Review: Avengers by Jonathan Hickman, Vol. 1

Avengers by Jonathan Hickman, Vol. 1 by Jonathan Hickman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Good start

It’s just a good beginning to a new Avengers run. I wouldn’t call it anything more than good. If you’re looking for something better that comes later.

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Review: Avengers: The Enemy Within

Avengers: The Enemy Within by Kelly Sue DeConnick
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It’s more Carol Danvers has a headache

The book is more Captain Marvel than it is an Avengers book. It tries to establish that she has villains who are able to defeat her but they actually come across as generic. The art doesn’t work as the different artists are either poor or the shift from one to another is distracting. Overall this is a force your way through kind of book.

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Review: Wolverine Classic Vol. 1 (Wolverine

Wolverine Classic Vol. 1 (Wolverine by Chris Claremont
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Slow start

It start the Wolverine regular series but it does so slowly. The end of this book isn’t even the end of the actual story. It’s fine but just that.

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Review: King Thor

King Thor by Jason Aaron
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Runs end

This closed off Jason Aaron’s run on Thor and not fast enough. I didn’t care for his tun on the character. This was an average book by itself but overall his run wasn’t good. It did influence the fourth Thor movie but you can see why that movie wasn’t good. There were and have been better Thor stories then this one so read one of those instead.

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Review: Ka-Zar by Mark Waid and Andy Kubert Vol. 2

Ka-Zar by Mark Waid and Andy Kubert Vol. 2 by Mark Waid
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Flat follow

While it starts off well the story declines as it goes on. The Thanos arc ends flatly and the Evolutionary arc is even flatter. The little monkeying around thing doesn’t save the story. This wrapped up Waid and Kubert on Ka-Zar but it wasn’t a good way to go.

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Review: Ka-Zar by Mark Waid and Andy Kubert Vol. 1

Ka-Zar by Mark Waid and Andy Kubert Vol. 1 by Mark Waid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tarzan the Marval way

It is what is. You expect Tarzan with blonde hair by Marvel and that’s what you get. That’s not a bad thing but it is what you expect it to be. The saving grace is the art by Andy Kubert. For this kind of story you want a dynamic art style throughout the story. You definitely get that here so things work well.

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Review: Secret Wars

Secret Wars by Jonathan Hickman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Good idea but falls short

It seemed like a good idea but in the end it fell below its own expectations. This story is just a ton of filler. There are moments within it but nothing of real substance to it. Once the shock of various characters being shown in a new light wears off the rest of the story is flat. The conflict is really just about Dr. Doom being distracted with boredom. Just sitting on a throne is not enough so he lets things get out of control. In the end that’s what cost him everything he tried to do. That’s all there is to this book.

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Review: Fantastic Four: The Master of Doom

Fantastic Four: The Master of Doom by Mark Millar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Better then the first

It’s better then the first part of Millar’s run but barely. The whole Marquis thing was over the top but at least Dr. Doom did something kind of interesting.

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Review: Fantastic Four: World's Greatest

Fantastic Four: World's Greatest by Mark Millar
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It’s okay

Unless you are familiar with Millars other Marvel work this book is interesting. But if you are familiar with his work then this book is just okay.

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Review: Captain Marvel, Vol. 2: Stay Fly

Captain Marvel, Vol. 2: Stay Fly by Kelly Sue DeConnick
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Nope

That was bad in a way that few books are. I see where the latest movie, The Marvels took some ideas from. That was a bad idea which did not help that movie. This was a waste of a read that I’m glad to be done with but I’m mad that I actually read this thing.

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Review: Wolverine: Origin - The Complete Collection

Wolverine: Origin - The Complete Collection by Paul Jenkins
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Doesn’t live up

While it is two stories in one book both of them hit well below the expectations you have for them. The first book ends in a poor cliffhanger, the second ends in a poor statement. The art is the saving grace for both books but mostly the first one. I can’t say it’s a must read for this character but it at least pulls back the curtain on where he came from.

