Sunday, October 2, 2011

Reviews for Aquaman #1, Brilliant #1, Secret Avengers #17 and more!

This week was just massive.  The end of month one of the nuDC ended on a high note.  Marvel released a ton of books this week.  Review time everyone.

Dark Horse Comics
Angel & Faith #2:  A&F #2 does the hard thing and reference the TV show a lot this month, and it surprisingly doesn't lose steam. A&F might end up being the best Buffy comic around.

Angel & Faith are looking for a specific kind of demon blood, one that will heal the body.  Faith and some former Slayers attack a demon who has some of this blood.  Former Slayers aren't big fans of Angel at the moment, so he has to help from the shadows.  Angel's plan is sounding more and more crazy, which leaves Faith in their weird position of being the voice of reason.  The dynamic duo head over to a demon bar to find the specific type of demon's blood.  This is the same blood that accidentally turned Angel back into a human during season one of the TV show.  Once at the bar, Angel starts a massive bar fight.  The two trail a runner from the bar, and find the demon from the beginning of the issue.  Angel & Faith barge in and take care of the guys, but the blood is destroyed in the fight.  In a flashback, we see Giles telling Faith that it's impossible to bring back someone from natural death.  Back in the present, Nash and Pearl meet our runner from the bar, and cause some terrible pain to him.

Much like the TV show, Angel & Faith is the darker cousin to the lighter Buffy.  Speaking of TV, this issue makes a big reference to the TV show.  Not only that, it's one of the first episodes of the series.  It's a little jarring, even to hardcore fans.  I consider myself a hardcore fan to the Buffyverse, and I couldn't remember this for the life of me.  But other than that, this is a great issue.  Christos Gage has a fantastic feel on what makes these characters tick, especially Faith.  Some humor would be a nice addition, as the Angel TV show was always at it's best when there was a healthy dose of humor.  Gage handles the flashback nice and it doesn't feel like a plot point.  It's nice to see Giles stick around in this book.

Rebekah Issacs' art is fantastic.  The action scenes are kinetic and the demons have the absurd look that we have all come to know and love with the Buffyverse.  Every character looks like their actor counterpart, and nothing looks weird.  It takes a very talented penciler to do that.  There isn't an inker credit, so I'm guessing Issacs did her own inks.  The inks really sell the dark and moody atmosphere.  

Angel & Faith #2 gets 4/5

DC Comics
Aquaman #1:  Aquaman.  He is the butt of all superhero jokes.  His powers are laughable and he rides seahorses.  That doesn't usually mean you can be a bad ass.  Geoff Johns does the unbelievable though and turns Arthur Curry into a bonafide bad ass.

In the deep Atlantic ocean, some rather scary fish pop out of the ground.  Humans are up there? Yummy.  In Boston, same bad guys are robbing a bank.  After being chased by the Boston Police for a few blocks, Aquaman jumps out of the harbor and stops the guys.  After flipping their van over, one of the bad guys gets out and starts shooting at Aquaman.  Most of the bullets bounce right off of him, but one hits Aquaman's head and makes him pleased. Bad ass Aquaman is not pleased.  Arthur Curry jumps off and appears at a diner near the coast.  Arthur sits down to have a bite, when an annoying blogger starts to interview him.  The blogger makes fun of Aquaman about how he is no ones favorite super hero.  Arthur leaves, but also leaves some Atlantean gold for the waiter so she could pay for her kids college.  He heads to the ocean, where Mera joins him.  The ugly fish from the beginning start to nom on some unsuspecting fishermen.

Geoff Johns has done a lot of things in the past few years to update Arthur Curry and make him an interesting character.  All of this comes to fruition in this new volume of Aquaman.  The issue is framed around people making fun of Aquaman, and it works really well.  It breaks down the barriers that many readers had about the character, while showing them that this volume is going to do the unexpected with Arthur.  It feels like a genuine fresh start.  Johns builds on what he wrote in Blackest Night and Brightest Day, but doesn't tie the character to those sometimes convoluted stories.

Ivan Reis pencils arguably his best issue to date.  The action flows beautifully, and the reader can really feel the grace that Aquaman has in his movements.  The one panel where Aquaman looks pissed after getting shot is amazing.  The same with the diner scene.  Aquaman's facial expressions are amazing examples to artists of how to convey emotion.  Ivan Reis and Geoff Johns have worked a lot together recently, and Aquaman #1 shows how much these two guys are in sync.  I can just see that Johns let Reis take hold of the action scene.  As someone who has lived in Boston for numerous years, Reis does a great job of using the city as a background.

