Mighty Morphin #1 Review

An exciting relaunch hampered by poor accessibility and questionable coloring

I've recently become aware of the increasing popularity and success of the Power Rangers comic universe by Boom! Studios and Ryan Parrot. The covers for the series has been eye-popping - often gorgeous cover after gorgeous cover adorning your local comic shop's shelves. I was too far removed from the beginning of the series, and admittedly I hadn't followed the series since my youth in the 1990s.

I was excited to learn that Boom! would relaunch the series, this time as two parallel series, in 2020. Here was my perfect opportunity to become a participant in a party I was obviously missing. Equipped with my limited 1990s nostalgia, I jumped into this issue with very little expectations, hoping to have my hand held, being that it was a newly relaunched series. I was disappointed to discover that there would be no hand-holding here. This is a series for die-hards only.

Thankfully, I have enough knowledge to glean the most basic information from the issue. I was aware of Tommy's history as the Green Ranger and adversary of the Rangers and his turn as the White Ranger. What I apparently forgot entirely was the Zords were also Dinosaurs. Being a parent, I often visit the libary (or used to before COVID), and I noticed all the different Power Rangers series there have been since the original. Dinosaurs, vehicles, samurai, aliens. I think all that change made me forget that the originals did have dinosaurs as Zords. All of this confusion could have been avoided with a more accessible entry point than what this issue provided. Perhaps a separate issue guide was in order. If there was, I missed it.

Cover Art:   EXCELLENT  

This is a beautiful cover by Inhyuk Lee. It is eye-catching and clean. A very iconic cover.

Materials:   EXCELLENT  

You have a sturdy-feeling card stock cover. Just right for a new series launch. The paper quality is high with thick, substantial paper stock.

Script:   GOOD  

I really enjoyed the Zordon back story and underlying mystery regarding the new mysterious Green Ranger with new powers. I think those are perfectly balanced plot points - along with the other interpersonal stories going on. Admittedly, I found it hard to follow as I am not as well versed in these characters as a fan of the series would be. Lastly, the biggest problem I have with the script is the lack of hand-holding for new readers. 

Art:   MIXED  

Pencils and inks from Marco Renna look really good here. Lettering from Ed Dukeshire is also great. What is really a problem in the art department is the coloring by Walter Baiamonte with assistance from Katia Ranalli. There must be a story behind it because the coloring in this issue is......terrible. Colors are clashing all over the place. Sometimes you have green on green on green or blue on blue on blue and the lack of contrast is really off-putting. Either the mistake that was made here needs to be avoided or they need a new colorist. That is the primary thing I am going to be focused on with the next issue.


Overall:   GOOD  

Despite the issues with coloring and accessibility, I did enjoy my experience reading Mighty Morphin #1. I am eager to read the next issue at the very least to see if the coloring improves and to further my knowledge of these characters and the universe. It was nice seeing Lord Zedd again in all his sinister glory. I might have to take some time to read a wiki and familiarize myself more with what is going on.

Green Lantern #40 Review

I will be the first to admit when I am wrong. I was wrong about Robert Venditti.

After Geoff Johns left Green Lantern, I was pessimistic that Venditti could fill his shoes. Johns had a legendary run. The first few issues and arcs felt a bit rocky, one event after another, but I see the big picture now. I see the groundwork that was being laid to led us to this moment. The moment when Hal Jordan leaves the Green Lantern Corps determined to go from it's greatest member to its greatest enemy.

Of course this sounds familiar. We have been here before in Emerald Twilight under different circumstances. The main difference here is that Hal Jordan is not evil, merely executing a plan to being the Green Lantern Corps back to greatness.

Because of the myriad of events, trials, and tribulations over the existing Venditti run, the universe no longer desires to have the Green Lantern Corps around. Hal's plan and that of the Guardians is to have Hal steal Krona's Gauntlet, leave the Corps and divert the hate from the Corps itself to Hal. Because Hal was the leader of the Corps when the people lost faith in it, he can become an antagonist for the Corps to triumph against and rebuild their reputation with him.

There was a very touching moment in the issue where Hal had to fight Kilowog, the only person he could confess his plan to, in order to make the betrayal appear more genuine. Kilowog made Hal beat him up real good. Kilowog would have it no other way.

How this will affect his return to the Justice League, I have no idea. Maybe in an effort to diversify the Green Lantern from the Power Ring, they can have Hal running around with the Gauntlet in Justice League as well. I am interested to see how the other DC titles are going to change for their pre-Convergence issues.

