-
5 (10) 4 (15) 3 (12) 2 (0) 1 (4) 3.8 starsAverage score of 41 user reviews
-
A Day in the Life 2
Opening remarks:This was one of my favorite titles overall last year, even though the end of Godbomb was pretty anti-climactic. You can check out this and other reviews at my blog here.Story:The main thread of the story is surprisingly simple- we follow Thor as he conducts his relatively mundane godly duties. I say mundane, but there's no negative connotation attached to the word here.In the very beginning, we're privy to a flashback during which he's asked why he bothers coming to Midgard when ...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
Momentum maintained! 2
Opening remarks: If you read my review of the first issue you'll know that I was quite taken with it and had high hopes for the second one. Thankfully, this one manages to keep up with my possibly too high expectations and delivers on the goods. Story:We pick up from the end of the first issue, namely Alex trying to adjust to having a personal android. Even though we're only two issues in we have a good feel for his character and his reaction, while both hilarious and expected, feels well-suit...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
This is how you do a first issue 6
Opening remarks:The last thing I read by Jonathan Luna was the miniseries Whispers. It was pretty enjoyable until the end where it seemed pretty rushed, but I'll still take a stab at anything he puts out.Story:We follow the life of our main protagonist, Alex, as he deals with the everyday doldrums that encompass what passes for normal life as put forth in this comic. As we learn towards the beginning of the book, he's recovering from a breakup and is in a world that is quite technologically diff...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
The Stranger finds some romance 0
Opening remarks:Back during these days the covers actually accurately hinted at what happened in the comic! Although this is the fourth Retro Review I've done, it's for the first comic in this volume of the Phantom Stranger that I have so it's kind of fitting to have that opening line. Unlike nowadays, the cover could actually be found on one of the internal pages. This one happens to be on the first page and shows the man (named Mr. Murtz) somehow outrunning a train that's rapidly approaching ...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Retro Review 3: Deceitful covers, Part 1 0
Opening remarks:Well, first off I'd like to address the elephant in the room-namely how culturally insensitive the cover is. While addressing such stereotypical attitudes in comics is enough to consume volumes of books, the story itself is actually pretty thoughtful and offers an interesting take on cross cultural perceptions. That being said, the Stranger's opening blurb is a bit more than problematic. These are scans from my copy of the comic so I apologize for the quality and cropping in adva...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Intense, relentless, and oh so good! 0
Opening remarks:This will be one of those reviews for a Kickstarter comic that I actually do the same day that I get it in the mail. It was a welcome surprise, was packaged well, showed no visible damaged, and is very easy on the eyes. At the time that this project ended it was one of the most highly funded comics projects on Kickstarter at the time which is awesome.Meat and potatoes:Story:For the majority of the issue we follow Mina Rios as she encounters fellow survivors in the now extremely r...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Retro Review 2: Take 2! 0
Opening remarks:Way back in issue 8 we first crossed path with the Ice Giants, and now, thanks to man's meddling (the Phantom Stranger even says so himself), we find ourselves at odds with them again.Meat and potatoes:At first, this almost seems like a random issue that revisits the setting of a previous one for some unknown reason, but it turns out to be a somewhat thought provoking book about mankind's impact on the environment. We come upon an expedition team that's running an oil pipeline th...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Retro Review 1: Who knew he had it in him? 0
Opening remarks:If you've been unfortunate enough to brave my more recent reviews I open with often times random thoughts and what have you that hopefully have relevance to the issue being reviewed. In this case, it seems like only yesterday that I walked into the library, randomly grabbed Showcase Presents: The Phantom Stranger off the shelf, delved into it, and was immediately smitten with the character. While reading this, he quickly rose to be one of my favorite characters. Sooo, I have a hu...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
A Huge Leap of Faith 0
Opening remarks:This is the first review I've done in months as I've not been able to keep up with comics so please bear with me. :-( This was one of those titles I knew absolutely nothing about when I saw it at a lcs, but I saw who the author was and immediately, and perhaps foolishly, took the plunge. Joe Hill, author of Locke & Key, my hands down favorite comic series, also wrote this series, so I had high hopes and enough trust in him to pick up the first two issues.Plot summary:We cros...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Go buy this. Now! :) 3
Opening Remarks:To be honest, I’d forgotten about this series as I’d seen a preview of it in Comic Shop News a while back but never could shake that disturbingly creepy cover. Two Wednesdays ago I saw it on the new rack section and, after flipping through it, added it to my ever increasing pile. However, for the first time in a long time I exercised some sort of financial discretion over my comic spending and asked Wayne, one of the awesome crew who’s been there for more than 15 years now, if he...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Close, but no cigar. 0