Aquaman #1 gets 4.5/5

Marvel
Brilliant #1:  Done with Ultimate Spider-Man, it's time for Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley to have a creator owned comic.  And the issue starts off ok, but could have been better.

The book starts off with a boy named Amadeus robbing a bank.  He seems to be invulnerable and have psychic powers.  At some other time, we see a group of college age students having a party.  Albert is back, and moves into the dorms.  The party is for his 21st birthday party, so everyone gets right drunk.  There is even a fight between people dressed up as Optomus Prime and Master Chief.  The group head to the roof of the dorm.  The group describes to Albert about how they are thinking about creating superheroes, while they build what seems to be a campus police vehicle.  Then they finish building it for the night and head down stairs.

I have been reading comic books by Bendis for a long time, and I have become accustom to his writing style.  But after reading Brilliant #1 a few times, I think he might have decompressed himself into a spot.  Besides parading all the characters, we aren't given any reason to like them, care for them, or have any emotions towards them.  The most interesting scene happens at the beginning of the issue and I'm not sure if it's a flash forward or flash back.  But I have to give credit to Bendis, as the book has a lot of potential.  The set up is very interesting, and that alone is going to bring me back for the next issue.  I just hope that Bendis will give us more reasons to care about these characters in future issues.

Mark Bagley is one of the industries sure bets.  When you see his name on the front of an issue, it's guaranteed to look great.  Bagley is one of the best storytellers, but he falls a little short in this issue.  Bagley can pencil about an issue and a half a month, but for some reason this book looks really rushed.  And I noticed a massive mistake on page 15.  If you look at the last panel, you see a bald headed character, Kindred, speaking.  Someone off panel is talking, so on the next page, we cut to see who is speaking.  It's Kindred.  Wait what?  Unless he suddenly has teleportation powers, this is just inexcusable.   Otherwise, it's a usually good issue by Bagley.

I originally gave the issue a 4, but after a couple of readings, the rating is going down.  

Brilliant #1 gets 3/5.

DC Comics
The Flash #1:  I'll start off by saying that Barry Allen is my favorite DC character.  For some reason, I have always loved the Flash.  And The Flash #1 keeps with my love of Barry Allen.

Barry Allen and Patty Smity are on a date to technology event (or it seems that way).  Agents bust in and throw gas grenades everywhere.  Barry runs away and slips into his Flash costume.  The Flash beats up all the bad guys, including throwing one guy through a plate glass window, but they start to escape with a genetic re-coder.  Flash gets it back, but falls off the side of a building in the process.  He vibrates through the ground and ends up in the pipes.  The ground can't take it though, and explodes.  Iris West is there to try and get a few questions out of Flash, but the Flash stays silent.  Flash gives the re-coder back to Dr. Elias, and speeds away and gets back into normal clothes.  Barry finds Patty, and the two start to investigate the scene.  The guy that was pushed through the plate glass window is dead though, and it turns out to be Barry's friend Manuel.  In a flashback, we see Barry and Manuel running, and Manuel is describing getting beaten up for dating someone.  Back in the present, Iris is coming on strong to Barry to find out what is going on.  Patty isn't exactly happy with this.  Barry tries to figure out what is going on, when Manuel jumps in.  They run for a bit, and bump into a bunch of......Manuels?

When I heard that Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato (the penciler and inker from the last volume with Geoff Johns) were going to be on writing duties, I was rather nervous.  It's not often that the art team can make a good jump into scripting, but the team does a great job here.  It's a perfect jumping on point for new readers.  By the end of the issue, we understand who Barry is, who he is as a person, and why he is such a great hero.  I'm not sure breaking up Barry and Iris was such a great idea, but I'll let it be if it leads to good stories.  It's good to see that she will still be in the book.  Manapul and Buccellato also do a stand up job of giving the rather big supporting cast time to shine and show their character traits.  Past fans of the Flash will see all their favorite supporting characters.  I'm hoping that at some point Manapul and Buccellato will discuss the fact that Barry remembers the old continuity. 

Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato were one of the big reasons the last volume of The Flash was such a great read.  The art looks amazing as usual with this team.  The Flash needs to have art that is flowing at all times, even when the characters are standing still.  Scenes such as when Barry is changing into the Flash look simply stunning.  The costume having the "clicks together" look is an interesting look, but it works in function.  As long as we keep seeing scenes where the suit pops out of the ring and clicks together again, I'll be fine with it.

The Flash #1 gets 4/5.

