xkoenig

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4.1 stars

Average score of 45 user reviews

Jen gets her turn as a gray Hulk (I think?) 0

I've always loved Jen Walters' character in Marvel. Even though a great deal of her time has been a semi-spoof character, breaking the fourth wall a-la Deadpool, she's just been a ton of fun in all her various appearances, solo, FF, Avengers, and so on. It's really exciting to see her now get a chance at a more serious, introspective storyline. The art is pale and moody and the concept is just superb. Having Jen go through a period where her whole world is shaken and her safety net/comfort zone ...

1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

Now I get it! 0

I'll admit, when I read the start of this new series I felt a bit lost with the seemingly more political, personal storyline I saw building. I loved seeing Carol take off into space, but the plot seemed to get stuck on technical issues. But I think having read up to issue 5 now I see the whole picture, and it's actually come together perfectly. DeConnick has created exceptional, neat new characters, a clever, crafty, well put together plot and a strong showing of what Carol is about and what sh...

1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

Ahhh! Love it! 0

Well, this series has been through ups and downs, slow moments and tough-to-deal with moments. But after this issue I think I'm seeing where Dan Slott is taking us. Did we ever think he wasn't going this way? The amazing thing about this story is that Dan has taken the time to let the story breathe. Instead of Ock being Spidey for a few issues, or a few months, he's let this play out and really develop, taking in all of Peter Parker/Spider-Man's world. And it's really for the better. When peopl...

1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

KSD brings Enemy Within to a great close 0

Looking back on the first 14 issues of Captain Marvel, it's now possible to see just what Kelly Sue Deconnick has been building up to, and in my opinion I give her great credit for establishing Carol in her new role, showing her to be a truly mighty hero, for assembling a supporting cast with a lot of throwbacks to Carol's early days in Ms Marvel (1977) and for making this whole story so rooted in Carol's own origins. I really like it. Yes, I'm biased because I'm a huge fan of Carol. Yes, Filipe...

1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

Yes this IS a classic storyline that will go down in history. Deal with it. 0

Well, Dan Slott got his wish and made a whole bunch of you really angry. But let's take a look at the facts: all major comics characters have had a death and return to life story arc. The only difference here is the media is not making a big deal out of it, or Marvel is choosing not to trumpet it to the media, but either way. Superman: huge long saga where he 'dies' and comes back after somehow he's on the bottom of the ocean. Batman has had 2 major stories where he was out of commission: Knigh...

3 out of 4 found this review helpful.

Well, I'm liking it :) 0

I picked up this series out of interest for the characters and for Ian Churchill's art. So I have no real grasp of the story that's going on in Superboy, Legion Lost or Teen Titans at all, which may be a good thing as it sounds confusing and perhaps contradictory... With just Ravagers to read I can enjoy it for itself, and I definitely am! Howard Mackie is a good writer. This is just a good comic in my opinion, and I really like it. We're getting to know these characters as they get to know each...

1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

Great art and great promise 2

So I'll admit it now: I was waiting for this comic almost entirely because of the Ian Churchill artwork. Aside from some covers, he really has been out of action since 2011's Marineman! Yes, this comic pays off in that regard - Churchill's art has a beautiful, neat, clean look to it. It's just a very attractive comic. OK, and Fairchild is on the cover in a swimsuit.So about that cover... a major typo (Lightning and Thunder are the wrong way around!! I mean, come on, Lightning should be throwing ...

0 out of 1 found this review helpful.

Getting a little tangled 1

Don't get me wrong, Wonder Woman is a great series right now. However, this issue shows we can't always be perfect. Tony Akins continues for his second issue on art duties, and while he does have some attractive moments (he definitely has talent), he's just a little too inconsistent and sloppy for my taste. His style fits ok with Cliff Chiang's work, but he's not a trained artist and you can tell with how facial depictions vary and Diana's physique gets strange at times. Story-wise I agree with ...

3 out of 3 found this review helpful.

Straightforward action! 0

Of the comics I got this week, this was probably my favorite. The main reason: pretty much just straight up action. The story kind of plays out like a comics forum style 'who would win: Ragnarok/Thor clone versus the entire New Avengers minus Squirrel Girl and Jewel?' and takes it from there. This New Avengers series has always been about zany, fast moving storytelling and here it's back to its best. Throw in the fantastic Mike Deodato art (I LOVE consistent artwork from month to month), and you...

2 out of 3 found this review helpful.

What a finale! 0

These one-and-done issues by Warren Ellis have been really interesting and fun. Each issue showed us something new and creative and each time we got a new art team as well! I think they saved the best for last though, as here we get a phenomenal little story and the amazing art of Stuart Immonen. I've been a huge fan of his work since his 2010 run on the current New Avengers series and here he is on top form. His art is just so detailed, dynamic and attractive. Wade von Grawbadger's inks work pe...

