Monday Mini Review - X-Men Legacy #226

X-Men Legacy #226 - Review

Book written by: Mike Carey
Art by: Dustin Weaver

Hex’s score: 4 out of 5

Another week and another ‘Utopia’ book, and I have to say another that I really enjoyed. This is an actual tie-in book which helps, not just some book for Marvel to stick an event banner on that has nothing to do with the overall story, which they have been guilty of many times in the past. X-Men Legacy #226 actually gets right into the thick of it, as I’ll explain.

Rogue, Gambit and Danger fly to San Francisco to help Cyclops and the rest of the X-Men with the mutant/ human riots. Their main priority is to rescue as many mutants as possible from both H.A.M.M.E.R agents and certain Dark Avengers, and there are throw downs galore! We have Rogue vs. Ms. Marvel/ Moonstone, Gambit vs. H.A.M.M.E.R, Gambit vs. Ares and Ares vs. Rogue!! As you can see it’s an all out action issue. It ends with our trio of heroes stealing a H.A.M.M.E.R tank and continuing their search for missing mutants, oh and by the way (spoilers on)…… after Rogue’s confrontation with Ares, she now has the power of the God of War! Very cool.

Carey really writes the main characters well in this issue and there are some great lines of dialogue too. Gambit is at his cocky best, Rogue shows that she is a true warrior and there is a great line where a child Danger rescues refers to her as a Transformer. It was a truly funny moment. There was great artwork too by step in artist Dustin Weaver. It was really nice to look at and very consistent throughout with awesome action scenes.

X-Men Legacy has not been a title I have enjoyed since its name change, and one that I mostly avoided. I enjoyed Carey’s previous work on the ‘Messiah Complex’ crossover and this issue reminded me of that. This was a good solid X-Men adventure, dealing with the problems of the mutant species whilst mixing it up with some cool villains, classic X-Men stuff. I just hope that the direction this book takes after the ‘Utopia’ tie-in concludes (next issue), continues the fun X-Men stories Carey has written here and in the past.

I'm back!

Sorry for only doing a few posts last week I was in sunny Spain visiting my folks, but I'm back to reality now so please check back all this week for lots of my usual posts, reviews & previews and as usual I welcome all your comments.

Hex out.

Uncanny X-Men #513 - Review

Uncanny X-Men #513
‘Utopia’ – Part 2

Written by: Matt Fraction
Art by: Terry Dodson

Score: 3.5 out of 5

The second part of this crossover begins straight where the first ended, with the introduction of Charles Xavier to the public and press where he voices his concerns for Cyclops recent actions as mutant kinds ‘leader’. Very unlike Charles, he commits himself to Norman Osborn’s ‘Mutant Solution’ and for most of the first part of this issue Fraction uses Normans voice in the captions which accompanies Dodson’s scenes from the riots the X-Men are involved in, in and around San Francisco. This is an effective way of getting Norman’s points and mission statement across without boring the reader.

One of the highlights of this issue was the introduction of the Dark X-Men. As Osborn’s explains to the press in this issue, his theory is ‘mutant problems, mutant solutions’, and the Dark X-Men are that solution. The team consists of Cloak & Dagger, Mimic, Daken, Omega, Dark Beast, Namor & led by Emma Frost! Fraction gives us his usual funny captions to introduce the characters which are always great and Norman gives us a further bit of background on each character when he introduces them to Emma. We are not sure at this stage whether Emma has turned sides against the X-Men or whether she is undercover as an X-Men operative waiting for the chance to stab Norman in the back. This is one of the more interesting storylines in this issue and I look forward to seeing how it plays out. Oh and spoilers on………… the sneaky and un-characteristic Charles Xavier is in fact none other than the shape shifting Mystique in disguise, working for Osborn. The fact that Charles was a shape shifter was made pretty obvious early on as it seems the real Prof X is locked up in a H.A.M.M.E.R headquarters. Another nice part of the story, one that is sure will be addressed in further chapters.

At the end of the issue the Dark X-Men are drawn out on their first mission to control a rouge group of mutants including Hellion, Sunspot, Avalanche and Adam X (blast from the past!) who want to make a stand against the way Norman and other humans are treating them and their fellow mutants. The two groups meet in Union Square and begin to battle, but we are stopped by seeing the outcome until the next chapter, which is continued in Dark Avengers #7.

This issue was mostly more set up of the storyline but it was well executed by Fraction, his handle of characters like Osborn and Emma was very good and I’m very excited about the introduction of the Dark X-Men and how their story will continue. I’m also confident that lots of action and plot twists will follow in the following chapters and this story will continue to get better.

The art by Dodson is excellent, with the Dark X-Men new costumes looking particularly cool. He does draw a strange looking Venom though, that would my only complaint from his work on this issue. 

Overall good stuff, X-fans should defiantly be reading this.

Captain America Reborn #1 - Review

Captain America Reborn # 1 

Written by: Ed Brubaker
Art by: Bryan Hitch & Butch Guice

Score: 2.5 out of 5

This book was without a doubt the most highly anticipated release from Marvel this week. ‘Captain America Reborn’ promises the return of Steve Rogers, and whilst this was generally a well executed read by the creative team, the circumstances around Steve’s return left me a little disappointed.

