[Comics] - Evil Avatar's Weekly Comic Book Reviews - Year 3 - Week 5

[Dr.Finger]

Welcome to week Five of Evil Avatar's Weekly Comic Book Reviews

Remember, these are NOT spoiler-free reviews.

Evil Avatar's Weekly Comic Book Reviews - Year 3 - Week 5

Civil War - The Return (a one-shot)
Reviewed By: Michael Chauvet (Doctor Finger)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Paul Jenkins
Penciller: Tom Raney
Inker: Scott Hanna
Colorist: Gina Going & A. Crossley
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Setphen Wacker
$2.99



Why?

The only thing I could think of while reading this book was, "Why would they bring back Captain Marvel?" Oh I know the technical reasons. If Marvel doesn't publish a book with the Captain Marvel name on it every so often the name reverts back to the public domain where DC would instantly snatch it up. Still, they've managed to go decades without resurrecting Mar-Vell by passing the Captain Marvel name around to various characters, mostly because the various writers and editors know that The Death of Captain Marvel is rightly regarded as one of the great stories in comic history. Still if a writer had a bang-up story to tell in bringing Mar-Vell back I could live with it, but the tale Jenkins spins is mediocre at best. Mar-Vell is now the warden of the pro-registration side's Negative Zone prison. Some time before he died Mar-Vell was meditating in the Negative Zone when he felt an anomaly of some sort. This anomaly shunts him into the present where The Sentry meets him. Instead of greeting a comrade long thought dead The Sentry, with Reed Richards and Iron Man, asks him to be the warden of their prison. So that is the great mystery of how Captain Marvel returns? A freaking time anomaly? Why not just make him a barely controllable clone while you're at it? Or make him a twin from an alternate timeline? I just keep asking myself why. While the time-anomaly thing doesn't completely invalidate previous stories, it does the next best thing. Captain Marvel knows the exact time, place and manner of his death, so basically we'll be treated to several years of emo Mar-Vell. Maybe I'm wrong and Marvel has some great stories lined up to tell, but as of now The Return isn't worth it. And the back-up story, dealing with the Sentry deciding to register, would have been a lot better if we hadn't already seen him working for the pro-reg side about eight times already. Weak sauce, man,

Bottom Line:
What has the world come to when Captain Marvel, Bucky, Jason Todd and Uncle Ben are all brought back, yet Jean Grey is still dead?

Rating: Only if you're a collector of the series or the creators. (2 out of 5 EvilEyes)



Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #26
Reviewed By: Michael Chauvet (Doctor Finger)
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Mark Waid
Penciller: Barry Kitson
Inker: Mick Gray
Colorist: Nathan Eyring
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Editor: Mike Marts
$2.99



Things begin to go from bad to worse for the Legion. The rival Wanderers have kidnapped several of their members. Brainiac 5 is (possibly) communicating with Dream Girl's ghost. And what happens? A gigantic mecha-Dominator emerges from the center of the earth to wreak havoc on Mega-Tokyo. That's right kiddies, the Legion is now in the middle of a Man-in-Suit movie. All we need are some creepy twin girls to summon Mothra and it'll be a party. There's more to it, including the origins of Lightning Lad, Light Lass and their brother Mekt Ranzz and the impending war against the Dominators (who have been known to intone 'the fifffdee-tuuu' in this book) but really do you need anything else in a book that features the gigantic mecha-Dominator from beneath Mega-Tokyo? Oh yeah, I should probably mention that the GMDFBMT is actually the delivery system for some red gas that, according to the unparalleled intellect of Brainiac 5, will doom them all. Pretty neat, huh? Well there are a few complaints with this issue. What last issue seemed like an impending throwdown between the Legion and the Wanderers looks like it may not happen anytime soon. And while the back-stories of Lightning Lad and his siblings were okay, I just haven't seen enough of either of them in this iteration of the Legion to care all that much about it. I'm also just not into the villains of the piece. A battle against the Wanderers felt like it could be epic. A battle against a robotic cult, even one that has ties to the Dominators, just seems dull to me. Plus, possibly for the first time ever, I have to call out the letterer on this book. In seemingly half of the balloons words were spaced and placed so oddly that it distracted from the story. I'm not sure if there were a lot of (very) last minute edits to the story, or a production error but it sure seemed like something was up.

