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Justice League of America Volume 1 Reveiw

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We may have the Justice League and the Justice League Dark, but there’s always room for another group. The main difference is that this group is under government jurisdiction, which makes things intriguing. The cast can be a concern since the main members won’t be able to join, but I can safely say that it is still a good comic.

The plot involves Steve Trevor as Amanda Waller tells him that she’s forming a group. She wants him to lead it and Steve talks a good game, but he is basically forced into leading the group. Amanda has selected each member so that person can theoretically beat their Justice League counterpart. The members are kept in the dark about this of course and the team consists of Martian Manhunter, Stargirl, Catwoman, Green Lantern, (Not Hal of course) Vibe, Hawkman and Katana. The cover already shows Green Arrow so I may as well say that he joins up with them later as well.

The group doesn’t really do a whole lot at first, but they look into stopping the secret society. These guys mean business since even Green Arrow was powerless to stop them. The second half involves the real Justice League as the Trinity Wars kick into high gear as both groups are launched into the fighting. Only one team can walk away from this (maybe) and the stakes have never been higher…..in a while. Meanwhile, Pandora is still around so the adventure could get even more dangerous for the heroes.

Steve Trevor is the leader of the Justice League of America, but he’s definitely no Batman. Batman can fight in hand to hand combat when necessary and he has a lot of gadgets. All Steve has is a long list of witty comebacks at the ready and a good handgun. He gives Catwoman a decent fight, but I’m glad that she defeated him. If a regular guy can defeat a super villain, then there’s no real need for an Anti Justice League group now is there? Steve tries to be a good character, but almost all of his lines are really just bluffs in the end. He always ends up listening to the government at the expense of common sense and he needs to stand up for himself some more. As far as leading the group goes….Steve doesn’t actually give many orders. He mostly just stands around and tries to talk tough. Still, Steve is a good guy despite all of this and he just needs to have more courage to stand up for what he believes in. Once he embraces this, Steve can end up being one of the better GI Joes.

Martian Manhunter is the big hitter for this group. He does pretty well, but I can’t say that he looked like he was anywhere near Superman’s level. We get some flashbacks into his origin, which will likely serve as foreshadowing for a future arc. It was intriguing, but not much has changed from the original origin so it was pretty basic. We met a new villain who I’m sure will be back at some point. The Martian is pretty short and direct in his manner of speaking, which is always good to see. I still can’t say that I’m a huge fan of the fact that he signed up with this counter league to stop the original ones, but I guess that I could say that for all of the members. At least he tried to end things diplomatically.

Katana gets a really small role compared to the other members. It’s easy to forget that she’s even on the team because she only gets a handful of lines. I don’t have much of an opinion on her at this point, but I would say that she’s decent. She’s not really a hero so hopefully these good influences will help her turn over a new leaf. I can’t say that her sword is very impressive as a person either, but all of his lines were off screen so it can be hard to tell for sure how cool he is.

I’ve never really been a fan of Hawkman and I can’t say that he looks too great here either. He seems to be pretty delusional and he overrates his own ability. I don’t really see him standing up to Aquaman at all. Hopefully he comes back to reality soon because he definitely seems like someone that you wouldn’t trust as a fellow hero.

Stargirl seems to be one of the more powerful fighters, but Amanda Waller wants her to stay at the base and act as the team’s PR rep. That doesn’t really fly with Stargirl and she escapes, which is pretty cool. She’s easily one of the most likable members of the group and she even got her town to accept her as a real superhero. It’s a feat that only a few superheroes like Superman and Flash have been able to pull off. Hopefully she gets a good fight in the next volume so we can see what her abilities can really do.

Simon Baz only appears for the latter half of the volume so we don’t see that much of him. He’s definitely no Hal Jordan and he’s a little generic so far. I’m sure that he’ll improve as he gets more screentime and he beats most of the other members. He seems to be pretty experienced after his latest adventure so hopefully he will show this as he gets some action in the future.

Catwoman was definitely not one of my favorite members. Her unnecessary embrace with Steve to steal his wallet and find out about his past was pretty sad. We get her backstory once again so that we can sympathize with the character and also learn about the Martian Manhunter, but it doesn’t really change the fact that her current self isn’t really likable. Catwoman always has the potential to be a good character, but she typically squanders it.

Green Arrow is actually pretty likable and it’s good to see him blackmail the government since they’ve been blackmailing everyone else. He’s definitely a pretty shady hero and he only answers to himself, but it’s an interesting change of pace at this point. The New 52 Arrow is completely different from the Pre 52 one and that’s just fine with me. I may actually prefer this version of the green hero. He definitely doesn’t look very impressive in the fights, but he can’t really be expected to match up against these powerful foes on his own. I’ll admit that his villain costume was pretty simple so I can see why the villains saw through it. At least Green Arrow made for an interesting addition to the team.

Vibe has a lot of room to grow so he has the potential to turn into a good hero. Right now he’s just a little too inexperienced and he doesn’t make the hero calls when necessary. He blindly listens to his superiors when they tell him to blast the Flash even though he didn’t know how it would affect him. Why take the risk when it could have potentially blown him up as with the robots? Vibe just cracked under the pressure and some more experience under his belt should help with that…hopefully!

Batman doesn’t get a huge role in this collection, but it’s good to see him thinking of a way out of this. He tries to help Superman get out of his predicament, but it’s tough without any leads. I have no qualms with his portrayal here. Superman was more on the dicey side since he allowed himself to be locked up. Luckily, the Leaguers are still watching him so the government can’t try anything, but it’s a little too risky if you ask me. Superman’s taking it pretty hard, but he should know that something’s up as he continues to get weaker and weaker. Wonder Woman actually gets most of a comic to herself as she consults the gods, villains, and finally the Justice League Dark to see if she can help Superman. She does a pretty good job although I do agree with the Welder that she didn’t need to be so threatening since they were on good terms. Bringing in the Justice League Dark was a good call….except that they turned out to be a little too unprepared for the battle.

Lex Luther didn’t get a huge role in this one, but it was good to see his portrayal went. Going after the box just to irritate the Justice League was classic and I’ll admit that I was rooting for him. It may have just been a cameo, but it was still good to see. The Flash didn’t really do anything either, but tackling Martian Manhunter was pretty good since traitors needs to be taken out of the fight right away. He may have misread the situation, but he made the hero move. (Although I believe that phasing through people should be a last resort unless they’re super powerful)

Amanda Waller is still a woman who only cares to help the government. She threatens the heroes and makes sure to be as unlikable as she can be throughout the comic. I was rooting for Stargirl to arrest her or to completely ignore Waller’s commands after the threats started coming in. Lucily, Stargirl did rebel, but I would have liked a more direct approach. Amanda always makes for a decent villain, but she’s seriously misguided in her attempts to help humanity.

The plot does jump around a lot in this comic though and you may not be crazy about this if you want to see the whole story. It jumps right into the 2nd or third part of the Trinity War and then jumps to the after effects of the event. That’s because only one issue was really in this series, but it can make for an interesting read in trade paperback form. The Secret Society plot also kind of vanished as the volume went on. I suppose that it could have ended in a way, but it didn’t really feel like an ending.

