Full review posted to cxPulp.com.
Story: 4/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5
Filed under: cxPulp.com, MARVEL, Marvel Universe, Uncanny X-Force | Tagged: Age of Apocalypse, Andrew Currie, Angel, apocalypse, Archangel, Comic Reviews, Cory Petit, Dark Angel, Dark Angel Saga, Dark Beast, Deadpool, Dean White, Esad Ribic, Fantomex, Jared K. Fletcher, Jody Leheup, Mark Brooks, MARVEL, Marvel Comics, Nick Lowe, Psylocke, Rick Remender, Uncanny X-Force, Wolverine, x-force | Leave a comment »
Full review posted to cxPulp.com.
Story: 3.5/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 3.5/5
Filed under: cxPulp.com, Fear Itself, Fear Itself (event), MARVEL, Marvel Universe | Tagged: Captain America, Chris Eliopoulos, Comic Reviews, Fear Itself, Hammer That Fell on Yancy Street, Larry Molinar, Laura Martin, Lauren Sankovitch, MARVEL, Marvel Comics, Matt Fraction, Serpent, Sin, STeve McNIven, Stuart Immonen, The Worthy, thor, Tom Brevoort, Wade Von Grawbadger | Leave a comment »
Full review posted to cxPulp.com.
Story: 4/5
Art: 3.5/5
Overall: 4/5
Filed under: Age of X (event), cxPulp.com, MARVEL, Marvel Universe, X-Men: Legacy | Tagged: Aftermath, Age of X, Comic Reviews, Cory Petit, cxPulp, Daniel Ketchum, Frenzy, Gambit, Legacy, magneto, Marte Gracia, MARVEL, Marvel Comics, Matthew Wilson, Mico Suayan, Mike Carey, Nick Lowe, Rafa Sandoval, Rogue, Sebastian Girner, VC, x-men, X-Men: Legacy | Leave a comment »
I remember back in 1993 or so, a comic publisher (Defiant) teamed up with a trading card publisher and put out a set of trading cards. When assembled in 9-pocket pages, these cards became a quasi comic book, a zero issue.
Now, 18 years later, Marvel‘s hopping on-board with Upper Deck to do an Avengers: Kree-Skrull War “issue” that same way.
(see an official article at Marvel‘s site – Kree-Skrull War: Upper Deck-ades in the Making | Marvel.com.)
What I don’t get is if something like this will actually sell. Granted, I’m absolutely NOT the target audience…but it seems that straight up “trading cards” fell out of favor with the advent of Trading Card Games/Collectible Card Games. I know I myself haven’t had any interest at all in buying cards that can’t even potentially be part of a playable game.
Then I spotted this gem:
The comic-card hybrid revolution is further celebrated with additional insert cards, richly presenting the set’s magnificent “cover” art by Harvey Tolibao–in full color as well as black and white–and even variant cover art by Paul Renaud.
“Love” the buzzwords here. Even in CARDS, can’t escape the “variant” cover for Marvel’s comics (DC, Dynamite, IDW, etc are guilty of the variants craze, but they’re not partaking in this card thing).
So even assembling a full set of the “basic” cards, one still has to track down the “insert” (aka “chase”) cards to have a TRUE “full set” by way of a so-called “variant” cover/art.
The cards come 9 to a pack, and I’m going to guess the packs individually will cost at LEAST $2. But let’s be generous and pretend they’d be $.99 per pack of 9 cards. And let’s assume that — just for the STORY — you get a complete set in the smallest number of packs necessary to physically acquire that set. 
190 cards, 9 to a pack…that’s a minimum of 22 packs. For just the story itself–supposedly “over 40 pages”–let’s assume 40 even. The cards’ll be double-sided, so a pack of 9 would make 2 pages (1 page on the fronts, 1 on the backs?)…so you’d need 10 packs BARE MINIMUM to assemble the story. $9.90 if there’s no tax. But probably double that as the cards would almost have to be $2/pack. Add another few dollars to account for inserts and variants.
And already this becomes at best a double-length “comic” for a minimum of $20, and probably closer to $30 or $40 on the cheap side when you account for the random assortment causing you to wind up with lots of duplicates to assemble just one actual unique set.
And then what? Are they going to sell a special binder for the set? Charge for the uniqueness of the card binder, maybe extra for special cover art?
