Kenny Evil Posted June 26, 2012 Report Share Posted June 26, 2012 Me and Stavros covered part of the Age of Apocalypse in our x-Force review. Our conclusion was that it was a world that had been drained of all its creative opportunities long beforehand. It definitely seems to suffer from diminishing returns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted June 26, 2012 Report Share Posted June 26, 2012 Amazing Spider-Man: Grim Hunt (#364-367, Web 7) - As a payoff for the last five trades, it is a bit of a letdown. Not a fan of Kraven being back either. As for the trade itself, I hated the intercut Kaine portions. Put it all at the beginning and it wouldn't annoy me as much. Kinda like reading two books at once, which I am not a fan off. Amazing Spider-Man: One Moment In Time (#638-641) - I would say a much needed look into what OMD/BND did. Still, I feel it was a bit late, but in reality, this is the type of story needed after 'grim & gritty' of the last trade. Trades: 91 (514) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 Astonishing X-Men (the 90s series) #1-3 Uncanny X-Men #375 XMen #95 The mystery of who the new Death is. Beat out Secret Invasion by a decade here. Not great stuff, but it all leads to Apocalypse: The Twelve which is what I'm reading next. Comics: 488 Graphic Novels: 26 Trades: 15 Omnibus: 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavros Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 Me and Stavros covered part of the Age of Apocalypse in our x-Force review. Our conclusion was that it was a world that had been drained of all its creative opportunities long beforehand. It definitely seems to suffer from diminishing returns. Although Marvel constantly seek to recreate it through alternate universe X-men tales like House of M or whatever that X one was last year. To be honest it always goes back to the impact of Days of Future Past, everyone tries to do it over again and again with very mixed results. Last year's one honestly felt like an excuse to make 40 new models to sell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 X-Men: The End - Started off strong and just fell completely off the rails at the end. Also, I think this suffers from the 'not in cannon so lets kill people' line of thinking. Sure, death would happen in books like these. Even so, less is more. Runaways (Vol. 2) + Civil War +Secret Invasion - I enjoyed most of this. The event tie-ins are useless and I was not a fan of the time travel story. Otherwise, I like the little corner of the Marvel Universe this team inhabits. The turnover in the team does not annoy me as much as it should, and I think that is a good thing. I do not like the covers tho. They, in no way, reflect the main artwork. Plus, the characters all look off. Trades: 101 (569) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Runaways (Vol. 3) - And this is where the series takes a noise dive. I never got the sense that Terry Moore got these characters. Klara is a total non-character and the rest are written based off a bullet point list that didn't go past one. Also, Victor is Hispanic. I do not think the artists got the message. Avengers Academy #27-28 - This is closer to the Runaways that I liked. I think this was a bit hampered for me not knowing the Academy kids. Wolverine: The Reckoning (Origins #46-50, Dark Wolverine #85-87) - I have no idea. I have no idea who these people are (sans Wolverine) and thus I do not care. Granted, this could be part 4 of 4, but as a trade I randomly pulled off a shelf, I had no warning of that fact. So, this fails. Ultimate Comics Spider-Man: Chameleons (#7-14) - Nice to get back to the Ultimate universe after a long break. However, this is really similar to an Amazing trade I read with the Chameleon. Nice to visit these characters, but the story did nothing for me. Comics: 2 Trades: 105 (599) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Apocalypse: The Twelve- the highlights here are, by far, the Alan Davis written and drawn bookends. But the story hangs together nicely even though a few of the chapters have barely anything to do with the story at all. Ages of Apocalypse: the five part follow-up to The 12 is very uneven, but fun nonetheless. Again, the Davis issue were best by far. X-Men The Search for Cyclops #1-4: Not the biggest fan. I enjoy the overarching epic feel the three stories have togethger. not bad. Pryde & Wisdom #1-3: Not a bad little mystery miniseries. Early Warren Ellis. The Terry Dodson/Karl Story combo on art is pretty great even though I feel like they draw Kitty far too large. She's a little amazonian for my liking. Comics: 510 Graphic Novels: 26 Trades: 15 Omnibus: 