Comic releases of 1/26/11
Hey all, Time for another weekly dose of comic reviews. Well we got 8 issues to get through, let’s get started
Comics: Avengers #9, Chaos War #5, Secret Avengers #9, Superior #4, Teen Titans #91, Thunderbolts #152, Wonder Woman #606, Zatanna #9
DC Comics
Teen Titans #91
Abridged Story: The Titans continue to battle the teen villain, Headcase, who creates a miniature black hole to suck up not just the people in the school but the entire planet. Meanwhile, Damian and Rose are having the time of their lives beating the living crap out of the crazy possessed children. Headcase gets in too deep in Raven's mind and she stops this entire thing. Cassie and Conner agree to be teammates and no longer being lovers. Drake calls up the Titans for assistance.
Review: This was a great ending to an amazing new arc in the Teen Titan story. I love the interaction with each member, especially the new bond Damian and Rose created (both cut from the same cloth). The final action moments were really cool and was a blast, Kid Flash running around the black hole reminded me of Barry funning around the Anti-monitors device, except he doesn't reach the point of running into time. It’s nice to see Cassie and Conner bring their little event to a close, will it change their attitudes and how will it affect their performance as teammates…got to wait and see. What stinks is that the issue continues in Red Robin, which I don’t read….this is just like when Power Girl continues in Lost Generation, enough tie-ins like that DC, makes it harder to find out what's going on.
Artwork: Cover is same as before, I don’t care for it. The action scenes are really great and never feel like they are cramping too much into each splash page. The character designs are still amazing as ever, there is never a moment where characters feel too cartoony with their expressions.
Grade: Love this series so far, can't wait for the second arc. The artwork is impressive as ever and of course the cover art stinks. This issue gets a B+
Wonder Woman #606
Abridged Story: Diana recovers from the arrow shot to her shoulder while one of her Amazon guards holds off the Centaur. They have battle on the rooftops and her guard falls to the horns of the Huntsman. As that occurs, the Centaur's accomplice a Minotaur kidnaps the young child that Diana visited. Meanwhile the Morrigan bring back fallen Amazonians to go after Diana and the remaining guards.
Review: Since JMS’s departure with this title, there has been a slight improvement with the title, while it’s a slow improvement, they are showing signs of something better in the works. The new writer on this is working off of JMS and his original idea seems to be doing it right if not better. The one thing that I do enjoy is the subtle nods of Diana's previous continuity with the little Wonder Woman dolls a mysterious person has possession of. The fight scenes were really done well, I'm surprised that a Centaur could survive a grenade at point blank range. Also to see a title as this is more action oriented and showcases people getting stabbed violently. The few faults I find with this title is the pacing, it feels a tad slow, all due to JMS and his thinking of slowing a title down with random filler.
Artwork: Cover stinks moving on; the artwork is still one of the highlights of the series. I love the mixture of ancient and modern styles on the same person. The fight scenes as I mentioned are more violent than expected so you see spurts of blood here and there.
Grade: Its getting much better and a title worth reading, it still has a ways to go but it will get there. The artwork is still some of the best I have seen. This issue gets a B-.
Zatanna #9
Abridged Story: Zatanna leans from the evil puppet his side of the story. A famous puppeteer whose life goes from grand to bland once super heroes made the scene. He joins a stage performance even if it was slim pickings, he gets threatened by the guy who runs the place, they struggle and the guy dies, Zatara saves Z but there is more to the story as to why he was turned into a puppet.
Review: I was surprised to see how this turned out; they seemed to just overshadow her whole fear of puppets. I wanted to see her confronting her fear or have the guy make her into a mind puppet, there were a lot of ways they could have done this little arc, and while I love Dini and his work, this felt like a small cop out to tell another angle, which they could have done in 3 pages or so. It’s going to wrap up next month so I can't wait to see how she conquers this fear.
Artwork: This cover is the hardest to describe. It’s the bland as the rest but the Symbol behind her makes NO SENSE, it’s a magicians hat with a wand in it…..why not a have a big Z behind her. I love this artwork and it seems each issue seems to have a different artist….COME BACK ROUX!!!! Nothing really impressive though, which sucks because it’s such a great series, but again feels like filler.
Grade: It pains me to give this a grade; Dini is the best writer for Zatanna by far but I wanted more out of this issue, not some other persons story. The artwork jumps a lot with artists and they are all impressive, but Roux will top them all. I give this issue a C+
Marvel
Avengers #9
Abridged Story: Rogers and Stark have a small falling out with their friendship as the Illuminati bring their intentions to light with the Avengers. Meanwhile we see how the Hood has gotten out of the Raft and into a maximum security prison along with meeting the Inhuman that helped him retrieve the gems.
Review: Mostly an exposition issue, we get all the facts from the Illuminati and how this new revelation will affect the teams trust with each other. I liked seeing just how The Hood gets out and gives us more insight of how smart an influential he can be towards people in need. There are barely any action scenes, we get a lot of characters talking with each other and planning on finding the remaining gems to fight back, which was cool seeing each and every Avenger prepare for this new endeavor.
