EA's Weekly Comic Book Reviews - Week 14

[Everlost_MI]

Welcome to week fourteen of Evil Avatar’s Weekly Comic Book Reviews.

The Evil Avatar’s Comic Book Review Weekly giveaway for week fourteen is House of M #1 courtesy of BCBcomics (http://www.bcbcomics.com/). The deadline for entry submissions for week fourteen is Sunday, June 12th. The selection of the random winner for the June books will occur on Sunday June 26th. Remember, you can submit one entry each week to increase your chances of winning.

The list of books that are going to be given away for the month of June are:

· Green Lantern #1
· House of M #1


Remember, these are NOT spoiler-free reviews.

This week's reviews are House of M #1, Last Hero Standing #1 and The Incredible Hulk #82.

http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/hom001.jpg http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/last_hero001.jpg http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/inc-hulk3-082.jpg

[Everlost_MI]

Week Fourteen:

House of M #1 of 8

Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Olivier Coipel
Inks: Tom Townsend
Colors: Frank D'Armata
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Cover artists: Essad Ribic (regular) & Joe Quesada (variant)
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Price: $2.99 US/$4.25 CAN


http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/hom001.jpg

The House of M mini-series picks up the story of what happened to Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a the Scarlet Witch, after Magento took her away following the Avengers Disassembled storyline. Professor X and Magento have been working to no avail in Genosha on way to help Wanda deal with her mental breakdown and reality altering powers. If left to her own devices the world would be changed the way Wanda wishes it, so for some reason, the decision to let her live has been put on the shoulders of the Avengers and X-Men. By the end of the issue it becomes apparent that Wanda has recovered enough from her mental restraints induced by Professor X to begin to change reality as the heroes become implanted into an alternate reality.

The plot aside, Brian Michael Bendis really nails the dialogue, pacing and characterizations. Some of the nice touches include Spider-Man rambling on about his spider-sense or the discussion between Quicksilver and Magento over what’s going to happen to Wanda. The artwork and panel layout provided by Olivier Coipel and Tom Townsend is excellent and really adds to the level of tension and emotion.

Now getting back to the plot, I’ve been reading Marvel books long enough to know that change rarely sticks and characters hardly ever stay dead. The level of power that the Scarlet Witch now possesses could wipe clean the results of the Avengers Disassembled as well as any other loose ends that Marvel wishes to fix and easily explain it off. I hope that doesn’t happen, but time will tell.

Bottom Line:
So far this is a predictable mini-series that invites you to pick up all the related titles to get the full story. The artwork, dialogue and characterizations are great but compared with where the series is going, you’ll have to ask yourself is it worth shelling out $23.92 US (tax not included) to just read the core mini-series? I’d say yes if they leave the changes that started in Avengers Disassembled intact and actually move the characters and Marvel Universe along.
If you’ve been following the Avengers Disassembled, New Avengers or various X-titles then you’ll enjoy the read. If you’re on the fence about this series, at least look through the book and wait for the Trade Paperback (TPB).

8/10

Last Hero Standing #1 of 5

Publisher: Marvel Comics
Script, Plot & Pencils: Tom DeFalco and Pat Olliffe
Finished Art: Scott Koblish
Colors: Digital Ranibow’s Rob Ro
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Cover artists: Mark Bagley and Scott Hanna
Editor: Molly Lazer
Price: $2.99 US/$4.25 CAN
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/last_hero001.jpg

This mini-series features the Marvel Comics 2 Universe (MC-2) where the heroes are being mysteriously kidnapped. Those heroes that haven’t been kidnapped are left to follow scant clues that have been left with no clear explanation of who or why is behind these disappearances. For those who aren’t familiar with the MC-2 Universe, you can find out more here ( http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/pulse.cgi?http%3A//www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi%3Fubb%3Dget_topic%26f%3D36%26t%3D00 3834) at Comiccon’s website. ( http://www.comicon.com/)

The story is standard Marvel fare that attempts to throw every character into the mix with no real results being seen, similar to the Contest of Champions series that Marvel released years ago. This issue introduces or reintroduces if you’re a fan of the MC-2 Universe, a ton of characters in a short amount of time. Unfortunately, aside from Spider-Girl and Captain America, the reader gets no real feel for the plethora of characters as one is thrown right into the big mystery of where did the kidnapped heroes go and who took them. The dialogue and pacing is sufficient as is the artwork provided by Pat Ollifee, which doesn’t take away from the story but by the same token doesn’t add anything to it.