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Forgot to add a couple of trades: Comic Book History of Comics: First off, this is more in the style of Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics in that it is a textbook and not a story. But it isn't anywhere near as good. Fred Van Lente has a lot of information but I feel that a lot of the burden is on Ryan Dunleavy's art to carry it through. He doesn't. I already knew most of what is covered in this book, so maybe that's part of it. In that way, it's probably interesting for someone who has no idea about the history of comics and wants to know. I just don't think that market is very big. I had to work to finish this, to be honest. It also tries miserably to be funny. I never cracked a smile through the whole book. Ugh. Incorruptible vol. 6: I'm not sure if Mark Waid is done with superheroes or not after this, but I wouldn't blame him if he was. Goddamn. This might be the greatest story of redemption in comics history with Max Damage being one of my all-time favorite characters. This is the best volume yet. Amazing. The art made a real turn for the better too. Love it. Irredeemable Vol. 9: Ditto, though this volume has the crossover between this book and Incorruptible for one of the more interesting meetings of heroes and villains ever done. Brilliant shit. Fuck. Comics: 510 Graphic Novels: 26 Trades: 18 Omnibus: 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted July 7, 2012 Report Share Posted July 7, 2012 Young X-Men: Finial Genesis Young X-Men: Books of Revelations Everything falls flat. I have a feeling I cannot go back through the X-books like I did with Spider-Man OMD/BND as I never seem to know between what events books fall. I am given little context about that and less characterization. Even three New Mutants running around couldn't hold my interest. Spider-Man: Origin of the Species (#642-647) - Not a fan. All the villains attack? Didn't I just see this with Gauntlet/Grim Hunt? The art did nothing for me either. Comics: 2 Trades: 108 (618) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted July 7, 2012 Report Share Posted July 7, 2012 Amazing Spider-Man: Big Time (#648-651) - Finally. Finally the get Peter off of the Daredevil 'life is shit' train. Not sure if I like the new Hobgoblin tho. Seems kinda a random choice. Amazing Spider-Man: Matters of Life & Death (#652-657, 654.1) - And right back on the 'life is shit' train. Not a fan of these costume changes. They make logical sense, but seems a little 'Iron Man'-y for my tastes. Stick to the Red & Blue. I think I am more intrigued by Flash being Venom than anything else. Comics: 2 Trades: 110 (629) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 Amazing Spider-Man: The Fantastic Spider-Man (#658-662) - I am not sure how I feel about Spider-Man being the new Wolverine, ie being on every team. That said, Spidey does feel like a logical fit with the Fantastic Four. His reactions to being on an FF adventure are just how they should be: a kid living out his fantasies. I mean, zombie pirates. C'mon. Amazing Spider-Man: The Return of Anti-Venom (#663-665) - The end of Mr. Negative is really anti-climatic. Set up in the first BND trade and ended here 100+ issues later and it went over like a fart in church. DC/Marvel: Crossover Classics IV - Shit. That is all. Comics: 2 Trades: 113 (641) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted July 11, 2012 Report Share Posted July 11, 2012 X-Force #102-115: This was the beginning of Warren Ellis' plotting of the series with Edgington on scripts and Portacio on art. The farther it goes along, and the time when Edgington takes over on writing completely, the better it gets. Fun stuff near the end. Jorge Lucas on art is a breath of fucking fresh air. LIke a mixture between something Vertigo-y and John Buscema's Kirbier stuff. Fun overall. This leads up to the Milligan/Allred run that's up next. Comics: 524 Graphic Novels: 26 Trades: 18 Omnibus: 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted July 11, 2012 Report Share Posted July 11, 2012 Captain America: Hail Hydra! - This sucked a donkey. Have five artists with really different styles (while probably the idea) was not good. Astonishing Spider-Man/Wolverine - As much as the above sucked, I never felt like my intelligence was being insulted. Cannot say the same here. At least the art was better. Hulk/Wolverine - Not much Hulk here. This was a really quick read. Four issues that I think could have been done in justice in a backup feature. Avengers & The Infinity Gauntlet - This was wonderful. A hyper-space semi! A space zeppelin! Space Pirates! Best Marvel all ages book I have read in a while. Comics: 2 Trades: 117 (660) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
