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5 (42) 4 (29) 3 (11) 2 (2) 1 (2) 4.3 starsAverage score of 83 user reviews
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"Wonder Woman" 0
A lot has already been written about the drastic change to Diana's character that is revealed in this book. There's a reason why the cover features snakes (the first lies told were by a serpent) shattering the clay image of Diana. I don't feel like I'm spoiling much when I mention that Wonder Woman is no longer born of no father. That origin was all a lie perpetuated to protect her from the truth: that she is the daughter of Zeus.My favorite part of this new Wonder Woman is how intimately they a...
5 out of 5 found this review helpful. -
“You Are Needed By Others” 0
Man, I love Phil Noto’s art. There’s just something about it. Not quite realistic, but not that cartoony. It really works for me and I don’t know why. Drawing X-23 is an interesting challenge because Laura doesn’t emote all that often. She keeps a fairly stoic pose 98% of the time. That’s why I thought it was neat that possessed Laura got a chance to contort her face a bit. Gives Phil Noto a chance to stretch his fingers. Well, that and the large, bloody, gory melee later on in the book.There ar...
4 out of 4 found this review helpful. -
“We Are The Effect We Have On Our Friends” 2
Both Animal Man and Swamp Thing have been really upping the game and bringing a horror component to the New 52 that I think the line mostly lacks. I’m not normally into the crazy gore or horror movies, but the mythology they’re building, while simplistic, is still pretty cool. I mean, you’d think that maybe plants and animals would be competitive forces toward each other, but it seems their real enemy is The Black: Rot.It’s a battle that has gone on since the end of time. Entropy vs. order. Than...
5 out of 5 found this review helpful. -
"Nazis...And Worse..." 0
It's hard to get to my feelings about this book without seeming cynical or insensitive, so I'm gonna try not to tiptoe around. Cap & Bucky #623 is "A Very Special Issue" that is meant to add weight to the book, perhaps as a prerequisite for the Winter Soldier stuff that's about to follow. After Bucky's last issue where he was proving himself to the grown-up/meta-humans, this was a literal "loss of innocence" issue. I'm torn as to whether or not I felt it was necessary. On the one hand, the H...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
"You Have Been Judged" 3
We've arrived at the last bit of calm before the storm. Next month we get 100 pages of F4 and another issue of FF and I have a feeling a lot of things are going to be different.Boy, everyone, remember the Inhuman digression a few months ago? Remember how everyone said it didn't matter and that it wasn't going to make sense? Well, less than a year later, everything important about them is now vitally important now. The Supreme Intelligence's failure to destroy Earth and the home planets of the Un...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
"I Have Been Broken" 2
Last we saw The Ultimates, Asgard was destroyed, the gods were routed, and Yggdrasil was destroyed, stripping Thor’s very divinity from him. In other words: dark days for the Ultimate Universe. Since then, Reed Richards’ Children of Tomorrow have continued their inevitable march on Europe, consuming all in their path.Hickman has made a point in interviews of expressing that all is not well in Earth-1610. Every book in the relaunch of the Ultimate U is emphasizing that the old guard is dead and t...