Marvel
Herc #8:  Herc #7 was too kooky for it's own good.  It destroyed the great blend of comedy and drama that the Hercules books have been known for.  #8 goes back to that great blend.

Herc has just saved a bar from a bunch of evil spider powered people.  The Spider Queen appears and tells Herc that he has to destroy the spider sense interrupters.  We then flash forward to Herc's fight with the X-Men last issue.  A massive fight ensues.  The second transformation of the spider virus erupts in Hercules though, and he sprouts eight spider legs.  Arachne, the original spider, sees all this happen and head towards the Spider Queen's hideout.  She makes the Spider Queen release Hercules from her hive mind grip, and Arachne heads towards the fight with Hercules and the X-Men.  Arachne captures the X-Men, and her and Hercules start doing the......eight legged tango.  They be having the sex.

The book still doesn't give us a good reason as to why Hercules is fighting the X-Men.  It feels like a big plot device, and that the X-Men could be any team of heroes.  Having Arachne show up harkens back to how Pak and Van Lente used the gods so well in the Incredible Hercules.  After reading this issue a second time, I realized what the real problem is.  Amadeus Cho.  It's the first time in this series where Hercules has needed Cho.  The X-Men feel like Cho split into a small group.  They are the people/group that cracks a few jokes at Hercules expense and will no doubt save the day.  Arachne's tapestry is an interesting choice for a story beat, and the pay off will be interesting.

My biggest complaint about Herc #7 was the art.  June Brigman's art was to goofy for it's own good and didn't look that great.  #8 changes that quite a bit.  The action flows a lot better, and the characters don't look as cartoony.  One big problem is that Emma Frost seems to be topless in a lot of panels.  If you look closely, you can see that when in diamond form, her top suddenly disappears.  Back in human form, she has her clothes back on (sadly).

After a few rereads, the rating went down a little bit.

Herc #8 gets 3.5/5.

Marvel
Journey Into Mystery #628:  Journey Into Mystery is easily the most underrated book at Marvel.  It's continuously the best book of the week.

Loki sends the Tongue, who is at Dark Asgard, a letter via demon.  The letter says one word: Disir.  The Disir attack the Tongue and his guards, and summon Loki and his rag tag team.  Demons catch wind of the intrusion, and Loki sends the Destroyer to take care of them.  Loki and Leah are looking for a specific point, where they will use the Twilight Shadow they got in #626.  The Disir join the Destroyer in attacking the Serpent's forces in Dark Asgard, leaving Leah, Loki, and Tyr to find the book.  Leah uses magic to find the book, and uses the Twilight Shadow.  But what is mightier than the sword?  That's right, a pen.  The Twilight is a sword, but the Twilight Shadow is the opposite of this.  The Twilight Shadow is a pen, and Loki plans to write something devious no doubt.

Kieron Gillen has kept Journey Into Mystery the highlight of my pull list each month.  This issue works on so many levels, as many plot threads come to fruition.  It's issues like this payoff the long term readers. Not a lot happens in this issue, as #628 works as a precursor to the final battle.  It's a tad obvious that Gillen is trying to buy time before Fear Itself ends, but the ending still makes next month seem all that much farther away.  If anything, Gillen has shown how much a series can benefit from an event.  Loki's adventures have tip toed around the main event and made it that much stronger as a book.  Books born out of events never have long lives, usually because they can't find their footing or purpose.  If Journey Into Mystery has shown me anything, Journey Into Mystery found it's footing and will be around for a long while.

Whilce Portacio hans't had a lot of luck recently with penciling.  His arc on Uncanny X-Men, The Five Lights, was weak and showed a penciler beyond his time.  This issue is a vast improvement, but Portacio needs to work on his faces.  The Destroyer looks fantastic, as do the demons.  But the close up panels just look ugly.

Journey Into Mystery #628 gets 4.5/5.

Icon/Millarworld
Kick-Ass 2 #4:  The often delayed book comes back, and it with a strong, if slightly absurd and dark chapter.

Mindy is trying to be a normal child, but after watching the news, it seems like Hit-Girl is making her way back into her life.  Kick-Ass and his band of heroes can't figure out what to do.  While this is going on, Red Mist, going by the name Mother F***er, head over to wear Katie, the object of Kick-Ass' desire, lives.  Mother F***er wants to make a statement to the heroes of NYC, so he kills everyone in sight.  That includes women and children.  Even Mother F***er's band of villains can't believe what they are seeing.  Mother F***er finds Katie's house, and proceeds to raper her.  The police hear all the gunfire, but Mother Russia takes care of them.  The police aren't going to take any chances and round up the heroes and the villains in NYC.  Kick-Ass is on that list.  Dave's dad takes the bullet and is arrested by the police.