Uncanny X-Men v3 #19.NOW - Comic Book Review

How many times have the Uncanny X-Men teleported somewhere, found S.H.I.E.L.D. or sentinels waiting for them, Cyclops then yells, "Get the kids out of here!", then something goes wrong? How many times? Three? Four? This is a serious question. Reading Uncanny X-Men v3 is like experiencing the film Groundhog Day. This is the most decompressed, meandering mess of a series. It feels like a series on auto-pilot waiting for the result of other series, like maybe All-New X-Men to actually do something before anything happens in Uncanny. I am starting to get fed up. Having said that, I want to go into this with an open mind and a blank set of expectations. Finally Cyclops decides to get to the bottom of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the sentinel issue let us hope there is more to the conclusion than the usual.

Anyway, what we have here is a pretty decent issue. Bachelo is back after the mess of an artist from last issue. He is very welcome here and he makes the cutest-looking females. I love it. We finally get some plot developments concerning Dazzler and what Mystique is up to, but not much. Goldballs gets a new costume, that I like. Hijack gets a wake up call from S.H.I.E.L.D. and Bendis makes a script error saying that they removed all electronics from the block.....but he has a whole house full of them, soooo ummm....whatever.

In addition to all that we get new mutant-neutralizing sentinels, oh no we had this same thing happen before...did Eva use her powers then...I will have to look that up. Anyway, this looks to be, finally, the jump start the series needs to get the plot moving. Will we finally figure out who is behind the new sentinels? I hope so, fingers crossed.

RATING: B

Thor: God of Thunder #20 - Comic Book Review

Jason Aaron, you are the best Thor writer I have read. Truthfully though, I am a youngling when it comes to Thor. I began reading his volume when JMS and Olivier Coipel began their run some years back. Peanuts in Thor-time. To be frank, the Marvel Now era has given us some definite hit, miss, and mediocre works. Thor: God of Thunder is one if not THE crown jewel of the relaunch.

One of the weakest aspects of Thor as a standalone volume is his supporting cast. I just never liked any of them, to be perfectly honest. The idea of using three Thors, one from the past and one from the future? Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. It gives the perception of a supporting cast, only with the character we care most about - Thor. Then on top of all that we get the amazing talents of Esad Ribic more often than not and we are truly talking about a great series here.

I really dig the concept of this most recent storyline, a mega corporation that is killing the planet, and an old Thor pining over the carcass of a long-dead Earth. Great setup. In this issue we have King Thor confronting Old Galactus far in the future over the dead husk of what was once Earth. Aaron absolutely nails the personality of this older Thor and the conversation between him and Galactus is awesome.

In the present we have Thor the Avenger working his lightning magic against the likes of factories and power plants in an effort to put the mega corp out of business. But the person running the show, the CEO, is not what he seems and his sinister anti-environmental nature is not just ignorant indifference, but actual bloodlust for ruining the Earth. It all makes for an enjoyable and very cool story with, like I said, amazing art from Esad Ribic. That first long shot of Galactus, I had to slow down and take it all in, and look up at him as King Thor would.....what majesty and what a comic!

RATING: A

Iron Man v5 #23.NOW - Comic Book Review

Let me just get this out of the way - using Malekith the Accursed as an Iron Man villain is inspired. Iron Man may be a top-tier super hero, but his rogues gallery is paper-thin. Thor doesn't have a ton either, but Malekith as an Iron Man villain is like jelly added to peanut butter. First you have the whole Dark Elves weak against iron thing, then you have Malekith as a kick-ass sorcerer, so you then have the magic vs. technology angle. It is just an amazing marriage of ideas.

Having said that, I cannot help but admit that this issue is a bit of a mess. I love the brilliant medieval history motif. The indicia claims that the issue only contains one artist, Luke Ross, but I am having a hard time believing it. The art is.....all over the place. It looks very rushed. Some paces look amazingly clear while others look like a muddy mess. Ross at his best is what I want, great stuff, this rushed mess, not so much. You have some strange layouts and glaring blank/white backgrounds.

As for the story, Tony spends an inordinate amount of time explaining why readers should not expect a Thor guest appearance. I understand that needed to be explained, but they kind of labor the point and hell...Malekith should be a Iron Man villain, damn it! Other than that, Kieron Gillen does a great job on the script. I was a bit taken aback by the sudden appearance of the rune-chick from what, issue 5, and this "Dark Angel" character. I think Tony was away from these characters too long and is acting like we should know them more intimately. Gillen needs to reintroduce them better into the story.

Overall though, decent, with some script and definitely some art-related issues. The issues ends with a guffaw-worthy moment, so that is always a plus.

