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Post by thwhtguardian on Nov 6, 2019 9:28:12 GMT -5
OFF THE RACKSReal reviews by real readers: shared weekly!  If you read, let the world know! |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Nov 6, 2019 10:55:56 GMT -5
Lois Lane#5Written by Greg Rucka Art by Mike Perkins Summary: Lois connects with a source in DC while Rene as the Question tracks down a source of her own.
Plot: Man have I missed Rene Montoya as the Question! I loved her back ups under Rucka back in the late 00's and this is every bit as good. Her whole bit here about being from Gotham and the differences between the crooks there and crooks elsewhere was an amazing character moment and her action bits were just as strong. I'd buy this book just to see more of that, though that's not to say that Rucka's handling of the titular character Lois Lane is lacking; I loved her impassioned statements about making decisions in the moment and the power of the press. That said the plot has meandered a bit to the point that I'm going to need t read the first issue again just to remember what really started the mystery off. There was something about DHS and migrant families and another reporter was killed to silence them...but if it was ever made more clear beyond that I think Rucka's lost track of it since. The mystery around Lois' quest is still great and the intrigue is still thick but when you can't remember what caused it all it kind of mutes it a bit.
Art: Perkins art since the start has shared that last flaw with Rucka's plot; his look just oozes atmosphere but the finer details are a little generic. The goons Rene fought here looked nearly identical to each other making unclear if the battle was over or if there was still more standing at one point and every female character seems to have the same face. Oh well, I guess you can't have it all.
Grade:7.5/10 |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Nov 7, 2019 8:54:51 GMT -5
Immortal Hulk #26Written by Al Ewing Art by Joe Bennett Summary: Bruce Banner reveals he alive and well to the public and announces his plans for a new green deal.
Plot: Sure, the issue is mostly just a bunch of talking heads...but the things they say are truly fantastic. I love equating the Hulk with a Green future and the plans for implementing it are certainly fun. I think this is the closest modern interpretation to Captain America punching Hitler as we're likely to get, it's really tapping into that kind of power fantasy here. In reality we're powerless against big business and can't seem to do anything to hold them accountable...but Hulk smashes. Is it perhaps a little too much on the nose? Yes, but it'll hopefully make for a fun ride.
Art: As I said, it was mostly just a bunch of talking heads so nothing too exciting for Bennett to do, but I did love how he played with showing the hulk in reflections.
Grade:8/10
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2019 14:07:48 GMT -5
 Legion of Super-Heroes #1. Written by Brian Michael Bendis. Art and Cover by Ryan Sook. This is the 7th or 8th volume of the LoSH. The Legion became a fan favorite after it was introduced back in Adventure Comics #247 (1958) in a Superboy story. It remained a fan favorite until the late 80's when Superboy was removed from Legion history with 1985's Crisis and 1986's Man of Steel. Since 1989 the series has been relaunched several times trying to "capture" what made the Legion so unique. So here we are again trying to make the Legion viable again. The pros: Bendis usually does well writing teen/young adults. He is a great idea style of creator. He is using Superboy in the form of Jon Kent in this Legion. He is bringing in 21st century ties like Aquaman's trident to link the Legion to present day DCU. It also looks like Robin (Damian) will make an appearance in #3. Ryan Sook brings his beautiful art style to illustrating a large diverse cast. I like the updated looks. He also does well at illustrating what the future may look like. This is a great looking book.The cons: Bendis has great ideas but sometimes falls flat in his execution of these ideas. I don't like his dystopian view of the future with Earth almost decimated with no oceans and the United Planets government looking to be corrupt. I don't like the fact that he had Superboy just thrown into action without the Legion being able to have him adjust. It seemed too ham fisted in the approach to delaying Superboy's education of the future. So will this version of the Legion do well? I'm not feeling confident based on this issue. I expected so much more from this issue. I will try the first arc and see if it gets better. 6/10. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2019 14:17:36 GMT -5
 Daredevil #13. Written by Chip Zdarsky. Art by Marco Checchetto. The return of Matt Murdock to his Daredevil ID arc continues. Zdarsky has Elektra training Matt on his path back to becoming DD again. And Fisk finally snaps after trying to put on a persona as Mayor of NYC for the last year. Zdarsky has the taken the long view towards setting up another DD/Kingpin confrontation. As Matt rebuilds his life Fisk's life starts to unravel. Usually I grow impatient with this approach but Zdarsky is doing well his pacing so it doesn't feel decompressed. Even though we have seen this happen before in the past... Zdarsky has put a different spin on this story of redemption and rebuilding of Matt as well as Fisk showing his true self once again. All this and beautiful art. 7/10. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2019 14:29:19 GMT -5
Quick Reviews (of other titles this week):Immortal Hulk #26: I wasn't as enthralled as thwhtguardian with this issue. I missed the horror aspect. It was full of talking heads. Frankly it wasn't awful like last issue but it was boring. 5/10.Young Justice #10: Another Bendis teen title. This title started out with so much promise but quickly went off the rails when Bendis chose to focus on the "newer" heroes instead of the classic team most of us wanted to see again. It looks like it will take a whole year for the team to finally appear again in their own universe. This is getting dropped with the conclusion of this arc. 5/10.Fantastic Four #16: I loved this book. It took Slott awhile to make his own mark on the FF but he finally has done it. This "feels" like an old school styled FF tale but updated well for a modern audience. Love Reed's comments to Sue about an "undersea king". Slott has brought a nice touch of humor to the team. And I like the art style. 8/10.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Nov 7, 2019 21:07:39 GMT -5
