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52 Week #20 [Review]

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Walt

Quick Rating: Good
Story Title: Week #20: God is Fragged

Supernova in the Batcave, Steel grows into his new powers, and the heroes in space come under attack…

52week20Writer: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid
Art Breakdowns: Keith Giffen
Pencils: Chris Batista
Inks: Ruy Jose
Colors: Alex Sinclair
Lettering: Travis Lanham
Assistant Editors: Harvey Richards & Jeanine Schaefer
Edited by: Stephen Wacker
Cover Art: J.G. Jones & Alex Sinclair
Publisher: DC Comics

This issue gives us some fairly continuous action, opened with a moment of quiet as Supernova infiltrates the Batcave. Steel begins to grow into his new powers/strength, saving a number of lives from a burning building. The rest of the issue pretty much focuses on the hereos-in-space: Starfire, Adam Strange, and Animal Man…and of course, their new best buddy, Lobo. These folks come under attack by a bunch of (other) aliens, and wind up bringing more trouble down on their own heads due to the means by which they end the battle.

All in all, not a bad issue at all. I found it to be a good read–though I feel like we’ve not gotten to see nearly enough of the "new" Steel, so it almost feels like he was just tossed in to remind us he exists (though more likely, he’s there for us to see that he’s growing into his new powers, and learning to make use of ’em and in general, keep on truckin’ as a hero).

The battle in space works–I’m not totally into it, but hey, action-in-space and all that. Seeing what happened to Lobo was rather gruesome, though actually made sense, having read his origin a few issues ago–I wasn’t lost or dumbfounded at his state after the battle.
The art continues to work well, serving the story quite well. I really don’t have any complaints with this.

On the whole–this issue and the series in general–I continue to be satisfied with the product as a whole. It’s one of the better ‘values’ in comics these days, per individual issue, and just has a grand FEEL as a true serial (as opposed to other books that don’t often make the every-30ish-days frequency). I think this series challenges my recent expectations of comics–even with certain stories meandering in and out, I feel that I "get" more out of it than the same number of issues of most anything else.

All that said–chances are, if you’re not on-board yet, you probably aren’t gonna change your mind based on a few remarks from me. And if you’re STILL on-board…you’re probably similarly-minded on the series.

I’m enjoying it–it’s worthwhile and keeps me going to the comic shops each week. Nothing blows me away, but this is simply a solid, reliable series that builds on itself week after week.

Ratings:

Story: 3/5
Art: 3/5
Overall: 3.5/5

Filed under: 52, Classic Reviews, DC, DC Universe | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Wolverine and Jubilee #1 [Review]

Posted on January 22, 2011 by Walt


Full review posted to cxPulp.com.

 

Story: 2/5
Art: 3/5
Overall: 2.5/5

Filed under: cxPulp.com, MARVEL, Marvel Universe, Wolverine and Jubilee | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

X-Men: Second Coming #2 [Review]

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Walt

Full review posted to cxPulp.com.

Story: 4/5
Art: 3.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5

Filed under: cxPulp.com, MARVEL, Marvel Universe, X-Men: Second Coming (Event) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Captain America: Reborn #4 [Review]

Posted on November 7, 2009 by Walt

By: Ed Brubaker, Bryan Hitch and Butch Guice
Colors: Paul Mounts
Letters: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Covers: Hitch, Guice and Mounts; John Cassaday and Laura Martin, Joe Kubert and Laura Martin
Assoc. Editor: Jeanine Schaefer and Sankovitch
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Publisher: Marvel Comics

I’m not 100% certain I bought/read issue 3 of this, offhand. Even if I not only read issue 3 but also reviewed it, I don’t at present recall issue 3. Despite that, it’s almost an irrelevant point as this issue finds Cap still bouncing through time, the Skull and crew still getting things assembled, and Cap’s allies still playing catch-up.

Skull and crew arrive in Latveria at invitation of Doctor Doom. Doom fixes their time device, while Cap’s allies are finding out what happened with Sharon and how she–and her blod–hold the key to what’s going on with Cap.

As Doom’s device is activated, things come to a bit of a head as a body is present, though all may not be quite as promising as it appears.