The main story for this issue follows on from Captain America # 600. Sharon Carter explains to various Avengers members past and present how she is beginning to remember pieces of her past under the mind control of the Red Skull, when she was used in the assassination of Steve Rogers and what happened in the events that followed. She recalls how after Steve’s death, the Red Skull and Zola used her as, what they refer to, as a ‘constant’ along with a variation of Dr Dooms Time Platform in order to pluck Steve Rogers body out of the time stream where somehow he has been locked away. Confusing I know! The experiment was unsuccessful however when Sharon fights against her restraints and causes the Time Platform to shatter which then causes Steve to become unstuck in time, making him relive moments from his past, which I have to say sounds very similar to a certain Bruce Wayne’s current predicament.

Why was I disappointed? Well time travel is used so much in modern comics and films and books etc. and to it seems to be an easy way out of a characters death. Just travel in the past, grab them before they die. Like that story hasn’t been tried a thousand times before! I was hoping for something more from a good writer like Brubaker, plus we are still not clear as to why the Red Skull would go to all the trouble of killing Cap, just to resurrect him from the time stream, it just does not make sense.

This series story is such a continuation of the main title, there really was no need to make this a $3.99 mini series, apart for Marvel to make some more money. If you haven’t been following the main title new readers will probably be lost. 

The art is generally good but some of the smaller action scenes with the H.A.M.M.E.R agents felt a bit rushed. I do feel though that Hitch is a good choice for this book as the art style is in the same vein as the work Epting and Ross have done in the main Cap series.

A high point for this book was Steve reliving D Day in Normandy, it was great to see him back in action and even though this wasn’t the most positive of reviews, I am looking forward to Steve’s eventual return, so I’ll be here for the whole ride.

Round up of news & previews 02/07/09

Quite a lot of news and previews today so I’ve just done one round up post. Read on!

Looks like there may be more than one Flash on-going title from DC after the Flash Rebirth mini series. Nothing much else that exciting or news worthy from Dan DiDio this week.

Dan DiDio: 20 Answers & 1 Question over at Newsarama.
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/070901-Didio20.html

Newsarama have a first look at the Immortal Weapons; Iron Fist back up story. They have been provided with 3 pages of art that looks great (Not sure who the artist is but it still looks like Travel Foreman’s work to me). The preview shows some great street level action as promised by writer Duane Swierczynski. If you’re an Iron Fist fan this is definitely worth a look.
http://www.newsarama.com/php/multimedia/album.php?gid=1155

5 Page Preview plus covers of new mini-series The Marvels Project # 1 from... you guessed it, Marvel! Due out 12/08/09 written by Ed Brubaker, art by Steve Epting.
http://www.newsarama.com/php/multimedia/album.php?gid=1156

Some good stuff over at DC’s blog the source today:

First, a 7 page preview of Red Robin # 2, showing Tim continuing his quest due out 08/07/09, then another extra early preview of what his buddy Superboy is up to over in Adventure Comics # 1. Check out the previews here:
http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/

Another breaking story on the site was the following:

Superman,Batman, Wonder Woman and the heroes of the Justice League will join forces with Teshkeel Comics’ THE 99, the award-winning original superhero group based on Islamic culture and history.

THE 99 team, which debuted in June 2006, was recently identified by Forbes Magazine as one of the “Top 20 Trends Sweeping the Globe.” Not too shabby, huh? In THE 99 — created by Naif Al-Mutawa — are a team of superheroes, including Jabbar the Powerful and Noora the Light who must collect 99 gems encrypted with the wisdom and power of the ancient Dar Al-Hikma library of Baghdad, which are spread across the globe.

The mini-series will be penned by incoming AZRAEL scribe Fabian Nicieza, who’s no stranger to THE 99, having written the series previously. We’re saving the artistic announcement and official release date for another day, once we’re ready to show off some of the art. But can you blame us for spilling the news? We didn’t think so.

I’ve never heard of The 99 before. What is it with DC and all these other character they are using lately? First Milestone, the Red Circle, now The 99!??!? I’m all for it as long as the stories are good and Fabian Nicieza is a good writer.

Have any of you guys come across these Islamic characters before? Let me know.

The Beautiful Batwoman

I won’t go into a long review of this book as it has been reviewed on every other comic book site over the last week. I finally got round to reading this last night and I just wanted to express how good this comic was.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single comic drawn more beautifully than here by J.H Williams III. The only other time I think I have seen his work is in the great Batman ‘Club of Heroes’ story arc written by Morrison. He work there was excellent with very imaginative layouts which he also uses to great effect in Detective.

I never read 52 or any other story involving this Batwoman, but straight away I like her. She is modern and tough and very determined. I want to learn more about her.

But back to the art, I can’t express how good the work is, and not just the pencils but the colour work too. J.H. Williams III is shown as the only artist in the credits but you could easily think that 3 artists have contributed to this book (please correct me if I’m wrong). The art goes from dramatic paint style with bold blacks and reds to a softer neutral pallet that then flows into a sketchy more usual comic book style, but they all work so well together.

This comic basically blew me away and is a total ‘must pick up’. I have included some preview pages below to show you some of this fantastic art if you have not already seen it. Plus the Question back up feature was a great little crime caper too. Two great stories, one fantastic and exciting new book. Stuff like this makes me a happy comic book fan.

Hex’s Pull List for comic on sale: 1/7/09

Marvel:
Cable #16
Captain America Reborn #1
Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth #1
Uncanny X-Men #513
War of Kings #5

DC:
Batman and Robin #2
Green Lantern Corps #38
Justice League: Cry for Justice #1

Image:
The Sword #18

After last weeks HUGE week (I think I ended up getting around 17 or 18 titles last week!) this is a medium sized week for me, but still lots to look forward to.

