Posts tagged flash

DC Comics

DMZ #71 (pictured above) - Oh gosh, the series is almost over. This is one of my favourite books of all time, so it’s a bit sad to see Matty Roth get put on trial for war crimes. If you haven’t read this book before, you’ve got some catching up to do before the finale in #72. Author Brian Wood said that this one is “the big one” in terms of story resolution, and I fully expect to be blown away.

Flash #3 - Francis Manapul’s art is awesome, and this comic is the first book to make me care about Barry Allen. I’m really enjoying the giant set-pieces that he’s drawing, and the whole “vibrating a plane through a bridge” scene has been set up/previewed for a long time.

Shade #2 (of 12) - Wait, The Shade’s series is out, and I wasn’t notified? Time to catch up! I wrote a column about why Shade needed his own series awhile ago, but it turns out that web site has stopped publishing; oh well. Bad-ass villain turned bad-ass character.

Image Comics

Invincible #84 - I’ve been a bit disappointed by this book as of late because of the large hangover period that came after the story’s major story arc. Mark Grayson has been making a growing series of bad choices as a superhero, and to see a complete 180 in such a small amount of time is disconcerting. 

Next issue marks the return of Cory Walker to the book, which I’m quite excited for; nothing against Ryan Ottley, but I just prefer the former’s work. This seems a bit dumb, as, well, the latter has been working on the majority of Invincible’s run, but for some reason the latest arc really turned me off.

I don’t really like when comics I usually enjoy reading unsettle me; I’ve written about this before, and sometimes Invincible’s gore and violence make me want to put it down for a bit.

Marvel Comics

Captain America and Bucky #624 - I’m reviewing a bunch of Marvel books for ComicVine this week, and this issue of Cap & Bucky is the first one I’ve ever read. Shall be fun diving into a new series, and I may pick up a couple back issues in order to get an idea of where the series is.

Invincible Iron Man #510 - Quality from Matt Fraction as always; can’t go wrong with Tony, Pepper and the boys at Stark Resilient. Another review for ComicVine on the way.

Mighty Thor #8 - I’ve been liking this series because it’s relatively continuity-light, and they’ve done some lovely things with Galactus and the Silber Surfer. I’m looking forward to the Fear Itself fallout and seeing some of this “New God of Thunder” business.

Secret Avengers #19 - Warren Ellis. Secret-y things. Beast, Moon Knight, Captain America and Black Widow. Hi-jinks. Secret Avengers is like a more serious Nextwave, and I enjoy every minute.

Haven’t done this in awhile, but here’s my comic reviews for this week!

Secret Avengers #18

David Aja’s art is gorgeous, and thankfully he got to play to his strength here: kung fu. Having Shang-Chi as a “guest star” definitely makes me smile, and Aja’s art style fromImmortal Iron Fist contributes wonderfully to the fight sequences. Aja’s faces have also become less gritty - this isn’t a complaint, but I think it fits better with the mood of the book. It’s very light-hearted - almost like Chris Samnee drew Thor: The Mighty Avenger - but still allows for some dark-ish moments.

The Mighty Thor #7

The art in this issue is lovely, and it does a good job of showing what pre-Asgard architecture and aesthetic looked like. I’ve always enjoyed the quasi-futuristic tone that comes with the Norse gods, and this issue capitalizes on it.

Seeing an older Odin holding an infant Thor just made my heart melt.

Avengers Academy #20

One of the first comics I ever read was a West Coast Avengers issue, and I couldn’t help but think about how hokey it sounded; it took a good concept like the Avengers and just said “Yeah, we’re in a new setting! That’s cool, right?”

That’s what this issue felt like: a bunch of “shocking” events that ultimately didn’t mean jack in the long run. Will we ever see Vance Astro and Speedball’s road trip? Unlikely. Will we really care about the new recruits to the Avengers Academy (apart from Butterball, of course)? Not really. Do we want to see characters written like they were in the past, with actual emotions and feelings? I’d like to think so.

Annihilators: Earthfall #2 (of 3)

There’s often a problem with guest stars, as some writers don’t know how to handle them. The Avengers in this issue seemed a little bit off in dialog, but I guess that can be forgiven. The rest of the issue, dialog aside, seemed was definitely on the food side, but not amazing by any means.

It will be interesting to see how the team manages the new threat of what look like brainwashed/alien children, as they certainly can handle them, but the PR disaster they’re currently facing could make it interesting.