The art’s easily the best part of this story. Hitch draws a great Doctor Doom, and I found myself enjoying the visuals even as the story sped through its own pages. Brubaker’s done a great job overall with the Captain America saga. This series seems just a bit much, though, and something feels a bit “off” from what I enjoyed in reading the first omnibus and the 1.5-year saga following up on Steve’s death and Bucky’s installation as the new Cap.

If you’re specifically a fan of Brubaker’s work you’ll probably enjoy this; ditto if you’re a fan of Hitch’s art. If you’ve been following this mini thus far, probably worth finishing out the story. Otherwise, you’re probably just as well holding off for a collected volume.

Plus, with a collected volume…you won’t have two different titles for the same story (three, if we count the fact that this essentially IS the Captain America title right now, outright replacing the main title for its duration).

Story: 5.5
Art: 9
Overall: 7

Filed under: Captain America: Reborn, Comic Reviews 2009, MARVEL, Marvel Universe | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Captain America: Reborn #2 [Review]

Posted on August 5, 2009 by Walt

By: Ed Brubaker, Bryan Hitch and Butch Guice
Colors: Paul Mounts
Letters: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Covers: Hitch, Guice and Mounts; John Cassaday and Laura Martin, Tim Sale and Dave Stewart
Assoc. Editor: Jeanine Schaefer and Sankovitch
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Well, I’m glad I picked the cover I did for the first issue…it seems that that was indeed the “standard” cover, meaning if I follow through with this entire series, I won’t be left feeling like one of my covers is out-of-place with the others.

I continue to be baffled as to why this couldn’t just be issue #602 of Captain America (or better yet, #53 or whatever without the renumbering). After all, while we have a different artist in Hitch on the visuals, the story is still Brubaker’s, and honestly looks and feels like any other issue of Captain America. If it’s about the chance at a #1 in the face of combining all previous runs to make the fat ol’ #600…then surely part of the trade dress for this story could have displayed a “part #1” or “part #2” while having the actual issue number in small print.

As said…this story is very much a Brubaker issue of Captain America. Amidst some Lost-styled time-hop scenes of Stever Rogers reliving scenes of his earliest days as Captain America (and his transformation from scrawny kid TO Captain America) we learn a little bit about the time-flashing that likely foreshadows something significant for later in the story. We also see the present as the current Captain America–formerly Bucky–and the Black Widow face Norman Osborne’s “evil” (or is that “dark?”) Avengers and see that Norman’s now got a stake in things as he issues an ultimatum to act as the issue’s cliffhanger.

It seems almost a given to me that Brubaker’s writing is high quality and in top form here–whatever “event” this is billed as, and whatever elements may or may not have been “forced,” he makes the story work in and of itself in its own sandbox that we’ve seen since his run started…while incorporating obvious and relevant elements from the larger Marvel Universe as a whole.

Hitch and Guice provide excellent visuals that capture the tone of the story very well. Though the art may not match up 100% with what the bulk of the Cap series has had, it certainly fits very well with it…having its own style without being a departure from what longer-time readers are likely familiar with. In itself, no complaints from me on the art.

Taken as a whole, this issue was pretty good. I was actually intending NOT to buy this issue due to the price tag and figuring on waiting for the collected edition if anything–but with Marvel’s pricing of late, it’s probably cheaper this way, and I have the feeling this pulled-out-into-itself mini-series will greatly inform whether or not I return to the monthly Cap book this fall.

If Cap’s your thing, this is well recommended. Otherwise…you would probably be more satisfied waiting for a complete arc to read.

Story: 7/10
Art: 8/10
Whole: 7/10

Filed under: Captain America: Reborn, Comic Reviews 2009, MARVEL, Marvel Universe | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Captain America: Reborn #1 [Review]

Posted on August 2, 2009 by Walt

By: Ed Brubaker, Bryan Hitch and Butch Guice
Colors: Paul Mounts
Letters: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Covers: Hitch, Guice and Mounts; John Cassaday and Laura Martin, Alex Ross, Joe Quesada, Danny Miki and Richard Isanove
Assoc. Editor: Jeanine Schaefer
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Publisher: Marvel Comics

After the reveal in Cap #600 that the gun we thought had killed Steve was something other than a simple gun, this issue picks the story up and moves forward. We see what appears to be a flashback to Steve’s time in World War II, though we quickly discover there’s a bit more to the scenes than just flashbacks. In the present, we see the other players of the story gather, and discover the nature of Steve’s flashbacks–which also seems to set up what is to come later in the story. We also discover through terminology and visuals that it would be really quite simple to set “Lost” square into the Marvel Universe.