4 out of 4 found this review helpful. -
"Hearing Everything Is The Same As Hearing Nothing" 0
With those words Daredevil spoke to the essence of this book: cutting out the noise and finding specific information. Everything about this book revolves around seeing the tiny clues hidden in the sea of information. From the start, the mobsters/terrorists suss out that Cao's boss is trying to protect him based on suspicion and investigating the clues that Cao's boss failed to properly obfuscate.In the apartment we also have the literal filtering, with Matt hearing the rifle cock and the hit men...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
"Everything Changed" 0
Without a doubt, this mini-series was the best thing to come out of Spider-Island. I don't know how sales looked by the end of the run, but it's got both the most beautiful art and the best writing of any book within this mini-event.Top marks in this book goes to Emma Rios, Alvaro Lopez, and Javier Rodriguez, who created the stunning layouts within the covers. We're talking multiple gorgeous two-page spreads coupled with gorgeous panels throughout. It really is stunning and without it I think th...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
"Being Pulled Apart When We Need Each Other Most" 2
From the first page of his run as head writer on Fantastic Four/FF Hickman understood that the central conceit of the team/book was that they were a family. It is the core concept that keeps them all together; the one difference between Reed Richards that prevents them from reaching their fullest potential as agents of tremendous good, but also tremendous cruelty. There is no room for empathy or compassion in a family-less Reed Richards. Only cold, hard math.This breather issue is meant to reinf...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
"You Only Get One Of Us In Your Life." 0
I think that Williams and Blackman are doing a great job in trying to show how Batwoman's identity appears to be so fragmented and pulled in multiple directions, but in doing so they have considerably muddled the plot from the first issue to a somewhat confusing degree.Last issue we dealt with Kate's personal life, her relationship with her father and cousin, the La Llorona case, and a little bit of the DEO and Batman. Instead of focusing, this book tries to expand all of these storylines while ...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
"1/0" 0
If ever there was an issue for Dustin Weaver and Sonia Oback to shine, this is it. SHIELD #3 is something no Hickman book I've ever read has been: quiet.Immediately following the discovery of Newton's Quiet Math (a nice touch, since there is almost no dialogue in this book until the last three pages), the Star Child goes berserk. Something about Newton's math makes no sense or enrages him so much that he decides to destroy the Forever City. Everything looks dire until Michealangelo, who exists i...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
"Our Fathers Were Angry Men" 3
Jonathan Hickman is obsessed with stories about fathers and sons. It's the most commonly appearing motif in his work, but it's actually thematically appropriate for the Ultimate Comics Reborn initiative (or whatever they're calling it) because after Ultimatum nothing was supposed to be the same. They just didn't capitalize it.The Ultimate Universe has always been a child universe to 616, if you think about it. The changes were never all that different. It was a universe aspiring to tell a lot of...
5 out of 5 found this review helpful. -
"That's Weird." "Most Legends Are." 5
I am such a sucker for Greek mythology. It's one of my favorite things to see referenced in literature. Before last month, I'd never read a Wonder Woman book in my life. After this month, I'm going to put this on my pull list.Now, Wonder Woman is not the most artistically ambitious book of the New 52 (that credit goes to Batwoman or Swamp Thing), but Cliff Chiang and Brian Azzarello are doing neat things here regardless. They respect the power of the Amazons and they seem to respect women. You m...
8 out of 9 found this review helpful. -
"He Would Appreciate The Reference" 1
I have a real affection for serious references in comics. Not just the pop culture ones. Those are fun, of course, but they are instantly dated. No, I'm talking about the serious stuff. Biblical, philosophical, literary. It can be a cheap way to add "depth" or gravity to your book or it can be subtle and done artfully.Morning Glories definitely did the subtle thing once (arguably twice) with its time travel mechanism. It's entirely fitting that the Morning Glory academy, with its obsession with ...
4 out of 4 found this review helpful. -
"This Is All A Part Of HIS Plan" 0
Things have taken a turn for the religious for the X-Men. During Fallout we had an interesting look in at Rogue's whereabouts and her current mental state. We saw that she was turning back to her religious roots and we wondered how that would play out. I didn't think it would go this way, but I like it.Everything about this issue deals with religion. Be it Rogue's zealotry, William Stryker's new Crusaders (just look at their uniforms. I love that they never explicitly called them out as crusader...
5 out of 5 found this review helpful. -
"You Get To Discover What You Can Really Do" 2
Remember how I was worried about Miles being written too similarly to Peter back in Ultimate Fallout? Bendis has completely proved me wrong. Miles is his own man, mostly because he lacks the confidence of Peter and especially lacks the desire to be different, stand out, or be a superhero.Beneath the surface of his personality, Peter always wanted to fit in and be cool. Almost everything about Miles' body language (beautifully drawn by Sara Pichelli) suggests that Miles wants to blend in and just...
