This week has a lot less than usual. Not that many comics were released, and I got a few in the mail. So here we go folks!
Amazing Spider-Man #649: The second issue of the "Big Time" direction. Dan Slott is really stepping up his game for writing Spider-Man. During "Brand New Day," Slott wasn't the most efficient writer when it came to humor. He was either amazing, or just flat. In the last two issues though, Slott has shown that he can really write great humor without it seeming forced or having it fall flat. A lot of people are saying that Peter's job seems to good to be true. I'm one to give things a try, and I'm enjoying this so far. It's comic books, so why do people question absurd stuff like this? People don't seem to mind that Bruce Wayne came out and said he supplies Batman.
The only thing that kept this issue from getting a perfect review was Humberto Ramos. I'm not that big a fan of his pencils, but they have fit the story and he has made the Hobgoblin look really menacing. There are some weird un-detailed panels that just seem lazy considering how much detailed some of the panels are. But He still does a great job.
Amazing Spider-Man #649 gets a 4.5/5
Brightest Day #15: #14 was one of the best issues of the meta event, focusing on one story line and set of characters. Geoff Johns and Paul Tomasi decide to do this again with #15. Sadly, the result isn't that great. The story is all a dream and doesn't affect any story and barely moves along the Martian Manhunter story. It's just overall bad. The pencils by Patrick Gleason and Scott Clark look good and fit the story. Especially the bloody ending. It's the only redeeming quality about the issue.
I'm getting to the point with "Brightest Day" where I can't decide if I want to continue with the series. For every two issues like this one, there is one issue like #0-2 and #14.
Brightest Day #15 gets a 2.5/5
Heroes for Hire #1: After years in the cosmos, Dann Abnett and Andy Lanning have decided to come down to the street level. Guess what, the guys can do no wrong.
The concept is quite simple. Misty Knight contacts a certain set of characters to do good things, but they get paid in the end. The group looks to include Moon Knight, Iron Fist, the Punisher, Misty Knight, the Falcon, the Black Widow, Elektra, and Ghost Rider. I'm a little perplexed to how Ghost Rider is going to be involved. The guy seems to be on his own. But then again so does Moon Knight and look at him on the Secret Avengers.
The ending is actually surprising. The villain came out of left field, but has some real plans. This villain could last for a while if given the right treatment. Oh yeah, it's DnA, so he/she will
Brad Walker on pencils draws a beautiful comic. Every thing is very detailed, and the action is kinetic. Not one panel seems stale or static. Even the most brilliant penciler can have this trouble.
Heroes for Hire gets a 5/5
Invincible Iron Man #32: While Matt Fraction's book has been slight dip, that slight dip was still better than most books on the stands. But sad for everyone else, "Invincible Iron Man" #32 bring the book back to it's brilliance level.
Finally, Detroit Steel and Iron Man fight. Tony's quips are hilarious and it's awesome to see him, War Machine, and Rescue act as their own little Avengers franchise. Although we haven't seen Steel much in the form of what he can do, it seemed like he would be able to stand his own again Iron Man better than he did. He needed hundreds, maybe thousands of planes to beat him. You would think the Hammer's would have more faith in their machine.
The Pepper Potts back up is beautifully drawn. The story also looks to have some actual affects on the story, unlike some backups. It looks to keep the soap opera relationship between Pep and Tony going, which I'm not sure I'm completely happy about.
Larrocca brings his A game this month. He improves all around, making even the talking head panels look great. As usual, the machine battles look great and the action is drawn without a flaw.
Invincible Iron Man #32 gets a 5/5.
Marineman #1: I'm not one to indulge in creator owned comics besides the ones for Icon or "The Walking Dead." But for some reason, I decided to give Ian Churchill's creator owned comic a chance. And surprisingly, I loved every second of it.
It isn't specifically stated if Marineman is an actual superhero or just a TV show host. It's a nice change of pace and doesn't focus on an origin story of his powers either. While the dialogue does get a little to dry, it never gets boring and is incredibly interesting.
Churchill's pencils look great, as do his colors. They are greatly improved from when he was penciling "Hulk." It's a bright, vibrant, and overall great comic. This looks to be a great sleeper comic and one of my favorites of the year.
Marineman #1 gets a 5/5.
Ultimate Spider-Man #150: We all know that Brian Michael Bendis writes the hell out of Spider-Man. Especially Ultimate Spider-Man. He never seems to run out of ideas for a high school Peter Parker. This issue looks to change the status-quo while still paying tribute to the past 10 years. The three stories look and read great. My favorite was the story with Thor. This had to do with the way Spider-Man handles himself and Skottie Young's pencils. The silent Captain America story was better than I thought and got better with a second reading.
The book looks to reignite the Tony=father Peter=son relationship again in comics. I loved this when JMS did this in "Amazing Spider-Man" and it would be great to see it again. As great as it's going to be seeing Spidey get lessons from the Big Three, I hope they bring in other heroes to help him learn. Any chance we could see a meeting between the Spider-Man in "Ultimate Avengers"?
It was also nice to see a reprint of the "Ultimate Spider-Man Special" #1. It's a nice special from back in the day that is a blast to read.
Ultimate Spider-Man #150 gets a 5/5.
Shadowland #5: I have not been a fan of "Shadowland." It has destroyed the great character that is Daredevil while shaking up Hell's Kitchen. I'm all for change, minded the execution is good. And this execution has been terrible.
Surprise, Daredevil has a battle with himself and disappears. Gasp (notice no exclamation point). I'm still confused as why Ghost Rider needed to be added beyond that he will be in "Heroes for Hire." Why couldn't Elektra or someone from his past be the person to finally give a run for his money. And what the hell happened to Ghost Rider after all of this.
Billy Tan has been mediocre at best during this series. He finally shows up this month, but still has some problems. He can't draw the Kingpin's head for shit.
The only good thing to come out of all of this is the Black Panther will finally have his own ongoing again. The character is a great character and needs more press.
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