And will card COLLECTORS really want to do all that JUST for “a comic?” Will “comic fans/comic collectors” really want to go to such trouble “just” for a complete set of cards to “read” the “issue”?
Me? I’d much rather take and spend that sort of money–if I had it–on a quality oversized hardcover or small omnibus, with 18-30+ ISSUES’ content or a couple/several TPBs or such.
Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: avengers, Avengers: Kree-Skrull War, Defiant, Kree, Kree-Skrull War, MARVEL, Marvel Comics, Plasm, Skrulls, trading cards, UDE, Upper Deck, Upper Deck Entertainment, Warriors of Plasm | Leave a comment »
1. Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born
2. Dark Tower: Long Road Home
3. Dark Tower: Treachery
4. Dark Tower: Fall of Gilead
5. Dark Tower: The Battle of Jericho Hill
6. Dark Tower: The Gunslinger – The Journey Begins
Filed under: Checklists, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: checklist, Dark Tower, Dark Tower checklist, Gunslinger, MARVEL, Marvel Comics, Stephen King, The Dark Tower, The Gunslinger | Leave a comment »
Full review posted to cxPulp.com.
Story: 4/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5
Filed under: Crossgen, cxPulp.com, MARVEL, Ruse | Tagged: Butch Guice, Crossgen, Crossgen Comics, Ellie Pyle, Laura Martin, Mark Waid, MARVEL, Marvel Comics, Mike Perkins, Mirco Pierfederici, Ruse, Stephen Wacker | Leave a comment »
Writer: Mike Carey
Pencils: Leonard Kirk
Inks: Ed Tadeo
Colors: Guru eFX
Letters: Rob Steen
Cover: Jelena Djurdjevic
Production: Irene Y. Lee
Asst. Editor: Sebastian Girner
Senior Editor: Nick Lowe
Published by: Crossgen/Marvel Comics
I’ve missed Crossgen. However, until this issue, I don’t recall ever reading an issue of Sigil. So, with this being a new take on things and not a continuation of the old…I come to it fresh. And perhaps for that, I greatly enjoyed this issue.
The issue opens with some disembodied voices talking about some past events, and we gradually move to seeing someone who turns toward the camera with surprise, and cut to a high schooler–Samantha Rey–waking suddenly from the dream, to an impatient father trying to get her up for school. She has an important history exam that day, and we learn she’s having trouble with school since losing her mother. Further exposition follows as daughter/father talk, and then as Sam stops by the cemetery on her way to school. Once at school, we see some of what Sam’s high school life is like, as an encounter with a bully forces her to race to class, where her teacher is not happy at her tardiness. Beginning her history exam, she blacks out to a vision, and finds an hour passed, leaving her in hot water with the teacher. We’re introduced to other students, and then Sam’s bully instigates a situation that causes Sam’s birthmark to flare up, and she finds herself facing the realization that her birthmark is something far more.
The art–perhaps simply for Sam having red hair–reminds me a bit of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, and the high school setting certainly contributed to that as well. The art seems fairly simple…smooth, and the coloring somehow lighter or “brighter” than I think I’m used to. Overall, nothing struck me in a negative light, and I had zero issue with the art. The entire art team provides a great piece of work that clearly conveys everything going on, and I really liked the art overall.
The story is quite solid. It’s got a lot of exposition to bring us up to speed on the main character in particular, to work us into her world, and while it’s rather noticeable as exposition…it still works for me. It seems the most important, core elements are presented in this issue as we should get from any first issue. The story provides a nice hook at the beginning, introduces us to the main character, to her family, to her school life, and then takes that extra little leap into what makes this story more than just some slice-of-life about some random high school girl. The cliffhanger leaves me eager for more, and yet I don’t feel shortchanged by what story was provided in this issue by itself.
Overall…this is a fantastic start to the series. For some reason, I have it in my head that this is just a mini-series…but I for one would absolutely love to see this as an ongoing, if every issue was up to the quality of this one.
As said above…I come to Sigil fresh. I recognize the name of the ship Sam sees–and caught myself grinning when I recognized it. Major plot point or simple nod to the past, its presence is a welcome inclusion. The use of the sigil itself reminds me of early issues of the original Crossgen stuff without feeling out of place…perhaps for its stylized modification from the original.
I also come to this just totally thrilled that it carries a $2.99 price.
