What a pile of crap.
Let's start with Bunker. When, exactly, did he go from being an
excellent example of how to handle gay characters (treat them like
everyone else) to an offensive set of ridiculous stereotypes? Is this
the result of some new editorial mandate? Is it Fabian Nicieza's script
"assistance" that's to blame? Because Bunker is absurd here. Almost
every line he speaks is a gay cliche, most idiotically when he gets
excited to change his clothes multiple times. And his down time outfit
is equally moronic. I'm not saying there aren't teenagers like this in
the world, but it's new for this character, and it's a huge step down
from the way he acted before. Where once we had a fun-loving kid who
happened to be gay but was more focused on being the best, most
enthusiastic superhero he could be, now we have an over-the-top gay kid
who just happens to be a superhero once in a while. Awful.
But not even the worst part. The worst part was Diesel. Quick writing tip: using the line, "This is what I get for NOT
killing you when I had the chance," is not different than using the
hackneyed, "I shoud've killed you when I had the chance." Those are the
same, and they are both so dumb. Even dumber is, "Kill them! Kill them
dead!" I mean the guy is just laughable. He looks like a fool and he
acts like a bigger one. And then Wonder Girl defeats him too easily, and
spouts off a poorly-written and unconvincing speech about how much she
loves him. No, Cassie, you don't. You were infatuated with him when you
guys were a pair of risk-taking teenagers who thought of themselves as
badasses but were basically just petty crooks. That is not love, and
neither is taking on the burden of his weird sentient armor. It may be
the right thing to do, and it may be done out of concern for his
well-being, but I do not buy the true love angle. Pull the other one.
So Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza's script is a big fat misfire.
I haven't even talked about how Superboy and Red Robin both take off
suddenly and awkwardly so that they can go be in other titles. And
that's another thing I hated: the excessive ads for other titles. Birds of Prey, Superboy, and Batman
all got shout outs via obnoxious captions. Is it not possible for DC to
have a team book without pulling this crap? They did it in Justice League Dark and now they're doing it here, to a truly unbearable degree. Even the cliffhanger ending of Teen Titans
#14 was an ad for the "Death of the Family" event. I understand that
the cast of this title are involved in other things, but that shouldn't
make it impossible for the book to stand on its own.
So was the art any better? Yes, but barely. Alé Garza does a
servicable job for much of the issue, but there are definitely a few
odd/confusing layout choices. What really bothered me, though, was the
way he drew the female characters. It's not just that they were overly
busty, but their breasts were highlighted as often as possible by what
they were wearing (or not wearing), the way the shots were angled or
lit, or even just by having Kiran continuously try to cover hers up with
her hands. These are supposed to be teenagers. Any chance it could be
the one book where gross fantasies can be set aside? Evidently not. And
of course there is Bunker's clothing, which I mentioned above, plus Kid
Flash looking weirdly gaunt and big-eyed. I know that this is all
taste-based stuff, as opposed to a technical critique of the artwork,
but so be it. Garza's work apparently runs counter to my tastes.
Strongly so.
What can I say, Teen Titans? You're getting dropped. You
used to be a lot of fun, but basically ever since "The Culling" you've
been a jumbled mess. And with this dreadful issue, I'm giving up entirely. Peace.
1.0/10
Showing posts with label Teen Titans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teen Titans. Show all posts
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Pull List Review: Teen Titans #10
This is a difficult issue to sum up. It was...pleasantly nothing. I mean, in terms of story, nothing goes on. The Titans find themselves on a strange island full of dinosaurs, hang out there for a while, and then leave. That's pretty much the size of it.
Of course, this lack of plot leaves room for lots and lots of character moments, and many of those were excellent. Kid Flash and Solstice's tender little love scene felt natural, and I think their romance will probably be quite enjoyable as it develops. And even Red Robin's conversation with Superboy, while it started out feeling forced, ended up being an important exchange between the two biggest names on the team. Best of all, though, was Bunker. God, Scott Lobdell is just nailing it with this character. He has been the brightest, funniest, and most interesting member of this team since he showed up. There's a wisdom he brings to this superhero game that his fellow teenage heroes lack, and it makes him an invaluable part of the cast. I just wish he could give his "This isn't a zero sum game" speech to the hyper-intense, nobody-dies version of Spider-Man we have now, because it's a lesson which that dude desperately needs to learn.
Anyway, this character work is the thrust of the issue, and even though there's more good than bad, it still ends up being kind of a boring read. This isn't helped by the wedged-in death of Danny the Alley at the end, which just lacked the weight it wanted to have because Danny is such a new character to the title, and one we've seen so little of even since his introduction. Then there's the final page with Amanda Waller, essentially a teaser for whatever the next big arc of this series will be, and it felt even more shoehorned than Danny's demise. So, a story with no real movement than fails to stick the landing. Not exactly terrible, because we needed a post-Culling palette cleanser, and not disposable, either, because it advanced some of the team's relationships in significant ways, but just...pleasantly nothing. You just have to take is as it is for now, I guess, and hope the excitement kicks back in next time.
6.0/10
Of course, this lack of plot leaves room for lots and lots of character moments, and many of those were excellent. Kid Flash and Solstice's tender little love scene felt natural, and I think their romance will probably be quite enjoyable as it develops. And even Red Robin's conversation with Superboy, while it started out feeling forced, ended up being an important exchange between the two biggest names on the team. Best of all, though, was Bunker. God, Scott Lobdell is just nailing it with this character. He has been the brightest, funniest, and most interesting member of this team since he showed up. There's a wisdom he brings to this superhero game that his fellow teenage heroes lack, and it makes him an invaluable part of the cast. I just wish he could give his "This isn't a zero sum game" speech to the hyper-intense, nobody-dies version of Spider-Man we have now, because it's a lesson which that dude desperately needs to learn.
Anyway, this character work is the thrust of the issue, and even though there's more good than bad, it still ends up being kind of a boring read. This isn't helped by the wedged-in death of Danny the Alley at the end, which just lacked the weight it wanted to have because Danny is such a new character to the title, and one we've seen so little of even since his introduction. Then there's the final page with Amanda Waller, essentially a teaser for whatever the next big arc of this series will be, and it felt even more shoehorned than Danny's demise. So, a story with no real movement than fails to stick the landing. Not exactly terrible, because we needed a post-Culling palette cleanser, and not disposable, either, because it advanced some of the team's relationships in significant ways, but just...pleasantly nothing. You just have to take is as it is for now, I guess, and hope the excitement kicks back in next time.
6.0/10
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Boy Do I Feel Stupid: The Pointlessness of "The Culling" & "The Omega Effect"
It's not that I expect great things from comicbook crossovers. I understand that their main purpose is to boost sales across titles, and secondary to that is the telling of a good story. It may not be true for everyone involved, but it tends to be the ultimate reality. However, for both DC's "The Culling" and Marvel's "The Omega Effect" I did let my expectations rise just a little because I was already reading the titles they spun out of (Teen Titans and Daredevil, respectively). And those titles were GOOD. Teen Titans wasn't exactly flooring me, but it was one of the most genuinely fun series I followed, always full of wit and with a cast that grew on me more each month. Daredevil, meanwhile, was even better, some of the strongest work done with the hero or his alter-ego in quite a while. And more often than not, it was better than any of the other superhero titles coming out from either publisher. Not only that, but both books had been building up to their respective crossover stories for a long time. Hell, Teen Titans since it's very first issue. So I was invested, inasmuch as I always am in the stories of series I like, and I think I was reasonable in my expectation of some amount of narrative closure from the crossovers. Because I was told, in-story and through advertising, interviews, etc. that they were what everything was moving toward. Problem is, "The Omega Effect" and "The Culling" have come and gone, Marvel and DC have each made extra money off of me for one month, and I have yet to find any such closure.
