder at the entirety of Deadpool’s motives.

Is the Merc with a Mouth the Man with a Plan? Only time will tell…

Read Full Post »

Review: The Fearless Defenders #4

Posted in News and Editorials, tagged , , on May 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Fearless Defenders #4This issue is a bit of a breather. The gang gets the hell out of dodge and regroups, adding a little dash of background story to spice things up a bit.

But other than a little introspection and a lovely taste of just how everyone got into this mess in the first place… not a lot happens.

That’s okay, it’s good to have these kinds of way-point issues at number 4, plus we are left off with a nice little cliffhanger which could make things really interesting if they are going the way I think they are going. There is definitely some character progression Valkyrie has to come to grips with what she has done and what she’s remembering, it’s subtle and not overdone.

And might I say that I love the way Valkyrie is drawn on this cover. Sure, she’s thin but not uber-thin and her underwear is actually practical. Dare I say this is actually sexier than some of the stuff the other female characters wear which is supposed to be skimpy and sexy?

Read Full Post »

Review: Wolverine and the X-Men #29

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

Wolverine and the X-Men #29Flashforward issues are inherently flawed. Unless the flashfoward takes place relatively soon and part of the overall arc of the story, then it’s just a lot of fan service and conjecture.

Who knows what will really take place twenty years from now, both physically and in comic-book time. Characters might get killed off, canon relationships may change. Sure, we might cling to the fact that in Gambit’s 3rd series there is a flashforward were Gambit and Rogue are married… but if we’re honest, it may not actually ever happen.

That’s why issues like this just kinda set sour with me. Especially when the writer throws out names like Professor Xorn, Carmen Drake, Warren Worthington IV, Kubrick Quire, Charlene Xavier, Rose Logan, and Summer Grey (really? Summer Grey?). It’s just so annoying in its obvious pan-handling fan service.

Not to mention blantently trying to hint at something big happening but not saying what it was… of course he can’t tell the readers because the writer doesn’t know if in two years Marvel decides to have another House of M or Civil War moment. All this just takes away from the actual story here which might finally be something worthwhile out of the whole Dog Logan fiasco.

For a title that was pretty spectacular for a while there… I can’t help but wonder what happened.

Read Full Post »

Review: Uncanny X-Men #5

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , on May 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Uncanny X- Men #5Is it just me or does Irving draw Magneto like Christopher Lloyd?

Uncanny Resemblance aside, we move back to Cyclops’ new school with the Cuckoo’s and Angel in tow… just in time for Magik to lose control.

I’m not really up on Magik’s back story with Limbo though I know there is a lot of bad blood there. Considering her powers are broke like the rest of the Phoenix Five, it’s not surprising that her history is coming back to haunt her.

I like how Scott is done here, he really does care about Magik and is worried about what’s happening to her, both for the sake of herself and his team. This matches up wonderfully to how Bendis is writing young Scott’s character. They are both leaders who do actually give a damn and aren’t meglomaniacs. Bendis is really giving something for the “Cyclops Was Right” camp to sink their teeth into.

Not sure though what I think of the Scott romance angle though. In All-New X-Men, Jean is all jealous of Mystique’s relationship with young Scott though there really isn’t anything to worry about there. In Uncanny X-Men, it seems Tempus has developed a school-yard crush on old Scott which did not sit well with Emma even though Scott would never look at Tempus as more than a student (or one would hope, I know Scott has had a bad track record what with cheating on his wives but never with girls WAY to young for him… and Tempus is not even a telepath).

Oh well, still better than what’s going on with Alex Summers’ love-life in Uncanny Avengers.

Lastly, I never cared much for the Cuckoo’s, but the way they put the smack down on the other boys… nice…

Read Full Post »

Review: All-New X-Men #11

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , on May 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

All-New X-Men #11Not exactly the smartest cover considering that Bendis gave away the game in his previous issue of Uncanny X-Men. You think someone would have noticed this and fixed either this cover or the ending of UXM #4 so that it wasn’t so revealing. In fact, UXM #5, which continues to spill the secret, came out before this issue of All-New, so, yeah, there was no hope in keeping it under wraps that Angel left to join old Cyclops. Really bad planning all around…

Oh well.

This issue was very interesting, it was nice to see young Jean put in her place by the Cuckoo’s. It was something that needed to be done or else Jean would end up on the path of not-so-nice Jean. It was a good way to get to her sorted realistically without having to drag out that story plot. Let’s just hope Bendis keeps to it.

As for Angel, I really can see why he’d side with Cyclops. Of the core group, Angel has met himself and realized that he literally becomes someone he couldn’t recognize. That’s right in front of his face which is a lot harder to deal with then Jean’s being dead because it’s not something that is physical and tangible. To Angel, seeing himself like that is walking proof that he, as he knows himself, is dead and that has to hurt.

And then of course there is Mystique, she’s having way to much fun being bad… and that’s exactly the way we like her.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »