The all-new, all-different Superior Spider-Man is here! Are you angry with what happened to Peter Parker? This issue might help a tiny bit with that. We also have more battles in Avengers Arena and a couple of new titles. First, if you ever thought about what it would be like of the Rapture actually happened, you might want to check out End Times of Bram and Ben. It’s a comedic take on the End of Days that is a really good read. And if you can’t wait until 2015 or 2016 for the new Star Warsmovies, then go get Star Wars #1 now. Great issue, my pick of the week!
The first Wednesday of 2013 is upon us and that brings with it new comics! I didn’t get much this week but what I did pick up were really, really good. Watch my videos below. I’m going to be focusing more and more on my YouTube channel so make sure you go check that out and subscribe!
Hi peeps. Please come check out my newly launched website called comics, please! I've got video reviews and all types of stuff there related to comics so I hope you enjoy it. I'll probably not be posting here anymore and everything will be at comics, please! so make sure you bookmark and visit every single day!!!
I just finished reading my copy of Avengers Vs. X-Men Hardcover and what did I think of it? First, let me tell you what is included when you purchase the limited edition hardcover and then we’ll go into the actual storyline.
The Limited Edition Hardcover collects Avengers Vs X-Men #0-12, AVX: Vs #1-6, Infinite Comics #1, #6 & #10. It also includes a digital code that you can redeem to get the entire series on Comixology, which I thought was pretty cool.
The main storyline tells of the return of the Phoenix Force and the battle between the Avengers and the X-Men. I did enjoy the overall storyline, even if there were some parts I wasn’t a big fan of. It tells a good story of a man who has lost his way and become blind to everything but a single focus. It also has a story of redemption and realization. While I didn’t particularly believe that the Avengers and X-Men would start fighting so early and so easily, seeing them go full-tilt with each other was a treat. When the Phoenix Force finally arrived on Earth and was subsequently fractioned into five of the X-Men, I didn’t see that coming and was an interesting plot twist, especially with what happened afterwards. The ending was plausible, but it felt like a necessary plot development in order for Marvel to be able to move forward in their story-telling and bring back the mutant population after Scarlet Witch said those three magical words.
AVS: Vs was a waste, as was the Infinite Comics series (though the latter probably would have been more interested if read via Comixology). I would not have bought the issues individually but as they were included in the hardcover, I gave them a read. The Infinite Comics didn’t add anything to the story and felt more like a Comixology/Marvel gimmick. AVS: Vs also didn’t add anything to the story but at least Marvel was upfront about it and even said that in the solicits.
Would I recommend this hardcover? If you can find it for a good price, then it would be a nice addition to your collection. But if you’re just purely interested in the story, then a quick hop onto the ‘Net will give you the general plot and you can save yourself some time and money.
So I guess this is my version of a relaunch. I kind of stepped away for a little bit because I was getting overwhelmed with all the comics and life in general but I'm back with my relaunch and to kick it off, I'm starting up a series of video reviews for my weekly pull list. Here is the first one for this week.
I hope you enjoy this and spread the word. I love all feedback so please let me know what I can do to make my weekly reviews better. Thanks!!
This is it, the last official reveal of the 52 new #1's being launched in September, courtesy of DC blog The Source. Not to anyone's surprise, it was the Superman family being featured today. Was I correct in my prediction of what the last four titles were going to be? Let's see. For the last time, the technical babble. Each of the new #1's being launched in September will be rated BUY, FLIP & DECIDE, or MEH, according to how I feel about the title, based on the preview art and the quick blurb DC provided in their announcement. I could be completely off base in my opinion but this is the comic industry, where they rely on soliciting pre-orders based on limited information. If you don't have enough to make someone crap their pants and agonize over the days before a comic book is released because the preview was just that awesome, shame on you. Digression over. If I rate a title as a BUY, I have been convinced enough that I don't need any further previews and I'm putting in a pre-order for the title in the July Previews. If something is a FLIP & DECIDE, it means a title has interested me but I still need more convincing before spending my money on it and I'll wait until the comic comes out so I can flip through it in the store and then make a decision. If something is MEH, then either A) DC has done a poor job in marketing the title to me; or B) it's just something that doesn't interest me, regardless of DC's flash marketing of it. With that over and done with, let's get to the final titles.
Action Comics #1: I'm going to get this comic, regardless, because it's an iconic title and I'm interested in reading it. However, that won't stop me from commenting on today's teaser. The art makes Superman look like the working man's superhero. Meaning, Clark Kent's alter-ego could be steelworker in this DCnU, not as a reporter, based on the feeling I get from the preview. Look at his jeans (wha, jeans?!), look at his burly forearms, his worker boots. Sure doesn't invoke an image of a timid glasses-wearing reporter. I wish the art did not hide Superman's face in the shadows. How a character's face is drawn is so important. And what's up with his legs? Why is the colour of his legs grey but his arms are skin colour? Who knows what colour his head/face will be. Finally, Superman's cape looks more like a handkerchief, size is all weird. Grant Morrison is writing, so I guess that's good. BUY.
Superman #1: Superman looks like a friggin' robot. I don't like it. But I want to see what the heck they do with Clark Kent. Rumour is he is no longer married to Lois Lane. George Perez is writing so that's better than JMS, I guess. No more walking. BUY.
Supergirl #1: Supergirl also has a robotic-looking costume, but not as bad. It's very futuristic, the Super titles are today. I've never read any Supergirl stuff so I don't have an attachment to the character. Maybe once I finished watching Smallville and see Laura Vandervoorts interpretation, I'll want to read some Supergirl comics. But for now, I'm not entirely interested. I have other titles to fulfill my teenage superhero quota. MEH.
Superboy #1: Wow, Superboy is a cyborg gone wrong. I'm completely turned off by Superboy in the DCnU. Whereas I enjoyed the current Superboy series written by Jeff Lemire, I have no interest in this title at all. I'd probably read Supergirl before Superboy in the DCnU. MEH.
So there you have it. My prediction of the last four titles was correct, however I was left disappointed. These are interesting times to be reading DC, let's hope they don't mess things up. Now, for my final tally.
Summary of ratings:
BUY: 2
FLIP & DECIDE: 0
MEH: 2
Total ratings to date
BUY: 12
FLIP & DECIDE: 13
MEH: 27
I'll be back with a wrap-up post summarizing my thoughts on the new relaunch and a recap of my ratings for the new titles.
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Just a quick update for two additional titles The Source ( here and here) decided to announce later in the day yesterday. BUY, FLIP & DECIDE or MEH, what will it be?
Suicide Squad #1: I don't claim to know everything about DC but I can make assumptions based on my limited knowledge and perceptions. There seems to be a lot of team books in the relaunch. Here is one more. Harley Quinn, Deadshot and King Shark make up the new Suicide Squad, "a team of death-row super villains recruited by the government to take on missions so dangerous – they’re sheer suicide!" There's probably more members on this team but this is what's teased for now. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I definitely don't like Harley Quinn's look here. They could have just called this Suicide Girls & Friends #1. I'd like to see who else is on the team, this could end up being an amalgamation of Suicide Squad an Secret Six. FLIP & DECIDE.
Blue Beetle #1: Another teenage superhero with what seems like am emphasis on teenage life. I think Blue Beetle is quite a popular character but I haven't followed along. Preview art says robots, description says aliens. I want to like but I don't want to read about amateurish teenage life. MEH.
Summary of ratings:
BUY: 0
FLIP & DECIDE: 1
MEH: 1
Total ratings to date
BUY: 10
FLIP & DECIDE: 13
MEH: 25
Four titles left! I think it will likely be Superman, Supergirl, Superboy, and Action Comics. Friday will tell...