As returns go, the story seems to be plausible enough in terms of comic book returns. I’ve enjoyed just about everything I’ve read from Brubaker the last couple years, be it Captain America, Criminal, Incognito, and what-have-you. I recently read through the Captain America by Ed Brubaker Omnibus, which gave me a great appreciation for the story he’s told the last few years in the main Cap book (it’s that reading that also convinced me that I think it far, far too soon be seeing Steve brought back). However, as stories go, this seems upper-middle-of-the-road to me, mainly because my first thought at a couple of scenes was of Lost (and reinforced when I saw comments pop up on Twitter on that subject).

The art is good stuff, and seems to fit the tone established across Brubaker’s tenure on the main Cap book–high quality, and nothing jarring me out of the story for any particular visual issue. It’s not spectacular, but it is good–and I really have zero complaint on the art…at least on the interior. I do have a bit of an issue with the variants, but that’s a usual complaint from me–I don’t like ’em.

On the whole, this is not a bad start to this mini–but the cover price combined with its place (presumably) within the ongoing Captain America story…I don’t plan to pick up later issues, and will await the collected volume(s). If out-of-title event minis–or Brubaker–or just Cap–are your thing, you’ll probably enjoy this. I do expect this is going to read a LOT better as a collected single story, though.

Story: 7/10
Art: 8/10
Whole: 7/10

Filed under: Captain America: Reborn, Comic Reviews 2009, MARVEL, Marvel Universe | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Captain America #600 [Review]

Posted on June 28, 2009 by Walt

One Year After

Writer: Ed Brubaker
Art: Butch Guice, Howard Chaykin, Rafael Albuquerque, David Aja, Mitch Breitweiser
Colors: Frank D’Armata, Edgar Delgado, Matt Hollingsworth, Mitch Breitweiser
Letters: VC’s Joe Caramagna, Chris Eliopoulos
Assoc. Editor: Jeanine Schaefer
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Cover: Steve Epting (variant by Alex Ross)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Other features and bonus materials: Credits below review

The best thing I can say about this issue, and the “core” story is that in terms of the continuity itself, it’s pretty good. Brubaker and the artists deliver a story that fits well within the ongoing narrative…however, any “surprise” or “wonder” to where things were going were totally blasted away by Marvel’s hype-machine…a hype-machine that suggested this would be the best thing since sliced bread (or Captain America #25, anyway).

Guess what?

It’s not THAT good. It fails to live up to the hype.

The story centers on the one-year in-story anniversary of Steve Rogers’ death. The various characters–particularly Bucky as the new Captain America, Sharon Carter, Falcon, and the rest of the (whatever adjective) Avengers as they recognize the date and deal with it in their own way. Sharon makes a startling discovery that seems to be the key to what will come in the Reborn mini.

WHile there are numerous extras in the art credits for this story, the art still came across quite well, and the changes in art did not seem all that glaring to me–if anything, they managed to fit the story itself for the most part. The writing continues to be the strong stuff one expects from Brubaker, and delivers in that way.

However, it seems that one must now follow the story from this issue into a 5-issue mini-series to get “the whole story,” to say nothing of 1. this title apparently will be on hiatus for the duration of the mini and 2. this is the second big-number “anniversary issue” in the last several months–with all the #1s and a couple #50s and whatnot in the last decade or so…the point kinda loses its impact.

The bonus materials were decent, but not wonderful. I enjoyed the Origin segment for the art styling and its brief overview of Steve Rogers’ origin. The In Memoriam segment was also pretty good, giving a look at characters from Cap’s past that haven’t really had a huge place in the present stories. I vaguely recall at least one of the characters from the last Cap series I’d followed (the one that ran from 1998 or so until 2001/early 2002). The other segments were decent but nothing spectacular or memorable. I did not read the reprint part–something about it just wouldn’t draw me in, and I couldn’t bring myself to force a reading of it. However, it looks to be an early Cap vs. Red Skull story, presumably to add some context to the characters’ history given the Skull’s prominence in this series/saga.