I’m most looking forward to Ollie & Hal back on the road again in the new Justice League mini (cover shown above), after some poor story lines in the main Justice League book I’m looking forward to some good team heroics and ass kicking in this one. The previews have looked great.

Obviously the big news book this week is Captain America Reborn #1. How will Bru bring Steve back? I am very excited to find out.

What are you guys picking up?

DC annouce Superman/Batman animated Movie

The news broke yesterday of another straight to DVD animated movie from DC entitled Superman/ Batman: Public Enemies, due out in September. This is based on the first Superman/Batman story arc buy Jeph Loeb. This story has been reported on a few sites but so far the site I have found with the most details on the release is Major Spoilers.

Check out the full article here: http://www.majorspoilers.com/archives/17491.htm/#more-17491

I will probably be buying this on the 2 disc format. I just hope its better than the comic it’s based on which was pretty poor.

Free Mondays @ Marvel Digital - 29/06/09

There is a nice mixture of free comics & previews from Marvel this week to feast your hungry eyes on. They are:

MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR (2005) #39
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #21
CIVIL WAR:FALLEN SON -THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA #4
SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE #3
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1999) #568

I’ve never read a Marvel Adventures comic as I got the impression they were aimed at a younger audience, but I have heard from a few fans that they are still fun reads, so I’ll have a look over Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four #39. This week also features Amazing Spider-Man #598, which was the first part of the acclaimed ‘New Ways to Die’ story arc. I never read it, but seeing as I have been enjoying Amazing Spider-Man so much lately I will check this out.

Next weeks free comics will be:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1999) #130

CAPTAIN AMERICA (1968) #431

X-MEN vs. HULK (2009) #1

MARVEL 70th ANNIVERSARY (1994) #1

DOCTOR DOOM AND THE MASTERS OF EVIL #1

Link: http://marvel.com/news/comicstories.8567.Free_Mondays_~op~6~slash~29~slash~09~ep~

Previews from Boom! Studios for titles on sale tomorrow @ CBR

You can check out titles on sale this week from Boom! Studios including new issues of "Finding Nemo," "Muppet Robin Hood," "Toy Story: The Mysterious Stranger," "Dead Run," "Irredeemable," "Farscape: Strange Detractors" and "Mr. Stuffins.

Irredeemable has been getting some positive reviews so far, I think I’ll pick up the TPB on that, the art on Dead Run by Francesco Biagini is very nice too.

Click the link for previews: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=21816

Amazing Spider-Man # 598 - Review

Amazing Spider-Man # 598 - American Son Part 4

WRITER: Joe Kelly PENCILS: Phil Jimenez

- 5 out of 5

Major spoilers ahead.

This story arc has been one of the most exciting Spider-Man reads I’ve ever had. There are so many twists and turns and back stabbing one another it’s like a whole series of 24 in one comic. This issue was just as good as, if not better, than the last. So what happens? - Spider-Man has been caught out as Venom in disguise and finds himself at the mercy of Norman Osborn & Bullseye. They have him in a torture device trying to pry his Venom suit from him. This is what saved his life from the last issue, the suit stopped the bullet, thanks to the genius of Reed Richards, but Norman has discovered the suit was built by Richards and finds away to dissolve the suit in an attempt to un-mask Peter. Switch to Harry, who has arranged to meet his beloved Menace only to find out she does not want the cure he has stolen for her, but instead wants to continue to be the monstrous Menace as lover of Norman, father of her child! That’s right, the baby is Norman's! - NOT Harry's. That twist was so great in a weird incest kind of way. Harry escapes and decides to get his own back on his Dad. He dons the American Son suit just in time to save Spider-Man from being un-masked by kicking his Dads butt. This story continues in the next issue with the final part and I’ve never been more excited to read a Spider-Man book. Writing and art are fantastic and that is one fucked up cover. Buy this comic.

Amazing Spider-Man # 600 - Preview at Marvel.com

Over at Marvel.com they have a great 4 page preview of Amazing Spider-Man # 600, not on sale until July 15th!

Check them out here: http://marvel.com/news/comicstories.8565.SNEAK_PEEK~colon~_Amazing_Spider-Man_%23600

I’ve been really joining this series since the American Son arc, and this has some top teams working on it so I’ll no doubt be picking this up.

X-Factor # 45 - Review

X-Factor # 45

WRITER: Peter David PENCILS: Valentine De Landro & Marco Santucci

4.5 out of 5

We get some answers in this issue, and as usual the answers only fuel more questions. Spoilers on.

The issue starts with Madrox and his companions in the future (Ruby & Layla) seeking out the advice of Victor Von Doom himself. How are these people still alive? First Scott Summers and now Doom still alive 80 years in the future! They must’ve been taking their vitamins or something. Anyway, even though Doom is still alive he is completely delusional. He is confined to a wheel chair and full of tubes and we are told his brain is virtually mush, believing he is still the great monarch he once was. Having said that, as we are told, a very insane Doom is till smarter than your average muppet like you, me or Madrox. So the three are there to seek his advice on the recent disappearance & re-appearance of members of the Summers Rebellion.

The main action is back in the present where the cliffhanger ending from issue 43 (the return of Shatterstar) is continued. He is basically in full on attack mode against Rictor & Strong Guy as he is possessed by the strange and villainous Cortex, who is watching from the distance. Now here is where the questions are raised as Cortex seems to be from the future that Madrox is currently located in as he is in communication with some sneaky looking dudes who are also spying on Madrox & Doom in the future. Confused? I know I am. Man.... time travel can be a bitch. What’s the connection with X-Factor & Cortex? Why was he in possession of Shatterstar? So many questions.

