Thor Sunlight and Shadows Review

Posted on June 27, 2015 by dreager1

It’s time to look at a Thor collection and this one actually brings the final issues of the 500 issue Thor series. The story moved onto another title and Thor fans may be a little disappointed in how the series ended as it doesn’t wrap a whole lot of things up. Still, 500 issues is quite the milestone and while I have not read all 500 of the individual issues at the moment, I’ve read a lot of them. This story is bogged down by several factors, which keep it from being a good collection.

Thor has mysteriously lost his powers so he must now learn to live and fight as a mortal. It’s pretty bad timing for him, but luckily he gets his powers back for an issue…only to lose them again. What is happening and why are his powers affected so heavily? He has the Enchantress to help him out, but more questions continue to arise and no answers can be found. Thor ends up bringing back and unlikely ally to tip the scales.

These issues came out during a time when Marvel’s comics were rather chaotic. The art would result in a whole lot of splash pages and everyone constantly looked off model. The fights were typically glorious, but that was about it although the art could be unintentionally humorous. This definitely happens to Thor, but the art just isn’t good. Thor doesn’t really look (or act) like Thor and a lot of the characters do look rather strange. The art is definitely under average although I wouldn’t call it terrible. It could just be more consistent and easier to follow.

Still, the main issue that I have with the comic is that all of the characters are just unlikable. I’m not sure about all of the circumstances surrounding the characters, but it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t like them. Thor fans in particular will be dismayed at how the title character is portrayed. Gone are the days when he was a very smart combatant who knew when to fight and when to talk. Now, he just fights the villains for fun and he actually hangs out with the Enchantress. This wouldn’t be a bad thing if she was totally reformed, but she still has slaves who attend to her every needs and Thor doesn’t care at all. That’s the oddest part about the whole collection. It’s why the relationship between the Enchantress and Thor has never worked out and shouldn’t ever work out. Thor is a hero so he shouldn’t tolerate such things.

He still is the hero of the story, but this just seems like a huge oversight and it compromises his position of being someone who tries to stamp out all evil. I also didn’t care for the plot where he is losing his powers and the tie ins just make it feel even worse as Thor had to quickly regain his powers for an issue so that he would be ready for the event and then he lost them just as quickly for the sake of the main story’s plot. I definitely don’t think that the comic planned that part out too well.

During the story, a major part of the plot is the fact that everyone from Asgard seems to have vanished and the next Ragnarok appears to be happening. Loki’s behind the scheme, but it’s rather vague and constantly gets thrown aside for the tie ins. The actual graphic novel ends with a tie in about to begin as Onslaught has gotten ready to destroy everything so Thor must join the fray. That fight sounds like it would be fun, but that is sadly not included in this collection. Back to the Asgard plot, Odin makes an appearance and things aren’t looking well for him.

He seems to have lost a match while trying to stop Asgard from being destroyed so he was stripped of his powers and sent back to the 1970’s or something like that. Tired of everyone ignoring him, Odin succumbed to beer and whiskey. He is now a drunk old man who is a shell of his former self. It’s a very sad drop for him and he definitely looks pretty bad. As I mentioned, the Enchantress has not reformed her ways so I would hardly call her a good character either. She also doesn’t have much of a role here although she helps out while in the background.

The only decent character that I can think of here would be the policewoman who helps Thor out. I don’t believe that I’ve seen her before and I guess she was just added to give Thor a contact who was on the force. She doesn’t do a whole lot, but at least she can fight and takes the whole trip to the savage land in stride. The comic had a guest star in the form of Red Norvell and I read the classic comics that introduced him. Unfortunately, he is definitely not likable here. He fell into hard times and went into some shady businesses to keep himself afloat. Thor gives him another chance to have super powers and Norvell takes it, but then the comic is essentially at its end so he doesn’t get to do anything with his new found power. Either way, he just doesn’t seem like hero material.

The comic is actually interesting while you’re reading it, but not a whole lot happens when you look at it in retrospect. Thor fights a lot of average humans, but we don’t get to see any real super threats. It makes sense since Thor is depowered, but the issues needed someone who could fight. As such, we only got a few brief fight scenes, which is too bad since you would expect more than that from the Thor comics. With better characters, the story could have gone places. Instead, it feels a bit like it’s in an alternate universe, which is how I feel about a lot of the 90’s stories in Marvel. Superman had a similar identity crisis over in DC at the time.

The rest of the Avengers make a cameo at one point when they recruit Thor and you can tell that the teamis at a rough spot. When Black Widow is essentially the leader of the group and there’s only one other member, you realize that the villains have likely already won. I believe that Dr. Strange made a cameo here although if he did, I’m pretty sure that he didn’t look so great. I suppose that you can’t win every battle right? As a send off to the Thor series, this definitely wasn’t a great way to do it, but the actual comic series was a lot of fun. It just jumped the shark towards the end of its run.

Overall, This is a very odd Thor comic. It simply doesn’t feel like it could take place in the Marvel universe and Thor is seriously out of character. There isn’t a lot of action to be found here either although the fight scenes are okay. I wouldn’t call this a good comic, but I don’t think that I would consider it to be a bad one either. It’s just around and it made some mistakes. It’s an interesting read, but you should keep in mind that it feels like an alternate universe title the whole time and the actual plot doesn’t get to advance that much throughout the whole graphic novel thanks to the tie ins and a long visit to the Savage Land. If you want to read a good Thor comic, I suggest heading back and reading the classics from the 1960’s. The Marvel Masterwork collections is a good way to find them.

Overall 5/10

Marvel Masterworks The Incredible Hulk Volume 2 Review

Posted on June 20, 2015 by dreager1

It’s time to take a look at a collection which brings some of the Hulk’s first comics! I’m about 99% sure that I’ve already read this one, but apparently I never uploaded it to the site. Ah well, the re read gave me a chance to review it. The Hulk comics are typically fun and this one was enjoyable, but like always, you end up feeling really bad for the Hulk by the end. He didn’t ask for this!

Unlike the average collection, this one brings 20 issues. The reason why so many are able to fit in here is because Hulk has to share with Giant Man and later on with Namor. So, each issue is only 10 pages instead of the usual 20, which ends up working out quite well. That means that each issue must end quickly so some arcs go on for quite a while like the Leader story. That villain just didn’t want to go down!

Luckily, the issues never actually feel rushed except for the Hercules story. He meets up with the Hulk in the final issue and the fight is essentially over as soon as it has begun. It’s safe to say that the Hulk had the upper hand despite the boasts of Hercules. I’m not surprised since I always considered the Hulk to be much stronger than the Olympian. Hercules is no Thor and I don’t see him ever being such a powerful contender in Marvel.

The first issue was the big fight with Giant Man so the collection started and ended on a high note. It was fun to see Giant Man take a shot at the Hulk since the fight wouldn’t be so even nowadays. The Hulk has utterly surpassed Giant Man and while I would still say that he was the stronger fighter back in the day, it was closer. Giant Man used to be the power hitter for the Avengers, now he’s just the tech guy.

Most of the issues dealt with the Leader as he worked on capturing the Hulk and eventually succeeded. He then forced the Hulk to go to the Moon and steal something from Uatu. That was easily the best part of the arc as the Hulk took down the “strongest fighter in the galaxy.” That guy was bred for combat and the Hulk still schooled him. The Hulk definitely overpowers most of his foes with ease and that’s how it should be.

There was also a mini arc where the government blasted the Hulk with a time ray and Rick Jones ended up spilling the beans about Bruce Banner being the Hulk. I was a little surprised that there was no retcon or plot twist to force the heroes to forget about this. I’m pretty sure that Talbot gets amnesia in a few issues, but Betty will still know Banner’s ultimate secret. His secret identity certainly didn’t last very long now did it?

The art switches about halfway through the volume as the main team comes back to help out. It’s an interesting twist and there’s more of an emphasis on facial expressions. Betty Ross’ hair also turns gray for some reason. It took a little getting used too, but the second half still holds up quite well. I love the old style of art as the artists really had to work on every panel. It’s certainly not as well refined as the modern day stuff and you can probably see some inconsistencies and characters going off model if you’re paying a lot of attention, but it’s still very solid overall. It may not be quite as good as the rest of Marvel’s titles at the time, but it’s hard to match up to those.

