June 27 Reviews

Its a Marvel blowout this week! I'm not really sure how that happened (way to hang strong Walking Dead), but lately having only Marvel books isn't as terrible as it once was. There were some really fun releases this week, several we enjoyed in particular. Hope you all found some titles you could get into as well!


World War Hulk: X-Men #1
Marvel
3.5/5

This entire issue is essentially one big pointless fight that ends about where it started. That said, I was still terrifically entertained and will check out the remaining two issues of this series. Gage does a solid job with the mentor-student relationship in the dialogue between McCoy and the children. The opening scenes with Xavier were wasted though, as his questions have already been addressed in Endangered Species and elsewhere. Not essential by any means, but damn enjoyable.
-Grady


Thunderbolts #115
Marvel
4.5/5

*spoilers*
This is my favorite of the titles to emerge during the Initiative. I'm not too interested in the Avengers, The Order, nor the New Warriors. Granted I'll scan all those titles from time to time I'm sure, N.W. in particular may end up snagging me, but Thunderbolts is the one I won't miss. Ellis has got me fascinated in characters that I normally would have cast aside as lame third-tier nobodies or pointless re-hashes. I'm increasingly sold on this roided-out Mac Gargan version of Venom. He has zero depth but provides constant brutal excitement, and I'm starting to respect him as an actual character. Penance is a great concept so far, though I'm a bit iffy about his proposed solo title. In the context of this series though, he is undoubtedly one of the more compelling pieces.

One of the things I love about this series is that things truly feel out of control. Reading most Stark-festering Initiative titles feels like a heavily scripted experience. With Thunderbolts, however, you never know what to expect. Ellis has managed to get under my skin in ways those other titles haven't. Bullseye severing Jack Flag's spine, Penance beating his own skull open against a concrete wall, Ollie Osnick having his arm savagely ripped off - this title is serious and brutal. The dialogue is spot-on and the art is perfectly adapted to this temper of story. The violence here wouldn't have near the effect if not for the unbelievably good facial expressions Deodato presents. This is violence you can feel.

Of course all this blood would be meaningless without an inspired story, something which Thunderbolts definitely has. Everyone wants something and are doing whatever they have to in order to get it. The deeper facets of the plot actually have quite an intriguing espionage style to them.

If you follow anything in Marvel U, you should be reading this.
-Tom



X-Factor #20
Marvel
3.5/5

With Endangered Species coming up I decided to jump on-board this title. You win Marvel. Hopefully I'll come out a winner in all this too. We'll see.

I can't say much for the storyline that this issue concludes as I'm not privy to any of what's come before, but I do like what I've seen here in terms of character relations and development. There's a playfulness at work that I felt was implemented well and that didn't insult my maturity in ways titles like Runaways or New X-Men can. Madrox seems smart and self-reflective which brings a nice dimension to things as well. From what I did see in terms of story this most recent arc was somewhat of a throwaway, but I can easily see where this title (because of its characters) has the potential to be totally engrossing. I'm excited to get into this one.
-Grady



Criminal #7
Marvel
5/5

There simply isn't enough that I can say about this series. Holy shit Brubaker. Not only did this issue tie this new arc in with the first, but it also introduced multiple new elements as well. The whole thing, one scene in particular, is just begging for people to mention the movie Heat, in a way more 'awesome' than 'cliche.' Looking back through this issue I can't believe how much ground is covered, and how effortlessly. A month is way too long to wait for more of this.
-Tom



X-Men First Class V.2 #1
Marvel
3/5

I guess I was just hoping for something different from this. I was hoping it was a bit more serious and historically relevant than what it is. This story was a cute little tale about Jean Grey and her teenage girly emotions. Alright, fairly; It's a well intentioned stand-alone about being the only girl in a group of teenage boys. The whole concept was well executed and the male X 'dudes' are all entertaining little rapscallions, but all-in-all I wasn't really sure why I was reading it. Recommended for pre-teen folks.
-Grady



X-Men #200
Marvel
4.5/5

*spoilers*
If this is the type of quality we can be expecting from future issues of X-Men then color me excited. That said, a great deal of what made this issue so great was the depth that comes from having all the teams together. Carey deserves credit for balancing such a huge load of personalities and face-time while still managing to put together plot threads that I was actually interested in following. Whether or not the series will continue to be this complex and interesting once all the other teams are gone is to be seen, but this issue feels like a definite changing point. By the end of the issue several of Rogue's team members have defected as traitors, and the entire structure of the series is thrown into disarray. A welcome change from my perspective, as I didn't particularly think those characters were interesting choices to have around in the first place. Carey seems to be ready to mix up the status quo in X-Men, and so far that seems like a really good thing.

This continues to be the most interesting I've ever found Rogue, who still gets a great deal of the spotlight. Beast is having a comeuppance lately as well; heavily featured here, in WWH X-Men, and in Endangered Species.

I'm going on record as siding against the art in this series. It works for messy action scenes, like those with the Hecatomb, but I can't stand the look of the characters. Wolverine looks particularly bad, as do most of the women who all have the same face, waistline, and monstrous breasts and only can be told apart because of exaggerated color schemes and outfits.

As for the first installment of the Endangered Species, there isn't a whole lot to say. Not much can be conveyed in 8 pages, and most of these were dedicated to summarizing the events of House of M. So far though it seems pretty well done, we'll have to see where it goes next week.

I'm excited to be suddenly enjoying all of the X books. When did this happen?
-Grady

Me Too
-Tom


Daredevil #98
Marvel
4/5

Daredevil works best when it's 'small' like this. Murdock has emotional investment in these events, and something is actually on the line. Brubaker excels at creating stories where the outcome truly matters. Daredevil still has the potential to have powerful, personal stories in the vein of Death of Gwen Stacy because it hasn't taken its scope past what it focused on in the first place. That's not saying this arc has been of such a caliber, it hasn't, but it is certainly good and consistently moving in a stronger direction. It feels like Brubaker may be about to deliver some of the best Daredevil stories in years.
-Tom


The Walking Dead #38
Image
4/5

This series almost always delivers. This issue is no exception, save for the delays in its release. Nothing overtly climactic happens here as the issue mostly continues to set up for the imminent birth of Lori's child and conflict with the Woodbury survivors. Walking Dead isn't known for its action though, its known for character development and interpersonal relationships, which this issue delivers in spades.

Kirkman has got himself in a position where he has to put-up or shut-up in the next several installments. I'm rooting for him. This is a great series.
-Tom