Bottom Line:
It progresses the current storyline, but that's about it.

Rating: Decent, but leaf through it before buying it. (3 out of 5 EvilEyes)


Moon Knight #7
Reviewed By: Michael Chauvet (Doctor Finger)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Charlie Huston
Penciller: David Finch
Inkers: Danny Miki & Crimelab Studios
Colorist: Frank D'Armata
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Editor: Axel Alonso
$2.99



Midnight Son, Part 1 - The Woodwork

Moon Knight is back on the streets, so that means its time for a team-up. Of course with Civil War raging in the streets the world is a different place than Moon Knight is used to, and even the simple offer of help from a passing arachnoid can have ulterior motives. But Moon Knight believes that he is too damaged, physically and mentally, for either side to recruit. And it looks like he may be right. Outside of the costume Marc Spector can barely drag himself out of bed in the morning, and bones sound like a bag of jiffy-pop when he walks. But mostly Marc doesn't want to team-up because Khonshu wants him to. The Egyptian god of vengeance thinks a high profile pairing would 'grow the brand' so to speak. Huston's use of Khonshu is absolutely inspired. Even now neither Moon Knight nor the reader are sure if Khonshu is a real deity or the delusions of a very sick man. It helps that he's a devilishly funny sort of vengeance god one moment and the next he's asking his avatar why he didn't bash in more thugs' heads. In the end Moon Knight, reluctantly, begins to pull his old support crew back together, although not without some tears and recriminations. And just in time too, since an old shield-slinging friend shows up on his doorstep looking to recruit a new soldier to the cause.

Bottom Line:
Quite possibly the best relaunch in a long time continues into Civil War territory with top-notch results.

Rating: Worth the money and time (4 out of 5 EvilEyes)


Wolverine #50(An ongoing series)
Reviewed by: Everlost_MI (Brian K. Nichols)
Publisher: Marvel Comics

"First Blood"
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Pencils: Simone Bianchi
Ink & Washed Halftones: Simone Bianchi & Andrea Silvestri
Colors: Paul Mounts
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Axel Alonso

"Puny Little Man"
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Pencils: Ed McGuinness
Inks: Dexter Vines
Colors: Dave McCaig
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Axel Alonso
Price: $3.99 US/ $4.75 CAN



The double sized fiftieth issue of Wolverine packs a two for one with main story "First Blood" and a backup tale entitled "Puny Little Man." Marvel repeats itself in "First Blood," the previous run of Wolverine launched a similar storyline in its fiftieth issue, by trying to reveal the "true origin" or insight into the Canadian berserker's past. I won't bore you with the previous attempt, but it can be read here at Wikipedia. In the latest storyline that appears to take place outside or after the Civil War continuity, Wolverine is haunted by dreams of "The Lupine" or werewolves and decides to take on Sabertooth for the umpteenth time. Why? Well this time around he feels that Sabertooth doesn't deserve to live, let alone be an X-Man. The issue ends with Sabertooth and Wolverine locked in mortal combat as Sabertooth informs Wolverine that the reason they are always at each other's throats is that Wolverine will eventually become what Sabertooth is. While the backup story of "Puny Little Man" has Logan reliving his various memories involving the Hulk that ends with an interesting twist that is better to be read than spoiled.

Jeph Loeb is a talented writer whose past credits includes Batman: The Long Halloween and Daredevil: Yellow as well as the television series Smallville and Heroes. However, the story that was created for "First Blood" feels like a paint-by-numbers script of the typical Wolverine motifs, angst and fights. What makes the lackluster story even less appealing is the inconsistent artwork by Simone Bianchi that fluctuates from looking great in one panel then odd and cartoony in the next. Loeb redeems himself in the "Puny Little Man" yarn with an enjoyable romp through Wolverine's memories that come to an amusing end. The icing on the cake is Ed McGuinness' artwork and Dave McCaig's coloring that really make the twelve page tale come to life.

Bottom Line:
The main story is the standard "Wolverine discovering his past" that doesn't do much but spin its wheels. However, the backup story is a gem that is worth reading but it doesn't justify the $3.99 price tag. So unless you're a die-hard Wolverine fan or completist, just leaf through the issue.