The ending Shows Cortex being told to return to the future buy the sneaky dudes which means he must release his grip on Shatterstar just as he is about to deliver a kill blow to Strong Guy. Shatterstar is stopped in his path and comes around, sees Rictor, they both pucker up and they embrace. Now a lot of people on boards were either ‘Yay! Go Marvel!’ or, ‘it was so over the top!’ I personally didn’t even really register it, when I saw people posting on boards about this ‘shock ending’, I had to go back and check the issue because I couldn’t work out what people were talking about. This is not the first time gay characters have been used in comics, is it the first gay kiss? I don’t know, probably not, but really who cares either way, this is 2009, some people being gay is not exactly new news.

Overall another solid issue as usual, I expect nothing more from this title now. The dialogue from Peter David is smart and funny and he gives us enough of an interesting story to keep this reader happy. The art by Valentine De Landro & Marco Santucci is nice and clean and the action is portrayed well. Plus the full page shot of an old and decrepit Doom was killer. Every month this book is at the top of my read pile. The only thing I will say is that this is not the ideal jumping on point for this book. You really need to start from issue 39 onwards to understand the whole story, but if you are a X-Factor reader every month, this is another great chapter.

Comic previews from IDW for titles on sale 1st July @ CBR

IDW Publishing has provided CBR with advance looks at new comics on sale next week including "American McGee's Grimm" #3. "Angel: After the Fall" #23, "G.I. joe Movie Adaptation" #1, "Doctor Who Classics: Series 2" #8, "Locke & Key: Head Games" #6, "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" #3 and "Transformers Spotlight: Metroplex."

Check out the previews here: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=21791

Previews for Marvel Comics on Sale July 1, 2009 @ CBR

Click the links below to be taken to the preview of your choice.

"Agents of Atlas" #7
"Cable" #16
"Daredevil Noir" #4
"Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth" #1
"Destroyer" #4
"Exiles" #4
"Fantastic Four" #568
"Invincible Iron Man" #15
"Marvel Divas" #1
"Trojan War" #3
"Uncanny X-Men" #513
"USA Comics 70th Anniversary Special"
"War of Kings" #5

This week we have a preview of the new Deadpool ongoing series, which could be fun. USA Comics 70th Anniversary looks quite good too, I might pick it up if I have a light week.

Red Circle round up

Newsarama has exclusive interviews with the creators for the up coming Red Circle line of books. If your interested in picking up the new DC titles these interviews are worth a look as the creators talk a bit more about what they intend to do with the new characters.

Inferno - http://www.newsarama.com/comics/060918-Jerwa-Inferno.html
Hangman - http://www.newsarama.com/comics/060918-Hangman-Derenick.html
The Shield - http://www.newsarama.com/comics/060924-Shield-Trautmann.html

The Web - http://www.newsarama.com/comics/060917-Robinson-Web.html

Wolverine The End Teaser

Marvel.com released this teaser image but without any notes to accompany it. I have no idea what this could mean. Surely Marvel are not getting rid of their most popular character? What do you guys think? All I know is this is a fucking cool picture, very Terminatorish.

PREVIEWS, PREVIEWS, PREVIEWS! @ CBR for comics on sale today!

(Cool Spider-Man take off for this months variant cover to All Hail Megatron).

As well as the Marvel previews I posted last Friday CBR have a huge list of previews from Boom, Image, DC, IDW and others. See below:

Usagi Yojimbo #121 [5 pages]Published by: Dark Horse ComicsPosted: June 23rd, 2009
Transformers: All Hail Megatron #12 [7 pages]Published by: IDWPosted: June 23rd, 2009
Star Trek: Mission's End #4 [4 pages]Published by: IDWPosted: June 23rd, 2009
G.I. Joe #6 [7 pages]Published by: IDWPosted: June 23rd, 2009
Detective Comics #854 [5 pages]Published by: DC ComicsPosted: June 23rd, 2009
The Muppet Show #4 [7 pages]Published by: Boom! StudiosPosted: June 23rd, 2009
Farscape: D'Argo's Lament #3 [7 pages]Published by: Boom! StudiosPosted: June 23rd, 2009
Eureka: Dormant Gene #3 [7 pages]Published by: Boom! StudiosPosted: June 23rd, 2009
Cars: The Rookie #3 [7 pages]Published by: Boom! StudiosPosted: June 23rd, 2009
Empowered Vol. 5 [14 pages]Published by: Dark Horse ComicsPosted: June 23rd, 2009
Fusion #2 [5 pages]Published by: Image ComicsPosted: June 22nd, 2009
PVP #42 [5 pages]Published by: Image ComicsPosted: June 22nd, 2009
Proof #21 [5 pages]Published by: Image ComicsPosted: June 22nd, 2009
Lillim #4 [5 pages]Published by: Image ComicsPosted: June 22nd, 2009
The Perhapanauts #6 [5 pages]Published by: Image ComicsPosted: June 22nd, 2009
City of Dust: A Philp Khrome Story [14 pages]Published by: Radical ComicsPosted: June 22nd, 2009
Zorro #14 [6 pages]Published by: Dynamite EntertainmentPosted: June 22nd, 2009
Red Sonja #45 [8 pages]Published by: Dynamite EntertainmentPosted: June 22nd, 2009
Berserker #1 [8 pages]Published by: Top Cow ProductionsPosted: June 21st, 2009
Fusion #2 [8 pages]Published by: Top Cow ProductionsPosted: June 21st, 2009
The Incredibles #3 [7 pages]Published by: Boom! StudiosPosted: June 19th, 2009
Gotham City Sirens #1 [10 pages]Published by: DC ComicsPosted: June 18th, 2009
Superman #689 [7 pages]Published by: DC ComicsPosted: June 17th, 2009
Gotham City Sirens #1 [8 pages]Published by: DC ComicsPosted: June 17th, 2009
Wasteland #25 [13 pages]Published by: Oni PressPosted: June 12th, 2009
The Cleaners #4 [6 pages]Published by: Dark Horse ComicsPosted: June 9th, 2009
Awakening Volume 1 [26 pages]Published by: Archaia Studios PressPosted: June 2nd, 2009

