24 Şubat 2013 Pazar

Indestructible Hulk #4

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Two reviews on tap for tonight, both of them from the awesome Mark Waid!  The first review is going to be Hulk, a character I've never been a fan of... (He's never been too fond of you either...) At least before Waid became the writer.  Now?  Now it's safe to say that I'm becoming interested in Hulk. (Jeez... buy him dinner first, X.)  There's a line I never thought I'd be typing!  So yeah, let's see if Waid can keep the magic up here...

Indestructible Hulk #4:

Summary: We find out that SHIELD has given Bruce Banner his own little town to live in...  Well, sort of, as it's a former atomic testing site in Nevada and is filled with mannequins instead of people...  And yes, that is a little creepy. (A little?! Wait til he starts dating one.) Bruce meets up with his science team, but is called away by Maria Hill, who needs the Hulk's help in dealing with Attuma, who has claimed the entire Pacific Ocean as his sovereign domain. (He must have an amazing realtor...) Bruce is loaded up into a missile and fired into the ocean, where he comes face to face(s) with Attuma and his sea creatures.  Unfortunately for Hulk, one of the sea creatures gets a hold of him and drags him deep into the drink, (The drink? Who are you, Davy Jones?) with no air, no light and crushing pressure. (That's how I feel when I read a Scott Lobdell comic.)

Thoughts: Eh.  This issue was solid and all, but it felt oddly rushed when compared to the first three issues of this series...  We bounce from Bannerville,(And he calls Tony Stark conceited.) to Bruce meeting his science team, to a Hulk mission at breakneck (Gwen Stacy, Never forget!) speed.  It was good and all, but I kind of wanted to see Bruce interact more with his science team. (You would, you nerd.)  Instead it was, "Hey Bruce, here's your team!  Say hello and good-bye, you have a mission!"  So yeah, like I said, a bit rushed.  But rushed or not, this was still a good, solid(if unspectacular) read.

Score: 7 out of 10.
hulk attuma indestructible hulk #4
Hope ya can swim, big guy!

Daredevil #23

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One more review for the night, and as promised, it is the second Mark Waid written comic of the night.  Yes boys and girls, it's time to see what's up with Daredevil.

Daredevil #23: 

Summary: This issue gets underway with some guy trying to recreate the accident that gave Daredevil his hyper-senses using convicts and radioactive waste   So far he's been unsuccessful...  From there we head to DD, who is swinging around the city with Foggy Nelson, who was awaiting the results of his medical tests.  The good times are interrupted when DD hears a bunch of people screaming for help, causing him to take off to see what the trouble was.  It turns out the man from earlier has released a bunch of convicts with super-senses into Manhattan, and they are going berserk due to all of the sights and sounds.  DD manages to corral all of the convicts, and realizes that somebody out there was taking personal shots at him.  This issue ends with DD(now as Matt Murdock) meeting up with Foggy at the doctor's office, where Foggy receives some very bad news...

Thoughts: This was a very strong comic.  As usual.  I really don't have any complaints here...  I guess I was a bit confused by the scene at the beginning of this one, since it turned out that the mystery man DID succeed in creating his own Daredevils(kind of).  But the stuff with Matt and Foggy?  The fight between DD and the DD-lites?  DD's thoughts throughout this issue?  All really good stuff.

Score: 8 out of 10.
daredevil foggy nelson daredevil #23
I knew it!!

Red Hood and The Outlaws #17

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Hey guys, JT here(and X! Yep, I'm crashing another review!!) with my second review of the week, and it's Red Hood and the Outlaws! Now you all know how I feel about Lobdell's work as of late(hint: it sucks!!!), but I figured with him on his way out(huzzah!!!) and James Tynion IV on his way in, I'll read the last few issues as I await Tynion's work, so let's see how things work for Jason after the events of Death of The Family.