The Hulk is a good main character as always. Once again, the whole story is just really tragic for him. He makes another friend, but the guy is naturally killed off right away so the Hulk is left without an ally. The army never gives him a break and he is constantly being framed by the villains or put into very bad situations. At least the Hulk gets a lot of opportunities to smash and it’s always good to see him take the win. His strength fluctuates a lot, but that’s part of his whole gimmick so it’s all right for the most part. Typically, you can expect The Hulk to come out on top in a fight since he just won’t go down and the villains typically have to use gas to take him down. The Hulk is certainly the best character here.

I’m not a big fan of the Leader and he’s always been a bit of a weak villain if you ask me. He’s smart, but he doesn’t have a whole lot of power to back it up and he just feels outmatched if you ask me. At least he has some cool androids, which give the Hulk a good fight. Giant Man and the rest of the Avengers don’t seem too concerned with the fact that the Hulk is on the loose. I suppose that most of them just don’t think that he’s very dangerous so he’s not a top priority. Still, they should at least try to protect him from the government since those guys never give him any peace.

You may have expected this, but the issues are still very hard for the Hulk. He is constantly being framed and used by both heroes and villains. When he finally does make a friend, the guy is typically killed off in the same issue. You really can’t blame him for wanting to retreat and just be alone sometimes, but the government or another villain inevitably finds him. It turns into a never ending cycle of sadness for the guy and it’s why it is always fun to see him on the Avengers. At least he has some teammates that he can count on in those situations, but it would be quite a while until he joined the team again from this point.

As always, the writing is one of the reasons why the Hulk collection is fun to read. The characters are all direct and address each other with some classy English skills that it reminds you of how the language used to be. Even the older slang felt more refined and the villains would say things like “With my wit, I shall overtake your brutish strength!” when battling the Hulk. It’s just easy to read and the pages really flow into each other.

If there’s one part of the plot that’s always a little iffy, it’s the question of how much the Hulk knows. Sometimes, the Hulk is completely mindless and other times he will be able to form quite a few sentences. There was an arc where the Hulk’s mind was taken over by Bruce Banner, but this was separate from those events. I suppose that you can make the argument that the Hulk gets smarter as he grows weaker so that it’s the opposite of the strength factor. Either way, it’s a fairly mild thing.

Overall, This volume of the Hulk is a fun one to read. It’s a fairly stand alone collection with few guest stars, but the Hulk can easily hold his own title. The comics are much sadder than the others at the time, but it never goes too far. Given how short each issue is, you can definitely blast through the adventures in no time. It would be great for the Hulk to get an ally at some point and hopefully he will soon, but they don’t tend to last very long. With good art and solid writing, this is a collection that any Marvel fan can enjoy and the issues hold up well.

Overall 7/10

Marvel Masterworks The Avengers Volume 4 Review

Posted on June 10, 2015 by dreager1

The Avengers are known as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and considering that the Justice League don’t exist in Marvel, I must agree. The Avengers have always been a team of powerhouses who could tackle any threat. That being said, this volume occurs when the team is actually not looking too powerful so they must use their quips and wit to outsmart the foes who stand in their way. It is an interesting concept, but the volume isn’t quite up to taking on the average Avenger collection thanks to its high standards. Still makes for a fun read of course.

There were around 10 issues in this collection, which is a reasonable amount. The first few issues deal with the Sons of Serpent organization. While they may appear to be extremely weak on the surface, they are powerful when in great numbers. They manage to capture Captain America so the rest of the Avengers are pressured into supporting the political views of the enemies. It’s always intriguing to see politics addressed in comics, but they made sure to not get too involved with those issues. I’m sure that the Avengers won’t underestimate the group again after this!

The next two issues featured The Living Laser! This guy was typically an Iron Man villain, but this time he decided to take on the Avengers because of his feelings for the Wasp. Little did he know that Heart, not feelings, wins battles. He was outmatched from the start even though he nearly finished off the Avengers for good. After that was a two part adventure featuring the Ultroids. They weren’t exactly Ultron, but these androids were still decently powerful and they could copy the abilities of the foes that they defeated through their technology. They managed to cream the Avengers for a while, but they overestimated themselves, which doomed the villains.

Finally, a three part epic involving the famous Hercules arrived. He was tricked by the Enchantress into attacking the Avengers and then he helped them out against Namor. That was a decently fun trilogy although it is always sad to see the heroes mind controlled so easily. Their strength of will should suffice to keep them safe from danger and harm. Ah well, at least Hercules realized what was up with some help and then stuck around to help the team when they were in a jam. I still consider him to be a watered down Thor who is not quite as impressive physically or mentally, but Hercules is still stronger than the rest of the cast at the moment so that’s always a plus.

We start to see why Hank Pym isn’t one of the greatest heroes in this collection. While he has some good moments like talking back to Hawkeye and taking charge, he’s definitely not very nice to the Wasp. When she’s in danger he gets riled up of course, but he basically tells her to leave when she was trying to help him with an experiment. He certainly doesn’t have a whole lot of tact and I can see why they drifted apart. The Wasp is a decent character here, but she’s still not close to how she was in later years as she can still be a bit of a flirt.

The Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are good heroes here and they are finally confident in the fact that they are Avengers. They had some iffy moments down the line, but they now know their place on the team. With two of the stronger team members back with the Avengers, they helped to give the heroes some much needed muscle. Hawkeye does a lot of trash talking for the team and he’s always got an arrow at the ready. It’s scary to think that he’s actually one of the tougher members on board, but that’s simply what the Avengers had been reduced too in this era. He’s always a fun character to have around.

Captain America is the best Avenger so I was sad to see him go. I know that he eventually comes back, but it must have been tough for fans of the team to see the final member of the big three leave. With only the B list heroes on board, The Avengers really needed him to stick around. As far as the villains go, The Living Laser was one of the only ones that I recognized. He looked pretty bad here as he was just attacking people to get the Wasp to like him. He had some good dialogue, but such a petty reason for being a villain definitely ensures that I wouldn’t care for him as a villain. That’s just very shallow.

Namor was a neat guest star and he looked fairly impressive as he held his own against Hercules. Hercules is certainly stronger of course, but Namor found the Cosmic Cube and that helped him out a lot. I didn’t expect to see such a powerful cosmic item come into play either so the final issue really raised the stakes on the adventure. Namor’s still antagonistic here, but you can’t blame him for being fed up with the humans since they constantly attack his home. So long as Atlantis is under the sea, humans will never leave it alone so it is an endless fight.

The Black Widow has a subplot where she tries to join the Avengers once more, but Giant Man doesn’t trust her and she doesn’t give the heroes much reason too. She ultimately takes on a mission from S.H.I.E.L.D. which puts a damper on her plans and I guess that her plot will likely continue more in future issues. I don’t remember her really appearing in volume 5, but she may have been around briefly. This old version of her was certainly very different from her modern incarnation.

If I had one critique for the collection, it would just be that the stakes are typically very low. It’s hard to get very excited about some of the issues and some more well known characters would have been nice to have. The plot in X-Men was more interesting for me and the characters may have actually been slightly better although the writing here beats that of the X-Men’s. It’s still a fun comic that you will be able to coast through, but you won’t be as invested as you typically would be in one of these classic Marvel issues.

As always, the art is quite good for the Avengers collection. The classic designs for the characters are always fun to look at and the fight scenes are engaging. Quicksilver’s speed here looks more impressive than it did in other instants and we are finally starting to get to the point where his speed is at in the modern days. He’ll never be quite as fast as someone like the Flash, but this is still a nice start. The writing is also quite good as the heroes trade good one liners with the villains. We really don’t see dialogue like this anymore, which is too bad. It’s one of the reasons why comics were so awesome in the first place after all. The burns were certainly real.

Overall, This was a good collection of the Avengers, but it just wasn’t as exciting as it could have been with Captain America missing some issues and Iron Man/Thor not being around. I always miss the big three when they’re not together as they are The Avengers for me. I recently reviewed volume 5 so I’m already okay on that front. I’ve still got another Marvel Masterworks coming up, but after that one, it could be gone for a while. The series has been a fun way to read up on the old series though so I won’t be forgetting about it anytime soon. If you’re a fan of the classic Marvel stories, this is definitely the comic for you. It’s still a solid action title that makes for a good read.

Overall 7/10

Marvel Masterworks The X-Men Volume 4 Review

Posted on June 7, 2015 by dreager1

I had a lot of fun with the previous X-Men collection so it’s cool that I had the next volume at the ready! We get a pretty nifty guest star here and the mysterious Factor Three organization also decides to show themselves. A lot happens here for sure and while there may technically have been issues with higher stakes and better guest stars here, I feel like the last collection had better subplots on the human side of things. Either way, this is another solid collection.

Before the team can strike back at Factor Three, The Juggernaut rises to fight once more. As always, he proves to be a difficult opponent to take down. It’s fun to see how the power levels were back in the day as the heroes exclaim that Juggernaut can destroy a tank and it was extremely impressive at the time. Nowadays, such a feat wouldn’t merit reactions that were quite so fierce. This two part adventure was fun, even if the X-Men were extremely outmatched at the time. They didn’t have any real power hitters on board to counter the Juggernaut.

After that, The Factor Three plot took center stage and covered at least 4 issues. Spider Man appears, which was a nice treat. After all of the hype, I can’t say that I was very impressed with the leader of the group. The whole thing was very….interesting. It was fun to see the old villains again, but after all of the hype, I wouldn’t have minded some new faces. The Blob and Unus are all right, but I don’t consider them to be heavyweight champs or anything like that. Still, this plot was certainly one that lasted and seeing the arc end was fun. This was probably one of the first true arcs to ever appear in the X-Men comics.

After that, it was back to the one shot adventures. Frankenstein’s monster appeared in one of the issues. Another one had a guy called Grotesque who decided to beat the heroes up. He didn’t have a whole lot of motivations, but he was powerful and he did the unthinkable. He managed to destroy Professor Xavier, which was a pretty impressive feat. I’ll miss the leader of the X-Men, but it’s safe to say that he won’t be dead for very long. In the comics, iconic characters just can’t stay dead for too long or else the fans will riot.

The art is pretty solid as per usual. The X-Men also manage to get real costumes for the first time. They had costumes before the issue, but they all wore the same thing. Now each character has his own look and that would just be the start as just about every super hero team uses the same concept. After all, why should everyone look the same. The Angel’s costume takes the most getting used too, but the others all look good. The Angel’s isn’t bad either, it’s just not what I would have expected.

The writing is also great, but we don’t get any moments that stand out quite as much as those in the last graphic novel. It’s hard not to chuckle when we saw Cyclops go up against the Locus and get sucker punched. That was definitely an intense bout. In this collection, the best lines are probably the ones where Cyclops and the Beast are insulting the villains or when Spider-Man is around. It’s safe to say that you will not get tired of the banter anytime soon as it’s a blast and a half from start to finish.

Professor Xavier looks very shady in this collection as he starts to keep the X-Men out of the loop. His reasoning wasn’t great and I still don’t really see what his angle was. It just brought dissension into the ranks and hurt the trust factor between teammates. Cyclops was bold enough to decide that he would bypass Xavier’s orders if necessary, but luckily things didn’t come to that. It was a little foreshadowing for when Cyclops would resent the Professor’s leadership in the Uncanny X-Men days. Of course, that just makes the Professor’s death even more tragic as he didn’t leave on very good terms.

The rest of the X-Men are essentially unchanged from the last collection. At least the Angel is pretty much over Jean as he finds a new friend to hang out with. I remember her from another X-Men comic so she definitely stays around for quite a while. He certainly comes in handy to the team with his flying even if he isn’t very powerful. The Beast is an interesting member as the others treat him like the strongest member of the team at times. I would disagree with that since I think that Iceman or Cyclops could beat him with ease. His verbal gimmick is always enjoyable though as you know that he’s doing it all on purpose. Unfortunately, Jean chooses the Professor over the team, which I didn’t think was a good move. The heroes could have died against the villain because Jean and Prof X decided not to help and that really shows why his plan was so bad. At that point, it didn’t matter what his reason was for deserting the team, he nearly ended the X-Men. If they had died there, that certainly wouldn’t have been good.

Beyond the main comics, there’s also a backup story about how Cyclops first joined the team. It plays out at the end of each of the final issues and Cyclops gets to go up against a guy who is now The Living Diamond. It’s certainly an interesting story and Cyclops shows why he is one of the true heroes. His origin story is also interesting because I’m not too familiar with it. The one sad part about having a backup story is that the normal issues end up being shorter, but I suppose that it is a worthy sacrifice.

Back to Spider-Man, it was also cool to see that the comic essentially admitted that he could beat the whole team. The X-Men started the fight this time so Spider-Man was just playing serious, but things changed once he got serious. He can easily handle them all thanks to his Spider Sense and he did a good job of keeping them all tangled up. That’s one thing that a lot of villains seem to take advantage of. In terms of raw power, the X-Men are essentially powerless. As I mentioned earlier, the Beast is physically the strongest member of the group and he’s barely any stronger than a normal human. So….the team really needs a power hitter. As it is, they’re lucky that they haven’t fought a really strong villain yet or that a lot of other factors were at play when the Juggernaut was around.

Overall, This was a fun collection. Besides Spider-Man, we didn’t have many notable appearances by any big players. It was a very dry collection. Juggernaut was a fun villain to have, but that’s essentially it. I wouldn’t consider The Blob or Unus to be too popular. The Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch appear for a very brief cameo, but they don’t really get to do anything so it barely counts. You really need to just enjoy the X-Men members a lot to enjoy this collection and luckily the writing is very good here so they are enjoyable protagonists. With Factor Three out of the way, it’s time for Magneto to step back into the equation. It’s been a while since he appeared so it’s certainly about time. With Prof X out of the equation, can the heroes really handle him? I suppose that we’ll find out once I am able to check out the next volume. Until then, you can expect a review for an Avengers collection soon.

Overall 8/10

Marvel Masterworks The X-Men Volume 3 Review

Posted on May 31, 2015 by dreager1

It’s time for another visit down memory lane with some classic X-Men comics. The Marvel Masterworks series has definitely been an excellent way to look at some of Marvel’s original all stars. I don’t believe that I’ve read any that I disliked. The X-Men collection is even better than most as the comics were really interesting and about on par with those of Spiderman and Thor. It’s fun to see Cyclops and how much of noble leader he was in contrast with his current personality. This is a collection that you don’t want to miss!

The collection brings 10 comics and since each one is about 20 pages, we get around a 200 page collection. That’s a decent size and it allows the graphic novel to churn out quite a few stories. The collection starts off with an action packed two parter where Count Nefaria assembles a group of super villains to take down the X-Men. Their members are all rather weak and unknown, but they prove that teamwork can make any villain a legitimate threat. Can the X-Men put aside their differences and defeat them or will they be crushed?

This was a great way to start off the collection. I had quite a bit of fun with this two part story as it was fun to see the heroes actually losing against some of the weakest villains that I’ve seen in a while. This certainly wasn’t there day, but at least Cyclops put up a decent fight. When you think about it, the X-Men really aren’t that tough so a sneak attack can work quite well against them.

Next up was a one shot issue with the Locust. This comic was fun to read as the guy got a sucker punch in on Cyclops, which was hilarious to read. There’s not a whole lot more to say about it because the Locust is just another villain who wants to terrorize the world. His goals and motivations are essentially cardboard, but he still makes for an interesting antagonist. I never considered him to be much of a threat though.

After that, was the two part comic with El Tigre. El Tigre was just your average criminal until he found a pendant, which allowed him to gain great powers. Once he had both pieces, he claimed to be a god and the X-Men realized that this villain would be no pushover. In fact, it may take everything that the X-Men had and more to defeat this guy. Thor is mentioned as the X-Men admit that he could have beaten El Tigre, but what can mere mortals do? El Tigre was a bit of a boring villain. Decently likable, but there was nothing to him and I can see why he never became popular. His telepathic abilities were certainly good though.

The Mimic returned for the next 3 issues. He decided to join the team and help them out, but he was unwilling to alter his personality. Mimic essentially bullied his way into being the team’s leader. He is the most powerful member of the group to be sure, but he’s not a very nice guy. He helped the team against the Banshee and the Super Adaptoid though. Without him, the team would not have lasted very long against those threats. They were certainly lucky that the Mimic was in town.

