Time for the first review from the Free Comic Book Day 2014 batch! I expected this to be the best from the comics that I obtained, but Megaman X could manage to pull out a win. This comic takes place in the future and the world has been taken over by the Eye. He’s enslaved just about all of the heroes and there are a few resistance warriors that are trying to stop this. John Stewart and Blue Beetle are among the final survivors. Meanwhile, Batman has his own plan. He needs to go into the past and stop all of this from ever happening…but will the Eye let him leave this timeline alive!?

This comic was definitely pretty good. The atmosphere is pretty grim and hope appears lost for the heroes. It’s always hard to believe that the world could be taken over like that, but that’s why they jump us into the future. This way we don’t have to see how the heroes were taken over so easily. The art is pretty great and it’s what I’ve come to expect from DC comics. The violence isn’t really over the top, but limbs are lost. The reason why it’s not very violent is because there usually isn’t a lot of blood during the scenes. It still could be tricky for younger viewers, but it’s not too bad. We get some short action scenes between the resistance and the robots, as well as some action with an older Batman. The fights should definitely be intense in this series.

This issue basically leads up to how the actual series will be. It definitely has a lot of potential and I always love to see a good time travel story. This could make an awesome trade paperback volume and I recommend checking out this issue at a comic store near you. It is in the New 52, but Batman Beyond is in it and that’s always a plus. I was also glad that Batman is the one who thought of the ultimate plan. The morals behind it are a little risky, but Batman’s trying to save lives as well. One of those moralistic questions to ponder!

Overall 8/10

Star Wars is easily one of the biggest franchises out there and I finally got around to watching the six live action films pretty recently. (Naturally I saw the animated one years ago) It was a pleasant surprise to see the main cast back in action and Dark (Darth may be his name, but I grew up calling him Dark Vader and the name stuck) Vader is impressive as you would expect from the original trilogy. This series is off to a solid start and I always like to see expansions from the main story.

There are several plots happening at the same time in this collection. Princess Leia is told that the rebels have been infiltrated by a spy and the heroes continue to be ambushed by the Federation. In response to this, Leia handpicks a small team of comrades that she can trust so that they can work securely in their task to find a new planet for the Rebels base. Unfortunately, her team isn’t the greatest and Luke definitely isn’t helping matters. The Rebels may be at the end of their rope!

Meanwhile, Han Solo and Chewy were trying to make a deal for the Rebels, but it turns out that the seller was a traitor! Han takes him out, but the two of them are badly outnumbered. Will they really be able to get through this in one piece or are they doomed!? Meanwhile, we also get to see Dark Vader be reassigned and his replacement may turn out to be a big threat!

Luke Skywalker does not look very good in this comic. He allows Prithi to distract him far too much and he abandons protocol. I’m all for abandoning protocol if needed, but he just did it so that he could disintegrate as a character. By association, I also do not like Prithi in this comic. Did she join to fight or flirt? Both of them were definitely irresponsible and it would have been nice if Leia had kicked them off the team. The trend of disliking Luke Skywalker whenever he appears continues…

Princess Leia is much better as she actually gets to fight and she never jeopardizes the mission. She is definitely a little on the shady side since she’s willing to do whatever it takes in order to secure the win against the Republic. She does manage to defeat an alien during a one on one battle, which was pretty cool. Unfortunately, her security protocols were not tight enough and the traitor continues to gain ground. She’s going to be out of the picture for a while and we’ll see how that affects volume 2!

Dark Vader is easily the best character in the comic. This is how he was meant to be portrayed! I would have liked for him to take out the Emperor, but the author can’t go that far since it would completely destroy the continuity. Aside from that inconvenience, Dark Vader definitely makes his presence known. Not only does he take out the opponent who tried to defy him, but he also gets an epic minicomic at the end that shows why he’s so great. Dark Vader is a villain that others to aspire to be like.

I give Han Solo credit for the fact that he’s always ready with a pun or a wisecrack. While I will never be able to seriously believe that someone will still be cracking jokes in the face of certain death; it’s still fun to see. Solo may forever regret that he couldn’t grab the wine, but at least he escaped. It’s easy to root for Han in this collection. Chewy obviously gets some great lines, but we’ll never know what they were. Chewy panics a lot more than Han Solo and he seems inexperienced in comparison, but he’s still a nice ally to have around. His appearances just aren’t the same without his trademark roar.

Colonel Bircher is one of the new villains for this collection and it seems like he will be a recurring villain in the series. I definitely don’t mind since he’s a pretty good opponent for the heroes. He may not wield The Force, but he is a master tactician. If his men had only listened to him, they may have made it through this situation in one piece. Bircher is a serious army veteran and he’s the type of character that you can root for in a fight. His armor is also pretty cool looking.

Wedge gets a lot of hype since he may be the best pilot that the Rebels have. Since I do not recognize the name, I’m definitely suspicious of his motives. If anyone’s the traitor…it would make sense that its him. He’s about as shady as a person can get, but that’s just because of the plot. Otherwise, he’s actually a pretty likable character. If he manages to stay as a hero, then he’s definitely up there with the high tier Star Wars characters. He can’t use the Force…but you can’t win them all.

The art is pretty good for the comic. I wouldn’t say that it’s amazing, but most of the character designs are spot on and the lightsabers still look really cool. Things may get a little dicey when the characters are in their spacesuits and I think that the artist may need to work on that. That’s my only gripe with the art and the rest is definitely solid enough to help make the collection fun.

Overall, this series is off to a great start. It’s pretty modern and volume two isn’t even out yet so this series may last until the film comes out. I can’t wait to see Bircher take down Luke Skywalker and I want to see if I’m right about Wedge being the traitor. None of the plots have ended yet and if they go the Transformers route, we’ll have even more subplots in the next volume. I recommend this to all Star Wars fans and even if you’ve never heard of the franchise (……it could happen) you would still enjoy this comic. It’s a fun space adventure and I’m hoping that Guardians of the Galaxy will use this style for the film.

Overall 7/10

Seeing as how this is year is Batman’s 75th Anniversary; it makes sense to check out an old Batman comic. The Brave and the Bold concept is pretty great and I’m always up for a good team up. Batman’s had several of these series over the years and they’ve all been pretty good. There are six comics in the collection and it’s time to see if they were all winners!

The first comic was easily the best one of the batch and that’s definitely a nice way to start the collection. The Phantom Stranger has brought all of the Robins together so that they can save Batman. Batman has been shot and the injury appears to be fatal. Can the Robins find a way to put aside their differences and save the Caped Crusader before all is lost!?

This comic was very fun since all of the Robins got to interact. Who wouldn’t want to see these guys take a swing at each other? Unfortunately they don’t get to fight, but we do get to see them team up. I’m not a huge fan of Nightwing’s costume in this one, but the character was portrayed correctly. Tim Drake and Jason Todd were my favorite Robins in this adventure. Todd even got some free foreshadowing about what would happen to him, but luckily he didn’t piece it together. The plot isn’t very convincing since the Phantom Stranger could have summoned anyone to help, but maybe he just wanted to teach the Robins some teamwork. We get some cameos from a few other heroes at the end, which could have made for a nice adventure as well. The comic also gets some extra points for giving Batman a nice amount of willpower when the going got tough.

The second comic had a Christmas theme and it involved the Ragman. There weren’t any big criminals in this comic, but the Ragman isn’t very happy. In his neighborhood, the people have fallen into tough times and everyone is pretty poor. He can stop the hoodlums from causing trouble, but he can’t give them any money. He lets Batman know about his troubles, but then they realize that the hoodlums may have a boss. It could be time for Batman to show why he’s one of the legendary heroes!

This comic was decently good. It’s supposed to be an emotional comic and emotional stories aren’t as fun as action packed ones. That being said, the Ragman is a better character than I would have thought. He’s basically a second rate Batman, but he’s still a fun hero to root for. He is definitely not that optimistic, but by the end of the comic he remembers why its good to be cheerful. Batman made the right call at the end of the issue and it’s something that you would expect from the Caped Crusader.

The third comic featured Mr Miracle as he becomes trapped along with Batman. They don’t know how they’ve been trapped, but they need to get out as fast as they can. There are numerous traps and they will not only test how physically capable the heroes are, but it will also test how long their minds can hold out against the strain!

I liked the twist at the end of the comic and it was cool to see the heroes try to dodge all of the traps. They squeeze in a pretty big villain at the end of the issue, which makes for a pretty unbelievable ending. However, Mr Miracle is around and he does have that name for a reason. They give him a lot of hype and while I believe that Batman is even better at escaping traps; Mr Miracle can be a decent character as well. He has a little too much fun through the danger parts and that’s something that I can never really find believable, but it’s good to know that he enjoys his job. Batman is naturally the one who suspects that something is up and we also get to see how durable he is.

