Last Week's Comics Reviewed 09.25.2019

               Hey y’all. Only two comics this week. I considered reviewing Flash Forward, but I didn’t have anything to say. It was fine. It made me a bit angry about how Wally’s mental health issues. But its just a continuation of the bullshit in Heroes in Crisis. And you can see my thoughts here. The rest of the week was fine. Enjoyable, but not above average.

Comics Reviewed: Spider-Man #1, Superman #15

Spider-Man #1

Writers: J.J. Abrams and Henry Abrams

Artist: Sara Pichelli

Colors: Dave Stewart

Inking Assistant: Elisabetta D’Amico

Letters: VC’s Joe Carmagna

Cover: Olivier Coipel

               J.J. Abrams and his son are writing a comic book and I barely care. J.J. has never been a master writer and either Henry is constrained by his father here or he isn’t currently at a level to outshine J.J. And in true J.J. Abrams fashion, the entire premise of Spider-Man is completely different than advertised. This is not a comic about Peter Parker, but his teenage son Ben. Ben just wants his father to show him love. So, he’s going to become Spider-Man 2.

               You see, Peter Parker is a world traveling journalist that barely sees Ben or Aunt May. This stems from the guilt Peter has from not being able to save MJ. He also lost a hand that day. My biggest problem here is that this doesn’t seem like Peter. Sure, maybe the guilt of MJ’s death has affected Peter in such a way that he just gives up. Would he give up on his family? No, I don’t believe so. It does however allow the Abrams(es?) to provide the only exceptional scene in the comic: Peter tries to parent and fails miserably. It has some emotion and excellent dialogue. If only the rest of the issue was that way.

 

Couldn't my guy build a better hand?

               The real reason to buy this comic is Sara Pichelli and the art team. While different from her typical style, Pichelli remains one of the best artists in the business. The large, bold panels in this comic create a cinematic style unlike any I can remember in comics. Typically, when someone describes a comic as cinematic, they refer to something like Bryan Hitch’s work on Ultimates: Widescreen action panels. This comic is more like an indie family drama. It works very well. I can’t wait to see more.

Verdict: Borrow

Superman #15

Writer:  Brian Michael Bendis

Artists: Ivan Reis, Brandon Peterson (pg. 17), and Evan “Doc” Shaner (pg. 18)

Colors: Alex Sinclair

Inks: Joe Prado and Oclair Albert, Brandon Peterson (pg. 17), and Evan “Doc” Shaner (pg. 18)

Letters: Dave Sharpe

Cover: Reis, Prado, and Sinclair

               So, the Unity Saga is over. The last 14 issues of story are quickly brushed aside in this issue: Rogol Zar is captured, Jor-El is killed by the new United Planets, the United Planets is founded, the Legion of Super-Heroes offers Jon a job, Zod and his family start New Krypton. That’s a lot for one issue and nothing is allowed to breathe here. Is this a bad comic? No, but it’s not amazing either.

 

Did he?! Did we know this?

               Let’s ignore the Legion, they don’t do anything of note. The United Planets is formed without any debate. No negotiations. They just all vote yes. Cool, whatever. Zod convinces the UP to give him resources to start New Krypton. Why would they do this? Also, why would Zod do this? Wasn’t that his status quo at the beginning of this story? And Jor-El. Sent back in time to Krypton’s destruction to die. Seems like a worthy punishment. But where is the trial? Superman doesn’t even shed a tear when he discovers his father has been executed! This issue is just rushed.

               At least the art looks good. Ivan Reis, Brandon Peterson, and Doc Shaner are all excellent. The only reason this issue flows at all is because they keep it all flowing. I don’t know who is drawing the next story, but it will be tough to follow this group.

Verdict: Borrow

Bring me Evil Elsa!

