ComicCritic87's Weekly Comic Reviews

ComicCritic87's Weekly Comic Reviews

Week 2 into April, many more Image comics invade my readings. Check them out.

Review Opinion
By StuckInPanels - Apr 12, 2012 01:04 PM EST
Filed Under: Comics

ComicCritic87 Weekly Comic Reviews

Month- April
Week #2- 4/11/12

Hey there friends. This is quite a staggering week for me. Work took over my comic day so I got them later than usual; I just now finished reading them all. It’s quite a sum this week. I got a lot to cover so let’s get things started. Also a special new quick review segment called: COMIC CATCH UP


Comics this Week

Dark Horse Comics: Conan the Barbarian #3
DC Comics: Demon Knights #8
IDW Comics: None
Image Comics: Americas got Powers #1, Danger Club #1, and Saga #2
Marvel Comics: Journey into Mystery #636, Mighty Thor #12.1, Scarlet Spider #4, and Secret Service #1

MUST READS

America’s got Powers #1: Written by Jonathan Ross/Artwork by Bryan Hitch
Story: A reality show centering on power infused super teens.
Review: A really well done concept that takes a standard plot and turns it on its head
Writing: Ross is a great writer; he gives the reality hosts great personalities. 90
Artwork: Hitch is just pure amazing with artwork; he has great designs with the various characters. 90
Pros: Solid story well thought out premise, Hitch’s artwork
Cons: no development time between the beginnings of the event to where they are
Grade: 90

Conan the Barbarian #3: Written by Brian Wood/Artwork by Becky Cloonan
Story: Conan becomes the lord and make of the pirate queen
Review: Solid first arc, a well done swords and sandal style story.
Writing: Wood does a good job with narrating the character’s life. 89
Artwork: Cloonan’s artwork is slightly cartoonish yet it fits well with the team’s interpretation. 85
Pro: Solid writing, artwork, and story
Cons: little to no action.
Grade: 87

Demon Knights #8: Written by Paul Cornell/Artwork by Bernard Chang
Story: Madame Xanadu tells the tale of her and Jason meeting and how Etrigan is involved.
Review: A very well done issue, the tale is interesting and has a fantastic reveal at the end
Writing: Cornell gives the characters greater depth and expands Xanadu as a cunning character. 91
Artwork: The guest artist does a fair job with the character designs. 89
Pro: Twist ending, Xanadu’s past explored
Con: little real action, mostly filler
Grade: 90

Saga #2: Written by Brian K. Vaughn/Artwork by Fiona Staples
Story: The new parents are being hunted by a deadly spider like assassin.
Review: This series is just too awesome to be contained. High creative and imaginative
Writing: Vaughn is in high gear, his writing is top notch and pitch perfect. 100
Artwork: Fiona’s artwork and character designs are really great and truly unique. 100
Pros: The characters, the setting, the story, the imagination of the team
Cons: Nothing wrong with this
Grade: 100

READABLE

Danger Club #1: Written by Landry Q. Walker/Artwork by Eric Jones
Story: Kid Sidekicks are left behind on Earth while the Superheroes disappear from Earth.
Review: Well thought out story that once again redefines a standard plot.
Writing: Walker does a good job defining each character’s personality. 75
Artwork: Jones artwork is unique, similar to 90s Image art style but better. 70
Pro: Dark take on a standard plot, characters are well done, uber violent
Con: Heavily inspired by Kick-ass but with actual powered beings, Apollo
Grade: 72.5

Journey into Mystery #636: Written by Kieron Gillen/Artwork by Richard Elson
Story: The lords of fear enter an eternal struggle for power over fear.
Review: Not bad but slightly boring of an ending
Writing: Gillen is a top notch writer but he seems less committed with Loki. 75
Artwork: Elson does a good job creating different style fear lords. 70
Pros: Arc ends
Con: Slow paced, Helstrom seems bored in it
Grade: 72.5

Mighty Thor #12.1: Written by Matt Fraction/Artwork by Barry Kitson
Story: Thor’s friends tell of different tales of Thor.
Review: Its passable bur Point one issues are hit and miss
Writing: Fraction does a good job with the characters, keeping their personalities fun. 70
Artwork: The different stories are all nicely done by Kitson. 65
Pros: none
Con: point one issue is pure filler, adds nothing and leaves nothing.
Grade: 67.5

Scarlet Spider #4: Written by Chris Yost/Artwork by Ryan Stegman
Story: Kaine fights off 4 assassin guild members and makes an unlikely alliance.
Review: A fun issue with great mixture of action and character development
Writing: Yost makes Kaine a true reluctant hero. 85
Artwork: Stegman continues to be an impressive artist with the character. 75
Pros: backstory developed for non-fans, action heavy, and dark ending
Cons: Mexican girl with mystery power
Grade: 80

