Monday, October 22, 2012

The Week of October 17 in Review – Part1 of 4 Marvel Comics


The constant adjustments of my format will be dictated but what the week itself brings. This weekend is filled with plans and I have less time but I decided that I liked the spotlighting idea and doing a summary in the last part. This week I will break the categories down the way I do my list which is DC, Marvel and Everything Else. As the Everything Else group is big, it gets two segments. Before we jump into Marvel comics let’s get to the two links for next week’s book which are here and here. The first is very detailed and the second is a quick list of what is coming out. For me the shocker is a missed Before Watchmen week, but Mind Mgmt, Shaolin Cowboy Adventure Magazine, Wolverine Max , Batman Inc. and I Vampire are the highlights for next week.

I usually finish the Marvel books first because they are the quickest reads to me.

First up is Hawkeye #3 by Matt Fraction, David Aja and Matt Hollingsworth. This series continues to impress. Comics are often a collaborative art form and I don’t think the book works as well as it does without Aja’s art and Hollingsworth colors. The book looks great and has a fantastic feel to it. It is for lack of a better description, the coolest super hero book on the stands. I’m not always a Fraction fan and often the transitions in this book are a little skewed, but as you read it and follow it, you just smile and enjoy the experience. This issue Hawkeye finds a girl friend, has a car chase, uses a lot of trick arrows and he continues to bond with Kate Bishop the other Hawkeye. The book flashes back and forward in time, but only over the course of the one or two days the story takes place. As I said some transitions are not as smooth as silk, but the book is one of the best books on the stands and maybe Marvel’s best super hero book.


Of course Daredevil #19 by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee may have something to say about what is Marvel’s best super hero book. Waid is almost two years into the run of the book and you get the feeling he has ideas that could stretch out for a decade or more. This issue the mysterious villain who has been playing mind games with DD is revealed and it harkens back to the beginning of the series. Foggy in a drunken rage betrays Matt, thinking he is helping him, DD may have a problem with his mind and the bad guy get the upper hand. Finally Matt’s new love life is most likely in the tank. Of course his secret identity appears to be highly compromised yet again. Waid is crafting a run to rival his work on Wally West and with Chris Samnee as his current art partner the book continues to look great. Hard to beat teaming a strong writer with great art and letting them go.

The other normal series I get was Dark Avengers #182 and I can at least say the storyline has ended and next issue with get the transition issue to go from this status quo to the next for Marvel Now. I’m constantly second guessing myself when I buy this series.

The rest were books I got for the heck of it. Uncanny X-Men #20 as Gillen ends his run and we get some wrap up with some of the Phoenix Five and a teaser that it is not over with Sinister. Since I stopped following the book the wrap up was flat for me.

Marvel Now Point One was another anthology of stories highlighting what is coming down the road. The new Nick Fury is unimpressive and is not working for me. In the Ultimate Universe he is fine, I just wish he wasn’t such a shoe horned character into the regular MU. Of interest to note is the new tiny Nova who appears to be 10 years old. This and AvX Consequences #2 are pretty easy books to pass on. Of course AvX Consequences is almost the story of Cyclops as the prisoner. Last and least is New Avengers #31 as Bendis wraps up various plot lines. In this issue someone is taking over the minds or possessing some of the good guys and attacking other good guys. Fortunately they will not be getting the Cyclops treatment. While I cast disparaging remarks on these books they each at least entertained, but the bang for the buck was not there.

Part 2 coming at noon today.

No comments:

Post a Comment