Dr.Finger
02-10-2008, 09:57 AM
Welcome to Week Six of the Official Evil Avatar Comic Book Reviews
Remember, these are NOT spoiler-free reviews.
Evil Avatar’s Weekly Comic Book Reviews – Year 4 – Week 6
Metal Men #6 (of 8)
Reviewed By: Michael Chauvet (Doctor Finger)
Publisher: Comics
Writer & Artist: Duncan Rouleau
Colorist: Pete Pantazis
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Editor: Eddie Berganza
$2.99
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/Metal-Men-6.jpg
Ring of Fire
This series, and this issue in particular, is an example of the 'Bad' Grant Morrison. Even though Duncan Rouleau is the credited writer make no mistake: this book is based on the Mad Scientist's ideas. Here's how you can tell the 'Good' Grant from the 'Bad' Grant. If you finish a Grant book and feel moved, excited and fascinated, then it's a 'Good' book. If you have to flip back and check for missing pages, it's a 'Bad' book. In this case I had to check to make sure I didn't miss an entire issue (I didn't). The story flips back and forth between at least three differenttimelines, mostly using the same characters in each. And that doesn't even count the characters flitting back and forth through these timelines. One Will Magnus is trying to build the Metal Men, one is trying to save his finished children and another is fighting his estranged brother for their lives in the future. Throw in a mad alchemist from the ancient past, an evil AI from the present and evil robots from the future and you have an absolute horde of characters and alternates to keep track of, and very little reason to do so.
This bad storytelling is so frustrating because elements of the book do shine through. Will Magnus shines as a character, and seeing the proto-Metal Men is a treat. The chemical, and alchemical, solutions the heroes come up with to vanquish their foes are always a kick for a science geek like me. And the thought of the Death Metal Men still makes me giggle. But all of the good is still bogged down by poor plotting. Rouleau's art is attractive and interesting, but he doesn't do enough to differentiate some of his subjects, and that just compounds the problems presented by the script. I have a sneaking suspicion that once the series is done it will read a lot better as a whole, but until then it's not worth your money.
Bottom Line:
Muddled and messy storytelling kills any good points hidden underneath.
Rating: Only if you're a fan of the creators or characters. (2 out of 5 EvilEyes)
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/icons/e2.jpg
Amazing Spider-Man #549
Reviewed By: Michael Chauvet (Doctor Finger)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Marc Guggenheim
Artist: Salvador Larocca
Colorist: Jason Keith
Letterer: Cory Petit
Editor: Stephen Wacker
$2.99
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/ASM-549.jpg
Who's that Girl?
You know, I could start this review off with another rant against what Marvel did to Spidey recently (You Got Mephistoed!). But you know what, I'm sick of ranting. Now that we've put a little distance between us and One More Day I can look at theSpidey books with a little more objectivity.
You know some of the new status quo. Spidey is single, with mechanical webshooters. Harry Osborne is alive. Peter's identity is, once again, a secret. For the most past this is Classic Spidey (or is that Spidey Classic?). Some other parts of the story are new. J. Johan Jameson had a stress-related heart attack, and in the process lost the Daily Bugle to arch-rival Dexter Bennett. The Bugle is done, replaced by the DB! (and yes, they do use the exclamation point) a newer, hipper newspaper that isn't obsessed with Spider-Man. What they are now obsessed with is Menace, a new black hat in town that kills hoods, cuts the cables holding a window washer crew and flies around on a glider that's just a bit too Goblin-esque for Peter's comfort. So Peter has to deal with a new enemy, a new boss, no web fluid and a dead body in the NYPD morgue with a spider tracer in him. While trying to track Menace, Spidey bumps into his next problem, New York's own Registered hero: Jackpot. A beautiful, buxom redhead who's in just a bit over her head. Yeah, Jackpot, complete with 7-7-7 belt buckle is clearly supposed to be Mary Jane. So much so that Spidey even asks if her initials are MJ before she reminds him about the 'secret' part of a secret ID. Jackpot and her inexperience get in Spidey's way, allowing the goon they were both looking for to escape. Peter remembers an old Goblin tracker he used to have and lo and behold, Menace's glider leaves a similar trail. He follows the trail to an abandoned warehouse where, once again he runs into Jackpot on the same trail. But this time they're not alone; Spidey is ordered by a silhouette to stand down and be arrested as an unregistered hero.
