ComicCritic87’s weekly comic book reviews
Week of October 26th, 2011
Greetings friends and fellow comic book readers and fans, the ever continuing reviews march on. Well my friends, this is one of my bigger weeks. So much is coming out this week it’s astounding, I have 15 issues this week, and I think the last two weeks are always going to be heavy weeks. This week Spider-Island draws to an end, we learn the true origins of the Serpent; another Marvel Series joins my ranks. I got a lot this week, let’s check them out….
Comics this week
DC Comics: Aquaman #2, Flash #2, Justice League Dark #2, Superman #2, Teen Titans #2
Marvel Comics: Amazing Spider-man #672, Avengers Academy #20, FF #11, Incredible Hulk #1, Journey into Mystery #630, Mighty Thor #7, Secret Avengers #18, and Venom #8
Other Comics: Godzilla- Kingdom of Monsters #8, TMNT #3
Top Picks of the Week
DC Comics: Aquaman #2- Written by Geoff Johns and Artwork by Ivan Reis
Abridged Story: Arthur and Mera try to establish a normal life on the surface world until the mysterious creatures from the deep attack the coastline. They do not know what they are up against as a group of these creatures over power Aquaman.
Review: This was easily one of the fastest comic reads I have read in a while; it’s a fun and quick read that leaves you wanting more. I love how Johns has now taken a character that has always been seen as a joke but has shown just how awesome he can truly be, this issue does less of the jokes and focuses more or seeing Aquaman being a hero to these people despite their thoughts and feelings. These creatures are a pretty cool set of “villains”, not even Aquaman knows who or what they are, something new that came from the ocean that even the king of it doesn’t know of is great and adds a new level of intensity.
Artwork: Ivan Reis continues to do an impressive job when combined with Johns. The cover is great, it features the face of one of these dark sea dwelling creatures with Aquaman in his eyes, it’s a great cover expect that the Aquaman image is clearly from issue one. The inner artwork is still amazing, showing off great amount of detail in the costumes and facial expressions.
Grade: A+
Marvel Comics: Secret Avengers #18- Written by Warren Ellis and Artwork by David Aja
Abridged Story: Steve Rogers, Shang Chi, and Sharon Carter head off to a space station to stop the Shadow Council from getting their hands on a powerful weapon.
Review: The story is pretty much that but its all done great with the amount of action they put in this issue. Shang Chi is becoming one of my new favorite characters. This issue is his big special where he kicks all kinds of ass as well as showing off some other cool skills. This new run with Ellis feels much more like a spy action thriller series whereas with Brubaker, it was still trying to find its voice, Ellis got this down easily, making the perfect blend of science fiction, espionage, and kung fu action into a single comic.
Artwork: The Artwork by David Aja is an interesting style of artwork. It does have a similar take of Daniel Acuna but is more fitting to Mike Mignola, which I really like and enjoy. The cover is “interesting” it features Shang Chi chopping a guy’s head down the middle. The inner artwork has some great action moments and the character designs are really great. I get a kick that Shang Chi looks exactly like Bruce Lee, how fitting.
Grade: A+
Weakest of the Week: Avengers Academy #20
Abridged Story: Veil, Speedball, and Justice are leaving for better things. Hank takes the rest of the kids to the West Coast and brings in new young heroes.
Review: This was just a meh issue; I liked Veil until she went nuts for some reason. The other departures for characters I didn’t care for. Not bad but just not up to par.
Artwork: the art is still nice
Grade: C-
Quick Reviews
Amazing Spider-man #672: The events of Spider-Island conclude as Spider-man saves the day by using an unlikely method. I loved this conclusion, exactly how I was hoping it would end, on a great note. Artwork for this issue was great. A-
FF #11: Reed Richards’s rounds up his friends to plan a counter attack to the Kree invading the inhuman world. Pretty fun issue and the amount of detail with each character is great, keep up the good work Barry. B+
Flash #1: Barry Allen tries to tap into a new power in order to gain an edge in being a hero. We get some backstory to who his friend was. I like this new power he taps into, pretty fun and well thought out idea. Artwork is a thing of beauty. B
Godzilla- Kingdom of Monsters #8: Godzilla and King Ghidorah battle one another as the Man and girl continue to search for hope, which they find in the form of a giant robot. I agree with Destroyer that this series is slowly going into the right direction, less humans and more monsters. The action scenes were great and take up most of the issue. Artwork is ok, could be better, wish it was more like G&G. C+
Incredible Hulk #1: Hulk lives in the deepest places in the Earth, trying to live a “normal” life while Bruce goes Dr. Moreau and creates animal human hybrids. Pretty good new #1, I like the differences they give Hulk and Banner, making the human a monster and the monster becoming a hero/legend. Aaron does great job writing and the artwork is great. A-
Journey into Mystery #630: Volstagg tells the “true” tale of the Serpent. This was a really funny and fun issue to lighten the mood after the dark events that have occurred before it. The artwork with the story was great and very cartoony to give it a sense of how silly he is making it. A
Justice League Dark #2: The various mystics are getting attacked by the deranged Enchantress. Zatanna puts herself into a protective barrier, Boston Brand meets a young witch and Constantine heals his wounds and searches for Z. Meanwhile Madam Xanadu seems to be doing some dark dealings herself. I love how this is all forming, curious where it’s going too. Artwork adds to the dark and dreary take the series is aiming form. A-
Mighty Thor #7: The origins of The Serpent and Odin’s past revealed. A very well done origin issue, the way it shows how evil and powerful the Serpent is and how Odin tries to prove the World Tree wrong. Artwork and character designs are great. B+
Superman #2: Superman battles another mysterious creature that is invisible to him. A great mix of story and action, Perez really gets down what it means to do a Superman story. B
TMNT #3: The brothers continue to search for Raphael as they argue over what to do. Meanwhile Raphael and Casey come across Old Hob. Another great and solid issue to this new take on these characters, loving the gritty old school with the new story telling elements while making something fans and newcomers can enjoy. A-
Teen Titans #2: Tim and Cassie search for the new heroine Skitter as two teleporting thugs attack them as well. Kid Flash escapes the prison he was taken too and discovers a heroine named Solstice. Loved this issue and this series seems to be a more interesting take off of the old group. The designs of the characters costumes are great with detail. A-
Venom #8: Flash goes toe to toe against the Spider Queen as he reads his father’s farewell note. Read this before you read Spider-man so you get a great setup for the conclusion. Artwork is still amazing as ever. A+
PHEW!!!.....well that’s all for this week, Next week is a drop in numbers. Only about 5 or 6 issues in the first week of November which I’m not surprised about. Catch you all later and over at me and Weeds monthly picks.