Spider-Man and Black Cat finally make an attack on the Kingpin, with the Hobgoblin there to back him up. Well Spidey has his shinny new suit, Cat makes a break for the valuables the Kingpin has. The issue ends with Peter and Carlie going out for dinner with Aunt May and (Uncle?) Jay.
Slott had a hard time of keeping the humor from falling flat during Brand New Day, but the humor aspect of these recent issues has been spot on. The jokes may annoy some, but are genuinely witty, and are in classic Spider-Man fashion. The friendship between Cat and Spidey gets some much needed development and will eventually affect his relationship with Carlie. Speaking of Carlie, she has had some great characterization in this arc. She is starting to stand out as someone who isn't MJ and someone who is actually a better person for Peter.
Humberto Ramos' art can turn off a lot of people, and his art has been a mixed bag for me during this arc. Sometimes it's hyper detailed, then other times it's sketchy and hard to make out what is going on. Thankfully his art lends more towards the first in this issue. maybe it's because he is being rushed and still has to pencil #654.1, but it's not his best. Once he gets more time though, I bet his pencils will get a lot better.
The backup feature is nice to have as it sets up the next arc. This is going to be very useful in future issues.
Amazing Spider-Man #651 gets 4/5.
The issue starts off strong enough with the roller derby scene, but there is some weird dialogue by MJ. She has never seemed to be a jealous person and now that Peter is doing well with Carlie, she is? It just seems weird and a sad attempt to keep MJ in the stories. One thing I noticed which I'm very eager to see developed is Flash dating Betty. With him becoming Venom soon, I'm eager to see how Betty fits into this and if Rick Remender will develop her at all. The conversation MJ and Peter have about telling Carlie about Spider-Man is interesting. It also leads to a comedic moment that had me laughing out loud. But the argue about telling Carlie about Spider-Man is one that needs discussing.
She is a person who will no doubt handle it better than anyone else in Peter's life. She already likes Spider-Man and even says that she considers him one of her friends. And with Pete being the genius he is and her appreciating it, it doesn't seem far off that she would be supporting. Naturally she would be surprised, but that would go away. I could even see her eventually being fine with Peter lying to her after a few months.
Stefano Caselli's art is very good. Some of his Spider-Slayers seem like Leviathan throwaways. It still looks good, especially the new Scorpion suit, but maybe I'm looking for problems were there aren't any.
Amazing Spider-Man #652 gets 4/5.
Avengers #9: Yep, the Illuminati have been revealed. It's about damn time. And Steve Rogers was the best person to find out. We also find out how the Hood escaped prison and got to be so powerful. It's all very interesting, but a little light on the action side, something that isn't bad, just something we aren't use to in a big title like this.
As much as I love Tony Stark and his recent mission of trying to be a better person, sometimes he does need some help. And with Steve Rogers finally giving him the lesson he deserves. Tony won't ever NOT be on the Avengers; he is to big a character to get rid of. But Thor speaks some words of wisdom and that's how it most likely play out. The side characters seem less like just talking heads and add a little more personality than usual. This is nice and one of the bigger complaints about Avengers since it's relaunch. The history of how the Hood got out of prison and got the Infinity Gems is interesting enough. I like the Hood, so it's good to see him in power again.
I'm a fan of John Romita JR and every thing he does. His recent Avengers issues though have been slightly lacking. I'm guessing he is trying to do Kick Ass 2 and this, which is commendable to say the least. So I will forgive these. This month though, Romita steps up his game. It also helps that Scott Hana inks the Hood scenes. Scott Hana was the inker during his stellar run on Amazing Spider Man with JMS. Klaus Janson is a great inker, but JRJR needs his lines to be bold. His characters just look better.
Avengers #9 gets 4/5.
Brightest Day #19: As loyal readers will know, I have had a love/hate relationship with Brightest Day. #19 is on the better side, but still straddles the line of being "eh." Aquawar is starting, which means Aquaman's story progresses along nicely. Aqualad gets some development and some believable development. He seizes the moment and stands up and will be a great character in the future. Aquaman gets his ass somewhat kicked but will most likely survive. Deadman also feels the fallout of the end of #18, and we finally see the villain of Brightest Day.