Every comic collection needs to have one comic that drags down the rest and this is what the fourth comic does. Batmite decides that he needs to have someone that’s more important than a friend to him, but Batman isn’t sure that this is a wise idea. Will Batmite learn that romance is not quite as intense as it appears or will Batman have to take him down!?

There’s not much to say about this comic. Batmite was as unlikable as ever and the comic just wasn’t funny. Romance doesn’t make for a great plot in a comedy adventure like this one and Batman didn’t look so good. He let Batmite verbally defeat him in each of their battles. If only Batmite would learn once and for all that Batman is a great hero who does not need any help. You may just want to skip this comic.

The fifth comic had the biggest guest star. Wally West is in town and he’s determined to prove to Batman that he’s a capable hero. He even takes a shot at the Teen Titans, but Batman lets it slide. When there’s a robbery in the city, Flash decides to challenge Batman to a contest. The winner will find the culprit, stop him, and recover the jewels first. Batman never resists a good challenge so the fight is on!

The plot for the comic was pretty good and I’m always up for a race. Wally may have been a little desperate to beat Batman, but it’s okay since this isn’t Barry Allen. With Flash’s super speed it could even be a little believable that he could find the culprit before Batman. It’s a best of three battle, but I can assure you that we don’t get the usual cop out. They don’t tie in the final round and that would have been sad. We do get a big twist at the end of the comic, but it actually helped the ending and everything suddenly made a lot of sense. Batman is definitely a team player and this comic reminds us of that.

The final comic shows how tough a week can be for someone like Batman. He’s needed by many other superheroes and he’ll be facing some of the toughest villains around. Can Batman really match up against this onslaught of villains? Well, Batman definitely has the last laugh when the comic ends and this is also one of the better ones in the collection.

This issue was basically a montage as we get 2 pages for every day of Batman’s week. One day he’s fighting Mongul and the next he’s dealing with Jonah Hex in the past. Batman’s a busy guy so I’m sure that you’re not surprised to see him taking on all of these threats. As fun as the comic was, the ending is what really made it stand out. One guy asks Batman if he really needs everyone’s help all of the time and Batman quickly clears things up. “They need my help!” is basically Batman’s response and it does ring true. Whenever a situation arises, the heroes tend to run to Batman for help. Who else could they trust to save the world?

Batman appears in each of the comics and they do a good job of making him into a likable character. Batman has several different personalities as you go through the eras and this one focuses on his happy personality from the old days. I love this take on Batman since we don’t get it so often. Seeing Batman crack a few puns can get you a little more interested in who he’s actually fighting. Batman looked incredible in all of the good comics in this batch so I really don’t have any complaints about how he was handled. He’s Batman…and that’s all that needs to be said.

The art is pretty good and it’s easy to read. The artist definitely styled it after the TV show and it works for these comics. I wouldn’t say that the art is very high tier, but it’s good enough to be called a very good piece of art. In a way, it may remind you of the art from the 80’s or 70’s and that was a solid era.

Overall, this is a pretty fun collection of comics. It is pretty short so you don’t want to pay a high price for this trade paperback, but it’s worth a standard price. From the 6 comics, all of them were pretty good except for the Batmite one. The comics have a nice mix of action and comedy with Batman getting all of the best punchlines. I’ve always loved Batman’s portrayal in these stories and it’s easy to see why he’s so popular. If you haven’t already read these comics…..I recommend changing that now!

Overall 7/10

This collection brings together the final comics of the XForce series. We get to see how each character handles the aftermath of the epic climax that all of the civilians have forgotten. They are scattered now, but they are still ready to deal with whatever comes next. It’s a decent collection and it’s especially intriguing if this is your first XForce comic. At least I can now approach this volume as a member of the general audience!

The first comic deals with Layla Miller and Madrox. Unfortunately, Madox has been turned into a demon and he can’t really talk anymore. He seems to be losing his mind and things aren’t looking so good. Things get worse when a kid steals Madrox and gets someone to help him in using the Dark Arts to bring his mother back to life. Layla must stop these two before Madrox does something that he may regret!

The first comic was all right, but there didn’t seem to be much of a point. The kid brought his mother back, but it was a pretty iffy deal as things didn’t go according to plan. Did Madrox do what he did on purpose to take revenge on the kid? I don’t know and I won’t really give it much more thought.

The next comic involves John Maddox and Wolfsbane. John is attacked from a couple of thugs with guns and they quickly take out most of the congregation in the church. Wolfsbane grabs the gun and stops them before leaving. After having a talk with Wolfsbane, John learns why she has gone over the edge. It’s been a rough trip for her and it’s all thanks to Strong Guy…or at least part of it is thanks to him. John needs to help her get over her troubles and learn that life can be fun again.

Again, this was a decent comic, but it doesn’t have much going for it. John admits that he didn’t care too much when the innocents were destroyed and it makes me doubt him as a character. Wolfsbane was all right as well, but it’s too bad that she went crazy. By the end, it seems like she’ll be back to normal.

This next comic was definitely the most convoluted and I can’t say that it succeeded. Rictor is stuck in a gladitorial arena and he’s forced to beat up whoever he fights. One day, he ends up going against Shatterstar and the latter doesn’t recognize him. Something is definitely wrong, but things get even dicier once the resistance arrives and rescues them. Longshot is part of the team and he also doesn’t know Rictor. It is explained that Rictor is in the past and they don’t know him yet so then they go into a time chamber and get to witness one of the heroes being born. Longshot explains how he’s actually his own father and son and a lot of other plot twists that do nothing except make the story more confusing. This story didn’t really have a plot and it didn’t really have an ending. You’re left shaking your head and just hoping that the next comic is a little more intense.

Quicksilver appears in the next comic, which should make things interesting or completely wreck things. Polaris goes to a bar to drink as much as she can and eventually the bartender tells her to stop. After she proves her power to him, the cops arrive. Unfortunately for them, the cops are quickly blown away and Quicksilver is forced to join the fray. He’s here to take Polaris in and hopes that she’ll come quietly. Polaris decides that now is a good time to take Quicksilver down and they engage in a fight.

This was easily the best comic of the batch and it’s always nice to see a hero vs hero match. Quicksilver has speed on his side so I wasn’t doubting his victory for a second, but it still made for an interesting battle. The bartender was also pretty brave given the circumstances and it’s hard not to like him as a character. He knew the score and he even tried to warn the cops when they went up against Polaris.

Next up was a comic which mainly featured Darwin. He’s mad about what Hela did to him and he wants to find her so that he can become normal again. We are left to assume that she gave him the powers that lets himself turn to jello and other things to survive. It’s actually a pretty useful power, but maybe it has some drawbacks. After Darwin takes out some thugs he meets up with M and they talk about the good ole days.

Well, this definitely wasn’t the best comic of the batch. M and Darwin meet up for a few minutes and quickly decide to be more than friends. That’s comic book life for you! It’s pretty sad and it’s hard to take Darwin’s complaints about his powers seriously. So far, I don’t see any negatives to it and it may as well be an improvement.

Finally, we get to go back and see Layla and Madrox again as they conclude their story arcs. Layla is threatened by one of those hardcore Marvel cosmic entities that we come across once in a while. He explains that he is being destroyed, but before he completely leaves, he’s going to try and make Layla’s future miserable. He quickly blows up, but that sends the cops scrambling and they attack Layla. Layla has a high tech forcefield, but these guys have a large cannon that is extremely powerful. Madrox is going to have to step in, but will it be as a demon…or as a man!?

That comic was one of the more interesting ones and I’d say that it was the second best. It’s always nice to see cosmic entities admit that they’re doomed and we did get a decent action scene. In the end, Madrox decides that it’s time to not save the world anymore and they’ll leave it to the other teams. It may not be the most heroic thing to say, but there are hundreds of heroes already protecting Earth, so maybe they don’t need an extra two.

The art was decent for this collection. It’s definitely not quite as good as the Magik miniseries that I just finished reviewing, but it was all right. The art is definitely a lot more modern, but some of the facial expressions will make you grin or cringe. Hopefully grin because the characters are usually grinning in those panels. The fight scenes look pretty good although we don’t get many opportunities to witness them.

So, this collection was decent. The main drawback is that most of the stories didn’t have much of a plot. It’s expected since this is the aftermath of a big event, but you would expect something a little more epic from the final issues. This series ran for over 250 comics and now I can proudly say that I read the final ones. It’s not a bad ending to the series and fans should be okay with it. I may have enjoyed the comics more if I was familiar with the characters, but that probably wouldn’t have helped a whole lot.

Madrox is a demon for most of his screentime so I didn’t get to see him that much. As a demon, he was pretty shady and he could barely control himself. So far, I can’t really say that I’m a fan of him. Layla is a much better character and she does her best to get through this tough time. It’s rough since the cops aren’t very understanding, but she can get past that. Her barrier is pretty cool and it would be nice to see how it stacks up to some real villains.

Rictor, Longshot, and Shatterstar are hard to talk about since its so convoluted. Shatterstar is basically a clone of the real Shatterstar and Longshot is a figment of their imagination that was produced from a clone of Shatterstar and turned into him. I had to facepalm at all the twists that were happening and the cherry on top was this guy who claims to have created all life on Earth. This guy is apparently a god and I cringed as he talked about creating an army to defeat Mojo. If this guy is so great then Mojo shouldn’t scare him! The base is pretty understaffed as well and Mojo breaks in pretty easily. I can’t say that I like any of the characters in this comic. I want the real deals…let’s forget the clones!

Polaris isn’t at her best in this comic since she just wants to drink as much beer as she can. She also decides to beat up Quicksilver for the fun of it and gets into a fight. She’s a tough fighter even when she’s had too much to drink, but drinking never solves anything. At least she didn’t do anything crazy, but she did take a chance and nearly destroyed Quicksilver. Quicksilver promised to pay for the damages that she caused, but the Avengers won’t be too happy about that. Quicksilver is actually a decent character in this comic…even if he overreacts when Polaris attacks him. She was obviously not in her right mind at the time.

John isn’t really a great character in this collection. He’s not in the best mood to be preaching and he seems to be fake. He doesn’t care when the villains come in and start firing. That immediately meant that I wouldn’t be rooting for him as a character. Wolfsbane was all right at best, but I didn’t really care for her either. She had a pretty sad story coming in, but she didn’t handle it very well. It’s good that she stopped the crooks but I don’t know…I still couldn’t find myself rooting for her.

M seemed to be an all right character at first. She looked around until she could find the X Factor members and she seems to have escaped death. Unfortunately, she meets Darwin and things go downhill. I don’t like Darwin either as he seems to have a “cup is half empty” view on life. He’s basically a downer as far as heroes go.

One problem with the collection is the fact that most of the characters are unlikable. Even if there had been a lot of action, it’s possible that it wouldn’t have saved the comic. It’s like how the Runaways could never become great since I didn’t like the members involved. Characters are key and when the portrayals are unlikable…then it’s game over. The comic didn’t really have any big negatives but it didn’t really have any positives. That is actually the main problem that the collection has aside from the characters.

I hate to say it, but one way to save that would have been to add in some guest stars. Mojo and Spiral were a start and the magician at the end seemed like she had potential. If the collection had thrown in the Avengers then that could have given the comics a pretty big boost. Guest stars are a last resort to get attention but sometimes a comic has to take that chance. It’s an easy way to earn points and this is one of those times where the points are really necessary.

Overall, this wasn’t a bad collection of comics, but it wasn’t very good either. We didn’t really get a sense of danger in any of the comics and we only got a handful of fights. The Rictor story involved too many time loops and the twists are unneeded. Give Longshot a better origin story and then things will be looking up. This is a decent comic to pick up, but it’s not very interesting. Considering that these are the final issues of the series, you can maybe cut it some slack. Instead, I recommend checking out the New 52 Justice League #1. It’s supposed to be pretty intense!

Overall 5/10

Time for another Xmen related review to keep the hype going for the new film! This one actually does deal with time travel, but I have to admit that I had not counted on that bonus. This collection brings 5 comics, 4 of which are the complete Magik series. Unfortunately, this was before Magik became the epic hero that she is today…(or was)

The first comic starts off in a pretty intense way as the X-Men are thrown into Limbo to save Magik. They had been having a pretty good day, but Magik seemed to go into a trance. Shadowcat quickly followed her, but they were both brought to Limbo. Once the other Xmen arrived, the battle for their lives began! The Xmen had to fight and keep on fighting Belasco and S’ym. Unfortunately, the two villains had homefield advantage and Belasco is basically immortal. Things do not go very well for the heroes and the ending is pretty tragic.

The final four comics of the collection are about Magik and the 7 years that were taken from her in during the ending of the first comic. She was brought back to Limbo and things went from bad to worse as she slowly started to turn to the dark side. The heroes were basically shattered and nobody would be coming to help. Magik would have to learn to channel her powerful abilities and defeat Belasco once and for all. An elderly Storm and a changed Shadowcat are her only allies in this cruel world.

Well, I have to say, you can hardly blame the Xmen for being so mad at their predicament. It really bites to be a mutant and the comics continue to prove it. If you’re not being destroyed for the 10th time or being hated by humanity, then you’re probably getting beaten up on by a villain. Unlike the Avengers and FF, most superheroes won’t be coming to your aid. For whatever reason, The Avengers, Spiderman, and Fantastic Four never seem to be in the area when the Xmen are in trouble. I’m sure that it’s just coincidence but it doesn’t make it any better for the mutants.

This collection will be pretty frustrating if you don’t like it when the villains get away with everything. As with Sword Art Online and any decent slasher film, it’s hard to really leave the collection on a happy note. Magik finds a way to get back to Earth and master her abilities, but it’s almost too late. She was forced to compromise her ideals and destroy both of her friends. Not a very bright outcome for her.

Things were pretty bad for the Xmen as well. All of them were either destroyed or corrupted to the dark side. The comic felt like the Mutant Massacre arc as the Xmen are completely overwhelmed and they know that they don’t stand a chance. Even Wolverine admits that he wouldn’t want to face off against S’ym again and he actually recommends that they retreat even if it means leaving the older Storm stranded and forced to face off with the villains on her own. It was a little uncharacteristic of him, but it shows how terrified Wolverine was. This was something that he had definitely not been expecting.

The comic also falls into one of the big holes. Animal violence! It’s been a while since I’ve had to deduct points for that, but this comic decided to go all the way. It’s always sad to see those innocent creatures go down for the count just because someone wants to prove a point. It was definitely not needed as we already understand that this is a very grim world. If only Cyclops had been around to help…alas, he is apparently having troubles of his own and he did not answer his communicator.

Magik is basically the main character of this series and she goes through a lot. You really feel bad for her since nobody is really there to help at times. She must learn how to make it in this world on her own and the odds are definitely not in her favor. The darkness does tempt her on several occasions, but temptation is something that everyone goes through. The important part is that she ultimately makes the right call and she doesn’t murder the villain when she gets the chance. That definitely wins her points in my book and she can be labeled as a true hero. She made mistakes as she lived through these adventures, but she is trying to correct them. I doubt that many other heroes would have been able to survive in her stead.

Wolverine is still one of the best Xmen in this collection. He may get intimidated at the end, but he definitely has a good reason. S’ym is completely out of his league and Wolverine knows that to fight would only be to die. I’m confident that he would have made the sacrifice needed if he could get the team out. That’s why I was conflicted about him deciding to go on without Storm, but she didn’t want to go with them and attempting to force her along would have only led them all to their doom. It’s rare to see Wolverine completely overpowered by an opponent, but it just showed how high the stakes were.

Colossus is also faced with defeat and even death as he faces S’ym. Due to the fact that they are traveling through time, there are two versions of each character that enter Limbo. The first team was eradicated for the most part and Colossus was personally destroyed by S’ym. The same thing nearly happens to the current version of him, but the timely intervention of Storm and Wolverine saves him. It’s pretty sad for Colossus because he was unable to help Magik, but he definitely gave it his all in the mission. At the end, he considers leaving the Xmen and nobody can really blame him.

Storm has it pretty rough and her adventure may have been as bad as Magik’s. She was unable to escape with the others and she was forced to become Belasco’s minion. She learned the dark magic powers, but they also allowed her to call back the Xmen and help Magik. Naturally, this also meant that we got two versions of Storm. The other version did her best as well, but she got a much smaller role.

Nightcrawler is also with the gang and he does pretty well as he takes on his other form. The other Nightcrawler was turned to the darkness and after their fight…only one would stand. The evil Nightcrawler is pretty fierce and he plays a pretty large role in this arc. In the end, Shadowcat and Magik have to team up against him.

Shadowcat is the third Xmen to have a very difficult time. The original Shadowcat managed to escape to Earth, but the other one wasn’t so lucky and she was changed into a cat creature. She is very adept as using a sword, but Belasco is basically limitless in his own domain and he has absolute control over the situation. Things don’t go well for Shadowcat and her ending is pretty tragic.

Belasco is the main villain of the collection and his powers are very impressive. This is the type of villain that you would expect to fight Dr Strange and not the Xmen. Dr Strange would likely crush Belasco, but the Xmen are not well equipped to deal with sorcery at the moment. Adding to this the fact that Belasco is on his hometurf and the Xmen are completely out of their league. Belasco basically toys with the heroes for the majority of the series and everyone is basically powerless to stop him. He’s the type of villain that you quickly dislike and you really wish that someone powerful would show up to take him down.

S’ym works for Belasco and his physical power is incredible. He proved to be vastly superior to Colossus in super strength and he was powerful enough to rip off Wolverine’s adamantium claw. He really makes things tough on the Xmen in the first comic and he continues to return and make everyone struggle. I definitely didn’t expect to see such a powerful enemy in this collection and it just goes to show why it’s tough to be an Xman.

The art is very good for the collection and it’ll definitely remind you of the good ole days for Marvel. It’s basically at the borderline before “old” art and the newer looks that we get. It really feels like the 90’s Xmen show in its appearance and that’s to be expected. Things get very grim during the second half of the comic, but the art is still pretty cheerful. You would think that this wouldn’t be a good thing, but it makes you really focus on the dialogue.

One other negative would be the fanservice. It’s not extreme and this isn’t a very recent comic so they are careful to keep it safe. That being said, there’s really no reason for it and Storm just likes to become one with nature for no real reason. It’s really just there to be there and that’s always going to shave off some enjoyment.

Overall, this is definitely not an Xmen comic that I would recommend. It is great to see Magik defy the darkness and it makes for a good moral, but the journey was just too much. The first comic was pretty dark as well, but the action helped to balance it out and they escaped with a relatively happy ending. It was scary for the heroes, but in more of a horror way. Unfortunately, whatever bits of the ending that could be called happy are basically destroyed by the miniseries at the end. Belasco essentially wins as he murdered quite a few of the heroes and broke several others. Magik will never be the same after her experience in Limbo and the heroes never really found out about what happened to her. It’s easy to see how she became so messed up in the recent comics. The comic is just pretty dark and depressing by the end and you really hope that Magik quits the Xmen and joins the Avengers. Aside from that, the animal violence and fanservice don’t really help matters. If you want an epic Xmen comic, check out the X-Sanction miniseries. That one was pretty epic!

Overall 4/10

The Defenders have always been a dicey group since their rosters never seem to stick around for very long. Members come and go faster than you can order a fresh slice of pizza at your local cafe. This is the 7th volume of the bundles that bring plenty of Defender comics and pretty much all of the original members have left. The roster may be different, but the Defenders are still needed to handle threats that no other Superhero group can be bothered with. Their skills know no bounds and they do have experience. Was the Defenders as fun as the last few Essentials? No, but it’s still worth a read. Let’s talk about why that’s the case!

The plots for most of the comics are different with a few of the storylines connecting through a few comics. The team’s first big threat is a government official who turns into a giant man who wants to destroy them. He doesn’t like superheroes and he knows that destroying them will make the world a better place. He’s not really a threat to people as powerful as the Defenders, which is why I had to wince during most of the fight. This shouldn’t even be a fight!

Next up, we had some robots who attacked the mansion and also kidnapped Cloud. The Defenders had never been so humiliated in their life! This also came at a tricky moment for the group since they had been having a lot of doubts. The team decides that they will go after her and win this time! There’s also a tricky moment when Professor Power takes Dolly as a hostage, but that is why we have someone with telepathy! Unfortunately, the Defenders are soon captured and forced to fight against the New mutants! The New Mutants don’t really have a chance against these experienced veterans. How will they be able to survive such a fight!?

The series started to reach its peak when the Defenders decided to help two secret agents stop a drug trade. The actual threat was minimal and there wasn’t a real sense of danger. The reason why the comic was cool was because they hinted at the threat of Manslaughter and because the two detectives were pretty epic. Their names were Cutlass and Typhoon and they were pretty epic. These characters were very experienced and they knew what to do to win. Cutlass was constantly mocking the heroes and the Defenders could never stop him. He’s just too bold and too experienced. They didn’t want to dare and cross this guy!

After the events had unfolded, Manslaughter was hired to destroy the Defenders and it was easily the best comic of the batch. Beast wasn’t home when Manslaughter had started the threats so they quickly brought him up to speed. This guy never left a psychic presence and he was very fast. Defeating this guy may prove to be difficult or even impossible! The Beast is skeptical, but they all prepare for a deadly battle. After all, this guy doesn’t take prisoners!

After that, we get some one shot comics. A magician takes control of the Gargoyle and forced him to destroy and destroy! There’s a man who is impervious to fire and he decides to burn things to the ground and the Defenders are forced to step in. The final comic deals with the gravest threat yet as a group of trolls attack the Defenders and the heroes are quickly overrun.

The moral in the final comic is definitely sketchy and I can’t say that I agreed with it. Moondragon had to prove her humility by resisting the urge to help her friends. The only way to save them would have been to take off her headband and regain her true powers. Sure, it’s against Odin’s divine order, but it would save her friends. Jaden Yuki showed his courage when he said that he would become a devil in order to save his friends and he did just that. For Jaden, saving his friends was worth it no matter what the cost to himself. This sacrifice would not be nearly as large and she has proven herself time and time again to be a hero. The heroes got saved anyway through a nice degree of plot hax and sudden plot twists, but I don’t agree with Moondragon’s decision to stay her hand. It worked since she is now back to full power, but Odin continues to confuse everyone and make them commit to choices that may not have been the right ones.

The Iceman miniseries was definitely a lot different from what you may expect. He goes back to his hometown for his father’s party, but things get dicey when he finds out that he’s next door neighbors with a group of people that he’s never seen before. A group of sinister individuals attack him while he’s hanging out with one of the neighbors and the villains announce that she is a part of Oblivion. Iceman must embark on a very trippy adventure where he has to fight a being who is all powerful. The girl also has powers beyond his comprehension and he doesn’t take everything in stride. I just didn’t like this miniseries. Iceman wasn’t a good main character and the resolution to the whole thing was definitely sketchy. I don’t think that Iceman made the right move this time.

The Beast miniseries was much worse as the Beast decided to go to hollywood. He sees the Dazzler, but then she is taken to an underground arena where they trick her into thinking that she’s a star. Eventually, they decide to stop tricking her and just force her into fighting others in the arena. She believes that the people aren’t dying and doesn’t believe the truth despite the obvious signs and the fact that someone dies in front of her. The Beast must try to show her that being a mutant isn’t that bad and all stars must go out at some point. The whole tale was just really boring and Dazzler just wasn’t a good character. How these guys get away with all of that in Hollywood while an Avenger is there is just beyond me. Why didn’t Beast summon the proper authorities to arrest those guys? It definitely would have been the right call. I’m just glad that the other members didn’t get any miniseries to themselves!

Iceman has mutant abilities that far outstrip those of the average superhero. That being said, this is probably the worst version of him that I have ever seen. The problem is that he can’t seem to think about anyone other than Moondragon. It’s not as bad as Angel given the circumstances, but it’s still pretty bad. He needs to learn to just keep his focus on the mission at hand and not fall into such distracting thoughts. Power wise, he seems to be a little more of a joke than usual. I prefer when he’s given some credit like in the original comics. After reading his fight against Spiderman, (Okay, I read that fight after I read the comic, but it had the same effect) one could tell that his character development went out the window.

I can’t say that he looked much better in his miniseries either. Oblivion has split and now there was a girl who had some of his essence in her, but she did not want to merge with him again. Iceman and Oblivion basically forced the decision on her and while she agreed with it in the end, it was a classic case of peer pressure. Not the best way to show that he’s a hero eh? He realized the true value of friendship and got along with his parents in the end…after completely wrecking his father’s party. He was also responsible for a cookie shortage in the party, but that’s another story. This just wasn’t the accurate portrayal of Iceman that I was looking for.

The Beast is all right, but he’s not at his best. I like when Beast basically mocks all who stand in his way by using extremely large word and making puns. He doesn’t really do that much anymore, but he still gets to talk a pretty good game. He always gives Moondragon a good time and he’s also pretty edge with Leap Frog. He’s apparently nervous when on a stage and he nearly gives up on Dazzler. These comics were pretty trying for him and he tried to pull through. I just couldn’t get myself to root for him. There was something about his character that just kept him from being an epic person. He still beats his fellow Xmen members, so that’s a start!