I’ve heard good things about All Hail Megatron, so I might pick up the trade (though I haven’t read a Transformers comic since I was a kid in the 80’s). I forgot Detective Comics # 854 was out this week and I might picking that up, not sure yet. Anything here you guys fancy?

Full list here: http://www.comicbookresources.com/page=preview_srch&by=rel_date&for=2009-06-24&offset=&max_per_page=75

Tim Burton's - Alice in Wonderland

USA Today has published the above photos from the upcoming Tim Burton & Johnny Depp film, Alice in Wonderland.

I think these pictures look fantastic and this looks to be one of the most visually stunning of Burtons films to date.

I didn't realise Matt Lucas would be staring as Tweedledum and Tweedledee so that's great, I'm sure he will be highly entertaining and funny as usual.

Pics below:

13 advance Marvel reviews @ Comics Bulletin

True Beliver Tuesday over at Comics Bulletin has 13 advance reviews of this weeks Marvel comics. Always good reviews that help me decide my pull list. This weeks reviews are for:

Advance Review of Amazing Spider-Man #598
Advance Review of Astonishing X-Men #30
Advance Review of Immortal Iron Fist #27
Advance Review of Secret Warriors #5
Advance Review of Daredevil #119
Advance Review of Dark Reign: The Sinister Spider-Man #1
Advance Review of Dark Avengers #6
Advance Review of Dark Reign: Elektra #4
Advance Review of Dark Reign: Zodiac #1
Advance Review of Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia
Advance Review of Uncanny X-Men #512
Advance Review of X-Factor #45
Advance Review of Runaways #11

Link: http://www.comicsbulletin.com/news/124580293277935.htm

Empire review - 'Public Enemies'

Empire Magazine gives Public Enemies, the up-coming film starring Johnny Depp & Christian Bale, a cracking review, giving it a 5 Star – Classic rating.

I was looking forward to this film anyway, but now I can’t wait.

You can read the full review here: http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?FID=136004

Hopefully I’ll be seeing the new Transformers this week. Anyone seen it yet? Is it any good?

Pull List for 24/06/2009

(Awesome X-Force # 16 cover by K. Andrews, every cover of this story arc by Andrews has been knock out fantastic.)

Big list for me this week and a lot from Marvel, looks something like this:

Marvel:
Amazing Spider-Man # 598
Daredevil # 119
Dark Avengers/ Uncanny X-men: Utopia # 1
Guardians of the Galaxy # 15
Iron Fist # 27
New Avengers # 54
Secret Warriors # 5
Skaar: Son of Hulk # 12

Uncanny X-Men # 512
X-Factor # 45
X-Force # 16
X-Men Forever # 2

DC:
Green Lantern # 42

Not much DC there. I find myself buying less and less DC these days, and more and more Marvel.

I’ve decided not to pick up Superman # 689 this week, it’s just seems to be a book I’m not that bothered about reading anymore. I’m not picking up Nova # 26 also, I picked up the previous War of Kings tie in issues but so far they have pretty much been kept apart from the main War of Kings storyline, unlike Guardians of the Galaxy, which seems to be the essential WOK tie-in book.

I’m looking forward to the next chapter in X-Men Forever # 2 as I was surprised how much I liked the first. This month’s issue of Skaar also promises the inevitable throw down between the Hulk & Skaar, so that should be fun.

I can’t wait to read Amazing Spider-Man # 598 as the previous issue was so great, how will Pete escape Osborn? X-Force # 16 I hope will bring a satisfying close to the second ‘Messiah’ chapter, and I eagerly await details of the third chapter due out next year.

What will you guy’s be picking up this week?

Marvels Free Mondays

This weeks free digital comics are:

EXCALIBUR #34 (1998)
RUNAWAYS #26 (2005)
CAPTAIN AMERICA REBORN #1 PREVIEW
AGENTS OF ATLAS #0 (2009)
AGENTS OF ATLAS #1 (2009)
RUNAWAYS #2 (2008)
MS. MARVEL #32 (2006)

Some are whole issues, some are just previews. I’m gonna check out Agents of Atlas as I’ve heard good things.

Link - http://marvel.com/news/comicstories.8473.Free_Mondays_~op~6~slash~22~slash~09~ep~

Monday Mini Reviews – 22/06/2009

Batman: Streets of Gotham # 1
– 4 out of 5

Ill just come out and say it first, yes surprisingly this is best Bat book so far of the 'Batman: Reborn' line. I can hear the Paul Dini fans laughing and yelling ‘I told you so’ and they would be right. Like most people I think I was most excited about Morrison’s Batman & Robin #1, which was good, and I’m looking forward to where that is going but Streets of Gotham for me has topped that for an issue no. 1 and setting up my excitement for the series.

