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Post by thwhtguardian on Nov 8, 2017 10:05:45 GMT -5
These are the voyages of the starship Off The Racks. It's continuing mission: To Seek out new comics and provide real reviews from readers like you.  |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2017 15:18:10 GMT -5
Titans 17: Dan Abnett and Minkyu Jung bring an umpteenth Who is Donna Troy story. For me, Donna Troy has been a mess since Crisis on Infinite Earths way back in 1985. This issue finds Donna Troy/Troia as the big bad behind all the Titans' troubles since Titans Hunt/Rebirth. Future Donna and her minions, Psimon, Mr. Twister, The Key, Mal, and Gnarrk begin to reveal what has been happening. Pretty much future Donna tells present Donna the key to all her suffering is that she isn't human and that she will ultimately end up alone being nothing but the weapon the Amazons allegedly created her for. Present Donna doesn't believe or want any part of this, especially when Future Donna insists they kill the Titans. Kid Flash has a couple of quick scenes with Flash as he ponders if Wally 1 is really dead.
Some interesting predictions for the team from future Donna are revealed...however, this issue did not really grab me. I am hoping Abnett has something great up his sleeve and will restore a more traditional origin for Donna Troy. I missed Brett Booth's art. I feel like his art would have made this a more dynamic issue. As a long-time fan of Wonder Girl/Donna Troy, I may be nit-picky but I wish DC would stick with/restore the original origin and leave it be. Of course, some of this may be dictated by the Wonder Woman team.
5/10
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2017 15:37:21 GMT -5
Wonder Woman 34 by James Robinson and Sergio Davila: The next chapter of Children of the Gods is better than issue 33 (Wonder Woman actually appears in her own book!), however since I am not familiar with Jason and the events surrounding his birth, I didn't quite connect to the story. Wonder Woman reunites with her long lost twin who reveals he was raised by Hercules associate Glaucus. Jason has the ability to fly as well as some other powers, which he reveals towards the end of the issue. The big dramatic moment comes when he reveals whose side he is truly on as well as his true feelings towards his sister. I did enjoy the conversation between Wonder Woman and Jason. She is genuinely interested in her brother and is curious about his life. So far, not impressed with this arc. The art is ok in places. Davila's art strikes me as more of a student who hasn't quite mastered his craft yet. The crew on Jason's boat--either these three characters are golden age villains in disguise...or his attempts to make them unique looking failed flat.
6/10
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2017 15:49:30 GMT -5
Action 991 by Dan Jurgens and Viktor Bogdanovic: The Oz Effect concludes, leaving more questions than answers. I believe this whole story was set up for Doomsday Clock and Mr. Oz is a pawn of whatever Watchmen character has caused Rebirth. There is a mysterious "HE" and "HIM" mentioned as we learn a bit about Mr. Oz--while he and Superman are briefly reconciled. We do learn Oz has been indeed trying to protect Superman all these months. I don't have a good or bad feeling about this arc....just sort of meh. I had not planned on reading Doomsday Clock, but I may now just to see if any of this ties in. Bogdanovic seems to be improving, but I am still not quite a fan of his art.
6/10
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2017 16:12:28 GMT -5
The Archies #2 by Alex Segura, Matthew Rosenberg and Joe Eisma: Issue #2 is off to a fun start as the band is on their cross country drive (the van breaks down), Veronica's financing of the band comes to a quick halt when her father cancels her credit card--and we see an epic Veronica meltdown! The band's luck gets even worse as they meet up with Bingo only to discover their big gig has been cancelled. Who shows up to save the day--another classic Archie character who has formed a band of her own (with other familiar characters). The show is a big success and the Chvrches (who I had never heard up and is apparently a real life band) show up. This story reads more like the Archie stories of old...Veronica using Daddy's money, Jughead hungry, Reggie in love with himself, Betty being supportive, and poor hapless Archie! There is a cool faux article at the end including a playlist.