Quick Reviews (of other titles this week):Immortal Hulk #26: I wasn't as enthralled as thwhtguardian with this issue. I missed the horror aspect. It was full of talking heads. Frankly it wasn't awful like last issue but it was boring. 5/10.Young Justice #10: Another Bendis teen title. This title started out with so much promise but quickly went off the rails when Bendis chose to focus on the "newer" heroes instead of the classic team most of us wanted to see again. It looks like it will take a whole year for the team to finally appear again in their own universe. This is getting dropped with the conclusion of this arc. 5/10.Fantastic Four #16: I loved this book. It took Slott awhile to make his own mark on the FF but he finally has done it. This "feels" like an old school styled FF tale but updated well for a modern audience. Love Reed's comments to Sue about an "undersea king". Slott has brought a nice touch of humor to the team. And I like the art style. 8/10. I definitely miss the horror aspect but I knew going in we couldn't get that forever so I was prepared to change and atleast it hasn't gone back to a straight up super hero story so I'm hoping the new angle of Hulk Inc. taking on the world is interesting. |
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Post by hondobrode on Nov 7, 2019 22:08:59 GMT -5
Legion of Super-Heroes # 1 by Brian Michael Bendis, Ryan Sook & Wade von Grawbadger  Jim Cheung variant As much as Bendis ruined the Marvel universe IMHO (except for his excellent run on Daredevil), I really feel like he's genuinely excited about, and is going to bring a strong new era, to the Legion, one of my favorite groups / titles / franchises.  Ryan Sook variant The Sook / Von Grawbadger art here is lush, reminiscent of an overlooked Legion artist of the 90's, who later went on to fame on the Superman titles, and eventually over to Marvel : Stuart Immonen.  Another positive is bringing that sense of wonder again to a young, inexperienced Superboy. This is a great way of once again building off of that Superman Family tree without the character being Superman-lite.  Didn't know Aquaman's trident was THAT powerful Good to see Mordru again, but what a wicked change Gotham ? I *** HATE *** Blok's current look  I'm a total Legion geek; ecstatic that we finally have them back and that DC is trying to give them the A-list team they deserve. I'd gladly support a L.E.G.I.O.N. / R.E.B.E.L.S. title too. I'm biased, but so far 8 / 10 |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Nov 8, 2019 16:44:41 GMT -5
The Art on Legion certainly looks good, I might have to try it out.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Nov 8, 2019 17:41:22 GMT -5
Strange Skies Over East Berlin #2
 Written by Jeff Loveness Art by Lisandro Estherren Summary: Fears of assimilation become more than just cold war paranoia as the light begins to spread through the base.
Plot: With his unique blend of hard-boiled Cold War intrigue and cosmic horror Loveness asks the reader to contemplate not only the nature of truth but of self-truth and in the face of an alien menace that can hop from mind to mind the question isn't just an intriguing one for us but is of vital importance to the characters. That shared journey of looking at how we are shaped by others in the real world and the prospect of a malign force taking it to the next level makes for an exceedingly powerful metaphor, and that level of complexity makes for fantastic reading.
Art: What I love about the art here is the way it changed it's tone so completely so quickly and it never felt jarring. In the last issue and in flash backs at the start of this issue the light of the comet was celestially beautiful and yet as the issue unfolded it morphed into something darker and more sinister; it's the same shooting star and the imagery is almost identical but with a slight alteration of the color pallet and a trick of lighting and suddenly is creepy instead of beautiful.
Grade:10/10
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Post by thwhtguardian on Nov 8, 2019 18:06:45 GMT -5
Doctor Doom #2
Written by Christopher Cantwell
Art by Salvador Larocca The first issue of Doctor Doom was incredibly promising, giving us a view of the character that allowed you to empathize with the despot with out softening him up. It was a really unique look that had me wanting more...but the second issue totally killed it for me in it's delivery of a typical super hero kind of intrigue story full of random hero encounters and even more out of the blue pop culture references. I've never had an opinion swing so fast on a book but that's what we got here and its too bad because it had a great start. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Nov 9, 2019 19:51:36 GMT -5
The Magicians #1Written by Lilah Sturges Art by Pius Bak Summary: The newest class of hopeful wizards and witches have arrived at Breakbills Academy to start a new year of learning.
Plot: I'm a huge fan of Lev Grossman's Magicians series so when I saw there was going to be a comic series taking place after the books I was pumped beyond words. Ever since I picked up the first book I just loved the world Grossman created so more adventures in it sounded like a no brainer to me but now that I have it and it isn't by Grossman I'm not sure how I feel. Maybe it's because I'm used to having the whole novel right in my lap to read but I was left pretty disappointed by this first chapter, there just wasn't enough to get me invested in either the new characters or the world as a whole. I really want to like it so I'll probably get the next issue and see if the book reads better with two back to back but right now I can't shake the feeling that the slow burn nature of the world of the Magicians just isn't as good a fit to episodic story telling as I didn't really care for the TV series as it was coming out every week but thought it was a fun adaptation when I could watch multiple episodes at once on demand.
Art: I felt Bak's art was a little bland for most of the issue but I loved the way he handled the magic at the end.
Grade:6/10 |
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