Marvel Comics
Alpha Flight #7: It's almost the end of another Alpha Flight series. And besides the goofy villain, the series continues to chug along at a great pace.
Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente add everyone's favorite mutant this month, but the issue doesn't focus on him that much. The issue is still about Alpha Flight and Wolverine just happens to be there. The characterization is great, with some patented Pak/Van Lente humor thrown in. What has bogged this series down is the goofy villain The Master. Having aliens JUST invade Canada is a little awkward when you think about the scope of the plot. The whole anti-unity machine is never properly explained, except that it will undo the the process.
Dale Eaglesham continues to do some of his best pencil work. The action scenes look great as well as the facial expressions. What impresses the most is that he continues to do this great work without needing a fill in artist like he did with Fantastic Four. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Eaglesham pencils some beautiful women.
Alpha Flight #7 gets 3.5/5.
Dark Horse Comics
Angel & Faith #5: It's time for a nice one and done here at Angel & Faith, and while the writing is great as always, the art is borderline bad.
First with the good. Christos Gage writes a great story. It perfectly fits into the continuity while having it's own fun with the characters. Gage nails down why Harmony and Clem are fan favorite characters and creates a great new dynamic here. Having Harmony have a sex tape (or it seems lots of them) is a great idea. Is there one with Spike? Bed that would be funny. When Angel was on, the best episodes were ones that were laced with humor, and #5 is just like that. #5 even lays some ground work for threads to come in the second arc. Faith gets the majority of the great one liners, but Angel's are the ones that left me in stitches.
Phil Noto has done some great covers as of late. I remember his work on Namor: The First Mutant being great. But his interior work here is very, VERY, bad. The characters look almost nothing like their actor counterparts, and the action scenes look sloppy and stiff. The vamps being dusted look bad and nothing like what they did on the show, or even the way George Jeanty makes them look over at Buffy. Thankfully Gage's script pulls the issue out of the bad art.
Angel & Faith #5 gets 4/5.
Marvel Comics
Astonishing X-Men #45: Greg Pak continues his good, if safe, run on Astonishing X-Men. It's so outside of continuity that it's in a different dimension.
Pak's tale is like most of the "stranger in a new world" stories, but thankfully makes it very interesting. He paints a Scott who is still recovering over Schism, being overly hostile towards this version of Wolverine. This version of Nightcrawler seems very tragic, an angle I hope Pak tackles later in the arc. So far we don't know much about what's going on, other than that this villain is draining mutants of their powers, a very generic plot point. This arc reminds me a lot of the last arc of the last volume of Nova. It's fun and all, but doesn't really count towards anything and will soon be forgotten. At least it's a fun read.
Mike McKone's pencils continue to please the eye. Cyclops actually looks like his nickname "Slim," something most artists forget these days. He conveys the grief on Nightcrawler's face well, and the frustration and resentment on Cyclops when he sees Wolverine. Occasionally characters look like they have taken some unnecessary acrobatics classes, flipping for random reasons, but his work is overall great.
Astonishing X-Men #45 gets 3.5/5.
Marvel Comics
Avengers: The Children's Crusade #8: It's almost over. It's been almost a year and a half since this series started, and it looks to go out with a bang, even if it can't wrap up all the threads it started.
Alan Heinberg does some....very interesting things with Doom. I'm sure some fanboys won't like it, and the plot is very predictable. When this series was first released, Heinberg said that by the time it was done, we would know where it sit in continuity. It's becoming very obvious that this series was really a lead in to Avengers vs X-Men. That's cool that Marvel planned this event that far in advance, but I'm not sure if Heinberg can wrap up all the threads in time. Something is going to be left by the wayside, and Young Avengers fans will always want more of these characters. For them alone there are numerous threads that will be left aside. But Heinberg's characterization of his creations is spot on as usual, and there is even a sweet moment between the Vision and Cassie amongst the fracas.