I have to wonder if Amanda Waller really thought her plan would work since her members are not nearly as powerful as the real league. Hal Jordan is better than Simon Baz in just about every way. The Flash would beat Vibe in his sleep. Batman’s better at hand to hand combat than Catwoman. Wonder Woman vs Katana is a bit of a joke. (No offense to Katana fans of course, but I don’t see her trading blows with Superman) Superman has heat vision to take care of Martian Manhunter. I forgot who Stargirl is a rival of, but let’s say that she loses to Cyborg and Aquaman beats the rest. That sounds about right. Amanda’s plan would not work and I don’t see how she can get past this fact.

DC’s done a really good job with the artwork in just about all of their New 52 comics. This one is no exception and all of the characters are drawn really well and the fights are pretty dynamic. We don’t get a lot of action scenes unfortunately, but we can still see that the art is solid from all of the other scenes. It would be hard for the aer to be even better than this so I’m completely satisfied in this area.

Overall, This was a fun Justice League comic. It’s kind of like watching the B listers instead of the main members, which is always good as a change of pace. I’d say that the only thing that brings down the comic a little is the convoluted timeline and the fact that there are no likable villains. The League needs a serious threat if it wants to establish credibility with the world after all. Some of the members are decent while I don’t really care for the others so it’s a bit of a mixed bag in that area. This comic had the infamous Catwoman getting shot scene that made its rounds on the web a while back, but it’s not that bad. I suppose that direct gunshots aren’t typically shown that often which could be a while, but you should be okay as long as you remember the classic comic book rule about characters who die. If not, it’s easy to skim through that part since there are a lot of panels leading up to it. Personally, I found the Martian Manhunter story worse in that regard since we got classic animal/alien violence that is always sad to see. It’s part of what kept this one from getting an 8 like the classic Justice League stories, but also the fact that we’re missing most of the main members. I recommend checking out this story if you’re a Justice League fan or if you like to read comics with very good art. There’s a decent amount of action and a lot of plot lines are developed that should help you get introduced into the New 52. I just wish that Hal Jordan could have been around to participate in the fights and maybe the Forever Evil tie ins will occur in the next volume.

Overall 7/10

The Adventures of Superboy Volume 1 Review

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DC made some pretty great comics back in the day. Nothing beats reading the earliest adventures of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and the other members of the Justice League. We get a pun a minute with some decently good action scenes that are really one sided between the heroes and random thugs. It may be a little cheesy, but it’s definitely fun. This collection brings some comics about Superman when he was a kid and it’s pretty fun to see how he grew up.

There are a whole bunch of stories in this collection because it is around 230 pages in total and each story is only around 5-8. There isn’t really a lot of continuity in the issues and you can read them in any order, but some characters so appear more than once so you may as well start from the top. Superboy is the main character of course and the stories revolve around him as he helps out the other kids or stops criminals.

One story had him help a kid whose car had broken down and everyone made fun of him. Superboy helped him fix the car and win the race because he’s a nice guy deep down. Another story tested Superboy’s moral limits as he beat the other kids in a marbling tournament even though he knew that he could not lose. This was because a secret plan was hidden in one of them and Superboy had to get it to the scientist. He gave them back the Marbles later anyway so it all worked out. Other stories include inventions that are stolen, kites that have bombs in them, Scout hunts that turn deadly, and a kid who became a cave kid.

There are certainly a lot of plots involved, but none of them are really long enough to speak at length about. They’re simply fun to read and then you move on to the next story. It’s likely that Superboy will be saving the day once again because it’s what he does. It’s pretty incredible to think about since Superboy is already a medical genius by the end of the volume since he was some books at super speed. I wish the current Superman had kept all of this because the old one was a genius at just about everything.

The portrayal of Superboy is consistently good throughout the comics. He always makes the right choices and Superboy is essentially the perfect hero. He also makes sure that Clark Kent is the perfect buddy as he never takes risks, but he always reminds the others to drive safely while giving other good tips. He can definitely exaggerate the Clark Kent angle though and sometimes I feel like he shouldn’t be afraid to win. Clark Kent nearly won the Spelling Bee, but he then decided that he should lost on purpose so that the kids wouldn’t figure out that he was Superboy. I doubt that they would have considered it for long though since Clark always makes himself look bad for the endings. In some ways, his deception is a little more drastic than Peter Parker’s, but not always. Clark still talks tough against the robbers and he’s usually the first guy to make a move.

Superboy was really the only big character in this one, but there were a few others over the course of the comics. Perry White guest starred in one issue and we got to see how he joined the Daily Planet. He did let the fame get to him a little as he got the job since Superboy said that Perry would forget Clark Kent’s name by the time he became Chief. Clark helped him get the job so I would expect him to never forget the kid. There was also another reporter who tried to hit it big and he was decent.

There were some reoccurring characters in the form of the local kids. They’re present in just about every comic, but good luck remembering their names. John, Bob, Tim, they’re all something like that and they all start to blur together as the comics go. They tend to be pretty confident as they rush into danger since Superboy always comes to their rescue. None of them are bad characters, but they’re mostly just around to help things get started. You could replace them with any other kid and the outcome would typically be the same. You can barely call them characters, but we didn’t have as many big characters back in the day so it’s not a really bad thing. Better to be a shadow of a character than a bad one.

The art for the comics is classic. It can be a little rough around the edges and I do admit that Marvel was winning this battle back in the day. That being said, it makes for a lot of funny facial expressions and Superboy sometimes appears to be in his mid 40’s if you were to judge his age from his face. It’s always fun to see the bullets bounce off of the caped hero and the art also lets you know who’s a hero and who isn’t. The villains typically look pretty sneaky and suspicious from the get go.

Overall, This is a pretty fun collection of short stories. It’s a good way to see how Superman grew up and it’s a lot better than any other form where they showed his childhood. It’s certainly a much better version than Smallville and nothing that the New 52 has up it’s sleeve from some secret twists and extra details to Superman’s origins can top this. This is the definitive version of how Superman became the hero that he is today and it’s a must read for his fans. Don’t go in expecting a lot of fights though because this is simply an origin story that took place in a very peaceful town. The only big danger here is the fact that there are many crooks who love to come to the town and people who want to get rich through quick schemes. Luckily, Superboy is always there to save the day…and his reputation as the world’s greatest hero!

Overall 7/10

Essential Xmen Volume 11 Review

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The Xmen may not be as popular as the Avengers, but I dare say that they tend to have bigger plots with more characters involved. The Xmen can have up to 5 different comic series at a time and nobody bats an eye. We’re just used to all of the mutants forming different groups and joining up for events. Because of this, it can be one of the more confusing comics and this essential definitely kept to that. The comics were a lot of fun, but it can be easy to forget what’s happening in the dozens of subplots.

I read this volume a while ago and I just wasn’t able to get the review out sooner because of others that kept pre empting this one. It doesn’t help that so many things were happening at once either. Luckily, Comicvine is great for this since I can check out which issues were in the graphic novel to jog my memory. Naturally, that can only help so much so this review may not be exactly like the standard Essential reviews. Still, let’s give it a shot!

This volume brings annuals from Uncanny Xmen, X Factor, and New Mutants along with issues from X Factor and the Uncanny Xmen series. As I mentioned earlier, there are a bunch of plots, but let’s go with the ones that I remember the most to start things off. That would be the Skrull plot!