RATING: C

Daredevil v4 #1 - Comic Book Review

New verse, same as the first. Why did this need to get relaunched again?

Anyway, Marvel decided to relaunch it and I have to say San Francisco is a way better environment for someone like Daredevil than New York City. Another thing that struck me while reading the first few pages of this issue is that Matt would make a far better detective or forensic expert than a lawyer. Why is he a lawyer again? Oh right, upholding justice and all that. His talents are would make him the perfect detective. They should change his profession from lawyer to detective....gives them an excuse to launch volume 5.

So here we are in San Francisco we have the same amazing Chris Samnee art and the same amazing Mark Waid script. What else is there to say? Matt is having trouble adjusting to the new topography and well Daredevil also gets a new female sidekick (not anyone new really), which looks to be a very promising partnership. And.....in the end...what is going on with Foggy? Intrigue! Suspense! Can't wait until the next issue!

Rating: A

The Superior Spider-Man Annual #2 - Comic Book Review

Annuals are interesting creatures. They can either be amazing or complete failures. They have the distinction of not being part of the main series and they can either choose to embrace that aspect or do their best to tie-in. I personally prefer the latter, if they are going to adopt the name of the main series, make yourself relevant by giving us some content that has meaning to the main series. This, btw, is one of those amazing annuals.

We are given two stories in this annual. The main story is about Ben Urich and his relationship with the recent Hobgoblin, his nephew Phil Urich. It becomes apparent that Phil still cares about his uncle, and Ben misinterprets this as Phil being essentially a good person who, if given the chance, would turn everything around. It is a great bit of storytelling to see that hope Ben has completely dissolved, realizing that Phil enjoys what he is doing and that his care for Ben is not necessarily due to altruism.

The second story herein is about Carlie Cooper and Watanabe, and Sajani's attempting to cure Carlie of the Goblin serum and Watanabe realizing Monster is Carlie and that her tracking algorithm in her lenses are compromised. This story is less deep than the first story, but it serves a vital purpose - giving readers a glimpse at some secondary characters in this play, freeing up Otto for the main event next issue. Great characterizations here by Christos Gage, who does some amazing one-off pick-up work like annuals. The art is very enjoyable as well we get some Javier Rodriguez channeling Marcos Martin in the first story and Philippe Brione doing some decent superhero-standard in the second story. All-in-all some great side stories, just what an annual should do.

RATING: A

Wonder Woman v4 #29 - Comic Book Review

I hate to admit I don't appreciate this series as much as I should. The writing and art are solid, but I don't know, something is missing from it for me to fully enjoy what I am reading. One other consistent series I could compare it to is Daredevil from Marvel - they have a similar visual style and consistent storytelling over  a long period of time, but I get this feeling there is something missing here that is not missing from Daredevil and I think that missing IT has to do with characterization.

We don't get to know Diana as well as we should. She is largely a blank slate, tough-girl. Sure she is reluctant to embrace her destiny of becoming the God of War - which she fully embraces in this issue, BTW, but other than that I don't see anything beyond that skin-deep approach. The same can be said about almost all the other characters. First Born is just a rage-monster, "I AM MAD". Almost every character, is nothing but a caricature.  The three characters I thought were interesting - the dude made out of stone, the original God of War, and Orion had actual depth to them. Hera's journey also gives her some much needed depth as well and OK, maybe strife is kind of cool machinating behind the scenes. Like I said, I don't appreciate it as much as I want to or that others do. Something is just missing, but for what it is, it isn't bad.

We got recent word that Brian Azzarello is moving on and a new creative team will be taking over in the indeterminate future. David Finch is going to take over art duties and I was amazed by how pretty he can make Diana - an artist known for making things look ugly, in a good way. So Diana is definitely in good hands going forward.

RATING: C

Superior Spider-Man #29 - Comic Book Review

Don'tcha just hate it when the cover ruins the reveal at the end of the issue? Well that happens here. It is lame, but not altogether unexpected. Just when we thought that Otto (in Spider-Man's body) couldn't get any more owned by the Green Goblin, this issue will demonstrate that Osborn was just getting started. Knowing that Otto is behind the wheel, Osborn uses that knowledge to psychologically torture him.

The Green Goblin is going through the same playbook he used against Spider-Man in the iconic Gwen Stacy storyline. Thankfully, Osborn has a blindspot for "midgets" and doesn't realize Anna Maria is Otto's love interest and therefore extremely important to him. This miscalculation ends up being deadly for Lamaze who surprisingly sacrifices himself to save Spider-Man, not knowing it is Otto under the hood.

