Now onwards with the reviewing!!
Superior Spider-Man #9
Is this it? Is this the moment that good ol' Pete gets back control of his body!! Oh the excitement.
There has been a nice amount of speculation over the outcome of this issue cause in the last installment Otto found out that Peter is still inside his body buried deep in his own subconscious and bit by bit he's coming back! And if Otto wants to stay superior then he's going to have to perform a "Parkerictomy".
This whole issue takes place inside Parker's mind as both he and Otto battle each other for control of his body. I have to say that I am no big fan of mind battles; psychic, dreams etc so I'm not particularly keen on the premise of this issue but in this titles case this fight was inevitable, even intrinsic to the development of the overall plot so one can't complain too much.
It's very well executed by Slott who continues to move the controversial title to more intriguing horizons with each issue, and though the outcome of the battle lacks in surprise it doesn't fail to deliver emotional weight and the sense that repercussions will be felt in #10.
Stegman's lines seem neater here than at the start which is a good thing, and his style along with the choice of colors by Delgado are well suited to the subconscious setting for the battle; Stegman's portrayal of parkers memories is a convincing blend of eerie and tragic. The only problem with the art is with the panels; all the white used in the background between panels takes away from the darkness of the images and some of Stegman's choices for panel layouts fall flat.
A successful key point in Superiors life but more interesting is what comes next.
Score 8/10
All New X-Men #11
Nearly 12 issues in, how is ANXM fairing since it's exciting debut? Answer: Meh.
Okay, okay that is a bit harsh but in all seriousness; if an ongoing is nearly 2 trades in and there still hasn't been any progression towards a first major confrontation then something is wrong.
Once again readers return to the moment where Cyke's team recruits some students from the Jean Grey school (this is the 3rd issue dedicated to this moment) offering more different, very well executed but unnecessarily long, viewpoints of this encounter. Scott even manages to take with them one of the original X-Men (Guess who) who was revealed very quickly and badly in Uncanny # 4 so this book fleshes that shocker out. The drama of this unnamed original's decision is masterfully handled both by writer and artist as the intensity of the situation rises, voices crack, claws pop and newly emerged psychics flash a bit of their dark side.
With Scott and co's exit (after 8 pages!) the focus shifts to Jean who is in bad need of some schooling on the ethics of psychic power. And then finally readers get a look in at what Mystique is up to which is the most intriguing thing in this issue but before the All New X-Team can (Spoilers!!) get involved another Avengers team show up!! Oh boy.
Immonen's and Garcia's art continues to excite and thrill moving the reader effortlessly from page to page. This duo is definitely the titles greatest strength.
Score 7/10
Age of Ultron #7
So AoU is at #7 already and with only 3 to go what can be said for the limited series but wtf.
In this issue readers return to Sue and Logan (again; a very interesting pairing) who have just committed a very drastic deed in the past that has changed everything in the future! and it is a very different future which is funny considering how much the AoU has felt like an alternate story/future and now it itself has been altered. While the change is interesting and honestly more exciting than AoU had been up till now it does make one wonder why this is called The age of Ultron at all; apart from the characterless drones blowing everything up Ultron has had little to do with this series. Yes his face is everywhere but its lifeless, there is no character, no interaction, nothing that makes this uniquely tied to Ultron and with only 3 issues left is there time to make it so?
With Sue and Logan's return to the present readers further depart from all relevance to the title antagonist and instead (like most of the series) one is presented with alternate versions of Marvels heroes who spend the bulk of the book talking and fighting amongst themselves.
There is some cool changes going on here to Marvels history which is only hinted at and the last page reveal is very successful but this seems like such a tangent and it is confusing; I want to see more of this new world but I also want to find out what happened to the old one that has been advertised on the cover.
Peterson and Pacheco are in charge of the art with the latter doing the bits in the past and the former doing the present and I must say that I am very happy with the results especially Peterson's work which seems to have improved since last issue (or maybe it's the lack of gaudy gold).
The ending of this series was meant to be unguessable; well mission achieved cause I don't know where this title is going.