I never forgot that big twist because it’s what made some parts confusing. The Xmen have to deal with a lot of Super Skrulls. Basically, they can steal your form and they also learn how to use your abilities, which makes them formidable. So, originally, you believe that some of the Xmen are merely being mind controlled or tricked and then it’s found out that some of them are Skrulls. Naturally, a lot of the classic questions arise like, “How long have they been abducted” and “Who’s the genuine article.” The comic doesn’t really answer all of those questions and it’s hard to tell.

The whole situation mainly starts with Psylocke and Professor Xavier as they use their abilities to mind control most of the Xmen. After that, I guess some of them are switched out in place of skrulls while others are kept in mind control. Gambit and Jubilee are really the only ones left to fight this! It was also a little surreal to see Xavier in the comic because we don’t see him that often anymore.

There’s also a mini arc where Proteus returns and he’s still one of the Xmen’s biggest threats. I liked his portrayal in the show as a villain, but I don’t really care for the character. He’s still a threat in this comic, but there’s only so much that a writer can do to make him interesting.

Somewhere between these various story arcs is a subplot about Nick Fury, Magneto, Rogue, and Kazar. They are in the jungle and Magneto has lost his powers while Rogue’s are a shadow of what they used to be. Together, they will still need to free the inhabitants of the Savage Land and attempt to get their powers back. Nick Fury doesn’t trust Magneto as one may have expected so it results in a lot of threats within the group.

The Uncanny Xmen comics in this collection end with the Shadow King saga. It results in the iconic cover that is featured above. I don’t care for the Shadow King either, but his ability to possess people makes for an interesting plot device. He makes sure to go after Colossus among others and it’s a pretty emotional experience for the Xman. He knows that he’s being mind controlled, which makes it all the worse. This saga was pretty good and it may not have had a lot of fights that I can remember, but it was still solid.

Finally, the collection also brings the first three issues of the Xmen series that began after this. It brings Magneto back as the antagonist, but he’s not in it for world domination as he used to be. Magneto merely wants to live out the rest of his days in peace along with his fellow mutants. Unfortunately, that’s not to be since some of the mutants that he brings along only want trouble and the Xmen are forced to get involve. Magneto’s only option is to retaliate and we get the inevitable clash of wits between them.

The art in the volume is pretty chaotic and being in black and white doesn’t help. I never really cared for the fact that they switched the colors to black and white for the essentials. What’s the purpose? It is all right though. It just makes it a little hard to follow the fight scenes since it can be harder to distinguish between the characters and many scenes are bustling with action. The actual art is pretty good though and it has that exaggerated 90’s feel. Everyone is typically out of proportion and everyone including Magneto and Cyclops have six packs. In the 90’s, everyone worked out!

This was a pretty rough breakdown of events compared to the usual review because of how long it’s been since I read it. I have three more older reviews coming up, but they aren’t quite as old and they’re less convoluted so the reviews should look to be back to normal for the most part. Most of the characters in this volume were pretty true to character except there was a bit of romance hinted between Rogue and Magneto, which was pretty sad. No matter how desperate the Savage Land can make you when your super powers are gone, it still felt forced. Cyclops unfortunately didn’t get much of a role until the Magneto saga, but he was still around for the other battles. The comics may have been confusing, but it was still fun to see such a large cast being forced to team up. It’s also why I love the Skrull plots since we get to see Xmen fighting other Xmen.

Overall, This was a solid Xmen collection. It would be a whole lot easier to read and comprehend everything if it was in color though. One positive is that black and white acts as a natural censor, which can help depending on the comic and the 90’s were an interesting time for the Xmen so this may have been for the best. These collections are always a great buy since they bring so many comics. This one likely had at least 400-500 pages of content inside of it, which never ceases to impress me. Any Marvel fan should enjoy this one, but you should not go into it expecting a simple plot with lots of action. The action is definitely there, but it is also pretty plot heavy. I would say that this is a good thing though and the writing is pretty solid. There is some fanservice for Psylocke unfortunately and some others as well, but the black and white (slightly) helps to reduce how sad this is. It’s still unnecessary and hopefully future volumes are better with that. There isn’t too much romance aside from the one plot and the cast of characters are likable for the most part. Apparently they never came out with Volume 12 so this may be the end of the road. It’s a good place to stop though since it brings the big climax for Uncanny Xmen as well as the first issues of the next Xmen series.

Overall 7/10

Sonic Saga Series Volume 3 Eggman Empire Review

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The Sonic Saga Series continues in this installment. After the big fight with Anonymous, the series had a lot of options as to what the next story should be about. There are many subplots still going, but this one decides to focus on Eggman. He unleashes his new scheme and it may be the most devastating one yet!

The collection begins with Sonic and friends saving the Chao Garden from Eggman or they at least manage to save the Chaos. They bring the Chaos home and have a blast with them. Everything is going well as Antoine and Bunny finally decide to become partners and the heroes have not enjoyed such a time of peace in a long while. Unfortunately, Espio goes missing and then Eggman appears. This time, he plans to finish off the heroes once and for all! The peace has abruptly ended and Sonic will have to fight Eggman with everything on the line!

There is also a short backup comic featuring Blaze as she searches for the legendary blue hedgehog. She has to fight through some minions in order to do this, but she proves to be no match for the Swatbots. Eventually, she wakes up and is face to face with Sonic. She’s going to fight her way out of this, but can she really defeat such a legend? It’s going to take everything that she has!

The backup is pretty light and the tone is what you would expect from your average Sonic comic. The main saga is surprisingly dark (for a Sonic comic) and the situation feels a lot more dire than the last few events. Espio may have been assassinated and then Eggman begins to vaporize Sonic’s friends. All of them are destroyed except for Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, and Tails. (Coincidence eh?) Now, everyone dying would be going a little too far so I’m sure that you sense a plot twist around the corner. Naturally I won’t say what it is, but there is a twist involved.

That being said, it still feels serious for the heroes. The comic plays out like The Death of Superman in that the first comics build tension as we get to briefly see Espio between comics as he finds out Eggman’s secret plan, but he is then caught. Then we see the shadow slowly creeping towards Mobius, but the heroes are completely unaware of the danger. It’s pretty nerve wrecking stuff and it doesn’t help that Sonic is still sad about not being able to save Tommy or Sir Connery. What if he simply isn’t fast enough to save his friends?

Sonic is the main star of course and he still has to do all of the heavy lifting for the heroes. He’s still having some mild romance drama and he’s not as chipper as usual because the tensions are finally getting to him. He couldn’t save his friends last time and he’s starting to be at odds with Tails. He still tries to act happy and without a care, but it’s an act that the other characters see through with ease. Sonic still takes command of the situation when danger strikes and he definitely gives the fight his all. You can’t help but feel bad for him after his big defeat against Eggman. It’s definitely a low moment for our hero, but he finally begins to look like himself after the heroes come up with a new plan. It’s good to see a serious side of Sonic, but I’ll always prefer his classic attitude. He’ll use his speed to solve all problems.

I don’t really get the drama between Tails and Sonic. It seems to mostly be on Tails’ end and he may be jealous of Sonic’s methods or the whole Fiona situation. Either way, it seems a little petty and he shouldn’t forget all of the times that Sonic saved him. He also calls Sonic out on not saving some of the friends who died, which is a very low move. I can’t say that I liked Tails in this volume and I have my doubts about the next one based on the cover. Still, maybe Sonic will start it that time and I’ll be on Tails’ side. I was definitely with Sonic in this one though. He’s the only one who ever really fights Eggman so why should that change?

