Gashapon Reviews: January 27th, 2010

My life is insane at the moment, so things are all kinds of delayed. I'll be better once I have fewer rehearsals.

Marvel

X-Men Legacy #232 (***)

Not a bad issue (although I did have to refresh my memory of what happened). As I've mentioned before I'm not crazy about Proteus as a villain because I think he's too damned powerful. But I think the way the X-Men handle themselves is always interesting. I didn't realize there was this huge thing between Mags and Protes, but that should be an interesting fight (which according to the Necrosha schedule probably wraps up next month).

Gashapon Reviews: January 20th, 2010

If I could have found Uncanny earlier, this would not have been nearly as delayed. Ironically right when I told Arnab to review it, I found the damn thing. Here's everything else I read last week:

DC

Green Lantern Corps #44 (***)

I'm not sure what I should say about this issue. Unfortunately for the Blackest Night series I'm comparing everything to the main title, and since so little I've read pretty much ever can compare to that, other reviews are taking a hit. It's not that I didn't enjoy GLC, it's just that I wanted...more. I'm always amused when Mogo shows up, but I think I'm over Guy as the Christmas Lantern. It was really cool when it first happened, but now that we have to deal with the consequences I find I'm not so invested. Maybe it was just an off week for me.

Get these men out of here before they contaminate the scene

"You mean the detectives?"-Gordon

So my only review this week, strangely because I feel like I read so many things. Oh that's right, yall will get a January special Blackest Night Tie-In. And believe me you, there are some great ones.

Streets of Gotham ***
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this issue. A couple things that piqued my interest. For one thing, Paul Dini, who has been the writer for SoG, except for a short mini-series, from the beginning did not write this issue. I was not expecting that and I'm afraid I might have missed his writing. Which isn't to say the writing was bad, the flow just felt detached from the plot. It's almost like there was a deviation from the plot. Furthermore, the artists, Dustin Nguyen, I don't know if I'm going crazy but I feel as if he has somehow tweaked his drawing technique; either him or the inker, Derek Fridolfs. Either way when I read it, I immediately felt an artistic change, but this wasn't as bad as the writing change. I thought the art was still great. Dustin Nguyen is a great artist. All in all, not a bad issue, I'm just slightly confused as to how everything ties in.

Uncanny X-Men 520 ***
Hey look kids, I'm reviewing Uncanny this week. So as a self-proclaimed artist, or at least a budding self-proclaimed artist, I'll talk about the art first. I actually think that Greg Land is one of the best artists that Marvel has. I absolutely loved his work in Phoenix Endsong and all of his work in Uncanny has been great. This issue was ok, but it wasn't the greatest. I detest Namor and everything he stands for. I loved the interaction between Scott and Erik, I thought everything worked well in those scenes. I'm interested in how things will turn out for Logan and co. and also whether or not Phantomex will join in. Note, interested with how it will turn out, not excited at what happened in this issue.

Stay tuned, next week is gearing up to be a biggie.

I told you not to bark at the dinosaurs

Adventure Comics #6 *****
Oh man, I am seriously going to miss Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul. This was their final issue for Adventure Comics and it was pretty great. Conner getting rid of his Superman/Lex Luthor journal was great, because for the most part his struggle with his identity was just terribly sad. Lex Luthor is pretty much the epitome of evil. Krypto is such a cute dog and I love the bond that those two have created. I loved at the end when his best friends came together and they just hung out, like friends do. I think probably the most important thing to come out of these issues, is the growth the Conner goes through. Definitely read this one.

Now though, in order to get my Conner fix I'm going to have to follow the Brainiac & the Legion of Super-Heroes, which is a massive interlocking story that will be running through Supergirl, Superman, Last Stand, and Adventure Comics. It's all about the War of Supermen, could be interesting. Honestly, I just love Conner, and will read anything with him in it.

Batman #695 ****
I am very much enjoying Tony Daniel's existence in the comic realm, as I've mentioned. The writing has been good, but the art in this one was great. I love the way this man draws Dick and Dick as Batman. I'm very much intrigued with who Black Mask is going to turn out to be, Kitrina coming back has been fun (especially with that knot incident), and anytime Catwoman is around is always good for me. I am also a bit interested as to what will be happening with the impending number 700 coming up and then there's the Return of Bruce Wayne, and that will certainly shake things up a bit.

Batgirl #6 ***
So I still mostly read this because of Barbara, plus right now Batman and Robin are guest starring. Damian amuses me, mainly because he annoys the hell out of Stephanie, who by the way is a jackass. What I'm hoping is that she won't be the one that "saves" Dick in the next issue. Other than that, I am sorta looking forward to the upcoming Red Robin/Batgirl crossover. I love Tim, so that should be good. It is kind of interesting that they are doing this, considering this was done in the past crossing over Dick's Nightwing with Barb's Birds of Prey. I don't particularly care for Stephanie, Tim can do better. If only they would reveal Tim and Conner to be lovers. They both deserve better than who they are with currently.


By the way, five of the eight DC Blackest Night resurrected tie-ins have come out, so look out for that soon enough. Plus Blackest Night tie-ins Part three. And for those of you that don't search the internet high and low, 2010 looks to be very exciting.

Gashapon Reviews: January 13, 2010

Hmm, light week. Next week looks similarly quiet.

Marvel:

Dark X-Men #3 (***1/2)

I just love Nate Grey. That's really all that needs saying here. He rips open Avengers Tower and kicks the crap out of the Dark Avengers. I'm not entirely sure what happened with the whole "in between time" thing; X-Man is a Time Lord? But the fact that he now controls Osborn seems very significant. I just hope he stays around after all this Dark X-Men shit is over.

"Remember everything your teachers gave you. Don't be any of them. Be all of them."

Red Robin #8 ****

Bruce Wayne is trapped in time, what's a former Boy Wonder to do? Deal a crippling blow to the League of Assassins and take on the Council of Spiders. Tim basically kicks ass the entire issue. I haven't particularly enjoyed the direction that this series has been going, but this conclusion was fabulous. This whole mini series has been about him diving head first into the League of Assassins and taking them apart from the inside, and he does just that. Then, by being attached to the League he is targeted by the Council of Spiders (did he make some enemies or what), and how does he respond to that? That's right, he gives them a beating they didn't even think was possible. It's like Ra's mentions, Tim is like what would occur if Bruce and Dick had a child, not adopted a child, had one. Oh, and even more awesome, he's coming back to Gotham.

A Blackest Night Opinion Piece

Arnab linked me to this article last night, and it really just sums everything up so well I thought I would share it. I'm not sure if it's proper to link to other articles, but what the hell.

The article basically talks about how great Blackest Night is. The whole thing is very well written, but my favorite line?

"Oh yeah, and last week’s issue… where the various rings deputize the New Guardians. Yeah, we had to clean our shorts too. It’s alright. We admit it."

It's just so damn true.

I'd also like to echo the sentiment that it's nice when you want to buy the tie-ins, rather than when you have to. I'm looking at you, Marvel. Take notes.

Mania.com - Why BLACKEST NIGHT Has Become Comics' Brightest Day

Hey, look, I read a Trade!

It happens sometimes. I stumble upon a Trade paperback at the local libs and decide to fill in some gaps in my comics knowledge. I actually love Trade Paperbacks, but as I'm 8 kinds of broke at the moment (with 2 more kinds in development), I can't afford them so often. And the library near my parents' house wasn't always the most up-to-date. Hopefully the local one now will be better.


Before a couple months ago, my only real knowledge of Green Lantern came from the Justice League cartoon. Sure, I knew who Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner were, but the only heavy exposure I had was from John Stewart in the cartoon. Then, and I honestly don't remember why, I decided to start reading Blackest Night. I'm a sucker for events, I guess. Because of that, I figured I'd go back and catch up on random things.