Score 7/10
Hawkeye #10
The origin of The Clown! Sort of. You get his name and why he is what he is but the where and who are left up in the air which is all in benefit of the character. Nothing serves a villain better than mystique.
This origin is nicely interwoven with a meeting between this new baddie playing a regular smooth talker and Kate who doesn't know who the man is.
Clint isn't in it much but Kate is enough Hawkeye for anyone and the ending is very well done linking seamlessly with the end of last weeks issue.
Francavilla is a distinctive change from past artists solely because of his use of color and the type of loose panel borders he uses but he works his style to the betterment of the story matching the dire tone of this origin with boldness and a energetic array of panels that switches gears depending on whether the story is in The Clown's own past or the present encounter between himself and Kate.
It's a good sign that nothing else needs to be said cause once again Hawkeye delivers.
Score 9/10
Thanos Rising #2
Another origin tale. A slow paced read that is unexpected in it's lack of epicness Thanos Rising is more like a roast turkey than a loaf as one wonders how the Mad God became such when in this issue he seems so loast and meagre (twisted but meagre). Don't get me wrong this is an interesting read, the young Thanos is like a purple alien Norman Bates, in fact the whole book is a sci-fi spin of Hitchcock fashion.
Young Thanos, now a bit older, has swallowed his disdain of death and instead has become quite the advocate but not for the end itself; the teen titan is trying to understand his own reason for being which is fine and convincingly written but let down by the tepid addition of love which Thanos wants from someone. Also, who is this girl that coerces Thanos towards evil? and when is he going to kill her!?
Tid bits of Titan's old world seeps in to the pages but the focus remains on the title character.
3 issues left and the book is way away from the Deviant we all know and fear but the here and now is intriguing.
Bianchi sells the story with beautiful and disturbing imagery. Art work that borders on the horror genre it fits perfectly with Aaron direction for the series. You have to check out the last page of this issue; it is messed up and totally what one should expect from this character's origin.
Score 7/10
Legends of the Dark Knight #8
This may very well be my favorite bat title on the shelves at the moment. In this issue readers are offered two done in one tales from Gotham and it's dark crusader. The first written by Paul Tobin shows Bats flexing his detective muscle and even doing a bit of undercover work to uncover an abductor who is leaving life like carvings of his victims behind! The art by Tradd Moore is really nice, some people might be put of by his imagining of Bruce wayne but his batman is great (I'd love to see a black white statue of him) and all panels with Batman are really kinetic emphasizing all the action on panel.
The second story is a bit of a scare as Batman must track down an unidentifiable beast which leads to some unsettling discoveries.
The artist, Sergio Sandoval, draws his cast with a realism that makes the monster of this tale come to life and a Batman that reminds one that he is just a man under a mask. The colorists; DAvid LOpez and Santi Casas hit all the right cords with a limited palette of ghostly greys, blues, greens that are offset against the odd touch of red. Super stuff.
LotDK is a must for any Bat fan and reminds me of the great 90's animated series.
Score 9/10
Action Comics #20
This second part of Andy Diggle's story for the Man of Steel sees our hero awake after being rescued by Dr.Veritas from the virus that had begun to spread from his hand. Now the virus is being tested by Block scientists and Superman gets more info on what just happened to him but Luthor's latest creation isn't done yet and neither is the man himself as he begins the next stage of his plan.
An improvement on the last issue, this one still has some problems; the first is the pointless opening between Luthor and a jujitsu master which takes place in the past but the book never states when events return to the present; it's obvious but this is still a simple norm for comics.
The action is all really well executed by Daniels whose panels have become more dynamic compared to last month's and Supes and Veritas's solution to the virus makes for entertaining stuff but the whole delusion angle that is being played with (last issue it was Jimmy Olsen) is flimsy and not well conveyed.
The backup story by Lobdell/Hannah and Philip Tan on art is a bit of a mess. It throws you right into the deep end with no real context and then has this abrupt killing scene that lacks any impact bcause you have no idea of the significance of those involved. Also Tan's art is way too Much like Daniels to be side by side on different stories. It's just confusing.
Superman feels a little more like what one should expect from the character but it's still a way off what it could be.
Score 6/10
