ComicCritic87’s weekly comic book reviews
Week of September 7, 2011
Greetings friends and fellow comic book readers and fans, the ever continuing reviews march on. This week now marks the big push of the new 52 of DC, I have gathered the first batch of them, where do they rank, wait and see my friends. This week is an 8 issue one; the following weeks will flux according to my reads at this point. I got 8 issues to get through, let’s get started.
Comics this week
DC Comics: Action Comics #1, Justice League International #1, Swamp Thing #1
Marvel Comics: Heroes for Hire #11, Thunderbolts #163, Wolverine #15
Other Comics: Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths #4, Kirby Genesis #3
Top Picks of the Week
DC Comics: Action Comics #1 Writer: Grant Morrison Artist: Rags Morales
Abridged Story: Our young new Clark Kent, hero and rebel stops a politician who has the monarch of “Superman” by forcing a confession out of him to admit his wrongful doings. Clark shows what he can do to the police and runs off. He saves a building that is being demolished with people inside, getting the people to side with him. Clark goes into civilian mode, living in an apartment complex and worker for a rival newspaper. General Lane and Lex Luthor try to find a way to capture Clark. Jimmy and Lois board a train in Metropolis that is rigged to explode. Our young hero dashes off to save it, landing the train safely but pinned to a wall and being surrounded by police.
Review: When I heard Grant Morrison was writing a Superman title I was like “SOLD, Here’s my money, take it.” Grant Morrison is one very talented writer and always knows how to change it up the typical tropes many heroes fall under. His new take on a young Superman not only works but is one impressive first issue. A lot has to be established with this new past and history the character has to undergo. We get enough here to establish that he lives in Metropolis, works for a rival newspaper, is friends with Jimmy Olsen, and his activity only started six months prior. As for the controversy, I must be blind because I don’t see any, there is nothing wrong with this first issue, it manages to keep up a great pace while allowing us to see what this new take on the character is, plus with Morrison on this, it’s going to be great.
Artwork: The cover is the one we seen already, features Superman in his jeans iconic symbol and cape running from the cops and being shot it, which is pretty much a bulk of the issue. The artwork done by Rags Morales is great, the character designs feel iconic and bold. The action beats are great. I found the mystery woman close to the end.
Grade: A+
Marvel Comics: Thunderbolts #163 Writer: Jeff Parker Artist: Kev walker
Abridged Story: The Thunderbolts and members of the B squad have escaped from the present and have ended up back in the past, specifically WWII as they get attacked by Nazi’s. Satana watches over Man-things next change in its evolution as the attack goes down. Just as they get swarmed by the Nazi menace, Captain America and Namor of the past join in the fight. Moonstone changes her look and tells Cap that her team is the American Thunderbolts.
Review: Boastfully calling itself the 1st issue of a new era for the team and it somewhat does manage to get to that level. I was surprised this was a time travel issue; I always have problems when it comes to those but it was done pretty well here, even joking with the subject matter. The beginning of the issue has a nice pace, showing each member relaxing in their hidden area, doing their own thing until they get attacked by Nazi’s, the prototypical villains at this point. The battle they have is quite impressive, the Thunderbolts showing off how powerful they are even if they are outnumbered. The big reveal as to why Captain America and Namor are a part of this was better than I thought.
Artwork: The cover boasts all the members that escaped as well as the golden age versions of Cap and Namor. The inner artwork of Kev Walker is still fantastic and always impresses with this title. Each character has great definition and design to them. The demonic form of Satana is one of them, turning her from this bubbly type into a ferocious demon in a few panels. He manages to capture the forms of Cap and Namor really well, especially since this is the golden age versions.
Grade: A-
Other Comics: Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths #4 Writer: John Layman Artist: Alberto Ponticelli
Abridged Story: The monsters begin their attack all along Japan, Sato and his son head to the G-force base to get a secret weapon. Meanwhile Takahashi watches as the entire country is being destroyed as he waits for his demands to be met.
Review: Dear Godzilla this is an amazing mini-series. Me and Destroyer have made it pretty clear we are huge fans of the big G, also that we are sadden that this series, which will end next month is far superior to the mainstream series which is all hype and little payoff. This is very much a character driven story that pays so much tribute to the classic movies, even making this feel like a missing Godzilla movie of the early 80s. This is a heavy monster filled issue, they give us so many of the monsters it’s so amazing to see them fighting one another, which they are a part of this cosmic balance which is being unbalanced thanks to Sato. The big reveal to what the secret weapon is really fantastic, I was more thrilled to see it here than in the other series.
Artwork: The cover is easily one of the best, if not the best cover I have seen all year. The cover features a collection of the giant monsters fighting and destroying the city with Sato watching over it all. The amount of detail and color in this one cover is amazing, I love it so much. The inner artwork is no slouch either. The look of all the monsters are great, each finely detailed from the movie versions to a t. The human characters are nicely done also, giving them such unique faces and expressions.
Grade: A+
Weakest of the Week: Kirby Genesis #3 Writer: Kurt Busiek Artist: Alex Ross and Jack Herbert
Abridged Story: More things happen, a lot of things that barely connect with one another.
Review: This was a series I had high hopes for, but there’s just way too much happening in one issue to follow and keep track of. The team had great ambition but they should have split these characters and concepts into their own books.
Artwork: Alex Ross is pretty much the highlight of this; his character designs are AMAZING and unparalleled to modern artists.
Grade: D-
Quick Reviews
Heroes for Hire #11: Elektra allows a villain to escape; a new hero/villain is born named Monster (really creative) that uses peoples fear against them (really original). This series went downhill once they entered Fear Itself, they should have been separate from all that. The artwork is near Liefeld standards, I believe next issue is the last one. C+
Justice League International #1: The team gets started out; heroes from various parts of the world unite to help the goals of the political groups paying for them. Booster Gold leads the team as they investigate a group of missing researchers. A very great first issue, I like the banter between the various heroes, the artwork was great and the new designs of the characters were very fitting. A-
Swamp Thing #1: Alec Holland tries to recoup with returning to the world of the living, he talks with Superman about how dangerous the world of botany really is. A giant creature is revived and turns people into monsters. Alec is greeted by his old self. Again this is a fantastic first start, keeping true to the character and all he has been through. The artwork is AWESOME. A
Wolverine #15: Logan climbs a mountain repeatedly and kills himself. We see him bury his children while being tortured by his remaining family. Aaron continues to be the best thing about the character. I believe this ends the run, no issue 16 was hinted at. Great art and great ending. B+
Well that’s all for this week. I enjoyed this week, so far the new 52 issues I got were great, let’s see this trend continue. Catch you all next time. Peace…….