It was fun to see the Super Adaptoid. He’s like a retro Ultron and made for a very imposing villain. He probably should have beaten The X-Men, but I suppose that having the Mimic along gave the team some extra muscle power. It’s sad that nobody believed Iceman when he saw the android though. The Cobalt Man still doesn’t make that much sense into how suddenly he turned evil, but he was a fun adversary as well. He’s essentially an evil Iron Man and it’s impressive that someone was able to replicate the suit. The Mimic wasn’t a very likable guy. He comes across as really arrogant, but not in a cool way. He can barely back up his tough talk and didn’t last too long when the stakes were high. He has a sad ending to his story, but it’s likely just temporary and I expect him to be in fighting shape before long.

Finally, the comic ended on a bit of a quiet note with two stand alone stories. Warlock decided to attack in one issue, but it wasn’t the cool Adam Warlock. This was Merlin and the man had merely changed his name. It was a decent issue, but nothing to write home about…just to write the blog about. In the last issue, the dreaded Cobalt Man made his debut. He used to be an all right guy, but putting on the costume turned him into a super villain. It’s interesting because there’s no reason why this should have happened to him. I suppose that it’s just like how putting on a mask makes some people turn into super heroes, it has the opposite effect on others.

There are naturally a few subplots, which continue in the background during the issues and will likely stick around for future volumes as well. There’s an evil organization that keeps being mentioned and you can bet that they are about to make their move. Jean Grey also quit the team to enter into college, but still ends up helping out in just about every issue. Professor Xavier is also keeping a big secret. There are probably even more plots going on if I really focused and that’s one of the reasons why the collection is so much fun. Being able to juggle many different plots is the sign of a good writer.

Also, the comic is a blast to read through and through. In the end, that’s why you read a comic after all and few succeed more than this one. The writing is on the dot and it’s great to hear the characters exchanging one liners. The characters even acknowledge this as it leads to a loss for the heroes several times and the villains rub it in. “While you’re posturing, I’ll take this.” is an example of something that a villain will say before stealing something or maybe even beating up on the heroes. It’s something that modern comics don’t really do anymore as the heroes don’t indulge in puns and their quick burns. I certainly miss that as it was really classic and fun to witness.

The roster is a pretty good one although the team is a little weak at this point. Cyclops is still the commanding leader who is always ready for action. He hasn’t come to terms with his optic blasts yet, but he’s certainly on the way to recovery at this point. He’s easily the strongest member of the team and the most likable one. Angel is Cyclop’s rival and the guy is decently heroic, but certainly not as likable. He puts Cyclops in a bad position when the Angel accuses him of attempted murder and the guy is constantly flirting. That’s definitely not cool. Iceman is pretty great as he gets the most burns and can fight on his own better than most of the others. He doesn’t get a very unique role compared to the others, but he’s always helping out. Professor X doesn’t act as the leader very often anymore, but he starts to act a little shady in this volume. It’ll be interesting to see what he’s hiding. He has a device that allows him to walk a little, which is interesting. I wonder why he ultimately ends up ditching it and will be interested in seeing how it is broken. You would expect him to simply rebuild it, but I suppose that there are extenuating circumstances.

Jean Grey gets a bigger role than the rest of the team since she has her own major subplot where she joins College. She’s definitely a good character and helps out the team in many circumstances. If she had more mental energy, she would easily be the power house of the team. As it stands, her powers have not developed enough to make her a big threat. The Beast is still my least favorite member of the team. He always uses big words to impress the others, but I just don’t see him as much of a fighter. Having a little extra agility isn’t very lethal. Of course, none of the characters are downright bad and they’re all written well. So, even the most unlikable members (Beast and Angel) still end up being good characters when compared to the average bad one.

As expected, the art in the comics is really good. This retro style is a lot of fun and the action scenes definitely roll by smoothly. I was glad that the X-Men altered their costumes a little as Jean was right that the old ones simply had too much yellow. They were rather bland and didn’t scream “Super Hero” to those who saw them. The Avengers all had unique attire after all. If the X-Men had to share the same ones, it would need to be a good costume that you could never forget.

Overall, This was a really fun collection to read through. The X-Men never disappoint whether it is this roster, The Uncanny X-Men or one of the various mixes throughout the years. Back in the day, The X-Men were certainly a fun bunch and could hold their own against the Avengers. (In style, not power) They probably passed The Avengers for a time when Earth’s Mightiest Heroes lost Iron Man and Thor. I highly recommend checking this collection out when you have a chance and I will be reading volume 4 in the very near future so keep your eyes peeled for that. It’s going to be an epic ride and I’m nearly through my comic backlog now.

Overall 8/10

Sonic The Hedgehog Archives Volume 5 Review

Posted on May 29, 2015 by dreager1

I told you that it would only be a short while until I reviewed the next Sonic comic right? Well, volume 5 is here and it’s time to see if this volume could top the last one. There aren’t any real big milestones compared to the last one, but Scourge returns. I’m almost 99% confident that this is the same Scourge thanks to the design and the fact that it is the Dark Sonic who raced with Sonic a while back. Needless to say, the comic doesn’t disappoint and it’s a fun adventure.

I already mentioned it, but one of the big comics here involves Scourge. Mecha Eggman has taken over a universe so that world’s Sonic goes to the main planet to get some backup. Sonic is happy to help and kindly offers his services, but little did he know that the threat would be so real. Sonic enlists the help of hundreds of other Sonics including Wolverine Sonic and Batman Sonic. The classic Eggman also arrives to help since he can’t have anyone else conquering the universe before him. It’s a fun adventure and the stakes were certainly much higher than the average Sonic comic during this time frame.

Another big comic was the Death of Sonic. Sonic was caught in a big explosion and the other Freedom Fighters mourn his loss. Tails knows better of course, but the others decide to attack Eggman. Tails tags along and now Sonic must save his friends from utter destruction. Does Sonic have what it takes? Also, this collection brings a never before seen story where Eggman uses a Universal level Salamander to attack the team. He easily takes on the whole Freedom Fighters gang and the heroes realize that they will not be able to defeat the menace. They must use their brains instead of their brawn this time.

Speaking of giant opponents, there’s also a big robot. I forgot the exact name, but it’s a parody of King Kong and this guy means business. He punches Sonic clear out of view and kidnaps Sally. It’s a tough monster to be sure, but still no match for the teamwork that the Freedom Fighters bring to the table. It’s never a good idea to mess with the heroes eh? There are a pair of mini stories with Sally, which end with cliffhangers that don’t go anywhere. One of them has a Crystal Ball, which Sally considers using to make her life perfect. Another one has Sally infiltrate an Eggman base and blow it up, only to come face to face with the leader of British Intelligence.

There was also a comic where Sonic and Sally decide to hold a play where they get married and the world lives in peace. You get the jist of the stories from these and I mentioned most of them. There’s nothing quite as dramatic as the debut of Knuckles, but the return of Scourge is fairly important I suppose. The collection brings 4 main comics, which is the norm, but the bonus issue at the end helps to make the collection a tiny bit bigger than the last one. It’s still a quick read though and you will be through it in no time.

The art is essentially identical to that of the last volume’s so it is still quite good. I’ll never tire of this retro style as it is simple and straight to the point. All of the illustrations hold up quite well and a casual glance at the page is all that you will need in order to figure out what is happening. It simply doesn’t get better than that folks and while the new Sonic art style may still win, both old and new Sonic comics look good.

The cast of characters is just as solid as they were in the last volume. It’s fun to see all of the cameos from various other forms of media like having the Bat Signal appear or making a Wolverine Sonic. Sonic The Hedgehog is still the best character in the series as he always knows when to put out the stops and start the puns. His unwavering confidence in all circumstances is why he is still known as one of the strongest characters around. The rest of the Freedom Fighters are fun to watch as well and Eggman still makes for an interesting antagonist.

Unlike the last graphic novel, the enemies here were actually able to make Sonic take the battles a little seriously this time. Sonic was actually being defeated by the King Kong rip off as well as the giant lizard. Is Eggman slowly starting to figure out how to overpower Sonic? In later comics, Eggman admitted that he could have destroyed Sonic and the Freedom Fighters at any time. It’s fun to look at these comics and wonder if that was the case. Likely not as Eggman appears to be out of his depth, but with an army of over 4 million robots on his side, Eggman really shouldn’t have any difficulty dealing with the heroes. This is just one of the reasons why Sonic needs some more powerful allies. Bunny is a decent start, but we need more super powered allies if the Freedom Fighters ever want to truly take down Eggman.

