I’ve only read one G Man comic in the past, so checking out the first trade paperback would be a good way to truly check out the series. While the comic mixes comedy with action, it does a much better job than Tiny Titans and even the Incredibles. The comic is definitely a blast to read and the cast is already pretty solid.

The plot begins with Mikey learning how to fly. It’s a tough job, but in the end he finds his magical cape and learns that flying’s a piece of cake. His brother Dave manages to get a piece of the cape and turns it into a belt. Both of them can fly and they get stronger after each battle. The magical cape builds up an immunity so that no attack will work on them twice. It’s definitely a pretty handy tool to have, but they haven’t gotten into many fights yet. The ploy changes a little as they get to meet alternate versions of themselves and the fate of many universes hang in the balance. It was all very climatic, but the ending may surprise some readers.

G Man (Mikey’s new superhero name) is a pretty solid protagonist and he’s not afraid to stand up for what’s right. Once he’s got an idea, he always makes sure to stand by it. He’s currently the best character of the series and he even switched his costume at one point. (Superboy Prime style!)

Great Man (Dave’s new name) is also pretty solid and he’s the 2nd best character in the comic. He’s quicker to fight and he’s not as lenient as G Man. So when Kid Thunder attacked him, Great Man just took him down. He doesn’t let any character mess with him and he’s also pretty tricky.

G Man has some friends like Billy Demon and Sparky. Sparky’s pretty fast, but he hasn’t gotten that much screentime yet so it’s a little early to judge him. Billy Demon is also an average character and I wouldn’t say that I’m a fan. Mr. G is one of the better characters in this comic and he makes sure that everyone stays off of his lawn. Thunderman is one of the big heroes of the city, but I can’t say that I’m impressed. I’ll be waiting for him to take on some opponents at some point.

This comic was definitely a nice start to the series and it may be just the beginning! This comic series could grow up to be one of the bigger ones. I’ll be looking forward to seeing what they do in the next graphic novel. Naturally I recommend this comic to all comic fans, or just anyone who likes to read a fun comic once in a while.

Overall 7/10

Marvel Adventures are basically kid friendly comics that are suitable for all ages. This one brings together a couple of comics that all have their own unique plots so I’ll talk about each one of them in turn and then wrap it all up at the end. One thing you should know is that the title is pretty misleading since Spiderman doesn’t get a huge role.

The first story deals with a Super Dog that has escaped from shield and may be heading over to the villanous Leader. The Leader is a pretty smart guy, so if he obtained the dog (And the vast amounts of knowledge that he possesses) Shield could be in a lot of trouble. Luckily She Hulk, Tigra, and Spiderman are around to help save the day. It’s an all right comic and there’s a brief action scene, but the art looks pretty bad. Spiderman and pals also don’t really look that impressive and they’re lucky that they outnumbered the Leader.

Another story was about Hawkeye and the Blonde Phantom. They had to stop the Banner Bandits from scaring people and getting away with stolen money. They messed up pretty badly the first time, but eventually they get a rematch. The story was all right, but definitely not that exciting and once again the art wasn’t that good.

The next story was easily the worst and it was about the Hulk and Tigra. They won an award, but when they attended the ceremonies..Mysterio attacked! With his illusions, he actually made things close and if not for Tigra’s singing, all could have been lose. There was never a sense of danger in this comic and the art was the worst by far.

Finally, the last story featured Spider Woman, Giant Girl, and the Beast. They had to solve a mystery of what happened to Hercules. Well, the story starts off on an “epic” note as you wonder who could have defeated Hercules, but the more the mystery unfolds, the more you realize that it wasn’t that impressive. Nobody really defeated Hercules and the anti climatic battle is just a little scuffle against Hydra.

I’d say that this comic was only barely good and definitely not as fun as most of the marvel comics out there. The art definitely held it back a lot and the dialogue was a little too kiddy. The fight scenes were all right, but they were scarce and pretty short. If you are really desperate to read a marvel comic, then this one is all right. Of course, I’d otherwise recommend checking out a real marvel comic like X Sanction.

Overall 6/10

The Essentials is a series of large collections of comics that Marvel puts into a big book. One unique feature of these Essentials, is that the comics are now published in black and white. I don’t think that was a great move, but reading it in black and white is still enjoyable. This collection brings together a lot of Warlock comics, as well as issues of other series in which he appears.

The collection mainly deals with his adventures on Counter Earth and the rise of the Magus (Which leads into the Thanos arc that concludes the collection. On his adventures in Counter Earth, he meets alternate versions of other marvel characters like Reed Richards and Dr Doom. In this world, they never obtained supernatural abilities and Dr Doom was a good person. Warlock had to find the Man Beast and stop him from corrupting more and more people. The President definitely didn’t make things easy, but a group of teenagers allied with Warlock to help his cause.

After Warlock left counter earth, he found out about the Magus whose evil had been spreading across the cosmos. Warlock knew that he couldn’t stand a chance in a battle with the Magus at the time, but he went to go challenge the Magus, meeting up with Gamora, Thanos, and Pip along the way. The best part of this arc was easily Thanos’s battle against the Magus. Both of these titans wielded immense power and Warlock felt pretty outmatched against them.

Finally, Thanos revealed his ultimate plan and Warlock had to band together a group of powerful allies to stop him. The Avengers naturally came to take down Thanos and his vast army of alien ships. If their might wouldn’t prove enough, they had backup in the form of The Amazing Spider Man and the Thing.

Warlock made for a pretty good main character. He definitely goes through a lot of development during the course of these comics. At first he’s a pretty optimistic person who’s ready to help the humans overcome evil. Eventually during the Magus arc, he starts to have some pretty serious doubts about the whole thing. He went insane and his gem started to have a will of its own. After he finished with the Magus, Warlock now has a very convoluted mind. He could remember things that occurred in the future and past which hadn’t happened anymore due to time travel, but he also remembered what did happen. Not to mention that both things overlap at some points including Warlock’s battle against himself.

It’s only natural that all of this got to him and Warlock lost all of his cheerfulness and optimism. He withdrew to himself and became a pretty mysterious individual. During the final comics he’s in a state of rage and is ready to avenge the lives of his friends at the hands of Thanos. Warlock initially never used his gem unless he had no choice, (Since the gem steals a person’s soul, meaning that they will never get to pass on to the next world) but eventually he starts to use it more and more. In the final comics he had begun to use it without hesitation and had a fierce battle with Thanos. Warlock is finally able to experience true peace at the end of the collection and his journey was over.

Along the way Warlock met with other fighters including: The Hulk, The Avengers, The High Evolutionary, The Collector, and Spider Man. For the most part they all looked pretty good. Spider Man had a pivotal role in saving the universe and that window of opportunity was opened by the Avengers. The Collector gave Adam Warlock an incredible fight (Which may have been disastrous for Warlock if the Gardener hadn’t stepped in) and the High Evolutionary kicked everything off with the creation of Counter Earth. From the main characters, Pip the Troll was the only one that I especially disliked. He’s not my type of character and he’s not the best sidekick that a guy could have. He makes a lot of jokes and talks tough, but it can only get a character so far.

Overall, the Warlock collection is pretty good. Granted it’s not the most exciting comic collection out there, but it is pretty solid. Their is a lot of cosmic action in the 2nd half and you’ll meet some high tier villains like the Star Thief, Thanos, and the Magus. The plot is also pretty interesting and I’d recommend this collection to all comic fans.

Overall 7/10