I don’t often talk about a comic’s cover…but I really like the layout of this, what I believe is the “trade dress” for the new Marvel Crossgen stuff. Having Marvel‘s logo at the very bottom puts it virtually out of site, allowing the Crossgen sigil to stand as its own thing at the top, allowing the “branding” to stand on its own. The logo seems familiar, though I can’t presently recall the original to know how it compares to that. The main image draws the eye to the sigil, as a whole emphasizing that. There’s something to be said about such a close-up on the character, but the image doesn’t truly stray into particularly questionable territory.
This is a complete, totally fresh start…there is zero need to have ever read anything else before this. The art is easy on the eyes, and the story draws one in. While fans of the original Crossgen work may be disappointed at this not being a return to the original series…I think it likely that those fans will be able to appreciate this new start. And for anyone considering this…I highly recommend it! As a whole, I consider this a fantastic first issue that is more than the sum of individual story/art ratings…as seen below.
Story: 8/10
Art: 9/10
Whole: 9.5/10
Filed under: Crossgen, MARVEL, Sigil | Tagged: Comic Reviews, Crossgen, Ed Tadeo, El Cazador, Guru eFX, Irene Y. Lee, Jelena Djurdjevic, Leonard Kirk, MARVEL, Marvel Comics, Mike Carey, Nick Lowe, Rob Steen, Sam Rey, Samantha Rey, Sebastian Girner, Sigil | Leave a comment »
Quick Rating: Good
Story Title: Dead Days
The Marvel heroes assemble to take down a threat to the entire universe…aw, who’s kidding who? Marvel Heroes become Marvel Zombies, and there’s lots o’ good eatin’ going on!
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Sean Phillips
Colors: June Chung
Letters: VC’s Rus Wooton
Production: Marvel Bullpen
Zombie Food: John Barber
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
Cover: Arthur Suydam (after Jim Lee)
Publisher: Marvel
I assume that if you haven’t heard of ’em, you’ve been hiding for the last couple years, or just ignoring everything Marvel. Otherwise, who hasn’t heard of the Marvel zombies? (No, not the readers…the zombified Marvel heroes!) When I first heard of the concept, back when the 2006 mini-series was announced, I thought the idea sucked.
I couldn’t see how there’d be any point, or any fun, to the concept. Fifteen some months later, that mini is on an extremely short list of series that I’ve read one issue, and could not stop myself from reading every other issue that I had in my possession.
What’s that got to do with THIS issue, you ask? This is a prequel to that series, that shows us pre-zombified versions of the characters…how certain ones came to be bitten, and even some gruesome scenes of them eating loved ones or trusted butlers and all that…stuff mentioned or alluded to in last year’s mini.
Does it live up to the hype, and the quality, of that series? I’m not sure it does. While good…for me, this was just lacking something; though I can’t quite put my finger on it.
The story itself is really straight-forward as stated above. It cuts from one scene to another, as we see the rapid progression of the super-powered zombie plague. The scenes jump around a bit, with little time spent in any one space, though certain characters receive much more time than others in the spotlight. Even though this is a larger-sized issue, it’s still just a single issue, and it packs in what could fairly easily drawn out into a 6-12 issue series, if not more. Dense content means lack of deep characterization. But in the end, when you get right down to it, it seems that the point of this issue is the "fun" and the random gore and gruesome zombified heroes depicted on the page…if you want deep characterization, there’re six volumes of the writer’s other zombie series available, and loads of other superhero books with more room for characterization.
On the art-end, we’ve got some good quality stuff from Phillips…in and of itself, I really have no complaints visually. Where there might be some complaint would be the amount of visible gore and all that…this is not a comic to hand to the target audience of a Marvel Adventures book, and well deserves its "parental advisory" note on the UPC box.
The cover is an homage to 1991’s X-Men #1-E…the version with the double-gatefold/4-panel cover. While yet another cool zombified piece, it’s not my favorite.
I’m not sure exactly where in the Marvel Zombies timeline this fits, with the still-running Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness, so perhaps more will be made clear with that in the grander tapestry. Taken alone, this issue offers key scenes that impact Crossover and the original Marvel Zombies mini, and provides an extra-sized issue’s worth of violence, gore, and hero-eating-hero action. If that’s not your thing, don’t bother with this. If you do enjoy the concept (or enjoyed prior exposure,) this issue’s well worth getting.
