new comic reviwes 11/23/11

Astonishing X-Men #44 - Cyclops is a bonafide super hero. In this issue which should be called Cyclops and some X-Men appear for a bit too. Here we see Cyclops be bad ass and do some cool things with his "simple" powers that are awe inspiring including to his own team mates. The plot to this issue is also good but simple with Storm arriving to help show an upset Cyclops get out of his funk from Wolverine leaving to form his own X-Men, why no one questions why she is back to her old mohawked self from the 80s is beyond me but this is at least quickly answered as to why she is that way by the end which leads to an interesting but confusing ending. 4/5

Aquaman #3 - Aquaman and his wife Mera fight giant canibalistic fish men from the deep, and it is awesome! Also we meet a doctor from Aquaman's past who is a bit insane and quirky, some comedy that Aquaman isn't important which is getting a bit tedious when he is doing awesome and bad ass things, and get a gorgeously painted page showing Aquaman as a kid. What more could you want? Issue #4 out now is all I can think of. 5/5

Voodoo #3 - This has quickly become an interesting monster/fugitive story within two issues which is impressive as after a first issue filled with gratuitous T and A I was ready to write this story off completely. In this issue our resident evil alien goes to check in with the higher ups and encounters her first super hero, Green Lanter (Kyle Raynor). Their encounter is so well written and neither Voodoo, Green Lantern or the other Daemonites are seen as weak during it. What happens is true to each character and their strengths and by the end I am wanting all those involved to meet again and soon! We have another excellent ending here making you have to know what is next too. The only thing that sucks about the issue? Knowing the writer Ron Marz will be leaving the title in two months, I don't want this ride to end quite yet. 4.5/5

Mighty Thor #8 - In a post Fear Itself world, Thor is dead and no one remembers he existed except Loki who can't quite remember his name. Who did all the things Thor did so as not to mess up the history of Marvel? Tanarus, the god of thunder of course! This issue is supposed to be setting up the new status quo and quickly leap frogs that and starts to move the plot forward as well which is where some issues come from. The stuff about Asgard on Earth now being full of mythical creatures from all the other 9 realms is interesting stuff and can lead to great srtories, as is the new status quo of the gods with the three in one All Mother being in charge of Asgard since Odin abdicated, and where Thor actually is (still dead though) makes for an awesome and exciting cliffhanger, heck even Tanarus and the revisionist history is interesting. But then it all falls apart.

First, Loki, the god of mischief who has been amazing written by Journey of Mystery writer, Kieron Gillien, is nothing like what Loki should be here written by Fraction. His plan to find out the truth? Fly towards Tanarus and say "you're not right, where is my real brother? I shall destroy you!" What the hell? This is the guy who just played Mephisto and won and yet he his a doofus here. We find out who Tanarus really is (way too soon btw, where is the mystery?) and while it is a good character to have be Tanarus, how did the switch happen? More importantly how does the character and those behind it remember Thor? How does everyone else including the all seeing All Mother not know this? Captain America and Norman Osborn remember! This just feels like shoddy continuity which makes me think this will be resolved in an issue or two at most, making this pointless. Really if you want to read about Asgard in the Marvel Universe, go read the vastly superior Journey to Mystery. 2/5

Captain America and Bucky #624 - This should be called Winter Soldier #0 or I guess #.1 since that is Marvel's thing now. It is a solid story showcasing the history of the Winter Soldier as former sidekick, former Captain America and supposedly dead Bucky Barnes tells about his life to someone dear to him. The history of him and Black Widow finding love while being used as weapons in the Cold War is a good look at a story that couldn't have been published during the years it is supposed to be happening. The drama in this issue isn't too high, you know it is a flashback, but how Bucky rebels from his Russian masters and finds some humanity is well done and touching as is his developing relationship with Black Widow. The final few pages showing who he is talking to is touching as well. The art is simple and stylistic making it a perfect fit for a story set in the past. If this were published in the years of the Cold War it would have had a similar style making it work so well. After reading this I can't wait for the new Winter Soldier series coming out in a few months Bucky and Natasha fighting evil sounds great. 4.5/5

Secret Avengers #19 - Did you ever read Warren Ellis' Global Frequency series? It was a series of one shots of people taking down unique and weird threats. His short stint on Secret Avengers is Global Frequency with super heroes, right down to a new artist on every issue! This one rests on Steve Rogers (at this time former Captain America), Black Widow, SHIELD agent Sharon Carter, and Moon Knight taking down the man who has developed a drug that may be an offshoot of the super soldier serum that created Captain America. What follows is a fun and fast paced tale of infiltration and fighting and includes Moon Knight playing James Bond, Steve Rogers setting someone on fire using alcohol, and the two women being a pair of purely awesome bad asses that they don't always get a chance to be. The twists of the plot and the tiny character moments make this issue work so well and make me happy to enjoy this all too brief run of Ellis. We finally get a sequel to Global Frequency, all it is missing is the Brian Wood covers. Did I mention the whole mission is finished once the issue ends? It is a short and awesome action movie with no commitment to further issues, though I highly recommend you stay on for the whole ride! 5/5

