Light order for this week's comics makes for a rather short Weekly Crisis Comic Book Reviews. I picked up a couple extra books, like Nightwing, which turned out to be a major boon, but it still makes for a very short stack of comics. I saved a couple for tomorrow, but since there's so few, I'll probably do longer reviews than the normal Quick Shots. Aaannnyyywaaay, on with the reviews.
NIGHTWING #141
Written by Peter Tomasi
Art by Rags Morales
It's been a long time coming, but this is truely a return to form for Nightwing. I'm not ready to call this a book everyone has to read, but it did enough on this slow week to take away my Comic Book of the Week award, which is saying a lot for a book that just a few short months ago was about as low as it could get after a couple years of being dragged through the gutter.
Let's get this straight. The current storyline about the graverobbers? Not so great. It's not over and this issue has the KG Beast being dug up at the end, but I'm willing to see things through. Tomasi's other 'reviving the dead'-like story over in Black Adam was amazing and if this one ends up half as good, I'll be happy.
So, if the villain plot is only so-so, there's got to be something amazing to pick up the slack, right? Damn right, there is. This book shows exactly why Dick isn't Batman-lite. He's not Bruce Wayne, he's not Batman and he's never been or will be like him. He has friends, relationships and can interact with pretty much anyone Batman can, except instead of pissed off man in the shadows, he can do what he did in this issue - ask for help, sit down and have beers with an old friend, go on a date and so on.
Speaking of which, the Flash's main title makes me wonder why they bothered bringing back Wally. This issue answered that question as he and Dick sit down for a couple of pages and shoot the shit over life, being back from the dead, wife / girlfriends, and everything in between.
This issue was packed with small moments like that. Nightwing and Superman have a chat that ends with Dick taking a picture of a security guard and Superman. Tell me you could see Batman doing that? Another great one was with the JSA being called in to help build Dick's new base of operations. Wildcat and Hawkman's background conversation was pure gold and Starman is just as hilarious here as he is over in JSA.
Finally, being the biggest playa in the DCU, Nightwing took a whole two issues to hook up with his new love interest. Damn, that boy is good.
Verdict - Must Read. Really loved the character interactions in this issue. I can't believe how many heroes he meets up with here and manages to have time to have meaningful conversations with. I forgot to mention it, but he was even having some chats with Batman and Alfred throughout the issue.
ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST #4
Written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Art by Tom Raney
This issue ended up being exactly like I predicted. Abnett and Lanning have their pieces on the board and they are busy moving everyone into position. That doesn't make this a bad issue, but the tempo has been turned down quite a bit from the first three issues.
Starlord and his crew continue their suicide mission to take down the Babel Spire. Unfortunately, Starlord was captured last issue and is currently undergoing interrogation by none other than Ultron him(it?)self. Mantis is helping him endure the torture and mind probing, but I'm not sure how he's going to get out of this in one piece. I hope he doesn't become a casualty of war when this is all said and done.
On the Ronan side of things, Ronan's big mystery is revealed to be an army of robots. Robots versus the techno organic Phalanx and Ultron. Ravenous mirrors my incredulity and obvious futility of the situation, but A&L have a plan for this. Apparently, and I have no idea how this is possible, Wraith can exude his, uh, anti-Phalanx / techno-organic virus cells and Praxagora can interface with every single Kree Sentry drone and this will make them all immune to the Phalanx's attempt to take them over. Rigggghhhht. I'm going to pretend this makes sense and move along.
Finally, we get to Mr Warlock and company. They are travelling in a bubble to Hala. We get some pep talks for everyone involved and then Adam loses control of his powers and everyone falls down. Warlock saves Quasar, we get another pep talk and then they search for the High Evolutionary, who has managed to cut a deal with the Phalanx in the 10 mintues he's been separated from Adam and Quasar. Good times, indeed.
Verdict - Check It. Ya, a Check It for Conquest. It's not that the book was bad by any means. I actually loved it, but, all bias aside, it was a rather pedestrian outing that gets the disparate storylines all moving towards Hala for the big showdown. Add Ronan's big, secret plan and this issue slides down to Check It range. Just think of this as the calm before the storm.
COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS #12
Story by Paul Dini
Story consultant: Keith Giffen
Script by Adam Beechen
Art by Carlos Magno and Rodney Ramos
This turned out MUCH better than I thought it would be. With those previews focusing on the Amazons, I was really scared there for a minute that we were heading back to dangerous waters.
However, much like this week's Conquest, Countdown was all setup for future issues. Seems like this is a good time of year for vacationing in Apokalips because everyone is heading there this issue.
As we saw last issue, the Challengers were sent there by the Source's floating hand of doom. Well, the hand pointed them in the right direction. Technically, a Monitor sent them there. Anyways, they get there, comment on the weather and look for their luggage.
The Amazons storyline ended with a whimper as Wonder Woman's mommy came in and sliced Granny Goodness' face, causing her to Boom Tube out of there. Harley, Mary and Holly decided to tag along to get some sun on Apokalips.
Don't worry, we're not done with the Boom Tubing yet. Piper made a return to the book, after a bit too much time in the sun, and he takes the Boom train to crazy town. Not to miss out on the action, Jimmy and naked bug girl get a message written on their shower about something they did last summer and it prompts them to hightail it out of dodge. I think they're gonna end up on Apokalips. Just a guess.
If I missed anyone that's still in the series, you can assume they were Boom Tube'd to Apokalips.
Verdict - Boom Tube It. I don't think I mentioned it yet, but there were a lot of Boom Tubes in this issue. You could say they were booming. The internet should upgrade to Boom Tubes. Sure beats the series of tubes it runs on now.
UNCANNY X-MEN #495
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Michael Choi
Uh, what the hell? Did Xavier die or not? I know the answer is no, but why the hell doesn't Cyclops know or not? Why wasn't there ANY mention of what the hell happened with some no name kid, she was like a messiah of mutants and the first new one in a while?
I sure don't feel like I just bought fourteen or so issues of a crossover and am now picking up the newest issue. Did the X-Men break up? Scott and Emma are shacking up in the Savage Land and going on double dates with Kazaar and Shanna. Wolverine, Colossus and Nightcrawler are off having fun in Europe on their way to Russia. Angel is off doing missions for Scott in San Francisco. They're all keeping in touch with each other still. "No more X-Men"? Kind of loses it's meaning if they don't even break up.
This issue would have probably been the one of the best of Brubaker's rather lackluster run on the title, what with it's focus on Scott and Emma's relationship and the friendships between the other X-Men, but this is the big follow up to the first real X-event in years. One they've built up and touted as the proverbial second coming and this was the beginning the all new direction for the books post-Messiah Complex. It's like that didn't even happen. The only lasting effect is the X-Men are too lazy to rebuild Xavier's mansion and don't care if he's dead or alive.
Verdict - Avoid It. Technically sound writing and art, much like Brand New Day's stuff, but this failed to follow up in anyway on the huge event that just happened, heralds the new status quo for the team, which is identical to the old one minus the New X-Men, and just boggles my mind. New readers, and probably most old ones, will still enjoy the book, but I'm just frustrated with it at this point.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Weekly Crisis Comic Book Reviews for 02/06/08
Comic Book of the Week
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6 comments:
I certainly wasn't expecting Nightwing to get such acclaim (though maybe I should have given who's writing it), so I guess now I'm going to have to run out and pick that up.
I am new to the X-Men family of books since Messiah CompleX, but I thought Uncanny was a pretty suitable follow-up to those events. There were things that I could see people taking issue with, but I'm not sure stamping it with an "Avoid It" is fair.
>>I'm not sure stamping it with an "Avoid It" is fair.
been reading x-men for 20 years, it was so fair. I mean, they didn't even try to make 'no x-men' last a whole issue. scott outright says it is a lie in the issue.
also, what was with tony using the exact same phrase(down to the elipse) inside of 2 pages? and warren's email seemed to be missing a bunch of words.
seriously, bru seems to be phoning uncanny in.
Concerning Uncanny X-Men - I've never really defined my rating system all that much, but no two books with the same rating are of the same quality.
For instance, I could give Book A a 9.7 and Book B a 9.0. Both books obviously rock and should be read by everyone. Ergo, a Must Read.
Conversely, Bad Book A could be a 6.0 and Bad Book B could be a 2.0. Both are books you should probably avoid, but one is obviously much worse than the other.