10/10
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 9, 2017 2:39:52 GMT -5
Wonder Woman 34 by James Robinson and Sergio Davila: The next chapter of Children of the Gods is better than issue 33 (Wonder Woman actually appears in her own book!), however since I am not familiar with Jason and the events surrounding his birth, I didn't quite connect to the story. Wonder Woman reunites with her long lost twin who reveals he was raised by Hercules associate Glaucus. Jason has the ability to fly as well as some other powers, which he reveals towards the end of the issue. The big dramatic moment comes when he reveals whose side he is truly on as well as his true feelings towards his sister. I did enjoy the conversation between Wonder Woman and Jason. She is genuinely interested in her brother and is curious about his life. So far, not impressed with this arc. The art is ok in places. Davila's art strikes me as more of a student who hasn't quite mastered his craft yet. The crew on Jason's boat--either these three characters are golden age villains in disguise...or his attempts to make them unique looking failed flat. 6/10 I am seriously underwhelmed by Robinson's Wonder Woman. I didn't dislike #33 as much as you did. Developing Grail was an important step ... plus it gave us a break from Robinson's weak attempts at Diana's dialogue. On the one hand, I get that he's trying really hard not to make her sound like the cynical whiners he usually writes. On the other hand, I wish he were doing a better job at getting her voice. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 10, 2017 13:36:33 GMT -5
Even though I'm kind of done with the Marvel Comic-Book Universe as a whole, I do try to read at least one Marvel series regularly. Sometimes, there's enough going on that I'm reading two or three a month, and I must admit that there have been some Marvel comics over the last few years that I liked, such as FF (with Ant-Man, She-Hulk, Medusa and Ms. Thing), The Secret Defenders, Red She-Hulk, the 2012 Captain Marvel series and the recent Black Widow series. Right now, I'm only reading one Marvel series. Hulk #1 came out just as Black Widow and Squadron Supreme ended, so I shrugged my shoulders and picked it up and started reading the most recent adventures of Jen Walters, who used to be green She-Hulk, but now she's just plain old gray Hulk. I liked the first story arc (though it went on a bit too long), was less satisfied with the second arc, and I'm loving the current storyline with ... the Leader! And - Hallelujah! - it's the old green bullet-head smooth-skinned Leader, not the newfangled veiny-brained Leader of recent years! I stuck with it through the issues I didn't like that much because I really like what they're doing with Jen and her current situation with her Hulk persona. Her cousin Bruce Banner is dead, and Jen was in a coma after Civil War II (which I didn't read). When she came out of the coma, she felt rather detached from her Hulk persona and she feels much less in control of the RAGE than she had in the past. So she spends most of her time as Jen Walters, working as a New York lawyer, and she calls on the Hulk (or I guess it's back to She-Hulk now) only in the most dire circumstances. And since it's Marvel Legacy, they went from Hulk #11 to She-Hulk #159, which surprises me for some reason. I guess it adds up when you have numerous series that seldom lasted more than 20 issues. I'm somewhat intrigued by Marvel Legacy, but I'm trying to keep a limit on my new comic-book buying. I might try Tales of Suspense #100 for the further adventures of the Black Widow. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Nov 10, 2017 14:41:13 GMT -5
This one goes out to shaxperKong on the Planet of the Apes #1 Written by Ryan Ferrier Art by Carlos Magno Summary: On a quest to bury what Cornelius, Zira and Taylor uncovered in the Forbidden Zone, Zaius and his goon squad uncover an even bigger mystery.
Plot: This is a story that's very existence makes my five year old self jump with joy; King Kong...and the Planet of the Apes...in one place! It's a fun concept and one that I can't believe has taken this long to see print. Beyond merely the concept we're not given a whole lot to go on in this issue though there were some interesting tidbits: it takes place directly following the events of the original film, through Zaius' reveal of a newspaper clipping about the death of the original Kong(which looks like it was traced right from the film!) we learn that the events of the film take place 2000 years after the date of the paper making it 3933 AD at the time of the Planet of the Apes, we see that the Apes have cities all over the world and that Skull Island survived. I don't know where the story will go but so far I'm locked in.
Art: Magno gave a great cinematic feel to the world of the Apes which easily pulled me in. Looking at his art you couldn't help but feel that you were looking at a part of the film, the details in the clothing and weapons were perfect. That said the faces of the apes themselves, though detailed, were nearly nondescript in terms of distinguishing details making telling individuals apart from one another difficult at times. This was especially true among the chimps as I could never tell Cornelius, Milo or even Zira apart which is especially egregious as she is female. Still, despite that the art looked good enough to tell the story.
