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Guest raptor

Reviews 5/30

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Guest raptor

X-Men Evolution #7 (Beast of Burden Part I): This series is starting to grate on me. I thought it would be a good way to learn about a fascet of the X-Universe I had no access to. I was rewarded for my curiosity with utter crap. The first three issues were good, but it hasn't been readable since then. Beast is good in this issue, though.*

 

Howard The Duck #5 (of 6): Uber-Book of the Week. I think I've said everything to say about Howard, so I'll hand it over to Michael Deeley (of Silver Bullet Comics ) to provide an excellent summary: "This is what I expect all comic books to be. Entertaining, meaningful, layered, and complex. And every word is true, (at least from the writer's point of view.) 'Howard the Duck' transcends traditional comic book constraints and touches that ethereal quality known as art." *****

 

Blade #3: This book has so much potential. The Tryk are an interesting villain/ally, and the "seven" subplot is neat. They are supposedley going for the theme of the Blade movie, but come of as possesing the only bad quality of the film: Needless graphic violence and no story. **

 

Simpsons Comics #70: Playing of the recent Homer's Odyssey episode of the Simpsons, this comic is completely based on Greek Mythology. I bought it due to the fact that in my Mythology course, you get extra-credit for bringing in something modern that alludes to classic myths. I wound up laughing my @ss off for the duration. If you know all the stories, all the throw-away lines are frickin' hilarious. Even if you don't know the stories, the trademark Simpson humor will more than make up for it. ****

 

Spider-Man's Tangled Web #14 (The Last Shoot): RAVEN~! Besides the instant markdom of reading a comic by Brian Azzarello AND Scott "Raven" Levy, this is actually a good little story. On any other week, it's Uber-Book of the Week, but it lacked the thoughtfullness of HtD. Crusher Hogan is a likeable charcater, but there is little in the way of substance. Good debut for Scotty Flamingo, though. I'm sure having Brian Azzarello scripting doesn't hurt, though. ****1/2

 

I'll be back later w/ the serial reviews (hint: they both kinda' sucked)

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Guest raptor

As promised (like a whole lot of you care) here's the rest:

 

Marvel May Serials:

 

Kraven & Spider-Man in: You Can Call Me All (Part II of II): I held off on these reviews to give the serials a chance. Now, after reading this a second time, I found that I actually laughed quite a bit. My gripe (why I still think it sucks), however, is that it seems as if Zimmerman is using established characters and fucking up their characterization to "put over" his new Kraven. I hate his new Kraven, his Bad@ssness seems forced, and pathetic. In part one, Punisher was made to look foolish, and in this one, that honor goes to Spider-Man. Waste of free space, but Zimmerman shows that for all his flaws, he *is* funny. *

 

The Call of Duty (Part IV of IV): This was even crappier than "Al." It was looking up after Part I, with a great shock ending. So in this part, Bruce Jones wusses out of the bette ending (the partner dying) and instead goes for the heart-tugging cliche: kill the kid. Bah! It get's a half star 'cuz it was free. 1/2*

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Guest areacode212

I haven't gotten my books this week yet (because I came across a pawn shop that was selling stolen DVDs from Netflix for $5 each), but IMO, anything that makes Punisher look foolish is worth at least one * right there. It's so rare and he's such an unlikeable character. Even Garth's awesome run treats him as the straight man in a pool of ridiculousness, so I'm happy whenever that pompous jerk gets to look bad for the sake of a laugh :)

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Guest raptor

because I'm bored:

 

Avengers #57 (22 Page Preview, Wizard #130): I cannot begin to explain the awesomeness of this. Geoff Johns is rapidly becoming one of the best superhero writers in comics, and his Avengers are no different. His roster kicks serious amounts of ass as well: Captain America [and he's not a pussy boy scout], Black Panther [YES~!], Jack of Hearts [bOOYAH~!], She-Hulk, The Falcon [without his fairy armor], Yellowjacket, The Wasp, Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Ant-Man, and Warbird. The plot is top notch as well: the world's leaders are vanishing, and the United Nations do the only thing they can: they ask the Avengers to rule the world. NEAT. *****

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Guest areacode212

If you liked Geoff Johns here, I suggest picking up his 14 (or so) issue run of Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E. I thought the idea of a bratty girl superhero who slowly came to appreciate the (and this is an overused word in JSA) legacy she was upholding was pretty cool, and she had a great supporting cast. I was pissed as hell when it got cancelled. In hindsight, it was probably launched 3 years ahead of its time, because since that title got canned, Johns went from relative unknown to a somewhat "hot" writer. I'd love to see a revival of the book. Maybe a mini-series someday...

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Guest starvenger

Is Jack an official member now?  He's was an honorary member before, right?

 

And this would be Ant-Man II's first official stint as member as well, correct?

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Guest raptor

I'm not sure if Jack of Hearts, Black Panther, Falcon, She-Hulk or Ant-Man II will be official members after this storyline. They seem to be benefiting from the fact that all the other Avengers got sucked into "the darkness" along with the world's leaders.

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Guest areacode212

I'm busy, so I won't be so long-winded this week.

 

Batman #603 - This is "Fugitive" Part 11, and probably one of Brubaker's best issues. Batman learns that a cancer-stricken ex-police detective from his past wants to see him for one final favor. And after reflecting a bit, Batman makes an important decision! Plus, Catwoman and Leslie Thompkins make brief appearances. There's been a lot of wheel-spinning and boring stories in this crossover (the Nicodemus story in this title, and that Chinese drug gang thing in Detective), and so I'm glad SOMETHING is finally starting to happen (other than Oracle and her buddies sitting around talking) to move the "Fugitive" storyline forward. *** 1/2

 

Howard The Duck #5 - I picked this up along with issues #2-4, but I haven't gotten #1 yet (I was planning to go to another comic shop across town from K-Mart, but the Benoit line took longer than I expected), so I'll probably review this sometime in the future, after I read them all.

 

Spider-Man's Tangled Web #14 - This was really good! Hopefully Raven does an appearance around here sometime, so I can get him to sign this sweet comic! This is, as you may know, a story about Crusher Hogan and the events leading up to the first public appearance of Spider-Man. It's actually pretty sad because you know who'll be jumping into the ring at the end. Levy is clearly drawing from some of his experiences with ECW and Heyman for the first part of this, though the "Money ain't everything, boss" stuff is a bit ironic when you think of the "Raven sold out" angle from back when he jumped to WCW. Still, it's nice to hear him (through Crusher Hogan) narrate "Above all else, respect the fans. They don't plop down their hard-earned money to see blown spots or half-ass effort". I wonder what a Kevin Nash-written issue would have been like. At any rate, starvenger was right, wrestling smarks will love this. ****

 

(By the way, raptor, this was scripted by Brian Azzarello, not Greg Rucka :) )

 

X-Force #128 - The name of the issue is "Someone Dies". Indeed, someone does, and it's the person I was hoping wouldn't (though I always knew it would be them). Damn it! ***

 

Elektra #10 I haven't gotten around to reading this yet because I still have a few unread back issues, but hey, it's Greg Rucka, how bad could it be?

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Guest raptor
(By the way, raptor, this was scripted by Brian Azzarello, not Greg Rucka :) )

WOW. How could I miss that? I guess thats what you get for not having the issue handy when you review it, huh? :(

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