Hey all, finally after taking a small break last week, due to only getting 3 comics, I'm back with a nice dose of 6 comics. The three from last week and three of this week. This week introduces a new title that I will give a look over, Jason Aaron's new WOLVERINE series. So this weeks listing of reviews are: Avengers #4, Brightest Day #9, Shadowland #3, THOR #613, Wolverine #1, and Wonder Woman #602. With that lets begin....
Avengers #4
Story: Half of the Avengers have been thrown into the future where the witness a gigantic battle ensuing. Bucky Cap thinks shooting Kang would end this mess but they are stopped by their children, who incapacitate them and take them to see Hulk, who treats them as old friends. The see another member come in and its Future Tony, who wants the Repulsor in Past Tony's chest. Meanwhile in the present/past, Spider-man is reunited with an "old" friend as well as the Earth being invaded by all sorts of alien life forms, including Galactus. The issue ends with the Avengers in the Future worrying whats next to come.
Review: Finally we are getting into the heart of the action of this title. This issue was 80% action and 20% exposition, yet they further the plot and the story. Bendis is a hit or miss writer and this issue is a good hit, not a home run but a strong hit. I found it kinda weird that Hulk was happy to see them, but this may be a red herring at the moment. I like the idea that all these futures are colliding with one another due to the children's meddling, which I can't wait to see how its all resolved.
Art: JRJR's artwork is truly something to be seen, I love the look and feel of the characters on the pages. The giant two-page spread showing all the characters big and small, in all the areas, foreground and background were amazing, especially Ultron, who looks like he fused with the DESTROYER armor. There is one minor complaint and thats a single panel of with Thor in it, I bet I wasn't the only one laughing. Still even one fault can't hurt Romita's amazing work on this title.
Grade: I give this issue a B+, it's much better and improving with each issue.
Brightest Day #9
Story: This issue deals with only three characters. We see Aqua-man meeting up with Dead-man and they talk about their destinies. We get a few panels with the next Aqua-lad using his cool water controlling powers. J'onn goes to Star Forest and gets another vision and meets up with Green Arrow. We also see Black Mantra fighting off some of the assassins who attacked Aqua-man, Mera's sister shows up and tells B.M about finding his son....gee....I wonder who that could be????
Review: I liked this issue, because we finally got an issue that gives only a small focus on three characters rather than so many in one. We were able to expand on what they have going on with their vision quests, J'onn's has now changed from earth to his old home. I liked seeing the new Aqua-lad testing out his new powers, but like I said, its not well hidden who his true origins lay. This is one of the double edge issues, I like seeing focus on fewer characters and yet they have a greater story to tell with 12 others, that we lose touch with the others. Like I mentioned before, I want to see the "villains" side, but I'm sure thats gonna be soon when we hit 13 or 14.
Art: The artwork is once again spot-on. Everyone is represented by their colors greatly. Seeing the change of Aqua-lad was pretty neat in the subtle changes they gave him and seeing the issue add in some blood shows its keeping some level of maturity.
Grade: I give this issue an A-, good to see for focused stories, but the series needs to find its balance as we get closer to this new Champion's arrival.
Shadowland #3
Story: Part 3 of this mini-event continues with Ghost Rider taking out tons of Ninjas and we see Moon Knight without his armor or mask. The others fighting Matt and his army get outmatched. Iron Fist and Shang-chi discover that Matt Murdock has somehow surpassed them in fighting ability. As all hope seems lost, the PUNISHER comes in and does the most epic thing ever: Machine gun + Ninjas= Dead Ninjas...EPIC!!!!. As they regather themselves Danny's old master returns and tells them that Matt is no longer Matt. The issue ends with a familiar face returning and a freshly dug Bullseye.
Review: I loved this issue. Basically the half way point in this series, we got some quick things happening and all building up for an amazing climax. We got to see all the key players make their entrance, except for 1. The action was well paced and I loved seeing when heroes have been best in what they best at doing. Like I said, the best part is when Frank Castle comes in literally guns blazing to take out Murdock. I like the reveal of the familiar face, My question is what is their motive? We shall see next month.