Borderlands: Origins Vol 1 1 GI ReviewOpening Remarks:Nothing here, folks.Background:As you might expect, this story sets out to start answering that question that may have nagged you when you first started playing Borderlands. “How/why did everyone end up on that bus in the first place?” As the cover accurately illustrates, this issue will focus on what put Roland on the bus.Plot Summary: Roland, a sergeant in charge of a formidable, albeit strange team, discovers evidence of corruption in the ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Things get complicated 0
Image: Harvest #4Opening Remarks: Dear readers, you may recall that this was a series that surprised me with its art style, subject matter, and brooding mood. I must be honest, though. I wanted to review a comic by Zenescope called Fly: The Fall, but I couldn’t find any scans to show you all so I had to resort to this Image title. All I wanted, was to give you guys the taste of what another publisher has to offer, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Oh well, maybe later we’ll be lucky later on. On ...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Where to next? 10
Green Lantern Vol 5 #14:Green Lantern has been one of the more solid series that I’ve read since the reboot, both in terms of art and story. This issue continues to deliver on both fronts. I've changed the review format so that you can jump to whichever section you feel like reading rather than having to suffer through the usual onslaught of words. I'll also try to include more pictures to break things up a little more.Background:Just to help you catch up, two issues ago, we were introduced to a...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Return of the King 0
Opening Remarks: I liked this issue a lot better than I probably should’ve because I’m a huge Magneto fan. I fell in love love with him ever since watching the first episode of the 90’s X-Men cartoon show on a vhs I got as part of a Book It! deal that Pizza Hut had back then. He’s my favorite comic book character, hands down, so I was thrilled to see him having some stones in this issue as it seems he’s been sidelined/not written to his strengths as of late. Oh yeah, this series is much better t...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Seeing double 2
When I saw this on an update list a month or so back I was actually quite thrilled. As a kid I watched Masters of the Universe, which I just called He-Man, and Skeletor and the transformed Battle Cat were my favorite characters. After adding this to my ever increasing subscription list I asked a friend of mine if he would be up for me getting him a copy as well. As expected, he said yes. We both share a fond nostalgia for horribly cheesy cartoon shows from our childhood, you see.The issue opens ...
5 out of 5 found this review helpful. -
A solid start 0
Curses! I’d promised myself I’d just stick to what was on my subscription list this week, but as I browsed the racks I kept coming back to this book. After flipping through it briefly, I added it to my ever-growing stack of comics. You’d think that by now I’d learn to never look around at new releases if you want to stay within your budget. Oh well. To the review!It opens with an unknown character who’s taking notes on his/her surrounds and is detailing how disgusted they are with the corruption...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Finally! Things are back on track. 0
As those of you who’re following this series know, the past two issues have been atrocious. :/ Sorry, I had to do that you. In fact, things seemed to get pretty derailed around issue six when we were introduced to the first human Red Lantern who I couldn’t care less about. It was nice to see the series get back to its roots-namely how the Red Lantern Corps’ numbers increase and just how horribly diverse yet similar its members’ backgrounds are.The story opens with a victimized pair of alien sist...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
I hope it delivers... and it's good! 0
Bloodshot Vol 4 5 GI ReviewValiant: Bloodshot #4!Title: I hope it delivers…Ladies and Gents, I’m proud to say that this series has been delivering, especially with respect to the past issue. As I might’ve mentioned before, this was one series I grabbed on a whim, gave a chance, and am glad I did thus far. That being said, I was pretty psyched to read this issue. So psyched, I gave this review a working, rather than retrospective title. Let’s see how this pans out. I mean just look at this awesom...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Borderlands meets Planetoid with a hint of the Matrix 0
This was one of those issues that I grabbed on a whim. That is to say, I saw the cover, was intrigued by it, flipped through it, and decided to give it a shot. As you all are a bunch of active participants in comics I’m sure you keep an eye out for potential titles that you may be interested in. The same goes for me, but this series was, quite literally, nowhere on my radar.The story starts off following a teacher/student pair, or rather master/apprentice to me because of Star Wars, named Calist...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A well-done, defining starting point. 3
Wow, just wow. I really enjoyed this issue. For those of you who are fans of Barbara Gordon, you’re gonna wanna go grab this issue straightway. There’s so much goodness packed into this issue and it really feels like an origins story rather than like prequel filler. From the outset, we’re given privy to Barbara’s both introspective and reflective inner monologue that sets her up not only as an admirer of her father and his work, but also as the “drive” and effective character we knew her to be b...