Red Hood and The Outlaws #17

Summary: This issue basically focused on Jason dealing with the fallout of the recent Joker events(Huh, that makes sense... In a Lobdell book!?  The hell?!?). He sends an automated car for Roy and Kory, to bring them to meet with him at Wayne Manor, as he goes around the house tying up loose ends. Jason talks to Damian for a bit about how he knows how Damian feels, trying to live up to the Robin legacy and basically tries to bond but Damian(his son!!!!!) doesn't wanna hear it from Jason and brushes him off. Roy and Kory arrive and are happy to see Jason, with Kory hugging Jason and flying him into the air while Damian and Roy waste no time insulting each other. Jason invites Kory in but she thinks she should wait outside, obviously not wanting to run into Dick, who confronts Jason upon his entrance and tells him to promise he'll watch over Starfire, to which Jason agrees(what is she, a stray cat or something?). From there Jason runs into Bruce in the Batcave, and tells Bruce that Superman said Bruce vouched for him, to which Bruce says he doesn't approve of Jason's methods but he can't argue with his results(Bruce would never say that!). Jason then asks Bruce is Joker was right about creating him(dammit Lobdell, stop with this already!), to which Bruce says Joker didn't make him, neither did Bruce, Jason made himself, which Jason seemingly takes to heart. Outside, Arsenal and Robin have finally stopped attacking each other, so Roy throws a football to Damian, and he blocks it, not knowing how to play catch...even though he played with Bruce in Batman and Robin... but... you know Lobdell doesn't read other people's stuff(HA! He took the joke right out of my mouth.). Jason also runs into Alfred, who basically tells him he always has a place in that home and he's always welcome there. As Jason leaves he finally puts on his helmet(big mistake), which he'd recovered from the batcave, and suddenly a hologram message from the Joker pops up on it. He says Jason played a joke on The Joker by coming back from the dead, and he's not laughing. He says since Jason is so determined to be his own man, he'll start him with a clean slate, and Jason's mask releases some kind of acid that burns Jason's face, causing him to scream which brings Arsenal, Starfire, Robin, Batman and Alfred running. The issue ends as Batman removes Jason's helmet, showing his face to be badly burned as a result of The Joker getting the last laugh(ugh...).

Thoughts: FINALLY! This is what I've wanted since Jason came back. We've seen Jason run into the family a few times, his quick team-up with Batman (Dick) and Robin pre-New 52, him helping out during Court of Owls and the Death of the Family storylines, although he mostly sat in the background with his arms folded, and his awesome reuniting with the other three Robins last year, right before Damian decided to challenge each Robin to prove he was the best. But this was the first time we got Jason at the manor, feeling like a part of the family. He got to play big brother to Damian, he had a talk with Dick and we got a bit more of the Dick/Starfire mystery fleshed out, he finally had a talk with Bruce, no helmet, no cowl, just Bruce and Jason talking, and Bruce, in his own way, kind of supported Jason. I will say it seemed kind of uncharacteristic for Bruce to say "I may not agree with your methods, but I can't argue with the results." to Jason, that seems more like something Bruce would think but never say(thank you!), but that aside, I enjoyed them finally talking. And the thing I've wanted since Jason came back after Under The Hood, we finally got to see him talking with Alfred, which was a great moment between those two when Alfred said with everything that's happened, Jason is still always welcome there(Damned Alfred! That's not his house, who's he to just invite people to live there!?). That's why I enjoyed this comic. I even enjoyed the stuff with Damian and Arsenal(not me, it didn't click like Steph and Damian, it felt kind of forced), as well as Joker getting the last laugh because it fits his character. I knew there was a possibility something would happen to Jason's face due to future solicitations and the fact Joker painted in his mask a few issues back, and while I'd hate if Jason is disfigured now or has to wear that helmet all the time now, so much stuff I liked happened in this issue, it's easy to ignore that for now and see what happens(check out JT! What an optimist!). All in all, I was happy to see Jason be a member of the family, and here's hoping it leads to him popping up more in Nightwing, Batman, and other things that make the character seem less like the black sheep of the group(But that's who he is, the black sheep of the group! I don't know if I'd want to see Jason turning into a mini version of Dick or Tim. But yeah, for a Lobdell comic, this was WAY better than I would have expected!).

Score: 7/10. 

Damian: That hat looks stupid. Who are you supposed to be, Redneck Man?
Arsenal: Name's Arsenal, and whats stupid, is a ten year old boy, who thinks I won't kick his ass because he's a ten year old boy.

22 Şubat 2013 Cuma

Alpha: Big Time #1

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First new review of the week is a comic I've been looking forward to for months now!  Literally months!  Yep, it's Alpha time!! (And JT Time!)  For those of you not in the know, Alpha is basically what Peter Parker would be if he were more realistic.  I mean, I love Peter as much as the next guy, (Not if the next guy's me!) but come on, nobody is THAT altruistic! (I am...)  No, Alpha is what most of us would be if we were to get powers.  Not a saint like Peter, not a crazed murderer like the Punisher, but a flawed person who wants to do what's right.  Enough talk, I have SO been waiting to get my hands on this one...  Let's dig in!!