Ultimately, the Green Goblin may prove too much for Otto to deal with and will require Peter's talents (whatever they may be) in the next issue. It is unfortunate that an advertisement for Amazing Spider-Man and the return of Peter Parker to his own body (maybe?) is splashed in the center of the issue. It kind of ruins the upcoming surprise, but Marvel has got to sell issues I guess.

The Art is OK. I am honestly not a fan of Camuncoli. Something about his shading, reminds me of fanfic art. Having said that, he does do a great job as a storyteller with a great spread and good-looking action sequences and facial expressions.

Is it wrong that I have exactly negative interest in Michael O'Hara and Spider-Man 2099? So....little....interest.....in...the....character. I get bored just thinking about him. *sigh*

Rating: B

Batman v2 #29 - Comic Book Review

What a wonderful way to spend your Forever Evil time than, to tell a beautiful origin story? While most other series, whose central character is busy in Forever Evil, tell inconsequential, continuity-muddled tales, Scott Snyder decided to go with an epic retelling of Batman's origin. Not necessarily the childhood tale, but his first trials and tribulations as the Batman. We are now bodies deep into this origin, at the tail end of what seems like the second act (of three acts).

It is a shame that Greg Capullo took so long to take the reigns of a major title like Batman and put his talents on display. Greg is so talented and that talent doesn't come with months-long waits between issues either. That is TRUE talent. Any artist can take forever and deliver something great on their own time, it is a true artist who can deliver what Greg delivers on a mostly monthly basis.

Snyder has a wonderful grasp of characterization and I am really enjoying the dynamic between early Gordon and Batman, seemingly the only shining lights in a city enveloped in darkness. Needless to say, because this is a three-act play, this act ends in disaster and it will be exciting to see what the Batman crew has in story for us in the third, and final, act of this magnum opus.

Rating: A

Fantastic Four v5 #2 - Comic Book Review

Here we are two issues into the latest Fantastic Four volume, in a storyline entitled, "The Fall of the Fantastic Four". Personally, I feel like we have been here a hundred times before, the Fantastic Four are apparently always in some state of "fall". Despite the staleness of the concept of this story, I am very much enjoying it so far. It is a breath of fresh air compared to the previous volume, which was one of the worst reads I've ever experienced in comics.

One of the first things we noticed visually are the new costumes. It is written in the back of this issue that they wanted to do something new with the costume, but chose red not just to be different, but also to show the Fantastic Four are in danger. I really like the red accents on the costumes, which you can see for yourself above.

As far as characterization, I most enjoy the fact that Reed is not only doing this science thing, which most writers always seem to do, but also he is using his elasticity powers much more, which have been neglected for a long time. Even during the critically acclaimed Jonathan Hickman run, Reed rarely used his powers. Here Reed's powers are on full display and I love it. Everyone else seems to be hitting the right notes, nothing yet stands out as bad or good. I find the absence of Valeria particularly interesting and I suspect she may have a part to play in what is happening to the Fantastic Four over the course of the storyline. Oh, there is some bit of characterization I did enjoy, but forgot to mention - Dragon Man and the FF. Since FF ended, they will only exist in the background in this volume, apparently, and we have seen a couple of instances of Dragon Man being protective of the kids and that is great.

The art by Leonard Kirk is great. I love the cartoon-like style. It suits the Fantastic Four much more than less traditional styles that Marvel often likes to play with.

Lastly, when I had heard James Robinson was going to be writing the Fantastic Four, I did some research into what other things he had written before. I was familiar with his modern gigs, but not his earlier work. I had noticed he has written the Fantastic Four before, one issue, bringing the Fantastic Four back from the Heroes Reborn universe. Needless to say, that matters to the current storyline and that is kind of cool. I love it when continuity matters.

Rating: B

Jiro Dreams of Sushi - Film Review

 

Excellence at Too High a Price

I've read a fair number of reviews of the documentary, Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Most of them talk about how it makes their mouth water and how much it makes them want to eat Sushi. I have never eaten Sushi before, but I have to admit that the tuna sushi they showed being hand-shaped many times became very appealing after a while. However, all the talk about the food, I think, ignores the more important philosophical problem that Jiro represents.

Jiro is a dedicated man. The problem is that he is dedicated to the wrong things. We laud him for his dedication to the sushi and developing relationships with the perfect, eclectic mix of suppliers. His sons follow in his footsteps, but when the documentary slows down to talk about Jiro as a person and not just someone who makes sushi we learn, I think, the true lesson of the film.