Admittedly, "The Culling" is more successful than "The Omega Effect," at least in terms of its ultimate conclusion, but it's a worse, even less significant story along the way. Pages upon pages are filled with nothing more than teen meta-humans fighting each other without any clear victors or lasting consequences. All of which leads to even more drawn out fighting, this time between the big bad Harvest and the combined forces of the Teen Titans and Legion Lost teams. I don't mind a good old-fashioned superpowered slug-fest, even one that lasts for multiple issues, but only if it also serves to somehow move the story forward. In "The Culling," the fighting is the story, pretty much. The larger narrative arc is that the Titans and Legion want to free themselves and the other prisoners from Harvest and N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s clutches, but basically all that amounts to is the two teams fighting various enemies on multiple fronts for four issues until the very, very end when a real plan is put into place and an evacuation begins. But by the time that evacuation and the subsequent destruction of the N.O.W.H.E.R.E. facility occur, it's hard to muster up much enthusiasm as a reader, because we've already had to slog through so much meaningless punching and yelling from such a vast number of characters that the point of the whole mess has been lost. Or, if not entirely lost, at the very least dramatically dampened by the ridiculously awful pacing and storytelling.
The other obnoxious thing about the ending of "The Culling" is that, while it arguably ties up some of the smaller threads from of the overarching story of N.O.W.H.E.R.E. and it's goals, it still doesn't even remotely attempt to explain what those goals might actually be. We learn a little bit more about Harvest than we knew going in, primarily that he is either from the future or has spent time there, but his endgame and the desires of his wicked organization remain as mysterious as ever. Which is what I mean when I talk about a lack of closure. For almost a year, Teen Titans has centered on the team's attempts to uncover and thwart N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s undoubtedly evil plans, but even when they are in the belly of the best, the best they can do is, apparently, to blow shit up without getting any concrete answers. It doesn't help that almost all of Harvest's lines are intentionally cryptic and vague, which some of the other characters actually call attention to. But the bigger problem, I think, lies in the fact that "The Culling" spanned three different titles plus an annual, and so it was afraid to tell too complete a tale. Rather than answer any of the looming questions from the preceding Teen Titans issues, it tried to tell a story which could be understood by fans of any of its series, even if that meant drastically diluting the narrative quality of each individual chapter. Which, as I've said, is usually the main goal of any crossover, so maybe I should have anticipated it, but I believe now as I did beforehand that it would have been possible to do both, to provide new and important information regarding N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s aims while simultaneously relating a unique and self-contained adventure involving casts of multiple titles. That the creators behind "The Culling" choose instead to do a story of so little substance that it could probably be removed from the canon entirely without majorly impacting any of the series involved is, I think, pathetic and a bit cowardly. But it's nothing compared to the utter pointlessness of "The Omega Effect."
"The Omega Effect" kind of suffers from the opposite, or maybe inverse, problem as "The Culling." Rather than being a fluffy, meaningless story with a weak bit of unsatisfying closure at the end, it's a mostly semi-interesting story that has a cop out, bullshit ending which doesn't even try for closure. And that makes it, overall, the worse of the two crossovers in my book, even if while I was reading it I enjoyed it slightly more.
Daredevil had already, in the pages of his own title, discovered and obtained the Omega Drive, a device with secret financial and other information on several of the "Megacrime" organizations in the Marvel U: A.I.M., Hydra, Black Spectre, etc. It was an interesting and dangerous situation, because DD knew he couldn't keep the drive out of his enemies' hands indefinitely, nor could he effectively use it against them on his own. So "The Omega Effect" was meant to be, or at any rate set itself up to be, the story of how DD would resolve the problem of possessing such a hotly-sought-after bit of technology. And for 2/3's of the story, that's exactly what it pretended it was. DD joined forces with Spider-Man and the Punisher, and after a bit of bickering, they all agreed on a course of action that would lay this Omega Drive issue to rest for good. Then in it's final act, the story inexplicably and needlessly changed course, and by the end of the crossover literally nothing had changed. Not in regards to the Omega Drive anyway. Yes, there was some tiny character development for Punisher's new partner, Sgt. Cole-Alves, but other than that, the status quo of everyone involved was exactly what it had been before the crossover began. DD still had the drive, Megacrime still wanted it, and a plan to fix all of that still needed to be devised. Apparently, the "Effect" in "The Omega Effect" was that it had none whatsoever.
I'm still reading Daredevil and Teen Titans both, because they earned enough points with me before these crossovers took place that I wasn't going to drop them after one bad story. Especially one with extra writers in numerous titles. But as they move forward---Daredevil has had two issues since "The Omega Effect" and Titans' first post-"Culling" issue won't be until later this month---I find myself much less excited or anxious to see what's next. Which shouldn't be the case, because they're titles with strong track records and, because so little was changed by either of their crossovers, they still theoretically contain all the same story potential they did before. But I was so thoroughly underwhelmed and, more than that, truly disappointed by the crossovers that the sour taste they left in my mouth remains. Instead of using the momentum of these mini-events to launch into the next great leg of their respective narratives, these series now have to rebuild that momentum from zero. I do have hope that they can succeed, that in a few months these pointless stories will be distant, forgotten pieces of a much greater whole. Hope, yes, but no longer faith. Where once I trusted Teen Titans and Daredevil to regularly deliver the goods, I now feel only apprehension that they may no longer do so, and that right there is the biggest thing either "The Culling" or "The Omega Effect" accomplished. No great changes made within their own worlds, but out here in our world each series has at least one fewer enthusiastic fan.
Admittedly, "The Culling" is more successful than "The Omega Effect," at least in terms of its ultimate conclusion, but it's a worse, even less significant story along the way. Pages upon pages are filled with nothing more than teen meta-humans fighting each other without any clear victors or lasting consequences. All of which leads to even more drawn out fighting, this time between the big bad Harvest and the combined forces of the Teen Titans and Legion Lost teams. I don't mind a good old-fashioned superpowered slug-fest, even one that lasts for multiple issues, but only if it also serves to somehow move the story forward. In "The Culling," the fighting is the story, pretty much. The larger narrative arc is that the Titans and Legion want to free themselves and the other prisoners from Harvest and N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s clutches, but basically all that amounts to is the two teams fighting various enemies on multiple fronts for four issues until the very, very end when a real plan is put into place and an evacuation begins. But by the time that evacuation and the subsequent destruction of the N.O.W.H.E.R.E. facility occur, it's hard to muster up much enthusiasm as a reader, because we've already had to slog through so much meaningless punching and yelling from such a vast number of characters that the point of the whole mess has been lost. Or, if not entirely lost, at the very least dramatically dampened by the ridiculously awful pacing and storytelling.
The other obnoxious thing about the ending of "The Culling" is that, while it arguably ties up some of the smaller threads from of the overarching story of N.O.W.H.E.R.E. and it's goals, it still doesn't even remotely attempt to explain what those goals might actually be. We learn a little bit more about Harvest than we knew going in, primarily that he is either from the future or has spent time there, but his endgame and the desires of his wicked organization remain as mysterious as ever. Which is what I mean when I talk about a lack of closure. For almost a year, Teen Titans has centered on the team's attempts to uncover and thwart N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s undoubtedly evil plans, but even when they are in the belly of the best, the best they can do is, apparently, to blow shit up without getting any concrete answers. It doesn't help that almost all of Harvest's lines are intentionally cryptic and vague, which some of the other characters actually call attention to. But the bigger problem, I think, lies in the fact that "The Culling" spanned three different titles plus an annual, and so it was afraid to tell too complete a tale. Rather than answer any of the looming questions from the preceding Teen Titans issues, it tried to tell a story which could be understood by fans of any of its series, even if that meant drastically diluting the narrative quality of each individual chapter. Which, as I've said, is usually the main goal of any crossover, so maybe I should have anticipated it, but I believe now as I did beforehand that it would have been possible to do both, to provide new and important information regarding N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s aims while simultaneously relating a unique and self-contained adventure involving casts of multiple titles. That the creators behind "The Culling" choose instead to do a story of so little substance that it could probably be removed from the canon entirely without majorly impacting any of the series involved is, I think, pathetic and a bit cowardly. But it's nothing compared to the utter pointlessness of "The Omega Effect."