Grade:7/10 |
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Post by The Captain on Nov 10, 2017 15:09:36 GMT -5
 This is one in a series of one-shot issues, part of the current Marvel Legacy umbrella, that "catches up" with characters whose books have been long-since cancelled. It's seems like a way to show older readers that Marvel has not forgotten about them while introducing these rarely-used "legacy" characters to a modern audience. This wouldn't be a bad thing, bringing Shang Chi into the modern MU (outside of a few appearances in Secret Avengers in the past decade, he's largely been missing), except this book is a flat-out trainwreck. The biggest problem with it is that the Shang Chi in it bears no resemblance to the character that starred in his own book for nearly a decade in the 70's and 80's. This Shang Chi is jokey and very familiar with pop culture references, instead of being the solemn and serious Master of Kung Fu. As well, the story is played entirely for laughs, almost like a Deadpool-lite book. There's nothing serious about it, with bad puns, stupid set-ups, and a nonsensical "plot". Whomever at Marvel thought that having former WWE wrestler CM Punk write a comic book that they intended to sell, possibly with the hope that it might catch on and become an ongoing, well, that person should be fired, because Punk failed miserably. Older fans of Shang Chi will be sorely and sadly disappointed by this mess, while new readers would find it to be a second-rate Deadpool knockoff and they're better off just getting one of the 9,000 books featuring the Merc with a Mouth than reading this. To balance the above, the artwork is passable. Nothing spectacular, but when compared to the writing, it's definitely the best part of this book. Final Verdict: If you are at all a fan of Shang Chi and the original Master of Kung Fu series, avoid this at all costs. I took one for the team, so you and your wallet don't have to. 2/10...because some of the pictures aren't bad to look at. |
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Post by The Captain on Nov 10, 2017 15:27:57 GMT -5
 OK, I'll admit it. I'm a sucker for Moon Knight. Always have been, always will be. A new series comes out, I plunk down my hard-earned cash to buy it. Ever since the original Moench/Sienkiewicz run, this has usually been a recipe for wasted money, because for years Marvel insisted on using MK as a super-hero, when he most-certainly is not one. He's a vigilante, a former mercenary, and total psychopath, something that has been explored in the most recent runs, starting with the one done by Warren Ellis, to great success. Would this be a continuation of those recent successes or just another letdown? Let's dig in. What the creative team did with this book is nothing short of fabulous, in my opinion. We're given a book that, truthfully, doesn't even have Moon Knight in it for the entire first issue, although he is the driving force behind the story. The writers gave us the story of psychiatrist Dr. Emmett, last seen torturing/helping Marc Spector in the previous MK series, as she attempts to solve the mystery of an unnamed patient, a former soldier who set some of his fellow soldiers on fire in the Middle East because he was convinced that he'd found "God". She uses the story of Amon Ra and Khonshu to try to get through to this soldier while also working through her ongoing obsession with Moon Knight, only to discover in the end, she may have created a monster far more dangerous than Moon Knight ever was... Although I may be a little biased due to my love for the character, I can't say enough good about the book. The writing was great, the art was top-notch, and we may finally get an adversary tied to the Egyptian mythos that is integral to Moon Knight after years of Bushman, Black Spectre, and whatever regular MU villains the writers want to shove into the book because they can't come up with anything original. Final Verdict: Great book. Well worth the money, and it left me excited about the next issue, which very few current books do for me any more. 9/10 |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Nov 10, 2017 15:34:22 GMT -5
Hellboy and the BPRD #19 "1955: Occult Intelligence Part 3"  Written by Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson Art by Brian Churilla Summary: Hellboy faces off against a Russian operative and a giant mutated bird while in Britain the Professor learns that there is an occult cold war brewing.
Plot: While I still feel like these two separate stories would have been better served if they were both given the opportunity to breath on their own the way they were tied together in this issue to introduce the brewing occult cold war made for a satisfying conclusion. The middle beats with the battle with the mutated albatross were a little weary as we've already seen Hellboy battle these kinds of creatures several times but the intrigue with both the British secret services and an even more secret military US occult branch that was unknown to the BPRD really drew me in. I loved that the secret US division's base was the hanger that we've seen the BPRD take as its home in the war against the Frog Plague and I'm interested to see what connections get built here.
Art: I think my favorite image here was during the scene where Hellboy was battling the Russian spy, the look of his skull as he was electrocuted was fantastic. I loved the way Hellboy's features were still present albeit translucently over his skull; it was a unique look that provided a stunning visual.