Eggman has finally unveiled his master plan this time. He gives us a lot of plot twists about how he could take Sonic and the others out at any time and how the rest of the planet already knew this and that’s why nobody tried to warn the heroes. He does manage to take on all of the heroes with only two robots when he has a legion with hundreds of others. Technically, he probably could eradicate most of the heroes with ease, but Sonic and Shadow would likely survive. The thing is, most villains could beat their heroes if they truly went all out and Eggman is no exception. The main problem is that he always causes his own demise. It’s just something that villains have to do or else the series would be over.

That being said, Eggman still does a good job in this volume. His fight against Sonic is pretty big and it’s a very monumental win for him. He completely defeated Sonic and eradicated any hope for success. His biggest mistake was assuming that Sonic would become depressed and not go after him. I really don’t know why he ever thought that. Still, he’s not done yet and the next volume will be very action packed. I wonder how far Eggman will go to destroy the heroes. He’s definitely being portrayed as a serious threat right now and we’ll see if that sticks.

Espio’s subplot is what starts the whole thing off. He is a professional, but he really seems to have too much pride as he keeps on challenging dangerous missions on his own. It doesn’t pay off since Eggman’s plan is so diabolical that Espio can’t help but gasp and let the world know that he’s there. Eggman arrives and what follows is a really emotional moment where we realize that this could be the end of one of the cooler Sonic characters. (Playing as him in Sonic Heroes back in the day was cool) The fact that Espio gasped from shock was a little unbelievable though. I guess they had to give some excuse as to how the villains would find Espio, but they should have just had a robot that could see through invisibility.

Snively helps Eggman out during the big plan as he gets to pilot one of the big mechs. He makes short work out of Sonic’s friends while Eggman handles Sonic. He’s definitely come a long way as he started out as a villain, became a hero, then became a villain again. Eggman’s building skills are still good since Snively’s robot is very durable. He’s mostly just Eggman’s assistant who still doesn’t get any respect. Snively doesn’t get a whole lot of personality during this event.

Blaze appears in the backup comic and she’s all right, but losing against the Swatbots was definitely not very impressive. At least she put up a good fight against Sonic, but I couldn’t forget her first battle. Her test for Sonic was pretty extreme, but I suppose that it’s the shonen way of doing things. She’s a decent character and I look forward to seeing her actually team up with Sonic since we haven’t seen that yet.

As always, I enjoyed the art for these comics. It’s pretty colorful, but also dynamic enough to help the fight scenes get going. It still reminds me of DC’s comics and that’s always a good thing. The backup’s art is very different and it’s less detailed to give it a retro feeling. It’s a decently good piece of artwork considering the attempt, but I’d prefer if they just drew it as usual. (Now, if the comic is actually very old, then that mild complaint is moot)

Overall, this was a very good arc. It isn’t even over yet as the heroes are barely surviving and Eggman is now launching the rest of his armada. This may be Mobius’ darkest hour and I’m expecting Sonic to call for backup from Shadow or something. They definitely need some more support at this point since Eggman’s robot has proven to be too powerful for Sonic. That fight was pretty great though and one of the best ones in this series. I highly recommend this volume and it contains everything that you could want in a Sonic comic. It’s pretty deep, the fights are good, and the storyline is great. You could jump onto the series with this one since Eggman is the main villain and he finally makes a move. The art and writing is as good as always and this is really a complete comic. Better make your move fast because I plan on reviewing the next and final (for now) part soon. We shall see if Eggman’s Empire holds true or crumbles.

Overall 8/10

Sonic Saga Series Volume 2 Order From Chaos Review

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The Sonic Saga Series continues in this volume and we finally get to learn who this mysterious Anonymous character is. I wasn’t very trilled at his twist since it wasn’t really a twist in the end. (It was as simple as it appeared in the last volume and I thought that something else was going to happen) This volume isn’t quite as intense as the first one, but we still have a lot of interesting plot lines and Sonic gets some solid screen time.

The main plot features the big battle against Anonymous. Shadow and Tails are abducted by him so that their abilities will allow the evildoer to capture all of the Chaos Emeralds and use them for his nefarious purposes. It’s going to be up to Super Sonic to stop this guy once and for all!

Meanwhile, there are a few mini stories in the collection. Espio and his team head over to an enemy base to gather some intel and Amy gets trained by Julie Su in the art of hand to hand combat. The Amy one was decent since she’ll ideally be able to fight more in future issues and the Espio one gave that character some much needed screentime. They were decent interludes from the main plot. It can’t be forgotten that we get a minicomic where Sonic’s back in his big hair design and he lets Antoine know the bad news about his father. Will Antoine be able to get through this!?

After the big battle against Anonymous, Sonic decides to find out what’s up with Fiona. She keeps on disappearing and his friends seem to know something that he doesn’t. Tails and the others finally clue Sonic in on the truth after he witnesses Fiona doing battle with Amy. Scourge enters the fray and the bond between Fiona and Sonic may be shattered. Sonic’s going to have to take these guys down!

Finally, we also got a comic where Shadow finds out that Eggman has been hiding something from his past. Shadow doesn’t like this and he quickly steals the disc, but Snively goes after him. Knowing that not even the Ultimate Life Form can defeat such a bald fellow, Shadow goes to Sonic and the Freedom Fighters for help. Will they help him!? It’s time to find out!

Sonic is back to being the main star and that’s definitely a good thing! He makes the hard choices and he also wisely chooses to listen to his friends instead of Fiona. This leads to him connecting the dots and realizing that something’s up. I’m not really a fan of Sonic being so into romance all of the time as he certainly isn’t like that in the games. It’s really something that’s only present in the games and they didn’t need that extra bit of character development. At the very least, Sonic gets over it pretty quickly and he still has time to crush Scourge whenever they meet. I would have liked him to get a few more good shots in on Anonymous though.

Sonic basically has all of the traits that you need to be a solid character and that has been consistent throughout the franchise. He’s always immensely confident and he doesn’t mind helping out a rival or an enemy if he gets to tease them a little. I want to see Sonic get more speedfights in the future, but his battle against Scourge will do for now.

Tails doesn’t really get a great role this time. He gets kidnapped yet again and he’s forced to wait for Sonic to arrive before getting carried off. He does get to live out his prophecy yet again though and he uses his super powers to help bring harmony to the land. He continues to be a really smart fighter, but he’s also lost most of his combat readiness. Most of the villains have just surpassed him at this point and letting Fiona sucker slap him was going a little far. He needs another miniseries so that he can deal some damage again. I think I was just annoyed that he didn’t let Sonic know the truth about Fiona when it could have saved him some time.

Eggman is back as well and he gets a decent role. I am glad that he was the first to figure out who Anonymous was and that he took appropriate steps to stop him. After that, Eggman is the guy who quickly helped Shadow and Tails get back to fighting strength so that they could secure the win. He essentially vanishes after that, but it was a decent role. He’s definitely played a lot more serious in the comics than in the games or shows.

Anonymous is the big villain for the main plot of the graphic novel and he’s interesting. I liked him a lot more before he merged with Tommy and became a universal threat. As a computer, it was interesting to see him trick Eggman left and right while furthering his goals. Power seemed to make him into more of a generic fighter and he just wasn’t interesting anymore. Still, at least he was a threat even if Super Sonic should have had no problem with him. I wonder if he’ll ever appear again.