"The Omega Effect" kind of suffers from the opposite, or maybe inverse, problem as "The Culling." Rather than being a fluffy, meaningless story with a weak bit of unsatisfying closure at the end, it's a mostly semi-interesting story that has a cop out, bullshit ending which doesn't even try for closure. And that makes it, overall, the worse of the two crossovers in my book, even if while I was reading it I enjoyed it slightly more.
Daredevil had already, in the pages of his own title, discovered and obtained the Omega Drive, a device with secret financial and other information on several of the "Megacrime" organizations in the Marvel U: A.I.M., Hydra, Black Spectre, etc. It was an interesting and dangerous situation, because DD knew he couldn't keep the drive out of his enemies' hands indefinitely, nor could he effectively use it against them on his own. So "The Omega Effect" was meant to be, or at any rate set itself up to be, the story of how DD would resolve the problem of possessing such a hotly-sought-after bit of technology. And for 2/3's of the story, that's exactly what it pretended it was. DD joined forces with Spider-Man and the Punisher, and after a bit of bickering, they all agreed on a course of action that would lay this Omega Drive issue to rest for good. Then in it's final act, the story inexplicably and needlessly changed course, and by the end of the crossover literally nothing had changed. Not in regards to the Omega Drive anyway. Yes, there was some tiny character development for Punisher's new partner, Sgt. Cole-Alves, but other than that, the status quo of everyone involved was exactly what it had been before the crossover began. DD still had the drive, Megacrime still wanted it, and a plan to fix all of that still needed to be devised. Apparently, the "Effect" in "The Omega Effect" was that it had none whatsoever.
I'm still reading Daredevil and Teen Titans both, because they earned enough points with me before these crossovers took place that I wasn't going to drop them after one bad story. Especially one with extra writers in numerous titles. But as they move forward---Daredevil has had two issues since "The Omega Effect" and Titans' first post-"Culling" issue won't be until later this month---I find myself much less excited or anxious to see what's next. Which shouldn't be the case, because they're titles with strong track records and, because so little was changed by either of their crossovers, they still theoretically contain all the same story potential they did before. But I was so thoroughly underwhelmed and, more than that, truly disappointed by the crossovers that the sour taste they left in my mouth remains. Instead of using the momentum of these mini-events to launch into the next great leg of their respective narratives, these series now have to rebuild that momentum from zero. I do have hope that they can succeed, that in a few months these pointless stories will be distant, forgotten pieces of a much greater whole. Hope, yes, but no longer faith. Where once I trusted Teen Titans and Daredevil to regularly deliver the goods, I now feel only apprehension that they may no longer do so, and that right there is the biggest thing either "The Culling" or "The Omega Effect" accomplished. No great changes made within their own worlds, but out here in our world each series has at least one fewer enthusiastic fan.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Pull List Reviews 04/27/2012
So...I don't know whether or not Monocyte #4 came out this week. I thought it was supposed to, but they didn't have it at my local store, and the Internet isn't being helpful so I'm not certain if it was pushed back again or if my place just failed to order it. But other than that (and being late a day) pretty fair haul this week:
Astonishing X-Men #49: Some really nice moments here between Kyle and Northstar---a very well-written and emotionally resonant romance. Other than those few pages, though, nothing really stands out. A pretty boring fight with an even more boring and somewhat cliched resolution, which leads us to an even MORE cliched and totally obvious conclusion to the issue. I appreciate that Marjorie Liu gave most of her cast something to do, and there wasn't anything especially bad about this story, but there wasn't anything especially good, either. The same is true of Mike Perkins' art, which is rough and sloppy in places (like the horribly jumbled splash page in the middle of the fight) but generally serviceable if not impressive. And hey, am I supposed to know who the woman revealed on the final page is? Because I do not, and it weakened the effect of the ending, to my mind. Overall I walked away from Astonishing X-Men #49 feeling unenthusiastic about the future of the title. Not a bad read, but not one that particularly makes you want to come back for more.
5.0/10
Daredevil #11: Well, it's official. "The Omega Effect" was a bust. I read all three parts, and while none of them were spectacular, this finale was especially disappointing because it made the entire crossover feel totally pointless. What happened? Plenty, I guess. But what changed? Nothing. The Omega Drive is still in DD's hands, and now he has a "new plan" to deal with it, but based on how much of a waste of time his first plan was (meaning this issue right here) I find myself none-too-excited to learn what comes next. To be fair to Daredevil #11, Marco Checchetto delivered some incredible art, and the first third of the issue was pretty solid in terms of story: fun action with solid characterization of Spidey, DD, and Punisher all. And for just a second it seemed like this whole Omega Drive situation might actually be developed in an unexpected way. But as soon as Murdock took off after Alves---I use the name she prefers, and I honestly don't understand why no one else will---it got boring, everything was undone, and the status quo returned. Congratulations, Marvel, you tricked me into buying two extra comics this month for no reason. Four, arguably, because I probably could have just gone straight from Daredevil #10 to Daredevil #12 without feeling like I missed a thing (and there was that stupid ass .1 issue before TOE really kicked off). It's a bummer, because TOE had massive potential and awesome talent behind it, but alas, it ended with a fizzle rather than a bang.
3.5/10
Justice League Dark #8: I'm not sure how much needs to be said about this issue, which is Peter Milligan's last as writer of Justice League Dark, and you can feel him not giving a shit about it on every page. The super-forced exit of Shade, the Changing Man felt like it might have been the comicbook representation of Milligan's own exit from the title: the chaos of this thing he is supposed to be controlling becomes too much for him to handle, and so he just gives in to it and leaves. Next month we get a shift in the lineup of the team, a new writer, and, fingers crossed, a believable and compelling reason for these characters to even work together in the first place. That lack of focus or motive has been a problem for Justice League Dark since its debut, a fact that has never been more apparent than in this choppy, lackluster crossover issue.
2.0/10
Moon Knight #12: I know there were some naysayers, but I have been enjoying the story of Moon Knight vs. Count Nefaria in spite of their obvious power imbalance. There were definitely a few moments in some of their encounters where it seemed like Nefaria was holding back for no real reason, but in general I thought Brian Michael Bendis did a good job of keeping it believable and interesting. So going into Moon Knight #12, knowing it was going to be the conclusion to that tale, I had my hopes set pretty high. So maybe it's partially my fault for being so excited up front, but this issue was a massive letdown. He calls in the Avengers? Seriously, Bendis? That's the solution you came up with? After a year of Moon Knight steadfastly fighting this battle on his own terms, in his own city, with his own resources, he dials the superhero emergency line and lets somebody else finish the job. In one hit, might I add. Weak. But don't worry, there's a reason for it: Tony Stark gets to tease the upcoming Age of Ultron for two whole pages. WEAK! Don't plug your new project in the final throws of your old one, Bendis, ya schmuck. That's just classless all over. And now we'll never get the innovative, inventive, awesome finale this series deserved. Instead we're stuck with this forever. A cop out closing with below-the-bar art from Alex Maleev, less-badass-than-usual behavior from our title character, and what basically amounts to a commercial for a new title at the end. Nasty.