3 out of 4 found this review helpful. -
It’s our worst nightmare…the series isn’t over yet. :) 0
It’s amazing that a series that’s had more than its fair share of ups and downs, as well as groan inducing moments, should produce an issue that’s pretty much everything a mesh up of this magnitude should be. It’s intense, it’s emotionally engaging, but not too much, and it’s what you expect without being too cliché. The opening scene has the one and only Captain America pitching himself and his plan to a character, who, he hopes, will be a game changer during this supposedly harrowing sequence ...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Head Trip 0
I was pretty excited to get a hold of this issue considering where we left off with Dr. Loren in the last one. If you’re a little fuzzy on the matter, he’s been captured by the military after he stole some tech from them that allowed him to create a device that can read surface thoughts. After making the device, he leaves the base and decides to test it out-in a bar setting. Why? To see which woman would be more receptive to being to being hit on. : / What better, benign way to do some field tes...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
A second decent issue 0
The story so far as shown in Gambit #1. In the last issue we saw Gambit still a seemingly innocent-looking, yet worthwhile device of some sort, from a man named Borya Cich who earns part of his livelihood by funding supervillains. The Ragin’ Cajun attended a rather swanky gala at Cich’s immaculate mansion. In typical fashion, he chatted up an attractive, quick-witted woman who caught his eye while simultaneously eyeing up Cich’s security and covertly gathering all the information he would need t...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Very good start 0
Dragon Age: Those Who Speak Vol 1 1 ReviewWhen I grabbed my pull list a week or two ago I was surprised to see this issue in there as you typically pre-order stuff a few months in advance of publication date. So I’d forgotten about the title coming it. When I first saw it on the order form I decided to take a chance on it because of two things: 1) It was a Dragon Age based book, and 2) It was being published by Dark Horse who manages to put out a lot of very good Star Wars titles. Just a look at...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Whaaat?! 0
Ok, I bit the bullet. When this first came out I skipped it as issue one left a horrible taste in my mouth. Last week, I had a lapse in judgment, bought the issue, and suffered as a result. Once again, the art is good and there’s a lot of action but some of the scenes just don’t make sense. For example, on one page, Wolverine is being dog piled by a bunch of cloned Sabretooths (Sabreteeth?) who are laying into him brutally. As expected, he breaks free in his Best Of moment and shortly afterwards...
1 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Yet Another Great Issue 0
"At Vader's side you will only learn how to serve. Come to me when you're ready to learn how to lead." Moff Trachta to Lt. TohmIt's writing like this that helps illustrate why this series continues to be top-notch. Through a glorious combination of great scripting, layout, pacing, dialogue, and art, we are, yet again, swept up in a story that, sadly, must some day end. Picking up from where the last issue left off, Vader decides to have the prisoners cull themselves, leaving only the best fit fo...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
An unsurprising lack of substance 0
At first, I was looking forward to this issue, seeing as it was being handled by the same creators who were responsible for Sabretooth’s death, then I actually read the issue--and nothing happens. Then again, given that it’s written by Jeph Loeb, this should come as no surprise. He needs to stick to doing Batman stories, but I digress. It falls back into the same old same old feel for Wolverine related “intrigue” that we’ve been reading since the 80s. It’s a shame because the art is gorgeous and...
2 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
Not what I was expecting 0
This issue focus on a teenager named Harper Row, and her connection to the Caped Crusader. We first saw her back in Batman #1 and, more recently, in #7 where she saved the Dark Knight’s life. But we still knew nothing about her, really. Until now.Gallery We find out that she lives in a relatively “bad” part of Gotham and lives with her younger brother, Cullen. The two get along very well and take care of each other without being too overprotective. Harper is a naturally...
1 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
A hard to digest but good story, nonetheless 0
The Creep follows a private eye named Oxel, who has a physical deformity, as he investigates two seemingly unrelated teenage suicides at the request of an old high school flame of his named Stephanie Brinke. As it turns out, her son was one of the victims, and she, knowing his profession, asked for his help. Not too much happens in terms of what Oxel’s investigation uncovers but the issue doesn’t drag. The book unfolds at a nice, natural pace and we are gradually introduced to other characters t...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
A fun issue in a rather lackluster series 0
Likes:The art in this book was quite enjoyable as was the layout for the fight. The panel layout really shines through with illustrating the Avengers’ first contact with Namor. As someone who reads, on average, 10 comics a week, an issue that really makes excites me, draws me in, and/or intrigues me is a fairly rare occurrence. Thankfully, with this issue, that is not the case. I found myself rooting for Namor as he takes on the Avengers and had a big, stupid grin on my face when he shouts, “Imp...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
A good, solid start. 1
This follows a smart-a** genius, scientist (Dr. Loren) who, in order, to have an easy life, proverbially sells his soul to the military. After not being as productive as his superiors would like, he's told to either produce more effective tools/weapons or his whole operation will be scrapped. I won't say more than that as I want you to go out and read it but Loren is the kinda guy I'd like to have a beer with, and, on occasion, discuss sciencey things. One of his main strengths is that he comes ...
