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Post by thwhtguardian on May 18, 2021 14:09:43 GMT -5
Welcome to another thrilling installment of... OFF THE RACKSThe web's home for the most honest reviews
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Post by thwhtguardian on May 18, 2021 19:34:37 GMT -5
Nightwing #80Written by Tom Taylor Art by Bruno Redondo Summary: When Martin Holt is found dead Dick Grayson becomes the prime suspect in his murder before Barbra Gordon provides an alibi. Plot: While the overall tone and energy of Nightwing both continue to be strong and the character moments are really dialed in this issue felt slightly disjointed plot wise. The issue was largely broken into three sections here, the first segment with the Budhaven detectives grilling Dick Grayson about his connection to Martin Holt(the homeless guy he bought a hotel room the night before in the last issue) had one of the best interactions between Dick and Babs when the detectives ask them what their relationship status is( Dick replies that he was hoping to ask the same thing but outside of a police interrogation!) in the second segment Tim Drake shows up after having recovering Dick's stolen wallet and the two have a great brotherly moment as they "catch" a train home and in the last part Dick and Tim battle a pair of Blockbuster's goons who are shaking down a homeless shanty town which had some really great action beats. And while each segment is really well done in and of itself there isn't a real lot of connective tissue bridging the gaps between the individual scenes making the transitions feel slightly abrupt. Other than that nit pick though this book really does continue to be a blast to read and I can't wait to get my hands on more. Art: Redondo really is a perfect fit to this book, with his fluid style the action scenes come off looking really dynamic and slick but he has a really detailed look to his work that makes the quieter scenes with Barbra Gordon work just as well. Grade:7/10
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Post by majestic on May 19, 2021 13:43:49 GMT -5
Nightwing #80. Tom Taylor & Bruno Redondo. I will echo thwhtguardian review however I would give it a slightly higher grade. I agree there were abrupt jumps between all 3 segments but man each part was written so well. The art continues to be outstanding. Not only does Taylor capture Dick's voice perfectly but he gets Babs & Tim's voices down perfectly. I love the nod to Nightwing #25 (1996) with the train scene with Dick & Tim.
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Post by majestic on May 19, 2021 13:49:00 GMT -5
Flash #770. Jeremy Adams. Art by Jack Herbert & Brandon Peterson.
Wally "jumps" into the body of Jay Garrick during a WWII mission with the Ray (Happy Terrill). And gets to sock Hitler in the jaw!
I am a sucker for any WWII adventure. And this one did not disappoint. It had Jay teamed up with the Ray (hey that rhymes!), Hitler, the Spear of Destiny.
Great story plus great art. I like this arc with the focus on Wally.
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Post by majestic on May 19, 2021 13:53:03 GMT -5
Daredevil #30. Chip Zdarsky. Art by Mike Hawthorne & Marco Checchetto.
This issue feels like we are in the home stretch toward a finale. Elektra continues to protect Hell's Kitchen as the new DD. Matt gets an offer to get out of jail. And Fisk gets some bad news....
Zdarsky continues his epic run on DD. I can't wait to see the takedown of Fisk as Mayor. My only complaint I am tired of Matt feeling "guilty". Man give the guy a break. I would like to see a stretch of stories where Matt is actually happy.