Bottom Line:
If you are a Spider-Girl/MC-2 Universe fan then this book is for you. If you’re a first time or occasional reader then save your money, nothing is going to happen in this book and so far the story and characters are bland and not worth the money.

5/10


The Incredible Hulk #82

Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Peter David
Artist: Jae Lee
Color Art: June Chung
Letters: VC’s Randy Gentile
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Price: $2.99 US/$4.25 CAN

http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/inc-hulk3-082.jpg

This is a stand-alone issue before the House of M crossover and offers Jae Lee’s moody artwork to match Peter David’s dark love/revenge story. As a long time Hulk fan I really enjoyed David’s long run on the title, but this is the first issue I’ve picked up since he’s returned and it’s as if he’s never left. David’s simple straightforward plot is peppered with great dialogue and characterization while exposing even more of Banner’s and the Hulk’s psyches. The coloring provided by June Chung is the icing on the cake for both Lee’s artwork and David’s story.

Bottom Line:
If you’re a Hulk fan, then get this issue. Even if you’re not, at least page through the issue to check out Lee’s gorgeous artwork.

9/10


What else is worth reading this week…
· The Walking Dead #19, this issue cranks up the action and tension another notch.


Thanks to Comiccon ( http://www.comicon.com/) for the MC-2 Universe link. ( http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/pulse.cgi?http%3A//www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi%3Fubb%3Dget_topic%26f%3D36%26t%3D00 3834)

The Evil Avatar’s Comic Book Review Weekly giveaway for week fourteen is House of M #1 courtesy of BCBcomics (http://www.bcbcomics.com/). The deadline for week nine entry submissions is Sunday, June 12th. Click here (everlost_mi@evilavatar.com) to submit your entry and don’t forget to include your Evil Avatar screenname. Remember, you can submit one entry each week to increase your chances of winning.

[kokyunage]

These threads rarely get many postings. However, don't take that as us not being interested. I love the comic reviews because it keeps me in touch with what's going on in the comic universe without having to invest cash into getting back into comics. Keep up the great job :-)

[King Drewsky]

yeah, what he said.

Is it wrong to think that spider-girl has a smoking bod?

[Finster]

I've also been enjoying the comics reviews. I consider myself a casual reader of comics, and I've seen a lot of reviews that gave me insights into other series I hadn't considered before.

Also, the contest: Where are the rules? What is to be submitted? Is it a contest for anyone who submits artwork, a story? Or just submit your name?

[Everlost_MI]

These threads rarely get many postings. However, don't take that as us not being interested. I love the comic reviews because it keeps me in touch with what's going on in the comic universe without having to invest cash into getting back into comics. Keep up the great job :-)

Thank you, I appreciate the kind words. But make sure you submit an entry for the monthly comic giveaway every week, that way you get even more out of this weekly column.

[Everlost_MI]

I've also been enjoying the comics reviews. I consider myself a casual reader of comics, and I've seen a lot of reviews that gave me insights into other series I hadn't considered before.

Also, the contest: Where are the rules? What is to be submitted? Is it a contest for anyone who submits artwork, a story? Or just submit your name?

I apologize if the contest rules aren't clear but all you have to do is submit your Evil Avatar name to link in the reviews. That's it. You can submit an entry once a week, and at the end of the month I use a random number generator to pick the person who wins those books for that month. So for example, if you submit an entry for each week in June your chances of being the lucky person increases from one to four. If you are the lucky winner then I contact you and get your postal address and then BCBComics (http://www.bcbcomics.com/), who are graciously providing the books, will mail them to you.

I highly recommend visiting BCBComics (http://www.bcbcomics.com/), they have a great selection with excellent prices.

[Rommel]

Hey Ever, how do we e-mail you? Your public profile has that option disabled.

[Everlost_MI]

Hey Ever, how do we e-mail you? Your public profile has that option disabled.

My email address here is everlost_mi@evilavatar.com, and I've also put it in the review itself at the end of it. I made my email address available to the public in my user settings but it hasn't taken effect yet. I'll follow up with Evil and see if there is something more I need to do.