Comic releases of 5/4/11 and 5/11/11
Hey all, sorry for the gap in between reviews, last week was a bit unfair since it 5/4/11 had only 1 DC issue to review, which couldn’t be considered a top pick of the week, even though I enjoyed reading it, it wasn’t strong enough, so hopefully this week’s selection will have something much better. Also adding a new comic series to my list, another outsider from my Marvel and DC restraints, this week I will review the new Archie Comic MEGAMAN….yes that same Megaman, so I can’t wait to see what it’s all about. Alright with all that said and done let’s begin shall we…
Comics: Amazing Spider-man #660, Avengers Academy #13, Batman Inc #3, Fear Itself #2, FF#3, Flashpoint #1, Herc #2, Heroes for Hire #6, Journey into Mystery #623, MEGAMAN #1, Superboy #7, and Superman #711
DC Comics Top Pick of the Week
Flashpoint #1
Abridged Story: Barry Allen has awoken to a world that is different to his own, his mother is alive, he no longer has the powers of the Flash, and the friends and enemies he once knew are now different. The world is on the brink of war, Cyborg has gathered various heroes to band together to stop the horrible attacks that Wonder Woman and Aquaman have wrought onto the European territory. Barry seeks the help of one man who knows all the answers…..Batman…but is it who we think it is
Review: Well besides from starting out just like House of M, where our hero awakens in a world unfamiliar to him with all knowledge of the real universe, this is a good start but not as big as Fear Itself. The majority if this issue is essentially a plot dump, we get everything we need to know about this world from the heroes that are banding together to stop these two threats, which just from hearing about them are very powerful forces and it’s just a tiny strand from being broken and all-out war erupts on all of Earth. It is nice to see some cool variations of some characters, old and new. What’s going to help this event will be the vast amount of tie in comics that will flesh out this world, I want to know more and I’m sure many of you will too.
Artwork: The cover is pretty awesome, featuring the Flash running away from the ominous figures above him. The inner artwork is really nice and does show off some great character designs and the redone forms of the characters costumes are the best.
Grade: B+
Quick Reviews
Batman Inc #6: Bruce recruits many more Batmen and prepares to lead a counter attack to a force simply known as Leviathan. Nice seeing this series evolving very greatly, so cool seeing many awesome and cool designed versions of the various Bats. This issue bets a B
Superboy #7: Conner and Psychic lad head into outer space and discover a parasite Superman has dealt with. Conner has visions of a dark future of him embracing his Luthor side. This was a pretty interesting idea involving the future of his evil side. This issue gets a B-
Superman #711: Superman heads to Las Vegas to stop the hero/villain Livewire who has become corrupted by her own power. Another one of those ideas that is fun but still pushing the whole American Way ideal he is looking for. An apology to Action comics #900?..This issue gets an C+
Marvel Top Pick of the Week
Fear Itself #2
Abridged Story: The gods of Asgard have return to their astral realm as they prepare to raze Earth. On Earth many more hammers have fallen to key areas to certain heroes/villains that will much damage to Earth. The Serpent begins his blitzkrieg on the United States in Washington DC. The world is then engulfed in darkness as fear has taken over.
Review: This is pretty much what I call a cinematic comic, what I mean by that is that there is this huge build up in every page, what’s going to happen next, who is going to gain a hammer, what’s to become of the heroes. This is like the ultimate summer blockbuster in 7 chunks, and we are only in the second issue and already the villain has more or else won and has done more damage to Earth than most villains can muster. I love how Marvel has made the heroes of their universe much more human in this series considering they are powerful and always save the day but when it’s happen in so many places at once where many can’t get adds to the dire straits they have now been forced into. The last word of Rogers in this issue cements it all, and shows just how devastating this moment is for all of them.
Artwork: I’m not a big fan of the covers since it looks like hasted movie posters that don’t show off anything fun or exciting in the issue. The cover has an image of Thor locked in asgardian chains and the bottom features three of the worthy with the title FEAR ITSELF in the middle of it, not inventive and unoriginal. However, the inner artwork is fantastic as ever and continues to showcase the sheer amount of Epic this series is trying to show. I love the look of all the characters and the expressions they are showing, giving us a look at how human the heroes are in the moment of unprepared and being overpowered with ease. The design of the Worthy are pretty cool and simplistic in design, they add little but it’s effective in showing how these hammers have changed them in some shape or form.
Grade: A-
Quick reviews
Amazing Spider-man #660: Peter and the FF fight off the Sinister six and prevent the multiverse from collapsing. Carlie does redeem herself in this issue after last issues blunder. Not bad issue, (I also found a word flub, it’s an easy one to find too) some fun ideas in it. This issue gets a B+
Avengers Academy #13: The students along with the young allies have a prom. Hank and Tigra do the nasty, and we see Mettle and Hazmat getting a bit closer. This was a nice little relaxing issue, nice to see characters evolve in some manner. Artwork is still good as ever, this issue gets a C+
FF#3: Dr. Doom rallies a bunch of Fantastic Four villains in order to stop the dastardly plans of a group of Reed Richards. Love the pace and build up, artwork is nice and this universe of characters expands greatly. This issue gets a B+
Herc #2: Hercules continues to do battle with Hobgoblin and has become victorious, has gained a following at the bar and gets an interesting offer from the Kingpin. Awesome fight with HG and the writing is sharp as ever. Artwork is great; this issue gets a B+
Heroes for Hire #6: Spider-man enters the fray with the Heroes for Hire while Paladin doesn’t like it for his own reasons. Another team Spider-man is in? Please let it be only for two issues. Not bad but not good either….just…in the middle…C+
Journey into Mystery #623: Loki is still handling his new life while being tormented by those who hated his old life. He seeks to build a crew to help stop the Serpent. Gillen continues to shine on this series, glad he is back. Artwork is beautiful as always, this issue gets an A-
Other Comics
Archie Comics: MEGAMAN #1
Abridged Story: MEGAMAN recounts the events leading up to his new life as a hero
Review: I for one am a MEGAMAN fan, although I suck at them but I do enjoy the character and creative bosses that have existed in each game. This new series is more or less a retelling of the first game’s narrative and acts an origin story that many people know and it does a good job at bringing us a fresh take for non-gamers, it does help that they have the guy who wrote the Sonic comics, so he does keep the source material very faithful. There is a bit of action in the beginning of the issue but it’s how Rock became MEGAMAN, so that’s to be expected.
Artwork: The cover is done really well; it features MEGAMAN in the middle and the key characters of this well-known series. The inner artwork is done really awesome, I swear this straight from the anime cut scenes; it’s that close to perfect. The issue has one of the best fan service moments where we see the Robot Masters being presented and it’s laid out like in the video game stage select.
Grade: A-
And that’s all for this week my friends. Catch you all later, ComicCritic87 OUT!!!!