Firstly this issue had a big cast, between Gordon, Harley Quinn, Firefly & Batman & Robin, each of these characters were touched on and written perfectly. The art and coloring is fantastically dark & gritty, which is what I want in a Bat book, and while being… I hate the word but cartoony, it still retains an edge.

The story picks up pieces from Battle for the Cowl, with the mention of Black Mask, the Arkham break out, city in ruins etc etc and takes lead from there. Firefly is the bad guy to watch in this issue. What he does is totally evil and shocking and is how a Bat villain should act. The way this book is written by Dini reminds me of Alan Grants great work on Shadow for the Bat and some of the early 90’s Detective Comics and Batman issues, i.e. street level grit, new villain of the week, while still dealing with Gotham cities residence personal struggles, and I love that.

It was totally unexpected that I liked this issue as much as I did as I didn’t really care for Dini’s recent work on Detective Comics. It was okay but I never liked the cast of characters he used and the types of stories that were told. This book in a way is a continuation of Detective but with a new cast that will hopefully be continuing the style of the old school story lines. If it does continue in this manner I’m on board.

With regards to the Manhunter back up, I can’t comment on it that much yet. It was only about 10 pages and pretty much just setting up the main character moving to Gotham. We will see where this goes but I’m not going to complain at some extra pages in my comic.


X-Men: Origins; Gambit
– 3 out of 5

This was pretty much only going to be bought by die-hard Gambit fans, and I knew that, but if that is the case then at least give us something new please, not just a collection of all the stories we know squeezed into one issue. This should have been a mini series, and the origin could have been explored in much greater detail with more of a chance to get to know Gambit as a character.

The time line for this issue is basically from Gambits marriage to Belladona up to where he meets and saves a young Ororo, but not too much in between. We basically have Gambits meeting with Sinister & the Marauders Massacre. If you know the history of Remy like me this is fine, but if you were a new reader you may well get lost.

The art by David Yardin is absolutely gorgeous and the highlight of the issue. The writing work by Mike Carey is solid but one thing that does grate on me when he writes Gambit is that every other sentence is said in French!! Now hear me out, I know Gambit grew up in the French quarter of New Orleans but we read in English and I don’t buy a comic to not understand what I’m reading. Now I have this beef with Carey as he writes WHOLE sentences in French, I have been a Gambit fan since his creation and from what I remember other writers would throw in a ‘chere’or a ‘mon ami’ from time to time, which is fine as these are obvious words that most people know which give the character an identity and personality, but not whole sentences please.

Anyway, rant over. Average story, beautiful art, but for die-hard fans only.

MARVEL NEWS! NEWS! NEWS! From Comic Cons

Well this weekend there has been a tone of Marvel news released at Comic Cons so I’m just gonna do a quick round up with some links to what interested me and what might hopefully interest you guys:

-Dark Reign: The List

A series of one-shots starting in September, and featuring Osborn taking on the heroes from the “Iron Patriot Acts” teaser image. The eight specials announced at Heroes Con and simultaneously at Wizard World: Philly are:

Avengers - by Brian Bendis and Marko Djurdjevic

Uncanny X-Men - by Matt Fraction and Alan Davis

Secret Warriors - by Jonathan Hickman and Ed McGuniness

Punisher - by Rick Remender and John Romita Jr.

Daredevil - by Andy Diggle and Billy Tan

Wolverine - by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic

Hulk - by Greg Pak and Ben Oliver

Amazing Spider-Man - by Dan Slott and Adam Kubert

These one-shots seem to be the next chapter in Dark Reign story. There are some good creative teams at work here. I’m looking forward to Adam Kuberts work. It would seem the story starts in The Avengers one-shot and will continue the story in some way through the one-shots. If these are pretty much linked up in some way, shape or form I can see me buying all of these!! Damn you Marvel!

There also might have been a little teaser from Bendis about a certain God of Thunder joining the New Avengers when at one of the panels at the Con a fan asked;

Are there chances for a Thor vs. Sentry fight? “If Thor was on one team,” Fraction said “And the Sentry was on another...” “I feel like my computer’s been hacked,” Bendis joked.

Now that would be a cool throw down! Please let that happen.

Newsarama has full notes from the panel here: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/090620-heroes-dark-reign.html

& Bendis discusses Dark Reign: The List in more detail here:
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/060921-Bendis-TheList.html

Tom Brevoort discusses it here: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/060922-Brevoort-List.html

IGN expand on the story here with summaries of each upcoming issue: http://uk.comics.ign.com/articles/996/996600p1.html

-Nomad: Girl without a World – Mini-Series

Looks like the ‘Girl without a world’ teaser’s we have been seeing (& shown above) is for a new Nomad mini-series featuring the female Bucky who appeared in Cap # 600. This will be written by Teen Titan’s Sean McKeever. I don’t think he is a very good writer and don’t really have any interest in this. I can see myself suffering from Captain America over exposure soon like I do with Wolverine every month.

-Spider-Man: The Clone Saga & ‘Who is Ben Reilly?’

Newsarama spoke with Howard Mackie and Tom Defalco for some inside information about The Clone Saga, the new mini series that re-visits the very controversial story line, and hopefully improves on the original. This is a good in-depth interview with the creators who discuss where they think the original story in the 90’s went wrong and how they are going to approach it this time round. This also contains some nice preview pencil pages.