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Hot off the blog press at The Source is today's reveal of a darker, edgier line of comics in the DCnU. Now, I haven't always been a fan of gritty comics but if the writing is superb, I can potentially be hooked. Do any of the new announcements today provide a glimpse into something I might enjoy? It's time to start rating (Here at my blog, I'll be commenting and rating each of the new #1 titles being released in September as part of the new DCnU relaunch initiative. Each title will be rated BUY, FLIP & DECIDE or MEH. I will be pre-ordering a comic before it's released if I rate it as a BUY because I feel that strongly about it. I have the patience to wait until September comes around and browse through the comic from front to back before I decide if I will purchase it and read it if I rate a title as a FLIP & DECIDE. Finally, nothing in the DC previews has made a strong enough impact on me to warrant any further interest at this time for titles I rate as MEH).
Stormwatch #1: So yesterday I was asking where Martian Manhunter was. Here he is, leading a strike force team. Looks like Midnighter and Apollo are Wildstorm characters crossing over into the DCnU (I had to look those two guys up on CV, didn't know who they were). Looks like space and stuff. Not that interested. MEH.
Blackhawks #1: Not getting this because I'm from Vancouver and we don't like the Chicago Blackhawks. I jest. Looks like this is set in the future. I can't tell if Zinda Blake is in this. If she is, I could be interested. Definitely on the fence with this one. FLIP & DECIDE.
Sgt. Rock and the Men of War #1: The title alone is enough to put me off. I'm not a fan of war titles either. I don't know anything about anything related to this title. CV tells me Sgt. Rock is one of the most popular characters from war comics. I don't read war comics. MEH.
All-Star Western #1: Jonah Hex in a western Gotham in the past. Like war titles, I don't read western titles, either. Never dug Jonah Hex. I'll stick with the present time, thanks. MEH.
Deathstroke #1: This is a title that might interest a few people. I, unfortunately, am not one of them. Mercenaries don't interest me, that's probably why I don't bother with Deathstroke or Deadpool. If there was some mention of Ravager here, I might reconsider. But there is, so I won't. MEH.
Grifter #1: Another Wildstorm character gets his own title in the DCnU. And another Deathstroke/Deadpool lookalike. Preview art looks nice but like I said, I need the writing to be superb in order to hook me. I'm actually going to give this a chance and see where it leads. The writers have one issue to convince me and they need to do it fast, like in 30 seconds or less. FLIP & DECIDE.
OMAC #1: One Man Army Corps. More sciencey stuff with bio-genetics and smashing thrown in the mix. MEH.
So not really a good day so far in terms of interesting titles for me. Let's hope DC does better with the last six titles (which will undoubtedly cover the Superman family tree).
Today's theme is young superheroes of the DCnU, as The Source announces 5 more new #1's coming in September. Teen Titans is one of the current DC titles I'm reading right now so I was waiting to hear what was going to happen to it in the relaunch. Wait no more, DC has spilled the beans. I'm sure you know the routine by now. Every day as DC announces the new #1's that will be part of their massive 52 new title relaunch in September, I'll be weighing in with my first impressions and give it a rating of BUY, FLIP & DECIDE and MEH. BUY titles are ones that I will pre-order in the July Previews solicitation because it's got me excited, FLIP & DECIDE titles have piqued my interested and I will spend a little time looking through the book when it is released and then decide if I will buy it or not and MEH titles are those I've deemed not interesting enough for me to spend money on. So will today's announcements fair better than what I thought of yesterday's batch of titles? Let's see!
Legion Lost #1: Seven teenage superheroes from the future are trapped in the past. Quick, someone get them a DeLorean. I have no clue who any of these superheroes are. Looks like an attempt by DC to rip off Marvel's Avengers Academy. MEH.
Legion of Superheroes #1: Whereas Legion Lost has the seven superheroes trapped in time, this title looks to be the future from which they came from and how it's dealing with the loss. Again, I have no idea who these superheroes are and there's no description. If I'm not getting Legion Lost, no point in getting this one either. MEH.
