Hey all, time for another helping of Comic book reviews and Happy Thanksgiving to you all, hope your stomachs are full for the year. This weeks helping of comic's is a nice selection and a bit of comic book news. A new goblin in town, Bat and Bird meet a new threat, Pepper Pots dead?, Secret Avengers counter attack, and the Titans welcome a new friend. Along with some comics news at the end, lets get started
DC
Batman and Robin #17
Story: This issue takes place now during the Batman Inc era. Dick and Damian are trying to solve the mysterious murder of a former flame of Bruce's. They find a man who may know who done it. They crash an odd wedding and discover a shocking surprise.
Review: This to me is a great relaxation issue after reading the last arc with all the craziness that Morrison has left us to read. I like that this is more of a whodunit issue, and shows off Dick's detective abilities, that aren't on par with Bruce, but its still impressive. The reveal at the end is pretty cool but leaves a lot of questions still unanswered. Paul Cornell does a good job writing this story, it is easy to see the difference between writers, this is not Morrison but it's written and paced well.
Artwork: The artwork is done by Scott McDaniel, who does some pretty impressive artwork in this. The design of Bat and Robin are done really well. A minor detail is that some angles show a strange upper lip with Dick and Damian. It is quite a departure from Irving's amazing and surreal art, but not too bad for this issue.
Grade: I'm giving this issue a B+, it has some good artwork and the story has nice amount of exposition and action.
Teen Titans #89
Story: Damian Robin joins the Teen Titans, despite the negative warm welcome he gets from the team. He attacks Rose and tries to defeat her, until Kid Flash stops him. They get their first team up with Robin at a science convention where the student that got taken away and tested on, now has developed some form of telekinetic powers. He outmatches them until Raven tries to calm him in her own dimension. It works until Damian gets him to the ground and wails on him. The boy goes crazy again and leaves.
Review: I LOVED THIS ISSUE. I'm SO GLAD that I decided to pick up this series. This has a great amount of action, comedy, and pace any team book can have. I love the new chemistry that Damian adds to the team. He has a lot of tension for some one his age and an ego to match it. Obliviously the teen villain is a victim of being bullied and his interaction with Raven in the alternate dimension was a great moment of calm during the storm. The team has so far a great set up with introducing the first of hopefully many new members joining and re-establish the legacy of the Teen Titans.
Artwork: Once again this artwork is top notch. The dimension that Raven takes the character is amazing. The angles they used to show off the action pieces were done really well.
Grade: This issue gets an A+, for a great issue, perfect pace, and awesome artwork.
Marvel
Amazing Spider-man #649
Story: Spider-man and Black Cat team up in the beginning to stop the growing gang of Goblins tat believed in Osborn. They manage to defeat them all, Spider-man leaves to his current pad. As Peter returns to normal, has a quiet night with Carlie, until she is pulled away by police work. Meanwhile, Wilson Fisk hires the current Hobgoblin(Kingsley) to be his agent and help him regain NY. As Kingsley finds a weapon cache of Goblin gear, he discovers Phil Urich in their. Before he kills him, Urich overpowers him and kills Kingsley and takes over the mantle. Back with Peter, its his first official day at Horizon labs, gains a huge lab for himself and meets some more interesting people. The lab is attacked by the newest Hobgoblin(Urich) and is able to overpower Spider-man as well.
Review: This issue holds up to its title....it is AMAZING....I loved this issue. Again, it has a great amount of pacing and action beats. I love the reintroduction to the hobgoblin character, who was a mercenary in South America. We get a greater focus on fixing the world of Peter Parker, who now has a job, a stable love life, and seems to have a new lease on life. Now there were two other subplots in this issue, but I avoided those, because they are gonna have greater emphasis later. The beginning with Black cat is great and she has some fun lines and comebacks during the fights, they are really trying to bring her character into a greater light. The introduction of the Goblin gang, adds a lot of great potential and how they are gonna shape this series later on. I love seeing Parker getting more interaction with people much like him.