You Know Who Posted July 11, 2012 Report Share Posted July 11, 2012 Daredevil: The Devil Inside and Out, Vol. 1 & 2: I read the first volume about nine months ago, was totally blown away by it, and on my second reading, it held up 100%. Volume 2 was also quite good, but was a little too continuity-heavy for my taste (what with references to Karen Page, Kingpin's exile in Japan, Vanessa Fisk's murder of her son, et al) and the coloring didn't grab me nearly as much as D'Armata's work in the first volume. Issues: 83 Collections: 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted July 14, 2012 Report Share Posted July 14, 2012 Astonishing X-Men: Vol 1-4 - I think my enjoyment was hampered by knowing the payoff. I enjoyed the path there, but since the ending was in no way a surprise, I wasn't emotionally attached I guess. Comics: 2 Trades: 121 (685) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted July 14, 2012 Report Share Posted July 14, 2012 Wisdom #1-6: This is the MAX series, though I don't think it needed to be a MAX series. It isn't ultra-violent. It doesn't have a lot of cursing. There is no actual sex, though it is implied, but no more than Peter and Mary Jane in bed talking implies it. I think it was too British to be all ages. Just saying. It's great though. Really, it might be the only MAX series made a MAX series to sell more copies. Great disjointed story that all comes together at the end exactly like Cap Brit and MI-13. This leads into that quite well actually. The Killraven reference was fucking mindblowing. Too bad that series won't see print. X-Men: Deadly Genesis: THIS is how you retcon something. That was done quite well. Though, at that page count, they could have done the whole thing in three issues. It feels a little ginchy sometimes reading Brubaker's X-Men like he doesn't quite get the character's voices right. Nightcrawler in particular seems off. I do love the plot and story though. The exploration of a very important time in X-history that has been pretty much left alone since Giant Sized X-Men #1. Like it a lot. Comics: 535 Graphic Novels: 26 Trades: 18 Omnibus: 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
You Know Who Posted July 14, 2012 Report Share Posted July 14, 2012 Nextwave: Agents of HATE #1-12: Bugfuck nuts, a non-stop barrage of fun, and worthy of all the love and hype that it gets. I can't believe I put off reading this book for so long. This is a book every fleshy one should read before they die. Issues: 95 Collections: 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venneh Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 That is all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted July 18, 2012 Report Share Posted July 18, 2012 Thor/Iron Man: God Complex - This was ass. High Evolutionary? Pass. Also, the art was bad 90s art. Captain America: Man Out of Time - I am torn. I like the idea of exploring the recently thawed Capt dealing with being a, well, Man Out of Time. However, Capt waking up in a world of cell phones and internet and Classic Avengers? Creates a disconnect in my mind. Captain America: Patriot - This surprised me. This simply follows the Patriot (a character I didn't know existed) as he deals with becoming the 3rd Capt. America. Well done. Comics: 2 Trades: 124 (698) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 Uncanny X-Men #475-486: The Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire storyline. Pretty damned good. Brubaker did a better job handling the cosmic here than he did with Secret Avengers. There's something about his X-Men that feels stilted though. He loves to write Warpath. That you can tell easily. X-Men: Emperor Vulcan #1-5: Not the best follow up. Still good. I enjoy Vulcan. Good shit. If you can't tell, I'm trying to catch up on cosmic and X-Men stories over the past few years. This was the perfect place to start. Comics: 552 Graphic Novels: 26 Trades: 18 Omnibus: 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 Pride of Baghdad - You know what I could have done without? Lion gang rape. Yeah, that happened. For some reason. Comics: 2 Graphic Novels: 1 Trades: 124 (698) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missy Posted July 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2012 I don't remember that at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted July 23, 2012 Report Share Posted July 23, 2012 Thor: Wolves of the North - Three complete unrelated issues that make up a complete unneeded collection. Hard to shake the feeling that this is a cash grab. Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives - Kinda sad that 'Ned Leeds was the Hobgoblin' was kinda retconned. Comics: 2 Graphic Novels: 1 Trades: 126 (707) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted July 30, 2012 Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 X-Men Origins II - I enjoyed the first volume. Not so much this one. Only the Nightcrawler story has great art; the rest feel average to goofy. The stories lack.. heart is word the springs to mind. Fantastic Four by Hickman Vol. 4 - Knowing that death was coming hurt this. Granted, I believe it wasn't exactly a secret that one of them was going to die. That said, it never felt epic. It never felt like a real threat. It never felt like a Fantastic Four story. I guess it comes down to the team never being together. And the kids annoy me. All that said, the last issue (#588) dealing with the aftermath with no dialogue, save the Spider-Man/Franklin conversation? That was really well done. X-Men: S.W.O.R.D. - Now Time To Breathe - I feel this would have worked better as a second story arch with foreshadowing in the first. And Beast is just handled horribly, to the point it did not feel like Beast. Didn't help that he looked like a furry blue Joe Camel. Otherwise the art is passable, but that Beast design is just ass. Comics: 2 Graphic Novels: 1 Trades: 129 (723) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted July 30, 2012 Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 Silent War #1-6: Intense. Crazy. Like every good Inhumans story should be. Frazer Irving's art is inspiring in this series. X-Force vol 2 #1-6: Probably Liefeld's best work ever. Great shit. I liked that he gave equal screen time to Cable and Shatterstar. The storytelling gets a little confusing in the second and third issues, but it's still pretty good. Appearances by Wolverine are to be expected but thankfully, he restrained from having Deadpool show up (considering he created him) and had Human Torch and Thing instead. Liefeld draws a pretty mean Thing. Savage Dragon #179 and 180: I really still have no fucking clue where he's going after reading this book for 20 fucking years. Amazing. I love it so much. All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #2-5 (of 8): Fuck you, Marvel. Yet again, one of the best things they publish in years gets canned. This time, a miniseries cancelled just after the halfway point. Supreme #63: SOOO much story in this issue. It reads like a Golden Age book with modern sensabilities, but in an overwhelming way. I'll need a few more issues, and a reprint of the Alan Moore run of Supreme to understand what's going on here. Prophet #22: Still incomprehensible. Avengers X-Sanction #4: This issue is hilarious. Hilarious because Loeb simply refused to add a plot in the first three issues of this mini and then dumped three issues of plot in the last half of this issue. So, let's break this down: 3 and 1/2 issues of a battle that could easily be covered in less than one issue and then a big mess of writing in the final 10 pages of the miniseries. Great job, Loeb. Batman Inc. #2: Talia's story. Great, I had trouble caring the whole time I was reading this. The story was completely unnecessary and the art, as I've mentioned before, bothered the shit out of me. Green Lantern #10: Fantastic. Pretty consistently great. Harbinger #1: Overwritten and melodramatic. Not the biggest fan. Art is great and i have the second issue on the way already to decide whether I'll pick this up in trade form. Right now, Valiant has been 0/2 for me. Really disappointing. Night Force #4: Whoa! Holy shit, this is bonkers. Avengers Assemble vol 3: Liked the Kulan Gath storyline, but did not like the Nefaria crossover with Thunderbolts. Mixed bag, this one. Fatale Volume 1: Next episode of Dread Media, maybe. Morning Glories vol 3: Fuck, this book is amazing. Spider-Man: Sinister Six: Erik Larsen's Spider-Man was MY Spider-Man. Still is. Not sure why Lee, Michelinie and Ditko all got credited on the cover before he did though. Seems petty when it's his art that is in the vast majority of this book and is frankly the reason why everyone is buying the book. Seems like the inclusion of Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 is extraneous when they could have added Amazing #333 for better context. The hilarious nods to that original Sinister Six story with marvel characters popping up for one panel FOR NO REASON was pretty hilarious though. Stan Lee is about as shameless as a human being gets. Comics: 577 Graphic Novels: 26 Trades: 22 Omnibus: 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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