Flip The Page Review: Incredible Hercules #132

I. LOVE. HERCULES.

Not literally, that would involve a large amount of combining reality with myth, marvel comics and potentially time travel failing the marvel part. No, I'm talking particularly of the comic THE INCREDIBLE HERCULES, a series that has not yet managed to be anything other than hilarious and awesome since it replaced The Incredible Hulk post-World War Hulk. Heck, the Sacred Invasion arc is the highlight of Secret Invasion!

So as such I decided to review the latest issue, the start of 'THE REPLACEMENT THOR' arc. Sure it's a week old now but it took a while to get round to doing it.

HIT THE JUMP TO READ THE REVIEW ALONG WITH MAYBE 2 OR 3 OTHER READERS OR SOMETHING!


When this arc was first announced a fair few people were skeptical, especially those who just refuse to fathom how Gods can exist from both Norse and Greek mythology, let alone cross over as such. I however am first to cry foul of people not suspending disbelief in a world with a man who can climb shit and a young boy who can make ENTIRE OTHER PLANETS, and as such embraced my beloved beardy-man's new guise with great love in my heart and I can say with my head held high that I was 100% right and.... That it doesn't really matter anyway.

The writing is Greg Pak (whose work on Planet Hulk and World War Hulk stands up there with some of Peter David's legendary 12 year run) and Fred Van Lente. If that last name didn't make you groan then you obviously haven't read enough of my posts here. Van Lente is one of many writers who in time will be the best in the business, if not of all time then certainly for the future. The double-team of these names have managed to churn out a comic with no weak issues yet, and this one is no exception, written as tightly as... a..... tight.... piece of writing?

... I'm not sure what happened there, so let's move on to the art.

Before talking about Reilly Brown's stellar pencils I have to bring up Rafael Albuquerque's cover, which I should have taken a right turn at (Bugs Bunny jokes are lame, I know shut up). It's a truly eye-catching and beautiful piece of art and if it doesn't make this issue sell like a motherfucker I will be beyond words with shock. Reilly Brown only improves upon this with some vibrant and enticing pencils in the actual issue and knocks me away with some of the best visuals this side of artists like Mike Allred, Stuart Immonen, Kyle Hotz and Amanda Conner. Wait is there another artist I wanna suck up to?.... Humberto Ramos. Yeah, now I've namedropped enough.

TIME FOR THE MOMENTS TIME NOW YES?

1. Thor's Origin Riffed To Hell

Because if YOU were the much more awesome Hercules you too would take the piss out of Thor's weak-ass origin. Hilarious as hell and grabs ya, much like the Agents of Atlas recaps have been doing until recently.

2. Ugly Bird People In Your Grill (Or Ripping Off Your Roof)

Nice to see that harpy things have the common decency for good comic timing (Hercules having just regaled Zeus with how he is the favourite son and no longer looked at him as an incompetent buffoon after the recent hell arc thing). Ugly things, but make for an interesting image that touches your goolies in nice ways.... Let's pretend I said something cooler there.

3. Balder The..... Brave?

"Oh I'm Balder the brave, look how brave I am running like a sissy from some monster things! Waaaaaaah" or something. Still looks awesome and despite how it isn't REALLY Balder it IS nice to see him in his pre-ragnorok clothes.

4. Explosions Are Cool!!!!!!

Some superheroes would have a convoluted and drawn out plan to deal with a monster. Hercules just hits it WITH A FUCKING CAR! Awesome. And Pretty. Oh yeah gotta sound like a critic... BOOM WHEEE EXPLOSIONS!

5. This Is A Page With Some Weather. Which Is Awesome.

I hate child characters, but Reilly Brown has made me want a poster of this page. Seriously if anyone can hook me up with something like that let me know. Also of note: the whole replacement Thor thing works out ever so well with the Zeus the THUNDER GOD hanging around. It's almost too convenient...

6. Like A Hammer, But A Mace!

I've always been fond of Hercules' mace, so perhaps this flippin' moment gets some bias from me, but it really stands out, along with most of the gold-framed pages, and has the most childlike glee on Herc's face since....

Oh GOD, the legendary grin he gave Amadeus when the young lad was totally scoring! THE HORROR!

