Category Archives: Marvel Comics

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #3 REVIEW

Marvel Comics, , , , ,

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Let me start off by saying that I am still loving on Superior Spider-Man.  Every page is a page turner, which is how a good story is supposed to be.  There’s a couple of funny moments, such as when Mayor J. Jonah Jameson thought he was going to be in control of Spider-Man.  And the interaction between the Vulture and his henchmen.  Those bird-like creatures talked and acted as if they were kids, and were treated as such.  They were given pizza and game tokens!

A lot is going on in this issue.

  • Spider-Man’s revenge against Adrian Toomes, the Vulture
  • Peter Parker in Doc Ock’s memories, being zapped in and out of his flashbacks
  • Carlie increasing suspicion of the true identity of Spider-Man

To spare a lengthy post, I’ll touch on Spider-Man’s revenge against Adrian Toomes, the Vulture.

Spider-Man went to Toomes and offered him a way out of his life of crime.  Thinking he was joking, the Vulture ordered an attack.  After knocking one of them to the ground, Spidey learned the bird-like creatures were children.

I told you they talked and acted as if they were children!  I was shocked to learn the truth also.

ssm3chase2Spider-Man had a flashback of his dad striking him when he was a young boy.  Outraged he went after Toomes to put a stop to him for good.

They fought.  And they fought.  And they fought.  Until the end.  Toome’s end.

There is so much going on in this story that I can’t fit it all into this post.  Well I can but no one will read it all.  Not even me.  Too long.

So I’ll wrap it up here.  This series is still going strong.  One of the best Marvel NOW! titles.  Very strong dialogue and pacing.  Dan Slott is still the man.  He packed a lot in this issue without skipping a beat.

Ryan Stegman still has it going on with the art.  Several intricate scenes.  Edgar Delgado is great with the colors.  A few of the panels made me cry, especially Otto’s flashback of his dad hitting him as a child.

VERDICT (drum roll please)

Do I really need to tell you my recommendation?  If yes, then go back and read the first sentence in this post.  Better yet I’ll copy it here for you:

Let me start off by saying that I am still loving on Superior Spider-Man.

If you haven’t already started reading Superior Spider-Man, now is the time to start.  While you’re at the comic shop you may as well grab issues 1 and 2 also.

FEARLESS DEFENDERS #1 REVIEW

Marvel Comics, , , , , , ,

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The Fearless Defenders #1, a new Marvel NOW! title, was released yesterday. Although the team, I mean non-team, will grow as the series progresses, this issue introduced its’ leaders, Valkyrie and Misty Knight.

VALKYRIE

  • Shieldmaiden
  • Defender of Asgardia

MISTY KNIGHT

  • Former police officer, turned private investigator
  • Bionic arm (right arm) built by Stark Industries
  • Feisty, street smart

Misty and Valkyrie were brought together by chance while taking on dead Vikings. Misty swiped an ancient Asgardian artifact and turned it over to Dr. Annabelle Riggs. The artifact turned out to be an Asgardian messenger spirit. Somehow the messenger was activated and began to sing.

The spirit awakened the dead Vikings from the Viking grave; the survey site of Dr. Riggs and her crew.

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As Misty began to fight the dead Vikings, Valkrye arrived and joined forces with Misty. The story ended with Valkyrie, Misty and Dr. Riggs preparing to go on a dangerous journey. Valkyrie warned that the messenger said the Doommaidens were rising and that it was Valkyrie’s fault.

lacracha 016I AM PROUD TO SEE A BLACK KICK-ASS FEMALE SUPERHERO IN THE FOREFRONT. This is rare. Storm is the only black leading female superhero that I’m aware of within the Marvel Universe.

We already know there’s a lack of black comic writers, male and female, in the comic industry. But to take a strong, black B-list female and put her in the front is definitely worth praising Marvel a thousand times. Well, more than a thousand I should say. I give Marvel my utmost respect at this time.