Teen Titans #1: Okay, here we go! There's a really futuristic look going on for the next-gen superheroes today. Looks like Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, and Superboy all made it for the ride. Although they look drastically different. As someone much more clever than me mentioned, the DCnU Teen Titans have added Witchblade and Magdalena to the team! Not really, but sure looks like it from the art. This new team is not as off-putting as the new Birds of Prey team so I'm giving this a chance. I also want to find out who the other two female characters are. BUY.
Static Shock #1: An electrified teen superhero in what looks to be a NY-looking city. He fights street gangs, battles hormones and homework, and has to deal with girls. Sounds uber-teen. MEH.
Hawk and Dove #1: So the avatars for war and peace break apart from BoP and get their own series in the DCnU. I'm down with that. Why does Hawk have fangs? What the heck, Liefield? What, wha? Liefield? Looks like I've gone back to the past now. But I digress. I'm surprised they didn't change Hawk's costume, how do those strip thingies stay erect and never bend? Dove's awesome so I will have to follow along. BUY. I will go into this with an open mind.
So today's titles were on opposite ends of the ratings scale and nothing in between. Could be good, could be bad. We'll find out in a few months.
Summary of ratings:
BUY: 2
FLIP & DECIDE: 0
MEH: 3
Total ratings to date
BUY: 10
FLIP & DECIDE: 10
MEH: 19
So that's a total of 39 out of 52 titles announced so far. There's been some unofficially announced titles but I won't make any comments until officially announced by DC on The Source. There are some current DC roster members that are still unaccounted for in the DCnU. Where's Cassandra Cain? Stephanie Brown? Huntress? Superman and Supergirl? Superman's cousin, Power Girl? Martian Manhunter? The rest of the current Teen Titans roster? There's only 13 titles left to announce, looks like there's going to be some collateral damage as a result of the relaunch.
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Yesterday, it looks like DC dug into it's Vertigo line for part of their September relaunch and announced 8 new titles ( The Source). This certainly looks like an opportunity to give Vertigo some exposure through the relaunch initiative. I wonder how much it will get involved with the DCnU. As always, I'll be judging a book by it's cover (and a few descriptive sentences) and giving a snap rating of BUY, FLIP & DECIDE, and MEH. Titles that are BUYs will not need further convincing and I'll be adding it to my pre-orders; titles that are FLIP & DECIDEs are ones that are on the fence and I need to see more when it is released to decide whether to spend my money on it or not; and titles that are MEHs elicit that exact feeling out of me and I have no desire to follow up.
Swamp Thing #1: Swamp Thing returned at the end of Brightest Day. Other than that, I don't know much else about the character. Obviously, I have heard of Swamp Thing and know of the character but I don't really know the character. I'm not really interested in finding out, either. MEH.
Justice League Dark #1: A band of supernatural heroes battling against dark things. Deadman's on the team. Is that Zatanna as well? I don't really have much of an opinion on this one. I like for more but for now, this is MEH.
Animal Man #1: What are his powers? He can control animals? Must be Tarzan. Not interested. MEH.
Demon Knights #1: A demon in the middle-ages fighting to protect Camelot. I love me some middle ages King Arther style stuff but not this. MEH.
Frankenstein, Agent of Shade #1: I thought about picking up the Frankenstein mini-series tie-in to Flashpoint but ultimately decided against it because it was just too out there. So far I haven't been inclined to pick up any of the new titles centered around Vertigo and I think that means something. MEH.
Resurrection Man #1: Resembles Sylar of Heroes fame, in that he gets new powers but he has to first die every time for that to happen. Does he get to accumulate all the powers or does a new power replace an existing power? I'm not entirely interested, especially with a generic name such as Resurrection Man. MEH.
I, Vampire #1: Oh no, a tormented vampire a la Twilight. Stake me now. I think I'll just stick to I, Zombie, thank you very much. MEH.
Voodoo #1: A half-alien hybrid. What's the other half, human? Ron Marz is writing so there's a glimmer of hope. If this becomes all sci-fi, I will quickly lose interested. FLIP & DECIDE. Good job, DC, it's not a clean sweep.
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