Guest starvenger Report post Posted January 10, 2003 It's a new year, and the only thing consistent with the old one is that Ultimates and Spider-Man/Black Cat is nowhere in sight. And while Ultimates is a great read, it's hit my DROP list once the lead-ins to Ultimate War come out. Out of sight, out of mind, and off of my pull list. Some of these may have come out last week of December... Transformers: Armade #6 (Simon Furman/ Pat Lee/ Rob Armstrong) Notes: This is part 1 of a 2 part story arc Armada continues to do a good job in creating the story for the toy line. I've stopped watching the cartoon, but the comic still works for me since it's obviously targeted towards the older audience. This is Furman's first Armada story, and his disdain for the kids stands out due to their minimal screen time. A solid story with very nice art and robots gets no complaints from me. Rating: 7/10 Exiles #21, "Legacy part 2" (Judd Winick/ Jim Calafiore/ Jon Holdredge with Eric Cannon) I have to say that, after reading this, that I'm convinced that one of the Exiles will die after this arc. The obvious choice is Blink since (iirc) her Marvel U counterpart died fighting the Phalanx. Which probably means that it'll be someone else. And for those keeping track of Judd's forays into gay characters, this Earth's Spider-Woman seems to play for the other team. Oh, the story? Lots of angst at the beginning as the Avengers and Exiles prepare for what is presumably the final battle in the war against the (ugh) Vi-Locks. And then the battle leads to a lot of ass-kicking. By the bad guys. Nice ending here which makes you WANT to read the next issue. Rating: 8.5/10 Robotech #2, "Call To Duty" (Tommy Yune and Jay Faerber/ Long Vo, Charles Park and Saka) If you know the Robotech story, then you'll probably appreciate the way they're weaving this story into the mythos. Unfortunately, if you're just jumping into Robotech with this comic, it'll be alternately boring and way over your head with some of the references. So as such, I really can't recommend picking this up. Rating: 5.5/10 Transformers: The War Within #4 (Simon Furman/ Don Figueroa/ Elaine To) Lots of fun, as Furman continues to churn out quality Transformers stories while creating the backstory for the Dreamwave TF Universe. Unlike Robotech, TWW draws you in and doesn't confuse you with too many references to the future, instead crafting a good story and layering in the continuity after. Rating: 8/10 Uncanny X-Man #417, "Dominant Species" (Chuck Austen/ Kia Asamiya) OK, Angel starts looking like Triple H and then gets a push AND all the women seem to be after him. Coincidence? Anyways, it's some decent stuff, and leads you to wonder if Warren's a heel or not. I'm still on the fence about Asamiya's art though. Rating: 7/10 Daredevil #41 (421), "Lowlife part 1 of 5" (Brian Michael Bendis/ Alex Maleev) Note: This was only a quarter, so I picked it up for shits and giggles. Bet you never thought you'd hear that about a DD comic... This is my first Bendis DD story, and I have to say that it's pretty darn good. The dialogue and art works very well for the story, and it doesn't weigh the reader down with too much backstory. A very good jumping on point for any comic fan, and I'll probably be picking up the rest of the arc. Rating: 8/10 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest raptor Report post Posted January 11, 2003 Soundtrack: Breaking Benjamin Saturate. An awesome album, albeit somewhat derivative. All the songs are similarly structured (rising tension, great riff/chorus, outro). Some of the best of their Genre, though. Standout Track(s): Medicate, Next To Nothing, Home, Skin. Ultimate X-Men #27 Story Title: Return of the King Part 1 (of 7) Creators: Mark Millar, David Finch (fill-in artist) Publisher: Ultimate Marvel Comics Comments: A pretty good kick off to Mark Millar’s last arc. It shows some promise, but I can’t say I was all that impressed. The lateness of The Ultimates is even affecting this title, as it was difficult to fit this in the chronology of The Ultimate War.*** (Mildly Reccomended) Ultimate Dardevil and Elektra #4 (of 4) Creators: Greg Rucka, Salvador Larroca Publisher: Ultimate Marvel Comics Comments: This is the best limited series I’ve read in a long time. A decidedly grouned story, fitting for the characters and the Ultimate Universe itself. Salvador Larroca finally shows his full potential, and Greg Rucka’s script is spectacular. The TPB is out next week, and I give it my highest reccomendation.