Alpha: Big Time #1: 

Summary: We get things started here by finding out that Alpha's parents ended up splitting up, which led to Alpha and his mom moving to Pittsburgh.  Basically Alpha's life at school is even worse now than it had been, as instead of being ignored by his fellow students, he's being bullied. (Who wouldn't bully an Ex-Hero?)  So yeah, losing his powers has ramped up the sucktitude (nice vocabulary, buddy...) in his life tenfold.  However, Alpha is met by Dr Peter Parker, (picker of peppered pickled peppers) who tells him he wanted to give him his powers back, provided Alpha acted more responsibly with them.  In actuality Doc Parker (who is now Dr. Octopus, for those of you living under rocks) wants to harness the power of the Parker Particles like the real Peter never could. (Somewhere, Hank Pym is so jealous.) So now Alpha has 10% of his awesome powers back!  Huzzah!  Alpha celebrates by taking a flight around the city where he assists some firemen in putting out a fire. He then hears a woman cry out for help and interrupts a mugging in process.  Alpha (After hilariously calling himself Beta...) warns the mugger to back off, but being a criminal, the mugger isn't exactly bright (although he is surprisingly up on current events...) and decides to shoot a gun at Alpha.  Alpha easily deflects the bullet and punches the mugger in the face.  End of problem, no? (Yes?) Well, unfortunately for Alpha, he uses too much power in that blow and apparently kills the mugger! (Bet you're regretting that Punisher line from earlier now...)

Thoughts: Oh, you KNOW what I thought about this one! (Bet he tells us anyway...) Of course I loved it!  Come on, it's an Alpha story!!  Even though Dan Slott isn't writing this mini, I never had any doubt that this comic would be good, as Joshua Hale Fialkov has proven himself to be a good writer in his own right with DC's "I, Vampire". (And the new writer of Green Lantern Corps and Red Lantern)  And he proved here that he knows what he's doing by crafting a good, strong, engaging tale.  We see how Alpha is doing, learn that his life sucks, he gets his powers back, we find out why he gets his powers back, he tries to do good with them, and naturally, because he's Alpha, screws up.  I seriously couldn't ask for much more.  So yes Alpha fans, this was a very good comic, and I am eagerly anticipating the second issue. (You're not the only one!)

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.
alpha Alpha Big Time #1
Alpha is the greatest super-hero ever.  There, I said it.

Nova #1

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Second review of the week is the first issue of the new Nova series...  Now, I LOVED the old DnA Nova series, and have been a fan of Richard Rider for quite a few years now.  This comic?  It isn't the Richard Rider Nova...  It looks to be a brand new Nova.  So, who is he?  How did he get the powers of the Nova Force?  And most importantly, will this suck?  We shall find out soon enough...

Nova #1: 

Summary: We get things started by meeting Sam Alexander and his father, Jesse.  Jesse is a high school custodian, but likes to tells stories about back when he was a member of a select group of Nova Corpsmen called Supernovas.  Besides talking about his space exploits, Jesse also likes to drink, so Sam doesn't believe a word that comes out of his father's mouth.  His younger sister, Kaelynn, however, believes all of her father's outlandish tales.  One day Sam comes home and discovers that his father had vanished, which angers him since he thinks his father had cut out on the rest of the family.  Sam takes off, but takes a nasty fall from his skateboard and ends up in the hospital for several days.  One day he wakes up and finds Rocket Raccoon and Gamora in his hospital room.  The two Guardians of the Galaxy tell Sam they had some news concerning his father...

Thoughts: So Sam's dad wasn't a delusional lush after all it seems.  This was an interesting issue for me...  On one hand, the story never really grabbed me...  It wasn't really what I'd call interesting.  Jeph Loeb set stuff up, we met Sam and his family, but none of it was riveting   On the other hand, I liked all of the characters here.  I liked Sam and his family.  So yeah, I was into the characters, but not the story.  Not yet anyway.  I'm gonna guess that Sam finds out that his father died during the Thanos Imperative, and he'll be asked to step in and fill his shoes...  Probably.  I mean, that seems to be the way this one is setting up.  And if that's the case, I'm fine with that.  But regardless, I'll be sticking around for the next few issues to see what comes next.

Score: 7 out of 10.
nova #1
That raccoon's eyes sure do creep me out...

Captain America #4

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One more review from X tonight, and it should be a good one.  I'll end the night with one of my favorite Marvel Now! titles, none other than Captain America.  Here's hoping this issue is as good as the past two have been...

Captain America #4: 

Summary: This issue picks up 11 years after the events of the last issue.  Yes, 11 years!  Anyway, Cap and Ian are out hunting for the rest of the tribe that took them in all those years ago.  It seems that Cap has become the head of the tribe, which is no big shock.  He's also been trying to fight off the ever growing influence of the virus Zola injected him with.  However, Cap and Zola's memories have been mixing, and Cap fears that Zola was trying to use his mind to get at Ian and the rest of the tribe.  While out on the hunt, Cap and Ian come across a bike with an operational map, which Cap hopes will lead him to Zola and Earth. Unfortunately, Zola's virus overpowers Cap and knocks him out, at which time we see a lengthy flashback from Cap's past.  When Cap comes to he's horrified to hear the Zola face in his chest talking to Ian.  The Zola virus has told Ian all about his heritage(that Ian was actually Zola's child), and was claiming that Cap was a crazed thief.  Cap wraps the face up in a sheet to quiet it(HA!) and tells Ian that it was true that he had come from Zola, but insists that the two of them head to Earth and get the Avengers, who Cap hopes will end Zola's threat once and for all.  From there we head to Zola himself and find Ian's sister, Jet Black.  Unlike Ian, Jet Black, having been raised by Zola is ruthless and murderous.  This issue ends with Jet Black having learned that Cap was still alive from a captive and swearing revenge on his.

Thoughts: As usual, this was a strong comic.  Rick Remender can almost do no wrong here!  I love Cap's plight, I love Ian, and I love the whole setting of this comic.  My only complaint was the rather long flashback sequence, which was good and all, but I'd have preferred to remain in the present with Ian and Cap.  Anyway, this issue seems to be slowly bringing us to the end of this storyline, and I for one am REALLY intrigued to see how things shake out...  Will Ian become the next Bucky?  Will Ian even leave Dimension Z with Cap at all?  And what will happen when Cap comes face to face with Ian's twisted reflection, Jet Black?  Good stuff here, with more good stuff to come!

Score: 8 out of 10.
captain america #4
Damned gabby face!!

Superior Spider-Man #4

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Hey guys, It's your favorite blogger, The Superior JT(and your REAL favorite blogger, The Amazing X!), reviewing the Superior Spider-Man. So, hence my superiority(don't you mean MY superiority?), let's skip all this intro nonsense and get to it!(what a lazy intro... For shame...)

Superior Spider-Man #4

Summary: This issues starts off with The Superior Spider-Man saying how much better he's done than his predecessor, managing to stop even more crimes than Spidey by using his Spider-Bots and catching crimes in areas that Peter didn't patrol, as well as getting criminals to turn themselves in because their afraid of what he's done to Boomerang and Vulture. Otto does shirk his responsibilities when a fire is reported by one of his bots, he tells them to report it to the fire department, as he has somewhere to be. Peter tries to tell him to go back(why should he, it's not his job!), but instead Otto heads to Aunt May's therapy, and she's happy he's turned his life around and is showing up more(Poor Peter... His decrepit aunt likes Ock more...). He pulls a doctor to the side and asks when Aunt May will walk again but he says surgery isn't good for someone her age, and she'll use the cane for the rest of her life. Doc, obviously perturbed, heads to Horizon and invents a device that hooks up to your spine and brain, which allows the injured to walk again, and he wants to test on Aunt May. Obviously, this doesn't fly with Modell, but Parker says he's a doctor, to which after a quick mind scan he realizes he's not, as he's one credit short. A livid Parker storms off, eagerly wanting to be known as "Doctor", once again, so he heads to back to college to get his last credit! Ock's Advanced Physics class is actually taught by an old classmate of his, who he calls a buffoon(cause he is!). Meanwhile, the completely emotional sociopath known as Massacre, manages to break out of Ravencroft Asylum, leaving many dead in his wake. When the Superior Spider-Man finds out, and that it's Peter's fault for not taking him down, he heads after Massacre, while the emotionless villain continues his killing streak. Spidey heads to meet Uatu Jackson (Who I'm starting to think is Miles Morales in the 616...)(I sure hope that's not true, because JT will never let us hear the end of it if it is...) and asks to use his facial recognition software that he let the Wraith use, telling Uatu he can keep his secret. Just when things can't get even more wild, the issue comes to a close as we see someone say he can keep people safe from the Spider, as he knows all of his tricks and knows how to end him, as we see the return of The Green Goblin(YEAH!!!)!

Thoughts: Holy crap this issue was great. First things first, I love the character of Massacre. Dan Slott has done a lot with Spidey, but I think Massacre may have been one of his best ideas. His ambivalence to killing, his weird kind of sense of humor in this issue, I just love that character(Is it because you see yourself in him, JT?  Is it!?). So Massacre is always a plus in my book, but you add in Dr. Octopus being pissed he's no longer a Doctor, returning to school, and taking a CLASS while being Peter Parker... if that's not ripe for comedy (and him saving the class eventually) then I don't know what is. Now Doc making a pseudo skeleton for Aunt May, while creepy and sweet at the same time(the best kind of creepy!), was also great, especially with him wanting to test it on his Aunt, makes it look like Peter is slipping into the deep end, I can easily see Peter coming back to no job, no Avengers and... a Doctorate? Plus, Gobby is back, and Gobby vs. Superior Spidey.... words can't explain how excited I am for that. If there were any slow parts of this issue, It'd probably have been the stuff with Uatu, but everything else was so spot on, I can't complain(sure you can! I would!!).

Score: 9/10.  

Superior Spider-Man: I give you my word Jameson. I will end this man!