All in all, the issue is (barely) worth its cover price…it took long enough to read to at least “justify” the $2 higher price over a standard issue. It did not measure up to the hype, though…and unless you’ve been following Brubaker’s saga for awhile, I wouldn’t really recommend this issue. I assume you’ll have all you need to “get” the story if you simply know that Steve Rogers died, and then pick up with whatever the story is in Captain America Reborn.

(Core) Story: 7/10
Art (core story): 8/10
Whole (including issue’s extras): 5.5/10

Origin
By: Alex Ross, Paul Dini, Todd Klein (first published in Captain America: Red, White and Blue; September 2002)

In Memorium
Script: Roger Stern
Art: Kalman Andrasofszky
Color Art: Marte Gracia
Letters: VC’s Joe Caramagna, Chris Eliopoulos

The Persistence of Memoriabilia
Script: Mark Waid
Art: Dale Eaglesham
Color Art: Paul Mounts
Letters: VC’s Joe Caramagna, Chris Eliopoulos

My Bulletin Board
By: Joe Simon

Red Skull’s Deadly Revenge
By: Stan Lee and Al Avison (first published in Captain America Comics #16; July 1942)

Cover Gallery
Special Thanks To: Philipp Lenssen (coverbrowser.com, comics.org)

Misc. Credits
Designer, Bonus Material: Spring Hoteling
Production, Bonus Material: Jerry Kalinowski
Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Executive Producer: Alan Fine

Filed under: Captain America, Comic Reviews 2009, MARVEL, Marvel Universe | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Captain America #45 [Review]

Posted on January 4, 2009 by Walt

Time’s Arrow – Part 3 of 3

Writer: Ed Brubaker
Pencilers: Luke Ross with Butch Guice
Inkers: Rick Magyar, Mark Pennington and Butch Guice
Colors: Frank D’Armata
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Production Irene Lee
Assoc. Editor: Jeanine Schaefer
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Cover: Steve Epting
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Bucky (well, Captain America) continues his battle with Batroc and a mysterious assailant with ties to the past. By the time all’s said ‘n done, Cap finds himself facing an even bigger threat than he’d initially thought.

No real complaint on the art here for me. Art duties are shared a fair bit according to the credits, but nothing on-page took me out of the story or got me to pause and think about having seen different art–which is credit to the team for keeping a consistent enough style to not jar me outta the experience. (Which is not to say one can’t find the differences).

The story’s solid as usual for the title, and we’re really seeing all the more a tonal shift from the “super-hero” stuff to the spy/espionage stuff. The costume, shield, and title of the series are Captain America…but with a diferent man under the mask and different relationships with supporting cast, this is beginning to feel like a much different character and title.

There’s a fairly decent ending to this issue, closing out this 3-parter; but we’re still left with a to-be-continued note, as this story “cliffhangers” into the next.

As 3-parters go, this is not a bad initial post-Steve, Bucky-actually-IS-Cap-now story. However, having been brought on-board with the Death of Cap back in #25 and following that and checking this out, I get the feeling that this is going to read much better in collected format, and so plan to discontinue purchasing the monthly issues and wait for the collected volumes to follow this. Brubaker’s story is fairly deep, layered, and well-done…but I’m ready to break from his single issues and wait for full stories.

Story: 7/10
Art: 8/10
Whole: 7.5/10

Filed under: Captain America, Comic Reviews 2009, MARVEL, Marvel Universe | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Secret Invasion: Dark Reign #1 [Review]

Posted on December 21, 2008 by Walt

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist and Cover: Alex Maleev
Color Artist: Dean White
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Production: Joe Sabino
Assoc. Editor: Jeanine Schaefer
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Publisher: Marvel Comics

A week late and a dollar short…that about describes this.

Picking up where Secret Invasion #8 left off, this issue follows the “dark Illuminati”–a group of fairly villanous Marvel characters that serves here as a counterpart to the Illuminati group revealed in the “Road to Civil War” era. We see what Norman is willing to offer these individuals, and for what price, as well as some of their initial reactions to the offer and what they could do with it.

The story isn’t too bad–for what it is. What it is isn’t all that much–basicaly just a wordier description with pictures of the “premise” behind this whole “Dark Reign” thing kicking off (a sentence about what brings each character to the table would suffice).

