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5 (7) 4 (16) 3 (21) 2 (18) 1 (7) 3.0 starsAverage score of 69 user reviews
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Egypt's Never Looked So Good 0
Iron Man faces his greatest threat yet as he is thrown back in time to battle the evil (and misnamed) Mad Pharaoh Hatap. Can he survive an encounter with this ancient foe? Will he charm the legendary beauty Cleopatra? Will he be able to escape the past and get back to the present? Find out all this and more in this issue!Now look in my review of TOS #43 I said “Iron Man does not feel right fighting mystical underground civilisations”, and I stand by that here. Iron Man doesn’t ...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
A Strangely (Sorry) Enjoyable Human Torch Story 0
I’m not sure I could possibly rate any comic that features a villain called Asbestos Man anything less than two stars. It would have to be a truly terrible book for that to happen. Just don’t inhale while you’re wearing that suit pal. The other part of this issue introduces us to Dr Strange’s arch-foe the evil Baron Mordo.I actually really enjoyed Johnny Storm’s story this month, it was a simple but well told story of the hero getting knocked down and having to find...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
More Narrative Crutches Than An Orthopaedic's Office 0
So Journey Into Mystery is on a two comic one star streak. Will this one improve upon it’s terrible predecessors or will it follow them into the one star wasteland? Read on to find out as Thor battles his most dangerous foe of all, himself.There’s a lot wrong with this issue. Firstly the first page spoils who the creator of the duplicate Thor is, taking any sense of narrative twist out of the story. Then there are numerous examples of the overpowered inventions of the week, which wou...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
One Eye, Two Heroes! 0
Crime is at an all time low in Ant-Man and The Wasp’s patrol and Janet’s getting a bit bored of it. After a brief discussion they decide it’s the perfect time for a holiday in the isles of the Mediterranean. But a strange horror stalks the islands, leaving the Grecian sailors trapped in port, too fearful of a monster to head to sea. Looks like this is the perfect case for our crime fighting couple!This comic contains my least favourite trope of early comics, Aliens in a single ...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Drabness in the Depths of the Earth 0
Tony Stark must face down his most dangerous opponent yet in Kala and her hordes of the underworld. Imprisoned deep underground without the Iron Man suit Stark will have to use all his wits to avert crisis! With the threat of invasion looming and his friends being held hostage, can Tony Stark find a way to save the day?Iron Man does not feel right fighting mystical underground civilisations and/or aliens. I can understand him fighting super villains, even magical ones, but when he’s fighti...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
The Wizard, Paste Pot Pete and A Strange Newcomer 0
So we’ve got a double feature here, firstly we have the monthly Johnny Storm tale in which he fights off against two returning villains, The Wizard and the man, the myth, the legend, Paste Pot Pete! Our second feature is the debut of Dr Strange (apparently not related to the villain featured in one of Iron Man’s stories a few months back) as he tries to help a man who’s suffering from a repeating dream.I still don’t think Johnny Storm is an interesting enough character to...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Doc Ock Rocks NYC 0
I had a goofy smile on my face at the end of this comic and at the end of the day you can’t ask for much more than that. That’s the power of a great comic, it can tell a tale of remarkable human character, as the forces of good and evil vie for supremacy, and all in 20 pages. I knew I was in for a treat as soon as I saw the cover, as this issue features the first appearance of Doctor Octopus one of Spider-Man’s greatest and most memorable foes.This is a book which shows that gr...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
More Like Chromosomatic Bland 0
Gather round people. I want a little informal sit down about our internment protocols for Loki. I mean we chain him to all these different rocks and walls and every time he escapes using his magic, that is so powerful it can influence events on a different planet. Maybe it’s time we address this, maybe move him to a magic proof room? Use some sort of magic resistant chains? Anything at all!? Guys? Guys!!?Look this is the third or fourth time this exact plot point has been used in Loki&rsqu...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Pym's Getting Waspish! 0
The Egghead is back in town and this time he’s out to destroy Ant-Man for good. Hot on the heels of the debut of The Wasp we see the return of one of Ant-Man’s most cunning foes. He’s got a plot brewing to capture and defeat both of our miniature heroes which will require all of their combined intelligence and strength to escape.The basic plot on offer here is a bit disappointing. After the debut of The Wasp in issue 44 it’s a shame to see her immediately get used as bait...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Yes Invisible Woman! 0
Back from the world of the micro the pursuit of Dr Doom is on! The Fantastic Four are taking preemptive action and are actively hunting down their fearsome, flighty foe. Through means of deception Dr Doom soon turns the tables on our intrepid heroes leaving them first humiliated, then later helpless in the face of his attack on New York.Standing in stark contrast to Fantastic Four #16 this book tells a solid story within it’s own pages while continuing on directly from the last. I think th...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Micro Wave Goodbye Fantastic Four! 0