5 out of 5 found this review helpful. -
"I Need To Be Free" 0
Incorruptible is good, but I think it suffers a little bit at the moment from Irredeemable being better. Still, this is an expertly written and paced book. Last month we saw the criminal element of Coalsville flee in terror at an ominous signal in the sky. The figure responsible, St. Lucifer. I'm not sure about the relative power levels and danger levels between The Plutonian, Max Damage, and St. Lucifer, but the criminal element seems plenty afraid.We also learn just what it was that Max was bu...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
"Thanks For Being A Coward" 3
I liked this book, but I think the quote applies on a metacontextual level as well. See, I'm rather annoyed with Rick Remender chickening out in the end. Addiction and abuse are not light subjects. Not even a little bit. I know I don't have to tell you that. Flash and his father have a contentious and difficult relationship with each other thanks to his father's alcoholism, which you'd expect, but I don't love how quick Flash is to forgive his father just because he's on his deathbed. It feels t...
4 out of 4 found this review helpful. -
"The Spectacular Spider-Stache" 1
There's something intangible about why I don't love this issue of ASM despite really enjoying reading it. Dan Slott is certainly doing a good job with a fantastically fun event in Spider-Island, but he's not doing a great job. The writing and jokes are not hitting as funny as he thinks they are and so much is happening in the book that the writing takes a back seat to just reminding/telling the reader about everything that's going on. It's good to tie in all the, well, tie-ins, but there's so mu...
4 out of 4 found this review helpful. -
"None Of Us Will Be Carrying You Anymore" 0
The central conflict in Captain America and Bucky isn't the newest concept in the world. Faced with the growing number of metahumans involved in the fight, how can Bucky compete? Men who can turn into fire, super soldiers, imperius rexes...it's hard to keep up!Brubaker and Andreyko do some simple, but effective storytelling here. Bucky is a normal man who wishes he was as strong as his compatriots so that he can be as effective. He later faces the Ubermensh, a Germanic super soldier who is tempo...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
"We Found Out We Weren't Special Anymore" 5
With Ultimate X-Men the new Ultimate trifecta has now been completed. Of all the books, even Spider-Man, I'd say this one has had the most extreme philosophy change. For those of you who didn't read Ultimate Origins, the public has now found out that the X-gene, the next step for humanity, was a government experiment gone wrong. Trying to replicate the super soldier serum of WWII, the US government created the first metahuman, Wolverine, but it leaked and spread all over the planet.Frankly, this...
4 out of 4 found this review helpful. -
"Grow New Eyes To Better See" 0
When last we saw The Ultimates, they were in a bad place. Reed Richards and the Children of Tomorrow had arrived and Reed's desire to "solve everything" would surely lead to an attack on the world of a scope beyond measure.In fact, the craziest thing about this comic is that the Children of Tomorrow are so freakishly strong that I wonder how this could possibly end well for the Ultimate Universe.A society grown and evolved in isolation, Reed's Children are no longer hermetically sealed and are s...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
"You've Got To Do What No One Could Anticipate" 2
I feel like FF probably lost a lot of momentum with other readers after the Inhuman backstory issues. Review counts have dropped and interest seems to have waned, which is too bad because things are really going down in convoluted Hickman fashion. It may seem like very little happened in this skirmish, but big things happened to all of the principals and a pretty slick cliffhanger will lead us into the next issue.Hickman has told us many times already that much hinges on Doom. I think that the M...
5 out of 5 found this review helpful. -
"Oh No" 0
When we last left mild-mannered Miles Morales, he seemed withdrawn and scared. Shy and intimidated by the randomness and hugeness of the world around him. As his father frantically searched for him, he blended into the background with his chameleon spider powers.By the end of the book we realize that blending in remains what Miles wants to do. The Ultimatum Wave changed everything in the Ultimate U, but things didn't seem that different in the Spider-books aside from some prejudice and anger tow...