The art is fairly stylistic–not something I’d consider terribly realistic, though it is by no means bad. It’s got a gritty feel to it that seems out of place for characters I’d consider to not be part of a “gritty” story. On the whole, though, you could get a lot worse. The main weakness is that Namor doesn’t look like Namor–he looks to me like some drunken, unshaven guy off the street put in Namor’s clothes.

As a whole, this issue is almost entirely uninteresting. I was only slightly curious as to what details might be provided heading into Marvel’s Dark Reign event, and enjoyed Bendis when I read Ultimate Spider-Man, so was thinking a “talking heads issue” given the context would actually hold me interest and feel like a good story. This felt quite short…only 26 pages of story, plus NINE pages of “previews” for three other titles.

This was NOT worth its cover price to me–better to have paid $2.99 for the main story and have NO previews. Hardcore Marvel fans and those actually enjoying the overall direction the Marvel Universe has been taking will probably enjoy this, especially if picking up a bunch of titles from across the Avengers/X-Men families of books. If you’re a casual fan or not chomping at the bit for stuff following that last page of Secret Invasion, don’t bother with this issue. The previews and price actually detract from the overall experience of the issue for me, hence the final rating falling below the story/art ratings.

Story: 6/10
Art: 6/10
Whole: 5.5/10

Filed under: Comic Reviews 2008, MARVEL, Marvel Universe, Secret Invasion, Secret Invasion (Event), Secret Invasion: Dark Reign | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Marvels: Eye of the Camera #1 [Review]

Posted on December 7, 2008 by Walt

Just One Little Thing

Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Jay Anacleto
Colors: Brian Haberlin
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Associate Editor: Jeanine Schaefer
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Cover: Jay Anacleto
Publisher: Marvel Comics

I’ve been looking forward to this series for years. I mean, we’re talking at least a decade. It’s been rumoured for many years, with apparently a couple of false-starts, and now after all this time, this series is here. Now what?

From the cover we immediately see this is different from the original. Different artist, different look…separate entity. No real attempt is made to have the cover evoke the feel of the original series–the “cover dress” with the black border/negative space over a full single image might have worked very well here, with the subtitle Eye of the Camera along the bottom.

The first page is an introduction by the main character, Phil Sheldon; and the issue’s creator credits somehow make me think of some “event” ticket, indicating who is involved for the night and all that. Not bad–I don’t think I’ve seen/held a ticket like that…well, ever–so it helps to indicate this story is not set during my lifetime.

The story follows Sheldon in the opening of the 1960s as he begins to realize that some of his “marvels” may be monsters, unlike the heroes during the war. He also considers that as a family man, perhaps he needs to lay down the freelance photography in pursuit of a steady/full job so that he knows he’s got provision for his family and isn’t still playing at his youth. Through this, we also see the arrival of the Fantastic Four on the scene and the “man on the street” reaction to the super-team’s unveiling.

The art is a very clear departure from that of painter Alex Ross from the original series. I’m not familiar with this artist at all offhand–ntohing comes to mind and I have nothing prior to compare the work to. In and of itself–and I’m sure credit must be given to the colorist in tandem here–has a look that while apparently not painted, has just the right feel to suggest painted, and very nicely captures the look of the characters I recall from the original. By itself, I’d deem this very good art; I honestly think the only thing that may keep it from that is the unfortunate fact that as a sequel, this has got to be compared to the original…and as such, the comparison to Ross must come up.

That said, I found this to be an excellent issue. It seems to be “sequel” in that it is a follow-up; though time-wise, it seems to be coming between the pages of the original story. As the first of six issues, I have no idea how the other issues will play out in that regard–are these meant to be taken as “between issues” stories from the original, between pages, or just another story from the same period, much as one could tell two independent stories that both follow the same life, the difference simply being the events chosen to focus on and unpack in each story.

Without Ross, I can think of no artist who would have done better than Mr. Anacleto; and I trust Busiek–who wrote the original series–with whatever he’s choosing to do here.

A very worthwhile issue…though with about a decade and a half of having the original story available in full under a single cover, I can’t help but wonder if this sequel will read better in the same way–as a whole, rather than split into six segments across half a year.

If the rest of the issues hold up to this one, this could be one of those rare sequels that at least matches its original.

Story: 8/10
Art: 9/10
Whole: 8.5/10

Filed under: Comic Reviews 2008, MARVEL | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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