Grade:8/10 |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Nov 10, 2017 15:48:04 GMT -5
This is one in a series of one-shot issues, part of the current Marvel Legacy umbrella, that "catches up" with characters whose books have been long-since cancelled. It's seems like a way to show older readers that Marvel has not forgotten about them while introducing these rarely-used "legacy" characters to a modern audience. This wouldn't be a bad thing, bringing Shang Chi into the modern MU (outside of a few appearances in Secret Avengers in the past decade, he's largely been missing), except this book is a flat-out trainwreck. The biggest problem with it is that the Shang Chi in it bears no resemblance to the character that starred in his own book for nearly a decade in the 70's and 80's. This Shang Chi is jokey and very familiar with pop culture references, instead of being the solemn and serious Master of Kung Fu. As well, the story is played entirely for laughs, almost like a Deadpool-lite book. There's nothing serious about it, with bad puns, stupid set-ups, and a nonsensical "plot". Whomever at Marvel thought that having former WWE wrestler CM Punk write a comic book that they intended to sell, possibly with the hope that it might catch on and become an ongoing, well, that person should be fired, because Punk failed miserably. Older fans of Shang Chi will be sorely and sadly disappointed by this mess, while new readers would find it to be a second-rate Deadpool knockoff and they're better off just getting one of the 9,000 books featuring the Merc with a Mouth than reading this. To balance the above, the artwork is passable. Nothing spectacular, but when compared to the writing, it's definitely the best part of this book. Final Verdict: If you are at all a fan of Shang Chi and the original Master of Kung Fu series, avoid this at all costs. I took one for the team, so you and your wallet don't have to. 2/10...because some of the pictures aren't bad to look at. Man, that's a serious bummer. My shop didn't have this issue but the cover had me interested so I was going to try and track it down. I was a little wary of the writer, CM Punk didn't interest me at all, so I didn't preorder and reading what you've written I'm glad I didn't. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Nov 10, 2017 16:07:13 GMT -5
So they changed Master of Kung Fu into Jackie Chan Adventures.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Nov 10, 2017 16:36:43 GMT -5
Star Wars #38  Written by Kieron Gillen Art by Salvador Larroca Summary: In the wake of the destruction of the Death Star the Empire returns to Jedha to seek more Kyber crystals. Plot: I love how this story is tying into the plot of Rogue One with the return to Jedha and a look at how Saw's partisans continued on after the planet was partially destroyed by the first test of the Death Star. I'm not sure what more the story will give us but I'm interested to see how the more militarized Rebellion that exists after the battle of Yarvin contrasts with the survivor's of Saw's band and how different or simmilar their tactics in battling the Empire may be. Art: I was pretty surprised to see that Larroca was sticking around on the book after Jason Aaron left, I'm certainly no expert, but in my mind I can't remember an artist sticking around after a book changes hands but I could be wrong. As for the art itself I've always felt that Larroca's style really gave it a true Star Wars feel, everything from the costumes, props, ships and scenery just looks like it was ripped right from the movies which has made for some great visuals. That said, his tracing of the character's faces from the films has always been slightly troubling and that issue was even more apparent here in his depiction of Queen Trios(from Gillen's awesome run on Darth Vader) and Commander Kanchar:  Larroca's known for "photo-referencing" but he usually does a much better job of blending it in with the rest of his art he fails in spectacular fashion here as the face of of the queen looks like it was crudely pasted on by a first year student playing with photoshop. And the General isn't much better as he just looks like a beefier version of Christopher Plummer as General Chang from Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country:
 Grade:7/10 |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Nov 10, 2017 18:52:33 GMT -5
Spirits of Vengeance #2Written by Victor Gischler Art by David Baldeon Summary: Ghost Rider, Son of Satan and Blade hone in on the conspiracy while Necrodomas grows closer to his goal.
Plot: My main concern with last issue was the pacing, for such a short run miniseries it was taking a whole lot of time simply gathering the team that I wondered how it was ever going to get along with completing the whole story in such a short time...and it's a concern that has grown well past the breaking point in this issue. After taking the time to carefully put his pieces together last issue Gischler really needed to kick things into high gear but instead this issue was even more of a holding pattern than the last issue...and we still haven't assembled the whole team together yet as Satana was just barely introduced at the end. Further, on the subject of the team I feel like we skipped an issue in terms of characterization as in the closing moments of the last issue we saw Ghost Rider leaving Blade a voicemail and then here we seem him hanging out with Ghost Rider and Son of Satan like they've been best buddies forever. These characters aren't known to be team players and they have no real history together so the moment that brought them together should have been powerful and dramatic...but instead it's skipped over and taken completely for granted. That serious shortcoming complied with the pacing issues really killed my interest in this book.
Art: Baldeon's style continues to be light and fun however in heavy actions scenes the proportions are very elastic and can be distracting at times but other than that it's the high point of the book.
Grade:5/10 |
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