I think that lesson is a cautionary tale. While Jiro is very good at his job, maybe even the best, what has he sacrificed in order to attain it? To his mind and the mind of his acolytes, probably not much, but the scene where he talks about himself being a bad father, that his sons growing up barely knew him, we finally get to the heart of the matter.

The question I asked myself watching the film was, "What if Jiro had daughters instead of sons? Would he pass on his legacy to a female heir?" Japanese culture is the way it is, but we get almost no glimpse at the females in Jiro's life, they cannot be that irrelevant. The truth is that Jiro is an obsessive workaholic who ignores any sort of family life to obtain the goal of perfect sushi. Of course this goal is never achievable, even Jiro admits that, but gradual improvement is.

But this story is, like I said, a cautionary tale. Jiro has not only sacrificed decades of his life to his work, but also drags his eldest son into it and a younger son emulates the main shop elsewhere. Taking pride in your work is one thing, being obsessive about it is another thing entirely. Obsession is dangerous and in the case of Jiro I don't think we should be lauding or making a monument to someone who ignored his family for decades. We have to ask ourselves, what if instead of making sushi for people, something other people can enjoy, he did something that only gratified himself - let's say he was a pro gamer. Would we still have the same kinds of romantic ideas about him? I think not. Our own desire to taste his sushi, betrays our feelings of disdain for what his legacy represents. I think we could all make do with sushi of a slightly worse quality knowing the chef could spend quality time with his family and not ignore his duties as a parent. Jiro is a man to be pitied, not praised.

Django Unchained - Film Review

Schadenfreude for Abolitionists

I have a theory about film. The theory goes that there are three different types of films: Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3. Type 1 films are your traditional films. They have a discernible beginning, middle, and end. Once you are finished with the film you may have a hard time remembering specific scenes in the film, but you understand it as a whole. Type 2 films are the opposite, you remember the film mostly as a loose collection of scenes. Several scenes are memorable, but they don't always go together as a whole. Type 3 films are those films that can marry both: great overall plot and great individual scenes.

Type 1 films come predominantly from your summer blockbuster, big idea films. They are all high concept. The best of them can be Type 3, but only the best.

Type 2 films come predominantly from your auteurs, your indie scene, and specific filmmakers. Quentin Tarantino is one of those filmmakers.

Type 3 films come from the greats: your James Camerons, your Stanley Kubricks, David Fincher, etc. Type 3 films reach my Canon. That group of films that are enshrined in my Hall of Fame. In many instances they merge the high concept plot with memorable scenes.

Now Django Unchained is kind of an odd duck as it seems to have Tarantino going against type. Here we have in actuality a Type 1 film, with a very easily defined plot (a revenge film and romance). When I recall Tarantino's filmography, I recall many films with a lot of great individuals scenes but damned if I can remember the overarching plot of many of them. Django is different. Having just seen the film, I am having trouble pulling together in my mind any scenes that I thought were particularly memorable or great when compared to Tarantino's other works. This is definitely a Type 1 film.

As a Type 1 film, how is it? It is decent. The performances from Leo, Christophe, and Jackson are the high points. Jamie Foxx is playing his usual self, with a little less flair in some parts. I see a lot of Collateral in here, it feels like the same character he played in that film, but I thought his performance there was better. In the end the film just feels like catharsis for the atrocities that occurred in that period in our history. Apart from that I cannot recommend this film as I really never understood the point of the film, its attempts at emotion were either not genuine or ill-attempted. At the end of the day it is just a feel-good film about killing some racist white-folk and I guess that is OK, but hardly inspiring for an almost 3 hour epic.

Uncanny Avengers #9 - Comic Book Review

I used to really dislike Daniel Acuna's art, mostly when he was working for DC. His Marvel work has shown, I think, a better, less-painted style. That said, I did not mind it as much that Acuna succeeded John Cassaday on art. Hey, at least the comic is monthly now. No matter how good an artist is, I have very, very little respect for comic artists that delay books. Figure it out artists, if you cannot do a monthly with your best style.....CHANGE YOUR STYLE, so that you can do a monthly. Marvel has been doing these semi-monthly schedules, which I have been advocating for years. They are called double-shipping. I love it and so we can get artists with non-monthly styles do some smaller arcs and we aren't forced to buy a billion extra mini-series a month. Marvel keep those ongoing series contained like you have been, good work.

On the other hand, Rick Remender I have loved since reading his Fear Agent and all work-for-hire stuff at Marvel. He is an amazing and fearless writer. I was really excited to learn he was going to write this series. That said, how is the series doing so far? Pretty well. That initial Red Shadow arc was pretty exciting and now we are into a more complex time travel story that ties-in from Remender's previous work on Uncanny X-Force.