2 out of 2 found this review helpful.

A step down, but not too much. 1

It took me two reads of this comic to get used to Brian Azzarello's style of writing a London English accent. As a Brit I'm soooo picky about this, and I really hope that not everyone Diana interacts with in Britain sounds exactly the same. Message to America: we are not all cockneys!!! OK, so she lives in London. So ok for now. :)I was concerned about how well Tony Akins would do filling in for Cliff Chiang. Chiang's art has been so incredibly good for this series, there was a lot to live up to...

2 out of 2 found this review helpful.

Argh! Addictive, but SUCH bad writing! 0

Scott, Scott, Scott, Scott, Scott! Lobdell that is. How do you write such TERRIBLE comic-cliched dialog, but maintain an engaging and interesting series at the same time? I'm referring to the massive monologue given in this issue by Crux, the 'announcing who I am just because that's what I do and in fact I say that's what I do for good measure' from Starfire, and the final page throwing in another bit of 'oh, by the way, here's what I'm going to do, just so you know' dialog. But I'm also referri...

2 out of 2 found this review helpful.

Huge, awesome, worth every penny (or cent) 0

I managed to avoid spoilers for this issue and didn't even look for preview pages, and the wait was definitely worth it. 28 pages of Hickman & Epting and a truly awesome 48 pages of Hickman & Giandomenico combine for a science heavy, emotional, action-packed, trippy, quality journey that is well worth the money, even before the additional 3 short stories at the end. And those are NOT just filler material. With a story and comic as long as this one there is a danger that a writer will los...

5 out of 5 found this review helpful.

Superb. Really. 0

It took me a long time to come on board with this run of Wonder Woman. I hadn't read her since the early 90's, just before and during the infamous Mike Deodato run. But I have to say, this is a great comic right now. I like Cliff Chiang's sharp, clean, pared-down art. It's like it's drawn with an axe! Here we find out a bit more about Brian Azzarello's new version of Diana's origin and how the Greek Gods work in the DCnU. What I like most is how tough and awesome Wonder Woman is. She's a charact...

1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

Uneven writing. Sorry, Bendis 0

I have been enjoying Brian Bendis' work on both Avengers titles lately, but this month (#18 here and #19 Avengers) are a little slip in quality. I like the plot - it's like a parallel of the Avengers, assembling a new team, except here of course it's a new DARK Avengers (very cool)! But we're back to some clunky dialog at times. I know Bendis prides himself on writing dialog that sounds realistic to the ear, but some stuff just comes off a bit weird and a bit too wordy. Mike Deodato is an amazin...

0 out of 0 found this review helpful.

Wow. Some weird stuff going on here. 0

OK, so I knew this comic would feature the launch of a new Avengers team and sure there have been a ton of these personnel rearrangements before. But the moment where Vision joins (hey, he's on the cover, it's not a spoiler, right?) is really strange. The freakin' Vision, an Avengers LEGEND is back all of a sudden and no-one's jaw drops and goes "Huuuuuhhh????" Well, ok, I guess they've all seen some crazy stuff in their time, but still. This issue definitely has some cool moments. I approve of ...

0 out of 1 found this review helpful.

Strange but fun 0

Scott Lobdell has a very strange way of writing, I have to say. It's almost as if he thinks we know everything that's going on and why people are doing things without having to back it up or justify it or lead us into it. And so it is here as the gang launch into the next step on their journey. Don't get me wrong, this is fun, and the art is sensational, except for a very awkward final page. But the dialog just jumps in with characters talking in half-sentences, talking about things but missing ...

3 out of 4 found this review helpful.

Feels like a movie. Definitely awesome. 0

It took me a long time to get around to picking this issue up. For some reason I was hesitant at the stripped-down look of the art which made everything look sparse and bare. But here I am having just bought and read WW #1 and wow! Fantastic start to the new series. Taking advantage of a fresh start, Azzarello puts Wonder Woman and the Greek mythology firmly in the real world and starts her off immediately called to action by a woman in distress. This comic definitely has a modern, movie-like qu...

1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

A quality end to a brilliant event 0

Dan Slott is a great comics writer: he has a careful, smart and deft feel for story, for continuity, for character and for dialog. Here with the end of Spider-Island he shows how to bring a great crossover to a satisfying end (I know, technically there's still an epilogue but still) with a return to the hilarious lines between Spidey and Kaine, MJ and the Thing and all the Avengers. The only thing that stops me from giving this a full 5 stars (I'm kind of reviewing the whole arc here) were the s...

4 out of 4 found this review helpful.

Hmmm. OK? 0

I felt conflicted while I was reading this book. At times I was getting really annoyed with how much of a douche Jason was being and how totally unlikeable he was (he just kills some bad guys and grumps about how he'll kill someone else), but then somehow Scott Lobdell pulls it around with the ending and I think we are seeing that underneath it all he's a good guy with good motivations. I think. That's probably a negative on Lobdell's writing, but it is just about working. I'm still not convince...