3.0/10
Rebel Blood #2: Though not quite as strong as its opening issue, Rebel Blood #2 continues to tell a singularly entertaining story of one man trying to cope with unimaginable horror all on his own. Chuck is a great blend of improvised action hero and terrified victim, responding to each new development with a combination of stunned shock and survivalist violence. And the brief trips we take into his unstable psyche in the midst of all this madness help to add both realism and surrealism to the book, grounding it in human fears, memories, and desires while at the same time building an uncertain reality and history for Chuck. As he is swept up by the unthinkable situation that surrounds him, the reader is carried right along with him by the fluid, restless storytelling and artwork from Alex Link and Riley Rossmo. It seems like the primary goal of Rebel Blood is to make the reader and Chuck one-and-the-same as much as possible, as far as our emotional and mental states while the narrative advances. And more often than not, that's exactly what happens. All of his disgust and anxieties are shared by the reader as the issue powers forward, never settling down long enough to let us or our protagonist get too solid a grip on anything. But even with that pacing, because this isn't a typical "group of survivors" story, we are able to fully experience what Chuck goes through, externally and internally, and that's precisely what makes Rebel Blood so good. Well, that and Rossmo's kinetic, brilliant artwork, which highlights the horrific elements of the story perfectly and is just rough enough around the edges to add to the surreality of the comic without detracting any clarity. In fact, in some places, like the flashback sequence, the art tells us more of the story than the letters do. We're already halfway through this series, and while it feels like it'll end too soon, I'd probably also be more than satisfied if the two issues we've seen so far were all that ever came out.
8.5/10
Secret Avengers #26: As far as event tie-ins go, Secret Avengers #26 is an exemplary comicbook. The story it tells, while spinning directly out of the main AvX narrative, stands largely on its own and could easily be enjoyed by someone who isn't following the event proper. It is, perhaps, a bit simplistic---a team of Avengers fight and fail to contain the Phoenix Force in space---but Rick Remender has a good handle on the voices of every single character (and there are quite a few), and gives each of them something to do without ever seeming like he's forcing it in. Each of their roles is logical and natural, and it gives the issue a real "team book" feel that Secret Avengers has been missing since Remender took the helm. And it felt for a while like Noh-Varr and Ms. Marvel were going to be ignored, but turns out they actually have pivotal roles to play in by the end of the issue (or, at any rate, they most likely will have said roles in the next issue). It's a fun and well-orchestrated story, but what really pushes Secret Avengers #26 over the edge is the team of artsit Renato Guedes, and colorists Bettie Breitweiser, and Matthew Wilson. I name all three because the soft yet vibrant colors are a major part of the overall affect, but Guedes is the champion, from his two-page Phoenix spread to his close-up on Captain Britain's nose bleed and everything Remender asks of him in between. As loathe as I am to say it, this tie-in has been my favorite of Remender's issues on Secret Avengers. Best art, best lineup, best story.
8.5/10
Spaceman #6: Losing a bit of momentum this time out, Spaceman #6 had a lot of characters communicating information to each other that we already knew. The scenes that took place on Mars were still good, but even they felt a little more by-the-numbers than they have in previous issues, merely moving the story of the space mission forward a step or two without offering any new insights. The moment where we see The Fence and all that surrounds it was important and well-done, but I wouldn't use those words to describe very much else in the issue. I mean, Eduardo Risso kills it as always, packing detail and emotion into every panel, but so much of what he draws is people standing around and talking that even the art deflates a little. And Brian Azzarello's script is the least interesting or original of this series so far. It's still a cut above any number of other titles, but the progress made in Spaceman #6 is so small that it felt like filler, which you don't want in a nine-issue limited series.
5.5/10
Teen Titans #8: Scott Lobdell clearly knows his cast, and their distinct voices and viewpoints have been a highlight of this title so far, but in Teen Titans #8 the one-by-one characterization was laid on a bit thick. It's still a fun read, but its only real purpose is to lead us into the upcoming "The Culling" crossover, and so that's all we get. I'm not complaining, really, just saying this issue was a tad light. One at a time, the Teen Titans are prepared for whatever Harvest and his followers have in store for them next, which is the main event, presumably, that Teen Titans has been ramping up to for some time. I'm excited for "The Culling" because Harvest is a pretty interesting villain (as are his lackeys Omen and Leash) and Lobdell has been doing good work with this cast. This prelude issue made me a little impatient since not a lot actually happened, but Solstice's dialogue with Bunker made the impending final confrontation between the Titans and N.O.W.H.E.R.E. seem even scarier and more exciting, and nothing here actively dampened my enthusiasm for "The Culling" so I guess, really, it was a solid prologue. Fluffy, maybe, but as good for new readers as old, and a probably necessary first step before leaping into the crossover.
6.0/10
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #9: I like Esad Ribic's art a lot, and he has been a major part of why Ultimates has been such an entertaining title, but I always find myself irked by the way he draws widely opened eyes or mouths. Any time anyone is yelling or surprised, and even sometimes in battle scenes, Ribic makes their eyes bug so much you expect them to pop out in the next panel, and their mouths take up half of their faces. Normally, this is a small complaint, but in Ultimate Comics Ultimates #9, for some reason, it happened an inordinate number of times. I'm nitpicking, because the rest of his art was at its typical high standard, but it was something I couldn't help but notice.
Aside from that, a middle-of-the-line kind of issue. Jonathan Hickman advances all of his numerous plot threads, but only a little bit, and not in any truly surprising ways. No one expected Zorn to be the solution to the City, but it was also not shocking when he did have the power to do some actual damage to it. And Reed Richards' retaliation against the U.S., while it looked cool, was pretty much to be expected. A shade decompressed for my taste, but no less high energy or interesting for it.
6.5/10
Uncanny X-Men #11: Kieron Gillen deals with the obligation of doing an AvX tie-in by showing us some scenes which we've already seen in the main title through the eyes and inner monologues of three characters from Uncanny X-Men. It's a fine enough approach, although I doubt it would be the least bit enjoyable for any Uncanny fans not following the event. And while Namor and Colossus both have strong voices here, neither of them says anything that felt all that new. I get why Namor likes mutants, and I get why Colossus struggles with being Cyttorak's avatar, so even though I didn't dislike their scenes, they were very much non-essential reading. Hope's part actually did teach me a thing or two, like Hope and Logan making a deal for him to kill her, or that she has an actual plan in her mind for dealing with the Phoenix (although how much do you wanna bet it doesn't go the way she wants?) but it was an extremely brief section of the issue, plus it's probably information we'll get somewhere else in another month or two, anyway. Greg Land's art was inconsistent at best. He seems to have difficulty with smaller panels, as many of his close-ups look unnatural and stagnant, but he nails most of the fight moments that take up a larger portion of the page.
The press release at the end was just stupid, and I choose to pretend those two pages don't exist.
5.0/10
Astonishing X-Men #49: Some really nice moments here between Kyle and Northstar---a very well-written and emotionally resonant romance. Other than those few pages, though, nothing really stands out. A pretty boring fight with an even more boring and somewhat cliched resolution, which leads us to an even MORE cliched and totally obvious conclusion to the issue. I appreciate that Marjorie Liu gave most of her cast something to do, and there wasn't anything especially bad about this story, but there wasn't anything especially good, either. The same is true of Mike Perkins' art, which is rough and sloppy in places (like the horribly jumbled splash page in the middle of the fight) but generally serviceable if not impressive. And hey, am I supposed to know who the woman revealed on the final page is? Because I do not, and it weakened the effect of the ending, to my mind. Overall I walked away from Astonishing X-Men #49 feeling unenthusiastic about the future of the title. Not a bad read, but not one that particularly makes you want to come back for more.