Knuckles doesn’t look too great as he’s pretty weak for a power hitter. Snively manages to defeat him and it’s rare that he defeats anyone. Knuckles still manages to talk tough until the end and I am always glad to see a familiar face in the comics. I haven’t seen him get a full fight yet so I’m still waiting for that. Hopefully he goes back to check on the Master Emerald soon since that island seems to be in a lot of danger.

Amy gets a small role in this comic. Unfortunately, her training with Julie Su comes too late after she is taken out by Fiona. She didn’t completely lose, but she was definitely losing that battle. Her hammer should have been enough to turn the tides. I am glad that she went to finish off Fiona herself though since it was basically the best hero move. After Fiona is in prison, then Amy can let Sonic in on how he was being played. It’s a win/win situation….if Amy had actually won the fight of course.

Fiona gets a bigger role in this volume and she actually gets to fight Amy. I was definitely rooting for Amy in that battle, but she was definitely on the losing side. It’s too bad since I would have figured that Amy could easily defeat Fiona. Fiona also lands a hit on Sonic, which was a little hard to believe and she was overhyped in terms of her power. Personality wise, Fiona isn’t really someone to root for either and she is constantly betraying everyone. That isn’t a bad thing for a villain, but her reasons seem pretty petty as these actions may be for emotional reasons. Hopefully the heroes stop her soon, but I guess she really isn’t much of a threat anymore.

Scourge is back in this volume, but he’s still not much of a threat. Sonic seriously stomps him back into the ground whenever they fight. His speed is pretty good, but he seems to lack Sonic’s fighting ability as he always relies on surprise hits. Personality wise, I can’t say that he’s the best as he also gets into the romance biz. He’s essentially forced to run away after Sonic knocks him around and I’m hoping that he gets a power up soon.

Shadow is still pretty emotional in this comic. He starts out all right except for the fact that he gets one shotted by Tommy/Anonymous. That was pretty humiliating and isn’t he supposed to be Sonic’s equal in power? He gets kidnapped and he only gets to help out a little in the climax while commenting on how hard it was. Next, he goes to find out the secrets of his past, but he has to ask Sonic for help against Snively. Unsuccessfully holding back his tears, Shadow uncovers the truth and comes to the realization that he is a hero. Luckily, this means no more being a pawn of Eggman’s for the hedgehog and maybe this is where he joined the government.

An emotional Shadow still isn’t a very good Shadow. I am still pretty skeptical on why he couldn’t just defeat Snively on his own. He shouldn’t need help to do such a thing. I’m waiting for Shadow to get back to his no nonsense personality. He’s awesome in the games and much less so in the comics. They should at least bring him back to Sonic’s level in power and then I would be satisfied. Anymore crying would just be sad.

The artwork seems to be slightly different from the first Saga volume as there are a lot more facial expressions similar to the Friendship is Magic comics. Besides that, I’m still a fan of the art and the battle scenes are very intense. The speed drawings help to show how fast they are going and Sonic especially looks sharp. I definitely don’t miss his huge hair days, but we get to see them in one of the mini comics.

There are definitely a lot of plots still playing out. Hopefully they will all come into play within the next two volumes since that will likely be where my fun marathon runs out. I have a feeling that Tails’ parents have been corrupted and the “ideas” that the father has won’t really be good ones. Maybe it will be time for Mobius to have a civil war and Sonic will need to pick a side. There is also some tension since Enerjak may be revived and I look forward to seeing where the plots lead. I do hope that Tails chooses Sonic if his parents decide to try and take him to the dark side.

Overall, This was another solid installment in the Sonic series. Once again, most of the portrayals were spot on except Shadow is still not acting like himself and I didn’t really like Tails’ role. Amy was particularly good as she went to fight Fiona on her own and I can’t wait to see Enerjak return to fight the heroes. I don’t think this volume was quite as good as the last one since the stakes seemed to go down rather than up. We still did get the decent action thanks to Scourge and the artwork is solid so this volume is still a good read. Watch closely for references since many comics are left out that take place between this one and the last volume. I highly recommend this graphic novel to Sonic fans and anyone who likes some action should enjoy it.

Overall 7/10

Sonic Universe Volume 6 Treasure Team Tango Review

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It’s time for another exciting storyline in Sonic Universe! The last one that I read involved Tails and it was a pretty fun read. The Sonic Universe series is a good way to give the supporting characters some screen time and this volume made sure to bring in quite a few of them. The series continues to go up as this volume increase the stakes and we get a lot more action.

The plot involves Princess Blaze as she continues to search for the Sol Emeralds so that she can save her planet. She tracks one of them down to Mobius where Amy and Cream had been scouting. The three of them eventually agree to team up when Team Shadow arrives to confiscate it. Along the way, six more fighter show up and it becomes a battle royale with everything on the line. If Blaze’s team loses, then her planet is doomed. Team Dark could have to endure a lot of insults if they fail and two of them would lose honor if they backed down. So…let the battles begin!

Amy is essentially the hero of the story although one could make the case that the main character is Blaze. Amy does pretty well in this collection and while she is unable to defeat Rouge or Shadow in head to head fights, she does a lot of damage. She has a very confident demeanor and her time around Sonic has helped her to become an excellent fighter. She ends up striking fear into the Treasure group and she helps Shadow to become a better person. She helped to make up for Sonic not appearing in this collection and this could be her best portrayal. Amy finally got to act as the confident leader instead of another Sonic ally.

Cream gets stuck in the big fight when she just wanted to have a good time with Amy. She still attempts to help out, but her ears weren’t built for combat and she hasn’t trained in the art of hand to hand combat. She has a Chao by the name of Cheese, but his bark is stronger than his fists. She can be a little too innocent at times and I would have liked a little more action from her. I’m sure that she’ll become more of a fighter someday, but until then…she’ll need to stay back. Having her around can be very dangerous for the heroes.

Blaze gets a pretty solid role in this comic as she learns how trusting other heroes can ultimately be beneficial. (She also mentions how she isn’t nearly as fast as Sonic, which was cool because we finally have a character who doesn’t brag and it’s a fact that I always wanted the comics to verify) Her flame abilities are useful and she makes short work of Omega. She seems to be one of the stronger fighters in the battle royale and she would likely be second to Shadow. I don’t blame her for distrusting the heroes since so many of them end up as traitors. It’ll be nice to see where her plot goes since she’ll still need the other emeralds.

Rouge is back to her usual tricks and she tricks the heroes into letting her tag along until she can get her hands on the emerald. Her hand to hand skills are as good as ever and she holds her own against Blaze, Amy, and Cream when they were teaming up. They hadn’t been fully expecting the attacks…although they should have been. Rouge is still a pawn of the government in this arc, but I like to think that she’s just playing them as well until she reaches her goal. I didn’t have any problems with her portrayal in this comic and she makes for a solid villain.

Shadow is definitely changed from how he is portrayed in the games. Shadow is a pawn of the government and he doesn’t have the courage to disobey them. This causes him to come into odds with his allies and he has to choose the mission over his friends. He eventually goes on to make the right decision, but he certainly takes his time. He’s not as intense as you may have expected and he spends a lot of time trying to be the hero. I would actually describe him as a more comic relief version of Sonic. He’s not quite as confident or powerful. Shadow does end up taking out Amy and Jet, which is pretty impressive, but I just didn’t like this portryal of him all that much. He’s still a great character and the best one in the volume, but it helps that I’m already a huge Shadow fan. I don’t know why he’s changed in the comics, but hopefully he goes back to normal at some point. He has his share of “tough” moments where he tries to get his intense demeanor back, but it’s one of those “too little too late” situations. Shadow is not supposed to be emotional and he’s supposed to be an ultimate fighter! At least he used his Chaos Control properly to instantly win battles.

Shadow’s change may have been drastic, but not as much as Omega. Omega’s personality is intriguing and I have to say that it’s just not good. He can’t control himself and he usually says mean things although he’s a nice guy at heart. This just doesn’t suit him and Omega just becomes annoying whenever he’s on screen. I can’t take him seriously and his dialogue is not humorous although it tries to be. They wrecked one of the cooler robots in the Sonic games and that’s no good. Omega actually seemed like he was a kid in the comics and that could explain why his portrayal was so sad. Hopefully they fix him in future issues because this Omega definitely isn’t a true fighter like the old one.

Jet is back once again and he’s still bragging about his speed. It was cool to see Shadow put him in his place, but Jet did pretty well against the other fighters. He is probably the third strongest member in the battle royale, but he ends up relying on his airboard a lot. It does give him a lot of speed to it may be worth it. He’s a decent character and I always liked him ever since I watched the Sonic Riders intro. Now that is how you introduce a new character!

Bean is pretty crazy in this comic and he acts like one of the looney tunes. Despite this, the collection shows that his power is considerable and he saves the team from a large array of explosions. He is a lot like Deadpool as he’s a threat when serious, but he typically pretends to be a joker so that the others will treat him like one. He was a decent villain in the collection, but it would have been cool if he was serious for more of it.

Fang is another one of the key players and he has his gun at the ready. He claims that he’s actually hit Sonic in the past, but that must have definitely involved heavy circumstances or plot demands since he should have no shot at tagging Sonic. Sonic’s just too fast and the speed difference is pretty drastic when you think about it. That being said, Fang’s a pretty cool fighter and I could definitely root for him. His motives for getting the emerald are pretty petty, but he’s just a thief. Money is really all that he needs.

As always, the artwork in the comic is very impressive. The character designs match the true Sonic games and the fight scenes all flow very nicely. We have many characters firing off attacks at once during the pages, but the art is clear so you can easily understand what is happening. Archie can definitely hold its own against DC and it’s one of the few companies that consistently achieves this with Sonic.

Overall, this was a pretty fun comic. Shadow and Omega may have had their personalities changed for the worst, but the other characters were solid. The collection was a lot of fun because it was essentially one large battle that kept on going and going. I always like to have a solid amount of action at the ready and I just wish that Team Sonic could have joined in on the fun. Hopefully future Sonic Universe graphic novels will bring this same level of intensity to the table, but it could be a while before I read another installment in this series. Luckily, I will be back with a Sonic Saga review shortly. I recommend this to all comic readers since the art is easy to follow and most of the characters are likable. It’s just a fun story with a lot of action and you get to watch our favorite Sega characters mix it up. Who knows, maybe you’ll like Shadow’s new personality more than I did.

Overall 8/10

BX Heroes 2.0 Sketchbook Review

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This is what happens when authors decide to go with the dark angle for a comic. It’s all right to have a dark plot and it can be very well done like in Hunter X Hunter or Kenshin. That being said, there is a line that you have to make sure to not cross and BX Heroes makes sure to cross it. I ended up stopping before the end because it just went too far content wise.

Now, this is a sketchbook so it was mainly just illustrations for various series at first. That’s fine. Most of the series weren’t really my type of comics, but they didn’t look bad. The roach story gave me a lot of bad vibes since it will likely have a lot of animal violence, but I would just skip it. Things went too far when they showed a preview for one of the upcoming comics. In it, we see a lady get taken into a car and then the comic goes out the window.

Any kind of nudity is really too much for a comic and that was enough for me to close the comic. The whole situation was just unnecessarily dark and it means that I’ll never bother checking out the series. I also have to hope that it doesn’t really sell that well because comics like this are just in bad taste. I think that writers are just forgetting how to make interesting villains nowadays.

Making a villain evil doesn’t mean that you need to make them do something unseemly or incredibly graphic. Look at Unicron or Bass EXE. They became threats by destroying planets or just having great dialogue. I can guarantee that they are many times cooler than the villains in this comic.

Overall, there’s not really much more to say about this sketchbook. The illustrations were fine, but the story was terrible and this is not the kind of thing that you’ll want to read. It’s naturally not suitable for kids and I wouldn’t say that it’s appropriate for anyone. Your best bet is to completely skip this comic even if you get it for free. It’s just not worth your time and you’d be better off picking up a book that you’ve already read a few dozen times.

Overall 0/10

Sonic Saga Series Volume 1 Darkest Storm Review

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It’s time for another Sonic review and this time he’s finally back to being the main character! This is the first volume of the Sonic Saga Series and I can definitely say that it’s off to a solid start. A lot of plot lines are being introduced the cast is very large. This definitely gets me hyped for a new Sonic video game or TV show, but the comics will have to fill that void for now.

The plot is all over the place here as many plot points are quickly formed. The main plot deals with the fact that Ixis Naugus and Mammoth Mogul have both escaped from their confinements and Eggman has hatched a brand new scheme. A new villain who is currently sticking to the shadows as Anonymous has started to talk about how he will be the greatest threat that our heroes have ever faced. The Destructix is back to face off with the heroes as well as Scourge. Sonic will have to deal with all of these threats and protect his friends at the same time.

There is also an issue about Knuckles and the Chaotix group as they have to Renfield. They don’t know what his current plan is so they will have to tread very carefully if they want to achieve success. There is also a small comic about Sonic as he keeps reliving the same day over and over again for some reason. He’ll have to find a way out of the cycle before it drives him mad!

Sonic is back and he’s definitely as fast as ever! It was nice to see him speed right through the battles and his big challenge to Ixis Naugus and Master Mogul was pretty intense. Sonic definitely doesn’t beat around the bush and if he wants to do something, then he does it! Sonic looks more impressive than the other heroes and while he didn’t get to see a whole lot of action just yet; Sonic will definitely be making some waves. In all of the fight scenes that Sonic does partake in, he tends to come out as the victor. Whether it’s Scourge or Ixis Naugus, Sonic never backs down from a fight.

After his big roles in the last two Sonic collections, Tails doesn’t really accomplish all that much in this one. He is taken hostage by one of the villains and Sonic is forced to relinquish one of the travel rings as a result. It’s not a huge tragedy, but you can bet that Sonic would have taken them down otherwise. I will assume that Tails was too shocked when the villains took out the gun to retaliate because his speed should be sufficient to get away. I will expect Tails to look more like his current self in future issues.

Eggman is finally back as one of the big villains in this collection. He may seem rather weak compared to some of the other villains in the collection, but one should definitely not underestimate his cunning genius. Eggman has some pretty big plans at his disposal and they’re pretty good so far. We don” know the full scope of them at the moment, but these “grapes” seem to pack a lot of power and are very potent. Sonic will need to bring his A game with him to stop his plans once and for all.

I have seen Mammoth Mogul a whole lot in the last few collections. He is supposed to be one of the strongest Sonic characters of all time, but I can’t say that he is terribly impressive. His spells and elemental attacks are definitely impressive, but I’d say Sonic’s speed over that any day. Mogul definitely has a high opinion of himself and I do respect the fact that he never backs down from a fight. He makes for a decent villain.