The Uncanny Avengers are fully aware that a new Apocalypse or his twins are running around and this evokes some bad dreams for Wolverine and Thor over some past missteps and everyone is scrambling to understand what is going on. Captain America was ported to hostile territory and gets a message from Immortus about the danger of the Apocalypse Twins and their plans. We learn that Kang has been trying to divert them, but has failed in his mission. A device Steve desperately needs to find the twins is destroyed by some South Sudanese thugs, damn that sucks. Wonder Man shows up for the save in his own pacifistic way.

Ultimately, dissension is sowed in the ranks when Steve learns about X-Forces misdeeds and Rogers wants to kick Wolverine from the Avengers, but Thor has Logan's back. The team splits in two: Thor, Wolverine, Rogue, and Sunfire on one side, and the rest on the other. This dissension we learn is all part of the plan and we discover a new Four Horsemen of Death - Sentry, Daken, Banshee, and Grim Reaper. Uh oh....

Good stuff, the art seemed a bit rushed and the four horsemen reveal needed a better splash page with more detail. Other than that, the issue was a fun read. I am looking forward to more.

Superior Spider-Man #12 - Comic Book Review

I've always been a proponent of the new Otto-Spider-Man. When I first heard about or suspected what was about to happen in the waning issues of Amazing Spider-Man, I got really excited. Finally, Marvel was ready to do something very bold and really very crazy. They killed off their beloved Peter Parker and replaced him with one of his core villains. Remarkable.

Twelve issues into the new run and how is it going? Quite well, actually. Otto is an interesting and fun to read character with some endearing traits. His budding romance with a little person and genius is a truly inspired choice. Their scenes are very cute. They make a great couple. Unfortunately, the new love interest does not make an appearance in this issue.

We are hip-deep in the story of the botched execution of the Spider-Slayer. He is trying to escape the Raft while Jameson and some civies are trying to stay out of harms way. Well, Jameson not so much, he wants to take matters into his own hands and kill the Spider-Slayer himself, no surprise there.

Otto, on the other hand, is thwarting the Spider-Slayer at almost every turn, mocking him as he does so. Smythe has a few tricks up his sleeve as well, repowering Vulture, Scorpion, and Boomerang with spider-bot-thingies. At some point, the power goes out and the Lizard escapes. In the end Spider-Man is presented with a Hobson's choice: save Jameson from Scorpion or save the innocents from the Vulture. Our ever clever Octavius chooses neither.....he will simply kill Smythe. Ohhh....goosebumps. Another great issue from one of the most consistently great reads in the Marvel Now! lineup.

New Avengers #7 - Comic Book Review

Avengers #14 had a lot of setup, setup, setup, so too does New Avengers #7, but it is just done a lot better here. The pacing is more deliberate and there is no editorial drive to jam in every possible Avenger into the story. I feel while Avengers suffers from too many characters, New Avengers has no such limitation and as such it reads much better and more like Hickman's previous work on Fantastic Four.

We get a quiet issue this time, no more incursions which puts Reed and Stark on edge. We have Beast learning from the Black Swan and Terrax quietly brooding. Strange and Reed have a spirited dinner date with Dr. Doom, where Doom asks about what is going on and the Illuminati members feign ignorance. We get a wink about Reed being in space-time and on this team concurrently, which was cool.  Black Bolt is having Maximus the Maker working on some terrible machine whose purpose (destruction) is unknown (in scale only).

That leaves Black Panther and Namor who have both been enduring something of a cold war between Atlantis and Wakanda. Namor offers a peace deal to T'Challa, but we all know that T'Challa no longer controls his nation. That responsibility lies with Shuri, T'Challa's younger sister and current ruler of Wakanda. Tensions rise as small skirmishes lead to bigger conflict and Shuri is forced to declare war on Atlantis despite T'Challa urging her to accept peace from Namor.

Lots of good stuff to enjoy in this issue. Lots of intrigue and character moments. Even when we are given a quiet issue there is always conflict. Next issue promises more developments on what Black Bolt is up to. I cannot wait.

Indestructible Hulk #9 - Comic Book Review

Indestructible Hulk has been a mixed bag. I think it suffered early from Iron Man syndrome. The early issues of Iron Man were kind of a waste in the same way that the early issues of Indestructible Hulk were a waste. We are nine issues into the Marvel Now! relaunch and finally with this issue it feels like Waid is beginning his run. Don't get me started on the Simonson arc, what a tragic waste.