Dr Doom is back to menace the Fantastic Four from an entirely new, tiny universe. This time our intrepid heroes will need help from the master of shrinking himself, Ant-Man, in order to find and stop Dr Doom yet again. What will they find in this new tiny world and what does Dr Doom have in store for them?This issue followed on logically from Dr Doom’s last appearance, in which he was shrunken down to an infinitesimally small size. It’s always nice when stories of the sixties tie tog...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Red's Dead Baby, Red's Dead 0
Iron Man must battle not only the villainy of The Red Barbarian, but also the cunning and deception of The Actor in this tale of cold war espionage. After busting up a “commie spy ring” Tony Stark starts demonstrating his newest weapon, a disintegration ray. The Red Barbarian sets his sights on the plans for this dazzling new weapon and dispatches The Actor, a man capable of impersonating anyone even our fabled hero Tony Stark!I thought this was a grounded, well told Cold War espion...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
A Morass of Mediocrity 0
The sinister Sorcerer is carrying out a rampage of petty misdemeanours throughout Glenville. He wields all the evils of Pandora’s Box, kind of like a magic pick and mix. The villain’s motivations are murky, but seem to boil down to “keeping them damn kids off of my lawn”. He’s angry at the way society and The Human Torch treats him so he seeks revenge.There’s not a lot going on in this issue really. The villain has an interesting power but lacks a decent schem...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
It's a plane! It's a Vulture! It's An Alien! 0
A fun little double story issue this one, one good villain, one set of not good villains. Firstly we see the introduction of The Vulture, a nefarious individual who has constructed a set of wings which he of course uses to commit dastardly aerial assaults. Can our spider catch himself a criminal vulture? Second we have The Terrible Tinkerer and his mysterious crew offering cheap radio repairs! Spider-Man senses something is afoot and investigates these hideous purveyors of cheap radio repair.I a...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Unacceptable Then, Unacceptable Now 0
This issue was troubling to read even after you taking into account the standard “different times” argument. In this book we swap out the continued very troubling representations of women for very troubling representations of racial minorities. We open with Thor in India fighting off a Chinese invading force for the local Indian army. He dispatches them with relative ease, leaving behind only discomfort for the white saviour situation in the modern reader, and a burning desire for r...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
The Kosmos Kalls 2
It was hard to read the original version of the story so aptly told in Avengers: Origins Ant-Man and The Wasp, a comic I rate five stars. Returning to the sixties style of storytelling and writing was challenging, with the character of Janet Van Dyne suffered the most from this change. That said the original story was pretty well written and obviously laid down the beats that were followed by the retelling.We hear for the very first time the origins of The Ant-Man and the terrible events that le...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
The Wasp, The Ant-Man and Dusty Together At Last! 0
So I’ve been following this reading order for Marvel Comics and it’s been interesting going so far, I love seeing all of these heroes in their really early days, but there’s something quite repetitive about them and they’re very slow in the character development. So I count my blessings that every now and then I get reprieve in the form of modern comics set early in the characters sagas.In Avengers Origins: Ant-Man & The Wasp we get a concise retelling of the origin o...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
More Like The Mad Stinker... 0
I feel like I'm going to run out of ways to say how bad the villain is in this issue. So The Mad Thinker has built a computer through which he can perfectly predict almost any outcome. Like we are talking exact landing location of an asteroid that no one had any idea was coming. I seriously can’t elaborate how much I hate this. Perfect prediction machine aside, and that is a colossal aside, he can predict the future! Why not just make a ton of money on the stock exchange, or play the lotte...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
The Stronghold of Dr Strange! 0
As someone who only recently began reading Marvel Comics my knowledge of Dr Strange mostly comes from rumour and hearsay surrounding his upcoming introduction to the MCU. I always thought he was introduced as a magic wielding hero, so to see him here as a technology driven super villain was surprising to say the least. I look forward to seeing his progression from villain to hero and I wouldn't be surprised if the seeds for that transition are as a result of the end of this issue.This comic move...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Dumb! Dumb! Dumb! Dumb! 0