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Post by brutalis on May 19, 2021 19:58:18 GMT -5
Daredevil #30. Chip Zdarsky. Art by Mike Hawthorne & Marco Checchetto. This issue feels like we are in the home stretch toward a finale. Elektra continues to protect Hell's Kitchen as the new DD. Matt gets an offer to get out of jail. And Fisk gets some bad news.... Zdarsky continues his epic run on DD. I can't wait to see the takedown of Fisk as Mayor. My only complaint I am tired of Matt feeling "guilty". Man give the guy a break. I would like to see a stretch of stories where Matt is actually happy. You have Matt confused with his brother Mike! 😉
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Post by majestic on May 19, 2021 20:08:21 GMT -5
Daredevil #30. Chip Zdarsky. Art by Mike Hawthorne & Marco Checchetto. This issue feels like we are in the home stretch toward a finale. Elektra continues to protect Hell's Kitchen as the new DD. Matt gets an offer to get out of jail. And Fisk gets some bad news.... Zdarsky continues his epic run on DD. I can't wait to see the takedown of Fisk as Mayor. My only complaint I am tired of Matt feeling "guilty". Man give the guy a break. I would like to see a stretch of stories where Matt is actually happy. You have Matt confused with his brother Mike! 😉 not sure what you mean. Matt is in jail as DD while his "brother" Mike pretends he is Matt to keep his ID secret
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Post by brutalis on May 19, 2021 20:33:30 GMT -5
You have Matt confused with his brother Mike! 😉 not sure what you mean. Matt is in jail as DD while his "brother" Mike pretends he is Matt to keep his ID secret Back in ye olden days Matt was Mike, the happy go lucky play it wild fast loose in helping to hide his identity made up brother. Matt was the blind lawyer so Mike could see and swing as DD's alter ego. Murdoch had tough times and fun times all in 3 personality's.
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Post by thwhtguardian on May 20, 2021 7:54:09 GMT -5
Wonder Girl #1Story and Art by Joelle Jones Summary: With faint, dream like memories haunting her Yara travels to Brazil hoping to learn something about her heritage. Plot/art: The new Wonder Woman story featuring Yara was head and shoulders my favorite part of DC's Future State event so I have really been looking forward to see Joelle Jones get to take back to the start with this new take on the Wonder Woman mythos...and with only one issue under her belt I can say confidently that it won't be a disappointment. To start with, even if the story was flat and lifeless(and it definitely isn't!) this book would be well worth your money just for the sake of the art; Jones' style is smooth and her faces are super emotive without coming across as cartoonish which really helps you get into the characters heads with out the need for any dialog at all which is perfect for an introductory issue. And the story itself?
One word:
Fantastic!
There's a tantalizing adventure laid out here that not only draws you in on page one with the dream sequence of Yara as a little girl attempting to fight off a mysterious band of armored warriors and having to watch her mother pay the price, but it's only built up more as the story continues. As Yara returns to Brazil it triggers a warning sense simultaneously on Paradise Island, Mount Olympus, and Bana-Mighdall and they all have conflicting reactions to Yara's arrival. She's obviously important for some reason and I really look forward to finding out why. Grade:10/10
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Post by thwhtguardian on May 20, 2021 9:07:21 GMT -5
Immortal Hulk: Time of MonstersWritten Al Ewing, Alex Paknadel and David Vaughan Art by Juan Ferreyra and Kevin Nowlan Summary: A double feature of horror starring the Hulk! Plot/art: While the first feature was written by Immortal Hulk writer Al Ewing (though scripted here by Alex Paknadel) and it's use of the green door and body horror themes does make it perhaps the more "relevent" story it was the second feature with its amazing art by Kevin Nowlan that really made this book worth while for me. Don't get me wrong, the story Ewing came up with about a proto-Hulk who got his powers from the strange energy radiating off a meteorite that crashed near his Mesopotamian home was interesting( though the quote from Gilgamesh was sadly the only connection to that epic) but Nowlin is someone I just love seeing on the page and his slightly cartoony style is just perfect for the Hulk. I seriously don't get why Nowlan doesn't get more work, he's been around forever and every story he does comes out looking amazing and yet he's never had a long run on a book which is just sad. I'd eat up anything he did at almost any price point and on any character; he's that good! He has the ability to really elivate any story he's on and this issue is an excellent case in point; here we get a story of Bruce Banner wandering into a little podunk town and getting ensnared by a character called the Scarecrow( who surely must be a z-list Marvel villain as I've never once heard of them!) in a movie cinema and then the Hulk appears and shows that he's the real king of fear. It's a short, predictable and one note plot...but it was incredibly fun thanks to the energy that Nowlan brought to the page! Buy this book so the folks cutting the checks get the message that Nowlan's a real talent and you want more of him! Grade:7/10
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2021 22:04:49 GMT -5
Fantastic Four: Life Story #1 Mark Russell is amazing. I really enjoyed the Spider-Man: Life Story mini-series that followed P-squared through the decades and knew that Russell combining with the FF in a real-time story could turn out to be very good. But honestly, I didn't think it could be THIS good. I have to best honest that while I've read some FF comics in the past and even enjoyed the films of the 2000s, I've never felt all that emotionally connected to them. It gave me the feels in just one issue, even as it rushed through the whole decade. I am pretty sure that I am emotionally connected to them now. Because Mark Russell is amazing. PS, I am terrible at writing reviews, but I know I like something when it stirs emotions.
