Friday, June 17, 2011

Reviews for Alpha Flight #1, Morning Glories #10, Uncanny X-Men #538 and more!

Another week, another round of reviews.  The grand total of books was seven this week, rather small compared to last weeks 14.  It was a good week overall, so let's get started.

Marvel Comics
Alpha Flight #1:  The most famous Canadian super hero team is making another effort to have an ongoing.  The first issue is a step in the right direction thankfully.

Attuma, now turned into one of the Worthy by the Serpent, is attacking Vancouver.  Alpha Flight is there to save the day.  While this is going on, the new Prime Minister of Canada is consolidating power from the government.  Attuma has devices to place people under control, and a few members of Alpha Flight are affected.

One thing that can happen with books like this is the Canadian angle can seem hokey or shoehorned.  Pak and Van Lente make use of some legal books, which I give them credit for.  The occasional "eh" is also used, and not in a jokey manner.  The plot is one big fight though, which seems to run on a little long.  Much like the rest of Fear Itself, the atmosphere of fear is there, but seems a little weird at some points.  Why be afraid of Attuma when Alpha Flight almost take him down.  Other than that, Van Lente and Pak give the reader enough to come back for #2.

Dale Eaglesham does his usual work.  His work is astounding, but it's not on the same level as his Fantastic Four work.  Eaglesham still makes the book look beautiful though.

Alpha Flight #1 gets 4/5

DC Comics
Batman #711:  Tony Daniel's last arc on Batman is turning out to be decent.  While not the best Batman book he has written, it's still good.

Harvey Dent is having a hard time lasting without his coin.  The Riddler informs him that his wife is in danger and there is a conspiracy going on.  Batman is playing catch up to Catgirl, who loves to show boat that she is ahead.  Two-Face and Riddler have amassed a small army to fight Falcone and get Gilda back.

Tony Daniel has found a voice for every character.  His Two-Face is awesome, peeling back layers of the character we haven't seen in a while.  But the rest of the issue reads like an average Batman comic.  It's not bad, but it's not really memorable either.  Which is sad considering before the two issue crossover, Daniel was writing a great Batman book.  Hopefully his quality will come back for Detective Comics in the reboot.

Steve Scott's pencils look great.  The bold line work makes the characters pop off the screen.  There are a couple of panels where the characters look stiff and rigid.  And this doesn't work well for action scenes as you might guess.

Batman #711 gets 3/5

Marvel Comics
Deadpool #38:  The main Deadpool has gone from big seller to sleeper in a few months.  And it hasn't even dipped in quality.

Deadpool doesn't want to live and has pissed of the Hulk to make him kill him.  For a few seconds, the Hulk actually kills Wade, but he heals and goes right back to the living.  The Hulk throws Wade around....and right near an elementary school.

There is some great character development and parallels in this issue.  Comparing the Hulk, now viewed as a hero in the Marvel universe, to Deadpool is a great metaphor for redemption.  Even though Wade is still an idiot and loves to kill, the ending shows how much Wade has changed over the past 38 issues.  He went from loving to kill to actually considering the surroundings and not wanting to harm the young. Fantastic work Daniel Way.

Bong Dazo's art is what brings the story down a little.  Some of the big action scenes are a little confusing to follow.  I'm not a fan of having character's mask mimic their facial movements.  Like when Wade was blinking, so did his mask.  It looks very odd.  If you want to do this, just take off the mask somehow.

Deadpool #38 gets 4/5

Marvel Comics
Deadpool MAX #9:  I still hold to the fact that Deadpool MAX is one of the best books that Marvel is putting out onto the shelves.  And #9 keeps that trend up.

Bob is fired, and for some reason Deadpool thinks Bob is getting married, so Wade throws a bachelor party for the former Hydra agents.  Weasel, a drug dealer and pimp, makes an appearance.  As the book goes on, there are massive firefights and Deadpool on drugs.  

The plot is a little convoluted for my tastes, but what makes up for this is the metaphor for redemption and friendship that is shown between Deadpool and Bob.  David Lapham has been telling a great story, surrounded by madness and filth mind you, that seems to be stalling a lit bit this month.  This isn't so big of a concern that it impacted the rating, it's just an observation.

While Shawn Crystal's art fits the book well, it isn't nearly as good Kyle Baker's.  The craziness doesn't look at crazy.  But enough slamming, Crystal does a good job on this book.  The images look insane and hilarious.  He can pull of sight gags just as good as Crystal.

Deadpool MAX #9 gets 5/5.

Image Comics
Morning Glories# 10:  Deep conspiracy books can falter by not knowing enough about what is going on and getting turned off.  Morning Glories #10 is deeply confusing, but leaves the reader still interested in the series and narrative as a whole.