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Review: Nextwave: Agents Of H.A.T.E.: The Complete Collection: Agents of H.A.T.E. Ultimate Collection

Nextwave: Agents Of H.A.T.E.: The Complete Collection: Agents of H.A.T.E. Ultimate Collection by Warren Ellis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Warren Ellis gets silly

This is Warren Ellis getting paid to write the silliest thing he could with as many D-list characters as he could find. The book is not meant to be taken seriously. It’s not dumb but a lot of dumb things happen in the book. When the final two villains are revealed you see just how silly this whole thing was. It’s far from his best work but he’s one of the few writers who could write something this silly and get away with it.

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Review: Star Wars: The Crimson Empire Saga

Star Wars: The Crimson Empire Saga by Mike Richardson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The first book was the best part of this collection. The rest of it wasn't as entertaining. The ending will probably be never followed up on but that's not a big loss.

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Review: Thor: Worldengine

Thor: Worldengine by Warren Ellis
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

In time Warren Ellis would become a better writer. This book has little bits of that potential spread in it but it’s far from good. The art by Deodato gets better later as well but in this book the gigantic hair is distracting. The story makes no sense but thankfully it’s short. Overall the book is readable but also forgettable.

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Review: Scarlet Witch by James Robinson: The Complete Collection

Scarlet Witch by James Robinson: The Complete Collection by James Robinson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book suffers from inconsistent artwork. Most of it is ugly, no other way to say it. Parts of it look good and enhance the story but the majority of it is difficult to look at. This ends up taking away from the story which is just an average story. The book being unable to bring together a good story with good art lowers the overall quality of the book. The covers are by the same artist which is good but the rest of this book is too chaotic to enjoy.

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Review: Secret Empire

Secret Empire by Nick Spencer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a book trying to go in many directions but hoping to end up at one destination. While it’s not terrible it’s also not worth reading more then once. The story is wish fulfillment gone wrong since it’s a wish that starts and ends the book. At some point the art gets confusing since there are so many artists contributing to the book. The What If concept is fine in a short story but this book is proof that doing this in a long form story is a bad idea. Maybe someone could do it right but that didn’t happen in this story.

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Review: Fantastic Four: Books of Doom

Fantastic Four: Books of Doom by Ed Brubaker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a very good story told by Brubaker. He manages to expand on the story of Doctor Doom without contradicting the previous stories about the character. John Byrne told to origin of Dr. Doom years ago but Brubaker managed to add more layers to the overall story without taking away from Bryce’s story. The way the story plays out is slow but each step builds on the previous steps. By the end we get an ending that is appropriate.

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Review: Infinity Gauntlet

Infinity Gauntlet by Jim Starlin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you enjoyed the Avengers movie then this book is an important comic to read. For everything that happened in the movies to lead to the ideas that came from this story shows how great this story is. If there is one flaw to this story its the change in art midway through the book. The shift in art throws off the balance of the book slightly. Still the importance of this book so many years later is a testament to how good the story is.

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Review: Kang the Conqueror: Only Myself Left to Conquer

Kang the Conqueror: Only Myself Left to Conquer by Collin Kelly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For time itself

The story is convoluted at some points but there's a reason why. The story of Kang is a simple one, what would you do for love. Kang grew in a world where love was unnecessary. What Kang wants is a passion that he can throw himself into. Here is a character that wants to feel what has been denied to him his entire life. Eventually what he wants takes the form of a woman. A woman who embodies everything he thinks he's always wanted. That's the trap. What he actually wants is what he eventually gets but the price is what you find by reading the story.

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Review: Black Knight: The Fall of Dane Whitman

Black Knight: The Fall of Dane Whitman by Frank Tieri
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

While this was a good attempt to bring a bigger spotlight to the Black Knight the book is mostly boring. The art didn’t work well with the writing. There wasn’t any reason to care about the Black Knight. The Avengers were forced into the story just because Dane is also an Avenger. Through it all the story just didn’t come together.

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