Art: The art in this issue is pretty good. The characters are all well defined, the violence is well done and no real faults to find. I liked the “look” of Lady Bullseye*wink wink*.
Grade: I give this issue an A
THOR #613
Story: Thor continues his travels into Hell. The issue is split between Thor's journey into the deeper reaches of Hell and Tyr's battle with the demons of Hell. Thor's half is told in a style similar to an old legend being spoken of. Its told by Mephisto's demon thing about Thor traveling closer to his goal. Tyr's battle with Hells minions tests his mettle in the heat of combat. He then pulls out a magic flaming sword and owns everyone. The issue ends with Thor shouting for one of the zombie Valkyrie.
Review: Down to the final two issues in the Kieron run and we got a somewhat hit and miss. While the issue was done in an interesting way, by showing us a more story told by someone who's witnessing it, like the story of Beowulf. The good aspects are that it's going all out in its story telling and characters and somewhat of miss because the aspect of the story is kinda weak in this issue, nothing really is gained after all this. I thought THOR in HELL was him going to fight Mephisto and make amends with his fallen brother, yet here we got a story about him saving Loki's daughters Hel, I like it but not the best arc of Kieron's Run.
Art: The artwork is pretty good in this issue. The look of the demons are amazing and seeing all the different areas that THOR is exploring are pretty cool. The character designs are spot-on, Mephisto is very human like and less than a demon except his martini glass of blood. THOR looks pretty much like THOR, bulky and bad-ass.
Grade: It pains me to give this title this grading, I give it a C+....I hope Fraction's run ups the ante
Wolverine #1
Story: The new series I'm starting begins with Logan and Wraith talking about the old days of Weapon X and their new lives and chances at redemption. A few months later Wraith now a minister, his church is attacked by something. He sets up defensive parameters and goes after the attacker, he gets attacked by the person. He thinks its Saber-tooth, but it turns out to be WOLVERINE!!!!.....kinda...Meanwhile Logan's new girlfriend/woman is working at a newspaper in California when she is attacked by some mysterious enemies. She is then rescued by Mystique who tells her that Logan is not Logan. We see in the last page a demon telling us how bored he got until Logan arrived...naked...and being held up by other demons.
Review: This is my first real experience with a main stream X-men title. I read Old Man Logan, which is one of my all time favorite reads. So, hearing that Jason Aaron was gonna be writing for Wolverine, after his great run with Ghost Rider, I decided to pick this up and give it a look and I liked it. I really liked the beginning conversation gave us a quick and I mean quick recap of all the main aspects of who Wolverine is,was, and will be. The twist on Logan being separated from his body and dropped in hell is interesting, although there is no THOR cameo, which would have been cool. Still I liked seeing some new aspect on an established character.
Art: The art style is pretty will done for this issue. Although it looks nothing like the cover art, the interior art is pretty good. The characters look their part and the evil look of this possessed Logan is pretty cool. Oddly enough the demons in this issue were much cooler look than in THOR's title.
Grade: I liked this first issue and I usually give it a true review when issue two comes out. For now this issue gets an A-
Wonder Woman #602
Story: Diana discovers one of the few remaining remnants of her former life in a small ancient cove. She meets up with them and prepares to fight off the army forces. She has some moments with the girls as they begin to counter attack. She takes off her jacket to reveal arm bracer's that go all the way up her arms and shoulders. She kicks all the enemies asses and acts as a protector to the women who now have fled their old home to a new one.
Review: I actually liked this issue, surprising huh.lol. Well this one is like THOR its another hit or miss. I liked that its full of action and making the character more unique but at the same time the problem is that the whole new retcon of her is barely established. We know she was from her old kingdom but it was changed by some means, we don't know yet but hopefully we do know soon. The idea of taking her character and “modernizing” her is two steps further and one step back...we gained ground...but not far.
Art: I really dig the new look and style of WW's look, especially all the moments where we see her wonder twins*winks*. The color is dark but its all set in the night and the fire in the fights are pretty cool. No errors that I could fine with the art.
Grade: So after a slight speed bump in this series, I give it a B-
So that's this weeks batch of comics. Next week my review will be posted on Thursday because of Labor Day weekend. So til then, Aki87 OUT!!!!