Avatar The Last Airbender is one of the biggest franchises that I never really got into. I played the video game of course, but I couldn’t get into the show. I can’t say that I had high hopes for the comic, but it definitely under performed. I’m pleased to say that it wasn’t Avatar’s fault….it was the backups that were to blame!

The Avatar comic features two of the main characters as they head into a shop to collect some shells. The guy has always wanted to start collecting them, but he could never find the time (or money) to do so. Another girl walks in to inspect some shells, but the shop owner believes that girls cannot truly appreciate shells so she must be fake. The main characters stop the bullies and teach the girl the values of learning self defense. Will she take them up on the offer?

The first backup story is about Hellboy. It’s only about a page or two and there is really no point. Hellboy mocks his friend’s design as a ghost and then he throws him in a coffin. The comic wasn’t funny and it just wasn’t good. It definitely wouldn’t entice me to actually buy the series. The final backup comic was the worst as it was from the Juice Squeezers. I had never heard of the series and after this comic…I hope that I never hear about it again! The comic involves a kid who gets bullied by some other kids and they put ants in his pants. He decides to get revenge on them by infiltrating the lair of some giant Ants. His plan is to ultimately get the other ants to go in the pants of the bully. An eye for an eye after all…that’s what the main character goes for. By the end of the comic, you’ll likely be wincing.

The Avatar comic wasn’t bad. The art was solid, but the plot was a little generic and not very exciting. The main characters should have just knocked out the shop owner and just left with the shells. Teaching the girl how to fight is definitely a good move, but the shop owner does have fire powers so it’s still a little risky. Leaving him in business could have dire consequences. I can definitely see why I didn’t get into the show, but it’s not bad. I’m sure that a fight would have helped the issue.

There isn’t much to say about the Hellboy comic. The art wasn’t for me and Hellboy was a terrible main character. None of the jokes were funny and the comic just fell flat. The ant comic had so much that was wrong with it. I barely even know where to begin in that regard! It gets old seeing the main character get bullied. We’ve seen that in so many forms of media already. Then the “hero” gets revenge by doing something equally mean to the bully. Of course, his revenge affects the whole school team so hopefully he didn’t have any friends who were playing. Apparently, there are also giant insects that are around and the main character has his own super hero title. None of it made sense and the comic was boring and not cool. The art was also pretty sub par.

Overall, this is a comic that I definitely would not recommend. The Avatar comic may have been all right, but the Hellboy one was boring and the ant story was just terrible. I don’t think that you would walk away from this comic with high hopes for future issues. It’s best to just skip this one and read something a little more thought provoking like the Mega Man comics. I haven’t read a comic this awful in quite a long time!

Overall 2/10

Uncle Scrooge is typically a pretty intense character and who didn’t enjoy the TV show back in the day? I went into the comic expecting a fun adventure and while there wouldn’t be any real danger..it would just be a fun read. The comic fulfilled its purpose in that respect and while I wouldn’t say that it knocked me out of the park, it was enjoyable.

The main comic involves an old enemy of Uncle Scrooge’s. She infiltrated his house in broad daylight and casts a spell that makes Scrooge (and good ole Donald) stuck to the wall. See, their gravity has been altered so that they are sideways. It’s a pretty interesting concept, but it can also make some things a little hard to follow. You really have to try and imagine how you could navigate while sideways. Donald and Scrooge must now track down the magician and force her to undo the spell. It won’t be easy…but they are used to dangerous situations!

Meanwhile, we got a backup comic that tries to show how mean Donald can be to his friends. His friend’s birthday has arrived and Donald wants to publicly humiliate him in front of everyone. Unfortunately for Donald, the friend has other plans. He has notoriously good luck throughout his whole life, but his birthday is the one day where his luck works in reverse. He doesn’t want to get humiliated by the others so he decides to escape. He has succeeded in vanishing on all of his previous birthdays, but this one could be difficult as his luck is even worse than usual. Will he be able to keep this secret from his friends and family!?

The art was solid for both of the comics. I actually preferred the backup comic because the friend was a likable character and it was nice to see Donald being so mean once again. In the old comics, Donald could definitely be a really mean guy when necessary and he usually did it at the expense of others. He wasn’t a hero…but he never claimed to be. The second comic had some pretty huge stakes since we can definitely sympathize with the birthday boy. Who wants to look bad on their birthday?

The first comic was good as well, but the sideways gimmick could be tricky at times. I was suspending my disbelief, but some parts were definitely a little iffy. (The scene where the ducklings work to balance Scrooge and Donald comes to mind) The villain was pretty intense and she took most of these things in stride, but she wasn’t very interesting. I was glad that she got the last laugh against one of the heroes since he was being obnoxious. (in a good way)

Overall, this comic would definitely be fun for fans of the series. Scrooge and Donald have their usual banter and Scrooge looks pretty good throughout both comics. He comes up with the plans and he typically doesn’t care about the risks. (As long as the risks concern Donald’s safety) I may have preferred it if the comic had chosen a different plot, but the comic handled itself pretty well. In the end, that’s all that you can ask from a comic!