Looking at this with a little distance I can say with full confidence that this is a good Spider-Man story. You have all the basic elements: Spidey saving the day, Spidey in conflict with the authorities, Peter having trouble at work and at home. Guggenheim's Spidey is funny, and just a bit more sarcastic than Slott's Spidey . I applaud the decision to introduce some new villains to the series while letting the old standbys rest up a little, although Menace appears to have some as-of-yet unrevealed connection to theGobliny end of Pete's Rouge's gallery. Sal Larocca is one of my favorite artists, and he does a bang up job here, although the celebrity references can be a little off-putting. Nothing that stands out as particularly innovative or amazing, but definitely solid. Reading this without having any knowledge of Brand New Day and you'd rate it as a pretty good Spider-Man story. But I did read One More Day, and all I can think while reading is that this story, with a few changes, could have been done without the wholesale changes wrought by OMD . It once again brings me back the the chicken-or-the egg argument: are the stories the result of the changes in continuity, or the changes in the creative teams?
Bottom Line:
The Spidey-haters are missing out on a pretty entertaining story.
Rating: Decent, but flip through before buying (3 out of 5 EvilEyes)
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/icons/e3.jpg
All-New Atom #20
Reviewed By: Michael Chauvet (Doctor Finger)
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Gail Simone
Penciller: Mike Norton
Inker: Trevor Scott
Colorist: Alex Bleyeart
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Editor: Michael Siglain
$2.99
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/Atom-20.jpg
A Few Small Affairs
Whilw this isn't the end of the series, it is an end. Gail Simone and Mike Norton's last issue manages to put a nice, neat bow on most of the extantstorylines since issue #1. Our hero, the All-New Atom, is in bad straights. Two inches tall, pinned to a board like a worm about to be dissected and bonded to the Black Mercy; a symbiotic plant that shows the victim their fondest dreams while paralyzing them. RyanChoi's dreams are what you'd expect: the world's greatest hero and the world's greatest teacher, he come home to three beautiful women. But it's all an illusion made by the Black Mercy. Who brought the Black Mercy? The greatest enemy of the old Atom,Chronos the Time Thief. Chronos claims to respect Ray Palmer, but at the same time he still hates him. Chronos has the powers of a god, but he's still beaten, time and time again, by a normal guy. So Chronos wants Ray to suffer by watching everyone he loved, liked or knew destroyed before him. Ryan breaks free of the Black Mercy, since everything he wants in life is waiting for him outside in Ivy Town. With the help of his friends, including Head, Ryan beatsChronos' man on the ground, the C'thulu Dean. Outside Ivy Town is in trouble. The kaiju monsters Ryan loves as a kid are back and about the stomp a mudhole in the town. But the Atom is more than a size-changing belt, he's also a world class mind, and he has a plan. A plan which requires his friends to flush him down the toilet. In the sewer Ryan finds just what he needs to turn back the monsters -M'nagalah, the Lovecraftian Cancer god living under Ivy Town's sewers. M'nagalah emerges from the depths and promptly devours all of the monsters. Chronos and the Dean escape, but Ryan stays on in Ivy U as a professor and hero.
Gail Simone crams a lot into one issue, and it may be too much. The revelation of I'm not a big fan of the modern practice of decompression, but the opposite can be a bad thing too. In an effort to tie up most of her storylines Chronos as the Big Bad makes a lot of sense in hindsight, as most of the enemies in this book were time-related. Gail's whip-smart dialogue is as funny as ever, and the characters are really appealing (Have hurry! Have saving or death!). There always seems to be something pleasantly wacky happening on the margins of the story. But it all still felt rushed. Making this an extra sized issue, or even extending her run one issue, would likely have made this a much more enjoyable issue.
Bottom Line:
A good end dragged down a bit by poor pacing
Rating: (3 out of 5 EvilEyes)
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/icons/e3.jpg
Quick Hits
Justice Society of America #12 - Three more additions to the team bring the roster up to a robust 23 members at this point. And still more hints are dropped as to the identity of the Heartbreak Killer. They need to pick up the pace a little.
Doktor Sleepless #5 - I'm starting to get bored with this book. It began with such promise, but it's beginning to drift a bit too much.
Nightwing #141 - It's amazing when you consider how high Dick Grayson is in the DC pantheon the lackluster writers he's been stuck with over the years. But Peter Tomasi is doing a bang up job on this title, even if he's still setting up Dick's new status quo.
