EA's Weekly Comic Book Reviews - Week 19

[Everlost_MI]

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

The Evil Avatar’s Comic Book Review Weekly giveaway for week nineteen is Gotham Central #33 courtesy of BCBcomics (http://www.bcbcomics.com/). The deadline for entry submissions for week nineteen is Sunday, July 17th. The selection of the random winner for the July books will occur on Sunday, July 31st. 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 July are:

· OMAC Project #3
· Batman #641
· Gotham Central #33

Remember, these are NOT spoiler-free reviews.

The week’s reviews focus on the House of M tie-ins. The books that have been reviewed are Incredible Hulk #83, Fantastic Four: House of M #1 and Iron Man: House of M #1.

http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/inc-hulk3-083.jpg http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/ff-hom001.jpg http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/im-hom001.jpg

[Everlost_MI]

Week Nineteen:

Since this week’s reviews revolve around the House of M storyline let me bring up you to speed of the what’s occurred so far. This comes directly from the inside of every House of M comic or tie-in.

The New Avengers and the Astonishing X-Men met to discuss the fate of Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch—the daughter of the powerful mutant terrorist, Magneto. After losing control of her reality-altering powers and suffering a total nervous breakdown, Wanda unleashed chaos upon the Avengers, killing and injuring many of their number. Magneto intervened and took his daughter to the devastated island nation of Genosha, where Charles Xavier—Professor X, the founder of the X-Men—was to help her recover. Xavier failed, and now it is up to the Wanda’s friends and teammates to decide whether she will live or die. But Magneto, Wanda, and her brother Pietro disappear…

Then the world burns to white. Reality as we knew it is gone…

…to be replaced by a society in which humans are the oppressed minority and mutants run the culture, ruling over all existing countries, religions, and politics. A kingdom united under the House of M.

Mutants rule the world, Homo sapiens, few in numbers, cling to the margins, warming themselves on the faint flickers of life before extinction.

On to the reviews!

Incredible Hulk #83(An ongoing series)

Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Peter David
Artist: Jorge Lucas
Cover Artist: Andy Brase
Colorist: Javi Montes
Letterer: Randy Gentile
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Price: $2.99 US/$4.25 CAN

This issue starts with Bruce Banner being accepted into a tribe of Aborigines in the Australian outback with the leader of the tribe fully aware there are truly two sides to their newest addition. Moments after the induction of Banner into the tribe, a mass of homo sapiens refugees who made a great exodus from Sydney stop from exhaustion in the middle of the Aborigines’ territory. A.I.M. is helping the refugees in their escape and are being led by the new female Scorpion. In this universe, the Scorpion and A.I.M. are siding with oppressed homo sapiens instead of being the antagonists. The Aborigines don’t perceive the refugees as a threat; rather the House of M army that is in pursuit. The army make a fatal mistake and invades one of the Aborigines’ sacred places, so it doesn’t take much for the Hulk to emerge and defend his newly adopted family and their sacred land.

Peter David does a decent job of setting up this House of M tie-in that will last for four-issues. The pacing and dialogue is excellent, especially with the appearance of the jade giant and the reactions of various characters especially Pyro. The artwork and layouts provided by Jorge Lucas are decent and do not add to or detract from the story. I was a bit disappointed that the cover artist Andy Brase did not provide the interior artwork; his work on the cover of this issue is phenomenal.

Bottom Line:
If you’re a fan of Peter David or the Hulk then this issue is fun even if you’re not along for the House of M ride. If you’re collecting the various House of M tie-ins this one and the Spider-Man: House of M being written by Mark Waid are two of the best offerings to date.

8/10

http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/inc-hulk3-083.jpg


Fantastic Four: House of M #1

Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: John Layman
Pencils/Cover artist: Scot Eaton
Inks: Don Hillsman II
Colors: Dean White
Letters: Virtual Calligraphy
Editor: Stephanie Moore
Price: $2.99 US/$4.25 CAN

I half-expected another big or well-known name to scribe this House of M related title, but John Layman is the man who was chosen by the powers that be at Marvel. I am unfamiliar with Layman and his previous work but the results of a Google search turned up that he is the writer of Marvel’s Gambit series. Layman does a decent job of setting up a story where Doom and his group the Fearsome Four, have been playing second fiddle and clean-up crew to Magneto and his House of M. This F.F. consists of his wife Valeria, the Invincible Woman, whose powers seem to be telekinesis, his son Kristoff, the Inhuman Torch, whose powers mirror the normal Human Torch and finally It, who is the Thing but appears to have an serious intelligence issue and is basically treated as a “pet” by the group. In addition to the obvious changes due to the House of M effect, Reed Richards and the rest of the crew met a grim fate instead of being transformed into the Fantastic Four. While Doom’s normal angst over his mother’s death doesn’t exist since she is alive and well in this universe. By the end of this issue, Doom has had his fill of being Magneto’s lapdog and vows to topple the House of M and replace it with the House of Doom.