Ixis Naugus is one of the most popular enemies from the Archieverse and he is definitely supposed to be tough. Unfortunately, he is a little out of his depth in this collection because he went up against Mammoth Mogul. Naugus has powerful spells of his own, but none of them are potent enough to overcome Mogul. He can still last a while and make it a close fight at the very least. I didn’t care for Ixis Naugus here, but he definitely has time to improve.

Snively was having a good ole time helping out the heroes when Eggman pays him a visit and he has to choose between working for Eggman and staying with the heroes. Let’s just say that he made the choice that I was expecting him to make. I can’t say that he’s ever been a really likable villain, but he was pretty intense in the original Sonic TV show at times. He just isn’t that much of a threat at the moment since Sonic and his friends have grown to be so powerful.

Knuckles is one of the major players in the Sonic universe so it’s always good to see him around. There is some drama between him and his father, which is very similar to Thor and Odin’s debate throughout the Marvel comics. Knuckles wants to stay and protect the Earth alongside his friends instead of leaving. Both options had their pros and cons so it definitely wasn’t a win-win situation. Knuckles looks decent in his comic at the end, but definitely not great as he was defeated rather easily. It’s all right because he took out a lot of enemies during the other comics, but I’m expecting him to pull his weight when the going gets tough.

Rouge joins the cast as she gets interrogated by the Chaotic before helping them out on a mission to gain their trust. It’s debatable as to how much this plan actually works since all of them seem very skeptical about trusting her. They do have good reasons since you can never be too sure with a government agent. Rouge definitely hasn’t lost her hand to hand training as she makes short work of Julie Su and proves why she is the better character/fighter at the moment.

Renfield Rodent is a villain who gets involved towards the end of the comic in what feels like a filler arc/issue. He can’t fight and he has to rely on technology and gimmicks to win his battles. Luckily Sonic isn’t around so Renfield only has to deal with Knuckles and the Chaotic. However, even this may prove to be too much for the rodent and he’ll have to gracefully accept defeat. He wasn’t a bad villain, but he was definitely as generic as they come.

Fiona is one of Sonic’s new pals and it’s definitely hard to trust her since there can be a lot of drama in the Sonic universe. I’m not a fan of her at the moment and she seems to be included for drama purposes. I’m afraid that real character development will defeat drama every time. As far as I can tell, she isn’t even much of a fighter. That’s no good….

Julie Su is one of the supporting characters as she’s on Knuckles’ group of fighters. Unfortunately, she’s not a great character at the moment and she’s busy picking fights with Rouge. At least Julie Su can fight and that’s always a plus in this universe or really any franchise. Hopefully she gets a solid fight in the next volume.

Scourge gets a small appearance in this volume, but it’s pretty epic for the most part. His banter with Sonic is always fun and he’s definitely a skilled fighter. His mild flirting is a little sad and drops him down the character ranks. Hopefully he will remember to put more focus on fighting next time instead of getting distracted. Sonic had the upper hand in their fight so Scourge is going to need his power up.

Sir Connery is one of the heroes and I have to say that I couldn’t really take him seriously. He’s powerful to be sure, but he just seems out of place here. He has a lot of power, but no real speed to back it up. Leaving the fighting to Sonic sounds like a good idea at this point. Maybe he will be around for the next volume.

Mecha Robotnik is a character that I’m not familiar with, but he was a good villain. He’s not the strongest robot that we’ve seen in the Sonic comics, but he can definitely hold his own when the going gets tough. He didn’t last too long, but I’d be open to seeing him appear in the video games and getting some action. Robots always have the potential for epicness.

Anonymous is a pretty big villain, but we haven’t seen what he can do just yet. So far he seems to be watching from the shadows as he manipulates the other heroes and villains to fight for him. He sounds like a really powerful villain, but I’m not going to get my hopes up too high just in case. Either way, he’s a pretty good villain so far and it’ll be interesting to see where he goes from here.

The Destructix are a group of small time villains who trouble the heroes from time to time. None of them are really that interesting and I was surprised to see them giving the heroes a tough time. (Until Sonic and Knuckles showed up) Tails was getting defeated by the speed member and then Sonic arrived with a timely spin dash. Having the blue blur back is certainly great for the heroes. I don’t mind if the Destructix appear again, but I hope that they’ll get more character or a nice power up.

Once again, the art is very good for these Sonic issues. The action scenes are well done and every scene is very colorful. There aren’t any big inconsistencies for the characters and the backgrounds were drawn nicely as well. Archie has definitely found a format that works for their Sonic comics and I definitely hope that they don’t decide to change it anytime soon.

Overall, This collection was a very good way to start off the Sonic Saga Series. The backup issues with Knuckles teaming up with the Chaotix and Sonic having to escape the cycle were pretty fun. That being said, the real action was at the beginning when the all out war between the Freedom Fighters, Ixis Naugus, and Mammoth Mogul occurred. That was pretty epic and I hope for more big battle scenes like that one. Sonic continues to have a pretty happy atmosphere while allowing for some serious battle plots to make the whole thing very exciting. I highly recommend checking out this volume as it’s Sonic The Hedgehog at his best. The cover for the next comic has Super Shadow on it so you can consider my interest to be piqued.

Overall 8/10

Sonic Universe Volume 5 The Tails Adventure Review

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Tails is definitely on a roll as this Sonic collection brings another arc where he is the main protagonist. It’s good to read this one after Sonic Select Volume 8 since you will get the references a lot quicker. It’s always a little sad to see that Sonic won’t be around, but the supporting characters do need their time to shine and this is easily one of Tails’ best appearances in the Sonic comics. His adventure is pretty solid and a fun read.

The comic starts off with Tails driving Antoine and Bunnie over to a deserted island so that they can hang out while he goes over to his workshop to have fun tinkering. Things are going smoothly until they are attacked by the Battle Armada with Bunnie and Antoine being kidnapped. Bunnie decides to pretend that she is with the villains while Tails gets his second wind and decides to take the villains down for the count. The heroes are certainly outnumbered, but Tails has learned a lot from watching Sonic fight and he’s finally ready to step into the main character role.

Tails is at least 100% better than he was in the Select comic and he was already cool there. This time, Tails plays the part of the seasoned veteran and he’s easily the best fighter from the three main characters. He gets to show off his super speed a lot more in this comic and he is able to keep up with Speedy. His plans are more well thought out and he takes control of the situation. Now he can even take on a big mech without any backup whatsoever. The heroes have given him a chance to prove himself and Tails did just that.

Antoine isn’t a bad supporting character and he’s a good actor, but he can still show glimpses of his former self. Reminding Tails of the good ole days may not be the best way to motivate him. Antoine has to rely on hand to hand combat for the majority of the collection since he didn’t bring his sword along for the ride. That being said, he still does pretty well and he manages to take out a lot of fighters. Once again, Archie has improved him a lot since the original Sonic days.

I’ve always thought that Bunnie was a solid supporting character and she’s always been a fighter. That doesn’t change in this collection and her barrier comes in handy against most of the fighters. It’s definitely not something that should be spammed and Bunnie finds this out the hard way, but it certainly helps to get them out of some sticky situations. I would have preferred for her to take a more direct role in defeating the enemies as opposed to playing along with their plan, but either way she got the job done.