Remember, these are NOT spoiler-free reviews.
Evil Avatar’s Weekly Comic Book Reviews – Year 4 – Week 6
Metal Men #6 (of 8)
Reviewed By: Michael Chauvet (Doctor Finger)
Publisher: Comics
Writer & Artist: Duncan Rouleau
Colorist: Pete Pantazis
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Editor: Eddie Berganza
$2.99
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/Metal-Men-6.jpg
Ring of Fire
This series, and this issue in particular, is an example of the 'Bad' Grant Morrison. Even though Duncan Rouleau is the credited writer make no mistake: this book is based on the Mad Scientist's ideas. Here's how you can tell the 'Good' Grant from the 'Bad' Grant. If you finish a Grant book and feel moved, excited and fascinated, then it's a 'Good' book. If you have to flip back and check for missing pages, it's a 'Bad' book. In this case I had to check to make sure I didn't miss an entire issue (I didn't). The story flips back and forth between at least three differenttimelines, mostly using the same characters in each. And that doesn't even count the characters flitting back and forth through these timelines. One Will Magnus is trying to build the Metal Men, one is trying to save his finished children and another is fighting his estranged brother for their lives in the future. Throw in a mad alchemist from the ancient past, an evil AI from the present and evil robots from the future and you have an absolute horde of characters and alternates to keep track of, and very little reason to do so.
This bad storytelling is so frustrating because elements of the book do shine through. Will Magnus shines as a character, and seeing the proto-Metal Men is a treat. The chemical, and alchemical, solutions the heroes come up with to vanquish their foes are always a kick for a science geek like me. And the thought of the Death Metal Men still makes me giggle. But all of the good is still bogged down by poor plotting. Rouleau's art is attractive and interesting, but he doesn't do enough to differentiate some of his subjects, and that just compounds the problems presented by the script. I have a sneaking suspicion that once the series is done it will read a lot better as a whole, but until then it's not worth your money.
Bottom Line:
Muddled and messy storytelling kills any good points hidden underneath.
Rating: Only if you're a fan of the creators or characters. (2 out of 5 EvilEyes)
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/icons/e2.jpg
Amazing Spider-Man #549
Reviewed By: Michael Chauvet (Doctor Finger)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Marc Guggenheim
Artist: Salvador Larocca
Colorist: Jason Keith
Letterer: Cory Petit
Editor: Stephen Wacker
$2.99
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/ASM-549.jpg
Who's that Girl?
You know, I could start this review off with another rant against what Marvel did to Spidey recently (You Got Mephistoed!). But you know what, I'm sick of ranting. Now that we've put a little distance between us and One More Day I can look at theSpidey books with a little more objectivity.
You know some of the new status quo. Spidey is single, with mechanical webshooters. Harry Osborne is alive. Peter's identity is, once again, a secret. For the most past this is Classic Spidey (or is that Spidey Classic?). Some other parts of the story are new. J. Johan Jameson had a stress-related heart attack, and in the process lost the Daily Bugle to arch-rival Dexter Bennett. The Bugle is done, replaced by the DB! (and yes, they do use the exclamation point) a newer, hipper newspaper that isn't obsessed with Spider-Man. What they are now obsessed with is Menace, a new black hat in town that kills hoods, cuts the cables holding a window washer crew and flies around on a glider that's just a bit too Goblin-esque for Peter's comfort. So Peter has to deal with a new enemy, a new boss, no web fluid and a dead body in the NYPD morgue with a spider tracer in him. While trying to track Menace, Spidey bumps into his next problem, New York's own Registered hero: Jackpot. A beautiful, buxom redhead who's in just a bit over her head. Yeah, Jackpot, complete with 7-7-7 belt buckle is clearly supposed to be Mary Jane. So much so that Spidey even asks if her initials are MJ before she reminds him about the 'secret' part of a secret ID. Jackpot and her inexperience get in Spidey's way, allowing the goon they were both looking for to escape. Peter remembers an old Goblin tracker he used to have and lo and behold, Menace's glider leaves a similar trail. He follows the trail to an abandoned warehouse where, once again he runs into Jackpot on the same trail. But this time they're not alone; Spidey is ordered by a silhouette to stand down and be arrested as an unregistered hero.