I try to quantify books in to simpler ranges. So, while One More Day and this Uncanny are Avoid It, the Uncanny is no where near as bad as OMD and I go to great lengths to show where my displeasure comes from with the book.
Furthermore, sometimes I rate books based against previous issues. I ranked a JSA issue Avoid It once because of delays, the fact it felt like filler and it failed to deliver on the hype of the Kingdom Come promotions for it. Was it better than other books that week? Yes, but I also tried to explain that in the issue. I do this for books like Nova, as well. A Check It for Nova was probably better than most books that week, but compared to previous issues of Nova? Not so much.
It kind of goes against convention a bit and is why I hate using number systems for ratings. I added the system for people that scan reviews to see if a book was good that week, much like how I typically go to video game sites and just look at the scores of games and maybe scan the review if I find an odd score for a game I was curious about.
I know this comment is getting long, but getting back to Uncanny, I state it's written well, the art is good and it would be the best issue of Bru's run on any other day, but this came after a huge event, the first in years. Charles Xavier died or was assumed dead at the end of Messiah Complex. This is the first issue after that. No one cares about it. Scott basically says he may be alive, but meh, vacation time in the Savage Land.
Also, Scott said the X-Men were dead and there no more X-Men after that. Just look at the cover. Everyone is supposed to be leaving. They all took vacations and a couple are on missions at the moment. The X-Men aren't dead. It's pretty much as if Messiah Complex didn't happen. I guess the mansion was destroyed, but that happens every other day as well.
This reminds me of Onlsaught's aftermath, except that dealt with all the shit that happened in tha tcrossover, although I preferred Messiah Complex.
In the end, the No More X-Men lasts about a quarter of an issue. Why even bother hyping that up? For a cool ending to Messiah Complex? It's like all the other deaths that turned out to be minor wounds or quick take backs for shock value.
I write the reviews after I read a book. Maybe I was a little jaded and let my feelings get in the way, but I stand by the fact I think it should be avoided, despite the issue being fairly decent on the whole (loved the Scott and Emma stuff with Kazaar, etc).
This feels like Brand New Day. They have good writing and art and everyone is back to normal, but it's basically ignoring everything that just happened in favour of telling other stories.
So, is Avoid It too harsh? Not in the context of my review. This isn't One More Day quality and I make it clear exactly why I dislike the issue. I can understand if you disagree and I'm not saying you are wrong or I am right. Sometimes people disagree on the worth of things, it's why there's like 100 different books a month. I usually try to be objective with reviews, but I couldn't let this one slide.
Oh, and as for Nightwing? This is the second issue of Tomasi's run. The first one was good and a marked improvement over the last while with a lot of potential to be awesome or terrible, depending on what Tomasi ended up doing. He really knocked this out of the park. He treats Dick with the respect of Batman in terms of how other heroes see him. He's not the sidekick or nobody. Superman, JSA, Green Lanterns, they all respect him and the interactions were perfect.
This was possibly better than the Dixon era back when the book launched and he established Bludhaven.
I think the issue was worth it just for the Dick and Wally having beers and shooting the shit section.
I hope this is the signs of things to come and not just a fluke, but if you're a fan of Nightwing or even the Flash, I think you need to pick this issue up. The one before it established his new set up in New York, but I think you should be fine with this issue alone if you don't want to committ to 2 issues.
Nightwing is better right now then it has been in years!
I discovered your site a few weeks ago and I have to say I'm really enjoying it, especially the moments of the week.
Do you only review books you collect or do you pick up random issues sometimes just to review them?
Glad you're enjoying the site Cat! Typically, I review the books I collect. However, I buy a lot of books and randomly pick up new series or books depending on my interest in it.
For instance, I just dropped Amazing Spider-man, so there's 3 books a month that won't get picked up anymore, but I'll probably shift funds to either more monthlies or maybe a couple new trades depending on what strikes my fancy.
I'm also open to suggestions from anybody for ideas or possible books. I don't guarantee I'll buy it, as some books just don't appeal to me, but there's a good chance I'll probably end up getting it at least once.
Only exception I can think of are most Vertigo titles. I typically wait for trades on those, which is the fate of Fables, 100 Bullets and a few others.
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