5.0/10
Daredevil #11: Well, it's official. "The Omega Effect" was a bust. I read all three parts, and while none of them were spectacular, this finale was especially disappointing because it made the entire crossover feel totally pointless. What happened? Plenty, I guess. But what changed? Nothing. The Omega Drive is still in DD's hands, and now he has a "new plan" to deal with it, but based on how much of a waste of time his first plan was (meaning this issue right here) I find myself none-too-excited to learn what comes next. To be fair to Daredevil #11, Marco Checchetto delivered some incredible art, and the first third of the issue was pretty solid in terms of story: fun action with solid characterization of Spidey, DD, and Punisher all. And for just a second it seemed like this whole Omega Drive situation might actually be developed in an unexpected way. But as soon as Murdock took off after Alves---I use the name she prefers, and I honestly don't understand why no one else will---it got boring, everything was undone, and the status quo returned. Congratulations, Marvel, you tricked me into buying two extra comics this month for no reason. Four, arguably, because I probably could have just gone straight from Daredevil #10 to Daredevil #12 without feeling like I missed a thing (and there was that stupid ass .1 issue before TOE really kicked off). It's a bummer, because TOE had massive potential and awesome talent behind it, but alas, it ended with a fizzle rather than a bang.
3.5/10
Justice League Dark #8: I'm not sure how much needs to be said about this issue, which is Peter Milligan's last as writer of Justice League Dark, and you can feel him not giving a shit about it on every page. The super-forced exit of Shade, the Changing Man felt like it might have been the comicbook representation of Milligan's own exit from the title: the chaos of this thing he is supposed to be controlling becomes too much for him to handle, and so he just gives in to it and leaves. Next month we get a shift in the lineup of the team, a new writer, and, fingers crossed, a believable and compelling reason for these characters to even work together in the first place. That lack of focus or motive has been a problem for Justice League Dark since its debut, a fact that has never been more apparent than in this choppy, lackluster crossover issue.
2.0/10
Moon Knight #12: I know there were some naysayers, but I have been enjoying the story of Moon Knight vs. Count Nefaria in spite of their obvious power imbalance. There were definitely a few moments in some of their encounters where it seemed like Nefaria was holding back for no real reason, but in general I thought Brian Michael Bendis did a good job of keeping it believable and interesting. So going into Moon Knight #12, knowing it was going to be the conclusion to that tale, I had my hopes set pretty high. So maybe it's partially my fault for being so excited up front, but this issue was a massive letdown. He calls in the Avengers? Seriously, Bendis? That's the solution you came up with? After a year of Moon Knight steadfastly fighting this battle on his own terms, in his own city, with his own resources, he dials the superhero emergency line and lets somebody else finish the job. In one hit, might I add. Weak. But don't worry, there's a reason for it: Tony Stark gets to tease the upcoming Age of Ultron for two whole pages. WEAK! Don't plug your new project in the final throws of your old one, Bendis, ya schmuck. That's just classless all over. And now we'll never get the innovative, inventive, awesome finale this series deserved. Instead we're stuck with this forever. A cop out closing with below-the-bar art from Alex Maleev, less-badass-than-usual behavior from our title character, and what basically amounts to a commercial for a new title at the end. Nasty.
3.0/10
Rebel Blood #2: Though not quite as strong as its opening issue, Rebel Blood #2 continues to tell a singularly entertaining story of one man trying to cope with unimaginable horror all on his own. Chuck is a great blend of improvised action hero and terrified victim, responding to each new development with a combination of stunned shock and survivalist violence. And the brief trips we take into his unstable psyche in the midst of all this madness help to add both realism and surrealism to the book, grounding it in human fears, memories, and desires while at the same time building an uncertain reality and history for Chuck. As he is swept up by the unthinkable situation that surrounds him, the reader is carried right along with him by the fluid, restless storytelling and artwork from Alex Link and Riley Rossmo. It seems like the primary goal of Rebel Blood is to make the reader and Chuck one-and-the-same as much as possible, as far as our emotional and mental states while the narrative advances. And more often than not, that's exactly what happens. All of his disgust and anxieties are shared by the reader as the issue powers forward, never settling down long enough to let us or our protagonist get too solid a grip on anything. But even with that pacing, because this isn't a typical "group of survivors" story, we are able to fully experience what Chuck goes through, externally and internally, and that's precisely what makes Rebel Blood so good. Well, that and Rossmo's kinetic, brilliant artwork, which highlights the horrific elements of the story perfectly and is just rough enough around the edges to add to the surreality of the comic without detracting any clarity. In fact, in some places, like the flashback sequence, the art tells us more of the story than the letters do. We're already halfway through this series, and while it feels like it'll end too soon, I'd probably also be more than satisfied if the two issues we've seen so far were all that ever came out.
8.5/10
Secret Avengers #26: As far as event tie-ins go, Secret Avengers #26 is an exemplary comicbook. The story it tells, while spinning directly out of the main AvX narrative, stands largely on its own and could easily be enjoyed by someone who isn't following the event proper. It is, perhaps, a bit simplistic---a team of Avengers fight and fail to contain the Phoenix Force in space---but Rick Remender has a good handle on the voices of every single character (and there are quite a few), and gives each of them something to do without ever seeming like he's forcing it in. Each of their roles is logical and natural, and it gives the issue a real "team book" feel that Secret Avengers has been missing since Remender took the helm. And it felt for a while like Noh-Varr and Ms. Marvel were going to be ignored, but turns out they actually have pivotal roles to play in by the end of the issue (or, at any rate, they most likely will have said roles in the next issue). It's a fun and well-orchestrated story, but what really pushes Secret Avengers #26 over the edge is the team of artsit Renato Guedes, and colorists Bettie Breitweiser, and Matthew Wilson. I name all three because the soft yet vibrant colors are a major part of the overall affect, but Guedes is the champion, from his two-page Phoenix spread to his close-up on Captain Britain's nose bleed and everything Remender asks of him in between. As loathe as I am to say it, this tie-in has been my favorite of Remender's issues on Secret Avengers. Best art, best lineup, best story.
8.5/10
Spaceman #6: Losing a bit of momentum this time out, Spaceman #6 had a lot of characters communicating information to each other that we already knew. The scenes that took place on Mars were still good, but even they felt a little more by-the-numbers than they have in previous issues, merely moving the story of the space mission forward a step or two without offering any new insights. The moment where we see The Fence and all that surrounds it was important and well-done, but I wouldn't use those words to describe very much else in the issue. I mean, Eduardo Risso kills it as always, packing detail and emotion into every panel, but so much of what he draws is people standing around and talking that even the art deflates a little. And Brian Azzarello's script is the least interesting or original of this series so far. It's still a cut above any number of other titles, but the progress made in Spaceman #6 is so small that it felt like filler, which you don't want in a nine-issue limited series.
5.5/10
Teen Titans #8: Scott Lobdell clearly knows his cast, and their distinct voices and viewpoints have been a highlight of this title so far, but in Teen Titans #8 the one-by-one characterization was laid on a bit thick. It's still a fun read, but its only real purpose is to lead us into the upcoming "The Culling" crossover, and so that's all we get. I'm not complaining, really, just saying this issue was a tad light. One at a time, the Teen Titans are prepared for whatever Harvest and his followers have in store for them next, which is the main event, presumably, that Teen Titans has been ramping up to for some time. I'm excited for "The Culling" because Harvest is a pretty interesting villain (as are his lackeys Omen and Leash) and Lobdell has been doing good work with this cast. This prelude issue made me a little impatient since not a lot actually happened, but Solstice's dialogue with Bunker made the impending final confrontation between the Titans and N.O.W.H.E.R.E. seem even scarier and more exciting, and nothing here actively dampened my enthusiasm for "The Culling" so I guess, really, it was a solid prologue. Fluffy, maybe, but as good for new readers as old, and a probably necessary first step before leaping into the crossover.