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Post by thwhtguardian on May 21, 2021 5:15:41 GMT -5
Fantastic Four: Life Story #1 Mark Russell is amazing. I really enjoyed the Spider-Man: Life Story mini-series that followed P-squared through the decades and knew that Russell combining with the FF in a real-time story could turn out to be very good. But honestly, I didn't think it could be THIS good. I have to best honest that while I've read some FF comics in the past and even enjoyed the films of the 2000s, I've never felt all that emotionally connected to them. It gave me the feels in just one issue, even as it rushed through the whole decade. I am pretty sure that I am emotionally connected to them now. Because Mark Russell is amazing. PS, I am terrible at writing reviews, but I know I like something when it stirs emotions. I never read Spider-Man Life Story but after how much I enjoyed this I might need to track it down. I think a lot of my enjoyment of this came from the feeling that this is what a FF movie should kind of feel like.
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Post by wildfire2099 on May 21, 2021 13:02:37 GMT -5
I have those in mind to grab in a trade at some point... they seem like the sort of thing that is better in that format.
LOTS of books for me this week (including 4 trades)... just read the first couple before I have to go back and do more driving about for the kids:
Redemption #4 : Beautiful set up for the final showdown, with more backstory. There's nothing Earth-shattering about the plot, it is, in fact, a by the numbers western, but it's REALLY well done, and has great steam punk ambiance.... glad I picked it up and am looking forward to the finale.
Nottingham #3 : Adds Friar Tuck to this mirror version of the classic story. Alan Dale's story comes to a resolution.. still not much of Robin and Marian though, which is what I want to see. Pacing here is a bit slower than I would like, but the unique art makes it worth it.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 21, 2021 13:31:14 GMT -5
Fantastic Four: Life Story #1 Mark Russell is amazing. I really enjoyed the Spider-Man: Life Story mini-series that followed P-squared through the decades and knew that Russell combining with the FF in a real-time story could turn out to be very good. But honestly, I didn't think it could be THIS good. I have to best honest that while I've read some FF comics in the past and even enjoyed the films of the 2000s, I've never felt all that emotionally connected to them. It gave me the feels in just one issue, even as it rushed through the whole decade. I am pretty sure that I am emotionally connected to them now. Because Mark Russell is amazing. PS, I am terrible at writing reviews, but I know I like something when it stirs emotions. I never read Spider-Man Life Story but after how much I enjoyed this I might need to track it down. I think a lot of my enjoyment of this came from the feeling that this is what a FF movie should kind of feel like. I may have to re-read this because I wasn't impressed. I'm a big fan of Mark Russell so I expected to be wowed, but I definitely was not. I understand that there's a lot of ground to cover in one comic. I really didn't like the way the relationship between Reed and Ben was handled. Ah well.
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Post by thwhtguardian on May 21, 2021 17:33:29 GMT -5
I never read Spider-Man Life Story but after how much I enjoyed this I might need to track it down. I think a lot of my enjoyment of this came from the feeling that this is what a FF movie should kind of feel like. I may have to re-read this because I wasn't impressed. I'm a big fan of Mark Russell so I expected to be wowed, but I definitely was not. I understand that there's a lot of ground to cover in one comic. I really didn't like the way the relationship between Reed and Ben was handled. Ah well. The antagonistic relationship between Ben and Reed was probably my only gripe, and yeah it wasn't as "smart" (for lack of a better term) as Russell usually is but other than that I really dug the space age vibe the book had and the cinematic feel of the art was great.
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