Spider-Man fans should def check this interview out here:
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/060918-Clone-Saga.html

Newsarama then also spoke to Marc Guggenheim about his up-coming story arc in Amazing Spider-Man. Starting in the Amazing Spider-Man Annual #36 in July, "Who Is Ben Reilly?" continues in issues #608 and #609 in October, but Marc would not give away too many Spoilers.
Again though if you are a Spider-Man fan this is def worth a read.
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/090620-ben-reilly.html

I don’t know why but the whole Ben Reilly controversy appeals to me and I really like Guggenheim as a writer so I’ll probably pick this arc up to see where the story goes. Could this be the reversal of ‘One More Day’?!?!

-X-Men Legacy Annual # 1

There was not that much exciting X-Men news for me personally except the X-Men Legacy Annual coming in September, and written by Mike Carey with art by Daniel Acuna. The only reason I’m looking forward to this is because of Daniel Acuna, he is one of my favorite artists right now. After this issue the series will supposedly follow a new ‘direction’ following the adventures of Rogue, which correct me if I’m wrong, is what this book has been doing for months, and before that, followed Rogue and her team of X-Men (Carey obviously has a big hard on for that character). If Acuna continues as artist for the book it appeals to me, otherwise the story line and direction does not.

CBR interview with M Carey: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=21683

-A new Moon Knight on-going series

‘Vengeance of the Moon Knight’ will be the new on going series with the new creative team of writer Gregg Hurwitz and artist Jerome Opena. This is basically a relaunch, and the existing title will end. I’m sure this is just so Marvel can put a new $3.99 price tag on the book. Anyway, I bought a few issues of the Moon Knight series but never thought it was that great (I do think the character has big potential though) and I don’t think I have ever read anything by Gregg Hurwitz. I am always willing to give new series a go though, especially from Marvel, and this one promises to bring Moon Knight back into the centre of the Marvel U to mix thinks up with Norman, so I will check out the previews when they appear and if they look good to me I’ll prob check out issue 1.

-Heroes for Hire join the Thunderbolts?

Newsarama have a short interview with Rick Remender where it appears that he will be taking over writing chores on Thunderbolts # 136 for a one off 48 page special issue. From this interview we gather that Iron Fist & Luke Cage will in some way be black mailed into working for Norman Osborn. We know from previous New Avengers issues that Luke Cage in no way wants to work for Norman, and if I remember rightly smacked Norman the fuck out in the Avengers Tower. I can imagine Danny Rand would feel the same as Luke, so what does Norman have on these guys? From the cool cover for that issue shown above, Danny and Luke’s eyes look rather demonic. Possessed perhaps? Hypnotized? I dunno, either way I will check this out as I’m a sucker for both Iron Fist & Luke Cage and Remender talks a good game in this interview.
The other question raised here of course is what has happened to Andy Diggle as writer of the Thunderbolts series, is this just a one off and he’ll be back or not? He has only been on the book a short while. We’ll see.

Check the link here: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/090621-tbolts-136.html

Another interview at CBR here: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=21680

-Planet Hulk DVD

Lastly CBR reported: There will be a direct to DVD movie based on “Planet Hulk.“

“I was pulled on as a consultant,” said Pak. “I can’t say anything more except I think it’s going to be awesome!”

Phew, that’s a lot of news! I’d love to hear your thoughts guys.

Marvel Previews for comics on sale 19/06/2009 @ CBR

HUGE list of previews from Marvel and CBR this week. Some really good stuff to look forward to especially for X-fans.

This is the full list:

Click the links below to be taken to the preview of your choice.

"Astonishing X-Men" #30
"Avengers/Invaders" #12
"Avengers: The Initiative" #25
"Daredevil" #119
"Dark Avengers" #6
"Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia" #1
"Dark Reign: Elektra" #1
"Dark Reign: Zodiac" #1
"Dark Wolverine" #75
"Fantastic Four Giant-Size Adventures" One-Shot
"Guardians of the Galaxy" #15
"Immortal Iron Fist" #27
"Incredible Hercules" #130
"Marvel Adventures Spider-Man" #52
"Ms. Marvel" #40
"New Avengers" #54
"Nova" #26
"Riftwar" #1
"Runaways" #11
"Secret Warriors" #5
"Skaar: Son of Hulk" #12
"Squadron Supreme" #12
"Terror Inc. - Apocalypse Soon" #3
"Thor" #602
"Thunderbolts" #133
"Timestorm 2009/2099: X-Men" One-Shot
"Uncanny X-Men" #512
"Wolverine First Class" #16
"Wolverine Noir" #3
"Wolverine Weapon X" #3
"X-Factor" #45
"X-Force" #16
"X-Men Forever" #2

There is loads here that I’m planning on getting. The ones I’m most looking forward to are Daredevil #119 for the continuation of the great ‘Return of the king’ arc, seems it’s been a few months since the last issue, Dark Avengers/ Uncanny X-Men Utopia, I’m hoping for a good start to hopefully a future classic crossover with loads of good action, Immortal Iron Fist #27, X-Force #16 for the end of ‘Messiah War’ and pretty much all of the rest of the x-titles.

The full link is here: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=21657

Anything you guys are looking forward to?

Superman # 689 & Gotham City Sirens # 1 Previews

Over at DC the blog they have posted 7 page previews of Mon-El’s next adventure in Superman and the new Bat-family book from Paul Dini. Above is the nice variant for issue 1 by J G Jones.