But in the spirit of all the Green Lantern love going on in these parts lately, I decided to read Green Lantern: Secret Origin and Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps War (parts 1 and 2, and Tales of). And since is, y'know, a comic blog, I figure let's write a review. Also, not gonna lie, I'm giddy that I'm more or less up-to-date and that work is slow. And I feel a rush whenever I get to create a new Tag.

I think Sinestro Corps War came out before Secret Origin, but this is the order I read them in.

Green Lantern: Secret Origin (****)

Again, thanks to a passing knowledge of Green Lantern (aided by Green Lantern: First Flight), I sort of knew how Hal Jordan came to be the Green Lantern. Abin Sur crashes and the ring chooses him, and no one can believe a human could be a lantern. What I found interesting about this was all of the set-up for Blackest Night. Now, I realize this was a ret-con of sorts (although I'm not sure the full extent) and to be honest I hate ret-conning in general, but I think it would have been cool to read this last year and be teased with all this BN stuff. Seeing Atrocitus pre-Red Lantern, and watching Sinestro clearly heading towards Crazy, it's all kind of filling in gaps.

Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps War (****)

I've been debating with myself if I should do one longer review for all three books, or a smaller review for each, and I think I'm going to stick with the longer one namely because I don't have that much to say. Overall I enjoyed the Sinestro Corps War books, mainly because I like war and I like power rings. I'm a little hazy on how exactly Sinestro came to not only have a yellow ring but control a whole army, but I get enough of the gist to follow that this is not a group that should be fucked with. I think I was most interested in three things in this whole story:

1. Cyborg Superman wanting to die but being denied time and again, and doing all of this random shit just so the Anti-Monitor would kill him. Tragic Villains are so much more compelling. Look at Atrocitus as well. It's not easy to feel compassion* for the bad guy, and I appreciate when writers can make me feel that.
2. The Guardians, just in general. I really don't see these little men (and women; who knew the women were the bald ones?) as good guys, and I love that Ganthet and Sayd were like "You bitches are CRAZY." Their new laws authorizing Lethal Force? Isn't compromising your principles like a universal sign of the End? Just look at the Republican Party. I'm excited to see what the other six new laws are, since I reckon the Guardians have completely lost their minds.
3. The Antimonitor turning into the Black Lantern. Namely because I love all Blackest Night stuff.
   

I think both Sinestro Corps War and Secret Origin are pretty important parts of the GL continuity, and while they're not required reading for Blackest Night I definitely think they're worth picking up if you've got some time.

* Am I the only one who, after reading Blackest Night, now thinks in colors rather than emotions? "Gee, I feel a lot of Indigo for him after his wife got sick."

Gashapon Reviews: January 6, 2009

Starting the New Year with a new event: It's Siege time ladies and gents (or should I say lady, as I can only count one who reads this). And looks like it's good timing, as the DC universe is decidedly quiet this week. Not that quiet is bad, as last week was quiet with one of the best comics I've read ever.

So let's get on with the comics of 2010!

Marvel:

Cable #22 (**1/2)

I don't know what to say about this. I find with the Cable books, I keep coming back to "It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. I'll say again that I'm just ready for this stupid story to be OVER and for Hope to start doing shit in the universe. Also, I hate her current costume something fierce. And how can I forget that STUPID book that shows a picture of Cable and Hope fighting in the Revolutionary War. Some artist took enough notice to randomly include them in a picture? I know what they were going for, but it was weird. And how do they even know what Hope looks like now? Lame.

"But with new year comes new start. right?"

So for my final review for the year I was going to review the DC Holiday Special '09. However, the fact that there are 16 chapters to the special I thought it best just to say that it was nice. I didn't expect it to be amazing, but it was very nice.

As this is my first and only blog, I would just like to say that it's been amazing fun writing here, thanks Matt. And even though there are fewer than a handful of folks that read it, it's still been great. See ya'll in oh ten!