The Weekly Crisis Up North Reviews for 02/09/11

So how about this Justin Miousse guy? Not only did he do two set of previews this past week, but now on top of that he has contributed some reviews! He is some kind of guest-posting machine! We wanted to call it "100 Bullets Review", but Vertigo threatened to sue, so instead we are going to call this "Weekly Crisis Up North Review" (because he is Canadian). Hit the jump to see them.

This week's post comes courtesy from Justin Miousse who has been a regular reader of The Weekly Crisis for 3 years and a returning fan of comics. He can be reached through Twitter at @JustinMiousse.

Amazing Spider-Man #654

Written by: Dan Slott

Art by: Stefano Caselli

• Bringing back Mac Gargan as the Scorpion has been a good move, if they can capitalize continually on his involvement with Spidey. If they don't, the move is going to seem pretty pointless. Maybe someone else can  use him elsewhere. Having Caselli draw him should also be a must, very similar designs to his stuff in Secret  Warriors
• Peter Parker cop-out #9945639456. I'll give it Slott, it's a cheeky move, but it works. Similar to what they  did in Batman. Peter Parker without financial problems AND with time to develop his gear? Sounds like it's  too easy...
• Power Woman?
• Further involvement of Hobgolin makes me a happy fanboy.
• Good work by both Slott and Caselli. I hope they bring back Caselli regularly once he wraps up with Secret Warriors. Meanwhile, don't dare take Slott off this book, Marvel.
• Venom back-up was decent. Nothing earth shattering, more government screwjobs, what a shock.

Verdict - Buy It. There's a lot to like in this issue, and Slott ends up using a lot of minor details from early in his arcs so you should pay attention to most of the interactions here. Good stuff.

Birds of Prey #9

Written by: Gail Simone

Art by: Ardian Syaf Vicente Cifuentes

• Gail Simone likes girls! Nice showcase of Dove and her abilities. They've downplayed her strength as a super-hero, but she seems to be very capable. A little mentoring can go a long way.
• Hawk and Batman are great here. Obviously having Oracle being your boss and having dated Batman probably doesn't help Hawk here, but it's fun.
• Black Canary needs a Green ring. Such willpower!
• Terrible ending. Is this how Oracle 'dies'? Ugh

Verdict - Check It. Decent issue with some good stuff from Black Canary, and the further tension between Hawk and Batman. I'm still not looking forward to this Death of Oracle arc.

Black Panther: Man Without Fear #515

Written by: David Liss

Art by: Francesco Francavilla

• David Liss does a good job with T'challa here, again. The premise of him protecting Hell's Kitchen as he's been put into a situation that he's not all that familiar with. From King to Restaurant owner, with no tech of his own. So what does he do? He creates his own. Very Batman.
• Vlad the Impaler proves to be a believable villain. The dialogue they've given him has been frustrating to read at times.
• The flirting of Black Panther's neighbor doesn't interest me. He's a man on a mission, and has Storm. You think he'd switch that up?
• Nice Cliffhanger at the end. Who killed Vlad's wife? Did she kill herself?

Verdict - Buy It. I'd love it if this book got great sales, because that means we'd be treated to more of it. That being said, I'm excited to see more of it, and look forward to see how far it goes. I'm thinking this will end up being a good trade.

Justice League: Generation Lost #19

Written by: Judd Winnick

Art by: Joe Bennett

• Does DC really hate Blue Beetle that much? Another one bites the dust...
• Beetle gets some nice action scenes here, and nearly gets the better of Max Lord, before he whips out trusty Checkmate weapons systems.
• I'm not completely what this issue accomplished in the long run for Max Lord. I guess Beetle is dead, although there could be a cop-out with his suit protecting him. However, other than that, Max Lord seems to have lost a lot in this issue. Booster and the rest of the team are waiting to wreck Max Lord, too.
• How does this wrap up with in the next 5 issues?

Verdict - Byrne it. You know, I'm almost hoping for the cop-out save tactic on Blue Beetle here. He's a good character, and although Winnick needed some sort of emotion to come out of Booster here, I didn't think we needed this again. I'm curious as to how much this series connects to Power Girl, and Wonder Woman, and maybe even Flashpoint. With five issues left, when does Wonder Woman show up?

R.E.B.E.L.S.#25

Written by: Tony Bedard

Art by: Claude St. Aubin, Scott Hanna

• DC Solicits came out. REBELS ends with issue 28. RIP

Verdict - Buy It. It's worth more than the cover price. Starro is awesome and Bedard deserves a lot of credit for getting this title to 28. I'm hoping he has more projects forthcoming. I'm upset that this book is going to be off the stands.

Secret Warriors #24

Written by: Jonathan Hickman

Art by: Alessandro Vitti

• I apologize. I've been pretty negative with Secret Warriors lately, and this issue more than makes up for the last few lackluster ones.
• We're treated to the origin of how Mikel Fury, Nick Fury's son, became a part of the caterpillar program.
• I'm not sure if these were old characters that Hickman dug up or not, but I'm upset to see that they've all died.
• Nick Fury supposedly gets captured here by HYDRA. I'm a little confused. This guy usually has LMD's going around everywhere and he gets caught in a graveyard? I'm a little surprised.
• Hickman seems to tie in one of the characters on Mikel's team to his Shield title. Anyone seen this guy before?

Verdict - Buy It. Good story progression, despite the ending. I'm guessing there's going to be some further mention of Nick Fury's son being dead now. As per usual, still no idea what next issue has in store.

Related Posts