Misty’s style and appearance is what I’ve been looking for in comics for years. In a leading black female superhero, that is. Sharp, attention-grabbing costume, nice shape and beautiful looks. Not to mention a sassy attitude. Come on now, this girl don’t play. She takes shit off no one.

As a black female, I can fully appreciate this extraordinary woman being selected as a leader of a powerful team (I know, I know…non-team). For as long as I can remember, I’ve watched the comic industry to see if a black female superhero, besides Storm, would be given a chance. And now it has happened.

feardefend3Not only did Cullen Bunn bring two badasses together, he also brought two badass girls from two different worlds. He did a superb job at pulling that off.

Strong dialogue. Great pacing.

The only thing I didn’t like in the story is the kissing scene. The panel where Dr. Riggs kissed Valkyrie. That scene shouldn’t have made the cut. It didn’t fit into the story. See my More Storytelling and Less Politics Please blog.

Come on now. She met Valkyrie. She should have ran back inside that tent and grabbed her camera. The camera she used to record the messenger spirit. She should have held a photo session, autograph session or something of that nature. The background glow made the scene even worse.

Along with a great story comes great art. Excellent cover page by Mark Brooks.

Will Sliney and Veronica Gandini did an excellent job on the interior pages. I found each panel to be finely detailed. Great costumes. I especially like Misty Knight’s appearance. Her facial features, especially her eyes, appear lifelike.

I did a little research about Valkyrie and Misty Knight before the title was released, so I knew in advance the Fearless Defenders was going to be led by two strong, kick-ass women. I plan to read further about these two. Whenever I read a good story with characters I know little or nothing about, I always try to read upon and study their backgrounds to learn more about their histories.

VERDICT (drum roll please)

If you can’t tell by now that I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this series, then you need to read this review again from the beginning. Especially the parts about the well written story and the excellent artwork.

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #2 REVIEW

Marvel Comics, , , , , ,

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This issue begins with Spider-Man getting a public thank you from the college dean and Mayor J. Jonah Jameson.  He and Mary Jane goes out a few times but he got nothing more than a peck on the cheek at the end of each date.  As for patrolling the city, Peter Parker (you know he’s really Otto Octavius right) constructed spider-bots and placed them along his usual routes.  He keeps track of them with the patrol app he created.

MJ’s nightclub was raided (the first spider-bot alert) by vultures but she was saved by Spider-Man.  There was a tense moment between the two of them, but Spidey realized it was time to to let her go.

The story ended with Mary Jane telling Carlie about what happened between she and Spider-Man, then Carlie had a flashback of Doc Ock telling her that he was Spider-Man (ASM #700).

Superior Spider-Man #2 is well written, thanks to Dan Slott.  This issue couldn’t have been better.  Every page is a page turner, and I don’t say that often.  The pacing is perfect.  I like how Peter Parker is still around, although in spirit.  He follows Doc Ock and tries to dictate his every move.  Too bad Doc Ock can’t hear him.  I laughed so lough and hard while reading this issue.

Ryan Stegman did a superb job on the artwork.  I especially like the cover page and the splash page of Spidey and MJ, with Peter Parker in the background!

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THE VERDICT (drum roll please)

If you haven’t already started reading Superior Spider-Man then I highly recommend that you start.  I feel it’s the best Marvel Now! title I’ve read so far.

DEADPOOL KILLUSTRATED #1 REVIEW

Marvel Comics, , ,

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Anti-hero.  Mentally unstable.  Witty.  Violent.  That’s Deadpool for you and It’s no holds barred in Deadpool Killustrated.  I’m a faithful Deadpool reader so I was immediately drawn to this miniseries.

Realizing that he’s a fictional character, Deadpool travels through fictional worlds of classic literature to destroy everyone in it.  His goal is to get closer to its’ creators and kill them, to eliminate the existence of superheroes and supervillains.