The villain of Brightest Day doesn't feel original though. It seems to much like Blackest Night for me. The Aquaman story is good, but goes by a blazing speed, especially with most of his pages taking place just swimming. The dialogue is good, but I would have wanted to see more action. The cliffhanger seems false though, as we know he won't die. Deadman will probably save him in the end.
Ivan Reis art looks AMAZING. The fish look borderline like they were a photo. The action scenes are kinetic and the panel flow is brilliant. One thing about Brightest Day, is that the art always steps up even when the story isn't there.
Brightest Day #19
Invincible Iron Man #500.1: I picked this up for the hell of it, and I'm so glad I did. The book is a great retelling of the history of Iron Man with Tony being at an AA meeting.
I'm not going to give a big review of this, but Tony leaves a lot of his history ambiguous in the retelling. This could turn off some new readers, but the scenes shown give enough history to get the gist of it. If the reader wants to know the nitty gritty, they can go to Wikipedia. The ending also gives a nice hint of the Pepper/Tony relationship. Safe to say, I have found a new reason to add to the "not being able to wait for next months Invincible Iron Man" list.
The double page spread is kind of a waste though. The pictures are just there and don't look connected at all. I love me some teasers, but these are so vague that I can't guess anything.
Invincible Iron Man #500.1 gets 5/5.
Ultimate Comics Thor #4: Jonathan Hickman has done a good job of tip toeing through Ultimate Marvel universe history, so this makes me sad when this issue doesn't live up to the past three issues. We learn about how Thor gets his hammer and who Donal Blake really is. It's interesting, but the issue feels like it is only there to set up the Ultimates. I know the Ultimates series already came out, but did this issue have to lead in? It couldn't have been it's own story that just hinted at the Ultimates? Don't get me wrong, it's enjoyable and a fun issue, but the bar was set up to high for it.
Carlos Pacheo falls under the same group as Hickman. His art in the past three issue has been great. Every panel had motion and the panel transitions were great. Sadly there are a few spots where I had to go back and reread a panel to try and figure out how they got to the next panel. It again goes with the bar being set very high in past issues.
One personal problem, is that this isn't going to be an ongoing. Hickman seems to have a lot of ideas for Ultimate Thor that I would love to see on a monthly basis. Maybe we could have another mini-series very soon? Maybe after the fallout of "Death of Ultimate Spider-Man?" Ultimate Thor really seemed to like Spider-Man in Ultimate Spider-Man #150.
Ultimate Comics Thor gets 3.5/5
Spider-Girl #3: This title has been one of the shining lights in my comic pull list. The past two months have been great reads. It makes me sad that this month is slightly sub par.
Spider-Girl deals with the fallout of her fathers death. She talks to a few people, acting like any teenager would. It's refreshing that she wants to talk to normal people and not super heroes. The story also sets up a nice direction for Anya after talking with the Red Hulk. I'm happy that Paul Tobin didn't just make Rulk a mindless killing machine after everything Jeff Parker has done to make the Red Hulk a likable character. What I most enjoyed was the end talk with Sue Storm. It seemed natural and Sue is a natural mother type in the Fantastic Four. Jon Hickman, maybe have Anya make a guest appearance in F.F.?
What kept me from giving this series another perfect score was the massive switch in artists. Clayton Henry has done an amazing job of making Anya look like a teenager and not a hyper sexualized hero in a black skintight suit. Tim Seeley penicls part of the issue and throws that completely out the window. She looks like a 22 year old model who doesn't eat all of a sudden. Sergio Cariello's art works nicely for the flashback sequences. But the change is never smooth and it takes the reader out of the book.
One thing this book has done well is making Spider-Girl be an example female superhero. This has been greatly missed since Ms. Marvel had her ongoing cancelled back in February. She is strong, assertive, and doesn't just listen to the male superheroes. She talks to Spider-Man, but wants to more listen to Sue Storm. It's refreshing and one of the main reasons I love this book so much.
Spider-Girl #3 gets 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment