Writer's Pull List: 05-26-10

Matt: I used to think that 8 comics a week was huge.  Now it's become standard.  I may have to start selling my body to afford this habit.
Arnab: There was a time when 8 comics was my entire pull list. Now it's an every week thing. I'm going to have to join you on your new endeavor.

Arnab's Pull List
Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne #2
Gotham City Sirens #12
Green Lantern #54
Justice League: The Rise of Arsenal #3
Superman: War of the Supermen #4
X-Force #27
X-Men Origins: Emma Frost
X-Men Second Coming Revelations: Blind Science


Matt's Pull List
Dazzler
Secret Avengers #1
X-Force #27
X-Men Origins: Emma Frost (maybe)
Second Coming Revelations: Blind Science
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #2
Green Lantern #54
Green Lantern Corps #48
Wonder Woman #44
American Vampire #2-3

Everyone outside. Now! We're under attack!

American Vampires #1-3       *****

At the suggestion of my comic guy Andy I picked up this title and I can honestly say that I am glad that I did. With the Vampire craze infiltrating every ounce of our culture these days you're probably thinking, not another vampire story. I promise you, you're wrong. I mean, you've got the King of horror stories himself Mr. Stephen King as one of the writers.  As a fan, I would argue that that should be enough to get you to read this. But you do have to take in the fact that the other writer Scott Snyder is relatively unkown. Well let me tell you, he does a fantastic job with words himself. And while they're storytelling techniques are different they come together to create a well thought out and executed story. The artwork in this book is fantastic as well. Rafael Albuquerue does a tremendous job with the art that is executed in a painterly fashion that may call to some people's minds the stylings of Francis Manapul.

The story is split in two parts. The first part, written by Scott Snyder takes place in the Hollywood district in 1925. We meet aspiring actress Pearl Jones who is in for the ride of her life, especially after meeting Skinner Sweet. In the second story we follow Skinner's road to meeting Pearl. What these writers are doing is exploring the notions of vampire evolution as well as the eternal battle between the old and the young.

Gashapon Reviews: May 19, 2010

I'm incredibly annoyed that "Enter the Heroic Age" was not in my comic store.  I know it was mostly just a preview of the new Avengers titles, but that's kind of why I wanted it.  Hopefully I can find it somewhere this week.

In other news, I'm now up to date with Chew, but I think I'm going to make a separate 'indies' post.

Marvel:

X-Men Legacy #236 ***

I am having the hardest time reviewing this issue.  Sure, I liked it.  But I'm not sure I can really put my finger on why, and that makes me uncomfortable.  Because I can definitely see some flaws in it.  The art at the beginning is confusing (I knew they were creating a shell around the mutants, but only from experience, not so much from the drawing) and the characters seem a little...stupid.  "Gee, a giant silver sphere that appears to be the center of this scary red thing.  Let's go poke it with an Iceman."  Part of me feels like the action is trying to start up again but it's not going as smoothly as the first 5 issues did.  I definitely think we'll get there, but right now I'm just a little hesitant.  In other words this wasn't my favorite issue so far, but I'm not about to say "This issue is crap," because it's not, and I think in the final trade this issue will just mark a lull in the overall story.  But I do want to mention that I'm very happy the Avengers showed up.  It would be very unrealistic (even by comics standards) that all this shit could go down in San Francisco and no one would take notice. 

Writer's Pull List: 05-19-10

So right now we don't have as many readers as we would like. However, we do plan on helping change that a bit. So to make things a bit more easy flowing, we've decided to post a pull list. This is essentially going to be a list of comics that Matt and I will be reading each week, divided up by publisher. As our readers grow it will hopefully also be a place where you, the readers, can suggest things for us to read.

Arnab's Pull List
Batman: Streets of Gotham #12
Brightest Day #2
Superman: War of the Supermen #3
X-Factor #205
X-Men: Legacy #236
The Walking Dead #72
Supernatural: Beginning's End #5

Matt's Pull List
Age of Heroes #1
Avengers #1
Enter the Heroic Age
Invincible Iron Man #26
X-Factor #205
Legacy #236
Brightest Day #2
Chew #7-10 (if I can find all of them)

There may be some other things we both wind up reading, but these are the things we'll be searching out.  A relatively big week as they go.  Wait for our reviews later this week!

When I said I was ready...I lied.

Hello my readers. I have some news for yall. Starting this week I will be writing for two different sites. I will continue doing my reviews here for everything that is not DC and I will be doing all my DC reviews at ComicAttack.net. I will be linking all my DC reviews to my posts here, so it'll be easy access for you guys. And fear not, I have already come up with some ways that will make up for me abandoning you all, at least my DC reviews abandoning you.

New Mutants #13 ***1/2
I thought it was a fairly mellow issue. I can't particularly say I've ever really liked Dani Moonstar. I'm not altogether sure why. I thought she was cool when she kicked Ares' ass, but other than that I have found her to be significantly annoying. And her talking about Hope right in front of Hope was ridiculous. I'm glad Hope beat her down. The X-Men have been systematically trapped on their Island, how can they survive this? What exactly is happening with the Science Guild? I love seeing Scott get some action, as little as it was. It's just been too long since he was a part of the major action. I think people are expecting too much from Hope, I mean, it's not like anyone knows what she's actually supposed to do. And yea, it sucks that people keep dying to protect her. But if you really think about it, they'd be dying regardless of her existence.The inside art is good, the cover art is awesome.

Gashapon Reviews: May 12, 2010

Any week I spend $30 at the comic shop without buying a trade is considered big by my standards.  Granted I bought 3 issues of Chew at once.  Too bad they don't seem to have issue 7.

Yet another major event comes to a close this week, and some more Brightest Day titles are just taking off. 

Marvel:

New Mutants #13 ***

So we've said goodbye to Kurt and gotten everyone back on Utopia.  But seeing as we're halfway through, it's time to rev up the action again after last weeks breather as we head into the second half of the event.  I appreciated that we're really seeing now just how well-planned out Bastion is.  I'm not however appreciating Hope having all of these doubts.  And before anyone says anything, yes, I know I'm being terrifically unfair to her and all the shit she's gone through.  It can't be easy to have the weight of a species on your shoulders, especially when you're already a bitchy teenager.  I think I'm just getting impatient for more to happen, and I'm going to view that as a tribute to the writing, keeping me wanting more. 

You're my brother, Dick. You'll always be there for me.

Red Robin #12      *****
It has been a year now, our time, since my boy Timothy has taken up the Red Robin mantle, and what a year it has been. Ra's al Ghul had made his final move against Tim in the last issue, putting out a league of ninjas to take out everyone close to Bruce. However, just as his mentor before him, Timothy was more than prepared. And unlike his mentor before him, Timothy had an army of friends to help him. He then took the battle to Grandpa Ghul himself (Damian's Grandfather, not Tim's.)

I can't even begin to explain just how amazing this issue was. A whole year of storytelling by Chris Yost came to a conclusion and it couldn't have wrapped up better. In past years Tim has been the ever present light in Gotham, but recent events and tragic deaths (Tim's Father, Stephanie Brown-though she wasn't really dead, Conner Kent and Bart Allen-both have returned to us, and Bruce Wayne) had left him a shell of his former self. With this final issue of Yost's return, I can honestly say that it's great to get some of that old Tim back. He can never be the same kid again, he's lived too long for that. But as he said in the issue, he's his own man now, and all the better for it.

There are a couple of important things I would like to mention. With this issue we are made to some things in a much clearer light. For one Ra's has some slut hidden away to be impregnated by Tim, gross. Bruce and Dick are the best role models a guy could have, individually, and Tim has had them both. I loved when Bart, Cassie, and Conner showed up to help out. I loved even more the interaction between Dick and Tim, who have thankfully made up. Chris Yost himself told us, my sister and I, that with is final issue he was not only looking to tie up the story but to bring Tim back around, and I think he's done that very well. Marcus To has been a great artist on this run. He's just got a certain feel that fits in right with Tim.

Gashapon Reviews: May 5, 2010

Two Gashapon reviews so close to each other will probably break the universe, but here we go.
 
Marvel

Uncanny X-Men #524 ***1/2

Before I do any kind of review, I need to bitch about Colossus.  Specifically Colossus being by the plane at the end of the last chapter, and in the medical ward with Kitty at the beginning of this chapter.  Annoyance.

Ok, now as to the rest of it.  This was a quiet issue after the craziness of last week.  I've heard it described as a 'breather' before the rest of Second Coming unfolds.  I thought the tribute to Kurt was touching, but I found Beast's outburst to be terrifically inappropriate.  Regardless of your feelings, you don't interrupt a funeral.  It's interesting to see how the mutants all react to Hope.  After all this time and all this build-up, she's got a lot on her shoulders.  I think it's all just building up to the break that unleashes her real power.  But with Bastion having a spy on Utopia, things are going to get much worse before they get better. 

Gashapon Reviews: April 28, 2010

What's this?  A Gashapon review?  I thought those stopped existing!

Sorry folks, I've been terrible in my blogging efforts of late.  April was crazy, and I had the Blackest Night Review hanging over my head.  But that's done, and now we're into regular comics, and I have no excuse for not reviewing anymore.  In other comics news, I've caught up on Batman and Robin, and am catching up on Red Robin.  I also started reading Y the Last Man and a few issues of Chew.  And as soon as I find Walking Dead at the library I plan on reading that too. 

Before I start, though, a big shout out to Big Planet Comics in Bethesda, my new Comic store.  Joel there has helped me set up my pull-list, which is much longer than I thought it would be.  Stupid X-titles.

You don't know what it's like to be a father--to really be a father.

X-Force #26  *****
"Our Father who are in heaven," oh I'm sorry, I must have been channeling the late Kurt Wagner. You heard that right, our resident religious funny man himself, Nightcrawler has passed into the land of the dead. Let that soak in for a while as I take you on this journey. So much happened in this issue and everything happened so well. First, Bastion is tracking all the mutants in the world, except for Hope (who's still able to avoid detection, much like when she was a teenie tiny babie.) Cable, after having split up from Hope, is creating a diversion with the help of Angel, Psylocke, Logan, Colossus, and X-23. Suffice to say, Bastion was not fooled. And just to add, while I understand Colossus' pain and desire to help his sister, annoying much? Back to the good stuff. Meanwhile, Rogue and Hope have been traveling cross-country via that Nightcrawler "Bamf" express. Having briefly stopped to allow Nightcrawler to rest, the gang was attacked by Bastion himself. Rogue quickly utilizing near every power she had recently absorbed (see review for X-Men Legacy #235,) however the quickly repairing, non-human, Bastion kept barraging her with more attacks. Finally having beat down Rogue, Bastion turns his attention to the weakened Nightcrawler and the unprotected Hope. Now, I'm not usually one for spoiling, but you must forgive me this one time. With his last burst of energy, Nightcrawler "Bamf"-ed for the last time, transporting himself and Hope to Utopia, uttering his final words "I...I believe in  you." (Much like I said you all should believe in Cyclops back in our 50th post special.)

I don't even know where to start really. The writing and the artwork in this book was superb. Fantastic. Beautiful. Craig Kyle and Chris Yost weaved the words like they were thread in a Navajo blanket. And there were often times when the silence was even more powerful. enter Mike Choi and Sonia Oback. These four people weaved together a brilliant chapter to this awesome event. The battle scene between Rogue and Bastion was awesome. The final moments of Nightcrawler's death was touching. And the moment that Colossus and Wolverine find out he died was heartbreaking. I've had an inkling that it would be Kurt that would be a major death in this event. His interaction with Scott in the one-shot, his transporting Rogue and Hope across the U.S., his vocal opposition to X-Force, just little things. And I was all for it, mostly because his faith in his religion makes me feel awkward, because it's something that I can't relate to him about. But at the end of the day, he is a part of the second generation of X-Men, best friend to Colossus and Wolverine, good friend to many, and he will be missed by thousands of fans across the world. He deserved an honorable death, and Kyle, Yost, Choi, and Oback gave him just that.

I met up with Chris Yost on Free Comic Book Day, and he's just a great guy. I got my issue signed by him, of course, as well as a couple Necrosha issues, and my Red Robin series. We talked about Nightcrawler's death a little, and you could just tell that there was a level of respect he had for this character and the character's history, especially with the fans. He said that their main intent was to make sure his death wasn't pointless and meaningless.
And they did just that.

I-I wish I could do more but I can't. I can't go any faster...

Even if the thought occurred to you then, you never thought you'd actually be able to do harm to your parents.

Streets of Gotham #11 ****
I can say this week after week, but until you actually pick up the book you guys won't ever really know just what you are missing out on by not reading the Bat-titles. And to those of you who are thinking, why would you need to read 5 books about Batman,ere given the pleasure of witnessing young children locked in cages like animals. It turns out that Mr. Zsasz over here not only has been kidnapping orphans but forcing them to fight one another for the pleasure of his customers. Enter Damian. This little guy, who is becoming a bit more likeable with every issue, has deemed himself the protector of children around the world. This was another great notch in Paul Dini's book of Gotham stories. And man does Dustin Nguyen have the amazing ability to take Dini's words and bring them to life. Great series, great issue, just great stuff.

Bruce would have anticipated the trap.