While the plot, pacing, dialogue and characterization provided by Layman is good, there’s nothing new that hasn’t been done in other Fantastic Four or in the great Doom 2099 stories. The enjoyable artwork provided by Scot Eaton combined with the excellent coloring by Dean White really causes the pages and story to come alive.

Bottom Line:

If you’re a Fantastic Four fan then you would probably enjoy this issue, especially with the various F.F. references that are peppered throughout the story. If you’re collecting the various House of M tie-ins, you may want to look through this one before picking it up. The artwork is great but the story feels like a retread of various F.F. storylines, so I am on the fence about picking up the next issue.

7/10

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

Iron Man: House of M #1 of 3

Publisher:Marvel Comics
Writer: Greg Pak
Pencils/Cover artist: Pat Lee
Inks/Colors: Dream Engine
Letters: Virtual Calligraphy
Editor: Stephanie Moore
Price: $2.99 US/$4.25 CAN

This issue shows this version of Tony Stark to be caught in the shadow of his father who still runs Tony and Stark Enterprises. In addition, he is part of the Sentinels project that hunts down various homo sapien rebellions. Tony tries to outrun his father’s shadow only to find himself literally under his father’s foot by the end of the issue. This issue has the largest tie in with the main House of M storyline with the Henry Pym subplot.

Greg Pak who crafted the excellent X-Men: Phoenix Endsong mini-series is trying to apply the same magic to the House of M version of Iron Man. No matter how well Pak sets up the story with snappy dialogue, great pacing, as well as an empathic connection between the reader and Tony Stark it still gets lost in the abysmal artwork by Pat Lee. Lee can definitely draw robots as one can see in his previous work on Transformers as well as his various depictions of the Iron Man armor and Sentinels in this issue. But when it comes to people they bland and are pretty damn hard to tell apart from one another. I don’t place the sole blame of the artwork on Lee, because the Dream Engine’s inking and color is extremely weak and causes even Lee’s strongest suit of drawing robots to look muddied.

Bottom Line:
The only saving grace to this issue is Pak’s efforts. Even then, it’s damn hard to get through the issue let alone follow the story with the horrible layouts and artwork. Save your money. Don’t let the snazzy cover fool you into buying this. Luckily, Pak is teamed up with artist Greg Tocchini on his next title, 1602: New World.

3/10

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


What else is worth reading this week…
· Ultimate Spider-Man #79 – This issue is worth the money for the last page!
· Gotham Central #33 – What a roller coaster of an issue. Just wait until you see the last panel.


The Evil Avatar’s Comic Book Review Weekly giveaway for week nineteen is Gotham Central #33 courtesy of BCBcomics (http://www.bcbcomics.com/). The deadline for week nineteen entry submissions is Sunday, July 17th.

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 per week to increase your chances of winning.

[Kefkataran]

I've been pretty much ignoring the House of M stuff. It's just not as intriguing as Infinite Crisis to me. Still, I've been reading the main issues at the shop I work at and it seems like a solid story at least.

Villains United #3 made me 90% certain (reinforcing #2) that it will be my favorite of the four countdown to Infinite Crisis minis.

[Cupelix]

I flipped through this issue of the Hulk in stores, and not being a regular reader of the Hulk was left a little confused as to how exactly it was tying into House of M for one reason - unless I flipped past it, it didn't share the same opening intro page explaining the House of M set up. Maybe the issue before it established the series entering a temporary continuity? This week's Uncanny X-Men did the same thing. If I wasn't reading House of M, Uncanny would've been even more confusing than it perhaps already was.

I picked up both of these other House of M tie ins, mainly because I'm a sucker. I reached pretty much the same conclusions - FF intrigued me (though I'm not a regular FF reader), and Iron Man pretty much bored me. In a way, the two issues contradicted each other; Doom says that the Richards expedition met a grim fate, while Johnny Storm is alive and kicking in Iron Man's opening pages.

The main House of M book really got kicking this week too - Bendis finally stopped setting up the world, and started moving the world forward. On some level, its setting up to be a simple Avengers VS X-Men battle (the humans with super powers against the mutants), but hey, its a different premise for it at least. I also loved the last page of House of M this week - I can't decide if Bendis is a genius or a complete ass hole for doing that :)

[Edwin]

The true House of M. (http://itsgravy.keenspace.com/extra/flash/houseofm.html)

[Everlost_MI]

The true House of M. (http://itsgravy.keenspace.com/extra/flash/houseofm.html)

That was pretty funny.

[mister_slim]

This sounds disturbingly like the Age of Apocalypse tied to more books.

[Praetor-Vong]

This sounds disturbingly like the Age of Apocalypse tied to more books.


Naw...it seems a bit more complex than that. AoA was great in it's time, but time for *sigh* yet another alternate universe story. I do like the fact that in the latest X-Men book, it kind of shows the impact of House of M on the other universes. Earth 616 (mainstream) is in for a world of hurt.

[Everlost_MI]

Naw...it seems a bit more complex than that. AoA was great in it's time, but time for *sigh* yet another alternate universe story. I do like the fact that in the latest X-Men book, it kind of shows the impact of House of M on the other universes. Earth 616 (mainstream) is in for a world of hurt.