***** (Highly Reccomended), Uber-Book of the Week Fables #9 Story Title: Warlord of the Flies: Part Four of Animal Farm Creators: Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham Publisher: Vertigo Comics Comments: A s good as its aways been. If you like twisted takes on childhood memories, you’ll love this series.**** (Reccomended) Green Arrow #20 Story Title: Kryptonite: Archer’s Quest Part 5 (of 6) Creators: Brad Meltzer, Phil Hester Publisher: DC Comics Comments: Man, Brad Meltzer kicks ass. I’m anticipating his last issue of the series, but I’m also sad to see him go. Judd Winnick is going to have two great pairs of shoes to fill, and I’m not sure he can do it. Oh, and the cliff hanger kicked serious ass.**** (Reccomended) X-Treme X-Men #20 Story Title: Schism Part One: The X-Treme Files Creators: Chris Claremont, Salvador Larroca Publisher: Marvel Comics Comments: I want to kill whoever keeps digitally inking Salvador Larroca’s art. The rest of this issue is the best that its been in a while. Claremont’s got the start of a fun murder mystery here. All they need is to give Gambit and Rogue their damn power back. *** (Mildly Reccomended) Hulk/Wolverine: Six Hours 1(of 4) Creators: Bruce Jones, Scott Kollins Publisher: Marvel Comics Comments: I try not to judge minis by their first issue, but this has started off pretty slowly. Not enough, Wolverine for my taste. Good writing, and I dig Kollins’ art, but it was too plodding.*** (Mildly Reccomended) Daredevil #41 Story Title: Lowlife Part 1 (of 5) Creators: Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev Publisher: Marvel Knights Comments: The perfect 25 cent issue. Everyone on this board who reads this should buy it and give it a whirl. The story itself is perfect, and Maleev’s art has a sense of clarity that it doesn’t always maintain. Plus, Bendis makes The Owl a badass, which is no small feat***** (Highly Reccomended) Other Stuff I Bought: Powers #27: Good, but I don’t have anything to say about it. ****(Reccomended) Superman: The 10 Cent Adventure: Don’t really like Superman, but this was a decent enough issue.***(Mildly Reccomended) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest areacode212 Report post Posted January 16, 2003 Didn't feel like starting a new thread about this, but 411 Wrestling has a new comics section here: http://www.411mania.com/comics/ You wouldn't know it from looking on the front page of 411, but it's there (I found out about it from a post on the DC boards). They have some interesting columns/reviews. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest starvenger Report post Posted January 16, 2003 Thanks!! Now to some mini-reviews for the week: Daredevil: The Movie (Bruce Jones and Mark Steve Johnson (screenplay)/Manuel Garcia/Scott Hanna) NOTE: there are 2 versions - this is the comic version priced at $3.50, while a TPB version (presumably filled with other DD stories) is available for $12.99. Anyways, the best thing about paying #3.50 for this crap is that I now don't have to shell out $10 at the theatre to watch this crap. Even taking into account that the comic is probably not based on the final script (which is the usual case with adaptations), it's still not what I was hoping for. The story is more or less true to form, minus Stick, but the rest is rather by-the-numbers. Or maybe less so - aside from Daredevil, it doesn't seem like any of the other characters are "on screen" for very long. In other words, it's all about Ben, his chin, and thhhhhuper red biker leather. Man, even Frank Miller could write a better movie than this. (thinks about Robocop 3)... well, maybe not. rating: 3/10 Ultimates #8, "The Experts" (Mark Millar/Bryan Hitch/Paul Neary) Another great issue, this time focusing on the Black Ops team. Lots of fun, gratuitous killing, and I like it. Well, not enough to make me stop picking it up (due to lateness), but still good stuff. rating: 9/10 -1 = 8/10 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest raptor Report post Posted January 16, 2003 Soundtrack: 8stops7, 3 Song EP and Finch, What It Is To Burn. 8stops7 is a great hard rock band, and the preview EP of their upcoming album looks to be better than their debut, In Moderation. Go to MP3.com and listen to “Hero Bleeds” and see what I mean. Finch is just inoffensive pop-punk that I’ve been listening to lately. Standout Tracks: 8stops7: “Hero Bleeds.” Finch: “Stay With Me,” “Untitled,” “Letters To You,” "What It Is To Burn (Bonus Track)." Firebreather #1 Story Title: Growing