7. Inside The (text) Box

"Okay," I hear you say. "It looks nice and epic, but then it's just a text heavy big panel." No. No it isn't. It's a very VERY small text box hidden away:

I love these things, especially one as self-congratulatory as this. You stop for the big picture and then see the text box and you're hooked; This comic must be yours.

8. SCIENCE!

Dream Amadeus cameo ALMOST makes up for him being absent this issue (which sure, is a plotline but fuck that I want me some genius stuff as well as boneheaded hilarity!). Probably the comedy highlight this issue, but I'm indecisive and not very competent at this whole critic thing.

9. Malekith The A-wha?

"I'M SO FUCKING EVIL THAT WHEN I REVEAL WHO I AM TO NO-ONE IN PARTICULAR THAT I HAVE TO RIP UP MY MAGICALLY CREATED DISGUISE! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

If this is serious it's so awful. If it's a delightful parody of how villains often pull this shit then it's GENIUS.

10. Next Issue's Cover

Okay this is a cheat. But c'mon, floating brains attacking Amadeus? AWESOME!

And that's the moments. All in all a great issue packed to the gills with awesome. I don't think I could say anything that negative about it other than that it loses some points for having Hercules on his own for the current arc (well, he's with Zeus but fuck him). The Amadeus arc may well suffer in the same way. We'll see.

Rating:

Flippin' MUST BUY!




God knows what's next. More reviews? Quick-fire? Solicits? Top Ten Writers? Could be anything. But you can bet one thing: IT'LL PROBABLY BE LATE!
Read More ..

Astonishing Flashbacks: The Death of Jean DeWolff, by Tim

Way back in the first volume of AstonSpid, Peter David's arc 'The Death of Jean DeWolff' (originally run in Spectacular Spider-Man in the mid 80's) was featured in issues 26-29. I only started collecting AstonSpid at around issue 120, and so I was only just really getting in to Spider-Man in general. As such, I first came at this story 'blind'; I had read very little before it and was unaware of the story's reputation as one of the best arcs going.

Well, it turns out that Death of Jean DeWolff is... one of the best arcs going. Seriously, unlike The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man, this story genuinely deserves the praise given to it. Hit the jump to see what I mean.



First thing's first; the synopsis. A mysterious gunman named Sin-Eater begins a series of attacks, killing police Captain Jean DeWolff and other representatives of justice and order, including a friend of Matt Murdock (Daredevil). Spidey secures the co-operation of the detective in charge of the case, and starts to track down Sin-Eater. Meanwhile, one of Aunt May's friends is brutally mugged, and Peter is disgusted by Murdock's legal defense of the attackers. When a good friend of Murdock's gets killed, he begins his own investigation.

One of the things that really stands out about this arc is the tone it sets and maintains throughout. Here's an example; the first three pages of comic. Go on, click this and read it.

Reading those pages four years ago, I had no knowledge of who Jean DeWolff was or what she was like; I had never heard of her. Despite this, there's something about the way Peter David has this dying woman narrate her life, as it flashes before her eyes, that is arrestingly powerful. The tragic optimism, in DeWolff's last thoughts, stands out in particular. This dark tone is not cliched or over bearing, but rather engrossing.

The arc evolves into a meditation on justice, morality, anger and retribution. The conflict between Spider-Man and Daredevil is juxtaposed with the internal conflicts of each hero. Spidey has difficulty detaching himself from the case because of his grief for DeWolff's death, while Daredevil wrestles with his need to preserve his secret identity, which interferes with helping people.

Added to this is the Sin-Eater, a masked man with a shotgun who is on a mission to kill those that he perceives as having abused their power. Despite his fairly goofy outfit, he's actually an unusually realistic villain; rather than a giggling super-powered goon holding New York to ransom, he's just an insane serial killer, who shoots and runs. This villain could, without any major changes, exist in our world; and that makes him genuinly chilling.

This is an excellent arc and a very good story, with hardly a panel out of place. It's also readily available, having been collected as a trade. If you're a spidey fan who hasn't read it, seriously do, because rarely is Spider-Man done this well.
Read More ..