Angel is a pretty bad character and he’s about as bad (If not worse than!) as Iceman. He’s always thinking about Moondragon and he can’t get his head in the game. The reason why he may be worse than Iceman is the fact that Angel already has someone that he is dating. Angel also knows this and he continues to go out on dates, but that isn’t really fair now is it? Angel needs to get over himself and try to make the team better. If Angel had been taken off of the team along with Iceman, then the series would have been better. Angel just doesn’t have the strength of character to be on the team and not enough to be a good character either.

Moondragon has joined the team, but it is not as willingly as the other members. (At first anyway) She still has the headband on that limits her abilities because of previous events. Odin has given it to her and she cannot take it off until she has showed true humility. She tries to earn the trust of the Defenders, but Iceman/Angel are a lost cause since they’re basically broken at this point. The members seem to think that she isn’t sincere or that she is subtly influencing them. The headband limits her abilities, but she can override that by enduring a lot of pain. It can be tough for her since the team tends to blow up a lot, but she also makes the situation tough on herself. It’s one of those cases where the members just aren’t on the same page. She’ll apologize and they scoff at her. Then they’ll apologize, but she’s too upset to hear it. This keeps on happening for quite a few comics. She proves herself in the end, but due to pressure…she doesn’t make the best call. It’s decent and it’s not a bad call, but she was prevented from making the best choice possible in the final comic. Odin does like to make sure that the characters have a tough time. (Ignoring that Valkyrie should have easily defeated the trolls anyway)

It is also tough for Moondragon at one point when she lets Gargoyle look into her soul. She’s positive that she is a true hero at this point, but Gargoyle refuses to help her get the headband off since it’s too dangerous. He quickly faints, but before losing consciousness, he tells the other members to beware Moondragon. Epic last lines and a definite way to get the other members to distrust Moondragon once again. He definitely did not help her case, but Moondragon continues to try. She gets the most development from the members and while she can still act pretty arrogant at times, she does continue to try to be a better person.

Valkyrie was my favorite member of the group and she seemed to be the only one that kept her previous experience from other comics. The Beast has been on several groups and Angel/Iceman should also have a lot of battle experience. The problem is that they all don’t act like experienced veterans. Luckily, Valkyrie does, but she seems to have had a decrease in power. She seems to be surprised when the enemies are able to defeat her, but then she looks to be at her full power in other comics. Her power levels seemed to fluctuate a lot so maybe it’s some kind of subplot. Her Dragonslayer sword is pretty impressive and she’s usually the first member to react to trouble. It’s definitely good for the team that she was around since Valkyrie seems to be their only heavy hitter.

Cloud is a bit of an interesting character. She starts out as a girl, but then realizes that with her cloud powers she can also be a guy. That’s why it’s always tricky to be a shapeshifter. When you first realize that you have powers, you have to consider the possibilities. What if you shifted into the other gender while you were a baby? Powers usually don’t develop for a while, but it is possible. What if Cloud has been living a lie? That being said, I’m pretty sure that Cloud was originally a girl, so switching was pretty weird. The team is giving her a really hard time about it so she’s still hesitant about which one to choose. Cloud isn’t really a likable character and while her powers are very lethal, she’s just not someone that you can really root for. Of course, that goes for most of the members on the team.

Dazzler is even worse than Cloud because she has never looked so bad. She appeared during the Beast miniseries and I was shocked by how much she’d changed. During the 90’s show, Dazzler may not have been much of a fighter, but she was still a hero. In the miniseries, Dazzler is taken to an underground arena where people beat each other up. The rest of the plot I have already mentioned, but the point is…why didn’t she just leave? She didn’t want to feel like an outsider, but that was all that she was doing. Going into the ring and beating up people for the audience is about as low as it can get. There were a lot of times where she began to enjoy the rush and it showed that she is easily corruptible. That was definitely not a flattering appearance for her and I can only hope that she looks better in future appearances.

The Walrus has a very tragic back story and he underwent many experiments. Eventually, they succeeded and he was empowered with the proportional strength of a Walrus! He’s a lot stronger than you may suspect and he effortlessly takes down the Angel, Beast, and Iceman. He’s just so much stronger than them that it isn’t even funny. He proves his superiority as he continues to make them look bad in front of a large crowd. He’s a very sympathetic person and I was rooting for him during the entire fight. He may be the only super villain that can really match up against Spiderman! The proportional strength of a Walrus is no joke after all!

Leap Frog is a deadly character who is always underestimated. He was actually pretty cool and it was up to him to save the day! He wanted to join the Defenders, so he crashed the Beast’s big speech and proved that he could keep up with him athletically. After the Walrus proceeded to dismantle the entire team, Leap Frog quickly stepped in to set things straight. He’s actually a decent fighter and I hope that he appears more in the future issues. He definitely got the shaft in this collection, which was a little disappointing. He’s definitely a hero that you can root for and he quickly became the best guest star in the comic. At least….the best guest hero! (The Walrus is just as epic!)

Gargoyle is one of the Defenders, but he does not fight as often as the other members. He’s actually a really old person, but thanks to this demon form that he now possesses…he’s in the prime of his youth! His abilities can be pretty fearsome in battle, but he has not learned how to wield them all at the moment. A sorcerer took control of him and forced him to unlock some of his abilities, but he could not get them back under control when he became a hero again. He’s definitely a lot stronger than he looks, but he’s not as eager to do battle as the rest of the cast. He’s a good character, but he can be a little trying at times. If he has such power, then he should use it to save his friends!

Candy is Angel’s friend and she has a lot of connections with the cops and the government when needed. She’s bailed the heroes out a few times and finally got to see a reward for her efforts as she became the leader of the Defenders. It was a pretty intense moment for her, but she took the news pretty well. She doesn’t get a huge role in the comics, but she was a decent character. It would be nice if she obtained powers, but not everyone needs powers to be cool!

Dolly is the Defenders version of Jarvis and she can be pretty quick on the draw. The villains don’t really seem to faze her and she takes the whole thing in stride. She made friends with Gargoyle and they both tried to cope with how intense the modern world had become. Dolly makes sure to remind the Defenders that they usually don’t make sensible decisions, but she did agree on their choice for the leader of the group. Without Dolly, I’m sure that the comic would not have been quite as fun. It’s too bad that she didn’t attain a lot of popularity like Jarvis or Alfred.

Manslaughter is an assassin who was hired to destroy the Defenders and he was a pretty intense villain. He was able to move so quickly that he could threaten all of the characters without them even noticing his presence. He could have destroyed Iceman if he had pleased at the beginning and he had a clear shot at all of them. Unfortunately, the plot was a little too ambitious considering that Manslaughter is basically a human level threat. There’s no way that he should have been able to defeat Valkyrie. I can (almost) believe the fact that he could beat the others, but definitely not her. There is a plot twist at the end, but it doesn’t change the fact that he basically had them all at his mercy. The twist is also a little unbelievable for several characters, but at least the writers tried to make things right. Dolly also got to go head to head against Manslaughter. One could say that she won since he was tied up and she was practically mocking him. Manslaughter did get his revenge on the Defenders when the sheriff got involved and humiliated the team in front of the assassin.

The Art for the actual comics is pretty solid as expected. We’re starting to get a little more modern with these issues, but they’re still decent. The only problem with the art would be in the covers. Nearly all of the covers look downright terrible and they may make you wince. It looks like they were trying for a live action look and it just made the whole thing pretty hard to look at. This is considering that the covers were in black and white. I can’t imagine how bad they would have looked in color!

Overall, this was another solid essential collection to add to the group and while it was not quite as fun or as engaging as the previous essentials like Daredevil and Fantastic Four, it was still good. The writing was decent and they just didn’t do too well with some of the characters like Iceman and Angel. Cloud wasn’t a very endearing character either and Valkyrie was probably the only likable member. (Moondragon can be a good character, but only sometimes. It really depends on the particular comic) Still, Marvel has cranked out another good villain in the Walrus and I sense a bright future for him. I recommend this comic to the casual comic reader and while it won’t be as interesting as the big league Marvel hero comics, it’s good to learn about more characters right? It still beats reading about Longshot!

Overall 6/10

This collection deals with one of the biggest Spiderman arcs of all time. Not only was it emotionally crushing for Peter Parker, but we also got to see him unleash his full power. There aren’t many people who can even come close to stopping him when he’s unleashed. I’m sure that you may have read some of these comics in the past, but have you ever read both deaths back to back!? Time to see how the collection handles this!