Link here: http://dcublog.dccomics.com/

Artist Roger Robinson talks The Web @ Newsarama

Nice interview with artist Roger Robinson about his upcoming gig on The Web for DC. There are some nice preview pages here also and Roger is a really good penciler. The Web ongoing will have a Hangman co-feature & The Shield ongoing will have an Inferno co-feature both due out in September. I’m looking forward to these new series and to reading about new (in a re-imagining sense) characters and as they are new characters the scope of the stories could be endless, you don’t know what to expect, which I like.

The above pic by Robinson is really cool, (except the action figure legs, whats that about!?!?) so I'm expecting good things on the art side of the series.

Read the full interview here: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/060917-Robinson-Web.html

Free Mondays @ Marvel! When did this happen?!?!

I know its Wednesday, but I only saw this today, and I’m sorry if Im late to the party and this has been going on forever but when the fuck did Marvel start giving away FREE digital comics? I know you can subscribe to their digital service to read loads of comics online, but not really being a fan of reading comics that way I have never bothered, having said that, if Marvel want to give some to me for free that’s fucking awesome. I can now waste even more time at work. Sweet! So if you are a bit slow and stupid like me and didn’t know about this, check it out. Man I really need to catch on with this digital age!

NOTE!! - After writing it appears that only on Deadpool and Cap Britain can you read the whole of the book, and the others are just previews, but still pretty cool.

This weeks free comics are:

SHE-HULK (2005) #34
UNCANNY X-MEN #504
AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL #25
CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI13 #5
DEADPOOL (2008) #2

Next Mondays are:

EXCALIBUR (1988) #42
RUNAWAYS (2005) #26
CAPTAIN AMERICA (2004) #43
RUNAWAYS (2008) #2
MS. MARVEL (2006) #32

Link: http://marvel.com/news/comicstories.8358.Free_Mondays_~op~6~slash~15~slash~09~ep~

Enjoy!

Advance reviews - Mondo Marvel @ CBR

This week the advance reviews are of the following:

Advance Review of Young Allies 70th Anniversary Special #1
Advance Review of Ultimate Spider-Man – Requiem #1
Advance Review of Mighty Avengers #26
Advance Review of Punisher #6
Advance Review of Dark Reign: Hawkeye #3
Advance Review of Marvel Zombies 4 #3

Link: http://www.comicsbulletin.com/news/124519962114793.htm

Hope this helps you out when stepping in your comic shop this week.

More Mini Reviews - Last weeks comics

Green Lantern Corps # 37

– 4 out of 5

I won’t spend long on this review I just need to let you know this book was great, and if your looking forward to the upcoming epic Blackest Night make sure you pick up this preview arc. I bought the occasional GLC issue prior to Prelude to Blackest Night but this ‘Emerald Eclipse’ arc for me has been not stop excitement and just class story telling by Peter Tomassi. This issue does not let up (Spoilers)- Ion commits suicide (we think) by plunging into Daxam Red Sun and turning it into a yellow sun, thus giving the captive planet of Daxam, basically a world/ army full of Supermen, and all the while the rest of the Green Lanterns are having to deal with a prison break on Oa. Great stuff. Next issue will be an all out brawl I’m sure between the Daxamites and Sinestro Corps and I can’t wait. Get it.


Red Robin # 1

–3 out of 5

This was a read I enjoyed, but I was still a little disappointed as I was hoping for more. The art by Ramon Bachs was okay but nothing spectacular. Chris Yost is a writer I have come to admire over the last couple of years from his work at Marvel and Image, but this was a pretty standard storyline and script for an opening issue.

Tim Drake (or Tim Wayne as he now likes be called) is sure that Bruce is still alive, although we are not really told why. He decides to go globe trotting searching for clues (though what kind of clues we are again not told). During the globe trotting he cant help but get mixed up in local violence in the cities he goes to, providing the action for the issue, which is done pretty well, but is just standard stuff (Girl kidnapped, then rescued by Tim, blah blah blah).

There are some nice flash backs scenes to confrontations between Tim & both Dick & Damian as to why brat boy should take up the position of Robin and Dick makes some good points in that Tim has now grown to be his equal. Tim then makes the decision to go on his quest for Bruce and dons the Red Robin costume to avoid ties back to Batman. I’m sure the future issues will expand on the reasons why he believes Bruce to be alive and why he has decided to search for clues around the globe. It was a good enough issue to have me check back next month and there was a nice last page reveal of a certain person interested in the exploits of the new Red Robin, but overall an average read. Check this out if you’re a Tim Drake fan, or if you want to know how Bruce returns, as I think this will be a key book in that story.


X-Men Forever # 1

– 4 out of 5

Now this was a book I was unsure I would like, but really had a fun time reading. I was a big fan of the X-Men title from about issues 1-60 in the early 90's and this is that same X-Men team in a sort of alternative reality courtesy of Chris Claremont. You don’t need to have read the X-Men issues 1-3 to know what’s going on, the first page catch up is fine and does it’s job well. I love the characters in their old uniforms and this was a nice old school X-Men adventure where their job was to take down the powerful mutant Cortez who had previously taken out Magneto. That’s the main plot, the sub plot is that there are some serious love triangles going on plus it seems Nick Fury and the government will be taking a much larger role in the running of the X-Men in future issues. Art by Tom Grummet is pretty good but don’t expect the detailed feel of early 90’s X-Men artists like Jim Lee or Andy Kubert (which I would have preferred) but as I am treating this as an alternative reality I’m okay with it. I look forward to the next issue which will be out in only 2 weeks, which is a bonus. A strong first issue and def a pick up for old school X-Men fans or fans of the original X-Men animated series.