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Post by majestic on Sept 17, 2021 10:52:44 GMT -5
OFF THE RACKS - Reviews from our readers
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Post by majestic on Sept 17, 2021 11:05:32 GMT -5
Fantastic Four #35/680.
The slightly delayed 96 page 60th Anniversary issue of the FF.
The first story is by Dan Slott & John Romita Jr (who makes his return to Marvel from DC). This story stars Kang as his bloodline jumps around in time to kill the FF in different eras. It sets up an upcoming FF story in 2022. It was written well giving glimpses into the FF's past adventures and emphasizing what makes them Marvel's First Family. JRJR's art was stellar. I suspect it was because he wasn't pushing up against a deadline and could take his time drawing this story.
The second story is by Mark Waid & Paul Renaud and while it was good it featured yet another retelling of the FF's origin with some additional details.
Overall a nice tribute to the FF!
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 17, 2021 18:43:08 GMT -5
Got a ton of stuff this week (some from last week... didn't make it to the store) and I realized I haven't posted here for a bit, so...
Not All Robots #2 : Looks like the revolution is coming, but so far it's not clear exactly who is revolting. As Jim Ross says... business is about to pick up. Not a whole lot happening here, but both the art and the writing are just stellar, so that's ok... it's coming.
Usagi #22 : LOVE the cover (though the small pic of the incentive one is nice too).. Usagi and Yukichi leave Lord Hikiji's territory only to run into Kisune, and the usual trouble that follows her. This is a story that we've read before, but that's ok, because Kitsune is awesome. The wrinkle of haing Yukichi around should be plenty to keep things interesting.
Conan #25 (300th anniversary special) : I haven't been getting this, but I thought I'd check out this one.. though I swear when I pre-ordered it it said there would be a Roy Thomas story, which is not the case. There are 4 stories here.... the first, from series regular Jim Zub, reads like fan service... it's ok, but meh. definitely didn't make me want to pick up the book for sure. Larry Hama (with art from Paul Davidson) was my favorite of the 4.. just a fight scene, but a well drawn one, as Conan battles some Aesir. Dan Slott's entry is played for comedy, didn't do anyhing for me. Priest's story about Conan the King (with the old logo and everything) was also pretty good, but the last panel rang so off it kinda ruined it. Didn't love the art either...(Robert del Torre). Overall, I'd say a bit disapponting. I'll still give the King Conan by Jason Aaron a shot though... he was OK and its a unique premise.
Green Lantern #6: Jo and Simon go to bail "teen Lantern' out from her temper tantrum/attack on New Korugar, which gives us a cool scene with Sinestro. Meanwhile, the others go on a rescue missue to save Kilowog.. seems there some sort of slave angle with bad guys using New Genesis tech that's coming next. I definitely missing having Green Lanterns in Green Lantern (the rings, I mean) but it's not a bad book overall.
Demon Days: Cursed Web : Much weaker plot on this one... Mariko goes to the mountains to find her parents, and runs into this world's versions of Sabretooth and Mystique. she seems to have super powers now weirdly... and the friend she made was extracting spider venom with test tubes, whihch was also super weird... Peach Momoko continues to deliver stunning art though, so none of that really matters. Next issue it appears we'll see 'Thor' and 'Storm'
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Post by Dizzy D on Sept 27, 2021 6:14:56 GMT -5
X-Men: The Trial of Magneto #2
Written by Leah Williams
Art by Lucas Werneck and Edgar Delgado
What Happened Before: Mutants have organized and live together now on the living island of Krakoa. By combining the powers of five specific mutants known as the Five, dead mutants can be restored from telepathic backups. It's the role of X-Factor to determine whether missing mutants are actually dead to prevent the resurrection process from creating multiple copies of the same person.
X-Factor's latest investigation concerns Wanda Maximoff, who was last seen reconciling their differences with the man she once thought to be her father, Magneto. Everything seems to point at Magneto being the killer. During the arrest, Quicksilver intervenes and nearly kills him, but is stopped in time, leaving Magneto in a coma.
Plot: Xavier and Hope try to telepathically interrogate the comatose Magneto to get a confession, while Jean and the X-Men welcome the Avengers to Krakoa to hand over Wanda's body. Hope awakens Magneto and tells him to stop the Avengers from taking Wanda. He fights and then confesses to the Avengers, but Wanda appears alive and denies that Magneto killed her.