The first three comics deal with Doctor Octopus as he terrorizes the city. He was thought to have perished in a giant airplane explosion that really should have wiped him out. It’s not explained how he lived through it, but I guess we’ll assume that he jumped out of the plane and all of the cameras managed to miss him. He decides that Spiderman will have to be defeated once and for all! Of course, Captain Stacy isn’t going to let that happen if he can help it! The comics are known to be pretty tragic and things can get a little dicey. That being said, it was good to see Spiderman get some action.

The next two comics involved a Corrupt Businessman who wanted more powerful and joined the election for Senator. (Or Mayor…I forgot) He vows to destroy Spiderman and he’s very racist. He basically has all of the makings of a one shot villain and he shouldn’t be a match for Spiderman. That being said…maybe he can take down Peter Parker! Iceman also guest stars for this two parter when he’s forced to confront Spiderman after the web slinger seemingly kidnaps Gwen Stacy.

The final two comics are easily some of the most iconic Spiderman comics in history. The Green Goblin has regained his memories and he wants to make Spiderman pay by kidnapping Gwen Stacy. Spiderman must race against the clock to save her, but he doesn’t realize the true danger and he’s basically taking his time as he goes up against the villain. It doesn’t help that Spiderman is currently sick and very weakened. Can he really defeat the goblin and save Gwen Stacy?

Well, the title of the collection says it all. I can try to bluff my way through the review, but it’s easier to just say Spoilers approaching as a formality before breaking the news. Captain Stacy and Gwen Stacy both die in these comics. It’s why the title is one of those spoiler crushers that makes new readers wince. It does take away a little bit of the tension since you know that they’re going to die. It should have been “Legacy of the Stacys” since it still hints at death, but isn’t as obvious. That being said, we would not have gotten such a collection if their deaths were not so famous. We’re expected to know this already and I’m sure that well over 80% of Marvel fans are already aware of what transpired.

Spiderman is the main lead of the collection and I sincerely hope that you could have guessed that from the title. This was during his braver years and he looks pretty solid for the most part. His plan to prove that he was not Peter Parker to Gwen was Terrible, but everyone makes mistakes at some point. He looks pretty good for most of the comic, but I did not agree with his fight against Doctor Octopus. I’ll go more into it during the review, but that just didn’t make sense to me. I think it’s safe to say that Doctor Octopus was a little overpowered. I also don’t understand why Parker acts so frail and weak at school, but feels that it’s all right to show off his strength while outside. He’s still in Parker form after all. It’s nice to see him talk tough to everyone that gets in his way, but that may be counter productive. I always felt that Spiderman shouldn’t worry so much about his secret identity. How could anyone figure it out anyway!? (heh)

Captain Stacy is another one of the big characters of the collection and he’s a lot smarter than you may suspect at first glance. For one thing, he was able to figure out Parker’s true identity without too much prep time. Granted that Spiderman made it pretty easy for him at times, but it’s still a good feat since the rest of the world doesn’t really seem to have a clue. His death was tragic, but he was a very good character and also a likable one. After seeing him in the comics again, I can definitely confirm that the movie wrecked his character. He wasn’t bad in the original trilogy, but in the new film….Wow! This wasn’t the Captain Stacy that I grew up with.

Gwen Stacy meets her demise as well in this collection, but at least she takes it well. She doesn’t get to appear for very long before that, but she’s a likable character as well. The author admitted that he didn’t like her because she was too perfect, but I don’t see what’s wrong with that. I can agree that perfect characters do have the potential to be “boring”, but that’s usually not the case in my experience. She definitely seems to be a lot more agreeable than her older appearances and she also beats her newer ones. She had a good run, but all good (non fighter) characters must die at some point in the comics. It was just her time.

The Green Goblin is one of the big enemies of the Spiderman collection and he was the first villain to really trigger Spiderman’s rage mode. Spiderman uses that mode a lot more often in the future, but this was really the first major occurrence. Unlike Doctor Octopus, Green Goblin seriously has no shot against a raging Spiderman. I don’t even need to mention the fact that Spiderman’s gone up against powerhouses like the Hulk and Thor. I don’t even need you to recall the time that Spiderman punched Superman off a building. Green Goblin is completely out of his league and he probably shouldn’t have started this fight. If Spiderman had not already been sick and at minimal power, the outcome would have been very different. It’s hard to think of Green Goblin as a cool villain given the circumstances and his wonky plan. He’s definitely not likable in this version and it may make the Ultimate Spiderman TV show appearances a little harder to watch.

Doctor Octopus is a skilled villain in his own right, but he was definitely a little too hyped in these comics. I don’t see why Spiderman would have so much trouble with him. He’s just one man with a couple of extra arms! The metallic attachments that he controls mentally shouldn’t pose any problem for Spiderman and his Spider Sense. His agility should be sufficient to keep Doctor Octopus guessing and he has a lifetime of battle experience at the ready. Anyway that you look at it…Doctor Octopus should be doomed. He’s an all right villain, but his plan was very flawed on all levels. Did he really think that he could get away with hijacking a plane with so many important figures on it. After that, his goal was just to destroy Spiderman. I’ve never liked Doctor Octopus and I find him to be one of Spiderman’s worst enemies.

Iceman’s appearance was definitely unexpected, but very cool. This was back during Iceman’s prime and before he lost all of his development. He is having a good time and he knows that going after Spiderman will shatter most of his future plans. That being said, he goes after Spiderman to save Gwen Stacy because he’s a hero. Iceman is one of the few opponents who was capable of giving Spiderman a good fight, but the web slinger isn’t playing around this time. Once he gets serious, it only takes him a few seconds to take Iceman down. Not for the count, but for long enough that Spiderman was able to get away. Iceman is definitely not as powerful as Spiderman, but he’s still skilled enough to take a hit and keep on coming. This was probably the best appearance for Iceman that I’ve seen in ages.

This was the end of an era for Spiderman. With both of the Stacys dead, Spiderman now realized that with great loss came great sorrow. Aunt May was now one of the last people left to protect and Spiderman would definitely do his best to keep her safe. (The Civil War ended that) Mary Jane also started appearing more and they would ultimately become friends. This was back during Parker’s good days and before he turned into the man that he is today. This was back when he had class and honor. Definitely good (and sad) times for the hero.

The Art for the comics is as solid as always. The old Spiderman comics definitely had a high level of quality and it’s something that you don’t see quite as much in nowadays. We still have a lot of great comics, but we also do have some bad ones. The art is a lot easier to make with computers and current tech, so it’s even more inexcusable to have bad artwork. This was definitely one of Marvel’s happier times.

Overall, this is a solid Spiderman collection. It’s pretty small and it’s under 200 pages, but it does bring some of Spiderman’s biggest stories. It’s definitely a little sadder than the usual Spiderman comic, but it’s still chipper for the most part. It’s only when the deaths are present, that the tone quickly shifts. J Jonah Jameson gets a subplot and Robbie helps him to see the error of his ways. The politician nearly tricked him using his anti Spiderman antics to win him over, but trying to knock off Peter Parker was his big mistake. Robbie and Jonah definitely make for an epic pair of characters and they’re both crucial parts of the Spiderman mythology. This was during a solid part of Marvel’s career and it’s a fun collection to read. I recommend it to all Marvel fans and even to fans who already read the comics when they first came out. Those comics came out a long time ago and they deserve a re read at this point. This will help you to remember how good the writing was in those days.

Overall 7/10

Avengers has had a pretty good TV history through the years. Assemble may not have been a big hit, but EMH and United They Stand were pretty good. This comic collection deals with things that happened in Avengers EMH. Interestingly enough, it is exactly how things happened in the show, so you may only want to get this one if you haven’t seen the episodes yet.

The first comic deals with Dr Doom as he attacks Avengers mansion! He also attacks the Fantastic Four and manages to kidnap Invisible Woman and Wasp. Reed Richards doesn’t approve of this and he gathers the Avengers and the Fantastic Four for their ultimate assault on Doom’s castle. Win or lose, Dr Doom will know that he’s been in a fight! There is a twist at the end and things definitely get interesting!

The next comic involves the Technovore and he attacks Tony Stark. He wants to devour the Reactor that he has near his heart, but the Avengers + War Machine are here to help. The only problem is that Aim is also around and they don’t plan on losing to the heroes. Maria Hill is also here to remind Iron Man that he should have the Avengers join SHIELD. Tony doesn’t think that this is a good idea and declines as he prepares to fight!

The third comic dealt with the Enchantress as she decided to get revenge on the Masters of Evil. Her magical abilities are very formidable and she makes short work of the first few members. Baron Zemo quickly realizes that the Avengers are his only hope and he tries to make a deal with them. They agree to help him defeat the Enchantress and also to let him go. Not a bad trade, but can they really defeat this sorceress!?