Ok, can someone explain to me why the mainstream world in Marvel is called 616?

[Kefkataran]

Ok, can someone explain to me why the mainstream world in Marvel is called 616?

Some story a while back where there were multiple universes all with different timelines, each labeled with numbers. The Marvel U we all know and love was numbered 616. (It was a Captain Britain story, I think, though I could be way wrong).

[Deadend]

Can someone explain to me why they decided to do a alternate reality thing?

God, if they are that hot to trot for some big old alternate world shit, bring back What If.

I also find the name John Layman to be one of the most average names out there.

[Kefkataran]

Deadend: I'm not totally sure, but I do know that it's probably the lamest type of big summer event a comics company can ever do. 99% of the time everything goes back to the way it was in the end. Or, at least 99% of everything that has changed does. And no matter how many times Bendis keeps saying there will be permanent changes as a result of House of M, I'll believe it when I see it.

[Heretic Machine]

I'm a bit confused... I thought the Scarlet Witch was actually altering the main marvel universe? Now it sounds like she just made another universe.

[Everlost_MI]

She did and it caused the main universe to become the alternate universe. Err, that's what I got out of the whole thing.

[Kefkataran]

I'm a bit confused... I thought the Scarlet Witch was actually altering the main marvel universe? Now it sounds like she just made another universe.

She did. But there's no way in hell I believe they'll keep it this way. Thus, when it's all done, it will more than likely go back to the same 616 universe with maybe a few subtle alterations, so it's basically an alternate universe story.

[MrMeatshake]

wait, there's a captain britain?

[Kefkataran]

wait, there's a captain britain?

Yup: http://captain-britain.biography.ms/

Launched by Alan Moore no less!

Looks like he's never had a very long-running series... just a couple short runs and a few TPBs. He played a pretty interesting part in Alex Ross's Earth X/Universe X series, which is worth checking out if you never have. The bio also says he appeared in Excalibur, which I think is a series Marvel has a current run going on, though no idea if Cap Britain is still involved or not.

[mister_slim]

Yup: http://captain-britain.biography.ms/

Launched by Alan Moore no less!

Looks like he's never had a very long-running series... just a couple short runs and a few TPBs. He played a pretty interesting part in Alex Ross's Earth X/Universe X series, which is worth checking out if you never have. The bio also says he appeared in Excalibur, which I think is a series Marvel has a current run going on, though no idea if Cap Britain is still involved or not.
The Warren Ellis Excalibur run had some of the best realized superhero-soap-opera plots and characters I've yet read. Worth picking up.

[Kefkataran]

Ellis did an Excalibur run? I'm sold. I don't supose it's collected in TPB though, huh?

[MrMeatshake]

actually, i was going to post a new thread asking for where i should start a comic collection if i was planning to... well, maybe not comics, because i'd find keeping up with them rather difficult, but graphic novels, perhaps. i've only read akira and sin city in that field before, and while i loved them both, and spent a long time reading reviews on amazon, i couldn't decide where to go next.

'the dark knight returns' and the 'watchmen' books seemed to get the best reviews. good place to start? i do love x-men, but again, it would be rather hard (in terms of time and expense) to get up-to-date with the current stories, i would think... my friend downloaded all of the issues in pdf, but that would mean staring at a screen for a few hours a day (more than i do already!)

[Kefkataran]

actually, i was going to post a new thread asking for where i should start a comic collection if i was planning to... well, maybe not comics, because i'd find keeping up with them rather difficult, but graphic novels, perhaps. i've only read akira and sin city in that field before, and while i loved them both, and spent a long time reading reviews on amazon, i couldn't decide where to go next.

'the dark knight returns' and the 'watchmen' books seemed to get the best reviews. good place to start? i do love x-men, but again, it would be rather hard (in terms of time and expense) to get up-to-date with the current stories, i would think... my friend downloaded all of the issues in pdf, but that would mean staring at a screen for a few hours a day (more than i do already!)

I like the idea of a thread like this, if only because I'm fairly new to comics myself. I'd suggest starting one up.

I haven't read Watchmen yet, but I can give high recommendations to Dark Knight Returns and Dark Knight Strikes Again. If you like Miller's other work, you'll almost certainly like this.

As far as getting into Marvel or DC monthlies... well, I admit, it looks damned intimidating. The trick, really, is to have a friend or two who are already into them (be it online or off-) who can help answer your questions as you go. By the time you're a few months in, you'll prolly have several additions to your pull list and start forming favorite authors and artists. Hell, I just started reading monthlies about three or four months ago and my pull list is nearly twenty titles long. A lot of people don't prefer monthlies these days with trade paperbacks coming out so often, but there's something exciting about Wednesdays (TODAY!!!) when you know you're getting a nice stack of comics after work.

[MrMeatshake]

look here (http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?p=62991#post62991) :)

[mister_slim]

Ellis did an Excalibur run? I'm sold. I don't supose it's collected in TPB though, huh?
No. However it has been collected in torrent form, I believe.