The Good: I like the tempo in this story, two issues in and we've already established that Magneto is (probably, because even with Wanda appearing there are too many shapeshifters and telepaths and other superpowers around that I need to be sceptical of everything we see) not the killer and Wanda is not really dead. I'd have expected they would have drawn out things longer with Avengers and X-Men chasing Magneto. (Mystique's look at seeing Wanda, does suggest to me that this is not really Wanda. Mystique has always been very good at recognising the small tells that make or break an impersonation)
Like the previous issue I like the little character moments with Northstar and with Polaris. For Northstar, he and Quicksilver were always pretty similar characters and so far he has been the one to keep Quicksilver under control while also supporting him. Polaris apparently finally finished up her PhD and so far she seems to be one of the few scientists in comics that actually sticks with a single scientific discipline.
The Bad: Not much really, it's a middle episode of an ongoing story and some important events happen for the overall story. It's not bad, it's also not amazing.
7/10: Just as the Onslaught Revelation turned out to be just a continuation of Way of X, so is this mini-series a continuation of X-Factor, though X-Factor themselves do take a small step back so that Wanda and Magneto get more attention. It's moving along at a nice pace and Williams' character work is still solid, so it has my attention.
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Post by Dizzy D on Sept 27, 2021 8:10:34 GMT -5
Marauders #24
Written by Gerry Duggan
Art by Phil Noto
What Happened Before: Mutants have organized and live together now on the living island of Krakoa. The Hellfire Trading Company oversees the trade between Krakoa's advanced medicine and the rest of the world ensuring wealth and political power for the mutant nation. Kate Pryde, the Red Queen of the Hellfire Trading Company's crew are named the Marauders and they are tasked with smuggling medicine in and mutants out of places that are not friendly to Krakoa. With Krakoa's expansion to the newly terraformed planet Mars (now home to Krakoa's sister-island Arakko) the responsibilities of the Hellfire Trading Company have turned intergalactic.
Plot: On Arakko, the alien Eden Rixio arrives to settle his history with Emma Frost, who stole his spaceship several years ago. Meanwhile the Marauders are on Arakko, because Bishop is investigating the murder of Arakko's sheriff (a quite common occurrence which requires his attention). Eden tries to get his revenge on Emma by trying to kill her, but Sebastian Shaw intervenes and pays him off instead. Everything looks to end happily except Eden decides that he rather have both the money and his ship back and sends the Marauders, Emma and Shaw into outer space.
The Good: Noto's art is great as always.
Small appearance by Peepers and I like that both in this and in S.W.O.R.D. (got the trade this weekend), Peepers, a rather minor character that had been mostly forgotten, is well liked by both Magneto and Emma Frost. In S.W.O.R.D. it was mostly as a joke where Fabian Cortez is shocked that Magneto seems to have forgotten him, but is genuinely happy to see this weird little guy, but both here and in S.W.O.R.D. Peepers just seems to be a very nice person who is both reliable and honest. I always like it when minor characters get more development over the years and I like that Magneto and in this case Emma both have a real friend that they have a very uncomplicated relationship with. Especially Magneto needed somebody like that.
The Bad: Eden Rixio is a Xandarian (or lived on Xandar for a long time), so looks pretty much like a human, so no real chance there for Noto to create some weird alien, but that is also not something you'd get Noto for as an artist. He also is not that memorable to me; he's a small-time criminal, capable in a fight, but mostly a thief and smuggler, while Marauders have mostly dealt with the rich and powerful as enemies. So even if he managed to space the Marauders, I don't see him as a long-term character in this series. He could be a decent supporting character in Guardians of the Galaxy or Nova or a title like that. This felt like a filler issue, while the ongoing plot with Lourdes Chantel is not developed in this issue.
6/10: This felt more like a random issue of Star Wars than Marauders. I still like the characters in this series, but it lost some of its lustre to me now Storm has left the team and Shaw has become more friendly towards Emma and Kate.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 27, 2021 9:29:28 GMT -5
Got a ton of stuff this week (some from last week... didn't make it to the store) and I realized I haven't posted here for a bit, so... Not All Robots #2 : Looks like the revolution is coming, but so far it's not clear exactly who is revolting. As Jim Ross says... business is about to pick up. Not a whole lot happening here, but both the art and the writing are just stellar, so that's ok... it's coming. I'm really enjoying this. But I'm a big Russell fan-boy at this point. |
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