Ronan The Accuser has come to judge Earth in the following comic and his power level is pretty high. He manages to give the Avengers a pretty good fight and tells the Earth to surrender. The Avengers take the decision out of America’s hands and tell him that they do not. An epic battle begins and the humans may be more doomed than they think!

The final comic has Hank Pym as the main character and he has hired the Heroes for Hire to help him find out who stole his tech. The perpetrator is powerful and he actually manages to subdue Luke Cage and Iron Fist. It looks like Hank Pym may have to don the old suit and show the world what it means to be a true Avenger! Meanwhile, some villains like Piranha Jones may be ready to cut lose and take the heroes down!

I do have to wonder a little too the point of these comics. Since they are really just screen caps of the show, why buy them? I guess it’s good for people who refuse to watch the animated adaptions of the comics or just prefer to have it in comic format, but that’s a pretty limited audience. It also feels a little on the lazy side. Imagine if the Yugioh GX manga had just been copy and pasted images into the volumes. It just doesn’t feel right. This won’t affect the overall score, but it just doesn’t feel like they’re really being creative with this method of making the comics.

Well, the art is really good since it’s the show and everything flows together. The dialogue can feel very broken and unnatural at times, but that isn’t a huge negative. Still, it’s hard to imagine Captain America calling Black Panther…Black Panther in a normal conversation. Usually, he just says Panther or T’Challa. Of course…Captain America may not be as he seems!

Let’s just say that the stakes are high in these comics and you’re thrown right into the middle of it. The first comic should let you know that something is wrong with the Earth since the Skrulls seem to have invaded. All that I will say is that not everyone can be trusted. If you caught the earlier comics of the show, then you will know the twist. I don’t want to spoil it just in case, but it shouldn’t be a spoiler because I will assume that you didn’t skip the first three volumes to check out this one.

The characters all look pretty good in this collection. Nobody seems to be out of character, although Reed Richards should look a little more impressive. Shouldn’t he suspect the truth about the plot twist in the first issue? He should have been the first to realize this soooo…hmm. I hope that they aren’t starting to give him less respect like with what they did to Spiderman in the modern comics. That definitely wouldn’t be right!

Unfortunately, Thor has to miss out on all of the comics because he’s busy in Asgard. That’s too bad since he’s one of the main Avengers and it would have been fun to see him here. On another note, someone should realize that Cap is acting a little off. He doesn’t recognize the Thing when they meet and asks about who he is. He does the same for the villains that attack and it just makes you wonder. The Avengers must not be as quick as I thought!

Overall, this is a decent batch of comics, but I don’t see why you’d choose to read it instead of the TV show. That being said, if you didn’t know that there was a TV show and just happened to pick it up; it makes for a fun read. There are a lot of plot lines that are left open for future comics (Although it was cancelled after one more issue soo…they’ll never resolve them) and we get a pretty big cast. This is the last of the trade paperbacks for the series so I can’t say that it has much of an ending. I guess that it just feels like you’re reading a broken comic. Parts feel disjointed and I’m pretty sure that there is a major typo in the collection, but I forgot which comic has it. I recommend it to Marvel fans who haven’t seen the show, but I’d much sooner recommend that you check out the show. It’s best seen in that format and it will make a lot more sense.

Overall 7/10

Guardians of The Galaxy has gotten pretty popular lately since the movie is coming out. Right when the movie was first being speculated and only mildly confirmed, they quickly started the comic series. It definitely had a lot of potential and Iron Man was also added for good measure. Would this be the next Xmen or Avengers? (I would mention Fantastic Four, but those guys just aren’t as popular anymore)

The plot of the comic is pretty straightforward. Starlord decides to assemble a group of heroes(?) to stop whatever his father is up too. He doesn’t know exactly what that is, but it can’t be good for the Earth. The King (AKA…His Father!) arrests them, but can you really arrest such powerful combatants for long? The Guardians must now stop a fleet of alien invaders from destroying Earth. Will they be able to succeed!?

The collection of comics is pretty short so the story isn’t that large yet. There are other plots that will occur soon like Thanos and the other Raccoons that have mysteriously appeared. Those will be dealt with in future issues, but this was more to do with seeing how the team could cope with their first big threat. They did pretty well and we’ll see what Starlord has in mind for them. There’s no big threat attacking yet so they can do whatever they want. I’m hoping that they decide to go and take the fight to the council! Unfortunately, they can’t count on the other teams since the Avengers, Xmen, and Fantastic Four basically disappeared when the aliens attacked. Communications were down and I guess that none of them noticed the alien invasion…..hmmmmm. It’s not something that you’ll want to think about for too long because it won’t really help the realism factor!

Star Lord is the main character of the comic and one could argue that he’s also the leader of the team. It would be a tough argument to pull off, but maybe you would be able too. As a kid, Star Lord is definitely not likable and while he did have his “Hero” moments, you just couldn’t root for him. He didn’t get much better when he grew up either. He had a Captain Kirk type of scene and he seems to be really similar to him in other aspects. He wants to stop his father’s big plans for conquest, but does he really have what it takes to win? It’s a good thing that he has some partners to help him!

Groot is another one of the main characters and he is known for saying “I Am Groot” more times than you may expect. It seems to be the only thing that he can say, or he could just be messing with everyone. Regardless, he’s just not really my type of character. He’s all right I suppose, but it’s just hard to root for him. Being a tree means that he’s incredibly vurlnable and that is dangerous. On a ship where aliens have laser guns, he realistically shouldn’t stand a chance at staying alive. Still, he did all right in his origin story and he Is a Hero. I’m not really a fan of him, but I’ll likely root for Groot when he’s in a fight.

Rocket Raccoon is definitely one of the best members of the group. He is the fan favorite and this time I can agree with the many that like him. Rocket Raccoon does get some pretty intense lines and he makes the most out of his laser blaster. He always likes to remind people that he “murdered em” once he’s taken them down with the laser. Usually he accompanies this with a “Blam”, “Blammy”, “Blammoo”, or something like that. He reminds Tony Stark that it isn’t the armor that makes the man and he definitely does a lot of damage to the enemies. That being said, he’s a character that the writers need to thread lightly with. He’s a character that can be wrecked very easily if the wrong writers come in. (Case in point…Ultimate Spiderman!) Still, this is one Raccoon that has definitely earned his spot on the team!

Drax The Destroyer is another one of the members and he’s easily one of the worst ones. I just miss the classic Drax from the 90’s. He had a cool design/cape and he had a variety of energy attacks to go with his incredible super strength. He was also a much more likable character. Nowadays, he’s basically a gladiator with mild super strength who uses a blade to take down his foes. He just isn’t as cool as he used to be. The old Drax didn’t need weapons and he wouldn’t be defeated so easily. They hint that there is a reason why Drax is so weak in the comics, but since they haven’t explored it yet…I can’t cut Drax any slack. Perhaps he will get better in the next few comics.

Gamora is another member of the team and she has direct ties to Thanos. Thanos trained her to be the best and now she uses her talents to defeat any villain that stands in her way. Her title is “The Deadliest Woman in the World”, but there are too many powerful ones for us to really consider that. (Ms Marvel, Rogue, etc) She is decently strong and she’s great at close combat, but she lacks the overall super abilities to be included in that category. Her strength seems to be around on par with Drax’s, but nowhere near any of the powerhouses of Marvel. That being said, she has great agility and quickness, which give her an edge over the other members of the team. She had a pretty good fight in her origin story and she took out a lot of minions. She can definitely fight well, but we can’t gauge just how strong she is until a true opponent appears. For now, she is strong enough to beat the other members of the team…and that’ll have to be enough.

Iron Man is another member of the team and he joined because…he’s Iron Man! He’s wearing a new armor in this series and I can’t say that I really like it. It’s his space armor and it looks downright evil. Now, it’s not a bad design…that being said, I prefer most of his classic ones. They just looked a lot more impressive. Speaking of impressive, Iron Man’s suit doesn’t look that strong. He’s the only one to be taken out during the first fight with the Badoon. Unfortunately, they take away his armor so we don’t get to see it in action anymore. It’s actually a decently clever way to get it out of the picture.

See, if Iron Man’s armor is at least as strong as his older ones, then he’s instantly the strongest member of the team. That could be dicey because then the villains may not really be threats and that could hurt the pacing of the series. If he can speedblitz every opponent or just finish them off with a Uni Beam, then where’s the danger? Of course, I hope that they don’t do that every time a big threat occurs, because that would get old very fast. Tony Stark himself looks all right and he talks a good game, but I expect more out of him. He’s one of the original heroes so he should take this all in stride. He also takes a shot at Captain Britain which was sad for the poor hero. He was pretty good when he teamed up with Spiderman and I think that Ironman may be underestimating him!