I will let you in on a little secret, Hulk is bar none my favorite character in comics. I absolutely love him. Unfortunately, more often than not, writers don't get him or write him very poorly. I had to suffer through the Loeb years and the OMG terrible Jason Aaron run. I have to admit as much as I respect Waid as a writer he really stumbled out the gates and we haven't seen a great Hulk writer since Greg Pak dropped the mic and moved over to a failed X-Treme X-Men title and then onto greener pastures at DC.

If you couldn't tell by now, I enjoyed this issue. I feel like it finally gets to the meat of the new run. We wasted the first 5 issues on random SHIELD missions and the last 3 issues on one of the most boring, art-as-cautionary-tale, arcs I have ever had to experience. Simonson, please retire, or you know go do some indie work, I am tired of looking at your horrible art.

Matteo Scalera does a better job here, there is some dynamism, which all Hulk art should have. This should be an action title after all. We also get some really funny moments. You see, we learn in this issue that Daredevil has Hulk's back in dealing with SHIELD. If they ever try to pull something twisted on Banner, Murdock with have a lawsuit on their desk lickity-split. The moment where Daredevil and then Hulk walk into a known bad guy bar was very amusing.

I really have to give a shout-out to Chris Eliopoulos, what a great bit of lettering work you did in this issue. Very inspired work. Did he work on previous issues? I won't check because that would mean having to see more Simonson art.

Basically what happens in this issue is that Hulk is sent in to stop some arms trading and they have a very powerful sonic gun that really wants to fall into the wrong hands. Whose hands? Well Baron Zemo, of course. Great to see Zemo in action and what a great villain to counterpoint with Hulk. Makes sense to me, he could be Hulk's Dr. Doom if Marvel would allow it. Marvel, please allow it. Zemo is just wasted anywhere else, except maybe in the pages of Captain America or Avengers. Hulk needs a better, more expanded rogue's gallery though and Zemo fits the bill perfectly.

Fantastic Four #9 - Comic Book Review

I love Mark Bagley. I've been reading comics ever since I was a young child, my first issue was a TMNT comic called Mighty Mutantmals #1 I bought at the local grocery store. I also read Bucky O' Hare comics and was interested in old Green Lantern/Green Arrow issues. While I have a long history with comic books (for my age), I have not being following them continuously that entire time. I have had on-off periods. One of the on periods was when I purchased a very large leather-bound hardcover for Ultimate Spider-Man. It was like the first 30 issues, all drawn by the same artist, Mark Bagley. I am a huge fan of consistency in comics. Bagley's consistency never fails to impress me. Here we are 9 issues into the new Fantastic Four Marvel Now! volume and look, Mark Bagley is still there, awesome.

On the other hand, I do not like the writing of Matt Fraction. I rarely read anything from him that I fall in love with or even enjoy. Fraction's first attempt at this Fantastic Four (the first few issues) was a huge error. It included a childish-talking Valeria (who we all know is a genius that rivals Reed), a british-slang-talking Thing and Reed (Pear-shaped?) and a return to a juvenile Johnny Storm who just went through a death-experience that had matured him significantly. There was a lot to hate in those first few Fantastic Four issues from Mr. Fraction.

However, I believe he is gaining his footing as I enjoyed this issue. This was the last issue I read last week and I was disinterested and anticipated a boring, bad issue. Fraction proved me wrong, though he did make kind of a massive misstep, but I would have to blame his editor as well. How did this time travel story, where Thing intervenes to prevent the marring of Victor von Doom's face (which leads to his becoming Dr. Doom) get released on the same day that we got the time-stream blowing up in Age of Ultron?  Maybe it was one intentional, showing all the time-stream madness leading even more so to the breakage, maybe it was a meta-thing. I will grant that.

In this issue we get Reed taking a guilt-ridden Thing through time to Doom in college, who through a freak accident, scars his face, which leads him to go crazy and become Dr. Doom. The thing we learn in this issue is that Doom is inevitable. Thing tries to stop what is happening and in fact does, but it doesn't matter, Doom will be Doom because Doom is crazy by birth, by lineage and Thing or Reed (who could have fixed Doom's equations in the experiment if only he would have listened) should feel now guilt about his becoming. I think that was an interesting message and a good one for these characters. Well done, Matt.

Oh, and there was a Council of Dooms, alternate universe Dooms witnessing the "Nativity". But then again, if Doom is inevitable and he was always crazy by birth and by lineage, what would be the significance of this event? It cannot be the "masking" as we already see a non-mask Doom in the Council. What is going on here? Matt Fraction! You have some explaining to do!