Overall 6/10

Now this is how you get readers interested in a new series! Unlike the Rise of the Magi, Armor Hunters gives us a lot of action while setting up many future plot points. Armor Hunters brings 3 different stories and they seem to be leading up to a large event. I have to say that the event seems pretty awesome even if I’m not following any of the different series that will be meeting up. That’s just how good the series is. Valiant is definitely one of the only companies that can rival Marvel and DC in epic character designs for superheroes.

The stories are very short, but they’re still really good. The first comic involves a small squad of GI Joe type fighters as they walk into a dark room. It’s obviously a trap and they seem to realize this as the first big opponent steps out. She has a pretty good design and I knew that the humans were goners. Things don’t look up for them when a second fighter steps into the ring. The second story features the guy who seems to be the main character of the franchise. Iconic gold and blue design that reminds me of Mega Man. He’s face to face with an alien that is set on destroying him and taking possession of the cool suit. The main character isn’t going to let that happen!

The final story is more futuristic than the other two. (The other two are also futuristic, but this one tops them) This was my least favorite story because it wasn’t as epic and the stakes didn’t seem to be very high. A girl is telling us that she usually uses paper for special moments, but she is finally using the memory recorder device because things just got real! (In a manner of speaking) There was a murder in town and the government is sending the ultimate agent in. In this timeline, there is the legendary “Father” and he has a man maid clone/humanoid that keeps the peace. Slaves are abundant in this society and there are no laws to protect them. A rebellion group wants to free them, but the tricky part is that the slaves don’t want to be freed. Next, a person is murdered…the first murder in decades! Things may have finally boiled over and the main character is going to make sure to get the scoop!

The art is excellent for the first two comics and it’s about as good as art can get. The third comic is more stylized to be live action, which gets an immediate thumbs down from me. The third comic really paled in comparison to the other two and it really tries to bring the overall rating down. It was a good comic, but the first two were great comics. I blame it on the art and the fact that it seems to be a lot more down to Earth. That being said, the writing is still strong the plot is very interesting. Due to the nature of the plot, the future issues will either get pretty good or go downhill very fast.

Overall, I was really into this comic for the first two stories. It felt like a mix of Justice League and Resident Evil. The whole thing was super exciting and each of the characters is nice and flashy. The final villain seems like he’s going to be a big threat and he reminds me of Galactus. Even the minions are pretty huge and they look like Sentinels, but organic versions. The second comic didn’t resolve the big fight, but it was definitely an epic way to start it. I highly recommend checking this comic out and Armor Hunters seems like it’ll be pretty awesome. This was definitely one of the highlights from the Free Comics and it only lost to Future’s End for pure epicness.

Overall 8/10

I have never heard of this comic series before, but maybe that’s because it seems to be new. Either way, this series had everything stacked against it from the start. The title is pretty generic and the cover is terrible. I don’t mean to be harsh, (maybe) but that’s the kind of cover that will immediately destroy any hopes that I had for an issue. What makes this even worse is the fact that the cover has absolutely no relevance to the comic. I guess we can assume that Witches are going to be blamed for the stolen magic or something but….it may be best to forget the cover.

Still, I bravely opened the comic and began the adventure. We have a mean teenager who does not want to make carpets anymore. His father tries to convince him that it’s for the best, but the protagonist will not hear it. He calls up his friend and then he steals the magic carpet. He’s going to look at the incredible magic orb and then everyone will respect him. He uses a magical frog to get in unnoticed, but it wears off and he comes face to face with a group of demons and an evil leader. These guys just finished slaughtering the guards and now they want to destroy our young hero as well. This could be the end….of everything!

The plot was pretty random and definitely not very interesting as of yet. I’m sure that things will get better as the series progresses, but this is not how you do a first issue. This comic was pretty bold since they hint that it’s in the same continuity as Star Wars. (The narration essentially said something like “There are those who call this magic “The Force” before reminding us that it’s really just a magical ball and nobody knows about it.) The magical ball is not a very interesting artifact, but the wielder will get unlimited power upon possessing it. That’s a pretty good deal if you ask me, but a villain is likely the one who stole it…or maybe it really is just a comic story. (The main character likes comics, which makes you wonder which parts are real and which aren’t)

Overall, this wasn’t my favorite comic. The review may have seemed pretty negative, but the comic wasn’t awful. The art was all right, but the writing wasn’t very good. The soldiers lost without a fight, which was sad. The main character is really not likable and neither is his friend. The fact that he needs a frog to activate the magic isn’t very interesting and I seriously do not like the methods that one must activate to use the abilities. The comic feels like it takes place in the olden days and that’s not really a good thing either. The comic wasn’t terrible, but the problem is that I can’t really think of any good things about it. This is only the first comic so maybe it’ll get better…maybe. Instead of checking this comic out, I recommend going to your local Famiglia’s and ordering a Pepperoni slice ASAP!

Overall 4/10