Rating: Only if you're a collector of the series or the creators. (2 out of 5 EvilEyes)



Quick Hits:
(Doctor Finger's Take)
X-Factor #15 - Jamie Madrox may be the most interesting character at Marvel right now.
Eternals #6 - This book is great. But you know what would be better? Gaiman writing the New Gods at DC.
(Everlost's Take)
Mouse Guard #6: A Return To Honor - A great finale to a solid first mini-series. The second mini-series entitled Mouse Guard Winter 1152 is slate to be start in July.

[Everlost_MI]

Thanks for the review of Civil War - The Return, you just saved me some time and money. Your review on Moony is dead on, I am loving the series. Huston's work in and outside of comics is just fantastic.

[Sazime]

Agreed on "The Return." What a waste. I hope Monica goes batshit crazy on him for getting his name back.

I really liked Moon Knight as well. The balance between CW and the main story was great. I was afraid they were going to make this a heavy tie-in.

And man, X-Factor is just great. I'm curious what direction Jamie will end up going now.
Possible Spoiler Below...
With him feeling "empty" after the reprogramming, I wonder if this means we'll see a sociopathic Maddrox or just one that's going to be easily influenced by the next person to get their hands on him? Is the programming just not complete?

[J3DI]

Is the cover of Moon Knight done by Steven Platt?

[Dr.Finger]

Originally Posted by J3DI

Is the cover of Moon Knight done by Steven Platt?

Nope. Finch, Miki & D'Armata did the cover.

[webrunner]

The Return isn't the stupidest thing in Civil War, but that' s only because of Penance setting the bar so high.
1) it's not really a return if i's technically before he left in the first place
2) it makes no sense (Nobody seems to CARE that he's back. And i'm sorry but "somehow this happened" isn't good enough any more, at least give some technobabble)
3) The plot steamrollers over any reasonable reason why it wouldn't work ("Tell me how i died!" "Um, no? That'd mess up the timeline.." "C'mon tell me" "Okay, sure!")

[Everlost_MI]

Originally Posted by webrunner

3) The plot steamrollers over any reasonable reason why it wouldn't work ("Tell me how i died!" "Um, no? That'd mess up the timeline.." "C'mon tell me" "Okay, sure!")

Didn't he die from cancer?

[Sazime]

Originally Posted by Everlost_MI

Didn't he die from cancer?

He did, after getting it in a battle with Nitro.

[BleedTheFreak]

Speaking of Wolverine, whatever happened to Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk? It just ended after issue 2, and all the sudden Hulk shows up in the end of vs Ultimates, seemingly in control of his hulk-self? WTH?

[Sazime]

Originally Posted by BleedTheFreak

Speaking of Wolverine, whatever happened to Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk? It just ended after issue 2, and all the sudden Hulk shows up in the end of vs Ultimates, seemingly in control of his hulk-self? WTH?

The never ended story. Right up there with Ultimates #13. One day, one day...

[Spigot]

Good call on The Return. Both stories struck me as being tales that may have had some punch to them about, oh, 4 months ago. At this point, they didn't really tell us anything we didn't know (in the case of The Sentry) or just fell flat (the return of Mar-Vell).

I'm glad I didn't pick up Wolverine. After that Guggenheim run, I was VERY tempted to continue reading it but now that it seems to have reverted back to its same old Wolvie self, I'm going to stay far, far away.

Eternals and X-Factor were both great... almost as good as that last issue of Cable & Deadpool

[Heretic Machine]

I'm gonna try to pick up the X-Factor TPB next month (I believe it releases on the 31st), so then I'll see what all this hottness is that everyone is talking about.

[agentgray]

My take on some recent issues:

The Return
Puh-lease! Let sleeping dogs lie. Stuff like this is what makes deaths non-events (to me) in comics. They'll always be back. I was hoping it would have been Gwen Stacy.

Moon Knight
Reading this comic is like reading Spawn 1-25 all over again. Here's hoping that it doesn't go the way of Spawn. Spidey was really not needed in this issue. However, Finger's review was dead on. This comic has been a surprise hit with it's return. Moony may become an underground A-lister before long. Very visceral. Very confusing. Sets the mood well.

