Reviews for Daredevil #1, Marineman #6, and more.

And here we are.  Comic Con International 2011 is upon us.  I am unfortunately working most of the weekend, but I'll be seeing Captain America and posting a review soon after.  Lets get to this week's reviews shall we?

DC Comics

Batman #712:  While some books are ending before the September relaunch, Batman is still going.  And the end to the current arc is somewhat lack luster, it's still a decent ending.


Two-Face's final push to save Gilda and beat the Falcone's is going well.  Dick seems a couple steps behind him the whole time.  The Riddler is also becoming more and more menacing, using Two-Face's push to achieve his own means.  And the Riddler does very sadistic thing on the last page.

The plot is well...average.  It isn't bad but it doesn't take any risks.  If Tony Daniels could have stayed on the book longer, I feel like a few of these plot threads would have amounted to something good.  The new turn of the Riddler really has me interested.  It's also weird to see Dick so far behind the bad guys.  He isn't Bruce, but he is still a damn good detective.  Not the greatest send off for Dick as he gives up the Batman mantle soon.

Steve Scott, much like Daniel's on script, does an average job on pencils.  There are some panels that look really good, then some that look Greg Land bad.  One scene in particular, the scene with Dick and Alfred, is a bad example of average.  It starts out looking normal, then a couple of panels later, the art is atrocious.

Batman #712 gets 3/5

Marvel Comics

Daredevil #1:  This is a special type of comic book.  It's a book so well written, penciled, everything, that I will probably give it to someone to show them how amazing the medium of comic books can be.  Daredevil #1 is the single best issue of the year.

Daredevil is back in NYC.  The Spot attacks a mobsters wedding.  Daredevil saves a little girl from being kidnapped, and smooches the bride in the process.  Matt and Foggy are trying to bring back their law firm. It's proving a lot harder than he though, as most people still think he is Daredevil.  The assistant DA gives Matt a tip that "only Daredevil" would be able to use.  A certain hero in red, white, and blue appears to talk to ol' Horn Head.

In the backup, Matt describes to Foggy about why living in NYC is amazing (after Matt stops him from eating Doritos of course).  Matt uses his acute hearing to play the violin, an instrument he doesn't know how to play.  The two visit the grave of Matt's dad, and Foggy realizes he might be in over his head again.

Mark Waid writes one of his best issues ever.  It must be challenging to write a character who recently got fucked over by an event.  He writes Matt with a sliver age whimsey, and a person who is ready to embrace life around him.  Yeah, he made mistakes, but he is going to try and get past them.  This is a Matt Murdock that everyone wants to root for.  The internal dialogue never gets old, especially when Matt comments on the Daredevil comments.  Mark Waid hits every aspect of Matt Murdock in a very short amount of time.

The brilliantness of this comic also has to do with Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin.  Their old school style meshes with the script well and is beautiful to look at.  Matt's radar is shown in red lines, which a could get confusing with a lesser artist.  Rivera makes a bunch of lines look beautiful and amazing to look at.  Marcos Martin's style meshes well with Daredevil, even more so than Spider-Man.  The two page spread that shows what Matt is smelling is simple, but works on such a deep level.

Daredevil #1 gets 5/5.

Marvel Comics

Herc #5:  Say what you will about other books being bogged down by Fear Itself, Herc has only been better.

Herc's followers are still praying to him, and he can't stop them from talking.  Dragons and some ghouls attack Hercules and the Griffin.  Man-Bull and Basilisk save the pair.  The group heads down to a subway, where a massive centipede is on the tracks.  Herc and the villains hop on, heading outside.  Hercules prays to Zeus, but instead he gets Hermes.  The messenger tries to bring Hercules back to Olympus, where Zeus says he can be a god again.  Hercules says no, as he likes his new home in Brooklyn.  Herc's girlfriend is thrown in with his followers, who end up being nerds.  Hercules has a hail mary plan to defeat Ares' son, and it's a doozy.

Pak and Van Lente throw joke after joke in this issue.  All of it hits, even with the mythical dialogue used more in this issue.  The plot's tone is shifted rather fast, and Hercules dismisses the Zeus offer rather quick. The burning of Brooklyn and the Statue of Liberty work very well, and will no doubt have further repercussions after the event is over.  

Neal Adams pencils his best issue so far.  It's not without it's problems, but it's great stuff.  The action flows great, and the big centipede has the scope it should.  Scale can be a problem with a lot of characters being different sizes and on different levels of depth.  The burning scenes look great as well.

Herc #5 gets 4/5.

Ian Churchill and Image Comics

Marineman #6: One of the best creator owned series to debut this year keeps it's strong streak going.  And we learn a lot about our hero and where he is going in the future.

Steve Ocean has a long talk with his father and learns his origin story and how he became his son.  The Admiral gives him even more information.  Marineman heads back to the Mariner's ship, where he shows Steve his first experiment.  He crossed an octopus and a man, and created Octo.  Marineman and Octo fight out, and breach the ship.  Marineman saves Charlie, and the two meet up again on a small island.  The two share some light flirting, and are about to kiss, but are interrupted.  Back on land, Steve meets up with Jake and the two have a very interesting conversation.  The Mariner then shows that Steve isn't the only experiment he has left.

Ian Churchill has done a splendid job on script these six issues.  He is one of the few artists that really should keep writing and penciling.  The origin of Marineman, while somewhat cliche, still works.  The dialogue is the weakest of the series, especially the scene between Steve and Charlie.  It's run of the mill flirting, and ever line can bee seen coming a mile away.  

Churchill's art is great as always.  The characters look lively and expressive.  Octo looks like a throwaway B-movie monster, and he looks great.  No one can say that Churchill can't create new and exciting characters.

Marineman #6 gets 4/5.

Marvel Comics

Uncanny X-Men #541:  The end of this volume of Uncanny X-Men is sneaking up fast, and Kieron Gillen gives us a good tie into Fear Itself.

The X-Men throw their preliminary plan at the Juggernaut, which doesn't work at all.  Cyclops and Emma have a psychic meeting with the mayor.  Hope almost stops him, but fails.  Emma gets into the Juggernaut's mind, but she becomes infected by the Serpent.

This issue is more set up, maybe more than needed, but Kieron Gillen makes it very enjoyable.  There are some great lines.  He uses the X-Men as a real team, strategy and all.  It's stunning to read and makes the reader think about how they would use the team in this way.  Gillen also seems to have shown some hints as to what characters will be going on what teams after Schism

But the art is just crap.  Regular readers will know how much I hate Greg Land's art.  Sometimes his art can be bearable, but most is crap.  #541 is no difference.  It's actually sub par for him.  Everyone stands around in weird positions, and Cyclops sports a very weird beard.  

Uncanny X-Men #541 gets 3/5.