Overall, If you’ve stuck with the series until volume 5, chances are that you are here to stay at this point. You’ve made a good decision as the series is quite good and it is quality reading. You won’t find a better or more humorous story out there without really trying. It’s going to be a lot of fun to keep up with the Archives and to gradually notice the comics getting more and more modern. Once Shadow or any of the other Post Sonic DX characters show up, we’ll know that the comics have made it. All of the comics are fun and this is a good read from start to finish. It’s a title that I’d recommend to anyone and you won’t regret giving the series a spin.

Overall 7/10

Sonic The Hedgehog Archives Volume 4 Review

Posted on May 29, 2015 by dreager1

It’s been about half a year so it’s time to look at the next volume of the Sonic archives! In this collection, good ole Knuckles joins the fray. I always liked his first appearance in the Sonic games and the comic is fairly faithful to the original events while adding that Archie humor that we all know and love. As always, this makes for a fun Sonic collection and you’ll certainly enjoy checking out the various stories.

The big story is naturally the one that involves Knuckles. Sonic and Tails land in a new island and Knuckles keeps trying to destroy them to keep his Chaos Emerald safe. Little does he know that Eggman is playing him for the sap! A short story has Bunny and Sally prove to Eggman that girls can fight just as well as boys and even better as they beat him up. Another short story has Sonic make the ultimate sacrifice of jumping into the mud to save an animal. As for the other big stories, one of them had Sonic get kidnapped by Eggman along with the other Freedom Fighters and locked into a Virtual Reality simulator. Sonic wouldn’t have any of that and admitted that the real world is tougher, but still the best. Another entertaining comic was when Tails became a super genius and it corrupted him. He wanted to be the leader of the Freedom Fighters and attacked Eggman, but it was a doomed plan. Eggman is simply too powerful when surrounded by his robots. Tails was really good in that issue and I liked his evil form. It would be cool to see it return. We also can’t forget about Sonic’s three gems of power. They gave him incredible abilities to use against Eggman, which was cool. Naturally, this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as the comics go.

It’s a pretty short collection. The Knuckles comic is really the big one, but there are 1-2 other big two part adventures and then a lot of one shot stories. It may sound like there are a bunch of stories, but many of them are only a few pages long, which is why it still makes for a very quick read. It’s safe to say that Eggman underestimated Sonic and his friends. The Freedom Fighters are a threat to any villain as long as Sonic is around and even without him, Bunny and Sally proved to be more than a match for the evil genius. This was back during the days where Eggman had no tough allies to help him. It’s hard to believe that there were days when Metal Sonic wasn’t around to help very often right?

Naturally, the art is good and flows quite well with the stories. The designs have aged well although it’s safe to say that all of the modern looks are better than their old counterparts. Tails being brown just seems odd at this point and a chubby Sonic? We’re not exactly in the Mushroom Kingdom are we!? A part of me misses this Eggman look as well, but I’m still glad that we ended up getting the sleek re design from the modern games. That Eggman looks like a more formidable fighter while this guy was typically a pushover.

Sonic is still the main highlight of the comics as he always steals the show. As the comedy angle was played up more than in the modern issues, Sonic got a lot of crazy feats back in the day. This comic is no exception as Sonic moves so fast that he can dodge all of the raindrops on a rainy day to stay dry. That ends up being one of the mini comics and it’s an even more impressive feat than you may think. See, someone like the Flash can do this by simply going fast enough so that the air just nullifies the raindrops that get close to him or phasing through him, but that’s not what Sonic is doing. He’s simply dodging them all at super speed and if you’re ever been outside during a downpour, you’ll know that this is clearly impossible. Sonic is so fast that he’s essentially throwing away your reality and replacing it with his own. his speed defies logic and understanding, which is why he’s still one of the fastest characters of all time.

Knuckles got tricked into thinking that Sonic is a villain like usual, but at least he saw the light and helped Sonic take down Eggman. Knuckles isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he means well and he was a likable supporting character here. It was fun to see the iconic character make his debut. This was back during the days where Tails wanted to prove himself fairly often so he doesn’t look quite as good. The comic where he turned into a genius was certainly enjoyable though and Tails definitely isn’t a bad character. I don’t think that I’d say that any of the characters were bad. It’s one of the reasons why the Sonic series has been so much fun. Even if some characters barely register for me, they typically won’t be downright unlikable although that will certainly happen at some point.

The other Freedom Fighters are around, but don’t get to do a whole lot. Bunny and Sally had their fight against Eggman, which was neat. Antoine is still the punchline for all of the jokes and you feel bad for him, but at least he never seems to notice or forgets the insults very quickly. He’s definitely one of the more entertaining characters in the series even if nobody ever takes him seriously. It’s similar to Eggman. I love this version of Eggman, but he didn’t get much to do this time. In previous comics, he literally broke his robots while having a tantrum and put one in the shredder. That was an awesome and iconic moment so it’s tough to top. He didn’t get too many burns or big moments here, but I suppose that he will have his time to shine soon.

This was before the modern days with Shadow and more of a plot based storyline, but the issues still hold up well. Sonic has always been able to succeed in whatever medium or style he has wanted too. The Sonic franchise has had successful video games in the 2-D Platformer, Racing, Fighting, 3-D Platformer, and Party game genres. He had successful TV shows in the comedy and action genres and the comics have ranged from light and happy to cheerfully dark. It’s no exaggeration to say that Sonic is one of the greatest franchises of all time and he’s not going anywhere. I’ll be checking out the next Sonic archives soon so be on the lookout for it.

Overall, I definitely recommend this collection. Whether you are already a fan of Sonic or not, the humor is very well written and the comics will go by in a flash. All of the characters are good and the smooth art really completes the package. There’s really nothing to dislike about the comic and you’ll just wish that it was a little longer. Sonic has been a consistently good comic series for decades at this point and I am confident that it will continue to be one of the best comic books out there. I’m still looking forward to checking out the two crossovers with Mega Man at some point although there should be a lot of plot hax around there.

Overall 7/10

The New Teen Titans The Judas Contract Review

Posted on May 27, 2015 by dreager1

I haven’t read a Teen Titans comic in a long while so it was fun to check out this collection. The library has two other graphic novels from The New Teen Titans run so maybe I’ll check those out at some point. I wouldn’t count on it being too soon though and can any of them beat the iconic Judas Contract? It’s a fun story-line and it is cool that the TV show loosely adapted it.

The graphic novel essentially picks up with a Brother Blood plot. He’s one of my least favorite Teen Titan villains so this was unfortunate, but at least we’re getting that part over with quickly. Brother Blood has a large cult, which kidnaps and brainwashes people. He has already tricked the media so the Teen Titans decide to go after him. It will prove to be difficult since political clout can go far. With their new teammate, Tara, The Teen Titans are ready for anything!

This arc wasn’t too important as it was really just setting up future events. For starters, Terra started to show the viewers her true colors through her conversations with Deathstroke. This was sowing the seeds for the Judas Contract arc and the team began to trust her a lot. The Brother Blood group also gains more power as a result of Blood being defeated as the world feels bad for the group now. Kid Flash also decided to leave the team, which was regrettable and Robin decided that his costume was not appropriate for his new role as the leader of the Teen Titans. He was Robin no more!

The Judas Contract started off with a bang as Terra and Deathstroke began to take out the Titans one by one. It was rather easy, which is a little embarrassing and Robin is the only guy to escape. He is joined up by Deathstroke’s wife and son as they tell Robin of Terra’s betrayal. Robin also formally turns into Nightwing in time for the big battle. Can the Titans really defeat Deathstroke and Terra? H.I.V.E. hopes so since a lot of money is riding on this deal.

This was the big Titans arc and it was definitely a fun adventure. I suppose that the reason why it is so big is that Terra never turned good. She ended up being evil from start to finish and that was likely quite the twist at the time. The introduction by the writer was fun as he mentioned how seriously people took this fact as well as the rivalry between DC and Marvel. I’m sure that quite a few people were enraged about what had happened. It was certainly a very bold move.