NEW STYLE (AGAIN?!) Quick-Fire Reviews: Week of August 12th

Gotta love that cover. Ms. Marvel punching Ms. Marvel in the crotch. Groundbreaking.

So welcome to another new iteration of the Quick-Fire Reviews. I really should run a poll of what method's better if I ever have more than 5 readers. This time around I'm going for a basic and nonsensical approach:

• Say nothing about the comic
• Edit a page to kinda get across a bit of what I'm thinking
• Try to be funny
• Fail
• Rate

No complicated baloney about art or writing, that's for the full size reviews. This is a simple yay or nay version of reviews, with some added imagery for entertainment. To drop the moments stuff that I love using for the full reviews seems a shame but hey I might be able to work those in in the future.

HIT THE JUMP TO SEE THE ALL NEW, ALL SHITTY REVIEWS!



Cable #17

"OH NOES CABLE IS MELTING! MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
LTIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!"



RATING: Eh...
































Deadpool #13

"Yohoho and a bottle of rum! Bring me my Bea Arthur lookalike wenches etc.!"

Rating: Flippin' BUY IT!



































Destroyer #5 (of 5)

"OH FUCK THIS LOOKS AWESOME!"

"oh....."
Rating: Read It?



































Marvel Divas #2 (of 4)

"Characters on cover may be less in costume than they appear."

Rating: Buy It!







































Ms. Marvel #43

"CROTCH PU- Wait I've already pointed that out..."

Rating: Read It?
































Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1

"... I got nothing. This looks cool."

Rating: Buy It! (though it's barely an issue #1)







































Okay, so I finished this before Herc, probably because the only one of these edited pages is something I'd consider funny (the cable one, I know it's not funny shut up). Herc is actually up next! (note to self: formatting is a bitch)
Read More ..

Flip The Page Review: Black Panther #7

Wow, so I finally got around to reviewing this, a week and a half after I ACTUALLY WANTED TO. Still I loved this series' opening arc and still have great enthusiasm for reviewing this, so here's a belated and pointless crack at BLACK PANTHER #7 by Jonathan Maberry, Reginald Hudlin & Will Conrad!

HIT THE JUMP FOR THE BLACK PANTHERY GOODNESS!


Prior to this renumbering/reboot I had little to no interest in Black Panther save the Civil War and Secret Invasion storylines, brushing it off as a cult thing or some such. That all changed with the first arc of this iteration of Black Panther however, with some genuinely clever choices in writing. Taking T'challa out of the picture and giving someone else a new struggle (in this case his sister Shuri), accepting and being accepted as the Black Panther... You just wouldn't imagine it ever being done, and the execution just makes it all the more amazing to the reader. This reboot worked by changing EVERYTHING.

The question here is "Is it still as good now the creative team's changed up?" and the answer is a resounding... Not really. It's still a good comic, but it's had so much taken away from it. But enough of me being vague and a poor critic, let's review this thing!

My first gripe is the art. Jumping from Ken Lashley to Will Conrad is a jarring process. I mean to say nothing bad of Conrad, who is in fact a pretty good artist, but Lashley was the PERFECT artist for the job. With Conrad you still get some great action and emotive scenes sure, but you also get some fucked up faces and small flaws that make you feel kind of sad. So still good, but not AS good, and that hurts.

The writing is problematic. This issue is apparently Hudlin handing over to Maberry but however I read this it seems like Hudlin wasn't involved at all. All that occurred and developed Shuri in the first 6 issues suddenly seems inconsequential and she's become a self-assured snark like any other 'important public persona' hero. But then this didn't have much time to enter her head this issue so it could just be how it seems.

Now we're past that ON WITH THE MOMENTS!

1. Heartfelt Off The Bat

There's something great about opening on something that actually MATTERS, or isn't just a continuation of some lame cliffhanger like most comics tend to be (yes, even at the start of new arcs). In this case we get a bit of fallout from the first arc combined with a look at T'challa's humanity. It's just a small piece of him looking sad at graves whilst in a wheelchair, but it works enough to remind you he's not just an overhyped guy who used to wear a black suit.