Hey y’all. Frozen 2 is coming out in November and looks amazing. Just from a pure technical standpoint, this looks to be one of the most beautiful films I’ve seen. The art direction remains fantastic and it looks like the cinematography is going to be more daring than it’s predecessor. This trailer is purposefully secretive of the story. Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf must travel north after their kingdom is attacked by a mysterious magic. That seems cool. What I’m really interested in is the way in which this trailer suggests Elsa's magic is corrupting her in some way. Famously, Elsa was originally intended to be the villain of Frozen until the team realized they could twist the story a bit and make a her an interesting protagonist. I wonder if we’ll see a version (however short it may be) of that character in this film. It would also be interesting to see how they bring her back to her typical heroine self. No matter what, bring me Evil Elsa!

Last Week's Comics Reviewed 09.21.2019

               Hi y’all! I’m so sorry for the late reviews, but I work a full-time job and go to school. Together, they did not leave me with much free time this week. Anyway, I reviewed a Power Rangers issue I missed last week. I’ve also decided to leave House of X and Powers of X off the review list for the next few weeks as I plan to discuss them as a complete after the two series end.

Comics Reviewed: Saban’s Go Go Power Rangers #23, Saban’s Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers #42, Event Leviathan #4, Young Justice #8, The Flash #78

Tokyo Game Show '19 Trailers

So, Tokyo Game Show 2019 was last week and there were trailers! Specifically, Final Fantasy VII Remake and Kingdom Hearts 3: Re:Mind, two upcoming releases for which I am very excited. Unfortunately, the KH3 DLC still has no release date, only the Winter release date. FFVIIR, however, maintains it’s release date, but I think they’re hiding something. More about that in a minute. Let’s get into these!

There is not a lot in this trailer. It’s a lot of quick shots of what appear to be some extra story segments and secret boss battles. Cool. I loved all that stuff in the previous games. The trailer seems to imply that the final story segment is being retconned or some of these battlesare non canonical. We know that the Power of Waking can retcon events because it rewound time following the Lich battle. I would be in favor of Sora’s quest to save Kairi rewriting how the ending plays out, but not the actual outcome. Give all the other heroes something to do, Nomura. Especially Aqua! Let her win a fight!

So, here’s the thing about this game: I’m not sure it is only the Midgar portion of the original. They keep showing scenes from what appears to be the escape from Midgar in the original. Could that be the end of this game? Maybe. Would Tetsuya Nomura show the end of the game in a trailer? Well…

But what if this game actually includes the entire, or majority of, the first disc? That would be a cool surprise given that the team has stated this is a game about Midgar. And it can still be that if the first 20-30 hours are in Midgar and you return at the end. It feels like something is being kept from us about this game and that the full scope of this game is being obscured from us.

Last Week's Comics Reviewed 09.11.2019

               Hi Y’all! I’m so excited to be back and sharing my thoughts with you. It was a very mixed week with nothing outstanding. I apparently missed an issue of one of the Power Rangers comics so I have to get that, and I might throw a review of that in with next week’s issues. But let’s get into it!

Comics Reviewed: House of X #4, Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium #1

House of X #4

Writer: Jonathan Hickman

Artist: Pepe Larraz

Colors: Marte Gracia

Letters: VC’s Clayton Cowles

Design: Tom Muller

Cover: Larraz and Gracia

               I love Jonathan Hickman. I love the X-Men. I love everything House of X and Powers of X have done so far. It has been incredibly fascinating, beautiful, and exactly what I wanted. This issue is not that. It remains beautiful and fascinating. But what’s the point? There are about six mutants that die in this issue that have zero chance of staying dead. And that saps the entire sequence of its emotional power. Well, there is an exception. Two panels where Nightcrawler, always a zen badass, tries to comfort Wolverine in the face of death. Its awesome. But Scott and Jean and 100% alive or will get better.

Kurt's so good.