Jim Cheung's art continues to be some of the best in comics. His faces can look similar, but their expressions make up for this. Every panel looks beautiful. His art alone is worth the sometimes three month wait in between issues. The panel flow is great, and the book moves like a storyboard for a movie.
Avengers: The Children's Crusade #7 gets 3.5/5.
Jim Cheung's art continues to be some of the best in comics. His faces can look similar, but their expressions make up for this. Every panel looks beautiful. His art alone is worth the sometimes three month wait in between issues. The panel flow is great, and the book moves like a storyboard for a movie.
Avengers: The Children's Crusade #7 gets 3.5/5.
DC Comics
Aquaman #4: As if we needed more reasons for Aquaman to be a complete badass, Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis give us EVEN MORE REASONS.
Geoff Johns takes a back seat on plot this month, with most of the issue being a fight and the rest a few talking head panels. But does the man know when to let the artist take the reigns. But Johns puts a nice ending to the arc, and leaves the reader understanding every dynamic of the characters in the book. It's obvious that Johns has great plans for Aquaman. As someone who lives in Boston, I'm hoping Johns mentions the city more.
The real star of the issue is Ivan Reis. His pencils are simply stunning and just breathtaking on every level. From the massive double page spreads to the small panel where Arthur is looks like he is about to cry, it's simply beautiful art. Almost every page is frame worthy. The big trench monsters And while he gets the big environments done, his talking head panels are also great. I couldn't believe how much emotion was captured in a few panels. The one panel with Arthur almost crying and Mera looking at him says so much about their dynamic and the emotion in the scene.
Aquaman #4 gets 4.5/5.
Marvel Comics
Captain America #5: We get a double dose of Cap this week, and Ed Brubaker has set up a very interesting future for the series.
Brubaker plays of Steve Rogers miniseries last year, Steve Rogers: Super Soldier, very well. The reader is brought up to speed fast without bogging down the momentum of the comic. The ending is a little cheap, but still fun to read. The new Queen Hydra is a menacing villain, but I'm more interested in Baron Zemo. The guys seems to have some master plan, and using the Queen will get him there. The threat of Steve losing his Super Soldier Serum is an old one, but if it's one thing Brubaker knows, it's Cap so I'll give him a chance.
Steve McNiven pencils are helped out this month by Giuseppe Camuncoli. Both pencils are great, but their styles don't mesh well. When the transition to Camuncoli is made, it's jarring and painfully obvious. McNiven's pencils pop off the page just like they have been during this arc. Camuncoli's are as great as they have been, but not as up to the level of his work on Amazing Spider-Man. It would have been nicer if Marvel could have found an artist whose style meshed better with McNiven's. Or even make sure that an ad is in between the changes.
Captain America #5 gets 4/5.
Marvel Comics
Captain America #6: It's a Captain America bonanza this week. The main Cap book catches up and starts off the new arc with a lot of promise.
As said in the review for #5, the idea of Cap losing his Super Solider Serum is an old one, the way that Brubaker goes about it is fun to read. Having Queen Hydra attack Steve from all sides is a great story beat, as is the riot scene. It's nice to see Captain America fight the street level things as well as the big American threats. This "high science" plots are an interesting take for the Cap book to go, and Brubaker looks to be having a lot of fun with them as well. He has stated before he wants to create new Captain America villains, so hopefully we will see more soon.
Alan Davis pencils a great issue. The characters are expressive, the action is kinetic. It's everything you would want in a Captain America comic. Steve looks week and has the terror he should be feeling in the scene near the end. It makes me very happy for the rest of the arc.
Captain America #6 gets 4/5.
As said in the review for #5, the idea of Cap losing his Super Solider Serum is an old one, the way that Brubaker goes about it is fun to read. Having Queen Hydra attack Steve from all sides is a great story beat, as is the riot scene. It's nice to see Captain America fight the street level things as well as the big American threats. This "high science" plots are an interesting take for the Cap book to go, and Brubaker looks to be having a lot of fun with them as well. He has stated before he wants to create new Captain America villains, so hopefully we will see more soon.