more comic reviews from 11/16

Avengers #19 - I am a bit of a sucker for team forming stories, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that I liked this issue which introduces the "new" Avengers team. I say it like that because really they are just out a member or two and replace them with Storm and a former Avenger who is a fan favorite who I did miss. It also seems like Spider-Man and Wolverine are off the team which is good, they are both on two other teams, Avengers will do fine without em. Now though I admit how much of a sucker I am, this issue did have some hitches, like Storm appearing and then being shoved aside mid sentence for the mystery Avenger (which is fine in and of itself but I hope this isn't how she is treated for good), and a few too many random asides and conversations that don't add much to the story, but that is Bendis for you. I do have two fanboyish gripes though, first I thought everyone forgot that Thor ever existed and was replaced perpetually by the new thunder god? If so I don't think Bendis got the message, this is the second Avengers issue post Fear Itself to discuss missing Thor, just seems like he doesn't care about the ideas of others. My other thing is that at the end a villain shows up to make a ruckus and it made me wonder, do the Avengers go out and stop evil anymore? Or does it always come to them? Besides that though, as I said I'm a sucker for these stories. 4/5

Fear Itself #7.3 - With this issue the 7 issue Fear Itself finally ends its 10 issue run. Like 7.1 and 7.2 (I hate the point system by the way) these are really just an issue of the main book of whoever is starring in the given issue (this time Iron Man) and "resolve" something doing with Fear Itself. Thus far by resolve it has meant undoing a major event, like (spoilers)


In 7.1 we find out Bucky Barnes never actually died, Nick Fury and Black Widow replaced him with a fake to force Steve Rogers to return as Cap, which understandably pisses Cap off but at the end he agrees and it ends happy. 7.2 does something similar and finishes with Thor opening his eyes.

Now in 7.3 we get another major event in Fear Itself being nullified by the definition of dues ex machina, and it pulls it off...mostly. It only works because it is built in such a way that you want the villain to pay, want horrible things to happen to them because of all the right heartstrings being pulled by the incident which gets over turned. As far as take backs go it isn't all that badly done and makes you a bit happy about it, until you really think about it. In this comic Iron Man who is the title character of this issue, doesn't do anything. He doesn't solve the problem, he just mopes and wines and contemplates murdering a defenseless man. The latter by the way becomes irrelevant later on and makes Tony seem a bit of a dick. But on first read through the book works, gets the response it wants and only after thinking about it do you find the flaws. 3/5

Walking Dead #91 - At this point in time you either read the Walking Dead or you don't. The art is great as always and the story is still moving along. This issue is a little bit more resolution and build up over the last few issues of big events. It is a breather issue while giving Sophie (who needs to be found in the show already) and Andrea (who could just die already in the show) a few good character moments. If anything my only criticism is as a stand alone issue this doesn't offer much, unlike the more recent ones, but it will work great in the trade. 4/5

Incredible Hulk #2 - I don't know what I think about Bruce Banner being an immoral mad scientist trying to get the Hulk back after seperating them. I also don't know about undoing the excellent ending to Pak's run on Hulk off panel. But it has happened and we must move on when dealing with corporate comics and I shall. The Banner parts of this story just don't jive with me. I can't see him experimenting on anything and everything due to being sad he isn't Hulk anymore, especially what he does at the end, pure evil move; I also don't see Betty/She-Hulk leaving like she does in a flashback outside of editorial mandate so she can be in the Defenders. So that part of the book doesn't work for me. The Hulk part where he fights giant sharks on the other hand, now that works! Why can't the book just be that? The mysterious government woman who keeps flirting with Hulk can die though, don't care one bit. Just give me Hulk fighting giant monsters! The art is a bit of an issue, the issue got a ton of flack for many fill in artists on this the second issue and from an Image founder at that, many jokes flew. But since Silvestri is apparently dealing with a medical problem it is very understandable. The art won't impact the final result which I'm afraid is a bit low due to Banner weirdness. 2/5

Wonder Woman #3 - Did I read a weirdly mixed issue? It felt to me like the first dozen pages were in the wrong order, I should have tried a different copy to find out for sure. Besides that little snafu though, this continues an interesting take on the Amazon. We find out in this issue that Diana wasn't made from clay after all and that her mother actually had an affair with Zeus himself to conceive her. The story of lust and keeping it hidden from bards and Gods alike takes up a bit of the issue as is building to it and resolving it. This issue is sadly a bit of filler and makes me question why did WW ever go to Paradise Island in the first place when she just turns around and leaves. I'm still invested in this story after the first two issues, but this one added nothing beyond giving WW a daddy and showing angry Amazons. Thankfully the art is still wonderfully done and I am invested from before. 3/5

Witch Doctor #4 - what a fun ride this book has been! With this issue our good doctor and his lackeys fight Cthulhu's Deep Ones in only a way a doctor of the occult could. This issue is also the first to start tying things together, showing the greater world outside of the occult medical emergencies and start to thread it all together. This is the final issue of this series, with a one shot coming out shortly and another series to follow shortly. If you haven't been reading this I highly recommend picking up the trade when it is released since odds are your comic shop criminally under ordered this. 5/5