2. I AM (not) WAKANDAN! AND I AM ALONE IN A ROOM WRITING A TITLE FOR A FLIPPIN' MOMENT!

Another case of rejecting standard comic junk is this one page spread (where there'd normally be a two page ya see. Marvel ain't inventive). But that's not important. This is an almost iconic image, a new ruler before her people, showing they can overcome the tragedy that just recently plagued them. Powerful stuff. Though I am tempted to moan about how I preferred Shuri when she was all pathetic and less overconfident. Wait, I'm pretty sure I brought that up earlier anyway... I'll leave now.

3. Obam-again

Okay so this is technically an Obama cameo that makes some sense but still, OVEREXPOSURE MUCH?! That and the expression on Shuri JUST below the panel in question scares the shit out of me. Still a moment's a moment and people would buy it for this, so [/gripe]

4. Wait, didn't the Thunderbolts do this sorta thing YEARS ago?

Seriously, this is the highlight emotive moment of the whole thing, showing the struggle T'challa has to go through, his intent on his poor state of health not holding him back... I mean... WOW. AND YET I CAN'T SHAKE THE FACT THAT THIS STUFF WAS BETTER WHEN JOLT WAS DOING IT BACK IN THUNDERBOLTS YEARS AGO! Can't find a scan of it sadly so take my word at face value. Great moment, done better by someone else. That or I cared more then... Ya know what let's just pretend we never had this conversation.

5. The Black Panther's FUCKING AWESOME

What? She is!

6. T'challa: Still Pimping After All These Years

So more of his lady people appear for some purpose... I don't really care that much in the end, this issue was weak and didn't leave me wanting. But T'CHALLA IS THE BOOM KING! He gets all the ladies!

And that's issue 7 of Black Panther. It's by no means bad, just incredibly weak by the standards of this new iteration. I'll still check it out next month and probably for long after that, but I can't honestly say it'll ever match those first 6 issues.

With that all in mind, here's the rating:

READ IT?

Next up: Incredible Hercules #132

Read More ..

Astonishing Flashbacks: The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man, by Tim

Although I have only been reviewing the title for a few issues, I have about 80 Astonishing Spider-Mans in a big box in my room. This collection holds many of my personal favorite Spider-Tales, and some of the most lauded stories ever written and drawn about the web-slinger. As such, I am trying out an idea for a new, irregular column featuring notably famous, good or awful strips from my old comics - Astonishing Flashbacks.

The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man is one of the most popular and best loved tales in the entire Spider-Man/Peter Parker franchise of comics. I was aware of it's existence before I read it, and when I saw that it would be in AstonSpid #23 back in Feb-Mar of '08, I was reasonably excited. Well, hit the jump to see what I thought back then, and still think now.

This is a human interest story that relies on readers associating with the boy who is finally meeting his idol, Spider-Man. I can relate very easily to the kid above; a geek called Tim (and hates being called Timmy) who loves Star Wars and Spider-Man sums me up quite well as a nine-year-old. No problems there, and the art by Ron Frenz is serviceable at the least, though a little of it's time.

So why don't I enjoy this story? It's not badly written, and uses a clever framing device; but it's just not interesting. Peter explains his origin and powers to Tim, and beats himself up yet again for being indirectly responsible for the death of Uncle Ben; this is painted by numbers, boring dwelling on a story that has been told hundreds of times. The story gains some vitality when Peter takes off his mask and lets Tim see his face, and this is almost a touching moment, but it is ruined by the revelation that Tim is dying of leukemia. This just makes Peter seem callous and calculating, which adds to the artificial feel of the whole strip. And yes, cancer is awful, but introducing a nice young child over the course of 11 pages then suddenly giving them terminal cancer as a surprise ending isn't compassionate writing; it's puerile hackwork.

This story is not awful, but it's also nowhere near good, let alone one of the greatest Spidey stories around. It's a fairly boring story with an ill-conceived ending that was only ever intended as filler for a Thunderball arc that ran short; and the fact that story that is so sentimental without earning it is lauded as one of the greats is a bit of a shame; there are so many better stories out there. I still encourage you to read it if you haven't before; and if you have read it, look over it again with these criticisms in mind. After that, if you disagree, just nail my nadgers to the bedpost in the comment section; that's what it's for!
Read More ..