Pains Creators: Phil Hester, Andy Kuhn Publisher: Image Comics Comments:I picked this up because I decided to give Image’s new superhero line a try. I wasn’t disappointed, as Hester has a story with definite potential. Duncan is a fifteen year old offspring of a dragon and a human woman, and today is his first day at a new high school. Obviously, he gets singled out, since he's different... and orange. A fun opening issue, that I recommend to all Ultimate Marvel fans. **** (Recommended) Ultimates #8 Story Title: The Experts Creators: Mark Millar, Brian Hitch Publisher: Ultimate Marvel Comics Comments:I don’t know how many times I can complain about this title’s lateness, so I won’t do it again. Its a great issue, but I can’t be bothered to get into it as much as I’d like to. Ultimate Hawkeye kicks ass, though. Too bad that this was so late he already got fully introduced in The Ultimate War. *** (Mildly Recommended) New X-Men #136 Story Title: Riot at Xavier's Part Two: When X Is Not X Creators: Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely Publisher: Marvel Comics Comments: Can someone tell me the last time something actually happened in New X-Men? Well, something kind of happens in this one, but not enough to make up for months of spinning wheels. Also, why does Morrison just forget about plots? Where the hell is Dust? and Fantomex? Plus, the stuff he does go back to are the dumbest of his dumb ideas, like the U-Men. Riot at Xavier's is looking to be a fun story, though.*** (Mildly Recommended) Ultimate Spider-Man #35 Story Title: Legacy Creators: Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagely Publisher: Ultimate Marvel Comics Comments:Bendis said that his Ultimate Venom wouldn’t suck, and he was more than right. So far, Ultimate Venom stands out as some of his best Ultimate Spider-Man work. The way in which he’s using it to explore Peter’s relationship with his father is rather startling and touching. Plus, the way in which he has incorporated the Venom monster was a welcome shock. ***** (Highly Recommended) Uber-Book of the Week! Spider-Girl #56 Story Title: Three Minutes: Season of the Serpent Part 3 of 6 Creators: Tom Defalco, Pat Ollife Publisher: Marvel/M2 Comics Comments: If anyone want to give this series a try, the first three parts of Season of the Serpent are a perfect place to start. Defalco has really used this titles renewed life to do some great things with Mayday Parker, and anyone who wishes Spider-Man would go back to the way it used to be should give it a chance. **** (Recommended) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest starvenger Report post Posted January 17, 2003 Did you get "DD: The Movie"? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest raptor Report post Posted January 17, 2003 No, I ended up picking up Firebreather #1 for a cheaper price. Didn't want the movie ruined, and I didn't really like the dotComic preview. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest HellSpawn Report post Posted February 1, 2003 Soundtrack Best of The Corrs & 40 Licks. A mix of AOR & the F'n Rolling Stones for a strange and mixed batch of comics like crime, spandex, fairy tales Vertigo style and spandex a la Matrix. Rating: * Crap ** Regular *** Good **** Very Good ***** Buy the Book Fables #9. Animal Farm P.4: Warlord of the Flies $2.50 Creators: Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham & Steve Leialoha Cover by James Jean Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo Comments: Art is as good, for the book, well, there are some panels that look kinda "indy", you know, like some panel without background art, or a very simple background, is weird, Mark one momment makes you think awesome Lion or nice animal assemble, and the next panel is like taken off of Bone, and is not a bad thing to be indy but this is not an indy book. Story is good, someone said the story must be the focus, and the character should be into the story not the focus, here, you can read a simple opressed vs rulers story but using fables characters make the book a cool concept. Cool momment #1: Snow White "You dumb Bastards! I'm Snow White! I run Fabletown and I'm Never outgunned", "Kill the barn" and one second later the barn is dusted by a... (you know, is huge, fly and can breath fire) and the revolution is over... or am I wrong? just look at the end of the issue. Cool momment #2: What a cliffhanger ! Goldilocks vs. Snow White, and I really want to know how in the hell they gonna fix this. But still, the art, and