4 out of 7 found this review helpful.

The juggernaut keeps going. Not the Juggernaut, obviously... 0

Wow, reading this makes me realise how hard it is to write a huge story like this and do it well. The one thing Spider Island has suffered from is that the spin-off storylines are just a little too important to the main story, so that if you haven't been buying Venom, Spider-Woman and so on (like me), things can get a little confusing or seem poorly explained. But the thing Dan Slott has done so well here is to maintain momentum and keep up the wit and spark that make his writing on Spider-Man s...

3 out of 3 found this review helpful.

Spider Island gets creepy 3

After the incredible awesomeness of parts 1 and 2 of Spider Island, maybe it was a bit much to expect Dan Slott to sustain that level of quality. I mean, those issues to me were so well written and funny and action packed, could anyone keep it up for 6 or 7 more in a row? This issue kicks off well enough - I think the interactions between Carlie and Peter have been some of the best parts of the story. But then Slott has to pay attention to the growing number of side stories, and the first one th...

2 out of 2 found this review helpful.

I liked it! 0

I would consider myself a newbie to the current DC. I read and loved DC during the early 90s, but since returning to comics I've stuck only to Marvel, finding DC's continuity to be too terrifying to even consider jumping on. Now I'm on board with Justice League and now Stormwatch. I don't know anything about them, so forgive me! Starting off, this is a great comic. An intriguing mystery, full of science, and an offbeat team seemingly trying to assemble itself and trying to find its way in the wo...

2 out of 2 found this review helpful.

Yes, this is a success 0

DC has problems. It's consistently second to Marvel, but both of them are going down slowly and gradually in sales. So how do you fix this? You need to start to reverse the trend and get new fans again. But DC's other problem in my opinion is not just that it has a long continuity. So does Marvel. It's that its continuity is so bizarre and reworked and inexplicable that it distracts from everything they have that's good. So they've cleaned it up once and for all. Now Hawkman can finally not be a...

7 out of 11 found this review helpful.

Mind bending... 6

Wow, this was not at all what I was expecting. The cover spoils itself already, so I don't think it's a big surprise to say this issue is about the return of Black Bolt. Or is it? I'm not even sure what I just read here. It's basically a history of the Inhumans and alien species in the Universe. I think. But that's not to say it's not impressive and a great issue. The art from Greg Tocchini is something I've not seen before, but I really like it a lot. It's very roughly drawn, but definitely att...

4 out of 4 found this review helpful.

This series is on fire right now 0

This series is going from strength to strength right now. I think I've always had a thing for the Fantastic Four, but for a long time I never picked up the comics. I know this is the FF, but hey, close enough ;) Jonathan Hickman's writing is just top notch here. It's a perfect balance of sciency adventure with villainous action alongside it. Seeing the evil Reeds carry out their crazy plan is fascinating, and it's even more amazing to watch the assemblage of villains work with the real Reed to f...

0 out of 0 found this review helpful.

Another arc another artist! 2

I know my reviews for this series tend to focus a lot on the art teams, but the artists have been so unusual (to me at least) that I think it's important. It goes without saying that Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning are going to put out quality writing month after month, and here they keep up the good work with a story that shows us how Misty and Paladin deal with the events of Fear Itself in New York. It's an intriguing setup with some good potential as Misty enlists heroes to deal with escaped vill...

0 out of 0 found this review helpful.

Solid backup for Fear Itself 0

I'm starting to like this format for a backup issue supporting a crossover event. The main series Fear Itself is just so busy and quick with things happening that you need something to help you deal with all that's going on. And I think what Bendis is doing in this comic is good. Last issue we had a talky story that showed the build up to the event, and here we see how a monstrous new Thing battles the Red Hulk. Having the story focus around talking heads may seem slow, but as I said Fear Itself...

2 out of 2 found this review helpful.

Excellent, volume 2 is on! 2

This series is so intricate, and there are starting to be more and more connections with Hickman's other work. Look for the little nugget in the back pages which explains what Nick and Jake Fury found in the monastery in France in Secret Warriors #25!! There is just too much awesome happening in this issue. We find out more about Michelangelo and Leonid's true origin, and Stark, Richards and Tesla reappear at the end in a huge explosion. Weaver's art is very detailed and still great, but I liked...

3 out of 3 found this review helpful.

A great little surprise! 0

I picked this issue up because I like the idea of The Defenders, even though I've never read any of those old issues. The whole idea of the team (Surfer, Hulk, Namor, Dr Strange) just sounds so bizarre but awesome at the same time, I couldn't resist. And you know what? Although it's a little different here, this is a quality story. Loa is a great little hero, Namor is always compelling, and the arrival of the Surfer at the end is brilliant. This series looks like it will be a good backup for tho...