I’m going to get out there and just say it, this issue is really dumb. Like even for hypnosis and space obsessed Marvel dumb. The villain of the week Wilhelm Von Vile (I kid you not) has acquired a magic set of paints that he found under his prison cell in an ancient alien chamber. With paint comes power as the old, and entirely made up, adage goes. Anything that Von Vile paints comes to life leaving him with the power of a God.So this story. There are plot holes you could drive a bus thr...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Keeping Things Loki 0
Loki's still imprisoned as a result of Thor thwarting his scheme to keep Thor from his hammer, thus leaving him in the form of the crippled Don Blake. To get his revenge Loki escapes and... schemes to keep Thor away from his hammer. This is well trodden ground, but the adventure take place in Asgard, which at very least allows Thor to face some new interesting challenges.So we've got a pretty standard setup. Loki while chained to a rock somehow manages to summon Thor's hammer to Asgard, breaking...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Time For Revenge 0
It's Ant-Man vs the most dangerous and irreversible force of all: Time! When Professor Ellias Weems is fired for being too old he vows revenge, not just against the business that wronged him but all of society!We have in Ellias one of the more sympathetic villains of sixties Marvel. Normally villains of the time were one dimensional characters with unclear or entirely absent motivation rules, but Ellias' actions are understandable even while remaining unjustifiable. It is oh so very sixties marv...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
The Sub-Mariner Strikes! 0
For a change this issue follows on directly from the last as our plucky heroes return from the moon to a, well, heroes return. This issue sees the return of not one but two dreaded villains: Namor the Sub-Mariner and The Puppet Master.We are in well trodden ground here for the Fantastic Four. Once again they face off against Namor under the oceans of the world, after he snatches away Susan Storm again. I remain deeply troubled by her characterisation as little more than a damsel in distress. Soc...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Monkeying Around 0
There's quite a lot going on in this issue of Fantastic Four. As with many issues of its time it is light on characterisation but manages to pack in a lot of story beats in its 23 pages. In this our latest adventure we find that Mr Fantastic is embroiled in research as part of the contemporary space race. He's cracked the key to getting to the moon using rocket fuel derived from asteroids. Unfortunately Ivan Kragoff a russian scientist has done so likewise, so the race to the moon is on!As I sai...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Gargantus: The Giant Disappointment 0
After Iron Man's exciting and grounded debut I was looking forward to learning how he became a super hero and how he would shrink down the life support systems from a suit to a smaller device. Sadly both of these points were skipped over, moving straight to the continued adventures of Iron Man the hero. We did get a detailed and slightly sexist explanation of why Iron Man changed the color of his suit to gold and an explanation of the three personas of Tony Stark.This was very much a story of tw...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
This Is The Big One! 0
Human Torch vs Namor! Fire vs Water! This is the big one! Or not. I'm not a huge fan of the Johnny Torch solo comics, I think his character and power sets work better as a part of the ensemble cast that makes up The Fantastic Four. That said Stan Lee seem's to be very creative in getting the most of Human Torch's fire powers and Namor offers a good counter point in terms of powers that makes their clash interesting in this issue.The plot is pretty dumb in this issue. Johnny feel'd the rest of th...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Namor Returns! 0
A bumper length issue, you get one a year, one annually, an annual if you will. As our cover reveals Namor the Submariner has found his subjects and is looking for revenge against all of humanity. Standing between him and global domination is the Fantastic Four. We've got a 37 page story that twists and weaves more than your average single issue sixties Marvel plot. It's very much a three act story that gives all members of the team a chance to shine, while also revealing the tragic issues of th...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Incredible Hulk vs Magne... The Metal Master 0
So early Hulk does not tally with what I know of the character. As far as I was aware it was all "HULK SMASH!" and rage turning Bruce Banner into his alter ego. In the sixties The Hulk seems prescient of himself and wants to turn back into Bruce, but has to reach a special place to do it. Also he's eloquent and more mean spirited than angry. I assume the character goes under some fairly major transitions to get to the character I knew from films and later era comics.This was a bang tidy feature ...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Good Beard Bad Villain Ugly Solution 0
The man with the voice of doom has come to Center city and he had Ant-Man in his sights. So Jason Cragg is our villain of the week, he of the doom voice, who seemed to gain his powers by means of a radioactive microphone. I shall name this the Spider-Man method of power accumulation. Honestly not too impressed with this issue, The Orator (as I have named hime) had an interesting power but he lacked motivation and the end of the issue was pretty much a science ex machina. Also the thought of Hank...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful.
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