Robin is a solid lead for the group and I’m glad that he switched to the Nightwing persona quickly. Having him just act as Dick Grayson wasn’t quite as thrilling as when he was in costume. He looks very bad in the fight against Deathstroke, but he had just finished being Robin so I suppose that he wasn’t much of a fighter by this point. At least, now compared to guys like Batman and Deathstroke. Wonder Girl gets one of the smallest roles from the Titan members although she temporarily becomes the leader while Robin is finding his identity. She seems to only have a mild degree of super strength here as she is strong enough to take down Deathstroke, but Starfire seems to have the edge otherwise. Wonder Girl is definitely one of the nicest members on the team.

Cyborg was definitely a lot different from his New 52 self here and it’s in a good way. He isn’t afraid to break out the occasional pun and he’s a good fighter. Cyborg wants to show that he is more than just a machine and proves it by going past his limits. He’s a charismatic fighter and makes a reference to the Captain Carrot (I think that’s the name) comics that I plan to check out at some point. He gets a thumbs up for that alone. Starfire is much less naive than her TV show counterpart and a large part of her character is that she was raised by gladiators. Her hand to hand skills are even better than those of Wonder Girl. Add in Starfire’s energy blasts and she is easily the strongest member of the team. Unfortunately, her costume or lack thereof is addressed within the comic through a poorly veiled attempt at getting more readers on board through one of the covers. For the most part, the costume is just around and the comic doesn’t put any emphasis on it, but a better costume would certainly be ideal. Also, as much as the Titans remind Terra that they never destroy people, Starfire threatens to destroy Deathstroke several times. Since she is a warrior Starfire wouldn’t hesitate to do such a thing…it’s something that the Titans should keep in mind.

Beast Boy is easily the worst member of the group and most of his appearances are just there to remind us what a bad character he is. He turns into a mouse just to be able to look at Starfire from that viewpoint and it reminds you what a petty individual he is. He may not be great in the TV show, but he’s worlds better than how he was in the comics. He went from being a rather uninspired character to a terrible one and I like to think that he’s better in the New 52. We finally have a winner over there! Raven also looks terrible, but in a different way. I have no qualms with her personality, but she looks terribly weak. Raven is constantly going on about how she can sense evil, but since she can’t tell when a villain is right in front of her, it’s basically pointless. Her dark magic was overcome by Brother Blood and Terra defeated her twice. Once with a casual back fist and another time with a flying rock. Seriously, Raven was laughably weak and I could see Robin easily overpowering her.

I didn’t care for Jericho. He just seemed to be a little too full of himself and sucker punching Robin was definitely not cool. No, Jericho just couldn’t become a good character for me. Deathstroke’s wife was certainly a lot more interesting and she looked good in the origin story. Deathstroke’s origin story is definitely tragic. The army looked bad when they refused to let a super soldier stay in the ranks. Deathstroke then became a gun for hire, which is where he stepped into the side of darkness. Deathstroke is a very fun villain and with his narration it can be easy to forget. He sounds like a good guy and you are just reminded that he is on the side of evil whenever he tries to destroy someone.

That being said, I did think that the wife overreacted when Deathstroke made the decision to save Jericho. At that point, his best option was to try to take them out before they hurt him. If the wife had not been there, the situation would have likely been much easier. Still, Jericho kept his life and Deathstroke defeated the villains. Jericho got injured, but nothing could have prevented that. Deathstroke could have surrendered and then the villains would probably just destroy them all. Never trust another villain and that’s why I didn’t find Deathstroke’s decision to be all that bad. As he said, it was a calculated risk.

Terra is certainly much more experienced with her powers here than she was in the show. From the start, she’s already strong enough to take down Deathstroke and most of the Titans with ease. She can control parts of the Earth that are miles away from her present vicinity and her powers continued to grow. She’s a villain from start to finish although her act quickly convinces the Titans. (Which is sad, since she left quite a few clues.) As a villain, she’s decently likable, but I didn’t care for her cover as a hero. She went too overboard to pretend that she was one of them. Terra’s tough, but the Titans should still be able to take her on and it’s a little embarrassing for the team that they actually fell for her act.

There’s a lot of action in this graphic novel and the Deathstroke vs Robin match was probably the best fight even though Robin was completely outmatched. The sparring session between Starfire and Wonder Girl was also quite good. I also enjoyed most of the subplots like Robin helping a few senators get their reputations back. There was no point during the comic that I felt bored with the title. I dislike Brother Blood and his subplot wasn’t that good, but it would only be around for a few pages at a time and things would get good again once the Titans were back. They’re definitely a group that is easy to root for.

The art looks good and it’s in the classic DC style that is too old to be new, but too modern to be retro. This style works well for me and most of the character designs resemble the modern (Pre 52) ones that I am used too. I still can’t take Nightwing’s original design seriously after watching the Batman series, but I suppose that it may have worked well for its time….maybe. Deathstroke is one of those characters who looks essentially the same no matter what continuity he is in. You just can’t change the guy.

Overall, This was a fun comic. You’ll be reading through the comics quickly as they are all short and interesting. At times, the characters can go a little overboard in how annoying they can be and Terra/Beast Boy are the main perpetrators here. I don’t think that the writer really knew what to do with Raven either as she just looks really bad the whole time. I would have liked to have seen a full Robin vs Deathstroke fight, but I suppose that their brief skirmish does tell us all that we need to know about who would win the battle. I definitely recommend checking this out if you’re looking for a fun action comic to read. It is fairly similar to the X-Men comics at the time and the team dynamic does work whenever Beast Boy and Terra aren’t trying to wreck it. What would be perfect would be for Beast Boy to be dropped from the team and for Kid Flash to return. The Teen Titans would really be ready for action! (Also, I gotta say that there is no way that Beast Boy should have a 6 pack. He does not train at all so I seriously think that this is another one of those cases where the artist tried to make the characters look a little too tough. It’s fitting for everyone except Beast Boy) Also, be on the lookout for Batman’s guest star appearance!

Overall 7/10

JLA Volume 4 Review

Posted on May 20, 2015 by dreager1

It’s time to look at another Justice League volume! It’s certainly not quite as solid as the first one, but it gets the job done. We have some fights with Batman and Superman while also letting the other members have a chance to prove themselves. What hurts this volume a little is how quickly it jumps around and the fact that it almost feels like a side series at some points. That’s still not enough to keep a good Justice League story down though?

The Justice League stories have always been interesting in how they handle the issues. This collection brings around 15-20 different comics, but each issue feels a little shorter than usual. It’s still a big collection that will last you a little while, but the issues aren’t really standard size. At least we still get some good arcs in though. Some iconic ones and some average ones, but they all play a part here.

The collection starts off rather peacefully with Huntress defending Gotham city. The US has apparently decided to just abandon it so many villains are taking this opportunity to have some fun with it. The Justice League can’t go in to help with the situation due to the political issues at work here. That being said, Huntress is really all that they need for the job right? I’m assuming that this situation was set up in an earlier JLA comic or maybe in a Batman series. Either way, it’s an interesting premise.

It’s interesting to see Huntress as one of the main characters. She makes for a good member of the team, but she starts to forget what it means to be a hero as the volume goes on. She nearly crosses the line and Batman calls her out on it. You can bet that he won’t be forgetting such a thing for a long time, which means that she will likely never be back on the League. She had her chance though and Batman does have a point.

Another story features the return of the White Martians. One of them impersonates Bruce Wayne so Batman tells the team to try and take him down. It’s more difficult than you would expect, but they end up accomplishing the task. Another one shot has Hal Jordan return to haunt everyone inside of their nightmares. He shows the heroes that the Joker has a very nice and peaceful part of his mind while all of the heroes have big doubts that plague them. Superman handles his rather well, which is good since he has had a lot of time to dwell on them. Other characters have a tougher time and they remind Hal that he’s supposed to be a good guy in the end. It’s sad for Hal since he used to be such a great hero, but is now confined to being…The Spectre! At least he gained powers beyond comprehension, that’s no small positive.

Next up was one of the big arcs. Lex Luthor has decided to bring together a new team. He has Prometheus, The General, and Queen Bee on his side. Together, the 4 of them plan to bring down the Justice League and wreck chaos throughout the world. Lex chose a bad time since a powerful being has also showed up to take care of the multiverse. The League is split up and facing many different enemies, but we know that they can still come out on top as long as they put on their game face!