maybe I'm too judgemental, but my main languaje is not english and I still read the whole book in less than 10 minutes, and like I said its good but still leave me an indy taste, and usually a Vertigo book never let me that taste. Rating: *** Daredevil #41. Lowlife 1 0f 5 $0.25 !! Creators: Brian Bendis, Alex Maleev. Publisher: Marvel Comics, Marvel Knights Comments: Usual Bendis dialogue, meaning great . Great art by Maleev, this time the backgrounds are dark and fit the crime mood. Now is the time for The Owl to be revamped, after that "Target" cameo when he was beaten in one second, now he is back and pissed. One low down, this new character Milla, a blind woman, maybe Im wrong, but I think we got one more person who either will know who is DD, and that makes her number, what... 10? 15? or will be her new love interest. Cool Stilt man apparition, and that makes the "Out" arc still alive for the new guys jumping into the book; we have all in this month, nice price, the story begins but still got you clues about what happenned in the recent books, great art & story, Murdock action, DD hero & dark vigilante action, a twisted villian a new character and if you like this book as a newbie to DD world, well, #42 was out a couple of weeks later. Oh, and a Great Cover. Rating: **** Amazing Spider-Man #49. Bad Connections.$2.25 Creators: J. Michael Straczynski, John Romita jr, Scott Hanna. Publisher: Marvel Comics Comments: JMS & JRjr are still a well oiled machine, but I dunno, story is kinda blah. Ezequiel is back, yadda yadda and guess what? he wasn't 100% sincere with Peter. MJ and Peter love each other but looks like destiny is not OK with that, or it is? we'll see in our #50 anniversary issue next month! The MJ and Peter events were well done, and well, thats why the book earned more than a simple ** rating. Oh well, at least Marvel finally dropped that awful and "whitebread" Cho's covers, is not an awesome cover but at least JRjr is back. Rating: *** New X-Men #136. Riot at Xavier's P.2: When X is not X. $2.50 Creators: Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely. Publisher: Marvel Comics Comments: More GeekX Men vs. U-Men, Xorn and his students vs. U-Men. Great art, nice action sequence in the woods. The X-Men vs. NerdX-Men plot kick start here. But the F'n Highligh is between Scott & Emma. Well, I still dont like the way Quitely draws her, but its a minor detail. Rating: *** The Ultimates #8. The Experts. $2.25 Creators: Mark Millar, Bryan Hitch & Paul Neary Publisher: Marvel Comics/Ultimate Comments: Finally... the Ultimates are back. OK, this my 1st Ultimates & Hitch experience, so lets see. Nice cover, but, if you are new to Avengers world, you could think, wow, nice couple, Im sure this couple are lovers. But, guess what, they are siblings. BTW, Nice @$$ Wanda . One comment, again with the wrong impressions, if you look at what happened in the 1st half, you almost think, wow, now the Ultimates are kicking this bad guys (Natasha & Clint) assess, but NO, they are black ops in the Ultimates group. Oh yeah, and Wanda & Pietro are introduced here too. Now 'bout the story & art, oh man, I swear I'm not always on this mood, but either this is an homage to The Matrix or a copycat, well, not exactly a copycat, Neo & Trinity did it all by themselves, Natasha & Clint needed 4 black ops teams, but still it was a very nice action packed book. Great art by Hitch, now I know why some people love him so much, very detailed and you can see several angles, like Natasha's stunt, in the middle he made a pause to show you the pov of a civil down in the street, and then he's back to the action, the splash boom was also cool, you can almost swear this is NY street. Good back & forth between Pietro and Natasha in the briefing room, oh and back to the "I think I already read this plot", and this is ironic, because Fury used the word "Planetary" about the alien invasion and, Elijah Wood from Planetary was the focus of an Alien Invasion/Extermination story way back in Wild Cats. Rating: **** OK, I'll explain myself, why 4* for Ultimates? Even when it looks like an already used plot from some other book/movie, well, it was very well done, this new characters look good enough to be in a "ultimate" team and the art is really good. Now, lets talk 'bout Spidey, from the start we knew Ez wasn't honest with Peter, and we still dont know whats the big deal with him, Peter & MJ was nice, but is not new, this is like the Xth break up/back again issue between them. Damn, I still have more books, but January's deadline is very close, so, I probably'll cheat in the Feb's review thread. Next The whole Ultimate DD/Elektra mini, Alias #18 & Batman #611. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest starvenger Report post Posted February 1, 2003 Soundtrack Best of The Corrs & 40 Licks. A mix of AOR & the F'n Rolling Stones for a strange and mixed batch of comics like crime, spandex, fairy tales Vertigo style and spandex a la Matrix. Those Corrs women are fucking hot... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest HellSpawn Report post Posted February 3, 2003 'bout The Corrs women... Oh Hell Yeah! and the hottest one (Andrea) is single ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest starvenger Report post Posted February 9, 2003 OK, some fresh reviews... eXiles #22 "Legacy: Conclusion" (Judd Winick/Jim Calafiore/Jon Holdredge with Eric Cannon) Comments: The cover teaser says "One Shall Fall" and indeed this is the last we see of one of the eXiles (sadly, it isn't Morph). Definitely not who I would have guessed, but I suppose that everyone has to leave at some point. Anyways, it's a great ish since Winick keeps you guessing as to who goes. We won't see the new member in action for 4 issues, though, since Chuck Austen is writing a 3 issue arc featuring Sabretooth's Weapon X dimenion hoppers. Rating: 9/10 Robotech #3 (of 6) "The Program" (Tommy Yune and Jay Faerber/Long Vo, Charles Park and Saka of UDON) Comments: I didn't really enjoy the art in this ish for some reason. The story was pretty good - probably as good as any of the "McKinney" novels - but again I really can't recommend it for anyone besides Robotech fans, which is reflected in the rating. Rating: 6.5/10 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheZsaszHorsemen Report post Posted February 9, 2003 I hate the verbal blowjobs everyone is giving The Ultimates. He's turned The Avengers into some bastardized version of The Authority, ruined the Hulk's origin, and confused giving the characters token giant morality issues with real characterizations. I also thought that Daredevil/Elektra was mediocre at best, and REALLY could have lost about 8 pages an issue. The entire first issue established three things: 1. Elektra knows Kung-Fu 2. Frat Boys are EVIL 3. Matt and Elektra LIKE each other. The whole thing was mastabutory, and I'm pretty sure the lack of feedback from Frank Miller is a pretty telling sign of how HE feels about it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest raptor Report post Posted February 9, 2003 I hate the verbal blowjobs everyone is giving The Ultimates. He's turned The Avengers into some bastardized version of The Authority, ruined the Hulk's origin, and confused giving the characters token giant morality issues with real characterizations. I also thought that Daredevil/Elektra was mediocre at best, and REALLY could have lost about 8 pages an issue. The entire first issue established three things: 1. Elektra knows Kung-Fu 2. Frat Boys are EVIL 3. Matt and Elektra LIKE each other. The whole thing was mastabutory, and I'm pretty sure the lack of feedback from Frank Miller is a pretty telling sign of how HE feels about it. The thing is, you're pointing out the inconsistencies between an original version, and the re-imagined version. You can not like the Ultimate versions, but using things like "ruined the Hulk's origin" and the differences between the Ulimate DD/Elektra relationship and the original aren't wholly relevant. The Authority comment, however, is relevant. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheZsaszHorsemen Report post Posted February 9, 2003 No, the main problems I had with Ultimate Elektra/DD were these: 1. Story drags, and drags, and drags... 2. The ENTIRE SERIES felt like the last twenty issues of Ultimate Spider-Man: Mastabutory. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Sassquatch Report post Posted February 10, 2003 You all know my stance on Millar's work so I'll refrain from commenting on that topic. I will say that I agree with the comment made about how Ultimate Daredevil/Elektra was "lacking" at best. The book blew as every possible college type cliche imaginable was used in the book which also had a lame storyline to boot what with the cliched and overused son-fights-for-dad/mom type deal. Just like the regular MU Elektra, the Ultimate MU Elektra is just as boring and uninteresting as a character as is her couterpart is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