Alan Davis pencils a great issue. The characters are expressive, the action is kinetic. It's everything you would want in a Captain America comic. Steve looks week and has the terror he should be feeling in the scene near the end. It makes me very happy for the rest of the arc.
Captain America #6 gets 4/5.
Marvel Comics
Captain America & Bucky #625: After reading numerous great things about this series, I jumped on board. And #625 is a great start to the series and how it runs, even if the plot is average.
Ed Brubaker and James Asmus give us a very interesting take on the Cap and Bucky angle. It's fun to see old characters brought to the forefront again, which Brubaker has a talent for doing. Readers understand these obscure characters well and the plot is set up well enough. But the plot is a little forgettable. By the end of the issue I'm not sure how much I care about the story going forward. I shall be back next month, but the future is up in the air.
The stunning art makes up for the rather average writing. Francesco Francavilla, who did an amazing job on Batman: The Black Mirror last year, pencils a beautiful issue. The action looks great, and the talking head panels have a certain things you them that makes the reader not look away till they are done reading the book. The colors add to the overall beauty, making the issue have a nice reddish hue.
Captain America & Bucky #625 gets 3.5/5.
Marvel Comics
Deadpool #48: It's historic 50th issue is coming up, but I can't help but feel that Deadpool is losing it's steam a little bit.
In past Deadpool reviews, I have stated that the idea of Evil Deadpool is a great one. Having the character look at himself and realize what's wrong with him is always a good thing. It'd be great to see Deadpool still be himself but realize the error of his ways a little bit. But nope. We see hints of this in #48, but it's thrown by the wayside. I'd love to Daniel Way to come back to his great Deadpool days when the book came out. Or maybe a new writer can think up a fresh take on the character. Occasionally the jokes hit, but most of them are miss. I have been with this book since #1, so I won't drop it from my pull list just yet, but hopefully the upcoming Dead arc will (excuse the pun) liven up the book a little bit.
One of the few good things is the art by Salva Espin. It works well with the zany atmosphere of the comic. What impressed me was how he pencils Deadpool reacting underneath his mask. Some artists make it look freaky or just plain bad, but he keeps it looking great.
Deadpool #48 gets 3.5/5.
In past Deadpool reviews, I have stated that the idea of Evil Deadpool is a great one. Having the character look at himself and realize what's wrong with him is always a good thing. It'd be great to see Deadpool still be himself but realize the error of his ways a little bit. But nope. We see hints of this in #48, but it's thrown by the wayside. I'd love to Daniel Way to come back to his great Deadpool days when the book came out. Or maybe a new writer can think up a fresh take on the character. Occasionally the jokes hit, but most of them are miss. I have been with this book since #1, so I won't drop it from my pull list just yet, but hopefully the upcoming Dead arc will (excuse the pun) liven up the book a little bit.
One of the few good things is the art by Salva Espin. It works well with the zany atmosphere of the comic. What impressed me was how he pencils Deadpool reacting underneath his mask. Some artists make it look freaky or just plain bad, but he keeps it looking great.
Deadpool #48 gets 3.5/5.
DC Comics
The Flash #4 gets 3/5
Kick-Ass 2 #6 gets 1.5/5
Secret Avengers #20 gets 4.5/5
Uncanny X-Men #3 gets 3/5
Uncharted #2 gets 3.5/5.
Old Comics
Avengers #20 gets 3.5/5.
Uncanny X-Men #18 gets 5/5.
Kick-Ass 2 #6 gets 1.5/5
Secret Avengers #20 gets 4.5/5
Uncanny X-Men #3 gets 3/5
Uncharted #2 gets 3.5/5.
Old Comics
Avengers #20 gets 3.5/5.
Uncanny X-Men #18 gets 5/5.
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