We got one more one shot as the JLA had to fight off a race of micro beings who were inside a kid’s brain. In the end, one of them becomes the last survivor of his race, much like Superman. The final arc was the famous Tower of Babel. Someone is systematically taking down each member of the Justice League and the villain is using Batman’s plans to do it. Can Batman outsmart…himself!? The League hopes so because they may be doomed with a capital D otherwise!

The series has had a cosmic element to it for quite a while now. During this arc, the angels decided to forget about this universe and focus on creating another one once everyone is destroyed. The Presence is name dropped as well, which shows you how large scale the threat is. That being said, the cosmic beings are almost inconsequential at this point. Superman can probably defeat them anyway and there are bigger fish to fry. Superman being overcome with doubt and despair is a little much even if it is the villain’s ability. At least Superman managed to snap out of it although I don’t think that it should have been much of a problem in the first place.

While the big boss was fun, the most enjoyable part was certainly the fight with the Injustice League. Although, Superman fans will not be pleased with the fact that he was losing to The General. The General had the clear edge although it was the kind of fight where both opponents couldn’t really manage to deal any damage. The General was just landing more hits. As for Lex, the plot didn’t end well for him as he underestimated the true enemy, which really threw him for a loop. You could say that he never really got an ending to his plan or his own fight. Queen Bee looked decent, but it’s hard to consider her as big of a threat as the other three members. Although, she could certainly beat Lex Luthor or maybe even Prometheus in a true fight.

Prometheus has always been a really interesting character. I like his gimmick of copying fighting styles and he has had many fun fight scenes through the years. That being said, I never got to read a full comic with him so this was my first opportunity. He loves to brag about how he beat Batman, but it seems like an accident has messed with his mind a little. While he is still dangerous, he’s not as focused and Batman uses this to his advantage. Prometheus definitely had the edge initially, but Batman can fight dirty when he needs too. It may not be as satisfying as winning in a normal fist fight, but that’s why they call it…Prep Time!

It’s fun to compare the arc to Justice League Doom. As expected, I have to go with the comic over most of the film’s changes. Most, but not all. The strategy for dealing with Wonder Woman was similar in both versions, but having the fights inside of her head certainly makes more sense so I give the comic props there. Green Lantern’s attack is much more inventive and realistic as well while dealing with Batman is less risky than in the film. I have an issue with how Superman is taken down in both versions to an extent since he’s Superman, but the comic version was likely more effective. The movie did succeed in the fact that we got a big final battle with actual villains and that Superman gave Batman the kryptonite in the end. Having Batman just vanish would have been sad. Superman also felt more understanding in the film.

Of course, you can sympathize with both cases here. It’s no fun to fight alongside an ally who is constantly focusing on ways to defeat you. I wouldn’t be able to trust someone like that and you can say that relations with Batman are already frosty at times. Batman is right in the sense that the heroes do tend to get mind controlled fairly often so we need a backup plan. My problem is the fact that Batman just put these plans in a computer where anyone could steal them. He should have just memorized the strategies in his head. Had he done that, I would have been completely okay with what he did. Still make the tech necessary to stop the League, but throw it in the vault with the thousands of other gadgets and don’t label them. We know that Batman is smart enough to pull this off and everything would be all right.

I liked Batman and Superman’s portrayal. Batman did make a risky call that backfired when he made plans on the other heroes, but I can understand and agree with his intentions. He also made sure that Huntress did not cross the line. Superman seemed to be a little agitated at times and perhaps he let the politics get to him a bit much, but he’s still the Man of Steel that we are used too. There’s not much to say about Kyle or the Flash as their roles were small, but they are good heroes as well. I do think that the Flash really overreacts whenever someone mentions Hal’s name though. It can be a little irritating. Wonder Woman is certainly upset at Batman’s decision and she can perhaps be a little too arrogant, but she’s another good hero. Having someone break your trust can certainly put you in a bad mood.

Orion and Big Barda are around for a little while and they prove that they can be just as tough as the other League members. Still, if I was the JLA, I wouldn’t trust them all that much. They are heroes, but New Gods first and politics could make them oppose the League. Aquaman is openly hostile towards them and I’m glad that he doesn’t back down from Orion’s threats. I would certainly be rooting for Aquaman in a fight and it’s safe to say that this was the original hardcore depiction of Aquaman. As intense as he is in the New 52, he was every bit as gruff and commanding here. Plasticman is still the weak link of the team by far.

If I had to even name a negative for the comic, it is definitely Plasticman. He’s seriously not funny and he’s a weak link to the team. Plasticman is also against Batman’s decision and being broken to pieces also made him revert to his serious form for a little while. Plasticman’s facade of innocence and laughter simply couldn’t hold up forever. At one point he shape shifts into someone’s clothes for them to wear and that’s the kind of thing that really crosses the line and should have gotten him ejected from the team ASAP. I already didn’t like Plasticman and this portrayal of him did not help matters at all.

As for the art, I definitely like it. All of the heroes look larger than life and their abilities have never looked so impressive. You can instantly think of this as one of the big Justice League runs. That being said, the characters are constantly posing, which can be a little odd. One of the big examples of this is when Batman jumps out of a portal with a few other characters saying “Get me tactical.” I looked for the image to post it here, but it proved to be a difficult challenge so I’ll just wait until you read the volume. It starts to get a little hilarious and that’s one of the reasons why this series has been so entertaining. I encourage you to read the first volume so see more examples of this. I’m more than satisfied with the art and it works well for action scenes and dialogue ones.

Overall, This was another fun volume of JLA. The battle against the Injustice League was easily my favorite part of the collection. I also liked the famous Tower of Babel of course. I could have used a little more action, but the writing and art are strong enough to keep the volume interesting regardless of how much action is inside. Morrison really understands the Justice League and I am really liking this portrayal of them. For starters, they are super professional. All of the heroes (Minus Plasticman) are fairly experienced and mature so they can execute team work with ease. The League feels powerful and they can really handle any threat. I feel like they are the Avengers, but physically and mentally superior so they can handle tougher threats. Losing a certain member at the end will hurt them though and I wonder who they will replace the guy with. Of course, this isn’t here to bash the Avengers, but I’m just showing you why I’ve always liked the Justice League. They’re essentially the ultimate team and these comics continue to prove it. I just wonder how the comics will manage to keep the intensity up. Hopefully it’s not at the expense of replacing more members with some weaker ones as that wouldn’t be cool. This is a must read for all DC fans and you won’t regret doing so. Now, if only a film could adapt this series one day and play it straight. I’d love to see a good Batman vs Prometheus fight someday.

Overall 8/10

Essential Hulk Volume 7 Review

Posted on May 18, 2015 by dreager1

I’ve certainly read a lot of Hulk comics. More of them than I had originally thought as I have already read the first four Essential Hulk volumes. This one takes us deeper into the Hulk mythos and we really see why he had such a tough life back then. Nothing ever seemed to go the Hulk’s way and you end up feeling bad for the poor guy. He didn’t ask for this and the Hulk just wants to be left alone. His comics can be good or bad depending on the writer since the Hulk is a character that can be difficult to truly understand. I think that the writers did a decent job here.

Naturally, there are a lot of adventures in this collection. The Essential series typically includes over 500 pages worth of adventures so there are well over a dozen comics here. This is actually the final Hulk Essential so far, but it seems like they are released once every three years so perhaps it is still going on. It’s amazing that the Hulk got around 300 issues for his series. Nowadays, it’s hard to see a title reaching that long. After the Amazing Spiderman finished with 700, I doubt that we’ll ever even see a title crack 200 anymore. 100 would still be tough, but I’d say that it is still doable.

As there are only three annuals, I’ll quickly mention those first. The first annual is one that I’ve already read twice as Hulk teams up with Angel and Iceman to take on the new Master Mold. It’s a solid comic to read and the Hulk gets his respect. Master Mold was never really in a position to defeat the powerhouse. Another Annual had the Sasquatch attack the Hulk to find out how tough the Green Goliath was. It’s one of those times where you have to ask Canada what they are thinking. Bruce Banner had just been trying to relax and he didn’t want to fight, but he was forced into a confrontation. That kind of thing seems to happen to him constantly and you can see why Banner is always on edge. This issue was probably the best annual and the fight between the Hulk and Sasquatch was a lot of fun. The issue made it clear that the Hulk is much stronger though. Unfortunately, the ending is pretty tragic as the person that the Hulk was defending ultimately becomes afraid of him and the Hulk leaves without a friend once again. It’s an ending that will make you dislike the Alpha Flight team even more than usual and I do wish that the Avengers would come in to teach them a lesson.