5 out of 5 found this review helpful. -
"Cries For Help From Every Direction" 0
It's kind of strange how an artist shift with an arc shift can create such a shift in tone. With the change from Paolo Rivera (and Javier Rodriguez on colors) to Marcos Martin (and Munsta Vicente), the book feels really different. I don't want to be too unfair about the fact that I prefer Rivera's art, so I'll tell you what I do like about Marcos Martin: he does his own little Daredevil-y things too.Rivera puts more focus on the onomatopoeia, but Martin does that thing where he highlights the se...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
"One Morning, When Gregor Samsa Woke From Troubled Dreams..." 1
There are so many things going on in this issue, I don't know where to start. Well, that's a lie, I'll start where I should start, by saying this book is the most stunning book I've read this week. Emma Rios (and Javier Rodriguez on colors) should be a lot more famous than she is because she's a rockstar. This book has it all: great clothing, gorgeous lines, fantastic action, horrifyingly disgusting monsters, and horrific situations. Just...wow.Beyond that, there are some really neat moments whe...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
If Only You Were As Cute As You Think You Are 0
The way that Alex Maleev's Moon Knight pops against the backgrounds in this book is stunning. I could sit and stare at Alex Maleev's art for hours. Everything about Moon Knight is just so well done. The two-tone, inks and white page just work so brilliantly. Everything about Moon Knight pops in every panel he's in.It's brilliant because Marc is the only thing standing between L.A. (and the west coast) and crime. If that sentence terrifies you, then you've been reading the same book I have. Echo'...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
We Are Rot In The Red 0
I've never read Animal Man before this issue, but Jeff Lemire is making it very clear that this character is all about his family. Not a page goes by in Animal Man where Buddy is either not with his family or mentioning his family. Seriously, if there's a page, I haven't seen it and that's ok. Buddy is interesting because of how important his family is to him, not in spite of it.Lermire's story expertly weaves in a lot of family elements, Maxine and Mr. Woofers, Cliff's hero worship, and Ellen's...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
It Was Just A Lottery 1
A lot of this review is going to be spoilery. If you don't want to read any spoilers, please don't read my review because a lot of it hinges upon details late in the book.SPOILERS AHEAD!When they announced that Bendis would continue on as writer for USM I was worried. I thought that Bendis had written Peter for so long and with such a specific voice that he'd have a tough time writing a new character. I was wrong. I'm blown away at how subtle and simple this book is.Peter's origin story was one ...
8 out of 8 found this review helpful. -
What Did I Tell You About This Old Con Artist? 3
Herc is so Silver Age.I don't like the Silver Age. Here's why: comics are a visual medium. Silver Age writers tended to forget that and over-wrote all the time. Their books were full of long descriptions about precisely what's going on in the panel and super-clumsy dialogue over-explaining everything. Just everything about this book is so poorly written. Just because the X-Men are not Herc mainstays, do we really have to be burdened with reading about how Wolverine has a healing factor? WHO DOES...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Can You Do It Alone?! 0
When you’ve only got three issues to make your mark, you really can’t waste one lollygagging about. Spider-Girl #1 did not take advantage of its opportunity. Instead of working on this teamwork story that Tobin started pushing to the forefront in the last few pages of #1, he spent most of that book focused on fancy fighting and action spreads. Story focus returns in issue #2, but the promise has only got one more issue to play out and I have a feeling it could get crowded.I should really talk ab...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
No Excuses, Honey, You're A Smart Guy 2
Spider-Island remains the best event I’ve ever read (admittedly I’ve read very few) because of how ridiculous and over the top it is. Even at its most dramatic, I find myself unable to worry or get too serious about it. I think that’s why Deadly Hands of Kung Fu didn’t work for me. Too self-serious! Thankfully the book is with me on this. Serious may come later on in the arc, but it’s just so chock full of jokes and fun that you can’t help but smile along as you read.Like many Spider-Books befor...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
Blood Really Is Thicker Than Water 5
I will qualify this statement by saying that I haven’t actually read all of DC’s releases so far and I probably won’t either, but Batwoman is, hands-down, the most beautiful book I’ve read this month. We’re talking legit art beautiful. I never heard of J.H. Williams III before, but you can guarantee I’ll remember him from here on out.In the entire book there are only three pages of conventional comic book paneling. Every other page is dynamically done. Nested panels, watery boundaries, action fr...