The art for the comics is pretty good and it shows how far we’ve come in the modern days. It’s a lot easier to write comics than it used to be, but it should still be noted when the art is really good. Ignoring the origin stories, the art is very good and can hold up to anything else that we have to offer. It’s nice and streamlined and it makes everything look nice and flashy. It’s what you would expect from one of Marvel’s big series!

The comics have a fun atmosphere and it’s mostly due to Bendis’ style of writing. For better or for worse, all of his comics will have a lighthearted feel to them. You never really feel like the heroes are in danger in these comics, but that’s not really a bad thing. Ultimately, we know that the heroes will pull through so it’s okay to skip the danger part. As long as we still get a lot of action and epicness, then it’s okay. That being said, it can still be a little tough to see them talking so bravely and posturing as if they had just won a battle when they had actually lost. They seem a little too confident in themselves considering all of the close calls that they’ve had. It would be like constantly bluffing through Poker…when you never really win!

There is a council of important cosmic people who discuss important things, which was pretty fun. Frigga looked really good and she let them know what the score was. “Attacking Earth will be seen as a declaration of war against Asgard” is a pretty nice way to tell everyone that it is under their protection. Of course, the Badoon (Well, the other half of the Badoon) ignore this. I hope that Asgard retaliates and Thor will be more than happy to avenge Earth. The other cosmic beings all have their own veiled threats and plans around so we’ll see what they do as well. Of course, Infinity will probably sidetrack those plans for a while.

Overall, this was a fun start to the Guardians of the Galaxy series. I’m not sure if I like the fact that they are called Future Avengers since they are in the present and they should not be associated with The Avengers. Still, the team has always been intriguing and they were pretty solid in Avengers EMH. It’ll be fun to see where the series goes from here and hopefully Drax and Gamora get to look a little more impressive in the next issues. Gamora did pretty well in a fight, but it was mostly with skill as opposed to overall ability. I also wouldn’t mind if someone kicked Starlord off the team, we don’t need two humans in this group do we? I recommend this to comic fans and to people who like to read an adventure featuring action, aliens, and space!

Overall 7/10

This is a part of the Marvel Adventures/Marvel Universe lineup, but since the Marvel Adventures part was not on the cover, I decided not to put it in the title. Marvel Adventures is a way to see your favorite Marvel characters in a setting that is suitable for all ages. That’s all well and good, (Except that comics are supposed to be for everyone already) but they usually don’t seem to put that much effort into these. You’d be surprised at the “artwork” that goes into these comics. Still, for the most part, the Marvel Adventures are usually fun. Since Spiderman and the Avengers will be present…it should be exciting!

The first (out of 4) comics involves the Lizard. This is actually the first time that Spiderman runs into him in the series, or at least the first time that he finds out his true identity. Dr Connor’s family tells Spiderman not to hurt him and Spiderman looks for an antidote. We also have the Parker subplot where everyone mocks him and he looks really bad the whole time. It wasn’t a bad comic, but after reading about Spiderman back in his prime, you can tell that things have changed. Spiderman is a lot worse in this comic and I’ll go more into that later on. It’s a decent story and it’s fun. The art can use some help, but it could definitely be much worse!

The next comic involves The Avengers! Loki decides that the humans should pay and he frees the U Foes and The Wrecker. The Juggarnaut is also by his side, so Loki has definitely amassed a solid lineup of villains. With these villains at his side, Loki decides to attack the Avengers! The Avengers are pretty shocked about the school in the air that is about to crash and they get horrified when they realize that dozens of kids may have died. The villains quickly assure them that they made sure that the school was empty and then proceed to attack.

The Avengers are definitely holding their own, which is good. Ironman initially has some trouble with two of his opponents because they can turn into air and energy. Wolverine tangles with the Juggernaut….which is certainly interesting in itself! Spiderman doesn’t do too well and he’s quickly knocked around by the laser U Foe and one hit is enough to take him out of the fight. He’s not unconscious, but we don’t get to see him again until the end. Not the best appearance for our friendly neighborhood Spiderman! The ending is definitely a little cheesy, but at least Captain America can get to talk tough for a while.

The third comic deals with…The Lizard……again! Basically, he was feeling a little tired and he bangs into his cures/lizard drinks. See, since Dr. Connors is a very smart man, he keeps vials of green liquid in a cabinet. Half of them are cures that he needs to keep taking so that he stays human..and the other half are Lizard injections that turn him into the Lizard. Since they look identical, he grabs the wrong one and turns into the Lizard. It’s time for Spiderman to get involved and stop him once and for all!

Well, the comic plays out almost exactly the same as the first. I don’t know why they’d want to put both of these comics in the same collection, but it’s been done. No use dwelling on the repetition I suppose. Peter Parker looks a little bit better except for the parts where he fails at gym class. He does get to go to a debating club and things get interesting!

The final comic deals with the Avengers as they are getting slaughtered by living trees! It’s definitely intriguing since they are Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and all! Spiderman is quickly knocked for a loop because his spider sense doesn’t seem to work in the modern comics. Two ravens from Asgard appear and the Avengers quickly follow them into Asgard. It would appear that Malekith has slain all of the Asgardians and now rules in their place. Spiderman and Storm are going to have to save the day in this battle!

There is a twist and I can safely say that Malekith didn’t destroy them all. Aside from having us all roll our eyes at the thought of Malekith defeating Thor, Odin, Lady Sif, and Volstagg The Great, it would have been a terrible twist. The real one isn’t much better, but I suppose that it will have to do. Due to the unique twist, Storm and Spiderman are the most useful fighters in the comic. The Frost Giants do wipe the floor with the heroes for a while at first, but then they launch their counter strike!

One of the major complaints with this comic would be Spiderman’s portrayal. In the first comic, he gathers his nerve and asks one of his classmates out to a dance. So far so good right? The problem is that while talking with her, he had gotten nervous and said that he was in college. (An awful attempt to impress her, which failed utterly) So, realizing that he has been lying to her, she just left and Parker had to go to the dance alone…again. He basically asked for it that time. I also can’t sympathize with the fact that he wasn’t going to go and save people in Florida when the Lizard attacked. He only did once he didn’t have anyone for the dance. (So, maybe he just skipped it) So much for Spiderman being a hero!

Another problem is the fact that his Spider Sense seems broken. It will warn him about danger, but only once in a while. It’s like the Spider Sense only works when it feels like it. That’s definitely not very convenient for Spiderman. Another scene that was sad for him was when he tried to make a joke and told everyone that maybe Thor got lost in a cave. (During the final comic when the Asgardians were all gone) Everyone basically glared at him in unison and said that “Thor does Not get lost” Spiderman winced and realized that it was not the best joke to use. Cmon, Spiderman’s got more common sense than that right? Adding in the fact that Spiderman gets thrown around by D rank villains and trees that are alive and…he just doesn’t look good in this comic.

Spiderman appeared the most, but I may as well address some of the other characters. The Lizard was a decent villain and he was definitely tough. It was mostly at the expense of Spiderman’s spider sense, but a win by any other name is still a win right? Spiderman had to utilize a “tactical retreat” after being hit only once! The Avengers looked pretty good and there wasn’t really anything wrong with them. They didn’t seem to take Spiderman seriously, but I guess that I probably wouldn’t either at this point. Loki wasn’t that great, but villains usually aren’t in this series.

The art isn’t that good either. It’s not quite as bad as some of the other Marvel Adventures, but it could still use some work. It’s not up to par with any of the big Marvel/DC series that have been coming out and that’s a little sad. Can’t we get some of the All stars to help out with this series once in a while? It deserves respect! It deserved honor! It deserves…..something better than this! I’d give the art a B I suppose. The collection is pretty short since there are only 4 comics, so you’ll be forgetting the art soon anyway.

Overall, this is a decently fun comic collection. It’s essentially what you would expect from Marvel Adventures and it doesn’t pull any punches. That being said, it’s much better than the Infinity Gauntlet collection that I read a while back. That one just went a little too far with the jokes and comedy. This one actually didn’t have any big moments of comedy and was just the usual humor that you would find in any comic. They actually didn’t overly kidify it and that’s a good thing. It’s still family friendly, but without making sure to show you this over and over again. It makes for a good read and all Marvel fans should enjoy it if you like some lighthearted action. I officially recommend this product for comic readers!

Overall 7/10