It is an interesting contrast, this week's comic books with last week's. There have been a string of mediocre to slightly above average issues I've been having to slog through for a while. This week, the crop was quite amazing. I was a happy comic book reader this week.
DC's EARTH 2 #28
We learn the histories of Darkseid's most terrible soldiers, the female furies. And what horrors those histories hold. This comic was dark, very dark, and did much to develop the villains of Earth 2 as characters. In some ways, DC has been better at villain character development than hero character development since the New 52 era began. That is sad, but it does make for some still very interesting stories. This is one example. On almost every level, this book worked. The only downside was the pacing was off, as they rushed through the various stories. All in all, this was a dynamite issue to a book that had waned a bit in its storytelling.
Storyline: 4.5 Stars
Dialogue: 4 Stars
Pacing: 3 Stars
Art: 4 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars
DC's GREEN LANTERN #36
The GODHEAD wars continue as Hal teams up with Sinestro and learns of the continued existence and current imprisonment of Kyle Rayner. We get to learn some real meaty stuff about a number of characters, as character development seems to be theme of this week's comic books. The New Gods are explored in some real detail, which is refreshing in a crossover that has tended to treat them rather thinly. We learn a lot more about Hal Jordan and Sinestro, and there is even some comedy relief when the Black Lantern is brought into play. This book worked very well indeed.
Storyline: 4 Stars
Dialogue: 4 Stars
Pacing: 3.5 Stars
Art: 3.5 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars
Marvel's ROCKET RACCOON #5
The creators tried to something very creative here by making Groot the main narrator in the story. The attempted effect was comedic but the result was not that funny. The book had to rely more on visuals and I'm just not all that impressed by the art. They made a bold move, but it was swing and a miss for me.
Storyline: 2.5 Stars
Dialogue: 1 Star
Pacing: 3 Stars
Art: 3 Stars
Overall: 2 Stars
Marvel's AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #9
This is Part 1 of the Spider-Verse Crossover and boy did it rock. I mean this is the best Spider-Man story I've read in a long, long time and one of the best things Marvel has put out in a while. Many favorites from EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE are returning and we are getting to explore through them more aspects of our main Spider-Man's personality. The villains of the story are also being developed nicely and boy are they people you love to hate. There are certain alternative Spider-Men and Women that I hope stay with us for a while. I am just loving this.
Storyline: 4.5 Stars
Dialogue: 4.5 Stars
Pacing: 4 Stars
Art: 3.5 Stars
Overall: 4.5 Stars
Marvel's SPIDER-VERSE TEAM-UP #1
There are two stories here, one involving an 'Old Man' Spider-Man, Spider-Ham and a Spider-Man that seems to have the power of incredible luck through righteous optimism, the other featuring the Six-Armed Spider-Man and one of my favorite new alternate spider-men, Noir Spider-Man. These world-spanning stories have a lot more legs than I would've thought they had and are fun if not too deep or thematically rich. This was a good book that really has me pumped for this crossover.
Storyline: 3.5 Stars
Dialogue: 4.5 Stars
Pacing: 3.5 Stars
Art: 3.5 Stars
Overall: 3.5 Stars
DC's SUPERMAN: UNCHAINED #9
This limited series run ends with a bang...literally. I love the way Lex Luthor and Clark are both treated in this issue, and Wraith's seeming end is beautiful. I cannot overstate how visually stunning this book has been, and how uplifting the storytelling is. Lex's monologue towards the end of this book is thematically rich and represents the best comics have to offer. I am so sad that this book is ending, as the writing and art team obviously had potential beyond belief. What they produced was mind-blowing. What they could've produced is mind-boggling.
Storyline: 4.5 Stars
Dialogue: 5 Stars
Pacing: 4.5 Stars
Art: 5 Stars
Overall: 5 Stars
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