Artwork: The cover is pretty awesome; it’s the Infinity Gauntlet pushing the title away and the Thor along with Red Hulk being overtaken by the power of the gems. JRJR continues to do great with this issue; I love seeing the cartoon appeal mixed in with all the action and character development. There was a funny moment where Hawkeye gives a quick quote, it’s a quick headshot, it looks like Kick-ass, because his face is wrapped up due to the cold location, it is funny.
Grade: This series continues to impress with the character interactions and the story bringing back the big I.G. The artwork is still my personal favorite and again, fun cameo of Kick-ass. This issue gets an A-
Chaos War #5
Abridged Story: The War comes to a triumphant ending. Hercules has now embraced his power of an All Father and does battle with the Chaos King while the rest of the God Squad and other heroes fighting off the slave gods. Amadeus figures out just what to do just as Mikaboshi uses his power to envelop to universe….or did he? The battle has ended and Hercules brings the universe back to way it was, but at a cost.
Review: I loved how this event has ended, and it is bitter sweet in a way. The action scenes are just amazing and it feels huge in both scope and craziness, especially since this was a battle for all things. The way Amadeus defeats the Chaos King is kind of funny and shows how resourceful he is in the heat of the moment, thanks to the support of Hercules. Although I never read any of the Hercules comics, it’s great to see a leap in his character development.
Artwork: The cover is misleading but awesome. The Chaos king doesn't battle Thor and isn't that size in the issue. Even in all the craziness with the event, the artwork is impressive and is grandiose with the size of the fighting. The final page is really cool, all the heroes on a beach looking over at a huge palace on a mountain.
Grade: Much better ending to an event than Shadowland. The battles were just as epic as they needed to be for gods. The art is awesome and the final page is a sight to behold. I give this issue an A-
Secret Avengers #9
Abridged Story: We learn the origins of Jack Steele, he is the basis of the Super Soldier Serum and the Power Man formula also he is a lot faster and perhaps stronger than Rogers. Rogers and Shang chi devise a plan during a Trade, him for Sharon. Steele goes against the deal and shoots Shang Chi then Rogers engages in combat with Steele. The plan was a trick and the other Secret Avengers break out of nowhere and attack while Sharon gets away from the scene. Shang Chi meets his father once more in a mysterious base, where Moon Knight successfully infiltrates the base with ease.
Review: I love seeing this series continue to impress me with what they come up with next. The origin of Jack Steele is interesting as well as still vague (mentions him in Civil War) and it’s cool to see him as the origins of two well-known heroes. The action moment in China felt much like something you would see in action movies, and it was totally awesome to see Rogers not fight fair, once again showing he is become even more of a bad-ass. There is one cringe moment unless you're a fan girl, there is a moment with Rogers and Shang Chi training and they are in *gulps* unnhhhhnnnnn extreme short shorts…..was that…..necessary? Besides all that, it was a really great issue.
Artwork: The cover is awesome, it’s Shang Chi and Rogers in battle but we don’t see against what. Deodato is as always the best artist used for this series. I love the shadowing effect the series has, some of the best in my opinion. Except for that one sequence that requires me to cleanse my eyes with fire but the artwork is amazing as ever.
Grade: Great issue, awesome fights and the artwork is great. I give this issue an A+
Superior #4
Abridged Story: Superior saves his Lois Lane, Ms. Knox and gives a quick interview. He helps his best friend with a bully problem and the evil monkey makes his return.
Review: I try to keep my reviews with Millar works spoil free, because there is so much going on, I don’t know where to begin with them and what do I pick as good moments. I did mention I missed last week but now I caught up. I love this issue, it’s pure Millar, the way he establishes Ms. Knox's character and what she will do to get an interview is both bold and stupid. The bully angle in story C was fun and we establish the villain of the story, and it’s pretty obvious who the bully is going to become. There’s a nod to Siegel and Schuster with the origin of Superior being a product from the 30s.
Artwork: The cover is sort of hard to figure out, it’s Ms. Knox in a feared face and Superior trying to catch (?) her…but we see why she is on the cover…..two big reasons……forget Lois Lane, more like Cat Grant. The artwork itself is amazing; I love the way characters are designed and their expressions to the situations in it. Be on the lookout for a Kick-ass cameo too.
Grade: Love this title; Millar does what he does best. The art is impressive as always. This issue gets a B+
Thunderbolts #152
Abridged Story: The Thunderbolts welcome a new member, Hyperion, to the team. They head over to Japan to stop a bunch of giant monsters from attacking it.
Review: We get a new teammate and his style of action as a team player is really great to see, especially since we don’t know if he is who we think he is, they explain it better in the issue. As you can see the story is pretty basic, the Thunderbolts battle giant monsters and how hard they are to fight, even with the overwhelming number. You see the team dynamic at its best, but Hyperion seems out of place at the moment, until the last page where it all changes.
Artwork: The cover is pretty sweet; it’s the same as most of the covers with the series. It’s the team engaging in battle. The fight scenes are some of the best and I love the nods to Godzilla with the giant monsters. I never seen Hyperion before, but has a cool character design.
Grade: Continues to impress, the art is great. This issue gets an A-
And that’s all for this week in comics. Hope you all give them a look through. I won’t review next week due to only 3 issues, so I will do something, be sure about that. Catch you all later, ComicCritic87 OUT!!!!