Wolverine
Sigh. Loeb is so hit and miss. At $4.00 I was let down. The second story was funny. However, was it colored weird for everyone else? I mean, it was almost four color and looked like an old newspaper comic. You could see the dots. Is that part of the dream sequence? When the punchline came, it was a different style and colored completely different. There was no way this mag needed to be double size.

Eternals #6
Wow. Talk about Epic. This has been a great story. My only complaint: fricken' Civil War! I mean, c'mon. Geesh. Marvel just can't keep their hands off anything unique within their continuity. What do I mean? This story can now not really be stand alone unless you know the crap that Civil War has become. For crying out loud, they were stinken' asked to register. Register. However, I loved the Eternals response. Haha. I have the feeling that was all Gaiman. I remember reading on Newsarama right before Eternals #1 that Joe Q. said Civil War would not be a part of Eternals. Yeah, well, I could give a crap as to what he says anymore. This guy changes his mind more than a businessman looking for a prospective hooker in Vegas. Eternals started selling a LOT of issues and all of a sudden it's an ad for a major event. My complaint on an otherwise good story. I'm glad it went to seven issues. The plot didn't really take off until issue #5 anyway.

Punisher War Journal #3
Sigh. Can I get a history on who some of these people are?

[Sazime]

Originally Posted by agentgray

Punisher War Journal #3
Sigh. Can I get a history on who some of these people are?

Do you need it? I really thought the issue was more about making Cap look like an ass and the Punisher look like a hero and a patriot. Personally, I don't think you really need to know who the other two current main characters really are right now, if they're even important to main continuity. I think Fraction is just using them to flesh out what's becoming a pretty interesting Punisher arc. Now I just wish we'd see a new Casanova...

[agentgray]

Originally Posted by Sazime

Do you need it? I really thought the issue was more about making Cap look like an ass and the Punisher look like a hero and a patriot. Personally, I don't think you really need to know who the other two current main characters really are right now, if they're even important to main continuity. I think Fraction is just using them to flesh out what's becoming a pretty interesting Punisher arc. Now I just wish we'd see a new Casanova...

Not really. I meant the series (1-3) as a whole. I've never read a Punisher title before. I was hoping for some light on some things I may have been missing. Wikipedia is pretty lame in this respect.

...and, no, Cap doesn't get it.

[Sazime]

Originally Posted by agentgray

Not really. I meant the series (1-3) as a whole. I've never read a Punisher title before. I was hoping for some light on some things I may have been missing. Wikipedia is pretty lame in this respect.

...and, no, Cap doesn't get it.

Isn't that amazing? The guy that Frank Castle has seen as the symbol of all the good things a man in the service has to offer is also setting up to be his biggest let down. I love it.

[agentgray]

Originally Posted by Sazime

Isn't that amazing? The guy that Frank Castle has seen as the symbol of all the good things a man in the service has to offer is also setting up to be his biggest let down. I love it.

I did like the flash back. Cap in P:WJ is almost coming off as Millar's Cap in Ultimates.

I guess it's the new thing to make Cap out to be the old school of thought when it comes to patriotism, policy, and ethics. He's becoming the old codger of Marvel.

[Sazime]

Originally Posted by agentgray

I did like the flash back. Cap in P:WJ is almost coming off as Millar's Cap in Ultimates.

I guess it's the new thing to make Cap out to be the old school of thought when it comes to patriotism, policy, and ethics. He's becoming the old codger of Marvel.

I wouldn't say that so much as in he doesn't get that people respect him. He expects loyalty, not respect for the ideals he represents. I just love the fact that Fraction is bringing that out!

[AaronKing]

Yeah, the lettering sure was messed up in Legion this month. It ticked me off.

But it's awesome that the Dominators have marked the planet Earth as theirs (which is what that red stuff was; it put the red Dominator dot on the Earth, visible from space).

[Sazime]

Originally Posted by AaronKing

Yeah, the lettering sure was messed up in Legion this month. It ticked me off.

But it's awesome that the Dominators have marked the planet Earth as theirs (which is what that red stuff was; it put the red Dominator dot on the Earth, visible from space).

Ok, I need to ask this of you and the other Legion readers. Is it worth picking up in trade? I know nothing about it, but it sounds interesting.