6.0/10
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #9: I like Esad Ribic's art a lot, and he has been a major part of why Ultimates has been such an entertaining title, but I always find myself irked by the way he draws widely opened eyes or mouths. Any time anyone is yelling or surprised, and even sometimes in battle scenes, Ribic makes their eyes bug so much you expect them to pop out in the next panel, and their mouths take up half of their faces. Normally, this is a small complaint, but in Ultimate Comics Ultimates #9, for some reason, it happened an inordinate number of times. I'm nitpicking, because the rest of his art was at its typical high standard, but it was something I couldn't help but notice.
Aside from that, a middle-of-the-line kind of issue. Jonathan Hickman advances all of his numerous plot threads, but only a little bit, and not in any truly surprising ways. No one expected Zorn to be the solution to the City, but it was also not shocking when he did have the power to do some actual damage to it. And Reed Richards' retaliation against the U.S., while it looked cool, was pretty much to be expected. A shade decompressed for my taste, but no less high energy or interesting for it.
6.5/10
Uncanny X-Men #11: Kieron Gillen deals with the obligation of doing an AvX tie-in by showing us some scenes which we've already seen in the main title through the eyes and inner monologues of three characters from Uncanny X-Men. It's a fine enough approach, although I doubt it would be the least bit enjoyable for any Uncanny fans not following the event. And while Namor and Colossus both have strong voices here, neither of them says anything that felt all that new. I get why Namor likes mutants, and I get why Colossus struggles with being Cyttorak's avatar, so even though I didn't dislike their scenes, they were very much non-essential reading. Hope's part actually did teach me a thing or two, like Hope and Logan making a deal for him to kill her, or that she has an actual plan in her mind for dealing with the Phoenix (although how much do you wanna bet it doesn't go the way she wants?) but it was an extremely brief section of the issue, plus it's probably information we'll get somewhere else in another month or two, anyway. Greg Land's art was inconsistent at best. He seems to have difficulty with smaller panels, as many of his close-ups look unnatural and stagnant, but he nails most of the fight moments that take up a larger portion of the page.
The press release at the end was just stupid, and I choose to pretend those two pages don't exist.
5.0/10
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Pull List Reviews 03/29/2012
First of all, two of my titles were missing this week from my local shop: Astonishing X-Men #48 & Ultimates #8. So those are getting skipped (for now).
Avengers vs. X-Men #0: This is a pretty solid zero issue. Inasmuch as zero issues have any purpose whatsoever (but that's an argument for another time). But if you are going to do a non-essential opening chapter for your story, AvX #0 is the way to do so. Could I have skipped this entirely? You bet. Was it worth the time and money? Sure.
Brian Michael Bendis and Jason Aaron each deliver a clear, complex, and honest character piece. Bendis begins to reintroduce the Scarlet Witch to active superherosim, and in a small amount of space puts Wanda through physical and emotional triumphs and failures. Aaron's Hope story accomplishes a lot of the same things, although in that case it is mostly Hope's triumphs and Scott's failures. We get to see Hope finally confront the issue of the Phoenix, which feels like it's sort of a long time coming. Obviously Marvel has been building up to it by design, but the girl ain't no fool. It makes sense she would have figured out so much already, and it was nice to have her say so out loud after all this time. Also the Serpent Society! Oh man, I have a soft spot in my heart for those clowns, and watching Hope use all of her tactics (including excessive rage-punching) to defeat such a bizarre and ridiculous group of villains was as entertaining as it was unsettling. Frank Cho's art was also solid and consistent. Fun action scenes that had villains which played to his strengths, and good, clear, expressive emotions in the angry-man-talks-sternly-at-woman scenes.
It loses some points because...nothing all that significant happened. No Avengers fought any X-Men. It was issue zero, and it had zero importance. But a fun prologue nonetheless.
6.5/10
Daredevil #10: Daredevil against Mole Man is a pretty interesting match up. Mole Man's natural dimwittedness means that, except for arguably the first page or two, he never puts Daredevil in any real danger, but he's also smart enough to point out that the whole fight is useless because Daredevil has nothing to gain. And it's true. As the narrative captions so kindly point out to us, everybody loses this time. Mole Man may not be a threat to Daredevil, but he's already done all the damage he could do with his little grave-robbing scheme to Matt Murdock. And it is, appropriately, Murdock whose name is attached to the construction of the replacement headstones, granting him the only real victory for any of the characters. A thoroughly satisfying ending to this two-parter.
Then there's the weird part at the very end where...I guess maybe he's going crazy? Or he's overly paranoid? Something's up. Of course, The Omega Effect is next, as we already know, so his paranoia is probably not misplaced. But it was a sort of jarring ending to what was otherwise another great issue from Mark Waid and Paolo Rivera.
8.5/10
Justice League Dark #7: Blech. If they hadn't already announced Lemire taking over, I'd be dropping this title for good as of this week. I have a theory that Peter Milligan never wanted this job or, at any rate, once he got it he regretted the decision for some reason. Because we know damn well he is capable of writing a John Constantine with actual charm and some sliver of likability, but every month in this book all Constantine does it bitch. Bitch bitch bitch. At Xanadu and, sometimes, Deadman, who isn't even bold enough to bitch back. Instead, all he does is whine (yes, there is a difference, but they are equally obnoxious and wrong for these characters). As if that wasn't enough, Shade's only role this month was to be confused and scared. Xanadu, too, until she abandons everybody. Also Zatanna, basically, although she may not have been so scared. A few vampires did get killed, but mostly Xanadu barked orders and the others begrudgingly obeyed. Like always. I get it, Milligan, you can't think of one damn reason this group would be formed, so you just have a magic lady force them together. Stop pointing it out and just tell me a story.
The art was serviceable, but also felt a little bit rushed or...cramped, like maybe Admira Wijaya and/or Daniel Sampere might have liked an extra page or two. A lot of M-Vest activity happened off-panel, and we jumped around from Bat-people back to the main cast in a rapid, disorienting, unsatisfying way.
Basically, boo.
3.0/10
Moon Knight #11: I will be so sad to lose this title next month. The craziest hero in the game, that's the angle Marc Spector has chosen for himself, and it is working on every level. Alex Maleev draws the shit out of what is mostly just one great and sometimes humorous fight scene between Moon Knight, Madame Masque, and Agent Buck Lime over control of, you guessed it, the head of Ultron. And Bendis continues to develop the interesting partnership between Moon Knight and Buck, as well as hanging onto the Echo and Nefaria threads, all of which makes for the perfect push to what will be the inevitable final showdown in issue 12. Definitely the best title to get the axe from Marvel all year.
8.0/10
Morning Glories #17: Jade and Ike talk to each other. End of plot summary.
This was not a bad issue. This was not an impressive issue. There was some insight given into the minds of both characters, but I would argue that, for the most part, it's not a lot we didn't already know. Jade has some secret knowledge, and it is connected to her killing herself. Yep, knew that. Ike is a prick, but only sort of, because really he's kind of nice and sad and smart and understanding. Duh. Other than Jade's mom's death, which only raises more questions than it answers, nothing was really to be gained from this issue. And that, I think, is a problem with Morning Glories in general. Nick Spencer loves to throw weird and/or unexpected shit at us (see the last page of this issue) and then just makes us steep in it without any conclusive payoff. Example: Jade finally asks out loud what the school is, vaguely says it might be a test, and then...nothing. End of topic. Not helpful.
My interest shrinks with this title more and more. But Joe Eisma always brings his A-game. His A-game is not necessarily dazzling, but it's always right there, looking the same and therefore creating a real sense of consistency to the world of the book. And that is as true here as always.
5.0/10
Scalped #57: Another title which, when it ends, will be every so dearly missed. I must say, I honestly thought we'd be done with all the Diesel stuff. I guess maybe that was stupid of me, but if so I'm glad to be stupid, because I really enjoyed the surprise of it coming back into play here, at the end of everything, in such an enormous way. Diesel's murder (and the whole story surrounding it) was such a key part of the greater arc of Dash's character, really getting him in with Red Crow in a way he hadn't quite accomplished before that, so it seems fitting it would be the thing that might undo Dash in the end.