               Beyond that, the final three pages are interesting. To include the Tom Muller-designed in the story is very cool. Apparently, X has been staring at the statistics of the various mutant genocides inside his helmet and the overlay gets messed up as some of his oldest pupils die and he says, “No More.” The Muller prose pages have been one of my favorite parts of the two X-Men series. Because I’m a nerd that wants info dumps, a better way to categorize Omega-level mutants, and the exact number of mutants killed or depowered at various points in time. Inject it into my veins.

               While Hickman is great and I will always focus on writing, I tend to just stop and gape at this comic. Pepe Larraz is one of my favorite artists in the business right now and Marte Gracia is similarly one of the best colorists. Together, they create a gorgeous comic and I wish they were on the upcoming X-Men series (Leinil Francis Yu is very good though).

Verdict: Borrow

Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium #1

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Pencillers: Jim Lee, Dustin Nguyen, Andrea Sorrentino, and Andre Lima Araujo

Colors: Alex Sinclair, John Kalisz, Dave Stewart, and Jordie Bellaire

Inks: Scott Williams, Dustin Nguyen, Andrea Sorrentino, and Andre Lima Araujo

Letters: Dave Sharpe

Cover:  Ryan Sook

               So, what’s the point of this comic? And why is it two extra sized issues instead of one 60ish page giant issue? I love Brian Michael Bendis and I love the Legion, but neither of those things are in this issue. Aside from the Batman Beyond vignette, this feels nothing like a Bendis comic. That would be fine, but this issue also has nothing to do with the Legion of Super-Heroes. This is a weird comic about Rose (But not really Thorn) and how she stopped aging at 28(ish). She meets President Supergirl, Batman Beyond, and Kamandi. At some point, the world became an apocalyptic wasteland, but it got better. Cool.

 

I miss Lil' Gotham.

               This comic is a series of vignettes where Rose freaks out about not ageing, but never does anything about it. Nor does she attempt to as far as I can tell. Nothing is accomplished here, and I could not care less and this character. How does this even tie in with the Rose and Thorn story Bendis is telling in Action Comics? She questions Batman about the same things she is questioning in that comic. So, she hasn’t come to a conclusion in 60 years? What has she been doing this whole time (Chilling in a cabin in the woods apparently). Cool.

               At least this is a good-looking comic. Until the final section that is. I do not Araujo’s art. It is very Mike Allred and I find that style flat and uninteresting. If you like Jim Lee (I do), you’ll like the opening section. Dustin Nguyen’s Batman Beyond section is the best. The moodiness of the art really fits the tone and dialogue of the scene. Nguyen also has the most clear and interesting facial expressions in the issue. Andrea Sorrentino’s art is good but not great here. It serves its purpose, but Sorrentino is also not given much more than barren landscapes to play with. Bendis loves art jam issues and I do as well, but I think it made this specific issue feel very disjointed and exacerbated my problems with the story.

Verdict: Pass

Blog Update 09.09.2019

Hey y’all!

I am so sorry about my long unannounced and unplanned hiatus, but I am back now! I just wanted to let everyone know that following this post, Last Week’s Comics Reviewed will be returning on Wednesday. After that, I am still working on a publishing schedule now that school has started again, but it looks likely that Mondays will be one of the days I publish.

Speaking of publishing, I have a piece about the MCU that I have been mulling that will be coming in a few weeks. That will focus on how I think Marvel may be losing its characters in its ambitious attempt to become the only films people see. Beyond that, I’ve been following the Crisis on Infinite Earths news and want to talk about that so look forward to it. I am also almost done with my Supernatural rewatch (Mid-Season 13 right now). Expect a preview of the upcoming season before it kicks off. And that leads into my final piece of news: I will be doing episode recaps for the 15^th and final season of Supernatural! I have gone back and looked at my Game of Thrones recaps and, while I am proud of them, I believe I can do much better and have learned some lessons from that process.

That’s all for today, but I hope to y’all Wednesday as I dive into House of X and Legion of Superheroes: Millennium, two very interesting comics that I can’t wait to discuss.

Thank you,

Alex