Secret Service #1: Written by Mark Millar/Artwork by Dave Gibbons
Story: A British punks life is about to change for the better (?)
Review: A bit slow but an engaging story. A true Mark Millar story, heavy with Pop Culture references.
Writing: its Mark Millar, you love him or hate him. 85
Artwork: Dave Gibbons artwork is still top notch long after Watchmen. 90
Pros: Funny moment with Mark Hamill
Cons: Doesn’t provide enough backstory
Grade:87.5

COMIC CATCH UP: A new segment where I do a quick rundown of a series that I haven’t read but was available to acquire all issues easily. This first segment is on another web-slinger title: AVENGING SPIDER-MAN. Aside from the silly title this series did surprise me. The first three issues are one story about Spider-man and Red Hulk battling underground monsters. It was fun but should have been shorten to two issues. Issue 4 involving Hawkeye was meh. Issue 5 with Captain America was superb. Issue 6 kicks off the Omega Effect three part story, it was really well done and had top notch fighting. Overall this series is nicely done, I do like a team up book and using Spider-man makes this essentially Spider-man: Brave and Bold.

Well that’s all for this week. Also this is the end for me…….as ComicCritic87. I will be back under a new name, a new review style, and new comics coming in my line up. I’m doing a major cleansing of my comics once again due to my sudden bigger work schedule as well as getting back into taking college classes. I will be checking out many of the new stuff coming in the Second Wave as well as some of the new announced titles from Marvel, DC, IDW, IMAGE, and Others. Until next time friends, I will catch you all later eventually.

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StrangerX
StrangerX - 4/12/2012, 2:01 PM
Read both America's Got Powers and Secret Service. Both were impressive. Can't wait to see how they show how Zero's powers relates to the crystal. Also, after reading Secret Service I realized Millar has a sick sense of humor.
StuckInPanels
StuckInPanels - 4/12/2012, 5:47 PM
@Stranger....I'm curious about that as well, is he the only one that gained this power and how will he be able to channel it.

that is what makes Mark Millar so much fun of a writer, he has a sick sense of humor and at the same time makes stuff people haven't read before. I can read a bad Mark Millar comic and still find it to be better than most other things.
Weedbeater
Weedbeater - 4/12/2012, 6:08 PM
I didn't get to read Secret Service as my LCS ran out of copies before I could get one. Are there any scans of it online I could read?
Weedbeater
Weedbeater - 4/12/2012, 6:08 PM
also good reviews man
StuckInPanels
StuckInPanels - 4/12/2012, 6:36 PM
Thanks weed....I'm not sure where you can read comics online for free. My friend used to send me torrents, before I went to comic shops. I want to support the stuff I read but if I need to read something that is impossible to find I will use the CBR program to read it off of said torrents
Weedbeater
Weedbeater - 4/12/2012, 7:13 PM
^I'm pretty much with you there...I tried 4chan and they said it had unscannable ink on the pages meaning if you try to scan it you get a shiny page
Destroyer14
Destroyer14 - 4/12/2012, 7:35 PM
Man Scarlet Spider has been getting rave reviews, disappointed that I haven't been reading it.

Great reviews man.
StuckInPanels
StuckInPanels - 4/12/2012, 8:41 PM
@Destroyer....get on that.lol. Its a good series, out of all the Spider titles this is probably the second best. My ranking is Amazing, Scarlet, Avenging, and Venom. Its great because its such a different take on the Spider-man character in an entirely new place never seen in comics.
Weedbeater
Weedbeater - 4/12/2012, 10:26 PM
you have it all backwards it goes:
Venom
Avenging Spider-Man
Ultimate Spider-Man
Scarlet Spider
Amazing Spider-Man
StuckInPanels
StuckInPanels - 4/13/2012, 3:41 AM
@weed...The reason why Venom is low is due to the recent lack of quality in story telling. The Circle of Four event nearly killed any and all interest for me to continue reading the title. I loved the Jekyll and Hyde aspect that the suit became with Flash, he was constantly battling it from taking over him. Avenging made it higher than venom because its fun, it knows what it is, one shot stories with Spider-man teaming up with various Marvel Heroes. I don't read Ultimate Spider-man but I might check out Spider-men
Weedbeater
Weedbeater - 4/13/2012, 6:07 AM
true circle of four does seem pointless but not many people seem to have figured out rick remender's formula...in a way hes like geoff johns in that he starts out with small stories and connects them all with something bigger later on. If Avenging Spider-Man keeps up the quality then I will place it above. Ult-Spidey is good even if Bendis is usually terrible. He dials down his bendis-isms for the series
StuckInPanels
StuckInPanels - 4/13/2012, 6:13 AM
@Weed....I see where that can work with Bendis, he does tone it down when he does a single character story, instead of his team books. The way he writes the team dynamic is so generic at times
Wildaniel
Wildaniel - 4/13/2012, 7:12 AM
Yeah, next week is my week. Batman, Catwoman, Avengers VS X-Men, also The Avengers movie tie in Fury's Big Week. I read it online but I like having the book too, lol. I think Amazing Spiderman 684 is released next week too.
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