Artwork: I love the design of the Hobgoblin, the orange they use for him is very bright and the skin on the mask does show off the scales and demonic nature of the character. Black Cat's design is droolingly sexy and the artist uses that to her advantage.
Grade: This issue gets an A+ for having a great pace, great action, and has fun artwork that fits the run so far.
Invincible Iron man #32
Story: Detroit Steel and his drones attack the resilient demo. Stark, Rhodes, and Pepper team up to take out the vast number of enemies. They figure out a way to stop them but it comes with a coast for Pepper. She powers down her core for 15 minutes, after which, she will die. As she lays there waiting for Tony to save the day, she has visions of her Husband Happy. He questions her love for Tony, she tries to express her feelings but has a hard time admitting it. She shares a vision much like Tony did in the Most Wanted arc.
Review: This issue has a great balance action and exposition. The first half of the issue is all action and has some great moments of action pieces with Stark and Rhodes. The second half dealing mainly with Pepper and her vision of her Husband is a good contrast to the action that is happening around her. The dialogue used in this half are great, because they talk the way a couple would talk if this occurred in real life. Happy knows she loves Tony, but she fears to admit it because she is married to Happy. This is how Fraction to make his books, a good balance between the action and the story, yet not compromising one for the other.
Artwork: This has amazing artwork as ever. Now that they have gotten to the action, we see some great moments and pieces in this issue. The size of Steel to Tony is noticeable and shows how contrasting they are when it comes to their means of combat. I still find it cool how the artist shows off Tony and his living suit.
Grade: I give this issue a B+, it has some great action beats and the conflict between Pepper's lover for her husband and Tony is noteworthy for the evolution of her character. The artwork is amazing as ever and has some great pieces to it.
Secret Avengers #7
Story: Steve, Black Widow, and Shang Chi fight off the deadly ninjas that ambushed them. They get out witted and lose Shang Chi, but that was Rogers plan. As the ninjas take him to an unknown location, Ant-man comes out from hiding and saves the day, by becoming Giant Man. Meanwhile, Valkyrie and Prince of Orphans find a group of soldiers, they take one to be interrogated. Over with the shadow council plan a counter attack with their super soldier, claiming to be the “First”.
Review: I was relieved by how great this issue picks up after the last one. I thought it was a slow start but this issue picks up fast and doesn't let go. I love how much more of a bad-ass they have turned Rogers into, most notably when Black Widow says he is becoming more like Fury. The second best moment of that was when he told the guard that he is not Captain America anymore. Brubaker does an amazing job in this series and has top notch writing. The one slight complaint that this doesn't have a strong sense of team work. This issue has no beast, Moon Knight, or War Machine. Yet I think this team uses members for their skills when needed, which is clever in my book.
Artwork: Deodato never fails. This has some great use of shadow moments and there is a cool moment that involves Valkyrie. I love the way the action is darkened, to leave use with more mystery rather than just showing off.
Grade: This issue gets an A-, it has a great build up for whats to come, amazing writing and pacing. The artwork is always a true talent to behold.
Comic News: Well this was some sad news when I finally heard about it, Thor: The Mighty Avenger is on the chopping block and will end with issue 8. It's terrible to see a fun read being taken away, which I heard was due to declining sales. I think one reason is that there are too many Thor titles being released and it got lost in the fray. I for one enjoyed it, hoping to see others like it, but that may be a while. Also when I heard about the Death of Spider-man being done in the Ultimate universe, I thought...oh good I don't need to read. Til I saw that Mark Millar is a part of it too...so now I'm torn. I read ultimate Spider-man til I dropped it due to loss of interest, but could this put me back into it even thou I'm not a big fan with the Ultimate universe?
Well that is all for this weeks comics, Hope you all get a chance to read them after stuffing your bellies. Catch you all next time, ComicCritic87 OUT!!!