There’s quite a bit of dialogue at the beginning, and can be confusing to readers who may not, for example, have read Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe (looking around, whistling).  However, it’s a good set-up for the story.

dpkillmarvunivAfter reading Deadpool Killustrated the first time, I have to admit I was somewhat lost at the beginning.  I needed to know what the heck was going on.  So I did a little research and read about Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe.  I can honestly say I now have a deeper understanding of Deadpool’s motive for his quest to bring down the fictional worlds ( I plan to read the universe miniseries very soon).  I then re-read Killustrated.

I’ve been a reader of Deadpool for a few months and the Merc with a Mouth I’m used to wasn’t fully engaged.  The  humor and fights with his schizophrenic inner voice wasn’t there as much.  Deadpool was himself, but in more of a relaxed nature.  He’s a psychopath but he has critical thinking skills.  Thoughts of a “normal” person.  It’s obvious that he’s well focused.

The Moby Dick twist is a good one.  Deadpool did what Captain Ahab couldn’t do; kill Moby Dick.  Coming out of Moby’s bloody blowhole was gross, but what did you expect?  It’s Deadpool!  I did my usual, “Ugh” while laughing.  Along the way he somehow stuck a knife in Pinocchio’s head.  He realized something wasn’t right because Pinocchio doesn’t belong in the story.  That’s when the vision came, another Moby Dick twist.  Deadpool then proceeded to kill the ship’s crew, starting with Ishmael.

I have to give Cullen Bunn props on this one.  The story is well written and the pacing is perfect.  The art (Matteo Lolli) is excellent, especially the cover page (Mike Mundo).

VERDICT (drum roll please)

I find the story to be well written.  Bunn Cullen did a great job at setting up the story and introducing us to the ideaverse.  After reading it a second time, I felt that too many jokes from Deadpool and the constant bickering with himself would pull away from the story.  Cullen set-up shop then went straight to story twisting.

The art is awesome, especially the cover page.  Lolli and Mundo did a great job.  A good comic is a combination of well written dialogue and great art.  Deadpool Killustrated has both.  I plan to continue reading the miniseries and recommend new readers to read it as well.

YOUNG AVENGERS #1 REVIEW

Marvel Comics,

youngadv1

I bought this title for my tween son, but I was curious to read it as well.  This honest review is coming from not just a comic geek, but a concerned parent as well.

I was not hooked at all by this story.  The pacing is off and I couldn’t help but to feel lost.  The story begins with Kate Bishop waking up not remembering the name of the guy she spent the night with (Noh-Varr).  The scene then turns into the “music video” the writer (Kieron Gillen) and artist (Jamie McKelvie) talked about in interviews.

One minute you see Loki goofing off in a diner, the next minute he’s zapped onto a rooftop where he’s roughed up by the beautiful Miss America Chavez.  At this point, her intentions are unknown but the timing of this scene is off.

What concerned and frustrated me about this issue was the hurried emphasis on teenage romance.  At one point I thought I was reading Judy Blume.  I expected to see teenagers in action, kicking butt.  Instead I got a teenage gay couple, crying and opening up about their feelings for one another.  Hulkling did a dramatic breakdown in front of Wiccan, followed by a passionate kiss.  The thing that concerns me the most is the condoning of this behavior by Wiccan’s parents.  Not only do they allow Hulkling and Wiccan to live together, they became irate when Hulkling’s mother confronted them with her feelings about their relationship.

Do I like anything about Young Avengers #1?  Yes I do.

LIKES

  • artwork (excellent job Jamie McKelvie and Mike Norton)
  • Miss America Chavez and her awesome costume
  • The little chat Hulkling’s mom had with Wiccan’s parents, and the action she took against them at the end.

Dislikes

  • weak pacing
  • weak dialogue
  • no hook or page turner
  • inappropriate and the condoning of sexual behavior among teenagers

VERDICT (drum roll please)

The artwork is phenomonal.  However unless the pacing and dialogue picks up, I don’t see this as being a successful Marvel NOW! title.