Weekly Comic Review for 9/5/12
Yes, it took me forever. Between the long list below and some time for a little gaming (I plan to write more on that soon too.), it took me a bit to get the reading done. So, without further ado or delay, here’s my review.
Archer & Armstrong #2 – Archer learns a little more about the Sect and teams up with Armstrong. They team-up, find the next part of the Boon, start their adventure together, and run across some really freaky nuns. The interaction between these 2 character is quite interesting with the naivete of Archer and slightly odd worldliness of Armstrong is a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to seeing where the travels take them.
Avengers Academy #36 – “Final Exam” part 3 of 4 – While a number of the students fight to get their cure, Reptil and White Tiger fight for ownership of their talismans. This fight goes a lot deeper than just getting their hands on them. As with enough magic stuff, they have to show that they deserve them. After all this, can they stop Jeremy from de-powering everyone?
Big Hero 6 #1 – This book is a super-extra large one-shot. For $8.99, we get what would normally be a mini-series all in 1 issue. Given the team’s home of Japan, the title is also shown in Japanese and the book is done in manga style art (though still reads left to right as a normal comic). We spend a lot of time learning about the characters which have already had a couple mini-series already. While the book had it’s interesting points, the story goes way too slow with boring sections that just make the issue way too long to read. (This book took me forever to get through.)
Bloodshot #3 – Bloodshot tracks down one of his “wives” who is a lot older in person that she was in his world. He learns that the person who programmed his lives just pulled people from his history and they had no real connection to Bloodshot’s project. While doing this, Bloodshot gets tracked down and we find out more about the girl we saw last issue. It turns out she can create an EMP that can turn off Bloodshot’s nanites. Overall, things are still pretty dry.
Dial H #0 – This isn’t an origin issue but we do get some history on the dial. Actually, we find out that the dial has had different forms over time. (In this issue, it was a large stone item. We also find out that (at least back then), when the dial was used, a hero in an alternate universe loses his/her powers so that the dial user can have them. That’s an interesting twist.
Earth 2 #0 – This issue focuses on Terry Sloan. Pre-new 52, he was the original Mister Terrific. Now, he’s only appeared briefly when the new Mister Terrific appeared on Earth 2. With this one, we see him as “Mr. 8” (Lame!), the hero who sorta betrayed the big 3 to do things the way he thinks is best. He sorta reminds me of Maxwell Lord and that’s not a good thing. He’s not a likeable character really which makes this issue not so great.
First X-Men #2 – Wolverine, Sabretooth, and Holo find a new mutant, Yeti, and learn that Anthony is not dead. Logan starts training the young mutants and they approach Magneto who turns them down. Overall, we just have another Wolverine comic here. I gave it a couple issues but I’m not too interested in this one.
Green Arrow #0 – I was real happy to see that this issue had a different artist than the one who has been doing the last few issues so it was actually less distracting to read. We get a look at the new origin for Green Lantern. He still gets lost on an island but the methods are different. We also get to meet Roy Harper and a pre-villain Merlyn.. Since this is his early days, not sure why we haven’t seen Roy earlier. It’s an interesting exploration of Ollie’s earlier personality to see where he came from and how reckless he was. (His actions caused people to die before he got lost.)
Green Lantern #0 – With Hal and Sinestro gone, the ring looks for a replacement. Even though it was technically Sinestro’s ring, it looks for a replacement on Earth. The new GL is a Middle Eastern man with a bit of a troubled past. It should be interesting to see where he goes with this. And don’t write off Hal and Sinestro yet. They’re around but they seem to be as clueless as us as to where they are.
Hawkeye #2 – What’s better than a comic with Hawkeye? How about a comic with 2 Hawkeyes? (OK, a Hawkeye comic with better art would have been nice but I guess we’ll have to wait for that.) It seems that Kate Bishop (from the Young Avengers) will be joining Clint in this title. This issue, the two of them take on the Circus of Crime. The interaction with the two of them should make this an interesting title. Hopefully we can get away from the purples and black on a white background covers too though.
New Crusaders #1 – After a web launch that I wrote about here, it seems Red Circle Comics is taking the comic book to print. The art is cell shaded and cartoony. The title picks up years after the original Mighty Crusaders have retired. After an attack by one of their old rivals at a party, the team is gone (dead or just disappeared?) which means their children will be taking over their roles. Right now, the Shield (the only original member left) has them locked up to protect them. This book is definitely targeted at more of a younger crowd.
Night Force #7 – Yeah, I missed issues 5 and 6 which I picked up when I found that #7 was out. Baron Winters is trapped in Kassandra’s old cell but manages to escape. We also find out that Kassandra is actually the wife of the presidential candidate who has been behind this whole thing all along. She’s just stolen energy to get younger. She and her “people” get taken down though and this incarnation of the Night Force goes their own ways. (Tho Zoe’s still not in the clear it seems as she takes off with her baby and another on the way.) One thing I noticed was that on the title page, this was listed as “Book 1”, so I wonder if more mini-series or even a regular series might be on the way.
Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt #1 – After relaunching a lot of other old characters, it seems Peter Cannon is getting a new lease on life from Dynamite now. His costume is slightly updated, with more black to offset the red and blue. He seems to have a lot of powers over air and such. I’m not sure how powerful he’s being made. He reveals his identity and becomes quite a celebrity though it seems he may be setting everything up himself. Along with an all new story, there’s a reprint of an old story and some text history and such. It’s an interesting set-up for the character but I’m not sure if it’ll be enough to draw me in.
Phantom Lady #1 of 4 – This may have been from the prior week but I just saw it. I had to look at the inside credits to see that this was the title as the cover makes it look to be “Phantom Lady and Doll Man #1”. While still a member of the Knight family, this Phantom Lady is Jennifer, not Sandra or Stormy. Her cuffs allow her to travel through shadows. We don’t know where she got her powers as the story starts with the death of her parents and jumps right her being a hero and seeking revenge. We do get the origin of Doll Man (her sexy redheaded ex with a van dyke) though. He seems to be pretty smart as she apparently always goes to him for technical help and he’s been working on a shrinking machine which he gets caught in. It should be interesting and makes me wonder if we’ll see any of the other old Freedom Fighters start appearing.
Phantom Stranger #0 – We already saw a bit of him once back on Free Comic Book Day. In this issue, they expand on what happened and we learn that the disks around his neck are actually 30 coins that he needs to work off as his punishment. His first job was to work with Jim Corrigan which leads to him dying and becoming the Spectre. The number of 30 (listed in his origin at the back of the book but not in the story) is a bit limiting to the character but still makes for an interesting concept. We still don’t know the limits of his powers. I don’t think we ever did even in the old universe. This should be an interesting book though.
Stormwatch #0 – Adam, after having disappeared months ago, shows up to give Jenny Quantum a little history lesson about some of the prior century babies so she has a little more perspective on her duties and what will lie before her. He mysteriously disappears afterwards which makes you wonder how he escaped there he was sent to and if that was really even him. It should be interesting to see where things are leading for the team.
It’s nice to have a bit more of a selection for a change. There are a number of books that could make it to the Top 3 this week but I need to just pick 3. Archer & Armstrong has a good strong start going and is probably my favorite of the new Valiant titles so far. Phantom Lady has some potential and being a fan of some of the old Quality Comics characters, I want to see what they are going to bring to the table with the new incarnations. Finally, I’m really looking forward to the new Phantom Stranger title. I want to do where they go with the character. He’s always been quite mysterious so I wonder how much they will actually reveal this time.
Hopefully, I can get through the next couple weeks soon and get caught up as well as post some other things I’ve been wanting to. Right now, it’s time for bed.