Speedy is the best villain of the collection, but his design is definitely very similar to other characters like Jet and Bean. I dare say that he is stronger than Bean and possibly a match for Jet. His speed is pretty impressive and he’s around as fast as Tails. He seems like a nice guy even if his loyalty is in the wrong place. His no nonsense attitude helps the reader to take him seriously despite the colorful character design. It would definitely be good to see him appear more in the future and maybe he could be Tails’ big speed rival like Metal Sonic/Shadow is to Sonic.

The Battle Kukkku is the main villain of the comic, but I will admit that it’s hard not to mix him up with the Doctor. Both of them don’t have a whole lot of character development and they weren’t as interesting as Speedy. The Battle Kukku isn’t the most intelligent villain and he is definitely susceptible to enemy mind games and traps. The worst part is that he can’t really fight and we already have Eggman for noncombatant enemies.

One of the gimmicks for the Doctor is that nobody can pronounce his name the right way. The problem is that this results in the reader forgetting what his name is as well. I could look it up, but he’s relatively minor anyway so it’s not a really big deal. He can build robots and he’s fairly smart so he can be a threat, but definitely a mild one at best.

Archie never disappoints with the art in the Sonic comics. It fits perfectly for the fight scenes as you can really see the speed at which Tails and Speedy were fighting. Everyone looks good and the detail is nicely done. There aren’t too many details for the characters, but certainly enough so that everyone looks in character. There aren’t many comics that have consistently great art like the Sonic series.

Overall, This was another great Sonic comic to read. It’s the first volume that I’ve checked out of Sonic Universe, but I already like the concept. Getting to see the supporting characters in action is a nice twist and Tails can always use a few more comics. The villains were pretty unimaginative for the most part, but I did like Speedy. A few villains make a guest star cameo at the end of the collection, but they aren’t the coolest characters around so it’s only all right. It does set up more plot lines for the future which is always a good thing and it would be interesting to see this leader take on Speedy. We’ll see who really is the fastest! I highly recommend this comic to all Sonic fans and all comic readers. It has a nice blend of action and humor and I can’t really say that it has any negatives. It’s just a really fun comic to blast through. The only thing holding it back from an 8 is that it needed a few more fights or big characters like Sonic and Shadow. The collection is very short, but that’s not so much of a negative as it just could have been a positive with more issues. Enjoy the Adventure!

Overall 7/10

Ultimate Spider Man Volume 5 Review

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The Ultimate Spiderman comic series is back and I hope that you caught my review of the previous volume. For those of you who are unaware, this series is not just based off of the TV show of the same name, but it is the TV show. Essentially, you are reading the episodes in case you do not want to watch them. This can be a good thing if you really love the show, but otherwise….it really limits the potential of these comics. I’ve already experienced the adventures, so seeing them again may not have the same impact. Ah well, there are four stories here so they should be pretty entertaining. Short, but epic right?

One story features Thor as Loki manages to trick him into becoming a frog. This doesn’t bode well for the Prince of Asgard and he will need to turn to Spiderman and his gang for help. He had been pretty condescending towards them, but true heroes don’t hold grudges so they decide to come in and help. They may not be a match for an Asgardian, but with the right weapons..they may stand a chance.

Well, this was a decent story. Thor’s portrayal was a little too over the top as he’s the punchline for too many jokes. He also looks bad since he underestimates the mortals at the beginning. He may have been transformed into a frog, but I figured that he could still fight a little. Evidently, that was not the case. Loki is also fooled rather easily, but I suppose that it was too be expected when faced with the mighty Spiderman. Definitely not the best Spiderman adventure, but it had some fights, which is always good.

We also had a comic, which featured Venom. Shield decides that he needs to be destroyed right away, but Spiderman warns them that a human is inside. His teammates don’t care and (unsuccessfully) attempt to take Venom down for the count. Will Spiderman be able to stop his friends from seriously injuring the host while making sure that Venom doesn’t destroy them either? It’s definitely going to be a long day for the web slinger.

This was the best comic in the batch simply because we got the most amount of action compared to the other issues. Venom definitely puts up a fight so it’s nice to see how he fares against the heroes. Spiderman’s partners definitely seem outmatched, but that’s essentially in their job description. The jokes are minimal in this comic and one could almost think that they were in a dangerous situation…almost.

Next, we had a story where Wolverine and Spiderman swap bodies. This can be a little tricky for the heroes since Wolverine isn’t really a school person and Spiderman doesn’t want to have to face off against the deadly Sabretooth. Spiderman’s going to have to steel himself and prepare for the fight of his life…without his trusty Spider Sense! This is going to get epic!

The Wolverine story wasn’t my favorite and I can’t say that I cared for it in the TV show either. The idea of switching bodies is cool, but they really don’t do anything with it. They just fight a bit and switch places again. It’s very uneventful and Spiderman should still be able to fight well in Wolverine’s body. Sure, no spider sense, but he should show some courage. I expect more out of the legendary Spiderman. The insults between Spiderman and Wolverine were original, but also a little petty.

Finally, we had the issue with Doctor Octopus as he decides to fight Spiderman one on one. It’s just going to be the two of them as they fight to the death. Will Spiderman be able to beat this mastermind? Doctor Octopus has been waiting a long time for this fight so it’s bound to get dicey for Spiderman. Winning will require more than just power or dedication, it’s going to take speed!

Well, this was a decent comic. I never like when Spiderman mocks his own jokes because that’s going a little too far. Just let the jokes keep on rolling so that they can have a subtle epicness to them. Mentioning the jokes makes them seem a little forced. Doctor Octopus fought pretty well, but the victor was never in doubt. The comic didn’t really have any heart, but it was still a decent read.

There isn’t much to say about the art since it’s just screenshots from the show. The show has some great animation so it also looks pretty good on paper. The way that the panels are arranged can be a little awkward since there are a lot of blank spaces, but I suppose that it’s to be expected considering how they put the pictures in.

As mentioned earlier, the problem with this collection is that it doesn’t have a lot of heart. It can be fun to read and it’s essentially like Marvel Adventures. The problem is that the comic is guaranteed to never get all star art or fight scenes. It’s destined to stay as a fun read, but not something that you will think about afterwards. The collection is very short so it won’t be around for long either.

Portrayal wise, everyone is out of character or extremely in stereo type. Thor is a prince so he’s really proud and needs to learn about humility. Wolverine is just as mean as he is in the comics, but without any of the great lines or character development. Venom is really just there to beat up on the heroes and Spiderman just cracks jokes for the fun of it all. His teammates don’t really have character and they’re barely heroes as they didn’t care about Venom’s host at all. Nobody is completely in character in this collection and that’s basically what I had assumed from the start. Staying in character would go against the series’ tradition after all.

Overall, this is what I’ve come to expect from Ultimate Spiderman. It’s a quick read that is entertaining, but there is nothing noteworthy about it. I have a feeling that it wouldn’t be half as fun if Spiderman wasn’t in it. (This feeling is basically confirmed after watching the new Hulk show) The score is over the halfway mark, but I really couldn’t recommend this to any Marvel fans. Sure, it’s a fun read, but almost any other Spiderman comic would still be fun, but it would also be a lot better. I recommend checking out the original Spiderman comics or just going with Avengers X Sanction if you want an excellent comic where he is present.

Overall 6/10