Comic Reviews by Walt

The Rest of the Stack is my general mini-review coverage of new comics for any given week. It’s in addition to (or in place of) full-size individual reviews. It’s far less formal, and more off-the-top-of-my head thoughts on the given comics than it is detailed reviews.

X-MEN: LEGACY #269

Taking on Iceman’s powers. Rogue does her part to help the Phoenix Five fix the world. Unfortunately, she walks into an ambush by Ms. Marvel, and the two have a slugfest and a bit of a heart to heart amidst the punching and such. By issue’s end, Ms. Marvel’s planted a seed of doubt in Rogue that might just cause some issues with the Phoenix Five. Now, it’s been a couple weeks since this came out (oops…slacking a bit in my reviewing) but this didn’t seem like a bad issue, though it didn’t really do much for me. I’ve yet to read the original stuff of Rogue vs. Ms. Marvel, and I can appreciate (and like) the fact of it being brought up again, but I’m growing tired of the fights, and I’ve never much cared for Ms. Marvel, nor am I quite sure what’s up with the character given the pending Captain Marvel series coming up. Still, I’m liking the focus on Rogue, and this continues to pique my interest toward the original Rogue stories as well as stuff from the last few years. I’ll be curious to see if this title (or its numbering) exists with the Marvel Now stuff coming up post-AvX…but for now I’m on board if only for the fact of this being an AvX tie-in. (7/10)

WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #12

I’m really beginning to lose track of what’s happened where in what tie-in or official chapter of AvX. This issue gets into the detail of the Avengers invading to “capture” Hope for her own good, as we see how much of that unfolded, and Rachel Grey’s part in it all. We also have more on the Gladiator/Kid Gladiator stuff. I continue to not really care for Bachalo‘s art…there’s just something to the style that I don’t like, and I really think that’s my #1 turn-off to this title at this point (other than the $3.99 price). Otherwise this is a decent issue with conflict for a goal rather than just the characters beating on each other. But another issue snagged for the AvX banner rather than the title or content itself. Nearly two weeks after reading and it’s virtually forgettable. (7/10)

G.I.JOE: A REAL AMERICAN HERO #180

While this issue has the usual volley of variant covers such that there’s actually a “checklist” of all the covers (this is one of my primary gripes with IDW and their $3.99 pricing)…the main “gimmick” of this issue is that the Joes go to Comic Con. As in…their mission actually sends them to the San Diego Comic Con, where they spray-paint the tip of Snake Eyes’ uzi orange and the group then fits in perfectly with all the other cosplayers. Overall, the story is fairly forgettable in a general sense…but it’s rather amusing and makes for quite a fun issue just seeing the Joes in a comic convention. There’s even a page where Snake Eyes is separated from the group, and you can actually do a “Where’s Waldo?” searching out the missing ninja on the page (yeah, he’s in there!). It’s been quite awhile since I’ve checked in with this title, and I’m not sure I’m going on to the next issue…but for a single-issue purchase, I quite enjoyed this, and found it surprisingly accessible on the whole. The story worked and the art’s good…and the issue on the whole is fun, and met expectations. (8.5/10)

AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #7

The X-Men do their best to make good on Cyclops’ deadly three words: “No More Avengers.” Of course, the way they go about accomplishing this isn’t the best, and is met with varying degrees of commitment. The Avengers learn what–or who–the Phoenix Five fear and make use of that, though ultimately, things continue to spiral quickly outta control. We’re into the second half of things, and the story remains fairly solid, though my overall interest is waning. I really like Coipel‘s art in this issue, though it looks better in some parts than others. All in all, not a bad issue, but having followed all the tie-ins so far, I find myself wondering how well this will read when all is said and done, and without the tie-ins as things unfold. At this point, I doubt anything I say about this core series or any of the tie-ins will bring you into the story…though this issue would not send me into dropping the series at this point, either. (7.5/10)

UNCANNY X-MEN #15

The Phoenix Five decide it’s time to deal with Sinister, so they begin to seek the villain. Of course, Sinister has his own plans in the matter–such as making things difficult–but the X-Men prevail and the battle is assured. While this is officially a tie-in to AvX, this is really more of an “in the midst of AvX while we have this particular status quo to play with…” story. This isn’t the X-Men (or even the Phoenix Five) dealing with stuff with the Avengers…this is them dealing with a classic X-Men villain with a new status quo, but under their own new status quo AS the Phoenix Five. So this isn’t a bad issue if you want to jump into a story during AvX without it having much tie to the crossover–just that the characters are presently in their Phoenix Five mode rather than standard. I still loathe (as always) the $3.99 price point, and the renumbering of this series…yet if it continues beyond Marvel Now, given my investment and the series’ “age” I may track down back issues or at least collected volumes, and possibly even continue beyond AvX. (8/10)

LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #5

2012 has really been the year that “sold” me on digital–for books as well as comics. I have no idea if LotDK is going to get print editions (the way the Batman Beyond, and Smallville Season 11 do). But I’m quite enjoying this weekly digital comic. The way the panels are all separated out for the “Guided View” in Comixology on my iPhone, I don’t even know the approximate pagecount I’m getting for my $.99…but the price is right, at $.99 I don’t mind buying the next chapter each week (for now). The first three “issues” were standalone stories, but this is part 2 of a 3-parter. I’m not sure if this is set in any particular continuity, but given recent hype over stuff with the Batman titles in the New 52, this seems closer to the “old” DCU or at least to be outside the New 52…which makes it that much more enjoyable for me. I’m not a huge fan of the art for this story, and would surely balk at it in a print edition. But given the nature of this series, I’m accepting it with this story and just enjoying a weekly Batman comic again. I keep forgetting to look for the new issue, but wind up thinking to over the weekend, which also adds to this series’ appeal: I’ve already bought my “regular” weekly comics and generally have already read those–so this is something new to get at the midpoint before the next Wednesday’s new releases. If not the 3-parter, I’d highly recommend checking out the first “issue” at least! (9/10)

Filed under: Avengers vs. X-Men, Avengers vs. X-Men (event), DC, DC Misc., G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero (IDW), IDW Publishing, Legends of the Dark Knight (2012), MARVEL, Marvel Universe, Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine and the X-Men, X-Men: Legacy | Tagged: avengers, Avengers vs. X-Men, Avx, Batman, DC, DC Comics, GI Joe: A Real American Hero, Legends of the Dark Knight, MARVEL, Marvel Comics, Uncanny X-Men 15, Wolverine, Wolverine and the X-Men 12, x-men, X-Men Legacy 269 | Leave a comment »