Of course, it's all really because of Carol's abortion, which is another plotline I wasn't sure we'd ever hear from again (although I was less surprised by this one). And I really, really hope we get to see Red Crow and Carol talk about it before the title comes to a close, because I just think Jason Aaron is going to write that scene into space.
Trail's End is shaping up to be one hell of a closing arc. And I didn't even talk about how it's probably one of the top ten covers Jock's ever done for the series, or how brutal Catcher gets to be one last time before it all comes to a close, or how R.M. Guera does such a great job decaying Diesel's body you feel like you're watching Bones. Only three to go, so Aaron and Guera better already have their next project locked and loaded.
8.5/10
Secret Avengers #24: I am having a hard time pinning down my feelings about this one. I have been enjoying this story, by-and-large, but under Rick Remender's pen, Secret Avengers has started to feel kind of like Justice League Dark, where the biggest common theme from issue to issue is how much everyone dislikes and fights with each other on the team. Now, there is certainly more of a sense in Secret Avengers that, eventually, some of this griping and sniping will resolve. Hawkeye obviously wishes he was doing better, Beast has been trying to keep the peace, etc. but for now I find it sort of grating. Captain Britain and The Torch bicker, Hawkeye apologizes to Beast for last month's bickering, and Flash Thompson just complains out loud to himself for a page. Enough.
However, Gabriel Hardman could not be a better fit for the title right now, I think in some ways because of all the in-fighting and negativity. His lines are rough but always clear, his characters so expressive even when they're not as detailed, and it fits the somewhat gritty and uneven feeling of the team. And he makes Father quite the imposing villain, while still letting some of the humor of a room full of arguing robots come through.
Still, mostly just more losing to Adaptoids and failing to get along for the Secret Avengers this issue. Same as last issue.
6.0/10
Spaceman #5: Coming right in the middle of this nine-issue series, Spaceman #5 is a bit of a slow burn. Each of the various seeds Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso planted in the previous four issues continues to grow. Orson and Tara get one step closer to getting her home once they are spotted by, and then spot, a camera crew from her show. The story of Orson's past on his space mission takes a fatal and, no doubt, highly significant turn. And by the end of the issue, Orson's past gets incrementally closer to catching up with him in the present. Steady as she goes with this story, as well as Risso's art. What can be said that hasn't been said already? He captures the gloom of the world so perfectly, while both Orson and Tara stand out as more innocent and hopeful figures. Even when compared to the other "spaceman" on the last page (whose name escapes me at the moment), Orson is far less imposing or hard in his appearance. It keeps us on his side, even as we learn that his greed led to another's death, or we wonder whether he's the best guardian for Tara at the moment. He may not be, but it's clear he's doing his personal best, and that's good enough (for me, anyway).
7.5/10
Teen Titans #7: Teen Titans is such an insane romp of a comic book, sometimes it zips by so fast it barely leaves an impression. I mean, what even happens this month? The Titans win and win and win but don't get anywhere, argue with each other a bit (Red Robin is a total dick in this issue), and then get attacked by a scary-looking villain. Not the first scary-looking villain to attack them, mind you. Not even the scariest-looking, which sort of detracts from the ending. And something so weird happens to Kid Flash for like half a page that I am guessing will be important down the line.
It wasn't bad, per se, just a bit fluffy. I will say that I found myself actively cheering on Solstice when she was scolding Red Robin, who, again, was such an ass about it. He's really not that great a leader, or even, in this issue, that great a hero. But the rest of his team are such a lively and interesting-looking group, that even when it's not doing much, Teen Titans continues to entertain from cover to cover.
6.5/10
Uncanny X-Force #23: The Otherworld story finally ends, and not a moment too soon. Man, so much about this was a disappointment. Tocchini's art, as has been pointed out elsewhere, is all wrong here. Uncanny X-Force has, to my mind, always been its best when the art has been as down-to-earth as possible. It is a team of grim characters doing dirty work, even when they are battling goat monks from the future and skinless judges, and they need an artist who can show it. Having such blurred and uneven art is a huge drawback.
The story, alas, was only the tiniest bit better. I did like the very, very end of the issue, where Betsy gets to put each of her brothers in their respective places, because Psylocke is a badass and should get to act like one as much as possible. But Mr. Skinless or Weapon III or whatever he's called just runs off, and the reveal about the goat monk's identity, while semi-interesting, was not all that inventive and made the bulk of the fighting in the last few issues seem like a lot of wasted time.
Also, the whole trial of Fantomex thing hasn't really been resolved, has it? I mean, the plan was to erase the guy from existence, and that did not happen. Is the Captain Britain Corps NOT going to come after him again for murdering kid Apocalypse? And if not, why not? And if they are going to come after him again...lame. I don't want to see those British pricks in Uncanny X-Force ever again!
EVER!
4.5/10
Avengers vs. X-Men #0: This is a pretty solid zero issue. Inasmuch as zero issues have any purpose whatsoever (but that's an argument for another time). But if you are going to do a non-essential opening chapter for your story, AvX #0 is the way to do so. Could I have skipped this entirely? You bet. Was it worth the time and money? Sure.
Brian Michael Bendis and Jason Aaron each deliver a clear, complex, and honest character piece. Bendis begins to reintroduce the Scarlet Witch to active superherosim, and in a small amount of space puts Wanda through physical and emotional triumphs and failures. Aaron's Hope story accomplishes a lot of the same things, although in that case it is mostly Hope's triumphs and Scott's failures. We get to see Hope finally confront the issue of the Phoenix, which feels like it's sort of a long time coming. Obviously Marvel has been building up to it by design, but the girl ain't no fool. It makes sense she would have figured out so much already, and it was nice to have her say so out loud after all this time. Also the Serpent Society! Oh man, I have a soft spot in my heart for those clowns, and watching Hope use all of her tactics (including excessive rage-punching) to defeat such a bizarre and ridiculous group of villains was as entertaining as it was unsettling. Frank Cho's art was also solid and consistent. Fun action scenes that had villains which played to his strengths, and good, clear, expressive emotions in the angry-man-talks-sternly-at-woman scenes.
It loses some points because...nothing all that significant happened. No Avengers fought any X-Men. It was issue zero, and it had zero importance. But a fun prologue nonetheless.
6.5/10
Daredevil #10: Daredevil against Mole Man is a pretty interesting match up. Mole Man's natural dimwittedness means that, except for arguably the first page or two, he never puts Daredevil in any real danger, but he's also smart enough to point out that the whole fight is useless because Daredevil has nothing to gain. And it's true. As the narrative captions so kindly point out to us, everybody loses this time. Mole Man may not be a threat to Daredevil, but he's already done all the damage he could do with his little grave-robbing scheme to Matt Murdock. And it is, appropriately, Murdock whose name is attached to the construction of the replacement headstones, granting him the only real victory for any of the characters. A thoroughly satisfying ending to this two-parter.
Then there's the weird part at the very end where...I guess maybe he's going crazy? Or he's overly paranoid? Something's up. Of course, The Omega Effect is next, as we already know, so his paranoia is probably not misplaced. But it was a sort of jarring ending to what was otherwise another great issue from Mark Waid and Paolo Rivera.