6 out of 6 found this review helpful. -
Amazing First Issue! 0
As all of you as comic readers know, stories, themes, ideas, and what have you get reused, recycled, and repackaged all the time in comics, but every once in a while you can stumble upon a work that takes an old idea and takes an interesting take on it that leaves you wanting more. This, review readers, is what Infected does, and does well at that. This first issue gives us a full 28 pages (without ads, mind you) of wonderfully intertwined story and art. The lack of ads alone makes for a more en...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
More Garbage 0
I hate to say it but this series has degenerated into pointless chaos, disjointed fight scenes, and putrid stagnation.Likes:Not much. I think the art suits the issue but only at certain times. It particularly seemed weirdly out of place and not very distinct on the last few pages. There is a panel (or 2) that links what’s happening in this series to what’s going on in Green Lantern but that does nothing in the way of saving this train wreck of an issue.Dislikes:The issue in general. There’s more...
2 out of 4 found this review helpful. -
A Good Start 2
Introductory ramblings:As I always spend waaay too much time at the LCS just browsing issues that aren’t on my weekly pull list in a concerted effort to always go over budget “by mistake,” I just happened to casually grab and flip through this issue. Seeing as there wasn’t a lot to read on the first three pages or so I read them, skimmed the rest of the book, and was still undecided about its fate- that is, until I saw the last page. It made me laugh out loud as I stood, not three feet from the ...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Solid 0
Opening remarks:Truth be told, I’ve been looking forward to this issue with some excitement ever since finishing issue 10, even though I’d all but forgotten the Guardians’ diabolical plan during the course of this series.Likes:There’s a lot to like about both this issue and the series so far as a whole. I’m taken with how sharp and precise the pencils are and how the colors blend seamlessly together with everything else. As usual, the story and art complement each other quite well and make for a...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Another Slam-Dunk! 0
Opening remarks:This issue picks up with the same main themes of the last issue, and those are:More of Mindy training Dave.A little more of her acclimation to living a normal lifeRed Mist's growth as a villain.Likes:For some reason, the colors in the beginning of the issue seemed brighter than usual and the art both stuck out and looked better to me, but this is probably a fluke in my reading. The training is what takes up most of the issue but the dialogue between the characters is well-written...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Great First Issue! 0
Opening Remarks:I’d almost forgotten this was added to my pull list a while back and seeing as I wasn’t thrilled by Kick-Ass 2, I was cautiously hopeful about this issue. I do discuss some scenes in the book that I found particularly nice and interesting so these could be considered to be spoilers.The Good:The pacing of the issue is very nice as the story unfolds in a way that is easy to follow, logical, and just has a nice feel to it. There are a nice few pages that show Mindy having a pleasant...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
A little too much like Wolverine's Weapon X story 4
Opening Remarks:When I saw the teaser cover in some other comic whose title I can’t recall, I was instantly drawn to it so when I saw it again at my LCS today I immediately grabbed it as it’s even more gorgeous looking in person. I really wanted this series to draw me in with a good, original story, and, while there is still potential for that it smacks very much of Wolverine’s Weapon X experiences.Plot Summary:The main character’s (Ray’s) body is either riddled with or almost completely made of...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Building Tension 0
The GoodThis issue manages to further amp up the tension as the Court assails Wayne Manor. There is a creeping sense of impending dread as the issue progresses but it is far from unpleasant. Without giving too much away in terms of details, let’s just say that what unfolds in this issue actually makes you question the safety of the two long-time friends.Early on in the issue we also get to see Wayne do some humbling self-introspection, which is refreshing. (This is also shown in Batman: The Dark...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Batman Unleashed! 0
The GoodIt’s not all that often that we see the current Batman actually freaking out, and it was refreshing to see such a sense of urgency in his actions. I was floored a few pages on when he drove the vehicle he was in off a bridge and into the submarine on which NoBody had imprisoned his son. The line he utters upon emerging from the wreckage had me inwardly fist pumping and hopeful that Batman would go a little 1940s on us. In short, I was actually excited while reading a comic to the point o...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful.
Use your keyboard!
- ESC
Log in to comment