I do apologize in advance for this post being so text heavy. But you guys are here to read not look at artwork anyway.

Batman #698 ****
There is a killer on the loose in Gotham, so what else is new? With the Black Mask's identity uncovered and put away, the next crook is ready to take his place. Murder after murder, this crook is trying left and right to make his murders look like they were done by one of Gotham's regulars. Enter the Riddler, I mean, Edward Nigma, private eye extraordinaire. What we have here folks is just further proof that Tony Daniel is the best man for this job. He just gets it. Daniel's run as well as his portrayal of Dick Grayson as Batman has been fabulous. With his fast paced writing, Daniel weaves his latest story with so much greatness, that you're literally shocked it's over when it is. Guillem March took over art duties for these last two issues, until the epic #700 issue coming up, and while it was good, I personally think he's done much better for Gotham City Sirens. I'm not sure if it's because the focus on Gotham City Sirens are females or if it is because the overall mood is lighter in that title or maybe I just expected more from him, but I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. I'm a little bummed that Tony Daniel will be relinquishing his writing duties to Grant Morrison starting with the epic 700, but at least we've got one more issue of his on the way.

Because that's what I'd do, and I'm the guy that taught him how to run in the first place

So my appy-polly-logies to my readers. I'm sure I speak for both myself and Matt when I say, we've been busy. This is a major long post and as I mention further on that there are also a couple reviews from three weeks ago, the rest are from two weeks ago. And I'll be getting to last week's issues shortly.

Uncanny X-Men #523 **** 1/2
The X-Men have been on a wild ride in the past years, one more than the others, and it has all been leading up to the Second Coming of the Messiah. This epic event has been living up to all the expectations that I had and then some. What a great issue this was. I am loving the way that the writers have been portraying Cable and Hope's relationship. That whole hair kit scene was just a really nice touch. I am very excited to see how this all works out for Scott. The X-Force has been a clandestine operation because Scott knew that some of the X-gang would have an issue with it. And now that its existence is out in the open, not everyone agrees with their methods. And while I do have certain issues with Logan's actions in this particular issue, I think that Scott's decision to create the X-Force was the correct decision. With the New Mutants landing in, all hell's about to turn loose.

Matt Fraction has been a great asset to the X-Titles roster. I'm loving his run on the Uncanny title and I think that this issue just furthers my belief. I'm also a big fan of Terry Dodson's artwork. It has a great look and feel to it.

Necrosha

While we are at the onset of the biggest X-Men event since the turn of the Millennium, we felt it best to recap and give our takes of what has occurred in the most recent semi-major event in the X-Universe: Necrosha.

The story behind Necrosha is a long and twisted one. It begins over a thousand years ago near the height of the Roman Empire. Here existed an excellent soldier named Eliphas (who we now know as Eli Bard). He would then go on to marry one of the most powerful women in Rome, however she betrayed his love and drove him into the arms of the treacherous Selene. Selene is a mutant vampire that feeds off of the souls of people in order to live. Eliphas was coerced into working for Selene, in an attempt to capture all the souls of the people who lived in Rome so that Selene could become a God. Unfortunately, Eli failed Selene, who in turn cursed him.

Blackest Night Redux

** Writer's Note: I started this three weeks ago, but I kept putting it off because it's pretty daunting. The main story by itself is over 25 issues, which leaves a lot of information to try to summarize in a manageable blog post. But now that I'm sitting down to force the issue, hopefully we can git 'er done as a certain segment says.

In lieu of yet another Gashapon review, I'm going to be doing a Blackest Night recap/review for the masses. I promise I'll get back to weekly reviews soon, but this is a huge period of transition between old events and new, and we would be remiss if we did not reflect, however briefly, on recent happenings. Especially since this particular recent event is going to affect the DC universe for at least the next year.

Pretty Colors...

A quick note: This will deal mainly with the main story of Blackest Night, as covered in Blackest Night, Green Lantern, and Green Lantern Corps. (Some of) the tie-ins are interesting, but Arnab already reviewed all of those individually. Also, spoilers abound, so if you just want our thoughts, skip down to ***Blogger Thoughts***.

Second Coming: a 50th post special

So this is the 50th post at our little blog here, and rather than waste it on a Gashapon review (which I'm overdue on. For a change.), I thought we'd do a quick write-up on Second Coming, which starts today. This is actually a joint post, so you'll be hearing both of our thoughts.

To sum up, for those of you unfamiliar, Second Coming is about the return of Hope, both literally and (perhaps) figuratively, to the X-Men. It is the culmination of a story arc that started way, way back in 2005 with House of M. Wanda Maximoff aka the Scarlet Witch went coo-coo for cocoa puffs and long story short transformed the mutant population from the millions to a few hundred by uttering the phrase "No More Mutants." In the last 5 years there has only been one mutant born in the entire world: Hope. During the events of Messiah Complex, a mutant baby was born in Alaska which caused all hell to break lose. The X-Men were trying to rescue the baby, anti-mutant groups like the Purifiers were trying to kill it, and Mr. Sinister had his own motives. Cable managed to get the baby, and Cyclops sent him into the future to protect her. This took place at the end of 2007, and the last two years have been spent with Cable and Hope in the future, running away from Bishop, who is convinced the baby brings about a cataclysm for mutants everywhere (There was a brief period called Messiah War when X-Force jumped to the future to help Cable against Stryfe. This ended last summer). As of the last Cable issue, Hope and Cable are coming home, and from every piece of promotional art Marvel has put forth, all hell is about to break loose. It also begs to be mentioned that in the X-Force title, Bastion has risen once again and using his techno-organic technology has brought back to life the deadliest foes the X-Men have ever faced. He now controls an army of thousands and plans to eradicate the Mutant population from the face of the Earth. While the seeds to this plot were planted in the early issues of X-Force, it will come to a head in the pages of Second Coming.

About a month ago Marvel released a free "X-Men Second Coming: Prepare" teaser issue. It consisted of a several page "video diary" of a few of the X-men, and clearly showed that they were traumatized of what was happening. Oh, and there was a body. Which isn't so surprising given all of the tag line that they keep throwing out there:

One will rise.
One will fall.
One will lead.
One will sacrifice.
All will unite.

This event is being set-up as a sort of restart for the X-Men universe. Everything that was set in motion back in House of M by Wanda is coming to fruition here. We get to see if Cyclops putting all of his hope into this little girl to save mutant kind was actually reasonable or not. We get to see what the next step for Mutants are, since as a race they're getting kind of desperate. We get to see exactly who or what Hope is, and what she means for the future. But before we get there we've got 14 chapters, plus two 'Revelations' tie-ins (X-Factor and Hellbound).

Below are some thoughts, and then someday I'll actually post the checklist.

Matt's Take: 5-years worth of back-story moving towards one conclusion makes me nervous. But not as nervous as the fact that Hope is clearly tied to the Phoenix Force. Above beyond the fact that the Phoenix symbol flashed in Hope's eyes on more than one occasion, and that all of the shards of the Phoenix Force have been disappearing lately, the prologue issue had a whole section devoted to "What is the Phoenix Force?" Now, I am mighty particular about how anyone from the Grey family is treated (and let's be serious, Grey and Phoenix are kind of synonymous at this point). I loved Phoenix Endsong, and I don't want a new storyline to trample on the beauty of that arc. Also, after being terribly disappointed by how Nate Grey was treated in Dark X-Men, I'm wary. But wary does not mean I'm walking into this with any pre-judgment on how it will turn out. I am exceedingly excited for the storyline. To be honest, rumors of Second Coming are the whole reason I got back into comics recently. For now I'm keeping my hopes high and my expectations moderate, and hopefully this will pay off like it did for Blackest Night.

Arnab's Take: I am very excited folks and not just because we've hit 50 posts. Matt's already given you guys a recap on what's occurred, so that's great. House of M is really what grabbed me by my jewels and dragged me back into the Marvel world, and for that I am grateful. Second Coming is pretty much the biggest event in the X-Universe this side of the New Millennium, spanning across every single X-Title out there. I've got to say that I am not as nervous as Matt seems to be, mainly because I have faith in Matt Fraction and Christopher Yost/Craig Kyle (Plus the other writers have done pretty damn great leading up. Zeb Wells with New Mutants has gotten increasingly better with the story telling and Mike Carey has been fantastic with Legacy.) The artwork speaks for itself, I should think. With the occasional miss, the X-titles, at least the main titles, have had great artists. I can't wait to see what they come up with.

Like Matt, I also was severely disappointed with the Dark X-Men mini-series, but then again these guys know their stuff, while those guys seemed more interested in how they could completely screw up a mini-series. I can't wait to see the way these folks handle the Phoenix Force. Jean Grey is definitely one of my favorite female comic book characters and I've been known to argue that Jean Grey is the one true host to the Phoenix entity. Granted, I have been known to be wrong. My comic book guy Andy (Comic Attack) has the suspicion that Hope will be the Rachel of Earth 616. I don't know if I agree with him, I do find the thought to be very intriguing. My own personal thought is that the Phoenix got bored of relying on hosts and decided to create itself a physical representation of itself, which would naturally look like the deceased Jean Grey, who is in fact the true host. That being said I would just like to reiterate just how excited I am for Second Coming. I should also add that unlike Matt, at this point at least, I have already read the first issue of Second Coming. I loved everything and will have a better and longer review in the days to come.

Oh and a thought that I would like to leave you all with. Believe in Cyclops as he has long believed in his son and the messiah. The X-Men as an entity has meant everything to Scott since he was a teenager and the survival of the mutant race has meant even more to him since Decimation. He has united the mutant race like none before him nor any after him ever will; Fear his power. And while there will be reason to falter in your faith of him in the days to come and the battle with Bastion and his allies, know that everything he has done has been with the knowledge that the mutant race is dying and survival is the only thing he has been fighting for.

******

Since this blog clearly has more than a passing interest in Phoenix, we'll be covering the story, and we'll try not to fan-boy gush too much. Stay tuned!

Sweet dreams, Sunshine

The Rise of Arsenal ****1/2
What a way to start off this mini-series. The very first thing you see when you start reading is Lian, Roy Harper's now deceased daughter. And what a way for both the writer, JT Krull and the artists, Geraldo Borges and Marlo Alquiza to dig that knife just a little deeper. We witness some of the final moments of poor Lian's life, the attack by Prometheus, the mutilation of Roy, and that's just the beginning. Roy then awakes from his coma and not only realizes that his right arm is missing but that his daughter has been killed. Roy is leaves the League and ends up at the home he only recently shared with his daughter.
This was a great issue. The artwork was nice, the writing was great, but even more importantly the whole issue just meshed well. Roy has always had a bit of a tragic life. Nothing in comparison to the Bat folk, who are surrounded by death, but rather personal tragedy. I can honestly say, I am stoked to see how this turns out.

Can't a guy just show his kids how much he loves them?

Batman 697 ****1/2
What is there left to say about Tony Daniel that I have not been saying from day one. This issue marked the culmination of Tony's first major story, along with the culmination of Dick's first major takedown as the new Batman. Tony Daniel has been doing a tremendous job bringing out Batman in Richard and vice versa. The writing has been progressively getting better with each issue that Tony pens and his artwork has remained amazing. He's been going so great doing both the writing and the artwork, that I wouldn't want to be the writer/artist that is missing their deadline.
There are a couple of key points that should be taken away from this issue. The first is that Dick Grayson is badass. Now, taking into consideration that this was a job that Dick didn't even want to take to begin with, he has taken over for Bruce at a level that is nearly, if not already, That being said, it was particularly ocious in this issue that Dick will be a different kind of Batman, and Dic Grayson Batman. I'm looking to see how things tie up on Selina Kyle's part.

I still stick with this title being one of the best titles out there right now and anyone not reading it is severely missing out on everything.

Gashapon Reviews: March 17, 2010

I'm currently on the hunt for a new comic shop. The problem I'm running into is that I'm so opinionated about things, I don't handle it well when I consider the other patrons to be idiots.

Marvel:

Dark Avengers #15 (****)

Well, that mystery is solved. If I wasn't so lazy I'd go back and see if my guesses were right, but alas. I enjoyed this issue a lot, because it filled in more pieces to the Siege puzzle. And you really begin to see just how unhinged the Sentry really is. Osborn built such a house of cards here, and while hardly unexpected, I find it to be incredibly interesting to watch how it comes tumbling down. And I thought the art was pretty, so there's that.

Gashapon Reviews: March 10, 2010

Arnab tells me that March 17 is a big day for comics, so I figured I'd better focus on getting these reviews out of the way sooner rather than later. Final Fantasy XIII has been slowing me down.

Marvel:

Cable #24 (****)

I give this issue four stars not because it was great, but because I would tell my fellow comic book readers to read this issue and no others, as it sums up in one issue all the ridiculous water-treading of the last four or five months of Cable. Some think Hope is the savior of Mutantkind so Cable takes her into the future to keep her safe. Bishop disagrees so he tries to kill her. Wrap up the chase with a four page montage and we're set. Everything after Messiah War could quite frankly have been a one-shot if you ask me, and if it were, it would look like Cable 24. I'm very glad this ended, as I've been waiting for Second Coming for months now. Is Hope really what they've been, err, hoping she would be? Now we get to find out.