2 out of 2 found this review helpful.

Another quick arc over 0

Well, old Bendis certainly threw us for a loop. Yes, many people (me included) thought he had trampled continuity under the bus again when Thanos appeared at the end of last issue, but of course SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.I should have realized it was just a fake out. So the Avengers battle to defeat the Hood and it's over a little quickly. But I think this is just typical of comics nowadays. Everything has to fit into the 6-issue format so it can be made into a trade ...

2 out of 2 found this review helpful.

I liked it, but so short! 0

I know comics these days often are over before you start reading them, but this one just felt like too little when it could have been so much more. It's actually a good issue - Nick Fury's 1959 Avengers team goes on its first mission. The end of this brought a smile to my face as a certain character makes an unusual entrance...! And in the present, events proceed quickly involving a certain injured Avenger SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.MockingbirdBut somehow it's not push...

0 out of 0 found this review helpful.

Could have been awesome, instead just very good 0

After the first three issues of this new series I seriously had high expectations for this first story arc. Brad Walker's art took a little getting used to, but once I did I thought it was brilliant. And the writing has been tremendous throughout. But these last two issues (4 and 5) have just taken their foot off the gas a little and for me it's because of the art. Robert Atkins' art is just not strong enough for the material here, not nearly dark, dense and sharp as Walker. Sorry, but that's ho...

1 out of 3 found this review helpful.

Oh man! Where is this going? 3

Well, I think I can see where this series is going now, but boy, who knows what Heinberg and co have planned. I don't want to spoil the final page, but it's definitely a shocking moment SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.as Scarlet Witch returns ent as Scarlet Witch makes a triumphant returnBasically Iron Lad is back in our time and decides to start messing with things directly. There are consequences, but that's all I can say! Anyway, Jim Cheung's art is fantastic as usual, ...

3 out of 5 found this review helpful.

Wow! What a wait... 2

Who knew there would be a 7 month gap between issues 3 and 4 of this series? Well, I certainly didn't. Was it worth the wait? Well, kind of. A neat story and great, great Adams art (that was the hold-up I think, while he and his wife looked after their baby) make for a neat comic. The series is starting to take shape - I think it's too bad that there had to be such a dreadful setup story as Ultimatum to give us this new world order, but there you are. But Jeph Loeb is taking the opportunity now ...

4 out of 5 found this review helpful.

Interesting back story 0

I've never seen much Alan Davis in my time, although I know he's been around forever, but I was very excited to see how he would draw the Young Avengers. I really liked the art here, but oddly enough it could have done with some stronger coloring. Anyway, here we find out just exactly why Iron Lad showed up at the end of Children's Crusade #4. The story is pretty simple - Iron Lad comes across the grown up Young Avengers while fighting Kang and finds they have seriously compromised their heroic ...

3 out of 4 found this review helpful.

Hmm... where is this going? 0

Well, I liked this a little more than BKole evidently did, but this certainly has a very strange feel to it, partly because of the art. Howard Chaykin's unique style just does not fit the retro 50's storyline that Bendis has going on here. The stories so far (both of them) are also kind of odd. I hope they connect up in some way, because right now combating Superia and some HAMMER forces in the present and Nick Fury gathering a proto-Avengers team in the 50's have no connection at all!! To be ho...

2 out of 2 found this review helpful.

Baffling, but building to a crazy finale 0

If you thought things would become clearer as this series progressed, I think you would be wrong. Jonathan Hickman has built up layer upon layer of confusion and intrigue with every chapter. Here, although we find out the names of all the members of the Great Wheel (seen in The List: Secret Warriors), and we see some very direct connections emerging with Hickman's other series SHIELD, exactly what it all means is totally up in the air. Is that bad? Probably not - this is still an incredible piec...

2 out of 2 found this review helpful.

Volume 1 over, bring on Vol 2!! 0

Before I even read this comic I went back and gathered together the rest of the series. The storylines have been so twisty and loopy that you have to have everything in mind while you're reading this. Things become a bit clearer by the end of this issue, but there are so many loose ends that Volume 2 cannot come soon enough. I finally think I understand who the Engine of the Machine is, but that's about it! The groundwork is laid - I like Leonid, and I love the team-up between Stark and Richards...

1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

Better and better! 1

This series is so far everything I had been hoping for. After hearing so many good things about Abnett and Lanning's Guardians of the Galaxy series and cosmic stories I just had to get in on the ground floor for their latest work. Somehow they just know how to write well - here Paladin is making a move to find out the truth behind Misty Knight and starts to go on his own side mission to track down old associates of hers: Luke Cage, Colleen Wing and Iron Fist. So far the series is kind of like a ...

8 out of 9 found this review helpful.