Jade has been having a lot of weird dreams as of late.  Most of them involve the bald girl that appeared near the beginning of the series.  She awakes violently and goes through the motions getting ready.  Hunter comes to explain his absence to Casey regarding their date the day before.  Casey wants to "just be friends," which hits Hunter rather hard.  In class, the teacher teaches the students how to tie a hangman's noose.  Jade thinks she is dreaming and volunteers to give a demonstration of how it works.  She jumps off the desk and commits suicide.  She wakes up with her future self who gives her some information.

#10 really leaves the reader wanting a lot more.  Nick Spencer is a master at giving the readers just enough info about what is going on to want to keep coming back month after month.  Jade, who seemed to be stereotypically emo at the beginning of the series, seems to be the most level headed person of the group.  

Joe Eisma does a good job on art this month.  Sometimes his art can seem rushed at some points, but this doesn't happen this month.  All the characters look great.  The panel with Hunter taking the news about just being friends was awesome and really hit the emotion that Spencer was going for.

Morning Glories #10 gets 5/5

Marvel Comics
New Avengers #10:  Brian Michael Bendis seems to have found his stride with New Avengers.  And the future is nothing but bright.  Well, sad for the characters, but awesome for us readers

Mockingbird is in critical condition.  Nick Fury appears and explains that he has a way to save her.  But Superia, the new leader of H.A.M.M.E.R., has taken the thing that Fury use to have.  Victoria Hand gives the New Avengers a tip that Superia is going towards a boat.  They decide to get the package that was stolen from Fury.  Superia attacks them, knowing they are going to be (herself being tipped by Hand).  Superia is defeated and taken into custody.  But it seems that Hand still has an plan for her.  Mockingbird is given the Infinity Formula, the same formula that Nick Fury took to keep him so young.

While the first arc was fun to read, the series lacked focus to a degree.  The resurgence of H.A.M.M.E.R. is a great angle that I can't wait to see Bendis write about.  Victoria Hand has also become a great character to watch.  Bendis has had a little trouble giving every character their own voice, and this isn't as big a problem this issue.  Most of the characters have their own voice, except for a few panels.  The interrogation scene with Wolverine and Hawkeye playing bad cop/even worse cop was fun to read.  I'm not sure why Spider-Woman was in this issue though.  She barely says anything and doesn't do anything.

Mike Deodato stays away from the CG look that he has been known to rely on in the past.  The action looks great, and you can feel the tension bubbling in the interrogation scene.  Howard Chaykin isn't given much to do this month, but his art still looks good.  

New Avengers #13 gets 4/5

Marvel Comics
Uncanny X-Force #11:  After a small dip in quality during the past few issues, Uncanny X-Force is back to brilliance.

X-Force is heading to the Age of Apocalypse, with Dark Beast as their guide.  Once there, they are attacked by a number of mutants, including Nightcrawler and Sabertooth.  After realizing it's just a misunderstanding, Dark Beast heads back to the normal Marvel universe, leaving X-Force stranded.  The Life Seed, the item needed to heal Angel, is destroyed during the fight.  The mutants from the Age of Apocalypse bring X-Force to their base, where Logan meets an old friend.

Rick Remender is writing some amazing stories here.  The stakes feel real instead of the characters just telling us that the stakes are real.  Remender really sells the emotion that Wolverine is feeling seeing his fallen comrades alive again, especially Nightcrawler.  Deadpool is the usual comic relief, but seems to be filling the voice of reason as of late.  It's a role that really fits him.  Hopefully this character trait will translate over to his ongoing.  

Mark Brooks is the penciler for this arc.  His artwork is fantastic.  The action looks great, but the real merit goes to his faces.  The characters are very expressive, and completely sell what is going on.  To often characters faces look to exaggerated to take seriously, but Brooks finds that great medium.  One thing though, Psylocke is suppose to be Asian.  She looks like a white person in the first few pages, then Asian in the second half.  It's not that big of a deal, as many artists forget this.  But at least be consistant.

Uncanny X-Force #11 gets 5/5.

Marvel Comics
Uncanny X-Men #538:  Kieron Gillen finishes up his first arc on Uncanny X-Men, and what an ending it is.

Wolverine and Kruun battle it out, with Wolverine sadly loosing.  Kitty Pryde is restored to a full human, being able to touch others.  Kitty leads Kruun to Haleena, who gave some of her life force to Kitty so she could be touched again.  This humbles Kruun, who sacrifices some of his life force to save Haleena. Kruun wakes up a changed man.

Kieron Gillen is the best writer of Kitty Pryde since Joss Whedon.  She is the strong character that she was during Joss' run.  The way Kruun changes from battle ready warrior to humbled man is slight but very believable.  The reader can really feel the emotion on the page.

Terry Dodson seems to have figured out how to be amazing on each page.  His characters look great and very detailed.  In past issues some of his pencils haven't been as detailed as they need to be.  His characters can also look similar, but that doesn't happen this month.  Everyone has their own look and can be picked out of a crowd.

Uncanny X-Men #538 gets 5/5.

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