Besides…there’s far worse (and less ‘fun’) out there you could give up your money for.
Ratings:
Story: 3.5/5
Art: 3.5/5
Overall: 4/5
Filed under: Classic Reviews, MARVEL, Marvel Universe, Marvel Zombies | Tagged: Arthur Suydam, Dead Days, Joe Quesada, John Barber, June Chung, MARVEL, Marvel Bullpen, Marvel Comics, Marvel Zombies, Marvel Zombies Dead Days, ralph macchio, Robert Kirkman, Rus Wooton, Sean Phillips, VC, zombies | Leave a comment »
Quick Rating: Good
Title: Last Planet Standing (1 of 5)
Reed Richards makes a disturbing discovery, the Avengers mobilize, and the Shi’ar face Galactus…
Script, Plot & Pencils: Tom DeFalco & Pat Olliffe
Finished Art: Scott Koblish
Colors: Avalon’s Rob Ro
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Molly Lazer
Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada
Cover Art: Patrick Olliffe
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reed Richards off in space investigating some ‘cosmic’ situation? Check. Trouble for Richards and Sue leads to Torch and Thing mounting a rescue mission? Yup. Seeing Avengers in action against a team of villains? Yeah, that’s familiar, too. The Shi’ar face some cosmic threat? More familiarity. Spider-[girl] annoying thugs in an alley while [she] beats ’em up? Hmm…some of the characters look different, and a bunch of them ARE different…but the feel is familiar.
It’s been quite a number of years since I’ve read an ‘MC-2’ comic, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect coming in to this issue. What I’ve found is a relatively accessible debut issue of a mini-series that feels like a crossover’s ‘core mini’ and yet…isn’t.
The story here works quite well, and is pretty accessible. If one is familiar with the ‘normal’ Marvel Universe these characters are easy to "get." The premise–a renewed threat involving Galactus–doesn’t seem all that original. And the familiarity may reek of retread in itself. But this issue is a refreshing change from the "usual" of the last couple years.
The art fits the story very well, with the characters all maintaining their distinct appearances, and it’s clear what’s going on panel-to-panel. Nothing seems over-crowded, and the overall tone is bright and open.
While the story is likely to take a much more serious turn later in this mini, right now it reads like a story reminiscent of what one might’ve found in the late 80s or early 90s when I first got into comics–before the big speculator boom and bust. The visuals somehow are also reminiscent of this, and results in a nice, clean, ‘fun’ issue that promises a big story involving a lot of characters, affects a comics universe, but there are only five issues total to the story, as opposed to a huge crossover involving multiple titles and mini-series.
I’m not sure if this issue follows up on last year’s Last Hero Standing in anything other than title, but I did not feel lost reading this issue. There’s no "Previously: in the MC-2 universe…" page, but there is a full page of character head-shots with names and abilities that serves to introduce readers to the main players of the issue…and I suspect that even if one has never before read any of the MC-2 titles, this is a decent point to jump on, especially if you just want one, single story.
In an age of waiting for the collected volumes, this series looks to be one that’ll be fun to follow incrementally, and is worth getting as singles. Regardless of format, this is definitely one to check out.
Ratings:
Story: 3.5/5
Art: 3.5/5
Overall: 4/5
Filed under: Classic Reviews, Last Planet Standing, MARVEL, Marvel Universe | Tagged: Avalon, avengers, Comic Reviews, Dave Sharpe, Fantastic Five, Galactus, Joe Quesada, Last Planet Standing, MARVEL, Marvel Comics, Marvel MC-2, Marvel MC2, MC-2, MC2, Molly Lazer, Pat Olliffe, Rob Ro, Scott Koblish, Shi'ar, Spider-Girl, Tom DeFalco | Leave a comment »
Full review posted to cxPulp.com.
Rating: 3.5/5
Filed under: cxPulp.com, MARVEL, Marvel Universe, Uncanny X-Force | Tagged: Archangel, Deadpool, Deathlok Nation, Esad Ribic, Fantomex, Jared K. Fletcher, Jody Leheup, John Lucas, MARVEL, Marvel Comics, matt wilson, Nick Lowe, Psylocke, Rick Remender, Uncanny X-Force, VC's Cory Petit, Wolverine, x-force | Leave a comment »
Comic Reviews by Walt 