8.5/10
Justice League Dark #7: Blech. If they hadn't already announced Lemire taking over, I'd be dropping this title for good as of this week. I have a theory that Peter Milligan never wanted this job or, at any rate, once he got it he regretted the decision for some reason. Because we know damn well he is capable of writing a John Constantine with actual charm and some sliver of likability, but every month in this book all Constantine does it bitch. Bitch bitch bitch. At Xanadu and, sometimes, Deadman, who isn't even bold enough to bitch back. Instead, all he does is whine (yes, there is a difference, but they are equally obnoxious and wrong for these characters). As if that wasn't enough, Shade's only role this month was to be confused and scared. Xanadu, too, until she abandons everybody. Also Zatanna, basically, although she may not have been so scared. A few vampires did get killed, but mostly Xanadu barked orders and the others begrudgingly obeyed. Like always. I get it, Milligan, you can't think of one damn reason this group would be formed, so you just have a magic lady force them together. Stop pointing it out and just tell me a story.
The art was serviceable, but also felt a little bit rushed or...cramped, like maybe Admira Wijaya and/or Daniel Sampere might have liked an extra page or two. A lot of M-Vest activity happened off-panel, and we jumped around from Bat-people back to the main cast in a rapid, disorienting, unsatisfying way.
Basically, boo.
3.0/10
Moon Knight #11: I will be so sad to lose this title next month. The craziest hero in the game, that's the angle Marc Spector has chosen for himself, and it is working on every level. Alex Maleev draws the shit out of what is mostly just one great and sometimes humorous fight scene between Moon Knight, Madame Masque, and Agent Buck Lime over control of, you guessed it, the head of Ultron. And Bendis continues to develop the interesting partnership between Moon Knight and Buck, as well as hanging onto the Echo and Nefaria threads, all of which makes for the perfect push to what will be the inevitable final showdown in issue 12. Definitely the best title to get the axe from Marvel all year.
8.0/10
Morning Glories #17: Jade and Ike talk to each other. End of plot summary.
This was not a bad issue. This was not an impressive issue. There was some insight given into the minds of both characters, but I would argue that, for the most part, it's not a lot we didn't already know. Jade has some secret knowledge, and it is connected to her killing herself. Yep, knew that. Ike is a prick, but only sort of, because really he's kind of nice and sad and smart and understanding. Duh. Other than Jade's mom's death, which only raises more questions than it answers, nothing was really to be gained from this issue. And that, I think, is a problem with Morning Glories in general. Nick Spencer loves to throw weird and/or unexpected shit at us (see the last page of this issue) and then just makes us steep in it without any conclusive payoff. Example: Jade finally asks out loud what the school is, vaguely says it might be a test, and then...nothing. End of topic. Not helpful.
My interest shrinks with this title more and more. But Joe Eisma always brings his A-game. His A-game is not necessarily dazzling, but it's always right there, looking the same and therefore creating a real sense of consistency to the world of the book. And that is as true here as always.
5.0/10
Scalped #57: Another title which, when it ends, will be every so dearly missed. I must say, I honestly thought we'd be done with all the Diesel stuff. I guess maybe that was stupid of me, but if so I'm glad to be stupid, because I really enjoyed the surprise of it coming back into play here, at the end of everything, in such an enormous way. Diesel's murder (and the whole story surrounding it) was such a key part of the greater arc of Dash's character, really getting him in with Red Crow in a way he hadn't quite accomplished before that, so it seems fitting it would be the thing that might undo Dash in the end.
Of course, it's all really because of Carol's abortion, which is another plotline I wasn't sure we'd ever hear from again (although I was less surprised by this one). And I really, really hope we get to see Red Crow and Carol talk about it before the title comes to a close, because I just think Jason Aaron is going to write that scene into space.
Trail's End is shaping up to be one hell of a closing arc. And I didn't even talk about how it's probably one of the top ten covers Jock's ever done for the series, or how brutal Catcher gets to be one last time before it all comes to a close, or how R.M. Guera does such a great job decaying Diesel's body you feel like you're watching Bones. Only three to go, so Aaron and Guera better already have their next project locked and loaded.
8.5/10
Secret Avengers #24: I am having a hard time pinning down my feelings about this one. I have been enjoying this story, by-and-large, but under Rick Remender's pen, Secret Avengers has started to feel kind of like Justice League Dark, where the biggest common theme from issue to issue is how much everyone dislikes and fights with each other on the team. Now, there is certainly more of a sense in Secret Avengers that, eventually, some of this griping and sniping will resolve. Hawkeye obviously wishes he was doing better, Beast has been trying to keep the peace, etc. but for now I find it sort of grating. Captain Britain and The Torch bicker, Hawkeye apologizes to Beast for last month's bickering, and Flash Thompson just complains out loud to himself for a page. Enough.
However, Gabriel Hardman could not be a better fit for the title right now, I think in some ways because of all the in-fighting and negativity. His lines are rough but always clear, his characters so expressive even when they're not as detailed, and it fits the somewhat gritty and uneven feeling of the team. And he makes Father quite the imposing villain, while still letting some of the humor of a room full of arguing robots come through.
Still, mostly just more losing to Adaptoids and failing to get along for the Secret Avengers this issue. Same as last issue.
6.0/10
Spaceman #5: Coming right in the middle of this nine-issue series, Spaceman #5 is a bit of a slow burn. Each of the various seeds Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso planted in the previous four issues continues to grow. Orson and Tara get one step closer to getting her home once they are spotted by, and then spot, a camera crew from her show. The story of Orson's past on his space mission takes a fatal and, no doubt, highly significant turn. And by the end of the issue, Orson's past gets incrementally closer to catching up with him in the present. Steady as she goes with this story, as well as Risso's art. What can be said that hasn't been said already? He captures the gloom of the world so perfectly, while both Orson and Tara stand out as more innocent and hopeful figures. Even when compared to the other "spaceman" on the last page (whose name escapes me at the moment), Orson is far less imposing or hard in his appearance. It keeps us on his side, even as we learn that his greed led to another's death, or we wonder whether he's the best guardian for Tara at the moment. He may not be, but it's clear he's doing his personal best, and that's good enough (for me, anyway).
7.5/10
Teen Titans #7: Teen Titans is such an insane romp of a comic book, sometimes it zips by so fast it barely leaves an impression. I mean, what even happens this month? The Titans win and win and win but don't get anywhere, argue with each other a bit (Red Robin is a total dick in this issue), and then get attacked by a scary-looking villain. Not the first scary-looking villain to attack them, mind you. Not even the scariest-looking, which sort of detracts from the ending. And something so weird happens to Kid Flash for like half a page that I am guessing will be important down the line.
It wasn't bad, per se, just a bit fluffy. I will say that I found myself actively cheering on Solstice when she was scolding Red Robin, who, again, was such an ass about it. He's really not that great a leader, or even, in this issue, that great a hero. But the rest of his team are such a lively and interesting-looking group, that even when it's not doing much, Teen Titans continues to entertain from cover to cover.
6.5/10
Uncanny X-Force #23: The Otherworld story finally ends, and not a moment too soon. Man, so much about this was a disappointment. Tocchini's art, as has been pointed out elsewhere, is all wrong here. Uncanny X-Force has, to my mind, always been its best when the art has been as down-to-earth as possible. It is a team of grim characters doing dirty work, even when they are battling goat monks from the future and skinless judges, and they need an artist who can show it. Having such blurred and uneven art is a huge drawback.
The story, alas, was only the tiniest bit better. I did like the very, very end of the issue, where Betsy gets to put each of her brothers in their respective places, because Psylocke is a badass and should get to act like one as much as possible. But Mr. Skinless or Weapon III or whatever he's called just runs off, and the reveal about the goat monk's identity, while semi-interesting, was not all that inventive and made the bulk of the fighting in the last few issues seem like a lot of wasted time.
Also, the whole trial of Fantomex thing hasn't really been resolved, has it? I mean, the plan was to erase the guy from existence, and that did not happen. Is the Captain Britain Corps NOT going to come after him again for murdering kid Apocalypse? And if not, why not? And if they are going to come after him again...lame. I don't want to see those British pricks in Uncanny X-Force ever again!
EVER!
4.5/10
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