Finally, the third annual is the most dull of the three. A guy attacks the Hulk with some robots that are essentially large chess pieces. You may have to stifle a yawn as Hulk beating up on robots is nothing new and I’m not sure how this became an annual. Using it as a normal sized issue would have certainly been good enough for me. All right, with the annuals out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the individual issues and arcs that were present in this collection!

One of the first arcs had Hulk go to Sampson’s base for treatment. They were making a lot of progress and the Hulk was starting to become a very nice character, but Moonstone decided to sabotage this effort on behalf of The Organization. It wasn’t hard for her to pretend to be an innocent civilian who was being attacked by The Hulk, which started some trouble. The Organization then grew bolder and got Captain America, Quasar, and Falcon into the mix along with Hulk. The four heroes proved to be too much for the villains and that was a nice team up. Captain America certainly looked reasonable. I’m sure that the Falcon would have been likable as well if he hadn’t been knocked out for the duration of the comic.

Quasar is interesting as he is built up to be sort of like Superman when he appears. He follows The Hulk and they have a rematch in the following issue. He is soundly beaten, but Quasar is still a powerful fighter. He has dealt with cosmic beings in the past after all and he even plays a role in The Infinity Gauntlet. I definitely don’t mind the character. It’s unfortunate that he is also against The Hulk, but the gamma being is used to it at this point. At least the Hulk was able to best him in 1 on 1 combat.

Another team up had the Hulk face off against the Machine Man. An organization…perhaps The Organization!, decided to have someone pose as the Machine Man and steal one of Hulk’s new friends. Hulk followed and really did a number on the real Machine Man as the Hulk ripped him to pieces. They ultimately come to terms and defeat the true enemy, but not before having a big fight that lasted through 2-3 issues. It was impressive to see the Machine Man give such a fight and they essentially leveled an entire city. Never let it be said that the Machine Man is a light weight! Naturally, the Hulk has been tricked once again and even more people turned against him, but at least the Hulk finally had an ally on his side as well. His name actually isn’t Manny, but Fred. (Courtesy of Comicvine) Fred helped the Hulk out by pointing a (unloaded) gun at the “villains” before the misunderstanding was wrapped up.

Do you remember the famous city of gold? Well, the Hulk got to go there after some men appear and say that the Hulk is the chosen person of prophecy who will save them all. For once, the Hulk believes that they are attempting to trick him from the start and goes along with them to destroy the city from the inside. It’s not a bad strategy and I was glad that the Hulk was ready because the people were actually trying to trick him. The Hulk ends up fighting these mages along with a villain named Goldbug. The sorcerers are stronger than they appear and Goldbug actually ends up helping the Hulk. While the Goldbug did betray the Hulk early on, he wasn’t a bad villain. I grew to like him and he did save the Hulk from certain death towards the end of the arc. They made for a good team as they squashed the plans of the villains.

Time for the final two arcs! Talbot has decided to end the Hulk once and for all as he builds a powerful suit of armor. The Hulk figures out that the army has decided to keep the body of Jarella for experimentation and decides to rescue her. The lady deserves a proper burial and the Hulk isn’t going to let anybody stand in his way. Talbot is certainly in over his head, but Captain Marvell has arrived to help. I was glad that Marvell helped Hulk ultimately get to Jarella’s world, but he should have been up front with Talbot. He knows that Talbot is effectively going crazy with bitterness and resentment so he should just level with the guy. “Talbot, I’m here to help the Hulk. Don’t try to stop me!” Things ultimately didn’t work out so well because Talbot got the last laugh. Marvell still looks decent, but it’s safe to say that the Hulk had the edge here.

Hulk ends up making it to Jarella’s planet, which was on the verge of being destroyed. As his final mission, the Hulk needed to save her land from the invaders. This wasn’t very difficult for the Hulk and it was a relatively peaceful way to end the saga. It’s still sad that Jarella had to die in the first place, but at least Hulk saw to it that she could be back home. As for how the Hulk will get back to Earth, it’s hard to say. There are definitely many ways to go about it though so that shouldn’t end up being a real problem.

As you can see, this collection was definitely sadder than most of the Marvel comics. I can see why sales fluctuated so much with the Hulk title because it really isn’t for everyone. You feel bad for the Hulk because it almost seems like he is destined to have no friends. He is constantly betrayed by the people that he trusts and the ones who are loyal have a tendency to die or disappear. The Hulk even cries at several points because it all starts to be too much for him. The Hulk is powerful, but he still has emotions and these events can really make him feel bad. If he were smarter and able to talk more like in the current Marvel shows, it would be different. As it is, The Hulk is smart enough to know what is going on, but not smart enough to stop these tragedies from happening to him.

I do like the Hulk a lot here. He may not be the smartest weapon in the tool shed, but he means well and always tries to help people out. Things just don’t always go his way and there are many villains who are constantly trying to frame him. The Hulk’s strength is usually enough for him to take the win and he has always been quite the fighter. Bruce Banner looks less impressive as he is always out of the loop and rarely appears. You could say that the series is really all Hulk, all the time. There are a few supporting characters, but I can’t say that many of them are very interesting.

Rick Jones shows up for a guest star appearance and tries to help the Hulk on TV. I also liked the guy that Hulk met in a bar. I forgot his name, but the kid loved defying the current status quo of the US and he had a lot of ideas. (I think his name was Manny) He was a loyal friend of the Hulk’s. Jim Wilson was another guy who tried to help the Hulk out, but all three of them were ultimately not enough when the going got tough. General Talbot finally cracks in this collection as he blames all of his failures on the Hulk. Naturally, he is just kidding himself as per usual and he ends up just being another enemy to add onto the long list of foes that the Hulk has to deal with. Betty’s role is also very small, but it seems like it was about to get bigger before the comic ended. She is back in town and now that she has divorced Talbot, she is ready to start her life over again. Unfortunately for her, General Ross had a heart attack and isn’t doing well.

Doctor Sampson is looking after him. Sampson is pretty likable here and he does a good job when he was in control of the Gamma Base. As with just about everyone, Sampson is suckered by the villains into thinking that the Hulk is a bad person at one point, which can be annoying. It’s like the whole world is against the Hulk isn’t it? Ah well, at least Sampson did try to help the Hulk for quite a while.

The art’s in black and white, which can make it a little tough to tell just how good it is at times, but I’d say that it works out fairly well. You can always tell what is happening and the action scenes are fun to follow. I believe that the artist may have changed once or twice since we switched comic series once to Captain America and the volume also included 3 annuals. Either way, they were all pretty good and I would give the comic a thumbs up here.

It’s very impressive that the Hulk got a series with around 400 issues. You can tell that he’s been through a lot and I hope that he found a happy ending somewhere during his journey. Right now, he could certainly use a happy event. I have less sympathy for Bruce Banner since he is able to talk to people when he wants too and is more intelligent so his situation isn’t quite as bad. I could see Banner being decently content and at least his mind gets to take a break when the Hulk is in control. With Ross and Talbot temporarily out of the way, the Hulk can finally get some peace and quiet.

Overall, This Hulk collection was a good one. The Hulk is still not quite as exciting as some of Marvel’s other big heroes, but you really do start to feel sympathetic to the big guy. The art is good and we do get some nice guest stars to keep things fresh. There weren’t many big villains to be found here, but they can’t always be around. Plus, Hulk’s villain gallery is a little smaller than the average hero’s. It’s an easy collection to jump into so I certainly recommend this if you’re a big Hulk fan or just want to read some quick Marvel comics. The size of the volume certainly makes it worth the purchase as long as you don’t mind the art being in black and white. This is the final Essential so far so I’m essentially caught up with the Hulk. Hopefully, I am able to read volumes 5 and 6 so that I can say that I have read the whole saga so far. With the Hulk TV show still going on, I won’t have to say good bye to the character for long!

Overall 7/10

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