Mark Millar has always been one for shock value, and this issue is blatant use of that.  Instead of going to the outlandish route and leaving the villains to do what they want, the police get involved.  It works well, if not as perfectly as Millar would have liked.  For a book that started with people being superheroes and fighting mobsters, Kick-Ass has come a long way.  It's a natural extension of that first purpose, but I'd like to see the book go back to it's old purpose.  Or some panel time devoted to the mobsters of NYC.  With all the craziness going on, they would have to have some type of say in what's going on.  Villains running around and making the police more on edge isn't good for business.  #4 is still a good issue though, and the next few issues look like they will give us more Dave instead of Kick-Ass.  

The real appeal of Kick-Ass is John Romita JR. on art.  His art is simply beautiful.  The inkers and colorists for his future books need to look at this book for a perfect example of how to make his art pop off the page.  The violent scenes hit hard, and not because of Millar's writing.  JRJR is very detailed, adding to the chilling scenes.  JRJR only does breakdowns on this seres, and they look better than his full time pencils on Avengers.

Kick-Ass 2 #4 gets 3.5/5.

Marvel
The New Avengers #16.1:  Norman Osborn is back!  H.A.M.M.E.R. is making a come back, but the beginning of this mini event could have started better.

Norman Osborn is being transferred to the Raft from Rykers, and the New Avengers are going to act as security detail. After some well deserved snarky remarks from Spider-Man, the group agrees.  Some Osborn loyalists shrink down the plane that Osborn is on and try to get him out.  The New Avengers played the ol' switchero though, and Dr. Strange was impersonating Osborn.  The rest of the New Avengers move the actual Norman Osborn, but more security guards appear to take their leader away.  Osborn released Dr. Wentworth as well.  The New Avengers beat up a ton of guards, but Osborn gets away.  The H.A.M.M.E.R. War has started.

As with the recent New Avengers Annual #1, Brian Michael Bendis has this crack team of heroes doing a lot rather stupid things.  The fist ploy works well, but then the Avengers are tricked by security guards.  It seems like a rookie mistake, something the likes of Spider-Man shouldn't fall for.  Not even on a bad day. After Dark Reign, you'd think the Avengers wouldn't take a chance with someone like Osborn.  Bendis seems to throw the team under the bus so that an event could start.  I was very excited about the H.A.M.M.E.R. coming back idea, and that it would be running through both Avengers and New Avengers.  But this opening issue doesn't leave me very hopeful.  Bendis needs to rethink how he is writing the New Avengers.  Maybe adding Daredevil to the roster will shake things up, but these guys are Avengers for a reason.  They are smart, tactical, and capable heroes.  They won't make mistakes like letting weak security guards get the better of them.

Neal Adams is an Avengers legend.  His work here though isn't legendary.  Panels are cluttered to the point of the reader not knowing what is going on.  Adams breaks numerous cardinal sins though.  Ms. Marvel's domino mask constantly appears and disappears.  Wolverine's costume suddenly changes without any warning.  Not all is bad though.  The first splash page with the Goblin looks terrifying.  Paul Mounts on colors also messes up a lot.  Jessica Jones hair color changes from panel to panel, and Wolverine's costume changes colors in a few panels.  

The New Avengers #16.1 gets 3/5.

Marvel
Secret Avengers #17:  Warren Ellis had a very strong start for his run on Secret Avengers.  #17 is good, but not nearly as strong as his first outing.

In this month's issue, we have Commander Rogers, Sharon Carter, War Machine, and Valkyrie.  There is an evil truck in Eastern Europe.  It rides around and sucks people up through the electro magnetic fields on the side of the truck.  Time for the Secret Avengers to make a stand.  As the team flies in, a fighter pilot swoops in.  The fighter pilot has been cloaking satellites so the truck can do it's evil deeds.  The Avengers touch down and go after the truck.  The truck, and the fighter pilot plane, are being controlled by robots who use to be humans.  Valkyrie swoops down from the sky and takes a massive blade to the trucks caboose, while Commander Rogers falls off his motorcycle.  War Machine saves the day by killing the driver.

