Comic releases of 6/8/11
Hey all, time for another fun round of comic reviews. This week is one of the smaller weeks, sadly I was not able to procure a copy of Megaman #2 this week, the place I go to unfortunately doesn’t carry a lot of them, only one issue of it and when I got there past noon it was gone. So I will try to acquire one in the main store in Philadelphia later and pick it up. I did however manage to get a hold of Herc #4 and Thunderbolts #158. So that said, let’s begin shall we….
Comics: Batman and Robin #24, Citizen Cold #1, Deathstroke #1, Emperor Aquaman #1, Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #1, Ghost Rider .1, Herc #4, Journey into Mystery #624, Thunderbolts #158, and Wolverine #10
DC comics
Top Pick of the week: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #1
Abridged story: Set in World War 2, the Frankenstein monster fights off a group of Nazi’s and joins a special program involving super soldiers that are turned into monsters. They succeed on their mission until the program is canceled and they are turned off. They awaken in modern day and discover the world is a much different place.
Review: The first thought running through my mind was, WHAT!!! Really, Frankenstein and the Creatures of the unknown….this has to be a joke right…why make this….and boy am I so glad to be proven wrong, not only is this one of the best tie-ins for Flashpoint, it does some of the best use of ideas I have seen with this. They establish that the Frankenstein monster has the ability to sense the evil in people and must destroy all evil no matter what. Since this is set in WWII it makes it so much more amazing when he goes around killing Nazi’s, especially a very great moment with Hitler. The team he is a part of are tributes to the classic Universal monsters, there’s Frankenstein's Monster (Obviously), a Were-wolf, a Vampire, and a Creature from the Black Lagoon (but this version is a woman). The fact that they are used as weapons, some chose while others were forced into this change. The issue splits the issue just enough to establish the characters in the past and what they are going to do in the future, The ending of the issue is a tad ironic, but I’m sure it’s going to resolve itself. Also this issue takes place after one unreleased tie-in but that’s to be expected, some of these all take place before or leading up to the main issues.
Artwork: The artwork of this mini-series is some pretty good artwork. The cover of the issue features the Monster Squad on a pile of Nazi’s they are taking out. The inner artwork of the issue is fantastic, its full of great battle moments, a nice about of blood and gore without going over the top. The character designs are amazing, each monster has a unique look and feel to them that separates them from the classical versions we have seen them as.
Grade: A+
Quick Reviews
Batman & Robin #24: Dick and Damian come in to stop Jason Todd but learn of a plot that requires them to team up with his Red Hood counterpart. Very good issue, some good writing and action moments, the artwork looks good and continues to fit the title. A-
Citizen Cold #1: Citizen Cold battles Mr. Freeze and is seen as a hero but has a devilish scheme behind it. The other rouges in prison begin to plan a counter attack. This issue was decent; it doesn’t add to the story but is a fun side story. The artwork looks cool (ba dum tish.lol.). C+
Deathstroke #1: Slade Wilson is a well-known pirate hunting for treasure and looking for his daughter. He gathers a crew from Flashpoint #1 and he gets attacked by Aquaman. I love the whole pirate element they implement with this title. Slade is sympathetic in this too, which is rare. The artwork is very good. B+
Emperor Aquaman #1: Humanity hopes to team up with Aquaman but it goes horribly wrong and shows us how he sank most of Europe. Finally making Aquaman a bad-ass pays off. The story and origins of this event is nice to see, the artwork is done really well. B-
Marvel Comics
Top Pick of the Week: Ghost Rider .1
Abridged Story: Johnny Blaze is given a chance to get rid of his Ghost Rider curse. He dismisses it at first but finally gives in and allows his power to leave him, but at a cost, it will infect a random person (which apparently it’s going to be a woman…kinky)
Review: I read Ghost Rider and become a huge fan of him thanks to the run of Jason Aaron, who made the character one of the best runs I have read recently, it was dark, edgy, and didn’t take itself serious which thankfully this .1 issue so kindly does also. Not only is this the best .1 issues, it’s probably the best .1 issue to pick up because it’s on a title that hasn’t been seen for a while. The story sets us who are familiar with Johnny Blaze and his life as the Ghost rider, how he gained it and how he wields the power. The set up with the mystery man offering him freedom of it is an interesting aspect, reminds me of the Phantom Stranger from DC, someone we know little about but seems powerful enough to make a man go through with a deal. This does some nice amount of exposition and the moment where Johnny and the Ghost Rider power parts ways, it was beautiful and a fitting farewell to his curse.
Artwork: This artwork is just fantastic. The cover is just classic Ghost Rider; it features GR riding up a building, flames all about the chain in the background and his hand reaching to grab something. The inner artwork is one of the best for Ghost Rider, even close to the Aaron run with Tony Moore as the artist. The look of Ghost Rider and his flaming skull looks amazing the way it works in this is that its like a fiery mane of hair, never once engulfing his skull. The best moment is when he rides down the building and just rides faster and faster as the Rider is being ripped apart from him.
Grade: A+
Quick Reviews
Herc #4: Hercules and Ares’s son battle as the city he protects is engulfed in Trees. A good action issue, the two writers are great. The Artwork is fun and has a nice flow. B+
Journey into Mystery: Loki enters Hell and speaks with Mephisto, tricking him and Hela to do battle with each other. An AMAZIG issue, it was close to Top pick but it’s a very close second. Gillen is pure talent for writing Loki. The artwork is just beautiful, almost like a dream, so vivid yet detailed. A-
Thunderbolts #158: The A and B team battle zombies in Egypt as Juggernaut begins his attack on the Raft. Love this team, love this book. This has some Great writing and great artwork. B+
Wolverine #10: Wolverine finds the lair of the Red Hand, we learn to origins of this mystery group and why they want to send Logan to Hell. Not a bad issue but too fast at the motivation for revenge. Artwork is has changed and looks good for this title. B-
Well that’s all for this week. I have been keeping track of all those DC #1’s as they come out day by day, DC is going to make me go broke. I do have some clues to which ones I will be reading, it won’t be all of them but a nice few new titles will be joining my readings. So far in terms of the new I will say that Justice League, Justice League Dark, Catwoman, Aquaman, Robin, and Swamp Thing….those are locked in for new titles joining. Once all 52 are announced I will what the rest will be, it will however be only 15 new titles, since I do have to keep a budget. Next week a spinoff of Godzilla will be joining, Kirby Genesis will properly kick off and more Flashpoint Tie-ins. Until then I will catch you all later, ComicCritic87 OUT!!!!!