Xuthl’s Wilderness Comics and Collectibles Comic Reviews

All right kiddies, I managed to get a lot of reading done this week, so hang on tight.  Here we go!

First on the my list is the Mighty Avengers #13.  I have followed this title from the first issue, and I have to admit that there is really not a lot that I like about the title.  The writing is really disjointed and the characters are really abrasive and hard to like.  The cover of this issue is well rendered by Marko Djurdjevic, but does not exactly do much to grab my attention.  If this one was not in my regular pick list the cover would have done nothing to induce me to open it up for another look.  Still I will give the cover a 3 out of 5.  The story wasn’t good, yet it did give me that sense of excitment that all comic book readers feel when they are reading the beginnings of something new.  Nick Fury assembles a new team of super brats.  Big deal right?  This has been done to death in comics.  But what if this new super team becomes the next Avengers?  For this reason I give the story, written by Brian Michael Bendis a strong 4 out of 5.  The comic is drawn by Alex Maleev, and I really have problems with this artist.  While his art is technically very good, the characters just do not look like themselves at all.  Too much artistic license is taken with characters I have been following for decades, so I can only give a score of 3 out of 5.  And as far as relevance, well I guess you can’t give this issue anything less than full marks.  5 out of 5 for a total on this book of 15 out of 20.  The Secret Invasion has really captured my attention and imagination and I have been enjoying this Marvel offering.

Next is the Mighty Avengers #14.  As I said in the previous review, I have been really enjoying the Secret Invasion so far.  Issue 14 is where things started to go bad for me.  This issue really jumps around timewise, overlaps with Secret Invason #2, and is utterly forgettable.  2 out of 5 Mr. Bendis.  Once again the Djurdjevic cover is well drawn, but the colors leave me completely underwhelmed.  Maybe we are forgetting that the function of a comic book cover is to induce the buyer to buy.  3 out of 5.  For this issue a different penciller was employed in Khoi Pham, and the change pays off.  The characters are well drawn and recognizable.  5 out of 5 for art.  And again, with Secret Invasion being the big ticket in the MU right now, I can only give this one 5 out of 5 for relevance for a grand total of 15 out of 20.  Maybe it sounds like I am being overly negative, considering the relatively high scores I am giving these issues.  I will tell you this.  Got buy these titles.  You will enjoy them.  Just be aware that Marvel is pulling the same stunt they routinely pull.  They are putting out a huge Universe spanning crossover that starts out with great promise, and then they start to tell the story in little chunks that just annoy the hell out of the reader. 

Next is New Avengers #41.  Another questionable cover for me.  This one is by Aleksi Briclot, but has the same problems for me as the first two.  The art is dark, blurry, artsy, and utterly forgettable.  3 out of 5.  Brian Michael Bendis writes this one too, and I think his writing is really starting to get to me.  Not that he is a bad writer.  I really enjoy his writing.  But he has really written one story and spread it over three books, telling the same parts over and over.   I feel like he is stealing my money at this point.  Just get on with the story already Bri!  So to briefly summarize, we get yet another look at the opening battle in the Savage Land, then Spider-man goes off and finds Kazar.  We have some strong hints that Shanna is a skrull, as well as details of skrull SHIELD agents.  Then Captain America makes the scene with a big “to be continued…”  I may be proven wrong as this story progresses, but for now I was really disappointed with this offering.  2 out of 5.  And again we get 5 out of 5 for significance.  I give the art from Billy Tan a strong 4 out of 5, and that brings my total for this issue up to 14 out of 20 for the issue.

Next we have Amazing Spider-man 558.  Before I start, I just want to say that the only reason I haven’t dumped Amazing Spider-man from my pick list is because I do not want to end up going back and trying to collect the issues I missed once Marvel realizes they have made a horrible mistake on par with the Clone saga and change everything back to the way it was before they revealed Spidey’s identity to the world.  Bob Gale is the writer here, and despite his boring villains, I do enjoy his work.  I had a good chuckle when Peter tells Aunt May that he is moving out.  She gives him the guilt trip before leaving the room and pumping her fist in victory.  Classic!  Anyway, Menace is obviously a Green Goblin rip off.  The problem here is that we have no way of knowing if the Green Goblin ever existed.  This whole Brand New Day is just crap folks!  And then there is freak.  Can you say Doomsday?  Not as powerful as Doomsday…yet.  If he can keep evolving every time he is defeated, then I would have to expect that eventually he could be as  tough as Doomsday.  Hopefully somebody has the sense to kill him before that happens.  So lets see.  Story gets 4 out of 5 despite my dislike for Brand New Day and the bad guys being used.  Gale has talent.  What else can I say?  I will give the cover 3 out of 5.  Nothing to really attract the reader here.  Now, as for the art inside, by Barry Kitson this issue, I can only give it 3 out of 5.  I am really close to giving it a 4, but the characters are just a little bit off.  And last is significance.  Well what can I tell you?  Brand New Day seems to be completely in its own continuity.  I can only give this 1 out of 5.  Grand total is 11 out of 20.  My advice is to ignore Amazing Spider-man.  The sooner sales tank, the sooner Marvel will realize how badly they have f%^&*d up and fix Brand New Day.