Looking at this with a little distance I can say with full confidence that this is a good Spider-Man story. You have all the basic elements: Spidey saving the day, Spidey in conflict with the authorities, Peter having trouble at work and at home. Guggenheim's Spidey is funny, and just a bit more sarcastic than Slott's Spidey . I applaud the decision to introduce some new villains to the series while letting the old standbys rest up a little, although Menace appears to have some as-of-yet unrevealed connection to theGobliny end of Pete's Rouge's gallery. Sal Larocca is one of my favorite artists, and he does a bang up job here, although the celebrity references can be a little off-putting. Nothing that stands out as particularly innovative or amazing, but definitely solid. Reading this without having any knowledge of Brand New Day and you'd rate it as a pretty good Spider-Man story. But I did read One More Day, and all I can think while reading is that this story, with a few changes, could have been done without the wholesale changes wrought by OMD . It once again brings me back the the chicken-or-the egg argument: are the stories the result of the changes in continuity, or the changes in the creative teams?
Bottom Line:
The Spidey-haters are missing out on a pretty entertaining story.
Rating: Decent, but flip through before buying (3 out of 5 EvilEyes)
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/icons/e3.jpg
All-New Atom #20
Reviewed By: Michael Chauvet (Doctor Finger)
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Gail Simone
Penciller: Mike Norton
Inker: Trevor Scott
Colorist: Alex Bleyeart
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Editor: Michael Siglain
$2.99
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/comics/Atom-20.jpg
A Few Small Affairs
Whilw this isn't the end of the series, it is an end. Gail Simone and Mike Norton's last issue manages to put a nice, neat bow on most of the extantstorylines since issue #1. Our hero, the All-New Atom, is in bad straights. Two inches tall, pinned to a board like a worm about to be dissected and bonded to the Black Mercy; a symbiotic plant that shows the victim their fondest dreams while paralyzing them. RyanChoi's dreams are what you'd expect: the world's greatest hero and the world's greatest teacher, he come home to three beautiful women. But it's all an illusion made by the Black Mercy. Who brought the Black Mercy? The greatest enemy of the old Atom,Chronos the Time Thief. Chronos claims to respect Ray Palmer, but at the same time he still hates him. Chronos has the powers of a god, but he's still beaten, time and time again, by a normal guy. So Chronos wants Ray to suffer by watching everyone he loved, liked or knew destroyed before him. Ryan breaks free of the Black Mercy, since everything he wants in life is waiting for him outside in Ivy Town. With the help of his friends, including Head, Ryan beatsChronos' man on the ground, the C'thulu Dean. Outside Ivy Town is in trouble. The kaiju monsters Ryan loves as a kid are back and about the stomp a mudhole in the town. But the Atom is more than a size-changing belt, he's also a world class mind, and he has a plan. A plan which requires his friends to flush him down the toilet. In the sewer Ryan finds just what he needs to turn back the monsters -M'nagalah, the Lovecraftian Cancer god living under Ivy Town's sewers. M'nagalah emerges from the depths and promptly devours all of the monsters. Chronos and the Dean escape, but Ryan stays on in Ivy U as a professor and hero.
Gail Simone crams a lot into one issue, and it may be too much. The revelation of I'm not a big fan of the modern practice of decompression, but the opposite can be a bad thing too. In an effort to tie up most of her storylines Chronos as the Big Bad makes a lot of sense in hindsight, as most of the enemies in this book were time-related. Gail's whip-smart dialogue is as funny as ever, and the characters are really appealing (Have hurry! Have saving or death!). There always seems to be something pleasantly wacky happening on the margins of the story. But it all still felt rushed. Making this an extra sized issue, or even extending her run one issue, would likely have made this a much more enjoyable issue.
Bottom Line:
A good end dragged down a bit by poor pacing
Rating: (3 out of 5 EvilEyes)
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/icons/e3.jpg
Quick Hits
Justice Society of America #12 - Three more additions to the team bring the roster up to a robust 23 members at this point. And still more hints are dropped as to the identity of the Heartbreak Killer. They need to pick up the pace a little.
Doktor Sleepless #5 - I'm starting to get bored with this book. It began with such promise, but it's beginning to drift a bit too much.
Nightwing #141 - It's amazing when you consider how high Dick Grayson is in the DC pantheon the lackluster writers he's been stuck with over the years. But Peter Tomasi is doing a bang up job on this title, even if he's still setting up Dick's new status quo.