12 out of 13 found this review helpful. -
Voices Carry 0
The strength of Mark Waid’s Daredevil relaunch is its quiet genius. Like Thor: The Mighty Avenger, this book is practically swimming in critical praise, yet I feel like it’s not anywhere as appreciated as it should be. We’re only three issues in, but I’m willing to say that this is the best, most consistently good book Marvel is putting out right now.Where Daredevil exceeded in its first two issues and continues to succeed is in the attention to small details and characterization. More than any ...
4 out of 4 found this review helpful. -
(Sound Of Spatiotemporal Holocaust) 0
What if you were abducted from your home? Not just kidnapped and taken somewhere else on Earth, I mean, what if you were kidnapped and taken across dimensions causing a “spatiotemporal mess”? A mess that you had to clean up by destroying the infinite dimensions created by your abduction. What if you had to murder yourself over and over and over...Wonder no more, for Matt Fraction and Gabriel Bá are here to answer that question for you. Poor Casanova Quinn. Poor infinite mutant dimensions that mu...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Who The Hell Is This Chump? 3
That’s a really good question asked by Piranha that Scott McDaniel is not interested in answering. Grant Morrison wasn’t really interested in that either, but Grant Morrison was writing about a young Superman. McDaniel and Rozum take tremendous liberties in assuming that readers know anything about Virgil Ovid Hawkins.Everything I know about Static Shock comes from watching four or five episodes of his Saturday morning cartoon back in 2000. It’s been eleven years and I hardly remember any of it....
3 out of 5 found this review helpful. -
Their Powers Are Mental 3
So you know those floating alien dudes with huge, veiny, brain-like energy emanating from their heads and eyes? Their powers are mental. I’m so glad that Victor Gischler felt the need to tell us readers that the other species of Kaddak has telepathic powers.For that matter, why are there two species of Kaddak? Why are there three species of sentient alien in this dimension? Why is this all so unnecessarily complicated? How many different elements are already in this book? Do we really need two v...
1 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
You Just Have To Sell It 6
I want to get the racial politics out of the way first. I'm sure people talked about this back when Batman, Inc. was just starting, but there is something audacious about a white man showing up, bankrolling, and setting up what may become the most effective crime-stopping force in a region. It’s good to see DC creating a book with a non-American character in not-America dealing with non-American issues, but did it have to come out of a white man? Sure, there’s commercial politics in place here. ...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
Like The Flowers Screaming For Their Lives 0
This was easily my favorite of the new DC books this year. Like any other DC book I read this week, I have zero experience with DC and Swamp Thing. Everything I know about Swamp Thing I learned from here. Not really the most detailed source, I think you'd agree.Scott Snyder goes out of his way to make us care about plants in this first issue because he's got to. Swamp Thing is vegetation. Alec Holland is a botanist. If you didn't already know, the plant world is just as vicious and violent as th...
7 out of 7 found this review helpful. -
We Used To Have Laws In This Town 0
This book is a double whammy, my friends. It is both the first Superman comic I have ever paid money for and the first Grant Morrison book I have ever read. Make that a triple whammy, because it's also quite good.Superman is a disruptive force. He considers himself far above the law. Arrogant and cocky, he barrels through a Metropolis that is hunting him down with abandon. If I were the cops I'd totally shut him down too. Morrison's work is revisiting the origin of Superman as the first metahuma...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful.
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