So next we have Amazing Spider-man 559.  The cover is good. Really good!  I don’t know who this chick is, that seems to be falling off a building, but I really want to know if she lives.  If Spidey catches her.  If she has the power of flight and just sails away.  5 out of 5.  Unfortunately, this Screwball character is completely irrelevant and really just wastes a few pages of valuable comic book.  Spidey should have had her wrapped up by the second panel.  So, new writer Dan Slott gets off to a very shaky start.  We have some fun moments with J. Jonah Jameson in a pilates class, and then things REALLY go wrong.  Peter Parker becomes part of the paparazi.  I have to admit that this is an interesting turn, but it is COMPLETELY out of character.  Has Dan ever read Amazing Spider-man?  The only thing that saves this one is the fact that the new villain, Paperdoll, is interesting, and the story is interesting despite being so completely inappropriate for Peter Parker.  But then all of Brand New Day seems to disregard the history of Marvel’s most popular character, right?  I will give this one 2 out of 5.  Marcos Martin does the art in this issue.  What a mixed bag.  Some of his art is REALLY good.  And some is really bad.  Parker usually does not look like himself, but most of the other characters are drawn well.  Aunt May also does not look right.  Somehow her hair style has changed completely from the last issue and she now looks like a cross between the classic Aunt May, the new and improved Aunt May, and Martha Stewart.  3 out of 5.  And my typical Brand New Day relevance rating of 1 out of 5 bring us to a total of 11 out of 20.  I really enjoyed this book despite it’s flaws.  But again I recomend avoiding this title until Marvel fixes it.

Next is Amazing Spider-man 560.  I love this cover.  5 out of 5!  Not much new to add here.  Dan Slott tells a good story, but it is really out of character for Peter Parker.  2 out of 5.  Once again Martin’s biggest problem is consistency.  Peter Parker does not look like Peter Parker.  In one frame DB owner mysteriously morphs into Martin Crane from Frasier.  Maybe he is a skrull?  Robbie Robertson even looks like a completely different person in one frame.  3 out of 5 is the best I can give for this one.  And the Brand New Day 1 out of 5 for continuity brings us to a final score of 11 out of 20. 

A LONG TIME AGO, in a galaxy far far away…  Just kidding.  A long time ago I collected Web of Spider-man.  I collected from issue #1 until about issue 20 without missing a single issue, EXCEPT for issue #3.  I have always wanted to know what happened in that issue, so when I found a copy in my comic stores bargain bin for $1 I jumped all over it.  And I was not at all disappointed.  The cover is relaly poor.  An abstract rendering of Manhattan, really roughly drawn Spider-man battling the vulture, with the wings of the Vuturions swooping in from above.   The cover may be what stopped me from buying this issue in the first place.  I can only give it 2 out of 5.  Greg Larocque’s art is really average in this book.  I’m not going to dwell on it too long.  I give it 3 out of 5.  ‘Nuff said!  Louise Simonson did a lot of writing on comics in the 80’s and by my thinking is really underrated.  She wrote some really good stuff, including this issue.  In this book we see the Vulture escaping prison and going off on a mission to take apart the Vuturions who have stolen his powers.  Spider-man gets involved because he is worried about innocents getting hurt.  MJ complains to Peter about how hard it is to love someone like him, who puts himself in danger all the time.  The only negative to this issue is the way they handled the spat between Pete and Aunt May.  All in all I give this one 4 out of 5.  For continuity and significance I can’t do much with this one.  I cannot recall the Vulturions ever appearing in comics again after this issue.  There are no turning points in Peters life, or for any of the other main characters.  I give this one a 3 out of 5.  Overall I can only rate this book 12 out of 20.  A lot of the negatives to this book are in the art.  If you want to buy a book and enjoy it from start to finish, I recomend this one.

I also read Detective Comics 845, Red Sonja 34, and Jonah Hex 32 today.  I will review each of these next week, as I have already spent too much time writing this blog and I want to go to bed now and sleep off this head cold I am suffering. 

The last word goes to Xuthl’s Wilderness Comics and Collectibles which has just made the move from EBay to Comic Collector Live.  Go to http://www.comiccollectorlive.com/LiveData/Seller.aspx?id=cc0608d3-03c2-4b73-81dd-40662b76b9c9 and check out the titles I am offering for sale.  Please remember to consider the cost of shipping as part of the total price.  You will find my prices are often the lowest available.

Also, if you collect current comics, I encourage you to consider ordering your books from me.  I charge cover price plus $3 shipping and handling for the first book and an additional $1 for each book after that anywhere within Canada.  This may sound expensive, but with the cost of gasoline continually rising you really can’t lose.  This is also ideal for readers living in cities and towns without a local comic shop. 

Lastly, if there is a book you are looking for but can’t find, drop me a line and I will see what I can find for you.  I have a good network of sellers and have had great success in the past.  Feel free to contact me at xuthl@yahoo.ca. 

Have a great week!