Avengers #14 - Comic Book Review

The first thing to notice is that this is the first "Prelude to Infinity" issue. Yes, the next Marvel event is right around the corner and this time Jonathan Hickman is taking the lead. Infinity is supposed to jump right out of the storyline going on in Hickman's Avengers titles (this and New Avengers). I've read in recent interviews that the Avengers and New Avengers tie-ins to the events should be considered part of the main story. Very well.

What we get with this issue is a lot of transition and world building, the same kind of thing that has been going on in the 13 issues before this one. This is very much a long-form story, where each issue reads more like a cog in a giant clockwork, than as a singular plot. Stephano Caselli joins us with this issue which should make fans of Secret Warriors happy. I find his more recent art to be more mature and more subtle than it used to be. Either that or he is just blending his style more to the current Avengers house. I see Deodato doing the same thing. To be honest, I prefer artists sticking to more of a cohesive style than being allowed to adopt whatever style they wish, I think it is better for consistency and better storytelling.

We learn a couple of things in this issue, each origin site has a specific purpose and they are now all trying to activate, but most of them are either malfunctioning or trying to communicate with something that isn't working right. Presumably this is the brain that Starbrand blew to hell in a previous issue. It seems Earth is now terminal. The communications site is attempting to send signals  and so doing it is wiping out global communications in pulses, sending shock waves around the world. We have Bruce Banner used for his genius to solve this problem while Iron Man does his leading a mission in space. Since the communications site (a bunch of insects) cannot send its signal, it requests help from the other sites. The other sites reject the request, except for the self-repair (blockheads) site. The blockheads take a portal to the communications site, which alerts the Avengers and so we get the start of a fight between giant blockheads teamed with giant insects, and the Avengers. The issue ends with an enterprising scientist on AIM Island playing that signal to their own site anomaly, only to find that it responds and opens up....

It is hard to review an issue like this, where it is mostly setup, coupled with some confusing things that you won't understand until future issues. The art was cool, seeing the different origin sites was neat, seeing various Avengers in action was fun. Eh, who am I kidding, maybe next issue will be better...

Age of Ultron #10 (of 10) - Comic Book Review

This has been a rather complex event for Marvel to pull off. First we get the end of the world type stuff, then we pivot to an otherworlds tale, followed by normalcy, followed by the unexpected. That creates many layers and I dare say many observers did not fully understand the complexity of trying to write it.

Two of the criticisms that I have read about this event, and this issue in particular is that 1. nothing happens and 2. it is merely a vehicle for more events. I wholeheartedly disagree with the first assertion and to the second observation, my response is, "So what?" This is a Marvel comic. The Big Two (Marvel and DC) are all about the shared universe concept and the idea of perpetual storytelling. Individual plots may begin and end, but the universe goes on and on and on. I don't understand what some readers were expecting.

Thing do indeed happen. Lots of things. First of all Ultron wins (temporarily), lots of heroes die trying to stop him and at the end of the day a very valuable lesson (or two) is learned. The major lesson we learn is don't mess with space-time or you will break it. There needs to be an nuke-like arms treaty for time travel as we have seen that if someone breaks it everyone is affected by the results. The second important thing we learned from the event is that Hank Pym, founding Avenger, is way more important than he has been given credit for.

Yes, yes Hank Pym created Ultron and slapped his wife around in the lowest period of his history, but he also created the Vision and without him we see what would have happened, another Age of Ultron-like ruin. And, ultimately, he was the only guy who could have stopped Ultron, and he did. This is the start of a redemption story for Hank and it looks really exciting. It carries over into Avengers AI, which begins next week (after the transitional Age of Ultron #10 AI issue this week).

We also got glimpses of Galactus jumping into the Ultimate Universe (hopefully to devour it and end that universe altogether) beginning the 4-part Hunger mini-series. Also Angela from Spawn fame joined the Marvel Universe. It will be interesting to see how Marvel handles the character in the pages of Guardians of the Galaxy beginning with issue #5.

So, yes, things indeed do happen. Lots of exciting things. But, what about the technical merits of the issue itself? I think the art is extremely well done and I found no issues with the many artists employed within it. I thought the whole point of the disparate universes was to show the differences in them in the various art styles and I didn't think any of the transitions were so jarring to be turned off by any of them.

One brilliant part of the issue was the reuse of the scene in Avengers #12.1 from the pre-Marvel NOW! days. How great was it to see that same scene played back, but with the knowledge that Ultron was gonna be defeated before he knew what hit him? I thought it was extremely well done.

Despite what others may be saying, Age of Ultron ended very well. It added a lot of new exciting developments and did so in a very attractive package. I look forward to seeing the ideas that sprung forth from this issue develop further as the months go on.