Ellis' idea to only bring in a few members of the team each month is a good idea, but it ends up hindering this issue.  #17 is an enjoyable read, but the witty dialogue is sorely missed.  Valkyrie and War Machine barely factor into this story, so much of the plot development and action is left to Commander Rogers and Sharon Carter.  The set up also isn't as interesting as last months either.  Ellis still makes the read enjoyable, and it makes me wish he as sticking around with the book.  Secret Avengers is a book that needs a constant creative team.  The book has been the unsung hero of the Avengers franchise, and even with three writers and a lot of artists, all 17 issues have been fun to read.

Another reason that this month's issue wasn't as good a read was Kev Walker on art.  His art has always been great on book like Thunderbolts, but the scenario is to dark to have his artwork shine the way it should.  It could be that Jamie McKelvie raised the bar so high that I'm not as impressed this month.

Secret Avengers #17 gets 4/5.

Marvel
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #2:  The Ultimate line has had a strong relaunch, even though it's the third relaunch of the universe.  Ultimates #2 continues the strong run, but loses the team book sight.

After giving the reader some long history of what is going on inside the dome that Thor and Excalibur found while fighting, the two groups start fighting.  The Ultimate FF make quick work of Excalibur, but can't figure out Thor.  Tony Stark is brought back to life, and jumps into his spare armor and is off.  The FF figures out Thor and finds the power that makes Thor Thor.  The FF make their way to Asgard, and make quick work of the citizens of eternal city.  Thor puts his son in the World Tree, and gives him Mjolnir, to keep him safe.  But sadly the FF destroy the World Tree, cutting off Thor from the power that keeps him strong.

Much like Fear Itself, this arc seems like a Thor story that has everyone else in it.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but most of the book ends up being focused on Thor.  But this is a team book.  And no, Thor and Excalibur does not make this a team book.  With Captain America MIA and Hawkeye doing his own thing in his mini series, it's hard for this to be a team book.  Iron Man is back thankfully.  While the Ultimate FF take an interesting and evil turn compared to the normal continuity, Jonathan Hickman spends a little to much time developing them.  They are the evil henchmen of Reed Richards are enough.  An interesting thing I have noticed in all the Ultimate books so far is that every city on the planet is rioting.  This could be a great plot line later in these books, but for now it feels like wasted potential.  Only time will tell.

Esad Ribic painted pencils really work well to sell the epic nature of the book.  Scenes fight scene in the dome have a chaotic feel that gives the comic a big blockbuster-y feel.  I only hope that Ribic can keep up the painted look so that he can keep being the sole artist on this book.

Ultimate Comics Ultimates #2 gets 3.5/5.

Marvel
Venom #7:  Rick Remender continues to write Venom brilliantly, and also creating a great Spider-Island tie-in in the process.

Venom has infiltrated the Spider-Queen's lair, and she sends him to take care of Anti-Venom.  Eddie Brock, Anti-Venom, is holding up in a church using his anti body powers to heal everyone who has spider powers.  Flash's dad is on the brink of death though, and Betty is trying to get Flash to visit before he dies.  Flash attacks Anti-Venom, and Brock fights back hard.  Brock monologues about how the Venom symbiote is terrible for him.  Flash tricks the symbiote to go back to Brock, leaving him defenseless.  It knocks out Brock, and Flash gets the Venom symbiote back.  Flash captures Anti-Vemon and takes him to the Baxter Building so Mr. Fantastic can manufacture a cure for the spider virus.  Flash gets to his dad just in time to have a few last words with his dad before his dad dies.

Rick Remender has given new life to Venom.  Also, Remender is one of the few who remembers that Brock got the Venom symbiote when he was praying in a church.  So naturally Eddie would go to a church to help people.  Much like Journey Into Mystery, Venom is one of the rare books that tip toes around the main story and using it perfectly.  Remender also keeps the book fairly serious, even though Spider-Island is a really kooky concept.  And through all of this, Flash still has a few pages of character development.  Even Betty gets some development amongst this arc.

Tom Fowler has the tough job of being the fill in artist to Tony Moore, one of the best artists in the pencilers in the business.  Over the past few issues though, Fowler has been stepping up his game.  Penciling the symbiotes combining together is no easy task and Fowler steps up and makes it look frightening.  Not only that, the quiet emotional scenes have the emotional kick and tug on your heart strings.

Venom #7 gets 4.5/5.

Older Comics
Since I'm cheap and go through the Marvel direct program, I get numerous comics late.  So instead of having you read reviews of old comics, I'll just give you the numbers

Amazing Spider-Man #669 gets 4.5/5.
The New Avengers #16 gets 3.5/5.
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1 gets 5/5.
Uncanny X-Force #15 gets 5/5.

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